Financial Planning Comparisons Continued

Scott Adams of Dilbert Fame as found on Motley Fool

1. Make a will.
2. Pay off your credit cards.
3. Get term life insurance if you have a family to support.
4. Fund your 401(k) to the maximum.
5. Fund your IRA to the maximum.
6. Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it.
7. Put six months' worth of expenses in a money market account.
8. Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker, and never touch it until retirement.
9. If any of this confuses you, or if you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner.

Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps

• $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
• Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
• 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
• Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
• College funding for children
• Pay off home early
• Build wealth and give!

Crown Financial's Roadmap

• Emergency Fund
• Pay off Credit Cards
• Pay off Consumer Debt
• Save for Major Purchases
• Buy a Home and Begin Investing
• Home Mortgage Paid Off
• True Financial Freedom

John Wesley

• We ought to gain all we can gain but this it is certain we ought not to do; we ought not to gain money at the expense of life, nor at the expense of our health.
• Do not throw the precious talent into the sea.
• Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then "give all you can."

I tried to put this in a nicely laid out table for comparison, but Blogger didn't like my table. Scott Adams makes it clear that he does not like stocks -- in fact this Motley Fool article says:

Adams' passion for personal finance is matched only by his utter disdain for stocks. That's right, this keen observer of business and management trends believes that most people, himself included, cannot beat the market buying individual stocks -- especially when the companies behind those stocks are run by drunk chimpanzees.

So that's what went wrong with AIG and Bear Stearns. Too many drunk chimpanzees.

Spiritual Disciplines for a Tuesday

I also know that spiritual disciplines are more than attitude.  They are actions.  It's one thing to sit in prayer and another to BE in prayer.  Letting your prayer have hands and feet.  Doing as well as being.  They are not a character attribute -- "he's SO spiritual!" They are not an emotional feeling -- "she feels so spiritual!!" They are things that you DO.  Like be in prayer while washing the raisins, reading the Bible, fasting, receiving communion, being totally with another person as they share their pain, visiting those in prison, burying the dead by actually using a shovel at the end of the service. You can do them for good reasons or even bad ones, but at the end the spiritual disciplines make you more like Jesus.  Period.

Spiritual Disciplines

I have really no idea what exactly constitutes a spiritual discipline.  I used to think that I knew -- but now, not so much.  I know it's prayer, both corporate and personal, but what exactly constitutes prayer?  I preached about it this Sunday, but I still wonder what Paul meant by praying continuously.  I know it's praying all the time, even when doing ordinary things like washing the raisins. (The Genesee Diary: Report from a Trappist Monastery. By Henri Nouwen.) Attitude is more important than anything else. So today, I am spending time washing my own personal raisins -- which includes dishes and laundry and floors and bedding. Housekeeping as a spiritual discipline.

Oh, and for spiritual food -- chicken and dumplings.

Morning Prayer -- Psalm 142 (Traditional)

Psalm 142 (143) A prayer in time of trouble

In the morning let me know your love, O Lord.

Lord, listen to my prayer:

  in your faithfulness turn your ear to my pleading;

  in your justice, hear me.

Do not judge your servant:

  nothing that lives can justify itself before you.

The enemy has hounded my spirit,

  he has crushed my life to the ground,

  he has shut me in darkness, like the dead of long ago.

So my spirit trembles within me,

  my heart turns to stone.

I remind myself of the days of old,

  I reflect on all your works,

  I meditate once more on the work of your hands.

I stretch out my arms to you,

  I stretch out my soul, like a land without water.

Come quickly and hear me, O Lord,

  for my spirit is weakening.

Do not hide your face from me,

  do not let me be like the dead,

  who go down to the underworld.

Show me your mercy at daybreak,

  because of my trust in you.

Tell me the way I should follow,

  for I lift up my soul towards you.

Rescue me from my enemies:

  Lord, I flee to you for refuge.

Teach me to do your will,

  for you are my God.

Your good spirit will lead me to the land of justice;

  for your name’s sake, Lord, you will give me life.

In your righteousness you will lead my soul

  away from all tribulation.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

  as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

  world without end.

Amen.

In the morning let me know your love, O Lord.

I Miss It

I miss writing.  I don't know when I stopped or really why.  Life interferes.  Facebook is a time-suck.  Twitter just multiplies my already short attention span.  But I still miss writing.

I've been thinking alot about the types of blogs I see on the internet.  They all look so very professional now.  It's gone from being a grassroots movement to a "let's make money now!" and "boost my already big ego!!" movement.

I miss certain blogs. Thoughtful and thought provoking blogs. My feed is full of "10 Things Your Pastor Does in their Armchair Every Night!" and "Dog Church Fulfills Your Every Need!" and "Betsy Sue Winklebaum's New Baby Bump!"

I miss the open-ended conversations that blogging gave me.  I miss gentle kind conversations. I miss real dialogue and not one-sided rants about ... ANYTHING.  Your choice -- politics, religion, sex, raising children -- all the above and more.

So, here I am.  Contemplating.  Thinking.  And I hope I will be writing again.