MoneyWalk 364: Long Term Vision Is Necessary

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Over the vast majority of 20 year periods, the stock market experienced greater growth than most other investment vehicle markets (bonds, fixed income, real estate, precious metals, etc.). The up and down swing of stock prices is much more volatile over shorter time periods (a few months or a few years) thus making them riskier during short time periods. By living off less than you make, honoring God with the tithe, establishing an emergency fund, and achieving total debt elimination and afterward putting at least ten percent of each paycheck in diversified investment vehicles, you will soon get to a point where you’re able to let and see much higher long-term stock market growth work for you without having to worry about the short-term risk of the market.

For sure, you will need a wise person or two from whom you seek guidance who will help you get control of your emotions by teaching you not to fear short term downward swings in the stock market. They know that when you move investment money to historically far lower growth vehicles each time you see a downward swing and have experienced what would be a short term loss you solidify that loss throughout your future. In addition, the money will continue to earn much lower growth over the long term as you worry about trying to find something you can be comfortable investing in in a high growth market at a later time. Most people never make the move back into the stock market because they continue to be afraid of risk that has historically been shown to take you higher and higher and provide far greater growth over long term periods. So they languish in low growth investments throughout their lives and cannot be as blessed and rewarded in the financial arena of their lives as the LORD would have them be. An abundant portion of what you lose out on by not taking the reasonable, historically reliable stock market risk could otherwise have been given into the Kingdom to lead people to Christ and disciple them, to take better care of yourself and family, and to pursue other worthwhile endeavors.

Certainly, you should avoid the risk of an undiversified stock market investment. If you invest in single stocks you should own a variety of at least eight solid ones and likely far more. Otherwise, you are going down the road of a get rich quick mentality and will likely suffer great loss over both short and long term periods and then put your tail between your legs and run away from the market never to return again. It is far better to invest in diversified no load, low expense stock index mutual funds like S&P 500, Large Cap, Mid Cap, Small Cap, and Total Stock Market offered by reputable brokerages such as Vanguard, Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, American Funds, etc. Investing a smaller portion into a diversified portfolio of other types of investment vehicle like real estate, bonds, entrepreneurial endeavors, etc. can augment your short term and long term growth plan and you might then find that one or more of them become a really big hit for your life.

When you employ this type of long term vision you’ll be able to give abundantly and live abundantly while keeping money invested over the long haul by virtue of the fact that your foresight in planning has helped you live debt-free so you continually have the funds to make such investments and reap the harvests they produce. A great portion of money will remain invested in the stock market until you expire and pass on to your heirs and the Church simply because your increasing prosperity will dictate that you don’t need to live off it. It takes long-term vision, knowledge of historical market returns, and confidence in the fact that Jesus chose you to be a steward over part of His resources in order for you to succeed at properly managing the income and assets He entrusts to you. You'll always be a good steward who prospers immensely when you follow this spiritual and financial roadmap.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 11:14, 29:18, Ecclesiastes 11:2, Lamentations 2:9, Matthew 25:14-15, Luke 19:13

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MoneyWalk 363: Saving Is Important To The LORD

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

The LORD’s return is imminent. It’s certainly closer today than it has ever been and He instructs us that upon His return, we should be found busy completing our part of the Great Commission in our family, workplaces, neighborly relationships, and all arenas of life. We are citizens of Heaven and need to understand that we are seated with Jesus Christ in heavenly places, yet we should not be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. Thus, we must understand that biblical principles require a natural action that we are able to take by the power God gave us when He created us and even greater power of His Holy Spirit living in us upon becoming believers in Christ and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The creation of God and its inner-working then causes that natural action to result in supernatural results that glorify Him and bring about the good He intended for you and people around you and many times to those in the uttermost parts of the earth.

Prayer brings great results that we desperately need in our lives and world, yet it must be displayed by the work of opening your heart, mind, ears, and mouth to listen for the LORD and talk with Him. Reading the scripture on a regular basis like we should, or with any regularity, requires that we actually open the book, use the internet, or some other physical tool to distinguish the LORD’s instruction in order to progressively know what is important to Him and for you and other people. Thus, you should recognize that He instructs everyone to take action in the financial and other arenas of our lives that are physical in nature and are good works that bring supernatural results when employed. Saving is one of these principles that require action that you do not want to overlook or think He does not care about lest you fail to receive the great benefits that He stored therein for your life, care of your family, and future involvement with the ministry of the Church to change the lives and trajectories of many other people for His glory.

Proverbs lets us know that a fool quickly spends all he / she receives whereas the wise save for the future. Luke tells us that a wise man would not build a house without counting the cost to know that he has enough to complete it. A reasonable amount of savings and an ongoing pattern of saving a portion of the money the LORD entrusts to you helps you solidly build the house of your life and maintain an ever firmer financial footing as you move deeper into the life and work He called you to. A great method for employing the saving principle that has brought great results in many peoples’ lives is to budget your income and expenses in the way that allows you to build a first tier emergency fund of $1,000 and then after you have paid off all your non-mortgage debt you should save at least $10,000 and up to six months of expenses. You also will want to thereafter employ saving for extra things such as birthday, Christmas, wedding anniversary gifts, private school and/or college education costs, and for placement in equity investments that can allow you to amass great wealth for the care of your family, your future, your Church, and your ministry calling.

People that employ a give first, save next, and spend third habit in their financial lives more often have a greater positive impact in life than those whose habit is to spend, spend, spend. Usually, believers who master this principle give abundantly to ministry work and their tithes and offerings grow larger throughout the future. It’s almost impossible to consistently give as the LORD instructs and have something to invest for future growth unless you first live beneath your income and save because the desire for things of this world and massive debt to get them otherwise encompass a greater part of your income and stops you. This brings unnecessary sorrow into your life by stopping the natural and supernatural flow of blessing and increase that God intends for you and your family. Our LORD is all about helping you eliminate unnecessary sorrow and having maximum impact throughout the course of your life and He determined that this could not be done without consistently employing saving as a financial component of your life.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Deuteronomy 8:18, Proverbs 6:6-11, 21:20, Matthew 25:19-21, Luke 14:28-30, 19:15-17

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MoneyWalk 362: Be A Good Steward

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Scriptural instruction leads you to plan to give abundantly and avoid future debt in order to spend within your means for things necessary and desired in this life. This becomes your giving, saving, and spending plan that is a monthly written tabulation used to keep your expenses far less than income and your liabilities far less than assets. Through this discipline you will become debt free not many years into the future and thereafter build substantial wealth for purposes of kingdom advancement and caring for future needs, given that emergencies and catastrophes will be experienced, even while you currently give in a tremendous fashion to the LORD’s work and worthwhile charity.

It gives you greater ability to affect people with the gospel as they see and hear your testimony and example of the LORD’s blessing and reward in your life. Other people’s talents and services are needed to help you reach your full potential because there are things that you may not be good at that they are good at to help you safely navigate the waters you have dominion over, such as budgeting know how, accounting, bookkeeping, taxes, investment knowledge, etc. No man is an island unto himself, thus you cannot accomplish God’s purpose for your life without relationship and inner-working with others. No doubt, some people will come and go and be more or less involved during different periods of your life, but together those with wisdom and a good example serve as the multitude of counselors who identify the LORD’s safe boundary mechanism that propels you into His prosperous purpose.

While consistently tithing and offering and after becoming debt free put into equity investment vehicles at least a seven percent portion of the money entrusted to you by the LORD (via income through employment and other natural and supernatural means). Trade it in the market using at least seven different no load, low expense stock index mutual funds or similar historically reliable high growth investments. Trading is identified in scripture as good stewardship practice that brings great return throughout your life.

Also, put at least three percent of your income in a bank or other financial institution in stable value accounts that pay interest. Though such savings usually grow at a much lower rate of return than stock mutual funds, they provide a hedge against down markets and funds that will help take care of emergencies and catastrophes that arise at various times throughout your life.

In addition, plan for the day when you can soon put at least two to five percent of your income toward entrepreneurial endeavors such as business startups, inventions, angel investing, real estate, etc. Such endeavors have historically shown, for one to two percent of the population, that they provide some of the highest returns that can be obtained. The discipline you learn and additional growth you receive on your money from these good stewardship methods will help you take care of all your God-given responsibilities, give more to the Church than will otherwise be possible, and faithfully complete the plan for which He made you.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Job 1:1-3, Proverbs 11:14, Ecclesiastes 11:4-6, Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 12:32-34

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MoneyWalk 361: Diversify Your Savings And Investments

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

You should separate your savings and investments into roughly 12.5% portions in 8 different accounts order to diversify and spread your risk so that no one event, theft, or mismanagement of it will ruin the whole of what you had available. For safety sake, you should pick large known brokerage house (Vanguard, TIAA CREF, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, etc.) no load, low expense stock index mutual funds for the investment portion, which should be the largest portion of your money because this is long-term money for which you need growth in order to draw future income to retire or augment other retirement income sources. For savings (no matter the stage, $1,000, $10,000, or three to six-month emergency fund, etc.), you should mostly use financial institution accounts guaranteed by FDIC or NCUA because safety and the ability to withdraw the whole amount at any time is what you need in case you encounter an emergency for which you need this money (uncovered medical expense, layoff, extended unemployment, etc.).

Be aware that no bank should have any more than $250,000 of your emergency fund money or other savings, no matter the number of different accounts it is separated into. The same goes for money held in cash equivalent brokerage accounts such as money market funds. The SIPC insures equity and bond type investment accounts for up to $500,000 against loss caused by mismanagement, malfeasance, theft, and some other situations. Putting money the LORD entrusts to you in one account leaves you vulnerable to losing all your money if that company becomes bankrupt. Financial troubles at that one company, whether temporary or permanent, could render you unable to draw a portion of your money from the account when you really need it during an emergency.

Certainly you should study to become financially literate to understand how you can best invest your money based in a risk vs. reward scenario that most closely fits your risk tolerance. Augment this practice by spreading your savings and investments into different instruments to avoid the problem of losing everything in one fell swoop. It is very unlikely that every company holding your money will be in financial trouble at the same time. We hope that none of them are ever in that situation yet it is best to plan and prepare so that you are not in that position because you only have one or two accounts. This principle of diversification may not help you get the highest return on your money but it will keep you from losing everything when the world is experiencing a sour economy and by investing the largest portion of your investment money in no load, low expense stock index mutual funds you will reap the highest returns the market can bear as you move through your future.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Genesis 13:2-6, Job 42:12, Ecclesiastes 11:2, Luke 19:1-8, Acts 4:34-37

Please forward these bondage breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

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MoneyWalk 360: Strength Gained Through Counsel

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

  The bible exhorts believers to seek wise counsel that will help them live according to God’s purpose and enable them to make good decisions in the most difficult situations. Some counsel comes from the Spirit inspired writers of the bible books. Some counsel comes from people who have advanced out of the situations you are currently in. Sometimes good advice comes from people who do not yet follow Christ. God uses these types of counsel in your life in order to mold you into the person He made you to be. Just make sure you continue to study the Word in order to understand that people’s guidance fits the LORD’s design whether they know it or not.

  Failing to utilize godly and wise counselors will cause you to have heartaches and headaches you could have avoided. These counselors have made mistakes that hampered their fruitfulness for a time and could have derailed their success, but you don’t have to make the same mistakes and you won’t if you will seek out and listen to these counselors on a regular basis. For example, your finances would not be in a continual downward spiral for which you cannot see a way out if you obtained counsel from a godly advisor or person who has learned that individuals and couple’s lives are destroyed by massive debt, failure to maintain gainful employment, constant spontaneous spending, and/or failure to craft and follow a giving, saving, and spending plan

  People’s failure to seek godly counsel and follow wise advice turns into great sorrow and they continue to pierce themselves with the sharpness of that sword until they learn they need such counsel in person or via other means (books, social media, magazines, recorded messages, etc.). There are so many outlets for obtaining the counsel you need and the best book of all, the bible, shares commands, principles, and stories to let you know how to rightly divide what you hear against the word of truth so you know what you should incorporate into your belief system and what should be discarded as useless. You will walk out this life learning what He wants many times through those who love Him. You will also learn from them how to discard what is really unimportant to Him or simply not necessary to be fruitful in this life. Know this, those who seek and follow godly counsel find abundance and continue to live in it even when bad economic cycles are upon the land.

  Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

  Proverbs 11:14, Ecclesiastes 11:2, Luke 14:31, Acts 15:6

  Please forward these bondage breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

  You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

  You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

  You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

  You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 359: You Will Be Exalted When…

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

If you truly want to be exalted you must humble yourself under the mighty hand of the LORD, not think of yourself more highly than you ought, do all you can to utilize gifts and talents He provided you, serve other people in legitimate and godly ways, and refuse to be envious of platforms He allows other people to be placed upon. Balance your life according to biblical instruction and He will exalt you at the proper time and bring many blessings into your life.

It may take time for this to occur and may not come when you want it, but don’t give up because it always comes on time. God knows exactly what you need and when you need it. He allows tests in your life to help you develop a testimony that will lead other people to Him and enhance their lives as well as your own. Any bad thing that happens to you is only short-term. He uses these situations as a set up for your future 30, 60, or 100-fold blessing. So after doing all you can to bring each situation to a positive conclusion, just trust Him and stand on faith knowing that He is working everything together for your good because you love Him and are called according to His purpose.

It pleases the LORD for you to do the following types of things in order to be a good steward: (a) maintain gainful employment, (b) keep your expenses below your income via proper planning / budgeting, (c) tithe and give abundantly to Kingdom ministry, (d) focus on debt elimination so you have maximum financial freedom from the pull of this world and so you have an abundance from which to serve Him when others are struggling during economic downturns, (e) build wealth via putting at least 10% of your gross monthly income in savings and equity investments, and (f) diversify your assets so no single investment represents more than 10% of your total assets.

As you show humility in nurturing intimate fellowship with the LORD via praise worship, prayer, reading scripture, and obedience to biblical instruction, in priority over every other activity, you will ultimately experience His blessing of exaltation like never before in the sight of your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Psalms 75:6-10, Daniel 4:30-35, James 4:10, 1Peter 5:6

Please forward these bondage breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

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MoneyWalk 357: Jesus In You Is Necessary For True Success

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

The best blessing can only be obtained by confessing that Jesus Christ is your Savior and LORD. This blessing cannot be earned. It is only available based on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, His righteousness extended to you, and His resurrection as a sign that you also are raised to newness of life upon accepting Him as the only way to be saved.

In Him are many other blessings as well. He provides them to help you fulfill His plan upon the earth for the salvation and disciple-making of other people. True and everlasting success only come as a result of listening to Him to identify ways to engage His plan as you go about your life in every venue (the marketplace, neighborhood, relationships, etc.). Regardless of the money and material things you have or do not have, without Him you can only be successful in the eyes of men. What does that gain you in the light of eternity? It profits a person nothing to gain the world, but lose His soul.

From the foundation of the world, God planned to meet every need and desire of mankind. He knew by giving Adam and Eve freewill they would sin and bring a curse upon mankind that could only be eliminated by the blood of Jesus Christ. Every person engages evil works and will ultimately pay an eternally painful price for it until accepting Jesus Christ.

Even on earth, good (activities that please Him) and evil (ungodly activities that displease Him) have respective positive and negative consequences attached to them. Positive results that bring eternal reward come only when you honor Christ by living for Him in the way that pleases Him. This can only be accomplished by allowing Him to live His life in you and show it outwardly to others. For your eternal and earthly sake, no matter the station in life or career you have been afforded, you must rely on biblical instruction to truly secure blessing for your life. Honor God by living for Him including using His money management principles. Only then are you assured of righteousness, peace, and joy forevermore.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 3:5-10, Malachi 3:6-12, Matthew 6:25-34, Luke 6:38

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MoneyWalk 356: The Truth Will Make You Free

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Jesus said He saw satan fall like lightning to the earth when he was kicked out of Heaven. This shows the LORD’s almighty power over all things. However, He did not immediately strip satan and the fallen angels of all power because He knew humans he was going to create, place on earth, and give dominion over it would need thorns in the side in order to exercise free will in choosing to accept His love through Jesus Christ, follow Him, and develop character.

Satan roams the earth like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour in every area of life including the financial arena. He works to get people to agree with him, so they develop attitudes, activities, policies, and processes that promote his ungodly principles. For example, he and his earthly spokespeople tell you not to tithe and give abundantly to ministry work because its legalistic and eliminates your fun and control by reducing your ability to buy many things you really should not have, maybe at the current time and maybe not at all. He also pushes manipulative advertising that encourages you to desire many things that will motivate you to purchase them rather than making it a priority to give abundantly for the gospel to be communicated to those who will be lost for eternity if they do not come to Christ. Many choose to disbelieve that satan’s aim seeks to ruins their lives and eternity or they simply will not acknowledge that such things are poor stewardship in which he and his minions are intimately involved.

Prioritizing getting things you desire and saying things you desire are needs seem wise to the flesh, but this mindset destroys the vast majority of people who adopt it and ruins eternity for many because they fail to ever make intimacy with Jesus Christ and good stewardship according to His will the pre-eminent aim of their lives. On earth it also stops the majority from establishing boundaries that really help them care for responsibilities in a God-honoring manner and from establishing funds to take care of emergency needs that will arise throughout life. In addition, it stops them from building wealth for the future to help abundantly care for themselves, family, and the Church as they age and go through the veritable up and down economies that occur throughout life.

To worldly people, the LORD’s principles seem foolish and in conflict but the results are amazing. Many ask how can a person throughout life tithe / give abundantly and live abundantly while at the same time build great wealth. The answer lies in His creation of the universe in which a tightly closed hand will not give as it should and thus cannot receive as He desires. Opening your hand, throughout the remainder of your life, to give abundantly of current and future income and assets, especially toward endeavors that help evangelize and make disciples of others, opens your life to manifold blessings and rewards befitting of an obedient child of the King.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 11:24-26, Ecclesiastes 11:4-6, Mark 10:29-31, Luke 6:38

Please forward these bondage breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

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MoneyWalk 355: A Foolish Move

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

The bible says cosigning for another person’s loan is a foolish move. Yet, people do it every day instead of taking the appropriate action, which usually is exhorting them to work and save money until they can afford to buy the item without debt.

Many people want you to cosign because they have a burning desire for something material. They may even call it a need. Many will ask you even though they have been irresponsible in managing their money, living within their means, and paying debts. Financial institutions will not loan them money on their own record because of their poor credit history. At that point, getting a loan requires a cosigner who has adequate annual income, a reputable loan re-payment history, and a willingness to put his / her financial reputation and situation on the line for the person who wants to take out the loan.

The cosigner will become surety for the bank that gives it a much better chance of getting repaid the loan principle and associated interest, even if the borrower does not follow through on his / her obligation. The best advice is to never cosign. Many people never repay loans that have cosigners. This is the reason the bible says, “when you cosign your garments are likely to be taken.” If you believe the person has a true need and has acted disciplined and responsible with their finances and life, give as much toward the need as you can afford without going into debt or failing to care for your responsibilities.

The bible does not make a distinction between cosigning for people who have been responsible with their finances and those who have not or have never acquired a loan and thus have no re-payment history for financial institutions to bank on. It simply admonishes us to never become surety for another person.

An important lesson we must teach to our extended family, friends, and acquaintances is their need to be godly stewards of the incomes and assets God entrusts to them, to have integrity in repaying debts owed, to pursue needed and desired material things in a debt-free fashion, and to allow God to supernaturally provide them with desires they cannot afford.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 17:18, Romans 13:8, 2Corinthians 8:12, Ephesians 5:17

Please forward these bondage breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

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MoneyWalk 354: Failure to Plan Produces Failure

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

In order to experience good results from your work, you must have spiritual vision that comes from godly / moral values while engaging and cultivating the type of activities / employments that can produce desired results that are a benefit to you and other people. You must see what is not evident by the situation you are in today and call those things that be not as though they are. Declare a thing and so shall it be unto you and as a man thinks in his heart so is he. I understand that Henry Ford once said “Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right” in order to help people see that a can do attitude and employments are the best way to go when you believe you need or want to do something that will positively help others.

Never do what is wicked in God's eyes, however measure guidance and advice from other people by the Word and your intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit before automatically stopping each activity that another person or group of people say you should stop, no matter how respected they may be in your community. Simply listen and take their guidance under advisement until you are clear that the guidance is the best indication that you should change course.

In life you may start as a grocery bagger but may end up a store manager or you may start by sitting in the pews listening to and learning from others but may end up as director of evangelism. You may start as the janitor but may wind up the company president. These scenarios have played out for millions of people over the years because of their faithful and diligent attention to the business and ministry God placed them in. Your increasing spiritual and financial maturity / promotion will be a result of the same type of process that requires faithful planning as commitment to His will.

A net worth statement showing your net financial worth or lack of one shows how past decisions have helped or hampered you overall up to this point in time. Also, at least six months worth of perpetual monthly budgets that you faithfully monitor and utilize to measure and control giving, saving, and spending are a must because you need to see how spending decisions proposed or made today can hamper or help you get to where God wants you to be while also building enormous future wealth to care for family and Church needs and desires. The net worth statement and budget documents serve as plans in the financial arena of your life to help you properly discern whether you are doing good or bad things related to your giving, saving, and spending. Electronic budgeting tools and spreadsheets are available to help ease the pain of having to write the same thing over and over for each budget cycle. These also eliminate the anguish caused by smudging paper documents with an eraser and making them almost unrecognizable when revising income and expense figures during the budget cycles.

Subtract from your gross monthly income federal, state, and city taxes, tithe and offering, each minimum monthly bill payment (rent / mortgage, car notes, utilities, charge cards, etc.). The result (which will be a positive surplus or negative deficit) shows what you have left each pay period for groceries, home maintenance, car maintenance, gas for cars, entertainment, personal money, emergencies, etc.). This information is vital for short and long-term planning of anticipated income and expenses, because it lets you know what you can afford to purchase now so you will not be negatively affected in the future. Failure to plan which leads to overspending, borrowing, and continual spontaneity will not bring God’s best and desired situation for your life. Such failure will produce destructive tendencies, headaches, heartaches, and harm to you and your family (including the Church). Faithful planning and diligent employments guided by biblical instruction will bring God’s supernatural blessing, reward, and success.

Please pray for this ministry and email any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 27:23-27, Habakkuk 2:2-4, Luke 14:28-32, Philippians 4:11-13

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You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

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You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ