Gods Money Matters – Articles
Should Christians Save for Retirement or is this a Lack of Faith?
I think it is a fair question, don’t you? For if it is true, and I believe it is, that we should trust God to meet all our needs – then surely this includes our income in retirement – doesn’t it?
After all, scripture says in Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
I’m a big believer that “you are not done until you are dead”. In other words, keep working and contributing to society for as long as you live… I also believe that we should NOT be working for money for our whole lives. For most of us there is no choice – eventually we’ll have to stop working due to failing health or simply that a paying job may not be available.
I DO believe that if we are wise, we can foresee that there will be a time when working for money may not be possible. It’s not rocket science is it? So it seems to me that it would be a reasonable thing to use the brain God has given us to work out a plan where we can stop swapping time for money at some stage.
What does the Bible say?
Proverbs 27:12 talks about a prudent person foreseeing danger and taking precautions, while the simpleton goes on blindly and suffers the consequences.
Back when Jesus was walking on the earth the Jews had a retirement planning system… it was all facilitated through their sons.
It is my understanding that at around age 40 the father would hand the family business over to the sons to run. The sons would expand the business and provide for their direct family’s needs from the business, as well as providing for their parents’ needs. Meanwhile Dad would go and sit at the city gate and hand out wisdom to those that sought it.
We still see evidence of this in the Middle East and Mediterranean culture’s today. However, we don’t see much of it in our western culture. It seems to me that the cultural shift has forced an economic shift with the outcome being the superannuation system.
So what’s the answer? Should Christian’s today save for retirement or is this just a lack of faith?
As I see it, there are only a few options to make sure you have enough for retirement to provide for your needs… either have lots of sons and make sure that they’ll look after you when you’re old… or alternatively put some money away in retirement savings.
If you choose the saving option then the best vehicle in Australia today for retirement savings is superannuation.
If you don’t understand superannuation then you are not alone. What’s needed is some action… there’s no use sticking our head in the sand and thinking the problem will go away. Just do what Solomon recommends in Proverbs 19:20 when he said: “Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.”
Go and get some advice from someone in the know, someone who can help you to understand what you need to know. A good financial planner can help… or speak to a retired friend who shows godly and financial wisdom.
Don’t leave it until it’s too late! The projected future retirement position for most Australian’s is atrocious – and it’s hard to bless others when you don’t have any resources yourself. Certainly you don’t want to end up poor and needy.
God has provided what we need, both through faith and through the abilities he’d given us to do some good planning and provide for the older self we’ll one day be.