In May of 1974, the comedy series “Happy Days,” closed its first season with an episode in which Howard Cunningham decided to build a bomb shelter. Harkening back to the post World War II and early Cold War days, the episode was based upon the decision a number of families made to build a shelter in the case of nuclear attack. As the events of the […]
On the Christian Churches Pension Plan Facebook page, we recently shared advice from GuideStone Financial Services noting the risks ministers accept when they opt out of Social Security.1 One minister responded, “I opted out many years ago when the thinking was that Social Security would not be around anyway. I was advised by my CPA who specialized in […]
On February 28, 2017 Bloomberg published an article by Suzanne Woolley with the title, “More Americans Live in Fear of Retiring Poor.”1 Just seven days earlier, Bloomberg subtitled an article by Ben Steverman, “A dark, detailed new look at why many employees may never be able to retire.”2 On March 1, Emily Zulz of Think Advisor began an article, “More than […]
The concept of the Christian Churches Pension Plan (the Plan) began prior to 1969 as leaders among the independent Christian Churches & Churches of Christ recognized a problem. There were already a large number of ministers, missionaries, and staff from our Bible colleges who had retired without sufficient assets and cash flow to allow them to retire in dignity. It […]
When a couple marries and/or begins their careers after college, they soon encounter the greatest expense of their young lives, purchasing a home. As children are added to the family, the home expense seems manageable compared to the infinite cost of years of clothing, school supplies, dance and music lessons, athletic equipment, transportation, proms, and looming college tuition. However, according to a […]
Just a week ago, the leader of a nonprofit organization wrote of her frustration about the seemingly hopeless situation of saving for retirement. “With just about every pension plan in jeopardy, social security in ruins because of theft from our own government, and 401K’s essentially a pyramid scheme, does it make sense to save at all?”1 Her sense of hopelessness was palpable. Was […]
Advice about investing seems to always be an either/or proposition. For every bull saying a particular stock, or class of investment, should be accumulated there seems to be a bear recommending the exact opposite action for precisely the same investment. Perhaps words from Leon Russel’s epic song Tight Rope describe it best, “I’m up on the tightrope / One side’s hate and one […]
FRAM ran a series of television ads in the early 1970’s (click here to watch one) with the catch phrase, “You can pay me now, or pay me later.” If we neglect spending a relatively small amount of money on a quality oil filter, we will certainly pay a much larger amount on the engine later. The principal is easily […]
A peaceful retirement does not normally occur without planning and then effort given to work the plan. Moving through life with no plan for what is ahead does not end well; unless, we are sufficiently fortunate to inherit wealth. However, most would choose giving the cat a bath over committing thoughtful focus to […]
Here is a shocking contrast, “70 percent of pre-retirees think that life will be better in retirement, but only 40 percent of actual retirees find that it is.”1 That’s right folks! Nearly one-half of those anticipating a better life in retirement are shocked to find that it is not. Even more disappointing is thirty percent of pre-retirees expect life to be worse, […]