Have you been laid back about your finances, especially about exercising control over them? If your money matters are all over the place, you need to immediately rectify this situation. If someone else is managing your finances, jointly with you or otherwise, such as your spouse, parent, older sibling etc., you need to have just as much information of and say in the matters. However, this may seem daunting at first and all of a sudden.

The sooner you make this a habit, the better because what if there is an emergency tomorrow? What if the person you’re dependent on passes away suddenly? We don’t think about these mishaps but they can happen anytime, anywhere, to anyone. So before you start looking for financial advisers and planners to help you manage your money, follow these simple steps to get your financial affairs in order and take control of the situation.

ROSARIO, Argentina – To hear Catholicism’s most famous former inmate tell the story, the experience of being in jail actually offers improbable insights for Church management, perhaps especially managing money.

In a new video released Tuesday, Australian Cardinal George Pell, who spent more than 400 days in jail after a conviction for a sexual abuse charge that was eventually overturned by his country’s High Court, said it was important for him behind bars not only to pray but also to maintain a healthy daily routine.

Pell said he stayed awake every day after prisoners were roused early in the morning, even though many of his fellow inmates would go back to bed. He did exercise, he said, kept a careful watch over his diet, and came out having lost weight and perhaps in better shape than he went in.

That experience, Pell suggested, is a metaphor for the necessary intersection of deep spirituality and best practices in business administration when it comes to running the Church.

“Basically, we believe that Grace works through nature,” he said in the video. “And it’s one thing to have a spiritual vision, which comes from Christ. Another thing is to have a plan or a project. Of course, to implement those things you need managerial skills: Human capacity which is trained for good and godly purposes.”

Then, the ever-blunt Pell also delivered a warning.

“The Church is not a business,” he said. “The Church is supernatural … [but] to say that the Church is not a business provides no justification for us to be inefficient, much less corrupt.”

Named in 2014 by Pope Francis as his first Secretary of the Economy, essentially the Vatican’s treasurer, Pell was speaking in a video for the Global Institute of Church Management at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, run by Opus Dei. Pell called the program “impressive” and applauded the relative speed with which it’s been launched.

Known for his aggressive attempts at reform prior to the sex abuse charges in Australia, Pell reflected on the ambivalence of money in the life of the Church.

“We worship the one true God who’s transcendent, but we believe in the incarnation,” Pell said. “[We believe] that God sent his only Son to come and live with us. We bring the presence of Christ and of God into our communities. And we have to use money and methodology to do this.”

“Undoubtedly, while money is God’s gift, it’s also a temptation,” he said.

When it comes to “Church enterprises, the way we serve the people,” Pell said the key is not only about praying regularly.

“We have to be able to put our vision [inspired by God] into action,” he said. “This means that we have to be able to implement our service to people.”

Pell also said that God says “a lot” about riches, and that he was “clear” on the subject.

“I was much disconcerted when I read, must have been a decade or so ago, that Our Lord condemned the love of riches more than he condemned hypocrisy,” he said.

“The only group to whom our Lord took the whip were the money changers and traders in the temple,” the cardinal said. “Money is a tainted thing. I thoroughly enjoyed my work with money, it’s quite fascinating, but it needs to be controlled and managed.”

The Global Institute of Church Management, a U.S.-based non-profit, was started at the request of Pell on the behalf of the Holy See while he was the head of the Secretariat for the Economy, a position he was appointed to by Pope Francis, who also had him as one of the original members of the council of cardinal advisors that’s helping him reform the Roman Curia.

The cardinal’s position in this council wasn’t renewed, as he was in Australia facing trial when the original term expired.

Clerics, seminarians, religious and lay people attend the year-long program to grow their economic, financial and administrative skills in order better help the Church properly manage its material assets. According to the website of the program, the “pastoral use” of the Church’s money is a “constitutive element” of the institution, and “the correct dealing with money is an important element of the spirituality of any person entrusted with leadership roles.”

“Unlike secular business schools where students learn to create wealth and build businesses, this program focuses on how to serve the poor effectively and use the material assets of the Church honestly,” the website says.

Collaborating with the Opus Dei-run pontifical university are Catholic University of America, the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University, the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and the Leadership Roundtable.

Follow Inés San Martín on Twitter: @inesanma

Related Posts

• Cardinal Pell investigated over letter from jail
• Australian prison chaplain nervous about cardinal inmate
• Australia’s High Court to hear Pell abuse appeal Wednesday

The program was recently switched to an online platform to make it accessible during the COVID-19 pandemic. The six-module course includes videos, interactive activities, self-assessments and downloadable spending tracking forms.

The program is self-paced and can be completed at the viewer’s convenience. Participants should allow approximately four to six weeks to complete the modules and associated activities.

After completion of the course, participants will understand how current money management practices affect financial security, how to establish good financial management practices and new habits that create personal financial security.

Best practices that will be explored and discussed include identifying spending leaks, categorizing needs vs. wants, tracking expenses and establishing written financial goals.

“The goal of the course is to increase your financial knowledge and resources so you can manage your personal finances better. Managing money takes learned skills and we hope that this program will help anyone who wants to learn or improve those skills,” said Naomi Bechtold, Purdue Extension specialist for family resource management and course organizer.

To register for the Where Does Your Money Go? program, go to https://bit.ly/WDYMGOnlineRegistrationLink.

Lowest risk: High-yield savings account. Many online banks, such as Simple, offer high-yield savings accounts with minimal fees, as do some major banks, such as Citi. This is the most straightforward and flexible option, albeit the one with the lowest returns. Choose an account that offers at least 1% APY, or ideally 1.2%, or higher.

Low risk: Money market account. Some money market accounts offer rates somewhat higher than the typical high-yield savings account – some can yield as much as 1.75%. Sometimes, however, there may be limitations on how many withdrawals you can make in a specified period of time, as well as higher fees, so read the fine print carefully when choosing between this option and a high-yield savings account.

Low Risk: Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS). TIPS provide a low-risk way to buy a fixed income security that is guaranteed to shield your money from inflation. Still, selling TIPS can be a two-step process that includes transferring the security to a bank or broker, and you may not receive face value if you sell before maturity. This makes it a less-attractive option for emergency savings.

More from Invest in You:
Millennials share their top financial regrets to help Gen Z get started
This critical link could help bridge America’s racial wealth gap
5 work-from-home jobs that pay more than $60,000 a year

Regrets are a part of life.

Money regrets have a particularly sharp tang, though. It’s difficult not to look back and calculate just what that past misstep is costing you now.

Nadia Malik, 36, a personal finance blogger in Dallas, wishes she’d saved more in her early 20s. “I had already been working along [going to school] but was not saving anything,” she said. Recalling her life at that time, living with her new husband in a studio apartment, she says a cash cushion would have made it possible for them to buy a spacious condo or a small house.

It could be that, for most of us, spending freely without any thought for the future is a hallmark of life in our 20s.

More from Invest in You:
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“I wasted so much money doing frivolous things,” said Alainta Alcin, 30, a contract negotiator in West Palm Beach, Florida.

This is as common as Friday night pizza. The thing to keep in mind is that people can feel very differently about those decisions a few years later. When it came to rating the fallout of their earlier financial actions, most millennials queried in a study by CollegeFinance.com called them serious.  

Blame it on the newfound freedom college students experience: Of the more than 1,000 people polled in April, 47% of millennials didn’t use any sort of budget in college, and 43% accrued credit card debt while they were still in school.

One of the more common scenarios I encounter in my practice is sitting down with a seemingly highly successful young married couple who are struggling to reach basic financial milestones. They have a hard time maintaining an emergency fund, coming up with a down payment for a home, saving for their child’s college education, and participating in their employer’s 401(k) plan. At first glance, one wouldn’t expect these folks to be struggling financially. Many of these HENRY (High Earner Not Rich Yet) couples are earning over half a million dollars a year between both spouses and have great jobs with tremendous upside potential.

In truth, much of these financial pressures are caused by just a few poor financial decisions and lifestyle choices that could have been avoided with proper education. Unfortunately, most schools don’t have a financial planning curriculum. The burden of teaching financial literacy is left to parents. Imparting the below money tips to children starting at a young age can drastically change the child’s relationship with money and help secure their financial future.

1.   Appreciation for money: A healthy relationship with money should start at a young age. While teaching budgeting, cash flow management, and savings are all important skills, few elementary or high schools students have the patience to sit down and discuss any of those topics. It’s far wiser to start with simply instilling an appreciation for the things one has: an iPhone, computer, car, family vacations, nice meal, new clothes, or any other luxury that may be in their lives. Teaching kids to be grateful through casual discussion not only reinforces a positive attitude towards money, but will also serve as a springboard for other financial related conversations. It will also open the child’s eyes to families that may not be as fortunate. That awareness and understanding is helpful beyond the world of just personal finance. As I tell my clients, financial planning is not only about the accumulation of wealth, it is also about the transmission of values to the next generation.

2.   View college as an investment: Student debt may be the single biggest financial mistake people make. Many high school seniors choose a university based on national rankings, campus life, or junior year study abroad options. In reality, college should be viewed as an investment towards a successful financial future. If a student needs to take out debt to finance their education, it’s essential that they have a well-defined plan on how they plan to repay it. If there is no repayment strategy in place, it can have a domino effect that will impact the rest of their life. Cash flows will be tighter, the ability to save will be impeded, and lifestyle goals like buying a home and having kids may need to be postponed.

Thankfully, there are many affordable ways to further one’s education. This includes choosing an in-state school, going to community college for a couple of years, or choosing a school that provides the student with the best financial package. Failing to view your child’s college education as an investment can have the unintended consequences of saddling them with an insurmountable level of debt that will derail their financial future.

3.   Avoid lifestyle creep: As college graduates enter the workforce and begin to make money, there is a natural desire to spend that money on more things. This temptation to spend more as one’s income increases is known as “lifestyle creep.” It’s important to understand that this mindset will not lead to more satisfaction. Instead, it usually will lead to more financial strain as one tries to maintain an increasingly expensive lifestyle.

One of the smartest decisions a young professional can make is to continue to live like a student until they bolster their financial reserves and get a handle on their cash flow. For those fresh out of college and accustomed to living with roommates, continuing in a shared living space will not impact their lifestyle, but will allow them to save more money for the next stage of life. After college, I lived in a dilapidated townhouse in a less popular neighborhood with nine roommates. Looking back years later, it doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to live. However, I saved money on rent and utilities, had a wonderful social life, and was able to max out my 401(k) on an entry level salary. It turned out to be both a great life and financial decision.

4.   Enroll in employer’s retirement plan: When starting a job for the first time, some of a new hire’s biggest priorities should be making sure their health insurance is squared away and that they are contributing to their firm’s retirement plan. It’s astounding how many people decide not to do the latter. They often justify this decision because their employer doesn’t match their contributions or they need the cash flow for other expenses. In reality, the matching is just the cherry on top of what is a wonderful way to save for your future in a tax efficient manner. As for needing the cash flow, I often find that after careful review many find other expenses that are expendable or simply a case of lifestyle creep.

A key component of investment success boils down to one’s time horizon. As a 22 year old first entering the workforce, your 40+ year time horizon is your biggest asset. In order to capitalize on this asset, it is essential to enroll in one’s 401(k) and contribute the maximum amount, if possible. Once the money is automatically contributed, you probably won’t miss it. Odds are you will just learn to live on less. Over time, the power of compound interest will work its magic and increase your nest egg exponentially to provide for a comfortable retirement.

5.   Understand how credit cards work: Many sophisticated people don’t understand how credit cards work. Credit cards exist to ease transactional burdens and allow people to shop without carrying wads of cash. The added benefit is to build your credit score. A good credit score impacts many areas, including allowing one to get lower rates on borrowed money (e.g. to buy a house or start a business), makes getting approval to rent a house or apartment easier, and potentially lowers auto insurance rates. Building your credit score is as simple as paying off your full credit card balance, on time, every month. The credit card issuer reports each monthly payment to the credit reporting agencies. This will help increase your credit score because it shows lenders that you can manage credit responsibly.

Many folks believe it’s only necessary to pay the minimum balance every month. This is the wrong approach. Interest on credit cards is astronomically high and can get out of hand very quickly. Think about credit card debt as a rapidly growing cancer to your financial health. Missing just a few payments on your credit card bills can lead to a large debt burden that can quickly derail you financially. It’s imperative to use credit cards correctly or it can be devastating.

6.   Never try to keep up with the Joneses: Once one settles in a community, certain social pressures begin to build in order to maintain a particular lifestyle. It’s important to teach your children that there will always be someone who has more. There will always be a family in your social circle that appears to have a higher income, nicer house, fancier car, go on better vacations, and on and on. At all levels of wealth, trying to keep up with others is a futile goal that will only lead to unhappiness and financial hardship. It’s far more important to live within your means, save money every year, invest it prudently, and focus on the things in life that give you true joy, like spending quality time with family and friends.

Many parents may feel overwhelmed when it comes to providing sound financial guidance to their children. This may be because they don’t have expertise in this area or because they’ve made poor money decisions themselves. In reality, merely understanding the above points may be enough to change the financial trajectory of many young adults and lead them to build a successful financial future.

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Disclaimer: This article authored by Jonathan Shenkman a financial advisor at Oppenheimer Co. Inc. The information set forth herein has been derived from sources believed to be reliable and does not purport to be a complete analysis of market segments discussed. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Oppenheimer Co. Inc. does not provide legal or tax advice. Opinions expressed are not intended to be a forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, and investment advice. Adtrax #: 3142334.1

For Beijing, that’s bad news. These were risks it was trying to contain through reactive rules laid out since 2018 and supposed to take full effect at the end of this year, aimed at reining in asset management and containing trust company funding, especially toward property investment. Now, regulators could find themselves squeezing lending channels at a time when they can’t get credit flowing to the real economy.

The Motley Fool Take

Shares of Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, were recently trading at levels not seen in years, making them rather attractive for long-term investors. Its Class A shares, after reaching almost $350,000 per share, are down to the $270,000 range. Its Class B shares, which had traded at $230 earlier this year, are now around $180 per share.

Berkshire Hathaway is a diversified holding company with billions of dollars invested in dozens of stocks (including Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and American Express), along with around $125 billion in cold, hard cash. More important, Berkshire has acquired dozens of solid companies over the years, with these subsidiaries including Benjamin Moore, Brooks Sports, International Dairy Queen, Justin Brands, McLane, Business Wire, Clayton Homes, Forest River, GEICO, Nebraska Furniture Mart, NetJets, See’s Candies, Shaw Industries and the entire BNSF Railway.

Berkshire Hathaway’s near-term performance will be challenged by the COVID-19 outbreak — its retail businesses in particular. But Berkshire also owns businesses that won’t be as affected by the coronavirus pandemic, such as its insurance and energy operations.

Meanwhile, Buffett is a master at making smart investments during market downturns — and he has billions at his disposal with which to do so. At age 89, he has spent decades building the company to last. He has succession plans in place, too, so Berkshire can keep growing for decades more. (The Motley Fool owns shares of and has recommended Berkshire Hathaway.)

Ask the Fool

From R.P. in Farmington, N.M.: Is it smart to sell my low-dividend-yield stocks and buy more high-yield stocks?

The Fool responds: Not necessarily. High dividend yields are certainly appealing, as they deliver significant income, but they’re not equally safe or attractive. Many solid companies pay out most of their earnings in dividends and sport fat yields. That’s great, and such stocks are good for people seeking income. But since a dividend yield is the result of dividing a stock’s annual dividend amount by its current stock price, a high yield can also reflect a stock that has fallen in price, possibly because the company is in trouble.

Also consider a dividend’s growth rate. A modest dividend today can be a fat dividend in a few years if the company is increasing its payout regularly and significantly, as many do. Some low-dividend stocks may be paying much fatter dividends within a few years.

From M.B. in Norfolk, Va.: How are stockbrokers paid?

The Fool responds: If you’re referring to brokerages, they make some money by charging trading commissions (though many brokerages now offer commission-free trading). Typically, they earn more from interest on client assets, interest on margin loans and fees for asset management and other services.

If you mean the humans who might call you and try to sell you an investment, or through whom you might buy or sell stock, they’re generally paid via salary, commissions on sales, incentive bonuses and advisory fees; the mix depends on the company they work for. Brokers who depend heavily on commissions can cost you quite a bit if they encourage you to trade frequently.

The Fool’s School

One drawback to being self-employed is not having an employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k). But people who are self-employed can still save with traditional and Roth IRAs and can save in regular taxable accounts, as well.

In addition, there are special retirement plans for self-employed people such as the SEP IRA, the SIMPLE IRA and the Solo 401(k) plan. Each lets you deduct your contributions from your taxable income, and those contributions will grow on a tax-deferred basis until the money is withdrawn. Solo 401(k)s also offer a Roth version, where your contributions are made with post-tax money (offering no deduction), and your withdrawals in retirement are tax-free.

A SEP (Simplified Employee Pension) IRA lets employers or self-employed people contribute far heftier sums than even most 401(k)s allow. For 2020, the contribution limit is the lesser of 25% of compensation or $57,000. It’s easy to set up and has low administrative costs.

A SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) IRA is another retirement plan that self-employed people can set up for themselves. (Small businesses can set them up for employees, too.) The contribution limit for employees is $13,500 in 2020, plus $3,000 more for those ages 50 and up. An employer matching contribution of up to 3% of income is also allowed.

A Solo 401(k) plan, also known as a One-Participant 401(k) plan, is a traditional 401(k) plan for a business owner, or for the owner and his or her spouse. The owner can make both elective-deferral contributions from compensation of up to $19,500 in 2020 ($26,000 for those ages 50 and up) and employer nonelective contributions, with all contributions (except catch-up contributions of those 50 or older) totaling no more than $57,000.

Each of these plans has a few more rules to know about regarding how to set them up, contribution limits and withdrawals. Learn more before deciding which is for you, because the rules or limits might make one option better than others. However you go about it, it’s vital to be saving and investing for your future.

My Dumbest Investment

From M., online: My dumbest investment was jumping onto the Bitcoin train near its all-time high — when I knew nothing about cryptocurrencies. I was hoping it would continue to skyrocket, but shortly after I got in (at around $19,000 per token), it crashed. Lessons learned: Don’t be a sheep following the herd, and learn before you earn!

The Fool responds: Those are two excellent lessons. It’s always best to think for yourself when investing, because lots of people in the crowd don’t know what they’re doing. Indeed, if they panic about a short-term problem facing a company and sell out of it, that can be a good time to buy —and if they greedily snap up shares of a company, sending the stock price soaring, it’s often best to steer clear, as it’s likely overvalued and may soon fall.

Many people have invested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies without really understanding them — and they’re not easy to understand. They’re also highly volatile and risky, and are best avoided by most of us.

Bitcoin was briefly above $20,000 per token in late 2017, only to dip below $6,000 a few months later and end up near $3,000 a year later. More recently, Bitcoin has been trading near $9,000. You can learn much more about investing in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies from The Motley Fool at Mot.ly/crypto-things-to-know.

Who am I?

I trace my roots back to my 1979 founding by game designers from Atari; that was followed by the success of Chopper Command, River Raid and Pitfall. My current name reflects a 2008 merger with the developer of Warcraft. Today, based in Santa Monica, Calif., I oversee many game franchises, such as Call of Duty, Skylanders, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, Candy Crush and Bubble Witch. With a market value recently topping $55 billion, I rake in more than $6 billion annually, and nearly 500 million users play my games per month — in 196 countries. Who am I?

Last week’s trivia answer: Johnson Johnson

You’re allowed to claim Social Security ahead of FRA if waiting that long isn’t desirable or if, in the case of a forced early retirement, waiting just doesn’t work out. The earliest age you can sign up to receive benefits is 62, but for each month you file ahead of FRA, your benefits will be reduced. And unless you manage to undo your filing within a year and repay all of the money in benefits you received, that reduction will remain in effect for the rest of your life.

Too Many Requests