If you believe in yourself then you don't have to worry what the future Employer is going to think about the Gaps in your CV.
When I decided to look for a Job after a 8 month holiday...there was no Problem...took me a month...had the first phone interview and got the Job. They asked me in the Interview what did I do in these 8 months...and I told them I took a break...traveled around the world..etc.
Also it worked out to be a better paying one than in Germany..that was just a coincidence
Work Smart...not Hard is my Motto anyway
3500 is a normal wage for many swiss people. maybe just not rich expats. i certainly wouldn't call it poverty.
Maybe I should start a tread asking if I can afford to live on my wages.....
But whenever I've heard people talk about dropping out of the "rat race" it's always been an indicator that however stimulating or well paid their job is, they're not happy with the lifestyle that goes with it. It's never been a binary question for them - to work or not to work. But a question of work/life balance. This is very different from retirement.
I know a few people who have taken radical steps to make an adjustment in that work/life balance. Here's what I've learned.
1. I can't comment on CHF 3,500 a month. People have different lifestyles. All I'd say is that before someone decides to step off the treadmill, they'd better be sure their lifestyle of choice is affordable on their new income. And they'd better factor in inflation.
2. However tempting it might seem, it's hard for people to go from "full on" to "half steam ahead", let alone "full stop". You need self discipline to motivate you when there's nobody cracking the whip. Folks manage it. But it can take a couple of years to adjust.
3. You'll learn a lot about yourself when you try.
to be honest, i've always found what i do outside of work to be far more interesting and challenging than work and find it a bit sad that people rely on work as a source of intellectual stimulation.
That doesn't mean it's a nice wage or a comfortable wage.
I've been poor. It was rubbish. I find it difficult to understand why someone would give up a comfortable wage for scrimping, saving and living like a prole.
Each to his own, I suppose.
The reason is quite simple. If you imagine a continuum between the extreme or working all the time and trying to earn as much money as possible and the other of having no money but all your free time to yourself, then I suspect there is a happy medium between the two.
To me, working 5-6 days a week full time is at the higher end of the spectrum and 3500 nearer the lower end.
I would argue that this is not an 'uncomfortable' amount to live on as this number was derived by my average monthly outgoings in the last 2 years excluding luxuries such as electronic gizmos etc.
To me, it is almost a question of whether you would get a higher quality of life from having more free time, or more money to spend.