I attend a ‘gospel-centered’ church. We believe the gospel, preach the gospel, share the gospel, worship because of the gospel, and seek to live according to the gospel. To be clear what I mean when I use the word “gospel,” I would point to these definitions of the gospel from Tim Keller: Through the person and … Read more
In a recent chat with a younger friend at church, he expressed a desire to find the right balance in his retirement stewardship. He didn’t use that phrase specifically, but that’s how I understood him. He was talking about his financial resources in general, but planning and saving for retirement is part of that equation. … Read more
I recently did a series of articles describing a simple process for deciding whether you can retire – from a financial perspective. One possible outcome is that you can’t, at least not yet. But even if you can, there is another dimension to consider before pulling the trigger: should you retire? The financial aspects are … Read more
The church that I belong to is going through a pastoral transition this year. That’s because our senior pastor, who is also a good friend, is in the process of turning over the leadership of the church to the younger pastors on staff. He isn’t retiring as he still has a significant role in our … Read more
In the first article in this three-part series on financial planning for retirement, I introduced an approach for answering the all-important question, “Can I retire?” The article focused on the first step: Calculating your essential living expenses in retirement. In this article, I am going to discuss the second major phase of the process: Identifying … Read more
Sooner or later, most of us will ask ourselves this question: “Can I retire?” Perhaps because of an unexpected layoff, a health issue, age, or some other factor, we will need to come up with an answer. No matter what the reason or when you decide to retire, you will need to have some idea of … Read more
2018 is here and the beginning of a new year is when a lot of people do some planning, and perhaps make a resolution or two. If you are five or ten years from retirement, you may be increasingly focused on that. Since my wife and I both reach “full retirement age” as defined by … Read more
The Thanksgiving holiday is almost here. Have you noticed that each year Thanksgiving seems to be more and more about “Black Friday” than Thanksgiving itself? It’s sad to think that, for many, getting a good deal on more “stuff” is at least as important as being grateful for what they already have. Besides, most of … Read more
I get this question fairly often: “When are you going to retire?” Perhaps because I am almost 65 and mentioned that I’m receiving solicitations from Medicare insurance providers in the mail; or, maybe because I’m starting to look my age, I hear it more often than I used to. I usually say that I’m not … Read more
