October 2, 2025 • 43 mins
What does true generosity look like? Is it about how much you give or something deeper? Jesus once praised a woman who gave only two small coins—because it wasn’t the amount that mattered, but the heart behind it. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West takes a closer look at the story of the widow’s mite and what it teaches us about true generosity. Then, it’s your calls and financial questions. 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 (00:04):
The following program was pre-recorded so our phone lines are
not open.
S2 (00:08):
What does true generosity look like? Is it about how
much you give or something deeper? Hi, I'm Rob West.
Jesus once praised a woman who gave only two small
coins because it wasn't the amount that mattered, but the
heart behind it. Today, we'll take a closer look at
the story of the widow's mite and what it teaches
us about true generosity. We'll find out today, and we're prerecorded.
(00:32):
So please hold your calls until we're back in the studio.
This is faith and finance. Live biblical wisdom for your
financial journey. You'll find this powerful moment in Luke 21
one through four. Jesus looked up and saw the rich
putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw
(00:52):
a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And
he said, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has
put in more than all of them, for they all
contributed out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty,
put in all she had to live on. It's easy
to skim over that quickly, but let's slow down and
notice what's really happening. Jesus is watching people give their
(01:14):
offerings at the temple. The wealthy are making their contributions,
probably large ones. Impressive, at least from the outside. Then
comes this widow. No status, no fanfare. Just two small
coins worth almost nothing economically. Yet Jesus says her gift
was greater than all the others. Why? Because God doesn't
measure generosity by how much we give. He measures the
(01:37):
heart behind the gift. The widow's gift teaches us something profound.
God measures the heart, not the amount. Jesus points out
that the rich gave out of their abundance, meaning their
gifts didn't actually cost them anything. Their giving didn't require
faith or sacrifice. It was comfortable, convenient. It may have
looked impressive on the outside, but it didn't reflect a
(01:59):
heart fully surrendered to God. By contrast, the widow gave
out of her poverty all she had to live on.
Her gift wasn't just generous. It was sacrificial. It was risky.
It was a radical act of trust. Jesus isn't condemning
wealth or large gifts, but he's exposing the emptiness of
giving that's disconnected from dependence on God. The leaders may
(02:22):
have given more money, but they held back their hearts.
The widow gave much less, but held nothing back. This
isn't the only time Scripture flips our expectations about what's
more valuable in God's eyes. In first Samuel 16 seven,
the Lord says to Samuel, man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart. And in second
(02:43):
Corinthians 812, Paul writes, for if the willingness is there,
the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not
according to what one does not have. In other words,
God doesn't hold us accountable to give what we don't have.
He calls us to give what we do have. Cheerfully, faithfully,
and with a heart surrendered to him. The widow's gift
(03:04):
isn't just a lesson in generosity. It's a glimpse of
the gospel. Jesus gave everything for us. Second Corinthians eight
nine says, though he was rich, yet for your sake
he became poor, so that you through his poverty might
become rich. That's the ultimate picture of generosity. Jesus pouring
(03:24):
himself out completely, holding nothing back. When we give, especially
from a place of trust or sacrifice, we reflect that
same kind of love. This story invites each of us
to ask some honest questions. Am I giving out of
abundance or out of trust? Do I give because I
love God or because it feels expected? Do I see
(03:45):
my giving as worship or just another line item in
the budget? Maybe you feel like your gift is too
small to matter, but remember the boy in John six
who offered his lunch? All he had was five loaves
and two fish. Jesus took that modest meal and fed
over 5000 people. The point isn't what you have, it's
what God can do with it. When we give with
(04:06):
open hands and faithful hearts, we step into a kingdom mindset,
one that values surrender over status and obedience over optics.
The story of the widow's mite isn't meant to pressure
us to give more. It frees us from the idea
that generosity has to be big to be meaningful in
the Kingdom of God. A gift given in faith is
(04:27):
never small. So whether you're giving two coins or $2 million,
the question isn't how much? It's why. And who are
you trusting as you give? Because God doesn't need your money.
He wants your heart. If you'd like to explore more
topics like this, check out our quarterly printed magazine called
Faithful Steward. It's chock full of biblical insights on faithful stewardship,
(04:50):
and it's sent exclusively to our faith by partners who
support this ministry with a gift of $35 a month
or $400 or more per year. As a partner, you'll
receive faithful steward every quarter directly to your mailbox, along
with other exclusive benefits designed to help you on your
financial journey. Become a faithful partner today at Faith. That's faith.
(05:17):
Just a quick reminder we're not here today, so don't
call in. But we're going to head to a break
and much more coming just after this. Stay with us.
I'm so glad you've joined us today on Faith and
Finance Live. I'm Rob West. This is where we help
(05:39):
you see God as your ultimate treasure and money, a
tool to accomplish his purposes. A quick reminder our team
is away from the studio, so don't call in. You
will get to hear some great questions we lined up
in advance. And speaking of questions, we do receive questions
periodically on our website, Moody Radio.com, and we try to
(05:59):
tackle a few of those each week. Let's do one
of those right now. This comes from Javier. He writes
our mortgage has an interest rate of 6.7%, and we
have about $75,000 in savings. We're thinking of using a
chunk of our savings to either pay down our mortgage
or to invest. What would be a better use of
(06:19):
our savings? Well, first thing I would say, Javier, is
make sure you preserve at least 3 to 6 months
expenses as what we call your emergency fund. I wouldn't
want you to invest or pay down debt with that,
because that needs to be available for the unexpected. But
if you've got that covered and you have money left over,
I think we want to back up and say, okay,
(06:40):
what are my values and priorities as a Christ follower?
What's important to us? Where is God leading us, and
how can we align money as a tool to accomplish
those purposes? Both are productive uses. I love you paying
down debt. I also like you investing for the future.
I would start with do you have any convictions around this?
For instance, do you feel the Lord leading you to
(07:02):
be debt free? And if so, I would say prioritizing
paying off that mortgage is a great use. In fact,
you're going to get a guaranteed return equal to the
interest rate on that mortgage, which is 6.7%. That's a
great return, guaranteed. Could you do better in the market? Possibly.
Now remember, if you're in a taxable environment, whatever you earn,
(07:22):
you've got to reduce it by the taxes that you'll
have to pay. And that is your real return. And
so you could go either way I would say perhaps
you split it maybe between the two. Or again, if
you have a conviction about being debt free, go that route.
If you feel like you don't have enough invested in,
you're trying to catch up a bit. Perhaps you try
(07:44):
to get that into a tax deferred or a tax
free environment by contributing Reverting to a Roth or a
traditional IRA. I think either of those could be great options. Again,
not a right or wrong answer here. The key is stop.
Talk about it with your spouse. If you're married, pray
about it and then make a good decision. You really
can't go wrong here. Either would be a really productive
(08:06):
use of this money. All right. Now we're going to
get to the phone calls we lined up in just
a moment. But first in the news, a new survey
by the financial technology firm Happy Money highlights a troubling paradox.
While many Americans say they're concerned about credit card debt,
far fewer are taking concrete steps to address it. The
(08:27):
study found that 42% of U.S. adults report being worried
about their credit card balances, yet more than 1 in
5 admitted they've done nothing to reduce those balances in
the last six months. Here's what the survey revealed. Debt
ranks high on the worry list. Managing credit card debt
was the third most common financial priority at 36%, just
(08:50):
behind building savings at 40% and covering day to day expenses. 42%.
Some are making changes among those taking action 39% reduced
discretionary spending. That's spending on things that you don't get
a bill for every month. But we still spend money
on 28% postponed major purchases, and another 28% created or
(09:16):
followed a budget to make some changes. Uh, they're seeing
mixed strategies. Uh, nearly as many people tapped into their
savings to pay off debt as those who simply left
their balances untouched. Untouched. A move that may solve one problem. Well,
why create while creating another? It's always best to have
(09:36):
3 to 6 months living expenses in your emergency fund.
If you're having trouble managing credit card debt, we urge
you to contact our friends at Christian Credit Counselors. That's
Christian credit counselors. They can help you put yourself on
a debt management program that will allow you to pay
off the debt 80% faster. Here's how it works. You
(09:59):
get those interest rates down, you make one level payment.
You don't take out a new loan and you don't
stop paying, which is what debt settlement is. Stays right there.
But the combination of that level payment not declining as
the balance is declining and the much lower interest rate,
instead of 22% or higher, you're going to be down
between 0 and 8, usually perhaps as high as 12.
(10:21):
So Christian credit counselors.org is the place to go. Financial
experts warn that ignoring high interest debt is risky, since
small balances can grow quickly, especially at these average interest
rates if you choose to go it alone. Even small,
consistent steps like cutting back on extras or using the
snowball method, that's where you you go smallest to largest balance,
(10:45):
not interest rate, because that plan that you're going to
finish is the one that's best for you. And when
you can see those early wins along the way, the
data says you're more likely to see it through. Uh,
just that extra payment or that snowball method can build
some momentum and and help you regain financial stability. I
hope that's an encouragement to you today. Now let's head
(11:06):
to the phone calls we have lined up. Uh, we're
going to begin in Arkansas with Glenn. Go ahead sir.
S3 (11:12):
Thank you. Rob. Uh, I've got some money that's invested
with one of the major investment companies in the nation. Uh,
it was a investment of my mother, and my sister
and I were both on it. My mother passed away.
So now that account has been divided into two separate accounts.
(11:33):
One for me and one for my sister. Yeah. Um,
I have been listening to you, and you've got me
convinced on this, uh, faith based investment, so I've kind
of had a little control of it, you know? It's, uh,
when it was all together, but I just couldn't make
myself make that change without consulting everybody else. But now
(11:53):
I'm wondering, can I get this large company to do
place based investing, or should I move the account?
S2 (12:02):
Yeah. Well, Glenn, I'm delighted to hear that you're thinking
this through. And I can totally understand the challenge when,
you know, you were had a portfolio where you were just,
you know, not solely the stakeholder there. There was others
that would need to provide that input. And so I
would agree with you, just in terms of the opportunity
and the desire to have that alignment with your values,
(12:24):
what type of account is it? Is it a trust
or some other type of account?
S3 (12:28):
No, it's an individual account for me now. Okay. It
was actually my mother's account, but my sister and I
both were on the account, so it was just a
matter of issuing a death certificate, and then they were
able to split it.
S2 (12:42):
Got it. And who is the custodian?
S3 (12:46):
Uh, Edward Jones.
S2 (12:47):
Edward Jones. Okay. Yeah. I mean, there are some incredible
Edward Jones advisors with the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation that
really specialize in this type of faith based investments. I
was just. Well, in fact, Edward Jones, um, sometime in
the next 30 days, because of how committed they are
to this space, will be the firm, uh, with the
(13:10):
most certified kingdom advisors of any of them across the country,
which is just a sign to their commitment. Uh, so
you do have the ability to leave it right where
it is and get access to every bit of, uh,
you know, what you would need to begin to swap
out those investments where it fits your your values, but
also aligned with your goals and risk tolerance. The key
(13:30):
would be to find an Edward Jones advisor that really
has the ability to bring that into his or her strategy.
So what I would do is just go to faith.
Com that's faith. Philly.com. Click Find a professional. And when
you do that, search for a K, you can say,
I want to limit the results to only those advisors
(13:50):
that do faith based investing. And we do have the
ability for you to filter in that way. And then
everybody you get, you would know, could absolutely evaluate what
you have and then begin to move you into other things.
And as you look at each of their profiles, you
could start with just those at Ed Jones. And, you know,
that would allow you to leave the portfolio right where
(14:11):
it is now. You also may decide to make a change.
If you find an advisor that's a better fit, you
could certainly interview 2 or 3. So bottom line is
doesn't have to move. I love the direction you're headed.
Faith Viacom is the place to go. Stay on the line.
I want to see if you have any other questions.
We'll follow up off the air. We'll be right back.
S4 (14:38):
This is faith and in finance. Live with Rob West. Hey,
if you hear a phone number mentioned today, please ignore
that number and don't call us because today's broadcast was
previously recorded. But we think the upcoming information will help
you and make you a wise steward of what God's
given you. So please stay tuned.
S2 (14:58):
Helping you live out a biblical worldview as it relates
to this show in the area of money management. You
know God owns everything that changes everything about how we
should handle it because it's his money. It's both hopeful
and humbling. Humbling because we realize it's it's not ours.
And so we realize that it's God that gives us
(15:19):
not only the ability to to make wealth, but the
ability to steward it wisely. We're told in Scripture actually
comes from him. That's humbling that it's not ours in
the first place, but it's hopeful because we know it
all doesn't depend upon us. God is our provider. Our responsibility, then,
is faithfulness. Well, we want to help you be a
(15:40):
faithful steward here each day on this program. Uh, by
the way, I had a chance to visit with Glen
a bit more off the air. And this is something
we're seeing more and more of where Christians are saying, listen,
I'm done with, uh, these investments that might be in
companies that are creating abortion drugs. If I'm in a
pharmaceutical company, maybe I'm investing in a tech company that
has streaming content that's bringing pornography into people's homes. Maybe
(16:03):
I'm invested in an index that opens that owns DraftKings. Uh,
you know, basically gambling, uh, you know, through sports betting. And,
you know, that's one of the just tremendously growing areas.
I mean, if you've seen their annual revenue, it's through
the roof. Well, you know, at face value, you might
say this is a great investment. Yeah. But at what cost?
(16:24):
And more and more Christians are saying, I don't want
to be invested in these companies. And it's not just
about avoiding the companies that are misaligned. It's about embracing
the companies that are promoting human flourishing, that have kingdom values,
perhaps even seeking seeking a kingdom outcome. Uh, you know,
in a lot of the the private investments. Well, it
more and more Christian advisors are, you know, moving, uh,
(16:46):
to this type of approach. Uh, you know, Glenn happens
to be with Edward Jones. They're about to be the largest, uh,
firm in the country in terms of the number of
certified Kingdom advisors. And many of them are offering, you know,
either in part or in full faith based investments. So
Glenn's going to share, uh, this thriving community inside that
(17:06):
particular firm with his advisor and say, hey, have you
checked this out? Get plugged in. There's resources available because
this is important to me. And I'll tell you, there's
nothing that gets the attention of advisor like his or
her client calling, saying, I think we're missing something here.
Can we talk? Well, maybe that's you. Maybe you need
to encourage your advisor to get plugged in to, uh,
(17:28):
what's going on with Christian advice and investing, uh, specifically
serving God's people. All right. Let's head back to the phones.
So we're going to go to North Carolina. Welcome Dustin
to the show. Go ahead.
S5 (17:38):
Hey Rob. Um, recently over the last few years, me
and my wife have been trying to think about our
next move, and we kind of wanted to get out
of where we were at and move to another neighborhood
in our area, and, um, and we, we recently, well,
we we found a home, but then we, for a
(18:02):
few reasons, decided at the last minute to, um, get
out of the deal and stay put where we were at. Yes.
Because we didn't want to be slave to the lender
and and have that mortgage over our head every month. And, um,
so we've reassessed our plan and we want to, you know,
(18:23):
check it again and maybe five more years, but with
home appreciation and cost of living increases and all that,
we want to be able to grow the down payment
that we were going to use for this house. Yeah. Uh,
as much as we can and add to it, but
still be able to access it and roughly, you know,
5 to 10 years. Yeah. And we're just trying to
(18:45):
figure out, you know, what's the best vehicle, um, to
use that we have a Roth IRA and my 41K
and our Roth is in Timothy plan. Yeah. And, um,
so we're just trying to figure out what would this
particular money's. What's the best way to grow it in
this amount of time frame?
S2 (19:05):
Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, generally when you tell me
savings for a home, I would say, well, we need
to stay, you know, in the high yield savings and
the money markets and the short term CDs, because generally
it's about, you know, the return of your money, not
the return on your money, meaning you want really high
degree of safety but yet earn some interest. But when
(19:26):
you say 5 to 10 years, that does give us
the ability to say, okay, we could take some risk
with this and put it to work in, you know,
a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds. And, you know,
maybe you use Timothy or some of the other faith
based investments. But let me just check that with what
you're thinking. Is that what you had in mind? Basically,
(19:47):
you know, putting this money in a taxable account, meaning
any capital gains that we have would be taxable along
the way. You know, hopefully you'd hold each investment for
at least a year. So we're not short term but
long term capital gains. But are you wanting to take
some risk or are you really wanted to take stay
at the most conservative end of the spectrum?
S5 (20:07):
We were kind of wanting to take some risk on this,
these particular monies. Yeah. We had looked at, um, something
like a guidestone. Uh, it's an exchange traded fund. Yeah. Um,
something like that. We want something that's not not got
high cost involved, but yeah, we were wanting to take
(20:30):
a little bit more, more risk than just, um, right
now it's in a high yield savings account, and it's
only getting like three and a three and three quarters. Yeah.
S2 (20:41):
Got it. Yeah. I mean, I like that a lot.
I think there's, uh, you know, that's a great opportunity.
And I mean something either guidestone like what you just described.
Perhaps you know, something at Timothy. You know, even something
like the Eventide, which is another one of these world class,
faith based mutual fund managers, their dividend growth fund, um,
(21:03):
is is really, you know, a diversified equity fund. So
largely stocks. But it's in companies that have the ability
to increase dividends over the long term and impact the
world for good. Uh, but but again, it's a focus
on dividend paying stocks, which could be a great option
for you. A little more stable, not the high flying
growth stocks, but gives you the ability to grow. It's
(21:26):
actually done. You know, really well I mean, um, I
mean it's it's got a phenomenal track record. Um, you know,
over the last one, three and five years. So I
think those could be great. I think the key is
whether you want to do this yourself or you want
to get an advisor to kind of look across all
the portfolios, somebody who does faith based investments to come
(21:47):
alongside you and actually with your input, you know, make
those decisions or if you want to do it yourself.
So let's talk about that a bit more off the air.
We'll be right back.
S4 (22:05):
Hey, it's great to have you with us on Faith
and Finance Live. But today we are pre-recorded and we
won't be taking your calls. However, we've lined up some
calls in advance that we think you'll find helpful, so
stay tuned and enjoy the rest of the program.
S2 (22:20):
Hey, before we head back to the phones, let's take
a few more emails today. These come into us all
the time at ask Rob at Faith fi. That's ask rob@phi.com.
This one comes to us from CJ. He writes we
use three credit cards and pay them off every month.
One for gas, one for groceries and one for bills.
Since we proved we could handle credit, they raised our
(22:43):
spending limits. With so much identity theft, we're thinking of
closing the accounts. Is there an amount of time we
should allow between closing each card? We don't want to
mess up our excellent credit scores. Well, CJ, first of all,
I appreciate that you've managed this credit so wisely. Um,
it wouldn't really hurt your credit to dramatically to close
(23:05):
these accounts. I'd probably do one every six months. That's
going to lessen any kind of minimal impact you would have.
I will tell you, though, that if you're managing this
wisely and you're getting rewards on these cards, uh, one
way to handle, uh, the potential for identity theft, if
you wanted to continue to use them, uh, would be
(23:26):
to freeze your credit at each of the three credit
reporting bureaus Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. It's free of charge.
You do have to do it individually at each of
the three. You can do it online, but that would
prevent thieves from opening accounts in your name without the
Pin number. And when they can't provide the pin number,
they would be stopped in their tracks. So yes, you
(23:46):
can close those accounts if you want to. And again,
I do one every six months, but if you wanted
to continue to use them, you continue to pay them
off every month. And you like the rewards you're getting
either cash back or maybe travel rewards, then freezing your
credit might give you an alternate approach to protecting yourself
from identity theft. Thanks for writing to us. And then
(24:07):
from an anonymous writer. This is a concerned mom, she says.
My son needs help with paying back credit cards and loans.
Is there a free service to help? Thank you very much.
And yes, there is a service to help. My preferred
way to pay off credit card debt in particular, is
through what's called debt management. Our friends at Christian Credit
(24:27):
Counselors can help him get the interest rates reduced and
pay this off 80% faster. Here's how. When you go
into credit counseling or what's called debt management, each of
the creditors have a pre-negotiated lower interest rate. Now, the
accounts will be closed when they're put into the program.
(24:47):
But through the combination of that lower interest rate combined
with a level monthly payment, which simply means as the
balance comes down, because more is going to principal with
that level payment, you're actually going to get a snowball
effect in the process. The combination of those two things,
the snowball effect through the lower payment and the reduced
interest rate is going to allow you to pay this
(25:09):
back up to 80% faster. The great thing is, you're
honoring God by paying the debt in full, and it's
a great service for you to take advantage of. So
if you want to contact them, you can reach out
to our friends again at Christian Credit Counselors. are there
all believers? They've worked with hundreds and hundreds of our listeners.
So again, it's Christian credit counselors. And thanks for writing
(25:33):
to us. All right. Let's head back to the phones.
Tony in Ohio, how can I help?
S6 (25:37):
Hey, Rob, thanks for taking my call. Um, I just
have a quick question with regards to, uh, captive insurance company.
So I have an S Corp, uh, that, by the
grace of God, has done extremely well. So now I've
gone from, uh, a couple of hundred thousand to looking
at potentially one point something million in AGI this year.
S2 (26:00):
Wow.
S6 (26:01):
So I've been we've been doing, um, we've been doing the, uh,
the typical cash balance and all the other things. So,
but doing some research and came across Captive Insurance Company
and it was one of the things that was recommended
as a tax strategy. So I wanted to get your
advice on that. And then also potentially setting up a,
(26:23):
donor advised fund. And what would the benefits of that
be for, uh, for charitable giving in the future? Obviously
I'm a tither and all that good stuff. So that's
really my question.
S2 (26:35):
Well, I love those those are great questions. And, um,
you know, the donor advised fund is one of the, uh, often,
I think, overlooked giving tools that really everybody should be
aware of and many should be using. Uh, yeah. Let's
talk about this, uh, captive insurance company, because that is
a little more complicated. But but can be an effective
(26:56):
strategy because basically it's risk management that's legitimate and a
tax strategy, but it's only for businesses with, what I'll say,
substantial revenue and insurable risk. And so the reason it's
a tax strategy is because the premiums paid by the
S corp to the captive can be deductible as a
business expense. And then the captive can accumulate the underwriting
(27:21):
Profits and investment income at potentially favorable tax rates. And
then it gives you control over risk management and the
insurance design. Um, in terms of the cautions or the risks,
I would say it's, you know, it's very complex and
it can be costly. So it could be, you know,
somewhere between 50 and 150,000 a year to maintain. You know,
(27:42):
it's usually therefore only worth it if you have a
larger business. We're talking millions in revenue, which to your point,
you're there, um, IRS scrutiny, uh, you know, these have
been abused as tax shelters. So the IRS watches them
pretty closely. So you have to have genuine insurable risks
and properly priced premiums. And then there's some liquidity risk
(28:03):
in that the money paid into the captive isn't easily accessible. Really.
It has to be available for claims. Um, in terms
of the process, you'd have to start with a feasibility study.
And so you'd want to engage some professionals to analyze
whether your business risks and cash flow justify the captive.
And so that really would be my next step is
(28:26):
to find that advisor who has some specialty in this area, uh,
that could, you know, help you explore that. Because if
they determine it's feasible and you can justify it, then,
you know, they would set up the separate legal entity
and then it has to be approved by the insurance regulator,
and then it has to be, you know, funded through
the premiums to the captive. And you have to keep
(28:48):
proper reserves. And then, you know, usually requires an outside
captive manager and then the actuaries and compliance and all
that stuff. So again, it's not for the faint of heart,
but it can be a great strategy. Um, I think
you just need to get some professional guidance. Uh, in
terms of the donor advised fund, I mean, think about
this like a charitable checking account. So the money goes
(29:09):
into the donor advised fund. When it does, it's been
given away, which is why you go ahead and get
the the charitable contribution or the charitable deduction as soon
as you put the money in and really, you no
longer technically control it. Now, what happens is it's then
controlled by the donor advised fund sponsor. So let's say
National Christian Foundation. Technically, you've given the money to them,
(29:32):
but then you have the ability as the one who
set up the donor advised fund to recommend grants out,
and then they, you know, pass it on to those ministries.
And they make it really easy to do. You know,
typically you just log into your account and with a
few clicks of a button, the money goes out and
you can send it anonymously or it can come under
your name, but you're the one making those recommendations. And
(29:56):
that's why it's important to be with a donor advised
fund sponsor that you can trust somebody who's not going to,
even if today they say, oh yeah, you can give
it to anybody you want. It doesn't mean they couldn't
come back and say, well, we've decided, you know, only
ministries who aren't on the, you know, the list of
hate groups, you know, which we know what that means. So,
(30:17):
you know, I think that's where you need to really
be with a donor advised fund sponsor who aligns with
your values. That's why I'd recommend NCF comm, founded by
Ron Blue and Larry Burkett. But it's a great strategy
because you can do some bunching where basically you could
put in, you know, quite a bit more, uh, right
up front, even if you want to give it away
over a couple of years and get up above some
(30:40):
of those, uh, you know, limits in terms of itemizing
and being able to take more tax benefit. And then,
you know, through those clicks of a button, you give
it away at your leisure as the Lord leads. So anyway,
I've thrown a lot at you. I want to get
your thoughts. So stay right there. We'll come back to
you after the break, bill. Coming your way as well.
We'll be right back. So glad to have you with
(31:05):
us today on Faith and Finance Live. Our team is
away today, so don't call in. But we lined up
some great questions in advance and we'll be going to
those here in just a moment. Let me also remind
you that the advice that I give each day on
this program is general in nature. We offer principles and
ideas that apply at a high level. They are not personalized.
(31:27):
So that's why you should always seek professional financial advice.
And if you'd like to find a professional who shares
your values, we of course, here at Faith and Finance
Live recommend the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation. These are men
and women who've met high standards, and they've been trained
to bring a biblical worldview of financial decision making. You
can find one at Faith comm. Uh, let's see, before
(31:49):
the break, we were talking to Tony in Ohio about
a captive insurance company for an S Corp and a
donor advised fund. Tony, any follow up questions or thoughts
on that?
S6 (32:00):
Oh, no. I think on the captive one, I think
I think I'm good on that. I think you kind
of pointed out the risk on that. So I mean,
I want to be careful with that one. Yeah. The
donor advised fund, I guess the other follow up question
I have with that is so is that different from
a charitable trust? Uh, that's the other question I have.
Or are they the same thing?
S2 (32:21):
Uh, no, they are definitely different. Um, so basically, you know,
they're two different giving vehicles. Again, that donor advised fund
is like a charitable investment account. Um, whereas a charitable trust,
like a charitable charitable remainder or lead trust is more complex.
It's a legal entity that can provide you income, uh,
(32:44):
either to you or heirs, while ultimately benefiting charities. So you,
you know, you can't move money from a charitable trust
into a donor advised fund, but sometimes you can name
a donor advised fund as one of the charitable beneficiaries. But, um,
you know, it's charitable. Trust is more complex, often used
for larger gifts and estate planning. The great thing about
(33:06):
the donor advised fund is, you know, you can set
it up in five minutes. I mean, if you went
to NCF. Com and clicked on Giving Fund five minutes later.
You know you'd have a donor advised fund in place
and you could start making gifts to it. And the
great thing is, not only do you can you give
cash to it, but you can donate, you know, stocks
to your donor advised fund. You can give a business interest,
(33:29):
like a portion of your business, to your donor advised fund.
So either you know the profits or the sale of
the business could be not subject to capital gains because
that portion has been given to your donor advised fund.
You know, you could put livestock in a donor advised
fund technically, and then when it's sold, you know, everything
flows through it. So it's a really flexible tool and
(33:52):
it basically costs very little. It costs nothing to set
it up and very little to keep it going.
S6 (33:59):
Gotcha. So as long as I use a trusted entity
entity like a NCF given, then I can in some
way advise or dictate where the money goes to, is
what you're saying?
S2 (34:12):
Yes. That's right. So you're making a in IRS terms,
a grant recommendation because again, you've given the money away.
But as long as you have a sponsor who aligns
with your values. I mean, the purpose of donor advised
funds is for the giver to be able to essentially,
you know, the grants always initiate with the donor, not
(34:33):
the sponsor. But on paper, the legal owner of the
money because you've already received the deduction is the sponsor.
But the whole purpose of them is for you to
be able to advise on how and when the money
goes out. You can also invest it so you could
put it in the donor advised fund, put it in
some investment, basically mutual funds let it grow and that
(34:55):
gives you more to give away over time. So there's
so much flexibility with these donor advised funds. But I
think it is important for you to be with a
sponsor who aligns with your values.
S6 (35:06):
Got it. Okay. All right. Well thank you so much
I appreciate it.
S2 (35:09):
Absolutely Tony. Call any time, my friend. Thanks for being
on the program today. To Alabama. Hi, Elizabeth. Go ahead.
S7 (35:15):
Hi. First, I'd like to thank you for your ministry.
I accidentally found it and have just. I feel like
I've learned a lot. I did not know that you
could set up an are required minimum distribution to go
to charity. That was.
S8 (35:28):
Oh yeah. Great.
S7 (35:30):
Okay. My question today is also about a trust.
S8 (35:33):
Okay.
S7 (35:33):
Um, I would like a trust to go into effect
at my death to distribute money monthly. Um, or I
guess monthly to avoid a lump sum because I have
a child who would go through a lump sum immediately.
S8 (35:50):
Yes. Um.
S7 (35:51):
And not wisely. So my question about that is, um,
your administrator, how is the manager of this trust paid?
Are they paid with each distribution? Are they paid monthly
or are they paid a percentage? How do they get
an income from the trust.
S2 (36:10):
Yeah. It varies is the best way to say it.
Let me explain. So the person who manages a trust
is called a trustee, and their compensation is spelled out
in the trust document generally. Uh, so sometimes it's a
flat fee or an hourly rate. More often it's a
(36:31):
small annual percentage of the trust's assets, commonly around 1%. Uh, so,
you know, you could have an individual, you could also
have a professional trustee, like a bank or a trust company.
They tend to charge a little bit more. Uh, and
sometimes if you have a family member, they might waive
(36:51):
payment or take a very modest fee. But it you know,
there are a number of ways to do it. Again,
it could be, you know, annual fee, it could be hourly.
You know, it's often the percentage. And certainly with a
professional trustee it's typically a percentage. And a lot of
that just generally comes down to how much is in
there and the complexity of it. I mean, if you're talking,
(37:12):
you know, writing a monthly check, uh, you know, to
an air, um, based on the trust document guidelines, then,
you know, it's not going to really be a whole lot.
So it might be just a nominal annual fee for
that person's time. Uh, but all that is, is spelled
out in the trust document. And your estate planning attorney
who sets it up based on the complexity and the
(37:32):
size of it, could advise you on how to do it.
And a lot of that, again, is going to come
down to, is it somebody who's personally known to you
or a family member or is it a professional trustee?
S7 (37:44):
Okay. Great. Super. Well, that answers my question.
S8 (37:47):
So all right.
S7 (37:49):
I appreciate the help.
S8 (37:50):
Thank you. Absolutely.
S2 (37:51):
You are so welcome, Elizabeth. Thank you for your call today.
We appreciate it. By the way. Stay on the line.
I'm going to send you a copy of our new
faithful Steward magazine, and I think you'll enjoy it. Hopefully
it'll be a blessing to you. Thanks for calling today. Uh,
let's head to, uh, Bill in Texas. Bill, go right ahead.
S9 (38:08):
Quick question. I know you're running out of time, but
I have a managed account with a broker here, a
national broker. We live in Dallas and it has it's
a combination. I'm 71, retired. When we first started this, uh,
it was a result of an inheritance. My sister and
I from my father, he had about, oh, $850,000 in
(38:30):
a managed account, and, uh, was split in half. My
sister went her way and I went my way. And
we when we first started, my wife and I said 50, 50,
50 balance would be pretty conservative for us. I leaned
more on the conservative conservative end. Just because I'm retirement
now and the stock market, I don't want, you know,
kind of risky. So and then over the last couple
(38:52):
of years, the advisor moved it more towards a, oh 40, 42% equities.
The other 50 plus in uh, uh, bonds and cash.
You know, cash account. Yeah. And so we use we
use this and it's grown. When we started back in
(39:13):
2018 it had about 430,000. Today it has about 420,000.
And how we use this is to support our retirement income.
So $1,500 a month goes into a cash account that
has check writing privileges. We use that 1500 a month
to support a, you know, to help supplement Social Security.
We have a savings account with fidelity and other things.
(39:36):
Have an annuity that pays for 50 a month, something
like that. But my question for you is, is do
you think and it's as far as this managed account,
I'm referring to it, that 1500 comes to about 4.2%
a year. And they they say the 4% rule. I
guess it's still pretty, pretty wise.
S8 (39:56):
Yeah.
S9 (39:57):
So that's about 18. That's about 18,000 a year we
pull out of that. And but we also have to
go into that account for like sometimes our property taxes,
you know, about $6,000 a year. We have a wedding
coming up and we're the we're the parents of the bride. And,
you know, we take on a lot of that cost traditionally.
(40:18):
And so we'll pull that from, from this man's account too.
But we've been blessed in the fact that, no, it
hasn't gone from 430 to 600,000, but it still stayed
at about the four 2430 over the last six years,
even though we've been pulling money out. And I was
just asking you, do you think that's a is that
a wise way to help supplement our retirement income, or
(40:39):
is there other options we should think about?
S2 (40:41):
Yeah. Uh, no. I love everything you just said here, because,
number one, I think you're right. You're right there at
that 4.2 4.3% range, with 18,000 a year on 420,000.
You know that I would say that that rate is
still considered a stay safe starting point in retirement planning. Um,
you know, I think that you've proven that out by
(41:04):
the fact that you've been able to do that and
take a little bit extra along the way. Uh, you know,
for some other things as it has come up and
basically generally preserve the balance, which was the goal even with,
you know, inflation and things costing more than they have previously.
And I think you're right. I mean, I would have
said a starting point on the mix at 70 years old.
(41:25):
You know, we used to use the rule of 100.
Now we use 110 because people are living longer. But
110 minus your age is what you should have in equities.
That's 40%. And that's what you've got 40 in equities,
60 in fixed income and bonds. The only thing I
might consider is adding a little precious metal allocation, somewhere
between 5 and 10% out of the fixed income portion.
(41:45):
But I think you're on the right track. I love
the plan. I don't have any issues with it whatsoever.
S9 (41:51):
Thank you so much, Rob. I really appreciate your time.
S2 (41:54):
Absolutely. God bless you, my friend. Hey, before we wrap
up today, let me remind you, you know, financial decision
making can often seem overwhelming. Seemingly endless decisions about money.
But we can boil it down into something perhaps a
bit more simple. All we can do with money is live, give,
owe and grow. There's the money we spend on our lifestyle,
(42:15):
the money we owe for debt and taxes, the money
we grow for the future and the money we give
to the Lord's work. And all of those are addressed
in Scripture. Every one of those have principles that we
can pull out of God's Word, our hope and prayers
that we can help you do that on this program
each day. Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between
Moody Radio and Faith five. Let me say thank you
(42:37):
to my team today Amy, Dan, Jim and Gabby. We
couldn't do it without them. Thank you for being along
with us as well. So thankful for your calls and
your questions. Have a great rest of your day and
we'll see you next time on Faith and Finance live.
Bye bye.
The following program was pre-recorded so our phone lines are
not open.
S2 (00:08):
What does true generosity look like? Is it about how
much you give or something deeper? Hi, I'm Rob West.
Jesus once praised a woman who gave only two small
coins because it wasn't the amount that mattered, but the
heart behind it. Today, we'll take a closer look at
the story of the widow's mite and what it teaches
us about true generosity. We'll find out today, and we're prerecorded.
(00:32):
So please hold your calls until we're back in the studio.
This is faith and finance. Live biblical wisdom for your
financial journey. You'll find this powerful moment in Luke 21
one through four. Jesus looked up and saw the rich
putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw
(00:52):
a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And
he said, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has
put in more than all of them, for they all
contributed out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty,
put in all she had to live on. It's easy
to skim over that quickly, but let's slow down and
notice what's really happening. Jesus is watching people give their
(01:14):
offerings at the temple. The wealthy are making their contributions,
probably large ones. Impressive, at least from the outside. Then
comes this widow. No status, no fanfare. Just two small
coins worth almost nothing economically. Yet Jesus says her gift
was greater than all the others. Why? Because God doesn't
measure generosity by how much we give. He measures the
(01:37):
heart behind the gift. The widow's gift teaches us something profound.
God measures the heart, not the amount. Jesus points out
that the rich gave out of their abundance, meaning their
gifts didn't actually cost them anything. Their giving didn't require
faith or sacrifice. It was comfortable, convenient. It may have
looked impressive on the outside, but it didn't reflect a
(01:59):
heart fully surrendered to God. By contrast, the widow gave
out of her poverty all she had to live on.
Her gift wasn't just generous. It was sacrificial. It was risky.
It was a radical act of trust. Jesus isn't condemning
wealth or large gifts, but he's exposing the emptiness of
giving that's disconnected from dependence on God. The leaders may
(02:22):
have given more money, but they held back their hearts.
The widow gave much less, but held nothing back. This
isn't the only time Scripture flips our expectations about what's
more valuable in God's eyes. In first Samuel 16 seven,
the Lord says to Samuel, man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart. And in second
(02:43):
Corinthians 812, Paul writes, for if the willingness is there,
the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not
according to what one does not have. In other words,
God doesn't hold us accountable to give what we don't have.
He calls us to give what we do have. Cheerfully, faithfully,
and with a heart surrendered to him. The widow's gift
(03:04):
isn't just a lesson in generosity. It's a glimpse of
the gospel. Jesus gave everything for us. Second Corinthians eight
nine says, though he was rich, yet for your sake
he became poor, so that you through his poverty might
become rich. That's the ultimate picture of generosity. Jesus pouring
(03:24):
himself out completely, holding nothing back. When we give, especially
from a place of trust or sacrifice, we reflect that
same kind of love. This story invites each of us
to ask some honest questions. Am I giving out of
abundance or out of trust? Do I give because I
love God or because it feels expected? Do I see
(03:45):
my giving as worship or just another line item in
the budget? Maybe you feel like your gift is too
small to matter, but remember the boy in John six
who offered his lunch? All he had was five loaves
and two fish. Jesus took that modest meal and fed
over 5000 people. The point isn't what you have, it's
what God can do with it. When we give with
(04:06):
open hands and faithful hearts, we step into a kingdom mindset,
one that values surrender over status and obedience over optics.
The story of the widow's mite isn't meant to pressure
us to give more. It frees us from the idea
that generosity has to be big to be meaningful in
the Kingdom of God. A gift given in faith is
(04:27):
never small. So whether you're giving two coins or $2 million,
the question isn't how much? It's why. And who are
you trusting as you give? Because God doesn't need your money.
He wants your heart. If you'd like to explore more
topics like this, check out our quarterly printed magazine called
Faithful Steward. It's chock full of biblical insights on faithful stewardship,
(04:50):
and it's sent exclusively to our faith by partners who
support this ministry with a gift of $35 a month
or $400 or more per year. As a partner, you'll
receive faithful steward every quarter directly to your mailbox, along
with other exclusive benefits designed to help you on your
financial journey. Become a faithful partner today at Faith. That's faith.
(05:17):
Just a quick reminder we're not here today, so don't
call in. But we're going to head to a break
and much more coming just after this. Stay with us.
I'm so glad you've joined us today on Faith and
Finance Live. I'm Rob West. This is where we help
(05:39):
you see God as your ultimate treasure and money, a
tool to accomplish his purposes. A quick reminder our team
is away from the studio, so don't call in. You
will get to hear some great questions we lined up
in advance. And speaking of questions, we do receive questions
periodically on our website, Moody Radio.com, and we try to
(05:59):
tackle a few of those each week. Let's do one
of those right now. This comes from Javier. He writes
our mortgage has an interest rate of 6.7%, and we
have about $75,000 in savings. We're thinking of using a
chunk of our savings to either pay down our mortgage
or to invest. What would be a better use of
(06:19):
our savings? Well, first thing I would say, Javier, is
make sure you preserve at least 3 to 6 months
expenses as what we call your emergency fund. I wouldn't
want you to invest or pay down debt with that,
because that needs to be available for the unexpected. But
if you've got that covered and you have money left over,
I think we want to back up and say, okay,
(06:40):
what are my values and priorities as a Christ follower?
What's important to us? Where is God leading us, and
how can we align money as a tool to accomplish
those purposes? Both are productive uses. I love you paying
down debt. I also like you investing for the future.
I would start with do you have any convictions around this?
For instance, do you feel the Lord leading you to
(07:02):
be debt free? And if so, I would say prioritizing
paying off that mortgage is a great use. In fact,
you're going to get a guaranteed return equal to the
interest rate on that mortgage, which is 6.7%. That's a
great return, guaranteed. Could you do better in the market? Possibly.
Now remember, if you're in a taxable environment, whatever you earn,
(07:22):
you've got to reduce it by the taxes that you'll
have to pay. And that is your real return. And
so you could go either way I would say perhaps
you split it maybe between the two. Or again, if
you have a conviction about being debt free, go that route.
If you feel like you don't have enough invested in,
you're trying to catch up a bit. Perhaps you try
(07:44):
to get that into a tax deferred or a tax
free environment by contributing Reverting to a Roth or a
traditional IRA. I think either of those could be great options. Again,
not a right or wrong answer here. The key is stop.
Talk about it with your spouse. If you're married, pray
about it and then make a good decision. You really
can't go wrong here. Either would be a really productive
(08:06):
use of this money. All right. Now we're going to
get to the phone calls we lined up in just
a moment. But first in the news, a new survey
by the financial technology firm Happy Money highlights a troubling paradox.
While many Americans say they're concerned about credit card debt,
far fewer are taking concrete steps to address it. The
(08:27):
study found that 42% of U.S. adults report being worried
about their credit card balances, yet more than 1 in
5 admitted they've done nothing to reduce those balances in
the last six months. Here's what the survey revealed. Debt
ranks high on the worry list. Managing credit card debt
was the third most common financial priority at 36%, just
(08:50):
behind building savings at 40% and covering day to day expenses. 42%.
Some are making changes among those taking action 39% reduced
discretionary spending. That's spending on things that you don't get
a bill for every month. But we still spend money
on 28% postponed major purchases, and another 28% created or
(09:16):
followed a budget to make some changes. Uh, they're seeing
mixed strategies. Uh, nearly as many people tapped into their
savings to pay off debt as those who simply left
their balances untouched. Untouched. A move that may solve one problem. Well,
why create while creating another? It's always best to have
(09:36):
3 to 6 months living expenses in your emergency fund.
If you're having trouble managing credit card debt, we urge
you to contact our friends at Christian Credit Counselors. That's
Christian credit counselors. They can help you put yourself on
a debt management program that will allow you to pay
off the debt 80% faster. Here's how it works. You
(09:59):
get those interest rates down, you make one level payment.
You don't take out a new loan and you don't
stop paying, which is what debt settlement is. Stays right there.
But the combination of that level payment not declining as
the balance is declining and the much lower interest rate,
instead of 22% or higher, you're going to be down
between 0 and 8, usually perhaps as high as 12.
(10:21):
So Christian credit counselors.org is the place to go. Financial
experts warn that ignoring high interest debt is risky, since
small balances can grow quickly, especially at these average interest
rates if you choose to go it alone. Even small,
consistent steps like cutting back on extras or using the
snowball method, that's where you you go smallest to largest balance,
(10:45):
not interest rate, because that plan that you're going to
finish is the one that's best for you. And when
you can see those early wins along the way, the
data says you're more likely to see it through. Uh,
just that extra payment or that snowball method can build
some momentum and and help you regain financial stability. I
hope that's an encouragement to you today. Now let's head
(11:06):
to the phone calls we have lined up. Uh, we're
going to begin in Arkansas with Glenn. Go ahead sir.
S3 (11:12):
Thank you. Rob. Uh, I've got some money that's invested
with one of the major investment companies in the nation. Uh,
it was a investment of my mother, and my sister
and I were both on it. My mother passed away.
So now that account has been divided into two separate accounts.
(11:33):
One for me and one for my sister. Yeah. Um,
I have been listening to you, and you've got me
convinced on this, uh, faith based investment, so I've kind
of had a little control of it, you know? It's, uh,
when it was all together, but I just couldn't make
myself make that change without consulting everybody else. But now
(11:53):
I'm wondering, can I get this large company to do
place based investing, or should I move the account?
S2 (12:02):
Yeah. Well, Glenn, I'm delighted to hear that you're thinking
this through. And I can totally understand the challenge when,
you know, you were had a portfolio where you were just,
you know, not solely the stakeholder there. There was others
that would need to provide that input. And so I
would agree with you, just in terms of the opportunity
and the desire to have that alignment with your values,
(12:24):
what type of account is it? Is it a trust
or some other type of account?
S3 (12:28):
No, it's an individual account for me now. Okay. It
was actually my mother's account, but my sister and I
both were on the account, so it was just a
matter of issuing a death certificate, and then they were
able to split it.
S2 (12:42):
Got it. And who is the custodian?
S3 (12:46):
Uh, Edward Jones.
S2 (12:47):
Edward Jones. Okay. Yeah. I mean, there are some incredible
Edward Jones advisors with the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation that
really specialize in this type of faith based investments. I
was just. Well, in fact, Edward Jones, um, sometime in
the next 30 days, because of how committed they are
to this space, will be the firm, uh, with the
(13:10):
most certified kingdom advisors of any of them across the country,
which is just a sign to their commitment. Uh, so
you do have the ability to leave it right where
it is and get access to every bit of, uh,
you know, what you would need to begin to swap
out those investments where it fits your your values, but
also aligned with your goals and risk tolerance. The key
(13:30):
would be to find an Edward Jones advisor that really
has the ability to bring that into his or her strategy.
So what I would do is just go to faith.
Com that's faith. Philly.com. Click Find a professional. And when
you do that, search for a K, you can say,
I want to limit the results to only those advisors
(13:50):
that do faith based investing. And we do have the
ability for you to filter in that way. And then
everybody you get, you would know, could absolutely evaluate what
you have and then begin to move you into other things.
And as you look at each of their profiles, you
could start with just those at Ed Jones. And, you know,
that would allow you to leave the portfolio right where
(14:11):
it is now. You also may decide to make a change.
If you find an advisor that's a better fit, you
could certainly interview 2 or 3. So bottom line is
doesn't have to move. I love the direction you're headed.
Faith Viacom is the place to go. Stay on the line.
I want to see if you have any other questions.
We'll follow up off the air. We'll be right back.
S4 (14:38):
This is faith and in finance. Live with Rob West. Hey,
if you hear a phone number mentioned today, please ignore
that number and don't call us because today's broadcast was
previously recorded. But we think the upcoming information will help
you and make you a wise steward of what God's
given you. So please stay tuned.
S2 (14:58):
Helping you live out a biblical worldview as it relates
to this show in the area of money management. You
know God owns everything that changes everything about how we
should handle it because it's his money. It's both hopeful
and humbling. Humbling because we realize it's it's not ours.
And so we realize that it's God that gives us
(15:19):
not only the ability to to make wealth, but the
ability to steward it wisely. We're told in Scripture actually
comes from him. That's humbling that it's not ours in
the first place, but it's hopeful because we know it
all doesn't depend upon us. God is our provider. Our responsibility, then,
is faithfulness. Well, we want to help you be a
(15:40):
faithful steward here each day on this program. Uh, by
the way, I had a chance to visit with Glen
a bit more off the air. And this is something
we're seeing more and more of where Christians are saying, listen,
I'm done with, uh, these investments that might be in
companies that are creating abortion drugs. If I'm in a
pharmaceutical company, maybe I'm investing in a tech company that
has streaming content that's bringing pornography into people's homes. Maybe
(16:03):
I'm invested in an index that opens that owns DraftKings. Uh,
you know, basically gambling, uh, you know, through sports betting. And,
you know, that's one of the just tremendously growing areas.
I mean, if you've seen their annual revenue, it's through
the roof. Well, you know, at face value, you might
say this is a great investment. Yeah. But at what cost?
(16:24):
And more and more Christians are saying, I don't want
to be invested in these companies. And it's not just
about avoiding the companies that are misaligned. It's about embracing
the companies that are promoting human flourishing, that have kingdom values,
perhaps even seeking seeking a kingdom outcome. Uh, you know,
in a lot of the the private investments. Well, it
more and more Christian advisors are, you know, moving, uh,
(16:46):
to this type of approach. Uh, you know, Glenn happens
to be with Edward Jones. They're about to be the largest, uh,
firm in the country in terms of the number of
certified Kingdom advisors. And many of them are offering, you know,
either in part or in full faith based investments. So
Glenn's going to share, uh, this thriving community inside that
(17:06):
particular firm with his advisor and say, hey, have you
checked this out? Get plugged in. There's resources available because
this is important to me. And I'll tell you, there's
nothing that gets the attention of advisor like his or
her client calling, saying, I think we're missing something here.
Can we talk? Well, maybe that's you. Maybe you need
to encourage your advisor to get plugged in to, uh,
(17:28):
what's going on with Christian advice and investing, uh, specifically
serving God's people. All right. Let's head back to the phones.
So we're going to go to North Carolina. Welcome Dustin
to the show. Go ahead.
S5 (17:38):
Hey Rob. Um, recently over the last few years, me
and my wife have been trying to think about our
next move, and we kind of wanted to get out
of where we were at and move to another neighborhood
in our area, and, um, and we, we recently, well,
we we found a home, but then we, for a
(18:02):
few reasons, decided at the last minute to, um, get
out of the deal and stay put where we were at. Yes.
Because we didn't want to be slave to the lender
and and have that mortgage over our head every month. And, um,
so we've reassessed our plan and we want to, you know,
(18:23):
check it again and maybe five more years, but with
home appreciation and cost of living increases and all that,
we want to be able to grow the down payment
that we were going to use for this house. Yeah. Uh,
as much as we can and add to it, but
still be able to access it and roughly, you know,
5 to 10 years. Yeah. And we're just trying to
(18:45):
figure out, you know, what's the best vehicle, um, to
use that we have a Roth IRA and my 41K
and our Roth is in Timothy plan. Yeah. And, um,
so we're just trying to figure out what would this
particular money's. What's the best way to grow it in
this amount of time frame?
S2 (19:05):
Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, generally when you tell me
savings for a home, I would say, well, we need
to stay, you know, in the high yield savings and
the money markets and the short term CDs, because generally
it's about, you know, the return of your money, not
the return on your money, meaning you want really high
degree of safety but yet earn some interest. But when
(19:26):
you say 5 to 10 years, that does give us
the ability to say, okay, we could take some risk
with this and put it to work in, you know,
a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds. And, you know,
maybe you use Timothy or some of the other faith
based investments. But let me just check that with what
you're thinking. Is that what you had in mind? Basically,
(19:47):
you know, putting this money in a taxable account, meaning
any capital gains that we have would be taxable along
the way. You know, hopefully you'd hold each investment for
at least a year. So we're not short term but
long term capital gains. But are you wanting to take
some risk or are you really wanted to take stay
at the most conservative end of the spectrum?
S5 (20:07):
We were kind of wanting to take some risk on this,
these particular monies. Yeah. We had looked at, um, something
like a guidestone. Uh, it's an exchange traded fund. Yeah. Um,
something like that. We want something that's not not got
high cost involved, but yeah, we were wanting to take
(20:30):
a little bit more, more risk than just, um, right
now it's in a high yield savings account, and it's
only getting like three and a three and three quarters. Yeah.
S2 (20:41):
Got it. Yeah. I mean, I like that a lot.
I think there's, uh, you know, that's a great opportunity.
And I mean something either guidestone like what you just described.
Perhaps you know, something at Timothy. You know, even something
like the Eventide, which is another one of these world class,
faith based mutual fund managers, their dividend growth fund, um,
(21:03):
is is really, you know, a diversified equity fund. So
largely stocks. But it's in companies that have the ability
to increase dividends over the long term and impact the
world for good. Uh, but but again, it's a focus
on dividend paying stocks, which could be a great option
for you. A little more stable, not the high flying
growth stocks, but gives you the ability to grow. It's
(21:26):
actually done. You know, really well I mean, um, I
mean it's it's got a phenomenal track record. Um, you know,
over the last one, three and five years. So I
think those could be great. I think the key is
whether you want to do this yourself or you want
to get an advisor to kind of look across all
the portfolios, somebody who does faith based investments to come
(21:47):
alongside you and actually with your input, you know, make
those decisions or if you want to do it yourself.
So let's talk about that a bit more off the air.
We'll be right back.
S4 (22:05):
Hey, it's great to have you with us on Faith
and Finance Live. But today we are pre-recorded and we
won't be taking your calls. However, we've lined up some
calls in advance that we think you'll find helpful, so
stay tuned and enjoy the rest of the program.
S2 (22:20):
Hey, before we head back to the phones, let's take
a few more emails today. These come into us all
the time at ask Rob at Faith fi. That's ask rob@phi.com.
This one comes to us from CJ. He writes we
use three credit cards and pay them off every month.
One for gas, one for groceries and one for bills.
Since we proved we could handle credit, they raised our
(22:43):
spending limits. With so much identity theft, we're thinking of
closing the accounts. Is there an amount of time we
should allow between closing each card? We don't want to
mess up our excellent credit scores. Well, CJ, first of all,
I appreciate that you've managed this credit so wisely. Um,
it wouldn't really hurt your credit to dramatically to close
(23:05):
these accounts. I'd probably do one every six months. That's
going to lessen any kind of minimal impact you would have.
I will tell you, though, that if you're managing this
wisely and you're getting rewards on these cards, uh, one
way to handle, uh, the potential for identity theft, if
you wanted to continue to use them, uh, would be
(23:26):
to freeze your credit at each of the three credit
reporting bureaus Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. It's free of charge.
You do have to do it individually at each of
the three. You can do it online, but that would
prevent thieves from opening accounts in your name without the
Pin number. And when they can't provide the pin number,
they would be stopped in their tracks. So yes, you
(23:46):
can close those accounts if you want to. And again,
I do one every six months, but if you wanted
to continue to use them, you continue to pay them
off every month. And you like the rewards you're getting
either cash back or maybe travel rewards, then freezing your
credit might give you an alternate approach to protecting yourself
from identity theft. Thanks for writing to us. And then
(24:07):
from an anonymous writer. This is a concerned mom, she says.
My son needs help with paying back credit cards and loans.
Is there a free service to help? Thank you very much.
And yes, there is a service to help. My preferred
way to pay off credit card debt in particular, is
through what's called debt management. Our friends at Christian Credit
(24:27):
Counselors can help him get the interest rates reduced and
pay this off 80% faster. Here's how. When you go
into credit counseling or what's called debt management, each of
the creditors have a pre-negotiated lower interest rate. Now, the
accounts will be closed when they're put into the program.
(24:47):
But through the combination of that lower interest rate combined
with a level monthly payment, which simply means as the
balance comes down, because more is going to principal with
that level payment, you're actually going to get a snowball
effect in the process. The combination of those two things,
the snowball effect through the lower payment and the reduced
interest rate is going to allow you to pay this
(25:09):
back up to 80% faster. The great thing is, you're
honoring God by paying the debt in full, and it's
a great service for you to take advantage of. So
if you want to contact them, you can reach out
to our friends again at Christian Credit Counselors. are there
all believers? They've worked with hundreds and hundreds of our listeners.
So again, it's Christian credit counselors. And thanks for writing
(25:33):
to us. All right. Let's head back to the phones.
Tony in Ohio, how can I help?
S6 (25:37):
Hey, Rob, thanks for taking my call. Um, I just
have a quick question with regards to, uh, captive insurance company.
So I have an S Corp, uh, that, by the
grace of God, has done extremely well. So now I've
gone from, uh, a couple of hundred thousand to looking
at potentially one point something million in AGI this year.
S2 (26:00):
Wow.
S6 (26:01):
So I've been we've been doing, um, we've been doing the, uh,
the typical cash balance and all the other things. So,
but doing some research and came across Captive Insurance Company
and it was one of the things that was recommended
as a tax strategy. So I wanted to get your
advice on that. And then also potentially setting up a,
(26:23):
donor advised fund. And what would the benefits of that
be for, uh, for charitable giving in the future? Obviously
I'm a tither and all that good stuff. So that's
really my question.
S2 (26:35):
Well, I love those those are great questions. And, um,
you know, the donor advised fund is one of the, uh, often,
I think, overlooked giving tools that really everybody should be
aware of and many should be using. Uh, yeah. Let's
talk about this, uh, captive insurance company, because that is
a little more complicated. But but can be an effective
(26:56):
strategy because basically it's risk management that's legitimate and a
tax strategy, but it's only for businesses with, what I'll say,
substantial revenue and insurable risk. And so the reason it's
a tax strategy is because the premiums paid by the
S corp to the captive can be deductible as a
business expense. And then the captive can accumulate the underwriting
(27:21):
Profits and investment income at potentially favorable tax rates. And
then it gives you control over risk management and the
insurance design. Um, in terms of the cautions or the risks,
I would say it's, you know, it's very complex and
it can be costly. So it could be, you know,
somewhere between 50 and 150,000 a year to maintain. You know,
(27:42):
it's usually therefore only worth it if you have a
larger business. We're talking millions in revenue, which to your point,
you're there, um, IRS scrutiny, uh, you know, these have
been abused as tax shelters. So the IRS watches them
pretty closely. So you have to have genuine insurable risks
and properly priced premiums. And then there's some liquidity risk
(28:03):
in that the money paid into the captive isn't easily accessible. Really.
It has to be available for claims. Um, in terms
of the process, you'd have to start with a feasibility study.
And so you'd want to engage some professionals to analyze
whether your business risks and cash flow justify the captive.
And so that really would be my next step is
(28:26):
to find that advisor who has some specialty in this area, uh,
that could, you know, help you explore that. Because if
they determine it's feasible and you can justify it, then,
you know, they would set up the separate legal entity
and then it has to be approved by the insurance regulator,
and then it has to be, you know, funded through
the premiums to the captive. And you have to keep
(28:48):
proper reserves. And then, you know, usually requires an outside
captive manager and then the actuaries and compliance and all
that stuff. So again, it's not for the faint of heart,
but it can be a great strategy. Um, I think
you just need to get some professional guidance. Uh, in
terms of the donor advised fund, I mean, think about
this like a charitable checking account. So the money goes
(29:09):
into the donor advised fund. When it does, it's been
given away, which is why you go ahead and get
the the charitable contribution or the charitable deduction as soon
as you put the money in and really, you no
longer technically control it. Now, what happens is it's then
controlled by the donor advised fund sponsor. So let's say
National Christian Foundation. Technically, you've given the money to them,
(29:32):
but then you have the ability as the one who
set up the donor advised fund to recommend grants out,
and then they, you know, pass it on to those ministries.
And they make it really easy to do. You know,
typically you just log into your account and with a
few clicks of a button, the money goes out and
you can send it anonymously or it can come under
your name, but you're the one making those recommendations. And
(29:56):
that's why it's important to be with a donor advised
fund sponsor that you can trust somebody who's not going to,
even if today they say, oh yeah, you can give
it to anybody you want. It doesn't mean they couldn't
come back and say, well, we've decided, you know, only
ministries who aren't on the, you know, the list of
hate groups, you know, which we know what that means. So,
(30:17):
you know, I think that's where you need to really
be with a donor advised fund sponsor who aligns with
your values. That's why I'd recommend NCF comm, founded by
Ron Blue and Larry Burkett. But it's a great strategy
because you can do some bunching where basically you could
put in, you know, quite a bit more, uh, right
up front, even if you want to give it away
over a couple of years and get up above some
(30:40):
of those, uh, you know, limits in terms of itemizing
and being able to take more tax benefit. And then,
you know, through those clicks of a button, you give
it away at your leisure as the Lord leads. So anyway,
I've thrown a lot at you. I want to get
your thoughts. So stay right there. We'll come back to
you after the break, bill. Coming your way as well.
We'll be right back. So glad to have you with
(31:05):
us today on Faith and Finance Live. Our team is
away today, so don't call in. But we lined up
some great questions in advance and we'll be going to
those here in just a moment. Let me also remind
you that the advice that I give each day on
this program is general in nature. We offer principles and
ideas that apply at a high level. They are not personalized.
(31:27):
So that's why you should always seek professional financial advice.
And if you'd like to find a professional who shares
your values, we of course, here at Faith and Finance
Live recommend the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation. These are men
and women who've met high standards, and they've been trained
to bring a biblical worldview of financial decision making. You
can find one at Faith comm. Uh, let's see, before
(31:49):
the break, we were talking to Tony in Ohio about
a captive insurance company for an S Corp and a
donor advised fund. Tony, any follow up questions or thoughts
on that?
S6 (32:00):
Oh, no. I think on the captive one, I think
I think I'm good on that. I think you kind
of pointed out the risk on that. So I mean,
I want to be careful with that one. Yeah. The
donor advised fund, I guess the other follow up question
I have with that is so is that different from
a charitable trust? Uh, that's the other question I have.
Or are they the same thing?
S2 (32:21):
Uh, no, they are definitely different. Um, so basically, you know,
they're two different giving vehicles. Again, that donor advised fund
is like a charitable investment account. Um, whereas a charitable trust,
like a charitable charitable remainder or lead trust is more complex.
It's a legal entity that can provide you income, uh,
(32:44):
either to you or heirs, while ultimately benefiting charities. So you,
you know, you can't move money from a charitable trust
into a donor advised fund, but sometimes you can name
a donor advised fund as one of the charitable beneficiaries. But, um,
you know, it's charitable. Trust is more complex, often used
for larger gifts and estate planning. The great thing about
(33:06):
the donor advised fund is, you know, you can set
it up in five minutes. I mean, if you went
to NCF. Com and clicked on Giving Fund five minutes later.
You know you'd have a donor advised fund in place
and you could start making gifts to it. And the
great thing is, not only do you can you give
cash to it, but you can donate, you know, stocks
to your donor advised fund. You can give a business interest,
(33:29):
like a portion of your business, to your donor advised fund.
So either you know the profits or the sale of
the business could be not subject to capital gains because
that portion has been given to your donor advised fund.
You know, you could put livestock in a donor advised
fund technically, and then when it's sold, you know, everything
flows through it. So it's a really flexible tool and
(33:52):
it basically costs very little. It costs nothing to set
it up and very little to keep it going.
S6 (33:59):
Gotcha. So as long as I use a trusted entity
entity like a NCF given, then I can in some
way advise or dictate where the money goes to, is
what you're saying?
S2 (34:12):
Yes. That's right. So you're making a in IRS terms,
a grant recommendation because again, you've given the money away.
But as long as you have a sponsor who aligns
with your values. I mean, the purpose of donor advised
funds is for the giver to be able to essentially,
you know, the grants always initiate with the donor, not
(34:33):
the sponsor. But on paper, the legal owner of the
money because you've already received the deduction is the sponsor.
But the whole purpose of them is for you to
be able to advise on how and when the money
goes out. You can also invest it so you could
put it in the donor advised fund, put it in
some investment, basically mutual funds let it grow and that
(34:55):
gives you more to give away over time. So there's
so much flexibility with these donor advised funds. But I
think it is important for you to be with a
sponsor who aligns with your values.
S6 (35:06):
Got it. Okay. All right. Well thank you so much
I appreciate it.
S2 (35:09):
Absolutely Tony. Call any time, my friend. Thanks for being
on the program today. To Alabama. Hi, Elizabeth. Go ahead.
S7 (35:15):
Hi. First, I'd like to thank you for your ministry.
I accidentally found it and have just. I feel like
I've learned a lot. I did not know that you
could set up an are required minimum distribution to go
to charity. That was.
S8 (35:28):
Oh yeah. Great.
S7 (35:30):
Okay. My question today is also about a trust.
S8 (35:33):
Okay.
S7 (35:33):
Um, I would like a trust to go into effect
at my death to distribute money monthly. Um, or I
guess monthly to avoid a lump sum because I have
a child who would go through a lump sum immediately.
S8 (35:50):
Yes. Um.
S7 (35:51):
And not wisely. So my question about that is, um,
your administrator, how is the manager of this trust paid?
Are they paid with each distribution? Are they paid monthly
or are they paid a percentage? How do they get
an income from the trust.
S2 (36:10):
Yeah. It varies is the best way to say it.
Let me explain. So the person who manages a trust
is called a trustee, and their compensation is spelled out
in the trust document generally. Uh, so sometimes it's a
flat fee or an hourly rate. More often it's a
(36:31):
small annual percentage of the trust's assets, commonly around 1%. Uh, so,
you know, you could have an individual, you could also
have a professional trustee, like a bank or a trust company.
They tend to charge a little bit more. Uh, and
sometimes if you have a family member, they might waive
(36:51):
payment or take a very modest fee. But it you know,
there are a number of ways to do it. Again,
it could be, you know, annual fee, it could be hourly.
You know, it's often the percentage. And certainly with a
professional trustee it's typically a percentage. And a lot of
that just generally comes down to how much is in
there and the complexity of it. I mean, if you're talking,
(37:12):
you know, writing a monthly check, uh, you know, to
an air, um, based on the trust document guidelines, then,
you know, it's not going to really be a whole lot.
So it might be just a nominal annual fee for
that person's time. Uh, but all that is, is spelled
out in the trust document. And your estate planning attorney
who sets it up based on the complexity and the
(37:32):
size of it, could advise you on how to do it.
And a lot of that, again, is going to come
down to, is it somebody who's personally known to you
or a family member or is it a professional trustee?
S7 (37:44):
Okay. Great. Super. Well, that answers my question.
S8 (37:47):
So all right.
S7 (37:49):
I appreciate the help.
S8 (37:50):
Thank you. Absolutely.
S2 (37:51):
You are so welcome, Elizabeth. Thank you for your call today.
We appreciate it. By the way. Stay on the line.
I'm going to send you a copy of our new
faithful Steward magazine, and I think you'll enjoy it. Hopefully
it'll be a blessing to you. Thanks for calling today. Uh,
let's head to, uh, Bill in Texas. Bill, go right ahead.
S9 (38:08):
Quick question. I know you're running out of time, but
I have a managed account with a broker here, a
national broker. We live in Dallas and it has it's
a combination. I'm 71, retired. When we first started this, uh,
it was a result of an inheritance. My sister and
I from my father, he had about, oh, $850,000 in
(38:30):
a managed account, and, uh, was split in half. My
sister went her way and I went my way. And
we when we first started, my wife and I said 50, 50,
50 balance would be pretty conservative for us. I leaned
more on the conservative conservative end. Just because I'm retirement
now and the stock market, I don't want, you know,
kind of risky. So and then over the last couple
(38:52):
of years, the advisor moved it more towards a, oh 40, 42% equities.
The other 50 plus in uh, uh, bonds and cash.
You know, cash account. Yeah. And so we use we
use this and it's grown. When we started back in
(39:13):
2018 it had about 430,000. Today it has about 420,000.
And how we use this is to support our retirement income.
So $1,500 a month goes into a cash account that
has check writing privileges. We use that 1500 a month
to support a, you know, to help supplement Social Security.
We have a savings account with fidelity and other things.
(39:36):
Have an annuity that pays for 50 a month, something
like that. But my question for you is, is do
you think and it's as far as this managed account,
I'm referring to it, that 1500 comes to about 4.2%
a year. And they they say the 4% rule. I
guess it's still pretty, pretty wise.
S8 (39:56):
Yeah.
S9 (39:57):
So that's about 18. That's about 18,000 a year we
pull out of that. And but we also have to
go into that account for like sometimes our property taxes,
you know, about $6,000 a year. We have a wedding
coming up and we're the we're the parents of the bride. And,
you know, we take on a lot of that cost traditionally.
(40:18):
And so we'll pull that from, from this man's account too.
But we've been blessed in the fact that, no, it
hasn't gone from 430 to 600,000, but it still stayed
at about the four 2430 over the last six years,
even though we've been pulling money out. And I was
just asking you, do you think that's a is that
a wise way to help supplement our retirement income, or
(40:39):
is there other options we should think about?
S2 (40:41):
Yeah. Uh, no. I love everything you just said here, because,
number one, I think you're right. You're right there at
that 4.2 4.3% range, with 18,000 a year on 420,000.
You know that I would say that that rate is
still considered a stay safe starting point in retirement planning. Um,
you know, I think that you've proven that out by
(41:04):
the fact that you've been able to do that and
take a little bit extra along the way. Uh, you know,
for some other things as it has come up and
basically generally preserve the balance, which was the goal even with,
you know, inflation and things costing more than they have previously.
And I think you're right. I mean, I would have
said a starting point on the mix at 70 years old.
(41:25):
You know, we used to use the rule of 100.
Now we use 110 because people are living longer. But
110 minus your age is what you should have in equities.
That's 40%. And that's what you've got 40 in equities,
60 in fixed income and bonds. The only thing I
might consider is adding a little precious metal allocation, somewhere
between 5 and 10% out of the fixed income portion.
(41:45):
But I think you're on the right track. I love
the plan. I don't have any issues with it whatsoever.
S9 (41:51):
Thank you so much, Rob. I really appreciate your time.
S2 (41:54):
Absolutely. God bless you, my friend. Hey, before we wrap
up today, let me remind you, you know, financial decision
making can often seem overwhelming. Seemingly endless decisions about money.
But we can boil it down into something perhaps a
bit more simple. All we can do with money is live, give,
owe and grow. There's the money we spend on our lifestyle,
(42:15):
the money we owe for debt and taxes, the money
we grow for the future and the money we give
to the Lord's work. And all of those are addressed
in Scripture. Every one of those have principles that we
can pull out of God's Word, our hope and prayers
that we can help you do that on this program
each day. Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between
Moody Radio and Faith five. Let me say thank you
(42:37):
to my team today Amy, Dan, Jim and Gabby. We
couldn't do it without them. Thank you for being along
with us as well. So thankful for your calls and
your questions. Have a great rest of your day and
we'll see you next time on Faith and Finance live.
Bye bye.
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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.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.