** Edited by
Baha and Margaret Habashy
The Challenge
This is a question we rarely ask each other. We’ll ask “How are you sleeping?” or “How’s your health?” — but “How are you, financially?” feels off-limits, even between close friends.
I’m asking it anyway. Not as a financial advisor — I’m not one — but as a fellow traveller who once had every leg of his financial security knocked out from under him in a single season, and who found, on the other side of it, a way of managing money that brought our family peace instead of anxiety.
I’ve put that story, and the framework we built from it, into a free guide called How Are You Financially? Thoughts, Tips and Stories on the Road to Living Well. Here’s a bit of why I wrote it, and what you’ll find inside.
What I actually put in the guide
This isn’t a dry finance manual. It’s a short, story-driven walk through the principles that carried my wife and me from crisis to confidence — with enough practical substance to hand to your accountant. You’ll find:
- The Two-Budget Model — a simple way to separate what you need from what you want, and trust God for the difference (including the surprisingly honest conversation we had with our own kids about it)
- Lessons from the Egyptian farmer — an ancient picture of living on provision already given, rather than income merely hoped for
- The difference between saving and investing — and why confusing the two quietly derails so many financial plans
- A plain-English walkthrough of ETFs, asset allocation, and risk tolerance — the kind of explanation I wish someone had given me the first time.
- A step-by-step process for selecting your own investments, without needing to become a full-time investor
- A fill-in-the-blank Investment Philosophy Statement you can complete yourself, or work through with your family
- “How About You?” reflection prompts throughout, turning the guide into a real conversation starter for couples, small groups, or mentoring relationships
Why I think it’s worth your time
You don’t need to be nearing retirement, or even particularly worried about money, for this to be useful to you. I wrote it for:
- Anyone who has never had someone sit down and explain investing in language that actually makes sense
- Couples who’ve never had the “how do we really think about money” conversation
- Small groups or Sunday school classes looking for a faith-grounded discussion tool
- Caregivers, and anyone in their Freedom Years, thinking through stewardship for whatever season comes next
And there’s a bonus: I’ve included a free, comprehensive retirement financial planning tool you can download directly from the guide, so you can put these principles into practice right away.
Our Gift To You
How Are You Financially? takes about twenty minutes to read — and I hope, as it did for us, it changes how you think about every dollar that passes through your hands from here on out.
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