This is a post I originally wrote for Bible Money Matters with some modifications.
It’s a post about gaining perspective on money management and financial stewardship. I enjoy finding new ways to gain a wise financial steward’s perspective on money. I hope this particular one will encourage the new financial steward, perhaps be a wake up call for some and a reminder for the more seasoned stewards among us.
I’ve always been a believer it’s not how much money you make, but how you handle or manage the money that you make. I think it’s easy to get caught up in the race of working more to earn more in order to have what many might think is a better way of life. It’s just exhausting to think about for me because I know I could never work hard enough for what would never be enough.
A Million Dollars. Is It Attainable?
For example, a lot of people think about making a million dollars in their lifetime. To be a millionaire has always been the label that says “I’m financially free.” Many in society view the millionaire as a person who can buy almost anything they want. The thought is they drive fancy cars and live in the nicest houses.
The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley gave many people a different view of the millionaire for the first time. All of the sudden a millionaire could be the person next to you driving the Ford F150 pick up and wearing average clothes. We learned the millionaire next door was different than the one seen on TV and movies. This millionaire manages money wisely versus the one fueled by materialistic desires and dreams.
I told myself some time ago to never depend on another pay raise. Having that perspective, I’m only left with managing wisely what I’ve been blessed with today in order to meet our family’s financial objectives. I realize even if I don’t have a million dollars, I can still be financially free and prosperous as long as I have a Biblical perspective on money management.
However, the truth is that most people will make a million dollars in their lifetime, even if they don’t increase their income by another dime! How? Well, let’s think about it for a moment.
If someone were making $20,000 per year at the age of 25, they will have grossed a million dollars by the time they are 75. Many people make more than $20,000 dollars per year. Let’s increase that to $50,000 which would then take someone 20 years to gross a million dollars. A person who is 30 today and making $50,000 per year will have grossed a million dollars by the time they are 50!
According to Mary Hunt in her book, How to Debt Proof Your Marriage, we are all becoming millionaires!
The truth is that you are becoming millionaires right now. You’re receiving your wealth in installments, a portion every payday.
I felt like I had just won the lottery and gained new perspective after reading that comment from her book. Even if I don’t make another dime, I’ll probably gross a million dollars in this lifetime which is all paid to me in installments.
What Will You Do With Your Million Dollars?
So I ask the question; what will you do with your million dollars? Think about if you were to give 10% of your gross income, save 10% of your gross income, and live on the remaining 80%. You would be able to save $100,000 and give $100,000 in your lifetime! I think for most it could be stretched even further, but you get the point.
Most people would never dream of being able to give or save these large amounts of money. But if we look at our situation with new perspective, perhaps the million dollar installment perspective, we just might do it!
Imagine a world in which everyone would save or invest $100,000 in their lifetime? The average net worth of our nation would increase and people would be able to invest more of their time as well as provide gifts to others. Think about the impact to churches, ministries and non-profits; it is indescribable.
Many wonder why they should have a budget or a spending plan to guide them each month. Fundamentally, it’s to help perform wise money management and to achieve financial goals. But, largely, it’s so that meaningful decisions can be made regarding the use of the money which has been entrusted to our care which are our monthly installments.
So again, I think at the end of the day it’s not about making more money or dreaming of a future of more cash than we know what to do with; such as society’s view of the millionaire. Rather, it’s how we plan to manage our monthly million dollar installments and keep them from dwindling away.
What do you think about the monthly million dollar installment perspective? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Photo by Suburban Dollar.
