How do I adequately plan for retirement?
Dear Friends,
There have been so many twists and turns in the economic situation of our country over the last year. A year ago this week, financial behemoth Lehman Brothers went out of business. Just this Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke declared that the “recession is very likely over at this point.” The effects of it are not over, however. Chances are very good that the last twelve months have seen a major negative change in your retirement funds.
So, no matter how old you are or how long you have been saving, you are probably struggling with how to plan for retirement.
I wish there was a magic answer, a wand to wave that would ward off fear and nail down financial security. You know by now, if you’ve followed this blog for very long, that there is not a scheme on earth that will make any one of us immune to financial uncertainty or catastrophe. However, what this last year has taught us is to turn our eyes to what IS certain in eternity and to continue to practice wise decisions with the money we have been given for today.
I want to share something that I read last week from a book called, The Rest of God, by Mark Buchanan. The author is a pastor, and the book is about keeping Sabbath in today’s busy world. In the final chapter, Buchanan writes about the practice of anticipation. He claims, “apart from a nurtured expectancy about things unseen, a growing certainty about things hoped for – some truths about both God and self will remain obscure.” (p. 208) Rev. Buchanan admits that, as a pastor, he’s often in the role of counselor – something for which he is not specifically trained. In that role, he finds that, “helping people anticipate their future” is his best counseling technique.
Why anticipate? Buchanan sums it up well by saying, “what will happen matters more than what has happened.” (p. 210) In our financial life, as well as in other aspects of our lives, we cannot change the past. When we become mired in frustration with our own poor choices or with economic events that were none of our doing, we will accomplish nothing productive.
However, when we begin to anticipate what will be, we grasp hope and today looks different, too. Whether it is grasping an eternal hope, such as the promise that, “the Lord Jesus Christ…will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body” (Philippians 3:20b-21 NIV), or whether it is grasping a temporal hope that saving a little bit every day or every week is what God is calling us to do in order to prepare for retirement, the practice of anticipation frees us to have hope and confidence for the future.
As I said in the video, I do encourage you to begin early and to begin now with whatever retirement savings you can put away. It is always best to pay yourself and God first, before you use money to accomplish lifestyle-related purposes. So, if you can discipline yourself to put away 10% each month toward retirement, you will be accomplishing a little bit over a long period of time. And, the younger you are, the more that compounding will work for you.
No matter where you are, though, take time today to practice anticipation. Where are you going with your finances? Where do you want to go? Can you add one small step today to move you in the direction of your anticipated financial future? If you do, you will be rewriting your own financial story from one of fear to one of faith-based hope.
May God’s peace encourage you as you pursue financial wisdom and depend on His Truth.
Blessings,
Ron
Click here for the video transcript
There have been so many twists and turns in the economic situation of our country over the last year. A year ago this week, financial behemoth Lehman Brothers went out of business. Just this Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke declared that the “recession is very likely over at this point.” The effects of it are not over, however. Chances are very good that the last twelve months have seen a major negative change in your retirement funds.
So, no matter how old you are or how long you have been saving, you are probably struggling with how to plan for retirement.
I wish there was a magic answer, a wand to wave that would ward off fear and nail down financial security. You know by now, if you’ve followed this blog for very long, that there is not a scheme on earth that will make any one of us immune to financial uncertainty or catastrophe. However, what this last year has taught us is to turn our eyes to what IS certain in eternity and to continue to practice wise decisions with the money we have been given for today.
I want to share something that I read last week from a book called, The Rest of God, by Mark Buchanan. The author is a pastor, and the book is about keeping Sabbath in today’s busy world. In the final chapter, Buchanan writes about the practice of anticipation. He claims, “apart from a nurtured expectancy about things unseen, a growing certainty about things hoped for – some truths about both God and self will remain obscure.” (p. 208) Rev. Buchanan admits that, as a pastor, he’s often in the role of counselor – something for which he is not specifically trained. In that role, he finds that, “helping people anticipate their future” is his best counseling technique.
Why anticipate? Buchanan sums it up well by saying, “what will happen matters more than what has happened.” (p. 210) In our financial life, as well as in other aspects of our lives, we cannot change the past. When we become mired in frustration with our own poor choices or with economic events that were none of our doing, we will accomplish nothing productive.
However, when we begin to anticipate what will be, we grasp hope and today looks different, too. Whether it is grasping an eternal hope, such as the promise that, “the Lord Jesus Christ…will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body” (Philippians 3:20b-21 NIV), or whether it is grasping a temporal hope that saving a little bit every day or every week is what God is calling us to do in order to prepare for retirement, the practice of anticipation frees us to have hope and confidence for the future.
As I said in the video, I do encourage you to begin early and to begin now with whatever retirement savings you can put away. It is always best to pay yourself and God first, before you use money to accomplish lifestyle-related purposes. So, if you can discipline yourself to put away 10% each month toward retirement, you will be accomplishing a little bit over a long period of time. And, the younger you are, the more that compounding will work for you.
No matter where you are, though, take time today to practice anticipation. Where are you going with your finances? Where do you want to go? Can you add one small step today to move you in the direction of your anticipated financial future? If you do, you will be rewriting your own financial story from one of fear to one of faith-based hope.
May God’s peace encourage you as you pursue financial wisdom and depend on His Truth.
Blessings,
Ron
Click here for the video transcript
I think it is very wise to rethink the American way of retirement.
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An entitlement is a very good description, Ron. We have created many of those in our culture. I like the idea of rehirement and seeing how we can be used throughout our lifetime. Keep up the good work!
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