cjcagle
This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE) series. It was initially published on July 10, 2019, and updated in December 2025 I recently helped a friend evaluate an annuity product he was considering for part of his retirement savings. Like many of us, he wanted to protect some of his assets … Read more
You may have noticed that it’s been a while since I posted an article on this blog. That’s because my wife and I have been away on an extended vacation out west visiting the “Big 5” National Parks in Utah: Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce, and Capitol Reef. We also spent several days at the Lake … Read more
As a reader of this blog, you know that we hold to the position that the Bible teaches that it’s good to wisely save and invest for the future, including a time in “retirement” (Prov. 6-11, Prov. 21:20), and also to be “rich toward God” by “storing up treasures in heaven” (Luke 12:21; Matt. 6:19–21). … Read more
I occasionally get the opportunity to talk about stewardship and money with young people (high school and college age). I am always grateful to get the chance and I always enjoy the interactions. We are near the end of the school year, a time when many will be graduating from high school or college. So … Read more
A few years ago, a University of Chicago college professor named Harold Pollack remarked that everything you really needed to know about personal finance could be fit on a single 3×5 inch index card. Someone asked him to prove it, the result went viral, and Pollack actually ended up co-writing a book about it called … Read more
I was recently surprised to see a couple of words being used together in an article that I might not have expected to see: retirement and grief. You may be thinking, “What!? Grieving over retirement? No more daily commute, an unreasonable boss, or long hours and low pay? The freedom to do whatever I want? … Read more
In this second of two articles on my stewardship practices, I discuss my saving, investing, and protecting (insurance) approaches. The stewardship principles that are most applicable to these areas are as follows: There are a few other more granular ones that apply here and there, which I will highlight in the appropriate sections. My practices … Read more
One of my pastors and I recently taught a class on stewardship at our church. In one session, a young couple in the class asked about vacations. The question wasn’t very specific, and I took it as “is it good stewardship to spend money on vacations?” It was a reasonable and sincere question as money … Read more
This article is part of the Biblically-Informed Framework for Retirement Stewardship (BIFRS). It was initially published in February 2019 and updated in February 2026. Author and speaker Chris Hogan, who was once part of Dave Ramsey’s team, wrote a book titled Everyday Millionaires as a follow-up to his earlier book on retirement, Retire Inspired. The … Read more
