In this article, we are going to consider what role, if any, whole life insurance might play in your retirement income plan. Although the death benefit is still in view, the focus here is on leveraging the cash-value (investment) component to help fund your retirement income stream. More and more retirement planning professionals are emphasizing … Read more
A reader recently asked me to take a look at a retirement planning (funding) method using permanent life insurance espoused by Nelson Nash in his book Becoming Your Own Banker. In addition to the life insurance benefit, the author discusses a “be your own bank” approach to funding major life purchases. He also recommends using permanent … Read more
Well, folks, I have great news: as of today, my new book, Reimagine Retirement: Planning and Living for the Glory of God, has been released by B&H Publishing (LifeWay)! It is a project I have been working on for about 18 months, and I am thrilled to announce that it is available to order from LifeWay.com, Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, … Read more
In case you haven’t noticed, after a relatively “quiet” stretch through most of 2024, volatility has returned to the financial markets in a big way. The stock market was down sharply just the other day. As I understand it, uneasiness about tariff and trade policy, stretched valuations in AI-related stocks, and uncertainty around Federal Reserve … Read more
This article is part of the Biblically-Informed Framework for Retirement Stewardship series. It was Originally published July 24, 2019 and updated December 2025. In my last article, I looked at immediate fixed-income annuities and discussed whether I might want to include them as a part of my overall retirement income plan. Guaranteed payments for life … 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
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
