Rev. Lynn Benson – Director of Legacy Giving, UMF
In a recent Afford Anything podcast, Episode #402, Paula Pant (host) interviews Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money, to discuss why investing is not the study of finance, but the study of how people behave with money. As a long-term investor who believes in “buy-and-hold” stock market investing, Housel offers behavioral finance insights that can help us invest for financial independence with more clarity and better understanding of ourselves.
As I listened, I sensed a renewed appreciation of why we at UMF exist – we are here to serve The Church! Yes, we invest your church’s funds, but there are lots of ways to invest with lots of different timelines and lots of different outcomes. Housel explains that when there is a momentum in stocks, day-traders want to hop in and exploit the momentum for short-term gains. So, when they hop in, they increase the stock prices, the stock prices grow rapidly, volume trading grows rapidly, and a lot of buy-and-hold investors think, “Wow, should I get in on this, too?”
What happens when day-traders have had their fun? They sell and buy-and-hold traders are left holding the bag. Ultimately, stock market bubbles are not the result of high valuation, but of shortened timelines. Therefore, we may be drawn to take our investing cues from day-traders, however, we shouldn’t. Bottomline, it is so important from whom we take our cues in investing and in every other aspect of our lives.
Housel says, “It is often viewed that we are all playing one game, (that is) we are all investing in the stock market, but the truth is, there are lots of games being played. Day-traders, high frequency traders, people investing for the next week, for the next month, there are pension funds and endowments…funds invested for the century and in perpetuity… lots of different games, even through we are all playing in the same field.”
Listening I was reminded why we at UMF have and will continue to serve churches, institutions, and individuals associated with churches.
- We are connected; our connection is faith.
- We are a non-profit, 501(c)3, serving YOU, a non-profit, 501(c)3.
- We are in this for the same reasons you are: the faithful stewardship of all the resources entrusted to our care.
This is a HUGE responsibility for both you and UMF. For 70 years we have partnered with you, The Church, and we aren’t going anywhere. In addition to investing, we offer (free) faith-related services including stewardship and legacy-building teaching and preaching, assistance in endowment team formation, leadership of wills and estate planning seminars, etc. Recently, we added a new service, offering low interest (2.5%) loans to help pastors get out of (and stay out of) debt. Faith-based partnership has been and will continue to be our primary goal.
As humans we can take cues from all kinds of people and places but not all those cues best align with our faith-based goals. We at UMF are positioned to align with you, The Church, helping you financially reach your God-inspired goals. Contact UMF today and let’s see how God might move us forward together.