Interest free loan
In light of Tax day here in the US. I wanted to point out as The National Center for Policy Analysis does. Your refund is nothing more than an interest free loan to the government. You over pay your taxes all year and get change early the following year. For some this is a windfall because they actually get all their money back and then some, meaning it is a way to cover up government handouts in tax language.
As the NCPA points out…
There’s some research to support tax refunds as a way of encouraging saving: Economists have found that people are more likely to spend $500 if it shows up as an extra $20 in every paycheck than if it arrives as one lump sum.
But, I assume if you are reading this you can probably do better than Uncle Sam with your money. Remember you can always get more money in your paycheck by reducing your withholdings according to the IRS’s own calculator.
Read the article here…
The Financial Moves You Should Make in April
Happy Financial Literacy Month! We go through the financial moves you should make every month, but April—being tax month and Financial Literacy Month—is a great time to start as any. Here’s what you should be doing in the next few weeks.
HT to: http://ift.tt/12ngjdS
Survivor Checklist with Lastpass
One big danger in the life of the person who takes care of the finances is death. Ok, sure we could all die, but if I died right now my wife would struggle to know how to access our insurance policies, bank accounts and other financial information. I run a lot of the day to day stuff in our home. While my wife is well informed of our current financial situation there are a lot of accounts out there. It would be a struggle for her to find them all. For years we have talked about a survivor checklist, but have never gotten around to creating a manual one, and I would never update it for each password. Then I thought about a tool I have used for years; Lastpass.
What is LastPass?
If you don’t know about Lastpass it is an amazing password management tool. It securely holds all of your internet account passwords and can autofill them for you. It also generates passwords for you, runs security scans and helps to keep your online account information safe. It can be used as a browser plugin or a phone application (premium service only) It also allows you to keep secure notes, a feature I never thought very much about until I was thinking about this survivor checklist. This is a way for me to communicate all of my passwords to my wife and help her remember all of the things that will need done. (hopefully someone else will be doing it for her).
I created a folder called “In the event of my death” with a note of the same name. It lists emails for our attorney and insurance agents so she won’t need to search. It also has a last goodbye and a few other personal items. These accounts are always up to date because they are what I use every day to access everything.
No one wants to think about death, especially their own. But, we will all die. If you are the person in your family who does most of the book keeping and money management and you don’t prepare something for your spouse to help them in the transition it will only make this time harder for them.
What to include in your Survivor Checklist
- Bank names, accounts and usernames and passwords
- Lawyer’s name and information for your will. (You do have a will, right?)
- Name and Number for Insurance agent for life insurance. (You do have insurance, right?)
- People to be notified of your passing with contact information.
- Any wishes not included in your will
- Perhaps, write your own obituary, that was really hard for us when my dad died.
- You may want to include something like this checklist from the Dennett, Craig and Pate funeral home.
- Copies of your social security, passport, birth certificate, all encrypted with Lastpass
Honestly, this is a lot of work. I would rather not do it, but I love my wife and want to make her life as easy as possible in the event of my passing. That thought helped me get through the process.
Resources:
Life hacker Master information kit.
Considering Stewardship is a site dedicated to managing your time, money, and talent in light of the Gospel.
Edited for broken link.
Giving Differently
Thought like this should make us think about how we help the poor in our context. There is evidence that giving cash directly to the poor may do more for them than expensive programs meant to do for them what we feel they can’t do for themselves. What are your thoughts?
What’s good on paper is not always what is best for you.
Personal finance is a strange space. The people who are really into it are normally numbers people. They are really good at working out the numbers to find the one right way to do things. Every personal finance writer knows the right way to create a budget, the right amounts for an emergency account, and the right order to pay off your debt. The problem is all those things that look good on paper don’t work in real life nearly as well.
For example, there is a debate that rages among personal finance geeks over whether you should pay off your highest interest rate debt or your lowest balance debt first. The logic being that paying off the higher interest rate saves you interest in the long run, but paying off the lower balance builds emotional momentum. Most PF people including myself will argue for the mathematical advantage of paying off the higher interest rate. But, if you never get over that first hump and give up along the way it doesn’t matter if it is mathematically advantageous; doing it inefficiently is still better than not doing it at all.
I think it is also best to give yourself a raise and reduce your tax return at the end of the year. After all I am sure you can use that money better than the government can. There is no reason to give them an interest free loan all year. Or is there? If you are the kind of person who may not use the extra money wisely and the only way you can save money is by forcing yourself to do it through your tax return, then it is the right thing for your; even if it isn’t mathematically (or politically) the best.
Personal finance is personal. Just because it is good on paper or in theory does not mean it is the best thing for you. As you begin your own personal finance journey don’t assume your life has to fit into the mold of anyone. Try what ever you need to do in order to be successful. That may mean throwing out the rules we personal finance geeks write. It may mean doing it your own way, and if you are successful you win.
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Acts 4:32 – All things in Common
So, I haven’t been posting recently because of a few things popping up at church. I taught a class in February and then I was asked to preach. So, I decided to post my sermon. It is my first time preaching in 8-10 years so I was a little rusty but I hope it blesses you.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Things I learned from changing jobs
Changing Jobs
Almost a year ago I went through the process of changing jobs. In that change, I left a nationally known company where I had worked for eight years for a company I had never heard of until the recruiter called. The process I went through to decide if the new offer was better than my current job was pretty thorough. I am the kind of geek that created a spreadsheet comparing everything I could think of: salary, vacation plans, 401(k), bonus opportunities, commute times, holidays and a few other things. I tried to quantify things that were never meant to be quantified. I learned a few things about my self through that process.
I don’t trust God nearly as much as I thought I did.
I actually ended up having two job offers on the table at the same time. (Yes, I know, it is an embarrassment of riches) But, I don’t think I prayed about my new position as much as I should have. I felt that I could quantify everything and it would basically be a mathematical decision. Of course, it doesn’t work that way. But, I am really the kind of guy that doesn’t like to pray about the simple things. “Why bother God with things I can work out out on my own?”
I am still lead by my wallet far more than I want to be.
The fact that I made the decision by calculating the most minute details about money says a lot about how I view money in my life. The major deciding factor on if I took a new job was the money. Granted being a good steward of my skills means I should consider how much those skills are worth and find ways to use those skills to care for my family. But I don’t feel like I should be making decisions based predominately on my wallet, however, I still find security in my bank account and a steady paycheck.
There is Grace for it all
As many mistakes as I made along the way God’s grace is more than sufficient. That is the most important lesson.
All in all I am persuaded that I made the right decision. I am more satisfied with my new job than I was at my old job and I am making more money now. (Funny though, it still doesn’t feel like enough, even though I swore it would be; Ecc 5:10)
image by jakecaptive
Making the switch to Ting
Why we chose Ting
Part of our new year budget project was to do some maintenance on some of our bills and see if we could save money anywhere. I have been with Sprint mobile for 15 years and have never had a problem, but with our contract expiring and not needing new phones I wanted to see if there were any other options.
I looked into a few different companies. The other big two, AT&T and Verizon, were more expensive than what we were paying at the time so I was able to rule them out right away. We had two main categories of options. I averaged out our actual usage with Sprint over the past year so I could compare how much we used our phones.
- Minutes
- 1200
- Texts (we were using google voice so all but 20 of our texts were free; we lost that ability and I had NO idea how many texts we sent)
- 20
- MB of data
- 2600
We compared and several different companies’ plans and Ting was our best option. First, because we didn’t have to pay full price for new phones to get started. Ting works on the Sprint network which means we could BYOD (Bring your own devices) Secondly, there is no contract required so we can test it out with no commitment. And finally because it would save us a bunch of money.
Ting is different
Ting
‘s billing is different from the traditional cell phone carrier. Instead of deciding on a plan up front and either over paying for usage you don’t actually use or under planning and paying overage fees; Ting has a flat set of rates. You pay for what you use. When we compared their rates to our usage (assuming XL for the texts I wasn’t sure about) for two lines we would be paying $96 which is $30 a month less than we were paying with Sprint (for the same cell network). This is a little strange to get used to after having more unlimited options. But it looks like we were over paying.
Although we are still in our first month things are going well. Tings app and website let you keep track of your usage and we are paying a little more attention to how we are using our phones. I am not using my navigation just for kicks anymore, for example.
We may switch it up if this doesn’t work or when our phones are ready to be replaced, republic wireless offers a better plan but $800 for two phones it would take almost two years for us to make back the initial investment in savings.
Head over to Ting and see how much you could save with their hand savings calculator, you may be glad you did.
What do I do when I have a church money disagreement?
Unless you are one of those dictator Pastors who always does what they want regardless of wise council or you don’t bother to pay attention, eventually you are going to disagree with something your church is doing in regards to money. Then what? Do you stew in bitterness and harbor resentment towards your leadership? Do you stop giving and hold your money ransom until you get your way? Do you attempt to talk things over with leadership in hopes that they will listen to you and change their erroneous ways?
Probably none of those.
Giving to your local church is not the same as doing business with a restaurant whose political policies do not line up with yours. It is fine to boycott a place because you don’t like what they do with their profits that is your right as an American. But your local church is a place that is supposed to help you grow in the Lord and the leadership of your local church, what ever form it takes, are responsible for shepherding you, and they will answer to the Lord for how they do that. We can all be very sinful in our attitudes about money so if you find yourself upset about how your church is dealing with money here are some things to consider.
It is God’s Money to begin with.
The money that God has entrusted to us belongs to him. He has entrusted us as stewards of his many gifts. If God has called you to be a part of your church then he also knows and did know how they would handle his money. That is not to say that church leaders can’t make mistakes, but as I already said they will have to answer to God for their actions as leaders of the church not you. If this disagreement is over something minute then we should consider simply letting it go with prayer for our leaders to gain wisdom or for God to help us see the wisdom in their actions.
This obviously isn’t to say you should be reckless with God’s money but remember that you are part of a larger body and occasionally that means is giving up your right to be right.
They are only human and you can talk to them.
When I did a quick survey of the best pastors I know, to a man, they all said they would want to be addressed directly. Now depending on the size of your church this may be a logistical issue, but you should still try. Those who lead a church are only human and they may very well be in error. However, you should enter the conversation humbly as well. It may be that you are wrong in this matter. If you are a member of the church they should be willing to listen to your concerns and walk you through the situation. Maybe you will help to correct them or maybe they will help correct you. You have to be prepared for both possibilities and humbly pray for God to work on both sides.
Why would you withhold money?
I believe in a free market and the right of a customer to vote with their wallet and do business elsewhere. However, this is not that situation. If you are thinking about withholding your money because of this disagreement and you have already talked with your leadership then you should ask yourself, “Why?” Are you doing this to manipulate your leadership? Are you doing it because you really believe there is a sin issue involved with what the church is doing? The former would not be acceptable while the second one may. I would still seek wise council before making any rash decisions. It isn’t easy when you have a church money disagreement, but it is a great opportunity to grow in grace.
Have you ever been in this type of situation? How did it go? Tell me below in the comments.
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New Year Budget Recap
You have determined your goals.
You have Tracked your Spending.
Determined how to actually make payments on your debt and pay it off.
NOW WHAT?
This part sucks. While it is definitely not a set it and forget it situation there may not be any big moves for a while. Now you are in the phase where you simply do what you know you need to do. That is not very exciting until you hit a milestone like paying something off. It is OK to set little rewards for your self when you pay off your first debt or give that extra charitable gift. These are awesome things and you should celebrate. If you are good with excel you can plot out what you will be doing a year or five years from now and that can give you something to look forward to in a big way.
Look back to the goals you set out in the beginning of this course. They will encourage you to push on when you don’t feel like you can go on any further. Find folks that can encourage you to keep pushing on in the right direction.
Keep a close watch on your budget and your plan early on and make sure you are going in the right direction. Find extra ways to make money, I will be talking about those shortly.
Send me any questions if you need help @thinksteward. #newyearbudget
image by TheBo