Book Study

Book Appendix

Donor Advised Funds

Definition

A special fund that is set-up with a sponsoring organization where the fund is:

  • Separately identified fund for donor (not pooled with other donors).
  • Gives advisory privileges to the donor with respect to the distribution or investment of amounts held in such fund.
  • DAF is also known affectionately as a: “poor man’s private foundation.”

Benefits

  • All giving is tracked in one location (very easy record-keeping).
  • Pay less taxes, particularly if you give appreciated stock or land into the fund.
  • Earn investment earnings which increases giving potential.
  • Allow for more intergenerational family participation, which improves giving experience.
  • Family can easily give anonymously.

A Few Popular Options

Budget Apps

  • YNAB.com
    • Most widely used by financial coaches; great digital envelope system.
    • Free for a year if you are a college student: https://www.ynab.com/college/
  • Faith Fi.com/manage
    • Great Christian resources and digital envelope system.
  • https://www.monarchmoney.com/
    • Great visualizations.
  • Everydollar.com
    • Dave Ramsey’s app.
    • Pay fee for unlimited digital envelopes and automatic importing.
  • Qubemoney.com
    • New and innovative – set up banking account with them and then only buy things at point of purchase after you have said what digital envelope (i.e., Qube) it will come out of.
    • Very good for controlling behavior, but only if you are OK opening a bank account with them.
Other solid options:

Track Expenses by Hand

Download Word Document

How to import data from YNAB into a spreadsheet

Run-Rate Worksheet

Download Word Document

Denied a credit card?

If you are unable to receive a credit card, consider the following 3 alternatives in order to qualify for a credit card:

  1. Open a SECURED CARD where you put money down and receive limited rewards while you show you are trustworthy with credit (i.e., pay your full balance each month).
  2. Become an authorized user of your parent’s credit card.
  3. Sign up for a credit builder loan. You pay back a loan into a savings account. Once loan is paid back, you have access to savings amount, which you can parlay into a secured credit card deposit.

Download your credit report

To get all three reports in one place:
Go to each credit bureau separately:
Use free myFICO service:

How much debt do you have?

Find non-government debt here:
Find government student debt here:

Use debt repayment calculators

Retirement savings calculators

Nerdwallet calculator:
Bankrate calculator:
Dinkytown calculator:

Research Investment Options

  • For stocks, one helpful way to find what is out there is to go to the bubble maps of finviz.com (https://finviz.com/map.ashx).
  • For mutual funds:
    • Discover most of the potential available options:
    • Once you have a few mutual fund products to research, you can discern their fees, performance, and management longevity here:
      • https://morningstar.com/
        • Fees: ‘Price’ tab.
        • Performance: ‘Performance’ tab.
        • Management: ‘People’ tab (only available for non-ETFs).

Evaluate your investments

Choose a screener:

Screen your investments:

  •  Look up the most popular S&P 500 ETF index product: VOO
  •  Look up the following companies: JNJ, MGM, EL, NFLX.

Current faith-driven investor marketplace

Find a financial professional

For getting out of debt and help establishing a spending plan:

Certified Christian Financial Counselors (Cert-CFC)

Accredited Financial Counselors (AFC)

  • Trained to help counsel and coach you from financial chaos into a more stable place where you can start to look towards making some financial goals.
  • https://findanafc.org/

Dave Ramsey’s SmartVestor Pros

Credit Counselors

For making a comprehensive personal financial plan

Certified Financial Planners (CFP®)

  • These professionals focus on making a one-time financial plan that incorporates all aspects of your life, including tax, insurance, estate, and debt.
  • https://www.letsmakeaplan.org/

Certified Kingdom Advisors (CKA)