Your approach to money management says a lot about who you are. With every purchase, donation, or investment, you are making a decision that reflects your personal values.
As financial advisors, we understand this is especially important for people who identify as Christian. Many people want to make sure that their money aligns with the Christian values that guide their other decisions in life. For this reason, our company offers Faith-Based Investing (FBI) services to any client who is interested.
When working with clients who are concerned about where their money is invested, TruStone Wealth Management teaches the approach that our advisors are stewards of the money that we are entrusted to grow.
In this advisor article, I want to dive into what faith-based investments entail and how you can use your financial plan to make the world rejoice.
What is Faith-Based Investing?
Also known as Biblically Responsible Investing (BRI), Faith-Based Investing practices use Christian values as a guide when making financial investments into companies across all industries. This type of financial planning strategy has been around for several decades, but has increased in availability over the years.
All biblically responsible investing services are offered by any of our advisors who have achieved the Certified Kingdom Advisor (CKA®) designation. With their guidance and training in faith-based investment practices, we can help screen the types of investments you own to ensure the companies you’re backing financially share your Christian values.
These strategies can be as simple as avoiding business practices that you don’t want to profit from for moral reasons (such as tobacco, gambling, or pornography) or seeking out industries that strive to make a positive impact for their employees or their communities.
A biblical parable about a master who gave bags of gold to three of his servants offers a helpful analogy to faith-based financial planning. In this story, two of the servants doubled the bags they were originally given, while the third simply returned the money back to his master.
The first two were praised and invited to share in the master’s happiness, while the third was scolded and warned that, at the very least, the money should have been put on loan with the bank to earn interest.
We strive to be like the first two when working with you to help grow your money, while making the world rejoice in the process.
Of course, growth is only one way people can use their personal finances. When working with our clients, we teach them that there are four ways to use your money: to live, to give, to owe, and to grow.
We Can Use Money to Live
It costs money to live each day. Items such as food, clothing, and shelter fall into this category.
We Can Use Money to Give
Generosity is often thought of as the only thing that can break the power of greed. Giving money to charities, to kids and grandkids, and to others in need is another important way to use our money.
We Can Use Money to Owe
Benjamin Franklin famously said the only things that are certain are death and taxes. We owe taxes, and if we have debts, we owe our lenders.
We Can Use Money to Grow
Whether it is for a goal later in life, such as college or retirement, or you just want to save for a rainy day, investing money with the purpose of growth can help us support our short- and long-term goals.
Our team helps people from all walks of life manage their money so they can achieve a healthy balance among these categories using their values as a guideline, whether faith-based or otherwise. However, if you’d like to learn more about how your investments can align with your faith, we invite you to have a conversation with one of our Certified Kingdom Advisors®.
It is our belief that this type of investing is something that can make the world rejoice as you grow it. It brings us joy to work with clients who believe they are stewards, and we make it a top priority to be responsible with what has been entrusted with us. To get started, schedule a consultation with our team today!
Together, we can work to keep you on-track towards your financial goals.
Request a consultation with me to learn more.
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