by Rev. Dr. Arlo R. Reichter, Former ABC/WI Executive Minister
Several years before my retirement in 2014 my wife and I took advantage of two important resources available to American Baptist clergy. The Midwest Ministry Development services (MMD) and the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB). The professional attention by these two ministry agencies helped us prepare meaningfully for retirement.
The MMD staff aided us in facing the reality of how our lives would change in retirement, it explored our hopes and desires for retirement. This provided us with an opportunity to intentionally consider how our relationship would change, where we wanted to retire and what our priorities would be during those years. While we had discussed “retirement” in general the MMD staff led us in a comprehensive consideration of the new phase of life we would be entering.
The MMBB provided a Certified Financial Planner from their staff to analyze financial resources and needs in our retirement years. Prior to our consultation we were asked to provide information about our financial resources and our estimates of anticipated expenses in retirement. Working with this information the planner generated a multi-page analysis of our finances which included projections well into our retirement years. The planner reviewed the analysis with us and asked probing questions with sensitivity that enabled us to clarify our situation financially. As we came to the threshold of retirement we provided updated financial information and the planner provided us with an updated financial analysis.
No matter what a person’s financial situation may be, I highly recommend this process. While I had a reasonable understanding of our financial situation, these comprehensive analyses revealed factors which were new to me and allowed us to enter retirement more confident of the resources we had.
I encourage anyone within ten years of when they plan to retire to participate in these experiences. You will not regret taking the time to plan for your retirement years.
To learn more about upcoming opportunities:
or to learn more about specific ABC/WI partnership with these organizations, contact John Jones or Marie Onwubuariri.