Connecting Inspiration with Financial Insight to Light Your Path

By Eric Vogen

We are still in awe of God’s grace, bringing our baby boy into the world. He is smiling all the time and growing like a weed. We hope his middle names, Alder and Brighton, will reflect some of the attributes of Jesus: the root of David, tree of life, and bright morning star (Revelations 23). When Alder was born (March 7, 2009), I said to my wife that he would start the “Alder Rally” in stocks. Judging from his picture, he seems to be as surprised as everyone else.

Regardless of what may happen tomorrow, I would like to congratulate you ... You have survived the financial crisis #1! There have been a few different parts to the financial crisis. Each part left us with different feelings.

Part A included the day in 2008 when I went into my Wachovia bank and they were not sure if they would be open the next day. This was the day the entire global financial system almost closed its doors for good. Many have had feelings of fear … from not knowing if they would have access to any money.

Part B included the day when it cost twice as much to fill up my car with gas as oil prices were skyrocketing and then all of a sudden they were collapsing. Many have had feelings of being out-of-control … from not knowing if they would have enough to cover their bills due to rising prices. Part C included the day in March ‘09 when many investors gave up on all types of financial risk. Many have had feelings of loss, confusion, and despair … from going through relentless periods of volatile asset values.

Since the world has been moving toward a global economy, we have really gone from one crisis to the next, such as, the Asian financial crisis in 1998, the Y2K computer scare, the Enron debacle, the tech bubble, 9-11, and so on …. If moving from one crisis to the next is the new normal … How may Jesus, the bright morning star, provide light for Christians’ paths through good and bad times?

1. We may focus on God’s glory and seek His perspective. For instance, to many people in nations in Africa, the feelings we have recently experienced are the only feelings about money they have ever experienced.

2. We may follow the leading of the Holy Spirit for visions in our lives which may provide for our families.

3. We may trust God for our own needs as we give generously to the deep cries of others in the world. For instance, our community recently came together through an artist with a photo exhibit of Africa. He has sold many pieces at the So Alive Gallery (www.soalive.org) and on-line at http://dvinez.zenfolio.com/. All of the sales proceeds are going to an African orphanage in great need.

4. We may learn from the recent experiences, history, and amazingly similar lessons from the Bible … to be well prepared for the next crisis. For instance, this current type of stock rally has happened before. Some call it “The Twilight Zone” -- a period of stock market upswing with the sun not clearly on the horizon. And for some companies, twilight may be the beginning of nightfall (e.g., GM) and for others it may be close to sunrise (new emerging auto companies).

5. We may be encouraged by the community of other Christians (Body of Christ). Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with a group of 20 independent, experienced investment advisors in Naples, FL. It was fantastic to see how passionate and gifted these people were about serving their clients. They displayed an incredible desire and talent to protect their clients’ assets, while vigorously adapting to the ever-changing investment world to look for the next opportunity. Each person had a heart for serving, putting their clients first, and improving systems to create better values. By the end of the meetings, with egos aside and lessons learned from each other, we held hands and prayed. Some joked we were about to break out singing “Kum Ba Yah My Lord”.

6. We may pray for wisdom to live at peace despite the ups and downs of the world. I have noticed that everyone has some sort of investment process, even if they do not know it. It is important to take the time to write out some of your thoughts on how you currently are making investment decisions. This is called a personal investment process.

An investment process should answer the following questions:

a. What is our vision of the primary catalysts moving the financial world this decade? Where are the opportunities and risks if this vision holds true?

b. Who are our inputs for financial wisdom? Who supports us … who challenges us?

c. How do we discern the position for various financial markets … whether we are on offense, caution, or defense?

d. What is the long term risk tolerance for our various investment portfolios? … Is our current risk tolerance different today, if so, why?

e. How are we going to reduce risks by diversifying investments? Have we included at least seven investment asset classes which may move differently from each other in normal times and in crisis times?

f. What criteria are important to us in screening investments and/or investment managers?

g. Are we at peace with our investment portfolios? If not, what will it take to get there?

Please email me if you would like to walk through these together...

May your path be light,

Eric Vogen

[email protected]

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