Should Planners Mix Religion and Money?

Have you heard of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans? As you can tell from their name, they are a financial services company for Lutherans. That's their sole business. There's something about them that bugs me. I think it is the fact that they are mixing money and religion. And, the fact that they are commission-based sales people also bothers me.

Back in 2002, Investment Advisor magazine had a cover story called "In God We Trust" that addressed this very issue. I personally think it is wrong to use your religious beliefs for financial gain. I say let your reputation speak for itself. If you do a good job for your clients, they will tell other people about you. If they happen to go to your church, fine. In fact, they may even tell other people that you are a "good Christian" planner or whatever. I don't have a problem with that. However, I think it would be wrong for me to put "...a Christian financial planner" on my business card.

Financial planning is about building trust. Using your religious beliefs to build trust is wrong in my eyes.

What do you think?

Tags: Thrivent Financial, Money & Religion