Investments

God wants you to be a good steward with the resources he has entrusted to you.

We at christianretirement.com believe everything belongs to God and that we are managers of the resources he has entrusted to us.

Investing can be a valuable means of building a retirement nest-egg.

"Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again."

Ecclesiastes 11:1 (New International Version)

The Bible outlines the basic concepts of investing and diversity in the book of Ecclesiastes 11:1-3.  "Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.  Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.  If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie." Verse one encourages a person to invest their money to cause it to grow. Verse two emphasizes diversity saying that invested money should be divided into seven or eight different accounts because one does not know what could happen to bring about a loss Verse three states matter-of-factly that when trouble comes, it comes, does its damage, and so be it.                        

The Bible encourages investments and diversity of investments.  That is awesome and sophisticated advice.  Do further study of your own in Ecclesiastes 11 verses 4-10 and you will find that they reveal other principles that say the person who fears risk does not invest and will not see their money grow, that the mighty works of God cannot be fully understood, that we should invest with diversity because we can't possibly know the future, and we cannot always predict which investments will do well and those that will do poorly.  These verses also suggest that a person who invests and loses money will remember his losses, that you should rejoice in your youth and remove sorrow from your heart.

Jesus highlighted aspects of the basic concept of investing when he spoke of the talents in Matthew 25:14-29.  Here, three servants were given various amounts of money to invest for their master and earn more while he went away.  Two of the three were successful in their ventures, while the third was afraid and hid his money in the ground.  The two successful servants were commended and rewarded, while the unsuccessful servant had his talent stripped from him and he was reprimanded for not investing his master's money.         

The 10/90 Principle...Pay Yourself First            

Consider this RADICAL PRINCIPAL...The 10/90 Principle.  Pay yourself 10% of your income before paying any of your bills.  You would then allow the remainder of your discretionary spending and expenses to come from the remaining 90% of your income.  Why?  If you are not paying yourself first, you are merely working for everyone else.  You have placed yourself in a form of financial bondage...financial slavery.  You earned the money.  It belongs to YOU.   Why should you pay out all your hard-earned money to those who provide your mortgage, credit cards, auto loan, utilities, cell phone, gasoline, clothing, insurance, and food?  Why should they get all your money?  Once you learn and understand this principle you may decide not to spend all your money for the goods and services you enjoy.   You may decide to keep at least 10% for yourself. 

10/90 Principle Produces Results

Aaron and Andy each started investing $200. per month into a ROTH IRA.  Neither ever missed a month and both earned 12% on their investments each year. Aaron started at age 30 and Andy started at age 40.  They retire on the same day at age 65.

Be Rich toward God

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Matthew 16:26 (New International Version)

If you could suddenly be transformed into the richest person in the whole world and did not have a personal relationship with Jesus, you would be poor.  Being rich toward God is really worth all the money in the world.

Now, a word about riches...the Bible never condemns money, wealth, or riches.  Neither does the Bible condemn lack of money, poverty, or being poor.  What the Bible does condemn is that of having the wrong attitude toward money.  Money, in and of itself, is not sinful; it is merely a medium of exchange.  Money, riches, wealth, and financial success are not evil in any way.  However, people have the capacity to make them evil by their abuse and misuse.

If a person loves money and elevates money to a position in his life where it should not be, then that is sinful.

"For the 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 griefs."  1 Timothy 6:10 (New International Version)

The Takeaway

• Keep Money and Possessions in their proper perspective 
  
  
• Take charge of your finances and do not allow your finances to control you 
  
  
• We recommend the following book:  Show Your Money Who's Boss (available on christianretirement.com homepage)
  
  
• By investing in Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Roth IRAs, and 401ks, many people have been able to build up a healthy retirement nest-egg
  
  
• Many online investment and trading firms and trading services are available
  
  
•  Seek out reputable ones, and know what you are doing before investing 
  
  
• Many have found success by investing in commodities, gold, silver, platinum, currency, real estate, and others
  
  
• Seek honest and reputable advice before investing with anyone or before signing anything
  
  
• Know that investments may gain and they may lose 
  
  
• As you grow nearer retirement apply the principle that most investors have discovered:  become more conservative with investments
  
  

Time Equals a Lot More Money

Both made exactly the same $200. per month investment into identical ROTH IRA accounts that earned a 12% per year increase.

By starting 10 years earlier than Andy, Aaron' account was worth $910,422.56

more than Andy's.  Ten years equaled almost $1 million dollars difference.