Participants: Cordell Thomas
Series Code: TITTB
Program Code: TITTB000001
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00:01 On Take It To The Bank,
00:02 you'll find ways to get out of debt. 00:09 Solve your credit card problems. 00:14 How to make and stick with the budget. 00:19 Simple ways to save... 00:24 buying or selling a home, 00:26 and many more financial matters on Take It To The Bank. 00:33 Hi. My name is Cordell Thomas. 00:35 I'll be your host here on this program called, 00:38 Take It To The Bank. 00:39 As we start, and as an introduction, 00:42 I'd like to talk to you a little bit about 00:44 what my role is here. 00:45 And my role is simple. 00:47 It's to get you to think a little differently 00:48 about money and about wealth, 00:50 to actually get you motivated 00:52 to change some of your bad habits 00:53 in reference to how you handle money. 00:55 And maybe how you can become a better steward of God's money 01:00 and His talents towards you, 01:02 because wealth is not just about money 01:05 and we're going to find out biblically 01:07 as we take an introductory look 01:08 at what financial literacy is all about. 01:11 It's more so about how we manage the funds 01:14 and or the talents that God gives us 01:17 for each one of us to use. 01:19 Before we get started, I have a quote for you. 01:22 "Youth would be an ideal state 01:26 if it came along later in life." 01:28 Herbert Henry. 01:30 I look back on my life 01:31 and if I knew then what I know now, 01:37 my life would be completely different. 01:39 But then again, I had to go through what I went through 01:42 to understand a little bit more about how money actually works. 01:47 The context of money is very serious 01:50 and I think that we all have to take a serious approach 01:54 at how we take care of those talents 01:56 and I'd like to, in this introduction, 01:58 take a look at the biblical perspective 02:01 of how financial literacy works. 02:03 I can give you definition. 02:05 Financial literacy is basically the ability to manage 02:08 and to communicate about finances. 02:10 And taking a step further, 02:12 it's the ability to make wise decisions about 02:15 how you handle that money. 02:17 But what does the Bible actually say about money. 02:21 I'd like you, had to ask you at your convenience, 02:24 if you have your Bible, take it out 02:25 and look with me at, 02:27 first of all, 1 Corinthians 4:2. 02:32 In 1 Corinthians 4:2, the Bible states, 02:36 "Now it is required that those 02:37 who have been given a trust must prove faithful." 02:41 A good steward is someone that is faithful. 02:47 Okay, let's look at another verse. 02:48 First of all, being a steward of God's money means 02:52 that you must be considered faithful. 02:55 If you take a look in Luke verses 12, 13 and 14... 03:05 The Bible talks about the parable of the rich fool. 03:09 Jesus in verse 14 said, 03:11 "Man, who appointed me to be judge 03:14 or an arbiter between you two?" 03:16 Then He said on to them, "Watch out! 03:19 Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, 03:23 a man's life does not consist 03:25 in the abundance of his possessions." 03:28 The abundance of one's possessions, 03:29 well, man's life, a man's life is not about 03:32 what we corral, and we hoard, 03:35 and we buy and put into our homes. 03:37 But it's more so about 03:38 what I think is going on in Matthew 25:14-24. 03:44 And if you realize what that, 03:46 if you remember what that's about, 03:47 it's the story of the talents. 03:50 Turn with me there if you get a chance. 03:52 And it's pretty intriguing. 03:54 First of all, in verse 24, the preceding chapter, 03:56 it talks about signs of the end of the age. 03:58 And it moves forward and talks a little bit about 04:01 the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, 04:03 which is kind of intriguing, 04:05 because if you take a look at the virgins 04:08 and it came to an issue of saving for a rainy day. 04:12 I mean, you talk about the oil that they had 04:14 and about their ability to have the oil at the right time, 04:18 kind of works along 04:20 with that philosophy of saving your money or saving, 04:24 in that case, the oil for a situation 04:27 that came up unexpectedly. 04:29 And then it moves forward into the story of the talents. 04:32 A landowner is leaving. 04:34 And he's coming back again. 04:36 It seems to parallel to the story of Christ. 04:40 He left. 04:41 And He's coming back 04:42 and He's going to hold us accountable 04:44 to how we manage the funds 04:45 and or the talents that we're given. 04:48 Now read into that. 04:49 You have a landowner who's leaving 04:51 and he calls his servants into him 04:53 and he says, "Hey, I'm leaving but I'm going to come back. 04:55 But I'd like you to manage." 04:57 In this case, the talent was called money, 05:00 which tells me something. 05:02 There are more venues of wealth 05:06 than just the venue of money for wealth. 05:11 In this case, he handed his servant 05:15 five talents of money. 05:18 It could be $50,000, if it's in the $5000, 05:20 whatever the case may be, 05:22 the Bible says that he gave the person five talents. 05:25 And you remember, he gave the second servant two talents 05:29 and the third servant he provided one talent. 05:33 Now he gave it to, in context to their ability, 05:37 again in context to their abilities. 05:38 So God looks at each one of us 05:39 and says, you have an ability that I see in you. 05:42 That talent could be the talent of music, 05:44 it could be the talent of teaching, 05:46 it could be the talent of faith, 05:47 it could be so many other different type of talents. 05:50 But in this case, there is a talent called money. 05:52 And He knows that there are several of us that know 05:56 how to build and utilize that talent. 05:59 The first servant, if you continue with the study. 06:03 It says, "After a long time 06:05 the master of those servants return 06:07 and settled accounts with them. 06:08 The man who had received the five talents 06:10 bought the other five and said, 06:13 'Master, you entrusted me with five, 06:16 so I've gained five more." 06:17 He put his money to work. 06:20 And when you consider the fact that 06:23 he had five talents and double the five talents, 06:25 and then you consider what happened to the individual 06:27 with just one talent, 06:29 you understand that 06:31 the one that buried his talent was told by the master. 06:35 "Why didn't you do anything more? 06:37 At least you could have taken the money 06:39 and you could have put it in a bank 06:40 where it could have gained simple interest." 06:44 This case it tells me that the gentleman 06:47 understood how to make money work for him. 06:51 It could be that he bought some equipment, 06:54 he bought some assets, 06:55 he developed a type of talent to teach 07:00 or he used the money to do something. 07:02 And in the end he was able to return on that investment, 07:05 a double, doubling the amount of money 07:07 he was given. 07:08 The same with two. He doubled the money. 07:11 The one that buried it, 07:12 it's like stashing your cash in your mattress, 07:14 because the money that you have is not really working for you. 07:19 And so he says to the one that one was entrusted one, 07:24 he said now, 07:26 "Then the man who had received the one talent came, 07:29 'Master he said, 07:30 I knew that you are a hard man harvesting here 07:32 and you have not sown and gather it, 07:35 where you have not scattered seed 07:37 so I was afraid that if I went out 07:40 and hid your talent in the ground." 07:41 See, I hid it and I was secure in knowing 07:45 that it would stay there. 07:46 He did not make that money work for him. 07:49 So what am I actually saying here? 07:51 In this case, it was in a different approach 07:53 that we should all have to what money is all about. 07:56 Because what I'm going to say to you 07:58 is something that has intrigued me for a while. 07:59 In James 2:5-9, 08:05 it tells a story of... 08:10 how we as individuals should take a look 08:15 at what wealth actually means. 08:18 When you're a wealthy individual, 08:19 and as I find the verse, 08:22 James 2:5-9, 08:25 it says, "My brothers, 08:29 and we'll start at the beginning of the chapter. 08:31 It says favoritism should be forbidden." 08:34 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, 08:37 don't show favoritism. 08:40 Suppose a man comes into your meeting 08:42 wearing a gold ring and fine clothing 08:44 and a poor man in shabby clothes 08:46 also comes in. 08:48 If you show special attention 08:50 to the man wearing fine clothes, 08:52 and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' 08:54 but say to the poor man, 'You stand over here,' 08:57 or 'Sit on the floor at my feet,' 08:59 have you not discriminated against among yourselves 09:03 and become judges with evil thoughts? 09:06 Listen, my dear brothers, has not God chosen 09:10 those who are poor in the eyes of the world 09:15 to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom 09:19 He has promised those who love him. 09:22 But you have insulted the poor. 09:25 Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? 09:27 Are you not the ones who are dragging others into court? 09:30 Are they not the ones 09:32 who are slandering the noble name of Him 09:34 who you belong? 09:36 If you really keep the royal law 09:38 found in the Scriptures, 09:39 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' 09:43 you're doing right. 09:44 But if you show favoritism, 09:46 you sin and are convicted by the law as law breakers." 09:50 This is heavy information. 09:53 Most individuals see wealth and wealthy individuals 09:57 and treat them in a different way 09:59 than they treat individuals who are considered poor. 10:02 Remember the Bible verse talked about the faith. 10:05 Faith is a wealth. It's a form of wealth. 10:09 And those who are poor are wealthy in faith. 10:12 Those who are poor could be wealthy in other talents. 10:15 It's not necessarily the talent of money 10:17 that should cause you as an individual, 10:19 if you have a lot of it, to treat others differently. 10:21 In fact, your responsibility grows all the more. 10:25 You should be far more humble. 10:27 And you should be far more appreciative 10:31 of what those who may not have 10:33 the monetary advantages that you have, 10:36 they still have to go through in practicing their talents 10:40 that could include and incorporate faith. 10:43 So my request to use as we go through these, 10:49 these programs on financial literacy. 10:53 I ask you to think differently about wealth 10:56 and begin the process of thinking 10:59 that we all as individuals are wealthy 11:03 because God has given each one of us talents 11:06 according to our own abilities. 11:08 And the fact that you have money 11:10 and someone may not have money 11:11 doesn't mean that they should be treated any differently. 11:17 So consider that as we talk about financial literacy 11:20 and continue to consider the issues that are involved 11:24 with how we manage our money. 11:26 With that said, I'm going to begin the process 11:28 of dialoguing with you about the basics. 11:32 One of the things we're going to talk about, 11:33 and there are four basic areas, 11:35 we're going to talk about debt. 11:36 We're going to talk about cash flow. 11:38 We will talk about the issue of budgeting 11:41 which is critical to understanding 11:43 how you can manage your money well. 11:45 And the fourth area we'll discuss will be credit. 11:48 There are many different issues 11:50 that are going on right now in reference to credit, 11:53 ID theft, fraud and many other issues 11:56 that are associated with it. 11:58 So let's start out with the simple issue of a budget. 12:01 The reason we talk about budgeting 12:03 as a key form of understanding where you are, 12:06 it also provides you 12:08 the understanding of where you can be 12:11 and where you would like to be. 12:13 It gives you planning, the opportunities of planning. 12:17 But from a simple perspective, 12:18 I'll take a step back and make this statement. 12:26 If you know where your money comes from 12:33 and you know where your money goes, 12:37 you are in pretty good shape. 12:38 A lot of people don't know. 12:41 I remember when I was in college, 12:42 you know, it was my checking account 12:44 was basically up here in my head. 12:45 I pretty much wrote checks 12:47 and say, "I think I got the $25 in the account. 12:50 That should be no problem." And wrote the check. 12:52 That was my managerial perspective 12:54 of my holding on to my checking account and managing it. 12:59 The first time though that I bounced a check 13:01 would change my all, my perspective all together. 13:04 And I knew at that point in time 13:06 that I had to take a different approach 13:08 to managing what it was 13:10 if I wanted to get to a different place. 13:12 Now a budget basically says 13:15 that I know where my revenue comes from. 13:18 I know where my expenses are paid. 13:20 If you are spending the same amount 13:23 that you are bringing in, 13:25 you're in a very dangerous position. 13:27 And I ask you to take a look very seriously 13:29 how much money you're spending 13:31 and try to increase the margin between revenue and expenses. 13:37 It's that area between revenue and expenses 13:39 that you have the option 13:41 of putting more money into savings. 13:43 You have the option of investing some of that money, 13:47 and you have the opportunity of acquiring assets. 13:50 And that's where I believe 13:51 this issue of financial literacy comes to play, 13:54 because it's not about, 13:56 remember the Bible verse that says, 13:58 it's not about the amount of possessions that you carry, 14:03 it's how you use the talents that God has given to you. 14:08 So it's essential that you save, you invest, 14:11 you have an emergency fund, 14:13 but you also have another bond of money 14:15 that you can actually use to give to charities, 14:20 to give to these organizations 14:22 such as 3ABN and support the ministry. 14:25 Because the overall objective 14:28 about the parable is to tell you 14:30 that Jesus is coming again soon. 14:33 And He's gonna hold you accountable 14:35 to how you dealt with the talents 14:37 that He gave to you. 14:39 And so it's essential that we begin to think about 14:42 how we spend our money based on the revenue 14:45 and through the talents that God has given us. 14:47 And it's that amount of money that we can use to save, 14:51 set up an emergency fund, 14:52 understand and study how banks work, 14:54 to talk about it on a high level, 14:57 and then at the same time, 14:58 have that additional fund that you can give. 15:00 I have a story that's kind of interesting. 15:03 When I worked at another organization 15:06 and it dealt with the donations of outside contributors. 15:10 I remember a conversation I had about one of the donors 15:13 and it was interesting to see 15:14 how she dealt with the funds that she had or didn't have. 15:19 She was retired. 15:20 She was dealing on a fixed income 15:22 and the question came up about-- 15:24 "But if you're on a fixed income 15:26 and you have increased costs during the winter time, 15:29 how do you maintain a steady giving 15:32 every single month of every year? 15:33 We can count on your giving. 15:36 How is it that you dealt with that?" 15:37 And she said, "You know, during the winter times, 15:40 I know it gets difficult for all of us 15:42 and especially those who are on a fixed income. 15:44 But God has given me the wisdom to know that I can. 15:48 When the heating bills come in, 15:49 I can shut down different portions of my home. 15:52 And only heat the areas in my home that are necessary 15:55 and I can use the savings from those expenses 15:59 and I can continue to give my $25 a month." 16:03 Twenty five dollars a month doesn't seem like much, 16:05 but it is in the eyes of God because it's her giving, 16:09 it's helping sustain many of our non-profit organizations. 16:13 And then you begin to understand 16:14 what God meant when He talked about the widow's mite. 16:19 The lady gave as much as she possibly could, 16:23 which looked very little 16:25 in the side of the wealthy people looking on. 16:27 But Jesus said something that's powerful. 16:30 She gave far more than those wealthy people did 16:35 because she gave all that she could. 16:39 And that's a context of where we want to go 16:42 with this understanding of financial literacy. 16:44 I don't want you to start thinking 16:46 about the context of wealth and riches and travel 16:49 and new cars and new things to acquire 16:52 because possessions is not it. 16:55 The context is, understanding that 16:58 God has given you a talent. 17:02 That talent has to be used for Him 17:04 and if you use it for Him, 17:06 it will draw other people onto Him 17:08 and help us close out this history in this world 17:12 and take us to be with Him. 17:14 So I'm gonna move forward 17:16 and talk a little bit more 17:17 about the context of financial literacy 17:20 and with doing that, 17:21 I would like to bring on a resource of mine, 17:24 Mr. Rodney Watson. 17:26 He's a fantastic individual that I talk to all the time. 17:29 He has these games that we play 17:31 and things that we do that reference money 17:35 and management, cash flow, that type of thing. 17:37 And I asked him a question the other day 17:39 and that question was, 17:41 "How does cash flow management fit into financial literacy?" 17:45 Rodney, can you give us the answer please? 17:51 Whenever you think of cash flow management 17:53 and financial literacy, they both go hand in hand. 17:56 The reason is, whenever you need to manage something, 17:59 you have to know about it to be able to manage it. 18:02 So to know about money, 18:04 you have to learn how money flows 18:06 and money flows just like air flows, 18:09 just like water flows or just like anything else. 18:11 So whenever money comes to you, 18:14 it's gonna flow through you and to someone else. 18:18 Hopefully it doesn't flow to all your creditors. 18:20 Hopefully it does flow to some assets. 18:23 Rich people, what they do is, 18:25 they take money, it flows to them 18:27 and they keep a portion of it first. 18:29 And they keep a portion of that first, and they save it 18:32 and that money goes to buy assets, assets only. 18:35 Then after that, they take the rest of the money 18:38 and they use it for savings 18:39 and they also use it to live on. 18:42 So whenever you're thinking about 18:43 financial literacy and cash management, 18:45 manage your cash, 18:47 so your cash will end up managing you. 18:49 Thank you, Rodney. 18:51 Thank you very much. You know. 18:52 Those that are able to live within their means 18:54 and plan for their future, 18:56 have an idea of how they manage their own budgets, 18:59 their own personal budgets 19:00 and each budget that we have is gonna be different, 19:02 it's gonna be separate. 19:04 Each one of us are unique individuals 19:06 with different circumstances. 19:07 So I ask you to take a look and begin the process today. 19:11 Because the next time we talk, 19:12 I would like for you to have written down your expenses. 19:15 Look where the money goes. 19:17 Write down everything you spend. 19:18 Write down the cash purchases that you make and as well, 19:22 write down the areas 19:24 where you think you have talents, 19:25 where you can generate revenue. 19:27 Take a look at your expenses, take a look at your income 19:31 and begin the process of understanding, 19:33 if you can develop more of a margin 19:35 between your revenues and expenses, 19:38 ensuring that you're making more than you are sending out. 19:42 Now one of the things 19:44 that's very important about cash flow is that 19:48 you have funds set away for emergencies. 19:52 I have seen circumstance 19:53 where individuals have been wiped out 19:56 based on a medical emergency 19:58 because we haven't spent the money 20:00 or budgeted enough to have 20:02 maybe health insurance on tap 20:04 or if in fact, we had a lot of money saved, 20:07 we find that there are emergencies 20:09 that can arise on our daily basis 20:12 and on monthly or whatever the case may be 20:14 to each individual life. 20:16 Many times we think it will never affect us. 20:18 But it does at some point in time, 20:21 it comes in and impacts our lives. 20:23 For example, the last, 20:26 I bought a house like back in 2004. 20:28 The house right now is only seven years old 20:30 and you hearing a little bit of irritability 20:31 on this side of things. 20:33 Because the water heater went out after seven years 20:36 and of course, you know 20:38 when your water heater goes out, 20:39 you go to shop for another water heater, right? 20:41 And you run into people who are, you got it, 20:44 shopping for water heaters. 20:46 And you happen to run into a person that said, 20:48 this young lady was telling me, "Yes, I am so upset. 20:52 My water heater broke down after 22 years." 20:56 Mine broke down after seven years. 20:58 And that's couple of things you have to look at 20:59 because you never know when that emergency will arise. 21:02 So for me, I had to make a $600 acquisition 21:05 to go and put a new water heater into my home. 21:08 Fortunately, I had a brother-in-law that came by 21:11 and was able to help me put all of that equipment in 21:14 and get me back to square zero with hot water in my home. 21:17 Now it's interesting as we take a look at financial literacy. 21:21 The context is really 21:23 that we plan for those type of emergencies. 21:27 You'll never know when the job loss might happen. 21:29 You'll never know 21:31 when any critical issue might happen at home. 21:33 And one of the major issues that people don't think about 21:35 is the context of health 21:37 and how that can wipe out 21:39 people's savings very, very quickly. 21:42 I believe that people have been told in the past 21:46 that they should have a six month, 21:48 six months worth of savings 21:50 available in case of any type of emergencies. 21:53 Job loss now, 21:55 it may take people upwards of 24 to 28 months 21:57 to find a new job. 21:59 How do you plan for that? 22:00 What is the context of the planning 22:04 in savings to help alleviate a lot of those concerns? 22:08 We know that some employers 22:09 don't pay into unemployment insurance. 22:11 And people are left out there without that income 22:14 to support the needs that they have 22:16 and support the context of their budgets. 22:21 One of the things that might help is, 22:22 if we weren't necessarily getting in too much debt, 22:25 if we didn't have credit card debt, 22:26 and we didn't have a lot of those type of debts 22:28 that people typically recommend to help build credit histories. 22:33 There's a 20-10 rule that's out there. 22:35 It basically says that you, your budget should not exceed 22:39 or your credit or indebtedness 22:42 should not exceed 20 percent of your yearly annual income, 22:47 your net income for the year. 22:48 And that your monthly expenditures 22:51 on repayment of that debt 22:53 should not exceed 10 percent of your monthly net income. 22:56 That's a 20-10 rule. 22:58 I don't believe that anyone should have any type of debt. 23:01 If you cannot afford it by paying cash, 23:05 why are you gonna put it on a credit card 23:07 and pay that additional expense 23:09 of paying off with the interest that you typically incur? 23:13 If you're not able to pay the full amount 23:17 to get what you need, just leave it alone. 23:19 And so it goes back 23:21 to preparing for those emergencies. 23:22 If you don't have a high overhead 23:23 in reference to expenses, 23:26 then you shouldn't have as much to worry about 23:29 if you go through a specific job loss 23:31 because your expenses are minimized. 23:35 Look, we're coming to the end of our first program, 23:38 but I really want to emphasize this in an end 23:41 as an introduction 23:43 that understanding where you're at now 23:46 is the best thing to understand where you can go from now. 23:50 And my intent in this case 23:52 is to help you to think more so about money 23:55 and about how you save 23:57 and how you plan for future events. 24:00 That's the key. 24:02 And that's what we want to accomplish today. 24:04 But more so, this introduction was to talk about James 2:5-9. 24:11 James 2:5-9. 24:13 The key is to understand 24:17 that wealth comes in many different forms. 24:21 And people have different talents 24:23 that Christ has given them. 24:25 When you take a look at your own personal situation, 24:29 it doesn't matter if you make $24,000 a year 24:33 or two and a half million dollars year, 24:35 if you are able to save ten 24:38 or you know, 10 percent or 15 or even 50 percent 24:41 of what you make on the yearly basis, 24:43 you're far better than a millionaire 24:45 that spends the million dollars each year. 24:47 We see time and time again, 24:49 million dollar homes going up foreclosure, 24:51 we hear of millionaires 24:53 and we shouldn't really call them millionaires 24:54 but they are people who make a million dollars a year 24:57 or spending a million dollars a year, 24:59 and those individuals who get unemployed, 25:01 are actually tapping into unemployment insurance now 25:04 and finding that many of our people are doing that. 25:07 So this crisis of money can be alleviated 25:11 by addressing a few simple issues. 25:15 In closing for today, 25:17 we understand that financial literacy is a key. 25:19 Understanding how money works can be very valuable 25:23 and maintaining a budget is beneficial not only short term, 25:26 but it will sustain you on a long term basis. 25:30 As we do go through this closing, 25:31 I'd like to give you two different questions 25:34 that I'd like you to think over as we go to the next program. 25:38 Those questions include, 25:40 one, who insures your stocks in the stock market? 25:45 Is it A, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation? 25:48 Is it B, The Securities and Exchange Commission? 25:51 Is it C, The U.S. Department of Treasure? 25:53 Or is it D, No one? 25:57 The other question I would like you to answer for me is also, 26:02 and think about is, 26:06 Federal law gives you three days 26:08 to cancel the purchase of a new or used car 26:11 from the dealer. 26:12 Is that true? Is that false? 26:19 As we look at financial literacy, 26:21 I want us to take a whole different approach 26:23 in understanding that wealth is a wonderful thing 26:27 and wealth takes different forms. 26:30 The fact that we may be monetarily wealthy 26:32 doesn't mean we treat anyone any differently, 26:35 because that other person 26:36 could be wealthy from the standpoint of faith, 26:39 could be wealthy from the standpoint of ministry, 26:42 from be wealthy from the standpoint of leadership. 26:44 Let's get rid of those situations 26:48 where we can treat people in different ways 26:51 because of who we think we are. 26:52 Let's not use favoritism. 26:55 Let's begin the process of thinking more so 26:58 about wealth from the standpoint 27:00 of being obligated to God 27:03 for what He's given us in the form of talents. 27:06 And to manage our money in a way 27:09 that provides a benefit to others. 27:13 Specifically, enlightening others about 27:17 Christ's soon return. 27:19 And I will constantly lead you 27:21 back to that parable of the talent, 27:26 because I think it resonates 27:28 with how we as individuals should make the money work. 27:33 And if we are able to make money work, 27:37 we are able to give money to the resources 27:41 that can get the gospel to others around the world. 27:46 Thank you for participating in this program. 27:48 Thank you for being a part. 27:50 And as we... 27:53 as we talk more about financial literacy issues, 27:56 please remember, 27:57 let's Take It To The Bank and save. |
Revised 2016-02-04