How to quit your job to live your best life. First, be brave…

My friend Charlene pulled the pin on her usual life recently, announcing plans to move to Paris and start coaching people to be brave enough to do the same thing (is there a jealous emoji? Yup. Insert that here).

She made her business plan and turned in her resignation letter.

She turned 40.

She ended her mediocre relationship with her partner.

Right now she’s making less money, but she’s happier and her finances are still in great shape.

She thanks the pandemic for causing this reflection opportunity.

Charlene’s not the only one trading in traditional ways of work and living for the hope of something better. The freelancer pool grew by 70 per cent last year as many people resigned from “safe” jobs to pursue work and living opportunities that better fit their value system.

Have you been thinking about different ways of work and living? Whether it’s a mega change or just something small, here are a few ways to prepare your finances rather quickly, just like Charlene.

Map out the cost of your vision

Spend time thinking about how you want your life to look. Where do you want to live? How do you want to work? What kinds of hours do you want to work every week? Who’s with you? What will make you happy? When do you want all of this to happen?

Now, put a price tag around these elements. Include everything from moving costs to furniture you’ll be buying, selling or renting, the price of travel, the impact to your income, fees to set up your registered business, who’s going to care for your kids and for what price, if there is equipment you need to buy like a travel trailer, if you’re getting married or divorced.

Organize these costs on a spreadsheet so you can see the total picture. You might want to take it a step further and map out the new life in a mock budget template.

Start saving

The “start-up” costs to change your life can be planned for easily with saving in advance. Start socking away money toward the above costs as early as you can. With the predictable paycheques you have right now, transfer as much as you can off the top into a savings account.

Now, supercharge this with lump-sum savings money. Here are a couple of ideas; turn your hobby into a paid activity, ask for early / living inheritance, sell what you no longer need, do your returns and refunds, save your tax returns, claim all your benefits/insurance, bank your bonuses through work, sell assets like a home (my parents did this last month and announced they would be moving across the country with just their clothing), sell stocks, claim expenses through work, trade in loyalty points for cash and more.

Tidy up your debt

Debt will be an anchor holding you back from the life you actually want to lead. So, get a plan together to pay it off (maybe use some of the savings from above) and sell what you don’t absolutely need to clear up the balances. Consolidate to the lowest interest rate and pay pay pay as much as you can.

Make your plans come to life

It can be scary to actually tender your resignation, book that flight to Mexico, pay for the Airbnb in Morocco, sell your property or open up a registered business.

But, if you want this new version of living to happen, you need to get going. As with most things in life, the hardest part is just getting started. The good news is that if you’ve done the savings bit from above, you’ll be well prepared to start taking action.

Keep your financial affairs well organized

Your new life could impact your retirement funds (maybe you’ll be leaving an employer where you had a pension) or your taxes and so much more. If you’re not an organized person, I hate to break it to you, but that’s going to be a problem. You need to have a clear filing system for important documents (try going 100 per cent digital, especially if you’re going to be leading a nomadic life), professionals who will be handling your taxes and maybe even your investments, and it’s my opinion that you’ll want to be closely monitoring your net worth (assets offset by liabilities) so that you can see, predict and plan for any major changes to your overall financial position.

Identify your income sources

Whether you’re living abroad like Charlene, or transitioning into full-time retirement like my parents, or selling your fancy downtown Toronto condo to buy a farmhouse in Sutton, Quebec like my other friends, you’ll want to get super clear about where your income is going to be coming from. And, if you don’t hate your current job, you might even want to see if your employer will allow you to work from abroad, if this is what you want to do. One of the gals on my team turned her condo into a rental and now works remotely from Argentina.

Anything is possible for this next chapter of your life, so be brave with your planning and get your finances in order.

This article was originally published in The Star. Lesley-Anne Scorgie is a Toronto-based personal finance columnist and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star.