Upping Your Financial Game in 2025

A new year is about to start! As someone who is passionate about helping Christians on their stewardship journey, I like the beginning of the calendar year because during this season people are much more likely to take a fresh look at their finances and how they’re managing them.

New Year’s resolutions are a popular way for people to make a fresh start in their lives and their calendars.

A Forbes Health/OnePole survey(1) found that for 2024, the second most popular New Year’s goal was improved finances. If you’re one of those people, I’m here to help you.

Here are four steps you can take to strengthen your financial foundation and take your stewardship to the next level in 2025.

1. Understand Where Your Money Is Going

The foundation of financial planning and biblical stewardship is knowing what money you have and where it is going. If you were coaching a sports team, this would be your team roster. Before going into a big game, you would make sure to have a list of all of the players on the team, what positions they play, and any injuries they may have that could affect their ability.

In the same way, in the game of stewardship you need to know what funds God has entrusted to you and what they’re doing. You need to track your spending. There are many ways to do this, and technology can make it very easy. Many banks or other financial institutions offer online account aggregators that you can link to your debit/credit cards so they can track and categorize your spending. Otherwise, you can purchase a budgeting app or use a good old-fashioned pencil and paper or spreadsheet.

2. Double Check Your Direction

Once you know where your money is going, you need to make sure that’s actually where you want it.

This is where the coach takes the team roster and starts developing a strategy for the big game.

In financial terms, this means reviewing your values and priorities and making sure your spending aligns with them. If you’ve never taken the time to identify your values, I would recommend doing so first. Then, compare your spending with what you’ve determined matters most to you and make any necessary adjustments to align your finances with your values.2 You will likely experience greater peace and fulfillment once you do.

3. Look at the Big Picture

Once you have a good idea of what you’re doing with your money on a day-to-day basis and have aligned it with your values, it’s time to take a step back and look at the big picture. Are you setting yourself up for success five years down the road?

What about twenty years down the road? What about setting up the next generation of your family for success?

This is the offensive side of financial planning— how to score and win the game. This is where you set up a retirement savings plan. It could include saving for college for your children, but in many cases, making sure you can support yourself in retirement will be more valuable to your children than paying their tuition. Maybe you’re saving for a house or setting money aside so that you can purchase your next vehicle in cash. This is where you plan and prepare for your entire lifetime and legacy.

4. Get Your Guard Up

Any sports fan knows that a good defense is just as important as a good offense, even if it’s not quite as exciting. The same is true in financial stewardship. It’s not all about saving and building for the future. You also need to protect what you already have. That starts with an emergency fund. Save up some money to self-insure against small losses and take advantage of insurance to protect yourself against large losses. Insurance products are an important part of wise stewardship. Estate planning is also important and your final act of stewardship.

Remember, our Heavenly Father is the true owner of the money we are managing, and we are only His stewards. He owns the team, and you are just the coach. If you implement these four things, it will greatly improve your chances of succeeding in the personal finance game.

Amy Artiga is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), a Certified Kingdom Advisor™, and author of the clergy personal finance blog PastorsWallet.com. Send questions for Amy to benefits@nazarene.org.

1 https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-yearresolutions-survey-2024/

2 https://www.christianfinancialadvisorsnetwork.com/blog/ a-biblical-view-of-insurance-products

Note: This material is provided for informational purposes only. The author and NBUSA do not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice.