What's "Catholic" got to do with a
financial website?
First, it reveals where we are coming from as financial professionals.
Specifically, it discloses the set of standards which guide us in our work? As
Catholics, who are devout and secure in our faith, we are inspired by the
Bible. We believe our work should reflect our commitment to Jesus Christ. Therefore,
we are expected to be good stewards of the assets others place
in our care. In our case, Stewardship is the rendering of prudent advice,
which starts by putting our client's interest first.
Second, the name reflects our
attitude toward money. We believe the pursuit of money should
not be an end in itself. In the Old Testament, the first
Commandment warns us to beware of worshiping false gods. (Exodus
20:2 ). Sadly, in our society, money seems to be chief among our
false gods. Our society appears all too concerned about wealth and the
life style of the rich and famous.
The late Pope John Paul II put
it so well when he wrote the following.
"The lure of
the so called 'consumer society' is so strong among young people that
they become totally dominated and imprisoned by an individualistic,
materialism and hedonistic interpretation of human existence.
Material 'well-being' which is so intensely sought after, becomes the
one ideal to be striven for life, ... There is a refusal of anything
that speaks of sacrifice and a rejection of any effort to look for and
to practice spiritual and religious values. The all-determining
'concern' for having (emphasis added) supplants the primacy of
being. Consequently, personal and interpersonal values are
interpreted and lived not according to the logic of giving and
generosity but according to the logic of selfish possession and the
exploitation of others."
Christ's teachings exhort us not
to worry about money, but rather to seek after goodness and love (Matt
6:31-33). Following the Gospel is about living a lifestyle
governed by our relationship with Jesus Christ, not by the amount of
money and possessions we acquire.
Consequently, we advise our clients on how to develop a
prudent attitude in the management of their money; one which is consistent
with God's will. This begins with the acknowledgement that money and all earthly
resources are gifts from God. According to the Old Testament (Ecclesiastes
3,13), we are to enjoy the fruits of our labor because they are gifts from God.
In the New Testament, Jesus tells us to trust in God's fatherly providence.
He knows our needs and will provide for them, but we are to keep the right
perspective on material things. (Luke 12:22-31)
Again in the Old Testament (Ecclesiastes 5,9), if we
love money we will always want more, and the more we have, the less satisfied we
will be. And in the New Testament, we read "Take care to guard against all
greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions."
(Luke 12:15)
We are to be thankful for God's gifts and
manage them judiciously. In the Bible "stewardship" equates to management.
So sound financial management is part of following God's teaching. "As
each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God's
varied grace." (1 Peter 4:10) Thus the goal of Catholic money management
is to ensure you have money for your needs, such as; savings for
emergencies, education, retirement, and ministering to the poor.
A crucial element to help accomplish this is to understand that peace comes from living
within your means and providing for others. For we are not
just to take care of our own needs, but those of our Church. As covered
in the Bible (Genesis 28:22), Jacob establishes the "tithe" -- faithfully
returning to God a tenth of what God gives us. By tithing to the Church,
she
is better able to carry out Christ's command to spread the faith. (Matthew 28:19)
Also, through tithing, we are ministering to the needs of the poor. By funding
the Church's well established system of charitable organizations, we can
more effectively feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, cloth the needy, and care
for the sick.
Jesus said, "Whatever you did for one of these least
brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40) Ultimately, gifting
brings us peace and happiness. Again, in the Gospel (Matthew 6: 19-20) "Do not
store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay consume and
where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven ...".
Speaking of thieves, one of the biggest thieves of
one's wealth is debt.
Debt can destroy the peace and happiness we seek. So to maintain peace and
happiness in our clients' families, debt reduction/elimination is an important
element of our financial consultation.
A key feature of Catholic money management is to use credit wisely.
Don't borrow money unless it is necessary and you can repay it quickly.
"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the slave to the lender."
(Proverbs 22:7) Nowhere is this truer than in the misuse of credit cards.
As explained in Catholic Parent - KNOW HOW, the use of
credit cards by "... young couples to pay for their weddings, honeymoons, and
home-furnishing expenses; and folks who tap into their home equity to cover
habitual overspending" are setting themselves up
for major money problems. "It's especially tragic when something as sacred
as marriage and family is damaged to the point where divorce is sometimes the
result."
It is our belief that debt plays a large role in the
breakdown of marriages. According to conventional wisdom, financial stress is the #1 cause for marriages
ending in divorce. There are studies which support this. Even a Citibank report,
on the subject, states 57% of those surveyed indicated the major cause of
their divorce was financial problems. Therefore, a key goal at AAP, is to show our
clients how to get out of these damaging bad debt situations.
In summary, we assure you we abide by the regulations of the
various governing bodies for financial professionals and subscribe to the Code
of Conduct for Fiduciaries. However, we firmly believe the higher
authority cited in the paragraphs above, is the more important guide for our
moral behavior in business.
