Back to Work
Did the title of this article (or the image above) surprise you? Perhaps you think I may have rejoined the workforce in a full or part-time paid position?...
Back to Basics
Many books and articles have been written about Christians and money, and some about retirement. This blog is about Christians and retirement, and I often...
Buckets and Ladders
It took me a while to publish this last article (at least I think it's the last one) in this series on bonds, bond funds, bond ladders, and Treasury...
Why a TIPS Ladder?
So far, we've discussed bonds, bond funds, bond ladders, and TIPS in particular. In this article, we'll look at TIPS ladders, which many retirement...
Why Invest in TIPS?
The last three articles discussed why retirees might want to own bonds and possibly individual bonds instead of investing in a bond fund. Bonds come from...
To Ladder or Not to Ladder?
In the last two articles, I discussed how retirees (and others) use bonds as part of a diversified portfolio because of their stabilizing effect in times of...
Individual Bonds or Bond Funds?
Suppose you've decided to keep a portion of your portfolio in bonds, perhaps with a higher allocation percentage than stocks. In that case, you have another...
The Secure Act 2.0 May Have Passed While You Weren't Looking
The Secure Act 2.0 was finally passed as just one part of a massive funding package by the outgoing congress just before Christmas on December 23, 2022, and...
Do Bonds Still Belong in a Retiree's Portfolio?
An important preliminary note: Given what took place in both the stock and bond markets in 2022, I'm starting the new year with a short series of articles...
I Want to Grow Old Like Simeon
A character in the story of the birth and early days of Jesus we often overlook is a man named Simeon. Simeon was a devout Jew who regularly worshiped in the...
Looking Forward to Making Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)
Now that I've reached age 70, I'm looking forward to getting just a little older. Why? Because when I reach age 70½, I'll be eligible to make Qualified...
Received an Inheritance, Now What?
An increasing number of boomer-aged families are receiving inheritances; it's all part of a trillion-dollar transfer of wealth that will happen over the next...
The Four Paths of Retirement
I recently read an interesting study on retirement from A.G. Edwards and AgeWave. It was published earlier this year. The study covered a lot of ground and...
Celebrating an Anniversary, a Birthday, and Reflecting on the Brevity of Life
I recently re-read Tim Challies' article titled "Rule #5: Ponder the Brevity of Life (8 Rules for Growing in Godliness), in which he wrote the following:...
Thinking (But Not Too Concerned) About RMDs
If you read much about retirement finance, you'll see a lot of hyperbolic rhetoric about "Required Minimum Distributions," or "RMDs." You'd think RMDs are...
Navigating Politics and the Culture Wars as an Older Christian
The mid-term elections are nearing, and the next presidential election is only two years away. There's already a significant uptick in the super-charged...
How Sequence Of Returns Affects Your Retirement
I have written about the significant changes in the U.S. and the world economies and how they might impact our retirement portfolios. These changes are not...
Is It a Good Time to Retire?
I have friends who are thinking about retirement. Each has their reasons, but I imagine they may be wondering, "is this a good time to retire?". Some might...
Stewarding Your Digital Assets (Part 3)—Multi-Factor Authentication
Most of my posts focus almost exclusively on retirement stewardship and planning issues but with a holistic approach (time, talents, treasure, and...
Am I a 'Guru'?
Off the bat, I want to make clear I'm talking about the word 'guru' here, not the cartoon character "Gru," villain and master of the Minions. However, one...