Personal anecdote: I've "retired" twice in the last 20 years - both times deliberately (though for very different reasons) and neither time with savings anywher

Personal anecdote: I've "retired" twice in the last 20 years - both times deliberately (though for very different reasons) and neither time with savings anywhere near $£€1m First time, I walked away from a very successful career with enough cash to support me doing nothing for 3 years. I had plans: travel a bit; write some books; start a small independent business; finally get a university degree and skill-up for an alternative career - because I knew the risks of business failure were big and I would probably need to get a salary at some point. I achieved everything I wanted during that time, except for the business. I wasn't bored, my relationship remained strong. However the returning-to-the-workforce thing is true - it took me over 3 years to land a paid job in my new career (web development) and the job I did land was less than half my previous salary. Turns out gaps in the CV ("were you in prison?") and age discrimination is a real thing. Second time, I had to get out of my job because my mental health/wellbeing was collapsing around me. I had sufficient funds for 6 months. I had no plans beyond taking long walks and sorting myself out. Took me 18 months to fix my head and find a new job - age discrimination remains a real thing but 5 years experience in the trade helps a bit. The time helped fix my relationship (damaged during my spiralling last year in a job I had come to hate). Looking back at that time - I was scared, but never bored. TL;DR - don't fear career breaks, especially if you use them to discover/learn/fix stuff and/or yourself. Having a plan for what you're going to do helps. Money is always going to be a worry, whether you start off with £$€10k or £$€10m. And don't underestimate how difficult it can be to get back into salaried work, especially if it's in a new career area.