It's tax season. It's the time of year where tax commercials are played constantly. From the H&R Block's "It's Refund Season" to the Jackson Hewitt "This is how we do it" commercials, we are lulled into sleep by the fact that it is a good thing to get a tax refund. In all reality, a tax refund is just the government paying you back the money that you loaned them over the course of the year.
Generosity
Generosity is one of the greatest things that we can give with our time or even our money. The Lord calls for us to be generous and this calling is a calling of faith. How faithful are you? Do you trust in the Lord to provide, when you give away the money that you earned?
The Importance of Keeping Track of Your Finances
Over the weekend, I was checking my Personal Capital dashboard to see how bad the down market has hurt our net worth. As you would imagine, our net worth took a hit, just like everyone else. This does not mean that I am running to the hills and selling everything. We have to remember that retirement investing is an investment for the long haul and we can't get scared by a dip in the market. It is always important to remember this fact whenever the nightly news scares you into thinking that this is the crash to end all mankind. Don't worry, the market will recover and we will be better off than we were before.
Envy vs. Gratitude
Every holiday season, specifically Thanksgiving, we reflect back on the things that we are thankful for in our life. I sometimes wonder why we as a culture only take one day to reflect and be thankful. This is something that we should change. Being thankful year round is a great way to humble yourself. Instead of thinking of everything you don't have, you begin to be grateful for what you do have.