Nothing More than an Example of the Possible

I once read a post on a Christian personal finance blog that challenged the reader to give more to ministries and to their church. One of the examples given was a woman who never earned more than minimum wage but still managed to give more than $1 Million to charity over the course of her life. I raised my eyebrow a bit, but finished the article.

Down in the comments some skeptic did the math:

40 Years X $7.00 per hour X 2,000 working hours per year = $560,000

Conclusion: This story is mathematically impossible. The author of the blog answered the complaint by stating this woman invested her money wisely, so had more to give than she earned in her life. I had my doubts. In this business one reads a lot of dubious claims. You get used to it.

Yesterday while researching another question, I came across a link to this article in the Wall Street Journal.

Tin Can Collector Dies a Millionaire

In the town of Skelleftea somewhere up the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, North of the Baltic Sea, a ragged old man know as “Tin Can Curt” spent 30 years picking up bottles and cans for cash. He looked and acted like any street bum. However, when he died he left his cousin $1.4 Million.

When Mr. Curt Degerman was not looking for recyclables to sell, he was in the town library studying the markets. Turns out he was something of a master investor. Over the course of 30 years he assembled a portfolio of mutual funds, physical gold, and cash. Since he didn’t have a mortgage, a car, or anything associated with the good life he was able to pour everything into building his net worth. Even with virtually no money coming in from his “job” he amassed a considerable fortune.

When Mr. Degerman died he left his money to his cousin, the only family member who visited him in his declining years. An uncle sued the estate under Sweden’s inheritance laws. After the lawyers of the two parties were suitable enriched, the cousin and uncle split up the loot.

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Please! Don’t live your life like Tin Can Curt. However, consider your excuses in light of his story. There are limits to what is possible, but not many of us are anywhere near our limits.

The Magician and Your Money

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”
― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Charles Hugh Smith made an interesting observation based on the famous 80/20 Pareto Principle. For those of you new to this blog, The Pareto Principle states that in business roughly 80% of results come from 20% of the causes. The principle is named after an Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto. In 1906 he observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Pareto also observed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of his harvest.

The more things change the more they remain the same. Smith determined that there is a key difference between the top quintile measured by net worth and the bottom 80%. The bottom 80% pay interest on debt. The top 20% receive interest payments from corporations and individuals.

It would seem the magic key to accumulating wealth is avoiding debt.

What does it mean to be in the top 20%? There are basically two ways to measure wealth, income and net worth. According to the famous Wall Street Journal Rich-O-Meter 3.0, $100,000 a year will put you in the eighty first percentile. Given the number of two income households in this country, I wish they measured household income rather than individual income. For comparison, the current median household income in the United States is $51,000.

A net worth of $500,000 will land you in exactly the eightieth percentile. Interestingly, using the formula proposed by Stanley and Danko, this would be exactly what one would expect for a single income family earning $100,000 a year, assuming a 50 year old breadwinner.

500,000 = (100,000 X 50) / 10

Now let me pull back the curtain and reveal the magic. Money is a shared illusion. It is created by Governments with printing presses or by Banks through fractional reserve lending. Fiat currencies are only more real than Bitcoins because more people believe in Dollars or Euros than currently believe in Bitcoins. Who knows? That may change.

Wealth is created by ingenuity and hard work, your ingenuity and hard work. Wealth is real. Think about it. The Government or the Federal Reserve has created a castle of debt built on a foundation of thin air. It is your ingenuity and hard work that keeps it afloat. When the interest on a debt comes due, (whether it is your personal debt or our public debt) it is your time and your effort that is actually putting your wealth into the hands of the top 20%.

When to Save? When to Give?

Proverbs 21:20
Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.

In personal finance, as in clothing, one size does not fit all. Exactly when to start activities like saving for retirement, college, or paying down a mortgage early are questions that are highly dependent on the particulars of the situation. What percentage of your income should be directed at a given project at a specific time in your life is even more problematic.

However, I believe there are some rules of thumb that at least work at least thumb of the time.

When to start savings?

No matter what your financial condition, start saving today. If at all possible, keep saving for the rest of your life, even in retirement. If you are broke and overwhelmed with debt, start an emergency fund today. Even $500 in a cigar box can mean the difference between an unfortunate event, like a flat tire, and a disaster that leads to an additional debt that is large enough to trash a tight budget for several months. If you can’t do any more than throw loose change into a drawer at the end of the day, do it. If you have anything you can live without, sell it. Put that money into your emergency fund. The ultimate goal is six months take pay in an insured account. Reaching this goal will take a long time. Don’t beat yourself up if the going is slow. Just keep saving.

Proverbs 13:11 ESV
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

Once your situation has improved to the point you are not reacting to emergencies on a weekly basis, pay yourself first. Before paying your bills, put aside a little something. The goal here is 10% of take home salary into savings. When the number in savings becomes sufficiently large, that money becomes your seeds for long term investments in taxable accounts. Again don’t beat yourself up about what you can’t do. Rejoice and thank God for what you can do. That is an important principle in every aspect of life.

When to start saving for retirement?

Generally, one should start saving for retirement as soon as you receive what you believe to be your terminal degree, high school, college, or graduate school. If your employer offers matching money, I would lean toward taking the free money even if you are still paying off bad debt, like high interest credit cards. You simply can not beat a 100% instantaneous return on your investment.

The goal is 15% of your pretax income into tax favored accounts. For most this would be a combination of 401 (k) and Roth IRA. The Roth came into the game a little too late to do me much good, however it should be a powerful weapon in the arsenal of those under 50 years old. Start with the free money. Gradually, over time increase your contribution. A good way to achieve this goal is bump your withholding every time you get a raise. This is a relatively painless way to reach 15%. If you try to reach this goal too quickly, you will end up needing the money for something else.

Proverbs 10:4-5
A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

When to pay off the mortgage?

I consider making extra payments to principal on your mortgage to be a critical component in any savings plan. Larry Burkett, the godfather of Christian personal finance authors, was fond of stating that if you hadn’t paid off your mortgage you did not have a retirement plan. I was so frightened by my 30 year mortgage I paid it off in less than 10 years. That was the biggest raise I ever receive in my life. I had close to $1,000 extra, every month. It is amazing the world of options that opens when you have an extra $1,000 in your hand.

Don’t talk to me about losing your tax deduction. If you have a mortgage, you are giving the bank $3.00. Then the Government returns $1.00. It is better to give the bank nothing. Give the $1.00 to the IRS and keep the $2.00 in your pocket.

Again use a little common sense. If you have 23% credit card debt or even 6% student debt get rid of it before going after the mortgage. If you have a 3% mortgage and inflation is running at 6%, don’t worry about it. If you have a 6% mortgage and the current thirty year rate is 3%, refinance. One size does not fit all.

When to start saving for college?

I view this as “nice to have” rather than a necessity like the emergency fund or a retirement plan. Your children may not want to go to college. It will be much easier for them to find money for college than it will be for you to find a retirement loan. Once you have everything else under control, start socking away surplus money into a 529 tax favored education account for your children, grand children, or even yourself. Once you put money into such a tax favored account, this money has to be used for education.

Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

When to give?

There is another part to the question of savings, when and how much to give. Obviously, you can’t save money that you have given away. Fortunately, I am a Christian. Christianity is a religion of freedom and grace, not rules and law. I will never tell you how much you need to give. That is a question that needs to be settled between you and God. That said, if you aren’t already giving, start giving today. If all you can manage is a handful of change into the plate or the Salvation Army kettle, start today. If you don’t have money, donate your time to your church or some worthy charitable activity. If you show up at one of these places they will find something for you to do.

Look into your own heart, your attitude towards giving will tell you a lot about your relationship with God. After all, as a Christian you are just a steward of your Lord’s resources. Most of us don’t live like that because in our heart we really believe that is my money, not the Lord’s money. That’s OK. If you have to pry the money out of your left hand with your right hand, that is a start. Just keep looking for ways to become a blessing. If you are faithful in little things God will soften your heart. Then you will be given the opportunity to become a true blessing in this unhappy world.

2 Corinthians 9:6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Force Majeure

Force Majeure is a legal term used as the title for a specific clause frequently found in contracts. The term is French. It means a superior or irresistible power. The clause is included because forces beyond the control of the two parties can affect the outcome of the contract.

Below is a sample of a Force Majeure clause that might appear in a particular contract. (Wikipedia)

Clause 19. Force Majeure

A party is not liable for failure to perform the party's obligations if such failure is as a result of Acts of God (including fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane or other natural disaster), war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, hostilities (regardless of whether war is declared), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power or confiscation, terrorist activities, nationalisation, government sanction, blockage, embargo, labor dispute, strike, lockout or interruption or failure of electricity or telephone service. No party is entitled to terminate this Agreement under Clause 17 (Termination) in such circumstances.

I want you to notice that such events that are covered in the Force Majeure clause do not cancel the contract. They merely delay the completion of the contract.

Think of the money equation as a contract with yourself.

Money In = Money Stored + Money Spent,
(Integrated over the course of your lifetime)

The right hand side of the money equation is pretty easy to discuss. If you do the right things consistently over the course of your lifetime there is a very high probability of a good outcome. If you spend less than you earn, if you save the surplus, if you invest in a cautious systematic manner, you have a shot at becoming a prodigious accumulator of wealth no matter what your income. That number is a calculation based on your income and age.

The left hand side of the equation is where things get a little tricky. This is where you and nobody but you defines success. You write the contract with yourself. You make the decisions that result in the outcome we call life. If you choose a path with a low probability of a high income, you will have to live with the results of that decision. This may be easy for an artist with a nice garden living in an obscure corner of Hawaii. It is brutally hard on a football player who dedicated 15 years of his life to make it in the NFL only to be cut in his first training camp. Now what, a lifetime of selling cars in a college town, living on past glory?

Most of us never even make any serious effort to pursue our dreams. We look for a job that will provide a living. Sometimes just making a living is challenge enough. Some of us choose to make a conscious compromise with reality. We decide on an acceptable lifestyle. Then we find the least objectionable path that will provide us with whatever it is that we consider the good life. Jesus asked the question, “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world and lose your soul?” I am afraid that most of us in this materialistic consumer culture, have lost at least a part of our souls by focusing too hard on the left hand side of the equation.

Sometimes events happen that force us to invoke the Force Majeure clause in the contract we have made with ourselves. Years of diligent effort can disappear in a flash. Even when facing overwhelming circumstances, considering yourself a victim is useless, even if you are a victim. Taking responsibility for your life, no matter what the situation, at least gives you a chance. Life is not always fair. The innocent suffer unjustly at the hands of the wicked. Sometimes we are the victims of our own bad decisions. Sometimes we are simply the victims of the impersonal forces of the universe we mistakenly term Acts of God.

If nothing else, choosing a courageous response in the face of the difficulties we face in this valley of tears gives us an opportunity to live a life with dignity and integrity no matter what the cost.

There are a special kind of people who don’t invoke that clause when any reasonable person would allow them to suspend that contract.

I call them heroes.

If I knew what gave them their courage, I would put it in a bottle and sell it. I don’t know where it comes from, but I know it and respect it when I see it.

I knew a man who suffered complete kidney failure. Nothing I had ever heard about dialysis was good. In my ignorance I believed that either a dialysis patient received a kidney transplant or they would die pretty soon from renal failure. He proved me wrong.

With a consistent courage that I have seldom seen in this world, he just continued to work day after day, year after year to the best of his ability. If he wasn’t able to get to work, he worked at home. He never complained. He never asked for anything more than a chance to keep fighting. He never gave up. It is a humbling experience to meet a man with that kind of character. I am certain I would have gone out on disability after no more than a couple of months of dealing with something as horrific as dialysis.

I saw more in this man than personal integrity in business and heroism in facing a major life threatening tragedy. I also watched him deal with other men. As is true for all of us, life was not always fair to this man. Others take credit for our work. Other men do not always treat us fairly. No matter what the provocation he always took the high road. He always did the right thing when dealing with others even as he was fighting a personal battle I can’t even imagine.

For over ten years he fought the good fight. Finally he succumbed to forces beyond his control. Today he lives in an Eternal Hall of Fame, a fitting place for a hero who faced life with consistent courage and personal integrity; no matter what the challenge; no matter what the cost.

Resumes, Necessary but not Sufficient

In the good old days, one wrote a one page chronologically ordered resume. Since this resume was going to be printed by a professional, one size had to fit all. This generic resume was then placed in an envelope with a cover letter custom tailored for the particular target, sealed, and placed in the mail. During my 1978 job search I did my cover letters by hand in chancery cursive with a calligraphy pen to differentiate my resume from the competition. I sent out about 35 resumes. I got two interviews and one job offer. In 1985 at the dawn of the computer and laser printer age, I once again prepared two (as I recall) generic resumes one for factories and one for laboratories. Again I prepared custom cover letters. I printed them myself both to establish my computer literacy and because printing was free since I had a university computer account. I sent out over 100 pieces of mail. I received two interviews at one company, no job offers, and over 60 rejection letters. I saved this collection for quite a long time. I found it very amusing that all personnel offices use the same rejection letter, “While we are amazed and astonished by your skills and experience, we just don’t have any positions available for someone of your remarkable abilities.” I think that as early as 1985, the computer was devaluing the resume in the hiring process.

Today, while there is little agreement on what should go into a resume, how it should be structured (by chronology or major accomplishments), or even whether a resume is worth anything in the hiring process, everyone agrees that you absolutely need to have a resume.

Some of these questions comes from an article entitled “6 Controversial Resume Rules Even Recruiters Can't Agree On” by Vivian Giang some of it from my own experience and readings.

Everyone pretty much agrees that a one page resume is still the standard since the recruiter will spend an average of six seconds before tossing your resume into an electronic or physical garbage can. I think if you are applying for a position as director of research and development for a Fortune 500 company, you might need more than one page to build your case, hopefully you would need more than one page to list your publications. Maybe the one page resume is still the standard, but have a longer resume to offer your interviewer if she wants more information now that you are deeper into the hiring process.

Nobody seems to agree on an objectives paragraph at the top of the resume. On the one hand it lets the reader know what you really want. On the other hand it can pigeonhole you when what you really need is a job, any job that lets you get your foot into a desirable company. Maybe this is a good place to customize. Like the cover letter of yore, this part of the resume could be aimed at a particular target.

Chronology could be bad if you have long periods of unemployment on your resume. Everyone seems to agree (including personnel officers) that the longer you are without work the harder it becomes to find a job. Personnel officers recommend you tell the truth. List the months you were unemployed and tell them what happened. Professional resume writers (yes, there are such animals) suggest listing chronology by year. This makes it difficult to discover you were unemployed for six months in some given year or subsequent years. Maybe you could try using one of those accomplishment resumes that seem to have gone back out of fashion if you want to hide the blanks.

For a while photographs were in vogue. Now they seem to be out of fashion. Since most resumes are sent electronically, photos can cause problems with the formatting of your resume on an alien computer. Given universal formats like .pdf, this argument sounds weak to me, but photos also provide you age, sex, race, and appearance. That may not be a good thing at a very early stage in the hiring process. I will let you answer that question for yourself.

If you are older, how much of your experience should you include in your resume? Some believe that 15 years is the cut off point. Others suggest as long as it is relevant it should be included in your resume. For example if I was looking for work in management, I would include my experience as a factory supervisor and a supervisory industrial engineer. Even though for all practical purposes those experiences have disappeared into the mists of time, combined with my experience as an engineering project manager, I could show a lifetime of relevant experience.

In 1985, although I didn’t know it, the handwriting was already on the wall. I landed a job I really wanted, not because of what I knew, but because of who I knew. During a university job fair, I pitched my team’s junior design project, an all terrain wheelchair for a little crippled girl. It really worked well and actually appeared on the local TV news. It turned out that personnel officer was the specialist for recruiting handicapped employees. Because she thought our project was pretty cool, she put me in direct personal contact with six different managers each of whom had the authority to give me a job.

Go ahead, prepare your resumes. Send them out in both electronic and snail mail versions. Always carry paper copies of your resume when you are visiting a potential employer. Don’t expect that much of anything will come from all this effort, but it is still part of the process. If you want a job at a particular organization, in the current environment you need to establish some kind of personal contact with somebody on the inside. This will not only give you an obvious leg up on the competition, but it will also provide you with valuable intelligence data. You can learn how people in that company dress, talk, and behave. You can learn their value system. All this will establish you as a person of worth when it comes time for the interview.

Bank Fees! Don't Pay Them!

For 27 years I did not have a bank account. My savings, checking, and credit card were all handled through my little one branch credit union. I simply did not have to worry about fees and mystery charges. Everything was free if you followed a few simple rules, like pay your credit card bill on time. With the death of my mother-in-law we needed a bank with convenient branches in three different states. That meant one of the big four. Working with B.O.A. Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, or Wells Fargo requires a different mind set. Unlike my not for profit credit union (still my primary financial site) they are in business to make money for their managers and share holders.

I started my relationship with one of these banks with a simple premise, I do not pay fees. Ever! You are borrowing my money at close to or exactly 0.0% interest. You then lend it out at rates between 4% and 23% to your customers or victims. If that isn’t enough profit, it is your problem. Not my problem! Over a year and a half they tried to slide charges into my accounts on three different occasions. In each case a phone call to the branch manager resulted in refund. If he did not refund my money, I would have certainly closed that account.

Let’s look at some of these fees. One of the oldest is the monthly checking fee. This can run about $10.00 a month. For most banks this fee is waived if you keep more than $1,500 in the account. Be careful not to get too close to the line. The way the bank calculates the minimum balance is not the way you calculate the minimum balance. True no minimum balance free checking still exists in credit unions and even some banks. If you can’t keep an acceptable minimum balance in your current bank, do a little searching on the web.

Overdraft fees are a veritable gold mine for the banks. Overdraft fees are currently running at $32 Billion a year. From the stories I have heard, these fees are generally triggered by the careless use of debit cards. Not only do you get hit with a $35 overdraft fee but at B.O.A. if you don’t make it right in 5 days you get hit with another $35 fee. If you can’t handle a debit card, lock it up. Use cash and paper checks. Be sure and enter those withdrawals in your check register.

ATM fees are totally unacceptable. You’re charging me to access my money? The average charge for using an out of network ATM is $4.00. Don’t pay them. Ever! Keep enough cash on hand, go to a brick and mortar branch, or find another bank. Schwab runs a bank as well as a brokerage firm. They will refund your ATM charges when you use an out of network machine.

Because I am an old school curmudgeon who still uses paper, I don’t really know about these things from experience but some banks charge $10.00 a month to download information to Quicken. Don’t pay the fee. Use mint.com, Money Strand, or Personal Capital instead. Again I have no experience with any of these programs, so don’t take my word on this without some research.

E Banking with the big four can have its disadvantages. B.O.A. charges its e-customers a $5.00 teller fee for using a brick and mortar branch. If, like me, you need two banks, go ahead. Open accounts with two banks. I still use my credit union as the central hub for various transactions to brokerage accounts, mutual fund companies, and the like. However, I need checks with a local bank as well as quick access to cash. The local branch of the big four bank that handled my mother-in-laws account seems much better than their other branches. I have opened a simple checking account about three miles from my house. That is a lot more convenient than 500 miles from my house. If they disappoint me with fees, I will fire them. They are not the only bank with a branch in my little town.

Start with the premise, “I don’t pay fees. Ever!” There is almost always a way to avoid paying a bank to use your own money. Recently, my wife wanted to help one of her friends who was in a bit of a bind. She needed $400 and she needed it fast. Normally we don’t do that sort of thing. Mixing money and relationships is a dangerous business. Here is a link to a post on the subject of loaning money to friends or family members.

Friends and Family Plan

This time we decided to make an exception. Western Union wanted $35 to move $400. That was not happening. Calls to my bank and credit union indicated that fees for electronic transfers to her checking account would run about $15.00 on my end. I was also told she would get hit with another $15.00 charge on her end. That was not happening. I considered overnighting cash for about $15.00. This would entail the risk of lost mail or theft. I didn’t like that option. Finally, I called her credit union. I discovered that her credit union belonged to a nationwide network of credit unions. One of them was located about eight miles from my house. I could carry $400 (in cash) over to that credit union. The money was directly and instantaneously added to her checking account with no charges. Problem solved.

You simply should not pay fees to have access to your own money. The banks are loaning your money to their customers at whatever rate the market will bear. They are not paying you even a fraction of what they are earning with your money. That should be enough. Other charges for their convenience and profit are not acceptable. Period.

500 Posts: A Time for Reflection

I knew that I was approaching 500 posts on the blog, but I didn’t notice I had past that milestone until I hit 502. It seems like a good time to pause and reflect both on the past and on the future. Those of you have been around for a while know the history of this blog. If not, here is a link to a post I wrote back in July 2010 at the 125 post marker. It seemed like a lot of writing at the time.

A Word About What is Happening Here

I saw so many people causing themselves so much avoidable pain I just had to do something to help.

It all comes down to the money equation.

Money In = Money Stored + Money Out

Pretty simple isn’t it? Over 500 articles fall under one or some combination of the three components to the equation. Some of this material contains very basic teachings. Some of these posts successfully condense complex subjects into simple metaphors. Some seem (at least to me) a bit tedious and academic in nature. Some are a bit abstract and philosophical. On rare occasions I write red faced rants aimed at some outrage or injustice.

I was fortunate enough to be raised in a family that understood how to make certain less money went out than came in. It is a joke in my family that we know how to squeeze a nickel so hard that the buffalo bellows. I was also raised with a third generation fear of debt. During a boom time when other farmers were taking on more debt to buy more land, my grandmother was convincing my grandfather to pay down the debt on the farm. She was right. My family was one of only two families in their part of the county to hold on to their farm throughout the depression. This story was told over and over again at our dinner table. In fact, at age 62 I am blessed to still hear the family stories from my parents. I was also raised by parents who believed whole heartedly in the Protestant work ethic. They might have gone a little overboard making certain that I understood the connection between work and money, but I wasn’t surprised by the world when I was finally out on my own.

I was raised to love and respect education. It is the only way I knew how to jump start the “money in” side of the equation as I moved through my life and my career. The rules have changed. Another degree is no longer a guarantee of anything for most people, other than student debt. I have spent a great deal of time in an effort to understand the rules of the new economy. I have tried to study what is working and what is not working. As I have learned I have tried to share my findings with you, my readers.

Finally, over the last ten or twelve years, I have learned a lot about the discipline of investing. A member of my family is born knowing how to squirrel away money in a bank account. I had to learn what to do with it once I had it. I have been blessed. I am thankful. Now I try to share what I have learned with others, particularly the young. The guarantees I grew up with are gone. I expected that health insurance would always come free with my job. That is no longer the case. Even though my former employer is paying two thirds of my health insurance premium, my share is my largest regular monthly expense. The guaranteed pension is a relic of the past. Saving for retirement is now your responsibility. Social Security? Well I think Social Security will remain in one form or the other no matter what happens, but expect the payments to get smaller. Expect the age for full retirement to increase.

I don’t really know all my readers. One of the disappointments I have faced as I have continued to write the blog is a lack of comments. I have found that people are just about as unlikely to share their money mistakes and problems as they are to share the intimate details of their sex lives. The only readers I am sure I have are the ones who communicate directly with me in person, by telephone, or other means of electronic communication. Some of the posts I have written were written for specific individuals facing specific problems. In some cases I know they have been read and I know the results. In other cases, I can only guess.

If you are having problems with money, I am writing this blog for you. If you want to jump to a higher level, I am writing this blog for you. If you stuck in a dead end, I am writing this blog for you. Overall, I address most but not all the components for a balanced life. Obviously this blog addresses personal finance, business, and career issues. It also touches on personal spiritual issues and how they interact with more worldly concerns. Finally, they consider your legacy. You will carry what you contribute to this world during your life into eternity. While I am writing as a Christian, I think my readers who walk other paths will understand the truth contained this passage.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.
If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

When I give away a Silver Eagle, it comes with a notebook. The recipient is instructed to write down something they have learned about money every day. If they face a problem they don’t understand, they are instructed to ask God for wisdom. One of the recipients asked me if I kept a notebook. The question caught me off guard, but I quickly realized this blog is my notebook. I am just sharing everything I have learned with you, my readers.

I am still learning. If you read all 500 posts you will notice my understanding of these subjects continues to deepen with time and experience. I don’t have all the answers, but I continue to study, every day. I even study authors with whom I have serious disagreements. Bruce Lee said it very nicely, “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own.”

Go thou and do likewise.