Question: I’m in my early thirties, married, and have two children. So I guess I’m one of the average Americans. My company allows me to invest five percent of my salary in a retirement plan, and it matches the funds. I know it’s a good deal, and we can afford it, but is retirement scriptural? If not, how did we get so caught up in it? Response: First, great decision to invest in a retirement plan at work. Now to your retirement question. The only place in the Bible that mentions anything like retirement is found in Numbers 8:24-25. God tells Moses that the Levites–the priests who were charged with serving God by doing much of the hard work in and around the Tent of Meeting (later the Tabernacle) to include moving the Tent of Meeting from place to place—were allowed to begin their work at age twenty-five and work until the mandatory retirement age of fifty. However, these retired priests did not pack their bags and spend the rest of their lives on the beaches and golf courses in and around Tel Aviv! They were expected to take on the role of assisting the younger men in performing their work. Basically, when they retired, they were no longer to “work,” but rather “help” the non-retired guys do their job. The older men were expected to mentor the younger men in their trade by providing the wisdom and leadership that came from twenty-five years of experience in serving the Lord. Now, what might this mean for your retirement and mine? Some must work in order to live–so be it. For those who no longer must work, it means that retirement is not a time to just play golf all day long and add nothing to society (and no, getting a hole-in-one does not count as adding to society). In fact, retirement is probably the first time in decades when you do not have 40+ hours of your week already committed. That is a lot of extra time to “attend to the needs” of others around you. Just because you’re not getting a salary anymore doesn’t mean you can’t do extremely valuable and fulfilling work that honors God and helps other people. Volunteer more at your church, lead a committee, get involved with your community, help those who are less fortunate, take part in the political process or community activism, or just meet and care for people–you’ll still have plenty of time for the beach and the golf course!