I am currently reading Your Money or Your Life – which is a great book by the way. And I won’t turn this article into a review of the book since I haven’t finished it yet, but one of the things that I found very valuable the other day was calculating your real hourly wage.

It’s not as simple as saying, “I make $400 a week and work 40 hours, therefore I make $10/hr.”

When you factor in all the additional expenses of having your job (which some may not be obvious) that you could avoid if you didn’t have that particular job, you begin to see the value in this calculation.

In my case, my old corporate gig paid a reasonable wage, but when I added up all the additional time spent and expenses required, it really didn’t pay that well.

Adding up the hours

In my case, I used to drive 18 miles to work each day, requiring an extra 1-1.5 hours of drive time. The getting ready process each morning required about a half-an-hour each morning. My lunch time, while a break, was still time that I was not entirely “free” to do what I wanted. Since it was not paid time, I include that in this equation as well.

The book mentions other hours that may be considered…

• Decompression Time: Time where it takes you a little while to get back into the swing of your “non-work” life each evening.
• Job-related illness: This would be illness incurred as a result of stresses from work, etc.

Adding up the costs

When it comes to expenses it can be challenging to think of all of them. But you can bet it is a lot more that just paying for gas and parking. Wear-and-tear on the car is a very REAL expense that many people don’t factor into the equation.

Like many people working in corporate America, I had work clothes that I had to buy and keep looking nice every day. Even if I brought my lunch, I was limited to certain items based on the time and tools I had available to eat my lunch each day.

Now that I am doing this blogging thing full-time I realized that I am avoiding a lot of the expenses that I used to incur on a regular basis.

You can be as conservative or as liberal as you want with this equation, but the book has a lot of ideas…

• Deserve it expenses: After a hard day, do you say, “lets go out to dinner/dancing/movie/the mall because it was such a tough day”?
• Do you own a more expensive car/house/clothes/etc than you would otherwise, in order to help sales or your career?
• Are there expenses that you are paying others to do, that if you had more time, you would perform yourself? (i.e. gardening, repairs, cooking, cleaning, etc.)
• Are there foods you buy because you are too tired to cook dinner? Weight loss programs you enroll in because you ignored good nutrition because of your busy job?
• Do you have escape entertainment or vacations you take part in that you wouldn’t if you didn’t have a stressful job?
• Are there childcare expenses that could be avoided without your job?
• Are there career-related books, seminars, videos, etc. you use and pay for out of your own pocket?

I think there should be a balance when adding up these costs. You can get carried away blaming everything on your job if you aren’t careful. But, either way, it is always a good idea to re-evaluate each expense.

Why should you care?

Retirement

I think this is an extremely valuable exercise for people nearing retirement to do. It can be very eye-opening to see how many expenses would be avoided by NOT having a job. My hunch is that a lot of people will realize that they can survive on a considerably lower income.

Stay-at-home-spouse

A lot of times moms (or dads) who want to stay at home with the kids will find that this exercise helps make the decision easier. Is $3/hr worth having a job you don’t like and sending kids to daycare rather than being at home with the kids?

Career/employer change

I used to work with a woman who drove something like 60 miles to work each day. She didn’t really like her job and did something similar to this exercise and figured out that she could take a $6/hr paycut doing something she enjoyed and still be coming out ahead.

A lot of jobs, especially if you stay in the same industry, have similar expenses, but after adding up your real-hourly wage, it may just be incentive to look at that dream-job you have always wanted.

This article was originally published over at the FiveCentNickel.

What about you? Have you figured out how much you are really getting paid? Did it surprise you?

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, doing things the "long" way, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and has been having a blast ever since. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

This is a post from Jason over at Redeeming Riches. Jason is a financial planner by day and a personal finance blogger by night. Be sure to subscribe to his posts in a reader or by email.

Doesn’t it seem like even a check-up and a physical will have your wallet screaming for mercy these days? It doesn’t require major surgery and scans to rack up a pile of medical debt in this day and age.

At some point or another many of us might even deal with a major health issue that requires exams, scans, check-ups and quite possibly surgery.

Hopefully your health insurance provider will pick up the majority of the costs, but what do you do about the remaining amount that you owe? Or worse – what if you don’t have insurance?

Here are five quick tips on dealing with your medical debt:

1. Check for Errors

Let’s face it, we all make mistakes. I know what you’re thinking – why does it seem like insurance companies make more errors than the rest of us?

There may be some truth in that, but the fact of the matter is that you should be double checking your debt and records anyways.

Inevitably you will come across some errors here and there which could save you hundreds of dollars.

2. Check Your Attitude

I have a tendency to get fired up when I find an error or when I find out I have to pay something that I thought the insurance was covering.

I’ve had to go to the doctor twice in the last month and as I was checking out after the second appointment, the nurse politely asked me to pay a portion of the bill. I could feel the tension rise as I wondered why the insurance company hadn’t paid for this.

What would get accomplished if I ripped into the nurse and told her I wouldn’t pay!? Not much.

But don’t we all get like that to a degree sometimes when we think something is being paid for but realize it’s not (don’t leave me hangin’ here!)

The best thing to do when an error is uncovered – or you get word that you are on the hook for a portion of the bill is to be humble and gracious.

This can apply to all areas of life – things are more likely to be resolved when you are humble and gracious to others rather than making sure everyone knows you are upset!

3. Apply for Medical Financial Aid

This is a new one to me. I didn’t realize there was financial aid for medical debt until a friend of mine mentioned they applied when they had their baby.

There are certain guidelines that must be met (income levels, percentage of debt to income etc.). But many times even if they don’t pay 100% of the debt they may pay a big chunk. Often, if your medical debt-to-income ratio is over 30%, the hospital will give financial aid.

Put it this way – every little bit helps! So if you can get any portion of the debt wiped out through Medical Financial Aid go for it!

Find out if the hospital has a financial aid department you can visit or a number to call and request an application. You’ll need to list all your assets and income so they can make a determination.

Personal Finance blog Wise Bread has a whole post on financial aid for medical debt you should check out for further info.

4. Call to Negotiate a Discount

I’m amazed at how many people don’t do this. Is it because we feel uncomfortable asking for things? Do we feel awkward and bad?

Give the insurance company, hospital or doctor a call, speak to the billing department (remembering #2 above) and ask them for a discount.

If it’s a smaller bill and you can afford to pay it off – give them a call first to ask if they will give you a discount if you pay the bill off in full. Many times they will apply some percentage off the bill.

Don’t be afraid to negotiate – you don’t know what they’ll do until you ask.

5. Ask For a Payment Plan

If you can’t pay it off in full, the last step is to ask for a payment plan. Many doctors and hospitals will put you on some sort of plan to pay a regular amount monthly until it’s paid off.

This is better than being sent to collections and better than a sharp stick in the eye. Get on the payment plan and pay your bills on time!

After six months or so of paying on time, repeat steps 2 & 4 to see if you can get a discount again. You never know until you ask!

Good health is priceless, but inevitably we’ll all deal with a medical bill or two during our lifetime. Remembering these tips will help ease the burden when that time comes.

This review of Brian O’Connell’s Build Your Own Mutual Fund was written by Christine Veloria.

I read Build Your Own Mutual Fund: How to Use a Personal Portfolio to Take Control of Your Financial Life by Brian O’Connell. Before this book I knew close to nothing about the stock market so this is my first book on my journey on how to buy stocks. The premise of the book is that more and more people are creating their own personal portfolios instead of having a mutual fund because of the internet and online companies like FOLIOfn, BuyandHold.com, and Sharebuilder.com; it is becoming easier to do so. Many of these companies offer pre-made portfolios that you can customize or create your own. With personal portfolios individuals can have more control over which stocks they own and at what levels, with cheaper fees and tax breaks.

Before you start your own portfolio the author states that you need to know the financial basics first. Do you know your net worth or how to create a household budget? If you don’t know these things how will you know how much you can invest in a portfolio? He gives you some steps to help you figure out what your net worth is. He also talks about knowing about debit and credit because in order to be really serious about building your own mutual fund you need to minimize debt. There are also ideas about how to do your own budget and recommendations for many personal finance websites that can help you create your budget. Another financial basic is to have a place to organize your financial paperwork because if you don’t keep those documents handy how can you keep track of where you are financially or know what stock you bought? He gives some ideas about how to organize, what paper work to keep and computer programs. Lastly, he talks about goals and figuring out what you might need when you retire.

Since I am a novice regarding the stock market what I liked about this book was that he starts with the basics of stock market investing. What a stock is, common or preferred, large-cap, mid-cap, small cap, and growth stocks, etc. and how the stock market works. I think it is pretty basic information without going really in depth but gives many website recommendations if you want to learn more. I think enough information to get you started.

To get started with a portfolio you need to know what risks you are willing to take. Are you aggressive or apprehensive when it comes to your finances? Also how many years are you away from retirement because that has a big factor on how you should diversify your assets. He suggests having stocks, bonds and cash with percentages based on how many years until retirement. There are charts to show how stocks can give you more of a return but they are riskier than bonds and cash. Then within each of those categories you need to diversify further, asset allocation. One example is, in your stocks you might want to have a blend of the different caps, growth and long term stocks. These are all going to be based on your own personal preferences and your own research. He also writes about how to do your own research and where to find the information you might need on the internet. There is a section about taxes and finding a financial advisor too.

Did I like this book?

Yes, I did, since I am a novice I liked how the author explained about stocks and the stock market so I will use the book again in the future for reference.

If you are someone that likes to take control of your finances and do it yourself I would recommend this book. If you are the type of person that is more comfortable having a mutual fund that is run by professional mangers this book is not for you. If a friend was just starting out with investing I would recommend this book.

I am a Dave Ramsey fan, and love his book – Total Money Makeover – I think it is one of the most helpful financial books I have ever read. I have not attended his Financial Peace University, but have watched some of the DVD footage from the course. From the little bit I saw it really looked great and from those who I have talked to about Financial Peace University it sounds like a wonderful program. According to the website, “The average family pays off $5,300 in debt and saves $2,700 in the first 91 days of Financial Peace University!”

So this month’s Free stuff giveaway will be a Lifetime Membership to Dave’s Financial Peace University (valued at $199).

Included is everything you see in the picture and the actual 13 week class that you get to attend…

How do I enter the giveaway?

There are 3 simple ways to enter in the giveaway (and yes you can do all three).

1. Add ChristianPF.com to your blogroll on your blog or website.

If you do this or already have, just leave a comment below with the url of the page where the link is.

2. Mention this giveaway on Twitter.

Be sure to include @ChristianPF so I can track the entries. And make sure you follow CPF so I can contact you if you win! Feel free to use this sample tweet…

@ChristianPF is giving away a Lifetime Membership to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University! RT to enter to win… http://su.pr/2lEXIT

3. Leave a comment in the Christian Financial Forums.

Just join in on any of the conversations or start a new one.

The giveaway winner will be announced on Friday December 11th.

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, doing things the "long" way, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and has been having a blast ever since. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

Money Does Not Equal Love

First, a rant.  I have never bought into the thinking that love and money are automatically connected.  This, however, is a common lie we have been told to believe. If you love your children, so we are told, you will buy expensive and extravagant gifts for them – even if you cannot afford it.  This is rarely any more evident than the parent child relationship.

There is an assumption that if you love your child then you need to buy the “best” for them. If you don’t, you are selfish or a derelict parent.

You can love your children and raise well balanced kids without spending excessive amounts on them.  On the other hand, if you can afford to (and choose to because you think it is wise) to buy lots of things for your kids – good for you. Please do not put your family’s financial future in jeopardy because you “want the best for their kids” (interpretation: you want to buy whatever their son or daughter wants!).  It is not a blessing to you and it is not a blessing to them.  This mindset leads to entitlement thinking in children.

Perhaps, many people should add children to the list of their top 10 budget busters. Whew.  I feel better. You?

Five Ways to Show Love to Your Kids Without Spending a Single Dollar

1. Be Together as a Family

I think the pressure to lavish our kids (depending on their age) comes from within, not necessarily from the kids themselves.

April 2009.  Our family spent a week just south of Mont Tremblant in Quebec, Canada.  We saw some amazing sites and did some cool stuff.  October 2009 my four year old daughter looks at all the pictures and doesn’t remember anything – except … getting to sleep on the floor with her brother.

Kids will take boring and mundane family activities and turn them into their favorite memories.

2. Be Creative

Sometimes people spend just because they are too lazy to think of a better idea.  Things like going out to eat or going to the movies are just default decisions.  You can save money by avoiding the restaurant, but if you do go at least go to restaurants where kids eat free. People do them because they cannot think of anything better to do.

As an example, a few weeks ago my wife made binoculars from used toilet paper rolls.  Just put those empty rolls together and put a piece of tape around the contraption and you have hours of fun for young kids.  We have also used old rolls for bowling.

Get yourself out of automatic and think about a new creative activity.

3. Have a Family Night

Our family night is Friday.  We make homemade pizza, watch a movie, and drink Coke.  Alright, this might not be the healthiest family tradition, but it sure is cheap – and we love it.  The pizza and family night tradition started even before we had kids.  For almost 10 years now the tradition has been going strong and it only seems to become more special.

Your family tradition might be something different, but just pick something you love that doesn’t cost a lot of money and see where it leads you.

Intentional and consistent family traditions get better over time, not worse.

4. Challenge Yourself

If you find the ‘be creative’ suggestion above hard to implement, then challenging yourself should help. Restrict yourself by your budget.  Alright, we have $10 for tonight.  What is the coolest thing we can do for $10?  I bet your kids will enjoy that more than going to another movie.

Put on your thinking cap – what can you do with a limited budget?  Here are some cheap and fun date ideas that you might be able to bring your kids along for and 10 tips for saving money with young kids.

5. Focus on Essentials by Setting Goals

The goal of parenting is to love your kids and raise good, decent people.  The goal is not to spend money unchecked on your kids.

Write down your goals for your children and see how many of those require money.  Chances are some will require money, but most will actually require time.  Unfortunately, too many folks are out getting so much money to give to their kids that they don’t have any time left over.

Decide what you want your kids to be like and adjust your life to provide the time necessary to mentor them.

Photo by suchitra prints.

What do you do to show your kids love without spending exorbitant amounts of money?

Along with his wife and three kids, Craig Ford works as a missionary in his birth country of Papua New Guinea. He is a Canadian citizen who completed his post secondary degrees in the States. In his spare time Craig writes Money Help For Christians and prepares the MH4C Special Reports. He is the author of Money Wisdom From Proverbs, has a Masters of Divinity degree, and (most importantly) eats homemade pizza with his family every Friday night.

It’s no secret that unemployment is now over 10% in the U.S. and finding a job can be a bit difficult right now. I have been getting encouraged seeing a lot of people helping each other out in a variety of ways. Some have been offering financial help to those in between jobs, some have been helping connect employers they know with employees they know who are looking for work, and some businesses have been making sacrifices to help their customers. It’s exciting to see more of the “we’re all in this together” mentality rather than the us vs. them.

Free job training for the unemployed

A friend of mine runs a Real Estate License School and was talking to me over coffee the other day about an idea he had for his business to give back and help out those looking for a job. He and his business partners decided to give away 100 full-ride scholarships (often costing several hundreds of dollars) for those currently unemployed who are looking to start a career in real estate. There are no strings attached, they are just looking for people who are genuinely interested in getting their real estate license and pursuing that career path.

I know a few real estate agents, and just like many businesses, it takes a lot of work – particularly at the beginning. But for those who stick it out it has some nice rewards as well. It seems that most established real estate professionals love their jobs and Real Estate Brokers are also one of the highest paying jobs without a college degree you can find out there.

Is it time for a career change?

I know there are a lot of people who have gotten laid off over the last couple years. I was one of them. When it happened I did a bunch of things to survive the layoff and one of them was to open my mind to the possibility of a new career path. I had been in the field I was in for a little over 5 years and didn’t like my job anyway, so for me I had additional incentive to take the risk. Even still, it was scary, but now I have a job I love as a full-time blogger and who knows if it ever would have happened had I not gotten laid off.

So regardless if Real Estate is something that interests you, I encourage you to expand your search beyond what you were previously doing. There are a lot of skills that transfer nicely into other fields and in my case there were very few similarities between what I was doing and what I am doing – and that is part of why I love it!

On the other hand, if you are considering taking them up on the offer, I suggest doing further research so you know what to expect as a real estate agent. I have a hunch that some people think it is easier than it actually is. But, if you are up for the hard work and were looking for a career change anyway, it might be something worth pursuing.

How can I find out more?

They aren’t advertising this deal, because they only want to offer it to those who are currently unemployed. So if you are interested, you can call them directly at 866-739-7277 or you can visit RealEstateExpress.com for more information about the schooling.

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, doing things the "long" way, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and has been having a blast ever since. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

Yesterday an article was published on TheSimpleDollar where Trent shared his opinions about the “Prosperity Gospel”. I read the article, read the comments, and had some thoughts that I wanted to write about – so here we are. In the article Trent made clear all of his misgivings with the Prosperity Gospel and at the time I read it all the commenters seemed to share the same disdain for it.

Scripturally I think it is important to start with Matthew 6:33…

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

What I get from this is that our priority and focus should be on God and His will, not on getting the things. I think it is pretty easy to argue that when our focus is on getting things or material possessions, we are in the wrong. My hunch is that it was a few preachers who got out of balance with this who have made the word “Prosperity” so taboo.

That said, there are numerous scriptures that suggest that God does want to see us blessed (or dare I say prosper?). The fact is that if you search your bible you are going to find the word Prosper used about 45 times (depending on which version you have). And I don’t recall an instance where it is used as a negative thing.

I would like to do a little Greek and Hebrew study on the word Prosper to get back to it’s original meaning – but my hunch is that it isn’t limited to finances – like so many people make it to be today. (If anyone has this info, feel free to share in the comments.)

What’s it for?

So I look at myself – I am a middle-class American who sees a lot of room to grow financially by looking at those around me. But realistically, I am filthy rich compared to the rest of the world. I don’t know why God chose for me to be born in such a prosperous nation when I could have just as easily have been a starving child in India.

But, I do see this as a special responsibility that I have been given – I feel that it is crucial that I don’t get caught up in Keeping up with the Joneses, but rather focusing on how to be the best steward of my money possible. Not only to handle it wisely and seeking to increase it, but to put it to good use by honoring God and helping people with it.

The poverty gospel

In the past I had a fear of earning a lot of money. I somehow felt a little more “holy” if I didn’t have any money. The truth is that the amount of money you earn have nothing to do with your right-standing with God. There are athiests and Christians alike who both make a ton of money and who are broke.

Before I was afraid to make much money because of this verse…

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:25

Then I began to find out more about Stewardship and realized that none of my money is really mine anyway. And wouldn’t it be much better if I made a bunch of money and used it to advance God’s Kingdom rather than intentionally trying to avoid making more money? What if I could get to the point where I could give away 50% of the money I made – or what about 90%? Imagine all the churches that could be built, imagine all the missionaries I could help, imagine all the mouths that could be fed.

If I made a lot of money, but were giving away 90% of what I made would I be the same as the “rich man” that Jesus was referring to? On the other hand, what if I just happened to be in the top 1% wealthiest people in the world (check for yourself here) – even though I don’t feel that rich – does that still make me the “rich man” that Jesus was referring to?

The conclusion I came to is that I am rich whether I like or not and I feel a responsibility to never get caught up in the accumulation of things, but rather to use what God has given me to give back.

Psalm 67:7 has struck a chord in my heart…

“God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.”

I feel so incredibly blessed by God in many ways, but I know what it’s for.

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, doing things the "long" way, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and has been having a blast ever since. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

Let’s be honest, we have all received some homemade Christmas gifts that never saw the light of day again – sometimes they are well intentioned and so we might not care that our peppermint-scented ruler holder won’t get too much use. The thought and love behind it makes up for it’s lack of usefulness. But what if there were some Christmas presents you could make and give to people that they would appreciate the thought (more than a gift card), were used and enjoyed, and saved you money to boot?

The recent issue of Real Simple magazine has a few ideas for homemade Christmas gifts that got me thinking. As a guy who thoroughly enjoys food (don’t we all?) if I can eat it, I will enjoy it.   But there are a few other gift ideas listed below that I think would have a decent chance of being enjoyed by many!

1. Chocolate Nut Bark

This one was featured in Real Simple and is indeed real simple! You only need to buy 12 ounces of semisweet chocolate and 2.5 cups of mixed nuts. You then melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a (but not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally.  Next you spread the chocolate evenly on a parchment-lined 9×13 inch baking pan and sprinkle with the nuts. Refrigerate until firm (about 30 mins). After that you can break into pieces and keep at room temperature for a week.

2. Beeswax candles

This was a homemade gift that I received one year and loved it. I particularly enjoy beeswax candles over paraffin wax (the wax used in most candles) because of their health benefits. Buying them can be expensive, but making them really isn’t too difficult and can even be fun. I like making tea lights because they are simple, but if you want something even simpler you can learn how to make rolled candles.

3. A homemade clock

You can go to just about any crafty store and find a Clock Kit for just a few bucks. You can then decorate a piece of wood, ceramic, or just about anything and turn it into a clock.

4. Monogrammed Journal

This was another one that Real Simple had that I thought was pretty cool. Basically you just buy a hardback journal and add a little creative flair to it. They say to get a few letter stamps and rubber banding them together, so you can stamp the monogram consistently. From there you can let your imagination run wild – check out the pic for inspiration.

5. Chocolate-chip cookies

Get a little Christmas Tin, make cookies, and give it away. This is a winning gift every time!

6. Painted pot for plants

This was actually a homemade gift we received for our wedding. The giver bought a standard clay pot and decorated it and painted our names on it. Then she planted a little plant in it and we are still using our pot today! It’s a great way to take a simple item and give it some personality.

7. Build a birdhouse

I haven’t done this in a while, but I built my mom a birdhouse when I was about 12 or so and she cried. This was a perfect example of a homemade present having so much more value than a store-bought one. I could have probably purchased a far-superior birdhouse for a few bucks, but my investment of time and energy into it made it a great gift. For a little instruction you can check out this video on how to build one from a single piece of wood.

8. Gold-leaf vases

This was also in the Real Simple issue and while I wouldn’t get that much of a kick out of these, I think my wife would dig them. Basically you can just find a few small vases from the thrift store and get a Gold Leaf Kit. From there you just follow the instructions in the kit – you can and should add your own creative flare…

9. Terrarium

I remember making one of these as a kid and loved watching the the little contained eco-system. I used an old gallon jar of Mauls bbq sauce and had it for years. This post has some great ideas to get you started.

A few more links if you are looking for additional homemade gift ideas…

• 100 homemade gift ideas
• Homemade gifts
• 73 homemade Christmas gifts for the craft-impaired

What about you – what homemade gifts have you enjoyed receiving or giving?

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, doing things the "long" way, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and has been having a blast ever since. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

The following review of The New Savage Number was written by Robert G. Strauss.

This book is titled after Savage’s famous 2007 book The Savage Number. This updated 296 page book takes the reader through; how much you need for your retirement (what’s your number?), how to invest your assets both prior and during your retirement, how to withdrawal your assets during retirement and how to protect your assets during retirement and eventually upon your death.

The book is solid in its approach to both planning and investing. It begins retirement planning by emphasizing that you need both a goal and a plan to reach that goal. It moves one from the pre-retirement accumulation phase to the retirement and the distribution phase of our assets.

It aims to answer the following ten key questions:

1. How long will I live? At what age do you want to retire?
2. What will inflation do to the value of my savings?
3. How can I save enough?
4. How should I invest the money I’ve saved for retirement?
5. How much will I spend to live in retirement?
6. How much can I withdrawal each month without running out of money?
7. What’s the biggest danger to my retirement plans?
8. How can I earn money during retirement?
9. How can I retain control of my financial life?
10. What if I have money left over when I die?

Savage emphasizes that government is not the solution to the crisis of our economy nor is it your answer for retirement planning. The book highly recommends using the Monte Carlo process for retirement planning and offers very good websites/free software for the reader. (the best programs that I have found so far)

Diversification is stressed throughout the book for asset allocation. Savage walks through both stock and bond mutual funds and recommends “chicken-money” as part of your portfolio. The book does a good job of addressing both the accumulation and distribution phases of retirement planning and also some very useful strategies during both phases.

Savage stresses that the biggest risk of our retirement assets is not a down-turn in the market but health-care costs. This is especially important for us in our latter years when our health deteriorates. The solution that Savage recommends is Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance. As a result, Savage spends some time dissecting LTC policies for the potential buyer and offers excellent outside resources to pursue.

Finally, Savage addresses Estate Planning for the resources that we may have left for our heirs. Obviously having a will is a must but Savage also has many useful hints that most people may over-look and yet have great financial consequences. I have found this book extremely useful in that I am 56 years old and moving into the phase of life where these issues are becoming critical to address both before and during the retirement years.

Lately, John Piper’s Desiring God Blog has included some very interesting posts on the topic of Christian ministries and fees.  The discussion actually is just retouching on a discussion from a couple of years ago.

An archived article by Matt Perman encourages all online Christian ministries to offer all their online products free.  This means you don’t charge for sermon downloads, study material, or any other information distributed on the web.

The article challenges online ministries to accept the four following conditions:

1. 1. Post all of your content online.
   2. Don’t charge for your online content.
   3. Don’t make people register to access any of your content.
   4. Make your site very easy to use.

Four days later Perman was back to address some of the common negative concerns regarding his post.

The top three objections:

1. 1. If you make it free, people will not value your material.
   2. Free dishonors the support staff who work with the ministry.
   3. Making a profit does not mean you are now longer serving your audience.

The Apostle Paul on Pastors and Money:

In 1 Cor. 9 Paul has an extended discussion regarding church workers and pay.  The passage is packed full of pertinent information, but let’s keep the discussion brief.  First, Paul is pointing out that church workers have the right to accept money for their work. Second, Paul underscores that he does not use that right – he will not accept money from those with whom he works. Essentially, Paul’s ministry is funded by income he earns and donations from other churches (but never those with whom he is teaching).

After reading 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 notice that Paul prides himself in his hard work. Paul was a tent maker (Acts 18:1-3) and spoke frequently how this labor morning and night was a blessing to God’s church (1 Cor. 4:12, 1 Cor. 9:6, 2 Cor. 6:5, 2 Cor. 11:23, 1 Thess. 2:9)

The biblical concern is one of conflict of interest: what happens to the gospel message when there are monetary payments involved?

The gospel message is a free message

Obviously very, very few people would endorses the following – Imagine in Acts 2:37 when the listeners ask “What must we do?”.  What if Paul said – “I’ll give you the answer only after three easy payments of $19.95.  We accept all major credit cards.”  There is no doubt that this would dishonor God.  That would be more of a get rich quick scheme than a legitimate ministry.

What if, however, Paul wrote an ebook after hours of study and labor.  The book title: Salvation is available for download at your favorite website for $14.95.  Would this be a sell out?  Would it be a hindrance to the work of God?

Remember we must love God more than we love stuff.  This was the difficult lesson learned by the Rich Young Man.

Including a balance of both free and paid material is biblically acceptable

I believe it is acceptable for Christian websites to have both free and paid materials.  The material type and the audience should influence how much is free and how much is paid.  There should, at a minimum, be some free resources for those who are interested.

When to offer free and when to offer paid services

1. Be sure there is ample free material. This should cover the topics in a general way.  This website offers free daily articles and even free access to a financial forum for Christians.
2. All Christian workers should distance themselves from the Simon Syndrome (Acts 8:18-21) where greed is your underlying motivation for being involved in any sort of ministry.  This type of envy is not appropriate for any work setting.
3. Christian workers should not hinder access to the core gospel message – sermons on topics like salvation and God’s kingdom should be offered free.  If charging or requiring a subscription hinders the message, the product should be free. Instead this organization should find individuals who will fund the ministry to help sustain it financially.
4. The further the material is from core Christian teachings, the more acceptable it is to charge.  Thus, information on improving your marriage is a more acceptable fee service than charging for a Handbook on defeating sin.
5. Charging for extra, labor intensive, or exclusive products is acceptable as long as the product is a service. Charging for a product does not mean it is no longer a service.
6. If someone has a problem with the price or cannot legitimately afford the product – give it to them.
7. If someone (or an organization) is willing to underwrite the cost of a ministry that may be a better approach than charging a fee.

Photo by kylemac.

What’s your thought?  Should Christian websites charge for products?  Are there Christians websites that you gladly pay fees for services?  Is it a turn off when a Christian site asks for money or even a subscription?

Along with his wife and three kids, Craig Ford works as a missionary in his birth country of Papua New Guinea. He is a Canadian citizen who completed his post secondary degrees in the States. In his spare time Craig writes Money Help For Christians and prepares the MH4C Special Reports. He is the author of Money Wisdom From Proverbs, has a Masters of Divinity degree, and (most importantly) eats homemade pizza with his family every Friday night.