Retirement

Tarryn Pitt loves scouring thrift shops for treasures, from vintage canning jars to velveteen armchairs. “I’ve been thrifting my whole life — it’s one of my favorite things to do, at least once or twice a week,” she said. “Pretty much all of my home decor came from a thrift store.”

She was browsing in secondhand stores where she lives in Prineville, Oregon, when she got an idea about her upcoming wedding. The average cost of a wedding in the United States is about $33,000 — an amount she said she found extravagant and also created a lot of environmental waste.

“I wanted something that was unique and fit my personality,” said Pitt, 25. “A thrift store wedding dinner seemed like the perfect answer.”

She and her fiancé, Holt Porfily, are inviting 307 guests to their outdoor mountain wedding in Sisters, Oregon. All of the wedding tableware and decorations at the outdoor meal will be thrifted.

“It’s honestly not just about saving money for us, though,” Pitt said. “What we’re doing is super sustainable, and I love giving old things new life.”

So far, she said, she has spent less than $2,000 on her wedding dinnerware and decorations, about half of what she priced out to rent similar items.

In late December, she posted a TikTok video of some of the plates she had found during one of her thrift shop excursions. Pitt said she was shocked when the video received more than 3.6 million views and 2,200 comments.

Pitt said the response has been so positive that she now plans to keep only a few plates after the wedding, and she hopes to rent the rest to other interested brides and grooms. She said she will keep the price low for obvious reasons.

If you have money problems, maybe you need to hire a “financial therapist.” A recent Wall Street Journal article states:

Do you worry a lot about higher food and gas bills? Fight with your spouse over spending splurges? Fear you’ll outlive your savings? Some people seek to ease such money anxieties by hiring a financial therapist.

Many Americans are worried about their personal finances. In a survey of about 3,000 U.S. adults conducted in October 2024 by Fidelity Investments, more than one-third of respondents said they were in “worse financial shape” than in the previous year. Some 55% of those respondents blamed inflation and cost-of-living increases.

Similarly, 52% of 2,365 Americans polled for Bankrate.com said money negatively affected their mental health in 2023. That is 10 percentage points higher than in 2022. Financially anxious and stressed individuals are less likely to plan for retirement, prior research has concluded.

The goal of financial therapists ultimately is to help people make good financial decisions. This is typically done by raising their clients’ awareness of how their emotions and unconscious beliefs have affected their sometimes messy experiences with money.

Needs for such help often arise following a job loss, bankruptcy, or marital partner’s financial infidelity—when one spouse hides or misrepresents financial information from the other. Even something seemingly positive, such as getting a big inheritance or winning a lottery, can cause financial anxiety.

“Folks are craving help with financial well-being,’’ says the president of the Financial Therapy Association.

In 1979 Dr. Ellen Langer, a Psychology Professor at Harvard, designed a weeklong experiment for a group of 75-year-old men. The men knew very little about the nature of the experiment, except that they would be gone for a week. When the men arrived, they were told that for the coming week they were to pretend it was 1959 (not 1979) the time when these 75-year-old men were only 55-years-old. They were told to dress and act like they did at that time. They were given ID badges with pictures of themselves in their mid-50s.

Over the course of that week, they were instructed to talk about President Eisenhower (as though he were still President) and other events in their lives that had happened at that time. They were to talk about their old jobs like they were working in them now, and not as if they had retired from them. Copies of LIFE magazine and the Saturday Evening Post from 1959 were displayed on coffee tables. Everything was designed to make them see through the lens of their 55-year-old selves.

Before this retreat the men were tested on every aspect of life that we assume deteriorates with age. By the end of the retreat most of the men had improved in every one of these categories. For example, they were significantly more flexible, had better posture, and even much improved hand strength. Their average eyesight improved by almost 10%, as did their performance on tests of memory. In more than half the men intelligence increased as well. Their physical appearance changed. Random people who did not know anything about the experiment were shown pictures of the men before and after the experiment and asked to guess their age. Based on these objective ratings the men were described as looking on average three years younger than when they arrived.

Professor Langer demonstrated that even when objectively nothing has changed about us, simply having a different mindset can powerfully shape our reality.

Possible Preaching Angle:

In Ephesians 4:24-5:2, the Apostle Paul observed that when a person adopts a new mindset, not because they have been tricked into a different way of thinking because of their surroundings but, based on the reality of being made new creations, they can experience a profound transformation.

The first thing to know about people who shun retirement to work past age 80 is that they are probably busier, and possibly cooler, than you.

One said an interview would have to wait because he was traveling to France for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Another said he would be free after hitting a research deadline and organizing his Harvard Business School class’s 65th reunion. A third, available on shorter notice, emailed a physical description before meeting: “In the spirit of YOLO, I have blue hair and tattoos.”

Growing numbers of 80-somethings are deciding that if days are finite, they are better spent on the job than in retirement. Harrison Ford, 80, released his latest Indiana Jones movie, Jane Goodall, 89, is still protecting chimps, Smokey Robinson, 83, is still touring.

Roughly 650,000 Americans over 80 were working last year, that’s about 18% more than a decade earlier. Some people have been pressed back into duty by inflation and stock-market volatility. Many cite a simpler reason to keep working—they just want to. These workers joke about getting bored on the golf course or being pushed out of the house by a spouse who won’t tolerate idleness. Beneath the wisecracks is a sense of purpose that refuses to fade. They just can’t quit their careers.

Possible Preaching Angles:

As a positive illustration this shows that retirement can still be a fruitful time of life. As a negative illustration this could show how people’s identities and worth are still wrapped up in work.

An article in The Wall Street Journal warns: “Your 401(k) is up. Don’t let it go to your head.”

Checking your 401(k) is the feel-good move of the year. After the stock-market rally, it now feels safe to peek at your 401(k) balance again. That is a relief for the millions of people whose retirement accounts are still recovering from the bruising they took in 2022, when the S&P 500’s total return was -18.11%.

Don’t let your self-worth balloon along with your net worth, financial advisers warn. They say the overconfidence that comes with making big gains can cause people to take bigger risks with their investments. And that makes us feel like we’re savvier investors than we really are.

Neuroscience backs up the idea of overconfidence being a problem. Research on the brain has found that increases in dopamine, a brain chemical that likely gets released when you see large returns in your account, can lead to more financial risk-taking.

Possible Preaching Angle:

That’s good financial advice, but the Bible also warns that, more importantly, it’s good spiritual advice.

“Now that you are retired, it’s time to play pickleball all day, every day.”

That’s the message from the front of a retirement card. It reflects the growing popularity of pickleball in the United States, especially among older adults. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the country. An article in TIME observes, “More than half (52%) of core [pickleball] players—those who play eight or more times a year—are 55 or older, and almost a third (32.7%) are 65-plus.”

If playing pickleball all day, every day isn’t your cup of tea, perhaps you’d rather have the poster that proclaims, “Retirement To Do List . . . Play Golf.”

Both the card and the poster bear witness to the popular view that retirement is mainly a time to play. For some, it’s pickleball or golf. For others, it’s cribbage or Wordle. For many retirees, travel is a delightful form of play, as is hanging out with friends or grandchildren. No matter the form it takes, play can be seen as the main point of retirement. “You worked hard for decades,” or so the story goes, “now it’s your turn to play.”

But, I wonder, is this a good way to think about retirement? If we want to flourish in this third of life—to live fully, fruitfully, and faithfully—where should play fit into our lives? Can play help us flourish? Or might it actually get in the way?

In 2021, Rayner Conway was downsizing her four-story, 3,500-square-foot home to a condo less than half the size when her husband of 50 years died unexpectedly. The designer the couple had tasked with preparing the space, faced a fresh challenge. Could she devise a comfy home for her suddenly solo client—whom she calls “a firecracker”—while also making a tough transition not just bearable, but invigorating?

The article went on to explain how the designer had a strategy for "spotlighting meaningful artwork, weaving in treasured heirlooms and swathing the rooms in a bright palette designed to stand out, not hide away."

Conway said, “Many women of my generation look at [downsizing] as giving up their previous life, but I saw a new chapter. I’m 73. I can do whatever … I want.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

In sharp contrast, in the Kingdom of God, growing older or “retirement” doesn’t mean doing whatever I want. It’s an opportunity to serve God and others and leave a Christ-honoring legacy.

If you've ever had to wait in a long line at your local Starbucks, you probably already know—millennials spend a lot of money on coffee. But it turns out many are spending more cash on caffeine than investing in their future. According to a reports from Acorns Money Matters, 41 percent of nearly 2,000 millennials—individuals born in the early 1980s through the early 2000s—surveyed admitted to spending more on their morning brew than contributing toward their retirement plan.

One millennial from Phoenix, Arizona put it this way:

I'm not putting money away because I'm not making money, so maybe that shift toward more people in school longer and going back to school is connected. We live in the moment maybe more than others, so that concept of thinking about the future or retirement isn't necessarily as big of a deal as it was in the past.

But it's not just coffee where millennials are making poor financial decisions. The survey says that just five percent of young millennials (ages 18-23) are investing at all. But on the flip side, 39 percent feel anxious about their financial future. According to the report, the average American spends approximately $1,100 a year, or $3 each day, on coffee.

Possible Preaching Angles: The point of the story is not a negative portrayal of millennials, but the fact that we all need a heavenly focus in our daily life. 1) Rewards; Self-denial; Christians should give serious thought to storing up treasures in heaven by giving up fleeting pleasures. 2) Inheritance; Security; Earthly savings are no guarantee of financial security due to these uncertain times, but anything entrusted to God is absolutely safe.

Many people try to get away from their day job to celebrate their birthday. One New Jersey man, however, decided to do exactly the opposite. Bill Hansen celebrated his 100th birthday by returning to the job he worked diligently for 32 years. Fred Hutchinson, CEO of Hutchinson Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, who signed Hansen back on with the company for one day, welcomed him with a birthday cake and a full day of assignments.

"He took off about 15 minutes after we signed that agreement to get to work," said Hutchinson. Hansen, who had spent as much time as he could at the company before retiring at age 97, did not have much to say for retired life. "I hate being retired ... I never had a job where I didn't want to go to work in the morning." Hansen said he attributes much of his happiness in life to his love of his work, his wife, and his family.

Potential Preaching Angles: Work; Honoring God—The Bible calls us to work hard and cheerfully, "as if working for the Lord." This not only pleases God, but is a powerful tool for our own happiness and contentment on earth.

There might be good reasons why many of us feel stressed by financial challenges. Economists have a term for our rising costs—they call it "Cost Disease." Here's how one researcher summarized all the stats about this "disease":

So, to summarize: in the past fifty years, education costs have doubled, college costs have dectupled, health insurance costs have dectupled, subway costs have at least dectupled, and housing costs have increased by about fifty percent. US health care costs are about four times as much as equivalent health care in other First World countries; US subways are cost about eight times as much as equivalent subways in other First World countries.

I worry that people don't appreciate how weird this is. I didn't appreciate it for a long time. I guess I just figured that Grandpa used to talk about how back in his day movie tickets only cost a nickel; that was just the way of the world. But all of the numbers above are inflation-adjusted. These things have dectupled in cost even after you adjust for movies costing a nickel in Grandpa's day. They have really, genuinely dectupled in cost, no economic trickery involved.

You may not like your job, but I'm willing to bet that you're nowhere near as good at avoiding it as an Italian coal miner was recently revealed to be. According to The Telegraph, "Carlo Cani started work as a miner in 1980 but soon found that he suffered from claustrophobia and hated being underground.

Cani started doing everything he could to avoid hacking away at the coal face, inventing an imaginative range of excuses for not venturing down the mine in Sardinia where he was employed. He pretended to be suffering from amnesia and hemorrhoids, rubbed coal dust into his eyes to feign an infection and on occasion staggered around pretending to be drunk. The miner, now aged 60, managed to accumulate years of sick leave, apparently with the help of compliant doctors, and was able to stay at home to indulge his passion for jazz."

Possible Preaching Angle:

I'd probably rather play jazz than mine coal too, but what's wrong with our ideas about work when our vocation becomes something that we spend a career avoiding?

Charles Colson tells the following story about his home town of Naples, Florida, which he calls "one of the garden spots of the world."

It's an absolute nirvana for all golfers, and they all come there. They're all CEOs of major corporations, and they retire to Naples, and this is "it"—twenty-seven golf courses and miles of sparkling beach and the best country clubs. I watch these guys; they're powerful people. They have this New York look on their face; they're determined. But now, all of a sudden, they start measuring their lives by how many golf games they can get in.

I often say to them, "Do you really want to live your life counting up the number of times you chase that little white ball around those greens?" And they kind of chuckle, but it's a nervous chuckle, because in six months they've realized how banal their lives are, and they've got beautiful homes—castles—and when they get bored with that, they build a bigger castle, and they're miserable. The object of life is not what we think it is, which is to achieve money, power, pleasure. That's not the holy grail. The object of life is the maturing of the soul, and you reflect that maturing of the soul when you care more for other people than yourself.

Retired pastor Sam Duree, age 77, could be enjoying his golden years in an easy chair. However, instead of just letting the days fly by, Duree is building birdhouses to support a Moscow seminary.

Duree spends four hours a day planning, sawing, sanding, drilling, gluing, and nailing cedar fence pickets in a workshop in his garage. He then hits the road with 35 different kinds of birdhouses, selling them at festivals and craft shows. Over the past six years, Duree estimates he has built about 3,000 birdhouses, raising $85,000 for Russia United Theological Seminary. Duree saw the need for the Moscow seminary during 14 mission trips to Russia and Siberia.

"We have to realize we're part of a global community, and we have a global ministry," Duree says. "I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. The good Lord has plans for us, and I'm doing what I can to carry them out."