tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5683446064054569523.post4130346025816477329..comments2024-03-28T14:05:05.234+13:00Comments on Little notes from Heather and Martin: Retirement savings vs. feeding the hungryHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17588832912375311757noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5683446064054569523.post-91286018565168665132015-02-16T16:06:48.307+13:002015-02-16T16:06:48.307+13:00My husband and I talk about these things a lot wit...My husband and I talk about these things a lot with each other and with our housemate (we share a house that we own 50:50 with a friend from university days). I also have a prayer partner with whom I discuss these things, and a few people from church (although most don't seem that interested). I've got the pdf of the Lenten Covenant thing - I'd hoped to get a group together to do it with, but just haven't had the energy, but my husband and I may do it together all the same.<br /><br />Thanks for your thoughts, and thanks always for your thought-provoking blog posts, too!Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17588832912375311757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5683446064054569523.post-69828533676043279382015-02-15T17:34:49.121+13:002015-02-15T17:34:49.121+13:00I do think that if everyone used only what they ne...I do think that if everyone used only what they needed right now - today - and lived in interdependent support systems, then we would all be looked after our whole lives. But we don't, and we don't! So what then? I don't know!<br /><br />What I do know is that these are great questions to be asking. We are going to do the Manna Matters Lenten Household Covenant resource this season to talk about exactly these types of issues: saving, giving, investing, consuming, and other areas of daily practical economics.<br /><br />Do you have a group to nut these things out with? The MM Lenten resource is very good - practical, small steps. The writer, Jonathan Cornford, has a PhD in political economy and international development i.e. economics and theology. I highly recommend it! It's available from their website as an ebook. You can do it together, or with a small group. It doesn't have 'the answers', just good theological and economic grounding, and interesting questions.Alison Sampsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04492848177186327971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5683446064054569523.post-81938490394388720492015-01-28T11:33:31.138+13:002015-01-28T11:33:31.138+13:00Also, in the case of Huon, she has made a choice t...Also, in the case of Huon, she has made a choice that will one day (should she live beyond when she is able to work) in need of help from others. Maybe we should make such a choice, too. I think that interdependence is really important (and that the independence valued in the West is really harmful), so maybe it is right that we should give away our surplus now, and be dependent on others later?<br /><br />One concern that Martin has with this approach is - if everyone lived this way, who would provide capital for the productive sector. But maybe, if everyone lived this way, there'd be enough to meet both human needs and needs for economic development. I don't even know how to look into that one!Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17588832912375311757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5683446064054569523.post-44464096779865928352015-01-28T08:45:15.449+13:002015-01-28T08:45:15.449+13:00That is challenging, in that giving now may mean t...That is challenging, in that giving now may mean that I require more of the government's finite resources to go to me than otherwise.<br /><br />However, the need is there now, and I have the means now - can I ignore it in order to provide for a future that might not even come? I mean, even if Jesus doesn't return before we die, we're saving based on expected life-spans, but we could be run over by buses tomorrow!Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17588832912375311757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5683446064054569523.post-11997224781450575362015-01-28T02:06:02.450+13:002015-01-28T02:06:02.450+13:00The options you suggest are:
(A) Don't give n...The options you suggest are:<br /><br />(A) Don't give now, give later. This is your current plan.<br />(B) Give now, don't give later. This is what you are considering.<br /><br />Furthermore, if government provision in your retirement is means-tested, then (A) means some of the government's finite resources go to other people, and (B) means they go to you.<br /><br />Does this way of looking at it help your planning?Keith Wansbroughhttp://www.lochan.org/keith/noreply@blogger.com