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What is the time bomb?

Lack of organization and cohesiveness in financial planning

In today’s episode we will be looking at The 6 Elements of COMPLETE Financial Stewardship. When one or more of these elements are missing, or not properly evaluated, there can be a painful and even unwanted financial outcome!

 

Symptoms & outcomes of not dealing with these 6 elements of financial stewardship?

  1. We walk through life with a disjointed collection of things. Taxes, insurance, estate planning, investment, etc…. No one knows what everyone else is doing. There’s no cohesive thought for how everything works together. 
  2. The advice of one conflicts with the advice of another. You may not be able to retire successfully because the things aren’t working together.
  3. There might be missed opportunities!

Let’s now take a look at The 6 Elements of Complete Financial Stewardship.  As we look at each one, know that we need to see all of these areas work collectively together, thus keeping the hidden time bomb from blowing up!

 

The 6 Elements of Complete Financial Stewardship

Use these 6 Elements of wise financial stewardship to diffuse the time bomb.

 

1. Wealth Management

As advisors, we help disciple families in their stewardship responsibility. We help them steward the wealth that they have accumulated, teaching them that it’s actually God’s wealth that has been entrusted to them. In episode 99 we spoke about the value of having/hiring a Financial Planner to help you steward your assets. Part of the role of a financial planner is not just the “doing” of the financial plan, but also EDUCATING the stewards about the nuances of financial planning and the reasoning why things are done a certain way. Part of our passion is not just working with the parents, but if there are adult kids, to educate them in the nuances of their parent’s estate plan and why it is set up the way that it is.  Education is a key factor with the client’s kids!

 

2. Investment Planning

Having our clients best interests in mind is important when it comes to investment planning. We want to make sure that they are investing in what they believe in! Biblically Responsible Investing that helps keep your investments morally clean. Because of your faith in Christ, and the convictions that you hold dear that are aligned to the Word of God, you would clearly choose to not participate in purchasing pornography or choosing to support abortion.  Yet, many believers do just that because their investments are in some of those companies or subsidiary companies that support those areas.  This would include alcohol, tobacco and gambling.

 

3. Tax Planning

Protect your wealth from unnecessary taxation and have your investments managed with tax planning in mind. You want to keep your lifetime tax bill as low as possible so more of your resources can go back into Kingdom ministry and protecting your family from debt.

 

4. Insurance Planning

Why would we dive into seeing what insurances one of our clients has? It is because we want to make sure that you and your family are well cared for if something tragic happens!It is important to look at Life Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance, and other kinds of insurances that may be important for you to have at different stages of life.

 

5. Charitable Planning

Why should we be charitable/generous?  The Bible directly speaks about living with an open hand! 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 says, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Charitable planning is intentionally designing a plan so that you can be more generous to the local church & other non-profit ministries that you are passionate about There are many different ways that one can, within the tax codes and laws, find efficient ways to not just be generous, but also reduce their personal tax liability.

 

6. Estate Planning

Stewardship doesn’t end at death! Here are some of the goals of proper Christian estate planning:

  • Passing on as much of your assets to family with a minimal amount going to lawyers and government taxes.
  • Designing your estate so that there is a continuation of stewardship of your assets (directions/goals to the heirs of the estate/trust)
  • Designating a portion or all of your assets to go to your local church and/or other Christian ministries that you are passionate about.

 

How to Diffuse the Time Bomb

  • Address all the previous elements with a great financial advisor. If they do not understand one or more of the 6 elements that we covered, seek out someone else that does!  
  • Seek out someone trustworthy who knows how to weave these things together as you steward the Lord’s finances today, and in the future!

 

“The Bible doesn’t explicitly say, “You are a steward of God’s resources,” but this title has always been the way Christians understand our relationship to God and our possessions because the Bible makes it clear that:

Everything belongs to God. He entrusts some things to us. We have a responsibility to manage them wisely on his behalf. Biblical stewardship challenges us to recognize that God is the true owner of everything and that he expects us to manage his resources in a certain way.” (Ryan Nelson)

 

I would go one step further and say, it is not just a certain way to manage His resources, but we ought to do it His way, as we see in the various passages of Scripture that speak to money, finances and stewardship! Every Christian should have their financial plan organized to encompass what we just talked about so that they can live out and demonstrate what true, Biblical and wise financial stewardship is.

All six of these elements work together!

  • Wealth Planning
  • Investment Planning
  • Tax Planning
  • Insurance Planning
  • Charitable Planning
  • Estate Planning.

In order to have successful life and wealth transitions, we need a plan.  Setting up an intentional stewardship plan with these six elements DIFFUSES THE TIME BOMB.  If you leave out just one of the elements that we talked about, your financial plan will have a lit fuse and only time will tell when it will cause the bomb to blow and disrupt your current financial plan.

 

Offering a Free Stewardship Review

Successful life transitions require careful planning and thought, which cuts the fuse on a potential time bomb!  The problem is that planning is hard work and easier to put off to another day. Procrastination can keep us from making the most of major life transitions. Thinking about investing, tax planning, or wealth management can feel overwhelming. How can we be a good steward of all of this responsibility?

Here at Stewardology and Life Financial Group, we offer wealth management from a uniquely Biblical worldview.

If you are having trouble figuring this all out, we can help you take your complicated financial situation and turn it into a beautiful comprehensive plan that works for you. Don’t let the complicated nature of finances stop your forward progress. We can help you make it easy.

Schedule your free Personal Stewardship Review on our website, StewardologyPodcast.com/Review

 

Next Steps

 

Material presented is property of The Stewardology Podcast, a ministry of Life Financial Group and Life Institute. You may not copy, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, or exploit any content without the expressed written permission of The Stewardology Podcast. For more information, contact us at Contact@StewardologyPodcast.com or (800) 688-5800.

The topics discussed in this podcast are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations.  Investing and investment strategies involve risk including the potential loss of principal. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Securities and advisory services offered through GWM, Inc Member FINRA/SIPC