There’s an old apple tree on our property that, without pruning, has grown into a full-size tree.
Whether from age or burrowing animals, the trunk is hollow near the ground, where it should be strongest. There is even a spot where daylight shows through a hollow area in the middle.
The funny thing is, it still produces what looks like a full yield of apples every year. From a distance, you’d never know anything was wrong. And yet we fully expect the day it finally tips over, because its foundation simply can’t support the weight forever.
That tree reminds me of a friend of mine who, by all appearances, had it all; the new house, the pool, the big cars, the high gloss lifestyle. I’ll admit, I felt a little intimidated when he invited me over.
But I was focusing on the apples, not the trunk.
One day he confided in me that he had completely leveraged himself financially and had very little net worth. His lifestyle looked impressive from the outside, but inside, the core was hollow. Sooner or later, it was going to tip over, just like the apple tree.
The Heart of Retirement Readiness
Retirement isn’t built on the visible “apples”; the house, the vacations, the toys, the lifestyle. Retirement is built on the trunk: savings, margin, discipline, and the quiet decisions no one sees.
Craig Groeschel puts it this way: “Sometimes we say no to things we love so we can say yes to things we love even more.” Living beneath our means isn’t about restriction, it’s about construction. It’s how we build a financial foundation strong enough to carry us into retirement with confidence instead of fear.
The hollow apple tree produces apples… until it doesn’t. A strong financial trunk carries you through every season.
What are you saying no to today so you can say yes to your future?
-Steven