When should you retire? How about age 62 or 65? Maybe you should retire then — but maybe you shouldn’t.
The old idea of working until Social Security starts and then rocking on the porch until the Lord takes you home is gone.
As people live longer, healthier lives, they have more options for how they will spend their retirement years.
But instead of selecting a date to retire, think about the possibilities and determine the time when you will be ready to do the next thing God has called you to do.
Living a life of retirement leisure may sound good now, but more retirees are finding out that as God created them in His image, part of that image is to live a life of service and ministry no matter our age.
Even in the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve the task of tending to the garden. Retirement may include part-time or full-time work, volunteer missions, going back to school, developing a new hobby or fulfilling a dream that there was never time to pursue before.
History is full of examples of people who had their greatest impact on the world after they reached their “retirement years.”
According to Crown Financial Ministries (CFM), though retirement — to many people in society — refers to the time late in life when work ends and enjoyment begins, the majority who look forward to this do not have the means to do it.
Even if they did, statistics show that retirees should be active as long as they are physically able, for the sake of their financial, physical and mental well-being.
Work may be something that is always a part of a retiree’s life by choice.
Work in retirement, however, may be more on your schedule and doing what you find to be meaningful and interesting.
Some retirees will have saved enough to allow them to work or minister without being paid, while others may be in a position to work for pay.
Does this mean a person doesn’t need to save for retirement? Absolutely not.
Retirement investments could be the resource that allows someone to open a new chapter of life.
According to CFM, the best investment of any retirement plan is to put money into having a fully paid-for home.
CFM suggests investing money into paying off the mortgage as quickly as possible. Decisions such as this free up funds that would have been mortgage payments for other uses, savings and otherwise.
In the high-income-earning years — ages 25–60 — people should set aside surplus for use in later years.
In this way, surplus money can be freed up to keep retirees from burdening their children or the government in later years and to allow them to give to God’s work — not cushion them to be able to live in comfort for the rest of their lives.
People tend to forget that they will not be young and highly employable forever, according to CFM.
Companies sometimes lay off employees later in life and replace them with younger, more aggressive employees.
Poor health may also prevent a retiree from working later in life. In either case, he or she would need resources saved earlier in life to meet family financial needs.
Systematic saving is good stewardship. It can allow a person to provide for his or her retirement living expenses, fund future ministry and potentially leave a legacy for family or worthy organizations.
Yes, the face of retirement is changing. Good preparation will allow a retiree to do the next thing God calls him or her to do. (TAB, GuideStone)
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