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Ben Anderson
Family Resource Management
Presentation
THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER
Are you feeling lost when it comes to your finances? Are you covered in credit card debt? Have
you taken out a second mortgage? Are you concerned about having enough for retirement? Do
you have money to fall back on during an emergency? Do you just need a refresher in money
management? Then this class is for you.
Over the past four weeks, at church, we have been covering our sermon series “God’s Stimulus
Plan.” The basic premise has been simple God has and does give generously to us in all ways, so
our natural response should be to give back generously through our time, talents, and treasures.
Yes, treasures mean money. The problem with money is that for most of Americans, we have
never really learned to use money well so that we can give graciously back to God and help those
around us. This seven week course will teach you the principles for getting out of debt, building
stability, and saving for the future. The commitment to these principles will not only allow you
to bless yourselves but those around you- this generation and the next.
This seven week class will start on November 18th. It will take place in the Kitchen Lounge
during the 11am service and following the 11am service at noon (food will be provided).
There is no cost. This is simply a class that, we at Morningside Lutheran, would like to use to
bless you and enrich your life, so that you may become wise stewards of God’s money.
For those coming at noon- the cost for food is free; it is a gift to you. Childcare will be provided
for both meetings.
If this interests you, you may sign up in the church office or email Ben Andersonbenanderson@morningsidelutheran.com.
We would love to see you there, as we all learn together how to manage the money that God has
given us.
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CLASSROOM SETUP
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Kitchen Lounge
o 1 TV and 1 Projector w/ PowerPoint for the entire presentation.
o Long tables and chairs w/ notebooks, so that students may jot financial thoughts
down.
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o All forms from the book will be printed off and handed out with the correlating
Total Money Makeover Step.
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Session 1- “Walk Before You Run”
Objective- Introduce the students to the author, create confidence in the system, and slowly start
them on step one of the system.
Outline:
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Welcome Introduction
Introduction of foundational book and author of this study
Intro to what a class will be like throughout the seven weeks
Opening prayer
Opening success story
o PowerPoint slide photo to emphasize that these are real people like them.
Walk Before You Run
o Goals- in order to accomplish anything we must have set goals
 “According to Brian Tracy, a study of Harvard graduates found that after
two years, the 3 percent who had written goals achieved more financially
than the other 97 percent combined!”
o Budget
 Create a zero-based budget- every dollar of your income has a name
before the money begins.
 Agree on this budget with spouse (if applicable)
 To change budget- spouses must agree and the budget must still zero out.
o Get current with creditors
 Necessities first- then all finances go to get current- only then can you
catch up on credit cards and student loans
o $1,000 Starter Emergency Fund
 No more borrowing!- “Most of America uses credit cards to catch all of
life’s “emergencies.”
 Those earning more than 20k, should get together $1000 fast! FOCUS!
 Whatever you have to do to make this happen- wring out budget, sell
something, extra hours
 “Remember, if the Joneses (all the broke people) think you are cool, you
are heading the wrong way. If they thing you are crazy, you are probably
on track.”
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$1,000 has to be liquid.
If the emergency fund is depleted that should be the new focus instead of
debt (for the future steps)
Homework for the weeko Set goals, budget, get current, $1,000 Starter Emergency Fund
Closing Success Story
Close in Prayer
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Session 2- “Lose Weight Fast, Really”
Objective- Stress the need, wisdom, and importance of the debt snowball. Help them understand
the concepts and help them start reducing their debts at a gazelle like pace.
Outline:
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Welcome
Last Week Recap
Stories for the class
o What was hard? What did you do? How do you feel?
Opening prayer
Opening success story
o PowerPoint slide photo to emphasize that these are real people like them.
Lose Weight Fast, Really
o “The bottom line is that it is easy to become wealthy if you don’t have any
payments.”
o Debt Snowball
 List debts in order of the smallest payoff balance to the largest.
 List all of your debts even loans from Mom and Dad & medical debts that
have zero interest.
 The only time to pay off a larger debt sooner than a smaller one is some
kind of big-time emergency such as owing the IRS and having them come
after you, or in situations where there will be a foreclosure if you don’t
pay it off. Otherwise, don’t argue about it; just list the debts smallest to
largest.
 After you list the debts smallest to largest, pay the minimum payment to
stay current on all the debts except the smallest.
 Now sell out, stay focuses, and pour as match as you can against the
smallest to get rid of it!
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“Get gazelle-intense and sell so much stuff that the kids are afraid
they are next. Sell things that make your broke friends question
your sanity.”
 Keep the heirloom though- you can’t get those back
 Sell home- if payments are above 45 percent of your monthly takehome pay.
 Rule of thumb- if you can’t be debt free on it (except house) in 1820 months, sell it.
 Stop monthly retirement plan contributions- even if your company
matches it.
 Other than the home mortgage, larger second mortgages, business loans,
and rental mortgages are the only things that aren’t paid off in the this
step.
Homework for the weeko Write down all debt, sell what you need to, and start getting intense on the
smallest debt to the largest debt.
Closing Success Story
Close in Prayer
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Session 3- “Kick Murphy Out”
Objective- Stress the importance of a fully funded emergency fund and create actions steps, so
that the students may attain this in the near future.
Outline:
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Welcome
Last Week Recap
Stories for the class
o What was hard? What did you do? How do you feel?
Opening prayer
Opening success story
o PowerPoint slide photo to emphasize that these are real people like them.
Kick Murphy Out
o Murphy’s Law dictates that if anything can go wrong; it will go wrong. As wise
financial people. We want to kick Murphy out of our lives this week with the
Complete Emergency Fund.
o Complete Emergency Fund
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The worst time to borrow is when times are bad; be prepared!
78% of us will have a major unexpected even within 10 years- Money
Magazine.
 49% of Americans could cover less than 1 month’s expenses if they lost
their income- Country Financial Security Index survey.
 Emergencies include: deductible on a medical, homeowner’s, or car
insurance plan.
 College tuition is not an emergency.
 A fully funded emergency fund covers 3-6 months of expenses.
 A fully funded fund will range from $5000- $25,000.
 Never use the emergency fund without sleeping on the decision and
praying about it.
 This fund should be liquid- a “quick-release” CD would be acceptable.
 This fund is only to absorb risk, not to build wealth. The riskier your
situation, the bigger this fund should be.
 Get onboard and clean out your savings to create this fund or pay off debt.
 Getting to the end of this step takes the typical family 24-30 months (2 or
2 ½ years from when you start).
Homework for the weeko Figure out the amount that you will need for an emergency fund and start game
planning this step in with the others.
Closing Success Story
Close in Prayer
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Session 4- “Be Financially Healthy for Life”
Objective- Equip the students to look towards the future and see that a retirement with dignity is
possible and teach them to attain that.
Outline:
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Welcome
Last Week Recap
Stories for the class
o What was hard? What did you do? How do you feel?
Opening prayer
Opening success story
o PowerPoint slide photo to emphasize that these are real people like them.
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Be Financially Healthy for Life
o Maximizing retirement investing
o More than 70% of Americans do not believe they will be able to retire with
dignity- not only have we not done anything about retiring with dignity, but we
have lost hope that it is even possible! –bankrate.com
o USA Today reports that out of 100 people age 65, 97 of them can’t write a check
for $600, 55 are still working, and 3 are financially secure.
o So we need to start thinking about this! Remember that when we get to this point,
there won’t be any payments except a house payment.
o There is no excuse to retire without dignity in the US today.
o Rule- invest 15% of before-tax gross income annually towards retirement.
 Don’t include company matches- that is gravy.
 You can cheat down to 12% or up to 17%, but stay away from straying too
far.
o Don’t count on Social Security! More people under age 30 believe in flying
saucers than they will receive a dime from Social Security.
o Invest in Growth-stock mutual funds
 25% growth and income funds
 25% growth funds
 25% international funds
 25% aggressive growth funds
o If your company offers 401k matching, take it!
o Roth IRA is an important tool
 It grows tax-free
 $3,000/year from 35-65 (if your mutual funds average 12 percent, you will
have $873,000 tax free by 65).
Homework for the weeko If you haven’t already, stop your current retirement payments and put them
towards your debt, if you are done with that, up your retirement to 15% and
rearrange to growth-stock mutual funds.
Closing Success Story
Close in Prayer
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Session 5- “Make Sure the Kids Are Fit Too”
Objective- Express to the student the need for college tuition saving for future college students,
equip them with solutions to dealing with college tuition, inspire them to start when they can to
protect their family from a legacy of debt.
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Outline:
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Welcome
Last Week Recap
Stories for the class
o What was hard? What did you do? How do you feel?
Opening prayer
Opening success story
o PowerPoint slide photo to emphasize that these are real people like them.
Make Sure the Kids Are Fit Too
o College Funding
o Emotional Intelligence- 15% of success could be attributed to training and
education, while 85% was attributed to attitude, perseverance, diligence and
vision. If we admit out loud that education is for knowledge, which is only part of
the formula to success, then we don’t have to lose our minds in pursuit of the
Holy Grail degree.
o Pedigree means less and less in our work culture today, so a community college
or state school might be the way to go.
o 1st rule of college- pay cash
o 2nd rule of college- if you have the cash or scholarship then go; don’t just go to go.
o Student loans are a cancer. Once you have them, you can’t get rid of them, so do
anything you have to to avoid them.
o Saving money for your kids!
 Virtually everyone thinks that saving for college is important; however,
hardly anyone saves money for their kids’ college education.
o Baby lie insurance to save for college is a joke! So are Savings bonds! Stop
paying these if you have them.
o Use an ESA (Educational Savings Account).
 If you invest 2k a year from birth to age 18, that will purchase $126,000 in
tuition.
 For $2000 a year, your kid could go to virtually any college.
o Saving for college ensures that a legacy of debt is not passed down your family
tree.
o Scholarship ideas
 Some companies pay to educate their employees
 Government will help if you work in an underserved area.
 Armed Forces
 Brainstorming session w/ class for other ideas.
o In America today, if you want to go to college badly enough you can. The good
news is those who have gone through a Total Money Makeover will send their
kids debt-free.
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Homework for the weeko Pay debt, if you are done with that, start looking how you could join an ESA, start
making room in the budget for the ESA, and have your kids and you look for
creative ways to help them pay for college. Save them from college debt!
Closing Success Story
Close in Prayer
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Session 6- “Be Ultra fit”
Objective- To equip the students to either develop solid strategies for getting a home loan or
wisely paying off the one they already have.
Outline:
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Welcome
Last Week Recap
Stories for the class
o What was hard? What did you do? How do you feel?
Opening prayer
Opening success story
o PowerPoint slide photo to emphasize that these are real people like them.
Ultra fit
o Paying off the Home Mortgage & Getting a Home Mortgage.
o At this stage, you are now one of the top 5 to 10 percent of Americans because
you have some wealth, a plan, and are under control.
o New mortgage.
 If you must take a mortgage, pretend only 15 year mortgages exist. But
avoid if you have the ability.
 When asked about mortgages, I tell everyone never to take more than a 15
year fixed rate loan, and never have a payment of over 25 percent of your
take-home pay. That is the most you should ever borrow.
o Preexisting Mortgage.
 The best time to refinance is when you can save on interest.
 When refinancing, paying points or origination fees are not in your best
interest. The math shows that you don’t save enough on interest rates to
pay yourself back for the points.
 When refinancing ask for a “par” quote, which means zero points and zero
origination fee.
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o Families who stay gazelle-intense can pay off their mortgage about seven years
after they started the Total Money Makeover.
Homework for the weeko If you don’t have a mortgage set a goal this week to stay within the described
limits. If you have a mortgage already, think about what it will take to have it
paid off and set goals to get there!
Closing Success Story
Close in Prayer
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Session 7- “Mr. Universe of Money”
Objective- To paint a picture of the finish line for the student, so that the student may see what
great thing lie up ahead for those who work at it.
Outline:
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Welcome
Last Week Recap
Stories for the class
o What was hard? What did you do? How do you feel?
Opening prayer
Opening success story
o PowerPoint slide photo to emphasize that these are real people like them.
Mr. Universe of Money
o Build Wealth
o By reaching the last step of your Total Money Makeover, you have entered the
top 2 percent of Americans.
o There are only 3 good uses for money- FUN, INVEST, and GIVE.
o FUN
 Now take that trip, buy that car, etc.
o INVEST
 You can choose to be a little more sophisticated, but until you have more
than $10 million, I would keep your investing very simple. You can clutter
your life with a bunch of unnecessary stress by getting extremely complex
investments.
 Always manage your own money. You should surround yourself with a
team of people smarter than you, but you make the decisions. You can tell
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if they are smarter than you if they can explain complex issues in ways
you can understand.
God did not give them responsibility over your money; He gave it to you.
When your money makes more than you do, you are officially wealthy.
When you can comfortably live on your investment income, you are
financially secure.
You have reached the Pinnacle Point when you can live off 8% of your
nest egg.
o GIVE
 Use your money to leave a spiritual legacy!
o NOW BE CAREFUL!- The problem with becoming wealthy is that you stand a
chance of becoming enamored with wealth, so always keep God in focus.
Homework for the weeko This last stage is the goal. Set this as your sight and use it to motivate yourself for
the temporary pain of being frugal.
Closing Success Story
Close in Prayer
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Final Piece:
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Each student or couple will get one final individualized session if requested to go over
finances and be given more advice. This will be done in the church by a person who
works in the financial field and who has been trained in the Dave Ramsey system.
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