34. What your money means and how to use it well - Frank J. Hanna

PART I What your money means
"Are we spending our money as we ought?" p.13

How much money is enough?
-The essentials/fundamentals:
bare necessities (genuine needs, profession-related needs e.g. the US president's need for a White House + beneficial needs (=those things which are good for us, but whose lack does not ordinarily prevent us from becoming the persons--physically, mentally, and spiritually--that we are meant to be." p. 42 e.g. money for summer school in Russia)
-Non-essential wealth
"Yet the possession of much wealth increases the weight of care, which is a great distraction to a man's mind." -St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) p.85
The Law of Rising Expectations: The more we expect from something, the more vulnerable we are to disappointment and the unhappiness and vices that come from it." p.93
-Deut 8:17-18 'But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth..." p.109
-Wealth should be valued by the ends it serves:
"Money never remains just coins and pieces of paper. Money can be translated into the beauty of living, a support in misfortune, an education, or future security. It also can be translated into a source of bitterness." -Sylvia Porter (1913-1991)
-the universal destination of goods. Our non-essential wealth is for others who do not have the fundamentals.
-Conclusion: "We must seek to employ our money in the service of values, not whims and pleasures. We must rule our money rather than letting it rule us. We must extract from it meaning and values that were not formerly there. By doing so, we add strength and goodness to the community in which we are members. We grow in love and wisdom and make it easier for others to do so, too." p.120

PART II: What your money calls you to be
-Vocation= life-calling. We are called to a task that is uniquely ours for our time on earth. p.129
1. Virtue
2. To create wealth; "some people have a vocation to create wealth" e.g. John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) "I believe the power to make money is a gift from God...to be developed and used to the best of our ability for the good of mankind. Having been endowed with the gift I possess, I believe it is my duty to make money and still more money and to use the money I make for the good of my fellow man according to the dictates of my conscience." p.140
-God gives people the vocation to create wealth so that they can grow in humility and help others, just like the gift of music etc.
3. Giving
"Riches are for spending, and spending for honour and good actions." -Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
-don't wait to give later, give now. Why? because public money e.g. tax money given to the government becomes less wisely used vs. you knowing how to give to others in a helpful way, cultivating virtue etc. "That you have such money, a unique background, and your own talents and opportunities is a sign that you have a particular calling, a task, a responsibility that is your own and not anyone else's." p.161
-faith in Providence: that God will guide the hands of others in their work

3 goals of the author in the book:
1. To show you that your money has a meaning that is intimately bound up with the meaning of your life: you have been called to help bring about the universal destination of goods.
2. To show you the two paths to follow: wealth creation & giving now
3. To take the first, difficult steps down the path to regular, sustained giving.
p.174-5

Deut 14:22 "Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in yearly from the field."
tithe regularly

"Indeed, too severe a scrutiny of those to whom we give (or may give) can nurture in the soul such a distrust of others that the very love which originally motivated our charity gets snuffed out..." In our giving, we must be prudent, but never hard. p.206

"Society can be changed on four levels: cultural, political, organizational, and personal. Generally speaking, the greatest breadth of change happens at the cultural level, while the greatest depth of change happens at the personal level." p.217 Use the Principle of Leverage: Support efforts that bring about the greatest multiplication of results from the time or money you contribute. p.218

The Ten Rule of Thumb for Donors-the author gives practical advice on the wisdom of giving.

P: Most of the ideas in this book I already know and are not revolutionary but I did find the practical input from the author as a successful businessman who has real life experience of handling money insightful. That being said, this book seems to be geared more towards businessmen in the way the author addresses his audience about how to create wealth and to give vs. other vocations.

9-10 Oct 2017
New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2008