On February 16th, the entire staff flew to Orlando, Florida, for the annual national Kingdom Advisors conference to join approximately 1000 financial advisors, pastors, and representatives of ministries, foundations and financial service companies. The conference was 3 days of financial education from a Biblical worldview, fellowship with like-minded believers, praise and worship, and hearing from nationally known pastors and speakers. Just a few of those speakers included Dave Ramsey, known for his daily nationwide radio program, Ron Blue and Howard Dayton (associated with Larry Burkett who is now deceased) of Crown Ministries, Chris Goulard, Stewardship Pastor at Saddleback Church founded by Rick Warren, and the list goes on and on! At our staff meeting following the conference, we all shared our takeaways from the event and discussed how we can incorporate what we learned at Christian Financial Advisors®. We wanted to share our top takeaways with you.
Pat
PatThere are four different ways that people relate to ownership of money and possessions:
- The Self-Absorbed Owner (100% is Mine) – “I have full authority over my stuff.”
- The Obligated Owner (100% is Mine) – “I have full authority over my stuff…but I feel obligated to give something.”
- The Obedient Owner (90% is Mine/10% is God’s) – “I will obey what God says I should do with my stuff.”
- The Love-Inspired Steward (100% is God’s) – “I have given God total authority over His stuff.”
Nathaniel
NathanielMy biggest takeaways from the Kingdom Advisors conference was that God is the designer and owns it all, and we need to continue to learn to make decisions based on principles of stewardship and generosity. I was also encouraged by the number of financial advisors around the country that want to help their clients to invest in a Biblically responsible way.
Kirsten
KirstenDuring one of the main sessions we were challenged to think about how we can enjoy and appreciate the things God gives us (our wealth) while not allowing them to become a stumbling block to a close relationship with Him (our faith). The two principles given to guard against our wealth negatively affecting our faith were to Serve (be generous in time) and to Share (be generous in things). As believers serving a God who entrusts us to manage what is His, this helps us keep the right perspective on the things we are blessed with, while not allowing our wealth to become an idol in our lives.
Bob
BobThe importance of multi-generational planning from a session titled “You’ve Prepared The Money For The Family, But Have You Prepared The Family For The Money?”
70% of money inherited by the first generation is gone within 5 years, the remainder is gone by the second generation.
60% of inheritance failure is due to a lack of communication and trust within the family around group decision making. 25% of inheritance failure is due to unprepared heirs. Only 3% of failure is because of financial planning, taxes and investments.
Why such failure? Many have all the right legal instruments for passing the money down, but that is only a small part. Inheritance is not just financial. It is spiritual and emotional. Life’s experiences passed down, family memories, and an understanding of how the wealth was obtained by the parents. Without intentional multi-generational planning that involves a team of advisors working together and in harmony with all the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, the inheritance will end up just becoming another statistic. This is referred to in the industry as “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves” in 3 generations. Don’t believe me? Do a Google search for “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves” and see what comes up. Think about it. Did you have wealthy grandparents or great grandparents? Where did the wealth go?
Contact us to learn about multi-generational planning. Information is also available on our website under Wealth Management as it is one of the pieces of our wealth management puzzle.
Jenna
JennaIt really hit home for me that as Christians and a Christian company, we should be doing everything at an entirely, higher level. Ken Ham (Answers in Genesis) is a backer of the Ark Encounter, a replica of Noah’s ark that is opening on July 7, 2016. Ark Encounter has not held back when it came to the quality and caliber of not only the construction, but also the marketing campaigns. God has given us gifts and opportunities, and Christian businesses should be taking advantage of these by making our marketing and services the standard for all businesses, secular or Christian. Let us be representatives of Christ, His love, and character in everything we do. If it’s Christian, it needs to be better!
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Check out our other March 2016 Newsletter Items:
Dates To Remember!
Refer A Friend
Do you have a friend, family member, or colleague that could benefit from our services? If so, refer them to our mobile friendly website, or we have a packet of information we would love to share with them to them. Just call our office at 830-609-6986 and we can get out the information to help your friends!