How Higher Interest Rates Are Impacting Retirees

In a previous article, I touched on the risk that rising interest rates present to retirees. There are risks—the negative impacts of rising rates—but there are also benefits, especially for savers and retirees. But to the extent that higher rates are usually associated with inflation, the scale tips toward the negatives and less toward the … Read more

Dealing With Financial Risk in Retirement

In the last article, we looked at what I believe to be the greatest risk in retirement: retiring without a clear sense of calling and purpose. But I also mentioned some other risks—the financial ones. The Bible encourages us to take wise precautions as part of good stewardship to protect ourselves from the adverse effects … Read more

Back to Basics

Many books and articles have been written about Christians and money, and some about retirement. This blog is about Christians and retirement, and I often write about money and stewardship. There’s much to say about these topics, but the Bible tells us what is most essential for us to know—not every practical detail about personal … Read more

Why a TIPS Ladder?

This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE). It was initially published on February 8, 2023, and updated in February 2026. As I update this in early 2026, I’m nine years into retirement and increasingly focused on ensuring my portfolio can maintain purchasing power over a 25-30-year retirement horizon. The inflation spike … Read more

Why Invest in TIPS?

This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE) series. It was initially published on February 1, 2023, and updated in February 2026. The previous articles in this series discussed why retirees might want to own bonds and whether individual bonds might be preferable to bond funds. This article examines a unique category … Read more

To Ladder or Not to Ladder?

This article is part of the Retirement Financial Lifestyle Equation (RFLE) series. It was initially published on January 25, 2023, and updated in January 2026. In the last two articles, I discussed how retirees (and others) use bonds as part of a diversified portfolio because of their stabilizing effect during stock market volatility. Bonds can … Read more

Individual Bonds or Bond Funds?

This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE) series. It was initially published on January 18, 2023, and updated in January 2026. Suppose you’ve decided to keep a portion of your portfolio in bonds, perhaps with a higher allocation percentage than stocks. In that case, you have another decision: whether to invest … Read more

The Secure Act 2.0 May Have Passed While You Weren’t Looking

The Secure Act 2.0 was finally passed as just one part of a massive funding package by the outgoing congress just before Christmas on December 23, 2022, and signed into law by the president as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, an omnibus spending bill authorizing roughly $1.7 trillion in new Federal spending (yikes!). You’re … Read more