Financial Wisdom

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbour or entered into an agreement with a stranger, you have been trapped by the words of your lips- ensnared by the words of your mouth. Do this, then, my son, and free yourself, for you have put yourself in your neighbour's power: go humble yourself, and plead with your neighbour. Don't give sleep to your eyes or slumber to you eyelids. Escape like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from a fowler's trap. Proverbs 6:1-5

 

As a mortgage broker I understand that what the son has done is go guarantor for a neighbour or a stranger. Going guarantor is inadvisable even in close family relationships unless there are strict guidelines in place. Assets that parents have scrimped and saved for can quickly be wasted on a child with slack standards let alone a neighbour.

 

This is a difficult situation. As a parent of a young adult you will want to help them get started in life, the first purchase is usually a car. I know both my daughter and son went through this.

 

Yet the opposite of this is also a problem. For 4 years I sold reverse mortgages in Sydney and the purchasers were seniors who lived in expensive houses but had no superannuation or savings and needed money to repair their house, buy a new car or have extra funds to live on. There were instances when children found out about what their parents were about to do and resisted it because it would affect their inheritance.

 

Both instances can be wrong when children dictate their parents funding. Parents, also, can be easily blackmailed by children who passionately want their own assets and see their parents as the cash cow.

 

As a Christian I can give to those in need, however, as a woman I also need to be wise. When newly separated from my husband I gave away a lot of the money he gave me, because I felt he was paying me off so he could get another wife, which he did. I felt the money was dirty. My emotional state at the time caused me to be unwise. I think in such a situation a woman needs wise counsel, I did not have this but needed it myself. My emotions overrode wisdom and my training.

 

I am grateful for the book of Proverbs, but also value sound, wise, counsel. Amen!