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Greater
love has no one
than this,
that he lay
down his
life[style]
for his friends.
- John 15:13 mod

Mar 11, 2010 - Eric Swanson.

The new Forbes’ list of richest people in the world was recently released. In interesting news, the new richest person in the world is from Mexico named Carlos Slim Helú. However, the more interesting news is the drop in American wealth from every statistical standpoint.

Forbes.com writes,

“U.S. billionaires still dominate the ranks, but their grip is slipping. Americans account for 40% of the world’s billionaires, down from 45% a year ago.”

“The U.S. commands 38% of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world’s richest, down from 44% a year ago.”

“Of the 97 new billionaires on the list, only 16% are from the U.S. By contrast, Asia made big gains, adding 104 moguls.”

“Eleven countries, including China, India, Turkey and South Korea, have at least double the number of billionaires they had a year ago.” — Forbes.com

The above quotes should come at no surprise, since we outsource almost everything to other countries and import almost everything else. The idea that we should become protectionists in our foreign policy to stop the bleeding of wealth transfer to other nations is not the answer.

Nor is the answer going to be found in replacing that lost wealth with personal debt. However, that is what America is doing. Since the American consumer is not willing to give up their life[style], they are replacing all this lost wealth with personal debt.

Since employee income is dropping due to foreign competition, the American consumer is replacing the lost wages with personal debt.  They are trading lost present wages with future wages.  The American consumer is trading their future for their present.

However, what happens when the future becomes the present given that the American consumer traded all their future wages.  The American consumer will be left with two very hard choices:  even further decrease in life[style] or taking on even more debt to maintain that life[style].

[Read more here.]

The Challenge of
A Christmas Carol

Mar 23, 2010 - Eric Swanson Unlike during Dickens’ time, Americans have the opportunity and resources to help the less fortunate.  Jesus said,

“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” – MATTHEW 25:40

Though the Church since Dickens’s time subjugated its role to truly care for the least of these.  Americans have the resources to change all that and deliver real results to the kingdom of God.  As more Christians walk away from their beliefs in consumerism and embrace a life[style] of living humbly, staying away from debt, and giving generously, Christians will find they can finally be effective in caring for “the least of these”.

[Read more here.]

When is your
Debt Independence Day?

Mar 26, 2010 - Eric Swanson.

We would like to introduce our newest project called:

Debt Independence Day

Getting out of debt and staying out of debt is a financial marathon. It will take discipline and dedication to beat debt.

The first step is to determine when you can expect to be out of debt.
This date is called your Debt Independence Day.

I encourage you to create a spreadsheet program that will list you debts, interest rates, and current payments that will calculate your Debt Independence Day.

[Read more here.]