In financial planning, faithful Catholics must consider two tracks of questions. The first is temporal and includes the same questions anyone would ask: How do I budget? How do I get rid of debt? What should I invest in for the best rate of return? The second is religious: How much do I tithe? How does my investing put God first? How do I finance Catholic education for all these kids?
Prudent stewardship of our financial resources takes work and commitment. But three Catholic finance experts sat down with Franciscan Magazine to share ideas on keeping finances Catholic.
Chris McMahon, AWMA, ChFC, founded the top-ranked firm MFA Wealth and earned a spot on Forbes’ 2025 list of top Financial Security Professionals. He and his wife, Molly, a member of Franciscan University’s Board of Trustees, are also generous supporters of the University.
Another gracious benefactor, Kathy Troxell, FSS, LUTCF, boasts 30-plus years in the finance industry. The founder and CEO of Turning Point Financial, Troxell has a passion for Catholic finance and is the proud mother of Franciscan theology and psychology sophomore, Maria Troxell.
Alumna Theresa M. LeChard, CFP ’18, serves as a client advisor with The Joseph Group and focuses on uniting Catholic values and financial prudence.
Before diving into the questions, McMahon takes a moment to encourage a mindset that asks, “What’s next?” He says it’s the most important question, but the answer always should stay the same: “Jesus.”
One “next” for McMahon was a call from the Lord to build Aquinas Wealth Advisors, which provides authentically Catholic and shrewd financial advice. Here, McMahon, Troxell, and LeChard pass along a few pro tips.
1. Save Some Money
Simpler said than done, but McMahon emphasizes that saving, even a little, is the first step to authentically Catholic stewardship. “We have long retirements to plan for and, as Catholics usually have more kids, we often have higher education costs,” says McMahon. He suggests individuals and families consider saving 5-10 percent of their income as early as possible.
2. Make a Plan
In his book, Faithful Finances: Six Steps to Establishing a Catholic Financial Life, McMahon says Catholic finance begins with a family mission centered on inviting the Holy Spirit into financial planning. He calls for a risk and value assessment where a family can plan together based on their preferences and goals. Are we risk averse, or do we have the stomach to roll for higher returns? What values are non-negotiable in our financial plan?
3. Be Unapologetically Catholic
McMahon advises that Catholic investing should incorporate stewarding God’s financial gifts, respecting the dignity of the human person, helping the most vulnerable including the poor, unborn, and working person, and using one’s money for good. “We can’t fund the machine that’s killing us,” says McMahon about investing in immoral companies.
4. Strike the Balance
Families often worry that Catholic value investing comes with decreased returns. Aquinas Wealth Partners, however, find the portfolios they screen for Catholic values compare strongly to common benchmarks such as the S&P Target Risk Moderate Index. “I would say we’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many companies do pass our screening, even in the tech space,” adds McMahon.
5. Good Catholics Can Differ
“Two committed Catholics can approach their plans entirely differently,” says Troxell. However, she agrees with McMahon that some values must come first, such as refusing to directly fund abortion and supporting human dignity. Yet, each Catholic must discern where his or her “line” for screening is. For example, is investing in transportation companies that have contracts with Planned Parenthood reasonable? Am I worried if one of my ETFs holds firearm manufacturers?
6. Do Your Research
Some mutual funds identified as Catholic invest in patently immoral companies under the justification that the returns will then be used for charity. Troxell also notes that Mensuram Bonam from the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences and the Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are good places to begin when asking what values are important.
7. Remember Charity
Troxell shares how charitable giving is essential to Catholic financial planning, particularly for Catholic businesses.
“We need to bring everything under the lordship of Christ.”
Troxell’s own business recognized the power of its financial contributions. They formed a relationship with the Mercy Center Foundation, USA, which provides a range of humanitarian services in Lare, Kenya. Recognizing that a dollar in America has a disproportionate impact overseas, Troxell worked with the local population to fund, plan, and execute a sunflower oil factory that now provides local jobs, a new economic sector, and funds to help support a school with 380 girls.
“I asked the Lord to direct,” says Troxell, “and we partnered one-on-one, shoulder-to-shoulder, to provide support.”
8. Family Finance
Catholic families often have more kids than the 1.94 average per family in the United States, and with more children, of course, comes added financial responsibility. LeChard reminds that the beauty of financial planning is that “each person is different.” In a world where “it is easy to boil people down to how much money they have, I’m entrusted to help, respect, and love,” she says.
LeChard adds it is prudent to have an emergency fund, life insurance, and other safety-net precautions to set a bare minimum for financial security. Ask the hard questions: If my spouse died, how would my finances be today? What are the dollar signs of Catholic higher education? Is it time to put money aside in a Roth IRA or similar account for my children?
9. How to Pay Caesar
Christ calls for us to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16). LeChard says we can apply this standard of prudence to finance, too. She encourages families to consider their tax situation. Would it be better to give out of taxable income? Or do my deductions indicate a tax-free account such as a donor advised fund (DAF) may better fund my charitable interests? (See joseph group.com for important disclosure information.)
10. Stewardship
In summary, LeChard reminds that the parable of the talents controls in the Catholic finance world (Matt. 25:14-30). “We are called to a simple life and to be generous,” she says, “not keeping up with the Joneses.” Through such stewardship, families and individuals alike can find “the freedom of knowledge to choose what to give.”
