Dear Friends,

I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the harder it is to sleep through the night!  My wife and I fall into bed very tired at an early hour, and one or both of us is up at various points in the night.  Simultaneously working and taking care of yourself becomes harder, the older you get. The idea of slowing down, shifting gears, or pursing work with more balance certainly holds wisdom for many of us who have greater physical demands as we age.  My beliefs about retirement have been challenged and have grown as I’ve approached and now passed the magic age of “65.”

And so, before I go any further on the topic of work or retirement, I’d like to encourage with a thought that has been very transforming for me. If you look in Scripture, you will discover that work was a “pre-fall” reality.  Adam and Eve worked before sin ever entered man’s picture.  Hopefully we can all draw encouragement from the fact that work was a part of the perfect state of man; it is not a consequence of sin or the fall. We can recognize God’s glory and goodness each day in the work that we do – whether it is income-producing work or not.

That said, as I think about the video on retirement, I’m sure that there are those in various positions when it comes to retirement.

1. There are those of you who are still young, but who have experienced great losses recently in your retirement fund.  You feel you may never be able to retire.
2. There are those of you who are already retired or are on the edge of retirement.  You may have taken a very direct hit to your savings in recent months. You fear that your resources may not be enough to support you over time.
3. Finally, there are some of you who are or who will be financially independent.  You will be “comfortably retired” at some point. Perhaps our economy has affected you, but it has not radically altered your retirement plans or retirement realities.

I’d like to speak to each of you as separate groups:

For the first group, my hope is to remind you to view your work as part of God’s plan in your life.  That way, your retirement fund becomes less powerful as a force for anxiety in your life. Work is much greater than vocation. God’s plan for your life does not end at age 65, and as much as it is ingrained in Americans that we have a “right” to retire at that age, perhaps His plan for you could include traditional “work” longer than you had anticipated.  If that is His desire for you, it is not a second rate or back up plan.  It is His best plan for you!  He will accomplish the purposes He has for your life as you surrender and practice being a steward of His resources.

For the second group, I’d like to encourage you and remind you that God’s grace is sufficient for you – even in financial weakness.  And, should you need to return to income producing work and have the ability to do so, perhaps it is because God is calling you into new areas of ministry and effectiveness.  I hope that the answers to various questions on this website will help you comfortably make the hard decisions that you may have to make about budgeting and planning for the future.  Please also find encouragement and helpful resources at www.retirementwithapurpose.com. 

For the final group, I’d love for you to consider God’s call on your life and ask Him how He’d use your freedom and independence for His glory.  Ask God to “re-hire” you so that you can continue to walk before Him, knowing, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10
And finally, just for fun, I’d love to share the accomplishments of some famous “old” people with you.  This list comes from the book that Larry Burkett and I wrote called, Your Money After the Big 5-0.

Age 66 – Colonel Sanders started KFC
Age 71 – Golda Meir became the Prime Minister of Israel
Age 77 – Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed the US delegate to the United Nations
Age 88 – Frank Lloyd Wright completed the Guggenheim Museum

May God’s peace encourage you as you pursue financial wisdom and depend on His Truth.

Blessings,

Ron


Click here for the video transcript