Please tell us about your list titled, “Your 10 Most Important Financial Moves for 2024.”

We want to help people choose the best 10 ideas that specifically fit their situation. So we discuss over 60 suggestions in the article and encourage each reader to select their personal Top 10 list.

We’ve found that those who go through this process of making a personal Top 10 list — and then follow through on those action steps — become better stewards and make tangible progress toward their long-term goals.

These suggestions are broken into several categories. Help us understand spiritual and financial fundamentals …

We try to set the appropriate context before diving into the nitty gritty financial stuff. And that begins with understanding what God says about us, and about our money, in scripture. So a few highlights from this section include:

Resting in God’s love. His love isn’t based on our worth or merit.
Invest time in studying what Scripture says about money and material possessions. SMI has long believed the #1 financial mistake Christians make is ignoring biblical wisdom about financial matters and looking to secular advice instead.

The next category is “the world around you.” What does that cover?

Improve your understanding of the problems and policies shaping today’s economy.
Another “big picture” topic to understand relates to the rapidly expanding level of federal debt.

The next category is “strengthening your foundation.” What do we have there?

Building an adequate emergency fund — before risking money in the stock and bond markets.
Invest time creating and following a budget. This is probably the most powerful single step many people can take to make tangible financial progress in the year ahead.
Committing to giving generously even if you’re paying off debt. Getting out of consumer debt is crucial for long-term financial stability.

The next section now is “developing your investing plan.”

Face your fears, overcome your inertia, and start investing! Don’t wait for the “perfect time” to get started.
A second step for relatively new investors is to become a dollar-cost averaging investor — and ideally automate that process so it’s out of sight, out of mind. “Dollar-cost averaging” (DCA) just means investing the same amount of money at regular intervals — for example, investing $300 every month.

Tell us what “broadening your portfolio“ is.

Become a “diversified” investor. This includes starting to learn about different types of stocks and bonds and how to combine them in a portfolio.
This is also where a person would start thinking more closely about retirement taxes and the best way to utilize traditional and Roth accounts.
And for the gold bugs out there, we’ve got a separate action item about gold investing.

Let’s talk about retirement.

Start thinking through your later-life decisions when you’re in your 50s. Most people put this off, but research suggests it’s wise to think this through earlier.
There are lots of tangible retirement items relating to Medicare, how to optimize your Social Security benefits, and so forth.

The last category is what you might call,” everything else.” It includes children, work, college technology and insurance.

For parents — and grandparents — Be intentional about training your children to be wise and faithful stewards.
Other ideas here include insurance items, specifically making sure you have enough liability insurance coverage, because the default liability coverage in a lot of homeowner and auto policies is insufficient.
Disability insurance is another one to consider here.
And of course, for those with young children, the topic of saving for college is always of particular interest, so learning about the best ways to approach that is time well spent.

ON TODAY’S PROGRAM, ROB ANSWERS LISTENER QUESTIONS:

Alan wants to know if solar panels will help with paying his bills now and going into the future.
Kristen is a widow. Her husband recently passed away. He was a pastor and their church was putting away in a 403b for his retirement. What is the best way for the church to give her the money without being penalized?

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

The Sound Mind Investing Handbook
SoundMindInvesting.org
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Certified Kingdom Advisor

Remember, you can call in to ask your questions most days at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on the Moody Radio Network as well as American Family Radio. Visit our website at FaithFi.com where you can join the FaithFi Community, and give as we expand our outreach.

Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every workday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God’s resources.

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