The platitude “kids just don’t want to work these days” is usually invoked with hard-to-miss side-eye. If you’ve heard it, or said it, you know. But some of the youngest members of America’s labor force consider that mindset worthwhile, rather than cause for reproof, and it has the paradoxical effect of producing an exceptionally strong work ethic. Think if it as a scaled-up version of working for the weekend. As summer starts, some of these workers are planning merely a long weekend here or a two-week trip to Tokyo there. Others, though, are planning something far grander, and far longer, than a typical vacation. Gen Z and millennial workers are calling such big breaks “micro-retirements.” Yes, that’s just TikTok-speak for sabbatical, but it’s catching on as younger generations rethink their relationship to work. HSBC’s 2025 Quality of Life study found that 37% of 10,000 survey respondents planned to take a mini-retirement, lasting six to 12 months, prior to their real retirement. Roughly half of those said they were penciling in multiple departures from the workforce. And a full 87% of survey respondents who had already taken a micro-retirement said it improved their quality of life (we suspect the other 13% may have some deeper problems). The catch? Those surveyed held assets worth from $100,000 to $2 million. While career coaches and personal finance experts told The Daily Upside that a micro-retirement can be fruitful for some workers, if properly and meticulously planned for, the buzzy trend is certainly not advisable for everyone. “For most people, stepping away from the workforce in that way is much harder in practice than it sounds in theory,” Jared Porter, co-founder of fintech retirement platform 401GO, told The Daily Upside. Hardly shocking, we know. Still, anyone swept up in the fantasy of Instagram Reels videos should consider a few critical nuances and a little simple math. Here are the Do’s, the Don’ts, and the

I want to be clear - this isn't my story - but I have a feeling that parts of this story might be part of your story. The message read: Hope you're well. Just wanted to have a bit of a rant, and I know you care about me, so you're the one I thought I'd write to. You wouldn't believe what happened to me yesterday. To cut to the chase - I spent 11 years giving everything I had to a company that let me go in a 15 minute meeting about 4 hours ago. Then I went home (feeling absolutely shattered) and realised my own adult child treats me exactly the same way. Uses me when it suits them. Disappears when it doesn't. And I suddenly saw the pattern. My whole life I've been surrounded by people who just take and take and take - and David, I feel like a complete sucker for just giving to everyone from my end. The boss who didn't care - the company that's just replaced me without blinking - and my mature aged child who talks about me behind my back, thinks I'm stupid, and doesn't realise I can read through their life patterns and BS. And I thought - when does it stop? I sat with this message for a long time, and I shared the story here as well, because I truly believe this isn't just "one person's story". I see this, as the story of an entire generation of good, loyal, hardworking people who were taught that if you just keep your head down and give everything you have... It will be worth it eventually. Well, it wasn't. Not at work, and sometimes — heartbreakingly — not at home either. --------------- https://BeIndependent.Today/50 Here's parts of what they needed to know: Your job - you can replace that. Right now. From your laptop. With AI, with the right guidance, and with the knowledge you've already spent decades building — you can build something that is YOURS. That nobody can take away. The family stuff - that's harder. That takes time. But it starts with the same decision. I feel you should stop waiting for people who don't value you to suddenly start valuing you.