How Much Money Should You Leave to Your Kids?

Proverbs 13:22, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children..." Many Christians have interpreted this verse as a rationale for leaving large percentages of their estates to children. I believe this is a bad interpretation for the following reasons:

1. The best financial gift to give your children today is education. We are in an information based economy. In biblical times, the inheritance of land was crucial to avoid becoming an indentured servant. But rules that applied to an agricultural society don't apply to our current society. Very few people live on farms these days.

2. Children who inherit large sums of money are less likely to be productive citizens. A book written ten years ago- The Millionaire Next Door- chronicled this in detail. The authors of that book- Stanley & Danko- labeled leaving your children large sums of money economic outpatient care. Stanley & Danko found that the more dollars adult children received, the fewer they accumulated. While those who were given fewer dollars, accumulated more.

The chart above was the conclusion of a recent US Census Bureau study. As you can see, the financial value of education is hard to debate. If a person works 45 years, the differential in pay between a high school graduate and a college graduate is over $1,000,000 during that time span.

My belief is that leaving a monetary inheritance to your children is a good idea only if they have been properly trained to be good stewards of those resources. One of my fundamental beliefs is that we should strive to get the maximum amount resources into the hands of the best stewards. My definition of a steward is someone who manages the resources of another striving to maximize return on those resources. Implicit in this definition is that God is the owner of all resources and we are by nature managers.

The problem is that we almost never see it that way. Money has a way of attaching itself to us like a leech. It tries to reassure us that we deserve it and the more the better. Money causes us to be paranoid as we try to hold on to the illusion that it will somehow come through for us. Money brings baggage. Bruce Springsteen said it well. When he was asked what the difference between making $50 per concert when he was first starting out and $500,000 per concert later on. He said, "When I made $50, I had $50 problems. Now that I make $500,000, I have $500,000 problems."

How much should you leave to your kids? There are no easy answers to that question. Here are some ideas to ponder:

• Create incentives. Some parents offer to match their children dollar-for-dollar in paying off debt. Other parents match savings or giving. There are some unique ways to encourage the right behavior patterns if you meditate on the end goal.
• Encourage memories. Family vacations are a terrific gift. Why not enjoy the inheritance with them and plan some special events for those you love?
• Give inheritance money to a charitable trust or donor advised fund. This could be a great tool for training children to be generous and wise managers of dollars to be used for the benefit of others. It would be a low cost family foundation.
• Pay for education- not only for your children but also for grandkids. As the chart above shows, it is hard to beat education as an investment in your family's future.

Because I have witnessed so many ruined by inherited wealth, I believe people should be very thoughtful in how they distribute their estates. I believe there is a strong argument to be made for not permanently repealing the estate tax and just having some high exclusion amount- such as $5 million per family. This would protect most family farms and family businesses.

Yes- the estate tax is double taxation. I realize that. Yes- I think the government will be poor managers of your estate. I am in favor of less government any day. But, you can choose to distribute an estate that is over $5 million- which applies to less than 1% of the population- to charity instead of government. If you are in the 99% that has less than $5 million- as most of us are- you should still consider the most effective use of the assets that have been entrusted to you.

The goal of the Christian should always be more generosity to others and frugality towards self. It is easy to theorize about but tougher to practice. But intelligent generosity is needed. Throwing money to poor stewards- whether it is your kids or a charity- is as wasteful as mindless consumption. Excellent stewards who understand the stewardship mandate- Genesis 1:28- deserve the opportunity to do good with greater amounts as they look to grow, expand and cultivate the beauty of God's creation for His glory.

In His Mercy,

Ashley Hodge

Why I am a biblical progressive

At the heart of stewardship is an understanding of the cultural mandate in Genesis 1:28, "...And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it'..."

The story of the Bible can be summarized in three words: Creation; Fall; Redemption. What was formed has been deformed and needs to be reformed. The Scriptures move us from a Garden to a City. The book of Genesis tells us that paradise was originally an undeveloped Garden of Eden. The book of Revelation reveals a new Jerusalem- a developed, perfected city- that comes down from heaven.

As I was eating lunch with my wife- Amy- yesterday, we were discussing that many Christians long for a return to the Garden of Eden. The Amish are an example of this. They shun all forms of technology because they believe these intrusions have destroyed the beautiful things in life. But technology is not bad. It is only been perverted and deformed by sinful uses- pornography, criminal intent, spam, video game addictions, online gambling, etc... Technology can be redeemed and reformed for God's uses and become a beautiful thing- such as sharing pictures with family, access to truth and allowing someone like myself to work from home.

There is nothing wrong with progress. Progress is a great thing. God has called each of us to do the maximum amount of good to the maximum amount of people that our resources will allow. We have been instructed to use money, abilities, time and health to participate in moving God's creation from an undeveloped Garden to a developed City.

In John 20:15 we are told that when Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection, Mary mistook Him for the gardener. Is this significant? The Creator moves from a Gardener to a King.

I don't believe as Christians we should make statements like things are worse today than they have ever been. It's an easy statement to make as we look at all the evil and sin in our world. But sin has always been ugly. God and His creation have always been beautiful. Yes, the earth and everything in it will be refined through fire. This will be a time of upheaval that the world has never seen. But God is in control. He knows the date and time that He will bring this to completion. It will be a time of great hope for those who are known by Christ and a time of fear for those who Christ doesn't know- Matthew 7:21-23.

In the meantime, we should hate what is evil and cling to what is good- Romans 12:9. As stewards of God's creation, we should pray and work towards bringing His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We should not be wary of words like progress. But we should also not shun truth which is rooted in thousands of years of tradition. We should seek to be a biblical progressive.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge

Striving For Rest

Hebrews 4:9-11, "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience."

Striving to enter rest seems like a paradox. Does it take diligent effort to rest? Yes- in the meaning of this passage we are being taught to strive for holiness that we may prove our faith. We want to enter into God's rest (Heaven) where His beautiful creation will be restored and renovated to perfection. Sin and all the effects of the Fall will be destroyed.

Christians are saved through faith in Christ. It is this faith alone which justifies us before a holy God. But as the Protestant reformers often said, "It is faith alone which justifies, but the faith which justifies is not alone." Good works follow true faith just as Fall follows Summer.

I also believe that we need to strive to obtain proper rest on earth. My thoughts on this issue were sparked by a recent sermon that Neil Tomba at Northwest Bible in Dallas gave. He talked about how our hearts are not quiet before God and that meditation and rest are lost arts. Americans are sleeping less each year. But surprisingly this is not due to working longer hours. The American work week is shrinking. The culprit for a lack of rest is how we invest our leisure time.

I was convicted by the sermon to make some changes in my own life and try to impose those changes on my family. I typically sleep 6-7 hours per day. My work schedule is usually 7am-6pm with some lunch basketball games and work-outs a few days per week. At night, I had fallen into the bad habit of trying to get work done on my laptop computer while my wife and two year old watch television. I would play with my son but my attention was diverted.

This rut led to "working" after the family had gone to sleep. But often this working was not focused because I would keep the television on and watch sports. Or I would surf the internet for news or sports related information. So my new goal is to fast from all technology starting at 6pm every night at least during the week. My wife is in agreement.

I have only done this for a few days, but wow what a difference it has already made. I feel more rested. My mind is sharper throughout the day because I am going to bed earlier. We are spending the time reading at night versus watching television- recording "can't-miss" shows. We often don't realize the noise that we allow into our lives that impedes rest.

The light bulb has been one of the greatest inventions in history. But we have turned it into one of the worst. It has made our lives easier and more productive. But it has also choked out quiet and rest. God designed our bodies to be tired at night- releasing melatonin- and more alert during the day- releasing seratonin. Randy Frazee says we should pattern our lives off of the Hebrew Day Planner. 6am-6pm is designed for productivity/work. 6pm-6am is designed for relationships and rest. Frazee writes about this in length in Making Room For Life.

One of the definitions of rest is: relief or freedom from noise or disturbance. I believe we were designed to have longer periods of this relief and freedom than we often allow ourselves.

Looking Forward to the Eternal Rest,

Ashley Hodge

Stewardship Plan- Time

Proper time management is a critical need for most of us. When I talk to friends, clients and family, I often hear the same complaint: life is too busy. I probably spend too much time thinking about time. In 2003, I started keeping a daily account of how I invest the time that has been entrusted to me. My wife often makes fun of me as I spend 15-30 minutes reflecting on my day and recording the stewardship of time and health.

The results of recording my time were disturbing in 2003. I invested too much time watching television and aimless surfing on the internet. As I began to record my time daily and to focus on some of the areas that I wanted to invest greater amounts of time, I began to see improvement.

Life has seemed to get busier for me. My first child was born in 2004. Child #2 is on the way in 2007. We are building a home. My wife deals with some ongoing health issues that slow her down. I have a full time business to manage. We have commitments to grow and serve in the body of Christ. We need to fit in time to exercise regularly. Life is busy. The need for me to manage time well is great.

The purpose of this blog is to share some struggles and solutions that I have found in hopes that it helps others. I know that many are grappling with these same issues. How do we become more effective in our use of time?

First, we must set priorities for how we desire to spend our time. I found it helpful to make a list of all the areas that I wanted to invest my time. This list included: Bible study; prayer; quality time with my family; financial planning; client service; exercise; reading and building relationships with others.

I made a separate list of all the things I had to do with my time: work responsibilites- which include things I enjoy (client service, financial planning and education) and things I don't enjoy (compliance paperwork); taking care of things around the home- paying bills, grocery shopping, chores and child care; sleep, eat, drink and bathe.

Then there is a list of how we spend time that we have some control over: television, movies, internet surfing, sports, activities, shopping, time in the car and reacting to urgent but non-essential distractions- emails, mail, phone calls, etc...

Here are some thoughts- born out of personal experience- on how to improve on the stewardship of time and move towards a simpler life:

1. Go to bed early and wake up early. I am more productive in the mornings. I tend to do the things that are important to my values early in the morning before my son wakes up. Sometimes I have to work late at night to get done what I need to get done. But I often waste time at night on television, managing my fantasy football team and internet surfing.

2. Plan out your schedule and weigh the cost of every decision you make with your time. I believe that every minute that you spend planning the next day will save you five minutes by avoiding wasted time. Is it necessary to see that person face-to-face? Would a phone call or email be as effective? Do you need to make that short car trip to the store? Would you make less trips if you planned ahead? Does my child really need to be in every activity? Do I have to say "yes" to every invitation that seems good? The good is often the enemy to the great. I am convinced that most of us who run around like chickens with their heads cut off do this by choice.

3. Make less transactions financially. Every transaction that you make creates paperwork- more receipts to track, mail, thicker statements. A personal example- I do the grocery shopping in my family at Sprout's and Wal-Mart. I probably go to these stores eight times per month. One change that I have implemented this month is to buy $500 gift cards at each store and use those cards for purchases. When I reconcile my monthly budget, I only have the $500 entries to be concerned about. The chance of identify theft also declines. The same is true with charitable contributions. If you are able to do so, make fewer contributions that are larger rather than smaller, multiple contributions. It is less paperwork for both parties to deal with.

4. Make the commitment to have less stuff. Possessions require time commitments. I don't think there is anything wrong with boats, second homes and things that bring us joy. But I personally don't want to own some of these things, because I understand the time commitment to use, store, maintain and pay for them. If you have extra money burning a hole in your pocket, I think it is wiser stewardship to rent these items on vacations and then use the extra money to pay off all debts, build up emergency funds and/or give.

And since I do not desire to take up more of your time reading this email, I will leave you with this verse: "We must do the works of Him who sent Me (Christ) while it is day (life); night (death) is coming where no one can work." John 9:4. Our time belongs to God. Many of the leisure pursuits that we strive for will be enjoyed and fulfilled in the eternal life in a resurrected earth with a resurrected body. But until that great day, Christians have work to do. Effective stewardship of time is in our job description. We work for a fair, just and gracious Master.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge