The March, 2012, issue of "Everyday Stewardship,” a publication of Everence (formerly Mennonite Mutual Aid) features an article, "Unique Retirement Investing," about some of our thinking about, and planning for, our retirement investments. We initially had some mixed feelings about being interviewed for the piece, but saw it as an opportunity to share some of the reasons we've chosen to invest most of our retirement in microlending programs rather than in Wall Street traded stocks.
An earlier post "How Microlending Could Revolutionize how we Help the Poor," gives some background on this, and the November 26, 2011, post, "Is it Time To De-Occupy Wall Street?" offers some additional perspective.
P. S. The picture accompanying the article (in "Everyday Stewardship") of Alma Jean and me at our house church is taken at the home of the members who hosted the meeeting that Sunday, Guy and Margie Vlasits, who operate a bed and breakfast near Keezletown.
Showing posts with label finances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finances. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Christmas Economics--How Both Pentateuch and Pentecost Promote Wealth Redistribution
“Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; each of you is to return to his family property... It (accumulated property) will be returned in the Jubilee.” Leviticus 25:10, 28b
“At the end of every seven years you must cancel your debts...there should be no poor among you...be openhanded toward your brothers (and sisters) and toward the poor and needy in your land.” Deuteronomy 15: 1, 4a, 11b
“There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them and brought the money from the sales...and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” Acts 4:34-35
“Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply your need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: ‘He that gathered much did not have too much, and he that gathered little did not have too little.’” II Corinthians 8:13-15
From Thanksgiving to the end-of-year deadline for charitable deductions, many North Americans become extra generous in their giving. Christmas gift giving alone provides the kind of boost to the economy that many retailers depend on for their survival. So like the Leviticus 25 Jubilee, the season moves us well beyond our usual charity.
How could this Jubilee-like mindset, this holiday season thinking, transform our stewardship?
At a recent session of our Virginia Conference assembly we had an extended discussion of a plan to provide affordable health insurance for needy pastors. Delegates voiced their approval, but in light of leaner economic times, wondered whether the required number of congregations could afford to fund it, especially in light of growing concerns about meeting existing mission and conference budgets.
But I couldn’t help wondering why a church as well-to-do as ours should ever have even one needy pastor among us, or have a single outreach programs that is underfunded? And why should our church agencies have to increasingly depend on salaried fund raisers to help them meet their annual budgets?
One answer may be that we have been focusing on only half of what the Bible teaches about stewardship. We have taught well the half that has to do with contributing generously of our tithes and offerings, but have said or done little about the other Biblical mandate, that of radically and regularly redistributing our wealth in the spirit of Christmas and in celebration of a Jesus-inspired Jubilee.
Unfortunately, far from regularly redistributing our wealth, most us aren’t very generous in even contributing from it, according to sociologists Christian Smith, Michael Emerson and Patricia Snell, authors of a book called "Passing the Plate, Why Christians Don’t Give Away More of Their Money" (Oxford University Press, 2008). Their study finds that one in four US Protestants doesn’t give at all, and that the median rate of annual giving for that group is only $200, or less than half a percent of their taxable income. According to a 2005 study commissioned by MCUSA, the “typical” Mennonite member gives just less than 10 percent of income to some kind of charity.
According to the Passing the Plate authors, what makes churchgoing US Christians look especially miserly is that together they earn a staggering $2.5 trillion dollars a year. That would be enough wealth, they claim, to qualify for membership in the G7, a group representing the world’s seven largest economies. A modest ten percent of that sum, they point out, could do wonders to alleviate poverty and promote missions around the world.
Few of us would expect the unemployed and financially destitute to tithe. But the rest of us who live in one of the wealthiest economies in the world should be able to give far more. Regular giving, after all, is like paying rent for the privilege of enjoying life on a truly great planet.
But can simply giving from our surplus, without any regular redistribution of wealth that narrows the gap between rich and poor, be seen as an adequate expression of Biblical economics?
Ched Myers, author of "The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics," doesn’t think so. He argues that both the teachings of Jesus and the practices of the early church support a more radical stewardship, one grounded in Old Testament practices meant to periodically reboot and re-level the economic playing field.
Myers points out that in Jesus’s first recorded message (Luke 4:16-30), he highlights the prophet Isaiah’s announcement of good news to the poor and the release of prisoners, and reminds us that prisoners in those days were usually impoverished people who were unable to repay money they borrowed in bad years to keep their families alive. The Isaiah 61 text that Jesus uses appears to be linked to two passages in the Pentateuch, the Deuteronomy 15 teaching on canceling debts every seven years, and the Leviticus 25 Jubilee text, one that mandates that no profit be made from the land every seventh year, and that repossessed land be restored to the original owners every 50th year, a "year of the Lord’s favor.”
Today we hear almost nothing about regularly forgiving others their monetary debts or about restoring property taken in foreclosure. But Jesus promises salvation to Zaccheus when he commits himself to redistributing his wealth, and later asks the so-called “rich young ruler” to do the same. And in each of the first three gospels, the latter story is accompanied by Jesus teaching us to become like owner-less children in order to become a part of the Jubilee-based God-Movement.
It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that the Spirit-led early church went well beyond simply sharing contributions from their surplus. The book of Acts describes how believers joyfully practiced Jesus’s form of Jubilee justice by selling property and distributing the proceeds among those in need.
In the same spirit, the apostle Paul appealed to the church at Corinth to practice a Jubilee-style sharing of their wealth with needy believers abroad. And the apostle had harsh words for those who ate and drank to excess at their community agape meals while refusing to share their abundance with poorer members of the congregation.
All of this makes it clear that followers of Jesus are not to gain ever more wealth for themselves while the Lazarus-like poor in the world become ever more destitute. In order for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven,” periodic redistribution is called for. Regarding the Lord's Prayer, John Howard Yoder, in "The Politics of Jesus" writes, “Jesus... tells us purely and simply to erase the debts of those who owe us money; which is to say, practice the jubilee.”
Claude Rosenberg and Tim Stone, in a December, 2006, article in the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, make the case for giving based on our assets, and not simply on our incomes, a principle they believe is clearly taught in the Torah and amplified in the New Testament. Our common practice of a tithe- and offering- based stewardship, they say, provides false justification for believers becoming as wealthy as they can as long as they give regularly and generously from their surplus.
A current illustration of this is the case of Dave Ramsey, considered one of the nation’s leading advisers on Christian money management. Over a million people in 5,600 churches recently tuned in to his 90-minute televised infomercial-style “Town Hall for Hope” broadcast. His DVD-based “Financial Peace University” courses are offered in churches everywhere, including Mennonite congregations. Profits from his book and DVD sales and from his many seminars have made Ramsey a multimillionaire, and he has just built a lavish home on a $1 million lot in a gated community overlooking Tennessee's richest county.
One of our problems is that we find it hard to make the case that this is even a problem. After all, Ramsey earned his money legally, saved it carefully, and no doubt has given much of it generously, just as we are all taught to do.
What is missing is a theology of stewardship that deals with the other half of the Biblical teaching on wealth, that of periodically and systematically redistributing and reinvesting it in ways that give a hand up to the underclass. We have overlooked the fact that the Pentateuch actually commands this, and that the church of Pentecost and of the apostle Paul clearly promotes it.
Here are some modest examples of how congregations and individuals might celebrate seasons of Jubilee:
1. Create a congregational Jubilee Fund to support an urgent local or international need, and invite members to sell something of significant value to them--or to draw substantially from their savings or investment accounts--to invest generously in such a fund.
2. Freeze or reduce congregational and conference staff salaries and benefits for a chosen year and contribute the savings to a Jubilee Fund, and urge each member to make similar investments.
3. Place a moratorium on church building or remodeling projects for a year (or longer), focusing instead on meeting direct people needs in the community and abroad.
4. Adopt a third world, inner city, or other needy congregation or community with whom to exchange information and/or work and study teams.
5. Promote members making gifts of some of their current IRA holdings and other investments and/or to transfer them to interest-free or low interest micro-loan funds.
6. Engage in serious Bible study and worship on the theme of redistribution stewardship.
7. Match our spending for Christmas and other gift giving each year with equal investments in missions, relief and other means of outreach, and on every seventh year, dispense with Christmas and other gift giving to the non-needy altogether, then double what we redistribute to the poor.
8. Invite members of third world congregations to become honorary members of the governing boards of our congregations and church institutions, regularly consulting with them by phone or e-mail about our spending and investment decisions.
9. Rewrite our wills so that they represent a more just form of Jubilee redistribution of our accumulated assets.
In order to be faithful to Jesus, we need to think and act in the spirit of Christmas rather than of capitalism, investing less in our own comfort and security and more in what delights the heart of God.
In this way we will joyfully trumpet liberty throughout the earth.
(this was first published in the December, 2009, issue of The Mennonite)
“At the end of every seven years you must cancel your debts...there should be no poor among you...be openhanded toward your brothers (and sisters) and toward the poor and needy in your land.” Deuteronomy 15: 1, 4a, 11b
“There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them and brought the money from the sales...and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” Acts 4:34-35
“Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply your need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: ‘He that gathered much did not have too much, and he that gathered little did not have too little.’” II Corinthians 8:13-15
From Thanksgiving to the end-of-year deadline for charitable deductions, many North Americans become extra generous in their giving. Christmas gift giving alone provides the kind of boost to the economy that many retailers depend on for their survival. So like the Leviticus 25 Jubilee, the season moves us well beyond our usual charity.
How could this Jubilee-like mindset, this holiday season thinking, transform our stewardship?
At a recent session of our Virginia Conference assembly we had an extended discussion of a plan to provide affordable health insurance for needy pastors. Delegates voiced their approval, but in light of leaner economic times, wondered whether the required number of congregations could afford to fund it, especially in light of growing concerns about meeting existing mission and conference budgets.
But I couldn’t help wondering why a church as well-to-do as ours should ever have even one needy pastor among us, or have a single outreach programs that is underfunded? And why should our church agencies have to increasingly depend on salaried fund raisers to help them meet their annual budgets?
One answer may be that we have been focusing on only half of what the Bible teaches about stewardship. We have taught well the half that has to do with contributing generously of our tithes and offerings, but have said or done little about the other Biblical mandate, that of radically and regularly redistributing our wealth in the spirit of Christmas and in celebration of a Jesus-inspired Jubilee.
Unfortunately, far from regularly redistributing our wealth, most us aren’t very generous in even contributing from it, according to sociologists Christian Smith, Michael Emerson and Patricia Snell, authors of a book called "Passing the Plate, Why Christians Don’t Give Away More of Their Money" (Oxford University Press, 2008). Their study finds that one in four US Protestants doesn’t give at all, and that the median rate of annual giving for that group is only $200, or less than half a percent of their taxable income. According to a 2005 study commissioned by MCUSA, the “typical” Mennonite member gives just less than 10 percent of income to some kind of charity.
According to the Passing the Plate authors, what makes churchgoing US Christians look especially miserly is that together they earn a staggering $2.5 trillion dollars a year. That would be enough wealth, they claim, to qualify for membership in the G7, a group representing the world’s seven largest economies. A modest ten percent of that sum, they point out, could do wonders to alleviate poverty and promote missions around the world.
Few of us would expect the unemployed and financially destitute to tithe. But the rest of us who live in one of the wealthiest economies in the world should be able to give far more. Regular giving, after all, is like paying rent for the privilege of enjoying life on a truly great planet.
But can simply giving from our surplus, without any regular redistribution of wealth that narrows the gap between rich and poor, be seen as an adequate expression of Biblical economics?
Ched Myers, author of "The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics," doesn’t think so. He argues that both the teachings of Jesus and the practices of the early church support a more radical stewardship, one grounded in Old Testament practices meant to periodically reboot and re-level the economic playing field.
Myers points out that in Jesus’s first recorded message (Luke 4:16-30), he highlights the prophet Isaiah’s announcement of good news to the poor and the release of prisoners, and reminds us that prisoners in those days were usually impoverished people who were unable to repay money they borrowed in bad years to keep their families alive. The Isaiah 61 text that Jesus uses appears to be linked to two passages in the Pentateuch, the Deuteronomy 15 teaching on canceling debts every seven years, and the Leviticus 25 Jubilee text, one that mandates that no profit be made from the land every seventh year, and that repossessed land be restored to the original owners every 50th year, a "year of the Lord’s favor.”
Today we hear almost nothing about regularly forgiving others their monetary debts or about restoring property taken in foreclosure. But Jesus promises salvation to Zaccheus when he commits himself to redistributing his wealth, and later asks the so-called “rich young ruler” to do the same. And in each of the first three gospels, the latter story is accompanied by Jesus teaching us to become like owner-less children in order to become a part of the Jubilee-based God-Movement.
It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that the Spirit-led early church went well beyond simply sharing contributions from their surplus. The book of Acts describes how believers joyfully practiced Jesus’s form of Jubilee justice by selling property and distributing the proceeds among those in need.
In the same spirit, the apostle Paul appealed to the church at Corinth to practice a Jubilee-style sharing of their wealth with needy believers abroad. And the apostle had harsh words for those who ate and drank to excess at their community agape meals while refusing to share their abundance with poorer members of the congregation.
All of this makes it clear that followers of Jesus are not to gain ever more wealth for themselves while the Lazarus-like poor in the world become ever more destitute. In order for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven,” periodic redistribution is called for. Regarding the Lord's Prayer, John Howard Yoder, in "The Politics of Jesus" writes, “Jesus... tells us purely and simply to erase the debts of those who owe us money; which is to say, practice the jubilee.”
Claude Rosenberg and Tim Stone, in a December, 2006, article in the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, make the case for giving based on our assets, and not simply on our incomes, a principle they believe is clearly taught in the Torah and amplified in the New Testament. Our common practice of a tithe- and offering- based stewardship, they say, provides false justification for believers becoming as wealthy as they can as long as they give regularly and generously from their surplus.
A current illustration of this is the case of Dave Ramsey, considered one of the nation’s leading advisers on Christian money management. Over a million people in 5,600 churches recently tuned in to his 90-minute televised infomercial-style “Town Hall for Hope” broadcast. His DVD-based “Financial Peace University” courses are offered in churches everywhere, including Mennonite congregations. Profits from his book and DVD sales and from his many seminars have made Ramsey a multimillionaire, and he has just built a lavish home on a $1 million lot in a gated community overlooking Tennessee's richest county.
One of our problems is that we find it hard to make the case that this is even a problem. After all, Ramsey earned his money legally, saved it carefully, and no doubt has given much of it generously, just as we are all taught to do.
What is missing is a theology of stewardship that deals with the other half of the Biblical teaching on wealth, that of periodically and systematically redistributing and reinvesting it in ways that give a hand up to the underclass. We have overlooked the fact that the Pentateuch actually commands this, and that the church of Pentecost and of the apostle Paul clearly promotes it.
Here are some modest examples of how congregations and individuals might celebrate seasons of Jubilee:
1. Create a congregational Jubilee Fund to support an urgent local or international need, and invite members to sell something of significant value to them--or to draw substantially from their savings or investment accounts--to invest generously in such a fund.
2. Freeze or reduce congregational and conference staff salaries and benefits for a chosen year and contribute the savings to a Jubilee Fund, and urge each member to make similar investments.
3. Place a moratorium on church building or remodeling projects for a year (or longer), focusing instead on meeting direct people needs in the community and abroad.
4. Adopt a third world, inner city, or other needy congregation or community with whom to exchange information and/or work and study teams.
5. Promote members making gifts of some of their current IRA holdings and other investments and/or to transfer them to interest-free or low interest micro-loan funds.
6. Engage in serious Bible study and worship on the theme of redistribution stewardship.
7. Match our spending for Christmas and other gift giving each year with equal investments in missions, relief and other means of outreach, and on every seventh year, dispense with Christmas and other gift giving to the non-needy altogether, then double what we redistribute to the poor.
8. Invite members of third world congregations to become honorary members of the governing boards of our congregations and church institutions, regularly consulting with them by phone or e-mail about our spending and investment decisions.
9. Rewrite our wills so that they represent a more just form of Jubilee redistribution of our accumulated assets.
In order to be faithful to Jesus, we need to think and act in the spirit of Christmas rather than of capitalism, investing less in our own comfort and security and more in what delights the heart of God.
In this way we will joyfully trumpet liberty throughout the earth.
(this was first published in the December, 2009, issue of The Mennonite)
Friday, October 7, 2011
Advertising a False Gospel
One of the problems we have in our society is that we have an enormous capacity for producing goods, but a limited number of people to buy them. So we’ve developed a huge advertising industry aimed at persuading people to buy more and more of what they don’t need and can’t afford.
Christopher Decker, in an article in the Wall Street Journal called “Selling Desire, Why Chastity is Bad for Business," notes that there was a time when advertising emphasized thrift, durability, and economy. Choices were usually made around how good a product was and how long it would last. But a consumer society has to reverse these values, he notes, because if advertising is to succeed, and business thrive, people have to be convinced that desires alone are sufficient reasons to buy something and that all of our passions are to be indulged now, rather than denied or postponed. So the very notion of chastity has to go, he says, because that represents a mindset that is opposite from a throw away, consumer culture that urges us to get our our Visa cards to buy and use stuff with abandonment, and then simply discard it for whatever you like even better.
According to Dr. Sut Jhally of the University of Massachusetts, the right question to ask about how a given commercial affects us is not how much it influences whether we buy a particular product, but how advertising as a whole affects our buying into a whole different set of values that are counter to the ones we profess to believe. Modern advertising promotes a magical way of thinking, he says, making fantastic promises about what certain products will do for us, like offer us incredible happiness, gain the gloating admiration of all kinds of desirable people, and transform us into an instant, spectacular success. Consumerism promises all, and as such becomes a kind of religion that replaces the faith we actually claim to live by
.
We need to teach ourselves and our children to talk back to the blatantly false messages we’re all hearing on television and other media every day. Or better yet, just unplug ourselves from the barrage of untruths we're being bombarded with and read or tell them some good messages of our own.
Christopher Decker, in an article in the Wall Street Journal called “Selling Desire, Why Chastity is Bad for Business," notes that there was a time when advertising emphasized thrift, durability, and economy. Choices were usually made around how good a product was and how long it would last. But a consumer society has to reverse these values, he notes, because if advertising is to succeed, and business thrive, people have to be convinced that desires alone are sufficient reasons to buy something and that all of our passions are to be indulged now, rather than denied or postponed. So the very notion of chastity has to go, he says, because that represents a mindset that is opposite from a throw away, consumer culture that urges us to get our our Visa cards to buy and use stuff with abandonment, and then simply discard it for whatever you like even better.
According to Dr. Sut Jhally of the University of Massachusetts, the right question to ask about how a given commercial affects us is not how much it influences whether we buy a particular product, but how advertising as a whole affects our buying into a whole different set of values that are counter to the ones we profess to believe. Modern advertising promotes a magical way of thinking, he says, making fantastic promises about what certain products will do for us, like offer us incredible happiness, gain the gloating admiration of all kinds of desirable people, and transform us into an instant, spectacular success. Consumerism promises all, and as such becomes a kind of religion that replaces the faith we actually claim to live by
.
We need to teach ourselves and our children to talk back to the blatantly false messages we’re all hearing on television and other media every day. Or better yet, just unplug ourselves from the barrage of untruths we're being bombarded with and read or tell them some good messages of our own.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
"Put Everything Back in the Box"
Some time ago I attended the memorial service of a long time friend and a former member of the church where I served as pastor for many years. As a part of his funeral message, Dick Blackwell shared the story of a child who often played Monopoly with his mom. Most of the time she was the clear winner, with her son being the sad loser.
Finally one day, as he became more savvy at the game, he had the satisfaction of coming out on top, with the most hotels, a couple of railroads, the electric company, and other properties and cash.
Then his mother said, as she always did, “Now we have to put everything back in the box.”
The boy's response was, “But I don’t want to. I want to just keep everything I’ve gained on the board.”
But she insisted, “No, when the game is over, we have to put everything back in the box.”
As I was hearing the story I couldn’t keep my eyes off of my friend’s flower covered casket in the front of us. I thought to myself, that is literally where they will put all that's physically left of us when our short time here is over. There will be no U-Hauls carrying our possessions behind the hearse that takes us to cemetery. Everything will have to be boxed up and put away.
Bottom line: The only thing we can claim as being ours forever is what we’ve given away, invested in the lives of others in need who will be blessed by how we’ve shared with them.
And through whatever legacy of influence we leave with our children and others.
It's what Jesus referred to as “treasure in heaven.”
P.S. There is book by John Ortberg entitled "When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box," where this story can be found. http://www.amazon.com/When-Game-Over-Goes-Back/dp/0310253500
Finally one day, as he became more savvy at the game, he had the satisfaction of coming out on top, with the most hotels, a couple of railroads, the electric company, and other properties and cash.
Then his mother said, as she always did, “Now we have to put everything back in the box.”
The boy's response was, “But I don’t want to. I want to just keep everything I’ve gained on the board.”
But she insisted, “No, when the game is over, we have to put everything back in the box.”
As I was hearing the story I couldn’t keep my eyes off of my friend’s flower covered casket in the front of us. I thought to myself, that is literally where they will put all that's physically left of us when our short time here is over. There will be no U-Hauls carrying our possessions behind the hearse that takes us to cemetery. Everything will have to be boxed up and put away.
Bottom line: The only thing we can claim as being ours forever is what we’ve given away, invested in the lives of others in need who will be blessed by how we’ve shared with them.
And through whatever legacy of influence we leave with our children and others.
It's what Jesus referred to as “treasure in heaven.”
P.S. There is book by John Ortberg entitled "When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box," where this story can be found. http://www.amazon.com/When-Game-Over-Goes-Back/dp/0310253500
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The 258th Richest Person in the World
Let’s say you buy a $43.5 million, 6,000-square-foot oceanfront estate on 6.5 acres in Sagaponack, Long Island (the country's most expensive zip code, according to BusinessWeek). What's the first thing you do? According to a June 2, 2010 post on the AOL homepage, if you're hedge fund billionaire David Tepper, you tear it down -- along with the guesthouse, swimming pool and tennis court -- to build an even bigger mega-mansion.
According to the Southampton Patch, Tepper bought the home in 2009 from ex-wife of former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, in the area's most expensive transaction of 2010. In April, he got a permit for the demolition, and two months later the site was completely cleared.
The new house is about twice the size of the original, with "ocean views from every room, a sunken tennis court, a three-car garage, a widow's walk, second-floor decks, including one with a Jacuzzi, and a covered porch," according to the minutes of a recent town board meeting at which the construction was reviewed.
From Wikkipedia, we learn that in 2009, Tepper's hedge-fund firm earned about $7 billion by buying distressed financial stocks (including acquiring Bank of America common stock at $3 per share) in February and March of that year and profiting from recovery of those stocks, with $4 billion of these profits going to Tepper's personal wealth. In March 2010, the New York Times reported that Tepper's success made him the top-earning hedge fund manager in the world in 2009, and in 2010 he was ranked by Forbes as the 258th richest person in the world, all through engaging in what Ghandi, in his list of "seven deadly social sins," describes as the wrong of "wealth without work."
This reminds me of a story Jesus once told of a well-to-do farmer who had an exceptionally good harvest one year. Pleased with his newly acquired wealth, he decided, “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink and be merry.’”
That may sound like a great plan for an early retirement, but what the poor man didn’t realize was that God labeled him as a fool for this kind of self-centered planning, a wealth-blinded mortal whose priorities were short-sighted and whose life was about to be terminated.
Unbeknownst to him, he was about to leave it all behind. Every bit of it.
According to the Southampton Patch, Tepper bought the home in 2009 from ex-wife of former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, in the area's most expensive transaction of 2010. In April, he got a permit for the demolition, and two months later the site was completely cleared.
The new house is about twice the size of the original, with "ocean views from every room, a sunken tennis court, a three-car garage, a widow's walk, second-floor decks, including one with a Jacuzzi, and a covered porch," according to the minutes of a recent town board meeting at which the construction was reviewed.
From Wikkipedia, we learn that in 2009, Tepper's hedge-fund firm earned about $7 billion by buying distressed financial stocks (including acquiring Bank of America common stock at $3 per share) in February and March of that year and profiting from recovery of those stocks, with $4 billion of these profits going to Tepper's personal wealth. In March 2010, the New York Times reported that Tepper's success made him the top-earning hedge fund manager in the world in 2009, and in 2010 he was ranked by Forbes as the 258th richest person in the world, all through engaging in what Ghandi, in his list of "seven deadly social sins," describes as the wrong of "wealth without work."
This reminds me of a story Jesus once told of a well-to-do farmer who had an exceptionally good harvest one year. Pleased with his newly acquired wealth, he decided, “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink and be merry.’”
That may sound like a great plan for an early retirement, but what the poor man didn’t realize was that God labeled him as a fool for this kind of self-centered planning, a wealth-blinded mortal whose priorities were short-sighted and whose life was about to be terminated.
Unbeknownst to him, he was about to leave it all behind. Every bit of it.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Old Order Savings and Thrift
According to an NPR story aired after the 2008 financial meltdown, not all financial institutions took a hit following that crisis. Banks in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with lots of Old Order Amish customers kept doing just fine.
"We've never lost any money on an Amish deal," noted Hometowne Heritage banker Bill O’Brien in the NPR interview. He explained that Old Order farmers and business people seldom take out loans except for major purchases like building construction or real estate, and pay for most other things by cash or from their savings or checking accounts. They use no credit cards, avoid fancy wardrobes and high tech entertainment centers, shun automobiles and most fuel guzzling farm equipment and are generally known for living a frugal and simple life. No sub prime loans here.
Banker O’Brien noted that even if his bank had wanted to, it could not have “bundled” its mortgages and resold them elsewhere for the easy profits other banks pursued. His Amish holdings wouldn't qualify anyway, he said, because in order for a mortgage to be securitized a home has to have electricity and be covered by traditional insurance. The Amish have chosen to do without electricity, and the primary insurance they have is their commitment to help each other when fellow members have any kind of major property damage or medical expenses.
Meanwhile, too many of us borrow and spend as though there were no tomorrow. The result is our nation experiencing an overall negative savings rate for the first time in American history. We have charged way more than we can afford, spent far more on instant gratification than we’ve been willing to save, and have too often accumulated debts greater than our net worth. We assumed that the value of our investments and real estate could only go up, and that there would always be a larger income and more credit where the last came from.
Those days appear to be over. More than ever we are being denied access to the bountiful buffet of easy, cheap credit and endless consumer goods we’ve been feasting on for so long. And now that it’s time to pay the piper, we find ourselves seriously short of cash.
As more of our collective bills are coming due, average American incomes are falling and unemployment rates are still unacceptably high. And to bail ourselves out and to get our economy back on track, the federal government is about to borrow even more trillions our grandchildren will be burdened with.
Maybe its time to take some lessons from our Amish and Old Order Mennonite neighbors. They, like our grandparents and great-grandparents who experienced hard times and the Great Depression, have learned to get by without expecting the good life to be handed them on a silver platter. They exercise fiscal restraint, wait to buy things until they can afford them, and routinely make and grow many of the things they need.
"We've never lost any money on an Amish deal," noted Hometowne Heritage banker Bill O’Brien in the NPR interview. He explained that Old Order farmers and business people seldom take out loans except for major purchases like building construction or real estate, and pay for most other things by cash or from their savings or checking accounts. They use no credit cards, avoid fancy wardrobes and high tech entertainment centers, shun automobiles and most fuel guzzling farm equipment and are generally known for living a frugal and simple life. No sub prime loans here.
Banker O’Brien noted that even if his bank had wanted to, it could not have “bundled” its mortgages and resold them elsewhere for the easy profits other banks pursued. His Amish holdings wouldn't qualify anyway, he said, because in order for a mortgage to be securitized a home has to have electricity and be covered by traditional insurance. The Amish have chosen to do without electricity, and the primary insurance they have is their commitment to help each other when fellow members have any kind of major property damage or medical expenses.
Meanwhile, too many of us borrow and spend as though there were no tomorrow. The result is our nation experiencing an overall negative savings rate for the first time in American history. We have charged way more than we can afford, spent far more on instant gratification than we’ve been willing to save, and have too often accumulated debts greater than our net worth. We assumed that the value of our investments and real estate could only go up, and that there would always be a larger income and more credit where the last came from.
Those days appear to be over. More than ever we are being denied access to the bountiful buffet of easy, cheap credit and endless consumer goods we’ve been feasting on for so long. And now that it’s time to pay the piper, we find ourselves seriously short of cash.
As more of our collective bills are coming due, average American incomes are falling and unemployment rates are still unacceptably high. And to bail ourselves out and to get our economy back on track, the federal government is about to borrow even more trillions our grandchildren will be burdened with.
Maybe its time to take some lessons from our Amish and Old Order Mennonite neighbors. They, like our grandparents and great-grandparents who experienced hard times and the Great Depression, have learned to get by without expecting the good life to be handed them on a silver platter. They exercise fiscal restraint, wait to buy things until they can afford them, and routinely make and grow many of the things they need.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Interview With a Galilean Financial Advisor
It may feel strange thinking of going to a first century Jewish rabbi for financial advice. But in these uncertain economic times, anything seems worth a try.
So let's imagine meeting one Jesus of Nazareth along a lake where some of his closest followers are partners in a family owned fishing business, and in view of a hilltop area where he once taught extensively on good money management
Our conversation with Jesus starts with questions about his credentials.
“Most people have a lot of respect for you, but aren’t you a little out of your league when it comes to economics? On spiritual issues you’re great, of course, but finances are so complicated these days that even experienced investors don’t seem to know what to tell us to do.”
“Fair question, but being involved in the creation of the entire universe, and then having been officially put in charge of it, should count for something.”
"A valid point. But with all due respect, do you really expect us to take seriously talk like ‘Take no thought for tomorrow,’ or ‘Live like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field’? That just seems irresponsible.”
“Notice that when I teach people not to worry about the future, I don’t mean they shouldn’t work. Think about it, most birds actually work a lot harder and put in longer days than we humans do, and even the wild flowers aren’t like dead bouquets in a vase. They are constantly drawing nutrients and moisture from the soil, sometimes under harsh conditions, actively turning sunlight into color and growth. It’s the 'don’t be anxious' part, the trusting part, I want my followers to learn more about. But to work, as the very first humans were instructed to do from the beginning, has always been a part of the plan, just as in the later instruction 'six days you shall labor.' And remember, the Creator’s very first command was for people to tend the earth and to take good care of it--which, by the way, most of you haven’t been doing very well.”
“I know, I know. But back to finances, I’ve never understood the part about investing in ‘the kingdom of heaven,’ instead of in enterprises here on earth. How can you ever do that, practically?”
“First of all, this is about the wisdom of not investing in more and more earthly stuff, consumer-based perishables that don’t really satisfy, or in self-enhancing status symbols that inevitably depreciate, rust out, wear out, or get moldy and moth-eaten. Instead, invest in what's more lasting, that truly helps meet the basic needs of people--including yourself and your family, of course--and that demonstrates your concern that everyone should have enough to eat, decent clothes to wear and adequate health care. Such gifts just keep on giving. Even in the next life you’ll be experiencing lasting returns, since the folks you’ve helped, along with your Father, will forever thank, welcome and bless you for having made truly wise financial investments. It’s part of my fail-proof eternal retirement program.”
“Yes, but we do have to first make it through this life, don’t we?”
“Of course. For starters, my plan represents the most effective stimulus package possible for ailing economies. The rising tide of improved standards of living from the bottom up lifts all boats, quickly and efficiently. And contrary to what some people think, I’m not naive about the need for prudent capital investments that provide the means of earning money. For example, my human parents had to invest money in tools and supplies for their construction business in order to provide for all of us. My friends in the fishing trade have had to invest in, and maintain, boats and nets to keep their enterprise going. And remember my illustrations about the ‘talents’ and the ‘pounds’? That’s all about people making capital investments for the purpose of increased profits in the 'Company of Heaven.' That worldwide enterprise is headquartered with my Father, but operates very much in this world. So that’s what I advise you to invest in, rather than your speculating in stocks in companies that are mostly about promoting consumer wealth.”
“OK. So you are saying it makes the most sense to invest heavily in enterprises that directly meet human needs and promote the worldwide Kingdom-of-God Movement, thus having more of God’s will being accomplished here on earth as it is in heaven.”
“Exactly. And don't assume that just because you manage large sums of capital wealth, even if dedicated to a God-blessed enterprises, that you are automatically entitled to more consumer wealth as a result. My business model is based on every man, woman and child on earth becoming wiser and more just stewards of wealth that's meant to bless everyone on the planet. God has no favorites, some who deserve a larger share of the consumer pie than others.”
“But I can’t help being concerned about providing for my family's future needs. Someday I'll no longer be able to earn, and I may even need some long term nursing care.”
"Well, remember all of my teaching on money is in the context of people belonging to covenant communities that are so committed to each other that no one will starve unless they all do. That represents the one and only real assurance of lifelong security.”
End of interview.
See also https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2011/11/christmas-economics-how-both-pentateuch.html
So let's imagine meeting one Jesus of Nazareth along a lake where some of his closest followers are partners in a family owned fishing business, and in view of a hilltop area where he once taught extensively on good money management
Our conversation with Jesus starts with questions about his credentials.
“Most people have a lot of respect for you, but aren’t you a little out of your league when it comes to economics? On spiritual issues you’re great, of course, but finances are so complicated these days that even experienced investors don’t seem to know what to tell us to do.”
“Fair question, but being involved in the creation of the entire universe, and then having been officially put in charge of it, should count for something.”
"A valid point. But with all due respect, do you really expect us to take seriously talk like ‘Take no thought for tomorrow,’ or ‘Live like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field’? That just seems irresponsible.”
“Notice that when I teach people not to worry about the future, I don’t mean they shouldn’t work. Think about it, most birds actually work a lot harder and put in longer days than we humans do, and even the wild flowers aren’t like dead bouquets in a vase. They are constantly drawing nutrients and moisture from the soil, sometimes under harsh conditions, actively turning sunlight into color and growth. It’s the 'don’t be anxious' part, the trusting part, I want my followers to learn more about. But to work, as the very first humans were instructed to do from the beginning, has always been a part of the plan, just as in the later instruction 'six days you shall labor.' And remember, the Creator’s very first command was for people to tend the earth and to take good care of it--which, by the way, most of you haven’t been doing very well.”
“I know, I know. But back to finances, I’ve never understood the part about investing in ‘the kingdom of heaven,’ instead of in enterprises here on earth. How can you ever do that, practically?”
“First of all, this is about the wisdom of not investing in more and more earthly stuff, consumer-based perishables that don’t really satisfy, or in self-enhancing status symbols that inevitably depreciate, rust out, wear out, or get moldy and moth-eaten. Instead, invest in what's more lasting, that truly helps meet the basic needs of people--including yourself and your family, of course--and that demonstrates your concern that everyone should have enough to eat, decent clothes to wear and adequate health care. Such gifts just keep on giving. Even in the next life you’ll be experiencing lasting returns, since the folks you’ve helped, along with your Father, will forever thank, welcome and bless you for having made truly wise financial investments. It’s part of my fail-proof eternal retirement program.”
“Yes, but we do have to first make it through this life, don’t we?”
“Of course. For starters, my plan represents the most effective stimulus package possible for ailing economies. The rising tide of improved standards of living from the bottom up lifts all boats, quickly and efficiently. And contrary to what some people think, I’m not naive about the need for prudent capital investments that provide the means of earning money. For example, my human parents had to invest money in tools and supplies for their construction business in order to provide for all of us. My friends in the fishing trade have had to invest in, and maintain, boats and nets to keep their enterprise going. And remember my illustrations about the ‘talents’ and the ‘pounds’? That’s all about people making capital investments for the purpose of increased profits in the 'Company of Heaven.' That worldwide enterprise is headquartered with my Father, but operates very much in this world. So that’s what I advise you to invest in, rather than your speculating in stocks in companies that are mostly about promoting consumer wealth.”
“OK. So you are saying it makes the most sense to invest heavily in enterprises that directly meet human needs and promote the worldwide Kingdom-of-God Movement, thus having more of God’s will being accomplished here on earth as it is in heaven.”
“Exactly. And don't assume that just because you manage large sums of capital wealth, even if dedicated to a God-blessed enterprises, that you are automatically entitled to more consumer wealth as a result. My business model is based on every man, woman and child on earth becoming wiser and more just stewards of wealth that's meant to bless everyone on the planet. God has no favorites, some who deserve a larger share of the consumer pie than others.”
“But I can’t help being concerned about providing for my family's future needs. Someday I'll no longer be able to earn, and I may even need some long term nursing care.”
"Well, remember all of my teaching on money is in the context of people belonging to covenant communities that are so committed to each other that no one will starve unless they all do. That represents the one and only real assurance of lifelong security.”
End of interview.
See also https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2011/11/christmas-economics-how-both-pentateuch.html
Sunday, March 6, 2011
caveat emptor
"Let the buyer beware" is a bit of wisdom I've always thought I practiced reasonably well.
But I also have a weakness for bargains--as in the case of a recent coupon I got for a $19.99 oil change, complete with a free 19-point vehicle inspection.
Somehow, saving $15 sounded so good I forgot to apply another wise saying, "If anything sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Anyway, soon after leaving my Nissan pickup at an unnamed tire dealers, I got a call from the pleasant and very nice person I had just spoken to.
"Mr. Yoder, did you realize your vehicle is due for an inspection?" (I had failed to notice) "We could do that for you for a standard $16. And by the way, your left front wheel has worn bearings, and the tire is wearing unevenly. We'd be glad to fix that up for you, too, get your vehicle realigned, and you'll be good to go until your next inspection."
I was having a busy afternoon, and while I hesitated at first (I had just had an alignment done), I was assured that the work on the wheel bearings was necessary and that the alignment was indeed required. So, trusting and ignorant as I was, I agreed, figuring it would be convenient to just get all this out of the way.
Later that afternoon I had serious second thoughts about my choice, wishing I would have waited and gotten a second opinion. But by then I figured it was too late to change my mind.
Do I ever wish I had. That evening I was hit with a serious case of sticker shock and buyer's remorse when I was handed a bill totaling over $300.
I asked for my old wheel bearings back, just to check them out, and when I inquired about why this required a realignment, I was told it was because the tie rod needs to be removed in such cases (which could make sense only to a mechanically challenged person like myself).
The next morning, I showed the bearings to a nearby mechanic, along with my bill.
Here's what I learned--the hard way, of course:
1. My left front tire wear was normal.
2. The wheel bearings showed no significant wear (also confirmed by a second mechanic I took them to).
3. It is not necessary to remove a tie rod on the front wheel of a two-wheel drive vehicle to replace wheel bearings.
4. Therefore no wheel alignment was necessary.
Needless to say, I registered a complaint with the overly helpful folks who did all this, and am waiting to hear what adjustment they are willing to make. Or whether I need to take my case to the Virginia State Inspection folks to enlist their help.
Meanwhile, I'm posting this embarrassing tale to warn others to exercise more care than I did, and I will P.S. an update on this post as soon as I know more.
A March 17 P.S.: The manager and the lead mechanic at the tire dealer spoke with me today, and while they still insist the wheel bearings needed to be replaced they conceded on the alignment issue, offered me a full refund for that ($115) plus a free rotation of my tires, which leaves me at least 90% satisfied.
So, case closed, lesson learned.
But I also have a weakness for bargains--as in the case of a recent coupon I got for a $19.99 oil change, complete with a free 19-point vehicle inspection.
Somehow, saving $15 sounded so good I forgot to apply another wise saying, "If anything sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Anyway, soon after leaving my Nissan pickup at an unnamed tire dealers, I got a call from the pleasant and very nice person I had just spoken to.
"Mr. Yoder, did you realize your vehicle is due for an inspection?" (I had failed to notice) "We could do that for you for a standard $16. And by the way, your left front wheel has worn bearings, and the tire is wearing unevenly. We'd be glad to fix that up for you, too, get your vehicle realigned, and you'll be good to go until your next inspection."
I was having a busy afternoon, and while I hesitated at first (I had just had an alignment done), I was assured that the work on the wheel bearings was necessary and that the alignment was indeed required. So, trusting and ignorant as I was, I agreed, figuring it would be convenient to just get all this out of the way.
Later that afternoon I had serious second thoughts about my choice, wishing I would have waited and gotten a second opinion. But by then I figured it was too late to change my mind.
Do I ever wish I had. That evening I was hit with a serious case of sticker shock and buyer's remorse when I was handed a bill totaling over $300.
I asked for my old wheel bearings back, just to check them out, and when I inquired about why this required a realignment, I was told it was because the tie rod needs to be removed in such cases (which could make sense only to a mechanically challenged person like myself).
The next morning, I showed the bearings to a nearby mechanic, along with my bill.
Here's what I learned--the hard way, of course:
1. My left front tire wear was normal.
2. The wheel bearings showed no significant wear (also confirmed by a second mechanic I took them to).
3. It is not necessary to remove a tie rod on the front wheel of a two-wheel drive vehicle to replace wheel bearings.
4. Therefore no wheel alignment was necessary.
Needless to say, I registered a complaint with the overly helpful folks who did all this, and am waiting to hear what adjustment they are willing to make. Or whether I need to take my case to the Virginia State Inspection folks to enlist their help.
Meanwhile, I'm posting this embarrassing tale to warn others to exercise more care than I did, and I will P.S. an update on this post as soon as I know more.
A March 17 P.S.: The manager and the lead mechanic at the tire dealer spoke with me today, and while they still insist the wheel bearings needed to be replaced they conceded on the alignment issue, offered me a full refund for that ($115) plus a free rotation of my tires, which leaves me at least 90% satisfied.
So, case closed, lesson learned.
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