When it’s time to make the turn toward the rest of your life…
Our office regularly fields calls from people in the planning stages for making this major turn on life’s highway. This week alone, we have spoken with 5 by phone and 5 via email. Some of those contacts originate with those who are planning years in advance. Some originate with people who are applying the brakes, because their turn is merely feet away. Our headline image for this [...]
Pennie offers principles to guide financial decisions
Over the years there have been several published advice columnists who have answered questions from readers. Random House distributed Abigail Van Buren’s advice for decades. Ann Landers answered questions from anyone willing to pour out their heart. As recently as 2000, those two trusted advisors were published in over 500 newspapers across the USA. These two headliners spurred others to offer similar, although more targeted, Q&A columns. [...]
Fielding this routine groundball can change your future
Today, I would like to address those serving in the early years of their ministry. Follow closely. Baseball is a game made up of intricate movements. Those who watch a game on television never see ninety percent of the shifts and adjustments that affect the outcome. Those who attend games may observe only fifteen percent more. Fans are waiting for the game changing moment. They await the [...]
Taming the BITE of the Windfall Elimination Provision
In July, USA TODAY published an article about a stealthy, nasty financial predator lurking in the weeds. This predator is not seeking a living breathing prey. No, the focus of the appetite of this beast is your retirement income…specifically the benefits promised under the Social Security Administration! This money hungry animal of prey is known as the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). The WEP is adept at hiding [...]
Avoiding the sound of “splat” while accepting risk
Last week, we posted thoughts on the necessity of accepting risk into life. God wants our heart, our mind, and our life open to others. This openness places us in a position where our feelings can be hurt, our emotions can erupt, and our lives can seem crushed. Opening ourselves also allows God to use the talents he has given us to bless others. It allows the [...]
Timeless financial lessons from the fishin’ hole
I remember my Dad teaching me how to fish. I remember being enthralled with the rods and reels at Jones Hardware in downtown Leaksville, NC. One day in 1958, he succumbed to my plea, purchasing a Zebco 33 rod & reel for our new adventure in fishing! The first step was to stand in our back yard to learn a little about casting. The maple tree near [...]
Want to change your mood? Change what is on your screen!
One useful step in changing your current mood and outlook is, “Change what is on your screen.” It can be done! Seconds prior to joining yesterday’s church service, my watch buzzed on my wrist. A quick glance showed my “Weekly Screen Time Report” was available. My mind briefly pondered how life has changed over the past years, amazed that a watch could now report how I spent [...]
Everything You Need to Know About Budgeting – maybe!
Hey, we know budgeting is no picnic. It can be (and has been) described as difficult, laborious, painful, tough, tiresome, galling, onerous, and perhaps a gargantuan pain in the neck! That is why there are creators of software, apps, and plans always trying to create something that will make it easier and more understandable. Significant profit potential awaits the creator of the software/app that reviewers tout as [...]
Avoiding a derailment of our financial future
Thankfully, train derailments are not a part of daily life. Those considered minor result in destruction of property, disruption of the operation of the railroad and the schedules of a vast number of people. Major derailments may be catastrophic. The three top causes of derailments are negligence, human error, and reckless actions of pedestrians and drivers. The top three causes of train wrecks/derailments are all based in [...]
If retirement isn’t on the burner, it needs to be!
Retirement is a difficult subject for younger generations. The entire concept seems a bit foggy and out of focus. For someone who has recently begun a career, planning a vacation or the next date is more exciting. Saving is challenging when there are student loans to pay and graduate school begins soon. Planning for a stage of life 40 years away may seem tiresome for couples who [...]
Changing Your Future – Principles that May Be Helpful
Aspirations…hopes…dreams…passions we want to pursue…. We all have them, or at least we all have had them at some point in time. There is not a child that enters the world who does not have an imagination. Children can easily play in the world of make believe. We have all dreamed of hitting the game winning home run, being the catcher to throw out a key runner [...]
Lifetime Income – a Foundation for Retirement
In 2016, Liz Davidson began an article with the words, “Our retirement is not our parent’s retirement.” What an illustration of understatement as literary device! Fifty plus years ago, I remember discussions my parents had with coworkers, family, church friends, and others about retirement. They normally centered around 1) the pension provided by a company, 2) Social Security, and 3) (when only immediate family was present) personal [...]