The Season of Giving
Our culture puts a strong emphasis on giving (and spending!) during the holiday season. Most of the advertisements you hear during the season involve a sale to help you buy a present to give to someone you care about. At the same time, you hear organizations making their final push to meet their year-end budget goals and potentially attract new donors. It is rare to go the holiday season without being solicited to give a tax-deductible year end gift. This is all for good reason. Giving charitable contributions isn’t only a good thing to do, but qualified charitable contributions to qualified organizations are tax deductible in the year the contribution is made. Sometimes it is even wise to accelerate giving you intend on doing in the beginning of the next year into the end of the current year.
Will I Have Enough?
This seems like a simple question that can be answered by looking at your income, expenses, dreams, and goals. Even though the question is simple, the answer can leave many with a feeling of anxiety. The reason for the anxiety is not because what we have is too little or what we have is too much. The anxiety comes because no matter what we have, the answer to the question “how much is enough?” is almost always “more than I have right now.”
Welcome to the Real World! Now What Do I Do?
After graduating from college and entering the world of full-time work, I was faced with more responsibilities and more decisions than I was expecting. While in college, I had big ideas about how fast I could pay off my student debt, establish an emergency fund, buy another car, save for retirement, and start saving to buy a house.
Three Reasons a Minister’s Financial Situation Is Unique
For ministers, learning to navigate their financial situation involves several considerations that are unique to ministry. Learning about these considerations and managing…