The life we’re supposed to progress throughFor the sake of level setting, let’s play out the scenario those two women were benchmarking against. A few years go by, work and life settle into something stable, and you’re ready to have kids. The first is our life clock, and it measures the things that happen simply because life keeps moving: we get older, careers progress, we get married, perhaps, children arrive and grow up. You start earning money when you’re young and start building credit. Maybe you buy a small property and accumulate equity while your salary rises and you contribute to retirement savings.