Debt Series: Simple Truth #3 - Don't Cosign!

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When you become a cosigner, you contractually join with another person by agreeing to assume the responsibility of repaying a debt if for any reason that primary borrower is unable to fulfill the payment terms. 

To break this down, as a cosigner, you say “I got your back for this financial debt”

As we look at scripture, note that Cosign, Surety and Guarantor are words that are used interchangeably in the Christian Holy Bible. 

There are several direct scriptural references to the practice of cosigning and most of these are located in the Bible book of Proverbs.

The Bible book of Proverbs is known to contain some of the earliest records of life instruction.  Many of the proverbs are written by Solomon, and they reflect his great wisdom. 

Solomon, the son of King David, succeeded his father and also became a great king of Israel.   At one point Solomon presented a large burnt offering to the Lord and God appeared to him and said “Ask, What shall I give you?”  Solomon’s response was that his desire was for wisdom, an understanding heart and discernment as needed to lead those people that were under his rule as king.  The Lord was pleased with Solomon’s response and his offering and granted his request for great wisdom.  As a bonus God also blessed Solomon with what he did not request – riches and honor.  With these blessings there was no king like Solomon in his past and there would be no other king like Solomon in the future.   For reference, this is found in scripture in 1 Kings 3:3-13. 

The practice of cosigning is discouraged in God’s word.

Let’s step back a bit… After all, I am talking about the Christian Holy Bible.  I know that there are instructions in there that instruct us to partner together, love one another, love your neighbor as yourself, do unto others as you would have them do unto you and to not be a lover of money.  Knowing that these instructions are in the bible, does it seem that these instructions would support the case of bonding with your brothers and sisters during their financial time of need?  If we’re striving to live our lives following Christian biblical principles, should we adopt the practice of cosigning? 

From what I’ve learned from the scriptures… the answer is no. 

 Let’s reVerse…

Let’s review what the scriptures say about the practice of cosigning: 

                        Don’t cosign!

“Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, One of those who is surety for debts.”                                                  Proverbs 22:26 NKJV

Those that don’t understand cosign for debts…

“A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge,and becomes surety for his friend.” 

                                                                                     Proverbs 17:18 NKJV

The meaning of these two proverbs is very clear – Don’t cosign!

When you cosign for a loan it may feel like you’re simply doing a favor for a friend.  Let me summarize what may happen in a scenario like this.

You have a friend that wants to make a purchase.  In attempting to make the purchase, your friend finds that financing is required.  Your friend’s financial status is not one that will allow him/her to qualify for financing on their own.  The business establishment tells them that if they had a cosigner, the transaction can be completed.  Your friend contacts you and requests that you cosign for them – you won’t have to make any payments because they have the means to make the payments, they just can’t qualify for the loan on their own. 

You say “Ok, I can do that”.  

You and your friend get together and physically go to the business establishment to make the purchase.  When you arrive, there is a loan officer present.  A loan contract is drawn up and on it is a place for signatures for your friend as the primary borrower and for you as the cosigner.

Everyone signs the documents, everyone smiles, everyone leaves.  The transaction is completed. Easy favor to do! 

Now what really happened is that as the cosigner you’ve entered into a debt obligation in the full amount of the purchase even though you may not have to make any payments and you walked away from the transaction without any merchandise.

Those that cosign should not be deemed as financially trustworthy

Proverbial wisdom instructs us to embrace the understanding that cosigning is not a good practice and to avoid entering into such agreements.  As for those that do not adopt this as a life standard, Christian wisdom supports that these individuals should not be deemed as financially trustworthy.  For this reason, when doing business with such individuals, you should demand a strong security deposit.  Note this scripture:

 

“Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger,

And hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.” 

                                                                                                    Proverbs 27:13 NKJV

In bible times, taking the garment of an individual was a way of holding something of value from that person as an assurance that they will repay a debt.  This proverb advises us to do this when we enter into an agreement with an individual that has cosigned debts – a way of stating that this person should not be deemed as financially trustworthy. 

Today our credit worthiness is determined by our credit score.   Note that cosigned debts contribute to your overall debt load in same way as it would if you were the primary borrower.  The net effect of this is that if you cosign for others, you will have more debt and your credit score will be lower than it would if you avoided cosigning.  If you later have a need to finance a purchase it is more likely that you will have a higher interest rate, security deposit requirement or even require a cosigner with better credit as a part of the contract with you.  This is one way that our country's financial systems implement this instruction.

The last part of verse 13 in Proverbs Chapter 27 references the holding of the garment if you know that this individual has debts with a seductress or what the King James translation of the bible calls a “strange woman”.

I’m not going to offer a detailed explanation of this.  I’m just saying… 

If you cosign you will suffer for it.  You should hate this practice.

Christian wisdom even speaks as strongly as noting that if you cosign for another’s debt, you will suffer and that you should hate this practice.  Here’s the verse:

“He who is surety for a stranger will suffer, but one who hates being surety is secure.”                                                              Proverbs 11:15 NKJV

 

Think you’ve blown it by cosigning in your past?

I know what you may be thinking…

“I didn’t understand these principles but now I have a better idea of what God’s word says about the practice of cosigning.   But I’ve already cosigned for someone.  Does this mean that God is going to hold back his blessings for me?  Am I sentenced to a life of poverty or eternity in Hell?”  My response to you is that by faith, you’re going to be better after reading this than you were before.  From this point forward, commit to become a doer of God’s word, not a hearer only.  Thanks for God’s love and his redemption power, you can make life adjustments that allow you to better align with these biblical principles.  You’ll be able to realize a financial life that reflects his promises to us in this area.  I am convinced of this!!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

What to do if you’ve already cosigned for someone…

Another thing that’s true is that the Lord knew that by the time some of us started to seek this wisdom, we would have already operated in opposite of the advice.  With this in mind, there are biblical instructions on what to do if we have already cosigned for a debt.

“My son, if you become surety for your friend,

If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,

You are snared by the words of your mouth.

You are taken by the words of your mouth.

So do this, my son, and deliver yourself,

For you have come into the hand of your friend:

Go and humble yourself.

Plead with your friend.

Give no sleep to your eyes,

Nor slumber to your eyelids.

Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.”

                                                                                           Proverbs 6:1-5 NKJV

The biblical instructions of how we reverse our cosign obligations is to humbly go to the one that we cosigned for and plead with them to release us from this debt agreement.  Don’t demand or pose threats – remember that you

willingly signed this agreement.  Ask them to forgive you for making this commitment because you were not aware of God’s direction for situations like this, if this is indeed the case.  Again, your request is to be released from your unwise financial decision to cosign. Be persistent! Once you follow these advised steps, repent for cosigning (vow to the Lord to not repeat this behavior) and rest in Him.  Regardless of the outcome of your actions to be released of this debt obligation, you can rest assured that your commitment to operate under God’s financial principles going forward will be honored and you will see the benefits.

To make things clear, to have the borrower / cosigner relationship severed, the primary borrower must seek ways to refinance this debt without naming you as a cosigner.  If there has been a history of timely payments, it may be that a cosigner is no longer needed.   Key thing to note here is the fact that the primary borrower will have to take the action to release you from this debt obligation by seeking alternative financing options.

If you’ve asked someone to cosign for you on a loan, reverse these actions! As the primary borrower, seek out ways of refinancing in an effort to remove that cosigner from your loan agreement.  When you find alternative ways of financing, approach that cosigner and let them know that your desire is to release them from this debt.

Don’t cosign!

I was made aware of this principle years before I knew that it existed in the Bible.  Somehow I knew that this was the way that I should operate even though I had not been approached to be a debt cosigner.  I made a decision to make this a personal way of operating.  A key thing that I knew that I needed to do was to communicate this decision to my family,  The way that I chose to do that was during a Christmas holiday gathering in the late 1980’s.  I did not spoil the gathering with a smart aleck: “Don’t call me, I’ll call you” blurts, but I did take the opportunity while all of my siblings were present to share with them that I would say no to all requests to cosign any loans.  No one had asked me to cosign in the past so this statement was met with the snappy responses of:  “Who asked you to cosign anyway?  Nobody?  So shut up!!”  The holiday festivities were not spoiled in any way by these casual conversations.  I took the opportunity to repeat my position during other occasions when we all were present so that I was speaking to everyone as a group.  Everyone understood and respected my position.  

Later in life there were calls from family members requesting that I would help them out by cosigning and partnering with them for debt obligations – mainly auto loans.  For each of these calls, I politely declined the opportunity to cosign.  These phone conversations were times of reminding my family member that I was not choosing to single them out and refusing to help them but instead that I was honoring a principle that I had chosen to live by and had shared with them in earlier years.  On occasion I did offer to assist by providing a one-time cash contribution to the cause.  In most cases, the lender wanted a cosigner, so the cash assistance would not prove to be beneficial in those cases.  I am pleased to share with you that there were no family relationship issues that resulted from my decision to avoid cosigning. 

Approximately 15 years after first communicating to my family that I would not cosign debts, I learned that my “intelligent” fiscal life choice is a principle that is biblical wisdom clearly outlined in scripture.

What are your current life ideas and practices on the topic of cosigning?  Please take the opportunity to share with me your ideas on this topic by completing an anonymous survey.  There are five questions to this survey and it should take approximately 90 seconds of your time.  I will gather the statistics of this and all Money reVerse surveys and use this information in future blog posts. 

Click here to access this survey. 

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22FFDVAVX5J

   

It is wise to avoid cosigning.  As I noted in earlier references in this series, the Lord is our Source and He wants us to seek Him for our needs.  When we ask someone to cosign for us, we are seeking others to cover for our financial shortcomings.  When we become cosigners, we’re choosing to operate in a way that is in direct conflict to Christian Biblical instruction. 

Commit to follow God’s financial principles and get ready to see the manifestation of His promises.  Be blessed in your financial life!

Carolyn M. Williams

 

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NCTC Learning Framework class - I enjoyed our time together!

I was honored to be the guest speaker for the Learning Framework class at North Central Texas College in Flower Mound, Texas tonight.  Thank you to professor Harold Jackson (Coach) for inviting me to speak to the class on the topic of  money management.

To the class members that attended:  You're such a great group!  Very energetic and your questions were right on point as needed to get to the details of practical steps that we all can take to improve on our personal financial management.  I did get a few promises to you and I want to hold you to them.  Here's the recap of these promises:

1.  Those in the class that are not currently using a spending plan to manage their personal finances committed to create a spending plan (a spending road map that is to be created BEFORE the month begins and used as the measure when tracking actual spending during the month).  If you'd like to have the spending plan spreadsheets that I used in the class you are welcome to them!  Get them from Mr. Jackson or email me here and I will get them to you via a reply email.

2. For those of you that currently are not saving, you were challenged to begin saving now.  The goal is to begin saving this month (April 2012) by setting aside $5 this month and every month.  Let me know via a comment to this blog post if you rise to meet this challenge.  Here's your accountability opportunity! The $5 saving challenge is the minimum.   If you can save more, please do so! 

We also had an interesting discussion on credit card theft and discussed ways to avoid doing business with those companies that have a high potential for data loss.  Take an occasional look through credit card data breach sites that I noted so that you can be aware if there are data exposure incidents that have taken place the affect you.

Since we reviewed the process that is used to determine your FICO credit score, take the opportunity to implement practices that will naturally improve your credit score.  Start now and your credit score will start to get better now!

Again, thank you for your warm welcome and I wish you all the best  in your education and life ventures! 

Carolyn M Williams

Debt Series: America's Addiction to Debt

While I don't know Michael Snyder personally, from reading some of his works, I'm finding that we can be deemed kindred spirits when it comes to our views on debt.  Michael's recent post on http://endoftheamericandream.com/ entitled America's Addiction to Debt - 30 Facts About Debt in America That Will Blow Your Mind provides some unfavorable yet verifiable facts on consumer debt in America that are eye opening.  If you curently are in debt or living debt free, I'd encourage you to be informed by this reading and be aware of what's happening to us, by us as a result of our own pen strokes.  

Many scriptures came to mind as I was reading Michael's article.  Another day for that - look for insight on this in my next Simple Truth as a part of this series on debt.  For now, I'm going to share the first paragraph of Michael's work...

America's Addiction to Debt 

30 facts about debt in America that will blow your mind

Michael Snyder:  When most people think about America’s debt problem, they think of the debt of the federal government.  But that is only part of the story.  The sad truth is that debt slavery has become a way of life for tens of millions of American families.  Over the past several decades, most Americans have willingly allowed themselves to become enslaved to debt.  These days, most of us are busy either going into even more debt or paying off the debt that we have accumulated in the past.  When your finances are dominated by debt, it makes it really hard to ever get ahead.  Incredibly, 43 percent of all American families spend more than they earn each year.  Even while median household income continues to decline (now less than $50,000 a year), median household debt continues to go up.  According to the Federal Reserve, median household debt in America has risen to $75,600.  Many Americans spend decades caught in the trap of debt slavery.  Large numbers of them never even escape at all and die in debt.  It can be a lot of fun to spend lots of money and go into lots of debt, but it can be absolutely soul crushing to toil and labor for years paying off those debts while making others wealthy in the process.  Hopefully this article will inspire many people to try to escape the chains of debt slavery once and for all.



Click here to continue to ingest Michael Snyder's article America's Addiction to Debt

  

 

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Carolyn M. Williams



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Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Our lives begin to end the day that we become silent about things that matter."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr



Picture # 542069 / 306-SSM-4D(107)16; Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking; 8/28/1963; National Archives and Records Administration



His dedication, his commitment, his courage, his service and his dreams are remembered and honored today.

As a nation we show honor.

Reflect and redirect on today,

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday.

 

Debt Series: Simple Truth #2 - Pay What You Owe





Pay what you owe.  We shouldn't expect to be released from paying what we’ve obligated ourselves to pay.  A bailout is not our prayer.  A debt cancellation is not our prayer.  Our prayer is for the Lord to provide the resources required for us to be responsible in meeting our debt obligations.  Our prayer is to ask for wisdom and guidance in managing those resources that the Lord currently provides to us so that we will be able to reflect Him in our financial actions. Pay what you owe.

This core focus of this principle is not about getting the actual obligations paid.  This principle is more about the condition of our heart concerning your financial obligations as a follower of Jesus Christ. 

A “bailout” / “let-me-out” mentality is one that is ever present in individuals around the world when it comes to paying back debt.  Bankruptcy is ever present and is a cyclical process in the lives of some.  I’ve heard Christian believers pray to the Lord for a debt cancellation as an approach to handling outstanding obligations.  I know that the Lord can cancel debts and I have personal testimony of such a blessing!   Principles in our Holy Bible instruct us to do just the opposite of these approaches – we’re instructed to own up to our responsibilities when we have an obligation and have a committed heart to paying it back in a timely manner.  Different than what you’ve believed?  Let's reVerse!

We should honor our word by honoring agreements that we’ve made.

If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.  Numbers 30:2 NKJV

Wicked describes someone that lives their life in a crooked way – not following the word of God.  This scripture notes that those that are wicked borrow and do not pay the obligation.  If we are committed to living our lives with the Holy Bible as a guidebook, we should repay what we borrow.

The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives  Psalm 37:21 NKJV



The laws of the land that the Israelites were to follow were established by Moses after he sought the Lord on such matters.   In reading these established laws, it is clear to me that in addition to honoring obligations that they had made (Numbers 30:2), the children of God were instructed to abide by laws that promoted everyone taking care of their personal responsibilities.  In addition to paying debt obligations, it included being responsible for the food, shelter and clothing for oneself and one’s family, the proper management of owned or borrowed personal property and paying what you owe for the consumption of goods and services.  Here’s a few of the many verses to reference for these concepts:   

 

The people of Israel vowed to be responsible to paying what they and their animals would consume while traveling through the land of Edom.



Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King’s Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’”

Then Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.”  So the children of Israel said to him, “We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.”    Numbers 20:17-19 NKJV

The children of Israel were in a position to take advantage of the people of Seir on their journey because the Israelites were feared.  The Lord instructed His people be responsible and purchase food and water from them instead of capitalizing on the advantage.  The Lord had blessed His people to be able to take care of themselves and instructed them to do so.

You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.  “For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand.     Deuteronomy 2:5-7 NKJV



King David refuses to take from anyone to give his offerings to the Lord.  Even though he was king, he took his personal responsibilities to pay his obligations seriously. 

Then King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.”  1 Chronicles 21:24 NKJV



Jonah was purposefully running from the presence of the Lord.  Even in his disobedience, he paid his obligated fare for boarding the ship to Tarshish.  He didn’t expect anything to be free. 

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.  Jonah 1:3 NKJV

Paul shares with the Thessalonians that while ministering to them, Paul, Timothy and Silas worked and paid for their food so that their ministry would not be a burden to the people.  

nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.  2 Thessalonians 3:8  NKJV



Everyone should commit to pay what they owe.  If you are the lender, do not go to the borrower to take repayments.  Give your brother the opportunity to be obedient to the scriptures to initiate the payment of his debt.  This will help to avoid strife.



When you lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge.  You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you.

Deuteronomy 24:10-11 NKJV

I learned the principle of paying what you owe in the late 80’s.  I borrowed to obtain student loans to fund my college education.  After completing college and enjoying a 4 month grace period before student loan repayment time, I received the paperwork necessary to setup my loan repayments.  As requested, I submitted the paperwork, received the payment certificates and began repaying my student loans.  The payments were more than I wanted to pay but I was blessed to be gainfully employed in the professional field of my choosing and was making enough money to cover my expenses including this loan payment.  I even had money left over!  God is so good.  



About 6 months into paying back this student loan obligation,  I started to ask myself  “Why am I paying this?  I’m not getting anything for this money that I’m paying out each month.”  I know you're wondering why I'd ask this question.  Well yes, I did get an education and was awarded two degrees which did lend to making me attractive to corporations seeking young professionals BUT… I felt that I was owed that education!!

Let me explain the logic of my young mind … I was a smart kid… graduated second in my small high school class. On February 17 in my high school senior year I left home one afternoon to go play in a high school basketball game.  I told my dad goodbye and assured him that I would not get in a fight in the game this time (another topic, another day).  I came home after the game later that night to witness my uncle and my mom speeding past the school bus in a reckless manner as they were rushing my dad to the hospital.  My father had a heart attack at home shortly before I returned home from the game and he died shortly after his arrival at the hospital.   

My dad didn’t get to hear me say that I didn’t get in a fight with anyone on the opposing team that night. He didn’t get to hear my Salutatorian speech 3 months later.  He didn’t get to witness me finishing college.  He missed out on all of those things.  The most painful part was that I missed out on all of those things. 

There was no college fund.  Since my dad was the sole breadwinner for our family, I paid for all of my college education without any assistance from my parents, thus the need for the student loans.  I felt that I deserved to have my education funded since I had experienced so much loss.  I then reasoned that I should be released from the student loans that I originally committed to repay!

I started looking for ways to get out of paying my loans – at the time there were options available.  More people felt the way that I did and there were agencies and programs available to assist.  I applied for and was granted a forbearance to suspend my student loan payments for 6 months.  No student loan payments!  Much better!!  After this 6 month payment suspension period was over, I received paperwork to apply for another 6 month forbearance. My response?  “Can you repeat that fax number please?   I’ll return the completed forms to you today!”  I did and again, no payments for another 6 months!

Something happened to me during this second 6 month forbearance time frame.  I occasionally would wake up during the night with this item on my mind.  I borrowed the money, but I was not paying it back even though payment was due per the original loan agreement.  When I signed the papers as a student,  I was so happy to get the loan because it meant that I could attend college.  In my heart, I vowed that when I got a degree and a job I would pay back every penny.  While wide awake in the middle of the night as an employed college graduate, I realized that my actions were telling a different story.  I was wrong and I knew it.  I could not rest well as long as I was OK with this arrangement.  This is how I learned the principle of pay what you owe.  I didn’t speak to any friends or relatives.  I didn't pick up a bible.  I didn’t consult my Pastor or other church leaders but I learned this lesson well.  The Holy Spirit taught me this invaluable lesson even though I wasn’t seeking the Lord and I didn’t know that this was a biblical principle. 

After the second forbearance period lifted, I received a letter asking if I’d like to apply for the last suspension that would be possible for this loan.  Without even thinking about it, I waived the option to reapply for suspension, worked with the lender to resume payments.  I eventually paid off the loan and even sent extra funds toward the principle as a part of my strategy.  This was such an accomplishment for me!  I was so proud of myself that I shared the success of paying off my student loans with family, friends and strangers alike!  No one knew of or understood the heart change that took place as a part of paying off this loan – until now.

During that same adjustment period, needing to mourn the loss of my dad, I began a grieving process that I had unknowingly delayed for 5 years.      

I’ve never forgotten this lesson.  I learned it well.   This principle is a relevant one for each of us.  In the days of bailouts, bankruptcy and entitlement mentalities, this principle is often ignored. 

The Lord is our source.  He wants us to be take responsibility for what we owe and diligently seek him for our needs. 

If you are one of many that have in the past or are currently operating in an income shortfall condition, I pray that this principle does not leave you feeling judged.  Bad things happen to good people - even those that love the Lord.  I'm grateful that as Paul noted in Romans 8:1, therefore there is no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Don't feel that you've blown it if you haven't followed this principle.  Seek the Lord to direct your path in the area of finances.  Ask Him to change your heart and renew your mind if you've become conformed to the ways of this world.

What are your honest thoughts on paying what you owe?  Take a few minutes to take this 3 question anonymous survey on abandoning debt obligations.   Completing this survey should take less than 90 seconds of your time.  http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22ECPWUQ8T9

I will share the results of this survey and others that I'm conducting in a future blogpost article.   Thank you in advance for your participation!

If you haven’t already, create a listing of your current debt obligations in an effort to better manage the handling of them. 

Email me if you'd like to receive a free spreadsheet to help you to gather your debt information in a manageable format.   



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Carolyn M. Williams



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6 Questions To Assess Your Personal Financial Position

Would you like to see an improvement in your personal financial position within the next 12 months? 

What does a personal financial improvement mean for you?



Theodor38@dreamstime



Where Are You?

How do you make this year a better year for you in managing your personal finances?  The first step is to determine where you are now. 

I’ve found that when it comes to our financial position, If we have challenges, many of us choose to not take the time and energy to face this subject.  We look away, ignore our current situation, avoid conversations and other things that would cause us to open our eyes to our own handbags, wallets, checkbooks and bank accounts.

In Genesis Chapter 3,  Adam and Eve hid in the garden from the Lord after they had disobeyed his commands in managing the Garden of Eden.  They knew what they had done and they had an understanding that their actions were not in line with the instructions from the Lord.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”  

Genesis 3:6-10 NKJV    

If we are to improve in serving the Lord in our personal financial management, we must come out of hiding and realize where we are.  Not facing our past actions stalls our progress. Where are you?   Come out of hiding today!

If you currently are not experiencing financial management challenges, this may be a time for you to stretch yourself for advancement.  Strategize!  Learn more! Invest more!

Here’s six questions that will help you to perform a high level  assessment of your personal financial position.

1.  Do you have a source of income for your household?  (Yes or No)

If you answered Yes to this question we give thanks to God for this blessing.  With this blessing you inherit the responsibility to be a faithful steward of these financial resources. 

If you answered No to this question and you are in need of financial resources for your home, let’s pray for the Lord who is our source to bless your household financially.

2.  Are you using a budget or personal spending plan monthly?  (Yes or No)

Your odds of achieving your personal financial management goals increase exponentially with the use of a financial management system.  I feel so strongly on this point that I will say that you will not reach your goals unless you are using a system!  This system should not be complicated.  It must work for you.  Write it down, use a spreadsheet or purchase a commercial software package… they all work well if you use them.  If you are not using a system for managing your household finances, add this to your list of must-do items this year!

3.  Do you currently have non-mortgage debt?  (Yes or No)

Eliminating debt will free you to move into more progressive uses of the financial resources in which you are entrusted.  Payments that are going toward debt can be redirected towards retirement planning, investing, college funds, starting a business and doing ministry work.  The overall goal is to eliminate all debt starting with those non-mortgage obligations.  If you currently have non-mortgage debt, include a realistic reduction goal to your resolutions.

4.  Do you currently have savings? (Yes or No)

Savings is essential to eliminate the need to accumulate debt and being able to handle those unfortunate unplanned situations that require financial resources.  If you answered no to this question, now is the time to establish a saving plan and routine.  You don’t have to save a lot to count this as an improvement to your financial position! 

5.  Do you currently have active investments?  (Yes or No)

Are you an active participant in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, futures or other investment vehicles?  If you are not, consider if this is the year for you to advance into any of these areas. 

6.  What are your top three financial goals for the year?

What would you like to accomplish financially in the next 12 months?  If you only have one goal, that is perfectly fine.  I’d like to stretch you and ask you to identify three.  Write them down!

Take this survey online by following this link  http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22EAHP4DCEH

This survey is anonymous and your responses will be used to assist us in determining how the future postings from Money reVerse can tailored to be most beneficial to you. 

Share this with others if you feel this information would be a blessing!