Category: Stewardship
How Investing Can Help Change the World
July 22, 2024by Ron Bare
When did you decide you wanted to change the world? In 2009, at my first Kingdom Advisors conference, I realized for the first time that I was being called to be a “pastor of finance.” The Bible is full of so much truth about money – over 2,300 verses in fact! As I watched various people in my life apply these verses, I saw that each of these people had produced contentment, generosity, freedom, clarity, purpose, and ultimately faithfulness as a result of some of these practices. I knew that if I could use my passion to help others grasp a deeper understanding in this area, we could change the world together.
This was my story but ask others how to change the world and you’ll get answers all over the board. End world hunger, commit your life to cancer research, or live overseas as a missionary? These are all admirable. Yet, as I’ve grown and learned more about the financial world, I’ve learned that investing can have a huge impact on the world. So, why should we invest? What is this impact I’m talking about? I’m glad you asked.
Many would say that investing is a great way to grow wealth and that it provides a good rate of return – both of which can be true. These are two potential benefits to the investor. But what if I argued that investing really isn’t just about you, but that there can be a redemptive purpose for investing? Tim Macready, of Brightlight Capital, says it well. “Redemptive investing is moving unproductive capital to productive capital to make goods and services to promote human flourishing.”
Investing is not simply the act of setting money aside to someday see a return. Investing, at its core, is about supplying capital to businesses in exchange for ownership in the company and rights to profit and growth. Now this kind of investing will influence your community – if it is productive for human flourishing, because it impacts businesses and allows growth to happen. How does this apply as we look for companies to invest in?
Believing that we are stewards of God’s money forces us to consider what kinds of companies, properties, or businesses we choose to own or profit from. We are reminded of this higher responsibility in Luke 12:48; “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” Are there then ‘good’ or ‘bad’ profits? Might a good profit be tied to a company that serves others ? And a bad profit be related to an investment that harms others?
As we each decide where, how, and when to invest, mistakes are normal. But we believe some of these mistakes are avoidable when the definition and purpose of investing are crystal clear.
One of the biggest mistakes we see is with those who do not have a purpose nor an end goal. Without purpose or clarity, accumulation is natural, but becomes hard to distinguish from hoarding. When we create parameters and know how much is enough, our investments are wise and purposeful.
Secondly, sometimes the primary purpose of investing becomes saving money on taxes. Saving money on taxes is a nice bonus, but leading with that motivation is not a great long-term plan. When focusing on solely saving taxes you may become stuck in frustrating long-term commitments or may not be able to meet your goals in the way that you could have otherwise.
Lastly, many non-liquid investments are highly leveraged . This certainly potentially increases the rate of return but also increases risk. If investing means supplying capital to fund a company we’re passionate about, yet we are obsessed with finding a high rate of return, we may take on unnecessary risk when investing in companies with high debt levels.
Investing doesn’t have to be complicated or stressful. It can be a beautiful picture of committing your resources to provide capital to companies that promote human flourishing and then enjoying the benefits of those companies’ successes.
Leaving a Family Legacy of Generosity
June 7, 2024by Ron Bare
My parents taught me to be generous. Throughout my childhood they instilled many values, both in speech and in action – but it was the “action” values that really remained. I don’t remember whether our house was always clean or whether my mom’s meals were always perfectly cooked. But I do remember that she was always feeding not only me, but all of my friends too. I remember my father faithfully tithing. My mom was also generous with her time, volunteering at church and a local thrift shop. I learned by watching her that generosity can be expressed in many forms and that family giving is hugely impactful.
I believe many of us would love to leave legacies of a strong work ethic or faithfully tithing, similar to my parents. We all have a deep desire to impact those around us. So how do we do it?
Last month, we talked about six buckets of long-term goals. We focused on the giving bucket and about what it means to give out of our assets and accumulation. This takes intentional planning and a generous heart.
This month, we’re focused on the family goals bucket. Many of us have a desire within our hearts to support our children or grandchildren. This support comes in different forms depending on our values and lifestyle. We often begin with goals of helping our children financially. These goals typically involve helping with their education, first home, or leaving an inheritance.
In the same way that my parents taught me the many ways to be generous, I’d invite you to consider the many ways to handle family goals. Offering college support or leaving an inheritance aren’t the only ways to support your family. The values and wisdom you instill in your children and grandchildren around finances can be even more valuable than the finances themselves. One of my mentors, Ron Blue, stresses the importance of this concept in a quote he has been known to say, ” Pass on wisdom before wealth.” Your children and grandchildren will continue to think of you after you’re gone. What do you hope comes to their mind? What did they see you model? How did you talk to them about money?
Maybe there are patterns you can establish, like giving first before paying your bills, that your children will pick up on. It could be valuable to also consider a fund that could be started to help fund the dreams and goals of the next generation, including helping them start a business, buy a home or even invest into their giving goals. Consider how your life experiences can be valuable to share. Simply inviting your children into some of your financial conversations can be invaluable. You’ve learned lessons through your successes and failures that have the potential to be a great resource to the next generation.
Part of the reason we encourage thinking about more than just giving financially to our family is because we know that without the values piece, sometimes more harm than good can happen. Instead of instilling a mindset of perseverance, sacrifice or hard work, financial blessings can create entitlement or dependence without wisdom. At some point, you may have done “enough” financially for your family. This has to be a real consideration. You can still serve your family even if the answer for right now is ‘no.’ I have seen that entitlement and dependence are less likely to happen when we’re successful with passing on wisdom and values.
I have been blessed to have a wonderful mother and father. Not because our home was always perfect. Simply because I was taught important lessons about generosity, especially about finances. What are your children and grandchildren learning from you? Family goals are so valuable, yet can be approached in many ways. We’d love to hear about how you and your family creatively approach your family goals.
Join us next month for a conversation about our capital assets and investments and how they can shift the culture and influence the world for good.
Implementing Faithful Living with Intentionality
April 1, 2024by Ron Bare
It’s easy to talk the talk. But when it comes to walking the walk, that’s a little more difficult, isn’t it? We’ve all seen this in action. This is why it’s easy to say that we will be more mindful of our budget, but when we start to smell that coffee, the budget goes out the window. It’s why saying that we’re starting a diet is easy, but actually following through with the restrictions it brings is so difficult.
At Bare, we understand the importance of both talking about faithfulness and following through with it! We know it takes planning and intentionality to make this happen, and we want to equip you and your family with resources to be faithful.
But what does faithfulness mean? A simple google search shows ‘faithful’ to mean steadfast, or true to the facts. As we focus on our “Year of Faithfulness”, we’re praying that each staff member and client comes to understand faithfulness in a deeper manner and chooses to live that out personally. So far this year, we’ve defined faithfulness and shared some practical tips around faithful living. This month, we want to give you strategies to intentionally implement these principles.
These principles come from my learning over the last 30 years in financial advising combined with the study of God’s Word. His Word is steadfast and true; it is faithful!
I want to begin with the most important financial decision you get to make: deciding how much to give. I typically start by considering a 10% tithe. This is a biblical principle and I’ve found it to be a helpful starting point. From there, consider how you can be more generous each year. Set intentional generosity goals and work toward them. And remember, generosity is an overflow of the heart!
Second, consider defining ‘enough.’ Personally, I’ve set a budget that includes both necessary expenses and fun expenses, like traveling, eating out, and our family’s hobbies. This budget gives me an idea of just how much is enough. It protects against the danger of hoarding. Without this guardrail, we will all keep chasing more money, more traveling, more new cars, more, more, more.
Finally, I’d encourage you to set financial goals and invest with a specific personal goal in mind. This will help you determine how much to accumulate. Consider whether your investment decisions are in line with the personal goals you’ve set for yourself. What is needed to grow your business and make a bigger impact? Are you moving closer to or further from that? What are your retirement goals? What are your family goals? Consider your future goals and what decisions might need to be made now to make those things possible later.
Defining ‘enough’ for you and your family will be critical in this whole process. Once you are confident in having accumulated ‘enough’ to meet your financial goals, there are new things to consider! That stage of life is a beautiful time to increase your giving and invest capital in order to shift the culture and change the world for the glory of God. Stay tuned for next month’s blog as we will talk in more detail about this.
None of us can do this on our own. We each need people to walk alongside us as we make critical financial decisions and aim to glorify the Lord with what he has given to us.
Here at Bare, we’d love to walk with you on this journey. As we walk you through a holistic, biblical financial planning process, we will equip you with tools and resources to help guide your way. We’re here for the long haul.
If you’re interested in specific tools for living a God-honoring lifestyle, planning for kingdom giving, or saving and investing, reach out at barewealthadvisors.com. We’d love to connect with you and send these resources to you.
Living Faithfully – A Practical Guide
February 23, 2024by Ron Bare
Without a doubt, my favorite moment when flying on a plane is the descent. We’re finally about to land at our destination, whether it is a beautiful beach, a tropical island, or majestic mountains. And every time, I am in awe at the landscape below me. The way that the mountains, forests, oceans, and cities weave together captures all my attention. It’s stunning.
But I soon start to wonder. How do you get down there? Where does that path lead? Are there waterfalls in that forest that I can’t see from up here? What kind of wildlife lives in those mountains? These questions can only be answered on the path, in the forest, in the mountains, on the ground.
Today I want to take you with me to the ground. Last month, we were on the plane, looking at the idea of faithfulness from 10,000 feet in the air – what it means and what things hinder it. But simply talking about faithfulness can leave us lingering with questions about what it truly looks like on the ground, in real life.
As we consider faithfulness practically, we have six big thoughts and then a few practical tips that we believe are beneficial.
First, remember that God owns everything, and we are simply stewards. When we understand that everything we have belongs to the Lord, our heart is naturally drawn toward gratitude and faithfulness.
Second, work is important! God has given each of us resources to manage and they cannot be managed without discipline. Resources will not grow overnight; we must work to increase and invest in them.
Third, find contentment in the time, talent, and treasure God has given to you. Contentment is hard, that’s just the reality of it. Yet when we become content with our resources, how much easier it is to be faithful! We’re not constantly longing for more, promising that when we get just a little bit more, then we will choose to be faithful.
Similarly, be generous with this time, talent, and treasure! Generosity is the overflow of a content heart. When we understand that nothing we have is truly ours and are not longing for more, we will be generous.
Next, grow what God has given to you! In the parable of the talents, we see the master (Jesus) pleased with those servants who have increased what he originally gave them. While the master is gone, the servants are working hard to invest and even double what the master has given them to manage.
Finally, transfer stewardship to the next steward coming after you! Think of the generations to come after you – what can you teach them about stewardship? What have you learned in your lifetime both from successes and mistakes that can be passed on? Are you investing your wisdom into your kids, grandkids, neighbors, friends at church, or employees?
As we consider what faithfulness looks like, we’ve found two key practices that help get our minds and hearts in the right place.
Studying God’s Word and specifically the passages related to money is a great place to start. There are so many passages, and we’ll list a few of them at the bottom of this post!
Additionally, we’d encourage you to begin each day with this prayer – “God, all I have is yours. What would you have me do with the time, talents and treasure that you have placed in my hands?” As you pray this prayer, consider your impressions. Write them down, share them with your spouse or trusted friends, and engage with what God might have you do.
What have you discovered in your time on the ground? What is God asking you to do with what He has entrusted to you?
Fun fact – there are over 2,300 passages relating to money in the Bible! Here are just a few passages to consider when studying what God’s word says about faithfulness, stewardship, and money.
- I Timothy 6:17-19
- Psalm 24:1
- Jesus’ parables (about one third of them have to do with money)
- Matthew 13:44-46
- Matthew 25:14-30
- Luke 12:13-21
- Luke 18:10-14
- Luke 16:1-13
- 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9
- Malachi chapter 3
Focusing on Faithfulness in 2024
January 25, 2024by Ron Bare
I learned all about hard work growing up on a farm. I understood that the small,
unglamorous jobs had to be done. Yet this didn’t make my first job off the farm much easier. I
was working at a local lumber yard, and my job was to catch wood as it came through the
saw. Exciting, right? One day, my supervisor asked for someone to work outside to unload a
huge truck full of wood, and you better believe I was quick to volunteer! When I was done, no
one was around, so I went to find my supervisor to let him know. He was baffled. It was a
project he thought would take all day, and it had been done in just a few hours. He promoted
me on the spot, and I said goodbye to my lumber-catching role.
I was trusted with catching wood, and then I was trusted with unloading a truck, and
then I was trusted with even more responsibility. As I continued to prove faithful, I was
entrusted with more. And I believe this principle stands true spiritually as well. As Christians,
we are called to be faithful with what God has given us.
Jesus illustrates faithfulness in the parable of the talents – many of you have likely
heard this story found in Matthew 25. In this story, the master left town and entrusted his
possessions to three servants. Two servants invested what they had been given, making
double what they had received by the time the master returned. One servant buried what he
was given, fearful that he may lose it. The master was pleased with both servants who had
multiplied what they’d been given, and displeased with the other.
In this parable, we see the master, who represents Jesus, giving servants talents. After
he returns, he is pleased with those who have multiplied what he left them with. It all
belonged to him in the end; the servants were just stewarding what had been given to them.
Scriptures like Psalm 24:1 remind us of this very reality. All we have is God’s. And all of
these things we’ve been blessed with – finances, family, time, resources, etc. – we’re meant to
manage them in a way that honors Him.
What a tall task. And don’t overlook the fact that many temptations will arise,
encouraging you not to be faithful with your resources, and most of these dress themselves as
fear. We each have fears, especially when it comes to managing money. If I give some away,
will I have enough? What will others think of my financial decisions? Questions like these
will come from everywhere – culture, others, the enemy, and even from ourselves. We must
decide ahead of time that when we feel fearful, we will still choose to be faithful.
And when we choose to be faithful, we might also be led to ask what things God is
asking us to be faithful with. What does this really look like? First, God gives us time. How do
you spend your time? If you examine your time, what can it tell you about what you value?
Second, He gives us talents. What are you doing with the gifts and abilities God has given you?
Are you serving others with the specific giftings you have? Are you pointing back to God when
others praise you for these giftings? Third, He gives us treasure. How does your financial
management point to God?
When we are faithful with the little that He gives us, He entrusts us with more.
Faithfulness is not for the faint of heart. It demands that you recognize God as the
owner of everything you have. Once you acknowledge that, how much easier it is to be
faithful! God’s gifts to each of us in the form of time, talents, and treasure are unbelievable.
Let us thank Him for these gifts through our acts of faithfulness.
This year at Bare, we’ll be focusing on the year of faithfulness. As we provide
excellent wealth management grounded in Biblical wisdom, we have developed resources to
share with you that will help you identify and focus on key areas to grow in faithfulness. We
can’t wait to meet with you and talk about what faithfulness looks like.
My Top 20 Investing Principles
October 2, 2023by Ron Bare
What could your future look like if you invested well? How could you bless your families, coworkers, or community? Over the years, I have gathered 20 principles that guide our investment strategy, and I’d love to share them with you!
- God is the owner and I am the steward. What do you own that God hasn’t blessed you with? He owns everything we have, which should encourage us to steward and invest it wisely and generously.
- Learn the secret of being content. Contentment drives away the continual need for more. See Phil. 4:12, Heb. 13:5
- Passing on wisdom is better than passing on wealth. Wealth doesn’t last. Wisdom does. Wisdom gets passed on and on, yet wealth vanishes with one decision or circumstance.
- Live generously. God blesses you so you can bless others. Plus, do you know any unhappy generous people? No? Me neither!
- Build margin into your time and money. Time margin allows you to serve, volunteer, and mentor. Financial margin allows you to invest, donate, and have enough when things go badly.
- Borrow cautiously and repay debts quickly. Repaying debts gives you financial freedom to invest, donate, or save for your kids and grandkids.
- Save 10-15% of your income. Saving helps you prepare for unexpected opportunities or crises. This is a practical way to build financial margin into your life!
- Own companies (mutual funds, ETF’s, and individual securities) and real estate. Once you’re an owner, hold these investments long-term.
- If it seems too good to be true, it is! If you’re skeptical or suspicious, seek wisdom from trusted advisors!
- Don’t blindly follow the crowd. Trends are temporary and will fade. The opposite of the crowd is often best!
- Don’t make financial decisions primarily to reduce taxes. Tax reduction is a great benefit. However, this shouldn’t be the driving force for financial decisions.
- Hold unwavering faith in the future. This is not for the faint of heart! Don’t become pessimistic in investing, rather trust companies will prosper and trends will continue upward in the long term.
- Diversify, diversify, diversify! Ecclesiastes 11 encourages us to invest in many different ventures, as we can not predict the future nor what will succeed.
- Invest within the context of your financial plan, goals, and values. Use your plan, goals, and values as a guide for where, when, and how much to invest.
- Be careful of the words “this time is different. ”The truth is, it’s probably not. Look for, study, and learn from patterns in the financial world!
- Build a trusted team of advisors. “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed,” says Proverbs 15:22. Who are your advisors? Where do you go for wisdom?
- Don’t waste time predicting what the markets will do in the short term. No one knows what they will do in the short term! Not you, not the professionals, not internet opinion articles, no one! Don’t waste your time.
- The best time to start investing is today! Don’t wait for the perfect time.
- Be careful with gold (perhaps 3-5% of your portfolio). Usually gold is sold out of fear of potential catastrophes in the world. Personally, the gold I buy is jewelry for my wife so we can enjoy it while we hold it!
- Never make an emotional financial decision. Emotions are good, but when it comes to finances, lean on wisdom, experiences, and your advisors.
These principles can’t promise a life of perfection and wealth. But they can promise to be a good starting point when learning to invest well. If you’re interested in talking more about investing, give us a call!
Formula for IMPACT – part two
September 5, 2023by Ron Bare
Alan and Katherine Barnhart gave away their company. They had spent years working on building a strong company and growing their sales but gave it all away in the end. “God is not impressed with the commas and zeroes,” Alan said. “We’re not giving away anything that God hasn’t given us.”
They were confident knowing that God owned their resources and that they had defined enough. Intentional future planning gave them the freedom to make such a generous decision.
Defining enough is an important step in recognizing that God owns everything that we have, and that endless accumulation is not what we were created for. Let us instead use our resources to join in God’s mission, spreading the Gospel through our generosity toward others. This is easier said than done, but there are six steps that we believe will help you define enough.
- First, add up all your monthly expenses. This includes your mortgage, utilities, transportation, groceries, etc. Providing for your family is good and right, and requires planning.
- Second, define your wants and enjoyments. This might include vacations, date nights, eating out, entertainment, etc. It’s important to enjoy life and spend time doing things you love!
- Third, come up with a total annual spending/living goal. Once your needs and wants are defined, you can plan for both your living expenses and the things you enjoy.
- Fourth, define how much you will need to accumulate to meet this goal of ‘enough.’ We would love to talk with you about this at Bare. This will cover what it looks like to work, save, and invest in order to have enough and then move forward to give in generous ways.
- Fifth, pay off your debts! This is a crucial part of being financially free. When debts are not hanging over your head, you are free to move forward with saving, investing, and giving.
- Finally, build a base giving goal into your financial plan and try to expand this giving each year. 2 Corinthians 8:7 says, “But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (NIV). How can you excel at giving? We encourage you to set an annual giving goal and then plan to expand that goal each year!
We’ve seen a variety of creative giving over the years in our clients’ lives. We’ve seen clients give the growth of their portfolio away, give their business to charity, and others have given real estate away. How can you be generous with the things God has given to you? We’d love to help you talk through what this could look like for you.
Alan and Katherine are just one example of someone who is generous with what God has given them. It’s such a great gift to the people they interact with and the communities they influence. It’s honoring to God as they remember the one who has given them all that they have.
To learn more about Alan and Katherine’s story, watch this video.
Formula for IMPACT – part one
August 2, 2023by Ron Bare
Regret stings. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. You say something to your spouse that you really didn’t mean, you make a choice you wish you hadn’t, or maybe you let fear stand in the way of what could’ve been a life-changing opportunity. I believe each of us want to avoid it as much as possible.
I certainly don’t want to get to the end of my life and wish I had done more with what God has graciously put in my hands. Yet we know that our default as humans is to think of ourselves before others, spend on ourselves before being generous, and place security for ourselves as the highest priority.
As humans, we often choose to be selfish rather than being generous with what God has given us. We know this is true of each of us yet none of us are proud of it. As we consider how to be more generous and live a life of impact, we have found three key principles to live by.
Start with capturing your story. This allows your wisdom and knowledge to be passed on to the next generation, so they don’t have to learn things the hard way like you did (at least in some areas!) Financial principles, giving guidelines, spiritual principles, and ideas about work have been ingrained in each of us. We’d love to help you put words to some of these things, capturing them so that they can empower the next generation.
Next, define “what is enough” and “learn the secret of being content.” Defining what is enough is difficult but important as you plan for your family’s future. Once ‘enough’ is defined, you must “learn” to be content with it. Learning, as you know, is a process! Learning to become content allows you to be freed from the love of money. You will be reminded of who truly owns your money and resources. Paul talks about this in Philippians 4:12 when he says, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (NIV). Contentment allows each of us to give cheerfully to others rather than continuing to store up for ourselves. Our natural tendencies would be to raise our standard of living as we accumulate more – the principle of learning contentment helps us as we establish a personal financial finish line.
Finally, maximize your impact. We like to think about three things in this area – giving generously, increasing your resources for God, and impacting generations to come. 2 Corinthians talks about deciding what you are going to give and then giving cheerfully. God has gifted you with money and resources so that you can bless others. Matthew 25 talks about working and investing your resources, not so that you can build yourself a bigger life, but so that you have more available capital to invest and use for impact. Finally, think about impacting your grandchildren and great grandchildren (or those in the next generation that are special to you!) What can you do now that can impact their view of stewardship and generosity?
No one wants to live a life they regret. At Bare, we believe that capturing your story, defining and being content with enough, and thinking practically about maximizing your impact will help you live a life that impacts generations to come. In our Year of Story, we’re focused on these things in a new way. We’ve been refreshed by the power of each of our stories and would love to help you capture yours.
Part two of this blog will come out in September. We’ll be talking about what it looks like to define ‘enough,’ and the freedom that defining enough brings!
Life on Purpose
July 3, 2023by Ron Bare
We all want the things we do to have purpose. As a kid, we want to have purpose in the sports we play – why do we play? How do we win? That kid turns into a teenager who wants to have purpose in their future – how do I get where I want to be? Do I need more schooling? That teenager turns into the adult who wants to have purpose in their family and their career – am I intentional with these things? How do I balance my marriage and work well?
These questions don’t end when you hit retirement. We know retirement brings big questions around how much is enough and how we might plan for it. But at Bare, we know that planning for retirement is more than just a financial conversation. We know that it’s also a consideration of what kind of purpose you want your later years to have and what kind of legacy you want to leave.
A study done in the U.S. found that the most productive stage in life is between the ages of 60-70. It found that the second most productive stage in life is between the ages of 70-801. This means that the typical American has the most productive, impactful years of their life in their retirement years!
While this may sound surprising, we know that retirees have more time to be generous with. Time spent in retirement can be so impactful. Whether you choose to volunteer with a local organization, spend time with your family, or share the wisdom you have gained with the next generation, your time can be an invaluable gift to those around you.
Luke 12 talks about this concept of managing our time and resources well. This passage, called the Parable of the Rich Fool, talks about a rich man who builds a large barn to store his crops in. He then chooses to “take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry” (NIV). Jesus condemns this choice. In fact, he says, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God” (NIV).
Jesus is reminding us here of the importance of being rich toward God – giving our energy, time, and resources toward the things that he cares about. If we can apply this lesson to our retirement years, we can be incredibly productive and impactful.
As you look toward retirement, ask yourself a few questions.
- What strengths do I have that I can use to serve others?
- How can I share my story in a way that impacts the next generation?
- How can I use my time, talent, and treasure in coordination with each other to make an impact on my community?
Bare Wealth Advisors walks alongside you as you process these questions and more. We craft a wealth management plan grounded in Biblical wisdom that is unique to you and your situation and the impact you want to make. In addition, 2023 is our “Year of Story”.” We’re helping you capture your story. What lessons have you learned? What things have shaped you? We’re interested in the lifelong perspective. We want to see our world impacted for the better and we know you have a lot to bring to the table through your story. Come talk with us – we’ll be there as you continue to seek wisdom while preparing for retirement!
The Legacy of Wisdom before Wealth
May 22, 2023by Curtis Burkholder
“Wealth never creates wisdom. Wisdom may create wealth”
We believe in this principle at Bare, that we should work hard at passing on wisdom rather than focusing on passing wealth as the primary goal. Our founder, Ron Bare, often adds not only will wealth not create wisdom – but where there is wealth without wisdom you have a disaster.
Where do we find wisdom? First and foremost – in God’s Word! A great place to start is in the Proverbs. The Proverbs are written by Solomon, the wisest man on earth. Proverbs 8:11 tells us: “for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.” Secondly, we have each had different experiences, challenges, and failures over our lifetime. Through each of these, wisdom is gained (hopefully!). Additionally, mentors and the community we have surrounded ourselves with are also valuable sources of wisdom.
Wisdom gained is of no benefit if it is not applied and shared. Many of us have learned our wisdom through making mistakes – we often allow our children to make mistakes because we know that by this they learn. However, we would really be considered foolish if we kept making the same mistake over and over. So, we learn, and we apply wisdom. And then we share or pass wisdom to others. We love to pass our wisdom on to our children so that hopefully they avoid some of our mistakes! (Although they don’t always want to learn this way!)
We have found that one of the best ways to pass on wisdom is through capturing stories. Because of this, we have themed 2023 “Year of Story”. We all love a good story, and the human mind is 22 times more likely to remember facts if they are part of a story! To help you begin capturing your story, we have created a story journal. In this journal are several different categories of questions designed to capture some of the wisdom you have learned. Questions like:
- What have you learned from challenging times in your life experience?
- What was life like growing up and how does that shape who you are today?
By intentionally capturing your story you can then intentionally begin passing wisdom before wealth. You are “stewarding” this wisdom for the next steward – your children and grandchildren. You are preparing them to be wise stewards of any wealth that you pass to them. And remember, even if you don’t feel you have done a good job passing wisdom in the past, it’s never too late to begin! As long as you are alive, you are able to influence your children, grandchildren, or other heirs.
As you go throughout your days and weeks, consider how you can begin to pass the wisdom you have learned through the years to those around you. Your stories are a great way to pass this wisdom in memorable ways to those around you! We’d love to encourage you in this – please feel free to reach out to us at info@barewealthadvisors.com if you’d like to learn more about our unique process of helping you capture your unique story!