A rite of Spring is filing income taxes (not both Alberta teams making the NHL playoffs :) ). While filing, we can clearly see how we allocated the monetary resources God has given us. There are 4 basic areas:
Live – day-to-day expenses, the essentials such as food, clothing, shelter and discretionary items. A key Biblical principle is to spend less than you earn.
Give – In a recent webinar hosted by Kingdom Advisors*, Andy Stanley, pastor, communicator, author and founder of North Point Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia made several comments that prompted me to reflect on this area of my life.
“Uncertainty undermines generosity” – similar to investing, there always seems to be a reason not to give – job situation, economy, children’s braces, etc.
“Generosity is the premeditated, calculated, designated emancipation of personal financial assets”. In simpler terms, generosity is the planned amount that is set free to others from your personal financial assets. Generosity is a wonderful antidote to an over-reliance on our material possessions. (and also contributes to overall mental health!)
Owe - Sometimes broken up into two categories, debt and taxes. A key Biblical principal is to work towards being debt free. Debt always mortgages the future. Being debt free allows you to focus on the other three uses of money…live, give, grow. As for taxes, if you pay taxes, rejoice, they are symptomatic of God’s provision.
Grow - This is the only way to save for long term goals such as buying a home or achieving a ‘comfortable’ retirement. An exercise to consider would be to take your income tax return, credit card, loans and mortgage statements and categorize each item in the 4 categories listed above. After reviewing, you can
determine areas that need improvement. From there you can develop, implement, and monitor a plan in those areas. If you would like assistance in doing this exercise, please let me know.
Jim Hummel, CFP®
* Kingdom Advisors is a network of Christian advisors throughout Canada and United States who seek to promote Biblical wisdom in their practices. This
Planner’s Corner is derived from their resources.