A Word About What is Happening Here

After a year an a half and 125 posts, I thought I might be a good time to review where this all started and how it turned out. In the beginning I wanted to extend the original Silver Eagle Experiment to my church. In fact, I presented the opportunity at two churches. The couples who were serious about their commitment received pretty good results. Those who did not sustain the effort to pray, seek to learn about finances, and maintain their notebook did not do as well. I am convinced the Silver Eagle Experiment will work for anyone who is ready to turn their financial problems over to God. As a part of extending the Silver Eagle Experiment to two churches, with some technical assistance from one of our church staff, I started this blog. Originally, I hoped it would become a forum to exchange ideas and experiences as we moved through the six months of the Silver Eagle Experiment. That never happened. I have come to learn people are just about as likely to share the particulars of their financial life as they are the details of their sex life. I wanted to make this blog into a useful resource. If others did not want to participate, then I felt led to do it myself. At first (and several times thereafter) I was afraid I would be unable to find enough topics of interest, within my abilities to understand, to keep the blog fresh and interesting. However, just when I was about to run out of ideas, something would appear.

My topics seem to start and end with the “old school” virtues of thrift, deferred gratification, setting and working towards goals (particularly long term goals), improving oneself as a product in the marketplace by learning new skills, and most importantly examining the area where the financial and the spiritual intersect. That is not difficult. The Bible is full of financial advice.

In the years prior to beginning the Silver Eagle Experiment, I saw that excessive consumer debt and mortgage burden would destroy a lot of people in this area. I tried to convince my church the opportunities for financial ministry and divorce counseling would be huge in the years to come. Unfortunately, I was right. In this blog, I frequently howl about consumer debt generally and in particular the misuse of credit cards. Debt is destructive. God states debt is part of the curse. When, will God’s people get that through their heads? I want to convince people to stay out of debt. If they find themselves with debt, I want to help them extricate themselves from that miserable form of slavery.

About 10 years ago I set out to learn about investing (creating wealth). I have always been a good money manager. My wife and I each earned a college degree with money from our own savings and jobs without going into debt and we have always paid cash for our cars. But I never knew how to create wealth. Trying to learn was not easy.

As the Chinese say, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”

Financial counselors do not want you to learn how to fish. It would put them out of a job. Since those days, I have learned the basics of value investing. It is a style that matches my personality. More importantly, it works. Since starting a serious effort to learn about investments, I have increased the net worth of my investments (excluding the value of my house) more than 4 fold. That is pretty good given we just went through the worst stock market crash in 80 years. God has blessed me and I am grateful. I know I am not that smart, but I will share all I have learned (including my mistakes). My prayer is that young people will learn about investments while they are still young and time is on their side. Don’t do what I did and wait until you are 50 to get serious about the creation of wealth.

I have been surprised to discover that the Silver Eagle Ministry also seems to be turning into a prayer ministry for the unemployed. Over the last year, I have felt a tremendous burden for the unemployed in this country. From time to time I try and remind my readers that our neighbors are in need, and given the realities of this economy they are in need of encouragement and our prayers. I have also tried to put up some ideas on problem solving and self improvement. Some of them are my own. Some come from reputable, scholarly sources.

By the way, I also discuss giving. Generosity, an open heart, is an important part of anything that claims to be true religion.

James 1

[27] Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.