"Integrated Planning"

Stewardship Lesson #7

Integrated Planning

To plan for the future you will need to do hour things:

1. Summarize your present position. How much do you know have? List earnings from your job(s) & how much you need to spend. Write this information on a piece of paper.
   
   
2. Next establish your financial goals. Do you want to go to college? If so, you will need about $65,000. Do you want to be able to travel when you graduate from high school? If so, determine how much you will need. Do you want to be able to start a business? If so, determine how much you will need. The point is, you must place monetary value on your goals. Write these down on the same sheet of paper you listed your current position.
   
   
3. Plan to increase your cash-flow margin. If you want to reach your goal, you must increase how much money you have available to you. There are only two ways to do this: You must either cut back on your spending &/or make more money. List ways you can increase your cash flow so that you can reach your goal.
4. Last, but not least, you must control your cash flow. We already stated that you can never buy everything you want. And we learned that the accumulation of money is not the end goal. Money is only a tool. But to use it as a tool you have to be in control of your finances & of yourself. On the same sheet of paper on which you wrote your income & goals, list five ways you can better control your cash flow. For example, one of our children's goals is to be able to attend college. They need to increase their earnings & cut back on spending in order to be able to have the money they will need. Every penny counts. To control their cash flow, they immediately put money in savings as soon as they get paid. They also combine some money to be able to earn a higher rate of interest in their savings accounts. They are in control of the money, instead of their desires being in control. And if they want something? They put the money aside for 10 days & at the end of that time, if they still think it is important, they buy it at that time. We found that emotional buying was one of the worst enemies to control cash flow.

Recap:

1. List the four points of integrated planning.
2. What action can you take today to reach your long-term goals?

Quotable Quotes: “Money is one of the resources you use to accomplish the desires you have. Success is knowing what God would have you to be & to do, so what when you stand before HIM, you will hear Him say, 'Well, done, good & faithful servant.'”