Context
I am going to start from the beginning and cover all thebasics but no matter what your level of knowledge in finance, I will add littlenuggets of wisdom for all.
Context is defined as this:
The contextof an event,word, paradigm,changeor other realityincludes the circumstances and conditionswhich surroundit.
When it comes tofinances, everyone has their own context drawn from experience and their own personalup bringing. Why is this so important inraising children? Finance is not taughtin school. Finance and money are learnedin the home from parents. More on thislater.
“Forthe love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money,have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s.” 1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV)
What is the bible sayinghere? That making money your love, thatputting money before God is a sin. True. I believe it is also sayingthat chasing money can lead you to wonder from your faith and the things thatare important in life.
Loving money and Mastering moneyare two different concepts. Loving moneyis what this verse is referring to; Mastering money is understanding and notletting money become a problem in your life or the life of your children.
Money doesn’t buy happiness and itwon’t make you a better person, but neither does poverty, debt or ignorance ofmoney. Finances are one of the leadingcauses of divorce in the US. Money is needed for food, housing, clothes,education and expenses.
So let me ask this question, ifyou had a choice between your children struggling financial or understanding moneywhich would you choose? Now don’t get mewrong, I‘m not talking about spoiling ourchildren or giving children a silver spoon. I am talking about giving your children the knowledge of understandinghow to live below their means, save and invest, control debt, make smartpurchases and how to create an honest income for themselves and eventually theirfamilies.
If your children our under age 10,I will teach you how to make them millionaires by the time they reach their30’s, they will also learn charity, but more importantly they will learn how touse the money for good causes and ultimately God’s design for their lives.
I think every parent wants thisfor their children but the problem is how to do it? There are many options available, how dowe know which one is right?
Finances are very complex and younever know if someone is trying to sell you something or is giving you pooradvice. As a former Financial Plannerand currently an active investor, I have seen all kinds of advice andinvestors. So for the sake of simplicity,I am going to lay out all my knowledge in a series of posts and let you takeaway what is unique for your situation. I’veread over 50 books on personal finance and investing and I still haven’t foundthe definitive authority on the subject. So the best way I have found is to get a wide variety of advice frommany sources and take away what works for your personal situation.
Think of these posts as a buffetline, take what you like or what looks good and leave that which doesn’t soundlike your area.
I will cover the following areas:
Living Below Your Means
Debt and Credit
Paper Investing: Stocks, Bonds,Mutual Funds and Derivatives
Real Estate Investing
Estate Planning and Wills
Business and Marketing
Tax Planning and Tax Savings
Techniques I Learned From MyWealthy Clients
How to Retire Younger Without TheAdded Risk
What Investments to Buy and When
And of course how we teach this toour kids and why, has such a dramatically positive effect on them.
Back to context, how you speak andrefer to money shapes your children’s view of it. How many of us have heard phrases like “Moneywon’t buy you happiness” Money doesn’t grow on trees?” and my favorite “Moneyis not important!”
For the final comment, I alwaysask people “If money is not important, why do you spend years away from yourfamily, working at a job for money?”
The truth is that money is importantbut it is certainly not the most important thing. A majority of people I have met grew up withnegative experiences of money. They haveideas like money is in short demand; you have to work hard for money, etc.
However, there are also people whobelieve that money is easy to make and control, money is a tool to fund worthycauses and controlling money will allow you to spend more time on things thatreally matter like your family, charity or your true passion in life.
Take a few moments and imaginethat money is not a factor in your life. You do not have a job, each month you receive $10,000 into your checkingaccount. How would you live your life? What charities and causes would yousupport? How would you spend yourtime? Would you volunteer more at yourchurch? Volunteer to be a missionary? Write a book of your life story? Start a new business? Follow a long time dream that you have longforgotten about? Spend each day withyour children and grandchildren?
If you humor me for awhile andlisten to what I have to say, I will show you how you can make this dream areality for your children and possibly for yourself as well. The reason I starting learning about moneywas because I never wanted money to stand in the way of me providing for myfamily. I never wanted money to be afactor in decisions for my children. Iwanted money for my children to be able to participate in activities andexperiences that make them a better person and Christian. I wanted my children to see the value ofcharity and giving. And if someday mychildren were given an opportunity to attend an Ivy League college, I neverwanted my lack of understanding and preparedness to stand in their way.
This process will not only prepareyour children, but it will also prepare you and help you in your currentfinancial situation. So if you areinterested in Mastering Money, teaching your kids to Master Money, learning thefinance techniques of Wall Street and wealthy people and creating a financiallegacy for your children along the way, strap in a hang on.
Next is "LBYM"
-Esse Quam Videri-