As a financial planner for the last 20 years, planning is now well and truly part of my DNA.
And between you and me, once you know the core fundamentals about money planning; working with numbers, projections, legislations and financial product features all day can at times get a bit dry and dull.
So given that today is a Friday, I’m in Cairns and the weekend is just ahead, I thought I’d take a break from the daily grind (while still firmly in my roll of planning) and research the following juicy question.
How to take more time off and still be paid for it?
What I discovered is that with a bit of planning, getting your holiday requests in early (before other staff) and a flexible boss. You can easily extend your 20 days annual leave all the way out to 52 days a year, or a 260% increase in leisure time.
The following maximising you leave and holidays is based on for Queensland Australia public holidays. If you are in another state please check your relevant state holidays there as they may differ slightly i.e. different Labour Day, Queens Birthday, Show Day dates.
Note. For completeness calculations begin from 1st Jan 2020 which is a Tuesday however if you drew on annual leave on the 31st December the first holiday would extend an additional 3 days for a total of 9 instead of 6.
Additional note. If you also took Friday the 27th December off (leave without pay) this could extend the Christmas break length of holidays from 6 days to 9 days (inclusive of weekends, two days annual leave and a day leave without pay).
So let’s begin!
January
Tuesday 1st January is Public Holiday (New Year Day)
Wednesday 2nd January. Annual Leave
Thursday 3rd January. Annual Leave
Friday 4th January. Annual Leave
Saturday 5th January. Weekend
Sunday 6th January. Weekend
1st Break total 6 days. Drawing down 3 days annual leave.
Saturday 26th January. Weekend
Sunday 27th January. Weekend
Monday 28th January. Public Holiday (Australia Day)
2nd Break. Total 3 days. Drawing down 0 days annual leave.
April
Saturday 13th April. Weekend
Sunday 14th April. Weekend
Monday 15th April. Annual Leave
Tuesday 16th April. Annual Leave
Wednesday 17th April. Annual Leave
Thursday 18th April. Annual Leave
Friday 19th April. Public Holiday (Good Friday)
Saturday 20th April. Weekend
Sunday 21st April. Weekend
Monday 22nd April, Public Holiday (Easter Monday)
Tuesday 23rd April. Annual Leave
Wednesday 24th April. Annual Leave
Thursday 25th April. Public Holiday. (ANZAC Day)
Friday 26th April. Annual Leave
Saturday 27th April. Weekend
Sunday 28th April. Weekend
3rd Break. Total 16 days. Drawing down 7 days annual leave.
May
Saturday 4th May. Weekend
Sunday 5th May. Weekend
Monday 6th May. Public Holiday (Labour Day)
Tuesday 7th May. Annual Leave
Wednesday 8th May. Annual Leave
Thursday 9th May. Annual Leave
Friday 10th May. Annual Leave
Saturday 20th April. Weekend
Sunday 21st April. Weekend
4th Break. Total 9 days. Drawing down 4 days annual leave.
August
Saturday 10th August. Weekend
Sunday 11th August. Weekend
Monday 12th August. Annual Leave
Tuesday 13th August. Annual Leave
Wednesday 14th August. Public Holiday (Queensland Royal Show day)
Thursday 15th August. Annual Leave
Friday 16th August. Annual Leave
Saturday 17th August. Weekend
Sunday 22nd August. Weekend
5th Break. Total 9 days. Drawing down 4 days annual leave.
October
Saturday 6th October. Weekend
Sunday 7th October. Weekend
Monday 8th October. Public Holiday (Queens Birthday)
6th Break. Total 3 days. Drawing down 0 days annual leave.
December
Saturday 21st December. Weekend
Sunday 22rd December. Weekend
Monday 23rd December. Annual Leave
Tuesday 24th December. Annual Leave
Wednesday 25th December. Public Holiday (Christmas Day)
Thursday 26th December. Public Holiday (Boxing Day)
7th Break. Total 6 days. Drawing down 2 days annual leave.
Total leave taken 20 days. Total holiday length (including weekends) 52 days.
The only things you have to decide now is what you’re going to do now with your extra holiday time.
This post was written by Me, as such they are my personal views and not financial or general advice.
You should always seek independent financial advice when it comes to choices about your personal finances. This is one area of your life where it’s worth paying for it to be done right.
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