Category: Legacy

  • Received an Inheritance, Now What?

    An increasing number of boomer-aged families are receiving inheritances; it’s all part of a trillion-dollar transfer of wealth that will happen over the next several decades. Gen. Xers are next in line. Many families near or in retirement have aging parents, so an inheritance may be in their future. They can come in different forms—possessions,…

  • Giving by Leaving a Financial Legacy

    In my last article, I discussed some things to consider as you decide about giving in retirement. I touched on leaving a legacy (inheritance) as a form of giving and discussed it (biblically) relative to spending and giving. However, I didn’t detail the mechanics of doing so, should that be your desire. As I mentioned…

  • Giving in Retirement

    I was recently working at our church’s welcome desk on a Sunday morning. An elderly lady whom I would guess is well into her 70s or early 80s came up and handed me a $20 bill and asked that I please make sure it went toward our ministry to families with children with special needs…

  • Loving Your Widow With Wise Stewardship

    In my last post, I suggested some new year’s resolutions you may want to consider. In this article, I want to carry that theme forward, but in a slightly different way. Not too long ago, I read an article on the Center for Retirement Research website titled, “Husbands Ignore Future Widows Needs.” As I read…

  • My Thoughts on the New Retirement Savings (aka, “SECURE”) Act

    Earlier in 2019, I wrote about some retirement legislation that was pending in Congress. Well, surprise, surprise—it passed recently. (Interestingly, the bill was languishing in congress until it was added to a 2020 spending bill and seemed to slip in under the radar.) It’s the most significant legislation since the Pension Protection Act of 2006…

  • New Year Retirement Stewardship 10-Point Check-Up

    Happy New Year! Planning is a wise part of retirement stewardship. But no matter how well we plan, we must always remember that “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Prov. 16:9). And now that we are closing out 2018 and looking out ahead to 2019, I thought I would share some thoughts…

  • Reflections and Lessons from 40 Years of Stewardship

    As I shared in a previous article, I decided to retire from my full-time paid position a few weeks ago. I will do an article about how my “transition” to retirement is going and what I am up to in a future article. In this post, I want to share the main lessons I have…

  • Estate Planning and Your Will

    This article is a follow-up to my last one about leaving a legacy and estate planning. Once you get some up-front planning done, the next step is to put things in writing. I redid my own estate plan (my will and associated documents) last year, and I occasionally get questions about the best way to…

  • Retirement Stewardship and Your Legacy

    In this, the first of two articles, I get into the sensitive and sometimes emotional subject of stewardship as it relates to estate planning. Whether you are older and already in retirement, or younger and this is perhaps the farthest thing from your mind, this is an important subject. Why? Because it is the way…