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After my younger brother and I had moved out of the house and started families of our own, God provided an incredible opportunity for my parents and my grandma to build their dream house on the hills alongside the Shenandoah Valley. I was just there visiting over the holidays and was reminded of how beautiful those mountains really are.
Before they broke ground, they invited the whole family to go out there and pray over the land. I have to tell you, I believe those prayers have been answered because that home has been a place of hospitality on display ever since they finished building it seven years ago. But when they first broke ground, the soil was extremely hard and the clay was thick. Even though they were at the top of a hill, water kept filling up the hole where the basement was supposed to be. On multiple occasions, the builders had to pump water out of the hole so they could keep digging and prepare the land for the foundation to be laid. I remember talking with my dad, and for several weeks, the update was the same. They were still pumping water out of the basement so they could pour the foundation.
My parents were starting to get a little impatient, and understandably so. They had been dreaming of this home for years and they had finally broken ground, only to have what was now a very expensive hole. But the builder knew what he was doing. He knew that the most important part of the entire house was the foundation. He didn’t want to cut corners or pour the foundation unless the conditions were perfect. To rush the process could have been catastrophic. And so, when the ground was dry and the excavators had carved out the perfect shape for the basement, it was time to lay the foundation.
Over the past several months, I have been giving you some ingredients to help you lay a successful financial foundation. We have discussed savings, debt, how to increase your income, and so much more. There are still many components of a successful financial foundation, but over the course of this year, I am going to begin putting them together in a step by step plan that you can follow to reach all of your financial goals.
Later this year, we will be launching our first in person class where I will be personally teaching a select group of adults who want to escape paycheck to paycheck living and get their finances right this year. Look for directions on applying to be a part of this class soon.
But until then, I am going to be teaching you practical steps, one after the other, on how to build a financial foundation and then, how to build off of that foundation to begin building generational wealth. It may be tempting to want to just skip the foundational elements and just build wealth, but without a foundation, wealth will never last.
I hope you had a restful and filling holiday season. Now it’s time to get after all of those resolutions! This New Year is going to bring incredible opportunities for those of us who want to step into them. I am excited to walk alongside you as we pursue financial health in 2025, building a financial foundation that will last for generations.
Zach Santmier is the owner of Trumble Agency, Inc. and the author of the personal financial course, Increase. He focuses on helping families escape paycheck to paycheck living so they can freely pursue their ideal future.
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