Wealth Management

In light of the results reported from Wall Street over the last month, many forms of wealth management have somehow been severely misstated. What instead has arisen is an ugly array of mass miscalculations and overtly exuberant hedging of bets “as in the gambler’s venue” that faltered badly. Investment houses, the nation’s largest banks, corporate mortgage lenders, hedge fund providers, and insurance institutions…all have been affected adversely by the revelations of misinformation, fraudulent lending practices, and a disregard for oversight, verification, and a lack of restraint in leveraged buying practices. In other words…we built an economy that could not be sustained by the foundation of honest labor for honest work. Dishonestly allowed an economy of deceit to be perpetuated by willing victims and unknowing pawns…alike. What has been so strange is the incapacity of normalcy to be reestablished because distrust has risen to such an exacerbating level. Where deceit is revealed to be the order of the day…no one trusts.
We should not be so surprised. As a nation and engaged in an interrelated world economic system…we reap what we sow. Disregarding the poor, the powerless, the weak and taking advantage of the uneducated, the impressionable, and the corruptible, has led down a road yielding the dissatisfying returns of pain and corruption and loss. From the pages of the prophet Amos to the sound wisdom of the Book of Proverbs, we have missed the mark. Justice will roll down and destroy the injustice of such times…and with clearly earthshaking outcomes. Loving God and loving neighbor suddenly become more important in light of fortunes lost and false securities erased. Those who pursue “Securities” as an answer to their life’s great need are just falsely pre-empting where and with whom we find true security. Perhaps with less money, there will be more time for the really important things. Faith, family, truth, justice, love…if we go there…it looks like there might be hope for a truly promising future.