There was an article on the Internet yesterday that described the financial struggles that many Baby Boomer retirees are encountering now because of past misplaced priorities.
It is an article that confirms the housing strategy that Lori and I want to have in place whenever our retirement day comes.
As I recall, retired couples who have no mortgage on their homes are 80 percent less likely to encounter economic crisis than are couples making mortgage or rent payments.
Wow.
So how does this relate to Baby Boomers? The article focused on the millions of middle-aged couples who bought larger houses based on their working income rather than on their projected retirement income.
That’s not so bad if the mortgage were retired before the couple retired.
But in all too many cases today, work retirement comes before mortgage retirement.
And that causes big problems for many.
Lori and I know that we cannot allow ourselves to get in such a situation.
That’s why, even though we don’t own our dwelling now, wherever we live in retirement will be paid off, one way or the other.
There are enough challenges with retirement finances without having to worry about losing the house to foreclosure.
So what does this topic have to do with faith?
King Solomon offers advice in Proverbs 24:27 that points us toward making provision for income needs before focusing on having the house we want.
“Do your planning and prepare your fields
before building your house.” (Proverbs 24:27)
Making a plan for retirement housing long before it’s needed is a good idea.
Implementing that plan to earn and save before buying the retirement house is a good idea.
If you already own the house within which you hope to retire, please start planning how to have it paid off before your last day at the job.
Be part of the 80 percent who have less stress about their finances.
That way, you’ll be more likely to think about how you can work to save souls rather than working to save your house.
As always, I love you
Martin
