The good news is that spring is here. The last of the snow is gone until next winter. Robins cluster on low branches and peck their way across the lawn looking for dinner.
This is a season of change when the rhythm of life shifts. As my wife and I look forward to retirement in a few weeks, the pace of change in our lives is quickening. We have planned for retirement for decades. Saving and investing to prepare for the opportunity to change from living within our income to living within our savings.
The change from budgeting on the basis of a paycheck and putting aside money regularly for the future retirement to budgeting on the basis of spending savings is more difficult than might be anticipated. Disciplines of saving become disciplines of spending. We have prepared budgets for this transition but have we accounted for everything?
“Is it on the spreadsheet?” has become a common question between us as we contemplate expenses and retirement income. If the budget does not have space for some new necessary but unaccounted item, we have to figure out how we solve the problem: Do we cut back or delay something else?
Real life is about budgeting – not just money, but time and talents – for the greater good. Spring is a good season to contemplate the changes that life brings and prepare a budget that takes those changes into account.
And having the time to watch the robins!
