Now more than ever, pastors ask me questions about fund-raising.
How can we buy a new building?
How do we close our budget deficit?
How do we raise our income to afford another staff member?
Where can we find the money to pay off our debt?
However, those aren’t the most frequently asked questions.
I’m asked questions about raising support for new churches and new ministries. When a ministry starts, the leader needs money for his/her own salary, rent for a building, marketing materials, etc. However, those aren’t my most frequently asked questions.
The most popular questions I’m asked by pastors are about retirement.
“Will I have enough to retire? How much do I need? $1 million? $2 million? Will Social Security be enough? Will it still exist when I retire? Will I outlive my money? What if I have a prolonged illness? How much should I give my kids (even adult ones)? They need to eat — my grandkids do, too. What if the stock market crashes again as it did after 9/11 and in ’08 and ’09? How much can I spend in retirement? Will I need to work part-time? How can I plan with rising health care costs? Is my denomination’s pension secure?”
While some of these issues are common to pastors in the past, many are not.
I’ve found most pastors will be able to retire eventually if they do 4 things: 1) Save 15%+ of their income toward retirement, 2) avoid debt ($1500/mo. in debt payments is $1500/mo. someone doesn’t need to earn to afford the same lifestyle), 3) set goals and 4) most importantly give because that’s how we draw near to God (Malachi 1, 3, Matt. 6).
Even though someone does these productive actions, it is still possible to destroy one’s retirement. I’ve seen the 3 common mistakes pastors make when it comes to retirement. I wouldn’t have guessed pastors would make these mistakes, but they do. It doesn’t matter if pastors do all the right things (the 4 behaviors mentioned above), if they commit these mistakes, their retirement could all vanish or set them back years from retiring or possibly make retirement meaningless. Pastors can save tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars and yet destroy their retirement if they commit 3 common mistakes.
The first of these mistakes is retiring without purpose. Dan Buettner did a TED talk on Longevity entitled, “How to Live to be 100.” The talk found 4 groups of people who had abnormally long lives and not just existing, but active and thriving including taking long walks, gardening, skiing and living healthy, vibrant lives. These groups of people were found in Loma Linda, CA, a community in Costa Rica, a group off the coast of Italy and one outside of Okinawa.
Buettner found four common denominators for these active people who lived vibrantly to over 100 years old. The one which stands out to me is having the right outlook. People who live long, have a purpose for living. Their purpose may be to take care of children or grandchildren or the garden. However, those who lived long knew what they were living for.
There was at least one person in the Bible who didn’t have a purpose. Even though she did everything her employer asked her to do, she was fired. Even though she was faithful and loyal to her husband, he kicked her out of the house. At the time she found out she was pregnant, her husband abandoned her. Even though she was faithful to the Lord, she felt He had abandoned her. This lady was Hagar.
In the middle of her circumstances, God showed up and asked her 2 crucial questions. One was easy to answer and the other was difficult. God asked, “Where did you come from?” She answered quickly and easily. Then He asked the second harder question, “Where are you going?” She didn’t answer that question. I wondered why she would avoid that question and then thought that the answer could be that it’s easier to stay depressed than it is to dream about the future. It’s easier to stay overwhelmed that it is to overcome our obstacles.
So God gave Hagar the answer to this second question and it changed her life. I suggest that before someone enters retirement or before retirement goes further, he/she ask the same question God asked Hagar, “Where are you going?”
So, where are you going?
More specifically, determine the top 5 things you’d like to do in retirement and even in your life. Take 3 minutes to think about it and ask the Lord what He’d have you do (I know this may not be enough time, but it’s a start). Whether you’re 2 or 102, God has a purpose for you here. Otherwise, He’d take you home to be with Him. When I first did this, I wrote and wrote and filled a legal pad. When I reduced the list to 5, I had to eliminate the house on the coast and the BMW and the million-dollar income to get down to 5. However, I don’t want to imply that any of those things are wrong for anyone else.
Let me give you an example from what a 76-year-old lady shared concerning her top 5. They were:
Rid her life of clutter.
Rid her life of mindless worry.
Be a joy-filled encourager to someone else through her positive attitude. This one showed me that her focus was on how she could help someone else and not just about getting someone to serve her.
Help her son pay off ministry debt.
Live a healthy, vibrant and long life.
While I changed some of the details, these 5 “targets” helped direct her focus and energy. My “Top 5” has done the same for me. They have guided me in accepting and rejecting job offers. They have helped me prioritize my calendar. They have guided me in who I talk to in a day and directed me in setting a lifetime, 10-year, 5-year, 1-year, and monthly goals.
You may not be that goal-oriented, but I would encourage you to have some general direction for your life in retirement. Think about what your ideal life would look like. This could promote healthy longevity. The first retirement mistake: retiring without purpose; building big barns and forgetting to be rich toward God (Luke 12). The antidote? Determine your purpose for retiring before you retire.
Live purposefully.