Enjoy · 14-page PDF
The Permission to Spend Worksheet
A plan can tell you the money is there. That doesn't mean you'll be comfortable using it.
Having enough money and feeling comfortable spending it are two different problems. This worksheet is about the second one, and what would give you permission.
A plan can tell you the money is there. That doesn't mean you'll be comfortable using it. Having enough money and feeling comfortable spending it are two different problems, and this worksheet is about the second one.
Why can a plan that works still feel hard to spend from?
You've spent 30 or 40 years earning money, saving part of it, investing it, and trying not to touch it. Retirement asks you to do almost the opposite, and a falling balance can feel like failure even when the plan is working exactly as intended.
The issue may not be whether you have enough. It may be whether the way the plan is built gives you enough confidence to actually use the money.
What does the worksheet ask you to write down?
What your life costs, what already shows up, and where the rest comes from. Then three questions that test the plan against your behavior, the sentence that finishes "I would feel more comfortable spending if...", and one thing you want the money to let you do in the next 12 months, priced and paid for.
What this is, and is not
Nine short sections, with a chart of real market history and worksheets you can fill in on screen or print.
It is education, not advice. It does not know your plan, and it will not tell you what to spend. It helps you find what would need to change for you to feel comfortable doing what the plan already allows.
Inside the guide
- Why a plan that works can still be hard to use. What a falling balance does to a decision the plan already made, and how often the market has been down from six months before.
- What would make spending feel different. Cash, dependable income, a paid-off house, an account for travel, and the tradeoff that comes with each.
- Two plans, side by side. Why the plan with the higher projected ending balance is not automatically the one you will use.
- Where permission comes from. What your life costs, what already shows up, where the rest comes from, and what you are protecting against.
- The behavior test. Three questions that show whether you will actually spend, and the sentence that names what would give you permission.
- A better planning conversation. One thing the money should let you do in the next 12 months, and what would need to change for you to do it.