The Morality of Money

Money Is Bigger Than Money

The Morality of Money teaches money and economics. Then it goes somewhere most financial books don’t.

Debt and investing connect to risk. Government and inflation connect to opportunity. Health care connects to economics. Wealth connects to poverty. Money connects to relationships, education, racism, generosity, faith, fear, freedom—and the choices we make about the lives we want.

Understanding how money works gives us more than financial knowledge. It gives us better tools for making those choices.

MONEY LIFE WITH CHUCK JAFFE

“We can have some FUN with this.”

— Chuck Jaffe, Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

FUN with morality and money? Exactly. Chuck and I went from faith to government, universal health care, wealth disparity, taxing the rich, financial trade-offs and what he calls “mature money.” 

And it was FUN!

A DIFFERENT WAY TO THINK ABOUT DEBT

Debt Is Not Bad.

Dave Ramsey has helped millions of people get serious about debt. But I don’t believe debt itself is the enemy.

Debt is a tool. Sometimes it is used wisely. Sometimes it isn’t. Understanding the difference is far more useful than simply being told never to use it.

There Is Rarely One “Right” Financial Answer

Pay off the mortgage or invest? Buy or rent? Take Social Security now or wait? Carry more insurance or accept more risk? Save every available dollar—or use some of it to live the life you worked so hard to build?

The math matters. So do the trade-offs. And so does the person making the decision.

WHY I WROTE IT

I Knew Money. Then My Financial Life Collapsed.

I have spent more than 35 years in financial services and education. I’ve taught financial professionals about investments, insurance, Social Security, Medicare, health care, retirement, government, debt and economics.

And then my own financial life collapsed.

I lost my home. I went through divorce, financial loss and the humbling realization that knowing how money works does not protect any of us from life.

That experience changed the questions I was asking. Financial security couldn’t simply be about accumulating more. I wanted to understand what security really was—and what money was actually supposed to be for.

THE “MORALITY” PART

Morality From Universal Truths

The Morality of Money is not a rulebook telling you which financial decisions make you a good person.

The morality comes from Universal Truths—principles that appear across religions, cultures, philosophy and human experience. Love. Gratitude. Generosity. Responsibility. Service. Compassion. Truth. Wisdom.

My own journey is grounded in Christianity and my relationship with GOD, but these truths don’t belong to one church, one religion or one kind of person.

WHERE UNIVERSAL TRUTHS CAN LEAD

Finding The Flow

There is a point where knowledge, experience, faith and purpose begin to connect.

I call it The Flow—moving away from fear and toward the Universal Wisdom that helps us recognize opportunity, use our gifts, serve something larger than ourselves and become open to where life may be leading.

Money matters because it can help us get there. But money isn’t the destination.

DON’T JUST READ IT. WORK THROUGH IT.

An 8-Step Journey Through Money, Life and What Comes Next

The Morality of Money is also becoming a guided journey for churches, small groups, book clubs and people who want to go deeper than simply finishing the last page.

The 8-step plan moves through the ideas in the book together—examining our money stories, financial foundations, fear, choices, security, purpose, Universal Truths and the future we want to build.

WHERE ALL OF THIS LEADS

Money Is a Tool. Life Is the Point.

Security. Prosperity. Freedom. Enough. A life rich in meaning.

Those aren’t numbers someone else can calculate for you. They aren’t definitions a financial expert, government, culture—or I—get to hand you.

Understanding money gives you more freedom to decide what they mean to you.