iRetire4Him Show 118: Navigating Retirement Phases

Jim Brangenberg: You're either retired or thinking about retiring. Why? Because everyone's doing it and because you're ready for a 30 year vacation. Either way, did anyone tell you that God may have had you retire so that you could transition and serve alongside him in a totally different way?

You've tuned in to iRetire4Him, the voice and resource of the Retirement Reformation, online at retirementreformation. org and on Facebook, Retirement Reformation. Bruce Bruinsma joins us today, the founder of the Retirement Reformation, and I'm your host Jim Brangenberg.

Transitions, they happen all the time, all throughout our lives. We transitioned from the womb to living and breathing. We transitioned from preschool to elementary to middle school and high school. We transitioned from living at home to moving out, getting married and having kids. We transitioned from one job to another. And finally we transitioned from working towards Retirement.

But once we retire, are we done with transitions? We start a three part series today on transitions. Today we're going to focus on the transitions we typically face during the three phases of retirement. Bruce, I just, I think it's important that we just review for everybody that's listening, in case they've missed some of those past podcasts, what are the three phases of retirement?

Bruce Bruinsma: Three phases of retirement is a way to divide the estimated 30 years of longevity. And so that's just the fact that retirement is 30 years and that's the planning horizon is a shock to most people. Not that they'd never thought about it, but they never really grappled with it.

So when you come face to face with it, or you are watching your parents come face to face with it, or you're preparing for it yourself, it's very helpful to understand that in fact, that 30 years can be divided into three different periods. Because each one of those life stages will involve a transition.

And so that first life stage is that transition from career to what the world calls retirement. Matter of fact, Jim, I often think maybe we ought to go back and call it four and start back at the time when you become an empty nester, because there's a major transition point right there.

But from say, let's say 65 to mid late 70s. In fact, it's a life stage that, that we call active. Because you're by and large able to do most of the things that you could do when you were 10 years earlier, and so it's a very active period of time. And so what is that activity going to look like is one of the questions.

Secondly, when you come to the end of that, you're going to transition the next time to a period which we call mentoring. So from, say, 78 to Oh, 87, 88, somewhere in that area, mentoring, and this is the opportunity to be able to take all the experiences, everything from the DNA to God's original plan to all your experiences and be able to come alongside of a whole variety of different kinds of people as a mentor, to be able to share what it is that you have experienced with them as both a teaching mechanism and as an encouragement.

Then you get to end of that. And so now you're in your middle 80s and you're going to live to 104. So what does that look like in that period of time we call reflective? And reflective is when, in fact, you get your arms around all of the experiences that you've had, you bring them together, and you're able to share them with the next generation, with grandchildren, with people that you have access to.

Just to give you a quick, two quick examples Jimmy Carter, regardless of what you think about his politics, wrote an absolutely great book on faith when he was 93. And so we see many great leaders that have taken that opportunity in their later years to be able to share what God has taught them through all their experiences.

And let me just remind you of the one that I find the most powerful. It's in some black book that I got sitting on my desk that it is often open and it's called Leviticus. It's not called Leviticus, it's, that is not right at all.

Jim Brangenberg: Yeah, it's okay. Sometimes we get blanks. We think of all the 66 books of the Bible. One of them is the one you're trying to reference right now, and it's okay. When it comes back to you, just let me know.

But when we get into the active stage, Bruce, when we move from working to the active stage, what does that look like? What does that active stage look like? What are some of the characteristics of that active stage?

Bruce Bruinsma: The characteristics are that usually when we make that transition, we've got two lists. We've got a bucket list. And we've got a Honey-do list.

Jim Brangenberg: I was gonna say my list, I think is the, to-do list. I don't, I haven't got the bucket one yet.

Bruce Bruinsma: The bucket list and the to-do list. And so we use our energy and resources and so on to be able to address those issues, whether it be travel or whatever it may be. And so we're very intentional and we're very active and impactful. And we have that opportunity and we feel that we are able to do that during that period of time, even though we are transitioning from where we've been and we're not sure where we're going, but we have this list of things that we're going to do. And so those things come into the floor. So that's the heart of what happens in that stage,

Jim Brangenberg: A lot of times, isn't that defined by vacations? That's by travel, by a missions trips, overseas missions trips. It's by going to see your kids, by going to back and seeing old friends who may have retired. There's just a lot of going on. Maybe even learning how to play pickleball is one of those things. Cause boy, that's sweeping the nation. They even just built an eight court pickleball place right here in Marionville, Missouri. That's a big deal.

Bruce Bruinsma: It is a big deal. And so it's having the freedom and the resources, the time to be able to step into something new or something that's been desired for a long time.

And so that's the experience that we were hoping for when we move into retirement or into that first stage. But our experience is that after, oh, maybe two, three, four, could be even five years, Jim, all of a sudden you wake up and you've done many of those things. And now you're saying to yourself, huh, isn't there more meaning than this?

And that's when another point of transition starts to show up. And if your health is good, then in fact, all of those activities then start to wane in importance as you look for how do I really impact someone else's life? And as a Christ follower, that is something that the Holy Spirit puts deep inside of us as a, not only just a desire.

Jim Brangenberg: I'd like to encourage everybody listening. You don't need to cram all of that travel in those first five years. Plan a little bit of travel in the first 20 years of your retirement and start investing in people today. Because the mentoring phase doesn't need to wait until you're in your mid 70s.

We need you to start right now. And we're going to talk about that a little bit more with Joel Penton in the second segment today as he talks about his need for you to be involved with LifeWise Academy. You're listening to iRetire4Him, we'll be right back.

Jim Brangenberg: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him. As we do in every second segment, Bruce brings on a special guest here just to share a little bit of their story. Bruce, who do you have for us today?

Bruce Bruinsma: I'd like to have you meet Joel Penton and Joel and his team at LifeWise. I was pleased to connect with them here all within the last month. And I was so impressed with the work that they're doing and the opportunities for seniors to participate with them that I wanted to have Joel on our podcast today and alert seniors across the country that there's another opportunity that they can step into. So Joel, give us just a quick executive summary, if you would, of how you got, how you came to be in the position you're in with the organization that you're with, and then we'll expand out from there.

Joel Penton: Sure. Bruce, thank you for the opportunity and Jim as well. I serve as the founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy, and LifeWise provides Bible education for public school students during school hours. And that can sound somewhat strange to many ears as you think about, what about the separation of church and state?

And, I thought the Bible was removed from public schools, but few people are aware that in 1952, the Supreme Court ruled that public school students can in fact be released from public school during school hours to receive religious instruction if the program's off school property, privately funded, and students have parental permission. And this is a little known, underutilized practice. We learned about this, and so we developed a plug and play program any community could implement, and it's starting to spread across the country.

Bruce Bruinsma: Now, that is really exciting. Give us a few statistics, if you would. I know there's about 50, roughly what, 50, 000 students that could be eligible for this theoretically across the country. But give us some of the stats so that our audience can begin to connect with what's true.

Joel Penton: Oh, yeah. So in terms of the number of students out there, it really is a mission field. There are 13, 000 public school districts, 90, 000 public school buildings, nearly 50 million public school students nationwide.

And because the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that what we do again, Bible education for public school students during school hours, they've ruled it's legal, we are now in a race against the clock to expand and spread this as quickly as we can, because these students in public schools need the word of God.

Bruce Bruinsma: I believe you're in 20 some states right now and expanding that to all 50 eventually as you're capable. Talk to us a little bit about the breadth and the width of the ministry that you currently have and what God is leading you to as part of your strategic planning that you, I know you're in the middle of putting together.

Joel Penton: Yes. Thanks for the chance to share it. It has been a whirlwind of growth and opportunity. We just launched our ministry in 2019. That's when we launched our first two programs. We served two schools in 2019. And then of course we had the pandemic that we weathered and grew into a few more.

And so back in 2020, amidst the pandemic, we set a goal to serve 25 schools by 2025. We thought that sounded like a good goal. And here we are in 2024. And we are confirmed for this coming school year to be in 527 schools across, as of today, 24 states. And so it looks like our goal of 25 schools by 2025, it was a good goal, except the metric was wrong.

We should have said 25 states by 2025. And so it has been a whirlwind this past year. We had over 30, 000 public school students enrolled in our program. We hope to nearly double that for next school year, but as I shared earlier, there are thousands and thousands of other schools that we desperately need to reach, and I know that part of the purpose of me being, speaking with you is to share that the people that get behind this and really make this happen on a local level are in large part retirees and so if you're listening to this broadcast you are an ideal person who can pick up this mission and put it to work in your community.

Bruce Bruinsma: And so can you give us a website or a pathway for someone who's listening to follow so that they can say, here's how I can be engaged, whether it be in an existing program, or whether it be in the development of a new one in my community, or if I can't do that, and I want to write a check. So how do I connect with you?

Joel Penton: Yes, thank you. And no matter who you are, and no matter where you live, you can certainly engage, and you can very likely engage in a variety of ways on the local level. And so I would invite you to get to our website lifewise. org and you can look up any school district in the nation on our website and find out what is the status of that school district.

The way we get these started is through a signature campaign, basically a petition. You can go to our website, find your local school district and find it. We look to find at least 50 signatures to kick things off. And so maybe you'll find, oh, there's already 10 signatures, or there's already 25 signatures, or maybe you would be the first signature.

Once we have those 50 signatures, then we find a steering committee. We put together a plan, we go to the school, and then as things are up and running, we're teaching classes, we're, busing students to and from. There are all sorts of ways to serve. Certainly there are needs, as you mentioned, to donate and so again, no matter where you live, no matter who you are, there's ways for you to engage. And yes, you could be the person to spark interest in your community, to sign your name. So start sharing that with those you know and see a program started in your community.

Jim Brangenberg: So what exactly do those retirees do to help you? We're talking to our audience, which is an audience of 55 plus a potential audience over 45 million. What do you need our audience to do with you?

Joel Penton: Yeah on the front end, if we're launching a program, we need you to sign your name to the list saying, I want to see this in my community. We need you to share that, whether that's emailing, putting it on social media, telling others about it, and then, join your local steering committee, be a part of the effort to get it started.

And then once things are started again, in large part, it's an army of retirees in each community that makes this happen. We have retirees tend to be our teachers. They tend to be our chaperones because again, we need to take students off school property. We transport them oftentimes by bus or we walk students from the school to the nearby church or educational facility. And then certainly it's again, in large part, retirees who are writing the checks because it is entirely privately funded.

Bruce Bruinsma: So Joel, it was probably 15 years ago that I first heard of this capability in some states around the country. And it just, it touched my heart then. And it just really grabs it right now because to have the actual opportunity to be able to impact the lives of these Children during their school hours is just amazing. Second is the way that LifeWise has put together a program so that it's a process that can be followed and replicated in state after state, in school district after school district, with group after group, and the 48 million Christ followers who many of them I know it will touch their heart, but they're not doing anything now.

And they say, there's something there that I can do. And so to be able to challenge our audience to be able to do that. So Joel, I just want to thank you and your team. I've been so impressed with your strategic plans, the way that you carry them out the ability for there to be replication and for it to be something that the average person can step into and be used to be able to build the kingdom here. So thank you very much. Is there any final thoughts that you'd like to give? Or Jim, you got a question?

Jim Brangenberg: I just want to know what's number 25 state. What's it going to be, Joel?

Joel Penton: Oh, that's a good question. We're working with several that are very close. I certainly can't make a prediction.

Jim Brangenberg: Come on, give us a list of the ones you want to get into in 2025 between now and then. Let's go.

Joel Penton: I tell you what, there is a group that we've been working with for a while in the state of Alabama that has not yet confirmed, and I have a hunch they could be the ones that would be our 25th state, but of course, our goal is all 50.

Jim Brangenberg: 50 plus 7 territories. Remember, we got those 7 territories. You got 57 places to go. Joel, any final thoughts like Bruce was asking?

Joel Penton: Oh, I'm just grateful for the opportunity to share. One more time, I would say no matter who you are, please engage with us. Please look up your school district on our website. Please get involved in some way. It is so amazing to learn from you that there are 48, approximately 50 million retirees. And we hear we have these 50 million public school students. And what is the scripture that says, Lord let me pass on your word to the next generation. Like what an opportunity we have!

And I would even ask the question to the listeners, can you think of anything more important than passing the word of God onto the next generation? Perhaps you can think of something of equal importance, but I would challenge you to think of something even more important and I'm grateful for the encouragement. What we have tried to do is create a tool that anybody in any community could pick up and put to work in an effective way and we would love to link arms with anybody who wants to see the gospel, the word of God go on to the next generation.

Bruce Bruinsma: It seems like Jesus started with 12 and then it's expanded a little bit since then so taking that model just looking forward to what the next year is going to hold and we'll look forward to partnering with you in as many ways as we can to be able to get that message out to those people that can make a difference. So thank you for providing the tools and allowing the hands and feet of Jesus to be identified in new and in special ways.

Joel Penton: Thank you, and I was just gonna say - I think maybe you were gonna say the same, Jim - if I didn't mention it, the website is lifewise. org, that's L I F E W I S E, lifewise. org, thanks for the opportunity.

Jim Brangenberg: Check out Joel and his team at lifewise. org, lifewise. org. If you're looking for a place in order to invest your life in a student nearby, and in a state, one of the 26 remaining states and 7 remaining territories, get signed up today on one of those petitions. Thanks, Joel, for being on iRetire4Him.

Joel Penton: Thank you.

Jim Brangenberg: Wow, what a great conversation with Joel Penton today from LifeWise Academy. Bruce, I love the fact that he gave our listeners, as we were just talking about that active phase at the beginning of the show today, he gave our listeners something to do. Go out, sign the petition saying, We want to bring LifeWise Academy to our town.

And I want to be involved when it gets here. I think that was fantastic. I really enjoyed that. That was a great conversation. I so appreciate you bringing on that guest. On the first segment, you're trying to think of a Bible verse. It slipped your mind for a second there. What was that verse that you wanted to make sure everybody heard?

Bruce Bruinsma: Wasn't really a verse. I was talking about the third stage of retirement, that reflective stage. And where I was leading to that was that the book that, It speaks to me the most in that reflective way is Ecclesiastes, because this is a book that Solomon wrote at the end of his life. He was the wisest man, the richest man and most experienced and had done all the things.

And at the end of his life, his reflective message to me was stand in awe of God, make him your priority. And when I read that in my 30s and the Holy Spirit just jumped that out and said, That's where you need to start. You don't have to go through doing all the things that Solomon did in order to come to that conclusion.

Why don't you start there? And that's a message that I have for all of our listeners. And particularly for those that are, 85 plus, is that the most important thing is in your relationship with God, and everything else, he will help guide you through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jim Brangenberg: I love that, about that final stage, that stage of reflection. Because, we can do that in every stage, but I really enjoy that reflective, how do we take that reflective and gain it now to be able to have all of God? Let's go back to stage two or phase two, which is the mentoring stage. What kinds of things define the mentoring stage? When you look at, you said people mid seventies to mid eighties, but really could start earlier, what are some of the activities that are defined in that stage?

Bruce Bruinsma: Often when we hear the word mentoring, we think of the word coaching and mentoring is really quite different than coaching. Coaching is dealing with developing a specific skill or talent or ability. In mentoring, it's based upon relationship and it's to be able to take the experiences that you have had, the good ones and the bad ones. We often think that we can't mentor someone or come alongside. By the way, what mentoring really means is coming alongside someone, not to tell them what to do, but to be there for them and to be able to share your experiences with them. And when we share those experiences, the ones that have value, aren't just the things that turned out well.

It's being able to share what didn't turn out well, but how through walking with the fruit of the spirit, there were things that we could learn and that we could grow and that we could change and that we could then bring to others. And so that opportunity now, it's also, we often think when we hear the word mentoring, Jim that it's mentoring younger people.

And that's certainly true. Grandchildren, talking about the work in the public schools, that a senior can do to make a difference. So we think of mentoring younger people, younger couples, but it's interesting what I've learned and am learning is that you can also mentor those that are the same age, but are going through challenges that you've experienced and you can come alongside them and you can share with them.

And then finally, one that surprised me the most is that because of longevity, because of that 30 years, you can also, interestingly enough, come alongside your parents. And you can mentor them. You think of your parents mentoring you, but you have an opportunity to mentor them because many of them don't understand the things that we talk about on iRetire4Him that would be of great help to them and plus your own personal, your own personal experiences.

Jim Brangenberg: So I want you to go a little deeper in that because since I'm in the caregiving stage and you're out of the caregiving stage and my parents are 90, 91, tell me what that looks like mentoring my parents. Cause most of the time when I try to, but this is when Jim tries to tell them what to do, they don't like it. Yeah. So what does that look like? What do you mean that we could actually mentor, impact, influence our parents?

Bruce Bruinsma: Yeah. Yeah. I think the thing that we want to avoid is the directive telling them what to do. Now there may become a stage in their life when in fact dementia is taking over and others where you need to be more directive, but in a general sense making sure that you're a friend of your parents and that they know that they can trust you and that when you've shared your journey and the journey they have seen you on, that in fact, you're able to be able to share with them how it has changed you and how it has made you a better person and thankful to them, but being able to come alongside.

 It's very hard to historically to do that, but I believe that it is a critical variable as we now live in a time when there can be five generations alive at the same time. Think of the complexity of that and the mentoring that is needed. The modeling that is needed, the shared experiences that we can learn from all of these are critical in that period in between, say, 78 and 88 somewhere in that range to be able to do that.

And someone came up to me at church the other day and said, I've heard you talk about mentoring. How can I get started? And here was my suggestion. Who comes first to mind that you want to take to lunch or breakfast as the case may be. And he immediately gave me someone's name and I said, that's where you start.

Jim Brangenberg: Yeah. Just pouring your life into somebody. I want to close out with your comments about Solomon because Ecclesiastes - 12 chapters of "I've tried this. I've tried this, I've tried this, I've tried this, I've tried this," and he got to the end and he goes, Yeah, you know what I realized? I've tried it all, none of it really matters.

Just love God, follow his precepts. That's the life that you really want to chase after. How do we make sure that's how we live life in our 60s and not wait till we're in our 90s when we can't do anything else to recognize that God just desires us not to chase after everything the world has to offer, but to chase after everything He has to offer?

Bruce Bruinsma: To realize that in fact, in the next 30 years after age 60, or 35, or maybe even 40 for that matter, that in fact, there will be challenges, there will be times of transition. And to prepare yourself of how you're going to deal with those times of transition. You may not be able to identify exactly what that transition is going to be, but in fact, you can be prepared to embrace it, to be able to understand it, to be able to use the fruits of the spirit, to be able to view it.

And see it and to be able to take actions in light of that and to go forward. And you can practice that in your 20s and 30s and 40s, 60s and get better at it. So that in fact during these last 30 years that the world calls retirement you are in fact that Christ following model that will make a difference to those that are around you.

Jim Brangenberg: And it's important to recognize that Christ following model doesn't always have to be perfect. People can learn from your mistakes too. So it's okay. Living life out loud is a real encouragement to normal people because they figured out that you're not perfect. Bruce, great conversation on transitions through the three phases of retirement. I can't wait till next week, but thanks Bruce for being here today and bringing your wisdom with you.

Bruce Bruinsma: Good to be here. And let's just go back and read Ecclesiastes one more time.

Jim Brangenberg: You've been listening to iRetire4Him, the Voice and Resource of The Retirement Reformation. I'm your host, Jim Brangenberg, and of course, we've been joined by Retirement Reformation's very own founder Bruce Bruinsma.

But check us out online retirement reformation.org. There are life-changing resources out there you need to check out. We're Christ followers journeying from Retirement to Reformation so ultimately we can say iRetire4Him!