Savings, Investments, and Insurance, oh my!

[mikesireci]

Hey gang,

I'm trying to get some clarity on what I should be doing financially. Specifically, I'm trying to decide what to do with savings, investments, and life insurance. I've looked a bit and I've seen a couple comments here and there from Ray and others on here, but I haven't really found an answer that's helped me put it together.

In general, I think modern financial planning says to have a few months of savings for emergencies, invest in both retirement and non retirement accounts for the future, and then have life insurance to provide for loved ones if you do happen to pass early.

From the scriptures I see the parable of the talents, which shows the master rewarding the guys that invested and punished the guy that didn't. But I also see Jesus say in Matt 6 that the Father takes care of even the flowers and birds, so don't worry about the future. And somewhere in the NT I think it says something along the lines of those that don't provide for their families are worse than infidels. I'm not really seeing what the sum of the scriptures have to say. And since investments and insurance didn't really exist to any degree in the time of the scriptures, finding direct answers seems rather thin.

I've got a long way to go before I can see the spiritual meaning in much of the scriptures instead of the more literal like Ray and many of you can do. So, I'm hoping you guys can help me to understand better how I should understand the scriptures about finances, or point me to what Ray has said that I couldn't find.

As a little bit of background, I'm in my mid 40s, my daughter has gone off to college, and I'm finding myself with a lot more flexibility in where to live, what family and friends to be involved with, what career to pursue, how much or little to travel (whenever I can afford it), etc. And yet, for whatever reason, God's got me scratching my head a lot and not settling on many clear cut answers in this area. So, now I reach out to you guys.

Looking forward to all of your input 

Thanks, Mike

[John from Kentucky]

My input is this is not the place for money advice.  Numerous other sources for such things.

"...Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you..."  Acts 3:6

[Doug]

Mike, I do not think you are so much looking for investment advise but is it God's intention if we have the means to invest. Personally I see nothing wrong with investing to provide for yourself and family. I think we should be wise in investing, knowing that nothing is perfect but there would be companies that obviously would conflict with our faith. If my understanding is correct it is the love of money and greed that we need to avoid. Everyone, please feel free to correct my understanding.

[indianabob]

Hi Mike,

Just a couple of pointers about your retirement.

Save enough to insure that should you become ill in your retirement that you will not be a burden on your children or other relatives. We don't know when our time is complete.
Second, plan to leave an inheritance to your children for their comfort and remembrance of you in their senior years. Who knows whether their will be grandchildren desiring college at some future date.
At the same time please focus more on living day to day at peace in the sight of God.

i-bob

[lostANDfound]

My uneducated view on stock market investing is it seems a lot like gambling, which I'd rather avoid. And I really enjoy not being stressed out by the stock market pages in the newspapers and tv news.  But maybe that's not what you're referring to?

[friendofJC]

Mike,

I think we should be wise with our money.  Over the long term, holding cash has been a terrible investment due to inflation robbing the buying power of every dollar.  Having said that, you need enough cash on hand to control your future.  If the family social security benefit alone wouldn't be enough, than maybe life insurance is needed.

You need to invest in something that is a productive asset such as a business.  I recommend the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF traded under the ticker symbol VTI.  You won't beat or lose to the returns of the overall business market and the expenses are minimal.  Do not invest it all at once.  Rather dollar cost average over the years to avoid buying before a stock market crash.  We will eventually experience another recession and those are the time where great wealth can be made.

Jason

[AwesomeSavior]

Hi Mike:

I wonder if any were aware that there was a problem prior to the 2008 financial crisis, which came about because of the housing market bubble that popped? I was not, but there were some in the financial world who were not asleep, and took action. I have learned much in the years since that time. The whole financial system almost melted down right there and then. The only reason that house of cards didn't implode was due to the central bank printing press bailing out banks (and other institutions) that should have been allowed to go bankrupt.

Sadly, I believe we are on the verge of an even greater meltdown in the not so distant future. PM me if you are interested.

Dean