Advice For My Children: How to Build Wealth: A Step-by-Step Guide

By Kevin Chaney

Advice for My Children: How to Build Wealth - A Step-by-Step Guide, written for my own children as they begin their careers, offers a proven path to wealth, whether you're just starting out or twenty years into your career. It's never too early or too late to start building wealth. These thirty-six principles will help you master your money, multiply your resources, and develop a lifestyle of good stewardship and wealth-building habits for a spiritually and financially abundant life that honors God, blesses others, and leaves a lasting impact. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them... this is a gift from God. - Ecclesiastes 5:1

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644715093

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Advice for My Children

How to

Build Wealth

A Step-by-Step Guide

Kevin Chaney

ISBN 978-1-64471-508-6 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64471-509-3 (Digital)

Copyright © 2019 Kevin Chaney

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

For Andrew, Cayley, and Braeden whom I love with all my heart.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to my wonderful wife and best friend, Monica Serra Chaney, for her wisdom, support, love, and heart for God. I’m amazed more every day and so grateful for all you are and all you do.

And thank you to Helena Verissimo Serra for her proofreading skills, support, and prayers.

Introduction

The majority of Americans struggle financially. Some a little, some a lot. Despite low unemployment and rising wages, more than one quarter of Americans are unable to pay all their monthly bills; nearly half can’t pay for a $400 unexpected expense without borrowing money, and two-thirds save little or nothing each month.

As our senior population grows, the problem will worsen. Nearly 50 million Americans are age sixty-five or older. That number is expected to reach 98.2 million in 2060, with nearly 20 million of those being at least age 85. Americans are living longer and reaching retirement age without the means to see them through the rest of their lives. More than 20 percent of Americans have no retirement savings, and one in three have less than $5,000 set aside. Our population is graying, and within a generation the problem will become epidemic.

For most Americans, the traditional notion of retirement will be a thing of the past. Those without savings will work well into their eighties or until they simply can’t handle the rigors. Then it will fall to their children and social welfare to see them through their golden years. This takes a huge toll on a family. Multiply the problem by fifty million—that’s the toll it takes on society.

It’s not unreasonable to blame the rising cost of living. Health care, housing, education, and automobile costs do, in fact, require a higher percentage of our income today than they did decades ago. For some, it’s the cost of high living: maintaining a lifestyle which, more than ever before, is driven by the latest technology and a relentless quest for convenience. Technology might be cheaper than before, but it becomes obsolete much faster. And convenience always has, and always will, come at a premium. Things once considered luxuries are now necessities. The high cost of living and the cost of high living both contribute to our financial problems. But mostly it’s because the majority of Americans simply don’t manage their money wisely.

Wealth, for most Americans, will remain elusive. Many survive paycheck to paycheck and will do so the rest of their lives. Many will retire poor, if they can afford to retire at all. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

You can build wealth, and you can start immediately.

I wrote the following for my children, Andrew, twenty-one; Cayley, nineteen; and Braeden, seventeen, as they strike out (and prepare to strike out) on their own. In this book, I explain thirty-six principles for building wealth—principles for understanding and managing money, credit, debt, personal finances, and investment, principles for maximizing and growing resources. I’ve included a budget for building wealth and step-by-step instructions for investing and multiplying money. These principles are proven. They work. Apply them. Follow the step-by-step instructions. You will build wealth.

The more wealth you build, the more good you can do. As Christians, we’re called to be good stewards of all the resources God has given us. We’re called to be generous and give freely. Our lives are meant to intertwine, and we’re meant to be a blessing to others. If we’re not managing our resources well—if we’re merely surviving, living paycheck to paycheck—we limit our impact and our ability to bless others.

Use these thirty-six principles for building wealth to master your money, multiply your resources, and build generational wealth. Develop a lifestyle of good stewardship and wealth-building habits so you can enjoy a spiritually and financially abundant life that honors God, blesses others, and leaves a lasting impact.

Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them…this is a gift from God (Eccles. 5:19, NIV).

Part 1

Mastering Your Resources

Chapter 1

Decide to Be Wealthy

List the top three things you think will have the greatest impact on your adult life. Was personal finances on your list? It should have been. Your relationship with God, your closest personal relationships, and your personal finances will likely have the greatest influence on the rest of your life.

Your entire adult life will be guided by how you manage your money. That all starts now, and it never stops. Your financial situation will serve as the backdrop for everything you do from here on out. Your finances will determine which opportunities are presented to you and how you respond to those opportunities. Your finances will determine how you react to successes, failures, and crises, how you interact with people and, in large measure, with whom you interact. Your finances can dramatically extend your circle of influence or dramatically reduce it. They can expand your playing field or limit it. Your financial situation will set the tone for everything else that happens in your life.

The way you manage your money can bring you joy or grief. And whichever it brings is largely up to you.

Believe it or not, you’re in control of your finances. You’re in charge. The choices you make now will determine your financial future. I assure you, whatever you sow now you will reap later. Your finances are your responsibility and yours alone. Never adopt an I can’t get ahead mentality. Don’t blame others for your financial situation. Your situation, whether good or bad, is largely a product of your own decisions.

Decide to be wealthy. You have the power to change your financial situation, and you can start immediately.

It doesn’t matter what kind of hand you were dealt. You can build wealth. I grew up in a poor, working class family. My mother and father were loving parents but had no understanding of money and spent most of their lives in debt. My parents owned a house briefly in the early 1960s, long enough to finalize my adoption. It was a little pink house in Topeka, Kansas, and it was the first and only home they owned together. They sold it in 1962, and my father’s job had us living in eight cities in six states before I turned thirteen. My parents often struggled to pay the rent, and we were evicted three times for being consistently late. Those were humiliating experiences.

We always had a car, but it was usually older and unreliable. I recall when it would sit in the driveway for days because we had no money for gas. And there were times when our refrigerator was empty before payday. My father always had work, and he worked hard, but he never mastered his finances. He never had the initiative to learn. My parents meant well; they simply managed their money very poorly.

I joined the Marine Corps shortly after my nineteenth birthday. That was my first step in breaking the cycle of poverty. After my discharge, I went to work full time. I worked through college, graduate school, and law school. But it took many years before I learned to manage my personal finances efficiently.

I found strong role models to emulate—professional, financially successful people I could study. I studied their work ethic, their professionalism, how they interacted with people, and how they made decisions. While practicing law, I met and observed more successful people. I also read—a lot. I read about money management, business, leadership, how to invest, how to buy real estate, how rich people think. I read biographies of wealthy people, e.g., Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and Astor, as well as contemporary entrepreneurs.

Along the way I made many mistakes that cost me a lot of money, but I learned from each one. Experience can be a harsh teacher, but it’s the best one. Through trial and error over several years, I developed good habits. I learned how to prioritize my spending and make wise financial decisions. Eventually a positive pattern turned the tide for me. I started saving, started investing, and started making my money work for me. I opened my first investment account with $500. Then I started a retirement account. As my income grew, I invested more of my salary and distributions from my company into long-term investments. My stock holdings grew. I added gold and silver to my portfolio, then residential and commercial real estate.

You can do the same. I want to help you duplicate my successes and avoid my mistakes.

Bad things happen, and sometimes they take a financial toll. That’s part of life. But you make the everyday decisions that shape your future. You have the power to be financially successful. You have the power to put safeguards into place to minimize loss, you have the power to make wise financial decisions to secure your success, and you have the power to build and protect wealth. Expect the unexpected,