Why Does Retirement Planning Feel So Overwhelming and Far Away?

Speaker A00:00:00

Going to start off by saying something rather controversial today, and that's this. Retirement planning is not about money. You're probably thinking, oh, Ralph has lost his mind. But just stick with me today.Retirement planning really is about death and it's about your identity. That's why it feels so scary. It's not about math, it's about mortality and it's not about savings. It's what you're going to be when the job is done.And that's exactly what I'm going to talk about on today's show.This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence. Hi there, I'm Ralph. Thank you for joining me on Financially Confident Christian.My goal every day with this show is to help you become a more financially confident Christian. And if you missed yesterday's show, we talked about losing money on those unused subscriptions.You know, those little leaks here and there, the $5 here, the $7 there, hey, maybe the 20 DOL, $25 there. So if you missed that show, I'm gonna encourage you to check it out.You can see all of our shows@financiallyconfidentchristian.com but today we're going to get into something rather controversial. Most financial gurus talk about retirement planning. They start talking about that amount you've got to accumulate by the time you go to retire.And they talk about how much do I need to save, what's compound interest, what do I save it in? I'm not going to talk about any of those things today.Today I want to talk about why retirement planning feels overwhelming and why for so many of us it feels so far away. And like I said, I want to say something controversial because here's the truth and I want you to hear this.The stress usually isn't about the numbers, the real weight. I mean, the things that really keep you up. And listen, I'm speaking for myself. The real weight is mortality and identity.Let's dive into that for just a moment. The truth is, when we think about retirement, what we're really thinking about is Ralph. I've got an endpoint.And see, that's not something that people want to talk about in casual conversation. We don't want to think about there's going to be a day when we're not going to be on this planet anymore.And that is such a heavy weight for so many people. And I truly believe one of the reasons that people don't plan for retirement is they don't want to face that mortality.Listen, that's not an easy thing to face. I'm going to share with you some ideas today in scripture about how to do that. But that's really a big part of it.It's admitting that we have limited days. The other thing I think is huge is identity. Dive into that for a second.The truth is, most of us, our jobs, our career makes up a huge part of our identity. Think about the last time you introduced yourself to someone. Hi, I'm Ralph, I'm an accountant, or hi, I'm Jim, I'm a barber. This is what we do.That's the labels that we've put on ourselves. So those two things are huge. And that's why I truly believe so many people struggle with retirement. Sure. There are financial aspects to this.Absolutely. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it doesn't make sense to start early. It absolutely makes sense to start early.If you've got an employer match, absolutely, you should be putting enough money in to get to that employer match. But in the end, I really don't think that's the big struggle that people deal with.If you want to go find those things, I've done a bunch of shows on them. You can check out my back catalog. All of our shows are@financiallyconfidentchristian.com.just click on the little search icon and enter retirement planning and you'll find all kinds of episodes. But as I was planning this morning, it's kind of a last minute rewrite, to be honest with you.As I was planning this morning, I thought, what can I talk about today that really will be impactful? And that's why I truly believe it's about mortality and identity. And that's why it feels so resistant. That's why you feel so much resistance to this.Well, as I always do, I want to talk about scripture. Let's get right into the book. And It's Psalm, chapter 90, verse 12. And it says this. Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.And I thought Wednesday, as I plan for today's episode, teach us to number our days. What is the Scripture telling us? What is God telling us to do? He wants us to understand that there is an end point.And like I said, most people don't want to face that. But your life has an end point. There's two things that are certain in life, as they say, death and taxes.We'll talk about taxes in a couple days, but death is a certainty. Now. I truly Believe as a Christian that death is just a stepping stone to eternal life.And you know, if you listen to the show every day, you know, that's my big takeaway on most days. I marry two worlds, and that's faith and finances. But what is the scripture going to say number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.And I really think that's the key. We need to have an understanding of wisdom. So here's your action step for today.I always want to give you something that you can use to help you in this process. And I'm going to encourage you right now. Don't start with calculators. Don't start with the traditional.Let me go out online, let me find a retirement calculator. I'm going to live to be 80 years old. This is how many years I have left. This is how much I can set aside every year.That's great, and I'm going to encourage you to do that. But today I don't want you to start there. I don't want you to start with that for a couple reasons. Number one, it can be overwhelming.Maybe you're 50 years old like myself. I'll be 53 in just a couple weeks. Maybe that's you. And you haven't done a great job of planning for retirement.Well, if you put those calculators in, it's just going to make you feel bad about yourself. So I'm not saying don't do anything about it.You're never going to hear Ralph say, look, don't plan for retirement because I don't care how old you are. You can plan for retirement, but don't start there today. I just want to encourage you to start with prayer.And I think prayer is so very important for this discussion today. And just look up to God and say, lord, what do you want me to become in the next season of my life? Because that's really what we're talking about.What does that next season look like? One of my dear friends, and he's actually one of my business coaches, is thinking about retirement.He's going to be getting to that retirement age here. Just a few in a few months, actually. And he and I had a call last week and we were talking about.He goes, ralph, I think I'm finally at the point where I'm thinking about retiring. And it's interesting because I talk about this on the show all the time. I said, okay, well, what's your next step?And he says, what do you mean, what's your next step? He says, ralph, I've got this. I said, no, no, no, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the financial side.Of course there's going to be a financial impact. He's been working for 40 plus years. He's not going to have that every week paycheck or every two week paycheck.But I really leaned into him, I said, what does that look like for you? And that I think is so very important.You've got to start thinking about what does your next season of life look like and ask God to show that to you.And as you're still working and it's one of the things I want to encourage you with today as you're still working, plan for that, what that next season looks like. Because here's something I said not too long ago to a friend of mine.I said, look, if you think retirement's going to be, I'm going to go sit on a couch and do nothing. Guess what? You're not going to last long. God has a purpose for you even in that next season of your life.So I just want to encourage you today I'm not so worried about how much is in your bank account.I, I'm worried about what that next season looks like because that's going to be the benefit of whether you have a successful or a not successful retirement. Start by focusing on your identity. The numbers will make sense. You'll make sense of the numbers. Guess what you're going to do.You're going to adapt to what you have. That's a simple truth.If it means you've got to work a little longer, if it means maybe you've got to pick up a second job or maybe a part time job in retirement, that's great. But what really matters? What really matters? What I see people, what makes the difference in people's lives is their identity.And see money can become a tool in that, but it's not the goal. So many people have lost sight of this. Money is not the goal in retirement, it's your identity. So really think about what does that look for you?Because then your future is a piece of hopefulness. It doesn't feel like this heavy weight on top of you. So again, that's my one action step for them.I'm going to encourage you to just pray about it and say, God, what would you have for this next season of my life? Well, as I'm talking about prayer, how about we pray together? Father, we just thank you for reminding us our days are in your hands.Lord, and they're numbered. We really lean into the scripture today to know that. And we ask for you to give us wisdom. As the psalmist says, give us wisdom to plan well, Lord.Give us wisdom and give us courage to trust you fully, to help us identify what you want for this next season of our life, Lord. And give us confidence that our identity is not secured in our job.It's not secured in our money, it's not secured in our retirement accounts, but it's restored and it's confidently found in you, Lord, not in our work. And we ask this in confidence in the great name of Jesus. Amen. So, as I say, retirement planning can feel overwhelming.The numbers can seem like, how many million am I going to have to save? That's one of the questions I get all the day, all the time, say, Ralph, how many million do I have to have in my retirement account when I retire?I just want to turn that on its edge today and say, let's talk about identity, because it's really about mortality and it's about identity. So, as I said to him, I encourage you again, pray first and then put your plans to work.And listen, if this show is impacting your life, if you're finding benefits from it, like today's episode is a great episode to share with anyone that you know who's going to eventually retire. And guess what? That's everybody. Everybody. What did we say about earlier? Death and taxes, two certainties in life.So I want to encourage you to share the show with somebody who may need a little help. You can do that by sending them a text, send them an email, and just point them right to our website. That's financially confidentchristian.com.and hey, while you're there, I've got something great. I'm going to give you a free copy of my latest book. It's called Becoming a Financially Competent Christian. It's yours absolutely free.The only thing you need to do is go to this website and it's financially confidentchristian.com becoming. I'm gonna give it to you one more time. That's financiallyconfidentchristian.com becoming.And you can download a free copy of my book and, hey, share it with everybody. You know, the more the merrier.My goal here is to help people break that cycle of financial shame and start to live in confidence and start to live in confidence in retirement. Now, tomorrow, we're gonna have another great show. We're gonna get more practical.Tomorrow I got some interesting ways to save money on utilities without sacrificing your I'm not going to tell you to put on heavy blankets or to live at 90 degrees weather. That's not what I'm talking about at all. So make sure you join in to tomorrow's show.Now, I just want to encourage you, let's all go out there today and be financially confident Christians. I have confidence in you. Have confidence in yourself. Stay financially savvy. God bless you. And you have a great day today.