CHARLOTTE — Catholic financial planning? Sounds like an oxymoron when the goal of growing wealth doesn’t necessarily match up with faith practices.
Catholic author and retired financial professional Dan Gallagher tackles tips for financial planning from a faith-based perspective in a new book “The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning.”
“There’s a perception that financial planning is about maximizing your wealth, which isn’t a Catholic value,” Gallagher says. “But there’s a moral aspect of financial planning, too.”
Gallagher, a parishioner of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte, writes fictional and narrative nonfiction. His other works include a novel, short stories and Catholic letters. Gallagher has four faith-based short stories scheduled to be published by Millhaven Press this year, and his fiction work consistently calls readers to consider the things of God.
“The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning” is perhaps the only such book with a Catholic perspective, he says. After three decades in the field, he offers bias- and agenda-free advice and the book carries the Catholic Writers Guild’s Seal of Approval.
The book’s “Catholic perspective is subtle, but appears at crucial and edifying points,” he says. “A fifth of the book is comprised of 30 dramatic but true tales of client triumph and tragedy.”
Through this book, Gallagher says he wants to help people from a wide range of economic means and situations, persuading them to consider proper stewardship and attitudes toward money.
“Money decisions almost always have a moral dimension and a relationships dimension,” he says. “Which is why this type of book from a Catholic perspective is needed.”
The book empowers readers to meet obligations to self, family, charity and posterity, Gallagher says.
By using a secular publisher, Gallagher says he hopes to reach people of all faiths, not just Catholics, to consider matters such as healthcare power of attorney versus living wills, charitable giving and tithing, the responsibility to share one’s resources and not hoard wealth, and preserving family relationships through thoughtful money decisions including disability planning.
“The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning” sheds light on “poorly knowns” that consumers and professionals alike need to understand, he says. It enables Catholics to better their understanding of these issues and realize the merit of managing their finances as they would any other blessing or talent from God.
Gallagher says he has been influenced by secular financial writers and his work incorporates a Catholic conscience.
“My true love is writing fiction. I feel like I can reach people more emotionally that way, and it sticks,” he says.
“They remember what I’m trying to convey. I’m not necessarily trying to teach someone something about morals or the Bible or whatever. I’m trying to coach them to consider doing something that’s wholesome and good, and incorporate that into their lives or their philosophy.”
— Kimberly Bender, online reporter
More online
At www.authordan.com: Learn more about Dan Gallagher and read more of his work, including his latest book, “The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning”
Order “The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning” on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2H5nWAW