- God intends that we be productive. So plan something later in life that you can do to earn a living. If you’re a school teacher and you don’t think you can continue teaching school beyond age 65, take up woodworking. If you’re a plumber and you don’t think you can plumb beyond 65, take up school teaching. It’s amazing to me that plumbers retire and want to teach school, and teachers retire and want go into plumbing. But it’s important that you find a way to keep productive.
- Be prudent. As Proverbs 27:12 says, “A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, the naive proceed and pay the penalty. “Obviously, you are going to get older. The alternative to getting older is not a good one. Plan for it and lay aside some money for the future. If you’re living on such a small income that you have no choice and you cannot put any money aside for the future, God can still provide you.
- Don’t rely totally on Social Security. When Social Security began in 1935, there were 17 contributors for every person drawing from it. Right now there are approximately 7 contributors for every person drawing form it. By the year 2000, we will be down to about 4 people contributing for every person drawing, and by 2015, there will be approximately 2,5 people contributing for every person drawing from the system. That is impossible. Don’t do all of your retirement planning around Social Security. It should be a supplement only. There is no way that the system can continue without some changes. A simple solution that will make Social Security solvent again would be to rise the minimum retirement age to about 95!
What about company retirement plans? You need to evaluate your company retirement plan to see if it meets your needs, but let me caution you. Many large companies borrow money from the employees’ retirement plan. If the company fails, and many companies do, they can bankrupt the retirement plan at the same time. If I were with a large company, I would check to see how much they have borrowed fro the plan.
What can you do if you find the company is heavily in debt to the retirement plan? Write the company leadership and tell them of your concern, and I probably wouldn’t do all of my retirement planning around that plan.
One last thing about retirement: I believe that the best potential retirement plan for anybody is the ability to earn a living after 65 to 70 years old. I would encourage you to begin looking for an alternative vocation after you retire. I’d recommend going to a good vocational school and studying a trade in your spare time. Pick one that you would like to do, such as electricity, plumbing, air-conditioning, or refrigeration. We’re a service-orients society, and as long as you can provide a service, you can always earn a living. It’s just a matter of finding one that you like to do and you’re good at. Just try to hire someone to come in your house to change the washers in your faucets, and you’ll discover how difficult and expensive it is.
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