Doug Lynam never expected to go into finance.
Growing up, he hated money. His family was wealthy and he saw firsthand how money could destroy relationships. Lynam spent years searching for a life different from the toxic one he saw his family living. He tried being an anti-materialist hippie and joined the Marines, but it wasn’t until he met a Benedictine monk and joined a monastery that he began to find a sense of purpose.
“It was a community full of love and kindness and support and compassion,” Lynam told Guideposts.org. “I was taking a vow of poverty and I thought that would get me away from the world of money.”
But a few years into his life at the monastery, the community started having financial difficulties. Lynam stepped in to figure out what was going on.
“The community started having some serious financial difficulties,” Lynam said. “I had to jump in and pull the community through bankruptcy. In the process I had to learn everything I could about money management.”
As he worked to clean up the finances of the monastery, Lynam noticed that many of the guests who came to the monks with spiritual problems also had financial problems.
“People would come to me and ask to help pray for them, to get relief from their money struggles and their various crises and I always did that, but I also insisted that we make a budget,” Lynam said.
Lynam’s work with the monks and guests at the monastery reframed his view of money. He stopped believing money was the root of all evil, and began to believe money could be useful.
“Money is a tool that we can use to put our values in action,” Lynam said. “If we have our values straight then money can increase our capacity for love, it can increase our value for service and it allows God's love to flourish abundantly in our lives in the world around us.”
Lynam eventually left the monastery to work as a financial adviser. Here are four of his most practical financial tips...READ MORE
