How to fix your Church?

Our church just voted to spend a lot of money on remodeling the kitchen and updating our electrical service along with some other renovations that need to be done.  If you've ever been involved in a church project like this you know that from concept to completion you have a lot of different ideas and concerns to consider.   You see a church board listens to an idea and discusses it for a long time and the community may change it's mind about the project over a two year period.  Very often what some see as necessary others see as an extravagance and many folks will change their minds back an forth more than once based on new evidence or a different point of view.

However, more often than not the final decision will come down to one question ... can we afford it?  Even if the money is in the bank (and it usually isn't) people will ask that question.  All kinds of non profit look for ways to make sure they have enough money.  In a church we collect a weekly offering that helps pay the bills and we ask for special offering to fund projects like the one we are doing now.  But imagine if the church decided to build a new kitchen and they had the money in the bank, how cool would that be?  Remove the question of how do we pay for it and you can focus on much bigger questions like ... "how can we use this new kitchen to glorify God and do his work her on earth?"  But how does a small town church acquire enough cash to do this kinds of projects?  Well there are many ways but the most common is Memorial gifting.

Giving a final gift at your passing or a give in memory of someone you love who has passed on is the best way for a church to fund construction, or mission work, or community services.  This can be land, autos, cash or life insurance proceeds.  As an insurance agent (and a guy without land) I like the idea of a life policy for the church.  If you are 40 years old and buy a 20 year return of premium life insurance policy to secure your gift to the church (with a death benefit of $100,000) then if you die before age 60 the church will get $100,000 (a poor substitute for all the tithes they will lose by your passing) but if you live to age 60 you set it up so the church will get $14,000 at that time or $37,000 when you do pass away.

A 35 year old man could pay $10 a week and not have to pay any more after 20 years.  This would give the church a $35,000 payment if you die plus the death benefit will increase year after year and at age 60 it would be $52,000.  There are a hundred examples of how to leave money but the bottom line is, no other method of giving back will pay the church a set figure no matter if you only made one month's payment to it!  You should speak to your insurance agent about this option ... I know I am going to!

J

Let's fix Washington!

Are you listening to the junk that Washington is spewing these days?  I know that politicians are always making a big deal out of little things and down playing big things so they are always casting themselves in the best light, but come on!

Let's take jobs for instance ... the White House says that Congress is being lazy and if they don't pass the JOBS BILL, all is lost and it's Congress's fault.  Congress says that the White house is going to tax those that can afford to create jobs and make it less attractive for growth.  The White House says that we have to tax the rich to correct the budget and give relief to the working class, the Congress says we need to stop spending on social programs and let the wealthy create more wealth and create jobs.  Who do you believe?

Being the social genius that I am ... I have come up with a plan that will fix everything.  First off, we should level the field ... I pay taxes and I pay for my own health insurance.  So I would say that everyone else should have to do that too.  Including congress and the president ... We as a nation spend billions on the health care of our employees and well ... nobody else is getting that so they shouldn't either.  The one exception should be our military and police forces ... we need them in top physical shape and we don't pay them enough.

On taxes I see a flat tax on income as a fair compromise.  Eliminate the tax brackets, loop holes and all the infrastructure that manages that ... everyone pays a flat percentage of their income no matter how much they make or where the income is being generated from.  Then the only IRS function would be to make sure that all income was reported and the bill paid ... no more tax returns, no more audits, no more huge cost from 106,000 employees.  The projected budget for the IRS in 2011 is just over 12 and a half billion dollars. 

Once the President and Congressmen are forced to pay taxes and 100% of their health insurance premiums they'll figure out the least painful path for us all.

There you have it ... all fixed, I lessened the expenses, increased the income and leveled the playing field for everyone in one fell swoop! 

Next victim!

Living in the Moment ... looking back at 9/11

Life moves fast and you have to stop and smell the roses every once in a while or it could just pass you by!  Sounds like a movie quote - right?  But 9/11 if it taught us anything, it showed that life is unpredictable.  But you know the idea of living in the moment doesn't mean we stop planning and live hand to mouth ... sometimes we get that juvenile concept.  You know what I'm talking about, some folks think that to live in the moment they need to quite their job and spend every second of the day contemplating the beauty of the world and our meaning while on the planet.

But we don't have to drop out to live in the moment, we just need to focus our efforts on what is important.  Work is a big part of our lives, not just to make money but to achieve (anything).  We measure our life time by work and even schedule our vacations around it because it is central top who we are and what we will be remembered by.

However, while no life is complete without work (whether at home or away from home) it would not be complete without leisure time or personal relationships.  In other words take time for work, time for play, and time for your loved ones ... if you do that then you are truly living in the moment.

9/11 really made us look hard at having balance in our lives, it reminded us all that work, while important, isn't everything and while we need to plan for the future we need to make sure we are living in between the planning.

I hope you are living a balanced life and that you have many great personal relationships at work and play.  Plan smart, work hard, pray, and be in the moment!

How high should your liability limits be???

People always ask "how much liability do I really need?” Well, just read the news and then you tell me what you think. What happens if you are driving along and the kids in your back seat get a little out of control, you look back for just a second to yell "stop that!" (so they aren't distracting you) ... but when you look back at the road you realize you are running a red light and hitting a car. Did the passenger in the other car get hurt? Did they get air lifted to an ER in a distant town? Did they die? Lawsuits today are seeking higher and higher amounts ... Here's a case filed late last month where a semi ran a light and killed a girl, and the parents are seeking 5 million!

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/6733258-417/parents-sue-trucker-over-daughters-death.html

In the next one a hunter (drinking beer and hunting on the property without permission) is suing the homeowner because he fell out of the tree.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/269283/hunter-falls-from-tree-sues-property-owner?SESS0cea5da24a95806adb56788ec0433e9c=ysearch

So, in answering the question, you need enough liability insurance to protect your assets in the event you found to be responsible for injuring someone or destroying their property. Your assets are you home, land, autos, boats and other property and you cash, retirement, and income for the next two years. Add it all up and ask yourself this question. "if I hit someone in my car and hurt or killed them, what would the family likely try to get from me?" The answer is that number you just came up with ... in other words 'the most money possible given your personal financial picture.'

Don't think that state minimum coverage for auto liability is enough because it won't help you keep your house if you get in a bind. Keep your homeowners at least as high as your per accident BI limits and always do what is reasonable to protect the general public from injury associated with you and your property. You can't stop someone from suing you, not to mention you can't stop a jury from awarding a settlement from your pocket to theirs.

Some things should not be skimped on.

J

How to Give Enough!

Our church is in the process of a remodel project and in the course of that project we are forced to think about future projects that will involve construction or at the very least sizable sums of money.  We are fortunate enough to have a nest egg that was left by a generous donor to build or remodel as we need to, but that gift which was given some time ago is pretty rare. 

To be frank, how many of us have enough money now that we are whiling to give a large chunk to the church before we die which out worrying about possibly needing that cash to live on before we die?  Most of us who are church goers would like to leave behind a legacy but we can't afford to lose control of the money that we may need if our retirement investments take a turn for the worse once we are relying on them for our income.  Sometimes it seems that the days of the big donors are gone, but some young people are planning ahead now and securing their legacy before it starts costing too much.

A 65 year old man can plan to leave $25,000 to the church by putting it in his will and having the money in a money market account just in case he needs it.  But who knows if that will even be left for the church by the time he dies, taxes and probate expenses can eat up the proceeds and lessen or eliminate the money this gentleman wants to leave behind.  The same 65 year old can put that $25,000 in a single premium life policy and the church will get nearly $45,000 before the rest of the estate is settled.  If the man out lives his saving he can always withdraw the cash and use it to live on, but for now he has protected his legacy.

A young woman age 25, wanting to inspire young people after she is gone can leave a $100,000 gift to the church and pay only $13 a week for a life insurance policy (plus she can stop paying all together at age 40).  Her gift can be used anyway she wants, to build a school room, pay for mission work, or create a youth program.

Young or old ... a lump sum of cash or a few dollars a week ... using life insurance to leave a legacy to your church is just a smart way to do it.  You can help your future church leadership expand, maintain or recreate and help show them the true meaning of Christian love.

Call a life insurance agent that you trust and talk about how you can create a legacy for the church and still have a safety net for your finances.

J

Let Freedom Ring!!!

As we head into the first week of July and celebrate Independence Day I find myself in reflection on the past week.

Last week was VBS (Vacation Bible School) and it is always a long week for all involved.  We plan it for months and put all that we have into a great educational and spiritual week.  But this also afforded me an opportunity to work with our local food pantry.  They loaned us a ton of corn (literally 2000 pounds of canned corn) to draw attention to the needs of the hungry in Greene County.  We built a castle out of the corn in our church that stayed up all week to remind the kids of what God's love could accomplish.

While thinking about the week, I realized that we have a great opportunity to impact the lives of those around us, far more that just a single meal.  The benefit one receives from our local food pantry can be quite literally LIFE CHANGING.

You all know that I am an insurance agent, and I like to say that I sell piece of mind.  My clients sleep better at night knowing that their homes, autos, and families are protected.  The food pantry gives people a sense of hope ... through the food and encouragement that they pass out each week they give people HOPE, and hope is far more valuable than piece of mind, or money in the bank, hope shows us that we are not alone, we do count, our suffering has purpose and there is something better just around the corner.

John, one of the Directors at the food pantry gave the kids a quick lesson each night, it was based around the scripture; John, chapter 21, verses 15 - 19.  In this passage Jesus asks Peter 3 times if he loves him ... each time Peter says, yes he loves the Lord, and each time Jesus tells Peter to "Feed my sheep!" ... our visitor John simplified it by calling out to the kids "Love God" and they would respond with a thunderous "FEED HIS SHEEP!" ... Service to mankind is mandated by our God!  Our service brings hope to those we serve!  Hope brings freedom to everyone!

Remember, if you need piece of mind call me ... if you need food call John ... if you need Hope ... pray.

J

Living Large!

Time marches on ... and on ... and on ... each day has a drudgery of it's own and when we string them together in long spans it makes the drudgery seem that much more unbearable.  Work, home repairs, laundry, charity efforts, bills, chores, responsibilities and even TV and cell phones ... all these things rob us of our natural joy in life.

We got away as a family last weekend to a place without TV or cell phone service or any of the things that bring us down each day.  Instead of treading water with finances, scheduling and responsibilities, we talked, played games and enjoyed being with each other.

The noise of modern life seems to clutter our every moment and that will keep us from enjoying our lives and even from just being creative in our everyday efforts ... so it's important to get away from it all and be quiet for a time to recharge those batteries and jump start your creative self again.

My weekend get away wasn't the only thing that inspired this rant ... last night Tena and I watched the Bucket List, great show!  I highly recommend it!  If you've not seen it I'll tell this much the two main characters are from opposite ends of the economic scale (one is a life long mechanic and the other a rich hospital mogul) but they have both been given 6 months to a year to live.  They decide to finish their Bucket lists (things they wanted to do before they die) ... It's never too late to make a difference, enjoy living, or make a fool of yourself ... and all three are important.

So take some time away from the TV this weekend and on a yellow pad of paper write down a bucket list, then Before midnight on Sunday, mark off one item ... or at least spend some quiet time imagining all the things that you will do. 

Live Large ... J

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."

— Dr. Seuss (Oh, the Places You'll Go!)