Manage Your Money God's Way

That new car smell is great, but leasing one car after another means spending more money in the long run. Buying a car means you have an asset (even though it is a depreciating asset.) When you lease a car, you have nothing at the end of the lease - no transportation, nothing to trade in or sell. It is hard to compare leasing versus buying head-to-head because they are so different and each is based on different parameters. Join us for more on why leasing may not be good for you. Our recommendation is to buy a certified used car and drive it till the wheels come off.

We rarely think about the end of life issues or what would happen if we became incapacitated due to illness or accident. What a blessing it would be to your family in this situation if all the important information they would need was up to date, organized and easy to locate. 

When people retire, many times the goal is to simply stop working. As our lifespan increases, retirement can be a time of great fulfillment by planning well in the following areas: Talk to your spouse to develop a joint plan for retirement. Use a budget before retiring to manage your income and spending in retirement. Ditch the debt so you can be debt free when you retire. Find a passion to use your talents and skills in serving others. Retirement can be the most fulfilling time of your life if you plan to make it so. The Compass Catholic  blog  has more thoughts on retiring well. Check out our  retirement calculators  as part of your planning process.

We would all be a lot happier if we defined financial success based on our own life, resources, capabilities and progress. Judging your circumstances against other people can be disheartening. All God is calling you to do is be a faithful steward of the blessings he has given to you, with no regard to what the next person is doing The Compass Catholic  blog  has more thoughts on defining financial success for yourself. Based on a listener's question, here are the  percentage guidelines  for various budget categories. Use this as a starting point and customize it to fit your life.