ynab-income-change-prep

name	ynab-income-change-prep
description	Helps prepare financially for a known or likely upcoming income change — parental leave, job-loss risk, retirement transition, return to school — before it happens. Use when a user says "I'm going on parental leave, how do I prepare", "I might get laid off", "I'm planning to retire in a year", "how do I prepare for a pay cut", or "help me plan for reduced income".
license	MIT
compatibility	Works standalone; optionally enriched with live income/spending data when the ynab-mcp MCP server is connected.
metadata	{"author":"auzroz","version":"1.0.0","mcp-server":"ynab-mcp"}

YNAB Income Change Prep

What this does

Helps prepare financially for a known or reasonably anticipated upcoming income change — parental leave, layoff risk, retirement, a return to school — by building a dedicated Income Replacement category ahead of time and practicing on the reduced budget before the change actually happens.

When to use this skill

• "I'm going on parental leave, how do I prepare?"
• "I might get laid off"
• "I'm planning to retire in a year"
• "How do I prepare for a pay cut?"
• "Help me plan for reduced income"

Should NOT trigger on: ongoing month-to-month income variability with no single anticipated change (use ynab-irregular-income-planner), or a cushion against unnamed/general risk (use ynab-emergency-fund-builder).

Workflow

Step 1: Quantify the gap

Establish the expected reduced income (or $0, for leave/layoff) and how long the reduced period is expected to last. For job-loss risk specifically, treat the duration as unknown and plan conservatively.

Step 2 (if MCP-connected): Establish the real baseline

Call MCP tool: ynab_income_expense — current income/spending baseline Call MCP tool: ynab_budget_vs_actuals — category-level detail to distinguish trim-able vs. protect

Step 3: Build a dedicated Income Replacement category

Fund it ahead of time, sized to bridge the anticipated gap. This is distinct from the general emergency fund — it's specifically earmarked for this known change.

Step 4: Categorize trim vs. protect

Go category by category: which spending gets cut during the reduced-income period, and which stays protected (housing, insurance, minimum debt payments). For job-loss risk specifically, flag two commonly-missed costs: COBRA/health coverage and job-search expenses — both tend to appear right when income drops, which is exactly the wrong time to discover them.

Step 5: Practice-run the reduced budget

Recommend running the trimmed budget for a few months before the actual change, if there's lead time — this surfaces problems with the plan while there's still full income to patch them.

Output format

Anticipated change: [type] starting [date/timeframe], duration: [known/unknown]
Income gap to bridge: $X/month for N months
Income Replacement category target: $Y
Categories to trim: [list]
Categories to protect: [list]
Job-loss-specific flags (if applicable): COBRA/health coverage, job-search costs
Practice-run recommendation: [start date, if there's lead time]

Troubleshooting

MCP connection failed — proceed with user-provided figures; note live budget data isn't available this session.

Unauthorized / token expired — the YNAB connection needs re-authorization.

When the skill is NOT the right tool

• Ongoing structural income variability (freelance/gig, not a single known change) — use ynab-irregular-income-planner.
• General unnamed-risk cushion — use ynab-emergency-fund-builder.