November 19, 2025 • 42 mins
Trillions of dollars are moving from one generation to the next. How can we help the next generation see generosity, not as an obligation, but as a joyful calling? On the next Faith & Finance Live, Christin Fejervary (FEH-jur-VAH-ree) joins Rob West to talk about how the National Christian Foundation is helping younger Christians put their values into practice. Then, it’s your calls. That’s Faith & Finance Live—biblical wisdom for your financial decisions, weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.
Faith & Finance Live is a listener supported program on Moody Radio. To join our team of supporters, click here.
To support the ministry of FaithFi, click here.
To learn more about Rob West, click here.
To learn more about Faith & Finance Live, click here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:10):
It's one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history.
Trillions of dollars moving from one generation to the next. Hi,
I'm Rob West. How can we help the next generation
see generosity not as an obligation, but as a joyful calling?
Kristin Ferrari joins us to talk about how younger Christians
are redefining stewardship, and how the National Christian Foundation is
(00:33):
helping them live it out. And then it's on to
your calls at 800 525 7000. That's 805, two five 7000.
This is faith and finance. Live. Biblical wisdom for your
financial decisions. Well, our guest today is Kristin Favory, vice
president for brand and experience at the National Christian Foundation,
(00:55):
a valued underwriter of this program. Kristin, great to have
you with us today.
S2 (01:00):
Oh, it's so great to be here. Thank you. Rob.
S1 (01:02):
Kristen, before we dive into what inspires younger Christians to
give and how NCF is helping them live that out,
I want to dig into your story a bit. Would
you mind sharing what first ignited your own passion for generosity,
and how that personal journey shaped the way you serve
at NCF?
S2 (01:20):
Yeah, I would say that for me, generosity was personal
as a kid growing up, uh, but it was much
more obligatory and obligation. You know, I watched my parents, uh,
give their tithes every week in church. I was taught
to put the envelope in the basket. It was a great, uh,
discipline that I developed as a kid, but I think later,
(01:42):
my 20s and my 30s, and then coming to work
at the National Christian Foundation, what I really started to
see is the way in which, uh, generosity changes people
and obviously, uh, where the money goes and the resources go, uh,
is incredible with charities and recipients, but actually seeing the
way in which it changes us from the inside out
(02:04):
and helps people become more free and not be as
tied to the things of this world, really had an
impact on me personally.
S1 (02:12):
Yeah, well, I'm so glad we get to unpack that today.
And this really relates to some of the data you're
uncovering in your role around the next generation. I want
to talk about what's driving the next generation, to give
what's inspiring young Christians today to engage in generosity and
even faithful stewardship.
S2 (02:32):
Yeah. One of the interesting things that we have found
is for millennials, and we're talking about next gen. We're
talking about millennials who are kind of at the age
of 29 to 44 right now. And, uh, one of
the things that we found before we even did our
study is that millennials see philanthropy as a part of
(02:53):
their identity at large. You know, not just Christian millennials
but millennials at large. Yes. And, uh, for Christian millennials.
And what we found in the study is this idea
that my life is a way to give away, you know,
that all of my resources have equal value, not just
the financial side, but my time is just as important.
My influence is just as important. And so, uh, they're
(03:17):
giving more than money. They want to be involved in
the work that they're doing. They don't want to just
write a check. They want to see the change and
be a part of the change, which is very different
from previous generations.
S1 (03:28):
Well, I love that because they want it to be
authentic to who they are and their faith. And I
love that they're driven by impact. That's powerful. Let's talk
about traditional tools like donor advised funds and estate planning
and financial advising. How are younger Christians approaching these?
S2 (03:46):
What I know for sure is that they're still using
traditional tools, but the difference is that they want those
traditional tools in a way that they can make personal.
So how they see the impact that's made, how they
are seeing the numbers or whatever it might be, where
that money is going. They want to know how how
it's being used. So they want it to be personal.
I would also say that they're taking, um, you know,
(04:08):
something traditional, like investments, uh, which has been around for
a long time. Uh, but they're seeing, you know, investments.
How can I charitably give or charitably invest? How can
I use my investments in a bigger way than just
the financial return? So it's kind of this more personal
view of traditional tools.
S1 (04:28):
Yeah. Well, that's got to be exciting for your work
there at the National Christian Foundation. I bet your team
is encouraged by this new data.
S2 (04:35):
Oh, very much so, very much so. And I think
we're we've already been seeing more and more, uh, younger
Christians come into the fold at NCF. And I think
one of the differences, though, is they're wanting to do
it in community. So we have communities all over the country, uh,
but they're giving together. You know, they're really trying to
(04:55):
do it in new ways, which is exciting for us.
S1 (04:57):
Well, we're going to continue to talk about next gen
generosity with Kristen Varvari right around the corner. When we
come back, we'll talk about what advisors need to know,
how families can have these intentional conversations, and specifically how
NCF can come alongside you to encourage you in all
of this. This is faith and finance live. We're just
(05:18):
getting started. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. What
does it look like to build a legacy that lasts?
(05:39):
We're talking next gen generosity today. Kristin Bayer is here
from the National Christian Foundation. Kristin serves as vice president
for Brand and Experience, and NCF not only comes alongside
givers to help them give creatively and strategically, to give
in community with tools to make it really simple. But
(06:00):
they also have offices all over the country. We'll get
into a bit more about NCF and how you can
work directly with them in a moment, but if you
want to learn more, go to Faith ViacomCBS. And while
you're there, open a giving fund. It takes just a
few minutes and it's one of my favorite tools for giving. Kristin,
we're talking next gen generosity, and I want to talk
(06:23):
about advisors for a second. And specifically, what should advisors
know about the way millennials and Gen Z approach generosity
and even wealth and stewardship?
S2 (06:35):
You know, I think going back to my earlier comment
about identity for millennials, giving is this bigger picture. It's
a there's a lot of threads to it. It isn't
just financial. It's uh, it's all these other resources that
they want to give. And so I think helping them
see that and uncover what are all the ways that
I can give, um, or can, you know, getting advisor
(06:57):
to help them connect in community or to other people
or other organizations that can that can help them give
away more than, than just their financial resources, I think
is one way for them to think about it. I
also think that, um, co-creation is really important, uh, for
most millennials. Now, I would say when we were we
did this study, we were looking at millennial wealth creators,
(07:20):
those that had generated their own wealth. And and then
we were looking at inheritors, those who will or have
inherited wealth that have been, you know, in their family
for multiple generations. Those entrepreneurs, those wealth creators are very
much on the co-creator side. They want to co-create how
the giving happens, what the plan looks like. They want
to be at the table, um, they want a strong voice. Um,
(07:43):
oftentimes they want to do it themselves. Uh, so, you know,
there may not be an advisor in the room, but
when there is an advisor in the room. Um, I
think just bringing them to the table and making them
part of the conversation is, is really important.
S1 (07:55):
Yeah, I love that. And I love this idea of
connecting both head and heart. You know, we need a plan.
And that's often one of the barriers to giving the
lack of a plan. But they also need a vision
for their giving, and they need to see how it's
going to lead to real, lasting change and impact. And
that's so important to this next generation. Well, let's move
from advisors, Kristen to families. How can families be intentional
(08:19):
and have these faith filled conversations across the generations around
values and generosity?
S2 (08:26):
One thing I would start with is the acknowledgement, at
least from our research, what we see is, you know,
a lot of times we we focus on the differences
in a family, um, you know, or between generations. And I,
the first thing I want to highlight is that there
is a starting point that we found in the data
that says that faith is a guiding principle for decisions
(08:48):
for both millennials and older generation, and knowing that that's true. Yeah.
Or maybe discovering asking that question, uh, would be really
healthy in a family to understand that that principle is true. Now,
how we get there is where the differences come in.
And so I would say that one really important, um,
stepping stone for families is to understand what faithfulness looks
(09:09):
like for each generation. Uh, to unpack that with stories
on both sides to hear, you know and understand how
God is weaving the story together of faithfulness for both
generations and hearing each other. You know, I've sat in
on quite a few family meetings recently with advisors with
folks from NCF, and what I've found is when there's
(09:31):
multiple generations in a room listening to each other, both,
you know, both sides of the table, something powerful happens
and God does something in that storytelling.
S1 (09:41):
Mhm. I love that. And especially when it's inherited wealth,
you know when the, the one that's stewarding it, didn't
see it created. It does change the dynamic. So understanding
the heart of those that saw it created in the
first place and hearing those stories is so powerful. Well,
let's talk about then, how NCF can come alongside the
next generation to equip and inspire them to live generously,
(10:04):
because this is where NCF really shines.
S2 (10:08):
Well, thanks. Well, we are really passionate about this topic
all across the country. One of the things that we've
done since doing this research that we're referencing is we
published a report that you can find on our website,
and we're excited about that, because we wrote it in
such a way that it could serve both an older
generation and a younger generation, and giving ideas and thoughts
(10:29):
and perspectives. So that's that's one tool in your toolbox.
The other thing that we're trying to do is, is
host more experiences and events, uh, in each of these
communities across the country. There's lots of good stuff happening.
And I would say the more organic they are, the better,
which is sometimes harder for people who like structure. But
(10:50):
we found that with the next generation, when they're in
the mix, co-creating and organically making it happen and designing it, uh,
it's more successful. Um, so we're seeing that happen and
partnering with different churches, uh, advisors, um, making sure that
we're bringing together any sort of partners that can help
a family. You know, not one organization has all the answers,
(11:13):
not one advisor has all the answers. And just helping
these families connect to the right organization for either their
life stage or if they're a business owner or whatever
they might be, we want to help connect them, uh,
to a good organization like that.
S1 (11:27):
Kristen, I know there's some great information in this next
gen research. And by the way, folks, if you want
to get a copy of this report, just go to NCI.
Research and you can get a copy. But among all
of the insights I know one of the things that
really was highlighted in this data was this idea of
(11:49):
the importance of agency in developing healthy stewards. Unpack that
a bit for us.
S2 (11:54):
Yeah. The way we define agency is the ability to
act on the free will that God gives us. You know,
it's the kind of making decisions, getting the reps, you know,
in in those decisions. What we found in the research
is just the power of agency. The more that you
act on and kind of step into the responsibility that
(12:15):
God has given you in stewardship, the more confidence you have,
the more joy you have, the more united you are
as a family, the closer you are that you feel
to God. We went into the study not really knowing
that that would be an outcome, and it was so
powerful to us. And so one of the things that
we at NCF have been trying to think about is
how do you help people find agency, especially if you
(12:36):
know they haven't received an inheritance? Let's say they're an
inheritance and they don't really have this opportunity. And the
biggest encouragement we have is to help people find their quote.
Gen one what are the things that you get excited
about that you can go create, that you can make
decisions on. Because if you do that in stewardship, it's
going to help you have more confidence and more joy
and really thrive and flourish in that stewardship.
S1 (12:58):
That's really exciting. We've got just about a minute left.
I know the research Kristin points to the significant influence
women have in shaping generosity. Let's finish here because this
is really some exciting work.
S2 (13:10):
The most important thing that we found is not actually
something new. We know that women and mothers have a
huge role in financial decisions in the home. 72% of
the millennials we talked to said that they were most
influenced in their generosity by their mothers. So there's a
huge role that women play in this story. But the
research also showed that they are also the ones that
(13:32):
feel unheard. And family wealth decisions. That's next gen women
are feeling unheard. And so I think the the time
is now to figure out how to Incorporate a woman's
voice into those decisions around giving and around if you're
in the midst of wealth transfer. Uh, and I'm excited,
there's a new study that women doing well is working on,
and we'll be helping people recruit for that. So we're
(13:53):
excited about that new study that women doing. Well, uh,
we'll be doing here in the next few weeks.
S1 (13:57):
We are as well, Kristen. Unfortunately, we're out of time.
We'll have you back real soon. Thanks for stopping by.
S2 (14:02):
Thank you so much, folks.
S1 (14:04):
The great wealth transfer isn't just about inheritance. It's about
passing faith values and purpose. What a treat today to
be with Kristen Ferrari from the National Christian Foundation. To
learn more, go to Faith. Com and open your giving
fund today. Faith. We'll be right back.
S3 (14:36):
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 (15:00):
Well, thanks for taking the time to join us today
on Faith and Finance live. I'm Rob West over the
remainder of the program. We'd love to hear what's on
your mind today and your financial life. Our goal to
help you live as a wise and faithful steward. We'll
do that by bringing some encouragement your way, by helping
you think through the specific questions or issues you have
going on in your financial life, and always pointing you
(15:22):
back to God's Word. Because here's the reality the very
best textbook going on anything in life, but certainly that
includes money is God's Word. You know, there's 2300 plus
verses that deal with this topic, a lot of them
just around this idea that God owns everything, that he
should be our ultimate treasure. A lot that have to
do with the fact that spending reveals what we value.
(15:43):
Many of them have to do with wise principles around
saving for the future and living within our means, and
finding contentment and giving generously, and investing and working as
unto the Lord to bring God glory. As we live
into that cultural mandate to cultivate and keep and work. Uh,
you know, as we do that, it intersects with our
(16:04):
financial lives on a daily basis. In fact, it's one
of the most tangible ways our faith intersects with our life,
because we all spend money every day. And so we
want to help you think through that, develop a biblical
worldview of financial decision making, and along the way, help
you address those very specific questions that you have. So
if there's something going on in your financial life today
(16:25):
that you'd like to talk about, we'd love to hear
about it. That number 800 525 7000. We've got some
lines open and you can call right now again the
number 805 5257. Oh, boy. Great to have Kristen here
today from the National Christian Foundation. You know, I mentioned
it briefly, but let me just circle back and say that,
(16:46):
you know, I love the donor advised fund, what NCF
calls a giving fund for your giving. Because here's why.
You know, if you have appreciated stock or business or
any type of appreciated asset, you can give it to
your donor advised fund before you sell it. And then
you don't have to pay the capital gains, which means
more deduction for you, more money into the kingdom. It's fabulous.
(17:09):
You can put cash in there as well. Here's something
that's coming. And I just learned about this the other day.
I'm going to be doing some more research on it.
But you know, these new Trump accounts that are coming
for kids born before 2028. So this is for new youngsters.
The government US government is going to put $1,000 in
(17:30):
your Trump account for these new children that are born,
and then mom and dad and the grandparents can add
up to 5000 a year to it. It's going to
act kind of like a 529 if it's used for
educational expenses. But even more than that, for maybe a
first time home purchase, there's a pretty wide range of uses.
(17:50):
Or if it's saved and held on to for the future, well,
it's going to grow tax free. Now, here's the kicker, though,
is you can actually fund a Trump account for these
children out of a donor advised fund. It's amazing. I
had no idea it was there. And yet it is
because they qualify as a charitable entity which can fund
(18:12):
these Trump accounts. And so again, this doesn't start until 2026.
So this is a next year thing. But you will
be able to to fund a Trump account for new children,
young children right out of your donor advised fund. Incredible.
We'll be talking a lot more about that in the
days ahead. These are brand new. Still a lot of
details yet to be understood about exactly how they work,
(18:35):
but I think they're going to be fabulous. But anyway,
if you don't have a donor advised fund, I'd recommend
you open one. Uh, the reason I recommend the National
Christian Foundation is this, you know, when you put the
money in the donor advised fund, you've given it away.
It's an irrevocable gift. And that's precisely why when you
put it in the donor advised fund, you can get
(18:55):
the charitable deduction immediately. And that's why people will use
a bunching strategy where they'll put, if they have the
the funds available, a couple of years worth of giving
at once, get up above the standard deduction, get more
tax benefit. That's great. Now the money's been given away.
Why is that important? Well, it's important because the donor
(19:15):
advised fund sponsor. The person that holds the donor advised
fund ultimately has to approve where you're giving the money.
Now technically it should go to any not for profit organization,
a church or a 500 1C3 ministry or charity. But
if the donor advised fund sponsor says, well, I know
you granted it out to this Christian ministry, but they're
(19:36):
not on our approved list, so we're not making the gift.
That very well could happen now. NCF is going to
ensure it doesn't happen because they're precisely there, which is
how Ron Blue and Larry Burkett intended it when they
founded it. You know, back in the in the 80s,
I believe maybe it was even the 70s, uh, for
Christians to be able to support Christian causes. So I
(19:57):
feel a whole lot better with you having your donor
advised fund at NCF, because we know that you're ultimately
going to be able to grant that money out with
a few clicks of a button on their website to
whatever Christian ministry or charity or church you want to,
and they're never going to get in the way of that.
So if you want to open your donor advised fund,
it takes just a few minutes. You can do that
at Faith. Com. Again, that's faith. All right. We're going
(20:26):
to be taking your calls and questions here in a moment.
The calls are coming in and we will head that way.
So if you have a question you haven't called yet,
go ahead and do that right now. Our team is
ready for you. 800 525 7000. That's 800 525 7000.
All right. In the news today. This one's, uh. Well,
for some of you, this may be a surprise. The
US mint has officially ended production of the penny. That's right.
(20:51):
We're bringing closure to the more than two centuries of
minting America's smallest coin. The final pennies were struck last
Wednesday in Philadelphia, where they've been produced since 1793, and
they'll be auctioned off to collectors now. Pennies will, of course,
remain legal tender, but no new pennies will be made.
(21:15):
It's the first US coin discontinued since the half cent
in 1857. Now, President Trump ordered the change earlier this year,
noting that a penny costs. You ready for this? About
$0.04 to Cents to produce. Billions are, of course, still
in circulation. Yet their usefulness in a modern digital economy
(21:36):
has sharply declined. So its farewell invites us to reflect
and appreciate how even the smallest coin can leave a
lasting imprint on our country's story. And we can say
goodbye to the penny, officially from the U.S. mint. All right.
We got a lot of calls coming in. We'll take
those right around the corner. Stay with us. This is
faith and finance live. Glad to have you with us
(22:09):
today on faith and finance. Live here on Moody Radio.
I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions. Just
a few lines open. They've been filling up here in
the last several minutes. 805, two, five, 7000. Let's go
to Cleveland. Nick. Go ahead sir.
S4 (22:23):
Hey, Rob. Uh, I love your show. Um.
S1 (22:26):
Thanks, man.
S4 (22:27):
I am 46 years old. I plan to retire at
70 because that's where they tell me it's going to
be by that time. I have a 401 with my employer,
and right now it's set to basically a target date fund,
and I am over financing that target day. I'm at
(22:49):
about 160% of my goal, and I was wondering if
I could or if I should trim that back to
meet the employer match and move that money to an
outside IRA? Possibly.
S1 (23:05):
Yeah. So when you say you're a 160% or on
track to be at 160% of your goal, this is
a goal you've set. That's basically how much you're going
to need to continue to fund your lifestyle beyond your
working years. Is that the goal that you are surpassing?
S4 (23:24):
Correct.
S1 (23:25):
Okay. Yeah. So, I mean, I think this begs the question,
first of all, how much is enough? And maybe you've
already defined that sounds like you have. And then the
question is, okay, maybe you want to overshoot that by
some percentage just to create some cushion there. But at
some point, you know, I think you possibly can over accumulate. Well,
(23:45):
you certainly can. Now what ultimately that number is, is
not a number anybody can tell you other than between
you and the Lord as to, you know, how much
you should ultimately try to accumulate. But I like the
idea of setting a financial finish line both for your lifestyle.
How much do we want to spend on a monthly basis?
(24:06):
And you probably want to revisit that periodically. And then
also for your balance sheet for your accumulation, how much
is enough? Because once we're on track to hit or
even slightly exceed it, we may want to say, okay,
now I'm going to start dialing it back. And I'm
not just going to move to save in a different vehicle.
I'm looking for other uses of that money. Maybe I'm,
(24:27):
you know, starting to give more. Maybe I'm gifting some
to the kids, taking advantage of that just because that's
available now. So I would be really thinking through prayerfully
kind of the answer to that question of what is
your financial finish line now, just in terms of the
actual mechanics of where you put your savings? Um, you know, absolutely.
(24:47):
You want to take full advantage of whatever matching is
available in that 401 K, and if you only have
the traditional option available to you, I kind of like
you having some Roth money. Uh, you know, whether it's
in a Roth 401 K or at a Roth IRA, um,
so that you've got two buckets, both the tax deferred
and the tax free bucket, because one of the things
(25:09):
we don't know is, you know, what will the tax
structure be in the future? I mean, we have a
good idea of what it'll be through 2028. But, you know,
everything's on the table at that point depending on the
outcome of, you know, the next couple of elections. So
I would say having the ability to have some money being,
you know, accumulating on a tax free basis in a
Roth is a great idea. But again, I would come
(25:32):
back to, you know, just thinking through what is that
ultimate target and what happens when you're on track to
reach it. You know, you might begin to think and pray, Lord,
what would you have me to do with this surplus?
Does that all make sense, though?
S4 (25:48):
Absolutely, yes. Um, yeah, I think it was last year,
maybe year before the company just got the opportunity to
have Roth 401, and I was able to split mine.
I have now 2% in my original traditional and 7%
in my Roth, but, uh, they match 3% to your six.
(26:11):
So I have that extra 3% that I was wondering
if I should, you know, move it, let it stay
what we're doing. And I also have a HSA fund too, so.
S1 (26:22):
Yeah, yeah, well, it sounds like you're in great shape.
I mean, you've got. I love the fact that you're
prioritizing the Roth 401 now. So I think at this
point it's probably starting to back it down. I mean,
assuming you're well planned and you have some confidence in
that target that you set, uh, you know, and as
long as you have the access to the investments that
are performing and meeting your expectations, then you might as
(26:44):
well just keep it simple and stay right there. If
your investment options like your target date fund or the
other things available in your 401 K, you know, or lackluster, well,
then you could start looking to that IRA beyond the
matching portion because you open up, you know, the investment
universe and have access to anything, especially if you want
to do something like faith based investing that wasn't, you know,
(27:06):
available in your retirement plan. But again, I would just
continue to say, all right, maybe it's time to back
it down and not just move it to another account,
but to look at other uses for it.
S4 (27:19):
Yeah, that sounds good.
S1 (27:21):
Yeah. Awesome. Well, Nick, I appreciate your call. Thanks for
your kind remarks about the program. Call anytime if I
can help. God bless you. Uh, Florida's where Elizabeth is located. Elizabeth,
thanks for your call. Go ahead.
S5 (27:32):
Thank you. Thank you so much for taking my call. Yes. Um, I,
me and my husband are trying to make a decision
in reference to our son. He's in the military, and
he has a student loan that he has not paid
since 2015. The total amount is 6500. It's small, um,
(27:57):
interest at this point. He had it, he act on
it and had it deferred until December. But he needs
to start to pay at least $75 a month. Um,
my husband just, um, you know, he's all for just
paying the full amount. He had an estimated like, um,
(28:22):
close to that amount in a um, retired account that
he recently moved to an IRA. But he feels that,
you know, it's not it's a big burden to him,
especially with all the the military have been going through,
(28:42):
I think differently because, um, I think if he could,
if we could pay the $75 a month and he
would put $75 a month on a account for emergency
funds for his future. And his wife, he's married. No children. Um,
(29:04):
it would help them more to start something we we
don't know. We we have different opinions and we're praying
about it, but we still have not, um, a definite
answer on what to do.
S1 (29:18):
Yeah. Let me make sure I understand your husband's wanting
to just pay it off. And let me ask before
I want to understand more clearly your thought on how
you'd approach it. But if you all were to pay
off the 6500 in full, uh, because you decided together,
that was the best option. Where would those funds come from?
S5 (29:38):
It would come from our funds. Um, you know, he
had this, um, recently, some consulting work that we are retired,
both of us. We retired in March. He was in February,
in February and mid-March this year. But it will come from,
you know, our, um. Our retirement account.
S1 (30:00):
Okay, so an IRA or a 401 K what is it?
S6 (30:04):
Yeah. We could we.
S5 (30:05):
Could take the money from elsewhere. We do have, um,
you know, some savings. It doesn't have to go exactly
from the retired. Yeah. Okay.
S1 (30:14):
Uh, how do you know how much you have in savings? Roughly.
S5 (30:18):
Oh. My husband.
S1 (30:20):
No, no. How much do you the two of you
have in savings? Liquid savings outside of retirement plans?
S5 (30:27):
Maybe close to 100,000.
S1 (30:30):
Okay. Yeah. And that's in addition to your retirement savings.
S5 (30:34):
That's. That's correct.
S1 (30:36):
Okay. So, yeah, you could pretty easily take that out.
And and the key is, you know, you would not
jeopardize your financial security, right? You could pretty easily write
that check and you all would have plenty left.
S5 (30:48):
That's correct. But we have help.
S1 (30:52):
Yeah. Let's do this. I've got to take a break,
but I'll give you my thoughts on perhaps where you
go from here with your son after this. Stay with us.
Thanks for joining us today on Faith and finance live
here on Moody Radio. I'm Rob West, taking your calls
(31:12):
and questions today at 800 525 257. Oh, that's 800
525 7000. Before the break, we were talking to Elizabeth
in Florida. She and her husband are trying to help
their son who's in the Marines. He's got a debt
from 2015. It's been deferred. The payments are going to start.
They want to help him, but they want to do
it the right way. They have a bit of a
(31:32):
difference of opinion. They're trying to pray through and reconcile
with regard to how they help. Or Elizabeth's husband, uh,
would like to just come in and pay off the
debt completely. They have the ability to do that financially.
She's wondering, Elizabeth is our caller, if perhaps they should
do it a different way. And what would be your
ideal Elizabeth would would it be that, you know, you
(31:54):
all would just start making the payments or what would
you do different from just paying it off?
S5 (31:59):
Well, um, I thought about that. The amount that he's
supposed to pay, we would pay for him and he
would pay. He will open an emergency fund for him
and his wife Life and pay himself $75. Put that
on an account every month. Yeah, until the payment. My
(32:22):
husband thinks that, um, you know, for paying monthly, that
his credit score probably is going to be ruined. But
I feel that the solution to pay month by month
would give him the ability to invest some in an
emergency fund, that he might need it along the way.
S1 (32:42):
Yeah. So you're you're trying to instill, you know, discipline and,
and good financial habits by saying basically, all right, your
payments are going to start. But instead of you sending
the 75 a month to the student loans, you put
that in savings and we'll essentially match it, and we'll
cover the amount that would have gone to the lender. Correct?
S5 (33:05):
Yes.
S1 (33:06):
Yeah. And then I think you just need to kind
of think through, you know, how will he receive that?
I appreciate what you want to do there. And I
love the idea that you're thinking about how do we
bless him and help him get on a financially sound
footing and develop the right habits at the same time?
You know, he's grown with a family and has kids
(33:26):
and so forth, and and so we can only do, oh,
he has no kids, okay. But he's he's married. Correct? Yes, yes. Yeah.
So he's he's grown and married. And you know, I
think there's only so far we can go in terms of,
you know, we want our kids to do certain things
that they may or may not follow through on it. So,
you know, I like the idea. How do you think
(33:46):
he would receive that if you said, listen, we're going
to pay the $75 a month, and as long as
as you'll put the 75 in savings, I mean, you
would have no way of knowing that you're not going
to check up on him or anything like that. But
how do you how do you think he would receive
that idea?
S5 (34:02):
Well, I thought about asking him how he would feel
if that was the plan.
S1 (34:08):
Yeah, yeah, I would talk to him about it because
I think what's most important is preserving the relationship. And
I can't imagine that either of these scenarios would damage
it because you all are just trying to bless him.
But obviously, you know, you not coming in and just saying, listen,
we're going to pay it off. We we would love
for you to to start taking what you would have
been sending and start putting it in savings. But we're
(34:29):
going to leave that up to you and trust you
versus we're not going to pay it off. We're only
going to do 75 a month. And you know, we're
we're going to do that with the understanding that you're
essentially matching it. But it's going into savings. You know,
I just think you're going to have to feel out
how that's he's going to react to that relationally. Because
what I, I wouldn't want is, as much as I
(34:51):
like him developing good financial habits, I also don't want
you to have any kind of strain in the relationship.
I feel like that's even more important, uh, than the
$75 a month that may ultimately amount to 6500. And,
you know, in emergency reserves. Does that make sense?
S5 (35:10):
It does a lot of things. But, um, the fact
that if we pay $75 a month, would that be, um,
in some way negative and will reflect negatively to his
credit score or that is better than just painful?
S1 (35:29):
Yeah. I mean, paying it off in full, um, if
he has other active credit accounts is probably going to
be slightly better because it reduces his overall, uh, you know,
debt to income ratios. But if he doesn't have a
lot of other active accounts, keeping this open with him
being an on time payer is actually a really good
(35:51):
thing as far as his credit's concerned, because as soon
as it's paid off, the account is closed. It's no
longer in the history, uh, or it's in the history,
but it's no longer factored into the current accounts in
terms of him being an on time payer. And so
if he doesn't have other accounts. He could actually get
dinged for a lack of of credit activity. So it's
(36:13):
kind of, uh, you know, six and one half dozen
on the other. Um, you know, I think it's probably
not a reason to go either way in terms of
the credit score. I think what's most important is that
you all have the ability to help. It sounds like
you do that. You have the desire and the willingness.
Sounds like you do. And then I think you just
talk it through with him, express your desire that he would,
(36:37):
you know, start to build some emergency reserves that he
would have to bless his family because the unexpected is
going to come. But you trying to force how he
does that and trying to keep up with it, I
just feel like that's where it may end up going sideways.
S5 (36:52):
Okay, okay, okay. Just, um, okay. Well, it helps a lot.
I understand the point, and I have not thought about that,
which is it's a good point to consider, but, um,
we have helped him in many occasions, and we're praying
for a better job for him because he doesn't earn
much and he's not full time with the military.
S1 (37:17):
Ah, okay. Yeah. Well, the good news is it's a
fairly robust job market. So if he's got marketable skills
and he's out there pounding the pavement, he should find
something and hopefully something to improve his situation and get
a little more income coming in. Elizabeth, you sound like
a wonderful mom. You and your husband, great parents, and
we appreciate you being on on the program today. Thanks
(37:37):
for your call. Call any time. Uh, well, before we
head to the final caller today, Bob Dole is here. Uh,
Bob joins us each week with his market commentary. And, Bob,
we had a bit of a sell off, uh, you know,
late last week started again this week, although things have
reversed course slightly. Just give us an update on what
you're seeing in these markets.
S7 (37:56):
You know, let's take the, uh, the pickup today followed
by Nvidia releasing better than expected earnings after the close.
And that should be, um, again tomorrow. Rob. But the
weakness more of which that we've seen and and in
quite a few months, I think, is stemming from the
(38:17):
fact that the fed may not lower rates in December.
They signaled that at the last meeting, uh, skepticism around
the AI trade, um, softness in labor markets and consumption, uh,
and overall valuation concerns, which we we have pointed out
for some time. I remind listeners valuation is not a
timing tool, but occasionally it gets in the way. So
(38:40):
markets are in the seesaw pattern, I guess is the
best way to put it. And we'll probably see some
more of that.
S1 (38:45):
Rob yeah, no doubt about it. And obviously, you know,
fingers crossed about December, uh, in terms of the possibility
of a rate cut, but it sounds like just, you know,
seeing some of the uh, the most recent, uh, notes
from the fed, you know, that, uh, it's looking less
and less likely like we're going to get another cut.
Is that right?
S7 (39:04):
Yeah, I think so. I mean, the fed governors seemed
like they speak every day. Um, and most of the
fed governor talks have poured some cold water on the
likelihood of a fed cut in December. It's not a
fait accompli that they won't lower rates. But, uh, let's
put it this way. The fed funds futures probability that
we talk about, uh, was nearly 100%. They would lower
(39:27):
rates prior to the last fed meeting. The cold water
put on by the fed chair. And then these other
speeches taken that, uh, probability down to under 50% that
they cut.
S1 (39:39):
Yeah. Very good. Bob, what about gold? I mean, obviously,
we finally got that correction we were anticipating for some time.
But the damage, as you point out, was relatively small.
Just given the gains. Where do you feel like it
goes from here?
S7 (39:51):
Yeah. Look, I think it's going to take some, um,
choppy sideways action to reestablish a floor or a foundation
from which perhaps it goes higher again. A lot will
depend on the inflation rate. You know, my view is
that inflation is going to remain stubborn. And that doesn't mean,
you know, 6 or 8% inflation. It means it's going
to be three and not the two that the fed wants.
(40:14):
And that means the gold is probably going to be
okay as an investment.
S1 (40:18):
Yeah. Interesting. All right Bob, we'll certainly keep an eye
on it. Thanks for being here today.
S7 (40:22):
All the best. Bye bye.
S1 (40:23):
All right. That's Bob Dole, CEO and CIO at Crossmark
Global Investments. Let's head to our final caller of the
day and talk to Tom in Florida. Tom. Go ahead.
S8 (40:34):
Hey, Bob, um, I have a question. Um, can I
take money from an IRA and put it in a
donor advised fund? Would those funds be taxed?
S1 (40:45):
Uh, yes. Um, so there's only one way, and you
can take that money. You can contributed to a donor
advised fund, but only after it's distributed to you first.
So once it's in your hands, it's a qualified excuse me,
it's taxable income. And then you could turn around and
(41:06):
give it to a donor advised fund and claim it
as a charitable deduction. But what you cannot do is
transfer IRA dollars directly into a donor advised fund using
the qualified charitable distribution. The IRS prohibits that. And that
would be the only way to get it out of
the IRA without it being taxable. But a contribution to
(41:26):
a donor advised fund does not qualify.
S8 (41:30):
I got another question with the recipient of a donor
advised fund, do they have to be qualified like like
the people with the IRA?
S1 (41:40):
Uh, yeah. They have to be a 500 1C3 organization. Uh,
and so yes, they they do have to qualify. Like
for instance, it can't go to an individual. Uh, the
IRS says that organization receiving the grant has to be
what they call a qualified public charity under the tax
code 501 C3. So they have to have the tax
(42:02):
exempt status.
S8 (42:05):
Thank you sir.
S1 (42:06):
Okay. Thank you for your call Tom. We appreciate it.
By the way, I don't know if you heard the
opening part of my comments today. Interestingly, one of those qualified, uh,
charitable organizations that you can give to out of a
donor advised fund is going to be these new Trump
accounts for children born before the year 2028, beginning next year.
(42:29):
So we'll have a lot more to come on that. But, uh,
that's a new wrinkle that no one was expecting. Tom,
thanks for your call today, folks. Uh, if you love
the program, this is a great time of year for
you to think about supporting faith and finance live. Reason being,
we're listener supported and we're trying to close our year
out strong. Every gift doubled between now and December 31st,
and every gift includes my new devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure.
(42:51):
Go to faith. Give Josh Taylor to hear an Omar
serving us today, doing an amazing job. We'll see you tomorrow.
It's one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history.
Trillions of dollars moving from one generation to the next. Hi,
I'm Rob West. How can we help the next generation
see generosity not as an obligation, but as a joyful calling?
Kristin Ferrari joins us to talk about how younger Christians
are redefining stewardship, and how the National Christian Foundation is
(00:33):
helping them live it out. And then it's on to
your calls at 800 525 7000. That's 805, two five 7000.
This is faith and finance. Live. Biblical wisdom for your
financial decisions. Well, our guest today is Kristin Favory, vice
president for brand and experience at the National Christian Foundation,
(00:55):
a valued underwriter of this program. Kristin, great to have
you with us today.
S2 (01:00):
Oh, it's so great to be here. Thank you. Rob.
S1 (01:02):
Kristen, before we dive into what inspires younger Christians to
give and how NCF is helping them live that out,
I want to dig into your story a bit. Would
you mind sharing what first ignited your own passion for generosity,
and how that personal journey shaped the way you serve
at NCF?
S2 (01:20):
Yeah, I would say that for me, generosity was personal
as a kid growing up, uh, but it was much
more obligatory and obligation. You know, I watched my parents, uh,
give their tithes every week in church. I was taught
to put the envelope in the basket. It was a great, uh,
discipline that I developed as a kid, but I think later,
(01:42):
my 20s and my 30s, and then coming to work
at the National Christian Foundation, what I really started to
see is the way in which, uh, generosity changes people
and obviously, uh, where the money goes and the resources go, uh,
is incredible with charities and recipients, but actually seeing the
way in which it changes us from the inside out
(02:04):
and helps people become more free and not be as
tied to the things of this world, really had an
impact on me personally.
S1 (02:12):
Yeah, well, I'm so glad we get to unpack that today.
And this really relates to some of the data you're
uncovering in your role around the next generation. I want
to talk about what's driving the next generation, to give
what's inspiring young Christians today to engage in generosity and
even faithful stewardship.
S2 (02:32):
Yeah. One of the interesting things that we have found
is for millennials, and we're talking about next gen. We're
talking about millennials who are kind of at the age
of 29 to 44 right now. And, uh, one of
the things that we found before we even did our
study is that millennials see philanthropy as a part of
(02:53):
their identity at large. You know, not just Christian millennials
but millennials at large. Yes. And, uh, for Christian millennials.
And what we found in the study is this idea
that my life is a way to give away, you know,
that all of my resources have equal value, not just
the financial side, but my time is just as important.
My influence is just as important. And so, uh, they're
(03:17):
giving more than money. They want to be involved in
the work that they're doing. They don't want to just
write a check. They want to see the change and
be a part of the change, which is very different
from previous generations.
S1 (03:28):
Well, I love that because they want it to be
authentic to who they are and their faith. And I
love that they're driven by impact. That's powerful. Let's talk
about traditional tools like donor advised funds and estate planning
and financial advising. How are younger Christians approaching these?
S2 (03:46):
What I know for sure is that they're still using
traditional tools, but the difference is that they want those
traditional tools in a way that they can make personal.
So how they see the impact that's made, how they
are seeing the numbers or whatever it might be, where
that money is going. They want to know how how
it's being used. So they want it to be personal.
I would also say that they're taking, um, you know,
(04:08):
something traditional, like investments, uh, which has been around for
a long time. Uh, but they're seeing, you know, investments.
How can I charitably give or charitably invest? How can
I use my investments in a bigger way than just
the financial return? So it's kind of this more personal
view of traditional tools.
S1 (04:28):
Yeah. Well, that's got to be exciting for your work
there at the National Christian Foundation. I bet your team
is encouraged by this new data.
S2 (04:35):
Oh, very much so, very much so. And I think
we're we've already been seeing more and more, uh, younger
Christians come into the fold at NCF. And I think
one of the differences, though, is they're wanting to do
it in community. So we have communities all over the country, uh,
but they're giving together. You know, they're really trying to
(04:55):
do it in new ways, which is exciting for us.
S1 (04:57):
Well, we're going to continue to talk about next gen
generosity with Kristen Varvari right around the corner. When we
come back, we'll talk about what advisors need to know,
how families can have these intentional conversations, and specifically how
NCF can come alongside you to encourage you in all
of this. This is faith and finance live. We're just
(05:18):
getting started. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. What
does it look like to build a legacy that lasts?
(05:39):
We're talking next gen generosity today. Kristin Bayer is here
from the National Christian Foundation. Kristin serves as vice president
for Brand and Experience, and NCF not only comes alongside
givers to help them give creatively and strategically, to give
in community with tools to make it really simple. But
(06:00):
they also have offices all over the country. We'll get
into a bit more about NCF and how you can
work directly with them in a moment, but if you
want to learn more, go to Faith ViacomCBS. And while
you're there, open a giving fund. It takes just a
few minutes and it's one of my favorite tools for giving. Kristin,
we're talking next gen generosity, and I want to talk
(06:23):
about advisors for a second. And specifically, what should advisors
know about the way millennials and Gen Z approach generosity
and even wealth and stewardship?
S2 (06:35):
You know, I think going back to my earlier comment
about identity for millennials, giving is this bigger picture. It's
a there's a lot of threads to it. It isn't
just financial. It's uh, it's all these other resources that
they want to give. And so I think helping them
see that and uncover what are all the ways that
I can give, um, or can, you know, getting advisor
(06:57):
to help them connect in community or to other people
or other organizations that can that can help them give
away more than, than just their financial resources, I think
is one way for them to think about it. I
also think that, um, co-creation is really important, uh, for
most millennials. Now, I would say when we were we
did this study, we were looking at millennial wealth creators,
(07:20):
those that had generated their own wealth. And and then
we were looking at inheritors, those who will or have
inherited wealth that have been, you know, in their family
for multiple generations. Those entrepreneurs, those wealth creators are very
much on the co-creator side. They want to co-create how
the giving happens, what the plan looks like. They want
to be at the table, um, they want a strong voice. Um,
(07:43):
oftentimes they want to do it themselves. Uh, so, you know,
there may not be an advisor in the room, but
when there is an advisor in the room. Um, I
think just bringing them to the table and making them
part of the conversation is, is really important.
S1 (07:55):
Yeah, I love that. And I love this idea of
connecting both head and heart. You know, we need a plan.
And that's often one of the barriers to giving the
lack of a plan. But they also need a vision
for their giving, and they need to see how it's
going to lead to real, lasting change and impact. And
that's so important to this next generation. Well, let's move
from advisors, Kristen to families. How can families be intentional
(08:19):
and have these faith filled conversations across the generations around
values and generosity?
S2 (08:26):
One thing I would start with is the acknowledgement, at
least from our research, what we see is, you know,
a lot of times we we focus on the differences
in a family, um, you know, or between generations. And I,
the first thing I want to highlight is that there
is a starting point that we found in the data
that says that faith is a guiding principle for decisions
(08:48):
for both millennials and older generation, and knowing that that's true. Yeah.
Or maybe discovering asking that question, uh, would be really
healthy in a family to understand that that principle is true. Now,
how we get there is where the differences come in.
And so I would say that one really important, um,
stepping stone for families is to understand what faithfulness looks
(09:09):
like for each generation. Uh, to unpack that with stories
on both sides to hear, you know and understand how
God is weaving the story together of faithfulness for both
generations and hearing each other. You know, I've sat in
on quite a few family meetings recently with advisors with
folks from NCF, and what I've found is when there's
(09:31):
multiple generations in a room listening to each other, both,
you know, both sides of the table, something powerful happens
and God does something in that storytelling.
S1 (09:41):
Mhm. I love that. And especially when it's inherited wealth,
you know when the, the one that's stewarding it, didn't
see it created. It does change the dynamic. So understanding
the heart of those that saw it created in the
first place and hearing those stories is so powerful. Well,
let's talk about then, how NCF can come alongside the
next generation to equip and inspire them to live generously,
(10:04):
because this is where NCF really shines.
S2 (10:08):
Well, thanks. Well, we are really passionate about this topic
all across the country. One of the things that we've
done since doing this research that we're referencing is we
published a report that you can find on our website,
and we're excited about that, because we wrote it in
such a way that it could serve both an older
generation and a younger generation, and giving ideas and thoughts
(10:29):
and perspectives. So that's that's one tool in your toolbox.
The other thing that we're trying to do is, is
host more experiences and events, uh, in each of these
communities across the country. There's lots of good stuff happening.
And I would say the more organic they are, the better,
which is sometimes harder for people who like structure. But
(10:50):
we found that with the next generation, when they're in
the mix, co-creating and organically making it happen and designing it, uh,
it's more successful. Um, so we're seeing that happen and
partnering with different churches, uh, advisors, um, making sure that
we're bringing together any sort of partners that can help
a family. You know, not one organization has all the answers,
(11:13):
not one advisor has all the answers. And just helping
these families connect to the right organization for either their
life stage or if they're a business owner or whatever
they might be, we want to help connect them, uh,
to a good organization like that.
S1 (11:27):
Kristen, I know there's some great information in this next
gen research. And by the way, folks, if you want
to get a copy of this report, just go to NCI.
Research and you can get a copy. But among all
of the insights I know one of the things that
really was highlighted in this data was this idea of
(11:49):
the importance of agency in developing healthy stewards. Unpack that
a bit for us.
S2 (11:54):
Yeah. The way we define agency is the ability to
act on the free will that God gives us. You know,
it's the kind of making decisions, getting the reps, you know,
in in those decisions. What we found in the research
is just the power of agency. The more that you
act on and kind of step into the responsibility that
(12:15):
God has given you in stewardship, the more confidence you have,
the more joy you have, the more united you are
as a family, the closer you are that you feel
to God. We went into the study not really knowing
that that would be an outcome, and it was so
powerful to us. And so one of the things that
we at NCF have been trying to think about is
how do you help people find agency, especially if you
(12:36):
know they haven't received an inheritance? Let's say they're an
inheritance and they don't really have this opportunity. And the
biggest encouragement we have is to help people find their quote.
Gen one what are the things that you get excited
about that you can go create, that you can make
decisions on. Because if you do that in stewardship, it's
going to help you have more confidence and more joy
and really thrive and flourish in that stewardship.
S1 (12:58):
That's really exciting. We've got just about a minute left.
I know the research Kristin points to the significant influence
women have in shaping generosity. Let's finish here because this
is really some exciting work.
S2 (13:10):
The most important thing that we found is not actually
something new. We know that women and mothers have a
huge role in financial decisions in the home. 72% of
the millennials we talked to said that they were most
influenced in their generosity by their mothers. So there's a
huge role that women play in this story. But the
research also showed that they are also the ones that
(13:32):
feel unheard. And family wealth decisions. That's next gen women
are feeling unheard. And so I think the the time
is now to figure out how to Incorporate a woman's
voice into those decisions around giving and around if you're
in the midst of wealth transfer. Uh, and I'm excited,
there's a new study that women doing well is working on,
and we'll be helping people recruit for that. So we're
(13:53):
excited about that new study that women doing. Well, uh,
we'll be doing here in the next few weeks.
S1 (13:57):
We are as well, Kristen. Unfortunately, we're out of time.
We'll have you back real soon. Thanks for stopping by.
S2 (14:02):
Thank you so much, folks.
S1 (14:04):
The great wealth transfer isn't just about inheritance. It's about
passing faith values and purpose. What a treat today to
be with Kristen Ferrari from the National Christian Foundation. To
learn more, go to Faith. Com and open your giving
fund today. Faith. We'll be right back.
S3 (14:36):
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 (15:00):
Well, thanks for taking the time to join us today
on Faith and Finance live. I'm Rob West over the
remainder of the program. We'd love to hear what's on
your mind today and your financial life. Our goal to
help you live as a wise and faithful steward. We'll
do that by bringing some encouragement your way, by helping
you think through the specific questions or issues you have
going on in your financial life, and always pointing you
(15:22):
back to God's Word. Because here's the reality the very
best textbook going on anything in life, but certainly that
includes money is God's Word. You know, there's 2300 plus
verses that deal with this topic, a lot of them
just around this idea that God owns everything, that he
should be our ultimate treasure. A lot that have to
do with the fact that spending reveals what we value.
(15:43):
Many of them have to do with wise principles around
saving for the future and living within our means, and
finding contentment and giving generously, and investing and working as
unto the Lord to bring God glory. As we live
into that cultural mandate to cultivate and keep and work. Uh,
you know, as we do that, it intersects with our
(16:04):
financial lives on a daily basis. In fact, it's one
of the most tangible ways our faith intersects with our life,
because we all spend money every day. And so we
want to help you think through that, develop a biblical
worldview of financial decision making, and along the way, help
you address those very specific questions that you have. So
if there's something going on in your financial life today
(16:25):
that you'd like to talk about, we'd love to hear
about it. That number 800 525 7000. We've got some
lines open and you can call right now again the
number 805 5257. Oh, boy. Great to have Kristen here
today from the National Christian Foundation. You know, I mentioned
it briefly, but let me just circle back and say that,
(16:46):
you know, I love the donor advised fund, what NCF
calls a giving fund for your giving. Because here's why.
You know, if you have appreciated stock or business or
any type of appreciated asset, you can give it to
your donor advised fund before you sell it. And then
you don't have to pay the capital gains, which means
more deduction for you, more money into the kingdom. It's fabulous.
(17:09):
You can put cash in there as well. Here's something
that's coming. And I just learned about this the other day.
I'm going to be doing some more research on it.
But you know, these new Trump accounts that are coming
for kids born before 2028. So this is for new youngsters.
The government US government is going to put $1,000 in
(17:30):
your Trump account for these new children that are born,
and then mom and dad and the grandparents can add
up to 5000 a year to it. It's going to
act kind of like a 529 if it's used for
educational expenses. But even more than that, for maybe a
first time home purchase, there's a pretty wide range of uses.
(17:50):
Or if it's saved and held on to for the future, well,
it's going to grow tax free. Now, here's the kicker, though,
is you can actually fund a Trump account for these
children out of a donor advised fund. It's amazing. I
had no idea it was there. And yet it is
because they qualify as a charitable entity which can fund
(18:12):
these Trump accounts. And so again, this doesn't start until 2026.
So this is a next year thing. But you will
be able to to fund a Trump account for new children,
young children right out of your donor advised fund. Incredible.
We'll be talking a lot more about that in the
days ahead. These are brand new. Still a lot of
details yet to be understood about exactly how they work,
(18:35):
but I think they're going to be fabulous. But anyway,
if you don't have a donor advised fund, I'd recommend
you open one. Uh, the reason I recommend the National
Christian Foundation is this, you know, when you put the
money in the donor advised fund, you've given it away.
It's an irrevocable gift. And that's precisely why when you
put it in the donor advised fund, you can get
(18:55):
the charitable deduction immediately. And that's why people will use
a bunching strategy where they'll put, if they have the
the funds available, a couple of years worth of giving
at once, get up above the standard deduction, get more
tax benefit. That's great. Now the money's been given away.
Why is that important? Well, it's important because the donor
(19:15):
advised fund sponsor. The person that holds the donor advised
fund ultimately has to approve where you're giving the money.
Now technically it should go to any not for profit organization,
a church or a 500 1C3 ministry or charity. But
if the donor advised fund sponsor says, well, I know
you granted it out to this Christian ministry, but they're
(19:36):
not on our approved list, so we're not making the gift.
That very well could happen now. NCF is going to
ensure it doesn't happen because they're precisely there, which is
how Ron Blue and Larry Burkett intended it when they
founded it. You know, back in the in the 80s,
I believe maybe it was even the 70s, uh, for
Christians to be able to support Christian causes. So I
(19:57):
feel a whole lot better with you having your donor
advised fund at NCF, because we know that you're ultimately
going to be able to grant that money out with
a few clicks of a button on their website to
whatever Christian ministry or charity or church you want to,
and they're never going to get in the way of that.
So if you want to open your donor advised fund,
it takes just a few minutes. You can do that
at Faith. Com. Again, that's faith. All right. We're going
(20:26):
to be taking your calls and questions here in a moment.
The calls are coming in and we will head that way.
So if you have a question you haven't called yet,
go ahead and do that right now. Our team is
ready for you. 800 525 7000. That's 800 525 7000.
All right. In the news today. This one's, uh. Well,
for some of you, this may be a surprise. The
US mint has officially ended production of the penny. That's right.
(20:51):
We're bringing closure to the more than two centuries of
minting America's smallest coin. The final pennies were struck last
Wednesday in Philadelphia, where they've been produced since 1793, and
they'll be auctioned off to collectors now. Pennies will, of course,
remain legal tender, but no new pennies will be made.
(21:15):
It's the first US coin discontinued since the half cent
in 1857. Now, President Trump ordered the change earlier this year,
noting that a penny costs. You ready for this? About
$0.04 to Cents to produce. Billions are, of course, still
in circulation. Yet their usefulness in a modern digital economy
(21:36):
has sharply declined. So its farewell invites us to reflect
and appreciate how even the smallest coin can leave a
lasting imprint on our country's story. And we can say
goodbye to the penny, officially from the U.S. mint. All right.
We got a lot of calls coming in. We'll take
those right around the corner. Stay with us. This is
faith and finance live. Glad to have you with us
(22:09):
today on faith and finance. Live here on Moody Radio.
I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions. Just
a few lines open. They've been filling up here in
the last several minutes. 805, two, five, 7000. Let's go
to Cleveland. Nick. Go ahead sir.
S4 (22:23):
Hey, Rob. Uh, I love your show. Um.
S1 (22:26):
Thanks, man.
S4 (22:27):
I am 46 years old. I plan to retire at
70 because that's where they tell me it's going to
be by that time. I have a 401 with my employer,
and right now it's set to basically a target date fund,
and I am over financing that target day. I'm at
(22:49):
about 160% of my goal, and I was wondering if
I could or if I should trim that back to
meet the employer match and move that money to an
outside IRA? Possibly.
S1 (23:05):
Yeah. So when you say you're a 160% or on
track to be at 160% of your goal, this is
a goal you've set. That's basically how much you're going
to need to continue to fund your lifestyle beyond your
working years. Is that the goal that you are surpassing?
S4 (23:24):
Correct.
S1 (23:25):
Okay. Yeah. So, I mean, I think this begs the question,
first of all, how much is enough? And maybe you've
already defined that sounds like you have. And then the
question is, okay, maybe you want to overshoot that by
some percentage just to create some cushion there. But at
some point, you know, I think you possibly can over accumulate. Well,
(23:45):
you certainly can. Now what ultimately that number is, is
not a number anybody can tell you other than between
you and the Lord as to, you know, how much
you should ultimately try to accumulate. But I like the
idea of setting a financial finish line both for your lifestyle.
How much do we want to spend on a monthly basis?
(24:06):
And you probably want to revisit that periodically. And then
also for your balance sheet for your accumulation, how much
is enough? Because once we're on track to hit or
even slightly exceed it, we may want to say, okay,
now I'm going to start dialing it back. And I'm
not just going to move to save in a different vehicle.
I'm looking for other uses of that money. Maybe I'm,
(24:27):
you know, starting to give more. Maybe I'm gifting some
to the kids, taking advantage of that just because that's
available now. So I would be really thinking through prayerfully
kind of the answer to that question of what is
your financial finish line now, just in terms of the
actual mechanics of where you put your savings? Um, you know, absolutely.
(24:47):
You want to take full advantage of whatever matching is
available in that 401 K, and if you only have
the traditional option available to you, I kind of like
you having some Roth money. Uh, you know, whether it's
in a Roth 401 K or at a Roth IRA, um,
so that you've got two buckets, both the tax deferred
and the tax free bucket, because one of the things
(25:09):
we don't know is, you know, what will the tax
structure be in the future? I mean, we have a
good idea of what it'll be through 2028. But, you know,
everything's on the table at that point depending on the
outcome of, you know, the next couple of elections. So
I would say having the ability to have some money being,
you know, accumulating on a tax free basis in a
Roth is a great idea. But again, I would come
(25:32):
back to, you know, just thinking through what is that
ultimate target and what happens when you're on track to
reach it. You know, you might begin to think and pray, Lord,
what would you have me to do with this surplus?
Does that all make sense, though?
S4 (25:48):
Absolutely, yes. Um, yeah, I think it was last year,
maybe year before the company just got the opportunity to
have Roth 401, and I was able to split mine.
I have now 2% in my original traditional and 7%
in my Roth, but, uh, they match 3% to your six.
(26:11):
So I have that extra 3% that I was wondering
if I should, you know, move it, let it stay
what we're doing. And I also have a HSA fund too, so.
S1 (26:22):
Yeah, yeah, well, it sounds like you're in great shape.
I mean, you've got. I love the fact that you're
prioritizing the Roth 401 now. So I think at this
point it's probably starting to back it down. I mean,
assuming you're well planned and you have some confidence in
that target that you set, uh, you know, and as
long as you have the access to the investments that
are performing and meeting your expectations, then you might as
(26:44):
well just keep it simple and stay right there. If
your investment options like your target date fund or the
other things available in your 401 K, you know, or lackluster, well,
then you could start looking to that IRA beyond the
matching portion because you open up, you know, the investment
universe and have access to anything, especially if you want
to do something like faith based investing that wasn't, you know,
(27:06):
available in your retirement plan. But again, I would just
continue to say, all right, maybe it's time to back
it down and not just move it to another account,
but to look at other uses for it.
S4 (27:19):
Yeah, that sounds good.
S1 (27:21):
Yeah. Awesome. Well, Nick, I appreciate your call. Thanks for
your kind remarks about the program. Call anytime if I
can help. God bless you. Uh, Florida's where Elizabeth is located. Elizabeth,
thanks for your call. Go ahead.
S5 (27:32):
Thank you. Thank you so much for taking my call. Yes. Um, I,
me and my husband are trying to make a decision
in reference to our son. He's in the military, and
he has a student loan that he has not paid
since 2015. The total amount is 6500. It's small, um,
(27:57):
interest at this point. He had it, he act on
it and had it deferred until December. But he needs
to start to pay at least $75 a month. Um,
my husband just, um, you know, he's all for just
paying the full amount. He had an estimated like, um,
(28:22):
close to that amount in a um, retired account that
he recently moved to an IRA. But he feels that,
you know, it's not it's a big burden to him,
especially with all the the military have been going through,
(28:42):
I think differently because, um, I think if he could,
if we could pay the $75 a month and he
would put $75 a month on a account for emergency
funds for his future. And his wife, he's married. No children. Um,
(29:04):
it would help them more to start something we we
don't know. We we have different opinions and we're praying
about it, but we still have not, um, a definite
answer on what to do.
S1 (29:18):
Yeah. Let me make sure I understand your husband's wanting
to just pay it off. And let me ask before
I want to understand more clearly your thought on how
you'd approach it. But if you all were to pay
off the 6500 in full, uh, because you decided together,
that was the best option. Where would those funds come from?
S5 (29:38):
It would come from our funds. Um, you know, he
had this, um, recently, some consulting work that we are retired,
both of us. We retired in March. He was in February,
in February and mid-March this year. But it will come from,
you know, our, um. Our retirement account.
S1 (30:00):
Okay, so an IRA or a 401 K what is it?
S6 (30:04):
Yeah. We could we.
S5 (30:05):
Could take the money from elsewhere. We do have, um,
you know, some savings. It doesn't have to go exactly
from the retired. Yeah. Okay.
S1 (30:14):
Uh, how do you know how much you have in savings? Roughly.
S5 (30:18):
Oh. My husband.
S1 (30:20):
No, no. How much do you the two of you
have in savings? Liquid savings outside of retirement plans?
S5 (30:27):
Maybe close to 100,000.
S1 (30:30):
Okay. Yeah. And that's in addition to your retirement savings.
S5 (30:34):
That's. That's correct.
S1 (30:36):
Okay. So, yeah, you could pretty easily take that out.
And and the key is, you know, you would not
jeopardize your financial security, right? You could pretty easily write
that check and you all would have plenty left.
S5 (30:48):
That's correct. But we have help.
S1 (30:52):
Yeah. Let's do this. I've got to take a break,
but I'll give you my thoughts on perhaps where you
go from here with your son after this. Stay with us.
Thanks for joining us today on Faith and finance live
here on Moody Radio. I'm Rob West, taking your calls
(31:12):
and questions today at 800 525 257. Oh, that's 800
525 7000. Before the break, we were talking to Elizabeth
in Florida. She and her husband are trying to help
their son who's in the Marines. He's got a debt
from 2015. It's been deferred. The payments are going to start.
They want to help him, but they want to do
it the right way. They have a bit of a
(31:32):
difference of opinion. They're trying to pray through and reconcile
with regard to how they help. Or Elizabeth's husband, uh,
would like to just come in and pay off the
debt completely. They have the ability to do that financially.
She's wondering, Elizabeth is our caller, if perhaps they should
do it a different way. And what would be your
ideal Elizabeth would would it be that, you know, you
(31:54):
all would just start making the payments or what would
you do different from just paying it off?
S5 (31:59):
Well, um, I thought about that. The amount that he's
supposed to pay, we would pay for him and he
would pay. He will open an emergency fund for him
and his wife Life and pay himself $75. Put that
on an account every month. Yeah, until the payment. My
(32:22):
husband thinks that, um, you know, for paying monthly, that
his credit score probably is going to be ruined. But
I feel that the solution to pay month by month
would give him the ability to invest some in an
emergency fund, that he might need it along the way.
S1 (32:42):
Yeah. So you're you're trying to instill, you know, discipline and,
and good financial habits by saying basically, all right, your
payments are going to start. But instead of you sending
the 75 a month to the student loans, you put
that in savings and we'll essentially match it, and we'll
cover the amount that would have gone to the lender. Correct?
S5 (33:05):
Yes.
S1 (33:06):
Yeah. And then I think you just need to kind
of think through, you know, how will he receive that?
I appreciate what you want to do there. And I
love the idea that you're thinking about how do we
bless him and help him get on a financially sound
footing and develop the right habits at the same time?
You know, he's grown with a family and has kids
(33:26):
and so forth, and and so we can only do, oh,
he has no kids, okay. But he's he's married. Correct? Yes, yes. Yeah.
So he's he's grown and married. And you know, I
think there's only so far we can go in terms of,
you know, we want our kids to do certain things
that they may or may not follow through on it. So,
you know, I like the idea. How do you think
(33:46):
he would receive that if you said, listen, we're going
to pay the $75 a month, and as long as
as you'll put the 75 in savings, I mean, you
would have no way of knowing that you're not going
to check up on him or anything like that. But
how do you how do you think he would receive
that idea?
S5 (34:02):
Well, I thought about asking him how he would feel
if that was the plan.
S1 (34:08):
Yeah, yeah, I would talk to him about it because
I think what's most important is preserving the relationship. And
I can't imagine that either of these scenarios would damage
it because you all are just trying to bless him.
But obviously, you know, you not coming in and just saying, listen,
we're going to pay it off. We we would love
for you to to start taking what you would have
been sending and start putting it in savings. But we're
(34:29):
going to leave that up to you and trust you
versus we're not going to pay it off. We're only
going to do 75 a month. And you know, we're
we're going to do that with the understanding that you're
essentially matching it. But it's going into savings. You know,
I just think you're going to have to feel out
how that's he's going to react to that relationally. Because
what I, I wouldn't want is, as much as I
(34:51):
like him developing good financial habits, I also don't want
you to have any kind of strain in the relationship.
I feel like that's even more important, uh, than the
$75 a month that may ultimately amount to 6500. And,
you know, in emergency reserves. Does that make sense?
S5 (35:10):
It does a lot of things. But, um, the fact
that if we pay $75 a month, would that be, um,
in some way negative and will reflect negatively to his
credit score or that is better than just painful?
S1 (35:29):
Yeah. I mean, paying it off in full, um, if
he has other active credit accounts is probably going to
be slightly better because it reduces his overall, uh, you know,
debt to income ratios. But if he doesn't have a
lot of other active accounts, keeping this open with him
being an on time payer is actually a really good
(35:51):
thing as far as his credit's concerned, because as soon
as it's paid off, the account is closed. It's no
longer in the history, uh, or it's in the history,
but it's no longer factored into the current accounts in
terms of him being an on time payer. And so
if he doesn't have other accounts. He could actually get
dinged for a lack of of credit activity. So it's
(36:13):
kind of, uh, you know, six and one half dozen
on the other. Um, you know, I think it's probably
not a reason to go either way in terms of
the credit score. I think what's most important is that
you all have the ability to help. It sounds like
you do that. You have the desire and the willingness.
Sounds like you do. And then I think you just
talk it through with him, express your desire that he would,
(36:37):
you know, start to build some emergency reserves that he
would have to bless his family because the unexpected is
going to come. But you trying to force how he
does that and trying to keep up with it, I
just feel like that's where it may end up going sideways.
S5 (36:52):
Okay, okay, okay. Just, um, okay. Well, it helps a lot.
I understand the point, and I have not thought about that,
which is it's a good point to consider, but, um,
we have helped him in many occasions, and we're praying
for a better job for him because he doesn't earn
much and he's not full time with the military.
S1 (37:17):
Ah, okay. Yeah. Well, the good news is it's a
fairly robust job market. So if he's got marketable skills
and he's out there pounding the pavement, he should find
something and hopefully something to improve his situation and get
a little more income coming in. Elizabeth, you sound like
a wonderful mom. You and your husband, great parents, and
we appreciate you being on on the program today. Thanks
(37:37):
for your call. Call any time. Uh, well, before we
head to the final caller today, Bob Dole is here. Uh,
Bob joins us each week with his market commentary. And, Bob,
we had a bit of a sell off, uh, you know,
late last week started again this week, although things have
reversed course slightly. Just give us an update on what
you're seeing in these markets.
S7 (37:56):
You know, let's take the, uh, the pickup today followed
by Nvidia releasing better than expected earnings after the close.
And that should be, um, again tomorrow. Rob. But the
weakness more of which that we've seen and and in
quite a few months, I think, is stemming from the
(38:17):
fact that the fed may not lower rates in December.
They signaled that at the last meeting, uh, skepticism around
the AI trade, um, softness in labor markets and consumption, uh,
and overall valuation concerns, which we we have pointed out
for some time. I remind listeners valuation is not a
timing tool, but occasionally it gets in the way. So
(38:40):
markets are in the seesaw pattern, I guess is the
best way to put it. And we'll probably see some
more of that.
S1 (38:45):
Rob yeah, no doubt about it. And obviously, you know,
fingers crossed about December, uh, in terms of the possibility
of a rate cut, but it sounds like just, you know,
seeing some of the uh, the most recent, uh, notes
from the fed, you know, that, uh, it's looking less
and less likely like we're going to get another cut.
Is that right?
S7 (39:04):
Yeah, I think so. I mean, the fed governors seemed
like they speak every day. Um, and most of the
fed governor talks have poured some cold water on the
likelihood of a fed cut in December. It's not a
fait accompli that they won't lower rates. But, uh, let's
put it this way. The fed funds futures probability that
we talk about, uh, was nearly 100%. They would lower
(39:27):
rates prior to the last fed meeting. The cold water
put on by the fed chair. And then these other
speeches taken that, uh, probability down to under 50% that
they cut.
S1 (39:39):
Yeah. Very good. Bob, what about gold? I mean, obviously,
we finally got that correction we were anticipating for some time.
But the damage, as you point out, was relatively small.
Just given the gains. Where do you feel like it
goes from here?
S7 (39:51):
Yeah. Look, I think it's going to take some, um,
choppy sideways action to reestablish a floor or a foundation
from which perhaps it goes higher again. A lot will
depend on the inflation rate. You know, my view is
that inflation is going to remain stubborn. And that doesn't mean,
you know, 6 or 8% inflation. It means it's going
to be three and not the two that the fed wants.
(40:14):
And that means the gold is probably going to be
okay as an investment.
S1 (40:18):
Yeah. Interesting. All right Bob, we'll certainly keep an eye
on it. Thanks for being here today.
S7 (40:22):
All the best. Bye bye.
S1 (40:23):
All right. That's Bob Dole, CEO and CIO at Crossmark
Global Investments. Let's head to our final caller of the
day and talk to Tom in Florida. Tom. Go ahead.
S8 (40:34):
Hey, Bob, um, I have a question. Um, can I
take money from an IRA and put it in a
donor advised fund? Would those funds be taxed?
S1 (40:45):
Uh, yes. Um, so there's only one way, and you
can take that money. You can contributed to a donor
advised fund, but only after it's distributed to you first.
So once it's in your hands, it's a qualified excuse me,
it's taxable income. And then you could turn around and
(41:06):
give it to a donor advised fund and claim it
as a charitable deduction. But what you cannot do is
transfer IRA dollars directly into a donor advised fund using
the qualified charitable distribution. The IRS prohibits that. And that
would be the only way to get it out of
the IRA without it being taxable. But a contribution to
(41:26):
a donor advised fund does not qualify.
S8 (41:30):
I got another question with the recipient of a donor
advised fund, do they have to be qualified like like
the people with the IRA?
S1 (41:40):
Uh, yeah. They have to be a 500 1C3 organization. Uh,
and so yes, they they do have to qualify. Like
for instance, it can't go to an individual. Uh, the
IRS says that organization receiving the grant has to be
what they call a qualified public charity under the tax
code 501 C3. So they have to have the tax
(42:02):
exempt status.
S8 (42:05):
Thank you sir.
S1 (42:06):
Okay. Thank you for your call Tom. We appreciate it.
By the way, I don't know if you heard the
opening part of my comments today. Interestingly, one of those qualified, uh,
charitable organizations that you can give to out of a
donor advised fund is going to be these new Trump
accounts for children born before the year 2028, beginning next year.
(42:29):
So we'll have a lot more to come on that. But, uh,
that's a new wrinkle that no one was expecting. Tom,
thanks for your call today, folks. Uh, if you love
the program, this is a great time of year for
you to think about supporting faith and finance live. Reason being,
we're listener supported and we're trying to close our year
out strong. Every gift doubled between now and December 31st,
and every gift includes my new devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure.
(42:51):
Go to faith. Give Josh Taylor to hear an Omar
serving us today, doing an amazing job. We'll see you tomorrow.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.