askdave@willowcreek.org
	Every week, we will be posting answers to selected questions that you have submitted

Dave,
My husband and I have always budgeted, tithed and saved carefully. We have two daughters. We have a plan that allows us to contribute about $50,000 to each one's college tuition but we figure this will be about half of the total expenses needed. My question is this: I work at the church and love it but since $50,000 does not go very far towards college these days should I consider a job change to be able to contribute more towards our girls' college education costs? Are there other options for funding a college education? Should the expenses be our children’s obligation or ours as parents?

Well, you asked for my opinion and so here goes. You may not like the answer, but having seen parents and kids struggle for years with college loans, I am pretty much against large college debt. Whether you get a higher paying job or a second job or just stay where you are, is between you and God. Do what He tells you. As for the girls ... although it is not popular to do, I would consider a cheaper and more "initially painful" route to avoid long term debt problems... Encourage your girls to spend the first two years at a community college with a small job on the side to save money then transfer to a good four-year school for the last two years ... or, they could take a year off before going to college and live at home, get a job and save money like crazy so as to avoid debt ... then go to a four-year school. They could also attend a four-year school for two years and then take a year off to work and save money to be able to afford to go back for the last two years.
There is nothing wrong with combining work and school and to taking time off to work rather than getting loans. I fully realize this is not a popular opinion ... one that a lot of secular educators would scoff at ... but I believe it is less painful than dealing with the long term effect of large college loans.

The Bible has a number of things to say about the topic of gambling.
One of the problems with gambling is the way if feeds a "get rich quick" mentality. The Bible says this attitude is harmful to our relationship with God. If you read through these verses you will conclude that gambling poses great dangers to our spiritual condition. Here are some helpful verses to consider:
• God presents work as the normal way to get the money we need--not gambling (Eph 4:28; II Thess. 3:12; Prov. 31).
• All my income belongs to God and not to me (Ps 24:1), so I am not free to use it as I wish. I am a steward, who should use it for God's purposes. Christians are called on to meet the needs of their family (I Tim. 5:8), and share with others, particularly Christians who have needs (2 Cor. 8-9; Gal 6:6-10; 3 John). We should ask: “Does God want me to use His money to gamble?”
• Greed and covetousness are sin (I Tim 6:9; Heb 13:5), and these are the driving motives behind most gambling.
• Proverbs warns of disaster for people who want to get rich quickly. (Prov. 28:20, 22)
• Wealth that comes easily leaves quickly. (Prov. 13:11)
• Wealth gained the wrong way breaks up families. (Prov. 15:27)
• Gambling can become addictive, and even if you don't fall prey to it as a compulsive habit, your example may cause others to be enslaved by it. (I Cor. 8:9, 13)

Dave, I keep hearing conflicting ideas about where we should give our 10%. What does the Bible say about where our tithe should go?

This is a great question that a lot of people are asking. Malachi 3 talks about bringing the tithes into the storehouse. Because this is a very specific instruction, we need to find out more about what the storehouse was. In biblical times there were four main functions of a storehouse: 1) To care for the needs of the Levites 2) To care for the needs of the prophets 3) To care for the needs of the Jewish widows and orphans 4) To care for the needs of the Gentile widows and orphans If you were to translate that into a modern context, you would see that the Levites were the rough equivalent of church pastors and staff ... the prophets would be missionaries ... then the next two would address the needs of those inside God’s family and those outside the circle of believers. That pretty much lines up with a key part of the mission of the New Testament church and to the degree that the local church is acting as a "modern day storehouse" then I believe the tithe should be brought to the local church.

Dave,
My question has to do with the best way to give an allowance to our two kids. Could you give me direction about how to implement an allowance in a way that will help teach our kids how to be wise with their money?

The first thing I will do is insert a plug for the Good Sense seminar, “Equipping Parents to Teach Their Kids about Money.” This seminar will be conducted in March and it deals with this issue in great detail. The key with allowance is to create a situation where your kids have the ability to obtain money, so they can learn to use it wisely before they leave your home and head out into the harsh realities of the “real world.” But having money is only half the equation; teaching them how to earn money is just as important. I suggest choosing from two different methods of handling allowances: the Paycheck Method and the Commission Method. The Paycheck method seeks to model the real world in that they receive their allowance every week in exchange for completing well-defined tasks around the house … just like it will be for them someday when they have a job in the marketplace. They would receive the same amount every week. The Commission method seeks to model the real world in that they only get paid when they complete specific tasks successfully … like someone living on commission. You would make available a number of regular jobs around the house that they can choose from a pre-determined list. Each job would have an amount of money associated with it and your children could earn as much as they wanted. (Note that these jobs are above and beyond the normal chores that all children should have for just being a part of the family that are not done for money.) I invite you to join us at our next seminar where we go into more detail about this and other ways to teach kids about money! Question: Dave, I am going to be purchasing a new car soon. I might be able to pay for most of it with cash, but if I end of financing it, would I get any advantages by using my home equity line and paying it down compared to financing it with the dealership? I am so glad you are asking these questions before you make a commitment to the car. Would you be open to considering a quality used car so you could pay cash for it rather than getting a loan for a new one? A brand new car is one of the single biggest reasons for financial hardship because the value depreciates so quickly and represents a lot of money "down the drain" compared to a reliable, high quality, used car. I think it is a bad idea to put your house at more risk with a home equity loan to buy a new car. A home equity loan may be a bit cheaper, but you need to understand the potential risk of having a larger loan against your house. If for some reason you could not make the payments, you could be in danger of losing your home. A new set of wheels is just not a good enough reason to put your house at greater risk.