I recently took a trip to Florida’s beaches, I had a lot of fun. We ate at nice restaurants and collected shells and went to a couple museums. It was a real treat for the eyes. The only aspect of the trip that was not as expected was that there were far more older people there than I remembered from other previous trips to Florida. I was told that many older people (especially from the Chicago area) have homes there and live there during the cold winter months. They withdrawal money from their 401ks and IRAs and other financial instruments to live “the good life” they were saving for. God bless them. I hope you have calculated your retirement needs and desires too.

I know that I have saved for retirement. I have IRAs and a little saved money. I hope that somehow it will grow to be enough for me to live on when I cannot work anymore. However, I doubt it will be. Honestly, I believe that I will always have to do some kind of work, even if it is working at Wal-Mart or something like that.

However, there is a job that you do not leave behind even after you walk out of the office, the factory, the plant, or wherever your job was for the past 30+ years. As Joel Osteen has said many times, “If you are wondering if you the Lord still has something for you to do, just check your pulse—if you still have one, He has a job for you”. That is a bit scary. I am not sure what I will be able to do for the kingdom when even moving around will be a challenge. However, I believe that He will be able to give me the strength to do whatever it will be. At least, I know the job He will have for me is to be living a life full of faith, hope, and love for others, for myself, and for Him.

I am thankful that now that I can still invest in His retirement plan. It is not a plan that involves me investing in a 401k, an IRA, a SEP, a SIMPLE or putting in enough years to be included in a pension plan. No, my deposits take a different form and I doubt my company can match them. These deposits are in the form of loving mercy, living humbly, and walking humbly with the Lord and yes, being obedient to what He would have me do.

I will not have to worry if I will have enough to maintain my lifestyle and pay my bills. I also know I will be able to live on my Required Minimum Distributions. The returns will be in the form of being able to spend eternity in His goodness, being able to young and healthy, being able to love and be loved. And while this world is full of taxing situations and decisions, like a Roth IRA, on the backend, it is all guaranteed to be tax-free.

Matthew 6:21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

—————————————————————————————-W.