This booklet contains 339 strategies which may play a key role in helping you get out of debt, learn financial planning lessons, understand stewardship, generosity and manage your money better.

Do you have a financial plan?

If you don't have a financial plan you need one. If you do have a financial plan you need to review it on a regular basis. Either way, this booklet will likely save you money and more importantly give you ideas that you can develop in your own financial plan.

It is worth repeating, everyone needs a financial plan and the root of a good plan is to create a "Spending Plan". Along with your spending plan you will benefit from many of the practical and common sense ideas you find in this booklet. You'll want to read it several times because with each reading you will likely find another gem of an idea that you can develop in your own financial planning review.

Here is a sample of a few of the practical stewardship ideas contained in this perfect financial planning booklet.

1. The purpose of a spending plan is to provide a guidance system to send out an alarm signal if you are headed in the wrong direction. A proper spending plan provides flexibility and the ability to handle unforeseen emergencies. It needs to be simple and easily maintained on a weekly basis, and, in less than fifteen minutes. Avoid making the plan overly complicated.
   
   
2. Guard your PIN and look carefully at the ATM before you insert your card. People committing fraud build new ATM covers and place them on bank machine to get your card number and PIN.
   
   
3. You should not give anyone your PIN number for any account or Internet file - NEVER!
   
   
4. As you approach retirement, be sure your funds are not locked-in for long periods. This will give you the opportunity to move to better investments should you decide you want to make a change.
   
   
5. Set aside a regular amount from your salary for investment. The amount of money is not as important as the benefit gained from contributing on a regular basis to the fund. Additional money for this fund might be found from increasing income and/or decreasing expenses.
   
   
6. If your income fluctuates combine your registered retirement savings plan deduction with next year’s deduction if you anticipate earning a higher income in the second year.
   
   
7. If you are facing early retirement, best to try and negotiate your current employee benefits as part of the package. Many employers will continue the benefit package until your age 65.
   
   
8. A reverse mortgage permits the elderly homeowner to withdraw part of the equity from the home to provide tax-free income, usually on a regular series of payments. Since this money is not normally paid back during your lifetime and it will deplete your equity, this plan requires careful research before making any final decisions.
   
   
9. It is possible to give an asset to your favorite charity and retain a life interest in the asset. You receive a tax receipt and you continue to use or enjoy the asset. At your death, or when you no longer want the asset, the charity can sell it and use the money.
   
   
10. Canadian residents aged 18 or over can contribute up to $5,000 per year to a Tax-free savings account, beginning in 2009, with unused contribution room being carried forward. So, using this account with other investments may be a smart way to manage some extra money which you.  
    
    
11. A small degree of income splitting can be achieved by having the spouse with the higher income use their income for normal living expenses and the spouse with the lower income use this income for investment. Being that the spouse with the smaller income may be in a lower tax bracket, the taxes paid will be less on the earned income.
    
    
12. Claim all costs associated with holding investments.  Such costs may include, fees for safety deposit boxes, investment counsel fees, brokerage fees, charges for payroll deductions to purchase bonds.
    
    
13. Did you know that American teachers and their aids could deduct up to $250 if they spend that money on books or classroom supplies.
    
    
14. Another sweet deduction for our American neighbors involves student loans. Now a student loan paid by the parents is deemed to flow through the student and the student who is not claimed as a dependent can deduct up to a limit of $2,500 of student loan interest.
    
    
15. While we are talking about charities, any out-of-pocket expenses you incur such as driving, buying office supplies, stamps or food ingredients for a soup kitchen are all tax deductible and you can receive a tax receipt for your contribution.
    
    
16. In America if you were to host a charity event in your home, any expenses that are not reimbursed by the charity are considered a donation and you are entitled to a tax receipt.

Well, I think you get the idea of how this booklet can help you. From the 339 strategies there are bound to some that will recover your investment is this booklet ten times over. If you are interested in financial planning success then you should order this book and download it right now.

Financial planning is important and everyone needs to have a financial plan. A financial plan is the only way you can measure your progress and determine how far you have come.

You can download this helpful tool and begin applying several financial planning and stewardship principles right now.

You may be wondering exactly when is the right time to do a fund raising campaign? It is a good question and one that is not entirely dependent upon the economy.

For sure the economy will play a major role in any campaign albeit the annual fund raising campaign or a special stewardship fund raising campaign. If your church is hit with high unemployment it is probably not a good time for a campaign. Also, if the people hold jobs which could be affected by either temporary or permanent layoffs you might need to reconsider. Having said that, there are other factors which also affect the decision whether to proceed with a campaign or not. Here are a few thoughts to ponder.

1. If you are going to do a full stewardship fund raising campaign to retire debt, build a new church building or to renovate your existing church be sure to do a feasibility study. The feasibility study has two parts to it.
   
   First, the should be a written survey of the congregation. Ask good questions and have someone with a statistical background conduct and analyze the survey results for you. It takes time to do this but it is worth the wait.
   
   Second, conduct a series of ten question interviews with people throughout the church. These are live interviews which last about 15 minutes where you can ask the same questions of several individuals if they are willing to support a campaign at this time. Be sure to have a very good cross section of people from your church. For example, interview people who are older, younger, unemployed, managers, workers, wealthy not so wealthy, new Christians, seniors in favor of a campaign, and a few who are not in favor of a campaign. The information you gain from the interview should line up with what your statistical survey says.
   
   
2. Have you investigated other sources for funding a capital stewardship fund raising campaign apart from your congregation? Did you consider how small businesses in your area could participate or whether or not charitable foundations might be interested in showing financial support for your church? In the event that you needed a mortgage would your denomination hold a mortgage for you? If your church is an independent have you investigated the local banks and mortgage lending companies to determine their attitude and willingness to loan money to your church at this time?
   
   
3. A third consideration is people and this is a big one. Do you have the right people in the church who will step up and show leadership at this time when you are considering a fund raising campaign? Leadership or the lack of it will make or break a fund raising campaign. You can preach all the stewardship sermons you want but if the people are not willito take on the job or who is not 100% committed to supporting your capital stewardship campaign or you are headed for trouble.
   
   
4. Our company sells resources to help the local church with their stewardship campaigns for both the annual stewardship campaign and the capital stewardship campaign. The manuals are not expensive and contain everything you will need to know about conducting a successful fund raising campaign. The manual contains sample survey questions, a step by step approach to building a campaign of any size, job descriptions for the various roles and templates to guide you in your campaign. You should really look at the campaign materials and you have our assurance that we will assist you in your campaign.

So, when exactly is the right time for your campaign? It might be now or it might be next year. In either case why not do your homework now and get prepared for a future expansion and a capital fund raising campaign.

 

Following *
the suggestions of a few people I am placing a recent blog here for your review. This particular blog dealt with raising money through an annual stewardship campaign. I hope you enjoy it!

Well, with September around the corner some churches will want to launch their annual stewardship campaign now instead of the traditional time in January. That's okay to do but be sure you have planned well. Here are some tips which should help you plan for a successful fund raising campaign.

1. Carefully select a committee to put together an annual stewardship calendar. This involves your campaign plus a preaching series later in the year and all other fund raising activities as well.
   
   
2. Involve many people in the church on this committee. The committee can have smaller groups focused on a particular event if you like.
   
   
3. Be sure you have set a strong and realistic church budget. Be sure you add a line for emergencies and build a small fund to cover off any problems which might occur.
   
   
4. Report back to the congregation in your weekly bulletin or a special newsletter how you are doing with the finances.
   
   
5. Educate the people to give. Stewardship should be a life lesson and a lifestyle and usually doesn't occur through a stewardship drive or campaign.
   
   
6. While the general fund is important and needs to be strong, don't rule out asking for designated funds to meet the needs of a particular project. Tell the people that any excess funds will be used elsewhere when the project becomes fully funded.
   
   
7. Share the statistics with the church showing how many are giving at various levels and how many are not giving at all. Encourage everyone to do something regardless of the amount they may want to give.
   
   
8. Encourage people in the church you make a gift in their Will. Planned giving is an acceptable way for everyone to become involved in your campaign.
   
   
9. Sometimes it helps people if you set a giving target. Shows the results in your newsletters or bulletin on Sunday.
   
   
10. Thank the congregation for what they give.
    
    Perhaps adopting some of these ideas or thoughts may help your church raise more money. If you have any trouble then email me and I'll try to send some suggestions which might assist you.

Well that's the way I see it!

 

 

Why is overcoming debt so important?

So often people find themselves in debt that they can not manage and ask themselves, "How did I end up with so much debt"? The answer may surprise you but I think that we often are so focused on making more money and struggling to see our incomes rise that we lose sight of the obvious. We live to our potential income believing that we will make more money next year and that our employment is secure so there is no need for worry.

Sadly, we are living in a scratch and win society where people want everything now if not sooner, and these same people are willing to pay for their need for instant gratification with credit. If people neglect to develop a financial plan and if they turn a blind eye towards their debt soon over coming debt will become their major concern.

The credit car companies and banking institutions play a role here as well. They make their money when people use credit cards and they make even more money when these same people don't pay off the credit card debt. It is important to note that overcoming debt is never as easy as getting into debt and it certainly isn't as much fun either.

This latest recession is a prime example of everyone caught up in debt and finding that they can't get out of the fowler's snare. Both personal and corporate bankruptcies are higher because both people and companies can't pay their debt, and/or people lose their jobs as companies downsize to try and live within their means. When people are out of work, they don't buy products. When companies don't sell products, they reduce their work force and layoff people or terminate staff. Either way it is a slippery slop that can quickly get out of control and is hard to turn around.

So, what to do if you find yourself in this situation of trying to overcome debt? Well, here are some suggestions:

1. Stop using your credit card for things you want. Only purchase things you need and even then be careful how you use your credit card.
2. Assess your level of indebtedness. Take inventory of your debt and determine which debts you can payoff quickly and then do so.
3. Develop a spending plan to show you where your money comes from and where analyze where it is going.
4. If you have debt which you can't manage immediate contact the debtor and explain your situation. Ask them to stop the interest calculations on your account and tell them when they can expect payment.
5. If credit cards still present a problem for you, cut them in half or returDEBAR AREA -->