Well, isn’t that a good question!  How much do you need to comfortably retire? This is a question for which people have been trying to come up with a simple answer for decades. Many think the answer is one million dollars. Others say more. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. There is no exact figure one can come up with to “know” they will be able to comfortably retire. The reason for this is that there are so many unknown variables in the future. 

The biggest unknown variable is that we simply do not know how long we will live. According to the CDC, the average life expectancy for a male in the United States is 73 years, while the average life expectancy for a female is 79 years. However, if you are healthy, it is not difficult to live well into your 80s or even later. One could narrow it down by looking at family history, but you would still not be able to come up with an exact age. 

There are plenty of other unknowns as well, for example, which future laws will change regarding finances. Will taxes increase and if so, how much? Will Social Security still be around when you retire? Other things which need to be considered are what you plan to do in retirement. Do you plan to travel? Will your retired life look simple and modest or will you want to splurge and enjoy some of the finer things in life you did not have time to enjoy when you were working? And then again there are the unknowns about future life circumstances. What will your medical bills be as you grow older? What curveballs will life throw at you that will end up being costly? As you can see there simply is no possible way to determine an exact figure of what your expenses will be in retirement. 

Therefore, I think we need to shift our focus and start asking some different questions.  First, I think we need to take a close look at retirement… 

The traditional form of retirement of working until you are 65, quitting your job, and discontinuing being productive is actually a fairly new concept, and not a good one either.  Many studies have shown that this harsh transition from working full time to lounging full time actually decreases your life expectancy dramatically. I would also argue this is not what God wants you to do with the last years of your life. All throughout the Bible you can read stories of people following God’s will into their old age and they are always working on the mission God has given them. Obviously, this mission changes as their life progresses. The work they would complete in their old age would be appropriate taking into consideration the limitations that come with aging. They would not quit work and sit around using their time only for self-interests.

Even though we may “retire” and leave our career, we should continue the work God has given us to do. There is much work outside of our job or career that God calls us to do. For some of us that might be teaching Sunday School, or serving in a homeless shelter, or coordinating missions teams for overseas trips. For some it may simply be helping to take care of the grandkids or mentoring younger folks through their life challenges. My wife’s grandmother is still alive at the age of 101 and she is still faithfully fulfilling the task that God has currently laid on her heart. She is a prayer warrior who fervently intercedes in prayer on behalf of all her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. She is old and frail but she continues to be used by God in mighty ways on a daily basis.

Now, the fact that we continue to work and serve God in the new ways He has laid out for us does not mean we cannot take advantage of some of the extra discretionary time available in retirement. Maybe you have always wanted to do some traveling. I personally love to travel and see as much of God’s beautiful creation as I possibly can. Perhaps, your hobby is carpentry and in retirement you would like to devote more time to this hobby and maybe even use it to bless God’s children. Maybe you love gardening and experience great enjoyment in caring for your plants which God has also created. Your answer could also be a combination of several of these potentials and more. We are all uniquely created.

Retirement will look different for everyone and will probably change as we grow older. The question we should be asking ourselves in retirement is ”How does God want to use me?” In fact, this is the question we should all be asking whether we are retired or not. You may even find that God doesn’t want you to stay at your job grinding it out until you are 65. Maybe He has different plans for you which will take you on a more fruitful path before you hit “retirement age.”

The question posed in this article is “How much do you need to comfortably retire?” We have now discussed a bit what “retire” could mean and what it shouldn’t mean.  Let’s discuss the word “comfortably.” This really is the operative word in the question. How do we define what comfortable retirement is? We could talk about what kind of house you will live in, how much traveling you will do, what kind of cars you will drive, etc. I would argue that we need to look to

God for this answer. If we closely examine God’s Word and seek God’s mission for us in retirement we will quickly see that God doesn’t as much call us to a comfortable retirement as He is calling us to a fruitful retirement. So, the real question should be “How do we continue to be fruitful in retirement?” The answer to this of course will vary person to person based on their giftings, resources, health, personalities, and more.

Our mission at TRADEway is to help Christian families have more resources to use to further God’s Kingdom. As you know we teach trading in the stock market.  One of the beautiful things about this type of business is that you can easily continue trading when you retire. Just because you leave your job or your career does not mean you need to quit trading too. 

Having developed trading skills has the potential to substantially reduce the amount of money needed to retire. You simply need a smaller lump sum of money if you continue to bring in an income. Imagine how incredible it would be if your funds did not dwindle or decrease in retirement but instead continued to increase as you got older! This is one of our missions at TRADEway.

TRADEway’s AMPT Program aims to help ease the burden of managing your long-term retirement funds. Too many financial advisors are content with leaving your money in the market with a buy and hold mindset. “Hopefully” there will be enough to comfortably retire whenever you hit retirement age. In the AMPT Program we are not seeking to be merely content. We are also not banking on hope. We look to actively manage funds, using the knowledge and skills of a trader, and the wisdom God has given us to position you to carry out the purpose God has for you now and in retirement.

Now, I hope you have realized by now that I am not trying to avoid the initial question, but instead give you a framework of questions you need to ask yourself and prayers you need to ask God so you can make a wise and informed projection for your finances. You will need to estimate at what age you might leave your employment. You will need to consider how long you might live. You will need to have an idea of what life will look like for you when you are retired and roughly what your expenses would be. Will you have any income at all to help counter the expenses? Again, more questions which will take some contemplation and prayer. 

As you can see, the question posed at the beginning is really a myriad of questions. Everyone’s answer will be different. Once you have wrestled and prayed through all of these questions you will better be able to answer the first question. How much do YOU need to comfortably retire?

To learn more about TRADEway’s long-term investment program–AMPT–book a call with one of our incredible reps here.

–David Verbruggen

Speaker, Consultant, Director of Charts & Coach