Merri L. Benjamin, CKA®

During this crisis, we are facing critical questions. To address fears with facts and sort through the ever-changing financial landscape, we have created a brief but relevant presentation with an educational overview of market volatility as it relates to finances and charitable giving. Find answers to questions such as:

• Why should we not fear?
• What can we learn from history?
• What does the Bible say about the future?
• What principles transcend economic conditions?
• What resources can help right now?

Opportunities within the New Tax Laws

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect in 2018. The recent CARES ACT was passed in 2020. Their passing by Congress marks the most sweeping tax code overhaul in decades. Some experts suggest the significant changes could impact America’s finances in many ways. Hear from professionals to determine how your financial plan for retirement, your children’s college savings, and your tried-and-true strategies for charitable giving may be affected. Wise choices in light of this new legislation can help maximize your charitable giving and bless your family in the future. The rules have changed, but the principles of stewarding our financial gifts from the Lord remain the same.

Transferrable Concepts and Biblical Principles for Your Finances

A stewardship-centered planning process helps to focus on the eternal, instead of the temporal. By making good financial decisions, all of which are faith decisions, you can achieve proper balance. Everyone is asking three fundamental questions when they look at money:
• Who owns it?
• What are the finish lines? (How much is enough?)
• Is the next steward chosen and prepared?
As you plan your life, you must decide how to steward your finances. This seminar will direct you how to ask and answer the right questions when it comes to using money as a tool, a test, and a testimony.

Biblically Responsible Investment Strategies

This introduction to Biblically Responsibly Investing will explain the term ‘fiduciary’ and present a helpful overview of basics such as equities, fixed income, and risk diversification. While a large variety of investing opportunities known as ‘responsible’ exist, some may not align with your faith and values. Socially responsible investing, environmentally responsible investing, governance investing, and others may still support companies and causes you wouldn’t be proud to own. In this seminar, we will explore how BRI is fundamentally different.

A Seminar for Today’s Multi-Tasking Family

This practical seminar dispels 15 common financial misunderstandings among families at every point on the spectrum of planning. From young people starting out to mid-career adults with family responsibilities, as well as those approaching retirement or already retired, you will learn timeless truths about college and retirement savings, investments, risk, insurance, estate planning, charitable giving, and more.

Stewardship during your lifetime is about following sound principles for financial independence and preparing your estate to be the fingerprint you leave on this world. Your stewardship can be maximized by incorporating cherished nonprofits as well as other charities into your planning. You can actually pass MORE assets to your family with careful, strategic gift planning. Planned giving can also create lifetime income streams, if desired, as well as obtain favored tax treatment. In this seminar, you will learn that it’s a myth that only the wealthy have the potential to leave a lasting legacy.

Prepare for the future and avoid short-sighted decisions by educating yourself about legacy detours. What can derail your plans for stewardship after your passing? You should set up protections to minimize taxation at death, including Federal Estate Tax, State Inheritance/Estate Tax, and Income Tax. Our professionals will explain distribution techniques like wills and trusts, as well as review the impact of long-term illness. A life insurance needs analysis as well as other practical steps will be covered. With the right preparation, you can achieve a balance that protects your current financial independence and leave a lasting legacy for your heirs, church, and beloved charities.