Canadian Personal Finance Blog

October 30th, 2005

Opinion: Religious Financial Advice

So, I have to tread carefully here, since I am a Christian and I do have strong beliefs, however, I have problems with people who use their faith as a “foil” to their business or worse still those who use the Bible to justify their decisions (especially in Finance).

One site I stumbled across is Sound Mind Investing, which seems like a good site (although I am never fond of sites that ask for subscription fees, isn’t the concept to Give of yourself? OK, if it’s a business that is fine, but still, something bugs me, I am not sure what). The authors have some genuine good points about:

Stewardship and giving to the Church
Debt reduction being important to faith (I think Debt Reduction is important in all aspects of life).

However, there seems to be an implication that the authors use the Bible as their justification for some financial decisions. I know it is possible to quote the bible in some areas of financial planning (heck I am guilty of that one, in this article already!), but I worry that these words of faith are being perverted towards a personal financial gain.

Faith (be it Christian, Hindu, Moslem, Buddhist, or Druid) or belief in oneself is important in your life, and it should help guide you, but maybe don’t use it as your only compass in life when it comes to financial planning.

Shalom
–C8j

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2 Responses to “Opinion: Religious Financial Advice”

FMF Says:
October 31st, 2005 at 5:41 am

Here are my thoughts on SMI:

1. Though they teach from a Christian perspective, their book (on the site) is one of the best GENERAL INVESTING books I’ve ever read for beginning investors. If you’re starting investing, it’s a must read (just ignore the Christian stuff if you’re not of the faith).

2. I don’t think they are using the Bible to make money. They are teaching people what the Bible says about money and how to apply it to their lives. This is a service that has value and they are due compensation for it (just like a pastor is compensated).

3. Their site is weak as it is. You need to subscribe to it (or their newsletter — which I do) to get the meat of what they are offering.
Big Cajun Man Says:
November 1st, 2005 at 4:05 am

Points well made, I have not subscribed to their newsletter, but given our friend FMF thinks it is worthwhile, I may rethink things a bit.

Good take, good comments!!!

–C8j

FMF Says:
October 31st, 2005 at 5:41 am

Here are my thoughts on SMI:

1. Though they teach from a Christian perspective, their book (on the site) is one of the best GENERAL INVESTING books I’ve ever read for beginning investors. If you’re starting investing, it’s a must read (just ignore the Christian stuff if you’re not of the faith).

2. I don’t think they are using the Bible to make money. They are teaching people what the Bible says about money and how to apply it to their lives. This is a service that has value and they are due compensation for it (just like a pastor is compensated).

3. Their site is weak as it is. You need to subscribe to it (or their newsletter — which I do) to get the meat of what they are offering.

Big Cajun Man Says:
November 1st, 2005 at 4:05 am

Points well made, I have not subscribed to their newsletter, but given our friend FMF thinks it is worthwhile, I may rethink things a bit.

Good take, good comments!!!

–C8j