Ten Golden Rules for Financial Success by Gary Moore (2024)

Personal Finance

TimeBlitzed

November 14, 2023

Book Details:

Title: Ten Golden Rules for Financial Success
Author: Gary Moore
Genre: Personal Finance, Christian Finance
Publication Date: 1997
ISBN: 978-0310219330

About the Author:

Gary Moore is a respected financial advisor who combines his financial expertise with his strong Christian faith.

He is known for advising individuals on managing their wealth in a way that aligns with their spiritual values. Readers trust Moore for his ethical approach to finance, which is grounded in a holistic view of wealth and success.

Summary of Ten Golden Rules for Financial Success:

In “Ten Golden Rules for Financial Success,” Gary Moore lays out a comprehensive plan for achieving financial stability and growth while adhering to Christian values. The book covers topics ranging from debt management to investing, but always with an eye toward ethical considerations and the teachings of the Bible.

My Personal Notes and Takeaways:

Reflect on the rich promises contained in these words: “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11)
John Templeton recommends a different approach [to starting your day]. Lie silently in bed when you first awaken and think of five new ways you have been blessed. (38)
Peter Lynch – legendary manager of the Magellan Fund: “Ultimately, to be an investor in stocks, you have to believe that American business has a decent future, as well as business worldwide, and that corporations will continue to increase their profits. If you are as convinced of this as I am, then you’ll never panic in a correction.” (88)
1 Peter 4:10 – Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
The Pioneer Funds recently said that over the past sixty years, one of the easiest and safest ways to prosper was to actually be invested! That sounds simple but is ignored by many people, including many fund managers. Pioneer’s research said that in any given year, the S&P was up 75% of the time. In any given three-year period, it was up 91% of the time. In any five-year period, it was up 94% of the time. And over any given ten-year period, it was up 100% of the time. (113)
. . . Morningstar remains the most useful service I have ever used, and I wouldn’t buy a mutual fund without consulting it. Other than information about risk, portfolio turnover, ethics, and performance, you might check these facts from Morningstar before investing in a fund: their “beta” tool is helpful in that it estimates how much a stock fund fluctuates. A beta above 1.00 means it fluctuates more than the stock market in general. A beta below 1.00 means it fluctuates less. Conservative investors might look for funds with low betas but solid, long-term performance. That usually means the manager does a good job of protecting your money during market declines (131)
You would be surprised how many investors come to see me and think they have diversified simply because they have five or six good funds, but each one is essentially a mirror image of the other. So when one market corrects, they all correct together. That is like have a four-wheeled jeep with all four wheels connected to the same shock absorber. What you really want are funds that are like wheels that move independently. (132)
Morningstar’s “R-squared” tool may be even more useful. It basically tells you how much of your fund’s performance can be explained by the movement of our markets. This indicator is useful if you are trying to diversify away some risk. . . . R squared can at least help you construct a portfolio with wheels that move independently. Then your financial journey will be as smooth as possible.
Morningstar helps you do that by providing the R-squared for each fund it covers. For example, the R-squared of Templeton Growth fund is currently .87, a little less than the general stock market. But Templeton Foreign is only .27 and Developing Markets is a miniscule .06. So while the Growth Fund may act somewhat like our stock market . . . Foreign and Developing Markets will probably act quite differently. (132)
[contrarian philosophy]: That too is a core belief of Sir John Templeton, though he calls it an “accommodating” philosophy. The basic principle is to watch what everyone is doing and do the opposite. As John says, “If everyone is so despondent they want to sell their stocks, be accommodating and buy them. If everyone is so greedy they want to buy stocks, be accommodating and sell to them.” (133)
Finally, yes, I also encourage you to read the Holy Scriptures. Aside from the broad, abiding truths to be found in every book, I especially love Proverbs and Ecclesiastes because they provide much wisdom. . . . For practical advice, you might also want to delve into Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28, for they are filled with great wisdom concerning political economy and personal financial management. It is reported that John Calvin preached more than two hundred sermons based on those two books alone. (134)
Unlike Midas, whose wealth exerted a negative force, Templeton had a positive solution to the “problem” of money; he would use his material gains in a way that would benefit others. His attitude toward his worldly success involved a sense of stewardship, a belief that what you have is not actually yours but is held in trust for the good of all humanity. [The Templeton Plan] (139)
Over the years, countless Templeton shareholders and brokers have asked John, “What’s the best investment?” He never hesitates to offer this surprising answer: “Tithing.” John has written: In all my fifty-two years before I retired as an investment counselor, we were helping people, literally hundreds of thousands of people, with their wealth. In all of those years, there was only one investment which never proved faulty, and that was tithing – giving at least 10% of your income to churches and charities. In all my history, I have never seen a family who tithes for as long as ten years that didn’t become both prosperous and happy. That is the best investment anyone can select. And he doesn’t just mean money. Twenty-five years ago John made the commitment to donate half of his time to helping people develop their minds and souls.
John Templeton may have made as many superb investments as any person since King Solomon. And he believes the ancients knew exactly what they were doing when they said that if giving time, talent, and money is our first investment, it will never fail to profit us when done faithfully. John even practices and advocates a double-tithe for those who have reached material and spiritual maturity. In fact, he considers giving to be the mark of the truly mature person. (142)
. . . if we spend our lives pursuing the goal of accumulating wealth, what will we do with it when it is no longer useful to us? Yet it is critical that we deal with this question. John believes accumulating wealth for its own sake can do more harm than good, and for that reason he practices the double-tithe and plans to give “most” of his accumulated wealth to charities and religious causes. (143)
Billy Graham once spoke of the difference between belief and faith. He said that if a man on a highwire asks the crowd below him if they believe he can walk across, everyone on the ground would say, “I believe.” If after walking across the wire once, he takes the handles of a handcart and asks the crowd if they believe he can push it back across, everyone on the ground would say, “I believe.” But if he asks, “Who has the faith to get in the handcart?” there would be silence. Faith requires us to put ourselves into our beliefs, and that is increasingly viewed as a high-wire act by many of us. (147)
Some of the most profound stories in the Scriptures are so simple that you can read them for years and yet miss their wisdom. Luke 10:38-42, for me, is one such story. When Jesus visits Bethany, Mary takes advantage of his presence to sit quietly at his feet and connect with the Master. In contrast, Martha scurries around being productive and efficient. As I reflect on this story, I wonder what Martha was doing that was so important – and I marvel that nearly everyone I know makes the same mistake. In the crush of our busyness, we forget to simply connect with the love of the universe. . . . As Templeton once said: “Almost everything is temporary; life, deeds, business. What matters is to learn God’s purposes and to connect with them. Everyone asks why we are here. Well, maybe it’s to learn, to grow spiritually.” (189)
Someone once said: if we aren’t socialists by the time we are thirty, we should check our hearts, and if we aren’t capitalists by the time we are forty, we should check our heads. But baby boomers in particular should note that there is another part of the journey toward Truth: if we are not loving stewards by the time we are fifty, we should check our souls. (190)
. . . spend a couple of hours with the simple parables of Jesus. You may discover that life simply isn’t as complicated as most of us make it these days. Jesus made successful living as simple as loving God, your neighbor, and yourself. (193)

Who Would Enjoy This Book:

This book is perfect for church-going individuals, particularly those aged 25-45 with families, who are seeking to navigate their financial lives with both wisdom and faith.

It’s an excellent resource for those who value practical, biblically-grounded advice over aggressive financial strategies. Readers looking for ways to responsibly increase their giving, manage their wealth, and explore passive income opportunities while honoring God with their finances will find this book particularly engaging.

Popular Quotes from Ten Golden Rules for Financial Success:

“In all my fifty-two years before I retired as an investment counselor, we were helping people, literally hundreds of thousands of people, with their wealth. In all of those years, there was only one investment which never proved faulty, and that was tithing.”
“Almost everything is temporary; life, deeds, business. What matters is to learn God’s purposes and to connect with them.”
“Jesus made successful living as simple as loving God, your neighbor, and yourself.”

Related Books:

“The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason
“The Treasure Principle” by Randy Alcorn
“Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki
“Your Money Counts” by Howard Dayton

Readers who enjoyed “Ten Golden Rules for Financial Success” might also find value in our book: Simple Money, Rich Life. Find connections between Clason’s principles and modern financial strategies to enrich your own financial life!

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