Category: Stewardship
Clarity in Planning
January 6, 2020Driving into work today the classic 1972 Johnny Nash song “I Can See Clearly Now” came strolling into my mind. It made me first break out in song and then contemplate the blessing of sight and finally consider how this year is going to be the Year of Vision at Bare Wealth Advisors. You will hear more about our Year of Vision throughout the year but for now I simply want to focus on seeing clearly or having clarity.
Did you know that eyes are made up of 2 million working parts? Or that your eye is the fastest muscle in your body? I regularly take my eyes for granted and forget that my vision is one of the greatest gifts I have. However, when I forget my glasses or get something in my eyes and lose the clarity of vision, it’s an easy reminder how critical it is to see clearly.
As a financial advisor, one of the areas we excel at is giving financial clarity to our clients. It’s more than just wealth management and insurance products based on your age and risk tolerance. These might provide a course but cannot provide full clarity. Once we get a chance to walk through a full financial plan, understanding a client’s core values in addition to their financial goals and circumstances, we can provide a lot of clarity as to the path they are on and help them answer the question of “how much is enough?” in many areas of their financial lives.
We’re looking forward to 2020 and hope to see you soon! As the Johnny Nash chorus continues, “It’s gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshiny day”.
Tell Your Story
November 8, 2019As you know this is our Year of Generosity and one of the interesting things about generosity is that it’s always easier to tell someone else’s story of generosity than our own. We are quick to quote Matthew 6 when Jesus said “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.” We take that sentence out of the rest of the Sermon of the Mount and fear “losing our reward” if we tell someone about our giving.
Yet the sections of Matthew 6 on giving, prayer, fasting, treasures, and worry are all about the heart of why we do what we do. In speaking about giving, Jesus said don’t be like those who do it “to be honored by men”. What if our cheerful giving to the Glory of God included “spurring others on in love and good deeds”? Generous Giving is on a mission to see the generosity of God displayed through the generosity of God’s people. Since it’s football season we thought we’d include a story below of a Quarterback’s generosity journey.
Living Beyond “90/10” Generosity
August 5, 2019As we continue to explore what generosity looks like this year, we found this video inspiring and think you will too! A life of generosity can encompass so much more than monetary donations. Please pass this along to others you know who will be inspired in their generosity.
This video is courtesy of Generous Giving. To learn more about Generous Giving, click here .
Removing Old Fences
July 8, 2019Recently I sat in a client meeting where we were starting to map out a farm succession plan for a family and the husband quoted G.K. Chesterton by saying “Don’t ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”. It sounded catchy but it didn’t quite click so I asked him to repeat it. I have thought of this moment now several times since. This really speaks to the core of why we do financial planning. When it comes to money and investment decisions, too often we let our emotions get in the way. That is why at Bare Wealth Advisors we don’t just pick investments or stick our clients in products that fit us…rather we take the time to work on values and purpose to keep our financial goals in alignment. These life values and purposes are really the fence put up to give the framework for a financial plan. So, when the storms of life or the market cause mountains and valleys on the dot chart of our statements we can be here to remind you why the fence was put up in the first place. Having an advisor that can call you back to your values and to the plan is key when volatility seems to be the norm.
If you already partner with us on your stewardship journey, thank you for trusting us to help you build the fence. If you don’t work with an advisor that calls you to value based decisions we would love if you would consider us.
By Lamar King
Generosity Video
March 14, 20192019 is the Year of Generosity at Bare Wealth Advisors. Throughout the upcoming year, we will be sending out several videos that we have found to be inspiring. Please pass this along to others you know who will be inspired in their generosity.
This video is courtesy of Generous Giving. To learn more about Generous Giving, click here .
Generosity
February 19, 2019by Ron Bare
“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.” Luke 12:48b
In this passage, Jesus begins by instructing them not to worry and first seek God’s Kingdom. In verses 33-34 Jesus says to sell your possessions and give to those in need, unlocking an important principle in money management, the principle of Generosity.
Generosity requires us take our eyes off our possessions and puts our focus on the Kingdom of God where it belongs. Later Jesus says “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” He seems to make the point that a generous life on earth (what we treasure) will help our hearts desire a deeper relationship with God and the advancement of His Kingdom.
The more we have been given the harder it can be to keep our focus on our love of God and not develop a love for money. By living a generous life, we invest into the Kingdom by helping people and furthering the work God has given all believers, to make disciples of all nations. Now that is a good return on our investment!
Year of Purpose Recap
December 7, 2018by Ron Bare
Early in 2018, I wrote that this year Bare Wealth Advisors was themed to be a year of purpose. If you have worked with us for some time, you know that we believe that all of us have a unique calling and purpose in life. However, living life on purpose means to live intentionally as we journey together through this life. At Bare we made a commitment to helping you achieve that this past year.
Here are some things we set out to do in order to help you live a life on purpose in 2018 – we hope these were a blessing to you and your family!
- Help you create a life mission statement or help you identify a few core values. If you have not been able to go through these exercises, be sure to bring it up to us next time you’re in for a meeting! We have received some great feedback on how these were helpful.
- Books and devotionals. We have given out many “Purpose Driven Life” devotionals and “Splitting Heirs” books for those working through the estate planning process. We are excited to talk to you next time you visit us to receive feedback on the usefulness to these resources.
- We have written blogs on how to live a life of purpose, how to retire with purpose and how to vacation on purpose. Let us know if you missed any or check out our website as all previous blogs can be found at www.barewealthadvisors.com
- Tee shirts! We had “Run with Purpose” tee-shirts made and have seen them being worn in the community. If you have not received one stop by anytime to pick one or two up as an early Christmas Gift.
We look forward to hearing from you and any stories you have on how living ON PURPOSE has helped you or those you care about. Blessings to you and your family as we enter the Christmas season! A time to be thankful and reflect on faith, family and friendships – the things that matter most!
Purpose
April 2, 2018by Ron Bare
Purpose is defined as “the reason for which something exists” and also “an intended or desired result”. Living a life on purpose means that we first understand there is a reason we are here on this earth and that we are not an accident. Second, it means we should live life on purpose by being intentional in all areas of our life.
As busy people, we can sometimes look for balance in our lives – we even use phrases like “finding work/life balance”. Although there may be some good that comes from not being too focused on one area of life that it negatively affects the other areas of life, perhaps a better way to look at life is to live to the fullest in each area. We are not created to separate our lives into different components or departments acting independently of one another, but rather each area of our lives should work together to complete a beautiful picture of life to the fullest. Jesus said he came to give and provide a full or abundant life (John 10:10). A life of abundance or fullness is not a life of compartments, but rather a life of integration.
As an example, how can I have an abundant life if my job or work life is going well but my marriage or family life is a wreck? If I make terrible financial decisions don’t you think that will trickle into my relationships and emotions? If I have the best marriage in the world but treat my children with no respect or give them no time, do I still have a “full” life? No, each area of our lives affects all parts and to live a full life of purpose we must work on the following:
- Define your purpose – you should first know why you exist and how this relates to the current season in life. We are a Masterpiece or the most special creation (see Eph. 2:10 below). Without a good understanding of who we are it will be hard to make much progress in reaching our purpose.
- Live intentionally – nothing happens unless you make intentional decisions. Each area of your life will take intentionality for you to experience fullness. Good marriages take hard work – good careers take effort and education.
- Be faithful – Most successful people in life will tell you it is the small decisions they make each day that help them accomplish the goals and purpose they have in life.
- Define your work – Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” God created us to do “work” and work can be enjoyable and have meaning when we understand it is all part of our purpose in life.
As you reflect on the above thoughts consider the following questions until our next blog:
- What areas of my life are thriving?
- Which areas are suffering?
- How are the thriving and suffering areas affecting each other?
- What is one thing I can do to be more intentional in each area of my life?
End of Year Generosity
December 1, 2017By Ron Bare
We are approaching the end of another year – if you’re like me you often wonder how the year went by so quickly and you begin to understand that our time on earth is short – even if we live to age 100!
Since time is short, we must look to make the most of the resources God has entrusted to us. As you reflect on another year and make plans for the next, consider the following thoughts on generosity that will help us leave a legacy well beyond our time on earth.
Excel – In 2 Corinthians 8:7 Paul talks about excelling in your grace of giving. Just as we work hard to excel in school or our careers, we should also work hard to excel in our grace of giving. The best way to do this is to push ourselves to a higher standard than the year before.
Decide – In 2 Corinthians 9:7 Paul also tells us to decide in our hearts how much to give and to do it cheerfully. We should decide in our heart by setting goals and committing to giving back to the Lord the best or first of all our resources. We should do this not because we have to but as an overflow of our love for Christ who died for us.
Be ready – I Timothy 6:18 Paul again tells us to be ready to share with others and by doing so we will be storing up treasures for the future. I’m not exactly sure what these treasures include, but I believe Jesus when he said “It is more blessed to give then receive”. You never know when God will prompt you, so be ready to share – and be blessed!
We often set goals near the end of a year for the upcoming year. This year why not DECIDE to set some giving goals for 2018 that will help you EXCEL in generosity, so more people will be blessed! In this way you will be READY to share with those in need and store up treasures for your future.
Watch Out! A Common Investment Mistake
August 4, 2017by Ron Bare
I have had the privilege of working with hundreds of people over the years building financial and investment plans based on their goals, values, and the purpose of the wealth given to them. Looking back over 20 years of doing this, a common theme has risen to the top relating to investment decisions and long term success. It relates to how closely we make investment decisions based on a financial plan compared to making investment decisions outside of a well thought out plan.
When we make investment decisions based on a financial plan that aligns with our goals and values, a few things occur. First, we know how much is enough – a critical element in helping us live a life of contentment. Without knowing what enough to meet our goals is, we are left with accumulation without purpose. A second result of knowing our plans and goals prior to making investment decisions is that we can more easily determine what types of investments (from the endless options) are in our best interests. Most investment decisions should be determined by our values and goals, purpose for the money, timeframe, income needs, and liquidity needs. It is also important to have a proper understanding of risk and return (most of us do not understand the definition of risk – perhaps another blog for the future). However, many investment decisions are based on something outside of these items….
When we make investment decisions outside of a financial plan that aligns with our values, purpose, and goals, we are extremely susceptible to our emotions. A previous blog (March 2017) written about fear and greed can certainly be applicable here. You don’t need to look far to find reasons not to invest. Just pick up the paper or go to your favorite news website and there will be a multitude of reasons not to invest. The ironic item is whether the market is doing very well (such as a time as this) or is doing extremely poorly (remember 2008), the reasons not to invest are always there. My theory is that fear sells more than optimism and journalism wants us to read their press. Therefore, they print fear.
On the other side of emotions is greed. Jesus said in Luke 15 “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (NIV) Notice the emphasis on “Watch Out!“, Jesus clearly knows we need to be on the lookout against greed and He also makes the point that life does not consist of accumulating possessions. When we have no plan and have not defined “enough”, we tend to want to accumulate more and more. This then becomes our focus. If our focus becomes our possessions, then our investment decisions lead to speculation and an over concentration on the news, markets, and timing – which all lead back to fear. The danger of greed is that wealth begins to control our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, thereby consuming us.
True abundant life should be focused on our relationship with God, our family, and how to make the world a better place. By developing a well thought out financial plan that aligns wealth with our God-given purpose, we can make better investment decisions that honor God, impact our family and make the world a better place.