HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH – PART A

How much is enough? Have you ever asked yourself this question, or are you waiting to reach a certain age or financial goal? I believe this could be one of the hardest questions a breadwinner of a family can ask themselves. However, it’s an important one.
The world teaches us that it’s never enough. We are to push for more and more and more. However, if one only focuses on wealth, then it will always be the center of one’s life. I believe we were created to exist for more than money and instead for principles and values that are higher than us. The sooner we arrive at the point where we can define what is enough for ourselves, the sooner we will begin to have the freedom to spend our time as we want.

Fortunately, I was able to figure this question out early in life. As I’ve mentioned, I never planned to sell my company. My two main goals of running a business were to attain financial freedom and more time. Therefore, I always believed I would have the company for the long term. As the organization grew, however, I began to get more free time and used it to volunteer one day a week. By the time I was 37 years old, I was volunteering a meaningful portion of my time. The more I volunteered, the more joy it brought me, and the more I felt God using my skills and gifts.

As you grow in your career and become financially successful, the concept of assets becoming excess is a good area to wrestle with. I believe God has given each of us gifts, which makes us distinctly strong in unique categories. Early on in your career, you likely applied most of these gifts toward making a living, providing for your family, growing your net worth, and expanding your world.
One way I began to answer the question of “How much is enough?” is I felt God calling me to use those exact gifts to serve His Kingdom rather than continuing in business. One of my gifts is entrepreneurship, and I really enjoy building successful enterprises. As much as I enjoy making money, the work I do now through Servant’s Heart Foundation involves giving away money, which I’ve found to be a lot more enjoyable and rewarding. I’m using my same skills to help people, improve lives, and grow ministries.
Take time to think about how you want to serve others – whether it’s your community, church, or a ministry. Where can you utilize your gifts and skills to bring a lasting impact or change?

WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER?

I like the idea of having a number that you identify as a goal and drive toward. This is not a financial amount where you quit your career and don’t do anything else.

Instead, it’s a number where you will feel as if you have enough. It doesn’t mean that you won’t continue to earn money, but it may open you up to something different once attained. There is no right or wrong amount; it’s entirely based on the future you see for your family and yourself.

You can establish your number through a variety of different ways. It could be an income stream, or it could be a net-worth amount. Either way, setting a number allows you to focus on the task at hand.

When you eventually attain that number, you have the freedom to decide if you need to rethink your initial goal or start something new. The idea of identifying a number is not to lock you in or trap you. Instead, it’s going against the tide of the world and acknowledging that there may be a point when you will have enough.

It is also useful to periodically ask yourself, “How have I changed?” As time goes on, your experiences will deepen your thinking and shift your perspective, so be willing to revisit your initial goal regularly.

As you’re deciding all these goals, it’s important to identify an age where you hope to achieve the number. When you reach that age, you can evaluate whether to continue on this path you’re on or opt for a different direction. From my observation, those around me who have chosen to do something that involved serving others in some way seem to be in a better place than those who continued to grow and build their businesses.

To help determine how you would best spend your time, consider answering the following questions: “If money wasn’t an issue, is there something I would rather be doing? What would I do differently? Would I rather continue with what I am doing? When I get to the point of ‘enough,’ what would that mean for me? Would I move out of the business world? Would I spend more time with family or do more philanthropic work?”

A helpful place to start is your personal budget. Most people find a budget confining, but I think it’s freeing because it provides clarity. If you have a budget and you work within it, it can be a very rewarding experience. It can allow you to know when you are in a good place and open yourself up to more opportunities. Kathy and I have a budget for every single line item in our lives. As you work with your budget each year, take the time to ask questions and challenge yourself with the direction you are taking and what needs to change for the future.

WHAT IS YOUR FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY?

Let me explain this concept by asking a question: “As you continue to accumulate assets for personal use, how do you determine appropriate caps?”

For the majority of people, as they make more money, they spend more money. That’s why I think it’s beneficial to develop this philosophy early on. That way, you can get ahead of that natural tendency and instead maintain your lifestyle at a reasonable level.

The next step is to determine the right amount to spend on personal use. To answer this question, I developed a formula that allowed us to spend a percentage of what we earned, which kept us living well within our means and much less than we made.

With this model, the more you earn, the higher the percentage of charitable dollars should be. I prefer the idea of setting figures/goals beforehand so that when you achieve them, you are more likely to follow through with your donation amounts.

When developing your own financial philosophy, these are great questions to consider: Do you consider yourself a more conservative spender, or are you overextended? Do you set caps on your assets? I have included a handout titled What-is-Your-Financial-Philosophy You will find key questions such as these to help distill your thoughts further. Take time to go through each question and wrestle with it until you have a clear position of your own financial philosophy.

ACTION STEPS

Consider sharing your number and philosophy with a trusted friend. I have one friend who has seen everything in my world: my personal expenditures, investments, tax returns, all of it. It is not easy to be vulnerable and have someone see everything about you on the financial front. However, I have personally found it to be healthy and keeps me accountable. We are so good at living our own lives and seeing things from our perspective, but a fresh outlook from someone who cares for you will provide valuable insight.
If you haven’t done so already, consider choosing and inviting one person into that space and hold each other accountable. I share more on the subject of accountability in my blog titled As Iron Sharpens Iron, so One Man Sharpens Another.