Faith Based Investing

This week was a monumental one as residents of Colorado are now bracing themselves for an “anti-bias” law. This law, I kid you not, is changing where people use the restroom. Even though thousands of families protested the bill, Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, signed SB 200 into law. This legislation blurs the sexual lines by making all public accommodations, including locker rooms and restrooms, “gender-free.” This means, anyone–regardless of their biological identity–will be welcome in the men’s or ladies’ room.  So welcome all the cross-dressers, men who self-identify themselves as women, women who self-identify as men, and people who haven’t made up their minds. Because Colorado defines “public accommodations” as everything from malls, restaurants, and schools to small and even home businesses, the door is now wide open for sexual predators.

Those for the bill, claim it is about discrimination. Let’s not offend all the cross-dressing, transgender, and sexually confused people in the world.  Instead let’s take away the privacy and safety of women and children.   That makes a lot of sense.   The chance of offending a few people is justification for putting everyone else at risk?  I THINK NOT! This is exactly what SB 200 does.  How could this happen?  Well…Governor Ritter had a favor to pay back liberal financier Tim Gill (self-proclaimed homosexual activist), who donated heavily in the governor’s election campaign in 2006.   Oh now it makes sense.  The sad part is once the bathroom door is open, it may soon be coming to a bathroom near you.

Are you tired of seeing your rights being invaded?  Are you disturbed by the growing trends making homosexuality and sex changes become the norm?  Since when does 5% of the population get to control the 95%.  It’s your turn to fight back.   Take action, write your legislators, get involved in local politics, and most of all watch where your investments are going.  You can change the direction of your investment dollars.

Does this story make you mad?  Do you realize that there ae some major corporations unified to advance these kinds of bills?  Want to have your portfolio screen out companies that promote and glorify homosexuality?   Know that there are tools and research that enable this.   If you want further help, drop me a line at info@jayperoni.com

Habitat for Humanity, the nation’s largest Christian ministry dedicated to housing the poor recently formed a joint partnership with Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of surgical abortions.  Habitat for Humanity will reportedly facilitate the opening of Planned Parenthood in the Sarasota, FL area.

Planned Parenthood released the following statement: “We are excited to have Habitat be a part of the Planned Parenthood team,”  As Barack Obama recently learned: be careful with whom you associate with – AKA Reverend Wright.  Habitat’s actions give new meaning to “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

Habitat for Humanity, which claims to be a Christian ministry, in its defense,  announced that this was solely a real estate transaction.  Whatever you want to call it, Planned Parenthood could not open its abortion facility without Habitat’s help.  This is shameful  and alarming for a noble organization like Habitat to provide support  to a group like Planned Parenthood.   There is such a contradiction in moral values between the two organizations.  At least, I thought so. Any way you see it, I do not understand how you could knowingly provide real estate to an organization that kills babies, pushes pornography, and covers up for rapists.

Found in 1976 as a Christian non-profit and non-governmental organization, Habitat for Humanity has built over 200,000 homes in its cause to provide housing for the needy.  Though I commend their noble efforts to help the poor, aiding and abetting the largest organization responsible for ending innocent lives is unacceptable.

If you give to this organization or are appalled by their behavior, let your voice be heard.   There is  still time for Habitat to break their agreement with Planned Parenthood.  Habitat can be reached at 1-800-422-4828 (1-800-HABITAT)

Do you remember the old “choose your own adventure” books?  Each story was written from a second person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character’s actions in response to the plot and its outcome.  Sometimes, people often take the “choose your own adventure” mentality when it comes to the Bible.  People can get in the habit of picking and choosing the verses they want to believe if it fits their lifestyle and throwing out the ones that make them feel uncomfortable.   Does this make the person unworthy of calling themselves a Christian?

With recent debates looking at what it means to be a Christian, the definition can become quite cloudy.  Recently I have seen people ask: does the movie Prince Caspian contain Christian values? Is Barack Hussein Obama really a Christian? Can you be a Christian and a homosexual? These questions further reveal how confusing the term “Christian” is and what it truly means to be a Christian.

Many people call themselves Christian and claim to have Christian values. But this must include more than just saying some nice words about Jesus. Faith needs to be more important than just words.  What about morality? Are there moral principles you have to agree with to be called a Christian? If so, what are they and who decides what they are? Can they change over time?

Faith is a personal thing that is between you and God.  Whether you are a homosexual, or living with someone you are not married to, or still think abortion is OK, or vote Democrat rather than with the religious Right, these beliefs do not deem you unworthy of being a Christian.   However, to be a Christ follower, you should be willing to follow His Word as close as possible.  There are definitive areas of morality within the Bible.  You cannot pick and choose what you want to believe in the Bible.  You either believe it or you don’t.  God’s Word is never changing and stands the test of time.  If you truly believe His word shouldn’t you being willing to commit to follow His ways rather than the world’s ways?

Are you willing to take a stand – in your life as well as your finances?  God has given us a blueprint for how he wants us to live our lives.  If we stray, it does not mean He doesn’t love us anymore or we are not Christian, but as Christ Followers, we should seek to be closer to Him.  This means obeying His Word and standing firm in the principles He has laid out in His word.

Today, on Memorial Day, we remember the soldiers of old and new who have lost their lives in battle for our country.  Today serves as a reminder that our soldiers fight for our freedom, including freedom of religion.  Are you willing to stand for what you believe in?   Christ, like the ultimate soldier, laid His life down for each and every one of us.   Will you stand for Him?  With His example, I need no further motivation to want to live my life to be more like Jesus.  As I attempt to do this, I want to make sure my faith is incorporated into my financial plan.

Today, remember those who have lost their lives in battle and pray for the safety of those in harm’s way.  May God bless you and bless America!

I had the opportunity to have breakfast this morning with the CE-YO (title of CEO for a yogurt company) of Stonyfield Farm, Gary Hirshberg.  Gary is the author of the recent best-seller Stirring it Up: How to Make Money and Save the World and Chief Executive Officer for the multi-million dollar yogurt and organic food manufacturer.  Although, I do not share common political beliefs with Gary, he had a lot of great wisdom to share that applies to everyone regardless of your political or religious views. 

Here is an environmental activist putting his money where his values are.  I asked him a question about the premise of my upcoming book, The Faith-Based Millionaire:   “Gary, you and I share a common opinion that people vote every day with the choices they make: where they work, where they spend their money and where they donate money.  Yet, most people do not hold these same principles when they invest.   Do you agree investing with values is important and what is your take?”  

His response was that he personally only invests in companies that share his values.  He has a process in place to make sure his investment dollars support companies in alignment with his beliefs.  He also echoed my opinion that if investors, like you and me want to change this world, more and more change will happen in corporate board rooms.  I couldn’t agree more with Gary.  When you invest every day, you vote for something.  Do you know what you are voting for?  Do your investments reflect your morals, beliefs, and values?   

Other lessons reflected:   In order to succeed in business and your financial life, you need drive, motivation, and to stick to your principles.   He also recommended being more involved politically and always asking, “why not?”  Rather than accepting things as they are, Gary believes we should find ways to overcome all of our obstacles.   He believes that we limit our success when we stop after facing difficulties.  He is a big fan of social responsible investments and saving the environment.  All of the choices he makes each day, he tries to vote with his belief system in mind.

Though I disagree with a lot of Gary’s personal political beliefs, his lessons and philosophies ring true with me.   The Faith-Based Millionaire is about how you can change the world, change your finances, and bring glory to God.  If we all took the same approach with moral responsible investing as Gary takes with social responsible investing, what a difference we could make!

The topic of cloning has always sparked great debates from scientists and theologians to dinner table conversations.  Even Hollywood wants in on the action.  Movies have wrestled with the topic ranging from the movie Godsend showing the dangers of cloning a child to the humorous side showing how we could solve all of our time problems by creating doubles of ourselves as depicted in Multiplicity. 

I must say, I read a story today that was not humorous at all.  BioArts International, a US biotech company, announced today it will auction off the right for five dog owners to have their furry best friend cloned.  Starting bids? get this $100,000!!!   A trip to their website shows the following ad:  “What if you could be best friends..again?”

BioArts is taking bids via an online auction system to allow five pet owners to duplicate their dogs using the same cloning methods used back in 1996 to clone Dolly the sheep.  I don’t know about you, but this creeps me out and disturbs me.

Since when did we get the right to play God?  When did we get the right to create life?  It’s animals today..what about humans in the future?  While we’re at it, let’s only make perfect looking, well behaved humans that do as we say.  God is in control for a reason. He has a plan for each and every person and each and every creature and I am quite sure it is not cloning.  It also extends to embryonic stem cell research and other areas of medicine where we cross from trying to save lives to trying to play God.  I will concede that God gave us ingredients on this earth for medicine and brains in our heads to form logic but he also programmed us with morals.  These morals should not only be reflected in our daily actions, behaviors, and choices, but in the bigger decisions we face… one being where we invest.

Do you have a process in place to ensure that you are not funding the very companies that are crossing the line between medical science and attempting to replace God?

Are any of these issues of concern to you?

- Adult, umbilical or placenta stem cell research

- Embryonic stem cell or fetal tissue research

Are you aware that there are publicly traded companies involved in these activities.  You may own them in your portfolio through your stocks, mutual funds, or annuities.  If these issues are of concern to you, please know there are ways to screen your portfolio to align your faith with your finances.  Drop me a line and I will help you uncover where it is you truly are investing.  It may open your eyes. 

I love my dog.  I truly do…but cloning him?  Come on…that idea is one sick puppy! 

Not much seems to shock me these days, but I have to admit when I learned about McDonald’s recent activities, I must say it was a little shocking.  What am I referring to?   Well…McDonald’s recently signed onto the ‘gay’ agenda.  Yes, the largest family restaurant put an executive on the board of a homosexual Chamber of Commerce.   If you go to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce’s website, it leads to a promotional advertisement for children’s Happy Meals at the McDonalds website. Since when did we confuse happy and gay?

McDonald’s restaurant’s have gained international fame with its Golden Arches,   kids happy meals, and even Ronald McDonald, but signing on to promote “gay” and “lesbian” business ventures?   I do not see the family-friendly tie in?  Am I missing something here?

McDonald’s describes itself as “socially responsible.” In my opinion, there is a huge difference between social responsible and moral responsible.  Why does a large corporation need to advance a gay agenda?  In remarks on its website attributed to “Jim,” McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner, says “Being a socially responsible organization is a fundamental part of who we are. We have an obligation to use our size and resources to make a difference in the world … and we do.”

There is also a fine line between “accepting” a group of people and promoting an ”agenda”.  You can love the sinner and hate the sin, but to me this crosses the line of morality.  As someone who believes and reads God’s Word, I welcome homosexuals to be treated with respect and dignity, but I do not believe corporations should go out of their way to back activities that clearly oppose God’s Word and traditional family values.

Yet another incentive for my family to drop a diet of fast food and continue seeking healthier alternatives…at stores that are not pushing an “agenda’. From now on the only happy meals we’ll be buying are the ones that make me happy because I know my family is eating healthy!

Do your investments reflect your values or someone else’s?  Imagine running for President of the United States and campaigning against something important to you, yet your investments were in direct opposition of your values. If this was discovered, wouldn’t it be a little embarassing?  Well…you don’t need to imagine this happening, it already happened…today in fact!

Cindy McCain, wife of Presidential candidate, John McCain, recently was caught with investments in companies profiting from Sudan.   John McCain has been a long-time critic of the violence in Sudan, yet the McCains had exposure to the very companies profiting in this African nation through the mutual funds they owned. It is quite apparent that the McCains do not screen their portfolio.  They do not have a process in place to make sure that what they invest in does not violate their morals.  This is not to pick on the McCains, but rather to highlight the ignorance most of us face when we invest.  We blindly trust that the professionals will do “what’s best” for us.  Most of us, never even think about the moral consequences when we invest.  Yet with some simple research and awareness the McCains could have prevented this embarassing story from breaking.  You face the same choice.

What if this happened to you?  It may be happening to you right now and you do not even know it.  You  may have exposure to companies that directly oppose your faith, beliefs, or values.  Learn more about what your are investing in. If you own stocks, mutual funds, or annuities, you may be shocked to learn what types of companies you own.  Take the time, browse faithbasedmillionaire.com, read my upcoming book The Faith-Based Millionaire. Don’t just sit there.  Do something!  Develop a process to align your values with your finances.

Will You Pass God’s Test with Flying Colors?

In college, I used to do well on exams with the exception of final exams.  Why?  It had to do with my lousy study techniques.  They worked great on a few weeks worth of material, but not so well on the lessons of the whole semester.  I had a great ability to cram material, memorize it, and spit it back out on an exam. My problem was retaining the material for long periods of time.   I would do very well when there was a short-term exam but had difficulty when there was a substantial amount of material to “memorize”.

With God, we cannot cram for tests. We need to build a solid process on incorporating Him into our lives.  Since finances are one of the most talked about topics in the New Testament, we can be assured that God tests us with money.   When we are faithful in little things, he provides more.   If we are foolish with our money, He may not choose to bless us further in that area.   Being obedient toward God with our money is much more important than seeking the world’s riches.

In the area of finances, God tests our obedience to Him.  Will we obey His Word, no matter what the cost?   Are we willing to make sacrifices to honor Him?  Will we follow Him even if the world says otherwise?   There are times where God will test us with money to see where our priorities are.  Will you pass the test?

Numbers 22:17-18:
because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me. But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.

What areas of your financial life do you feel are being tested?

What are some ways that you can become more obedient?

Name a time where you felt God was really challenging you:

Free Dinner Seminar - No Sales Pressure,  RSVP Now!

Jay says, “Buyer beware, dinner may cost you $20,000 or more”

How many times do you receive an invitation in the mail to a free dinner meal at a nice restaurant compliments of some financial services company? They have enticing language:

* Attractive Returns, No Stock Market Risk
* Eliminate Taxes on Your Social Security
* Guarantee Your Retirement Income
* Protect Your Assets

Sounds exciting!  You get a free meal out of it and can even bring friends. What a deal!   What could possibly go wrong in this situation?

It’s usually not the presentation or the food.   It usually happens in the free consultation that comes from the seminar.  Like the time share presentations – nothing is FREE.   There is a product to be sold… and you may be the victim.

How you become a victim, you may ask.  It comes in the form of a product sale.  In most cases it is likely to be an annuity of some sort (fixed or index) sold not by a fully (securities and insurance) licensed professional, but rather a simple one-size-fits-all insurance annuity salesperson who doesn’t even understand the stock market, mutual funds, or investment advisory accounts.  This person may be a one trick pony that has a one size fits all solution for your financial situation.

Contemplate this:  A person only needs a simple, basic insurance license and no knowledge, training, or experience to sell you a product.  It happens every day.  I hear horror stories from around the country of people being sold inappropriate and unsuitable investments.

Time and time again I see salespeople who are not fully licensed financial planners selling products with outrageous commissions to unsuspecting seniors and other investors. These annuity products often have high commission rates, and longer surrender periods with high penalty fees.

Many fixed and index annuities offer salespersons commission rate in the neighborhood of  8% to 12% of the money invested! This means, for every $100,000 you invest into this annuity, there is an $8,000 to $12,000 commission being generated.  Now you know how these companies afford to offer FREE dinners!  Maybe they are not so free.

Let’s say you purchase one of these enticing annuities and change your mind a year or two down the road.  How much do you pay to get out of the annuity?  You may pay as much as a 20% surrender penalty to get out of the $100,000 investment you made into one of these annuities. This may mean $20,000 in penalties.  You are left with only $80,000.  I have also seen these “surrender penalty” may take 10 or even 20 YEARS before they are eliminated!

Now, don’t get me wrong.  There are good seminars (notable ones) and often there are honest, caring advisors presenting them.  My point is to know who is delivering the presentation and what they represent.  Always look for an advisor who offers comprehensive financial planning and not just product sales.

Before you accept an invitation to any financial seminar, check out the firm, advisor, and financial approach used by the company hosting the event. Otherwise, you could end up spending $20,000 (or more) for your dinner that night.

Someone asked me the other day why I wrote the book “The Faith-Based Millionaire”, a book designed to help people incorporate their faith into their financial plan.   As I previously mentioned, I believe that God really put it on my heart to write this book and get this message out there.  I see so many Christians make conscious decisions where they work, spend money, and tithe.  We all have values, beliefs, and morals that help us make decisions in these three areas. However, for most,they never use the same set of principles when it comes to investing. The rules get thrown out the window.   Only a small minority get it.  It breaks my heart and I’m sure that of God’s.   

Take for example: I have a dear friend who is an executive for a major Wall Street firm based in Chicago. He is a strong Christian and EXTREMELY active in the pro-life movement (time and money).  He gives tens of thousands of dollars a year to pro-life organizations and does not screen  his personal investment portfolio.   It is almost as if his donations are cancelled out by his investment dollars. Here he is giving money to help end abortion yet his investment dollars are invested in the very same companies performing abortions on demand and furthering the pro-choice movement. 

I am committed and  passionate about helping others learn what values are important in their lives and helping them understand what their investment dollars are supporting.  Ultimately I find great joy helping individuals allign their faith and finances… I  truly believe it is a God thing that lead me to open this dialogue…  I believe He will help me get this message out to the masses.