Faith Based Investing

Is It Time for a Financial Mulligan?

In golf, a mulligan is a shot retaken, due to an errant shot. A mulligan shot is strictly prohibited in the official rules of the game, but is commonplace in social golf. Traditionally, mulligans are allowed only on the tee shot (usually one per round) and are not just taken at any time of the golfer’s choosing.

In your financial life, you have probably made many mistakes. The past is the past. You cannot change it, so now is your time for a “financial mulligan.” It is time to start over and prepare to succeed financially. God has brought you to a time such as this. Seize the moment, wipe your financial slate clean, and take the next best shot. With God on your side, you can shoot a hole in one. With Him by your side, anything is possible.

Take Responsibility for Your Actions
Do you play the blame game? Why are people so quick to blame others or circumstances for their problems? Often I see people who are quick to point the finger and it rarely points back at them. Choices are made each day, and these choices have consequences. When the results come in less than favorable, somehow it is easier to push the blame toward someone or something else. This is especially true with finances. One example: Most Americans used to be able to rely on three income sources for retirement–the company pension, Social Security, and personal savings. As the futures of company pensions and Social Security hang in the balance, the pressure builds for you to save on your own for retirement. If you do not have enough income when you retire, whom will you blame: your employer, the government, or will you accept responsibility? The natural inclination of many people is to pass the blame.

You know you are not accepting personal responsibility if you blame other people for your financial problems. I see many people pass the blame whenever they are faced with difficulties. It wasn’t the credit card company’s fault you maxed the card out. It wasn’t the bank’s fault you defaulted on your mortgage. It wasn’t your employer’s fault you didn’t save enough for retirement. These life situations, hardships, character flaws, or whatever else you want to call them begin with you. Rather than agreeing that the common denominator in all your problems is you, will you continue to blame others?

Do any of the following excuses sound familiar?
* I was late because of traffic.
* I have been so busy that I haven’t been eating right or exercising so that is why I put on a few pounds.
* My company isn’t paying me enough, so I cannot save for retire¬ment.

By taking responsibility, you admit your part in creating the problem. You could have been on time if you left earlier. You could have maintained or lost weight if you reprioritized your schedule. You could have saved for retirement if you cut back on spending. There is always a cause-and-effect relationship.

When you consistently point fingers at others, you look at yourself as a victim. Have you ever seen a rich victim? They are not very common. I have seen many poor victims. These are people who are poor and blame others. They blame their lack of financial success on circum¬stances and people around them.

Many people get into financial trouble because of greed, laziness, or lack of commitment. Quit blaming others. Admit you are the problem. You can always work toward improving your own bad habits, but it is very difficult to change the circumstances and the things around you. So if you concentrate on yourself and what you could do differently, you can begin to create new opportunities. Blaming the world limits your choices. You can either take responsibility or continue playing the blame game.

Harboring negative emotions and anger about your financial situation diminishes financial progress. Your financial problems can begin to eat away at you little by little. Financial stress can become overwhelming and lead to withdrawal, depression, and other dangerous behaviors.

In order to make financial progress, you also need to have an open mind and look to others for guidance. Begin to identify areas in your financial life that you would like to change and commit to finding solutions. Take smart, calculated risks, and realize that you are responsible for the outcomes. Begin to recognize any areas in which you need financial advice and seek a professional who is able to help you begin to identify solutions you never considered. You can make progress, but you first have to claim responsibility for your actions.

“A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.” –John C. Maxwell

Another Crazy Peroni Road Trip

This week, my family which consists of Karen, my wife, and my 4 kids (Cameron 7, Katelyn 5, Jack 2, and Emma 1) all piled in the Toyota minivan heading on another road trip. This time we headed to South Carolina. We fell in love with Mount Pleasant, SC. From our Sunday at Seacoast Church www.seacoast.org to the many beaches to the historic views of downtown Charlestown nearby, this area is like heaven on earth! The picturesque scenery, quaint shops, the abundant number of things to do, the history and climate all make it difficult to leave.

We all compare what we don’t have to what we already have. Why do we do this? We are always looking for the next best thing. Sometimes when our motives are pure this can be a good thing such as when we are seeking a better relationship with Christ or seeking to do more of God’s work. However when we seek better things just to compete with others or for selfish reasons, this can cause many problems.

Learning to be content

For many of us, we need to learn contentment. We need to be like Paul when he said, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13). In other words, we need to be happy and grateful for what we already have.

Are you healthy?
Do you have a roof over your head?
Do you have clothes to wear?
Do you have food on the table?
Do you have running water?

If you said yes to most or all of these then you are already blessed. Look at www.globalrichlist.com, plug in your salary and you will see how blessed you really are.

Now contentment is essential, but this does not mean you should be complacent.
You should seek to be grateful for what God has done in your life, while remaining determined to see him do more. Sometimes He calls us out of our comfort zones to do bigger and better things. What is He calling you to do? Are you holding back?

There’s a fine line between contentment and complacency. Living a stagnant and stationary life and calling it “contentment” is not what God had in mind for us. However we need to balance contentment and complacency. I know I have a long way to go, but it begins when I’m totally grateful for God’s blessings today yet I am completely determined to move forward tomorrow.

12 Essential Habits that Lead to Faith-Based Wealth

In The Faith-Based Millionaire, I highlight 12 essential habits that lead to faith-based wealth.  After interviewing hundreds of individuals who had both faith and wealth, there were common traits that revealed why they were so successful.

In The Faith-Based Millionaire, I stressed that creating new habits is critical. If you do not change your behavior, you will not get new results.   How many of these habits do you possess?:

Essential Habit # 1: Always place principles before profits. Take responsibility; seek profit, but do not compromise your values.

Essential Habit #2: Find your purpose and passion to create financial changes. If you do not get emotional, you will not change.

Essential Habit #3: Seek wise counsel. Find help for areas outside your expertise and have a sounding board.

Essential Habit #4: Establish a financial plan. Know what the end result should be and create an action plan to make it happen.

Essential Habit #5: Give generously to help those less fortunate. Accumulating wealth will enable you to help more of God’s people.

Essential Habit #6: Spend money frugally. Learn to live on less than you earn.

Essential Habit #7: Minimize your debt. Pay off debts as quickly as possible and incur only new debts that will bring long-term value.

Essential Habit #8: Save regularly; put it on autopilot. Build an emergency fund; save for your future. Set up automatic savings plans!

Essential Habit #9: Find sound investments that complement your faith. Find out where you are investing. Make sure the investment makes sense financially and does not contradict your faith.

Essential Habit #10: Manage risk. Take calculated chances to get where you need to go.

Essential Habit #11: Monitor the results. Track and monitor your progress and update your plan regularly.

Essential Habit #12: Trust God with the outcome. Put it all in His hands! With Him by your side, anything is possible.

The Invitation

Let me ask you:

* Would you like to learn more about companies that are doing God’s work, and find more positive examples of companies advancing and helping our society?

* Are you tired of the moral decay in our society?

* Are you tired of the corruption, deceit, and lies on Wall Street?

* Are you tired of companies promoting and being involved in abortion, pornography, embryonic stem cell research, and homosexuality?

* Are you concerned about products and services that entrap people into a lifestyle of sin?

*Are you concerned about products and services like tobacco, alcohol, and gambling that destroy millions of families?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I invite you to join me and millions of others in the faith-based investment movement.

New service launches next month!

Next month, I will be launching a faith-based investing service for an exclusive group of just 500 investors.  You will see what I’m buying when I’m buying – the specific stocks, mutual funds, ETFs that I recommend to my clients and for my family.   Each investment is carefully selected for the following 2 reasons:

1) Great investment potential

2) Meets a strict moral background check – doesn’t fail our moral screens and passes our positive values check (companies adding to the improvement of our society).

There will also be timely articles, videos, and audios to make your faith-based investing journey easier to implement. No fluff. Just pure substance!

The site will be live in May 2009 at www.faithbasedinvestor.com.  Sign up now so that when I begin the service you don’t get locked out.  Again, this will be an exclusive offer to a select group of 500 families.  Once it is closed, it may not open again! Whether you have $25,000 to invest or $25 million, this will be a valuable service.  Because I want this to be an experience and not just another service, I am closing the doors once we have 500 members.  This offer will go out to my list soon and if a small percentage takes advantage of this offer, it may close quickly!

INTRODUCING FAITH-BASED INVESTING

In the book of Mark, this question is posed: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” (8:36 nasb). Through the effort to find solutions to address the issues that go along with this question, faith-based investing was born. This movement seeks to align a person’s faith, moral beliefs, and ultimately God’s Word with the investment community.

There are now millions of religious investors attempting to align their morals and values with their investment portfolios. Religious concerns have long been a factor in the investment process because investors have wanted to avoid companies that contradict their belief system. This began with social screens such as alcohol and tobacco and has migrated to moral issues such as pornography and abortion.

There has also been a recent movement for investors to reassess their financial priorities in light of the corporate and mutual fund scandals that have surfaced over the last ten years. People are looking for more meaning in their lives and ultimately to make a more positive difference with their investments. This has led to the desire and ability to screen for more social and moral issues.

The rise in the number of faith-based mutual funds and money managers has opened the door to new avenues of investing. There also has been a surge in the level of sophistication in research available to advisors, money managers, and individual investors. As a result of this movement and awareness, millions now have the opportunity to put their money where their values are.

The appropriate starting point for any investment should include having a noble purpose as well as developing a process to maximize moral integrity. It is not just whether you should compare the harm of investing in one company vs. another company. It is more about trying to avoid the “blood money” that results when you invest in companies that are not in line with your beliefs. If you participate through your investment dollars in things you do not agree with, you are still enabling that activity. More important, when you send money into a mutual fund that invests in things that are objectionable to you, your moral integrity has been compromised.

The limitations of your knowledge should not blind you to the fact that there is a moral responsibility when you invest. If you look the other way when others are doing wrong, you are still morally responsible. So how do you invest in a manner that reflects your morals and values?

The first part of the process is to determine what is truly important to you. Is God a top priority in your life? Are you looking for balance and consistency? Doesn’t it make sense to include your faith in all areas of your life–finances included?

Sign up today at www.faithbasedinvestor.com or www.jayperoni.com

Moral responsible investing, faith-based investing, biblically responsible investing: call it what you like.  if you desire to honor God with your investments and be a better steward with the wealth He entrusts to you, this type of investing is for YOU.

The Tale of Two Investors
Consider two investors:

* Investor One is a faith-based investor who decides to screen his portfolio according to his hot-button issues (i.e. screen out abortion, pornography, embryonic stem cell research, companies actively involved in the homosexual movement) and screen in companies that are in line with his faith. (positive screens to include companies developing life curing diseases, helping mankind, and standing on Christian-Judeo principles).

* Investor Two is a maximum-profit investor who decides that the highest return on his money is his goal. He choose not screen his investment portfolio.

If both follow the same asset-allocation process and use a similar investment-selection process, will both investors have similar returns on their investments? You can make arguments on both sides that they will or will not achieve similar returns. Many people assume that the maximum profit investor will always outperform the faith-based investor because he is not using any screens or filters to eliminate potential investment choices. I have seen compelling arguments presented on both sides of the coin. There are studies showing screening hurts performance, but there are also studies showing that screening does not affect your returns.

Whom do you believe?
Now if the maximum-profit investor outperforms the faith-based investor, many assume that it was because of the screening process used by the faith-based investor. My argument is that the underperformance could be from the asset allocation or the investment selection process. Do not automatically assume that the screening parameters used by the faith-based investor cause underperformance.

I have seen many faith-based investors far exceed maximum-profit investors because they used a solid asset-allocation and investment-selection process. I have also seen many faith-based investors suffer lower returns because of a weak asset-allocation and investment-selection process. The faith-based investor and the maximum-profit investor stand an equal chance of achieving competitive financial returns if they follow a solid, disciplined process. There is no reason to use lower expected returns as an excuse not to invest according to your faith. If you develop a solid approach, you can achieve both solid returns and keep your values in check.

Want to learn more about faith-based investing?

Through May 10th, you can download The Faith-Based Millionaire (foreword by Dan Miller) for FREE.

Here’s how:
1. go to www.jayperoni.com
2. Enter your email address
3. You will receive a link to confirm your email address
4. Once you confirm your email address, you will receive a link to download The Faith-Based Millionaire

Someone asked me the other day, “What is the difference between social responsible investing and faith-based investing?”  So here is my response:

Differentiating Between Socially Responsible Investing and Faith-Based Investing

There is continued confusion pertaining to the difference between socially responsible investing and faith-based investing. This book, while encouraging socially responsible investing, focuses on “faith-based investing,” which is investing that avoids companies whose activities are intrinsically evil, meaning the activities are always immoral, regardless of the circumstances or culture, as revealed by God through time. For example, abortion, the murdering of the innocent, is always wrong and immoral even if it is legally permissible within a society.

“Socially responsible investing,” on the other hand, is investing that avoids companies whose activities are not considered socially responsible, and tends to correlate the important issues of a time period or a current fad. For example, though certain activities that can cause damage to or are not conducive to preserving the environment may not be socially responsible, such activities are not intrinsically evil or immoral.

Faith-Based Investing, Biblically Responsible Investing, Morally Responsible Investing – call it what you like:  We as faith-based investors seek to honor God with the investments God entrusts to our care.

Your Attitude is Your Greatest or Worst Asset

Uncommon friends

When Charlie met Frank at a bowling league in November 1998, they hit it off instantly and became the best of friends. Charlie had always been a hard worker, sometimes working two or three jobs as a plumber and an electrician. He made a good living, but never seemed to save enough to get him closer to financial freedom. Now in his fifties, Charlie had the expectation that he would always have to work to make ends meet.

READ MORE AT:

http://www.christianpf.com/importance-of-a-positive-attitude/

Eye Exam

A E I O U

D O I H A

V E A V I

E W T O W

A R D

G O D

Where is your world view? Can you still see God in the world? Your worldview today is based on what you have learned thus far in your life. As they say “you do not know what you do not know”. In order to get a grasp of your worldview, some important questions need to be addressed. There are things you need to know about yourself: what do you believe and why do you believe it? Here is the exam. For each question, ask yourself what do I believe and why do I believe it:

* Is there a god and what is he like?

* What is the nature and origin of the universe?

* What is the nature and origin of man?

* What happens to man after death?

* Where does knowledge come from?

* What is the basis of ethics and morality?

* What is the meaning of human history?

Based on how you answer these questions, you can begin to see if your viewpoint is in harmony with God’s Word. To double check your work, look to the Bible, pair with another and check your answers, challenge one another.

So why is a Biblical Worldview Important?

When you have a biblical worldview, you are putting God’s will before yours. When God is first you will live better, make better decisions, and have a better sense of purpose. In order to incorporate a biblical worldview with your finances, some biblical truths need to be explored.

Every financial decision starts with God. God is Sovereign. God is ultimately in charge of your life including finances. God created finances. He transcends time and history and can make anything happen .with your life. He can use you at any given moment if you allow Him. He is a personal God that takes a interest un our lives. Because he has an interest in our lives, he has a plan for each of us. If we easily buy into the world’s way of thinking, we may limit our growth, dismiss callings, be more apt to blend rather than be a guiding light. Our worldview determines how closely we will follow God and His direction for our lives.

Age is just a number

Because many are living thirty or more years in retirement, it becomes less important to gage one’s actual age. What is important is a person’s physical health and mental capacity. If your body and mind are sharp, you are still in the game!

Studies* have shown that keys to living longer include maintaining physical and mental activity, being actively engaged in life, and avoiding diseases and disabilities.  In order to remain “healthy” key activities should include having social ties (friends, family, and associates), physical exercise to prevent the body from breaking down, continuation of mental stimulation (learning and active thinking), and meaningful engagement (using time and talents to benefit others).

* Macarthur Foundation Study of Successful Aging, 2001

Find what you love to do

Someone very wealthy once said, “find something you love to do and find a way to get paid for it and you will become rich”.  Living a successful retirement involves this principle.  If you can find work that you truly enjoy doing, you will probably want to do this until the day you leave this earth.

You should examine the gifts God has given you, find your true passions, and find work that combines your God-given abilities with your passions.  Why wait until an arbitrary age in the future, why not do it today? If you prioritize what is important to you today and why you are working in the first place, you may come to new conclusions.   Am I just working to make a paycheck or could I do something more meaningful and rewarding and still make ends meet? When work and play are one in the same, you will never work a day in your life!

Many people do the following:

* They set arbitrary dates in the future as to when they will stop working.

* This is usually done to escape their current work conditions (career, industry, current employer).

Instead look at:

* How can you use work to express the God-given abilities and talents you uniquely possess and use them to bring glory to God?

* How can you take advantage of the aging process? Much of the aging process revolves around our activities, level of engagement with life, and our attitudes.

* How can you balance your priorities? (God, family, body health, mental health, and your relationships)