Pick up a Penny

By Eric Vogen

As I was pulling out of my driveway, rushing to get to church on time, I saw a lonely penny on the ground.  For some reason, I felt compelled to stop the car and pick up this penny.  As I was stooping down, I recalled that as a boy, I used to enjoy picking up pennies and tracking them in a cash flow chart every day:  How many pennies I picked up, how many I spent and how many I gave away.  I went to church, not thinking much more about that penny.  Then a guest Pastor started his sermon with this story.

A little boy had an opportunity to speak to God. The boy asked, “God, what does 1,000 years feel like to you?” God responded, “Oh, about a second.  The boy asked, “God, what does $1,000,000 feel like to you?” God answered, “About a penny.”  And the boy asked, “Well God, in that case, could I have $1,000,000?” God quickly responded, “Sure … in a second.”

During the sermon I wondered why I had found the penny.  Was it possible that the Holy Spirit had somehow taken the time to prompt me to pick up this penny, knowing the Pastor was going to share this story?  I thought, sure, it’s possible!  But why? Maybe I found the penny because I was open to seeing it, or I was willing to stop what I was doing to pick it up.  Maybe it was because of my hard working nature or interest in stewardship of funds?  Then, I caught myself as I felt the Holy Spirit was slightly amused by my responses.  I sensed that these were all good reasons, but the main reason why this penny was presented to me was that I was trusted to give it away—today, and specifically to this guest speaker.  This was easy for me to do since I love to encourage Christian visionary leaders.

So, after the church service was over I introduced myself to the guest Pastor and said I have a million dollars for you … as I gave him the penny.  We laughed as I told him my story.  We went on to talk for a long time about money and faith, and we started a friendship.  Amazingly, since that day about a month ago, I have found a penny every day.

Risk a Penny

On Ash Wednesday I attended a church service at my mother’s church.  It was a very structured service … and after much kneeling at my seat, singing, standing, receiving ashes on my head, kneeling at alter, and receiving communion, I really felt forgiven of sins.  But as we were leaving the church, I had a thought popped in my mind.  What about forgiveness of mistakes?  I’ve been praying the Lord’s Prayer for years, asking for forgiveness of sins and forgiving others.  But I don’t think I’ve been including simple mistakes in that equation.  What came to me in the Lenten service is that God forgives us of mistakes and we can forgive ourselves of mistakes.

Lately, related to money and assets, I’m hearing many people say things like, “Why didn’t I do this or why didn’t I do that!” … “It seems so obvious now!”  I’m seeing the weight on people … the cumulative effect of perceived mistakes they have made.

When dealing with money, it’s very easy to make mistakes.  Actually, each day in the investment world, there is always something you could have done better.  So, if you think about it, you are making mistakes every day.  In addition, when you see the news, there are minute by minute reminders of opportunities lost.  Lately mistakes feel compounded because many asset classes are volatile.  Also, if someone is using leverage (mortgages, debts, margin) when investing, their “mistakes” are magnified.  And as I reminded someone recently, having credit cards or a car loan while making investments, is a form of margin.

But just like sin … not forgiving oneself of mistakes, can be disabling.

People can learn from past mistakes, historical trends, and human nature, but that doesn’t mean that tomorrow will be the same as 25 years ago or 75 years ago.  Most of the time mistakes take care of themselves, covered by the grace of good things around us.  When things are difficult, mistakes can become glaringly obvious.  Being free of the weight of past decisions is essential to being free to see new opportunities.

One reason financial mistakes are made is that people don’t take time to process decisions.

Consider developing a decision process.  Below are some suggested questions. Take a moment to write your answers in a journal, the next time you are making a financial decision.
1.  What is the core question? 
2.  What is being said? 
3.  What are my initial thoughts? 
4.  What does the Bible say related to this situation? 
5.  What do I feel from the Holy Spirit?
6.  What does my training, experience, and knowledge say?
7.  What does my advisor team say?

Additionally, over the years I have used a process which was given to me by my spiritual mentors (Herb and Delores Mirly) to ask and answer in order to make God-pleasing decisions.
A. What is God saying?  
B. Where are we going? 
C. What will it take to get there?
D. Are we content with the way it is?  
E. Are we in agreement?

Once you are free of the past … how about risking a penny?

You may ask, ‘Why would someone invest in risk assets right now?’  Or, ‘Why would someone have risked any assets at all last year?’  Some ideas…

1. Many of the assets people have are results of investing with risk in the first place.  Accumulation of wealth was probably a result of investing into some type of risk, such as businesses, stocks, or real estate.

2. Nobody knows the future.  It is good to make logical decisions and make statistical predictions, but nobody knows which asset class will achieve the best after-tax return in the next decade.  Investment gurus have been confounded in the recent investment environment, one day shining brilliantly, the next day looking like a fool.

3. With US Treasury bills returning close to 0% return, they have risk also – such as the risk of losing to inflation.  Therefore, in a way, there are really no risk-free assets.

4. Ecclesiastes 11:2 says, “Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.”  (New American Standard Bible ) In the old days this may have meant currency/cash, food, spices, precious metals, jewels, livestock, land, homes, and businesses. In today’s world, additional assets may be: government/municipal/corporate/international bonds, US/International stocks, hedge funds, managed futures, real estate, art and collectables.

5. In Matthew 25:14-30, the parable of the talents, the servant who didn’t take any risk was in a bit of trouble.  “But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.  So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.  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.  And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  (English Standard Version)  This alone is good enough reason to consider taking risk.

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