FOR MANY RETIREES, THE fear of running out of money is their greatest worry. They don't know how to stretch their Social Security benefit to pay all their bills, or they are uncertain about how often, or how much, they can dip into their individual retirement¹ account or other retirement savings².

对于很多退休人员而言，最担心的事情莫过于钱花光了。他们不知道如何使用社保福利支付所有的账单，或者说他们不确定自个儿动用个人退休账户或其它退休储蓄的频率是多少，也不确定每次会用多少钱。

According to a 2019 survey from the Certified³ Financial Planner Board, barely 40 percent of Americans track their expenses and make a household budget. For the rest, budgeting simply means spending whatever income comes in during the month - or maybe more, if you haven't yet reached your credit limit.

注册财务策划委员会于2019年开展的一项调查表示，仅40%的美国人会记录他们的开支、制定家庭预算。而对于其他人而言，预算仅仅意味着每月一发工资就可以任意挥霍--更甚至意味着，只要不超过信用额度就行。

Gather Your Financial Records Together

将财务记录放在一起

To make a plan, you need to know where you stand. Haul out your checkbook and your credit card statements so you can access your records for the past year. Many credit card companies offer a yearly summary to make this step easier. And tax season is a good time to do this, since you're already using much of this information to fill out your reports to the IRS.

若要制定计划，你必须明白自己的处境。拿出你的支票簿和信用卡流水单，以便查看过去一年的消费记录。很多信用卡公司都会提供年度账单，所以这一步就非常简单了。交税季也是完成这一步的好时机，因为在填写美国国税局报告时，你需要用到大量消费信息。

Make a List of Your Fixed⁴ Monthly Expenses

列出每月的固定开支

These are your expenses that are the same every month. They include your rent or mortgage, a car payment, your Medicare payment and anything else you do that gets billed in equal monthly amounts, from a gym membership to your cable and phone bills.

有些费用是每月必须支出的，包括房租或房贷、汽车贷款、医疗保险费用和每月所需支付的其它等额费用，包括健身房会员费和电话费。

List Your Regular Monthly Variable Payments

列出每月的浮动开支

This step is a little harder, since some bills change every month. They might include your heating and electric bill, your ongoing⁵ medical expenses, grocery bills, pet fees, gasoline charges and entertainment costs. Look over your bank statements and credit card bills. Total your spending for the year in each category, then divide that number by 12 to arrive at your average monthly cost.

这一步稍有难度，因为有些开支每月都不尽相同，包括供暖和电费、医疗费用、杂货开支、宠物费、汽油费和娱乐开支。查看你的银行流水和信用卡账单吧。计算每一类别的年度开支，之后除以12，就能得出每月的平均费用了。

Estimate Non-Recurring Expenses

估算偶尔性的开支

Are you planning to take a vacation or buy a new car this year? That's a special expense that requires advance planning. There are other bills that you pay only once or twice a year, such as membership dues, some insurance bills or medical expenses, home and car repairs and birthday and Christmas gifts.

今年有计划外出度假或买辆新车吗？这是需要提前规划的特殊费用。还有些费用，你可能每年都需要支付一两次，比如会费、保险费或医疗费、住房和汽车修理费、生日礼物开支和圣诞节礼物开支。