How Mentoring Can Become Your Greatest Investment in Retirement with Jeff Haanen

Mentoring often sounds like the perfect way to steward your time in retirement—until you try it and realize it’s not as intuitive as you'd hoped.

For many retirees, mentoring seems like a meaningful way to invest in the next generation—a way to put their life experience to work. But what if we’ve misunderstood how mentoring fits into God’s design for this season of life? Jeff Haanen joins us with practical stories and spiritual insight to help us reframe it.

Jeff Haanen is an accomplished entrepreneur and the founder of the Denver Institute for Faith & Work. He is the author of An Uncommon Guide to Retirement: Finding God’s Purpose for the Next Season of Life and Working from the Inside Out: A Brief Guide to Inner Work That Transforms Our Outer World.

Rethinking Mentoring

Retirement is often marketed as the reward for decades of hard work—a long-awaited season of leisure and personal fulfillment. But what if there's a deeper, richer invitation waiting for us in this chapter of life? What if retirement isn’t just about what we get—but what we give?

Retirement isn’t the end of our calling. It’s a fresh opportunity to steward our lives for God’s Kingdom in powerful new ways. One of the most meaningful ways we can do that is through mentoring—especially when we reimagine it as intergenerational friendship.

Many of us picture mentoring as a formal, structured relationship: scheduled coffee dates where the older offers wisdom and the younger listens. While these settings can be helpful, we’ve found that mentoring is most fruitful when it grows from an organic, mutual friendship.

Rather than casting ourselves as sages who dispense advice, we’re invited to be fellow travelers—learning, laughing, sharing, and growing together. Intergenerational friendships emphasize mutual respect, shared experiences, and spiritual growth over time.

This vision of mentoring as a form of friendship has deep roots in Scripture. Jesus said to His disciples, “I no longer call you servants… I have called you friends” (John 15:15). The Apostle Paul invested in Timothy, Elijah mentored Elisha, and Naomi walked with Ruth—but in each of these relationships, we find more than just a teacher and a student. We see companions whose hearts were knit together in love and trust.

In God’s upside-down Kingdom, wisdom flows both ways. The older bring experience and insight; the younger bring hope, energy, and perspective. Together, we become more like Christ.

What Makes Mentoring Thrive?

Through our own journey and through observing others, we've seen several elements that make these relationships truly flourish:

• Delight in the Next Generation. Mentoring starts not with duty but with joy. When we find genuine delight in those younger than us—when we enjoy being with them, listening, and learning—we build the foundation for real connection.
   
• Affirm Before Advising. Many younger adults are uncertain about their calling or whether they have what it takes. A word of affirmation can be far more powerful than advice. Encouragement builds trust and opens the door to growth.
   
• Lead with Vulnerability. We don’t need to have it all together. It’s our stories of failure and God’s faithfulness that often minister most deeply. Humility makes room for healing and hope.
   
• Commit for the Long Haul. There’s no shortcut to transformation. Mentoring thrives when we’re patient and willing to walk alongside someone over time—through victories, setbacks, and seasons of change.
   
• Ask Thoughtful Questions. Jesus often asked His disciples powerful, heart-revealing questions. We can do the same. When we help others discover truth for themselves, they take greater ownership of their journey.

The local church is a natural place to start. It’s one of the few places left in our culture where generations regularly gather. Maybe it’s time to simply show up—to attend a young adult gathering, volunteer in youth ministry, or offer to listen and pray for someone younger.

Our workplaces also offer opportunities. Even in retirement, we may still have profess