Savings and investment are the foremost goals of every person wishing to lead a comfortable retired life. However, adopting a practical tactic for money management might become difficult for Christians who feel torn between varying perspectives of investment. While some policies promote eschewing luxuries and leading a life of denial for the greater good of the kingdom, others suggest the avoidance of debt, stringent budgeting, and savings for wealth generation. These conflicting policies make it difficult for Christians to devise personal money theology to strike the right balance between practical investments and biblical orthodoxy. To shape your perspective, we are going to guide you through some of the biblical principles on investment.
- The foremost principle talks about being disciplined and faithful with your existing wealth. It will be impossible to generate wealth in the long run if you are spending more than your income. Rather than letting money control your life, you need to control the flow of money.
- The second principle compares money to the sowing of seeds. Sparse sowing will lead to sparse results. Similarly, if you wish for your money to multiple, then you need to channel it to productive avenues rather than keeping it idle. Wealth cannot be built by storing it under your home mattress or in a savings account with a meager rate of interest. Wise investment can assist in multiplying the money exponentially over time. Taking good care of your investment can lead to higher returns. Your amount of spending can also significantly impact your investment. Impulsive spending can erode your funds making it difficult to make a timely investment. The Bible advises to properly manage finances for consistent investment.
- Before making any investment, it is imperative to properly understand its scope in detail. You shouldn’t invest in any avenue if you cannot explain the same to others. Complicated investments sound pretty exciting but can lead to massive money loss. This is why you should properly gauge the risk level as all investment involves risk. Understanding the inherent risk can help in taking better investment calls. Investment cannot be thought of as a selfish act as doing it in the right manner can significantly benefit society as a whole. Multiplying God-gifted money is the best way of honoring him back.
- Having a vision with your investment can help you proceed in the right direction with the same. According to the biblical investment strategy, you need to consistently contribute to your investment accounts. It is also essential to possess knowledge regarding the number of funds required for a comfortable retired life. While making such plans are a time taking activity requiring adequate research work, it can yield excellent results in the long run.
- One of the secrets to wealth generation is making meticulous investments. You need to keep on with the investments without any break and over a long-term tenure. It is impossible to reach your financial goals with sporadic investment.
- Being patient is the key to wealth building as it can be a time taking process. You can compare wealth building with growing an oak tree which requires time but will be around for a long time.
- Successful investment requires the help and advice of experts. Here you can select among a licensed investment advisor or a close acquaintance possessing adequate knowledge in this field. You should run a background check on the person from who you are thinking of taking investment advice. There is no point in seeking counsel from someone who is living under a mountain of debt.
- When it comes to investment, procrastination is the worst mistake. Delaying investment will simply cause you to miss out on compound interest. People tend to defer on investments as they might feel intimidated with the same and believe that their disposable income will increase in days to come. Though the excuses of not investing might seem viable, the quantity of money lost increases coupled with an increase in your waiting period.
- You might have heard of the advice not to store all your eggs in one basket. Similar advice also reverberates in the Bible. Rather you should diversify your investments in a variety of assets to keep the risk as low as possible. Spreading out your investment reduces the degree of dependence on a particular asset class. As a result, if one asset undergoes a significant fall in value, you can recoup the loss from other asset classes. Some assets you can invest in are mutual funds, bonds, single stocks, money lending, gold, and more.
- Hoarding money won’t do you any good. Though it is advisable to have a reserve, you should never keep your money stagnant. Rather you should invest it with the hope of getting an exponential return. As your money grows, you can reinvest it in other avenues for generating more wealth and benefitting society as a whole.
- Investors often succumb to greed and this is completely against biblical principles. You need to be beware of investment schemes that sound too good to be true. Greed can meddle with your spirituality and also cause financial harm. Usually, high returns involve high risk and this can cause distress to an investor if they somehow end up losing money. This is why it is advisable to conduct thorough research on the functioning of the fund and whether there are prior complaints of investors who parked their funds in the same.
- According to the bible, if God has conferred you with wealth, then you need to be a giver and give away a portion of your wealth. Doing this will automatically lead to the multiplication of your wealth. If you have more money, then you need to give away more to society.
Wealth creation and investment have been mentioned countless times throughout the Bible. Contrary to popular belief, people do not always get rich from incredible luck or inheritance. Rather they find a way of earning wealth through God-gifted talents. Following the biblical principles mentioned above can foster the growth of your financial legacy in every aspect of your life.
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