Many Christians believe that God wants them to prosper, but they have become content with sitting and waiting for God to drop money into their laps. The Bible teaches that God blesses the work of your hand, but if your hand isn't doing anything, there is nothing for Him to bless. Dr. Anderson explains the process of experiencing God's blessing through wise investment and the resulting increase of wealth. Becoming A Millionaire God's Way is an invaluable resource for anyone who dreams of being an investor or an entrepreneur but never knew where to start. God's plan for His children is prosperity.
The first step in achieving wealth is to answer a simple question: "Where am I right now?"
This task may prove a little disconcerting, but it is important for two reasons. First of all, most people are nowhere near arriving at the financial position they ought to be. Don't be concerned about this fact, but be aware. Don't throw up your hands in despair and give up; instead, let this reality inspire you to make some changes. Be concerned in the sense that you know you have some work to do-which means bringing your finances under control so you can do something with them.
Secondly, and more importantly, if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you need to start. Most people don't even know how much money they have in their checkbook, much less where it is going. Many don't even know how to balance their checkbook. Find out where you are starting from.
To begin this process you need to establish your net worth.
This is a simple matter of listing all of your assets and how much they are worth. If you converted everything you own into cash, how much would you have?
You must be very objective in this task in order to assemble an accurate picture. An inflated and unrealistic appraisal of your assets will probably make you feel good about yourself, but it won't help you reach the goal of becoming wealthy. Be objective and realistic:
For example, if you bought a refrigerator for $1,000 one month ago, you cannot count it as a $1,000 asset today. If you try to sell it you might only get $300 for it, so in reality it is a $300 dollar asset. If you are making payments on it and still owe $500, then it does not even count as an asset.
Determine how much equity you have in your house, your furniture, your car, everything you own. When you add all the figures together, this is your net worth.
Now determine what your net worth should be at this point in your life. Take your taxable income for the last year and multiply it by your age. (If computing these numbers for a husband and wife together, use either person's age, but you will be better using the older one.) Divide that number by ten and you will have the amount your net worth should be at this point in your life. By subtracting your actual net worth you can see how far off you are.
If you are like most people, the resulting figure will be far below your potential. Though some are starting at this figure,
Determining What Your Net Worth Should Be
Sample of figuring what net worth should be.
Taxable Income for last year: 50,000
Age (in years): 50
$50,000
x 50
$2,500,000 divided by 10 =
$250,000 liquid net worth
Most people are behind. And even if you are behind, you now have a goal to work toward. This number of what amount should be your net worth is only a guideline, however; don't let it become a limit. There is no reason you can't achieve hundreds of times that amount.
The next question to consider: "Now that I know where I am, how did I get here?" This is the focus of the rest of the chapter. It is not an accident of fate that you are where you are. Your current financial picture is the result of a combination of decisions you have made in the past. If you do not change the choices you made in the past, you will end up in the same place in the future. If you are not satisfied with where you are, then you must change some things or the same patterns will continue and you will remain in the same place in the future. Proverbs 23:7 says it very simply, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." Ultimately your thoughts from yesterday put you where you are today. If you are in poverty today it is because you thought and accepted poverty yesterday. If you want to be a millionaire tomorrow, you must start thinking like a millionaire today.
How does a millionaire think? A millionaire who loses all his money will begin immediately to look for ways to make it all back again. His first thought is of where he can invest. A millionaire who goes broke today will earn it back many times over. We hear about the one who lost all his money in the stock market and jumped out of a window, but we don't hear about the dozens, even hundreds, who make it all back the next day or the next week. A millionaire thinks of how much he will make, not how much he lost.
Knowing where you came from will help you make necessary changes. The bad thought patterns you have today are really habitual. Though you have had them for so long that you may think of them as natural, you weren't born with them. You learned them somewhere, mainly from your parents, your family, and your experiences. Those patterns of thinking began in childhood and have influenced your life choices and even the kind of work you have looked for.
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