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Retirement Thoughts

Over the past two days I have had 4 separate conversations with 4 different people/couples concerning finances. Therefore, I thought I would post a few of my thoughts concerning financial planning and preparing for retirement. Please remember that I am neither a personal finance planner, nor the child of a personal finance planner so you should takes these thoughts as what they are – the ravings of a minister who thinks he is a fan of personal finance information but is probably off his block.

The Bible & Retirement

So first let’s talk about the Bible and retirement planning. I’ve heard some believers in Jesus say that you shouldn’t plan for retirement because retirement is an unbiblical concept. I’m going to disagree with part of this belief. I do agree that the idea of retirement as luxury and self-interest is unbiblical. We were created with work as a part of who we are –  “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). I don’t see anything in scripture indicating that we will ever reach a point in our lives where we will live out the cultural fantasy of just sitting our drinking mai tai’s on a eternal vacation just focused on ourselves. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the amount and nature of work can’t change as we get older. Retirement can mean that you have planned in such a manner that you no longer have to work just to make ends meet. This frees one up to volunteer and work jobs that benefit our communities. Most of the retirees I know aren’t retired in the mai tai selfishness manner, but instead in the “I am free to volunteer” manner and the community I live is better because of them. Some of the busiest people I know are retirees who live our the “I am free to volunteer” mindset.

I’ve also heard a few people use the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21) to say that a Christian shouldn’t save for retirement. After all the passage ends with Jesus stating “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” But this sentence isn’t an either/or statement and this parable isn’t telling us not to save. This parable isn’t about retirement planning. Retirement planning in Ancient Near Eastern Hebrew life was focused on land and family. The rich fool already had barns in which to store, presumably, enough grain for him to live. He had what would be necessary to take care of himself,  but he wanted bigger barns for more grain. He wanted to have enough to do nothing but “take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” This parable isn’t about retirement planning. It is about greed.

At least that is what Jesus tells us, at the very beginning of the passage, the parable is warning us against, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Planning for our future isn’t a lack of trust in God, but we have to watch out for saving in such a manner that our trust is actually in our “abundance of possessions” rather than in Jesus. We must focus on being “rich toward God” while we are still planning for a future without as much income for support.

My Advice – Start Early

So let’s talk practicals, and my first practical bit of advice is to start EARLY. Time is your friend when it comes to investing for retirement. The earlier you start the better. For the first 5 years that Pam and I were married one of us was in school. This meant that one of was earning the income for the family and paying for the other person’s schooling. These were very lean times for us. After those first 5 years we were both out of school, but it was important to us that one of us was home with Adam (and then Noah), so we maintained a single income. The thing was that now that single income was supporting a family of four.  Once again lean times.

Still we contributed to our retirement plans. There wasn’t much left for us to contribute after giving to God’s work and expenses, but we still managed to put a little bit each month into our retirement. Time has been our friend. Our small contributions from those lean times have thus far grown 4 to 5 times the value of our contributions.

Time is on your side so start early. If you are 18 years old or older and earn income you can setup a Roth IRA. The beauty of a Roth IRA, beside tax free withdrawals when you retire, is that the funds you contribute to your Roth can be withdrawn in case of an emergency after 5 years. This is just for the funds you contribute, not the earnings. Thus a Roth can also count as an extended emergency fund. That’s an additional benefit, and everyone needs an emergency fund (I would encourage you to have a real emergency fund that isn’t your Roth and only use your Roth is things every get REALLY desperate).

I’m hitting hard on starting early because I deal with a number of young people through Tapestry and chaplaining. Please start early. I believe the disciplines of giving money to God’s work (we usually call this “tithing”), charitable giving, and saving for retirement are not only helpful in the long run, but they also help to develop a mindset concerning money that helps a person to control their finances rather than being controlled by their finances.

My Advice – Get Your Match

My second bit of advice is to not give up free money. If you work for a company that matches part of you income that you put towards retirement then you should put in at least what is necessary to get that match. For example, the company that I chaplain through, Corporate Chaplains of America, and the denominational state convention of which Tapestry is a part, the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, both match part of my contributions to Guidestone. There are other companies whose funds outperform the funds that I am able to get through Guidestone and other companies whose fees are less expensive than Guidestone, but not many that outperform my funds in Guidestone when you add the matching to my performance. Employer matching is free money and it takes a really terrible investment fund for it not to be worth at least putting the minimum in to get the matching.

Now this doesn’t mean I believe you should put all your money into the employer funds from which you get matching. Put what you need to get the matching and then consider other funds whose expenses are less and/or whose funds perform better. Even better, if you are at a point when you need it (remember we are not to trust in and develop an “abundance of possessions”) max out your company 401k (403b in my case), where you hopefully get matching, and max out a Roth IRA at a low cost high performing fund group (My personal recommendation is Vanguard or Fidelity)

My Advice – Go Low Cost

Many people will tell you that they can manage your money better than the market, and they will charge handsomely you for the privilege of letting them do so. Warren Buffet, who knows a thing or two about investing, doesn’t subscribe to that belief. His recommendation is that we buy low cost index funds.  He just won a bet, and gave it to charity, proving his thought that the index funds would do better than the hedge funds against which he bet. Low cost index funds usually outperform high cost managed funds.

Index funds just match components of various market indexes. To quote CNN Money indexes …

have been set up to track how a particular part of the stock market – or the stock market as a whole – is doing. There are indexes that track large-cap companies, small-cap companies, the entire stock market and so on. One of the most common indexes is the Standard & Poor’s 500, known as the S&P 500, which represents a broad cross section of 500 large American companies.

Index funds are boring. You buy them and forget about them. They are also usually cheap, and cheap is very good (You can buy some that’s aren’t cheap and you should probably avoid them). An index fund may rarely outperform the market but it also doesn’t charge you 5% on the front end and then 1% yearly. For example, Vanguard’s 500 Index fund has an expense ratio of 0.04%. Your actual return will very often be much greater on a boring fund that does what the market does but costs you little, versus an excited managed fund that may look like it makes a great return (though often it doesn’t) and then drops your actual return with lots of fees.

In addition to index funds I think people should use age targeted/target date funds. These are funds that adjust your investment strategy based on your age. For example, one of my funds operates under the belief that I will retire in the year 2035. As an investor I should become more concerned with safety as I get closer to that date. I can adsorb more risk early on in my investing than I can later.  A target date fund adjust its investing philosophy from risk to safety as I get closer to retirement.

In Conclusion

So here’s what I would like to say to wrap all this up – I believe every household should spend a little time each week thinking about how they are using and how they want to use their money. If we never think about such things then we won’t be purposeful in our finances. You don’t have to spend a ton of time thinking about your money (in fact, I would encourage you not to spend a ton of time doing so). Maybe 30 minutes a week asking some simple questions, like “did we use our money wisely this week?” Retirement should be one of the questions you address every so often. There are plenty of resources out for help concerning finances and retirement. For now I will simply list a few podcasts that I listen to concerning the subject:

NOTE – The above podcasts are in alphabetical order and not in order of greatness, except for Clark Howard. Yes “C” is before “M” but if this was order of greatness the Clark Howard Podcast would be first. Clark is the best!

BTW, remember these are just the ravings of a minister who likes reading and thinking about personal finances. If you are fool enough to do any of the things I suggest and they work then the credit goes to you. If you are fool enough to do any of the things I suggest and they bomb on you, well, that’s your fault too. 🙂

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Billy Bass & Alexa Connected

This is absolutely wonderful. I’m fairly sure that Pam would be fine with me buying a Billy Bass and connecting our Echo to it for this purpose. Right, Pamela?

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I May Not Do Much Right, But I Marry Well.

I probably shouldn’t make a big deal about this because Pam has been published before, both academically and non-academically. Still Pam is dang impressive.  Today she had researched published in the ASHA (American Speech – Language – Hearing Association) journal. HERE’s the article abstract (or you can pay $30 to read the whole thing).

As I said in the title, I marry well.

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The Word for the Week is Narrative

There are things I read and podcasts and lectures that I listen to concerning various subjects that often become a part of any chaplaincy or pastoral conversation I have. This week the word that is continually fitting into my conversations is “narrative”. Specifically I have been talking about the stories that we tell ourselves and others of the events we experience and live through. Those stories determined so much of how we interpret what happens around and to us.

Are we a victim or a survivor? Am I a hero or a villain? How I perceive myself effects how I interpret my experience.

I’ll probably write more about this after I have thought about it for awhile. Basically we are very much the product of the stories we tell about ourselves and the events we are a part of.

One of the reasons for this is a segment from the wonderful podcast To the Best of Our Knowledge. The segment is “The Positive Side of Pain“.

SIDE NOTE – An unrelated and equally awesome podcast is Hidden Brain.  I listened to their episode concerning poverty and “mental bandwidth” this week and it was wonderful. Here it is – “Tunnel Vision“.

SIDE NOTE – I regularly see wild turkeys in our neighborhood while walking Clive but today there were three toms blown up and strutting in the road. Unfortunately you can barely see them in this video. You can see the turkeys, just not when they were strutting.  The annoying mic noise comes from the fact that I had my earphones in and the earphone mic was rubbing against my jacket.

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An Amendment to Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell

Dante’s Inferno is poetry not theology so I’m not quoting it as an actual description of the residence of eternal damnation. Still I wouldn’t be surprised if my amendment to his poem was actually reflective of the eternal desolation. 🙂

  • First Circle – Limbo – For the unbaptized and virtuous pagans
  • Second Circle -Those overcome by lust
  • Third Circle – Those overcome by gluttony
  • MY AMENDMENT – The plow driver who leaves heavy, wet, slushy snow at the end of my driveway.
  • Fourth Circle – Those overcome by greed
  • Fifth Circle – Those overcome by wrath
  • Sixth Circle – The heretics
  • Seventh Circle – Those who practice violence against their neighbors, themselves, art, nature, or God
  • Eighth Circle – Those who practiced fruad
  • Ninth Circle – The treacherous

I am genuinely thankful for the snowplow drivers when I am on the road, but oh how I loath them when I see the pile of snow at the end of my clean driveway. Especially when it has sat there for awhile. My back also isn’t a fan of them.

Yes Sir, we are going for a walk!

SIDE NOTE – I guess the good side is that Clive has enjoyed the massive amount of Spring snow that we have received today. He didn’t really care that I protested that there was too much snow for a walk. “If my short self can walk through it then you can walk through it Buttercup, so get your boots on!” Yes sir Mr. Basset Hound.

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Go To Church Tomorrow … And Invite Someone

The Main Grain’s Firecracker Rolls are proof that God loves us. 🙂

I am not real good as a pastor at reminding people to invite others to church. I should be better about it because studies have shown that if you invite someone to church there is a really good chance they will say “yes”. I think my problem is that I believe that if something is helping you then you just naturally want to share it with others. A lot of my friends now wear Darn Tough Vermont socks because I love them and recommend them to everyone. Many of my friends now use Ting Mobile because they were the first cellphone company I ever actually liked and therefore I encourage others to try them out. Several of my friends now use Robinhood because I found trading stocks for free on it enjoyable. If I see you at Emy J’s on a Wednesday there is a pretty good chance that I will give you a Firecracker roll from The Main Grain because I love them and want everyone else to love them too. Like I said, I believe people naturally invite others to be a part of things that are good for them, and I know people are finding that God does things in their lives through Tapestry because people tell me this.

That’s why today I have already invited 3 people to come to church tomorrow and I’ve only been to The Companion Shop to pick up treats for Clive and to Kwik Trip to buy some peanut butter cookies that were on sale (both of these are places that I love and would recommend). I’ve also invited people via Facebook. I remember to do this personally but I forget to encourage others to do this. I’m really not that great of a pastor.

Anyhow I would like to encourage you to go to whatever church that you connect with tomorrow and to invite someone else to go with you. People are looking for meaning and purpose, in my opinion because we were created with a purpose – to be in relationship with God. So often people look for meaning and purpose in things that can’t actually provide said things. I end up hearing lots of conversations about people looking for ultimate meanging in something that can’t possibly provide such meaning. The church can be messed up sometimes, I don’t deny that. Yet at its core it is about connecting with Jesus and that is an awesome thing. In my opinion that is our ultimate meaning.

We were meant to be connected with Jesus. There are so many things around us and in us that keep that from happening. From our sins, to the evil around us, to the seemingly small distractions, there are so many things that keep us from enjoying communion with God, and with each other. Resurrection Sunday is about Jesus defeating all those things.

Death – defeated.

Sin – defeated.

Evil – defeated.

Things that can’t provide meaning – defeated.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

That’s why I want to encourage everyone to go to church tomorrow (even if you haven’t been in years or ever), and to invite others. You were meant to be loved by God and to love Him back. Resurrection Sunday (i.e. Easter) is God proving that He wasn’t going to allow anything to get in the way of that love.

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Good Friday

I am fairly sure that my celebration of Easter weekend is defined by singing all but the last verse of “Were You There” during our Tenebrae gathering on Good Friday or Maundy Thursday and then singing the final verse  (the resurrection verse) on Resurrection Sunday. The video above is from Tapestry singing the song a few years ago at one of our normal worship gatherings.

“The God of freedom, the true God, is… not recognized by his power and glory in the history of the world, but through his helplessness and his death on the scandal of the cross of Jesus”

Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God: The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology

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Maundy Thursday – Place of Peace Meal

It doesn’t always work out this way but I do love it when it does work out for Tapestry to do the Thursday night Place of Peace meal on the Maundy Thursday of Holy Week. This year it worked out, so tonight we made, served, and the ate the Place of Peace meal with everyone who was there. Maundy Thursday is when the church traditionally commemorates the Jesus washing the disciples’ feet (the Maundy) and the Lord’s Supper. I simply can’t think of a better way to remember our Lord’s service and death until He comes again than to be a part of the PoP meal.

It was a wonderful night and a great way to lead into tomorrow night’s Tenebrae Gathering. If you don’t have a Good Friday service consider joining us for the evening. We’ll be at the Smith Scarabocchio Art Museum.

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For those of you who may be curious, the guys who were the focus of Protect Tuna Casserole were there tonight and they were thrilled by the tuna casserole that the Glaze’s brought. Also Project Memories has been initiated.

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Project Memories

Back in December I posted about Project Tuna Casserole, where I asked a “thread” to make tuna casserole for a group of guys at the Place of Peace meal who hope for tuna casserole each week. Two weeks from now Tapestry is providing the meal for Place of Peace again and the tuna casserole is again planned for the evening, but as of tonight I have a new project to add to Project Tuna Casserole. I am calling it Project Memories (Memories has to be sung in an overly dramatic manner like the song “Way We Were”).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Ruh0ewBVo

Tonight as I was leaving the Place of Peace meal one of the regulars, about my age or a little older, grabbed my arm. This isn’t unusual. My whole purpose at the meal each week is to be there simply to pray and talk with people. Very often the conversations I have with people start by me walking one direction and someone grabbing my arm to pull me another direction. So I thought this was just going to be a prayer request. She started off by saying ” I have what may seem a weird request.” Okay, nothing really strange there. That is often how conversations with me start out. She then said “do you know anybody who can teach me how to scrapbook?”

I can honestly say that I have never been asked that question.

Between chaplaining and pastoring I get lots of requests for help and resources, but scrapbook never been one of those requests. She added that she wanted to organize her pictures because she was afraid she was beginning to loose them and the memories of them. That sounds like something that someone can help with and I have no doubt that this lady would be very grateful for the help.

So Sunday I will be asking at Tapestry if someone would like to help one of the regulars at Place of Peace in learning how to scrapbook. I’m fairly sure Jesus was never a Creative Memories consultant but I think He will be pleased with this effort.

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The Enemy of Knowledge

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.

During a report on his death I heard this quote  attributed to Stephen Hawking.  I can’t find an attribution for Hawking, though I did find a Quote Investigator article discussing the quote’s origin, attributing it to historian Daniel Boorstin with earlier influences saying basically the same thing. No matter who wrote/said it I really like the point that is being made.