What does the Bible say about retirement? Not very much. If you ever decide to do a Bible study on this subject, it won't take you very long. The only reference to retirement is found in Numbers 8:25 (NAS): "But at the age of fifty, they [the Levite priests] must retire from service in the work and not work any more."
Sorry pastors, this is not a proof text for the denomination to give you the last handshake 15 years before the rest of your congregation. In the very next verse it says that they were to continue to assist their fellow Levites in performing the duties of the temple.
Unfortunately, this lack of biblical ad vice doesn't help the average Christian couple or individual deal with the "how-tos" of retirement. Without going into specifics, here are some foundational steps to help you plan for the sunset years.
Identify your retirement goals
This is probably the easiest part of planning for your future. Yet statistically the average American adult spends less than ten hours per year planning for retirement, as compared to over 145 hours on shopping for clothes. This is the fun part of planning for retirement. It is where you can dream. Where do you want to retire? When do you want to retire? What do you want to do in your retirement? Sit down with your spouse and develop a list of what you want your retirement years to include. The answers to these questions will change during each decade of your life. In the last ten years be fore retirement you will need to become more specific and realistic with your plans.
Develop a plan
Start with analyzing your current financial position. Ask yourself: Are my present retirement goals realistic? If they are, select the best strategies your family can use to fulfill these goals. It may mean tightening your household budget, managing your savings and investments better, participating in tax-sheltered annuities and IRAs if you are self-employed. Now the hardest step: Follow through with a written action plan. Once you have implemented your action plan, monitor it annually to keep it current.
Figure your income To support yourself at the current lifestyle, you will typically need 70 percent of your pre-retirement income. There are a variety of reasons for lower living expenses. Transportation costs will be lowered by 47 percent from the average of $6,700 per year for gasoline, maintenance, and insurance to an average of $3,600 after 65. However, in our changing social culture, more than a third of retirees are helping their children and grandchildren financially. Of the 36 percent of retirees whose parents are still living, 23 percent are assisting with monetary support.*
Retire your mortgage before you retire
Many Baby Boomers have married and/or purchased homes in their late thirties or early forties and will be saddled with mortgage payments into their seventies. Don't even think of retirement until you have burned the house mortgage. With lower interest rates, change your 30-year mortgage to a 15-year program. If you are closer to retirement than 15 years, add a few extra dollars as principal to your monthly payment. You can't afford a fixed expense like a mortgage in retirement.
Get rid of debt
Pay off your credit and charge cards each month. Currently, the average American family pays over $1,000 per year in interest charges. Turn that interest into a small nest egg of savings during your working lifetime.
Know your Social Security
When the national Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) commonly known as Social Security was enacted in 1935, the average male was expected to live an additional 12 years. Currently, he can be expected to live an additional 20 years. Many people plan for 100 percent of their retirement living expenses from Social Security, forgetting that it was designed only to provide for the basics— shelter, food, clothing, and utilities—not for home mortgages, vacations, and insurances.
Currently, Social Security benefits account for approximately 40 percent of the average retiree's retirement income. With only three workers to every retiree as com pared to 35 workers when Social Security began, the benefits for the Baby Boomers are not going to be the same as for today's seniors. However, don't assume you will never be able to take advantage of this important program. To make sure you will receive the benefits due to you in the United States, complete a Request for Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement (Form SSA-7004) every three years. You can order a free copy of this form by calling 1 -800-772-1213. You will receive a statement of your earning— according to their records—along with a projection of your future benefits. If the earning figures do not compare with your income tax returns, notify the Social Security Administration of these discrepancies.
Take advantage of employee and pre-tax programs
If your employer offers you any of the following retirement programs—401 (k), 403 (b) 457 or any other programs—take full advantage of them as they are one of the best ways to save for retirement. Along with these pre-tax contributions, your employer may make a matching contribution. Unfortunately, many employees (up to 75 percent in some organizations) fail to take advantage of this program and over a 40- year working career, this could mean a retirement financial loss of over $200,000. It is crucial that you no longer delay retirement savings. The best method is to arrange to have automatic withdrawals taken from your paycheck.
Save regularly and early
This is not as hard as it seems, but it does demand action; and the earlier the better as the following illustration indicates. If your goal is to have $300,000 in the bank when you retire at age 65, the best age to begin is 25. If you contribute $200 per month until you are 30, you will have saved $12,000. If you do not save another cent, assuming an annual interest rate of 8 percent, you will reach your retirement financial goal. If you wait until you are 35, you will have to make those $200 per month contributions until you are 50 and you will have contributed $36,000. If you begin to save the same monthly amount at age 45 you'll have to save nearly $65,000 over the next 27 years to acquire the same $300,000.
Retirement need not mean inactivity
In the past, most individuals and families in the U.S. felt quite secure with Social Security, a pension, and some personal savings; but in the future, the majority of Americans will have to add a fourth leg to their retirement stool—a job. This might not be all bad. We have a tendency to see financial planning for retirement through society's eyes rather than biblical eyes. God's message to Adam and ultimately the whole human race was "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground" (Gen. 3:19, NIV). The NIV rendering of the only text in the Bible about retirement concerning the Levitical priests gives this emphasis: "They must retire from their regular service, and work no longer. They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting" (Num. 8:25,26). Ellen White has this counsel: "My brethren in the ministry, it is better, far better, to die of hard work in some home or foreign mission field, than to rust out with inaction"(The Retirement Years, 39). Perhaps retreading into a ministry for the church or service for the community could be God's dream for our retirement years.
In fact, a recent study by Harvard University proves the point. The research study involved two groups of 100 Harvard graduates between the ages of 65-75. The first group retired at age 65 while the other group continued to be employed for an other ten years. The results are a warning for those whose purpose in retirement is a life of ease and pleasure. In the first group— those who retired at 65, seven out of eight were dead by age 75. In the second group of 100 men who continued to work—only one out of eight was deceased by age 75.
Here are a few tips to find a job or ministry you would love to do after you officially "retire".
1. Pick a field you love. It could be turning your favorite hobby or some special skill into a part-time paycheck.
2. Volunteer to work in an area of interest to you. Attend night classes at the local community college to increase your knowledge in a prospective field of interest.
3. Search the employment bulletin boards on the Internet or find out what skills companies are looking for or look for those companies that love hiring gray heads.
Remember, if you are still here at 65, God isn't done with you. In fact, your most fruitful years of service may still be ahead of you.
Slightly edited and reprinted with permission from The Stew Pot, a monthly publication produced by Adventist Stewardship Ministries of the Pacific Union Conference. Director and editor: Gordon Botting, vol. 3:4., April 1998.
* Money, November 1997.
