Follow the Money.
The quote comes from the script of the movie, All the President’s Men; it came from a conversation between Bob Woodward – the investigative reporter from the Washington Post who, with his writing partner Carl Bernstein, broke the story on Watergate – and Deep Throat, the alias used by the secret informant who fed the facts to the Post. “I’ll keep you in the right direction, if I can,” Deep Throat (later identified as Mark Felt, Associate Director of the FBI) said to Woodward. “Just… follow the money.”
The counsel was clear: if you want to get to the truth, just see where the dough goes: the Money Trail won’t lie.
There’s lots of money running around America right now. The Dow Jones has been a pogo stick of late, following the old-wives’ warning of October corrections. “All time highs” have become mundane. But there are places where the money is stacking up and running through at record paces. If you want to know where Americans have their attention, just follow the money.
Prediction: Halloween is putting Apple Pay to the test. The National Retail Federation is forecasting $13.1 billion – that’s billion, with a “b” – in spending for the coming ghoul-fest. Nearly $4.3 billion of that will be for costumes that get used once… and then retired to the recycle bin.
At the same time that the Trick or Treat pretenders are interrupting dinner at the front door begging for candy, there is an unrelenting call for rescue funds for dogs and cats, first-responders, disabled veterans, childhood cancer victims and Holocaust survivors. If you have a heart, those appeals can stop you at their QR code. It’s only $19 a month, an automatic charge to your plastic.
Outlandish costumes and outstanding promises will keep Halloween and social provisions on-track; in the process, discretionary dollars will vaporize, with little to show for the investment. The chocolate rush – and the locked-in monthly contributions – won’t offer much after the sugar high wanes.
In the midst of the hoopla, this is the season when another funding flow begins to gain its annual momentum. For many Christians, the last ten weeks of every calendar year are their Season of Stewardship. The greatest part of faith-based philanthropy will find its way into the hands of the ministries who serve the Kingdom 24/7/365, but count on the contributions that are disproportionately harvested in November and December.
Our front porch will see its share of goblins and ghosts a few nights from now, and every media portal will be making their case for our cash. The grocery store asks for a designated gift to their fav charity at check-out; we’re all navigating through our neighborhoods wondering where to contribute.
At our house, we’re getting serious about where the last of our 2025 eternal investments will be deposited. Earth’s markets rise and fall; terrorists and viruses can suck the wind out of Wall Street without warning. Significant corrections can wipe-out paper profits as if they had never existed.
Here’s some wise counsel from the King:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
Take some time this week to plot your plans for your year-end cash flow. The moths and vermin are afoot; go for the safe bets when you’re placing the bets that will secure your heart…
Bob Shank
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