November 24, 2025 • 42 mins
Generosity: it’s one of the clearest signs that God has changed your heart. Giving isn’t just about money—it’s about reflecting the heart of the Giver Himself. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West tells us what godly men and women throughout history have said about generosity. He also explores how their words still inspire us to give with joy. Then, it’s your calls. That’s Faith & Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. That’s weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:08):
It's one of the clearest signs that God has changed
your heart. Generosity. Hi, I'm Rob West. The Bible tells
us that giving isn't just about money, it's about reflecting
the heart of the giver himself. Today, we'll hear what
godly men and women throughout history have said about generosity,
and how their words still inspire us to give with
joy today. And then we'll take your calls at 800
(00:31):
525 7000. That's 800 525 7000. This is faith and finance. Live.
Biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Well, the Bible paints
a rich picture of generosity, one that reaches far beyond money.
Jesus told his followers, whoever has two tunics is to
(00:52):
share with him who has none, and whoever has food
is to do likewise. In other words, generosity Begins with compassion,
a willingness to meet the needs right in front of us.
The Apostle Paul builds on that idea, reminding us that
true giving flows from the heart. Each one must give,
as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or
(01:13):
under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. And Psalm
112 ties generosity to righteousness itself, showing that it's not
just something we do. It's a reflection of who we
are when our hearts are aligned with God's character. That
truth has inspired countless believers throughout history to think deeply
about what it means to live open handed before God.
(01:36):
Here are ten timeless quotes on generosity that remind us
why giving is central to a life of faith. C.S. Lewis,
the beloved author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The
Screwtape Letters, answered the question how much should I give
with this response? I do not believe one can settle
how much we ought to give. I am afraid the
(01:58):
only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.
John Wesley, the 18th century preacher and founder of Methodism,
offered this memorable encouragement. Do all the good you can
by all the means you can, in all the ways
you can, and all the places you can, at all
the times you can. To all the people you can,
as long as ever you can. Generosity transforms ordinary possessions
(02:23):
into eternal blessings. A.W. Tozer, a 20th century American pastor
and theologian, explained it this way. Any temporal possession can
be turned into everlasting wealth. Whatever is given to Christ
is immediately touched with immortality. We know that everything we
have belongs to God, and he calls us to use
(02:44):
what he provides to bless others. Evangelist Billy Graham emphasized
the link between our view of money and our relationship
with God, saying, tell me what you think about money
and I will tell you what you think about God,
for these two are closely related. A man's heart is
closer to his wallet than anything else. Well, what about
(03:05):
our motives for giving? Author and theologian Evelyn Underhill reminds
us that generosity begins in worship. The spirit of adoration
is the spirit of generosity, for worship is giving. Randy Alcorn,
the author of The Treasure Principle, explains how giving reshapes
our priorities. Giving affirms Christ's lordship. It dethrones me and
(03:29):
exalts him. Generosity flows from a heart transformed by God's love.
Saint Augustine of Hippo, a fourth century theologian, described giving
what he called charity as a virtue that connects us
to God. Charity is a virtue which, when our affections
are perfectly ordered, unites us to God, for by it
(03:50):
we love him. Irish missionary and writer Amy Carmichael beautifully
captured the link between love and generosity, saying you can
give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Early
church believer Saint Paula of Rome, a wealthy widow who
gave away her fortune to serve the poor and support
the translation of Scripture, understood generosity as a path to
(04:13):
deeper fellowship with Christ. She said, the more we give
to Christ, the more we possess him. Finally, Jesus himself
summed up the heart of generosity when he sent out
his disciples with these words heal the sick, raise the dead,
cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as
freely as you have received. You know when we give,
(04:36):
we reflect the heart of the giver. Generosity isn't measured
by the size of the gift, but by the surrender
of our hearts. Every time we open our hands, we
echo the love of Christ, the one who gave everything
for us. At Faith fi, we love helping you live
that out. Integrating your faith and finances for the glory
of God. That's what each issue of our Faithful Steward
(04:58):
Magazine is all about, encouraging you to live wisely, give generously,
and seek God as your ultimate treasure. You'll receive four
issues as well as our brand new devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure,
releasing early next year. When you become a faithful partner
by December 31st. Learn more at Faith. That's faith. All right.
(05:21):
Your calls are next. Stick around.
S2 (05:35):
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 (06:00):
Well, I'm so glad you're with us today on Faith
and Finance Live. I am Rob West, and today we'll
be taking your phone calls, questions on anything financial. Our goal? Well,
we want to help you live as a faithful steward.
And your questions are the way that we apply God's wisdom,
the principles from the Bible to the very specific issues
you're dealing with in your financial life. They may be
(06:21):
around debt repayment. How do I pay off credit card
debt that I just can't seem to get rid of?
They may be about giving wisely. How do I give
with intentionality? Maybe not just out of cash, how we
do most of our giving, but what about giving out
of your balance sheet where most of your wealth is?
There's very effective ways to do that, to get more
into the kingdom and save on taxes. Maybe it's your
(06:41):
lifestyle trying to balance the variable income you face. Maybe
you're on commission, or you own your own business, and
it's just tough to stay within your means, or even
if you're a W-2 employee, it's more challenging than ever
with expenses up. We can talk about that. Or perhaps
it's investing for the future. Whatever you're thinking about today
in your financial life, go ahead and call right now.
(07:02):
We'll get you in on the conversation as quick as
we can. That number to call is 800 525 7000.
Again that's 800 525 7000. We'll look forward to hearing
from you in the news today. A new survey by
JPMorgan Chase notes a notable shift in how Americans are
managing their cash. Many households are moving money out of
(07:25):
low yield checking and savings accounts and into vehicles that
pay investment style income. That includes things like money market funds,
short term treasuries and high yield investment accounts. Even high
yield savings accounts. The experts say this is a response
to persistent inflation and the desire to earn something on
idle cash. But while this trend has some positives, it
(07:47):
also comes with some important guardrails for Y stewardship. Here
are a few points to understand. First, the shift is
driven by frustration with typical bank yields that lag behind inflation.
Many people are parking cash and money market funds or
short term government securities because they offer higher returns. Younger
(08:07):
adults in particular, are more willing to move money outside
of the banking system in search of yield, but these
accounts often lack FDIC insurance and won't carry the same
protections as a bank deposit. And if the funds are
tied to money market or excuse me, market priced assets
values can of course fluctuate. That means money may not
(08:30):
be available for a real emergency, so it's important to
remember that your emergency fund must stay two things liquid
and stable. That means the money is designed to be
available immediately in a crisis, hence the name Emergency Fund.
Parking it in an investment vehicle that's not guaranteed or
could lose value defeats its purpose, especially if it's locked
(08:53):
up for a period of time. You can explore higher
yield options for other savings bucket, but your emergency fund
belongs in a safe, liquid place. Now, let me also
mention more and more of our listeners are looking for
a banking partner that shares their values. They want to
know that this is an organization that is aligned with
(09:15):
my values as a Christ follower, that will use the
profits for not only providing great returns to me, but
perhaps to advance the kingdom at the same time. And
that's why we've partnered with the largest Christian banking institution
in the country, it's Christian Community Credit Union, and they
just announced recently, and this is really exciting. We've spent
(09:38):
a lot of time with their team understanding this, but
they're merging with a Delphi which was the second biggest, largest,
Second biggest in terms of size in this space of
Christian banking solutions. So put those two together, Keikyu and Adelphi.
And they are by far going to be the biggest
banking partner to assist you with your funds in terms
(10:03):
of cash back credit card, that actually with every swipe
takes a portion of what, uh, is, is coming to
the banking institution and directing it to Christian ministries. Incredibly
attractive savings accounts there harvest high yield savings, uh, also
lending for not only individuals but churches. So this is
(10:24):
going to be a really, I think, key relationship for
many of you that are looking for this type of, uh, opportunity.
So be sure to check it out today when you
go to faith banking, that's faith fi banking. And they
actually have a special, um, offer a bonus of up
to $400 if you use the code faithfully. Again, that's
(10:46):
faithfully comm slash. All right. We're going to dive into
your questions today. That number to call. If you've got
something going on in your financial life you'd like to
talk about is 800 525 7000. We're going to begin
today in Wisconsin. Cassie, go right ahead.
S3 (11:03):
Yeah. Thanks for taking my call. Um, my husband's wife
passed away. Um, and we got married two years ago,
and he has two adult children, and he's 14 years
older than I am. And so we are not for
sure how to handle, um, an inheritance for the kids
as well as, um, for me after he passes.
S1 (11:23):
Okay. Yeah. And and so this is something that you
really need to talk through. We actually just did an
episode on this recently with Ron Diehl. Uh, Ron's a
good friend. He's a regular contributor here on the program.
He runs Family life blended. Maybe you've heard of family life,
the marriage ministry? Well, family life blended is specifically, uh,
(11:44):
you know, catering to and serving blended families with godly wisdom. And, uh,
one of the things Ron suggests, just out of a
recognition that when you're coming together with a blended family
where prior to the marriage, you have, uh, children from
a previous marriage, assets that have been created in a
previous marriage, maybe a business is involved. It can get complicated.
(12:09):
And you need to think through with transparency and and,
you know, a real intentionality with regard to good communication
that can foster unity and oneness. What your plan is
with regard to those children, uh, so that you all
are on the same page. It's not trying to undermine
either of you, but it also allows you to acknowledge that,
(12:32):
you know, there's just different planning that needs to be
involved here. And Ron talks about something called a togetherness agreement,
where you have a shared vision for your financial life.
It involves laying out the assets and the debts and
the obligations honestly. The goal is not self-protection like it
is with a prenuptial agreement. The goal is unity and
(12:54):
mutual care, and it brings clarity, and I think ultimately
can prevent some conflict later. Um, so I'd like to
send you the book that really lays all of this out.
It's called The Smart Stepfamily Guide to Financial Planning. And
I think if you and your husband or husband to be, um,
(13:14):
you know, can work through this, and maybe you guys
are already married and if so, great. Um, but I
think this may give you a roadmap to deal with
some of these issues in a God honoring way, but
also with a lot of mutual respect and care. Does
that make sense?
S3 (13:29):
It does. Thank you.
S1 (13:30):
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And so if you stay on the line, uh,
we will, uh, get your information. We'll get that out
to you after you guys work through that. Cassie, if
you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to call back.
But I think, you know, this will kind of guide
you through the whole process of determining where you all
need to go from here. Thanks for thinking of us.
We appreciate your call today and being on the program. Uh, folks,
(13:52):
we're going to take a quick break. When we come back.
A lot more questions coming up, plus some room for
your question. If you've got something going on in your
financial life, call right now, that number 800 525 7000.
That's 800 525 7000. This is faith and finance. Live
biblical wisdom for your financial decisions, helping you live as
(14:15):
that wise and faithful steward. Our goal is that someday
you'd hear, well done, good and faithful servant. I'm Rob Weston.
We're just getting started. Don't go anywhere. Great to have
(14:36):
you with us today on faith and finance live here
on Moody Radio. By the way, we were talking before
the break with our previous caller about creating a shared
vision for blended family finances. I mentioned Ron Deal. Ron
authored an article in the current issue of Faithful Steward,
our magazine, on this very topic, talking about how every
couple needs to talk about their values related to money
(14:59):
and how they will create a shared vision for combining
incomes and debt while planning for the future care of
their children. But blended family finances can be challenging, but
he really lays out the idea that you and your
spouse can create a shared vision for your family's financial
future by building relational trust and then carefully considering financial agreements.
(15:24):
And he unpacks that in this beautifully written article specifically
for blended families. And this is the kind of material
that's in Faithful Steward each quarter, our beautiful magazine. The
new issue is at the printer right now. I can't
wait for you to get your hands on it. And
an interview with Kirk Cousins in there. Got an incredible
(15:45):
article on the story of Jonah and how you may
not have ever seen this in that story, but how
it really reveals this truth that spending decisions are spiritual decisions.
We also have a great article from Sharon Epps on
the Widow and the oil, the story from the Bible, and, uh,
an incredible article by Carol Kyle Worley on a Christian
(16:06):
response to sports betting. You know, sports betting is just
the rage right now. I mean, DraftKings has seen every
year their revenue double, if not more, and it has
become commonplace even among Christians. And so we take a
deep dive into the issue of sports betting and really
look at it through the lens of scripture, talk about
some of the challenges and, and really potential landmines that
(16:30):
exist in that space. If you'd like to ensure you
get a copy of Faithful steward each quarter when it
comes out mailed to your door. Just consider becoming a
faith buy partner when you head to faith partner. That's
faithful partner. And between now and the end of the
year when you become a partner, every gift is doubled
(16:50):
as we head toward year end because of some generous friends.
All right. We're taking your phone calls today. That number
is 800 525 7000. Let's go to Michigan, Carol. Go ahead.
S4 (17:01):
Hi. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. I had three questions.
They're kind of short, though. Um, I just wondered what
you thought about gold having gold in your hand as
opposed to investing in it, say, online or with a company.
And I was wondering if Charles Schwab is a safe
place to invest. And then I was also wondering, um,
(17:22):
if you think it's a good idea to have some
cash at home for, like, an emergency.
S1 (17:26):
Yeah, those are great questions. And you're right, we can
cover those quickly. So with regard to investing in gold,
here's the way I think about it. You know, I
think an allocation of gold should not be more than 10%
of your portfolio. Um, because you just don't, you know,
want to have too much, given that it's, it's more
volatile historically than stocks and bonds, and it doesn't perform
(17:48):
as well, even though we've seen a dramatic run up
just as of late. I think long term, you know,
that 10% max allocation is right. And I would think
in terms of that 10% being both pieces of what
you asked about, I think your first 5%, I would
consider taking possession of the physical gold. And I'll call
(18:11):
that your forever allocation. Now you have to store it
and insure it, and it's harder to sell quickly. But
the idea would be that this is, you know, a
gold allocation that you would plan to pass down and
you'd keep it forever. And then for that second 5%,
that's where I think using an exchange traded fund like
GLD LD or IAU, the two largest. There's plenty of others,
(18:35):
probably a dozen of them. It makes it much easier
to buy. You don't have the storage issues and you
have a lot more liquidity. So if you ever wanted
to kind of dial back your gold allocation, you could
do that with a click of a button. You place
a trade and it's gone. And so between the two,
it allows you to kind of have a portion that
(18:56):
you keep forever, and then a portion that allows you
to ratchet it up. It moves in lock step with
the underlying spot price of the metal. Um, but obviously
it doesn't have the same issues that you've got with
the physical gold. So I would think in terms of
a 50 over 50 split second, is Schwab a safe
place to invest? Absolutely safe, reputable, uh, one of the
(19:18):
biggest brokerage firms in the country, member of SIPC, which
protects your investments up to certain limits if the brokerage fails,
not against market losses, but against the, you know, the
company having a failure or some sort of fraud. Um,
very highly regulated. And so I think you would be
(19:39):
in great shape there. Uh, third, is it a good
idea to keep a little cash at home? Yeah, we
typically recommend, if you think about your expenses, I would
say two weeks worth of expenses max. And so the
idea there is that it's there because of a disruption
of some kind, uh, a power outage, card systems going down,
(20:02):
a storm, something that allows you to, you know, have
a couple of weeks worth of expenses of cash on hand.
You know, if there was a major disruption in the
banking system, the idea being we're not thinking long term.
You know, this is just a temporary outage of some
kind that would be restored in a relatively short period
of time. And that's where that could come in handy.
(20:24):
Does that all make sense, though?
S4 (20:27):
Yeah. It does. Um, yeah. Um, I was just wondering,
what is GLD and IAU? What does that mean?
S1 (20:33):
Yeah. Good question. So the other way to buy a
precious metal, in this case gold, rather than taking the
physical possession, like, you know, buying the one ounce bars
at Costco or finding a gold dealer that could sell
you gold bars or gold coins is to buy an
exchange traded fund. So think about this like a mutual fund,
except instead of it holding individual stocks, it basically has
(21:00):
the gold in a vault. And the investment the the
fund moves in lockstep with the price of gold. So
if gold's you know up its up if gold's down
it's down. And it moves in direct proportion to the
price of the underlying metal. But the benefit is it
trades like a stock. So you don't have to take
physical possession. So GLD and IAU are the ticker symbols
(21:24):
of of two of the largest gold ETFs in the country.
So at Charles Schwab you could place a trade and buy,
you know, $1,000 worth of GLD. And you'd basically be
buying $1,000 worth of gold. You're just never going to
take physical possession. But those shares are going to move
in lockstep with the price of gold. And so I
(21:46):
was just rattling off the two biggest gold ETFs in
the country. There's probably a dozen of them. I hope
that helps. Carol, thanks for your call today. We'll be
right back on Faith and finance Live. Great to have
(22:06):
you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. We've
got some lines open today. If you have a question,
something in your financial life you'd like to discuss, we'll
help you think it through in light of biblical wisdom. (800)Â 525-7000.
Coming up in our final segment today, Bob Dole stops by.
We'll get Bob's take on what's moving the markets market
up today. the Dow Jones up a little less than
(22:28):
a half a point. The S&P up a good bit. 1.5%.
The Nasdaq really soaring today up more than 2.5% as
a result of a reignited AI trade largely driven by
Google would get Bob's take on that, especially because AI
stocks have been under some pressure as of late. Bob Dole,
(22:50):
in our final segment. Let's head back to the phones. Chicago, Illinois. Karen.
Go ahead.
S5 (22:55):
Hi, Rob, thank you so much for taking my call.
S6 (22:58):
Of course.
S5 (22:58):
Um, so I'm 36 years old and I have a
401 K. I don't necessarily put that much in it.
I think it's like maybe $25 every two weeks for
every paycheck. But, uh, I would really like to, like,
invest more, but I'm not necessarily I don't really understand
like the difference between between like the Nasdaq, the S&P,
(23:21):
like an index fund and like all the different variations, like,
what do they really mean, you know? And what would
be the best option for someone in my age group
with a, I guess, a fair, uh, you know, I'm
willing to risk them.
S1 (23:34):
Yeah, yeah. Very good. Uh, so what percent of your income, Karen,
are you putting into your 401 K?
S5 (23:40):
Um, let me see. Ah, I don't know, maybe, like.
S6 (23:46):
Yeah.
S5 (23:47):
5%.
S1 (23:49):
Okay. And are they matching any portion of that?
S5 (23:52):
Um, they will only match up to, like, uh, 1%,
I think.
S1 (23:58):
Yeah. No problem. Well, the match is a great thing,
so we want to add a minimum. Make sure you're
taking advantage of that because that's free money. Uh, you know,
if you get 100, you put in 1% and then
they add 1% to it. That's 100% return on your money.
You're not going to get that anywhere else. Now, your
goal would be assuming you've got an emergency fund of
3 to 6 months worth of expenses, and assuming you
(24:20):
don't have any high interest debt like credit card debt
that you're carrying month to month and you're on track with.
If you have any student loans to, let's say, pay
those off within ten years. Um, the only other thing
I would add is if you have a near term
savings goal, like you're trying to buy a house or
something like that, you need to replace a car or
buy a car. Um, you would want to be, you know,
(24:41):
saving toward those in a reasonable time period. But if
if you've got all those boxes checked, we ultimately want
to get that 401 K contribution up to 10 to 15%
of your income, and you may not be able to
do that right now. And that's okay. But that's a
great target for you because that tax deferred environment in
(25:01):
your 401 K is really the best place for your
long term money. What does that mean? Well, that means
you get a current tax deduction when the money goes in.
So it saves you a little bit on your taxes.
But it also means that as the money in the
401 K is invested in stocks and bonds and mutual funds,
and we'll talk about those in a second. You have
no impact of taxes on the growth along the way,
(25:24):
like you would if you were investing outside of a
retirement plan, because every time you bought something and sold
it for a profit, if you were outside of the
401 K, you'd have to pay some tax on that
called a capital gain. That doesn't happen inside that 401 K.
So the full amount is free to grow all the
way up until retirement. Now when you start pulling it
(25:45):
out you'll pay tax on it like income. Uh, you know,
at that time. But we're talking, you know, 30 plus
years down the road after it's grown a whole lot
bigger than it is today. So that's really a great
place for your money. And let's just try to continue
to keep your lifestyle at a minimum and try to
ratchet up the percentage going into that 401 K as
(26:06):
you're able. Now, what investments do we want to put
inside of it? Well, the nice thing about the 401
K is it's not like there's unlimited choices. You generally
have kind of a menu of investment options. So what
is a stock. Well a stock. A stock is a
very small percentage of ownership in an actual company. So
stock ownership is real ownership. What is a bond. It's
(26:29):
a loan to a company or a government. And then
a mutual fund or an index fund or just basically
a basket of investments. So at your age, just getting started,
starting to put some money into a 401 K, you're
going to use mutual funds inside the 401 K. And
again there's going to be a pretty limited menu of options.
(26:50):
And you're going to want to be almost exclusively at
your age in stock funds because you're worried, you know,
more concerned about long term growth. And to your point,
from what you said a moment ago, you know, you
are willing to take some risk because you've got so
much time on your side. And so, um, you know
what you could do? One of the simplest ways to
(27:11):
go about this is what's called either a target date
or a life cycle fund. And basically that's where you
pick your expected retirement date and you find the fund
that matches it. So inside your 401 K, you know,
let's say, you know, this is 2025. Uh, and so
(27:31):
let's say we're looking 30 years down the road until
you're 66, uh, you would look for, you know, the, the,
the target date fund that's 30 years out for you.
So you'd be looking at a 2055 target date fund. Well,
the good part about that is you could put all
your money in that 2055 target date fund, and it's
(27:51):
automatically going to invest in a way that's appropriate for
a 36 year old, which means it's going to have
almost all of the money in stocks and very little
in bonds. And that's what you want. But it takes
a lot of the guesswork out, makes it really simple,
and it's just something that you can park all the
money in and then just you focus on, you know,
(28:11):
getting more and more going in on a, you know,
out of every paycheck. Does that all make sense, though? Oh, Karen,
are you still with us? Looks like we lost Karen. But, Karen,
I hope that's helpful if we do get you back. Um,
I'd love to send you a copy of the Sound
Mind Investing Handbook. And so, uh, if you are able
to call back, feel free to, uh, give us a
(28:32):
call back, and our team will get your information and
get that right out to you. Thanks for your call.
Lord bless you. Uh, Wyoming. Steve. Go ahead.
S7 (28:40):
Yeah. Uh, thanks for taking my call, Rob. Hey, of
course I've got a question. I, uh, retired when I
was 66, and I've never touched my retirement. Uh, my
my company paid retirement, my IRA, and I'm 73. I
turned 73 this October, and I know that there's a mandatory.
(29:04):
I have to take so much out of that account.
S6 (29:07):
Yeah.
S7 (29:08):
Uh, every year. And I was kind of wondering, like,
how does the percentage go on that? And also, um,
I want the money to go to my children. I
tithe it, I'm going to tithe it as I take
it out. And, uh, and I tie the regularly and
give to to, uh, um, you know, people that that I,
(29:31):
you know, that God leads me to give to. But. Sure. Um,
I just, I just want to make sure I'm a
good steward with this money, and there's a lot of
money in there. I mean, I've never touched it. Yeah.
And God's blessed me so I can live. I've never
had to touch anything in my retirement. I've actually been
able to invest in other things also.
S1 (29:51):
But that's amazing. Well, let me let me try to
tackle this before our break because this is a great question.
So two things. One is you're right. At 73 you
do have to start a required minimum. How much do
you have to withdraw. Well the amount is based on
your IRA balance as of December 31st of last year
and what's called the IRS Uniform Lifestyle Lifetime table, which
(30:14):
is basically a a life expectancy factor. And your brokerage
firm will calculate this for you. But let me just
give you an example. At 73 the factor is 26.5.
So the RMD is the prior year end balance divided
by 26.5. So if you had a, you know 265,000
in there divided by 26.5, you'd have to take out 10,000.
(30:38):
The good news is, as long as you're over 70.5
and you are, it can go straight from your IRA
to a 501 C3 charity, including your church. It counts
toward your RMD and it goes into ministry. Stay on
the line. We'll be right back. Great to have you
(31:02):
with us today on Faith and finance. Live here in
the final segment. Bob Dole is here. Bob. Uh, boy,
it seems like, uh, AI was taking a break last week,
but perhaps we've turned the corner today at least. What's
driving this Nasdaq resurgence here?
S8 (31:18):
Yeah, quite a comeback today as you point out. Started
on Friday as you know, after the horrible middle of
the week performance. We're still not back for most stocks
to the high where we were before. So there's more
work to do. I think the resurgence is simply, uh, hey,
these stocks have sold off. The story is still pretty good.
I think I'll buy some. That's what's going on here.
(31:40):
I think we'll have more of that toing and froing,
as we say, Rob.
S1 (31:44):
I guess in particular Nvidia. And then also today alphabet. Google. Right.
S8 (31:49):
Yeah. Google's been leading the way. They've had some some
good news along with good earnings. And they have resumed
leadership among the Mag seven and have uh plumbed new highs.
S1 (32:02):
Yeah. No doubt about it, Bob. Uh, I know you,
when we talked recently, you mentioned really three key factors
you're looking at in terms of where this market goes
from here. Unpack those for us.
S8 (32:12):
Yeah. The first is the fed and inflation. Will the
fed cut rates in December? Um you know it's kind
of 5050 with people out there. And the fed funds
futures curve is saying higher higher than 50 but not
a lot that they will cut. That's the first issue.
Second is the economy but more particularly the job market
(32:33):
and consumer spending weakening. And many of those statistics not
significant weakening but enough to talk about it. And the
third item is the whole AI issue, in particular the
capital expenditure cycle. Companies are running out of balance sheet
strength to do it all by equity, doing it more
by debt financing. And that has some investors concerned. Rob.
S1 (32:56):
Yeah no doubt about it Bob, as you look out
to next year. I mean, what are you starting to
think about in terms of potential for next year? Do
you feel like we continue to run here or do
we say no, we're going to have more of a
sideways market.
S8 (33:10):
Well, I think the economy is going to be generally okay.
In fact, it could be with the big beautiful bill
and a few other things stronger in 26 than it
has been in 2025. But the big but is but
the market knows that. And at these valuations levels the
sort of discounted it. So we could have a better
(33:31):
economy than the stock market in 2026.
S1 (33:36):
Yeah. And do you feel like we see earnings hold
up pretty well next year. Do you think we see
see some weakness there.
S8 (33:42):
Well I think earnings will be okay. But will they
be good enough to meet expectations which are mid-teens 1,516%.
That's quite a run from already extended levels and a
good year this year after a good year last year.
So I think the jury is out. It's back to
the news is good. But does the market already know it?
S1 (34:05):
Yeah, no doubt about it. And then obviously the the
fed cuts have been a big part of the the
gains this year, and that's going to all hinge on
prices and inflation ultimately. Right.
S8 (34:16):
Absolutely. That's why I come back to these three issues,
one of which is in fact inflation. Is it contained
enough for the fed to lower rates as much as
people think? You know, my point of view has been
be nice to see inflation at two, but it seems
to stay stubborn at three. Um, and therefore there's a
lot of work to do.
S1 (34:35):
Bob, last question. You know, for those listening today that
are sitting on some appreciated stock, perhaps far more than
they expected for 2026 outside of retirement accounts. Talk about
the missed opportunity that we so often have with giving
of appreciated assets before they're sold.
S8 (34:53):
Boy, you're right there. As you know, Rob, people can donate, um,
securities with a big gain. And, uh, you not have
to pay the capital gains tax. Uh, and you get
the deduction for the market value of what it is
that you are transferring. So if gains have been stronger
than people thought and that's almost everybody, this is a
(35:14):
wonderful time to think about being generous.
S1 (35:17):
No doubt about it Bob. Have a great Thanksgiving.
S8 (35:19):
You the same.
S1 (35:21):
All right. That's Bob Dole Crossmark Global Investments. You can
learn more at crossmark. Global.com. All right. Let's try to
round out the broadcast. We'll get to hopefully at least
two more questions. Uh, Sherman in North Carolina. Go ahead.
S9 (35:34):
Hey, Rob, thank you for taking my questions. Of course. Um,
my my mother just sold a piece of property, and
she's gonna be coming. Coming to a sum of money
after taxes are paid of about $250,000. And she's 83
years old, and we don't really know what to do
with the money. Um, my thought process is I'm looking
for for a long term care. And, um, where do
(35:59):
I stick it to in case I need it in
ten years or in case I need it in ten days?
I don't I don't know where to put it, I
was thinking. So anyway, I just want to hear what
you got to say.
S1 (36:09):
Yeah, great. You know, um, the priority here, of course,
is safety, liquidity and then simplicity while still earning a
reasonable return. And I think that's at the heart of
your question. So, you know, really the first option would
be high yield savings. I mean, this is the best
for check access and safety, either privately or FDIC insured,
(36:32):
pays a much better rate than a normal bank. You
can link it or she can link it to her
checking account. You've got easy transfers, easy access, no risk
to the principal. Um, so you know, if you want
or she wants physical checks on it. Uh, she could
keep a small checking account and essentially pull money from
(36:53):
the savings as needed. And this keeps the funds safe
and liquid. I think the second option would be a
money market deposit account at a bank, or a money
market fund at a brokerage. Um, you know, the the
bank money market account is going to also have that
FDIC insurance and often allow check writing. And again, good
for seniors who want some, uh, simplicity. The rate will
(37:16):
be decent, but not the highest. The brokerage money market
fund is going to give you a little bit higher yield.
Very liquid. Allow some check writing, but not FDIC insured.
Although extremely conservative and I would say widely used for
cash holdings. Either one is a great parking place, you know,
(37:38):
for 250,000. The third option maybe is short term CDs
that are laddered where you, you know, you put them
in six month or 12 month CDs and 50 or 100,000, um,
and it improves the interest while keeping everything safe as
long as it comes due, you know, at a regular
interval so you can get access to it. Um, so
(37:59):
those would be the options I would consider and maybe
the pros and cons of each.
S9 (38:04):
Oh, okay. All right, well, look, thank you for answering
my question. I appreciate it so much.
S1 (38:09):
Absolutely. Thank you. Sherman, we appreciate your call, sir. Uh.
Let's see. Joliet, Illinois. Lee. Go ahead.
S10 (38:16):
Yeah. Thank you, Rob, for taking my call. I appreciate
your ministry. Um, quick question. Um, we have a Sallie
Mae $10,000 school loan. It doesn't seem like it's a 10% interest.
Doesn't seem like we're chipping away at the principle very much.
Is there, uh, an alternative or two where you could
(38:40):
refinance that Sallie Mae student loan that would give you
a better interest rate?
S1 (38:46):
Yeah. So this is a Sallie Mae, which would be private. Uh,
so you don't have the federal protections, right?
S10 (38:54):
Right.
S1 (38:55):
Yeah. So I think that does open up some options
there because the Sallie Mae loans they used to service
the federal loans years ago, but today they really are
the private education loans. So these are not federal student loans.
So that means, you know, you definitely have the refinancing option.
(39:15):
So I would check the reputable private lenders, which you're
probably going to find is it's just not quite time
for you to refinance. Um, you know, you would you
would want to wait until you could save, uh, you know,
you would get something. If you're at ten now, I'd
want you to be, you know, somewhere in the 5
to 8% range. Um, but I would check with Sophie. Sophie. Um, Ernest. Uh,
(39:40):
Laurel road lending club discover has student loans. I mean,
you could go out there online and really just see
who has the best rates right now. And ultimately it's
going to come down to credit score income, debt to
income ratio. And whether you know you want a fixed
or variable rate, Eight. Um, but at the end of
the day, you know, you can absolutely refinance a 10%
(40:03):
private Sallie Mae loan. And I would just shop around
and compare rates. And, you know, if you could save
a couple of points, I think that would absolutely be
worth it.
S10 (40:15):
Okay. So but we're still looking at maybe a little
bit more time than, uh, to get to those rates or, um,
you think Sophie or somebody is already offering a better deal?
S1 (40:30):
You know, I think you could do better than 10%.
The question is whether you want to go ahead with
it right now, uh, or whether you want to wait. But, yeah,
I mean, you could I mean, rates right now, if
you're at ten, uh, I'm seeing rates right now if
you have excellent credit and good income and stable employment.
I mean, you could you could qualify for something in
(40:52):
the 5 to 8% range right now. And I think
that would be absolutely worth it.
S10 (40:57):
Okay. I appreciate your appreciate your help.
S1 (41:01):
Absolutely. Thanks for calling. We appreciate you being on the program. Well, folks,
that's going to do it for us. You know, as
we head toward the end of the broadcast, let me
just mention, because this is such an important time for
us here at year end, uh, the invitation for you
to join us as a supporter of Faith and Finance Live.
This broadcast is brought to you each day by Faith fi.
(41:23):
As a result of your giving, it's listener supported. Which
means we only do what we do because of your assistance.
And right now, here at the end of the year,
it's a great time to think about joining us in
supporting this work to equip God's people to manage God's money,
God's way, because every gift is doubled between now and
December 31st. Also, every gift of any amount will ensure
(41:45):
that we're able to send you a copy of my
new devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure, when it comes out in January.
So if you would, uh, head to faith. Com that's faith. Five.
Dot com slash give. Your donation will be matched and
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Our goal is 175,000 between now and December 31st. Already
(42:09):
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(42:30):
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today Taylor, Sara, Josh, Dan and Jim plus everybody here
at Faith by Hope. You have a great day. Come
back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you then. Bye bye.
It's one of the clearest signs that God has changed
your heart. Generosity. Hi, I'm Rob West. The Bible tells
us that giving isn't just about money, it's about reflecting
the heart of the giver himself. Today, we'll hear what
godly men and women throughout history have said about generosity,
and how their words still inspire us to give with
joy today. And then we'll take your calls at 800
(00:31):
525 7000. That's 800 525 7000. This is faith and finance. Live.
Biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Well, the Bible paints
a rich picture of generosity, one that reaches far beyond money.
Jesus told his followers, whoever has two tunics is to
(00:52):
share with him who has none, and whoever has food
is to do likewise. In other words, generosity Begins with compassion,
a willingness to meet the needs right in front of us.
The Apostle Paul builds on that idea, reminding us that
true giving flows from the heart. Each one must give,
as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or
(01:13):
under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. And Psalm
112 ties generosity to righteousness itself, showing that it's not
just something we do. It's a reflection of who we
are when our hearts are aligned with God's character. That
truth has inspired countless believers throughout history to think deeply
about what it means to live open handed before God.
(01:36):
Here are ten timeless quotes on generosity that remind us
why giving is central to a life of faith. C.S. Lewis,
the beloved author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The
Screwtape Letters, answered the question how much should I give
with this response? I do not believe one can settle
how much we ought to give. I am afraid the
(01:58):
only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.
John Wesley, the 18th century preacher and founder of Methodism,
offered this memorable encouragement. Do all the good you can
by all the means you can, in all the ways
you can, and all the places you can, at all
the times you can. To all the people you can,
as long as ever you can. Generosity transforms ordinary possessions
(02:23):
into eternal blessings. A.W. Tozer, a 20th century American pastor
and theologian, explained it this way. Any temporal possession can
be turned into everlasting wealth. Whatever is given to Christ
is immediately touched with immortality. We know that everything we
have belongs to God, and he calls us to use
(02:44):
what he provides to bless others. Evangelist Billy Graham emphasized
the link between our view of money and our relationship
with God, saying, tell me what you think about money
and I will tell you what you think about God,
for these two are closely related. A man's heart is
closer to his wallet than anything else. Well, what about
(03:05):
our motives for giving? Author and theologian Evelyn Underhill reminds
us that generosity begins in worship. The spirit of adoration
is the spirit of generosity, for worship is giving. Randy Alcorn,
the author of The Treasure Principle, explains how giving reshapes
our priorities. Giving affirms Christ's lordship. It dethrones me and
(03:29):
exalts him. Generosity flows from a heart transformed by God's love.
Saint Augustine of Hippo, a fourth century theologian, described giving
what he called charity as a virtue that connects us
to God. Charity is a virtue which, when our affections
are perfectly ordered, unites us to God, for by it
(03:50):
we love him. Irish missionary and writer Amy Carmichael beautifully
captured the link between love and generosity, saying you can
give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Early
church believer Saint Paula of Rome, a wealthy widow who
gave away her fortune to serve the poor and support
the translation of Scripture, understood generosity as a path to
(04:13):
deeper fellowship with Christ. She said, the more we give
to Christ, the more we possess him. Finally, Jesus himself
summed up the heart of generosity when he sent out
his disciples with these words heal the sick, raise the dead,
cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as
freely as you have received. You know when we give,
(04:36):
we reflect the heart of the giver. Generosity isn't measured
by the size of the gift, but by the surrender
of our hearts. Every time we open our hands, we
echo the love of Christ, the one who gave everything
for us. At Faith fi, we love helping you live
that out. Integrating your faith and finances for the glory
of God. That's what each issue of our Faithful Steward
(04:58):
Magazine is all about, encouraging you to live wisely, give generously,
and seek God as your ultimate treasure. You'll receive four
issues as well as our brand new devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure,
releasing early next year. When you become a faithful partner
by December 31st. Learn more at Faith. That's faith. All right.
(05:21):
Your calls are next. Stick around.
S2 (05:35):
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 (06:00):
Well, I'm so glad you're with us today on Faith
and Finance Live. I am Rob West, and today we'll
be taking your phone calls, questions on anything financial. Our goal? Well,
we want to help you live as a faithful steward.
And your questions are the way that we apply God's wisdom,
the principles from the Bible to the very specific issues
you're dealing with in your financial life. They may be
(06:21):
around debt repayment. How do I pay off credit card
debt that I just can't seem to get rid of?
They may be about giving wisely. How do I give
with intentionality? Maybe not just out of cash, how we
do most of our giving, but what about giving out
of your balance sheet where most of your wealth is?
There's very effective ways to do that, to get more
into the kingdom and save on taxes. Maybe it's your
(06:41):
lifestyle trying to balance the variable income you face. Maybe
you're on commission, or you own your own business, and
it's just tough to stay within your means, or even
if you're a W-2 employee, it's more challenging than ever
with expenses up. We can talk about that. Or perhaps
it's investing for the future. Whatever you're thinking about today
in your financial life, go ahead and call right now.
(07:02):
We'll get you in on the conversation as quick as
we can. That number to call is 800 525 7000.
Again that's 800 525 7000. We'll look forward to hearing
from you in the news today. A new survey by
JPMorgan Chase notes a notable shift in how Americans are
managing their cash. Many households are moving money out of
(07:25):
low yield checking and savings accounts and into vehicles that
pay investment style income. That includes things like money market funds,
short term treasuries and high yield investment accounts. Even high
yield savings accounts. The experts say this is a response
to persistent inflation and the desire to earn something on
idle cash. But while this trend has some positives, it
(07:47):
also comes with some important guardrails for Y stewardship. Here
are a few points to understand. First, the shift is
driven by frustration with typical bank yields that lag behind inflation.
Many people are parking cash and money market funds or
short term government securities because they offer higher returns. Younger
(08:07):
adults in particular, are more willing to move money outside
of the banking system in search of yield, but these
accounts often lack FDIC insurance and won't carry the same
protections as a bank deposit. And if the funds are
tied to money market or excuse me, market priced assets
values can of course fluctuate. That means money may not
(08:30):
be available for a real emergency, so it's important to
remember that your emergency fund must stay two things liquid
and stable. That means the money is designed to be
available immediately in a crisis, hence the name Emergency Fund.
Parking it in an investment vehicle that's not guaranteed or
could lose value defeats its purpose, especially if it's locked
(08:53):
up for a period of time. You can explore higher
yield options for other savings bucket, but your emergency fund
belongs in a safe, liquid place. Now, let me also
mention more and more of our listeners are looking for
a banking partner that shares their values. They want to
know that this is an organization that is aligned with
(09:15):
my values as a Christ follower, that will use the
profits for not only providing great returns to me, but
perhaps to advance the kingdom at the same time. And
that's why we've partnered with the largest Christian banking institution
in the country, it's Christian Community Credit Union, and they
just announced recently, and this is really exciting. We've spent
(09:38):
a lot of time with their team understanding this, but
they're merging with a Delphi which was the second biggest, largest,
Second biggest in terms of size in this space of
Christian banking solutions. So put those two together, Keikyu and Adelphi.
And they are by far going to be the biggest
banking partner to assist you with your funds in terms
(10:03):
of cash back credit card, that actually with every swipe
takes a portion of what, uh, is, is coming to
the banking institution and directing it to Christian ministries. Incredibly
attractive savings accounts there harvest high yield savings, uh, also
lending for not only individuals but churches. So this is
(10:24):
going to be a really, I think, key relationship for
many of you that are looking for this type of, uh, opportunity.
So be sure to check it out today when you
go to faith banking, that's faith fi banking. And they
actually have a special, um, offer a bonus of up
to $400 if you use the code faithfully. Again, that's
(10:46):
faithfully comm slash. All right. We're going to dive into
your questions today. That number to call. If you've got
something going on in your financial life you'd like to
talk about is 800 525 7000. We're going to begin
today in Wisconsin. Cassie, go right ahead.
S3 (11:03):
Yeah. Thanks for taking my call. Um, my husband's wife
passed away. Um, and we got married two years ago,
and he has two adult children, and he's 14 years
older than I am. And so we are not for
sure how to handle, um, an inheritance for the kids
as well as, um, for me after he passes.
S1 (11:23):
Okay. Yeah. And and so this is something that you
really need to talk through. We actually just did an
episode on this recently with Ron Diehl. Uh, Ron's a
good friend. He's a regular contributor here on the program.
He runs Family life blended. Maybe you've heard of family life,
the marriage ministry? Well, family life blended is specifically, uh,
(11:44):
you know, catering to and serving blended families with godly wisdom. And, uh,
one of the things Ron suggests, just out of a
recognition that when you're coming together with a blended family
where prior to the marriage, you have, uh, children from
a previous marriage, assets that have been created in a
previous marriage, maybe a business is involved. It can get complicated.
(12:09):
And you need to think through with transparency and and,
you know, a real intentionality with regard to good communication
that can foster unity and oneness. What your plan is
with regard to those children, uh, so that you all
are on the same page. It's not trying to undermine
either of you, but it also allows you to acknowledge that,
(12:32):
you know, there's just different planning that needs to be
involved here. And Ron talks about something called a togetherness agreement,
where you have a shared vision for your financial life.
It involves laying out the assets and the debts and
the obligations honestly. The goal is not self-protection like it
is with a prenuptial agreement. The goal is unity and
(12:54):
mutual care, and it brings clarity, and I think ultimately
can prevent some conflict later. Um, so I'd like to
send you the book that really lays all of this out.
It's called The Smart Stepfamily Guide to Financial Planning. And
I think if you and your husband or husband to be, um,
(13:14):
you know, can work through this, and maybe you guys
are already married and if so, great. Um, but I
think this may give you a roadmap to deal with
some of these issues in a God honoring way, but
also with a lot of mutual respect and care. Does
that make sense?
S3 (13:29):
It does. Thank you.
S1 (13:30):
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And so if you stay on the line, uh,
we will, uh, get your information. We'll get that out
to you after you guys work through that. Cassie, if
you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to call back.
But I think, you know, this will kind of guide
you through the whole process of determining where you all
need to go from here. Thanks for thinking of us.
We appreciate your call today and being on the program. Uh, folks,
(13:52):
we're going to take a quick break. When we come back.
A lot more questions coming up, plus some room for
your question. If you've got something going on in your
financial life, call right now, that number 800 525 7000.
That's 800 525 7000. This is faith and finance. Live
biblical wisdom for your financial decisions, helping you live as
(14:15):
that wise and faithful steward. Our goal is that someday
you'd hear, well done, good and faithful servant. I'm Rob Weston.
We're just getting started. Don't go anywhere. Great to have
(14:36):
you with us today on faith and finance live here
on Moody Radio. By the way, we were talking before
the break with our previous caller about creating a shared
vision for blended family finances. I mentioned Ron Deal. Ron
authored an article in the current issue of Faithful Steward,
our magazine, on this very topic, talking about how every
couple needs to talk about their values related to money
(14:59):
and how they will create a shared vision for combining
incomes and debt while planning for the future care of
their children. But blended family finances can be challenging, but
he really lays out the idea that you and your
spouse can create a shared vision for your family's financial
future by building relational trust and then carefully considering financial agreements.
(15:24):
And he unpacks that in this beautifully written article specifically
for blended families. And this is the kind of material
that's in Faithful Steward each quarter, our beautiful magazine. The
new issue is at the printer right now. I can't
wait for you to get your hands on it. And
an interview with Kirk Cousins in there. Got an incredible
(15:45):
article on the story of Jonah and how you may
not have ever seen this in that story, but how
it really reveals this truth that spending decisions are spiritual decisions.
We also have a great article from Sharon Epps on
the Widow and the oil, the story from the Bible, and, uh,
an incredible article by Carol Kyle Worley on a Christian
(16:06):
response to sports betting. You know, sports betting is just
the rage right now. I mean, DraftKings has seen every
year their revenue double, if not more, and it has
become commonplace even among Christians. And so we take a
deep dive into the issue of sports betting and really
look at it through the lens of scripture, talk about
some of the challenges and, and really potential landmines that
(16:30):
exist in that space. If you'd like to ensure you
get a copy of Faithful steward each quarter when it
comes out mailed to your door. Just consider becoming a
faith buy partner when you head to faith partner. That's
faithful partner. And between now and the end of the
year when you become a partner, every gift is doubled
(16:50):
as we head toward year end because of some generous friends.
All right. We're taking your phone calls today. That number
is 800 525 7000. Let's go to Michigan, Carol. Go ahead.
S4 (17:01):
Hi. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. I had three questions.
They're kind of short, though. Um, I just wondered what
you thought about gold having gold in your hand as
opposed to investing in it, say, online or with a company.
And I was wondering if Charles Schwab is a safe
place to invest. And then I was also wondering, um,
(17:22):
if you think it's a good idea to have some
cash at home for, like, an emergency.
S1 (17:26):
Yeah, those are great questions. And you're right, we can
cover those quickly. So with regard to investing in gold,
here's the way I think about it. You know, I
think an allocation of gold should not be more than 10%
of your portfolio. Um, because you just don't, you know,
want to have too much, given that it's, it's more
volatile historically than stocks and bonds, and it doesn't perform
(17:48):
as well, even though we've seen a dramatic run up
just as of late. I think long term, you know,
that 10% max allocation is right. And I would think
in terms of that 10% being both pieces of what
you asked about, I think your first 5%, I would
consider taking possession of the physical gold. And I'll call
(18:11):
that your forever allocation. Now you have to store it
and insure it, and it's harder to sell quickly. But
the idea would be that this is, you know, a
gold allocation that you would plan to pass down and
you'd keep it forever. And then for that second 5%,
that's where I think using an exchange traded fund like
GLD LD or IAU, the two largest. There's plenty of others,
(18:35):
probably a dozen of them. It makes it much easier
to buy. You don't have the storage issues and you
have a lot more liquidity. So if you ever wanted
to kind of dial back your gold allocation, you could
do that with a click of a button. You place
a trade and it's gone. And so between the two,
it allows you to kind of have a portion that
(18:56):
you keep forever, and then a portion that allows you
to ratchet it up. It moves in lock step with
the underlying spot price of the metal. Um, but obviously
it doesn't have the same issues that you've got with
the physical gold. So I would think in terms of
a 50 over 50 split second, is Schwab a safe
place to invest? Absolutely safe, reputable, uh, one of the
(19:18):
biggest brokerage firms in the country, member of SIPC, which
protects your investments up to certain limits if the brokerage fails,
not against market losses, but against the, you know, the
company having a failure or some sort of fraud. Um,
very highly regulated. And so I think you would be
(19:39):
in great shape there. Uh, third, is it a good
idea to keep a little cash at home? Yeah, we
typically recommend, if you think about your expenses, I would
say two weeks worth of expenses max. And so the
idea there is that it's there because of a disruption
of some kind, uh, a power outage, card systems going down,
(20:02):
a storm, something that allows you to, you know, have
a couple of weeks worth of expenses of cash on hand.
You know, if there was a major disruption in the
banking system, the idea being we're not thinking long term.
You know, this is just a temporary outage of some
kind that would be restored in a relatively short period
of time. And that's where that could come in handy.
(20:24):
Does that all make sense, though?
S4 (20:27):
Yeah. It does. Um, yeah. Um, I was just wondering,
what is GLD and IAU? What does that mean?
S1 (20:33):
Yeah. Good question. So the other way to buy a
precious metal, in this case gold, rather than taking the
physical possession, like, you know, buying the one ounce bars
at Costco or finding a gold dealer that could sell
you gold bars or gold coins is to buy an
exchange traded fund. So think about this like a mutual fund,
except instead of it holding individual stocks, it basically has
(21:00):
the gold in a vault. And the investment the the
fund moves in lockstep with the price of gold. So
if gold's you know up its up if gold's down
it's down. And it moves in direct proportion to the
price of the underlying metal. But the benefit is it
trades like a stock. So you don't have to take
physical possession. So GLD and IAU are the ticker symbols
(21:24):
of of two of the largest gold ETFs in the country.
So at Charles Schwab you could place a trade and buy,
you know, $1,000 worth of GLD. And you'd basically be
buying $1,000 worth of gold. You're just never going to
take physical possession. But those shares are going to move
in lockstep with the price of gold. And so I
(21:46):
was just rattling off the two biggest gold ETFs in
the country. There's probably a dozen of them. I hope
that helps. Carol, thanks for your call today. We'll be
right back on Faith and finance Live. Great to have
(22:06):
you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. We've
got some lines open today. If you have a question,
something in your financial life you'd like to discuss, we'll
help you think it through in light of biblical wisdom. (800)Â 525-7000.
Coming up in our final segment today, Bob Dole stops by.
We'll get Bob's take on what's moving the markets market
up today. the Dow Jones up a little less than
(22:28):
a half a point. The S&P up a good bit. 1.5%.
The Nasdaq really soaring today up more than 2.5% as
a result of a reignited AI trade largely driven by
Google would get Bob's take on that, especially because AI
stocks have been under some pressure as of late. Bob Dole,
(22:50):
in our final segment. Let's head back to the phones. Chicago, Illinois. Karen.
Go ahead.
S5 (22:55):
Hi, Rob, thank you so much for taking my call.
S6 (22:58):
Of course.
S5 (22:58):
Um, so I'm 36 years old and I have a
401 K. I don't necessarily put that much in it.
I think it's like maybe $25 every two weeks for
every paycheck. But, uh, I would really like to, like,
invest more, but I'm not necessarily I don't really understand
like the difference between between like the Nasdaq, the S&P,
(23:21):
like an index fund and like all the different variations, like,
what do they really mean, you know? And what would
be the best option for someone in my age group
with a, I guess, a fair, uh, you know, I'm
willing to risk them.
S1 (23:34):
Yeah, yeah. Very good. Uh, so what percent of your income, Karen,
are you putting into your 401 K?
S5 (23:40):
Um, let me see. Ah, I don't know, maybe, like.
S6 (23:46):
Yeah.
S5 (23:47):
5%.
S1 (23:49):
Okay. And are they matching any portion of that?
S5 (23:52):
Um, they will only match up to, like, uh, 1%,
I think.
S1 (23:58):
Yeah. No problem. Well, the match is a great thing,
so we want to add a minimum. Make sure you're
taking advantage of that because that's free money. Uh, you know,
if you get 100, you put in 1% and then
they add 1% to it. That's 100% return on your money.
You're not going to get that anywhere else. Now, your
goal would be assuming you've got an emergency fund of
3 to 6 months worth of expenses, and assuming you
(24:20):
don't have any high interest debt like credit card debt
that you're carrying month to month and you're on track with.
If you have any student loans to, let's say, pay
those off within ten years. Um, the only other thing
I would add is if you have a near term
savings goal, like you're trying to buy a house or
something like that, you need to replace a car or
buy a car. Um, you would want to be, you know,
(24:41):
saving toward those in a reasonable time period. But if
if you've got all those boxes checked, we ultimately want
to get that 401 K contribution up to 10 to 15%
of your income, and you may not be able to
do that right now. And that's okay. But that's a
great target for you because that tax deferred environment in
(25:01):
your 401 K is really the best place for your
long term money. What does that mean? Well, that means
you get a current tax deduction when the money goes in.
So it saves you a little bit on your taxes.
But it also means that as the money in the
401 K is invested in stocks and bonds and mutual funds,
and we'll talk about those in a second. You have
no impact of taxes on the growth along the way,
(25:24):
like you would if you were investing outside of a
retirement plan, because every time you bought something and sold
it for a profit, if you were outside of the
401 K, you'd have to pay some tax on that
called a capital gain. That doesn't happen inside that 401 K.
So the full amount is free to grow all the
way up until retirement. Now when you start pulling it
(25:45):
out you'll pay tax on it like income. Uh, you know,
at that time. But we're talking, you know, 30 plus
years down the road after it's grown a whole lot
bigger than it is today. So that's really a great
place for your money. And let's just try to continue
to keep your lifestyle at a minimum and try to
ratchet up the percentage going into that 401 K as
(26:06):
you're able. Now, what investments do we want to put
inside of it? Well, the nice thing about the 401
K is it's not like there's unlimited choices. You generally
have kind of a menu of investment options. So what
is a stock. Well a stock. A stock is a
very small percentage of ownership in an actual company. So
stock ownership is real ownership. What is a bond. It's
(26:29):
a loan to a company or a government. And then
a mutual fund or an index fund or just basically
a basket of investments. So at your age, just getting started,
starting to put some money into a 401 K, you're
going to use mutual funds inside the 401 K. And
again there's going to be a pretty limited menu of options.
(26:50):
And you're going to want to be almost exclusively at
your age in stock funds because you're worried, you know,
more concerned about long term growth. And to your point,
from what you said a moment ago, you know, you
are willing to take some risk because you've got so
much time on your side. And so, um, you know
what you could do? One of the simplest ways to
(27:11):
go about this is what's called either a target date
or a life cycle fund. And basically that's where you
pick your expected retirement date and you find the fund
that matches it. So inside your 401 K, you know,
let's say, you know, this is 2025. Uh, and so
(27:31):
let's say we're looking 30 years down the road until
you're 66, uh, you would look for, you know, the, the,
the target date fund that's 30 years out for you.
So you'd be looking at a 2055 target date fund. Well,
the good part about that is you could put all
your money in that 2055 target date fund, and it's
(27:51):
automatically going to invest in a way that's appropriate for
a 36 year old, which means it's going to have
almost all of the money in stocks and very little
in bonds. And that's what you want. But it takes
a lot of the guesswork out, makes it really simple,
and it's just something that you can park all the
money in and then just you focus on, you know,
(28:11):
getting more and more going in on a, you know,
out of every paycheck. Does that all make sense, though? Oh, Karen,
are you still with us? Looks like we lost Karen. But, Karen,
I hope that's helpful if we do get you back. Um,
I'd love to send you a copy of the Sound
Mind Investing Handbook. And so, uh, if you are able
to call back, feel free to, uh, give us a
(28:32):
call back, and our team will get your information and
get that right out to you. Thanks for your call.
Lord bless you. Uh, Wyoming. Steve. Go ahead.
S7 (28:40):
Yeah. Uh, thanks for taking my call, Rob. Hey, of
course I've got a question. I, uh, retired when I
was 66, and I've never touched my retirement. Uh, my
my company paid retirement, my IRA, and I'm 73. I
turned 73 this October, and I know that there's a mandatory.
(29:04):
I have to take so much out of that account.
S6 (29:07):
Yeah.
S7 (29:08):
Uh, every year. And I was kind of wondering, like,
how does the percentage go on that? And also, um,
I want the money to go to my children. I
tithe it, I'm going to tithe it as I take
it out. And, uh, and I tie the regularly and
give to to, uh, um, you know, people that that I,
(29:31):
you know, that God leads me to give to. But. Sure. Um,
I just, I just want to make sure I'm a
good steward with this money, and there's a lot of
money in there. I mean, I've never touched it. Yeah.
And God's blessed me so I can live. I've never
had to touch anything in my retirement. I've actually been
able to invest in other things also.
S1 (29:51):
But that's amazing. Well, let me let me try to
tackle this before our break because this is a great question.
So two things. One is you're right. At 73 you
do have to start a required minimum. How much do
you have to withdraw. Well the amount is based on
your IRA balance as of December 31st of last year
and what's called the IRS Uniform Lifestyle Lifetime table, which
(30:14):
is basically a a life expectancy factor. And your brokerage
firm will calculate this for you. But let me just
give you an example. At 73 the factor is 26.5.
So the RMD is the prior year end balance divided
by 26.5. So if you had a, you know 265,000
in there divided by 26.5, you'd have to take out 10,000.
(30:38):
The good news is, as long as you're over 70.5
and you are, it can go straight from your IRA
to a 501 C3 charity, including your church. It counts
toward your RMD and it goes into ministry. Stay on
the line. We'll be right back. Great to have you
(31:02):
with us today on Faith and finance. Live here in
the final segment. Bob Dole is here. Bob. Uh, boy,
it seems like, uh, AI was taking a break last week,
but perhaps we've turned the corner today at least. What's
driving this Nasdaq resurgence here?
S8 (31:18):
Yeah, quite a comeback today as you point out. Started
on Friday as you know, after the horrible middle of
the week performance. We're still not back for most stocks
to the high where we were before. So there's more
work to do. I think the resurgence is simply, uh, hey,
these stocks have sold off. The story is still pretty good.
I think I'll buy some. That's what's going on here.
(31:40):
I think we'll have more of that toing and froing,
as we say, Rob.
S1 (31:44):
I guess in particular Nvidia. And then also today alphabet. Google. Right.
S8 (31:49):
Yeah. Google's been leading the way. They've had some some
good news along with good earnings. And they have resumed
leadership among the Mag seven and have uh plumbed new highs.
S1 (32:02):
Yeah. No doubt about it, Bob. Uh, I know you,
when we talked recently, you mentioned really three key factors
you're looking at in terms of where this market goes
from here. Unpack those for us.
S8 (32:12):
Yeah. The first is the fed and inflation. Will the
fed cut rates in December? Um you know it's kind
of 5050 with people out there. And the fed funds
futures curve is saying higher higher than 50 but not
a lot that they will cut. That's the first issue.
Second is the economy but more particularly the job market
(32:33):
and consumer spending weakening. And many of those statistics not
significant weakening but enough to talk about it. And the
third item is the whole AI issue, in particular the
capital expenditure cycle. Companies are running out of balance sheet
strength to do it all by equity, doing it more
by debt financing. And that has some investors concerned. Rob.
S1 (32:56):
Yeah no doubt about it Bob, as you look out
to next year. I mean, what are you starting to
think about in terms of potential for next year? Do
you feel like we continue to run here or do
we say no, we're going to have more of a
sideways market.
S8 (33:10):
Well, I think the economy is going to be generally okay.
In fact, it could be with the big beautiful bill
and a few other things stronger in 26 than it
has been in 2025. But the big but is but
the market knows that. And at these valuations levels the
sort of discounted it. So we could have a better
(33:31):
economy than the stock market in 2026.
S1 (33:36):
Yeah. And do you feel like we see earnings hold
up pretty well next year. Do you think we see
see some weakness there.
S8 (33:42):
Well I think earnings will be okay. But will they
be good enough to meet expectations which are mid-teens 1,516%.
That's quite a run from already extended levels and a
good year this year after a good year last year.
So I think the jury is out. It's back to
the news is good. But does the market already know it?
S1 (34:05):
Yeah, no doubt about it. And then obviously the the
fed cuts have been a big part of the the
gains this year, and that's going to all hinge on
prices and inflation ultimately. Right.
S8 (34:16):
Absolutely. That's why I come back to these three issues,
one of which is in fact inflation. Is it contained
enough for the fed to lower rates as much as
people think? You know, my point of view has been
be nice to see inflation at two, but it seems
to stay stubborn at three. Um, and therefore there's a
lot of work to do.
S1 (34:35):
Bob, last question. You know, for those listening today that
are sitting on some appreciated stock, perhaps far more than
they expected for 2026 outside of retirement accounts. Talk about
the missed opportunity that we so often have with giving
of appreciated assets before they're sold.
S8 (34:53):
Boy, you're right there. As you know, Rob, people can donate, um,
securities with a big gain. And, uh, you not have
to pay the capital gains tax. Uh, and you get
the deduction for the market value of what it is
that you are transferring. So if gains have been stronger
than people thought and that's almost everybody, this is a
(35:14):
wonderful time to think about being generous.
S1 (35:17):
No doubt about it Bob. Have a great Thanksgiving.
S8 (35:19):
You the same.
S1 (35:21):
All right. That's Bob Dole Crossmark Global Investments. You can
learn more at crossmark. Global.com. All right. Let's try to
round out the broadcast. We'll get to hopefully at least
two more questions. Uh, Sherman in North Carolina. Go ahead.
S9 (35:34):
Hey, Rob, thank you for taking my questions. Of course. Um,
my my mother just sold a piece of property, and
she's gonna be coming. Coming to a sum of money
after taxes are paid of about $250,000. And she's 83
years old, and we don't really know what to do
with the money. Um, my thought process is I'm looking
for for a long term care. And, um, where do
(35:59):
I stick it to in case I need it in
ten years or in case I need it in ten days?
I don't I don't know where to put it, I
was thinking. So anyway, I just want to hear what
you got to say.
S1 (36:09):
Yeah, great. You know, um, the priority here, of course,
is safety, liquidity and then simplicity while still earning a
reasonable return. And I think that's at the heart of
your question. So, you know, really the first option would
be high yield savings. I mean, this is the best
for check access and safety, either privately or FDIC insured,
(36:32):
pays a much better rate than a normal bank. You
can link it or she can link it to her
checking account. You've got easy transfers, easy access, no risk
to the principal. Um, so you know, if you want
or she wants physical checks on it. Uh, she could
keep a small checking account and essentially pull money from
(36:53):
the savings as needed. And this keeps the funds safe
and liquid. I think the second option would be a
money market deposit account at a bank, or a money
market fund at a brokerage. Um, you know, the the
bank money market account is going to also have that
FDIC insurance and often allow check writing. And again, good
for seniors who want some, uh, simplicity. The rate will
(37:16):
be decent, but not the highest. The brokerage money market
fund is going to give you a little bit higher yield.
Very liquid. Allow some check writing, but not FDIC insured.
Although extremely conservative and I would say widely used for
cash holdings. Either one is a great parking place, you know,
(37:38):
for 250,000. The third option maybe is short term CDs
that are laddered where you, you know, you put them
in six month or 12 month CDs and 50 or 100,000, um,
and it improves the interest while keeping everything safe as
long as it comes due, you know, at a regular
interval so you can get access to it. Um, so
(37:59):
those would be the options I would consider and maybe
the pros and cons of each.
S9 (38:04):
Oh, okay. All right, well, look, thank you for answering
my question. I appreciate it so much.
S1 (38:09):
Absolutely. Thank you. Sherman, we appreciate your call, sir. Uh.
Let's see. Joliet, Illinois. Lee. Go ahead.
S10 (38:16):
Yeah. Thank you, Rob, for taking my call. I appreciate
your ministry. Um, quick question. Um, we have a Sallie
Mae $10,000 school loan. It doesn't seem like it's a 10% interest.
Doesn't seem like we're chipping away at the principle very much.
Is there, uh, an alternative or two where you could
(38:40):
refinance that Sallie Mae student loan that would give you
a better interest rate?
S1 (38:46):
Yeah. So this is a Sallie Mae, which would be private. Uh,
so you don't have the federal protections, right?
S10 (38:54):
Right.
S1 (38:55):
Yeah. So I think that does open up some options
there because the Sallie Mae loans they used to service
the federal loans years ago, but today they really are
the private education loans. So these are not federal student loans.
So that means, you know, you definitely have the refinancing option.
(39:15):
So I would check the reputable private lenders, which you're
probably going to find is it's just not quite time
for you to refinance. Um, you know, you would you
would want to wait until you could save, uh, you know,
you would get something. If you're at ten now, I'd
want you to be, you know, somewhere in the 5
to 8% range. Um, but I would check with Sophie. Sophie. Um, Ernest. Uh,
(39:40):
Laurel road lending club discover has student loans. I mean,
you could go out there online and really just see
who has the best rates right now. And ultimately it's
going to come down to credit score income, debt to
income ratio. And whether you know you want a fixed
or variable rate, Eight. Um, but at the end of
the day, you know, you can absolutely refinance a 10%
(40:03):
private Sallie Mae loan. And I would just shop around
and compare rates. And, you know, if you could save
a couple of points, I think that would absolutely be
worth it.
S10 (40:15):
Okay. So but we're still looking at maybe a little
bit more time than, uh, to get to those rates or, um,
you think Sophie or somebody is already offering a better deal?
S1 (40:30):
You know, I think you could do better than 10%.
The question is whether you want to go ahead with
it right now, uh, or whether you want to wait. But, yeah,
I mean, you could I mean, rates right now, if
you're at ten, uh, I'm seeing rates right now if
you have excellent credit and good income and stable employment.
I mean, you could you could qualify for something in
(40:52):
the 5 to 8% range right now. And I think
that would be absolutely worth it.
S10 (40:57):
Okay. I appreciate your appreciate your help.
S1 (41:01):
Absolutely. Thanks for calling. We appreciate you being on the program. Well, folks,
that's going to do it for us. You know, as
we head toward the end of the broadcast, let me
just mention, because this is such an important time for
us here at year end, uh, the invitation for you
to join us as a supporter of Faith and Finance Live.
This broadcast is brought to you each day by Faith fi.
(41:23):
As a result of your giving, it's listener supported. Which
means we only do what we do because of your assistance.
And right now, here at the end of the year,
it's a great time to think about joining us in
supporting this work to equip God's people to manage God's money,
God's way, because every gift is doubled between now and
December 31st. Also, every gift of any amount will ensure
(41:45):
that we're able to send you a copy of my
new devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure, when it comes out in January.
So if you would, uh, head to faith. Com that's faith. Five.
Dot com slash give. Your donation will be matched and
that doubles your impact. You can also track along with us.
Our goal is 175,000 between now and December 31st. Already
(42:09):
57,000 in the door which is amazing. So we're a
little over $100,000 away, and we've got about five weeks
to do it. And you'll be able to watch the
tracker and see how we're doing. But, uh, if you
love the program, you've been helped by it. Maybe you've
been able to apply something you've learned. We'd love to
have you jump on board, and we'd love to send
(42:30):
you a copy of that new resource. So Faithful Give
is the place to go. Faith and finance is a
partnership between Moody Radio and Faith by my amazing team
today Taylor, Sara, Josh, Dan and Jim plus everybody here
at Faith by Hope. You have a great day. Come
back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you then. Bye bye.
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