What of My Earthly Wealth?

Scriptures: Prov 13:22; Lam 5:2; 2 Cor 12:14

Are we to live in such a way as to leave an inheritance to our children?  Our children’s children?  Doesn’t conventional wisdom suggest that we spend it all before we die?  After all, we can’t take it with us? Or is there another way?

A friend of mine, when asked these questions, said “As a parent, no; as a daughter, yes.”  And while it was said jokingly, I suspect there was some truth too.

But some of you may be asking: Will I even have any wealth to pass on?  Well, the best way to answer that question is to calculate your net worth. 

Your net worth is simply listing all of your possessions as assets and listing all of your debts as liabilities.  Subtract your liabilities from your assets and this is your net worth.  You can find a worksheet to get you started at Crown’s website – Click here.

You have done your financial statement and discovered you do indeed have a positive net worth.  Fantastic! This brings us back to our questions – what are we to do with our earthly wealth?

I am sure that you are wondering: What is my answer to this question? Well, from all of what I have studied in Scripture, we are not only expected to live our lives in such a way as to have wealth, but to also pass it onto our children and our grandchildren.  Now, much of what I have been blogging about so far has been describing how we should live our lives as to have wealth.  And when we have something to pass on, we must also be diligent in doing so. 

The best way of ensuring that your wishes are carried out once you have gone off to meet Jesus is to have a Last Will and Testament.  Now, there is a lot to know about your will and I am not going to attempt to lie that out here. I do, however, want to make a few points about why you need a will and what you need to consider when creating your will.

When you look at your assets, you will discover that there are all kinds: bank accounts, a house, home furnishings, cars, 401K accounts, stocks, etc.  And so, what needs to be accounted for in a will and what doesn’t? 

But first let me make a disclaimer here:  I am not a certified financial planner, nor an expert on estate planning.  I am, however, somebody who has a will and has spoken to financial planners and attended seminars on the topic.  As such, what I am passing onto you here is some of those guidelines I have learned over time.  If you have an estate (sizeable or not), then I recommend seeking out a fully qualified, Biblically-based estate planner for advice. I also recommend working with an attorney in creating and filing your will.

Okay, with this said, here are some basic points to consider about your assets.

·         Does the asset allow you to designate a beneficiary?  If yes, then these assets do not need to be addressed in the will.  And please be sure you keep these beneficiaries up to date.

·         You are married and the asset is listed in both names, e.g. Joint Tenants. Unless otherwise stated, the asset will flow to the surviving spouse.  Now, there are tax rules that change frequently about how much can pass without taxation but they apply to large estates (in the millions of dollars – currently $5 million).  I suspect most of us don’t have estates this large and so these assets flow over to the surviving spouse tax free.  Note – This can become an issue of estate size for the surviving spouse though.  So, if your combined estate is over $1 million, my recommendation is to seek out that estate planner.

·         For all other assets, you will need a will. If you don’t, then the state’s probate courts will decide how to distribute your estate. Dying without a will (intestate) is not indicative of being a good steward of the blessings from our Lord. 

Now you may say to me: “I have a will – I am good to go!”  I will say, maybe.  When was the last time you updated your will? 

There are several big reasons to update your will – here are a few of them.

·         You have dependent children.

·         Your children have become adults.

·         You now have grandchildren.

·         Who you want your wealth to go to, in general, has changed.

·         Your executor (the person responsible for executing your will) has passed away.

·         You divorced or your spouse went to see Jesus.

The main point I am making here is that your Last Will and Testament  is not a static, “I did it once” kind of document.  It needs constant attention on your part, which means frequent review, maybe as frequently as once a year. 

While no one wants to think about dying, being good stewards of our earthly possessions does include their distribution after we are gone.  We shouldn’t leave a mess behind – we must put our house in order. 

If you need help in writing or updating your will, know that Crown Financial Ministries has some great tools to help you get started on writing a will.

Will Information          and       Numerous Articles on the subject of Wills & Trusts

One last thought about distributing your earthly wealth is this: Have you thought about creating an endowment for your local church or charity?  This too, is something you should prayerfully consider as part of your estate planning. 

Train up a Child …

Scriptures: Prov 22:6; Prov 29:17; 1 Tim 3:4-5

Are your children learning biblical financial principles beyond the tithe?  Most of what our children learn about money comes from us.  Will they be prepared by the time they move away from home?

There are lots of ways to teach a child about finances, some of which I suspect you didn’t even realize you were teaching.  Most of us have heard that our children do as they see us doing. And so, what is it that they see – and hear?

The first thing a child often hears is no.  No, you can’t have that something or other.  But unfortunately, we simply say no and only no when this is a perfect time to teach financial principles. For example, No, we haven’t saved up enough money for that yet. This opens up a whole conversation about savings, budgeting, needs versus wants and so on.

Saying no to a child also opens up the opportunity to discuss contentment with a child.  This one is harder but use the word when talking to him or her.  Remember, contentment must be learned!

But what are the essentials to teach a child?  Here is my short list: Budgeting, Tithing, Saving – that’s it!  Through these three fundamentals all other financial concepts can be taught.

The most important financial principle to teach your children about is budgeting. The word budget has French roots and simply means your wallet.  Therefore, a budget should be constrained to what you have in your wallet.  (Think about that Capital One credit card commercial that asks: What’s in your wallet? Of course, they are suggesting that you have an unlimited supply of cash when you have it.)  You can’t spend what’s not there and so you have to make choices on what you spend your money on. 

Deciding how much money you are going to spend on goods and services is your budget, or said differently a spending plan.  As such, it is great to have some targets for each category you might spend money on.  Check out the Percentages Guides that Crown Financial Ministries suggest for different family sizes and life stages by clicking here. 

When you look at these sample budgets, you will see the next important financial principle – the tithe.  I will leave this topic to our pastors, but do notice that the tithe is a most important element in determining how much money you have in your wallet. 

Finally, we come to savings, which must be budgeted for as well. Savings is nothing more that future spending.  Teaching saving helps teach patience, contentment, avoiding debt, planning for the future and so much more. 

But the whole process begins with budgeting!  Without budgeting, you don’t have a plan.  And if you don’t have a plan, well it’s like the wise saying: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”  Or maybe more encouragingly: "Plan Purposefully. Prepare Properly. Proceed Positively. Pursue Persistently."      

So, do you have a budget and talk – so that your children hear you – about your budget? Do you make tough choices with your budget in mind and talk so that your children hear you? Do you put money into savings for future expenses and talk so that your children hear you? Get the point?

Have you learned contentment so as to teach your children about it? Do you tell yourself no? Do you postpone spending to a point in time that you have saved up the money to make the purchase? 

Do you have a savings account that you talk about using for big purchases or retirement?  Do you have a family savings plan? For example, have you all agreed that saving for a vacation is important and therefore say, "we all have to plan to spend less so that we can save more for that big vacation."  (By the way, this is one of the best ways I have found to drive home all of these points – a vacation that everyone wants to go on and therefore everyone participates in the plan to make it happen.)

Bottom line: Your children need to see & hear you practicing sound financial principles so that they can learn.