24 | THRIVENT MAGAZINE | WINTER 2019

“we’re planning to retire by age 50,” says Rebecca Jackson, 40, from Fort Collins, Colorado. “But it’s not that we wouldn’t work; we just might not do the same thing.” Rebecca and her husband, Greg Feldpausch, 39, are both doctors. She’s a geriatric physician, and he works in adult medicine at Northern Colorado Hospitalists after spending the first season of his career in the Air Force. As they juggle work and raising their two boys, Clayton, 4, and Jackson, 7, they’re also looking to the future. The end goal for them is to be able to fully walk away from their jobs and be retired for life. How will they do that? They’ve created a strategy to pay down their student loan debt and save for the future. Clint Jasperson, their brother-in-law (married to Rebecca's

A New View of RetirementHow two couples reflect a growing movement

to see retirement not as an end but as a transition. By Jeff Haanen • Photos by Erin Lassahn

THRIVENT.COM | 25

Greg Feldpausch and Rebecca Jackson prioritize spending time with their two sons.

26 | THRIVENT MAGAZINE | WINTER 2019

How Thrivent Can HelpThrivent offers workshops that you, others or a financial professional can lead to help you create a strategy for retirement:

Finding Ways to Save: Tips and tactics on ways to increase income, reduce expenses and recognize spending leaks.

5 Keys to Retiring FearlesslyDiscover five keys to unlocking a retirement where you can have more confidence in your ability to achieve your goals. (Led by a Thrivent Financial professional.)

Learn more about the workshops at MoreThanMoneyMatters.com. Or contact your Thrivent Financial professional to discuss your specific situation.

sister) and a Thrivent Financial professional in Timnath, Colorado, has helped them. “They’re very, very committed to paying off their debt,” says Jasperson. “So many people end up in what feels like indentured servitude by having ‘lifestyle creep,’ by buying a larger house or car than they need. But Becca and Greg have their priorities straight.” Even though both now make good salaries, Rebecca and Greg essentially live on one salary, as they are aggressively paying off loans and cars, and are saving for their children’s college education. Jasperson has been a crucial guide in Rebecca and Greg’s financial journey, helping them use their finances to live out their faith. “If we believe everything we have is a gift, then that puts us into a position of stewardship,” Jasperson says. Their view of retirement reflects a growing movement to see retirement not as an end but as a

transition. They’re looking forward to retirement giving them more flexibility when it comes to their family and pursuing other passions. “There’s a high burnout rate in medicine,” says Rebecca, explaining why they want to retire early. “And we’d just like to have options. Time with our family is really a priority.” They’ve also considered retiring in Oregon, and Greg has thought about spending more time working with his hands—possibly learning a new trade. Jasperson helps Thrivent members save and plan for the future, especially for unexpected circumstances like a death in the family. But he doesn’t believe most people “want to just sit there and idly twiddle their thumbs all day. Retirement is really about transitioning to your next calling. You’ve got to find that next calling.” Retirement is not always about a complete cessation from work, but often a new season of service that’s enabled by being wise with money.

Planning to Retire—But Not Completely “I don’t know that we’ll ever actually retire,” says Mike Fornataro, executive director of Buckeye Lake Region Corporation in Buckeye Lake, Ohio. “But because of investing, we’re now in a position to do things we’d like to do rather than chase the dollar.” Mike, 60, and his wife, Ann, 56, didn’t start investing until their late 40s, when they met Thrivent Financial Professional Jeff Ritter from Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Ann is a senior IT training consultant for Genesis Healthcare Systems. “Our time frame was shorter,” Mike says, “but we’ve been fortunate. Jeff gauged our comfort level, and we now have stable growth.”1

Ritter helped the Fornataros fast-track their retirement savings. “I share the five principles to live by with my clients,” he says. “Spend less than you make, have a short- and long-term strategy, be wise with debt, protect

What Not to Do What to Do

Assume more is always better Define your “enough,” avoid “lifestyle creep”

Spend more than you make Spend less than you make

Be unclear about your giving Make a giving goal with your family

View retirement as a never-ending vacation

Define the right combination of family, volunteering, leisure or a new line of

work in retirement

Accumulate debt Pay off debt

Ignore a budget Make and keep a budget that reflects your values

Have no written planWork with a Thrivent Financial

professional on a short-term and long-term financial strategy

Financial Wisdom for Retirement

PHOT

O BY

OPE

N IM

AGE

STUD

IO

THRIVENT.COM | 27

yourselves against setbacks and give back.” In setting and achieving goals, it’s important to understand that you might need to make some trade-offs as you consider your needs and wants. Ritter also coached the Fornataros to make a clear budget and ask questions about the values they tie to money. “Are you tracking—literally—the money you’ve spent in the last 90 days. Do you write it down?” he asks them. “And when I first meet a couple, I ask, ‘How were you raised with money? How did your parents define success?’” Clarity on inherited values about money can help explain why budgets either work well for people or are ignored. He also uses one of several money models when he counsels clients to make a 10-10-80 plan: Save 10%, give 10% and spend 80%.

Starting the ConversationPreparing for retirement requires more than saving and investing. It brings up new questions about your calling, work, family and community involvement. Have you prepared for the non-financial aspects of retirement?

Here are some questions to consider and discuss with your financial professional:

¡What do you believe God is calling you to do in retirement?

¡Who are some people you know who’ve lived well in retirement?

¡Have you considered taking some time off after you retire to reconsider your calling in this new season of life? What might that look like?

¡What would your 90-year-old self say about the decisions you’re making today?

¡What unique skills, networks, platforms or talents do you have that you’d like to keep using in retirement? Which new skills would you like to learn?

¡How do you think about work in retirement? What will be different from your career? What will be similar?

¡Do you want to mentor younger people in your congregation or community? What might this look like?

¡What will be your financial responsibility for ailing parents as they age, or adult children?

¡Have you talked about retirement with your spouse?

¡What fears do you have about retirement that need to be confronted?

Mike and Ann Fornataro fast-tracked their retirement savings with the help of their Thrivent Financial professional.

“When I first met Mike and Ann,” Ritter remembers, “they didn’t have a retirement strategy.” So they developed a clear financial roadmap for retirement. The Fornataros have adopted new habits of saving and investing, but like Rebecca and Greg, they don’t envision completely retiring. “Hopefully we’ll be able to work at lower-stress jobs because we have a cushion. It’s not the traditional, ‘I’m done. I’m out,’ type of retirement,” says Mike. “[We want] the freedom to choose what we do for a living that may not be as lucrative but is more fulfilling. That’s our view of retirement.” PH

OTO

BY O

PEN

IMAG

E ST

UDIO