Retire Repurposed

Building on last week's discussion, Ben Taatjes and Jerrid Sebesta provide the practical pathway for moving your identity from your roles to your identity in Christ. Using Tim Keller's powerful story of two mothers facing teenage struggles, they reveal how good things (career, parenthood, success, being needed) become identity crises when they become the thing we depend upon to know who we are.

In this episode, Ben Taatjes shares his personal experience of dropping his youngest daughter at college - a moment that forced him to confront a crucial retirement question: When the duties that defined me disappear, who am I? Drawing from Tim Keller's insight on identity, Ben contrasts two incomplete answers: the traditional 'I am my duties' and the modern 'I am my desires.' Discover how your id...

In this final episode of the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes and Jerrid Sebesta reveal that what retirees call 'fear of being alone' runs much deeper than loneliness. Throughout this series, they've discovered that most retirement fears eventually trace back to four fundamental questions. Drawing from Acts 17:28, this episode reframes retirement from a series of threats to be managed into a...

In this episode, Ben Taatjes explores a paradox many retirees face: we dream for decades about having more time, then retirement arrives and we treat our newfound abundance with surprising casualness. Through the contrasting stories of college drop-offs, Ben reveals how our perspective on time's value changes only after the moment has passed. Drawing from Psalm 90:12, Ben challenges retirees to tr...

In part two of our generative work exploration, Ben Taatjes addresses the critical distinction many retirees miss: your career gave you a platform, not your purpose. While your job title disappears at retirement, the deeper gifts and calling that animated your work remain intact. Ben walks retirees through four powerful questions designed to uncover what actually gave you energy and meaning beneat...

Continuing the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes introduces a transformative concept: generative work in retirement. While it may seem counterintuitive, Ben is decidedly pro-work in retirement - just not the kind you left behind. Generative work is fundamentally different. It's the kind of work that connects you deeper to who you actually are and what you were created to do. Rather than worki...

In this episode, Ben Taatjes addresses a fear many retirees are almost embarrassed to admit: 'I'm going to miss my job.' But Ben reveals that the real fear isn't about the job itself - it's about losing the significance, purpose, and sense of "mattering" that the job provided. Drawing from Jordan Raynor's biblical perspective on work, Ben redefines what work actually means beyond paid employment a...

In this continuation of the regret discussion within the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes challenges a widely held assumption: that retiring as early as possible is always the goal. What if the real regret isn't working too long, but retiring too soon? Through the story of a 72-year-old man who worked until the end of his life, Ben paints a picture that society views as tragic - yet reveals...

In this installment of the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes explores one of retirement's most haunting fears: regret. Research shows people regret what they didn't do far more than what they actually did - and regret isn't something that strikes overnight. It's a slow erosion that builds over years of deferred dreams and postponed connections. Ben reveals why society's current view of retire...

Continuing the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes addresses a fear closely tied to but distinct from irrelevance: the fear of losing significance. Society tells a clear narrative - young people innovate, middle-aged people produce, and older people retire into insignificance. But Ben counteracts this cultural lie with a powerful truth about the irreplaceable value of wisdom. Discover why wisdo...

In this episode of the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes tackles one of retirement's most crippling fears: becoming irrelevant. For decades, when people ask 'What do you do?', we answer with our job title - mistaking our role for our identity. But retirement forces a reckoning with a deeper question: Who am I without my career? Discover how to reorganize your understanding of who you actually...

In this episode of the health section in the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes addresses the foundation upon which all other health pillars rest: spiritual health and identity. Retirement doesn't answer life's deepest questions - it removes the noise and distractions that careers provided for decades, forcing us to confront who we really are at our core. Ben reveals two distinct paths retiree...

In this powerful continuation of the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes addresses one of retirees' deepest fears - Alzheimer's disease and memory loss. Rather than focusing solely on brain mechanics, Ben explores research that points to something deeper: the functionality of our heart and soul. Discover why the real key to retirement isn't avoiding Alzheimer's, but living with genuine heart an...

Fresh back from a family trip to Greece, Ben Taatjes reflects on what this experience reveals about retirement in America. Drawing inspiration from Acts 17 - where the disciples were said to have turned the world upside down - Ben poses a challenging question: What if you came to turn the typical world of retirement upside down? Through his observations in Greece, Ben discovered striking contrasts...

Continuing the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes addresses one of retirees' deepest fears - cognitive decline and memory loss. Rather than focusing solely on preventing decline, Ben reveals two major keys that not only protect your mind but actually enhance your overall retirement fulfillment. The first key challenges the notion that retirement is just about staying busy - it's about staying...

In this continuation of the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes and Jerrid Sebesta address a taboo topic that rarely gets discussed: the rising divorce rate among older couples and the reality of mediocre marriages in retirement. While staying married is important, the real goal should be building a thriving marriage that deepens in connection and intimacy over time. Discover why retirement oft...

In part three of the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes tackles one of retirees' most persistent worries - health and the rising cost of healthcare. While these concerns seem straightforward, Ben reveals a much deeper source behind this anxiety that most retirees don't recognize. Discover why health worries often mask something more fundamental about identity, purpose, and mortality. More impo...

In part two of the 'Double Click' miniseries, Ben Taatjes and Jerrid Sebesta explore the deep operating system that drives our feelings toward money. Jerrid shares a vulnerable story about growing up in a trailer home where money was always fleeting, revealing how childhood experiences shape adult spending behaviors decades later. Ben then breaks down the X's and O's of viewing money from a place...

Welcome to a new miniseries called 'Double Click,' where Ben Taatjes and Jerrid Sebesta dive deep into the biggest worries facing retirees today. Rather than surface-level answers, they're peeling back the layers to reveal the real reasons retirees feel the way they do - enabling transformation from the inside out. In this first episode, they tackle the most obvious and prevalent worry: running ou...

Building on last week's distinction between a retired Christian and a Christian retiree, Ben Taatjes and Jerrid Sebesta explore how true transformation happens from the inside out. Jerrid shares powerful insights about helping people understand the deepest cry of their soul, drawing wisdom from Matthew 24:18. Discover what everyone truly desires - rest for the soul - and how this rest comes only t...

In this episode, Ben Taatjes shares insights from his recent Kingdom Advisor work that forced him to recalibrate his own identity. Through this process, he discovered that the system by which we operate is far more important than any title or label we carry. But how does this translate into a retiree's life? Ben and Jerrid explore the core shift that changes everything: retirement isn't the goal -...

Drawing from a  sermon illustration about a man who drove home without any memory of the journey, Ben Taatjes explores how retirement can lull us into a dangerous autopilot mode. When everything becomes familiar and comfortable, we stop growing - and as John Maxwell warns, if you're not growing, you're dying. Discover how this slow but gradual descent happens as life's momentum naturally slows dow...

Fresh off an amazing vacation, Ben Taatjes reflects on the rejuvenating power of rest - but quickly reminds us that this is only a fraction of what retirement should be about. Yes, retirement should include times for vacation, rest, and decompression. But it should also include meaningful work. Discover why the magic lies in the balance between these two essential elements. Learn how rest and work...

In this personal episode, Ben Taatjes shares, Founder & CEO of Stewards Planning Group, startling news - his father suffered a mild heart attack. While his father is okay, the experience prompted profound reflection on life's brevity and the finite time we have left on Earth. Through this lens, Ben dissects the crucial difference between legacy and inheritance and why it matters deeply for retiree...

In this episode, Ben Taatjes addresses a question many retirees are asking as they watch concerning news cycles: Should I be worried? Through a recent client conversation about Middle East tensions, Ben reveals that the real battle isn't financial - it's the battle for your mind. Drawing from scripture on taking every thought captive and being transformed by the renewing of your mind, Ben explores...