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How to Save: A Lesson from Nature

How to Save: A Lesson from Nature

As the season gets warmer, you’ll probably be spending more time outdoors. And who can blame you! Traveling to different areas, relaxing at a beach, going swimming, camping, learning about money by watching nature-there's so many things we can do when the sun in out.

No, that wasn’t a typo. Learning about finances isn’t something that just happens at home or in school. Nature annually provides us an important lesson when it comes to saving-especially for retirement.

How Nature Teaches Us About Saving

To highlight the financial lessons, we can learn from nature let’s examine a few creatures we’re all familiar with.

Honey Bees

After chilly (sometimes frigid) winters the start of Spring is always a welcoming presence. Not only does the temperature get warmer but are we greeted by an array of flowers looking to make their grand debut into the world. These vibrant specimens are not visually appealing but are a great source of food for our friends the Honey Bees.

During this time Honey Bees travel from flower to flower gathering nectar (amongst other things) in an effort to ultimately create honey. The creation of honey is a fascinating (and quite disgusting) process, see video below, however essential for Honey Bees survival during the winter months.

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Ants

While bees are preparing for winter through an aerial assault, ants are concocting their own plan to have food for the winter. Similar to bees, ants work diligently through the spring, summer, and fall months traveling outside the nest to gather and store food.

 Now, if you watched any old school cartoon about a picnic you almost certainly saw scenes showing ants carrying away the entire feast. Although, that depiction is clearly hyperbolic ants are regarded for their ability to gather food. Check this classic tale of the Ant and the Grasshopper.

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Squirrels

Lastly, another more obvious animal that’s known for collecting and storing food for winter are squirrels. Although, squirrels actually begin storing food during the Spring and Summer season just like the other animals we highlighted, they tend to kick it into higher gear during the fall. And to understand their process check out this video below.

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So, did you catch the financial lesson here?

Bees, ants, and squirrels all understand that at some point they will face a food shortage. With this in mind, they actively use the brief time that they do have a surplus to gather and save for the upcoming scarcity.

This is what we need to do as well.

Just like these animals prepare for scarcity, we too should prepare for a time when our funds will be scarce. When we’re young that’s our “season" to gather as much money as we can because we already know that there will come a time when we’re no longer young, not able (or willing) to work long hours, or just want a different lifestyle altogether. We need to work just as diligently as the bees, ants, or squirrels to identify the resources around us, venture outside of our nests, and communicate with like minded individuals that share in our overall goal.

Financial lessons are all around us-even in nature. Just as some of the tiniest creatures understand the importance of saving when they have a surplus, we too need to actively save during our surplus seasons. Because we know there will be a time when that surplus becomes scarce. And nothing’s worse than wishing you had saved more when you run out of money during retirement.

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Freedom Beyond Wealth believes in "financial advice for real life" which is why we publish free easy to understand articles discussing various financial situations and topics. To learn more about the financial services we offer contact us or follow us on social media.

fbwfinancial
fbwfinancial
freedombeyondwealth.com

Freedom Beyond Wealth believes in "financial advice for real life" which is why we publish free easy to understand articles discussing various financial situations and topics. To learn more about the financial services we offer contact us or follow us on social media.

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