By Rev. James R. Cook, CFP®, RICP® You might have heard retirement referred to as “the golden years.” Some people view retirement as a chapter in life when they can spend more time with family, on leisure travel, or starting a new hobby. Some retirees engage in activities they’ve always wanted to do but never had time to pursue while working. Managing your finances in retirement is crucial to ensure a comfortable and financially secure life after you stop working so your golden years can truly be golden. Here are some key steps and considerations you can look at now to help you manage your finances effectively later during retirement. 1. Assess your financial position Before you embark on your retirement journey, it’s crucial to take stock of your financial situation. Evaluate your sources of income, including pensions, Social Security, investments, and any part-time work you might engage in. Create a comprehensive list of your expenses, categorizing them into essential (housing, healthcare, groceries) and discretionary (travel, hobbies) categories. This assessment will provide a clear understanding of your financial inflows and outflows. 2. Create a realistic retirement budget Once you have a clear picture of your finances, create a realistic budget that aligns with your retirement goals. Strive to strike a balance between meeting essential needs and enjoying leisure activities. The 4-percent rule is a commonly used guideline that suggests withdrawing 4 percent of your initial retirement portfolio annually, adjusting for inflation. However, your unique circumstances might necessitate a different approach, so it’s crucial to tailor your budget to your needs. 3. Social Security planning Understand when you become eligible for Social Security benefits and how different claiming strategies can impact your monthly benefit amount. Delaying your benefits can result in larger monthly payments, so consider your individual circumstances before deciding. The minimum age to start claiming your Social Security income is 62. However, if you do not need the income and can afford to delay your benefits until your full retirement age, postponement might be beneficial. Claiming benefits before full retirement age will reduce your Social Security income. Keep in mind that full retirement age varies based on your birth year. Be sure to check the social security website to verify your full retirement age (https://www.ssa.gov/prepare/plan-retirement). 4. Plan for healthcare costs As you age, healthcare expenses are likely to increase. It’s essential to plan for medical costs, including insurance premiums, deductibles, and potential long-term care expenses. Medicare is a fundamental component of healthcare in retirement, and you need to research it and enroll in it at the appropriate time. However, Medicare doesn’t cover all your needs, so it’s important to consider supplemental health insurance (make sure you understand the differences between Medigap and Medicare Advantage) and long-term care insurance to cover potential gaps in coverage. Budgeting for healthcare costs will prevent unexpected financial strain down the road. 5. Manage debt wisely Entering retirement with substantial debt can impede your financial freedom. Strive to pay off high-interest debts before retiring, as interest payments can erode your savings over time. Credit card and other outstanding debts should be strategically managed to ensure that your retirement income isn’t disproportionately consumed by repayments. Some steps to take to manage your debt include: • List all your creditors (except your mortgage creditor), the amount owed to each, the interest rates, and monthly minimum payments. • Re-order your debts according to which you want to eliminate first. • Now attack debt no. 1, repaying as much (more than the minimum) as you can each month until it’s gone while paying minimums on the rest. Then attack debt No. 2. Keep going until all your debts are gone. The key to success: don’t build up new debts while paying off the old ones! 6. Emergency fund Maintain an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses, such as medical bills or home repairs. Having a safety net can help prevent you from dipping into retirement accounts prematurely. Most experts recommend having enough saved to cover your living expenses for three to six months. Be sure to consider both fixed and variable expenses when determining how much you need to save. Emergencies can happen at any time, so you need to be able to access your funds quickly. A savings or money market account with low fees and a low minimum balance requirement is the perfect place for your emergency funds. You should also try to find an account with a competitive interest rate so that your money can grow over time. Always keep your emergency fund separate from any accounts that you use daily. This practice makes it clear that one account is for spending and one account is for saving. And definitely don’t put your emergency funds into high-risk investments, such as the stock market; you need to know your money is going to be there when you need it. 7. Lifestyle adjustments Be prepared to adjust your lifestyle if necessary. If your expenses exceed your income, you might need to cut back on discretionary spending or explore part-time work opportunities. 8. Tax strategy Understand how different types of retirement income are taxed and develop a tax-efficient withdrawal strategy. Depending on your situation, it might be advantageous to withdraw from different accounts in a specific order to minimize your tax liability. Make sure to speak to your financial planner and tax professional for guidance. 9. Investment strategy Review and adjust your investment portfolio based on your risk tolerance, time horizon, and financial goals. While you might want to reduce risk as you age, it’s important to maintain a diversified, balanced portfolio that still provides growth potential to outpace inflation, because inflation can erode the purchasing power of your retirement savings over time. Diversification can help mitigate risks and maintain steady returns. A diversified mix of stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets can help you weather market fluctuations while preserving your retirement savings. Diversifying involves investing in assets that respond differently to the markets. When stocks Read More >

  The line between security and convenience can be challenging to navigate. I frequently speak with pastors and ministry leaders about how to protect an organization while still empowering users to accomplish their mission. The more secure you are, the less convenient it is for the users. The more convenient it is for the users, the less secure your church is and more open to attack. It concerns me that in 2025 many ministries still err on the side of convenience over security. Perhaps this is why cyber insurance and cyber liability coverage premiums are skyrocketing. As you look to lead with technology, there are two aspects of security vs. convenience that I encourage you to invest time in evaluating. I believe these two should be non-negotiable and are critical if you want help with your next cyber coverage renewal.  Two-factor authentication Two-factor authentication (2FA) should be enabled on everything possible. Again, it’s not convenient; yet, while not perfect, it’s a tremendous safety net should a user be compromised. Two-factor, or multifactor, authentication cannot prevent a user from giving away his or her access through a phishing attempt, but it can stop the attacker from getting very far and allow the ministry valuable time to mitigate before much damage can be done. Regular security training, testing Security awareness training should be done every week. There are many providers who offer this service, but you really need to train and test more than once or twice a year. I recommend testing at least weekly as the best practice, and at least monthly as the minimum. My church, for instance, does three tests each week. Ideally, if you are doing security awareness training consistently, and if you have 2FA enabled on everything, your security posture will be strong. This way, if a user does fail and give out his or her username/password as a result of a phishing attempt, 2FA will help your church avoid significant damage.  Think of your network access to your ministry’s email, management software and so on as the keys to your house. If, through a phishing attempt, I trick you into giving me the keys — without a second factor, like a code sent via text message or a 2FA authenticator app — I can walk right in. However, if I trick you into giving me the keys, but when I get to the door it requires your keys and a separate code, you’ve stopped me or at least really slowed me down.  Hopefully, you are doing consistent security awareness training so you can avoid users getting tricked into giving away their “keys” in the first place. Doing nothing isn’t an option Although churches and ministries should be doing both — enabling 2FA and consistently training and testing and training for security — far too many aren’t doing either. When I talk with ministry leaders, they tell me it isn’t convenient, or senior leadership won’t do it. You’d think we were talking about retinal scanners, voice ID and fingerprint readers before you can check your email! None of those would be convenient, but — in determining where you draw the line — how much convenience are you willing to give up in the name of reasonable security? Leaders have to lead; if ministry leaders are leading through inaction or fear of user response, they might very well pay a significant price. I’ve helped negotiate six- and seven-figure insurance claims; trust me, it’s easier if you’re at least doing security awareness training and have already implemented 2FA. If you need help implementing 2FA or security awareness training, reach out to your IT staff or IT vendor. (In fact, they should already be presenting these options.) As a provider of these services, we understand the need to make ministry convenient but also the importance of it being secure.  I talk with church leaders every week who have gotten “hit,” and 99 percent of the time they’re not doing 2FA or consistent security awareness training. While shifting from convenience towards security, these two suggestions can help you steward your ministry technology resources while ensuring your Kingdom impact isn’t interrupted because you were more focused on ease than security.  Remember, it isn’t a matter of if you’ll get compromised — it’s a matter of when. Jonathan Smith is the President of MBS, Inc. and the Director of Technology at Faith Ministries in Lafayette, Ind. He is an author and frequent conference speaker. Follow him on X @JonathanESmith.

By RaeAnn Slaybaugh For years, the production team at Wave Church in Virginia Beach, Va., battled content storage inefficiencies. Multiple servers created chaos and disruption. A lack of remote access limited the content they could produce. Nickel-and-dime pricing for the features they needed created anxiety and uncertainty. Altogether, this made it tough for Production/Communications Director Steve Tignor and his staff to produce the high-quality content that was not just needed, but that they were passionate about creating. Then, a game-changing alternative emerged — one that saves them tens of thousands of dollars a year. One that’s much easier to use and highly accessible (even remotely). A solution that accommodates 400% more content and ramps up the speed of content production by at least 30%. It wasn’t too good to be true. Here’s how. Nearly 10 years ago, Wave Church made the jump to using a studio-quality storage area network, or SAN — basically, a large, expensive hard drive. “We had to have it,” recalls Production/Communications Director Steve Tignor. “For the things we were doing — producing a lot of content, and even a TV show — speed is everything.” To start, the team got to work ‘digitizing everything,’ according to Tignor. “We moved all our content off of DVDs and other forms of storage, like Dropbox,” he recalls. This included rooms full of videotapes dating back to 1999. In the end, they wound up with four workstations providing access to every file a team member might need … but they really had to work for it. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) was set up to share files; however, it was slow. “It was more like file-browsing, not necessarily being able to work on a project,” Tignor says. “It was a lot of what we didn’t need; it probably added more headaches. We were making do with a workflow that didn’t match what we were trying to achieve.” On the one hand, it was better than the previous approach: adding one hard drive after another, with a big price tag each time. That, and incorporating Dropbox for storage, as many churches do, which created even more chaos and disorganization.  Then came COVID “We had to get letters for our team to be able to travel into the office, in case we got pulled over by police during the quarantine,” Tignor recalls. “That’s when it really started becoming a problem. No one was in this building except for us.” Once the pandemic passed, the team’s travel schedule further complicated matters. While in different cities shooting interviews, for example, they were unable to access other projects to work on in their down time. Ideally, the team would have a platform that enabled them to work on projects remotely and access and edit content — including full-length videos — from anywhere. Their then-current setup was far from perfect, but as far as Tignor and his team knew, it was the best they could do. A trip to the National Association of Broadcasters Show (NAB) in 2023 would change that. A new, improved approach emerges “Going to NAB, I was pretty much on a mission to find a better content storage solution,” Tignor recalls. One of the first stops was the church’s current vendor. “Everything they said was pretty much ‘same old, same old,’” he says. “We learned that it would cost X more to add this or that basic feature for the things we wanted to do, which just wasn’t in the budget.” Dismayed but not discouraged, the Wave Church team spotted RED Digital Cinema cameras in use at another booth: DigitalGlue. Because the church uses these same cameras, they were drawn in. They soon learned about creative.space, a shared storage platform for video teams. “For them to show that creative.space can handle RED content was huge,” Tignor says. “That’s a high level of content; it demands a lot of data.” Product Manager Nick Anderson walked the Wave Church team through the workflow. “Our guys loved it,” Tignor recalls. “And then he told me the price.” At first, it seemed too good to be true. “It was so much cheaper than any other solution we’d found,” Tignor recalls. “I was like, Wow, that’s crazy. I don’t even know how you’re doing that.” More demos followed. A few months later, Tignor was a true believer. He ordered creative.space. Onboarding made simple A third-party IT company was hired to get creative.space set up and rolled out. By all accounts, it was much smoother than anyone anticipated. “Onboarding was super easy; there was no challenges that DigitalGlue couldn’t handle in that regard,” Tignor says. “Customer service was fast, quick, and very proactive, which was different. Instead of us reaching out, they were always checking in.” In fact, he says, any headaches originated with the IT company that was hired to set up the solution. “Fortunately, though, DigitalGlue would send someone out to help them get it all set up,” Tignor points out. So, with creative.space up and running, the Wave Church production team got to work, enjoying four times more storage capacity than before. They quickly began to appreciate features like user management, templates, tagging and much more. “In my world, prior to creative.space, my team said it took a lot of time to find certain content,” he explains. This was because content was previously stored using a folder system. Tignor explains: “When we recorded something or took a photo, it wouldn’t instantly add, ‘Here’s Pastor Steve’ to the data; this information had to be manually input. So, being able to create these tagging systems [within creative.space] really speeds up the search process.” This souped-up search functionality has been especially helpful as Wave Church hosts a variety of preachers at multiple campuses. “We have all different types of testimonies, conferences and events, so it just allows for structure,” Tignor explains. “We can still use the folder system, but the search parameters are much more targeted. Once we got it laid out, it made everything so much Read More >

  Walking in the footsteps of Jesus in the land of the Bible is the ultimate hands-on disciple-making experience for Christians — not just a vacation to a destination related to church.  Educational Opportunities Tours (EO) President/CEO James Ridgway recently interviewed Rev. Tom Smith about how Holy Land journeys have changed lives and inspired the faith of people who traveled with him in the Holy Land. James Ridgway: How did your first Holy Land journey influence your life and ministry? Rev. Tom Smith: It’s safe to say that it began to affect me even before I returned home. But the immediately noticeable influence was the way that it affected my preaching and teaching. I found myself painting word pictures of a passage of Scripture as I would preach or teach. I would give little tidbits of what it means to go ‘up’ from Jericho or the winds affecting the Sea of Galilee as they funneled into that area. It was like I had an entirely new resource to add to my library as I prepared for a sermon or class. Ridgway: When did you decide to start taking groups to the Holy Land? How did the people respond? Smith: I went the first time without a group. But after returning, my excitement was obvious. I talked about it constantly.  As soon as I was introduced to Educational Opportunities and learned of how I could ‘earn’ a trip, I decided to go back and take as many people as possible. As soon as I mentioned that I was putting a group together, people started signing up.  A journey to the Holy Land is in the hearts of a lot of people — not as a vacation but as part of their faith development — so there was natural interest in participating. Folks were excited that they could travel with me because they trusted me as their pastor.  Ridgway: Afterwards, what did you see in the lives of those who experienced the Holy Land? Smith: They were changed. They engaged with Scripture differently. They talked about the way they heard the sermons differently. They began to participate more readily in Sunday School, study groups or accountability groups. Many of them became more open and expressive of being leaders in the congregation. They have a renewed/revitalized faith, it seems.  Ridgway: What other benefits come from the Holy Land journeys? Smith: One of the things was how close the group became. They bonded with each other as they shared the experience.  They also bonded with me, as their pastor, differently. Instead of hearing me teach or preach a couple of hours per month, they spent 12 to 14 hours a day talking and experiencing this profoundly moving journey. We formed some truly lasting bonds.  They also came back with a deeper understanding of the current issues facing people in the region. They experienced not just what the news media shared, but what they themselves saw. They could ‘put a face’ to it, and it opened doors/eyes in a way that nothing else could do. Ridgway: How does a pastor plan a journey to the Holy Land?  Smith: There are two ways a pastor could begin this journey.  First, they could participate in an EO Familiarization tour. After experiencing the Holy Land personally, they could start planning a group journey. Personal experience helps while recruiting a group.  The second way is to jump right in and organize an EO Holy Land journey for their group by going to www.eo.travelwithus.com and reviewing the different itineraries offered and finding one that best suits what they and their folks would love to see. Then, they can reach out to the EO team to partner and build the journey that will help make disciples for Jesus Christ. The EO staff will provide all the tools necessary — including ongoing support — to build a life-changing tour for the congregation.