Scripture teaches that our lives are to be about loving God Matthew , loving people Matthew , and making a God-glorifying difference Ephesians Financially, some important ways we can fulfill those purposes are by giving generously toward Kingdom-building causes Proverbs and providing for our families 1 Timothy However, one day most of us will retire from full-time paid work.
Investing wisely now can give us the means to continue giving even after our salary days are over — whether that means giving appreciated assets or leaving some of our estate to our church or other ministries. Investing also enables us to build a nest egg to help provide for our family in later life. Expect difficult times. Trouble is certainly common in the investing world. Guard your heart.
Our God-given emotions enable us to enjoy the richness of life. They can also get us in trouble. Two emotions that can be especially challenging for investors are fear and greed. When the market is growing, greed can tempt us to invest more aggressively than we should. When the market is falling, fear can tempt us to run for cover. The Bible teaches us to build wealth slowly. A biblical approach to investing takes a long-term view of the stock market. History demonstrates that time favors the patient investor.
As the time horizon expands, the higher that percentage becomes. For example, there has never been a year period when the market has declined. Scripture teaches us not to put all of our eggs in one basket. But if you invest in 10 to 20 stocks and one of them has a bad year, the performance of the others may balance that out. Investing in mutual funds, as opposed to individual stocks, is a simple way to diversify your investments. A mutual fund is a pool of money from many investors that is invested in many stocks or other types of investment.
A crucial next step is deciding how to diversify by determining your optimal asset allocation. That will tell you, based on your age and investing temperament, how to best balance the competing goals of growth and safety with an appropriate mix of stock funds and bond funds.
Use wise counselors. You can get a good start with understanding investments at The Motley Fool. Think about it. God is a limitless being who is all about creativity and multiplication. And when He created us in His image, He gave us these attributes as well. When you use the creativity God freely gave you to multiply your money through investing, you are doing one of the many creative acts God created you to do.
You will never have any extra to multiply without understanding this biblical investing principle. Multiplying your money through investing allows you to not only have more money to enjoy for yourself, but more for others as well. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. Making a plan for your investments should be a priority too.
Some of the basic components of your investment plan should include: Making consistent, automated contributions to your investment accounts. Knowing which type of investment account you should contribute to. Knowing how much you will need to save for retirement.
Deciding which investments are appropriate for you. Knowing how much you will need to save every month to reach your goals. Making a plan for your investments may take a little time and research on the front end, whether you do it yourself or decide to use a financial advisor. But it really pays off over the long term. The more focused you are with your plan, the more likely you are to do well. Lack of diligence really means a lack of wisdom and righteousness.
Being diligent is also about being consistent when it comes to investing. Applying this biblical investment principle means you should continually invest money over the long term. The more consistent you are at putting money into investments, the more it pays off for you in the long run. Most people have no investment plan, and their lack of diligence shows. Those are the ones that end up hungry, poor, in debt, and forced to work because of a lack of diligence over their lifetime.
Building lasting wealth takes time. When you plant tomatoes, you expect a relatively quick harvest that provides for a season. But an oak tree takes decades to become large and strong, and will be around for generations to come. You need the help and advice of others if you want to truly succeed. Whether you seek out a qualified, licensed investment advisor, or you read a lot of books on investing, seeking wise counsel always pays off. What is their success level when it comes to investing?
Taking investment advice from a multi-millionaire investor is probably a good idea.
They find a way to earn it using their God given tendencies and talents. They figure out what it takes to make a lot of money, take action, and tend to it well, thus creating the conditions for even more weatlh and prosperity. When you follow these timeless biblical investing principles, not only will you grow your wealth, your financial legacy , you will grow in every other area of your life.
You must be the master of your money before the Master will trust you with more. The Seed Principle In Mark the parable of the sower talks about the importance of sowing seed into good ground. A farmer went out to sow his seed. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.
This produces more seed that can be deployed for an even greater harvest in the future. Not all investments work out in your favor. But the better job you do at sowing your seed into good ground and tending to it well, your harvest will be much greater than your losses. And when you spend more than you make, you have no seed to sow and multiply for a future harvest. Managing your finances so you can consistently sow financial seeds will cause you to have an exponential future harvest!
Only Invest in Things You Understand By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Every investment, including keeping your cash in a savings account, involves risk.
You can get a good start with understanding investments at The Motley Fool. Think about it. God is a limitless being who is all about creativity and multiplication. And when He created us in His image, He gave us these attributes as well. When you use the creativity God freely gave you to multiply your money through investing, you are doing one of the many creative acts God created you to do.
You will never have any extra to multiply without understanding this biblical investing principle. Multiplying your money through investing allows you to not only have more money to enjoy for yourself, but more for others as well. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. Making a plan for your investments should be a priority too.
Some of the basic components of your investment plan should include: Making consistent, automated contributions to your investment accounts. Knowing which type of investment account you should contribute to. Knowing how much you will need to save for retirement. Deciding which investments are appropriate for you.
Knowing how much you will need to save every month to reach your goals. Making a plan for your investments may take a little time and research on the front end, whether you do it yourself or decide to use a financial advisor. How do those companies make money? Do they use slave labor? Are they manufacturing abortion drugs or selling pornography? Beyond just how they make their money, also consider how companies spend their money. Do they donate to Planned Parenthood? Do they lobby to promote agendas that do not align with your Christian values?
While not every financial advisor is trained or equipped with the tools and resources necessary to truly build a Biblically responsible portfolio, there are those who are, financial advisory firms like PAX Financial Group. We have the analytic technology to delve into the reports and activities of companies for you.