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Thursday, September 29, 2011

My Favorite Investment Plan

My favorite investment plan has been around for a very long time, and I will tell you all about it. A co-worker recently asked me if I would ever consider investing in Gold? Thinking about, the way currencies fluctuate globally now days it probably not a bad idea, but I really don’t think I would do it. Actually, I think my reply to the co-worker was that I would invest in Gold if I had a good safe at my house with good guns for protecting it there. Now, if I was investing on paper or keeping it in a bank vault then I really doubt that I would do it. I really do not trust institutions that are constantly changing their rules. I mean you really never know when the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision will have a secret meeting in Basel, Switzerland and change the rules on everyone, although I really don’t know how much jurisdiction they really have anyhow. When it comes to investing, I do have a retirement pension type of account that is on an investment plan, and they have changed the rules on that a couple of times since I first got it. My suggestion for investing is the one Jesus endorsed. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus said:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (ESV Bible)."

Now, if you cannot really grasp that whole concept of heaven, I can try to make it more tangible although as Christians we also do think of it as our eternal home. I mean, Jesus did say in John 14:2: “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you (ESV Bible)? Ok, let me get back to another tangible way to view it. I was having a conversation with a very close friend of mine one day, and she said to me: “you know I raised my daughters telling them to lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” I said that I agreed, but then she said something really funny which was: “yeah, I told them to get a good education even if they had to get loans for it because once that information is in your brain; no one can steal it from you.” For some reason, my way of viewing the concept of heaven became broader after that. So, again, my suggestion for investing is really: “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Moreover, if you have money or something, just give it away. Jesus also said in Luke 6:38: “give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you (ESV Bible)."

Well, I can really give many other reasons why I agree with this concept for investing, but for now, I will let you meditate on what I have said thus far. Thanks for reading My Favorite Investment Plan posting.

References:

Holy Bible, ESV

2 comments:

Mo said...

Perhaps the best parable of Jesus that shows how over investing is not really all that wise is the one of the Rich Fool, which in Luke 12:16-20 reads as follows:

"The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?'And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. ‘But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God (ESV Bible)."

I see so much investment today, I mean it ranges from gold to hedge funds, and I laugh and wonder if they will really enjoy all this wealth in the long run?

Mo said...

I want to share a post by Eric Elnes on the Darkwood Brew blog because it seems to agree with this one as well. The link to the post is below, and it is titled: What’s In Your Wallet.

http://darkwoodbrew.org/whats-in-your-wallet/