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. 

Health care sharing plans are gaining popularity in the face of the rising cost of traditional health insurance. Both traditional insurance and health care sharing plans have pros and cons, so be sure you know the difference. For an overview, check out last week’s podcast and blog, which also provides links to the major health care sharing plans. This week we’ll focus on what health care sharing plans do not cover and what questions to consider asking if you are making a decision on which to buy. Check out the related  blog .

Increases in the cost of traditional health insurance have driven many people to participate in health care sharing plans. Sharing plans are usually based on Christian ideals where like-minded people help each other. If you are considering a health care sharing plan, listen in for how this differs from traditional health insurance. For links to the major healthcare sharing plans, check out the Compass Catholic  blog  which has more details on this option for health care. And join us next week for Healthcare Sharing Plans - Part 2 where we’ll share some questions to ask before participating.

There are lots of things to think about and plan for as you approach your wedding day. Unfortunately, most couples who are engaged to be married talk more about the flavor of their wedding cake than about their marital finances. The cake cutting ceremony takes about 10 minutes but finances are something they’ll deal with every day of their entire married life. The Compass Catholic  blog  has more about why the “Money Talk” is so important to a strong healthy marriage.