Who's the Boss?
Every successful business, battleship and badminton team has one person whose role it is to be the boss. Someone in charge, in control, who says, "The buck stops here." And speaking of bucks, who's the boss of yours? Today on MoneyWise, making the decision to take control of your money and not the other way around, and some ways to do it. Our boss is Kingdom Advisors President Rob West. Then it's your calls at 800-525-7000. God created everything and he owns everything, but He's put each of us in charge of just a tiny portion of His holdings. He expects us to be faithful stewards of His resources. His Word contains well over 2-thousand verses about money and possessions so that we can be good stewards. And what a lot of folks don't realize is that by following those directions, we become financially free. Don't follow them, and you're likely to become a slave to money. Success in handling your money may be 90-percent avoiding debt. If you have trouble managing your credit and debit cards, meaning your spending is out of control, stop using them. The advantage to using cash is you can't overspend like with a credit card. But there's also a very strong psychological component to using cash. When you have to hand over actual dollars, it's much more difficult to part with them. Studies show people spend 10 to 30-percent less just by using cash. About 43-percent of general purpose credit cards like Visa and MasterCard have a balance on them, with an average balance of more than six thousand dollars. Pay as much as you can above the minimum each month to get that card paid off quickly. Studies have shown that paying off credit cards is as much psychological as it is financial. If you concentrate on the highest interest card first, it may take months and months to pay it off. So instead, pay off the smallest balance first to get a quick win and the psychological boost that comes with it. When that's paid off, you can go on to the next highest balance and so on. Its critical that you charge only what you can pay off each month. The only way to ensure you pay off the balance each month is to stay on budget and have an emergency fund. Then when those so-called unexpected expenses come up, you have cash in the bank to pay for them and you don't have to use the card. We recommend 3 to 6 months living expenses in your emergency fund. On today's program we also answer your questions: --Do I need to pay tithe on the money I take out of my 401k? --My husband and I are in the process of buying our first house. We are in our 60's. Is getting a 30-year loan a good idea? --My husband works at a carpet mill. A lot of the employees at his company are worried about the current economy and are taking money out of their 401K's. Is this wise? Ask your questions at (800) 525-7000 or email them at [email protected]. Visit our website at moneywise.org where you can connect with a MoneyWise Coach, purchase books, and even download free, helpful resources. Like and Follow us on Facebook at MoneyWise Media for videos and the very latest discussion! Remember that it's your prayerful and financial support that keeps MoneyWise on the air. Help us continue this outreach by clicking the Donate tab at the top of the page.