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Unpaid leave isn't something you buy - it's income you go without for a defined stretch of time. Your estimate weighs the total income you'd miss against your savings and any other income during that period, to show how big a gap it leaves and how much of a cushion you'd need.
These key factors affect whether you can afford unpaid leave
Income missed against savings
The total you enter is really a withdrawal from your savings over the leave period - we weigh it against your full financial picture, not just against your usual monthly numbers.
Fixed expenses that continue
Rent or a mortgage, insurance, and debt payments keep coming due during leave regardless of your income, so it's worth confirming your number already accounts for the full length of the leave.
Health insurance continuity
Leave taken under FMLA generally preserves your employer health coverage, though you may still owe your usual share of the premium - worth confirming with your employer rather than assuming it's automatic.
Return-to-work timing
How the leave affects your finances afterward - a returning paycheck, any back pay, or a change in schedule - is worth factoring in alongside the leave period itself.
How to use your results
Try a few different scenarios depending on your leave:
- The full income missed against savings alone, with no other income coming in.
- The same total with a partner's income or a partial paycheck factored in.
- At different leave lengths, to see how the total scales.
- Alongside your existing debt, for a realistic sense of what's sustainable during the gap.
Ways to make unpaid leave work financially
- Build savings specifically for the leave period ahead of time rather than drawing down your general emergency fund.
- Confirm with HR exactly what continues - health insurance, accrued time off, benefits - and what doesn't.
- Check whether any state or employer-provided paid leave programs would cover part of the gap.
- Time discretionary expenses around the leave so your baseline monthly number is as low as possible during it.
Nothing added yet - add something to see your risk.
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