12 “Hard Truths” For Graduates to Help Them Not Be Broke

I occasionally get the opportunity to talk about stewardship and money with young people (high school and college age). I am always grateful to get the chance and I always enjoy the interactions. We are near the end of the school year, a time when many will be graduating from high school or college. So … Read more

All You Need to Know About Personal Finance on a 3 x 5 Inch Index Card – Really?

A few years ago, a University of Chicago college professor named Harold Pollack remarked that everything you really needed to know about personal finance could be fit on a single 3×5 inch index card. Someone asked him to prove it, the result went viral, and Pollack actually ended up co-writing a book about it called … Read more

My Stewardship Practices – Part Two:  Saving, Investing, and Protecting

In this second of two articles on my stewardship practices, I discuss my saving, investing, and protecting (insurance) approaches. The stewardship principles that are most applicable to these areas are as follows: Don’t spend all you have – save and invest for needs you know you will have in the future (Prov.6:6-6; Prov.21:20; James 4:13-15). … Read more

So You Want to be an “Everyday Millionaire”?

Author and speaker Chris Hogan, who is part of Dave Ramsey’s team, just came out with a new book titled, Everyday Millionaires. In some ways, it is a follow-up to his earlier book on retirement, Retire Inspired. The book summary says it will show you: …how ordinary people built extraordinary wealth—and how you can too. … Read more

New Year Retirement Stewardship 10-Point Check-Up

Happy New Year! Planning is a wise part of retirement stewardship. But no matter how well we plan, we must always remember that “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Prov. 16:9). And now that we are closing out 2018 and looking out ahead to 2019, I thought I would share some thoughts … Read more

Reflections and Lessons from 40 Years of Stewardship

As I shared in a previous article, I decided to retire from my full-time paid position a few weeks ago. I will do an article about how my “transition” to retirement is going and what I am up to in a future article. In this post, I want to share the main lessons I have … Read more

5 Ways to Prepare for the Next Big Correction (or Recession)

In our last article, we looked at some of the causes of the “Great Recession” of 2008 and suggested that there are signs that we could be headed toward a market correction or even a recession based on an over-valued stock market, increasing household and government debt, and rising interest rates. There are differences between 2018 … Read more

10 Years Later: 5 Stewardship Lessons from the “Great Recession”

This month could be considered the ten year anniversary of the start of the “Great Recession.” Most of us will remember the trials and tribulations of the financial upheaval that worked its way through the U.S., Canada, and Europe in 2007-2009. Only in the last few years have we seen a significant recovery in all … Read more

What Can You Do When An Elderly Parent Is Running Out Of Money?

I recently was asked an interesting question by a church friend concerning his elderly mother. Like many of us, he is a ‘boomer’ and has an 85-year-old mother who currently lives in an assisted-care facility. Her expenses are being paid for by Social Security, a military survivors pension, and long-term care (LTC) policy. Her living … Read more