What are your thoughts on retirement? Biblical?

[tcalbrecht]

My plan is to retire from my current position in about 8 years or so. At that point I will determine whether I want to take on some part time secular work, but that will not be a need.

My income after retirement will not be dependent on Social Security. I plan to have enough income from investments to sustain a comfortable lifestyle for my wife and me. We also plan to leave something to our children on our passing.

As far as activities, my wife and I are at the service of our congregation’s leaders for anything that suits their purpose. That will not change. We plan to travel about, esp. by motorcycle, and share the gospel as God directs. But then again nothing will change from what we are doing today, except we will have more time unconstrained by employment responsibilities. There is no retirement from kingdom service. Even the elderly can perform important deeds for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom.

May God give us the means, health, and strength to carry on His work.

Deo volente - James 4:15

 

[bookslover]

At 55, I've been working at one thing or another since I was about 14, when my first paying job was mowing an old lady's lawn for her.

I'd love to retire but, when I do, my pension will be small enough so that, instead of finally getting some rest and some peace and quiet, I'll probably have to find another job to do.

Besides, as one writer I like to read (John Derbyshire) has said, what with traditional pension plans beginning to disappear, employers are putting all us working stiffs back on the old plan - work until you drop dead! After all, senior executive salaries, perks, and pensions must be protected at all costs!

Retirement? What's that?...

 

[Herald]

At 55, I've been working at one thing or another since I was about 14, when my first paying job was mowing an old lady's lawn for her.

Richard, you're only 55?

 

[Ivan]

At 55, I've been working at one thing or another since I was about 14, when my first paying job was mowing an old lady's lawn for her.

Richard, you're only 55?

Yes, and so am I.

 

[py3ak]

There are many different stages in a human life, and differing amounts and kinds of energy and activity are appropriate in those different stages. Just as we are not required to be 2-year olds all our life, so we are not required to be twenty-year olds, either. If the Lord gives us the great blessing of not being dependent on daily or weekly toil for daily expenses, then it is not necessarily a virtue to go on engaging in that toil.

That being said, everyone does have the responsibility to redeem the time they are given by God. Part of that, though, is the recognition of what is appropriate for our time of life: sometimes it is as well for people to recognize that they are no longer able to carry out their responsibilities as they once could, and so it may be time to look for a new set of responsibilities. The easy example if a person whose job involves a lot of heavy lifting --there will probably come a time when he can no longer hold up his end of things as he should: it's time to step down. The same thing is true with regard to the ministry. Although one of the most enjoyable sermons I've ever heard was from the 86-year-old Gerald Nyenhuis, for many people there does come a time when they are no longer capable of keeping up with the demands of ministry. When Dr. Lloyd-Jones realized he was in that position he went to itinerant preaching and preparing his sermons for publication.

 

[reformedlostboy]

Well, I have quite a few years to work before I retire. I definitely plan to retire from secular employment. Thankfully my employer has replaced the traditional pension plan with an annual check for me to use with my own discretion. The first two years I spent it (and paid dearly for that) but now I have learned the value of investments and mutual funds with IRA's. Thank God for Dave Ramsey! If we stay on the course we are on now our investment will grow to be in the millions of dollars by retirement age. These dollars are for kingdom purposes. The plan is to fund our own missionary journey and spread the gospel in frontier mission fields. I have known that God has placed a distinctive call on my life for mission work for some time now. It is the when that I am not sure of. Lately I have been pondering how I can live radically in the US to the glory of God and fill the calling of husband and father as well. Not an easy balance, I'll tell you.

 

[bookslover]

At 55, I've been working at one thing or another since I was about 14, when my first paying job was mowing an old lady's lawn for her.

Richard, you're only 55?

"She's 68 but she says she's 54..." - "Maggie's Farm" by Bob Dylan