I recently was asked an interesting question by a church friend concerning his elderly mother. Like many of us, he is a ‘boomer’ and has an 85-year-old mother who currently lives in an assisted-care facility. Her expenses are being paid for by Social Security, a military survivors pension, and long-term care (LTC) policy. Her living … Read more
This article is part of the Biblically-Informed Framework for Retirement Stewardship (BIFRS). It was initially published in January 2018 and updated in March 2026. Here’s the question that eventually confronts everyone who’s been saving and planning for retirement: “Can I actually afford to retire?” It’s not enough to have accumulated substantial Current Wealth if your … Read more
This article is part of the Biblically-Informed Retirement Framework (BIFRS) series. It was initially published on May 6, 2017, and updated in December 2025. I know quite a few people who have taken an early “traditional” retirement. By that I mean they were between the ages of 62 and their Full Retirement Age (FRA). They … Read more
This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE) series. It was initially published on July 24, 2019, and updated in January 2026 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 … Read more
As a financial coach, I often work with folks who are in the accumulation/growth phase of planning for retirement (i.e., 5 to 10 years or more away). Sometimes I come across someone who has either: 1) received a recommendation from their stock broker or insurance salesperson to purchase a fixed-rate, indexed, or variable annuity product … Read more
This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE) series. It is a near-total rewrite of a similar article initially published in 2015. In a brief conversation with a friend after church, the topic of retirement came up. He and I are about the same age. He made a statement that stuck with … Read more
