Where's the Buck?

Okay, so we started our journey looking at a Biblical perspective on money.  We are not going to serve money and we are not going to worship money.  We worship God and God alone.  At the same point, we won’t be scared of money, either.  Money is not good; it is not bad.  It is a tool that can be leveraged for God’s honor, building God’s kingdom.

Also, we looked at ways in which we live.  We don’t buy things we cannot pay for.  We embrace reality by preparing for emergencies.  We embrace discipline by not pretending that we are wealthy even though we cannot afford a certain lifestyle.  We embrace planning by creating a real budget and leveraging the power of the debt snow ball.

If the previous paragraphs leave you with questions, check out our past sermons on youtube to review.  You can navigate to them via our website, mynorthbridge.org.  Once you are out of crazy debt and get a little money, what should you do next?

Basically, there are two ways for you to make more money.  One way is working harder, working smarter or working longer to make more money.  You can put in more hours, or go back to school and get new proficiencies to add to your worth to your employer.  Or you can create more productivity that adds to your boss’s bottom line.

The other way to earn more money is when your money makes you money.  In other words, I am talking about investing.  You might not have any experience with this so I want to offer you some practical advice when it comes to investing.

The first piece of advice I can offer is to not invest in anything that you do not understand.  If someone is coming to you offering you the deal of the century and how you can increase your investment by ten-fold in just a few weeks, you better beware.  Begin learning about investment from a mentor. Find someone you trust that has made a little money over the years and start asking them how they did it, what kind of investments they use, and learn everything you can from them.  Find some good books and begin reading to learn what investing looks like in this world.

As you begin to learn some things and you find a mutual fund or a pension plan, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.  Ecclesiastes 11:2 teaches us to “Give portions to seven, yes to eight….”  In essence, spread things around a bit.  If you put your money into one option, one stock, one plan for investment and that one strategy falls apart, you will be in a lot of trouble.  Most investment tools such as pension plans, mutual funds and 401K’s give you the option to have a couple or several different funds in your plan. 

And the final thing I can say to you is, don’t try to get rich quickly.  When you are trying to make a fortune in a few years, you will take crazy risks.  Yep, some of them will pay off, but for everyone who makes it rich fast there are thousands who crash and burn. 

Instead use this math equation.

            Money + Time + Consistency = Wealth

Little by little, we tithe, pay our bills; knock out the debt; we are no longer strapped and in bondage to money. Then we get a pension or mutual fund and begin putting in 15% of our income, and over time we will gain wealth.

Here is an example of this principle working for us.

If you can save $5 a day - that is $35 a week - and invest that money, you would be amazed at what it would do.  (Let’s say you are getting 12% interest.)

At  five years, you would have $12,000.                                                                                                                        Ten years you would have $34,000.                                                                                                                   Twenty years, you have almost $150,000.                                                                                                              Thirty years into this venture you have $500,000.                                                                                               At forty years, (if you did this from 25 to 65) you would have $1.7 million.

Now I know any person experienced in investing would tell me that expecting 12% year after year is a pipe dream.  I have experienced loss some years, but I also have experienced 30 and 40% growth other years.  And okay, I could be wrong and maybe you only average 8 or 10%. Guess what, we are still talking about finishing well into the million dollar mark.

I pray that every single person reading this blog becomes a great investor and you become big-time rich.  I also pray you begin to invest in other areas of your life as well.  Jesus talked a lot about investing, but it was not about investing money to make himself more comfortable.  Jesus had a high calling to build the kingdom of God.  He has called you and me as well to this calling. 

I pray you invest in people and you invest in your marriage and family.  I pray you invest in your church. I pray you invest consistently over time and that you will be blessed with a rich family and marriage. I pray you have rich friendships. I pray you are rewarded for investing so well into your church, for the time, treasure and talents you invest in her.  Because the church is the hope for the world, given by God.

And if you do happen to get rich financially, and I pray you do so you can do a lot more for people and for the kingdom with more resources, remember it is not about you and your happiness and comfort.  We don’t serve money; we serve God.  Money can be a tool as we serve God.

Be blessed….

Pastor Tony