Hi Blueblades,
It is very unfortunate that the Watchtower tells people to not plan for their retirement. Personally, I have not really plan for retirement either, because I thought Armageddon was coming. So now I have to aggressively save. I have a little more time since I'm in my mid 40's.
The Watchtower does not encourage people to be money savvy at all. I think on occasion throughout the years, there may has been a few articles on the perils of getting into debt, but that's about it. Likewise, there are many people here on this board that probably did not go to college, because the Watchtower said put spiritual interest before material interest. And of course, this has directly affected people's ability to earn a living.
I do sympathize with you Blueblades because there are so many people who did put spiritual interest first and are now suffering materially. For some faithful JW's, the golden years are turning into the financial crisis years.
In the United States, the bottom line is money and the Watchtower understands that. That is why the Watchtower has it publishers and pioneers out their pushing their products. The Watchtower has cheap labor--it free! At the end of the day, the pioneers and publishers suffer.
Happy Sistah