Managing Money God’s Way

MicroPlace - A place to give back

I was in the process of doing some daily reading when I came across a great review of the MicroPlace social business site by Jonathan over at My Money Blog that I wanted to share some of my thoughts and a brief review with you.

What is MicroPlace?

It is a site owned by eBay who’s mission is to alleviate global poverty by offering investments that enable loans to hardworking poor people.

How Does MicroPlace Work?

According to the MicroPlace website:  “A loan of $20 can allow a poor woman to start a business and work her way out of poverty.”  You start out by opening an investment account (just like at Schwab or another online broker).  You can fund your account with either PayPal or your bank account.  You then use the search tools on their site to find an investment(s).

Is Your Money at Risk?

According to the statistics at their website, historically 97% of poor people have actually paid back their loans.  So there is some risk to your principal investment.  MicroPlace does perform due diligence on the institutions that actually make the micro loans to make sure they meet certain business and regulatory requirements.  They state that to date “none of our institutions have ever defaulted on their payments to investors.”

What Impact can You Have?

Well, I think that is the easy part.  You can help a poor person start a business and work her way out of poverty.  You are also participating in a solution that can help alleviate global poverty by helping people help themselves.

The Bonus

Do we really need one?  I feel just being able to potentially make a difference in someone’s life is enough for me, but they are offering a free solar powered flashlight for investing as little as $20.

Conclusion

I personally have not invested any money yet.  I plan on sitting down with my wife and determining the amount we will initially fund our account with.  I will follow up with another posting to let you know what we do with our investment.

But as Christians, should we always expect a monetary return on our investment?  Maybe, just maybe the return we should look for sometimes is not necessarily monetary in nature.  As those that have much, maybe knowing we helped someone escape poverty is return enough?

For as our Lord said “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.  Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).