During the accumulation years, most of us routinely reinvest all dividends and capital gain distributions back into the investment that generated them. This is smart and results in a fast growing portfolio. In taxable accounts, this results in annual taxes as triggered by the 1099's we receive each January. So far, so good.

Then in retirement many of us hit a point where we need to extract a stream money from our taxable account. So we periodically sell shares - while continuing to reinvest distributions! This means we now we have 2 taxable things going on, the taxation on the reinvested distributions AND the capital gains taxation due to the shares we sell to generate living money!

Student loan debt is a major concern in the U.S., affecting many university graduates for years after they leave school. It is a particularly difficult problem for pastors and ministers because we expect them to have a masters degree (or equivalent) even though most ministry settings cannot pay enough to repay their student loans even in 5-10 years. 

Common outcomes:

• Relying on the spouse or other family members to pay off the debt - which inherently strains relationships, sometimes to the breaking point.
• Leaving the ministry after a few years for a higher paying job in order to pay off the debt and support a family.
• Timidity in preaching/teaching about financial stewardship, which affects the financing of the Kingdom.

So I've spent some time assessing this ministers' student loan debt problem, especially searching for creative strategies to relieve or eliminate it. I circulated a Google Doc on this topic to several of my ministry colleagues for comments and edits. For a look at this research, and to collaborate about this topic, click on Ministers' Student Debt.

The most interesting part of the CNN article (to me, at least) is the requirement to make all guns "smart," meaning they cannot fire without the presence of a "key." For more perspective and the link to the CNN article, click on Firearm Keys & Liability.

Here's the link to my personal quotation file. It's not full of things I've written or said; it's full of quotes I've gathered from personal reading over many years. The file is over 60 pages long, and I'm sure I'll continue adding to it. You can view it, or download it and make it your own - for free.

Sharon Rauenzahn, the author of 2 previous years' Advent Readings already on my site, is writing a new set for this year! 

So if you're looking for extremely fresh material, check out "Preparing for Perfection." The readings for the first two Sundays are finished and ready for use. The ones for the remaining Sundays will be ready in a few days - well before you need them.

Or for links to all 5 reading sets, go to Advent Readings.

Blessings,

Tim (and Sharon)

If you've been intending to take a look at my site but haven't gotten around to it, here are some places to start. These are the 5 most visited pages over the last 30 days:

1. Advent Readings. I'd like to add a couple new Advent readings to the four that are already there, and have a couple of writers considering adding to this offering. If you are a good writer with an interest in this sort of thing, take a look at the link to see what these look like. Let me know if you want to give one a try.
2. Premarriage Counseling. While the visitors to this page are probably mostly pastors or professional counselors, the Advice for Couples page contains similar material that is designed especially for parishioners.
3. Tithes & Offerings. This is a very complete treatment of a complicated topic. It is good for pastors and parishioners. See also a related and very recently posted page: Tax-smart Donations.
4. Stock Donations. Good for parishioners, and also for pastors/church leaders who want to position their organization to receive such donations.
5. Overcoming Temptation. While I'm a bit surprised by the popularity of the first four on the list, I'm not surprised by this one. Everyone struggles with one or more temptations, and have fallen to these more than once in their life. When this happens we all want help so we can do better next time. I know that I need to write some more on this topic, and am working on some material in the background.

• "What return can I reasonably expect from my investments?"
• "Should I take more risk on my portfolio, or is it already too risky?"

... then this webpage is for you: Portfolio Expectations.

Hope you will check it out,

Tim