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So far reggie has created 125 blog entries.

Prepared for Retirement Part 3 – A Lesson in Construction Management

Constructing an income stream for retirement is not unlike constructing a residence or commercial structure. An architect and contractor must understand the challenges presented by the regional geology and specific soil composition around the building. Possession of this critical knowledge guides the decisions about materials used and changes that must be made in the construction process.

One of the great risks that may undermine anyone’s retirement cash flow […]

2020-04-24T16:28:04+00:00July 4th, 2017|
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Prepared for Retirement Part 2 – Knowing the Goal

What is my goal in retirement planning?

I have found many questions suggested about retirement planning. Where will you want to live in retirement (beach, where you call home now, the desert)? Do you intend to continue working? How much will your hobby activities cost each month? Will you be financially assisting children, grandchildren, or other family members? Do you, or your spouse, have health issues requiring treatment […]

2020-04-24T16:27:13+00:00June 27th, 2017|
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Prepared for Retirement Part 1 – Seeing clearly

Removing the clouds that have us blind

On June 7, Michael Fischer asked, “How Prepared for Retirement Are American Workers?”1 According to the 2017 Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey, the American public compares favorably among fifteen nations spanning Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Ranking second behind only India, U.S. workers exhibited, “a medium level of readiness.”2

Still, there were challenging statistics reported throughout the survey. While 89% of Americans […]

2020-04-24T16:26:43+00:00June 20th, 2017|
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Money & Ministry – A Challenging Combination

Concerning numbers for a majority of ministers

I remember a conversation between a local church elder and a Bible College President some decades ago. The elder suggested to the President that the curriculum should include money management, because a sufficient number of those serving in ministry were showing either bad financial judgement or a lack of understanding the implications of growing debt. The President responded that he understood […]

2020-04-24T16:29:54+00:00June 6th, 2017|
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THIS IS NOT AN ABANDONED WORLD

A bumper sticker worth remembering

Moving is a time for reminiscing, always. For the past several days, the staff members of Mission Services Association has been organizing, boxing, and removing belongings from our offices in Knoxville. This move has been a long one for me. For the past ten months, I have been learning the finer administrative details of the Christian Churches Pension Plan and have continued the […]

2020-04-24T16:30:49+00:00May 30th, 2017|
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A lifetime income promise encourages more savings

What will spur people to increase their saving for retirement?

There is a documented belief that individuals in the United States are failing to sufficiently save for retirement. Financial authors and planners continue searching for the emotional trigger that will spur people to save more. On May 4, Jamie Kalamarides of Prudential Retirement proposed that the possibility of a lifetime income will motivate people to save more aggressively.1 […]

2020-04-24T16:32:05+00:00May 16th, 2017|
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Retirement Savings Crisis? Does It Matter?

You like to-may-toes and I like to-mah-toes…

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article in which two experts examine the same data about retirement savings, coming to widely divergent opinions.1 Anne Tergesen interviewed Alicia Munnell, director of Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research, and Andrew Biggs, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Munnell believes that virtually one-half of today’s working households will find it impossible to […]

2020-04-24T16:33:05+00:00May 2nd, 2017|
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If Uncle Sam & Aunt IRS offered a retirement plan…

Hard Facts cannot be ignored.

There are some difficult facts about retirement saving that must not be ignored. According to data from the “2017 Finances in Retirement Report” compiled by Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, 81% of Americans have no idea how much they will need in retirement. Those who have given thought to this believe that a minimum of 25% of disposable income should be. Unfortunately, those […]

2020-04-24T16:33:58+00:00April 25th, 2017|
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Leaks sink boats and retirements!

It began with a ride to the office.

This morning, the car dealer’s service department had an employee shuttle me to the office. They had to determine what went wrong with my air-conditioning at the time they repaired my windshield washers. The driver and I exchanged pleasantries about why we non-natives were living in the area. My new acquaintance was brought to town by one of the best […]

2020-04-24T16:34:52+00:00April 18th, 2017|
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Why are we being told retirement is more expensive?

Why indeed?

Just over one month ago, the Retirement Ahead blog addressed retirement as the most expensive purchase of a lifetime. Merrill Lynch has documented that retirement will require 9 times the cost of a four year college education and nearly 3 times more than the value of the average home.1 This funding gap is not new, and it has widened over many years. However a new, more […]

2020-04-24T16:36:01+00:00April 4th, 2017|
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