It's Not Much But It's All I Have

Probably the most common response I get when people talk about their long term savings or retirement money is this. "It's not much, but it's all I have. I can't afford to lose it."

Well, I certainly understand how you feel. I am investing and saving for my retirement as well. Author Robert Gignac writes that people are "afraid of money" in his book, Rich Is A State Of Mind. Mr. Gignac will be an upcoming guest on Improving Your Financial Health to discuss his book. He goes on to make a very interesting observation. If money was meant to make us happy, we should have better looking people - or at least smiling faces.

With all due respect to George Washington, would something like this encourage you to save a little more?





"It's not much, but it's all I have. I can't afford to lose it."

If that is true, then wouldn't it make sense to PROTECT it? To truly PROTECT your money, you also need to protect your purchasing power. Your money must be able to keep up with rising costs. Just how much interest is that Folger's coffee can or cookie jar paying these days? Perhaps you keep it under a mattress so you can 'sleep on it'. (Last time I checked, the First National Bank of "Sealy" was paying CD rates 0.25 % higher than the national average.) However, we all know that your money won't grow under the Sealy, or in the Folger's can.

"It's not much, but it's all I have. I can't afford to lose it."

This type of thinking practically guarantees that you WILL LOSE IT! Author Rhonda Byrne says that we transmit thoughts as if our brain was a powerful radio signal. In her book The Secret, she writes that we always get what we visualize. If you say you don't want to be late for a meeting, guess what almost always happens?

"It's not much, but it's all I have. I can't afford to lose it."

Perhaps you have heard this story before.

The kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five gold coins, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 

Then he who had received the five gold coins went and traded with them, and made another five coins. And likewise he who had received two gold coins gained two more also.


But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid the money there.


After a long time the man came home and settled accounts with his servants. He who had received five coins came and brought five other coins, saying, 'Lord, you gave to me five gold coins. Look, I have gained five more.' The man said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.'


He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you gave to me two gold coins. Look, I have gained two more.' The man said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.'


Then he who had received the one coin came and said, 'Lord, I was afraid, and went and hid your coin in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'


His lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Take the coin from him, and give it to him who has ten gold coins.


For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

This is the story from Matthew 25: 14-29. The moral is of course to use what we are given. We strengthen and grow our financial muscles from using them. Not using them makes us weak.

"It's not much, but it's all I have. I can't afford to lose it."



One other thought I am having today on this theme, from 1 Kings.

Elijah the prophet told the woman. “Please bring me some bread to eat.”


The widow stopped, turned around, and looked at him in surprise. The widow answered Elijah, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and then we will die.”


Elijah then said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small loaf from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’”

She took the last of her flour and oil and made some bread for Elijah to eat.


Here is what happened; “She and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.”

USE it - or LOSE it!

Keep your money HAPPY!

Please Contact Me for more information on how to protect your long term savings and USE your money wisely. I can help you create lifetime income from an IRA or Roth IRA. If you live in the South Bend, IN area, I am also happy to help with 401(k) rollovers or IRA reviews. You can follow me on Twitter, Linked In, or Facebook.

My weekly radio show is Improving Your Financial Health on WHME-FM in South Bend, and archives are available for listening on my website. My book, Help My 401(k) Has Fallen - And Must Get Up is helping everyday people to get their 401(k) plan back on its feet and working harder. Contact me about how to get a copy.