Should Christians Save For Retirement?

Recently I had the distinct privilege of sitting down over dinner and talking to a young missionary couple.  Knowing that I have a background in theology and ministry, and making a living in the world of finance, they wanted to pick my brain and see what I thought about the idea of them saving up for retirement.  For the missionary society they are a part of requires that they set aside a certain percentage of their income for this purpose.  And in doing so, they have received some criticism from other Christians (and even other missionaries), for having any savings at all, let alone saving up enough money to one day retire.

I found this question very interesting, because when you and I think of missionaries, we typically think of extraordinary men and women of faith who boldly immerse themselves in remote parts of the world for the purpose of sharing the Gospel.  We don't think of people who plan on retiring from the missions field like people who will retire from their jobs.

We think of people who are putting their entire life on the line to go to the utter ends of the earth to answer the call they feel God has placed on their lives.  We tend to think of missionaries as extremely spiritual people who live very close to God, as the nature of their job requires of them.  When we think of missionaries, we think of people who will go somewhere, spend their life in a remote part of the world, and ultimately die there.  We seldom think of people who eventually come off the field, returning home physically and mentally exhausted, and spending the final years of their life in retirement.

As I pondered in my mind how to respond to this couple, I reflected on how we as the Church are often far too "spiritual" about practical matters of every day life.  And too often we "shame" people for how they handle practical matters, such as their personal finances, and for failing to demonstrate the "faith" we associate with handling finances.

We claim of ourselves that we are acting with a wisdom and faith not of this world, and we work up this great cosmic drama in our minds that God is somehow testing us in the area of how we handle money.  And we reason that if we don't respond in some irrational way (like paying our tithe instead of our mortgage), then we aren't really putting our faith in God as we ought, and that everything in our life is going to come unglued as a result of our failing to act "in faith."

As a result of such broken thinking, we misuse the Bible to shame the practice of saving money or retiring.  Real wisdom and faith, as taught by some, is in living paycheck to paycheck, and practically speaking, being constantly broke as a result.  Such people often quote the famous parable Jesus taught about the rich man who built large barns for himself so that he could live a life of ease and pleasure, but did not have the foresight to see that his life would be required of him earlier than he thought, and was called a "fool" by the Lord for so handling his finances, and not living a life of generosity.  Thus, we are told by some who so mishandle this parable, that the Lord condemns saving, or condemns retirement planning.

Never-mind the Bible is full of examples of great men of faith who not only possessed wealth in both the Old and New Testaments, but also made practical preparations in regard to the future, and were able to be a source of blessing to others who were without as a result of such practical thinking.  Joseph knew a famine was going to hit the world, and used his seven years of plenty to prepare for the lean times ahead.  Or consider how when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, how He not only provided enough to feed the multitude, but He sent people away with extra to eat on for the next few days.  Or consider how in the book of Acts, there were believers who were able to sell possessions and property at a profit, and were able to share their wealth with the poor as a result of all the saving and investing they had previously done.

But with all this said, we need not get in some great theological war as to whether or not Christians (or missionaries!) should save for the future and plan for some form of retirement.  If they have the means and ability to, I believe a Christian can and should save for the future, and plan for retirement. The way I see it, the question of saving and retirement to me isn't so much a question of one's theology or spirituality, as it is simply about living a very practical life.

To question whether or not a Christian should try to save and plan for retirement is like questioning whether or not a Christian should own a refrigerator.  Stop and think about it: Why do you own a refrigerator? Is it not because you buy food in bulk at the grocery store, and plan on keeping it for a few days, if not longer?  Or if you see a great deal on meat, do you not buy some extra meat, and come home and wrap in up in a freezer bag and store it for future consumption?

For those of you who think it is a sin or unspiritual to save and plan for retirement, how would you feel if a Christian guilt tripped you over owning a refrigerator and buying food in bulk?  If you are truly living by faith, should you not go to the grocery store every single day and buy food and make it fresh?  Should you refuse to stick a lasagna in the refrigerator so that you and your family can eat off leftovers later this week?  Do you not trust God to provide you with "daily" bread?  Why is it then that you have a refrigerator in your house?  O Christian, where is your faith???

Of course, no Christian thinks it is a sin to own a refrigerator (well, except for the Amish).  For us owning a refrigerator is just practical and common sense.  We own refrigerators, not only for the convenience of avoiding excessive trips to the grocery store, but so we can stretch out our dollar and make food last for a longer period of time than it would otherwise naturally last.  And in doing so, we are taking the "daily" bread that God has provided for us in the present, and using it to make provision for the future.  It's a simple matter of practicality.  Indeed, not owning a refrigerator would be seen by most as an unwise and foolish decision.

And if we unquestionably make use of refrigerators and freezers when it comes to food storage, should we not make use of savings, retirement accounts, and other investment tools when it comes towards handling money? Why is it that we see a refrigerator as common sense, but we see saving for the future as some great acid test of faith?  Far from being an issue of spirituality, worldliness, or sin, saving for the future is simply a matter of common sense and practical wisdom.

I advised this young missionary couple that I thought it would be wise for them to save for the future and to plan for eventual retirement.  Even should they die out on the mission field and never retire, the money they saved could be used to pay for their funeral, or to bless others in the form of an inheritance.  Such was like many missionaries in the course of history, who went to the mission field, and brought a coffin with them wherever they moved.  They knew they were going to die on the field one day, and they made practical arrangements ahead of time for their death.  Such wasn't an issue of spirituality and faith to trust God with the mans of providing them a proper burial, but such was simply a matter of practical wisdom and common sense.

We as the Church need much more common sense and practical wisdom.  We need less pseudo-spirituality that masks itself as wisdom.

The Power of "Mad Money"

Do you notice your monthly checking and savings account balance trending downward month after month?

If so, you probably have a spending problem.

"But where does it go?" you may ask. After all, like a lot of people these days, you probably pay most, if not all of your bills online. And apart from some seasonal fluctuations in your utilities, your monthly expenses are pretty much the same.

So why doesn't the balance in your bank account increase?

If you are like me (or most people), you probably don't carry around a check ledger and record every single transaction. You spend pretty freely, guessing how much money you have in the bank on any given day, and primarily rely on periodic balance updates or warnings that get sent electronically to your e-mail or phone to alert you of any extreme transgressions.

And as a result, it is only towards the end of the month when you realize that you overspent.

The truth is (of which there is a lot of research to back up), if you use your ATM/debit card to make all of your purchases, you will tend to underestimate how much you actually spend compared to how much you truly spend. Using your ATM/debit card, you feel wealthier than you actually are, and you tend to spend more freely.

If you are trying to live off a budget (as we all should), then this is a REALLY bad method of controlling your personal finances. For example, let's say that you allow yourself $300 a month in "discretionary spending" on things such as shopping, eating out, going to Starbucks, date money, and entertainment. The chances are, if you rely on your ATM/debit card for the bulk of these purchases, you are probably going to blow your discretionary spending fund.

Don't feel bad, such is simply how human nature responds to plastic bank cards.

Being recently married, I found out that two people jointly using this method of personal finance tends to have a "multiplier effect," and it makes it all the more clear that this is a really bad way to manage finances. For example, on Friday I might go out to lunch with the guys at work, and on my wife's way home, she might swing by Target for an item or two. Then I might swing by Redbox, pick up a movie, order a pizza, and settle in for a lazy Friday evening.

But, before you know it, we've spent $100! Yet, each of us feels like we have only spent half of that. And we are only talking about how we handled our finances for one Friday out of the month. We still have the rest of the month ahead of us, in which we will likely repeat a similar pattern of destructive financial behavior!

Just imagine how well that plays out in the long run. It's a great way to become broke... and fast!

But, imagine how it could be better. Putting our heads together, my wife and I implemented a new strategy for controlling our monthly expenses.

Now, instead of using our ATM/debit card for our discretionary spending, we take out some cash at the start of every month, divide it between the two of us, and we call that our "MAD MONEY."

Under our new system, we take our monthly "mad money" and use it for all of our discretionary spending. Once we run out of the cash we took out, that's it... no more mad money to spend. When my wallet is empty, my hands are tied and I no longer have anything to freely spend. If I want to buy anything else, I need to ask my wife to borrower some of her "mad money," and vice versa.

The end result of our little experiment has been that since we've implemented our "mad money" system, every single month we've seen our bank balance increase.

And while we have not completely eliminated using our ATM/debit card in our discretionary spending category, that's ok. We've made significant progress in this arena, our behaviors are changing, our savings are growing, and we are going in the right direction.

Remember: Personal finance is a journey, not a destination.

I believe that simply keeping cash on hand will change not only the way you spend your money, but how much you spend, and help you grow your bank account balance in the process! Try it out, and let me know how it works. See if it won't make a difference.