Folklore and popular stories often seem to contradict that statement. But I would suggest that the sinister undertones of accumulating wealth have more to do with sharing a moral on human nature than the inherent nature of money itself. However, there is a good folk story that describes choices of investing, consuming, or getting returns ….
A Man and his Wife had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid a Golden Egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it to secure the whole store of precious metal at once and also to be able to feast on it by cooking it. But when they cut it open, they found it was just like any other goose. Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped nor enjoyed any longer the daily golden egg as an addition to their wealth or to use the proceeds for spending or doing good deeds. They then burnt it to a crisp when cooking it and so nor did they get to enjoy a beautiful meal either.
There is a moral that might be applied here – “wants more and loses all”. But it could suggest that trying to maximise your position might end up putting it all at risk. Money does indeed make money, even if it is ‘just one egg at a time’. A stable and safe return might over time add up to more than the sum of the original or give you more options to do good than just consuming the initial sum or chasing immediate higher returns.
We all are unique and when it comes to financial wellbeing that also means different things to people at various stages of their lives. Protecting your money and deciding where to put it is a critical decision. It is a decision that needs to match your lifestyle needs with your financial needs.
At the heart of this decision is answering the question “what you plan to use your money for and when”. In simple terms, financial investment includes an assessment of return and risk. This means you have to decide which of the following generic approaches (with a sliding scale of risk) is most important to you:
Preservation of your capital
making sure your initial sum of money is not lost
Income return on your capital
getting a cash % return on your money
Growth of your capital
growing the value of your initial investment
The 21st century has developed into an era of steadily declining interest rates to the extent that fixed-term interest rate financial products (like bank deposits) don’t provide very high returns. It’s a significant topic as to why this is so. Regardless, the reality is that many people are now looking for better income returns but are struggling to find it in this low-yield environment. In turn, they are taking on higher levels of risk to preserve their incomes. Sometimes this is without consideration of the risk of losing their capital.
It also means that the difference between a high return on a cash deposit and a low return is in real terms negligible, so the merit is in retaining preservation of capital. If the preservation of capital is your main goal then the CDF (Catholic Development Fund) represents a secure choice. Coupled with the knowledge that your ‘golden goose’ is laying ‘golden eggs’ that can be put to use to support the great causes our diocese delivers on our behalf – in turn helping to strengthen our Catholic community.
The CDF’s role is to help the diocese
Sacrificial returns are pooled enabling the diocese to carry out its pastoral plan via loans for catholic schools and organisations, funding for Catholic Social Services, the Catholic Youth Team, work undertaken by tertiary, hospital, and prison chaplains.
Account benefits
Help – strengthen our catholic community
Secure – 100% guarantee by the Bishop of Christchurch
Financial – interest paid, no fees or charges
Flexible – make lump sum deposits or save regularly
Support – freephone, CDF Online or face-to-face