Forget saving up for retirement. They're saving up for burnout.

People have long saved for life's biggest milestones: buying a home, getting married, and retirement. Some workers are also putting money aside for something they hope never happens: burnout.

Last week, Mary Kane handed in her resignation letter.

After six months of feeling exhausted, irritable, and increasingly burned out in her job as a senior marketing manager, the 54-year-old Minnesotan decided she'd had enough.

Unlike many workers in a similar position, she wasn't terrified about how she'd pay the bills once she quit. For years, she says, she saved about half of every paycheck, building what she now calls a burnout fund.

'Really intentional savings'

A burnout fund is a ring-fenced savings pot designed to fund a recovery period, rather than unexpected emergencies such as job loss or medical bills.

"A burnout fund is really intentional savings where you anticipate needing to take a break," Julie Beckham, Rockland Trust's financial education and development strategy officer, told Business Insider.

In that sense, she added, it's an old concept under a new name: "Being intentional in naming any savings account is a good practice."

Sabino Vargas, senior financial advisor at Vanguard, told Business Insider the goal with a burnout fund is to "build enough financial flexibility so you can have choices if a step back or career reset is needed."

The concept of the burnout fund is entering the conversation as a series of workplace and economic pressures are taking their toll on workers in different ways. AI is accelerating the pace of work, shaking people's sense of job security, and leaving many workers feeling perpetually in catch-up mode. Rising prices have many feeling financially strapped. On top of that, the US job market is looking increasingly rocky. The BLS reported Friday that the US lost 23,000 jobs in July, and revisions to previous reports meant 100,000 fewer jobs were added in the previous two months than originally thought.

Several surveys suggest that burnout is widespread. A National Alliance on Mental Illness-Ipsos Workplace Mental Health poll of 2,153 full-time employees at companies with more than 100 workers, conducted in January and February, found that 53% felt burned out because of their jobs. It's affecting employees at every level; a recent string of high-profile tech execs and founders cited health issues and burnout as reasons for stepping back from their jobs.

While the World Health Organization doesn't classify burnout as a medical condition, it recognizes it as an "occupational phenomenon" resulting from chronic workplace stress.

She burned out twice. Then came the burnout fund.

Tasmin Lofthouse, 33, first burned out in 2018. "I was completely flat, no get-up-and-go. I didn't want to do anything, see friends, or speak to them," the marketing professional, based in northwest England, told Business Insider.

Lofthouse knew she needed to leave her job, but with no savings, she couldn't afford to. Instead, she left for another job almost immediately after quitting.

She launched a marketing consultancy in 2020 and experienced another period of burnout two years later. This time, she decided she never wanted money to dictate whether she could step away from work. "It made me realize I needed to build some sort of avenue to allow me to step back when I'm burning out," she said.

Lofthouse started saving money in 2022 and opened a dedicated burnout fund in 2024. Since then, she has transferred part of her business profits into it every few months. Now she has around £48,000 ($65,000) set aside, enough to cover 12 months of business expenses while paying herself a reduced salary. She also maintains a separate emergency fund covering three months of living expenses.

"I'm lucky that I've been able to do that for myself," she said. "I think people are prone to burnout, especially in the world we operate in, and people need to see it as a foreseeable cost, rather than an unplanned emergency."

For some, a 'burnout fund' allows for a career change

Stacy North, 54, knew she was on the precipice of burnout when she first created her fund. After selling her home in 2022 and buying another, she had $80,000 in cash left over. Rather than putting it toward her new mortgage, she put the money into a savings account. "I did it because I was burning out," she told Business Insider.

North, who was working as a sales manager for a fruit shipping company in Maryland, left her job in January 2025 after realizing the burnout wasn't improving. Her savings gave her the breathing room to leave the workforce before launching a professional home-organizing business in early 2026.

She said she has since spent about $35,000 of the $80,0000 fund.

A solution and a symptom

Lofthouse and Kane both said they have enough saved to cover about 12 months of expenses. Luca Fontani, a 34-year-old who left his role as a fractional head of growth in the fashion industry after burning out, saved considerably more. He said he has more than $1 million in his fund, a sum he attributes to aggressive saving and successful investments.

There's no one-size-fits-all amount for a burnout fund, Jon Zetlmaier, a financial advisor and founder of Seattle-based Zetlmaier Wealth Management, told Business Insider.

The "unwritten rule" is to keep three to six months' worth of living expenses in an emergency fund, he said. If someone is planning a break or exit because of burnout, however, he said they should consider building additional savings, ideally in a high-yield FDIC-insured savings account or short-term Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS).

Beckham, Rockland Trust's financial education and development strategy officer, said the savings target also depends on how long someone expects to be away from work. "If your recovery is three months of unplugging and then trying to figure out your next move, it might be a six, nine, or 12 months of savings."

While burnout funds are creating a lifeline for some workers who need or want — and can afford — to take a break from their careers, they aren't solving all the underlying issues.

Vanguard said it has seen more Americans prioritize dedicated savings for career breaks and other planned life changes, but it also said many people still lack a financial plan for burnout-related expenses.

Beckham said that while planning ahead for all eventualities is sensible, the need for burnout funds is a symptom of a bigger societal problem.

"I feel kind of sad and anxious about the fact that folks are saving toward this financial goal," Beckham said.

"It's a reflection of the pace at which they're hustling to make ends meet and a reflection of the mental load that's affecting more than just their finances," she added.