Faith Based Investing

Just a quick note!

The reviews for The Faith-Based Millionaire are coming in.  I was honored to receive a 5-star rating (out of  5) from Book Bargains & Previews. Here is the review:

http://www.bookbargainsandpreviews.com/reviews/business/faithbasedmillionaire.htm

Hope you have a blessed week!

Here’s What Others are Saying….

TESTIMONIALS

“Too often I see people segment their lives into those areas that are ‘spiritual’
or ‘secular.’ Jay addresses this artificial separation and shows the way to
a more fully integrated life. Our financial management certainly does reflect
our values. The Faith-Based Millionaire is a fresh approach to having an authentic
and purposeful life.”
–Dan Miller, best selling author of 48 Days to the Work You Love and No More Mondays.

“Jay Peroni is a man with a passion and a message and has the ability to
deliver it in a readable and compelling manner. This book will challenge your
thinking and be an inspiration to your faith. I am pleased to recommend it.”
–Ron Blue, President of Kingdom Advisors and best-selling author of Master Your Money.

“Mr. Peroni has discovered and revealed the powerful truths of God’s Word in his book, The Faith Based Millionaire. It has the potential to assist changing mindsets in the Body of Christ concerning the wealth that God wants His children to have to build His Kingdom and be personally blessed. Psalm 122:9 (NIV) For the sake of the House of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity!”
– Dr. C. Thomas Anderson, Founder and Senior Pastor of Living Word Bible Church in Mesa, Arizona, Best-selling author of Becoming a Millionaire God’s Way

“Reconciling God and money is one of the most challenging dilemma’s faced by people who want to honor God with their finances and their lives. Jay Peroni does an excellent job helping people figure out this dilemma in his book, The Faith-Based Millionaire.”
–Larry Julian, Business Leadership Coach and best-selling author of God is My CEO.

How to Create a Faith-Based  Investment Portfolio

Research Companies

Determine what activities you do not want to support (e.g., abortion, pornography, anti-family entertainment, non-marriage lifestyles, alcohol, tobacco, gambling). After deciding, identify the companies involved. Simple enough, right?

Wrong. As an example, Playboy (PLA) is an obvious company to avoid by an investor concerned about pornography, but what about Metro Global Media (MGMA)? Metro is also in the porn industry, but its name certainly doesn’t indicate that fact. Now consider Gaylord Entertainment (GET). Gaylord passes a pornography screen.

Screen Investments

After you have determined which companies violate your morals, you’ll need to check the funds and stocks that you hold in your portfolio. To accomplish that task, you will need to perform a portfolio screen by comparing the “screened companies” to the portfolios of various or specific mutual funds.

Find Alternatives

You will then search for companies that meet your financial criteria without sacrificing your moral integrity. You will have many choices. It is estimated that among the eight thousand or so publicly traded companies, less than 10 percent fail most screens.

Path One: Mutual Funds

When selecting a faith-based mutual fund or funds, look beyond the fund’s name or category. The popularity of socially responsible investing has led many mainstream brokerage houses to create their own ethical investing funds. Such funds often sound good but promote a liberal ethic. The same can be said for religious-based funds as well.

Check the fund’s screening policy. Select a collection of funds in line with your values, then evaluate them for risk performance and appropriateness before investing. Even if you are locked into a limited family of funds through your employer’s retirement plan, you can still weed out those funds with the highest exposure to “sin stocks.”

Path Two: Individual Stocks

If you prefer a more hands-on approach, many tools are available. You can select your own stocks or hire your own manager to help you. Internet-based brokers allow even small investors to investigate and purchase stocks on their own. I recommend using Foliofn, an on-line investment firm. This site offers individual investors the opportunity to build their own basket of hand-picked stocks from scratch for a reasonably low fee. You screen companies to ensure they do not violate the moral and social hot buttons you have chosen and also select companies that meet your financial criteria.

When Values are Compromised

Tom Johnson is an award winning graphic designer who has designed shirts for Donald Trump and many other celebrities. He worked for a private label clothing company after September 11th when the advertising industry fell on rough times. It was also a dark time in Tom’s life, but he clung on to his faith in God.  He started reading the bible every day at lunch to get through the abusive conditions at work. Tom recalls, “Being creative every day gave me confidence, but the designs compromised my values. They were very suggestive in their wording and it started to weigh heavily on me.”

Tom, with the help of his deeply devoted wife began looking for deliverance and met with a Pastor who prayed for God to provide Tom a new opportunity to escape the life that was holding him captive.  Little did Tom know his vision was with him even in his darkest of days.  He told me, “It was during that job that I was given a vision of what God was preparing me for. I was listening to Dr. James Dobson on the Focus on the Family show and he was talking about the filth found at some of the apparel stores. This hit me hard! I left that job and landed a new opportunity within 3 days.”

God was busy preparing Tom for better things that were to come.  He healed Tom’s marriage, helped him be a better Dad to his two daughters, and is now using Tom’s God-given talents for heavenly purposes. Tom and his family are launching almightees™, a Christian apparel line, at the Atlanta Apparel Mart. He is printing designs on t-shirts inspired from the bible in humorous depictions of vintage signs and company logos. As Nehemiah did so often while he was fulfilling his vision, Tom continues to pray and let God direct his steps.  No longer trapped in a moral dilemma of earning a wage at the price of his principles, he is able to pursue his passion and make a profit at the same time.

Those who possess faith and wealth commonly share 12 essential habits. I write about these habits in The Faith-Based Millionaire: How to Unlock Wealth by Placing Principles Before Profits. I am often asked how faith-based millionaires ended up where they are today. I will share some tips that faith-based investors use to become millionaires. These three tips involve common sense, balance, and single-mindedness. Most of all, they follow biblical principles.

1)They realize there is no shortcut to wealth:
* It’s not what you earn
* It’s not what you purchase
* It’s what you keep that matters!

2)They start with sound principles of investing
* No one kind of investment works best all of the time.
* Diversification of your invested funds offers the best chance for finding profitable opportunities and avoiding major mistakes.
* Liquidity — the ability to change a substantial portion of your asset mix quickly — is the key to survival, particularly when faced with an uncertain investment climate.

3)They develop a disciplined process:

Step 1: They adopt a clear-cut strategy

Step 2: They take note of where they stand financially and track assets, liabilities, income, and expenses.

Step 3: They stay within their risk zone. This does not mean they do not take risk. They find ways to act despite fear, yet take calculated risks that will lead to wealth.

Step 4: They are prepared to change. Those who do not adapt become extinct. Faith-based millionaires realize this and are constantly reinventing themselves and their businesses. This does not mean abandoning time-tested strategies but making adjustments along the way.

Step 5: They keep their expectations realistic. When planning they use conservative estimates and achievable measurements. It is better to over-plan rather than be under prepared.

Step 6: They choose to start now. Procrastination is the biggest mistake many people make. Faith-based millionaires understand time is of the essence. They are never quick to jump into something, but prayerfully consider each opportunity and act quickly when it makes financial sense.

Please share your thoughts…

Luke-Warm McCain

For someone who was not necessarily a McCain enthusiast but a supporter, my position to vote for McCain was more about preventing an Obama presidency than truly supporting McCain. My thought was McCain was the lesser of two evils. I wanted McCain to win and held onto hope even when I knew what the outcome would be (months in advance). John McCain didn’t lose the election, Sarah Palin didn’t lose the election. Obama won the election! America chose Obama! This was a difficult idea for me to embrace.

Yesterday was a very bitter day for me…not a typical day for me. I thought about how much faith I lost in America, the doom and gloom yet to come. I thought about the fight and opposition I was going to bring! I wanted to start the “let’s blame Obama for everything club”…print “1-20-12″ bumper stickers marking the date when we could get Obama out of office. I thought about making up “Nobama” t-shirts, and “Zerobama” hats…my mischievous mind went on and on… Then I became spiteful. I thought I can’t wait for Obama’s “fake” change to hit the reality of the mess that our country is in. How I will love to see big government fail and Obama fall on his face… What? where is the love in this??? Where is my leadership? What good will this do?

The Plane Ride

Then on a plane ride home today from a TV interview, I sat next to one of the biggest liberals I ever met. He was cursing conservatives and mocking the religious right…but then he said something that actually made sense. “Why don’t you keep an open mind and give Obama a chance, he just may surprise you. He can pull people together”. Now granted his team just won the big game, but it made perfect sense! Democrats have been spending the last eight years with blame Bush for the war, blame Bush for the economy, blame Bush that my spaghetti wasn’t warm enough…He stole the election (not once but twice) on and on… And Republicans have been mixed up in scandals, and corruption, finger pointing, and moving away from their core platform. Let’s face it American politics have been ugly for years.

The liberal and I started talking about our favorite presidents and we ALSO agreed Ronald Reagan was a great leader…not necessarily because of his politics (which I love), but because he had a unique ability to bring people together, to get people to love and respect one another…to inspire people, to motivate them. To bring people hope and change. I believe the Reagan years were the last Presidental years where our country was truly united as a people…united to make America a better place.

Change is on the Way if We Change

I’m tired of bitterness, tired of fighting, tired of being at war over politics, tired of complaining and most of all tired of blaming others for our problems. Instead of looking at the bad in the situation, God is in control. There is light in the darkness. I may not agree with Obama on any issue I can think of, but he is our next President and we have to find it within ourselves to rise up and become a better Nation. We are one people, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all! America is strong because of its people, because of its differences, and because of people like you…let us work together to rebuild America. The tribe is building. Who’s in?

I am playing my part!  Will you join me on a journey?  Faith-based investing helps us invest in a way that exemplies the values of the foundation of America: Faith, Hope, and Love.  When we invest in  companies that destroy American values, we destroy part of America.  When we support companies that spread American values we build a better America.  Through the faith-based investment movement, together we can build a better America.  Please share this blog post and my website with anyone you may know who may be interested in faith-based investing.

Don’t forget to TIVO me!

This is a reminder that on Thursday November 6th, I will appear on the Mornings Show with Lorri and Larry on FamilyNet TV.  For more information, go to http://www.familynet.com/site/c.rwL5KhNXLtH/b.3751045/k.DA6F/Mornings.htm

I will be on TV between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. and will be giving away free autographed copies of The Faith-Based Millionaire.   Also, please call with questions during the show.  The live line is: Listener Toll-Free Number During Show: 1-877-FAMNET1

Remember: patience can be your ally when it comes to stock market investment.

I understand that with the recent behavior of the stock market, you may be getting impatient. You may be thinking: “What should I do? Should I do something different? Should I get out of the market now?”

Don’t panic. Don’t make a rash decision.

Perspective: The market is going to rise and fall. Short-term stock market fluctuations happen, and they can occur quickly and often without warning.

Our Approach: The plan that you and I have created is for the long-term. We created it based on your needs and goals, and with your Time Horizon in mind. Adjusting a long-term financial plan in response to short-term market downturns can be a costly mistake.

Watch the market, but remember your TIME HORIZONS. There’s nothing wrong with staying informed or keeping abreast of the latest headlines. But don’t let today’s headlines affect your long-term outlook.

In the last year, it’s possible that the market value of your home may have dropped 10-20%. If so, did you go out and sell your home? Or did you stay put because you were confident that the housing market would one day be better? Your time horizon with your home is probably at least 6-7 years, maybe as long as 15-20 years.

It’s a similar situation with the stock market in relationship to your long-term financial goals. Your time horizon is measured in years, even decades – not months or days. A long-term investment is typically five years or longer.

The long-term potential of the market is significant. In 1982, the Dow was in the high 700s. By the start of 2000, the Dow was well above 11,000. That’s more than a 1,500% gain. Note that it took 18 years. That’s what you should keep in mind. The stock market has not built itself or sustained itself with overnight success, but with long-term investment. People have stayed invested in stocks for 20, 30, even 50 years.

Don’t get caught up in the day-to-day. Do you see the price of your home daily? No, but you can see what the stock market is doing daily. And that can make you hypersensitive about your investments. Step back from the volatility. Keep up with the news, but look beyond the moment and keep your long-range goals in mind. If you’re trying to plan for a long-term goal (like a financially comfortable retirement), it makes sense to retain a long-term investment strategy.