Dear RPWitness visitor. In order to fully enjoy this website you will need to update to a modern browser like Chrome or Firefox .

What Does the Bible Say about Retirement?

  —Noah Bailey and Pete Smith | Columns, Asked & Answered | Issue: January/February 2025



Maybe you’ve sat with a financial advisor, watched a retirement-oriented webinar, or been to a workplace benefits presentation and almost immediately become lost. What are all those numbers and letters? What’s the difference between a defined contribution plan and a defined benefit plan? Or a TDF (Target-Date Fund) and ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)? What’s a 401(k), 403(b), IRA, Roth conversion, annuity, or Social Security claiming strategy?

It’s enough to make you throw up your hands in frustration. Then you might wonder, is retirement even biblical? What does the Bible say about retirement?

The short answer is “not much.” The concept of retirement is found only in Numbers 8:23–26, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service.’” Older Levites could still keep guard, but they were to do no further service. If we think about their service, this makes sense. Repeatedly breaking down and setting up the tabernacle required physical strength, as did the continual slaughter of animals for the daily sacrifices. Such work took a toll on a body. So, the Levites were given a measure of retirement.

For the rest of Israel (and us), the Bible says nothing about retirement. The idea that there comes a time in life when a person no longer needs to work and may instead enter into some form of never-ending vacation is a modern construct. It’s a product of the Industrial Revolution and subsequent government sponsored old-age programs. But work can be tiresome, exhausting, and futile. It’s under a curse. We ache for rest. And as we live longer lives, there may indeed come a point when we can no longer do the work we once did and so can no longer earn a paycheck. What then?

First, practice Sabbath. God has given us one day in seven to rest from our toil. That’s 52 days per year, or 1 year in 7 of early retirement. In God’s grace, He allows us, invites us, and even commands us to enjoy some rest along the way. He doesn’t intend for us to save it all for later.

Second, save and invest. “Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it” (Prov. 21:20). Spend less than you earn and save the difference. Savings are helpful. Not only are savings helpful in the face of emergencies and unforeseen needs, but savings and investments build up over time and may themselves become the source of income when a person can no longer work for wages.

Third, provide for your household. Paul tells Timothy one who fails to provide for the needs of his relatives and his own family has denied the faith and is worse than unbeliever (1 Tim. 5:8). This exhortation applies to ourselves, too. We ought not to expect our children to care for us. They may do just that and so fulfill their obligation to honor their parents, but “children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children” (2 Cor. 12:14). In fact, it’s good parents who leave an inheritance to their children’s children (Prov. 13:22). When thinking about retirement, have a larger conversation. Widows (and widowers) are to be cared for by their children. This is a two-way street. So involve everyone in planning.

Fourth, keep being productive. We’ve been created in Christ Jesus for good works. Keep walking in them. If and when you come to the place when you can retire from regular paid work, lean into this next phase of life. Consider the example of Anna. She was an older widow who “did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37). Give yourself to prayer. My father did so into his 97th year. He prayed down his lists. He prayed around the world. He prayed for your pastor and your congregation. Do the same. Volunteer. Older men, mentor and disciple the younger men. Older women, train the younger. Assist your pastor.

As Psalm 92 says, “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.…They still bear fruit in old age.” If planned for properly, retirement can be an active time of fruitful service. Don’t let those days slip away.