A Catholic Guide to Personal Investing

This book addresses the numerous practical and moral issues confronting Catholics in their investment endeavors. The work is divided into four parts:

Part 1 focuses on faith-related matters relevant to investing as seen in scripture, the catechism, and the writings of various saints and others. The topics include thanksgiving, stewardship, prudence, anxiety, and others, all of which can affect our investing.

Part 2 presents an overview of investing principles and facts to be considered when managing a portfolio. Herein are four primary objectives: (a) to explain basic investing, (b) to familiarize readers with the return characteristics of different types of investments, (c) to show how expenses impact returns, and (d) to address the issue of professional help versus your own efforts for investing decisions.

Part 3 addresses morally responsible investing. This section draws from the pastoral letter Economic Justice for All and summarizes the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines.

The final part offers help with both secular and faith-related challenges in investment ventures. For example, topics addressed include how to temper investing with prudence as opposed to blindly following the investment practices promoted by the investments industry. This section addresses investments that are harmonious with church teachings. The largest groups of Catholic-oriented mutual funds are introduced.