Chuck Bentley
Chuck Bentley
The average personal savings rate for Americans has been hovering around 4.9%. We save $5 out of very $100, which is not bad… unless we compare it to other countries. The Chinese average 38%, the Irish 19%, the French save 16%, and Australians save 9.3%. For a developed country, we have one of the lowest […]
A friend recently sent me an article where the author gave this challenge – What is a better investment, planting an Apple orchard or buying Apple stock? According to the author, “If you had bought Apple stock at its IPO in 1980, you’d be up over 200x your money. And that is truly phenomenal performance. […]
A universal desire of a Christian is to hear those wonderful words of affirmation, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.” This well known and highly coveted reward is found in Matthew 25, where Jesus shared the parable of three stewards. To one Jesus gave 5 talents, which […]
According to an article in Bloomberg Business, “Citigroup Inc. is sounding the alarm bells for the world economy. The New York-based bank’s chief economist, Willem Buiter, said there is a 55 percent chance of some form of global recession in the next couple of years, most likely one of moderate depth and length. “Unlike the U.S.-driven […]
I once heard poverty described as living on the edge of a financial cliff, not knowing from day to day if you will fall over it and be destroyed. This fear and uncertainty can grip the heart of anyone who is living from paycheck to paycheck, juggling the stress of paying debt that is spiraling […]
I came across a fascinating article called When Work is Punished: The Ongoing Tragedy of America’s Welfare State. Essentially, here is what I learned. “Gary Alexander, Secretary of Public Welfare, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pointed out that ‘the single mom [on government welfare] is better off with gross income of $29,000 with $57,327 in net income […]
We know that we are not to sue fellow brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, but what about non-Christians? The Bible is not quite as specific, but just because God didn’t make it a “thou shalt not” doesn’t mean you or I should ever sue non-Christians. In Luke 6:30 we learn that our […]
America is home to 80 percent of the lawyers in the world who handle 15 million civil lawsuits that are filed each year! Doctors now live as targets of endless lawsuits for malpractice, and frivolous suits are filed for outrageous claims. A Florida minister and his wife sued a guide-dog school after a blind man […]
According to Heather Gilmore, a writer for The Dollar Stretcher, “Emotions can lead to the desire to shop or, on the other hand, shopping can lead to emotions. Shopping can be prompted by sadness, grief, loss, insecurity, guilt, and excitement.” Shopping can create a pleasurable experience making people want to experience the “high” again. The […]
Yahoo Finance recently carried a story of a young couple that was able to retire by age 30. After a mere 10 years of working as software engineers, Peter Adeney and his wife Simi had enough money to retire comfortably and debt free. By being frugal, he was able to save two-thirds of their combined take-home […]
