Comments on Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki has sold millions of books. He sprinkles enough God talk into his material to get him shelf space at Christian bookstores. There is a point in my life where his message of get filthy rich by doing as little active work as possible appealed to me. But the truth of God changed my mind and heart.

Kiyosaki's message is clearly the opposite of what the Bible teaches and therefore should be rejected by biblical Christians. But instead professing Christians are latching on to his message as just another example of their love affair with the prosperity gospel. Kiyosaki was asked to write a column for Yahoo Finance. Let's look at his perspective in his latest column on August 22, 2006. I will put his words in italics and then make comments in bold.

Go Forth And Multiply Your Money- Robert Kiyosaki

If the No. 1 reason people aren't rich is because they're lazy, the No. 2 reason may be that they're also wicked. Not that being wicked ever stopped anyone from getting rich.
Given all that, should we save taxes by stopping government entitlement programs? Does giving money to poor and greedy people reduce their numbers, or does it just ensure more poor and greedy people?

Kiyosaki seems to believe that poor people are greedier than rich people. Although I agree that poor people can be greedy, greed is an issue that plagues rich and poor alike. So in Kiyosaki's world all poor people are lazy and wicked. Hmm.

Great Spirit, Great Wealth

As you can tell, I'm in the same politically incorrect frame of mind as in my last column, "Lazy People Don't Get Rich." Many of you had a lot to say about that article, and I'll comment on that in an upcoming column. For now, this week I derive much of its inspiration from the Bible. Or Maybe he should say a couple of verses in the Bible taken out of context that support his worldview. Since money and religion are controversial subjects, I should clarify my religious position: I prefer the Native American Indian term "Great Spirit" as a more approachable reference to God. At least Kiyosaki is not pretending to align himself with the God of Scripture.

I also don't like religious fanatics, regardless of what religion they belong to, but I support freedom of religion. For that matter, I also support the freedom to not believe in a god at all.
As for my position on wealth, if you're reading this column you know it pretty well by now.

A Talent for Abundance

While I'm no Bible scholar (I completely agree), I'm going to use a passage from the New Testament book of Mathew to illustrate my point about wickedness and the lack of wealth. If I misinterpret its message or don't follow your interpretation I mean no harm, nor do I claim to speak for God.

I draw my politically incorrect message from the parable of a master who, before leaving to travel, gave one of his servants five talents (a valuable unit of currency), another servant two talents, and a third servant one talent. When the master returned, the first servant had doubled his money and gave his master 10 talents.

The second servant had also doubled his master's money and turned over four talents. To each of these servants the master said, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master."

The third servant was frightened of his master, so instead of multiplying the money he buried his single talent. To this servant the master said, "You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest."

The master then took the servant's one talent and gave it to the servant who had turned 5 talents into 10. The parable ends with these words: "For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

Evil Is as Evil Does

My politically incorrect interpretation of this parable is that the poor are wicked and slothful -- in other words, evil and lazy. My favorite line from it is "Enter into the joy of your master." If your master is God, then God's joy is the abundance derived from making money, which in turn creates more abundance. If that means God doesn't like poor people, then so be it.

Wow! What does political correctness have to do with this article? If Kiyosaki wants to use a biblical passage then he should at least try to get to the original meaning of the passage. To say that this passage implies that poor people are wicked and slothful and that rich people have God's favor leaves me speechless.

I will ignore the hundreds of verses in the Old Testament that communicate God's concern for the poor and oppressed. Mr. Kiyosaki, please read these verses before you make further ridiculous conclusions.

James 5:1-6, "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you."

Luke 12:13-21, "Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

I Timothy 6:9-10; 17-19, "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs... As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life."

Just to clarify... I am pro people obtaining massive amounts of wealth through honest work that benefits mankind. I especially want those who have been trained in stewardship to make a ton of money. I want to get the maximum amount of resources in the hands of the best stewards. But just as the 1 Timothy passage teaches, the pursuit of riches is self-reliant. The pursuit of stewardship is God-reliant.

This is contrary to the ideas I often hear from socialists, religious leaders, and the poor themselves. I meet many people who believe that it's the rich who are evil, and that money is the root of all evil and rich people won't go to heaven. But this isn't what the Parable of the Talents says; I interpret it to say that the poor are evil and lazy. Your interpretation may be different.

For me, it brings up the problem of entitlements and government safety-net programs. My interpretation of the parable indicates that the government's social programs are evil because they support people who are wicked and slothful, and even create more of them.

That doesn't mean just more poor people, either. As we all know, some of the most corrupt practices in government are derived from the rich wanting more government handouts for their corporations, special interest groups, or political action committees.
Most of us are mature enough to know that it's only the less intelligent politicians who get caught. Some of our most wicked (and most famous) politicians are in important positions of power. Many of them are the ones we see posing for photo-ops in churches or at prayer breakfasts.

Money-Happy

One of the more financially dysfunctional notions I hear from poor people is that "money doesn't make you happy." I don't know about you, but I'm much happier when I have an abundance of money. So does God feel the same way -- is He happier when you're rich, or when you're poor? That's a question you'll have to answer for yourself. I think you know how I feel.

I will concur that some poor people are lazy. But not all. Kiyosaki has butchered this parable of the talents passage. The meaning of the word talent in this passage does have financial implications. But Christ seems to be teaching that professing Christians are to be fruitful with what God entrusts to us.

Money, abilities, time and health are resources that God entrusts to us in different measures. We will one day account for how we used these gifts. Our charge is to use all of these resources in a God-glorifying way not on selfish indulgence. We are to help alleviate the sufferings of the poor by providing opportunity. I do agree with Kiyosaki that entitlements are generally bad. But to say that the poor are wicked and lazy is naive and arrogant.

Kiyosaki's attitude reminds me of the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. This rich man ignored the needs of the poor beggar- Lazarus. Jesus teaches that the rich man is told in hell, "remember that you received your good things on earth while Lazarus suffered. But now Lazarus is comforted while you anguish."

We all need to have a steward's mind and heart. We are what we are by the grace of God alone. Period. And we must understand that this grace requires that we love justice, mercy and walk humbly with our God. This means not patting ourselves on the back when wealth comes our way. But instead asking- how can I follow Christ by being more frugal towards myself and generous to others?

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge

Stewardship Plan- Money

It is amazing what God teaches us in short periods of time. Seven years ago my attitudes towards money were selfish and not biblical. I was introduced to a Crown Financial Ministries Bible study and those beliefs began to change.

After reading many books on the subject of the stewardship of money, I began to write down a philosophy of money that hopefully is in line with God's revealed will. I published a book-Stewardship Mandate- in June of 2005 where I summarized those beliefs along with ideas about the stewardship of abilities, time and health as well.

I am currently working on a edit of Stewardship Mandate and I am amazed at how God is revealing new things to me all the time. Although I stand behind 95% of the things I originally wrote, I often cringe and think, "I didn't communicate that very well," or "Why did I write that?"

One of my core beliefs is that the things you will measure will improve if you commit them to prayer and work a plan towards the desired goal. As Christians, we should set goals for improving in areas of whole-life stewardship. Are you a good steward of money?

Jesus says, "You cannot serve two masters. You will either love the one and hate the other; or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Money"- Matthew 6:24. What is your plan to serve God using money as a tool rather than serving Money using God as a way to acquire more money?

My belief is that all Christians should strive for the attitude of George Muller who housed, fed and clothed over 10,000 orphans in England. Muller often said, "My goal is to become more frugal towards myself and more generous to others." Now that is a worthy stewardship goal- one that is Christ-glorifying.

How do you accomplish this? First, you must know where you are at. Do you keep a budget/spending plan? If you don't budget, start by recording every expense that you have for 30 days. I recommend continuing to do this daily. It takes 5 minutes each day. I have found that those who record their expenses will spend less. It does not matter whether your income is $5,000 per year or $5,000,000 per year. If you are a Christian, you should strive for excellent stewardship of what God has entrusted to you today.

After you know where the money is going, develop a spending plan. Here is a simple spreadsheet to help you with categories- for example purposes only since every situation differs: http://www.stewardshipmandate.com/Finances_BudgetProjections.pdf.

Once you have set up a spending plan, you must start to ask key questions and form goals to the answers of these eight important questions:

1. If you died today, would your spouse or family members know where to find all of your important financial documents? Have you prepared a list of family advisors on one page for them to contact? 2 Kings 20:1, “…Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die…’”
2. Have you adequately protected your family from these three financial risks: death before seventy years old, living past ninety years old and/or a disability? I Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
3. What is your plan for paying off all debts including your home? Romans 13:8, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other…”
4. Are you striving to live out the call of Christ to be more frugal towards self and generous towards others each year? John 3:30, “He (Christ) must increase, I must decrease.”
5. What is your plan to increase the percentage that you give to the work of Christ every year? Are you giving out of guilt or in response to the grace of God that has transformed your heart? 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
6. Are you saving on a regular basis for the goal of financial freedom- to be able to free up more time to serve Christ in creative ways? Do you save in order to help others in times of need? Proverbs 21:5, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”
7. Are you a wise investor? Do you invest with patience and discipline? Do you have a plan for investing to combat the two risks- principal and inflation- that every investor faces? Ecclesiastes 11:2, “Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.”
8. Are you encouraging/modeling strategic living free from the love of possessions? Luke 12:15, "Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

If you want to print out these questions in a pdf format, you can find them on the home page of http://stewardshipmandate.com under Critical Questions.

If you only set one goal in these areas and worked towards accomplishing that one goal, you would be further along in your stewardship journey than if you did nothing.

We were created to be stewards over all of God's resources. Adam was given a stewardship mandate- Genesis 1:28- to take dominion over all the earth. Sin has screwed up this plan. We have become wasters of money, abilities, time and health as a result. But when Christ returns, we will once again be ideal stewards of all God's abundance. Until then, we train. We strive. We press on. We set stewardship goals and work towards achieving them. We seek progress each year in faithfulness to Christ. We realize that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion on the day Christ returns- Philippians 1:6.

For the Ultimate Goal of Perfected Stewardship,

Ashley Hodge

Pension Problems?

There is a problem facing the world's largest economies. That problem is guaranteed pensions. It is projected that the United States, Europe and Japan will have over 1/3 of their combined population over 60 years old by 2040.

People are living longer and therefore spending a greater amount on every day expenses to live. Health care costs alone are currently $5300 per person each year and are expected to rise to over $10,000 per person yearly in the next 10 years.

What happens to the economies of the United States, Japan and Europe if 1/3 of the population that is able to work is not working but rather consuming? It will put a tremendous strain on the economies of each of these countries if expectations are not altered. Companies will have trouble paying pensions as obligations continue to grow and asset growth cannot keep up. The governments will not be able to meet social security and medicare obligations.

Is there a solution? Yes. Don't retire or retire later. Most of these problems would be solved if the average retirement age is increased to age 75. We will see the social security and medicare ages increased to age 70 very soon. The United States cannot afford to have a majority of its citizens consuming and not producing. One of the trends that I am most excited to see is the trend of people working and being productive well after 60 years old.

I had a conversation with my dad about this yesterday. He is still working daily for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a nuclear physicist at age 65 despite having quadruple bypass heart surgery this year. He is able financially to retire but chooses to work. I have a client who is a doctor still seeing patients daily at age 71. Another client runs his Plastics company daily at age 75. Each of these live purposeful; less stressful lives (my dad's heart problems were not related to job stress).

The retirement of the future needs to look different. Life is a growing experience. Travel, learning, purposeful work, serving others and leaving a legacy are the things that make life rich. I see more people over age 60 choosing to take a few years off from work and then launching another career or starting a business. Or working part-time as they mix goals of travel and spending more time with family. We need less emphasis on pursuing leisure and more emphasis on pursuing purpose.

There is only one example in the Bible of someone retiring in the traditional sense- the Levitical priests who retired at age 50- Numbers 8:25. But these priests were then expected to mentor younger priests. Jesus tells us, "We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no man can work." John 9:4. As Christians, we should strive to be productive and serving until the day the Lord calls us home. This may or may not mean working for income.

For those who choose to work for income and continue to produce, I believe you are doing a good thing for society. The greater sacrifices we can make for the common good; the better futures will be in store for our children and grandchildren.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge

Costco's Steward

I watched 20/20 last night on ABC and saw Jim Sinegal Costco's CEO profiled. I had read articles about him before and have always admired the way he runs Costco. Costco pays their workers almost twice as much as competitors on average. Employees only contribute 8% of their pay towards health benefits when the industry average is 25%. But remarkably Costco is profitable and the employees generally like working there (surprise, surprise).

What is particularly amazing is that Costco, despite the higher wages has higher averages than Wal-Mart in revenue per employee. And much lower labor expenses and overhead per employee- 9% versus Wal-Mart- 17% (2005 Labor Research Association). A big part of this equation is that Jim Sinegal earns $350,000 in salary which is significantly less than other retail CEOs.

Sinegal says, "Our attitude is that if you hire good people and pay them a fair wage, then good things will happen for the company." Costco hires almost exclusively from within. Many of the Vice-Presidents in the company started out in the warehouses.

I don't know anything about Sinegal's commitment to faith in God. A quick Google search shows him active in Catholic causes and many liberal causes as well. He's a wealthy man due to the success of Costco's stock over the years. His share of the company exceeds $150 million. But from every measure it seems like he has been able to build that wealth while practicing the Golden Rule.

I wish there were more shining examples of a stewardship mentality in the boardrooms of corporations like Jim Sinegal. Greed is a destructive force in our economy and more importantly souls. Sinegal seems to understand that stewardship over the finances and lives that have been entrusted to you makes a huge difference in the long run. Stewardship is always the right path. "To whom much is given, much will be demanded." Luke 12:48.

For The Rewards That Await God-Honoring Stewards,

Ashley Hodge