Deferred Gratification

By Dave Gemmell

A survey of Adventist Pastors revealed eight different factors that may allow pastors to retire as millionaires. In this Best Practices series I’m sharing each of these eight factors in bite size pieces. Coming in at number six in correlation strength is ‘Those whose net worth is anticipated to be over one million are more likely to practice deferred gratification than those whose net worth is anticipated to be less than a million’(see bar graph).

Participants were asked how much they practiced deferred gratification. The range was from ‘a great deal’, ‘a lot’, ‘a moderate amount’, ‘a little’, or ‘none at all’. The over ‘one million’ participants were more likely to select ‘a great deal’. The under one million were more likely to select ‘a moderate amount’ or ‘a little’. 

Deferred gratification doesn’t come naturally to a lot of us. It is easier to think of our present needs than our future needs. Yet you are the only one who has the power to take care of your future self. One trick is to take a picture of yourself and put it in an aging app. Then talk to your future self who is 40 years older. Here’s some of the discussions you might have.

Does your future self wish to be a millionaire? Then your present self needs to invest $1,000 a month and with the magic of compounded interest, in less than 40 years, your future self will be a millionaire. Or ask your future self how much that $3 you spend on your daily hot drink will cost? Your future self will say ‘over $100,000.’  The two of you can run the numbers on savingscalculator.org. As you put together a budget or make any spending or investment decisions, be sure to include your future self in the conversation.

I’m afraid we too easily give away the responsibility for taking care of our future self to our employer. While our employers may seek to do their best to provide for our needs, they are not our parents and we are not their children. Finances are ultimately our responsibility.

Author’s note: These articles are condensed from the full report of the study that was presented at the 2022 CALLED Pastors’ Family Convention and can be downloaded here: If you would like to dialogue with the author you can email him at davegemmell@gmail.com.

Dave Gemmell recently retired from NAD Ministerial and is enjoying spending more time with his family, especially his three grandsons.