“Financial Peace” by Dave Ramsey
Did you know that most Americans retire on an annual income below $10,000? Better yet, do you know why? If you can’t answer the question not too worry. Dave Ramsey’s book, “Financial Peace,” explains why that happens and tells us how to avoid landing on the wrong side of that statistic.
Financial Peace
But it wasn’t always great for Dave.
Ramsey was on top of the world or so it seemed before going bankrupt at the age of 26. Following popular trends he used borrowed money to invest in more than $4 million worth of Nashville, TN real estate only to realize that unexpected events can change everything. He learned that “high on the hog” can be synonymous with “brink of disaster.” Jaquars, designer suits and even a good name didn’t help much when the banks called in his loans. Read more
Parable Of The Talents – Making It Happen
Filed under: Bible Study, Christian Living, Evangelism, Making Money
The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) is one passage that places great significance on human productivity. Not activity, not busyness, not even consistency but results. Caution is almost spoken against. If we read this parable properly we get the idea that God is more concerned about the growth we stimulate than He is about the methods used to get there.
In the passage Jesus tells of an investor, the Master, who gives money to three different asset managers. The amount given to each is proportionate to his abilities.
One man receives five thousand dollars, a second receives two thousand and a third receives one thousand and obviously, the intent is for each to increase those monies through investment.
After an appropriate amount of time the Master returns to check on the growth of each account. To his approval, the first two double the original investment to ten thousand and four thousand dollars respectively.
To his dismay, the third gained no increase and the explanation for this failure draws severe criticism from the investor. Read more
Investing In Foreclosed Property
I just spent the last two weeks searching and arranging details for my first home purchase. It was a time consuming process but I learned a lot and hope to share some of that learning with you. I haven’t closed on the property yet and will post information as we proceed but I wanted to write about some of the initial stages while it is still fresh.
Because this was my first purchase I proceeded very cautiously and I recommend that approach for every new home buyer. It can be a complicated process and mistakes in the early stages could create pressure in the latter stages. You can get into trouble if you aren’t sufficiently prepared or knowledgeable. The large number of foreclosures on the market is evidence of that. I have been planning for this transaction for a few years and the planning involved several key issues three of which I will address here. Read more
E-Monsters In The Home
How much money are you willing to throw away during the course of a day?
Not give away or spend or share or lose to a bad investment? I’m talking about money you pull out of your pocket, throw on the ground and walk away from. Maybe we should call that “money left on the ground” or better yet “leaked.” It isn’t misspent or frivolously used, like when you make a bad financial decision. It’s just not there, as if you never had it to begin with.
So, how much of your hard earned money are you willing to treat as if you never had it in the first place? Four or five dollars a day? Maybe just one? Most people, I’m sure, are thinking none but are you aware… Read more
Dad Got One Thing Wrong
Don’t misunderstand. I loved and respected my Dad very much. He had his faults, everyone does, but he was generally a reliable bread winner, cared about us, his family, and there were some things about Dad I admire to this day, one of which was his skill at gardening. He loved his gardening!
Unfortunately, there was one thing he got wrong. When I was a youngster, he said I too would develop a love for gardening one day – “growing things in the ground” was the way he put it. He repeated that sentiment many times and it was usually while I was grumbling about being forced to pull weeds, cut grass and rake leaves. I’m a married man of many years now with two grown sons and some grand kids of my own and I’m still waiting for that day. Read more
Tim Pepper - Beautiful Frustration