I’m in my 40s and have put off saving for retirement. My current job offers an employer-matched 401(k), and I’ve been advised that it’s foolish not to participate. I’m afraid to make automatic deductions in case money gets too tight. Should I do it anyway?

Contribute to My 401(k)

Dear Contribute to my 401(k), 

It would certainly be helpful to understand the full picture of your financial situation. While I hesitate to give blanket financial advice, it is hard to go wrong using the benefits of an employer-matched retirement account! There are a few precautions that I will get to below. 

Contributing to a retirement account is a privilege for us—one that our forefathers could not have imagined. Saving for the future is one of the most important financial habits, and it is taught by Solomon in the book of Proverbs:

“The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.”

Proverbs 21:20 TLB

A Few Precautions

Before socking away money for the long term, be sure two things are in place:

• You are able to consistently live below your means.
• You have at least one to three months of expenses in an Emergency Savings Account.

With these two financial goals in place, you are able to eliminate the fear you expressed about “money getting tight.” These two achievements establish the freedom to put money away for the long term without the worry of having to pay a penalty for early withdrawal.

First, Look at the Ant

Learning to save for short- and long-term needs does not happen by accident! It happens through intentional choices made day after day after day. Like any other habit, it is built over time through consistency and sacrifice. So how do you develop the habit? 

“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”

Proverbs 6:6–8 NIV

This verse is a bit comical if you stop to think about it; the message should be clear that even though an ant is a tiny creature with a nearly microscopic-sized brain, it is an example of great wisdom! Why? Because it stores provisions for the future. The point is that we should be just as wise as one with such a tiny brain! 

Next, Get Going! 

The sooner you start using your 401(k), the better—no matter how small. Just start. Begin with something manageable, even if it’s just a small percentage of your income. With consistency, you will develop the habit and probably never miss the money. Saving becomes an extension of how you live: sacrificing current wants for future needs.

Automate your savings. Setting up contributions to occur automatically removes the temptation to spend what should be saved. This is a very important step because when the money is not available to spend, you learn to do without. The structure strengthens the discipline. For some, it helps to consider the money locked away, never to be touched until retirement age—but also to be celebrated when you achieve a milestone goal. 

Unite saving with your purpose. Retirement saving is preparing you—and if you are married, your spouse—with the freedom to live, give, and serve without financial pressure later in life. Connecting the importance of saving to a bigger life purpose will keep you motivated to stay the course and allow the freedom to obey God’s call on your life. 

Saving Requires Sacrifice 

Saving consistently, for the majority of people, means having to make sacrifices. Here are a few suggestions:

• Delay new purchases or upgrades. 
• Limit lifestyle inflation.
• Recognize and flee temptation. 
• Limit social media and contact with those who push spending.
• Be grateful for what you already have.
• Begin using cash and limiting purchases with a credit or debit card.

Choose to be grateful and content by protecting your mind and taking your thoughts captive.  Adopt the mindset of choosing long-term peace over short-term pleasure. Every dollar you set aside today builds margin for tomorrow. Over time, the compound interest earned on small, faithful decisions leads to freedom, stability, and the ability to finish well. Just as there is a cost to saving, there’s a greater cost to not saving. 

Opting Out Has Ramifications 

Pausing automatic deductions to retirement accounts is costly. It should be a last-resort decision. After exhausting all other options, you may have to temporarily halt contributions. Consider the pause a life preserver—only use this option to make it safely to shore. Passing on an employer-matched 401(k) means losing free money and the tax benefits that come with it. 

Valid reasons to pause:

• Job loss
• Medical expenses or high-interest debt
• Unable to cover essentials: rent/mortgage, car payment
• Diagnosed with a terminal illness, affecting work

Ill-advised reasons to pause:

• Lifestyle upgrades: new car or house
• Vacation, wedding, or honeymoon
• Entertainment: such as season tickets for concerts/sports

Encourage Your Children to Save

Once you get your plan in place, you are now setting a great example for others in your life. If you have children, I encourage you to teach them to start now. It helps to reward their efforts. Consider matching their deposits up to a certain dollar amount. Build interest and excitement by watching it compound over time.

Our children were taught to allocate all income they received from gifts or odd jobs into three categories: Giving, Saving, and Spending. Today, I would add a fourth: Investing. The younger they are, the higher the percentage that is kept in savings. The older they get, the more of their income they can spend, but they should always save 10–20%. 

Small, Consistent Steps = Big Impact

Remember: It is better to sacrifice comfort today for security tomorrow. Consistency counts. Just get started, and don’t look back. If consumer debt is eating up your ability to put money away, get help to eliminate it as quickly as possible while also saving for the short and long term. 

As an additional resource, read Kiplinger: “This is What You’re Really Losing if You Cut Back on Your 401(k) Contributions.”

If credit card debt is holding you back from saving, reach out to Christian Credit Counselors. They are a trusted partner of Crown and are able to help consolidate debt and get one on the road to financial freedom.

This article was originally published on The Christian Post on April 24 2026. 

The post Ask Chuck: Should I Skip My Employer’s 401(k) Match? appeared first on Crown Financial Ministries.

Our son graduated from college in May and has not found a job in his desired career field yet. We think we will give him a few more months and then expect him to start paying his own bills. Are we being too hard on him?  

Parenting an Unemployed College Grad 

Dear Parenting an Unemployed College Grad, 

It is hard to say if you are being hard on him or not without more information. However, my initial reaction is that you are doing your son a favor by setting a deadline and expecting him to take charge of his financial responsibilities. In fact, considering that he is waiting on an opening in his “desired career field,” I would begin expecting him to pay the bills now, whether he is working in a career he likes or not. 

Most young people can find some sort of gig, part-time or full-time, that will pay the bills at this point in their lives. As an employer, I would view an application from a recent graduate who is working in any kind of job—while waiting for the best opportunity to open—as a major positive. 

I believe in the old saying, “The man may build the house, but the house is also building the man.” Work experience is priceless training for any career. It teaches us to hold down responsibility, get along with people, and value our time, while developing our character. I have read studies that correlate early work experience outside the home with future career success. 

Adam was created to work. Genesis 2:15 shows us that he was given a job tending God’s garden before he sinned. Thus, work is not a curse but a way to fulfill our life purpose. For many, working to pay our own way is a form of dignity that cannot be gained in any other way. Consider a recent article about a phenomenon in China where unemployed young people fake like they have a job. 

Pretend Jobs 

Unemployed young adults in China are paying companies so they can pretend to work for them. The BBC News Chinese, Hong Kong reports that youth unemployment is high, more than 14%. So these young people, many of whom are highly educated, are joining others to pretend they are working—yes, to fake it. 

Companies are popping up in major cities across China that function like true offices, equipped with computers, internet access, meeting rooms, and tea rooms. A 30-year-old owner of the Pretend to Work Company says, “What I’m selling isn’t a workstation, but the dignity of not being a useless person.” 

He understands how depressing and powerless unemployment can be because he had to close a retail business during the COVID pandemic. He started this company, and within a month, the workstations were full. 40% are recent university grads; the others are freelancers. The average age is 30. He sees the business as a social experiment. “It uses lies to maintain respectability, but it allows some people to find the truth… Only by helping them transform their fake workplace into a real starting point can this social experiment truly live up to its promise.”

While paying $4 to $7 daily to pretend, these young people benefit by being in community. They become friends, look for jobs together, improve skills (like AI), chat, play games, and often have dinner together. Some hope to improve their self-discipline. Others pay the daily fee to deceive their family or to receive a diploma.

One young lady graduated from a university that requires students to sign an employment contract or provide proof of internship. She rented a workstation and took photos to deceptively gain a diploma. She is not interning, although she has written online novels while paying for space. 

Read more here: BBC.com, EconomicTimes.IndiaTimes.com.

A Better Way 

Set a date that your son will begin paying for his bills. Give him notice that he needs to find any kind of employment that will put some money in his pocket, such as driving for Uber, working at a quick-service restaurant, or freelancing at something he is good at. In the meantime, use a focused networking effort to try to land an interview for the dream job. He is much more likely to be motivated to look for a better job when he does not like the one he has. Also, getting a personal interview will enhance his chances of being hired. Use the part-time or temporary gig as a way to show determination and grit. 

Of course, do all of this in love. Setting high standards should not be considered punishment or being too hard on your child. In fact, it is a very high form of love to assist him to get where God wants Him to be. 

Crown’s Career Direct Assessment has helped thousands of professionals and recent graduates discover work they love. By looking at personality, interests, skills, and values, it can help with finding meaningful work and increasing job satisfaction.

This article was originally published on The Christian Post on September 14, 2025.

The post Ask Chuck: Help! Our College Grad Is Unemployed appeared first on Crown Financial Ministries.

I don’t believe in the sacred/secular divide when it comes to our jobs or careers. Can you provide Biblical insights that I can use with others for a devotional on this topic? 

Our Work Is Sacred to the Lord 

Dear Our Work Is Sacred, 

The Bible certainly does not support the idea that work is secular and only spiritual activities like going to church, reading the Bible, or praying are sacred. Because we are redeemed by God’s mercy and His Spirit dwells in us, Christ is with us when we get up, when we lie down, when we work, and when we rest. Let’s look at the Bible verses that can be helpful in your outreach to others.

This Is Best For You

Since the average American spends about 100,000 hours working, this is no insignificant topic! Did you know that we are in the top ten nations/cultures that work the most hours each year? We are also at the top of the list of nations/cultures that take the least amount of vacation days. 

A major part of one’s adult life is involved in work. God instituted work from the beginning. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15 ESV). He put Adam to work for his own benefit. It was not a curse, although work was made more difficult after the fall. 

The work we do and the jobs we hold are not simply means to earn money. They are also the ways by which our talents and abilities are used to develop our character and to minister in countless ways to others. The old saying is true: “The man may build the house, but the house also builds the man.” 

God gave us many principles to help us improve our work habits and cure our “overwork” habits. Larry Burkett used to say, “God’s principles are His way of saying, ‘This is best for you.’ They are not laws that, if broken, lead to punishment but guides that, if not followed, lead to pain, loss, or missed blessings.” Let’s look at some of the key principles. 

We Work, God Provides 

“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23 NIV). 

God designed us to work. It is His method for providing for our needs. He never promised to provide for our needs through gambling, attempting to get rich quickly, or praying that money would fall from the sky into our bank account. God is a worker. He created us to be workers. The Apostle Paul even stated, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10b).

Work with Excellence

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23–24 ESV).

We actually serve the Lord in our work. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: 

“If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all the host of Heaven and earth will have to pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper, who swept his job well.’”

Trust the Lord for Promotion

“For promotion and power come from nowhere on earth, but only from God” (Psalm 75:6–7 TLB).

Try to imagine Jesus as your employer. It will change the mindset you have at work. He can raise you up, move you to another job, or give you all you need to do the job at hand. 

Work Hard 

Scripture encourages hard work and diligence, while laziness is condemned. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10a ESV). “He who is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys” (Proverbs 18:9 ESV).

Give every task your best effort; don’t hold back when asked to do even the most menial tasks. 

A radio listener once shared his testimony with me that he could not find a job after being released from a seven-year prison sentence. The only chance he got was to provide maintenance at a truck stop that was a combination of a convenience store, restaurant, and gift shop. His boss asked him to clean the restrooms every hour on the hour as part of his responsibility. After only two weeks, he received a promotion to manager with a hefty raise. His boss explained that he was the only employee who had ever faithfully cleaned the restrooms every hour as expected. 

Work with a Great Attitude

Godly employees should follow the standard set for elders: “He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined” (Titus 1:7–8 ESV). 

Workers should live above reproach so that employers, colleagues, or customers will not question or doubt their honesty; rather, they should have a positive attitude at all times. 

Work to Honor Fellow Employees

Avoid gossip, backbiting, or slanderous talk. Go out of your way to serve in love. Your example can be contagious and bring lasting change to a work environment. 

Work to Bring Salt and Light to the Marketplace

Just as Daniel demonstrated his faith, workers today can too. The challenge is to do so in a winsome way without condemnation or judgment.

Don’t Overwork 

“But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 ESV). 

Hard work must be balanced by one’s relationships with Christ, spouse, and family. If work interferes with any of these three relationships, priorities must be assessed.

“You shall work six days, but on the seventh you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest” (Exodus 34:21 NASB).

Remember, God “rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done” (Genesis 2:2b ESV). He set the perfect example for us; we should certainly rest too!

I hope this simple outline will be helpful as you share with others the idea that our work is sacred and pleasing to the Lord. Pray for those you will share with, and ask God to open doors for you to share your personal story and joy in working as unto the Lord. 

I’d like to invite you to join a free Crown Bible study on the YouVersion app. We have several devotionals regarding money and stewardship that can provide wisdom by bringing God’s Word into your daily life.

This article was originally published on The Christian Post on August 8, 2025.

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