Last night, I attended a great MoneyWise seminar about investing and tax strategy. The first thing I learned was how money is a tool to teach gospel principles. By delaying gratification now (e.g. saving a percentage of your income) we learn of sacrifice and we get a greater reward later (e.g. the ability to retire comfortably). We learned the importance of setting financial priorities and goals, such as (1) Emergency Fund, (2) House Savings, (3) Retirement Fund, and then (4) Children's Education. I also learned the difference between tax credits and tax deductions, tax credits are way better! The American Opportunity Credit is especially good for all undergraduate college students.
As you can tell, I get just a little excited about investing and such, and since i was very ignorant about taxes, this seminar was awesome for me! Now I can help others and myself save money on taxes and maybe even make money on the refund! And the investing advice is great because I would like to be a Financial Planner someday.
As soon as I learned about this, I told my mom and she hadn't heard about the AOC; now we can save $2500 on the 2011 tax year and this coming tax year. I definitely plan on saving and investing my money beginning now so time and compounding interest will work in my favor.
Money really is an important aspect of the Gospel in a way. It can be used for so much good or so much bad. It also allows us the opportunity to show the Lord how faithful we are, as far as tithing goes. Also, how we handle money can be a reflection of who we are as a person. It is not the amount of money, but what we do with the money we have. It is like the parable of the talents, the Lord wants us to be productive with our money, not let it sit idle. I don't know if that is doctrine but just a thought :). Good article and great thought.
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