The Merciful Retirement Plan

During this Year of Mercy, when there continues to be so much bad news about the economy and stock market. I want to offer readers a small Lenten gift of hope: an economic outlook steeped in "mercy" and faith.

If you’re looking for The Holy Grail of Investing; there is no Holy Grail. It all works. Besides, it never seems like an optimal time to put money in the stock market. That’s the secret of successful investing. It’s that simple.

Even as a people of faith, we’re addicted to doom and gloom financial news media. We're glued to the TV as if we were watching movies like “Snakes on a Plane”, or zombie apocalypse TV shows like “The Walking Dead”.

Catholics are supposed to be a people of hope. Despite the struggle here on earth, we are assured of victory against the forces of Evil.

Our (second) worst enemy is the financial news media which plays a continuous loop of impending doom. Just like my old 8-track tape player, the four common titles of the media playlist are:

Track #1-Recession
Track #2-Inflation
Track #3-Oil Prices (up or down)
Track #4- Global Instability

You only have to watch the movie “Network” with Faye Dunaway and Hal Holden, which made its debut in January 1976, almost 40 years ago today. (Caution: Some harsh language and adult content).

Business owners in “Network” kept handguns under the counter, punks rioted in the streets, wreaking havoc. Food and water became unfit for human consumption, banks collapsed, with widespread depression and inflation. The price of crude oil swung wildly with growing global instability from Russia thrown in for good measure.

A scenario just like today.

We have to remember that first, it’s something; then it’s nothing. We first have to come to grips with the reason why Catholics should invest.

First and foremost, it’s because Christ tells us.

Matthew 25:31-40: “For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”

We need to save and invest in order to have monetary funds to provide for the needs of the Church and to incarnate the social mission of the Church. We assist widows, orphans, the sick prisoners, immigrants and all those who are in need. That usually takes money. CCC# 1351, 1438

We invest in order to leave some kind of legacy and stability to our immediate family, children and grandchildren. -Proverbs 13:22

Another clue to responsible investing can be found from a quote from St. Josemaria Escriva; the founder of Opus Dei, in his book, Friends of God (FOG). “…that most people, when they work, do so for very different reasons: some for money, some to support their families, others to get on in society, to develop their capabilities, or perhaps to give free play to their disordered desires, or to contribute to social progress. In other words, most people regard their work as something that has to be done and cannot be avoided. This is a stunted, selfish and earthbound outlook, which neither you nor I can accept. For we have to remember and remind people around us that we are children of God, who have received the same invitation from our Father as the two brothers in the parable: 'Son, go and work in my vineyard.'I give you my word that if we make a daily effort to see our personal duties in this light, that is, as a divine summons, we will learn to carry them through to completion with the greatest human and supernatural perfection of which we are capable.”(FOG # 57)

By fulfilling our God given mandate to work and “tend the vineyard,” we take a portion of the fruits of our labor and grow them prudently in common and popular ways in order to give them back to God and His Church.

For those seeking assistance in investing, remember that investment advisors are not magicians.

The goal of every financial service professional should be to help keep a client portfolio free from weeds to prevent choking off reasonable rates of return; to protect it from robbers seeking to plunder its assets; and to avoid investment any security which can adversely affect the future monetary resources needed to incarnate the Church’s mission of social justice.