Posted on 03/30/2002 7:53:37 PM PST by malakhi
And what if you need new brakes or tires, or the baby has moved up in size?
While I certainly agree that one should save as much as one can (and I do have a 401K, though it has performed miserably lately), it is not as easy as you state for everyone to save.
SD
Its not easy, and its long term, not whats going on now in the market, it can be done, did ya read the article?
BigMack
More or less. I understand the idea that the "wealthy" are not necessarily the ones who spend the most. I also understand that from tiny acorns mighty oaks do grow.
The question is where to get the acorns originally and in whose soil to plant them.
SD
I gotta go, looking for a business to start with my daughter, and am taking advise from the book:
***What would be the ideal occupations for our sons and daughters? There are about 3.5 millionaire households like ours. Our numbers are growing much faster than the general population. Our kids should consider providing affluent people with some valuable service.***
We are gonna relieve them of some of their millions. :)
BigMack
We know from our surveys that the majority of millionaires never spent even one-tenth of $5,000 for a watch.
I don't even wear a watch. At work, at home, in the car I have clocks. What would I need a watch for?
I drive a 1997 Mazda 626, which is paid off. It has a little over 50,000 miles on it, and I plan to drive it until it dies. I'm not a big car person, it is just transportation to get from point A to point B. It is cheaper to maintain my car than to pay for a new one.
I dislike having to buy new clothes, so I don't spend much in this area either!
To be well positioned in the PAW category, you should be worth twice the level of wealth expected.
Not to this point yet.
Our kids should consider providing affluent people with some valuable service. Overall, our most trusted financial advisors are our accountants. Our attorneys are also very important. So we recommend accounting and law to our children.
What in heavens for? Their parents became wealthy working in businesses that "could be classified as dull/normal".
Heheheh, sounds good. When you have a moment, ping to my #51,725.
What in heavens for? Their parents became wealthy working in businesses that "could be classified as dull/normal".
Accounting and law are NOT dull? LOL. Our business provide's affluent people valuable service, we work the rich neighborhoods in Tulsa, sealing driveways and repairs, we get a premium price from them and they are always looking for someone to do other work for them, we had a guy ask us if we could fix a stone wall for him, I look at it and told him he could fix it himself for very little, he said, I don't do that sort of thing, he asked how much, I said $500, he said do it, he had a wash out in between the wall and his concrete drive, 3 bags of $3 dollar concrete $10 worth of labor = $481 profit. Its a tough life. :)
BigMack
My point was that most of those people make their wealth running ordinary businesses, not working as professionals. Why would they encourage their children to become lawyers?
I look at it and told him he could fix it himself for very little, he said, I don't do that sort of thing, he asked how much, I said $500, he said do it, he had a wash out in between the wall and his concrete drive, 3 bags of $3 dollar concrete $10 worth of labor = $481 profit. Its a tough life. :)
Beautiful! ;o)
Cause that's where the easy money and power are. And they can jump into politics.
, 3 bags of $3 dollar concrete $10 worth of labor = $481 profit. Its a tough life. :)
Nto everyone is comfortable doing all kinds of things, no matter how "easy" they seem to be. You don't do your own taxes and books, right?
Of course, your point that the rich are easier to get money from is true. There is often an inverse relationship between street smarts and money. (i.e. "more money than brain cells.")
SD
Yes, and I follow His command to listen to His son Jesus, you know the rest. We are living in the days of the New Testament angelo, I know you don't believe, but I do, and God says Jesus is the Lord and we can only get saved if we accept him as our savior, you ain't living in the old days, we now have the rest of the story, if you were alive back then, you would be safe, but now today we have the rest of the plan, one that should be believed IMO.
BigMack
I think that was a % of the group, not all would do so.
BigMack
Uh huh. And these are the guys buying the $10,000 watches and the luxury foreign cars. Totally the opposite of their parents who worked hard in ordinary businesses and actually created wealth.
And they can jump into politics.
God forbid! I can, I suppose, see in some remote why a father would like his child to become an accountant. But why would anyone want their kid to become a politician?
I do my own books, next year I'm doing my taxes, I ran a turbotax on line this year after my accountant did my taxes, it came out about the same.
BigMack
So we can see that it is not the sacrifice itself that God desires, but rather what it is supposed to represent. Sacrifice without repentance is meaningless, and in fact, an "abomination". However, sacrifice can be a symbol of true repentance.
The question is, what sort of sacrifice does God truly desire, and why would He have established something different? Maimonides, the great Jewish philosopher and theologian, considered this question. In viewing the history of sacrifice in the scripture, he came to the conclusion that God was weaning Israel away from animal sacrifice. The Law regarding sacrifice grew progressively more restrictive. First, they could be offered anywhere, then later only in Jerusalem at the temple. Maimonides believed that God accepted the sacrifices as a concession to the wishes of the Israelites to offer sacrifices to Him as neighboring tribes did to their gods. (Remember Jesus saying that Moses permitted divorce "for your hardness of heart"? This is similar). As time passed, God revealed to Israel what He really desired.
Except that it is simply not supported by Old Testament scripture that God did not, on His own initiative, institute the sacrifices He commanded of Israel. There is nothing recorded in scripture to even suggest that God instituted such sacrifices at the behest of the Israelites (as He did when they wanted a king).
It appears to me, that, from the Genesis, ... death is demanded by God as a penalty for sin.Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.You can think of God's judgement of death for sinners as the logical outcome for a errant creation.
Leviticus 22:9 They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.
Numbers 18:22 Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.
Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
Accordingly, the Old Testament sacrificial system appears to allow God to show mercy to man (an errant creation), while simultaneously demonstrating to man the utter seriousness of sin.
So, it is not the sacrifice itself that God desires, but the lesson that the sacrifice teaches. FWIW, such a lesson would be lost on an unrepentent people who were just going through the motions.
So, yes, one can think of the sacrifices as a means to an end (or ends). For the believer, understanding that death is the penalty for sin should motivate that believer to cleanse his/her life as much as possible from sin.
So, indeed, ... God would have no pleasure in the sacrifice (or death) of (even) the wicked. For that is not the purpose for which He created man, but rather ... to live in fellowship with Him forever.
So, yes ... God desires repentent hearts, rather than sacrifices, but it may take sacrifices to motivate those hearts to repent.
That it took the death of JESUS to atone for our sin demonstrates to us, both the magnitude of our sin (by how far we have missed the mark) and should motivate us to do all we can to allow God to conform us back into His image.
Well the really smart ones would of Jewed me down, and spent their time making money instead of pouring concrete. :)
BigMack
Right. So, for the sake of your children, it is better off to not become a millionaire.
God forbid! I can, I suppose, see in some remote why a father would like his child to become an accountant. But why would anyone want their kid to become a politician?
Somebody has to fight the good fight, right?
SD
Do you shoe Becky's horses, too?
SD
Mack, please. The correct phrase is "negotiated in the manner of the chosen people." ;-)
SD
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