Financial Insights

What is the most common financial mistake that Christians make? Answer: Following popular advice while ignoring biblical principles. Biblical principles are amazing. They work. Always. Let’s look at five. Personal Responsibility: We must accept personal responsibility for our financial decisions, and know that “each of us will give account of himself” before God. This includes…

Since the 2008 stock market downturn, major countries around the globe have been avoiding fiscal restraint and engaging in currency wars. Essentially, they have been trying to outdo one another in printing money to generate wealth, but really, it’s the illusion of wealth. I like the way Drummond Brodeur, Senior VP and Global Strategist of…

Work is a four-letter word. I’ve never liked it. The only things I seem to like are immoral, illegal, or fattening, but their pay is lousy. Good pay takes real effort. A Calgary saint, now-in-glory, by the name of Henry Esau used to attend Crossroads Community Church. During downturn of the mid 80s he said…

What do you add to your coffee? And I don’t mean cream or sugar. Although not a coffee connoisseur, I do enjoy a cup of good coffee. Have you noticed that when you buy coffee, and many other consumer items, they often come with “extras?” By this I mean customer loyalty promotions. At McDonald’s you…

Hard times in Alberta call for a financial refocus back to the Bible. Some Bible passages I find difficult to understand. For example, when God led the children of Israel out of Egypt, it soon became apparent that the desert vegetation and wildlife could not sustain them. God supplied manna, the sweet cookie-like food, six…

Recently, I took a two-day refresher course in Calgary on Personal Income Tax. Two full days of painful, technical details, but the lunches were good. Quoting from the teaching professional, our taxes, and especially the sequencing of tax credits, is “insanely difficult.” Did you know that from 2015 to 2016 the top marginal rate in…

Recently, I read an article in the Financial Post saying that some States in America (15 to be specific) are aggressively looking at establishing their own local currencies based on a gold standard. The Colorado Honest Money Act, the Vermont Dollars bill, and the Georgia Constitutional Tender Act among others exemplify the deep frustration with the massive printing of U.S. dollars during the past four years. Quoting from the Post: “Once the domain of crackpots and wingnuts, a growing number of Americans believe returning to the gold standard or bringing gold coins back into circulation, is the only way to restore sanity to the fiscal system that is out of control.” In Utah, a law went into effect in May making gold and silver coins legal tender and exempting the exchange of coins from income or sales tax liability.” Imagine that, the establishment of new local currencies. It makes me remember the Master’s words: “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.” (Mark 3:24)

Recently, I read an article in the Financial Post saying that some States in America (15 to be specific) are aggressively looking at establishing their own local currencies based on a gold standard. The Colorado Honest Money Act, the Vermont Dollars bill, and the Georgia Constitutional Tender Act among others exemplify the deep frustration with the massive printing of U.S. dollars during the past four years. Quoting from the Post: “Once the domain of crackpots and wingnuts, a growing number of Americans believe returning to the gold standard or bringing gold coins back into circulation, is the only way to restore sanity to the fiscal system that is out of control.” In Utah, a law went into effect in May making gold and silver coins legal tender and exempting the exchange of coins from income or sales tax liability.” Imagine that, the establishment of new local currencies. It makes me remember the Master’s words: “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.” (Mark 3:24)

Something for nothing. We all want it, but where can we get it? Is it even realistic? Recently I read a quote from Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman of the Templeton Asset Management’s Emerging Markets Group, that another financial crisis is inevitable because causes of the previous one haven’t been resolved.

Mobius was addressing the Foreign Correspondent’s club of Japan in Tokyo in response to a question about price swings: “Are derivatives regulated? No. Are you still getting growth in derivatives? Yes.”

Recently the value of gold hit an all-time high of $1,556.33 US per ounce. That’s an increase of over 400% since I last wrote about precious metals (City Light News October 2003) when gold was $370. Why the huge jump?

In a nutshell, the financial confidence in the US dollar fell through the floor. Across the globe, but especially in the US, paper currency was being printed like monopoly money in an attempt to stimulate (aka quantitative easing, a banking euphemism) the economy which suffered its worst crash since the Great Depression of the 1930’s.