I recently read an interesting study on retirement from A.G. Edwards and AgeWave. It was published earlier this year. The study covered a lot of ground and was only partially focused on the financial aspects. You may want to read the study in its entirety, but in this article, I’ll touch on its most significant … Read more
This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE) series. It was initially published in October 2022 and updated in December 2025. If you read much about retirement finance, you’ll see a lot of hyperbolic rhetoric about “Required Minimum Distributions,” or “RMDs.” You’d think RMDs are going to sneak up on you and … Read more
This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE) series. It was initially published on June 23, 2021, and updated in January 2026. This is a follow-up to my previous article on the role that immediate income annuities can play in providing additional income for individuals nearing retirement income limits. The focus was … Read more
My newest book, Redeeming Retirement: A Practical Guide to Catch Up, is targeted mainly at those aged 35 to 65 who are behind in saving for retirement (or think they might be). But I don’t ignore those who are already retired and discover (a little too late in some cases) that they didn’t save enough. … Read more
I am very excited to announce that my new book, The Minister’s Retirement, has been released and is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. The following is from the introductory material in the book: “This is a book about planning for retirement targeted specifically at ministers. Granted, most ministers I know would … Read more
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
This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE). It was initially published on July 31, 2019, and updated in January 2026. In this, the third and final article in this series on annuities, I examine variable annuities. The 2025 landscape: Although sales of fixed index annuities have significantly outpaced variable annuities in … Read more
