Growing wealth for the long term and retiring comfortably is a premier financial goal for many Americans. To do that effectively, you likely will want to work with a financial advisor who shares similar values to yours. The Christian financial advisors at Demand Wealth incorporate biblical principles and teachings into their custom investment strategies and practices for clients.
Benefits of Hiring a Christian Financial Advisor
When working with a financial advisor, it’s important to choose someone who understands you. This includes grasping your current financial situation, goals for the future and your values. A Christian financial advisor can offer all of the same services as any financial advisor. However, they’re also able to connect with clients on another level because of a shared faith. This can make it easier to facilitate financial conversations within a faith-based context. Integrating faith and finance into conversations — particularly when discussing items such as stewardship, debt, retirement planning and how it relates to clients— are very important. Biblical financial guidance is rooted in wisdom from the Bible and scripture is the guiding principle behind that advice.
Working with a Christian financial advisor can allow you to shape your strategy in a way that fits your values, rather than focusing solely on financial results. For example, one of your values may be charitable giving. A Christian financial advisor could help you create a financial plan that incorporates charitable giving within a biblical framework.
You also may feel more comfortable working with an advisor when you know they’re applying the same principles they use to advise you to their own financial lives. For instance, they may be able to share relatable examples of situations or scenarios in which they’ve used biblical principles to guide their path in building wealth.
What to Look for in a Christian Financial Advisor
There are a few things to consider when looking for a Christian financial advisor. The first is understanding the advisor’s investment strategy and style.
Look for a Christian financial advisor that understands biblically responsible investing (BRI). Many investors want to honor God through their investments and BRI is the solution, especially for socially and/or biblically aware individuals, which allows Christians the opportunity to align their faith with their investments.
Biblically responsible investing is similar to Socially responsible investing (SRI), in the sense that values drive investment decisions. While SRI focuses on sustainability, corporate governance or social justice, BRI uses moral and social principles to guide investment choices.
At Demand Wealth we follow a BRI strategy that directs investors away from companies that profit from the sale of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis utilizing the ‘Demand Christian’ portfolio. In turn, we also offer investments in companies that promote giving back to the community and engage in practices that yield a tangible environmental or social benefit through our ‘Demand Green’ portfolio.
Beyond Christian values, make sure the advisor’s other investing characteristics and financial planning services align with your needs. For example, a financial advisor that prefers short-term investing might not work for you if your primary goal is to save for your impending retirement. In addition, if you want to set up a college fund for your children, focus on advisors that offer college planning.
The Solution – Christian Investments
Twenty years ago, it would have been very difficult to invest in a biblically pure and fully diversified portfolio. In recent years, the number of Biblical investment options has increased significantly. However, many of these same portfolios aren’t screened for biblical standards. One way to check your own portfolio is through a free biblical screener. It is now possible to have a fully diversified, biblically screened portfolio with a Christian financial advisor at Demand Wealth.
The ‘Demand Christian’ portfolio gives Christians access to a globally diversified portfolio that avoids investing in companies engaged in unbiblical practices. It also screens out companies that violate the principles laid out by the Biblically Responsible Investing Institute. This doesn’t mean your options are limited to just a handful of companies, but rather includes the thousands that simply don’t violate those Biblical screens. The portfolio includes ETFs from Inspire Investing, Timothy Plan and GuideStone. These firms, like us, are committed to investing only in companies which abide by biblically responsible investing principles. Investing in this wide array of funds allows us to maintain a globally diversified portfolio that not only aligns with your Christian values, but is also customized to your fit your needs.
Bottom Line
All in all, finding a Christian financial advisor that fits your needs is the same as searching for any advisor. Always keep your ultimate needs and values at the core of your search, as they will guide you to a good client-advisor match. Stay open-minded as you look around, and don’t be afraid to interview multiple advisor candidates. Beyond that, be sure to ask each financial advisor many questions so you can make an informed decision.
At Demand Wealth, we make it simple for you to invest without compromising your Christian values and beliefs. Schedule a video conference with one of our Christian advisors to learn more today.
This report is a publication of Demand Wealth. Information presented is believed to be factual and up-to-date, but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the author as of the date of publication and are subject to change.