Do you have piles of paper on your desk at home and you’re never sure which receipts, statements and documents to save and which to shred? Well, you’re not alone.

Even the best household money managers struggle with paper clutter, but a few tricks can help even a novice dig out slay those piles of paper.

Obviously, God’s Word has nothing to say about the pound of junk mail that lands in your mailbox everyday or how you should organize files of stuff you need to keep. But Romans 13:7 __*does*__ say this: *“Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed.”*

That’s more difficult without some kind of record keeping system based on which papers you need to keep and for how long. By some estimates, you can toss at least half of everything that ends up in your mailbox? It’s junk mail and other things you don’t need to keep.

However, you should never just toss unwanted mail directly into your recycling bin or trash can. It might contain unwanted credit offers that identity thieves could use to open accounts in your name.

If you don’t already have one, the first thing you need to acquire is a good paper shredder that makes cross-cuts. In one pass, it will cut paper into strips and then cross-chop those strips into tiny pieces. Now you just need to know what to feed into it. 

And for that you’ll set up a 3-drawer system … based on how long you need to hang on to things. Anything that doesn’t go in one of the three drawers … goes straight into the shredder. 

In drawer #1 go documents you need to keep __*permanently*__. These are things such as your birth certificate, passport, car titles, property deeds, marriage certificates and your Social Security card. Those items are difficult to replace, so you need to keep them safe. In fact, a fireproof safe would be even better than a drawer for those items.

You should include your Roth IRA contribution history and medical receipts if you have a health savings account. Roth contributions aren’t recorded anywhere in your tax documents.

If you decide to withdraw Roth funds before you reach the age of 59 ½ , you have to know your __*basis*__, or how much you’ve contributed with after-tax income. You’re not taxed on that amount if you withdraw early. Twenty years from now that information could come in handy.

In drawer #2 you’ll keep anything you need to fill out your state and federal tax returns, including supporting forms like W-2s and 1099s. 

The IRS advises you to keep these documents for 3 to 7 years, but which is it, 3 years or 7? It’s best to not take chances. Hang on to all of your tax docs for at least 7 years in drawer #2 and then you should be safe to toss them. The IRS rarely “looks back” more than 6 years. 

So far you haven’t made much progress cleaning up the paper pile, but you have established what not to throw out.

That brings us to drawer #3. In there you’ll put all the material you need to keep for just one year, such as utility bills, bank statements, pay stubs, and bills. After that you can feed them into your shredder … with one important exception. 

If you’re self-employed with a home office, for example, you should hang on to certain expenses related to your work. Utilities would be a good example, since a portion of them can be deducted as expenses. Move those items over to drawer #2 and keep them for 7 years.

Now you should be left with just one large pile of useless paper. Now the shredding can begin in earnest. When it’s finished, you’ll have a lot more room for your coffee cup and pictures of your kids.

You can also __[listen](https://www.moneywise.org/moneywise/slaying-the-paper-piles-2815)__ to th e related podcast on this topic.

Biblical Wisdom For Your Financial Journey

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Even the best household money managers struggle with paper clutter, but a few tricks can help even a novice dig out...

Slaying the Paper Piles

## __For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. — Romans 7:15__

In my own Christian walk over the decades, one of the biggest challenges in my life has not necessarily been the issue of knowing the right thing to do, but rather actually doing that right thing which I already know! The Bible often references this disconnect between “knowing” and “doing.” In Matthew 26:41, we read the oft quoted “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Similarly, Romans 7:15 insightfully notes “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

This propensity to know the right thing to do, but to do otherwise manifests itself when investing as well. Our piece, [Matters of the Heart](https://www.inspireinvesting.com/2020/02/12/matters-of-the-heart/), discusses the pitf alls of emotion-based investing. The relatively new field of Behavioral Finance is predicated on the thesis that investors make sub-optimal decisions due to a number of common psychological tendencies. These behavioral shortcomings cause investors to make imprudent investment decisions, oftentimes enthusiastically buying at high market levels and despondently selling at low market levels. Investors find themselves doing the exact opposite of what they know they should do…buy low and sell high. In other words, Behavioral Finance teaches us that even when investors know the right thing to do, they oftentimes do otherwise. Sounds like something we might read in the Bible, yes?!

Behavioral economist, Dr. Richard Thaler, winner of the Nobel Prize, refers to people who always make rational economic decisions as mythical “Econs,” who do not really exist in real life. Real, flesh and blood humans, Thaler contends, are subject to emotions, biases, heuristics, etc. which cause us to make decision-making errors that Econs would never make. Benjamin Graham, the legendary economist, investor, and professor (Warren Buffett was his student!), summed up the challenge well, “The investor’s chief problem – and even his worst enemy – is likely to be himself.”

There are several key Behavioral Finance mistakes that investors make. With a) __Loss Aversion__, investors mistakenly overweight the pain of potential losses while underweighting the benefit of potential gains; b) __Anchoring__ causes investors to cling to prior reference points, vainly longing for things to return to “normal” or to get back to “even,” while failing to adapt to changed market conditions; and c) __Recency Bias__, investors extrapolate the latest market direction, up or down, far into the future. While being finite does not mean being sinful, the limitations that behavioral finance identifies in all of us provides an opportunity for greed and fear to take advantage of our finite nature.

So, given that the Bible as well as the field of Behavioral Finance teaches us that, as humans, we are predisposed to do those things that we know that we should not do and to not do those things that we know that we should do, what measures can investors take to mitigate these behavioral errors, especially during these anxiety-provoking Pandemic times?

__1. Make a Written Plan__ – In our piece, [What’s The Purpose?](https://www.inspireinvesting.com/2019/12/04/whats-the-purpose/), we discussed the  importance of an investor first determining the specific financial goal(s) in order to achieve a successful investment outcome. To increase the probability of achieving those financial goals, experts agree that having a specific, written plan to accomplish that goal(s) is critical. Then, referring back to that written document on a regular basis (e.g. quarterly), affords investors a helpful, consistent reminder to counter fluctuating emotions in the midst of market moves.

__2. Hire an Advisor__ – Certainly, hiring a financial advisor provides very important knowledge and expertise for investors. However, even beyond that, a financial advisor can serve as an important “personal trainer” that helps investors overcome bad habits and poor decisions. Also, an advisor can be an “accountability partner” to whom one must explain a significant financial decision before taking action. This can help keep investors from being swept up in market bubbles or panics.

__3. Automate__ – Investors should seek to systemize their investment activities as much as possible so that emotions do not affect their investment decisions. Automatic contributions to a retirement plan from one’s regular paycheck is a good example of a way to overcome behavioral finance weaknesses. Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) is a systematic way to take emotions out of play by deploying a given dollar amount into investments on a predetermined schedule. Dollar Cost Withdrawals (DCW) does similarly for taking money out of investments. Likewise, a set rebalancing plan (calendar or percentage based) is an unemotional way to trim back investments at relative highs and redeploy the proceeds into other investments near relative lows.

__4. Employ Values-Based Investing__ – When investors see their investments as not only a means to achieving financial goals, but also goals of a “higher calling” (e.g. Biblically Responsible Investing), they are less likely to get caught up in bouts of market euphoria or despondency. When investors view their investments as “dual-purpose,” they are more likely to maintain a longer term perspective in the midst of gyrating emotions.

__5. “Bucket” Investments__ – The Behavioral Finance concept of “mental accounting” describes the financial mistakes people make by categorizing money into differing accounts and not considering wealth implications holistically when making decisions. This tendency, however, can also be used advantageously in the investor’s continuing fight against fear and greed. By separating investments into two categories of 1) “preserve wealth” (lower risk, lower return investments) and 2) “grow wealth” (higher risk, higher return investments), investors are more likely to maintain a long term investment strategy, even in the face of feelings brought on by market volatility. In [Bear Market To Do List](https://www.inspireinvesting.com/2020/03/19/bear-market-peace-list/), we discussed the imp ortance of having 6 to 24 months of living expenses held in safe, low-yielding cash, savings, or money market accounts in order to weather short-term market turbulence.

__6. Utilize “Insurance”__ – Employing a strategy of rolling, deep out-of-the-money put options on broad equity indices can function like an insurance policy to help shield investors against catastrophic investment losses. This empowers investors to pursue a more prudent long-term investment strategy. Like insurance, however, this peace of mind does come with a deductible (the amount the put option is “out-of-the-money”) as well as the on-going cost of the premiums that must be paid to maintain the protection.

__7. Reframe Time Periods__ – The typical investor’s financial goals are measured not in days, weeks, or months, but rather years, decades, and generations. Therefore, while it is nearly impossible in our present-day, always-connected world to drown out the noise of financial market news, investors are well-served to commit to reviewing their investment portfolio’s performance only on a scheduled basis (e.g. quarterly). Further, in order to mitigate impulsive decisions, past investment performance should be viewed as long term only (five years or more, if available) and on a cumulative basis rather than annualized.


*Advisory Services are offered through CWM Advisors, LLC dba Inspire, a Registered Investment Adviser with the SEC. All expressions of opinion are subject to change. This article is distributed for educational purposes, and it is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, recommendation, or endorsement of any particular security, products, or services. Investors should talk to their financial advisor prior to making any investment decision.

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one of the biggest challenges in my life is actually doing that right thing which I already know!

Our Own Worst Enemy – Seven Key Tactics for Preventing Investment Missteps

__Everything involves risk.  Especially things that matter.__

When faced with the risk of failure and loss, fear is a natural emotion, but fear must be overcome. The popular “self-help” style of overcoming fear is to assume a false confidence that “everything will work out”, channeling Polly Anna with her rose-colored glasses, and resolutely ignoring the risk of failure. However, downplaying or ignoring the risk is not really overcoming fear, it is just a game of make-believe. Deep down you still know the risk is there and it gnaws at the back of your mind. You are still a prisoner of the specter of failure, you just have your eyes closed. Truly overcoming fear requires you to not ignore the risk, but rather to embrace the very real consequences of failure.

You might not succeed. You might fail. You could lose everything. That’s a real possibility.

Then there is just one question that you need to answer:  Is your calling worth the risk?

If you failed, miserably failed, and your worst nightmares came true, would it still have been worth it?  Do you believe in your cause enough to damn the torpedoes, step into the fire, do your best and leave the results to God, whatever they may be?  If the answer is no, then you don’t have the conviction you will need to succeed.  Even successful endeavors spend some time on the brink of failure, staring wide eyed into the open jaws of defeat and despair.  Without the steel and grit of the unshakable conviction that you must triumph, that your work is too great to back down from, you will come upon those dark and fearful times and perish, being swallowed up by dismay.  If your fear is greater than your conviction, you will eventually fail.  If your conviction is greater than your fear, then fear will never stop you, and even though you might give out, you will never give up.

__Embrace the possibility of magnificent failure, trust God, and walk in victory over your fears.__

-R


*Advisory Services are offered through CWM Advisors, LLC dba Inspire, a Registered Investment Adviser with the SEC. All expressions of opinion are subject to change. This article is distributed for educational purposes, and it is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, recommendation, or endorsement of any particular security, products, or services. Investors should talk to their financial advisor prior to making any investment decision.

Life

Everything involves risk.  Especially things that matter...

Overcoming Fear

__Looking To The Bible__

Millions of people look to the Bible for advice on financial matters. And they should. God has provided for us eternal, perfect wisdom through His infallible Word that instructs us in “all things pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3), including wise principles for managing money.

But sometimes I wonder, how many of these people are coming to the Bible just because it is practical? How many financial advisors and how many ministries provide guidance that is only utilitarian in nature, exhorting adherence to biblical truth simply for the utility of the thing?

This is not wrong by itself, and certainly scripture is vastly utilitarian. Indeed, the salvation of my soul is extremely utilitarian! However, if my only concern and motive in believing in Christ is to receive the practical benefit of the salvation of my soul and escape from hell, then it is doubtful that I have ever really been saved at all!

If all my care for the things of God subsist in the practicality of what I receive, and not in the joyful worship and adoration of the “glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6), then my so-called faith is without power to save and I am in danger of hearing those chilling words, “away from me you evil doers, I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23).

__Burning With Zeal__

And so it is with financial discipleship. It is the glory of God which compels the true believer to apply biblical truth to their financial life, and not simply the utilitarian benefits of a budget, appropriate use of debt, wise saving and investing.

Are we compelled to apply scripture to our finances only for what we receive? Or does our heart burn with zeal for God’s glory and joyfully seek every opportunity to honor Him, whether financially or otherwise, regardless of our personal gain?

This is the great purpose and call for every Christ-following financial advisor, every Christian ministry of money, every Christian with influence over financial decisions: To fire the believer’s heart with a vision of God’s glory in their financial life that compels them to submit to His supremacy in and over their financial matters, completely, joyfully and without reservation. We are to be teaching Christians to rejoice in and worship the Lord through their every financial decision because He is worthy, not because of the worth He can provide.

Oh, God, give us such grace!

__Supreme Center__

Anything short of this is missing the mark and, while the believer may benefit practically in an earthly manner, they are left spiritually bereft and without eternal significance and blessing. 
__Without the glory of God as the supreme center of our message, we are in perilous danger of teaching our clients and congregations to store up treasure where moth and rust do destroy and thieves do break in and steal, instead of laying up treasure in heaven, leaving them only a pittance at best in their heavenly investment accounts.__

Why do you look to the Bible for financial advice?



*Advisory Services are offered through CWM Advisors, LLC dba Inspire, a Registered Investment Adviser with the SEC. All expressions of opinion are subject to change. This article is distributed for educational purposes, and it is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, recommendation, or endorsement of any particular security, products, or services. Investors should talk to their financial advisor prior to making any investment decision.

Millions of people look to the Bible for advice on financial matters. And they should...

Is Practical Or Biblical More Important In Your Financial Life?

In Luke 21, Jesus says, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” The story of the widow’s mite is a greater reminder of how God views Giving. But how should we view it? Howard Dayton is here to help us with that. 
<ul><li>Howard Dayton is the founder of Compass— Finances God’s Way, and author of several books on God’s financial principles.</li><li>Howard tells about a part of his testimony where he dove into what God’s word says about generosity and how it affected his giving. </li><li>God evaluates our actions on the basis of our attitudes. John 3:16 reveals his attitude toward giving: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” </li><li>Note the sequence. Because God loved, he gave. Because God is love, he is also a giver. He set the example of generosity motivated by love.</li><li>An attitude of love in giving is crucial: “1 Corinthians 13:3 says, “If I give all my possessions to feed the poor…but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” </li><li>Scripture shows us in several places that to God, attitude counts a lot more than amount. In Matthew 23, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for tithing legalistically. He says, “Woe to you, you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” </li><li>Numbers 18:24: “The tithe of the sons of Israel they offer as an offering to the Lord.” </li><li>If giving is merely to a church, a ministry, or a needy person, it is only charity; giving to the Lord is always an act of worship, expressing love and gratitude to our Creator, Savior, and faithful Provider. </li><li>In addition to giving with love, we are to give cheerfully. 2 Corinthians 9:7 teaches, “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” </li><li>The key to cheerful giving is to yield ourselves to Christ, and ask him to direct how much he wants us to give. That places us in a position to experience the advantages of giving with the proper attitude.</li><li>There are three key areas and the first is an increase in intimacy. Above all else, giving directs our heart to Christ. The second benefit is an increase in character. The third benefit to giving God’s way is an increase in heaven itself.</li><li>Howard Dayton’s been our guest today. You can find out more about Howard and His ministry at Compass1.org. </li></ul>Remember, you can call in to ask your questions 24/7 at (800) 525-7000 or email them to <a href="mailto:questions@MoneyWise.org">Questions@MoneyWise.org</a>. Also, visit our website at <a href="http://MoneyWise.org">MoneyWise.org</a> where you can listen to past programs, connect with a MoneyWise Coach, and even download free, helpful resources like the free MoneyWise app. Like and Follow us on Facebook at MoneyWise Media for the very latest discussion! And 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 on our website or in our app.

MoneyWise is a daily radio ministry of MoneyWise Media. Hosted by Rob West and Steve Moore, the program offers a practical, biblical and good-natured approach to managing your time, talents and resources.

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The story of the widow’s mite (or offering) in Luke 21 is a great reminder of how God views giving. But how should we view it?  Howard Dayton is here to help us with that.

Why We Give with Howard Dayton

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The MoneyWise Minute is a great way to be reminded of God's financial principles with actionable items you can easily apply to your daily life.

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Paying Cash Can Pay Dividends

The Hill family, missionaries to Uganda, rejoiced as they learned they were pregnant. Concerned about complications, doctors encouraged them to remain in the U.S. for the birth. See how the Hill's experienced God's provision.

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) is an budget-friendly, biblical, and compassionate healthcare cost solution for Christians in all 50 states and around the world.

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Missionaries' Miracle Baby

It would've been easy for Laurie Hayn to call it quits after a farm combine accident took both her left arm and leg. But when doctors said that she wouldn't be able to walk, she said "Watch me." God was holding her hand, and watch how he provided for her needs.

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