July 10, 2025 • 42 mins
What if your investments could do more than grow your wealth? What if they could also be used to fight injustice, uplift your neighbor, and even bring joy to the world? Joy probably isn’t the first word that comes to mind when you think about investing, but maybe it should be. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Robin John will join Rob West to share how investing can be more than financial—it can be deeply spiritual. Then it’s on to your questions on different financial topics. That’s Faith & Finance Live, where biblical wisdom meets today’s finances, weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:07):
What if your investments could do more than grow your wealth?
What if they could also fight injustice, uplift your neighbor,
and even bring joy to the world? Hi, I'm Rob West.
Joy probably isn't the first word that comes to mind
when you think about investing, but maybe it should be.
Robin John joins us today to share how investing can
be more than financial. It can be deeply spiritual. And
(00:30):
then it's on to your calls and questions at 800
525 7000. That's 800 525 7000. This is faith in finance. Live.
Biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well, it's always a
joy to welcome Rob and John back to the program.
He's the co-founder and CEO of Eventide Asset Management, a
(00:53):
Boston based investment firm committed to investing that makes the
world rejoice. And even tied as a proud underwriter of
this broadcast as well. Robin, great to have you back
with us.
S2 (01:05):
Thank you so much, Rob.
S1 (01:06):
Robin, I can't wait to dive into our topic today,
which is around your new book, The Good Investor How
Your Work Can Confront Injustice. Love your Neighbor and Bring
Healing to the world. It's one of the most engaging
investing books I've ever read, filled with powerful stories that
bring the principles to life. And I'd love to begin
(01:28):
right there. You opened the book with a story from
your time in India that clearly left a deep impact
on you, and so if you don't mind, would you
share that with our listening audience?
S2 (01:38):
I am so thankful for this opportunity to share the story. Uh,
you know, I was born in India and I was
eight when I moved to the US. I was born
in a small village in southern India, and when I
was 23 years old, I was working at a large
custody bank, And they asked me whether I would go
(02:00):
back to India to help with outsourcing. And it's that
experience that really led me to question my purpose, my calling, uh,
and really to, uh, understand, uh, the sacred secular kind
of mindset that I was, uh, having at the time.
(02:21):
So I was, uh, sent to a place called Pune, India. And, uh,
I was staying in a guest house, and there were
two young guys who took care of me at the
guest house. Their names were Amal. And, you know, every
day they were taking care of me. They were cooking
for me, ironing my clothes for me. And one day,
(02:42):
you know, as they were preparing my dinner, I was
in the kitchen just talking to them. And I asked
them because I saw behind the kitchen a pantry and
a mat. I said to them, is that where you sleep?
And they said, yes, sir, That's where we sleep. I
had a beautiful bed. Air conditioned room. There were lots
(03:03):
of empty rooms. And these two guys were sleeping on
the floor. On a concrete floor, in a hot, humid pantry.
And no pillow. No blanket. And that really bothered me.
And I'm also in my mid 20s. I looked very
much like them, also from India. And I emailed management
(03:25):
in America and the response I got was these guys
are not our responsibility. We are outsourcing this guest house
to a local vendor. And ultimately lots of conversations. Later
I came to the conclusion incorrectly that business is just business.
Business is about making profit. It doesn't care about people.
(03:48):
And I'm just here to make money for others. And
that was very dissatisfying to me. And that led me
to a search and a prayer and fasting to really
understand God's calling in my life.
S1 (04:04):
Now that sets you on a journey. And a lot
of things began to transpire, including you losing your job
for you to explore at a much deeper level. The
purpose behind our work, right?
S2 (04:15):
Yeah. So I was really struggling during that time, and
I had a sacred secular mindset. And I really did
believe that business was about just making profit and just
making as much money as you possibly can. What I
did is I spent a lot of time praying and fasting,
and my friend Finney prayed with me. And I remember
(04:37):
praying through Romans chapter 12, not conforming to the pattern
of renewing our minds. What I needed was a renewed
understanding of what business is and what investing is. And
I really believe that through that prayer, God gave me
a renewed understanding that business is much more than about profit,
and therefore investing can be much more than shareholder value maximization.
S1 (05:01):
Well, we're going to continue to talk about that, because
that led to the founding of Eventide Investing. That makes
the world rejoice. We're talking about The Good Investor, the
new book from Rob and John, co-founder and CEO of
Eventide Asset Management. Back with more after this. Stick around.
(05:31):
Thanks for joining us today on Faith in Finance Live.
I'm Rob West with me today. My friend Rob and John.
He's the co-founder and CEO of Eventide Asset Management, a
Boston based investment firm committed to investing that makes the
world rejoice. We're talking about Robin's brand new book, The
Good Investor How Your Work Can Confront Injustice, Love Your
(05:54):
neighbor and bring healing to the world. Buy it wherever
you buy books. Robin. Before the break, you were sharing
some of the backstory that led to this discovery around
really the purpose of our work, the deeper purpose behind that,
and that led you ultimately with Finney, who you mentioned
before the break to found Eventide and you began to
(06:16):
really reimagine investing in a way that would bring human
flourishing to the world and kick out those companies that
were harming their stakeholders. Let's dive into that a bit more.
And your mind, what makes a company truly worth investing in?
S2 (06:33):
Yeah, for a company, what we look for a company
is whether the company's products and practices are truly good.
In other words, we talk about goods and services. Is
the good truly good, and it's the service that the
company offers. Does it truly serve a need? Yes. And
so we want good products and we also want good
(06:56):
practices companies whose management teams seek to serve well their customers,
their employees, their supply chains, host communities, environment and society.
So ultimately, we believe that investing is ownership. Investors participate
(07:16):
in the dividends and capital gains, and therefore we are
rooting for the companies that we invest in. So the
big question for us became what types of businesses do
we want to root for in the world? These are
the companies that are the companies that I believe have
products and practices that are good, and we want to
partner with those companies.
S1 (07:37):
Yeah, that's exciting. And that's certainly one side of this.
I know there's another side with regard to those companies
that you intentionally exclude. And in the book you use
the phrase fighting dragons. Talk about that particular aspect of investing?
S2 (07:53):
Yeah. In the book, I talk about how dragons. Are
these creatures in stories that lurk right outside the town?
The village. And they are there to cause harm. And
so we want to avoid dragons. We want to fight dragons.
We want to avoid investing in companies and allocating capital
(08:16):
and supporting companies that are causing systemic harm. This includes
things like addiction, exploitation, injustice. I often talk about the
tobacco example. Um, a more recent example that I think
all of us are hearing a lot about in the
news now is sports betting. Online gambling. And I was
(08:41):
just looking, just even last night at a public company
called DraftKings. And, uh, in 2020, their revenue was 600 million.
In 2021 1.2 billion. So it doubled it. 2022 2.2 billion.
And now 2024 4.7 billion. And they're estimating 6.5 billion
(09:03):
in 2025. So you know yes. You know if you're
just trying to make money. A company like DraftKings would
be fine. But as a Christian, we should be asking ourselves,
what do we want to advocate for in the world?
What do we want to promote in the world? Do
we want to root for a company whose customers are
(09:25):
really being harmed in the process? You know, I you know,
I was reading recently about the increased divorce rates, the
increased rates, the increased even suicide rates due to online gambling.
It's a major issue that's becoming a bigger and bigger
problem in our country. And we as Christian investors can
(09:48):
either choose to fight the dragons or feed the dragons.
S1 (09:53):
Yeah, boy, it's a powerful idea, and it's one that
so often investors just have not considered. Robin. And the
exciting that we now have opportunity to actually think about
this and choose investments that are world class, that do
exactly what you're talking about here today. Now, you said
as a part of this journey, you spent a lot
of time in the book of Genesis. And I know
(10:14):
you talk about this idea of tending gardens as a metaphor.
Talk about how that applies to the way we approach investing.
S2 (10:22):
Yeah. When we read Genesis one, we see a mandate
to cultivate. God calls us to cultivate the earth, and
God creates us in his image and build culture and
cultivate as he would, a good God. So we are
supposed to bring goodness into our everyday work. So when
(10:43):
I think about this call to cultivate in a business context,
I think about companies that are really promoting human flourishing
through their products and practices. Imagine a trucking company that
seeks to care for drivers so that their drivers could
sleep in their own beds, at home, with their own
families every night. Imagine a company that is seeking to
(11:06):
cure cancer. Imagine a company that is treating Alzheimer's or
Duchenne muscular dystrophy. These are the types of companies that
we want to partner with. The Bible, ultimately in Romans 12,
says to hate what is evil and also to cling
to what is good.
S1 (11:24):
Yeah. Now I want to talk about how this comes
out through the work you do at Eventide. How do
you help investors live out this vision of becoming the
good investor at Eventide?
S2 (11:38):
We have a framework that we call the business 360 framework,
and what we seek to do for our investors is
to help them to invest in a way that aligns
with biblical values. The love your neighbor principle. So we
are seeking to invest in companies that are loving and
serving the real needs of the world, especially loving and
(12:01):
serving their customers. Employees. Supply chains. Host communities. Environment. Society.
As I mentioned earlier, we have an avoid, embrace, engage framework.
We want to hate what is evil, but try to
cling to find the companies that are promoting human flourishing. Uh,
for investors that are investing with us. Uh, all of
(12:25):
our investing is done this way. Uh, for listeners today,
I would encourage you to visit, uh, both the Eventide
Investments website, but also, uh, good investor. Com when you
go to good Investor. Com there are two tools on
that website that I believe would be helpful for the listener.
(12:47):
One of the tools is to screen your portfolio, so
you could just put your current portfolio into the tool
and just see for basic biblical values like abortion, pornography, tobacco.
How is your portfolio currently doing? But then secondly, we
have a tool on that website that could connect to
(13:08):
you with the financial advisor that understands and practices good investing.
S1 (13:14):
Yeah, that is great. Again, that website again Robin.
S2 (13:17):
Is good investor.
S1 (13:19):
Com excellent. We've got just a few seconds left. If
there's one thing you hope investors walk away with from
reading The Good Investor what would it be?
S2 (13:28):
I really want investors to walk away believing and being
inspired that their investments can change the world and can
honor God in the process.
S1 (13:38):
Well, Robin, I am so excited about this book. Folks,
you need to pick up a copy today. You can
buy it wherever you buy books. It's called The Good Investor.
And also check out these two tools at Good investor.com. Robin,
appreciate your friendship and thanks for your time today.
S2 (13:55):
Thank you Rob.
S1 (13:56):
That's Rob of Eventide Asset Management and the author of
The Good Investor. Your vision for how our work and
investments can honor God and Serve others. When you read
it back with your questions after this 800 525 7000.
This is faith and finance. Live. Biblical wisdom for your
financial journey. We'll be right back.
S3 (14:26):
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, legal, or other professional who understands your specific situation.
S1 (14:49):
Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance Live.
I'm Rob West boy, I'm really looking forward to taking
your calls and questions today. The number to call to
get in on the conversation 800 525 7000. Again, that
number is 800 525 7000. You can call right now.
We've got some lines open. Those lines will fill up quickly.
And so now would be a great time for you
(15:11):
to uh try to get through. And we'd love to
have you on the broadcast today. Boy, what a treat
to have my friend Robin John here today. You know,
I am so excited about the opportunity we have in
what we call faith based investing. You know, this really
even two, three, 4 or 5 years ago did not
exist anywhere near the way it exists today. In fact,
I was on the phone this week with one of
(15:34):
the major indexes, the companies behind one of the major
indexes that you would know from Wall Street. You'd see
this index referenced on the nightly news every night, and
they were talking about the Christian version of the index
that they're about to roll out. And there's major ETF
providers right behind it, ready to create products around it.
(15:54):
And then you have active managers like Eventide, Rob and
John that was on today and want to set and
Praxis and Crossmark and inspire and Guidestone and so many
others and world class investment opportunities that allow you to
deploy God's capital in a way that's aligned with your
values as a Christ follower. You see, investing is ownership.
(16:15):
No matter how little of a piece of ownership you
have of that company. It may be very small ownership.
And I love what Robin says about, you know, we
root for we should be rooting for the companies that
we own because we want them to do well. And
so making sure those companies not only aren't misaligned with
our values where they're harming people, but this idea that
we can include companies in our when we deploy capital,
(16:37):
which is essentially applying God's capital to businesses, as Robin said,
creating goods and services. We can do that in a
way that's going to promote human flourishing. That's an incredible opportunity.
And to be able to do that toe to toe,
if not exceed what those offer, what we're typically accustomed
to in the investing space. What an amazing opportunity. Well,
(16:58):
that's the opportunity we have today that we did not
have even a few years ago. And that whole space
is growing so rapidly. Um, interestingly, we have just begun.
And here's what I mean by that. You know, our
data here at Kingdom Advisors and Faith fi says that
there's about $22 trillion in the hands of Christians that
have been deployed, public stock and stocks, basically stocks you
(17:23):
would buy on the New York Stock Exchange or on
on the public markets. 22 trillion. Well, guess how much.
So there's so much potential here to deploy incredible, vast
amounts of capital into companies that are going to make
the world rejoice, as Robin said. And that's an amazing
opportunity that we have, and we're going to help you
(17:44):
follow that, because this whole space is growing so quickly,
and there's so much innovation taking place right now, new
products and offerings coming online. And it really is an
exciting time. And we're going to continue to shine a
spotlight on it, because I am just delighted with what's
going on there. But we realize you have questions, things
going on in your life that may be on a
(18:05):
wide range of topics, and so we want to dive
into those today. So if you have a question you'd
like to get in on the conversation today, we'd love
to hear from you. Just call 800 525 7000. Again,
that number is 800 525 7000. And we can tackle
whatever is on your mind today. All right. Let's begin
(18:26):
in Illinois. Francine, thank you for calling. How can I
serve you?
S4 (18:30):
Hi, Rob. I want to thank you for taking my call.
First and foremost.
S5 (18:34):
Yes, ma'am.
S4 (18:35):
Um, I am calling because I am really, like, Confused
about some things as to investing money. Um, I currently
have some money in a money market account which isn't
earning much at all. So I'm looking for some answers
and some guidance from a believer connection that I can, uh,
(19:01):
get some advice, some good, sound advice to, uh, invest
in ways to have some capital increase.
S1 (19:11):
Yeah. Very good. Well, we always want to start with
two things. First one is the what is the time
horizon on the money. And that is based on everything
you know today. When do you think you might need
this money for whatever purpose you have it intended for.
S4 (19:27):
Well, I'm, I'm looking at the fact that this money
can stay put long term. I don't need it for
anything upcoming. I foresee within a couple of years or so,
something like that. I don't need it right away. No.
S1 (19:42):
Okay. Okay. Now, where I would come in, there is
to say, you know, typically if we're going to invest it,
like you're going to put it into a mutual fund
or some stocks and try to grow it, you're going
to take some risk with that. But the risk and
return is what we look at. And you've got to,
you know, you take a reasonable amount of risk to
get a better return than you're getting in your money
(20:03):
market right now. And that makes a lot of sense.
But I would want to make sure you have at
least a five year, if not a ten year time
horizon on that money for you to feel good about
investing it. Because if you might need it a couple
of years down the road, well, we don't know where
the market's going to be two years down the road.
We may be in a recession, the stock market may
be down 20 or 30%. And what I wouldn't want
(20:24):
is you to have to pull this money out, sell
it at a loss, and call me and say, guess what, Rob,
I lost money. Um, now, do we know it's going
to be higher in ten years? No, but we do
know that when time is on our side, when we
go back the last hundred years of stock market investing,
and you look at any ten year period, you know,
generally speaking, the market does well over those long time horizons.
(20:48):
So given that, do you feel like there's a good
likelihood you might need this money in less than five years?
S4 (20:56):
No, I can say it longer.
S1 (20:58):
Okay. How much money are we talking about?
S4 (21:02):
Well, it's not a lot. It's maybe, like, um. I
can afford to put away about 10,000.
S1 (21:08):
Okay. I think the best thing to do would be
to head to, um, the website sound mind investing. Dot,
our friends at Sound Mind Investing could help you pick
some mutual funds. You have a little bit less than
what you would need to have an advisor oversee this
for you, but sound mind investing could be helpful. Also,
something called the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. Stay on the line.
(21:31):
I'll tell you more. Off the air. We'll be right back.
Thanks for joining us today on Faith in Finance Live.
I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions. I've
got room for maybe 1 or 2 more questions to
get to between now and the end of the broadcast.
You can call 800 525 7000. Let's go to uh,
(21:54):
Boise will go ahead.
S6 (21:57):
Hi, Rob. Uh, thanks for taking my call.
S5 (22:00):
Yes, sir.
S6 (22:01):
I, I just, uh, liquidated all my investment accounts out
of Raymond James and put it into, uh, with Bishop
Gold Group, into all precious, um, metals. And, uh, the
reason I made the change is twofold. Um, was I
(22:24):
found out that my investment accounts, IRAs and what have
you were not FDIC insured. And the other reason was
Raymond James support of the LGBTQ agenda. And I'm just
wondering if I made a good decision on that. Of
putting everything into precious metals.
S1 (22:46):
How much are we talking about, Will?
S6 (22:50):
Uh, about 320.
S1 (22:51):
Yeah. Um, if you would have called me to ask me,
you know, should I do this? I said no. Uh,
and here's why. Um, you know, I like precious metals.
It's a store of value. It allows you to be
more diversified. It's an uncorrelated asset, meaning, you know, it
tends to move. You know, it doesn't move with stocks, uh,
(23:13):
other assets. You know, it tends in times of unrest
and fear. You know, it tends to do well. Uh,
there are other factors that drive precious metals, but, you know,
it has a place. But I would have told, you know,
more than 10%, you know, so if we're talking about
a $350,000 portfolio, I would have said, let's not put
more than 35,000 in gold. And if it's in a
(23:35):
retirement account, I would have said, you know, let's use ETFs,
exchange traded funds to do it. Um, and just from
a performance standpoint, the data is, you know, pretty clear that,
you know, gold has not performed as well as a
properly diversified stock portfolio. So the last five years, gold
(23:56):
has annualized seven, S&P 500 has done 12 per year.
The last ten years gold has annualized about 4%, S&P
about 11. You know, the last uh, well, since 1926,
gold has done between 4 and 5% a year. The
S&P 500 has done ten. Uh, now, you are correct that,
(24:17):
you know, with an investment account, there is no FDIC insurance.
That's going to be true no matter who you invest with.
FDIC only protects bank accounts like checking and savings and
CDs up to 250,000 depositor type investment accounts. They have
SIPC insurance, but that's only protecting against fraud or a
(24:38):
brokerage firm failure, not market losses. So whenever you're investing,
you are assuming the risk. But that's why we stay
diversified like the book of Ecclesiastes talks about. That's why
we invest in, you know, solid, stable investments that have
good liquidity, good sales and earnings and, you know, are
going to grow over time. And that's why despite, you know,
(24:59):
1929 and you know the.com and the Great Recession and
you know, the uh, the pandemic I mean, all of
these events that we could look at over the last
100 years, that's why the stock market has done well.
As I mentioned, it's averaged about 10% since 1926. Um,
(25:19):
because if time is on our side and we invest
in quality companies, and I would add to that where
we started today, companies hopefully that align with your values
as well. You're going to do well. But are you
taking risk? Absolutely you are. And that's just a reality.
But I would submit will that you're you're taking more
risk with 100% stock or precious metals portfolio than you
(25:43):
would have been if you would have just stayed with
Ray J, because neither of them are protected. And there's
more volatility with precious metals and there's less performance. Does
that make sense, though?
S6 (25:56):
Uh, yeah. I'm tracking with you.
S5 (25:58):
Okay.
S1 (25:59):
Uh, so, I mean, you've got to decide what to
do with that. And the way we manage that risk
is we diversify and not only among the various investments,
but among assets. And so that's where, you know, at age,
what did you say your age was?
S6 (26:16):
I'm 75.
S5 (26:17):
Okay.
S1 (26:18):
So at 75, I would say, and this is just
a ballpark. This is not you know, each person needs
to decide what's right for them. But I'd say at 75,
you might want to have 30 to 35% in stocks
and maybe, uh, you know, 65 to 70% in bonds.
So you'd have a very low, um, you know, a
fairly conservative portfolio. And you'd you'd hope that that stock
(26:40):
portion would generate some growth. The bonds would generate income.
Maybe you put 10% of that five from each of
those two categories and precious metals. And over over time
you'd do well. And I would encourage you probably to
get a, um, who can align with your values in
terms of how they're choosing the investments. And, you know,
for me, there's there's CS at Raymond James and Edward
(27:02):
Jones and Merrill Lynch and there's plenty of them are independent.
So they're all over Wall Street. Um, and for me,
the most important thing is you get the advisor who
understands the council of Scripture and can build portfolios and
provide advice that aligns with the heart of God. And
that's what's most important to me.
S6 (27:20):
Yeah. Me too. And how would I go about vetting
somebody like that?
S5 (27:24):
Yeah.
S1 (27:25):
Um, what I would do is interview 2 or 3
there in Boise and just find the one that you
think is the best fit, you can ask them, what
does success look like for your clients? How does your
faith enter your financial advice that you provide? Um, what
about screened investments? Do you provide investment? And when you
search for a CA on our website at Faith com,
(27:47):
you'll actually have the ability when you're going through the
search engine to say, only show me the kcas in
Idaho that provide faith based investments because not all of
them do. Some of them still do traditional investing. But
if that's important to you, you could actually screen the
list for those that do faith based investing. And then
whatever list of advisors you get, I'd go see 2
(28:09):
or 3 of them and interview them.
S6 (28:12):
Yeah, that's important to me. You know, God has blessed
me with this. Um, it's got to last till I die. Which,
you know, could be tomorrow. It could be. I could
live to be in my 90s. I just want to
honor the Lord by doing business with people who have
the same values That makes sense.
S1 (28:31):
It totally does. And you know, more and more of
our are thinking the same thing, will. And the good
news is you have options today. You know, whether it's
you investing in companies like we talked about today with Eventide,
with Rob and John, where they're kicking out those companies
in the portfolio that might be misaligned with your values,
because maybe it's a company that provides an abortion drug or,
(28:54):
you know, like he mentioned DraftKings, which is involved in gambling,
or maybe it's a, you know, an entertainment company that
you know, has is involved in pornography. They can get
those companies out of there in their investment selections. And
then on the embrace side, they're actually through there. In
the case of Eventide, through their business 360 model, they're
(29:15):
not only looking for the sales and earnings and, you know,
the strength of the company, but they're also looking at
how do they treat their stakeholders. You know, are they
blessing their customers and their employees and their environment and the,
you know, community that they that they're placed in and
all of these things that all rolls up into how
they build portfolios. You know, some of our listeners are
(29:36):
engaging with a Christian banking solution, and that's why we've
partnered with Christian Community Credit Union, because it's a faith
based credit union. And every a portion of every dollar
that they get goes to support Christian ministries. And so
we make that available at Faith banking. So I think
you're right on here. And the way you're thinking, and
I think a CX could really help you to find
(29:59):
somebody in your area. Well, just go to faith. Com
and then right there at the top of the page
you can click find a professional. Okay.
S4 (30:07):
Okay.
S6 (30:07):
Great. Thank you so much.
S1 (30:09):
All right will hey stay on the line after we're
going to see this recent edition of our Faithful Steward
magazine just for, uh, saying thanks for you to be
on today. Do you stay on the line? We'll get
your information, a quick break and back with our final
segment after this. Jennifer, coming your way. We'll be right back.
(30:32):
Great to have you with us today on Faith and
finance live. I'm Rob West here. In our final segment.
We'll get to as many calls as we can. Uh,
let's go to Miami. Hi, Jennifer. How can I help?
S7 (30:43):
Hi. Um, thank you for taking my call. Um, I
was calling because I just got a pre-approval letter, um,
to buy a home, a single family home. Um, but
I don't have a realtor yet, and so I, um.
What what should I expect? My next steps. Um, what
should I do next? I'm not sure what to do.
S1 (31:05):
Okay. Yeah. Found a home or you've just gotten pre-approved.
You haven't even started shopping.
S7 (31:11):
I started shopping, and I have an idea of, you know, like,
just the various, um, online, um, search engines that have,
you know, like, read, like Redfin and all those things. Um,
so I have searched a couple properties.
S1 (31:27):
Okay. I'd encourage you as a next step to find
a trusted realtor, because a good real estate agent, Jennifer,
will help you not only find the home, and they
may be able to bring the table that you haven't
seen or don't have access to just based on their network,
or maybe even the other agents or broker in their office.
But once you find it, they'll also help you negotiate
(31:48):
the price and guide you through the process. Now you
can ask friends or family for recommendations. You could even
ask your lender that pre-approved you. Um, I would also
drive around the area that you are looking to move
and see if you see maybe a sign that is
more common than another, because oftentimes realtors will specialize in
(32:10):
a certain part of town, and it could be that
the place you want to move, you might see a,
you know, the same sign over and over again. And
and that might be a good indication that this is
somebody who's really focused their business or their, um, you know,
their service to that particular part of town, which would
be helpful to you. Um, once you get the realtor,
(32:30):
then you you want to make a list of your
must haves and your nice to haves. Uh, because your
realtor is going to ask about that. You also want
to make sure you have a good feel. How much
are you willing to spend based on how much mortgage
payment you can afford? Uh, because you want to make sure,
if possible, you keep that mortgage payment, including the taxes
and insurance, under 25% of your take home pay. So
(32:52):
you've got enough left for everything else. And then once
you find the home, your agent will help you make
an offer and negotiate. You're going to get an inspection
and an appraisal. And then eventually the loan will close
and the sale will finalize. Usually, you know, 30 to
60 days after the offer is accepted. Does that make sense, though?
S7 (33:11):
Yes, yes it does.
S1 (33:14):
Awesome. Well, listen, if I can help you, uh, further
at any point, don't hesitate to, uh, give me a call.
And all the best to you. This is an exciting time. Hey,
one quick reminder, though. Just be careful. You know, if
you're not really committed to, you know that not to
exceed price for the home purchase, you can often be
swayed when you go out looking at things that you
(33:35):
really can't afford. And you talk, you can talk yourself into, well,
I could go a little bit higher because I really
like this house. I would just encourage you once you
decide how much you can spend, let's not go into
houses that cost more than what you can afford, because
I don't want you to buy too much house and
then pay for it, you know, for the next 30
years and and find yourself really squeezed financially. So, um, anyway,
(33:59):
hopefully that's helpful to you. Thanks for your call today
to Chicago. Amelia. How can I help you?
S8 (34:05):
Hi, Rob. Thank you for taking my call. Um, I
heard the gentleman talk about Eventide investing. I was wondering, um,
by the way, I'm 60 years old. I'm retired, I'm
working part time, and I'd like to invest, but not
necessarily in the stock exchange, but more like in the
actual company. Um. Eventide. Is that possible?
S1 (34:30):
You're not able to invest in the company itself. It's private.
It's not publicly traded, but you can invest in the
Eventide Investments where the Eventide team, including Phinney that Robin mentioned,
and all the other portfolio managers are actually making the
investment selections for the Eventide. They have both mutual funds
(34:52):
and they have exchange traded funds, and you can buy
them directly from Eventide. Or you can go through an
advisor that does faith based investing. So that would be
what I would recommend. If you want to learn more,
you could go to Eventide Investments.com and then you could
read about their mutual funds and their exchange traded funds,
and you could decide which one feels like the right
(35:14):
investment for you in terms of the risk and, and
so forth. Uh, and that would be the way to invest.
You would not be able to invest in the company itself.
S8 (35:24):
Thank you. As far as when I do invest. What
is your the mixture that you recommend between stock and bonds?
S1 (35:35):
Yeah. You know it really depends on what your goals are.
I mean, you know, a good starting point is, is
to use your age. So what is your age, if
you don't mind me asking?
S8 (35:45):
60.
S1 (35:46):
Okay. So if you're 60 years old, typically what I
would say is you might want to start thinking about
50 over 50. So 50% of your investable assets in
stocks and 50% in bonds. Now you may want to
get a little more conservative than that. And then you
could go 40 stocks 60 bonds. You also may want
to add a little bit to gold or precious metals.
(36:07):
And if you did I wouldn't put more than 10%.
And I'd probably take 5% away from each side. Um,
but around a 5050 portfolio would be the right mix
for somebody who's 60.
S8 (36:22):
Thank you so much for your time.
S1 (36:23):
Appreciate it. All right. Absolutely. Thanks for your call, Amelia.
Let's see. Leonard, how can I serve you in Jasper?
S6 (36:30):
Uh, thank you, sir, for for taking my call.
S9 (36:33):
Of course. Uh, Rob, I wanted to, uh, ask you
about Bitcoin. I've been talking to my brother. He's an
investor in this, and it's. It's him and he's been
investing in. And I just wanted to get some insight
on this and which way to go. And there's somebody
local that I could talk to here in Chattanooga about it.
S1 (36:56):
Yeah. Well, to answer your second question first, there's plenty
of certified Kingdom advisors that could serve you, uh, in
terms of an investment portfolio there in Chattanooga. So you
could reach out to one or our team could get
you connected to one. And I know you gave your
information to our producer today to here. And we'll get
somebody in touch with you in terms of Bitcoin. Uh,
(37:18):
you know, that would be the one. If you were
going to invest in the crypto space, that would be
the one I would invest in, not Ethereum or any
of the others. Um, you know, I think there is
a big distinction between Bitcoin and everything else at this stage.
Bitcoin clearly stands apart from the rest of the crypto industry. Um,
(37:38):
you know, Bitcoin has reached critical mass and it really
appears to be here to stay. Uh, and that's due
to two major changes. It's um, first of all, the
regulatory environment has completely reversed from being hostile to being welcoming. Um,
you know, maybe three years ago when we first started
talking about this, we said that the regulatory risk was
(38:02):
an existential threat to the whole industry and really the
biggest risk for crypto investors today. We've now seen mainstream
acceptance of them. Uh, there's even bitcoin exchange traded funds
that have been approved by the SEC. And we have
the first openly Pro crypto president, President Trump sitting in
the Oval Office. So I think it's been a complete 180.
(38:24):
And the ETFs are if you want to have some
exposure to Bitcoin, I would say that's the easiest way
to do it because you just buy the exchange traded
fund on the exchange and you don't even have to take,
you know, possession digitally of the the Bitcoin itself. Um,
you know, I think the other thing is we've also
got institutional adoption of Bitcoin as well. Um, you know
(38:48):
Bitcoin makes up right now about 60% of the total
crypto universe. So it's clearly the £800 gorilla. The other 40%
is fragmented. And you know there's really they're all competing
for prominence at some specific task or niche. But I
think I would stick with Bitcoin I probably wouldn't put
(39:08):
more than 10%. You may even want to think about,
you know, whatever portion you have in gold. Maybe you
take half of that and allocate it to Bitcoin. There's
a reason they call it digital gold, and it's because
it has a lot of the same attributes as gold. Um,
you know, it's um, you know, it really is like
(39:29):
buying gold in the sense and it's been moving very
closely with gold because a lot of those same store
of value type attributes. So that that's my perspective on it. Leonard.
Does that make sense?
S9 (39:41):
Yes, sir. It does. Okay. Very good. Because, you know, we, uh,
we we do 30% of our income, you know, towards
different ministries. And the Lord's really blessed us. I mean,
we have a very good income of, uh, 401 K.
We got about 40,000in savings, about 90, a little over
(40:05):
90,000in the checking in. And, uh, we don't owe nobody.
The Lord takes care of all our needs, and we
just praise him and thank him can for this. My.
I was talking to my brother in Texas here a
couple of months ago, and we got to talking about
(40:25):
investments and this came up and, you know, and I've
been praying about it and I thought, well, maybe I
could do a little investigating, you know, to see if
it would be a good way to go.
S1 (40:38):
Yeah, I just wouldn't get overweighted. So I would think 10%
or less of your investable assets. Five if you're just
getting started here, but certainly something to think about and listen,
you sound like a wonderful man and you have clearly
purposed yourselves, you and your wife, to being a faithful
steward of God's resources. And that honors the Lord. And
(40:58):
we appreciate the testimony you've given today. Lord bless you, Leonard.
Call anytime and I know our team will be in
touch with you about a quickly to Alabama. Felicia, I
understand you have a savings bond from somebody who's deceased,
is that right?
S10 (41:12):
That's right. Yes, sir. How are you?
S1 (41:14):
Yeah, I'm doing great. Yeah. I don't have much time left,
but here's what you'd want to do. Did you get
the paper bond or is it electronic?
S10 (41:21):
The paper.
S1 (41:22):
Okay, so, um, if if the name is listed or
is your name listed as co-owner? Um, it is not. Okay.
So if it's only in the deceased person's name, you
need to go through the estate process. So you'd gather
the documents like a death certificate, proof of identity, possibly
a state paperwork, like letters testamentary. Uh, and then you
(41:44):
can transfer it to your own name. You would do
this through treasurydirect.gov. That's treasurydirect. And they will have a
process right on that web page where you can retitle
the bond. And that's what you're going to want to
look for the instructions on. And you're going to have
to submit all that paperwork. Felicia, thanks for your call today.
(42:06):
I wish I had more time, faith and Finance lives
a partnership between Moody Radio and Faith fi. Thank you
to Tahira, Omar, Anthony and Jim. We'll see you tomorrow.
What if your investments could do more than grow your wealth?
What if they could also fight injustice, uplift your neighbor,
and even bring joy to the world? Hi, I'm Rob West.
Joy probably isn't the first word that comes to mind
when you think about investing, but maybe it should be.
Robin John joins us today to share how investing can
be more than financial. It can be deeply spiritual. And
(00:30):
then it's on to your calls and questions at 800
525 7000. That's 800 525 7000. This is faith in finance. Live.
Biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well, it's always a
joy to welcome Rob and John back to the program.
He's the co-founder and CEO of Eventide Asset Management, a
(00:53):
Boston based investment firm committed to investing that makes the
world rejoice. And even tied as a proud underwriter of
this broadcast as well. Robin, great to have you back
with us.
S2 (01:05):
Thank you so much, Rob.
S1 (01:06):
Robin, I can't wait to dive into our topic today,
which is around your new book, The Good Investor How
Your Work Can Confront Injustice. Love your Neighbor and Bring
Healing to the world. It's one of the most engaging
investing books I've ever read, filled with powerful stories that
bring the principles to life. And I'd love to begin
(01:28):
right there. You opened the book with a story from
your time in India that clearly left a deep impact
on you, and so if you don't mind, would you
share that with our listening audience?
S2 (01:38):
I am so thankful for this opportunity to share the story. Uh,
you know, I was born in India and I was
eight when I moved to the US. I was born
in a small village in southern India, and when I
was 23 years old, I was working at a large
custody bank, And they asked me whether I would go
(02:00):
back to India to help with outsourcing. And it's that
experience that really led me to question my purpose, my calling, uh,
and really to, uh, understand, uh, the sacred secular kind
of mindset that I was, uh, having at the time.
(02:21):
So I was, uh, sent to a place called Pune, India. And, uh,
I was staying in a guest house, and there were
two young guys who took care of me at the
guest house. Their names were Amal. And, you know, every
day they were taking care of me. They were cooking
for me, ironing my clothes for me. And one day,
(02:42):
you know, as they were preparing my dinner, I was
in the kitchen just talking to them. And I asked
them because I saw behind the kitchen a pantry and
a mat. I said to them, is that where you sleep?
And they said, yes, sir, That's where we sleep. I
had a beautiful bed. Air conditioned room. There were lots
(03:03):
of empty rooms. And these two guys were sleeping on
the floor. On a concrete floor, in a hot, humid pantry.
And no pillow. No blanket. And that really bothered me.
And I'm also in my mid 20s. I looked very
much like them, also from India. And I emailed management
(03:25):
in America and the response I got was these guys
are not our responsibility. We are outsourcing this guest house
to a local vendor. And ultimately lots of conversations. Later
I came to the conclusion incorrectly that business is just business.
Business is about making profit. It doesn't care about people.
(03:48):
And I'm just here to make money for others. And
that was very dissatisfying to me. And that led me
to a search and a prayer and fasting to really
understand God's calling in my life.
S1 (04:04):
Now that sets you on a journey. And a lot
of things began to transpire, including you losing your job
for you to explore at a much deeper level. The
purpose behind our work, right?
S2 (04:15):
Yeah. So I was really struggling during that time, and
I had a sacred secular mindset. And I really did
believe that business was about just making profit and just
making as much money as you possibly can. What I
did is I spent a lot of time praying and fasting,
and my friend Finney prayed with me. And I remember
(04:37):
praying through Romans chapter 12, not conforming to the pattern
of renewing our minds. What I needed was a renewed
understanding of what business is and what investing is. And
I really believe that through that prayer, God gave me
a renewed understanding that business is much more than about profit,
and therefore investing can be much more than shareholder value maximization.
S1 (05:01):
Well, we're going to continue to talk about that, because
that led to the founding of Eventide Investing. That makes
the world rejoice. We're talking about The Good Investor, the
new book from Rob and John, co-founder and CEO of
Eventide Asset Management. Back with more after this. Stick around.
(05:31):
Thanks for joining us today on Faith in Finance Live.
I'm Rob West with me today. My friend Rob and John.
He's the co-founder and CEO of Eventide Asset Management, a
Boston based investment firm committed to investing that makes the
world rejoice. We're talking about Robin's brand new book, The
Good Investor How Your Work Can Confront Injustice, Love Your
(05:54):
neighbor and bring healing to the world. Buy it wherever
you buy books. Robin. Before the break, you were sharing
some of the backstory that led to this discovery around
really the purpose of our work, the deeper purpose behind that,
and that led you ultimately with Finney, who you mentioned
before the break to found Eventide and you began to
(06:16):
really reimagine investing in a way that would bring human
flourishing to the world and kick out those companies that
were harming their stakeholders. Let's dive into that a bit more.
And your mind, what makes a company truly worth investing in?
S2 (06:33):
Yeah, for a company, what we look for a company
is whether the company's products and practices are truly good.
In other words, we talk about goods and services. Is
the good truly good, and it's the service that the
company offers. Does it truly serve a need? Yes. And
so we want good products and we also want good
(06:56):
practices companies whose management teams seek to serve well their customers,
their employees, their supply chains, host communities, environment and society.
So ultimately, we believe that investing is ownership. Investors participate
(07:16):
in the dividends and capital gains, and therefore we are
rooting for the companies that we invest in. So the
big question for us became what types of businesses do
we want to root for in the world? These are
the companies that are the companies that I believe have
products and practices that are good, and we want to
partner with those companies.
S1 (07:37):
Yeah, that's exciting. And that's certainly one side of this.
I know there's another side with regard to those companies
that you intentionally exclude. And in the book you use
the phrase fighting dragons. Talk about that particular aspect of investing?
S2 (07:53):
Yeah. In the book, I talk about how dragons. Are
these creatures in stories that lurk right outside the town?
The village. And they are there to cause harm. And
so we want to avoid dragons. We want to fight dragons.
We want to avoid investing in companies and allocating capital
(08:16):
and supporting companies that are causing systemic harm. This includes
things like addiction, exploitation, injustice. I often talk about the
tobacco example. Um, a more recent example that I think
all of us are hearing a lot about in the
news now is sports betting. Online gambling. And I was
(08:41):
just looking, just even last night at a public company
called DraftKings. And, uh, in 2020, their revenue was 600 million.
In 2021 1.2 billion. So it doubled it. 2022 2.2 billion.
And now 2024 4.7 billion. And they're estimating 6.5 billion
(09:03):
in 2025. So you know yes. You know if you're
just trying to make money. A company like DraftKings would
be fine. But as a Christian, we should be asking ourselves,
what do we want to advocate for in the world?
What do we want to promote in the world? Do
we want to root for a company whose customers are
(09:25):
really being harmed in the process? You know, I you know,
I was reading recently about the increased divorce rates, the
increased rates, the increased even suicide rates due to online gambling.
It's a major issue that's becoming a bigger and bigger
problem in our country. And we as Christian investors can
(09:48):
either choose to fight the dragons or feed the dragons.
S1 (09:53):
Yeah, boy, it's a powerful idea, and it's one that
so often investors just have not considered. Robin. And the
exciting that we now have opportunity to actually think about
this and choose investments that are world class, that do
exactly what you're talking about here today. Now, you said
as a part of this journey, you spent a lot
of time in the book of Genesis. And I know
(10:14):
you talk about this idea of tending gardens as a metaphor.
Talk about how that applies to the way we approach investing.
S2 (10:22):
Yeah. When we read Genesis one, we see a mandate
to cultivate. God calls us to cultivate the earth, and
God creates us in his image and build culture and
cultivate as he would, a good God. So we are
supposed to bring goodness into our everyday work. So when
(10:43):
I think about this call to cultivate in a business context,
I think about companies that are really promoting human flourishing
through their products and practices. Imagine a trucking company that
seeks to care for drivers so that their drivers could
sleep in their own beds, at home, with their own
families every night. Imagine a company that is seeking to
(11:06):
cure cancer. Imagine a company that is treating Alzheimer's or
Duchenne muscular dystrophy. These are the types of companies that
we want to partner with. The Bible, ultimately in Romans 12,
says to hate what is evil and also to cling
to what is good.
S1 (11:24):
Yeah. Now I want to talk about how this comes
out through the work you do at Eventide. How do
you help investors live out this vision of becoming the
good investor at Eventide?
S2 (11:38):
We have a framework that we call the business 360 framework,
and what we seek to do for our investors is
to help them to invest in a way that aligns
with biblical values. The love your neighbor principle. So we
are seeking to invest in companies that are loving and
serving the real needs of the world, especially loving and
(12:01):
serving their customers. Employees. Supply chains. Host communities. Environment. Society.
As I mentioned earlier, we have an avoid, embrace, engage framework.
We want to hate what is evil, but try to
cling to find the companies that are promoting human flourishing. Uh,
for investors that are investing with us. Uh, all of
(12:25):
our investing is done this way. Uh, for listeners today,
I would encourage you to visit, uh, both the Eventide
Investments website, but also, uh, good investor. Com when you
go to good Investor. Com there are two tools on
that website that I believe would be helpful for the listener.
(12:47):
One of the tools is to screen your portfolio, so
you could just put your current portfolio into the tool
and just see for basic biblical values like abortion, pornography, tobacco.
How is your portfolio currently doing? But then secondly, we
have a tool on that website that could connect to
(13:08):
you with the financial advisor that understands and practices good investing.
S1 (13:14):
Yeah, that is great. Again, that website again Robin.
S2 (13:17):
Is good investor.
S1 (13:19):
Com excellent. We've got just a few seconds left. If
there's one thing you hope investors walk away with from
reading The Good Investor what would it be?
S2 (13:28):
I really want investors to walk away believing and being
inspired that their investments can change the world and can
honor God in the process.
S1 (13:38):
Well, Robin, I am so excited about this book. Folks,
you need to pick up a copy today. You can
buy it wherever you buy books. It's called The Good Investor.
And also check out these two tools at Good investor.com. Robin,
appreciate your friendship and thanks for your time today.
S2 (13:55):
Thank you Rob.
S1 (13:56):
That's Rob of Eventide Asset Management and the author of
The Good Investor. Your vision for how our work and
investments can honor God and Serve others. When you read
it back with your questions after this 800 525 7000.
This is faith and finance. Live. Biblical wisdom for your
financial journey. We'll be right back.
S3 (14:26):
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, legal, or other professional who understands your specific situation.
S1 (14:49):
Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance Live.
I'm Rob West boy, I'm really looking forward to taking
your calls and questions today. The number to call to
get in on the conversation 800 525 7000. Again, that
number is 800 525 7000. You can call right now.
We've got some lines open. Those lines will fill up quickly.
And so now would be a great time for you
(15:11):
to uh try to get through. And we'd love to
have you on the broadcast today. Boy, what a treat
to have my friend Robin John here today. You know,
I am so excited about the opportunity we have in
what we call faith based investing. You know, this really
even two, three, 4 or 5 years ago did not
exist anywhere near the way it exists today. In fact,
I was on the phone this week with one of
(15:34):
the major indexes, the companies behind one of the major
indexes that you would know from Wall Street. You'd see
this index referenced on the nightly news every night, and
they were talking about the Christian version of the index
that they're about to roll out. And there's major ETF
providers right behind it, ready to create products around it.
(15:54):
And then you have active managers like Eventide, Rob and
John that was on today and want to set and
Praxis and Crossmark and inspire and Guidestone and so many
others and world class investment opportunities that allow you to
deploy God's capital in a way that's aligned with your
values as a Christ follower. You see, investing is ownership.
(16:15):
No matter how little of a piece of ownership you
have of that company. It may be very small ownership.
And I love what Robin says about, you know, we
root for we should be rooting for the companies that
we own because we want them to do well. And
so making sure those companies not only aren't misaligned with
our values where they're harming people, but this idea that
we can include companies in our when we deploy capital,
(16:37):
which is essentially applying God's capital to businesses, as Robin said,
creating goods and services. We can do that in a
way that's going to promote human flourishing. That's an incredible opportunity.
And to be able to do that toe to toe,
if not exceed what those offer, what we're typically accustomed
to in the investing space. What an amazing opportunity. Well,
(16:58):
that's the opportunity we have today that we did not
have even a few years ago. And that whole space
is growing so rapidly. Um, interestingly, we have just begun.
And here's what I mean by that. You know, our
data here at Kingdom Advisors and Faith fi says that
there's about $22 trillion in the hands of Christians that
have been deployed, public stock and stocks, basically stocks you
(17:23):
would buy on the New York Stock Exchange or on
on the public markets. 22 trillion. Well, guess how much.
So there's so much potential here to deploy incredible, vast
amounts of capital into companies that are going to make
the world rejoice, as Robin said. And that's an amazing
opportunity that we have, and we're going to help you
(17:44):
follow that, because this whole space is growing so quickly,
and there's so much innovation taking place right now, new
products and offerings coming online. And it really is an
exciting time. And we're going to continue to shine a
spotlight on it, because I am just delighted with what's
going on there. But we realize you have questions, things
going on in your life that may be on a
(18:05):
wide range of topics, and so we want to dive
into those today. So if you have a question you'd
like to get in on the conversation today, we'd love
to hear from you. Just call 800 525 7000. Again,
that number is 800 525 7000. And we can tackle
whatever is on your mind today. All right. Let's begin
(18:26):
in Illinois. Francine, thank you for calling. How can I
serve you?
S4 (18:30):
Hi, Rob. I want to thank you for taking my call.
First and foremost.
S5 (18:34):
Yes, ma'am.
S4 (18:35):
Um, I am calling because I am really, like, Confused
about some things as to investing money. Um, I currently
have some money in a money market account which isn't
earning much at all. So I'm looking for some answers
and some guidance from a believer connection that I can, uh,
(19:01):
get some advice, some good, sound advice to, uh, invest
in ways to have some capital increase.
S1 (19:11):
Yeah. Very good. Well, we always want to start with
two things. First one is the what is the time
horizon on the money. And that is based on everything
you know today. When do you think you might need
this money for whatever purpose you have it intended for.
S4 (19:27):
Well, I'm, I'm looking at the fact that this money
can stay put long term. I don't need it for
anything upcoming. I foresee within a couple of years or so,
something like that. I don't need it right away. No.
S1 (19:42):
Okay. Okay. Now, where I would come in, there is
to say, you know, typically if we're going to invest it,
like you're going to put it into a mutual fund
or some stocks and try to grow it, you're going
to take some risk with that. But the risk and
return is what we look at. And you've got to,
you know, you take a reasonable amount of risk to
get a better return than you're getting in your money
(20:03):
market right now. And that makes a lot of sense.
But I would want to make sure you have at
least a five year, if not a ten year time
horizon on that money for you to feel good about
investing it. Because if you might need it a couple
of years down the road, well, we don't know where
the market's going to be two years down the road.
We may be in a recession, the stock market may
be down 20 or 30%. And what I wouldn't want
(20:24):
is you to have to pull this money out, sell
it at a loss, and call me and say, guess what, Rob,
I lost money. Um, now, do we know it's going
to be higher in ten years? No, but we do
know that when time is on our side, when we
go back the last hundred years of stock market investing,
and you look at any ten year period, you know,
generally speaking, the market does well over those long time horizons.
(20:48):
So given that, do you feel like there's a good
likelihood you might need this money in less than five years?
S4 (20:56):
No, I can say it longer.
S1 (20:58):
Okay. How much money are we talking about?
S4 (21:02):
Well, it's not a lot. It's maybe, like, um. I
can afford to put away about 10,000.
S1 (21:08):
Okay. I think the best thing to do would be
to head to, um, the website sound mind investing. Dot,
our friends at Sound Mind Investing could help you pick
some mutual funds. You have a little bit less than
what you would need to have an advisor oversee this
for you, but sound mind investing could be helpful. Also,
something called the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. Stay on the line.
(21:31):
I'll tell you more. Off the air. We'll be right back.
Thanks for joining us today on Faith in Finance Live.
I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions. I've
got room for maybe 1 or 2 more questions to
get to between now and the end of the broadcast.
You can call 800 525 7000. Let's go to uh,
(21:54):
Boise will go ahead.
S6 (21:57):
Hi, Rob. Uh, thanks for taking my call.
S5 (22:00):
Yes, sir.
S6 (22:01):
I, I just, uh, liquidated all my investment accounts out
of Raymond James and put it into, uh, with Bishop
Gold Group, into all precious, um, metals. And, uh, the
reason I made the change is twofold. Um, was I
(22:24):
found out that my investment accounts, IRAs and what have
you were not FDIC insured. And the other reason was
Raymond James support of the LGBTQ agenda. And I'm just
wondering if I made a good decision on that. Of
putting everything into precious metals.
S1 (22:46):
How much are we talking about, Will?
S6 (22:50):
Uh, about 320.
S1 (22:51):
Yeah. Um, if you would have called me to ask me,
you know, should I do this? I said no. Uh,
and here's why. Um, you know, I like precious metals.
It's a store of value. It allows you to be
more diversified. It's an uncorrelated asset, meaning, you know, it
tends to move. You know, it doesn't move with stocks, uh,
(23:13):
other assets. You know, it tends in times of unrest
and fear. You know, it tends to do well. Uh,
there are other factors that drive precious metals, but, you know,
it has a place. But I would have told, you know,
more than 10%, you know, so if we're talking about
a $350,000 portfolio, I would have said, let's not put
more than 35,000 in gold. And if it's in a
(23:35):
retirement account, I would have said, you know, let's use ETFs,
exchange traded funds to do it. Um, and just from
a performance standpoint, the data is, you know, pretty clear that,
you know, gold has not performed as well as a
properly diversified stock portfolio. So the last five years, gold
(23:56):
has annualized seven, S&P 500 has done 12 per year.
The last ten years gold has annualized about 4%, S&P
about 11. You know, the last uh, well, since 1926,
gold has done between 4 and 5% a year. The
S&P 500 has done ten. Uh, now, you are correct that,
(24:17):
you know, with an investment account, there is no FDIC insurance.
That's going to be true no matter who you invest with.
FDIC only protects bank accounts like checking and savings and
CDs up to 250,000 depositor type investment accounts. They have
SIPC insurance, but that's only protecting against fraud or a
(24:38):
brokerage firm failure, not market losses. So whenever you're investing,
you are assuming the risk. But that's why we stay
diversified like the book of Ecclesiastes talks about. That's why
we invest in, you know, solid, stable investments that have
good liquidity, good sales and earnings and, you know, are
going to grow over time. And that's why despite, you know,
(24:59):
1929 and you know the.com and the Great Recession and
you know, the uh, the pandemic I mean, all of
these events that we could look at over the last
100 years, that's why the stock market has done well.
As I mentioned, it's averaged about 10% since 1926. Um,
(25:19):
because if time is on our side and we invest
in quality companies, and I would add to that where
we started today, companies hopefully that align with your values
as well. You're going to do well. But are you
taking risk? Absolutely you are. And that's just a reality.
But I would submit will that you're you're taking more
risk with 100% stock or precious metals portfolio than you
(25:43):
would have been if you would have just stayed with
Ray J, because neither of them are protected. And there's
more volatility with precious metals and there's less performance. Does
that make sense, though?
S6 (25:56):
Uh, yeah. I'm tracking with you.
S5 (25:58):
Okay.
S1 (25:59):
Uh, so, I mean, you've got to decide what to
do with that. And the way we manage that risk
is we diversify and not only among the various investments,
but among assets. And so that's where, you know, at age,
what did you say your age was?
S6 (26:16):
I'm 75.
S5 (26:17):
Okay.
S1 (26:18):
So at 75, I would say, and this is just
a ballpark. This is not you know, each person needs
to decide what's right for them. But I'd say at 75,
you might want to have 30 to 35% in stocks
and maybe, uh, you know, 65 to 70% in bonds.
So you'd have a very low, um, you know, a
fairly conservative portfolio. And you'd you'd hope that that stock
(26:40):
portion would generate some growth. The bonds would generate income.
Maybe you put 10% of that five from each of
those two categories and precious metals. And over over time
you'd do well. And I would encourage you probably to
get a, um, who can align with your values in
terms of how they're choosing the investments. And, you know,
for me, there's there's CS at Raymond James and Edward
(27:02):
Jones and Merrill Lynch and there's plenty of them are independent.
So they're all over Wall Street. Um, and for me,
the most important thing is you get the advisor who
understands the council of Scripture and can build portfolios and
provide advice that aligns with the heart of God. And
that's what's most important to me.
S6 (27:20):
Yeah. Me too. And how would I go about vetting
somebody like that?
S5 (27:24):
Yeah.
S1 (27:25):
Um, what I would do is interview 2 or 3
there in Boise and just find the one that you
think is the best fit, you can ask them, what
does success look like for your clients? How does your
faith enter your financial advice that you provide? Um, what
about screened investments? Do you provide investment? And when you
search for a CA on our website at Faith com,
(27:47):
you'll actually have the ability when you're going through the
search engine to say, only show me the kcas in
Idaho that provide faith based investments because not all of
them do. Some of them still do traditional investing. But
if that's important to you, you could actually screen the
list for those that do faith based investing. And then
whatever list of advisors you get, I'd go see 2
(28:09):
or 3 of them and interview them.
S6 (28:12):
Yeah, that's important to me. You know, God has blessed
me with this. Um, it's got to last till I die. Which,
you know, could be tomorrow. It could be. I could
live to be in my 90s. I just want to
honor the Lord by doing business with people who have
the same values That makes sense.
S1 (28:31):
It totally does. And you know, more and more of
our are thinking the same thing, will. And the good
news is you have options today. You know, whether it's
you investing in companies like we talked about today with Eventide,
with Rob and John, where they're kicking out those companies
in the portfolio that might be misaligned with your values,
because maybe it's a company that provides an abortion drug or,
(28:54):
you know, like he mentioned DraftKings, which is involved in gambling,
or maybe it's a, you know, an entertainment company that
you know, has is involved in pornography. They can get
those companies out of there in their investment selections. And
then on the embrace side, they're actually through there. In
the case of Eventide, through their business 360 model, they're
(29:15):
not only looking for the sales and earnings and, you know,
the strength of the company, but they're also looking at
how do they treat their stakeholders. You know, are they
blessing their customers and their employees and their environment and the,
you know, community that they that they're placed in and
all of these things that all rolls up into how
they build portfolios. You know, some of our listeners are
(29:36):
engaging with a Christian banking solution, and that's why we've
partnered with Christian Community Credit Union, because it's a faith
based credit union. And every a portion of every dollar
that they get goes to support Christian ministries. And so
we make that available at Faith banking. So I think
you're right on here. And the way you're thinking, and
I think a CX could really help you to find
(29:59):
somebody in your area. Well, just go to faith. Com
and then right there at the top of the page
you can click find a professional. Okay.
S4 (30:07):
Okay.
S6 (30:07):
Great. Thank you so much.
S1 (30:09):
All right will hey stay on the line after we're
going to see this recent edition of our Faithful Steward
magazine just for, uh, saying thanks for you to be
on today. Do you stay on the line? We'll get
your information, a quick break and back with our final
segment after this. Jennifer, coming your way. We'll be right back.
(30:32):
Great to have you with us today on Faith and
finance live. I'm Rob West here. In our final segment.
We'll get to as many calls as we can. Uh,
let's go to Miami. Hi, Jennifer. How can I help?
S7 (30:43):
Hi. Um, thank you for taking my call. Um, I
was calling because I just got a pre-approval letter, um,
to buy a home, a single family home. Um, but
I don't have a realtor yet, and so I, um.
What what should I expect? My next steps. Um, what
should I do next? I'm not sure what to do.
S1 (31:05):
Okay. Yeah. Found a home or you've just gotten pre-approved.
You haven't even started shopping.
S7 (31:11):
I started shopping, and I have an idea of, you know, like,
just the various, um, online, um, search engines that have,
you know, like, read, like Redfin and all those things. Um,
so I have searched a couple properties.
S1 (31:27):
Okay. I'd encourage you as a next step to find
a trusted realtor, because a good real estate agent, Jennifer,
will help you not only find the home, and they
may be able to bring the table that you haven't
seen or don't have access to just based on their network,
or maybe even the other agents or broker in their office.
But once you find it, they'll also help you negotiate
(31:48):
the price and guide you through the process. Now you
can ask friends or family for recommendations. You could even
ask your lender that pre-approved you. Um, I would also
drive around the area that you are looking to move
and see if you see maybe a sign that is
more common than another, because oftentimes realtors will specialize in
(32:10):
a certain part of town, and it could be that
the place you want to move, you might see a,
you know, the same sign over and over again. And
and that might be a good indication that this is
somebody who's really focused their business or their, um, you know,
their service to that particular part of town, which would
be helpful to you. Um, once you get the realtor,
(32:30):
then you you want to make a list of your
must haves and your nice to haves. Uh, because your
realtor is going to ask about that. You also want
to make sure you have a good feel. How much
are you willing to spend based on how much mortgage
payment you can afford? Uh, because you want to make sure,
if possible, you keep that mortgage payment, including the taxes
and insurance, under 25% of your take home pay. So
(32:52):
you've got enough left for everything else. And then once
you find the home, your agent will help you make
an offer and negotiate. You're going to get an inspection
and an appraisal. And then eventually the loan will close
and the sale will finalize. Usually, you know, 30 to
60 days after the offer is accepted. Does that make sense, though?
S7 (33:11):
Yes, yes it does.
S1 (33:14):
Awesome. Well, listen, if I can help you, uh, further
at any point, don't hesitate to, uh, give me a call.
And all the best to you. This is an exciting time. Hey,
one quick reminder, though. Just be careful. You know, if
you're not really committed to, you know that not to
exceed price for the home purchase, you can often be
swayed when you go out looking at things that you
(33:35):
really can't afford. And you talk, you can talk yourself into, well,
I could go a little bit higher because I really
like this house. I would just encourage you once you
decide how much you can spend, let's not go into
houses that cost more than what you can afford, because
I don't want you to buy too much house and
then pay for it, you know, for the next 30
years and and find yourself really squeezed financially. So, um, anyway,
(33:59):
hopefully that's helpful to you. Thanks for your call today
to Chicago. Amelia. How can I help you?
S8 (34:05):
Hi, Rob. Thank you for taking my call. Um, I
heard the gentleman talk about Eventide investing. I was wondering, um,
by the way, I'm 60 years old. I'm retired, I'm
working part time, and I'd like to invest, but not
necessarily in the stock exchange, but more like in the
actual company. Um. Eventide. Is that possible?
S1 (34:30):
You're not able to invest in the company itself. It's private.
It's not publicly traded, but you can invest in the
Eventide Investments where the Eventide team, including Phinney that Robin mentioned,
and all the other portfolio managers are actually making the
investment selections for the Eventide. They have both mutual funds
(34:52):
and they have exchange traded funds, and you can buy
them directly from Eventide. Or you can go through an
advisor that does faith based investing. So that would be
what I would recommend. If you want to learn more,
you could go to Eventide Investments.com and then you could
read about their mutual funds and their exchange traded funds,
and you could decide which one feels like the right
(35:14):
investment for you in terms of the risk and, and
so forth. Uh, and that would be the way to invest.
You would not be able to invest in the company itself.
S8 (35:24):
Thank you. As far as when I do invest. What
is your the mixture that you recommend between stock and bonds?
S1 (35:35):
Yeah. You know it really depends on what your goals are.
I mean, you know, a good starting point is, is
to use your age. So what is your age, if
you don't mind me asking?
S8 (35:45):
60.
S1 (35:46):
Okay. So if you're 60 years old, typically what I
would say is you might want to start thinking about
50 over 50. So 50% of your investable assets in
stocks and 50% in bonds. Now you may want to
get a little more conservative than that. And then you
could go 40 stocks 60 bonds. You also may want
to add a little bit to gold or precious metals.
(36:07):
And if you did I wouldn't put more than 10%.
And I'd probably take 5% away from each side. Um,
but around a 5050 portfolio would be the right mix
for somebody who's 60.
S8 (36:22):
Thank you so much for your time.
S1 (36:23):
Appreciate it. All right. Absolutely. Thanks for your call, Amelia.
Let's see. Leonard, how can I serve you in Jasper?
S6 (36:30):
Uh, thank you, sir, for for taking my call.
S9 (36:33):
Of course. Uh, Rob, I wanted to, uh, ask you
about Bitcoin. I've been talking to my brother. He's an
investor in this, and it's. It's him and he's been
investing in. And I just wanted to get some insight
on this and which way to go. And there's somebody
local that I could talk to here in Chattanooga about it.
S1 (36:56):
Yeah. Well, to answer your second question first, there's plenty
of certified Kingdom advisors that could serve you, uh, in
terms of an investment portfolio there in Chattanooga. So you
could reach out to one or our team could get
you connected to one. And I know you gave your
information to our producer today to here. And we'll get
somebody in touch with you in terms of Bitcoin. Uh,
(37:18):
you know, that would be the one. If you were
going to invest in the crypto space, that would be
the one I would invest in, not Ethereum or any
of the others. Um, you know, I think there is
a big distinction between Bitcoin and everything else at this stage.
Bitcoin clearly stands apart from the rest of the crypto industry. Um,
(37:38):
you know, Bitcoin has reached critical mass and it really
appears to be here to stay. Uh, and that's due
to two major changes. It's um, first of all, the
regulatory environment has completely reversed from being hostile to being welcoming. Um,
you know, maybe three years ago when we first started
talking about this, we said that the regulatory risk was
(38:02):
an existential threat to the whole industry and really the
biggest risk for crypto investors today. We've now seen mainstream
acceptance of them. Uh, there's even bitcoin exchange traded funds
that have been approved by the SEC. And we have
the first openly Pro crypto president, President Trump sitting in
the Oval Office. So I think it's been a complete 180.
(38:24):
And the ETFs are if you want to have some
exposure to Bitcoin, I would say that's the easiest way
to do it because you just buy the exchange traded
fund on the exchange and you don't even have to take,
you know, possession digitally of the the Bitcoin itself. Um,
you know, I think the other thing is we've also
got institutional adoption of Bitcoin as well. Um, you know
(38:48):
Bitcoin makes up right now about 60% of the total
crypto universe. So it's clearly the £800 gorilla. The other 40%
is fragmented. And you know there's really they're all competing
for prominence at some specific task or niche. But I
think I would stick with Bitcoin I probably wouldn't put
(39:08):
more than 10%. You may even want to think about,
you know, whatever portion you have in gold. Maybe you
take half of that and allocate it to Bitcoin. There's
a reason they call it digital gold, and it's because
it has a lot of the same attributes as gold. Um,
you know, it's um, you know, it really is like
(39:29):
buying gold in the sense and it's been moving very
closely with gold because a lot of those same store
of value type attributes. So that that's my perspective on it. Leonard.
Does that make sense?
S9 (39:41):
Yes, sir. It does. Okay. Very good. Because, you know, we, uh,
we we do 30% of our income, you know, towards
different ministries. And the Lord's really blessed us. I mean,
we have a very good income of, uh, 401 K.
We got about 40,000in savings, about 90, a little over
(40:05):
90,000in the checking in. And, uh, we don't owe nobody.
The Lord takes care of all our needs, and we
just praise him and thank him can for this. My.
I was talking to my brother in Texas here a
couple of months ago, and we got to talking about
(40:25):
investments and this came up and, you know, and I've
been praying about it and I thought, well, maybe I
could do a little investigating, you know, to see if
it would be a good way to go.
S1 (40:38):
Yeah, I just wouldn't get overweighted. So I would think 10%
or less of your investable assets. Five if you're just
getting started here, but certainly something to think about and listen,
you sound like a wonderful man and you have clearly
purposed yourselves, you and your wife, to being a faithful
steward of God's resources. And that honors the Lord. And
(40:58):
we appreciate the testimony you've given today. Lord bless you, Leonard.
Call anytime and I know our team will be in
touch with you about a quickly to Alabama. Felicia, I
understand you have a savings bond from somebody who's deceased,
is that right?
S10 (41:12):
That's right. Yes, sir. How are you?
S1 (41:14):
Yeah, I'm doing great. Yeah. I don't have much time left,
but here's what you'd want to do. Did you get
the paper bond or is it electronic?
S10 (41:21):
The paper.
S1 (41:22):
Okay, so, um, if if the name is listed or
is your name listed as co-owner? Um, it is not. Okay.
So if it's only in the deceased person's name, you
need to go through the estate process. So you'd gather
the documents like a death certificate, proof of identity, possibly
a state paperwork, like letters testamentary. Uh, and then you
(41:44):
can transfer it to your own name. You would do
this through treasurydirect.gov. That's treasurydirect. And they will have a
process right on that web page where you can retitle
the bond. And that's what you're going to want to
look for the instructions on. And you're going to have
to submit all that paperwork. Felicia, thanks for your call today.
(42:06):
I wish I had more time, faith and Finance lives
a partnership between Moody Radio and Faith fi. Thank you
to Tahira, Omar, Anthony and Jim. We'll see you tomorrow.
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