October 20, 2025 • 42 mins
Money and marriage: while God designed these two things to bless us, they can also be two of the greatest sources of stress. What if we turned financial conflict into connection? On the next Faith & Finance Live, Dr. Shane Enete joins Rob West to share six creative ways couples can build stronger relationships by having intentional financial conversations—what he calls “money dates.” Then, it’s on to your calls. That’s Faith & Finance Live—biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. That’s weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:08):
Money and marriage. Two things God designed to bless us.
But they can also be two of the greatest sources
of stress. So what if we turn financial conflict into connection? Hi,
I'm Rob West. Doctor Shane, Ina joins us today to
share six creative ways couples can build stronger relationships by
having intentional financial conversations, what he calls money dates. And
(00:32):
then it's on to your phone calls at 800 525 7000.
That's 800 525 7000. This is faith and finance. Live.
Biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Joining us once again
is Doctor Shane Annette, associate professor of finance at Biola
University and founder of Biola Center for Financial Planning. He's
(00:56):
also a trusted contributor to Faith, Fi and Shane, it
is great to have you back.
S2 (01:01):
Yeah. Thank you Rob. Always a joy to be here
and share these ideas.
S1 (01:04):
Well, I'm particularly excited about this. Shane, this is a
book that has needed to be written for a long time.
This idea of money dates coming together as a couple.
And let's start there. Why is it so important to
intentionally schedule conversations about money, rather than only addressing concerns
(01:26):
as they come up as they arise?
S2 (01:28):
You know, with money, it's real personal. And when people
get together, they've done all these studies. One particular study
that looked at 2000 couples. Um, half of them said
they're uncomfortable talking about money because they're worried. They're worried
that it's going to cause conflict. And and so they
end up not talking about it. And that ends up
(01:49):
burying the conflict and it becomes deeper. And then, you know,
the study also showed that on average, couples have about
58 arguments about money per year. Yeah. And so there's
just this fear that creates something worse if you don't
talk about it. And so you kind of have to
maybe rip the band aid and just get the conversation going.
But but I'm wanting to try and help it get
(02:10):
it going where it's not painful, but actually kind of
a fun experience.
S1 (02:14):
Yeah. Well, and Howard Dayton has talked about this for years.
I mean, that was the first time I was introduced
to this idea of a money date. And Howard would
always say, at least monthly, you need to come together.
And this isn't finger pointing. This is really about course
corrections getting on the same page. It's about seeking understanding
and driving toward our goals that should be informed by
(02:37):
our values. But I think you've even taken it to
another level, because what you're telling us is these can
actually be fun. And that's why I was so thrilled
that in our latest edition of Faithful Steward, you wrote
this great article on six great money dates. So why
is this so important to talk about it this way
as a date.
S2 (02:56):
You know, we just want to kind of grease the
wheels to get the conversation going. And dating can be
a lot of fun if you're intentional, if it's something
that you want to do. And so why not kind
of combine something really fun with something maybe not as fun?
And then as you're connecting in this kind of fun
date environment, then I think the money conversations actually end
(03:18):
up being more fun than if you were just at home,
kind of in your normal day to day.
S1 (03:22):
Yeah. And the idea here is a regular rhythm, a
place where you and your spouse come together to talk
about money. But to Shane's point, these can be really
enjoyable and you can have a great date at the
same time. So money date number one is about sharing
your money story. Unpack this for us.
S2 (03:40):
Yeah. So I think with money there's a story behind
how you're thinking about money, how you're feeling about it.
There's a lot of experiences that we have growing up
and it's really important just, you know, as a couple,
if you want to grow closer together and you want
to understand where someone's coming from. To learn about their experiences.
And so to have an intentional time where you think
(04:03):
about kind of early childhood memories around money, how your
family thought about money, what kind of messages you heard
about money from your family of origin. All those things
can kind of get put together in a money biography
or autobiography. And if you think about that ahead of
time and then bring it to the date, you can
share your story. Let it just unfold at the date
(04:23):
at a good restaurant, while you're eating good food and
enjoying kind of the atmosphere, and then you can really
get some shared sense of empathy towards your partner. If
they start kind of thinking some way or spending in
a way that's you don't agree with, and you can
connect it to kind of their money story.
S1 (04:40):
Oh, I couldn't agree more, Shane. You know, one of
the keys to getting on the same page as a
couple as it relates to money is understanding. And there
is nothing better than unpacking this question together that Doctor
Annette presents in date number one. What was your earliest
memory of the concept of money? Knowing that could be
a game changer. We're talking with Doctor Shane Ina today.
(05:02):
He is associate professor of finance at Biola University. He's
also the author of an article in our recent edition
of Faithful Steward called Six Great Money Dates. More dates.
Right after this, I'm Rob Weston. You're listening to Faith
and finance. Live biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. We'll
be right back after this break. We've all heard the stats.
(05:35):
Money is one of the biggest sources of conflict in marriage.
It doesn't have to be that way. Thanks for joining
us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West
with me today, my friend Doctor Shane Enid. He's associate
professor of finance at Biola University. He's a regular contributor
here at Faith and finance, and he's the author of
(05:55):
a great article in our latest edition of our magazine,
Faithful Steward called Six Great Money Dates. Six dates you
and your spouse can enjoy to grow closer to each
other and become better stewards of the resources God has
entrusted to you and Shane. Before the break, you shared
date number one sharing your money story. Date number two
(06:18):
is really intriguing and you call it give together. Explain
it to us.
S2 (06:22):
You know, I, uh, I had a lot of fun
giving adventures as a single guy, uh, in my 20s
and into my early 30s. And my wife also, you know,
was was a great giver. And when we got married,
you know, we kind of got into a little bit
of a giving rhythm. But what I realized after eight
years of marriage is that we had never really done
(06:43):
a big, giving adventure together. We'd never really sat down
and said, hey, you know, what is our ethos with giving.
What kind of giving would make us both kind of
come together in a meaningful way? And so we had
a conversation and we did some fun giving together, and
we determined kind of what our household, how our household
wanted to give and how in what ways. Because it's
(07:05):
not just firstfruit giving. You can also give in so
many other ways as well.
S1 (07:09):
Mhm. Yeah. And you really give three options here. And
of course there's unlimited options for how you give. But
share a couple of these.
S2 (07:17):
So besides Firstfruit giving you can do a giving goal
which I just love. So I'm very competitive. And giving
goals you can track and you can celebrate. I love
celebrating as well. And so we have a giving goal
as a family, you know, and we went to a
real nice, fun restaurant we would normally not go to
as a family and telling her kids, hey, we're doing
(07:37):
this big treat because we've gotten halfway on our giving goal,
and it's just real festive. And, you know, a giving
circle is very special. That's where you find like minded
people in a Bible study, in a neighborhood, or even
within your family and extended family, and you all pool
your money together and give to a common place that
you're all passionate about doing. And and the last one
(07:58):
is just let's create kind of a percentage of giving
that's kind of a stretch goal. And then as we get,
you know, have an increase in our income, we increase
our giving over time and move towards that goal.
S1 (08:11):
Yeah. That is so good. All right. Well this next
day date number three you call cook the books. And
I have a bit of an idea on where we're
going here. Explain kind of the fun part of the
date and then also what they're doing financially as well.
S2 (08:25):
Sure. Yeah. With this one it'd be fun instead of
going to a restaurant to actually stay at home and
cook together. And there can often be a lot of
good conversation, a lot of good fellowship together as you cook. Um,
and if you don't want to cook, then what's also
fun is just go to a store, grab food together
to go type of food, and do a picnic so
you can kind of go either way. And then when
(08:48):
you are making the food and then eating it and
hopefully a relatively romantic way at home, you're able to
just start to talk about, hey, how should we develop
a rhythm for our budgeting, you know, and how should
we who should be responsible for kind of tracking things,
who should be responsible for maybe keeping some receipts if
you need to look at how things are being spent
(09:11):
and what type of apps should we be using. And,
you know, there's a little bit of maintenance when you
do budgeting. And it's nice to come together with a
plan about who's going to do what.
S1 (09:20):
Mhm. Yeah. You're exactly right. And that's where the Faith
fi app could be really helpful. I know Julie and
I use that to track our family's budget. And if
you want to learn more you could go to Faith comm.
Just click on app there at the top of the page.
All right let's get to money date number four. And
this is around your credit report. Explain this to us okay.
S2 (09:40):
Before I do, let me just say the date I
would like to pair with this one. So with debt
It's very emotional. It's there's a lot of emotional cost
to it. And people get stressed and there's actually a
lot of financial, what they call PTSD about around debt.
And so I have a suggestion. So the spa is
usually pretty expensive. Um, and it might get you into
(10:01):
more debt. But if you get good at doing what
are called day spa passes, then you can end up
getting into all of the facilities and all of the
fun ways of enjoying a spa without a treatment, but
you're just using their, you know, their spa and their, um,
rooms and all of everything's beautiful and you're just spend
the day there, and then you can talk about your
(10:23):
debts and laying a credit boundary, thinking about, you know,
what are your attitudes around debt? How how have you
experienced it over time? Was there some trauma in the
past with your family and how they kind of your
family of origin and how they experienced debt? And with
your current debt, do you know how much you have,
and do you fear it in such a way that
you want to get rid of it? If so, how far?
(10:43):
How strong? You know, just talk about your ambition, about
getting rid of the debts. But all of that, you know,
you can do in just this beautiful place. And I
think that would really help create a good constructive conversation
around debt.
S1 (10:56):
Yeah. And with all of these dates, Shane, it goes
without saying that, you know, this is about coming together
and making forward progress, not dwelling on what's gone wrong
in the past or pointing fingers. Right?
S2 (11:08):
Correct. Yeah. You just want to care for each other,
and you want to talk openly about things that matter
to each of you, and then you want to be
able to agree upon kind of an exciting plan, one
that you're both owning and coming together to figure out,
not just telling the other person this is how it's
going to be, but saying, you know, what kind of
(11:28):
boundaries should we have about credit cards? Let's come together
and agree how we should use them. Should we cut
them up, or should we use them to try and
get travel points? Um, you know, just honestly in what way?
And then it's neat to figure out some other safeguards
as well, about what type of debt you'd be willing
to get and and what type of debt you should
always avoid, and those kinds of things.
S1 (11:49):
We're talking six great money dates with Doctor Shane today
of Biola University. This is an article that's in the
latest edition of Faithful Steward Magazine. Shane. Money. Date number
five is called Number Your Days. Tell us about this one.
S2 (12:03):
Sure. That phrase comes from Psalm 9012, where the psalmist
is saying to he's requesting. He's asking that we may
be taught to number our days. And what happens is
we gain a heart of wisdom when we do this.
And I think every couple, when they come together should
consider that, you know, life's short and you know, it's 100%
mortality rate. And it's really there's so much that can
(12:25):
be done now to prepare us for to, to essentially
to number our days. And, you know, we need to
think about what happens if we pass away, if we're
get to a place where we no longer have, uh,
you know, our cognitive abilities. And so that deals with
power of attorney and healthcare directives and our will and
(12:46):
potential trusts. And really, when you come together, the date
should be about determining and identifying key people in your life,
who you trust, who you want to be the guardian
of your children, who you want to be the executor
of your will. Who you want to be an agent for,
your power of attorney. You know, and these people are
really important to figure out together. You don't want this
(13:07):
to be kind of an emergency thing. And, you know,
just spending an hour on estate planning makes a huge
difference for the people that you love. And really, it's
one of the most selfless, connected things to the gospel
because you're doing this purely for the sake of others.
And I think as a household and as a couple,
doing this really makes it so that, you know, you're
(13:28):
doing you're drawing closer as you're numbering your days and
you're both together gaining this heart of wisdom.
S1 (13:34):
So good. Well, Shane, I am so thrilled that you
wrote this article for us. I us. I know you're
in the process of writing a book that's going to
dig deeper into this subject, and we'll certainly have you
back when it comes out, but really appreciate your time today.
This has been great.
S2 (13:48):
Yeah. Thank you for having me.
S1 (13:49):
All right, folks, if you want to have healthy money conversations,
I recommend a money date and our latest edition of
Faithful Steward. The article written by Doctor Shane Enid, can
get you pointed in the right direction. Faith v partners
receive four issues a year when you support the ministry.
At $35 a month or 400 per year, just go
(14:10):
to Faith fi.com/partner to learn more. That's faith. Back with
your questions after this. 800 525 7000. Stick around.
S3 (14:33):
The opinions offered during this program represent the personal or
professional opinions of the participants, given for informational purposes only.
Any information provided is not intended to replace advice from
a financial, medical, legal or other professional who understands your
specific situation.
S1 (14:57):
So glad to have you with us today on Faith
and finance. Live here on Moody Radio. I'm Rob West,
by the way. The calls are coming in. We will
be taking your calls and questions today. That number to
call is 800 525 7000. We've got some room for
you at the moment. We'd love to get you in
the program today. Uh, also coming up in our final
segment today, Bob Dole stops by. We'll get to Bob's
(15:19):
take on the markets. Uh, understand what's moving the markets
this week. Uh, Apple up strong after, uh, really nice uh,
closing Bell report on their earnings. That's alongside these early, uh,
Q3 earnings reports, largely from the banks that have been
(15:39):
again better than expected. Building on the good earnings we
saw in Q1 and Q2, this economy continues to roll
on and the market likes it. The Dow Jones finished
up more than 1%. 500 points. The S&P 500 more
than 1% higher. The Nasdaq up more than 1.25% higher.
(16:00):
The Russell 2000. That's the 2000 small cap and mid-cap
stocks that was up almost 2%. So market just continuing
to roll on gold. The same thing. We're at 4300.
Almost $4,400 an ounce up another 4% today. Silver copper
platinum all up as well. So this this market across
(16:23):
the board just continues to rage on. We'll we'll get
Bob's take on all that straight ahead. But in the meantime,
taking your calls and questions today we will head to
those phones here in just a moment. What a treat
to have Doctor Shane in here today. Doctor Enid, of course,
is the head of the financial planning program at Biola
(16:43):
University in California. You may not realize this. Ten schools now,
ten Christian undergraduate universities, some of the best well-known brands
in the country like Biola and Liberty and, uh, Grand
Canyon and Mount Vernon Nazarene and Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor
and uh, Charleston Southern. Ten schools now in their business
(17:06):
school for undergraduate students have, uh, a degreed program for
biblical financial planning. That's right. It leads to not only
the K, the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation for students ready
to enter financial services coming out of one of these
ten undergraduate programs from a Christian school. But also it
(17:29):
includes the CFP, which is the gold standard. On the
secular side. There's more than 100,000 certified financial planners. Well,
these programs prepare students when they graduate. They're ready to
sit for both CFP and Certified Kingdom Advisor. And here's
what's really exciting is one of the things we're learning
about Gen Z is that, you know, they really have
(17:52):
a particular interest in career options that include impact, you know,
just as much, if not more than the paycheck is,
can I make a difference in people's lives? Can I
authentically make an impact? And that's what's so exciting about
these programs that we've built here at Kingdom Advisors and
faithfully with these schools, is that they're ready to enter
(18:14):
financial services. And by the way, that career path is
really accelerating because of the great wealth transfer that's coming
60 to $90 trillion. That's going to change hands. So
the need for financial advisors is dramatically Increasing and these
students are ready to enter that profession. But with the training,
(18:36):
not only in kind of the financial competency and literacy
in the planning side, but also with that biblical underpinning,
that biblical worldview. And what we're seeing at Kingdom Advisors is,
as these students graduate, these 4000 advisors that we serve
here at Kingdom Advisors are hiring them as fast as
they graduate. I could use ten more schools tomorrow, so
(18:57):
it's really exciting to see what's taking place. And Doctor
Inet at Biola, along with a number of others around
the country leading these programs in these Christian schools are
doing an incredible job, and I really appreciated what he
shared today about money and marriage as well. All right,
enough of that. We're ready to dive into your questions.
The number to call if you have a question 800
(19:19):
525 7000. Let's begin in Chicago. Hey, Carlos. Go ahead.
S4 (19:24):
Hi. Good afternoon. How are you?
S1 (19:26):
Doing great. Thanks for your call.
S4 (19:28):
Good. The, um. So I retired the end of 23. Um,
I'm 59. I'm not yet, um, drawn any of my
retirement funds. Uh, I had gotten injured, so I'm getting
Social Security disability, so that's taking care of me. I
don't have any debt in my home is paid off, and, um,
(19:51):
and I have a nice amount of money in my retirement,
as well as some money in my, um, in a
trading account, so I'm pretty, pretty decent. So I have, um,
a nice piece of cash that I'm looking to buy
a new car, and I prefer to buy it outright
so that I don't have any debt. Um, but I
(20:14):
wasn't sure whether that's the best thing to do, whether
to buy it outright or or get a note or
lease it and let it, um, depreciate and then buy
it afterwards.
S1 (20:23):
Yeah, yeah. You know, if you have enough cash, you know,
and this fits kind of with your overall, uh, you know,
wealth that you have and the needs you're going to
have both now and in the future. I mean, there's
nothing wrong with buying a new car. Uh, nobody bought
new cars. We wouldn't we wouldn't eventually have any. So, uh,
(20:43):
you know, the key is, is it the right fit
for me? And then if you have the ability to
do it without debt, well, that's fabulous, because, you know,
if you were to buy, I mean, depending on, you know,
what the amount is of the purchase, let's say you
were to finance the whole thing. I mean, you could easily,
over a five year even using the simplified formula. I mean,
you could spend ten, 12, $15,000 in interest. And, you know,
(21:09):
I would rather you, you know, get that guaranteed, let's say, 7%
a year in the form of not paying that interest
versus trying to make that up in the market. Um,
and then especially if you're somebody who buys a car
and drives it for a long period of time, You know,
given that you're in retirement, perhaps you're driving less miles, too.
(21:29):
So I like the fact you. In fact, you can
build equity. Now, if you're somebody who, you know, likes
to swap these out every few years and you want
to keep your payment low, well, I mean, that's where again,
you could look at a lease, but I'd much rather
and I think you suggested this at the outset. If
you're going to buy it, keep it, drive it, you
can afford it. Let's pay cash. And especially at these
(21:51):
interest rates, not pay that interest. Hang on the line.
We'll be right back. Great to have you with us
today on Faith and Finance live. I'm Rob West. I
had a chance to follow up with our previous caller.
We spent a few more moments on the line today
(22:12):
just talking about whether he should buy outright or lease. Uh,
that was Carlos. And, you know, we did a quick
break even analysis. And, you know, even with a pretty
expensive car, which he can afford, he's got the assets
to do it. An $80,000 car. You know, when you
look at, uh, you know, the total five year net cost,
(22:34):
even with the opportunity cost, it's going to be 48,000.
You know, uh, over five years, uh, in terms of depreciation.
And then he'd be able to sell it because he
owns it or with the opportunity cost 70,000 total. Um,
but that's better than, you know, the, the financing cost.
(22:56):
And it also is better than the lease because he'd
spend 78,000, uh, in terms of out of pocket on
the lease with no ownership. So he's always paying in
no equity versus the buy with cash 48,000 out of pocket. Um,
even with the opportunity cost, that jumps to 70,000. But
(23:16):
he owns it. And as a guy who drives cars
a long time, you know, that's just going to always
be the better option, especially up at these interest rates.
Now he asked a great follow up question off the air.
He said, well, wait a minute. What if they're offering
incentives for me to finance it? And then I could
just turn around and pay it off. And he's exactly right.
Here's the key on that, though. You know, a lot
(23:37):
of times these manufacturers, they tie the rebates and the
discounts usually between 1 and 3 grand to using their
preferred lender. Well that's fine. And then they make the
money on the financing and they reward you for taking
it even if you don't keep it long. And you
can usually pay it off early without penalty. But you
got to check the contract. Some loans have a minimum
(23:58):
payment period, like 3 or 6 months. So then the
rule of thumb is okay, if the rebate or the
discount is greater than the total interest you'd pay even
over that short term, and the loan has no prepayment penalty. Well, then,
of course, uh, if you're up for the hassle and
the paperwork, then it's smart to take the loan, get
the incentive, and and pay it off with a few, uh,
(24:20):
within a few months, you're just going to have to
make sure that's possible. All right. New Mexico is where
we're headed next. Hi, Lee. Go ahead.
S5 (24:26):
Hey, Rob. Um, thanks for taking my call. Sure. So, um,
here's here's the story. We just, uh, purchased an RV
after about a year of searching. Found the one we wanted.
We did. Financed through the dealership. Um, for good reasons, but, um,
at a 7.9% interest, RV rates. I'm sure you're aware,
(24:49):
are pretty high. Um, with the 20 year loan, which
I don't anticipate being 20 years. Um, so it's a
three part question. It's, um, I do have the opportunity.
I can refinance it, but each bank tells me that
they all use simple interest. I am not understanding what
(25:10):
that means. So the real question is, does simple interest
rules apply evenly all the same across the board at
all banks? That's the first part of the question. The
second part of the question is, is there a good
simple interest calculator? So I can figure out how much extra,
(25:31):
in principle I can pay in order to pay it
off early within my time frame? And the third part is,
is there a better place to find a better RV
rate loan to refinance if I decided to go that route?
S1 (25:45):
Yeah, yeah. Really good. Okay. Uh, yeah. Simple interest works
the same in principle everywhere. And the bottom line is
you're charged interest only on what you still owe. But
each lender can calculate and apply it a little differently.
So what's consistent? Well, all simple interest loans calculate interest
(26:06):
on the outstanding balance not on the original loan amount.
So the math works like this. The daily interest equals
the balance times the rate divided by 365. And that's
essentially the same across all lenders. So what can vary? Well,
what can vary is when they apply the payments. Some
banks credit payments immediately, others batch once a month, which
(26:30):
could slightly change the total interest. So you could ask
about that. They have grace periods that vary in posting times.
So it could, you know, payment could post late by
a day or two and that could increase the interest slightly.
And then, you know, the extra payment handling can vary.
Some automatically apply it to principle, others require you to
(26:50):
designate it. But by and large, they all should be
the same. Um, and so I mean, essentially it's calculated
daily based on your current loan. Each payment first covers
that day's interest, and then the rest, you know, reduces
your principal. And because it's based on your balance, the
interest that is, the faster you pay it down, the
(27:13):
less the less total interest you'll pay. By contrast, other loans.
Let's take a mortgage, for instance. They use amortized schedules
and that preloads more interest early on, whereas the simple
loans do not. It's just simply based on the outstanding balance. Um,
so that's basically the way it works in terms of
(27:35):
where to get a calculator. Um, you know, there's a
number of them out there. Calculator dot net would be one.
Just look for their simple interest calculator. Um, Credit Karma
has a simple interest calculator that's really easy to use.
And then there's one called calculator soup. They have calculators
for everything. So just look for their simple interest plus
(27:58):
principal calculator. And that gives you a lot of flexibility.
S5 (28:03):
Okay. And then as far as, um, trying to, uh,
find a place, another financial institute, um, to get a
better rate, Uh, on an RV loan per se. Is
there something you would place that you would recommend?
S1 (28:21):
Yeah, that's a good question.
S6 (28:23):
We have good credit.
S5 (28:23):
So I'm not concerned about being approved. Yeah. Um, it's
a matter of right now our interest is 7.9%, which
is actually pretty low that my other financial institution wants 8.3%.
And that's kind of why I was asking about the
simple interest, because they both say they do the simple interest.
And for me, in my head, I think I would
just pay the extra principal at the first place with
(28:47):
the 7.9% versus going through all the paperwork for the
same type of loan and paying more.
S1 (28:54):
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Um, you know what? You want to
find somebody who understands this space and perhaps even specializes
in it. But at the end of the day, you
can just shop the rate. Um, I don't have a particular, um,
lender that specializes in RVs, so I think it'd be
worth you spending some time online just to do your
own research and due diligence. Um, I really don't have
(29:18):
a specific option to send you toward.
S5 (29:20):
Okay. Nope. That sounds good. Um, in my head, you know,
let's see what your thoughts are. Um, I would prefer
to have my low payment yet pay the extra principal,
which they do require me to pay a separate loan,
a separate principal payment, which gets applied, uh, versus refinancing
and getting locked into a higher payment, giving me the
(29:43):
flexibility in case something goes south in life.
S1 (29:46):
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Right. I mean, that just that's always key.
I mean, depending on what that, uh, you know, the
difference in the interest rates obviously is going to tell you,
you know, what the cost is for that flexibility. But
if you can get it, I mean, it's kind of like,
you know, getting a 30 year and paying it like
a 15, but then always having the option to fall
(30:07):
back to the lower 30 year payment on your mortgage. Um,
if you got into hard times now, there's a cost
for that, because a 30 year mortgage is higher than
a 15 year. But a lot of people say I'm
willing to pay that premium because I like the flexibility
of being able to drop down and you're essentially doing
the same thing.
S5 (30:27):
That's what I'm doing with my house payment. We're paying
extra just to do that. So I was thinking the
same concept.
S1 (30:32):
Yeah, I love it. Okay. Very astute. Well done. Lee. Hey,
thanks for being on the program today. Lord bless you, bud.
Call anytime. All right. We're going to take a quick break.
When we come back, Bob Dole's here. We're going to
get Bob's take on the markets this red hot market.
And then we'll try to sneak in a few more
phone calls. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Great
(30:59):
to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live.
We'll head back to the phones here in just a minute.
But first, let's talk about this red hot stock market
and the precious metals up as well. Bob closing higher
today on the Dow Jones the S&P the Nasdaq and
the Russell 2000 up the most at least of the
major indexes nearly 2%. I mean this market is just
(31:23):
not slowing down. And it sounds like a lot of
that is earnings. The banks were good. And now we
got Apple today that looked really well didn't it.
S7 (31:31):
Yes it did. As you know the averages all of
them are near all time highs and probably will get
there if we have another up day or two. Just
like today. Uh and it is on the back of earnings, uh, which,
you know, at the end of the day earnings move stocks.
It's that simple in the long run. Now we've gotten
rid of a few things or at least ameliorated there.
(31:52):
Uh how big of a problem they are. I'm talking
about China trade and the issues we had with a
couple of bankruptcies last week that, uh, were a bit
on the periphery. Um, but people were concerned, as it does.
It spread. So far not. And so it's green again today, Rob.
S1 (32:10):
Yeah. Uh, Bob, I suspect you haven't gotten a chance
to look into it, but are you surprised to see
Apple's earnings where they are? I mean, many thought they
might be at the center of the bull's eye on
the tariffs.
S7 (32:23):
Yeah. Tariffs for sure. And just their core business has
slowed somewhat. Apple's earnings in recent years have been okay
but not great. And the stock's not all that cheap.
So that they had good news today and that the
stock responded as just another great sign.
S1 (32:40):
Yeah. So Bob you know as you look at this
I mean I know the fed chairman was out with
some comments. I mean he's got a pretty decent balancing
act doesn't he.
S7 (32:50):
Yeah a tough balancing act. The fed needs to make
sure that the economy is okay, more particularly than employment
stays robust. And we don't have significant rise in unemployment
while at the same time keeping a lid on inflation rate.
And those things historically have fought against one another. And
so they're there. Their job is extra complicated. Um, right
(33:14):
now we have an unemployment rate that's reasonably low and
an inflation rate that a little higher than many of
us would like to see, but but not horrendous.
S1 (33:22):
Yeah. Bob, what about, uh, precious metals? Gold in particular.
But the others are doing quite well also. And how
should somebody think about that portion of their portfolio, and
perhaps specifically if they're not currently allocated to precious metals?
S7 (33:37):
Well, my my view is as you know that inflation's
going to stay sticky. Uh you know not go to
ridiculous levels. But but enough of an inflation rate that
if you have some protection in your portfolio via precious
metals I think you're fine. Gold is obviously the thing
we talk about most often, most comfortable with, and it's
(33:58):
done so well this year, up well over 60% approaching 70.
Not to be confused with the fact that silver and
platinum have done even better than that. So precious metals
have been a great place to be. Rob. Uh, I
wouldn't chase them, but if any in my portfolio, I'd
wait for some sort of pullback and put some in there.
S1 (34:17):
Yeah. Last question, Bob. Technology. I mean, the president uh, today, uh,
signing another critical minerals agreement with Australia that's going to
lead to rare earths. And that's coming kind of on
the heels of this news, uh, that we got, um,
I guess it was, uh, in the last couple of
days around Nvidia with their first, uh, of their chips, uh,
(34:41):
that was made here in the US. Right?
S7 (34:44):
Isn't that great news? Uh, there's been, uh, a hope,
a plan, the beginning of plans that, uh, some of
these chips that have been made elsewhere, um, uh, Taiwan, uh, etc.,
be made in the United States. And, uh, that's a
long term proposition, but we're beginning to see it. And
that should make Americans feel good.
S1 (35:03):
All right. Well, Bob, always appreciate it, especially when you
bring good news like this. So thanks for stopping by.
S7 (35:09):
Keep the green coming.
S1 (35:10):
All right. Sounds good. That's Bob Dole, he's CEO and
CIO at Crossmark Global Investments. You can learn more at
Crossmark global. Com while you're there, sign up for his
weekly investment commentary dolls deliberations I count on each week.
I know you'll enjoy it as well. All right, let's
try to get to a few more phone calls here
before we round out the broadcast today. Headed to Indiana. Hi, Jake.
(35:32):
Go ahead.
S8 (35:34):
Hi, Rob. Thank you for taking my call. I really
appreciate it. So I wanted to first ask. I am
30 years old and I'm looking at, I've heard a
few people recommend that I should look into potentially starting
the process of looking at purchasing long term care insurance. Um,
I want to make sure that as I continue to
(35:55):
age and whatnot, I want to make sure I'm proactive
in that regard and making sure that I'm protecting my
assets and protecting the long term care aspect. I'm healthy
and whatnot, but just wanting to be proactive in that manner.
I wasn't sure what your thoughts were on that.
S1 (36:09):
Yeah, yeah, it's a good question. Uh, would you do
a paid up policy, and do you have the ability
to put a big chunk of money in it, or
would you be looking to just pay, you know, regular premiums?
S8 (36:21):
I was looking at either or. I wasn't sure if
that would be something that I should take out of
my portfolio, take a portion out and just do a
paid up aspect, or if I should do a paid, um,
pay per month type of smaller, um, and premium and
then kind of going from there with that.
S1 (36:39):
Yeah. I mean, the challenge is that the whole long
term care insurance mark with a, with a dedicated policy
has just been obliterated. Uh, you know, really these days,
folks are really looking at the hybrid policies, um, you know,
where you have the ability to have a death benefit
and then use a portion of it for long term
(37:01):
care while you're alive, just simply because there has just
been dramatic increases in the cost of these premiums as
the cost of health care has gone up. And, you know,
I know people that bought them early, you know, in
their 40s, thinking they would lock in a really high
quality policy. But, you know, now here they are, you know,
or even in their 30s and here they are 20
(37:23):
years later, and they're dropping them because they're just so expensive.
And so I think just given the increases that we've seen,
I just wouldn't take that kind of risk on paying
into this policy, you know, for 20 or 30 years,
only to find that it just doesn't make sense anymore
on paper. So if you're going to do that, you'd
(37:44):
probably want to, you know, do a paid up kind
of policy where you you have no risk of premium,
you have no premium risk in terms of the increases.
But then you have to be able to justify, you know,
dropping a massive amount of money in there because these
things are not cheap. So I think that again goes
back to these hybrid policies, which really I think, um,
(38:04):
you know, are what most people are doing now. Sometimes
they're called link linked benefits plans, and it combines the
life insurance with the long term care. And if you
never need the long term care, your heirs still get
the death benefit. If you do need the care, you
draw from the policies value tax free. And I think
those can be good options or better options, I should say,
(38:27):
for people in their 40s to 60s who've built some
assets and want to protect them. But often, you know,
we're kind of in a situation there where some people
will say, you know, if I've got over $1 million
or I'm on track to buy that season of life,
I'll just self-insure and not spend all the money for
an expensive, permanent policy combined with long term care, which
(38:50):
can be costly. I'd rather take that money and get
it compounded, you know, for the next 35 years between,
you know, your 30s and your mid 60s. Um, you know,
because you're going to end up with a lot more
to show for it and you'll have total flexibility. You know,
you won't have to rely on your need for long
term care. And, you know, all the fine print that
(39:11):
goes along with it, if that makes sense.
S8 (39:14):
It does. It does. Thank you very much. And I
wasn't sure also, if you would recommend purchasing some annuities
as well. Or do you think that that's something that
I should add to my portfolio a little bit later
in life?
S1 (39:26):
Yeah. You know, I'm not a big fan on annuities
just because, you know, they're complex, they're expensive. And often
with the downside protection you get an upside cap. And
you know, the the reason we get these nine plus
percent average annual returns is those dramatic up years that
(39:49):
we have. You know, even with the down years like 1929, 1987, 2000,
the.com bubble burst. The, you know, 2008 2009 the housing
crisis despite those the pandemic Covid, um, you know, the
market has done well because of those dramatic up years.
The problem with the annuity is you give those up.
(40:10):
And so they say, well, listen, we're going to give
you a downside protection. So you can't lose. But the
most you're going to get is let's say 9%. So
if the market's up 26% you know you don't get
any of that. They keep it. And that's how they pay,
you know for these policies. Not to mention they're expensive
and just they're complex and so forth. So I would
rather a young guy like you who's astute, who's really
(40:33):
trying to, you know, manage money wisely. I'd rather you
get unlimited upside potential, you know, without having that tied
up in a complex insurance product. And then for your
pure life insurance to protect a legitimate risk where you've
got a loved one depending on your income, just get
term insurance for that, but get all the term insurance
(40:55):
you need so that, you know, if if you were
to pass away, not only could that loved one fund
their living expenses, you know, until retirement would have kicked in,
but they could pay off the mortgage. And if you
have kids fund college, I mean, you might get a
$3 million policy. But the goal from the very beginning
would be that once you reach retirement, you drop it
(41:16):
because you don't need it anymore. That risk is gone.
And that's the least expensive way to do that, because
you're just paying for the the pure mortality expense. You're
not paying for the savings vehicle as well. You do
that in your retirement accounts and in your investment portfolios.
S8 (41:34):
Perfect. Thank you so much, Rob. I really appreciate that.
And just trying to build as many resources as I
can to be prepared for retirement when that time comes
one day.
S1 (41:42):
Well, it sounds like you're doing a great job. I'll
tell you, Jake, the thing you're probably going to struggle
with the most, just given how early you're starting and
how well you're thinking about it, is answering the question,
how much is enough? Because you'll likely with the the
kind of years you're talking about for compounding, you'll likely
over accumulate. And I think that's just as much of
(42:03):
a danger. And so I'd be asking myself now how
much lifestyle is enough? And I'm not telling you you
need to live in poverty or, you know, there's none
of that here. It's just being intentional to say, what
lifestyle have I call me to? Has God called me
to above which I'll be able to accelerate my giving?
And what is my ultimate finish line in terms of
(42:25):
my assets above which I could accelerate my giving? Those
are going to be just as important as you know.
Where should I be investing? So hope that helps. Jake.
Thanks for your call my friend. Lord bless you. Faith
and Finance Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and
Faith by Josh Taylor, Omar, Lisa and the amazing team
here at Faith. By making all this possible, if you'd
(42:46):
like to support us, go to Faith and then come
back and join us tomorrow.
Money and marriage. Two things God designed to bless us.
But they can also be two of the greatest sources
of stress. So what if we turn financial conflict into connection? Hi,
I'm Rob West. Doctor Shane, Ina joins us today to
share six creative ways couples can build stronger relationships by
having intentional financial conversations, what he calls money dates. And
(00:32):
then it's on to your phone calls at 800 525 7000.
That's 800 525 7000. This is faith and finance. Live.
Biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Joining us once again
is Doctor Shane Annette, associate professor of finance at Biola
University and founder of Biola Center for Financial Planning. He's
(00:56):
also a trusted contributor to Faith, Fi and Shane, it
is great to have you back.
S2 (01:01):
Yeah. Thank you Rob. Always a joy to be here
and share these ideas.
S1 (01:04):
Well, I'm particularly excited about this. Shane, this is a
book that has needed to be written for a long time.
This idea of money dates coming together as a couple.
And let's start there. Why is it so important to
intentionally schedule conversations about money, rather than only addressing concerns
(01:26):
as they come up as they arise?
S2 (01:28):
You know, with money, it's real personal. And when people
get together, they've done all these studies. One particular study
that looked at 2000 couples. Um, half of them said
they're uncomfortable talking about money because they're worried. They're worried
that it's going to cause conflict. And and so they
end up not talking about it. And that ends up
(01:49):
burying the conflict and it becomes deeper. And then, you know,
the study also showed that on average, couples have about
58 arguments about money per year. Yeah. And so there's
just this fear that creates something worse if you don't
talk about it. And so you kind of have to
maybe rip the band aid and just get the conversation going.
But but I'm wanting to try and help it get
(02:10):
it going where it's not painful, but actually kind of
a fun experience.
S1 (02:14):
Yeah. Well, and Howard Dayton has talked about this for years.
I mean, that was the first time I was introduced
to this idea of a money date. And Howard would
always say, at least monthly, you need to come together.
And this isn't finger pointing. This is really about course
corrections getting on the same page. It's about seeking understanding
and driving toward our goals that should be informed by
(02:37):
our values. But I think you've even taken it to
another level, because what you're telling us is these can
actually be fun. And that's why I was so thrilled
that in our latest edition of Faithful Steward, you wrote
this great article on six great money dates. So why
is this so important to talk about it this way
as a date.
S2 (02:56):
You know, we just want to kind of grease the
wheels to get the conversation going. And dating can be
a lot of fun if you're intentional, if it's something
that you want to do. And so why not kind
of combine something really fun with something maybe not as fun?
And then as you're connecting in this kind of fun
date environment, then I think the money conversations actually end
(03:18):
up being more fun than if you were just at home,
kind of in your normal day to day.
S1 (03:22):
Yeah. And the idea here is a regular rhythm, a
place where you and your spouse come together to talk
about money. But to Shane's point, these can be really
enjoyable and you can have a great date at the
same time. So money date number one is about sharing
your money story. Unpack this for us.
S2 (03:40):
Yeah. So I think with money there's a story behind
how you're thinking about money, how you're feeling about it.
There's a lot of experiences that we have growing up
and it's really important just, you know, as a couple,
if you want to grow closer together and you want
to understand where someone's coming from. To learn about their experiences.
And so to have an intentional time where you think
(04:03):
about kind of early childhood memories around money, how your
family thought about money, what kind of messages you heard
about money from your family of origin. All those things
can kind of get put together in a money biography
or autobiography. And if you think about that ahead of
time and then bring it to the date, you can
share your story. Let it just unfold at the date
(04:23):
at a good restaurant, while you're eating good food and
enjoying kind of the atmosphere, and then you can really
get some shared sense of empathy towards your partner. If
they start kind of thinking some way or spending in
a way that's you don't agree with, and you can
connect it to kind of their money story.
S1 (04:40):
Oh, I couldn't agree more, Shane. You know, one of
the keys to getting on the same page as a
couple as it relates to money is understanding. And there
is nothing better than unpacking this question together that Doctor
Annette presents in date number one. What was your earliest
memory of the concept of money? Knowing that could be
a game changer. We're talking with Doctor Shane Ina today.
(05:02):
He is associate professor of finance at Biola University. He's
also the author of an article in our recent edition
of Faithful Steward called Six Great Money Dates. More dates.
Right after this, I'm Rob Weston. You're listening to Faith
and finance. Live biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. We'll
be right back after this break. We've all heard the stats.
(05:35):
Money is one of the biggest sources of conflict in marriage.
It doesn't have to be that way. Thanks for joining
us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West
with me today, my friend Doctor Shane Enid. He's associate
professor of finance at Biola University. He's a regular contributor
here at Faith and finance, and he's the author of
(05:55):
a great article in our latest edition of our magazine,
Faithful Steward called Six Great Money Dates. Six dates you
and your spouse can enjoy to grow closer to each
other and become better stewards of the resources God has
entrusted to you and Shane. Before the break, you shared
date number one sharing your money story. Date number two
(06:18):
is really intriguing and you call it give together. Explain
it to us.
S2 (06:22):
You know, I, uh, I had a lot of fun
giving adventures as a single guy, uh, in my 20s
and into my early 30s. And my wife also, you know,
was was a great giver. And when we got married,
you know, we kind of got into a little bit
of a giving rhythm. But what I realized after eight
years of marriage is that we had never really done
(06:43):
a big, giving adventure together. We'd never really sat down
and said, hey, you know, what is our ethos with giving.
What kind of giving would make us both kind of
come together in a meaningful way? And so we had
a conversation and we did some fun giving together, and
we determined kind of what our household, how our household
wanted to give and how in what ways. Because it's
(07:05):
not just firstfruit giving. You can also give in so
many other ways as well.
S1 (07:09):
Mhm. Yeah. And you really give three options here. And
of course there's unlimited options for how you give. But
share a couple of these.
S2 (07:17):
So besides Firstfruit giving you can do a giving goal
which I just love. So I'm very competitive. And giving
goals you can track and you can celebrate. I love
celebrating as well. And so we have a giving goal
as a family, you know, and we went to a
real nice, fun restaurant we would normally not go to
as a family and telling her kids, hey, we're doing
(07:37):
this big treat because we've gotten halfway on our giving goal,
and it's just real festive. And, you know, a giving
circle is very special. That's where you find like minded
people in a Bible study, in a neighborhood, or even
within your family and extended family, and you all pool
your money together and give to a common place that
you're all passionate about doing. And and the last one
(07:58):
is just let's create kind of a percentage of giving
that's kind of a stretch goal. And then as we get,
you know, have an increase in our income, we increase
our giving over time and move towards that goal.
S1 (08:11):
Yeah. That is so good. All right. Well this next
day date number three you call cook the books. And
I have a bit of an idea on where we're
going here. Explain kind of the fun part of the
date and then also what they're doing financially as well.
S2 (08:25):
Sure. Yeah. With this one it'd be fun instead of
going to a restaurant to actually stay at home and
cook together. And there can often be a lot of
good conversation, a lot of good fellowship together as you cook. Um,
and if you don't want to cook, then what's also
fun is just go to a store, grab food together
to go type of food, and do a picnic so
you can kind of go either way. And then when
(08:48):
you are making the food and then eating it and
hopefully a relatively romantic way at home, you're able to
just start to talk about, hey, how should we develop
a rhythm for our budgeting, you know, and how should
we who should be responsible for kind of tracking things,
who should be responsible for maybe keeping some receipts if
you need to look at how things are being spent
(09:11):
and what type of apps should we be using. And,
you know, there's a little bit of maintenance when you
do budgeting. And it's nice to come together with a
plan about who's going to do what.
S1 (09:20):
Mhm. Yeah. You're exactly right. And that's where the Faith
fi app could be really helpful. I know Julie and
I use that to track our family's budget. And if
you want to learn more you could go to Faith comm.
Just click on app there at the top of the page.
All right let's get to money date number four. And
this is around your credit report. Explain this to us okay.
S2 (09:40):
Before I do, let me just say the date I
would like to pair with this one. So with debt
It's very emotional. It's there's a lot of emotional cost
to it. And people get stressed and there's actually a
lot of financial, what they call PTSD about around debt.
And so I have a suggestion. So the spa is
usually pretty expensive. Um, and it might get you into
(10:01):
more debt. But if you get good at doing what
are called day spa passes, then you can end up
getting into all of the facilities and all of the
fun ways of enjoying a spa without a treatment, but
you're just using their, you know, their spa and their, um,
rooms and all of everything's beautiful and you're just spend
the day there, and then you can talk about your
(10:23):
debts and laying a credit boundary, thinking about, you know,
what are your attitudes around debt? How how have you
experienced it over time? Was there some trauma in the
past with your family and how they kind of your
family of origin and how they experienced debt? And with
your current debt, do you know how much you have,
and do you fear it in such a way that
you want to get rid of it? If so, how far?
(10:43):
How strong? You know, just talk about your ambition, about
getting rid of the debts. But all of that, you know,
you can do in just this beautiful place. And I
think that would really help create a good constructive conversation
around debt.
S1 (10:56):
Yeah. And with all of these dates, Shane, it goes
without saying that, you know, this is about coming together
and making forward progress, not dwelling on what's gone wrong
in the past or pointing fingers. Right?
S2 (11:08):
Correct. Yeah. You just want to care for each other,
and you want to talk openly about things that matter
to each of you, and then you want to be
able to agree upon kind of an exciting plan, one
that you're both owning and coming together to figure out,
not just telling the other person this is how it's
going to be, but saying, you know, what kind of
(11:28):
boundaries should we have about credit cards? Let's come together
and agree how we should use them. Should we cut
them up, or should we use them to try and
get travel points? Um, you know, just honestly in what way?
And then it's neat to figure out some other safeguards
as well, about what type of debt you'd be willing
to get and and what type of debt you should
always avoid, and those kinds of things.
S1 (11:49):
We're talking six great money dates with Doctor Shane today
of Biola University. This is an article that's in the
latest edition of Faithful Steward Magazine. Shane. Money. Date number
five is called Number Your Days. Tell us about this one.
S2 (12:03):
Sure. That phrase comes from Psalm 9012, where the psalmist
is saying to he's requesting. He's asking that we may
be taught to number our days. And what happens is
we gain a heart of wisdom when we do this.
And I think every couple, when they come together should
consider that, you know, life's short and you know, it's 100%
mortality rate. And it's really there's so much that can
(12:25):
be done now to prepare us for to, to essentially
to number our days. And, you know, we need to
think about what happens if we pass away, if we're
get to a place where we no longer have, uh,
you know, our cognitive abilities. And so that deals with
power of attorney and healthcare directives and our will and
(12:46):
potential trusts. And really, when you come together, the date
should be about determining and identifying key people in your life,
who you trust, who you want to be the guardian
of your children, who you want to be the executor
of your will. Who you want to be an agent for,
your power of attorney. You know, and these people are
really important to figure out together. You don't want this
(13:07):
to be kind of an emergency thing. And, you know,
just spending an hour on estate planning makes a huge
difference for the people that you love. And really, it's
one of the most selfless, connected things to the gospel
because you're doing this purely for the sake of others.
And I think as a household and as a couple,
doing this really makes it so that, you know, you're
(13:28):
doing you're drawing closer as you're numbering your days and
you're both together gaining this heart of wisdom.
S1 (13:34):
So good. Well, Shane, I am so thrilled that you
wrote this article for us. I us. I know you're
in the process of writing a book that's going to
dig deeper into this subject, and we'll certainly have you
back when it comes out, but really appreciate your time today.
This has been great.
S2 (13:48):
Yeah. Thank you for having me.
S1 (13:49):
All right, folks, if you want to have healthy money conversations,
I recommend a money date and our latest edition of
Faithful Steward. The article written by Doctor Shane Enid, can
get you pointed in the right direction. Faith v partners
receive four issues a year when you support the ministry.
At $35 a month or 400 per year, just go
(14:10):
to Faith fi.com/partner to learn more. That's faith. Back with
your questions after this. 800 525 7000. Stick around.
S3 (14:33):
The opinions offered during this program represent the personal or
professional opinions of the participants, given for informational purposes only.
Any information provided is not intended to replace advice from
a financial, medical, legal or other professional who understands your
specific situation.
S1 (14:57):
So glad to have you with us today on Faith
and finance. Live here on Moody Radio. I'm Rob West,
by the way. The calls are coming in. We will
be taking your calls and questions today. That number to
call is 800 525 7000. We've got some room for
you at the moment. We'd love to get you in
the program today. Uh, also coming up in our final
segment today, Bob Dole stops by. We'll get to Bob's
(15:19):
take on the markets. Uh, understand what's moving the markets
this week. Uh, Apple up strong after, uh, really nice uh,
closing Bell report on their earnings. That's alongside these early, uh,
Q3 earnings reports, largely from the banks that have been
(15:39):
again better than expected. Building on the good earnings we
saw in Q1 and Q2, this economy continues to roll
on and the market likes it. The Dow Jones finished
up more than 1%. 500 points. The S&P 500 more
than 1% higher. The Nasdaq up more than 1.25% higher.
(16:00):
The Russell 2000. That's the 2000 small cap and mid-cap
stocks that was up almost 2%. So market just continuing
to roll on gold. The same thing. We're at 4300.
Almost $4,400 an ounce up another 4% today. Silver copper
platinum all up as well. So this this market across
(16:23):
the board just continues to rage on. We'll we'll get
Bob's take on all that straight ahead. But in the meantime,
taking your calls and questions today we will head to
those phones here in just a moment. What a treat
to have Doctor Shane in here today. Doctor Enid, of course,
is the head of the financial planning program at Biola
(16:43):
University in California. You may not realize this. Ten schools now,
ten Christian undergraduate universities, some of the best well-known brands
in the country like Biola and Liberty and, uh, Grand
Canyon and Mount Vernon Nazarene and Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor
and uh, Charleston Southern. Ten schools now in their business
(17:06):
school for undergraduate students have, uh, a degreed program for
biblical financial planning. That's right. It leads to not only
the K, the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation for students ready
to enter financial services coming out of one of these
ten undergraduate programs from a Christian school. But also it
(17:29):
includes the CFP, which is the gold standard. On the
secular side. There's more than 100,000 certified financial planners. Well,
these programs prepare students when they graduate. They're ready to
sit for both CFP and Certified Kingdom Advisor. And here's
what's really exciting is one of the things we're learning
about Gen Z is that, you know, they really have
(17:52):
a particular interest in career options that include impact, you know,
just as much, if not more than the paycheck is,
can I make a difference in people's lives? Can I
authentically make an impact? And that's what's so exciting about
these programs that we've built here at Kingdom Advisors and
faithfully with these schools, is that they're ready to enter
(18:14):
financial services. And by the way, that career path is
really accelerating because of the great wealth transfer that's coming
60 to $90 trillion. That's going to change hands. So
the need for financial advisors is dramatically Increasing and these
students are ready to enter that profession. But with the training,
(18:36):
not only in kind of the financial competency and literacy
in the planning side, but also with that biblical underpinning,
that biblical worldview. And what we're seeing at Kingdom Advisors is,
as these students graduate, these 4000 advisors that we serve
here at Kingdom Advisors are hiring them as fast as
they graduate. I could use ten more schools tomorrow, so
(18:57):
it's really exciting to see what's taking place. And Doctor
Inet at Biola, along with a number of others around
the country leading these programs in these Christian schools are
doing an incredible job, and I really appreciated what he
shared today about money and marriage as well. All right,
enough of that. We're ready to dive into your questions.
The number to call if you have a question 800
(19:19):
525 7000. Let's begin in Chicago. Hey, Carlos. Go ahead.
S4 (19:24):
Hi. Good afternoon. How are you?
S1 (19:26):
Doing great. Thanks for your call.
S4 (19:28):
Good. The, um. So I retired the end of 23. Um,
I'm 59. I'm not yet, um, drawn any of my
retirement funds. Uh, I had gotten injured, so I'm getting
Social Security disability, so that's taking care of me. I
don't have any debt in my home is paid off, and, um,
(19:51):
and I have a nice amount of money in my retirement,
as well as some money in my, um, in a
trading account, so I'm pretty, pretty decent. So I have, um,
a nice piece of cash that I'm looking to buy
a new car, and I prefer to buy it outright
so that I don't have any debt. Um, but I
(20:14):
wasn't sure whether that's the best thing to do, whether
to buy it outright or or get a note or
lease it and let it, um, depreciate and then buy
it afterwards.
S1 (20:23):
Yeah, yeah. You know, if you have enough cash, you know,
and this fits kind of with your overall, uh, you know,
wealth that you have and the needs you're going to
have both now and in the future. I mean, there's
nothing wrong with buying a new car. Uh, nobody bought
new cars. We wouldn't we wouldn't eventually have any. So, uh,
(20:43):
you know, the key is, is it the right fit
for me? And then if you have the ability to
do it without debt, well, that's fabulous, because, you know,
if you were to buy, I mean, depending on, you know,
what the amount is of the purchase, let's say you
were to finance the whole thing. I mean, you could easily,
over a five year even using the simplified formula. I mean,
you could spend ten, 12, $15,000 in interest. And, you know,
(21:09):
I would rather you, you know, get that guaranteed, let's say, 7%
a year in the form of not paying that interest
versus trying to make that up in the market. Um,
and then especially if you're somebody who buys a car
and drives it for a long period of time, You know,
given that you're in retirement, perhaps you're driving less miles, too.
(21:29):
So I like the fact you. In fact, you can
build equity. Now, if you're somebody who, you know, likes
to swap these out every few years and you want
to keep your payment low, well, I mean, that's where again,
you could look at a lease, but I'd much rather
and I think you suggested this at the outset. If
you're going to buy it, keep it, drive it, you
can afford it. Let's pay cash. And especially at these
(21:51):
interest rates, not pay that interest. Hang on the line.
We'll be right back. Great to have you with us
today on Faith and Finance live. I'm Rob West. I
had a chance to follow up with our previous caller.
We spent a few more moments on the line today
(22:12):
just talking about whether he should buy outright or lease. Uh,
that was Carlos. And, you know, we did a quick
break even analysis. And, you know, even with a pretty
expensive car, which he can afford, he's got the assets
to do it. An $80,000 car. You know, when you
look at, uh, you know, the total five year net cost,
(22:34):
even with the opportunity cost, it's going to be 48,000.
You know, uh, over five years, uh, in terms of depreciation.
And then he'd be able to sell it because he
owns it or with the opportunity cost 70,000 total. Um,
but that's better than, you know, the, the financing cost.
(22:56):
And it also is better than the lease because he'd
spend 78,000, uh, in terms of out of pocket on
the lease with no ownership. So he's always paying in
no equity versus the buy with cash 48,000 out of pocket. Um,
even with the opportunity cost, that jumps to 70,000. But
(23:16):
he owns it. And as a guy who drives cars
a long time, you know, that's just going to always
be the better option, especially up at these interest rates.
Now he asked a great follow up question off the air.
He said, well, wait a minute. What if they're offering
incentives for me to finance it? And then I could
just turn around and pay it off. And he's exactly right.
Here's the key on that, though. You know, a lot
(23:37):
of times these manufacturers, they tie the rebates and the
discounts usually between 1 and 3 grand to using their
preferred lender. Well that's fine. And then they make the
money on the financing and they reward you for taking
it even if you don't keep it long. And you
can usually pay it off early without penalty. But you
got to check the contract. Some loans have a minimum
(23:58):
payment period, like 3 or 6 months. So then the
rule of thumb is okay, if the rebate or the
discount is greater than the total interest you'd pay even
over that short term, and the loan has no prepayment penalty. Well, then,
of course, uh, if you're up for the hassle and
the paperwork, then it's smart to take the loan, get
the incentive, and and pay it off with a few, uh,
(24:20):
within a few months, you're just going to have to
make sure that's possible. All right. New Mexico is where
we're headed next. Hi, Lee. Go ahead.
S5 (24:26):
Hey, Rob. Um, thanks for taking my call. Sure. So, um,
here's here's the story. We just, uh, purchased an RV
after about a year of searching. Found the one we wanted.
We did. Financed through the dealership. Um, for good reasons, but, um,
at a 7.9% interest, RV rates. I'm sure you're aware,
(24:49):
are pretty high. Um, with the 20 year loan, which
I don't anticipate being 20 years. Um, so it's a
three part question. It's, um, I do have the opportunity.
I can refinance it, but each bank tells me that
they all use simple interest. I am not understanding what
(25:10):
that means. So the real question is, does simple interest
rules apply evenly all the same across the board at
all banks? That's the first part of the question. The
second part of the question is, is there a good
simple interest calculator? So I can figure out how much extra,
(25:31):
in principle I can pay in order to pay it
off early within my time frame? And the third part is,
is there a better place to find a better RV
rate loan to refinance if I decided to go that route?
S1 (25:45):
Yeah, yeah. Really good. Okay. Uh, yeah. Simple interest works
the same in principle everywhere. And the bottom line is
you're charged interest only on what you still owe. But
each lender can calculate and apply it a little differently.
So what's consistent? Well, all simple interest loans calculate interest
(26:06):
on the outstanding balance not on the original loan amount.
So the math works like this. The daily interest equals
the balance times the rate divided by 365. And that's
essentially the same across all lenders. So what can vary? Well,
what can vary is when they apply the payments. Some
banks credit payments immediately, others batch once a month, which
(26:30):
could slightly change the total interest. So you could ask
about that. They have grace periods that vary in posting times.
So it could, you know, payment could post late by
a day or two and that could increase the interest slightly.
And then, you know, the extra payment handling can vary.
Some automatically apply it to principle, others require you to
(26:50):
designate it. But by and large, they all should be
the same. Um, and so I mean, essentially it's calculated
daily based on your current loan. Each payment first covers
that day's interest, and then the rest, you know, reduces
your principal. And because it's based on your balance, the
interest that is, the faster you pay it down, the
(27:13):
less the less total interest you'll pay. By contrast, other loans.
Let's take a mortgage, for instance. They use amortized schedules
and that preloads more interest early on, whereas the simple
loans do not. It's just simply based on the outstanding balance. Um,
so that's basically the way it works in terms of
(27:35):
where to get a calculator. Um, you know, there's a
number of them out there. Calculator dot net would be one.
Just look for their simple interest calculator. Um, Credit Karma
has a simple interest calculator that's really easy to use.
And then there's one called calculator soup. They have calculators
for everything. So just look for their simple interest plus
(27:58):
principal calculator. And that gives you a lot of flexibility.
S5 (28:03):
Okay. And then as far as, um, trying to, uh,
find a place, another financial institute, um, to get a
better rate, Uh, on an RV loan per se. Is
there something you would place that you would recommend?
S1 (28:21):
Yeah, that's a good question.
S6 (28:23):
We have good credit.
S5 (28:23):
So I'm not concerned about being approved. Yeah. Um, it's
a matter of right now our interest is 7.9%, which
is actually pretty low that my other financial institution wants 8.3%.
And that's kind of why I was asking about the
simple interest, because they both say they do the simple interest.
And for me, in my head, I think I would
just pay the extra principal at the first place with
(28:47):
the 7.9% versus going through all the paperwork for the
same type of loan and paying more.
S1 (28:54):
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Um, you know what? You want to
find somebody who understands this space and perhaps even specializes
in it. But at the end of the day, you
can just shop the rate. Um, I don't have a particular, um,
lender that specializes in RVs, so I think it'd be
worth you spending some time online just to do your
own research and due diligence. Um, I really don't have
(29:18):
a specific option to send you toward.
S5 (29:20):
Okay. Nope. That sounds good. Um, in my head, you know,
let's see what your thoughts are. Um, I would prefer
to have my low payment yet pay the extra principal,
which they do require me to pay a separate loan,
a separate principal payment, which gets applied, uh, versus refinancing
and getting locked into a higher payment, giving me the
(29:43):
flexibility in case something goes south in life.
S1 (29:46):
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Right. I mean, that just that's always key.
I mean, depending on what that, uh, you know, the
difference in the interest rates obviously is going to tell you,
you know, what the cost is for that flexibility. But
if you can get it, I mean, it's kind of like,
you know, getting a 30 year and paying it like
a 15, but then always having the option to fall
(30:07):
back to the lower 30 year payment on your mortgage. Um,
if you got into hard times now, there's a cost
for that, because a 30 year mortgage is higher than
a 15 year. But a lot of people say I'm
willing to pay that premium because I like the flexibility
of being able to drop down and you're essentially doing
the same thing.
S5 (30:27):
That's what I'm doing with my house payment. We're paying
extra just to do that. So I was thinking the
same concept.
S1 (30:32):
Yeah, I love it. Okay. Very astute. Well done. Lee. Hey,
thanks for being on the program today. Lord bless you, bud.
Call anytime. All right. We're going to take a quick break.
When we come back, Bob Dole's here. We're going to
get Bob's take on the markets this red hot market.
And then we'll try to sneak in a few more
phone calls. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Great
(30:59):
to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live.
We'll head back to the phones here in just a minute.
But first, let's talk about this red hot stock market
and the precious metals up as well. Bob closing higher
today on the Dow Jones the S&P the Nasdaq and
the Russell 2000 up the most at least of the
major indexes nearly 2%. I mean this market is just
(31:23):
not slowing down. And it sounds like a lot of
that is earnings. The banks were good. And now we
got Apple today that looked really well didn't it.
S7 (31:31):
Yes it did. As you know the averages all of
them are near all time highs and probably will get
there if we have another up day or two. Just
like today. Uh and it is on the back of earnings, uh, which,
you know, at the end of the day earnings move stocks.
It's that simple in the long run. Now we've gotten
rid of a few things or at least ameliorated there.
(31:52):
Uh how big of a problem they are. I'm talking
about China trade and the issues we had with a
couple of bankruptcies last week that, uh, were a bit
on the periphery. Um, but people were concerned, as it does.
It spread. So far not. And so it's green again today, Rob.
S1 (32:10):
Yeah. Uh, Bob, I suspect you haven't gotten a chance
to look into it, but are you surprised to see
Apple's earnings where they are? I mean, many thought they
might be at the center of the bull's eye on
the tariffs.
S7 (32:23):
Yeah. Tariffs for sure. And just their core business has
slowed somewhat. Apple's earnings in recent years have been okay
but not great. And the stock's not all that cheap.
So that they had good news today and that the
stock responded as just another great sign.
S1 (32:40):
Yeah. So Bob you know as you look at this
I mean I know the fed chairman was out with
some comments. I mean he's got a pretty decent balancing
act doesn't he.
S7 (32:50):
Yeah a tough balancing act. The fed needs to make
sure that the economy is okay, more particularly than employment
stays robust. And we don't have significant rise in unemployment
while at the same time keeping a lid on inflation rate.
And those things historically have fought against one another. And
so they're there. Their job is extra complicated. Um, right
(33:14):
now we have an unemployment rate that's reasonably low and
an inflation rate that a little higher than many of
us would like to see, but but not horrendous.
S1 (33:22):
Yeah. Bob, what about, uh, precious metals? Gold in particular.
But the others are doing quite well also. And how
should somebody think about that portion of their portfolio, and
perhaps specifically if they're not currently allocated to precious metals?
S7 (33:37):
Well, my my view is as you know that inflation's
going to stay sticky. Uh you know not go to
ridiculous levels. But but enough of an inflation rate that
if you have some protection in your portfolio via precious
metals I think you're fine. Gold is obviously the thing
we talk about most often, most comfortable with, and it's
(33:58):
done so well this year, up well over 60% approaching 70.
Not to be confused with the fact that silver and
platinum have done even better than that. So precious metals
have been a great place to be. Rob. Uh, I
wouldn't chase them, but if any in my portfolio, I'd
wait for some sort of pullback and put some in there.
S1 (34:17):
Yeah. Last question, Bob. Technology. I mean, the president uh, today, uh,
signing another critical minerals agreement with Australia that's going to
lead to rare earths. And that's coming kind of on
the heels of this news, uh, that we got, um,
I guess it was, uh, in the last couple of
days around Nvidia with their first, uh, of their chips, uh,
(34:41):
that was made here in the US. Right?
S7 (34:44):
Isn't that great news? Uh, there's been, uh, a hope,
a plan, the beginning of plans that, uh, some of
these chips that have been made elsewhere, um, uh, Taiwan, uh, etc.,
be made in the United States. And, uh, that's a
long term proposition, but we're beginning to see it. And
that should make Americans feel good.
S1 (35:03):
All right. Well, Bob, always appreciate it, especially when you
bring good news like this. So thanks for stopping by.
S7 (35:09):
Keep the green coming.
S1 (35:10):
All right. Sounds good. That's Bob Dole, he's CEO and
CIO at Crossmark Global Investments. You can learn more at
Crossmark global. Com while you're there, sign up for his
weekly investment commentary dolls deliberations I count on each week.
I know you'll enjoy it as well. All right, let's
try to get to a few more phone calls here
before we round out the broadcast today. Headed to Indiana. Hi, Jake.
(35:32):
Go ahead.
S8 (35:34):
Hi, Rob. Thank you for taking my call. I really
appreciate it. So I wanted to first ask. I am
30 years old and I'm looking at, I've heard a
few people recommend that I should look into potentially starting
the process of looking at purchasing long term care insurance. Um,
I want to make sure that as I continue to
(35:55):
age and whatnot, I want to make sure I'm proactive
in that regard and making sure that I'm protecting my
assets and protecting the long term care aspect. I'm healthy
and whatnot, but just wanting to be proactive in that manner.
I wasn't sure what your thoughts were on that.
S1 (36:09):
Yeah, yeah, it's a good question. Uh, would you do
a paid up policy, and do you have the ability
to put a big chunk of money in it, or
would you be looking to just pay, you know, regular premiums?
S8 (36:21):
I was looking at either or. I wasn't sure if
that would be something that I should take out of
my portfolio, take a portion out and just do a
paid up aspect, or if I should do a paid, um,
pay per month type of smaller, um, and premium and
then kind of going from there with that.
S1 (36:39):
Yeah. I mean, the challenge is that the whole long
term care insurance mark with a, with a dedicated policy
has just been obliterated. Uh, you know, really these days,
folks are really looking at the hybrid policies, um, you know,
where you have the ability to have a death benefit
and then use a portion of it for long term
(37:01):
care while you're alive, just simply because there has just
been dramatic increases in the cost of these premiums as
the cost of health care has gone up. And, you know,
I know people that bought them early, you know, in
their 40s, thinking they would lock in a really high
quality policy. But, you know, now here they are, you know,
or even in their 30s and here they are 20
(37:23):
years later, and they're dropping them because they're just so expensive.
And so I think just given the increases that we've seen,
I just wouldn't take that kind of risk on paying
into this policy, you know, for 20 or 30 years,
only to find that it just doesn't make sense anymore
on paper. So if you're going to do that, you'd
(37:44):
probably want to, you know, do a paid up kind
of policy where you you have no risk of premium,
you have no premium risk in terms of the increases.
But then you have to be able to justify, you know,
dropping a massive amount of money in there because these
things are not cheap. So I think that again goes
back to these hybrid policies, which really I think, um,
(38:04):
you know, are what most people are doing now. Sometimes
they're called link linked benefits plans, and it combines the
life insurance with the long term care. And if you
never need the long term care, your heirs still get
the death benefit. If you do need the care, you
draw from the policies value tax free. And I think
those can be good options or better options, I should say,
(38:27):
for people in their 40s to 60s who've built some
assets and want to protect them. But often, you know,
we're kind of in a situation there where some people
will say, you know, if I've got over $1 million
or I'm on track to buy that season of life,
I'll just self-insure and not spend all the money for
an expensive, permanent policy combined with long term care, which
(38:50):
can be costly. I'd rather take that money and get
it compounded, you know, for the next 35 years between,
you know, your 30s and your mid 60s. Um, you know,
because you're going to end up with a lot more
to show for it and you'll have total flexibility. You know,
you won't have to rely on your need for long
term care. And, you know, all the fine print that
(39:11):
goes along with it, if that makes sense.
S8 (39:14):
It does. It does. Thank you very much. And I
wasn't sure also, if you would recommend purchasing some annuities
as well. Or do you think that that's something that
I should add to my portfolio a little bit later
in life?
S1 (39:26):
Yeah. You know, I'm not a big fan on annuities
just because, you know, they're complex, they're expensive. And often
with the downside protection you get an upside cap. And
you know, the the reason we get these nine plus
percent average annual returns is those dramatic up years that
(39:49):
we have. You know, even with the down years like 1929, 1987, 2000,
the.com bubble burst. The, you know, 2008 2009 the housing
crisis despite those the pandemic Covid, um, you know, the
market has done well because of those dramatic up years.
The problem with the annuity is you give those up.
(40:10):
And so they say, well, listen, we're going to give
you a downside protection. So you can't lose. But the
most you're going to get is let's say 9%. So
if the market's up 26% you know you don't get
any of that. They keep it. And that's how they pay,
you know for these policies. Not to mention they're expensive
and just they're complex and so forth. So I would
rather a young guy like you who's astute, who's really
(40:33):
trying to, you know, manage money wisely. I'd rather you
get unlimited upside potential, you know, without having that tied
up in a complex insurance product. And then for your
pure life insurance to protect a legitimate risk where you've
got a loved one depending on your income, just get
term insurance for that, but get all the term insurance
(40:55):
you need so that, you know, if if you were
to pass away, not only could that loved one fund
their living expenses, you know, until retirement would have kicked in,
but they could pay off the mortgage. And if you
have kids fund college, I mean, you might get a
$3 million policy. But the goal from the very beginning
would be that once you reach retirement, you drop it
(41:16):
because you don't need it anymore. That risk is gone.
And that's the least expensive way to do that, because
you're just paying for the the pure mortality expense. You're
not paying for the savings vehicle as well. You do
that in your retirement accounts and in your investment portfolios.
S8 (41:34):
Perfect. Thank you so much, Rob. I really appreciate that.
And just trying to build as many resources as I
can to be prepared for retirement when that time comes
one day.
S1 (41:42):
Well, it sounds like you're doing a great job. I'll
tell you, Jake, the thing you're probably going to struggle
with the most, just given how early you're starting and
how well you're thinking about it, is answering the question,
how much is enough? Because you'll likely with the the
kind of years you're talking about for compounding, you'll likely
over accumulate. And I think that's just as much of
(42:03):
a danger. And so I'd be asking myself now how
much lifestyle is enough? And I'm not telling you you
need to live in poverty or, you know, there's none
of that here. It's just being intentional to say, what
lifestyle have I call me to? Has God called me
to above which I'll be able to accelerate my giving?
And what is my ultimate finish line in terms of
(42:25):
my assets above which I could accelerate my giving? Those
are going to be just as important as you know.
Where should I be investing? So hope that helps. Jake.
Thanks for your call my friend. Lord bless you. Faith
and Finance Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and
Faith by Josh Taylor, Omar, Lisa and the amazing team
here at Faith. By making all this possible, if you'd
(42:46):
like to support us, go to Faith and then come
back and join us tomorrow.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.