BLESSED 2024!

Here’s wishing all of you a most blessed and joyful 2024! We are truly crossing over into a new season and it is an exciting journey of seeing God do new things in our lives. Isaiah 43:19 says ‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up to you; do you not perceive it?’ Many prophetic words had been released over 2024 and I believe it is a good year for those who are in Christ. 

In this new season, I sense the Holy Spirit leading me to a different focus for my blog. It will still be biblical but the emphasis would be on the financial aspects. Because this had been an area the Lord was teaching me for many years and an area of my research so I thought about sharing some of my thoughts that might bless my readers. 

I believe that a good starting point to approach the financial issue would be your values and principles in life. Then you build your financial goals around it. I read a book from Mario Singh titled ‘The Magical Rule of Thre3’ and he talked about the value of money. What money represents to different people. 

Mario came up with a ‘Love Triangle’. Freedom, security and power. Money can certainly buy many forms of freedom. Freedom of travel and freedom of work. Freedom of travel isn’t dependent on how much money you have. People who are far from rich can travel extensively if they make it a priority to do so. 

Most of us work not because we want to but because we have to. Pay the bills, home mortgage, support aged parents and kids‘ education etc. Money gives us freedom from work means we can leave the workplace. These people are finally free from dismal wages, workplace discrimination and bad bosses. Many can choose to do something they really enjoy or start a new business. Yet another reason people want to have money is for financial security.

 

They focus so much on long term financial security because of rising costs of living and inflation. Even rich people are not spared from this. Financial concerns are top of the priority even for people in Singapore who are considered rich in the world’s views. Money worries are common in everyone regardless of their wealth status. Hence most people were likely to see money as providing a peace of mind and ensuring protection for themselves and their loved ones. 

 

Lastly some people are addicted to making more money because they wanted more power. They don’t necessarily want more stuff. What they want is the influence and respect that having more money brings. Money becomes a status symbol. Thus many people who seek influence and respect attain it by seeking money. The ultimate advantage of money is that it offers us choices in life. It increases our options. Money is what you pay but value is what pays you. For me, money to me means freedom. 

 

I don’t need money for security because my security comes from the Lord. He has proven Himself to be my Jehovah Jireh. Which is why I don’t plan for retirement. Having said that, I would like to have financial freedom (debt free). The ability to choose how I can use my time without beholden to making money. Besides I already know the unstable nature of wealth and riches. Having money may not necessarily provide that peace of mind and protection in these last days where things are being shaken. 

This would be all for now but in future posts I would talk about the topic of ‘Financial Independence, Retire Early’ or FIRE in short. I am not sure if many people subscribe to this movement but I felt the concepts discussed in FIRE were quite interesting. So yes, I will be covering this.