One of the hard realities of life in our fallen world is aging. Although we live in a culture that celebrates—and sometimes idolized—youthfulness, ironically, everyone is getting old. Some are just older than others. The young may feel as though they will stay young forever, but they won’t. And older people who have been blessed … Read more
In this, the third and final article in this series on annuities, I am going to look at variable annuities. Although sales of fixed index annuities have recently outpaced variable annuities, they remain very popular among new annuity purchasers. Also, since you may be pitched one by your friendly insurance rep or financial advisor, I … Read more
In my last article, I looked at immediate fixed-income annuities and discussed whether I might want to include them as a part of my overall retirement income plan. Guaranteed payments for life are their strong suit (helps mitigate “longevity risk”). But, as I noted, one of my major concerns about immediate fixed-income annuities is that … Read more
I recently helped a friend evaluate an annuity product that he was considering for part of his retirement savings. Like many of us, he wanted to protect some of his assets from gut-wrenching stock market volatility. He also wanted to ensure that he will have sufficient income when he decides to retire in a few … Read more
You may have noticed that it’s been a while since I posted an article on this blog. That’s because my wife and I have been away on an extended vacation out west visiting the “Big 5” National Parks in Utah: Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce, and Capitol Reef. We also spent several days at the Lake … Read more
I occasionally get the opportunity to talk about stewardship and money with young people (high school and college age). I am always grateful to get the chance and I always enjoy the interactions. We are near the end of the school year, a time when many will be graduating from high school or college. So … Read more
A few years ago, a University of Chicago college professor named Harold Pollack remarked that everything you really needed to know about personal finance could be fit on a single 3×5 inch index card. Someone asked him to prove it, the result went viral, and Pollack actually ended up co-writing a book about it called … Read more
I was recently surprised to see a couple of words being used together in an article that I might not have expected to see: retirement and grief. You may be thinking, “What!? Grieving over retirement? No more daily commute, an unreasonable boss, or long hours and low pay? The freedom to do whatever I want? … Read more
One of my pastors and I recently taught a class on stewardship at our church. In one session, a young couple in the class asked about vacations. The question wasn’t very specific, and I took it as “is it good stewardship to spend money on vacations?” It was a reasonable and sincere question as money … Read more
