October 8, 2024 | Investing
If you’re a Christian nearing retirement age or are currently retired, you may be wondering, “How do I tithe in retirement?” This is a great question and one worth wrestling with!
Before we discuss this topic in-depth, let’s be clear: There is no one-size-fits-all “best” answer about how Christians should tithe in retirement.
What makes the most sense for one person may not be right for another.
In today’s article, we’ll first explore the biblical understanding of tithing. Then, we’ll outline four frameworks you could use to tithe in retirement.
Let’s jump in!
The Old Testament concept of giving the first 10% of what you earn—the tithe—is well-established for many Christians. At first blush, tithing based on your paycheck during your working years appears straightforward. After all, it’s relatively easy to figure out how much 10% of your annual paycheck is (setting aside the age-old debate of tithing from your gross vs. net pay).
However, a closer look at this Old Testament concept reveals a slightly different framework.
Deuteronomy 14:22 defines tithing as giving 10% of all the crops: “You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year.” Leviticus 27:30 says, “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.”
These passages suggest that the concept of tithing broadens far beyond just 10% of your paycheck to “one-tenth of all” and “a tithe of everything” produced for the year.
In today’s society, this broader concept of tithing would seem to extend beyond simply your income for the year to include the increase or growth of your investments each year.
This, in turn, makes the “tithing” math more complicated.
For example, let’s say your 401k consists of your “already-tithed” contributions (which it would if we assume you have been tithing off your gross income) as well as your “not-yet-tithed” employer contributions and investment earnings. Now, factor in the market’s ups and downs. And what do you do if you tithed on an increase in your 401k last year, yet the market has pulled back this year?
Furthermore, when should you technically count the increase (when, in reality, the increase is only “on paper” until you sell your investments)? Also, several tithes required in the Law at different times added up to far more than 10%!
As you can see, the waters quickly get murky. But don’t get discouraged yet!
Because when we understand how difficult—and perhaps impossible—it is to tithe based on true yearly increase, we can begin to build a better framework for successfully tithing in retirement!
Here’s the reality: God doesn’t need your money; He wants your heart.
As Matthew 6:21 states, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…” No framework pre- or post-retirement can ever be precise enough, nor followed close enough, to earn you anything in God’s sight.
Because of God’s grace, it’s not about precision or “getting it right!”
Instead, tithing is an opportunity to express our faith, obey God’s commands, and trust in His ultimate provision!
This realization helps us escape the “Check the box; I’m good enough!” mindset of tithing and frees us from the anxiety of never really knowing if we’ve checked the box in the first place.
This may be why Jesus only makes one indirect reference to tithing despite talking about money extensively. This reference to tithing comes from Matthew 23:23-24, where Jesus admonishes the Pharisees (the religious leaders of their day!) for the lengths they’d gone to ensure they were tithing “by the letter of the law.”
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
The Pharisees had turned tithing into a legalistic obsession that blinded them to why the law was written in the first place!
Author Randy Alcon ties the Old Testament command of tithing with the New Testament concept of giving. He says, “The tithe is the training wheels of giving.”
The tithe was a good place to start, but it was never meant to be the finish line.
Jesus repeatedly demonstrates complete surrender and wild generosity throughout the New Testament as the true finish line. In 2 Corinthians 8:3, Paul holds up the Macedonian Church as an example of this kind of “New Testament giving.” He says they gave “as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.”
Clearly, the encouragement was to go well beyond a comfortable percentage that “checked the box” of giving.
Jesus provided the ultimate example of this radical generosity by giving His very life, holding nothing back for Himself.
So the question is not, “How can I ensure I’m tithing correctly in retirement?” but rather, “How can I ensure I’m sacrificially GIVING in retirement?”
We’ve covered a lot of ground so far! So, what does giving in retirement look like, practically? At LifeGuide, we’ve seen several methods work over the years:
First up: The “Same Dollar Amount” approach. This approach to tithing in retirement allows you to continue giving the same dollar amount in retirement that you were giving pre-retirement. Easy enough to calculate, right?
Usually, retirees embrace this approach because they don’t want to decrease how much they’ve been giving to their church, organizations, and people. Many who employ this approach have a sense that their church is counting on their continued tithe and are planning future ministry based on their past level of giving.
Many also feel sad thinking about cutting back their giving to causes they care about because they don’t want to give less than they have been. They feel they are being less generous if they do.
Is this approach right for you?
This approach can work well when your pre-retirement income is similar to your post-retirement spending.
Another approach to tithing in retirement is to adopt the “Percentage of Spending” framework. With this approach, you give a percentage of your annual spending rather than your annual income.
Say you were giving 10% of your gross income before retirement. Post-retirement, you would adjust this to 10% of your spending—usually amounting to your social security income, pension income, and investment account withdraws. (All other sources of income not needed for immediate expenses can be put into your investment account to fund future withdraws and future giving).
Is this approach right for you?
This approach can work well when there is a big difference between what you earned while working and your retirement budget—especially if your retirement portfolio is not large.
The third approach to tithing in retirement might be the “purest” way to embody the Old Testament “tithe” in retirement: the “Percentage of Portfolio Growth” framework.
Let’s say, for example, your portfolio grew $300,000 for the year. With this approach, you would give 10% of the growth (i.e., $30,000) this year.
Is this approach right for you?
This approach may work IF you’ve already given on your current portfolio balance or have a large portfolio compared to your spending (i.e., spending 2% or less of your portfolio each year).
While it may work for some, we don’t typically recommend this approach. Here’s why:
Again, we seldom recommend this approach to our clients. In addition to the practical limitations, we’ve found this approach can more often lead to a “check-the-box” mentality that stands in the way of true, Christ-like generosity—especially for those with larger portfolios.
The fourth and final framework for tithing in retirement is what we call the “Finish Line” approach. We saved the best for last here, as this could be considered the “Goldilocks approach” compared to the others above!
Rather than asking, “How much do I have to give?”, the Finish Line approach flips this question on its head and asks, “How much do I need to keep?”
Here’s how it works:
Any excess can be set aside in a Donor Advised Fund, and you can meter it out to charities as needs arise. If your portfolio drops, then there is no excess to carve off. You would then limit your giving to the percentage of spending you had already established, your base giving.
Is this approach right for you?
This approach addresses many of the issues with the previous methods, all while maximizing the long-term, eternal investment you can be making now! An Asset Finish Line keeps your portfolio from growing beyond what you reasonably need, helping you keep the deceitfulness of wealth in check and faith in God’s provision at the forefront!
It can also free up substantial amounts of money for giving opportunities now instead of later.
A few important notes on this approach:
Tithing in retirement is a personal—and often difficult—decision to make. The reality is that the straightforward calculations you were used to making based on your wage income are no longer really an option.
Yet, trying to find a solution to this problem presents an incredible opportunity to grow in our faith and more fully live out God’s intention behind tithing! As Matthew 6:24 reminds us, we can’t serve both God and money.
Whether you decide to give the same dollar amount as you were before retirement, a set percentage of what you spend, a percentage of your portfolio growth, or embrace the “Finish Line” concept and approach, all are potentially viable options for you as you enter retirement.
At the end of the day, how you choose to tithe in retirement is a decision between you and God. And having a thoughtful, prayerful framework around your giving—as well as the right advisor to help you navigate it all wisely—is what’s most important.
At LifeGuide, we’re here to help you discern which approach to tithing in retirement is the right one for you. As a fee-only, faith-based, independent advisor, you can have confidence knowing we’re here to help you live your most faithful, purpose-filled life!