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August 27, 2025 • 54 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Financial Issues, where we join reality with truth,
helping you make the most of your money by honoring
God with your investments. Now listen man as we give
you the practical tools and advice you need to become
a biblically responsible investor.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome back to Financial Issues. Everybody, good to be here
with you this morning. Sethidinski, Samuel Case, the studio, a
team at FISM. Happy to be here this Wednesday. Grateful
to have each of you. We're live this morning, be
here for the next hour. Thanks for choosing to spend
your Wednesday morning with us.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
Folks.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
On today's show, We've got Mark Manila, Financial Issues contributor,
financial expert.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
He's going to join us later in the show.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
We'll hear Mark's expertise on the US government's interest in
buying up stock in publicly traded companies. We talked at
length about that yesterday, and I'm excited to hear what
Mark has to say about that. We'll talk about some
other things as well with him. Also, yesterday, President Trump
made an offhand comment about a certain controversial food service corporation,
and then actually that food service corporation happened to reverse.

(01:05):
It's very controversial decision, which is kind of funny. The
controversy is not so much what we're interested in. I
think we're excited for the outcome, but more the fact
that what Trump said made the stock jump by five percent.
We'll talk about that in a little bit. Your questions
and comments. Also, can the president actually fire a FED official?
We'll talk about that a little bit if we have
time later on as well. Hey, there's partner commentary out

(01:28):
this week, folks. You got to check it out. It's
great commentary. Make sure you go read that. If you
are a partner, and if you're not one, become one
today at Financial issues dot Org. Just click that become
a Partner button. Now onto the show, samur Raider roll.
Ready for some fun?

Speaker 3 (01:40):
I guess so if I have to, you're making me
do my job.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
I'm making him work, and work is fun. This work
is truly a lot of fun. So it's good stuff, Sam,
Let's start here. The Trump administration continues to wheel and
deal on the world stage, specifically in the Far East.
What can you tell us about the investments made from
South Korea into the United States?

Speaker 4 (01:57):
The winning continues seth breaking in the sweet sweet dollar bills,
South Korea touted one hundred and fifty billion dollars worth
of US investment plans during Monday's summit between President Donald
Trump and South Korean President Lee J Mung. These investments
span several sectors, including shipbuilding, nuclear energy, aerospace, energy, and

(02:18):
critical minerals. By the way, those investments could reach as
high as three hundred and fifty billion dollars. That's part
of a broader plan that right now is just agreed
to on paper, but it could become real very soon. Meanwhile,
the White House also says it will announce a five
hundred and fifty billion dollar investment from Japan later this week.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Good stuff, Sam, you know, compared to what we discussed
yesterday and again we'll talk about that with Mark later
in the show, with what the US government did in
buying up Intel stock, I like to see this. This
feels different to me, Sam. This is the US government
doing what it should do far better in these types
of what you could call investments, as these are going
to accomplish what Trump is touted with his America First

(03:00):
to without taking steps toward socialism.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
I think this is the way to do it. I
really do.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
This is also going to help the United States, Sam,
furthering its interest in this ongoing Cold war with China.
Anytime we can see a deal made with a country
within the vicinity of China, I think that's really good,
even if it's a country like South Korea, which we
know we've had warm relations with. You mentioned Japan also, Sam,
I think that's kind of expected, but I also think
it's a good thing. And as we can see China

(03:27):
isolated more and more, that's really good. It's America first,
That's what we want here. My hope is that this
is what the US government puts its efforts towards, as
opposed to buying up stock in companies and driving the
price up with those companies.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
I mean it appears to be this is the general rule.
As the Trump administration says, they've already have something like
ten billion dollars worth of on paper investments. We'll see
if all of those come to fruition, but if history's correct,
then at least a good portion of them will be
about eighty percent.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, good stuff, So appreciate you bringing that up, Sam. Elsewhere, Sam,
we did see consumer confidence come out kind of went
under the radar because of everything that's going on this
week with the continuing battle between the White House and
the Federal Reserve, as well as that big earnings report
from Nvidio that's coming out later today after the bell.
But we did see consumer confidence dip, Sam, what can
you tell us about this one?

Speaker 4 (04:16):
Yeah, dipping one point three points to ninety seven point
four in August. That is staying in line with expectations.
But American's short term expectations for income, business conditions, and
the job market those fell by one point two points
to seventy four point eight, and anything below eighty could
could signal a recession, not necessarily, but that's how the

(04:36):
American people are feeling about the current situation. That drop
comes as the US has seen significant downward revisions in
jobs data along with hotter than expected wholesale inflation.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
Thanks for that, Sam.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
You know, of course, anytime we talk about recession, we
do have to give the disclaimer folks, of what are
we actually referring to with a recession, because are we
using the traditional definie of a recession or the Biden
administration's amendment to what a recession is? Because apparently we
saw a recession with the Biden administration, But of course
it wasn't reported as one. If you want more info

(05:09):
on this one, folks, they could be good to refer
to last week's commentary believe it was from August nineteenth.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Real good information on this specific topic here.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
While we're talking about that, yesterday's commentary also a really
good one for you to check out if you're wondering
about where we're sitting as a strategy right now. The
long term strategy is not changing at all, but every
week with the commentary, we get little updates here and there,
you know, on some things we can be considering. What
to do with cash, what to do with money that
we're ready to put to work, how much powder you
keep dry?

Speaker 3 (05:36):
All that stuff.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
And by the way, when we refer to dry powder again, folks,
that's kind of a euphemism that we use just talk
about cash that has not been invested. So if you're
hearing one of us say keep some powder dry, that
means keep some cash handy stuff like that.

Speaker 4 (05:48):
Oh, I thought you meant keep your flour dry, because
then it doesn't make baking.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
So good if it's wet. That's exactly right. It's actually
I wouldn't know any different that.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
But my wife's been into the sour bread game a lot, Sam,
so I thought I'm sure she'd be the ex on
that sort of stuff. Cool stuff, Sam, Well, let's get
to a question we got from the chat yesterday. You
didn't have time to get to it, but this is
a good one from Brian and Kara. What are they saying?

Speaker 4 (06:08):
Yeah, they're asking about the rising trend of buy now,
pay later finances and the simple question is how do
people move forward with that kind of debt mentality. I
think the answer is they don't.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yes, you're exactly right, Sam, good question. Brian and Kara,
Sam hit it on the head. They simply don't. So
this is referencing yesterday we talked about buy now, pay later.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
I think it was later in the show.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
You know, folks, it's not the only reason why we
have this, but I got to tell you, when you
consider what really is an epidemic in our country of
debt culture, this is one big reason why. It's that
people are okay with the buy now, pay later mentality.
I'll get what I want and I don't have to
pay for it. There's something wrong with that. There really
is something wrong with that. It'd be far better to

(06:53):
buy what you can afford. And so you know, we
said yesterday rightly that debt is not an self sinful
and I agree with that. I'm not contradicting what I
said yesterday, but I do want.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
To give a brand new opinion today. You never know
what you're gonna get with se That's exactly right, folks.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
If you heard yes social Security on Monday, and then
yesterday the Trump stuff, and now it's debt, here's the deal.
Debt can be very dangerous. It can be sinful. It
can lead to sinful tendencies. It can be very very foolish,
very foolish. It can lead to tendencies such as greed,
such as envy. You know, you see something that you want,
you compare yourself to someone else. They have something that

(07:32):
you cannot afford. But now all of a sudden, you
have a way where you can have that thing even
though you can't afford it.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
That's dangerous.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Talk about impatience, talk about folly, all of that can
be fostered by this debt culture. Folks, this is a
great time as any to remind you that listen, we
don't believe debt is sinful, but we also don't encourage it, certainly,
not if you can help it. If you can buy something,
if you can buy a house without going into debt
and not having to have an interest payment and not

(07:58):
having to succumb to sick seven percent interest rates, I
would say, go buy the house, don't go into debt
if you don't have to. I think that's a really
good mentality for us, as we wouldn't call it sinful.

Speaker 3 (08:08):
But if you can avoid it, it's a good idea
to avoid it, folks. It really is your greatest asset.
We've said this before on the show. Your greatest asset
is your ability to earn an income.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
But if you are constantly burdened by debt, that great
asset becomes not so powerful. That income that you earn
gets the legs cut out from under it because you're
having to constantly treat the debt problem. So get out
and stay out. I think that's a great mentality. Brian
and Carrer appreciate that question. People simply can't move forward
because they're constantly trapped in that debt. Let's move to

(08:41):
the markets here now, folks. So yesterday it was so
we'll start here. Actually late last week it was Powell
and then Monday it was in Nvidia, and yesterday the
markets were a little skittish as Trump was now blazing
this new trail with the ever balmy relationship with the
Federal Reserve, which we'll talk about potentially if we have time.
He announced that he fired fedgr Lisa Cook. Cook then responded,

(09:03):
by the way, with the threat of a lawsuit against Trump.
So you can just imagine if I responded, you know,
if I stopped doing my job well here at FIM
and the Ministry decided to fire me because I wasn't
doing my job well or there was some other potential problem,
and I was fired, and then I said, I'm going
to sue you for that. Just imagine if everybody did that.
That'd be a pretty chaotic world.

Speaker 3 (09:23):
I think it would go well. I think it would
exactly well.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
Nonetheless, Lisa Cook is trying that on for size. The
markets were keeping an eye on this, but they were
all hanging right around the flat line. Keep in mind
they're also eyeing in Vidia for the earnings call later today.
Late afternoon, the markets kind of trudged through the flat line.
They were poised to finish positive. They made it positive.
Yesterday the DAL Jones finished up about a third of
a percent. Meanwhile, the S and P five hundred was

(09:46):
at two fifths and the Nasdaq creeping up towards a
half a percent positive. So the pre markets, they're muted understandably.
So right now I can tell you what's exactly happening
on Wall Street as we speak. Everyone is waiting with
baited breath for their lord and savior, in Vidia, led
by what we're calling Jensen Hwang and his chip maker gang.

(10:07):
So after the bell reports today, all eyes will be
on in video. As of right now, the pre markets
are right around the flat line.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
They're not moving one way or the other.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
Slightly below it at this point, but that's probably a
good guess. That could be where they stay barring some
other kind of crazy news as they await in Vidia's earnings.

Speaker 4 (10:25):
So I was just gonna say, well, whatever the earnings are,
we'll find something new to fred about.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
That's exactly right, as the markets always do. Good to
be here with you, folks. Make sure to say hello
on the chat there. We'll be back right after this
break talking to more financial issues with you. If you've
got questions for us, comments for us, put them in
the chat We'd love to get to them as quickly
as we can. We'll be back after this.

Speaker 5 (11:00):
Our moments in lives that define us. Choices determine the
courses we take. Choices that create life or those that
save the life, and some make life worth while. There
are decisions to stay or to go, to remain the same,
or to grow. Sometimes we pray and make peace. Other

(11:21):
times we take a stand for what we believe in celebration, mourning, triumph,
and defeat. We are invested in every decision we seek.
Despite differences, we have one thing in common, the desire
to do all for the glory of God. Keep your
wallet aligned with your heart and your investments in harmony
with your faith. Timothy Plan Biblically responsible mutual funds, ETFs

(11:45):
and retirement plans. Before investing, carefully consider our funds, investment objective, risks,
charges and expenses contained in the perspectives available at timothyplan
dot com. Read carefully before investing.

Speaker 6 (12:00):
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Speaker 3 (12:13):
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Speaker 7 (12:16):
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Speaker 3 (13:07):
Welcome back, folks, Financial Issues.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
We're here this morning through the seeing you guys on
the chat lukeuik chat run down here George, North Carolina.

Speaker 3 (13:15):
Great to see you.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
Some of you sharing your interest rates that you got,
George saying you got your your house in nineteen eighty
six eighty seven for about seven point five percent.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
It is interesting, folks.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
You know the rates that we're seeing right now, they
seem to be pretty standard average for what we saw
in the last to say forty to fifty years or so.
I had made a comment in the chat asking for
those of you who are a little bit older, do
you remember how high the interest rates were when you
were buying houses? I threw out twelve thirteen percent, and
some of you even said it was even higher than that.
So I think as the millennials, we kind of got

(13:47):
lulled to sleep a little bit with the four percent,
three percent or two and a half percent rates that
we've seen, you know, obviously before these last three years,
back around twenty twenty or so, and so the folks
who refinance during that time, especially young folks, talk about
definitionally the golden handcuffs.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
Boy, that's what it is. You can't leave because.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
It's just such a good rate, it's affordable and where
you're gonna go, you know.

Speaker 3 (14:12):
So that's not me saying that you necessarily should do that.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
I'm just saying for a lot of people's that's the
situation that they're in interesting stuff. Nonetheless, there, folks, all right,
let's witch gears here. Sam So Cracker Barrel has been
dominating the news headlines.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
This week, and I have not noticed.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
I find it kind of funny, Sam, you had mentioned
this in our pre show talks that we always do.
You know, August is tough when you're trying to find
news headlines. So yeah, we're going to talk about Cracker Barrel,
Sydney Sweeney, other stuff that during the more robust time
periods of the year, you're not going to talk about
that stuff as much.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
But this is what we have to talk about here. Well,
you got to.

Speaker 4 (14:43):
Remember, Congress is out of session, a lot of CEOs
are on vacation.

Speaker 3 (14:47):
Yeah, it's earning season, but.

Speaker 4 (14:48):
It's a slow time of year, so exactly random news
tends to pop up.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
But nonetheless it has dominated headlines and it, boy, it
sure did yesterday and this morning.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
So give us the updates. Sam, what's going on with
Cracker Barrel.

Speaker 4 (14:58):
Now, Yeah, well, they're changing their mind after the backlash
about the logo rebrand. But what's really interesting about this
is Donald Trump chimed in on the whole controversy yesterday,
causing Cracker Barrel shares to pop five percent yesterday morning,
before anything even happened. Trump was urging the company to
reconsider the change to its old logo, back to its

(15:21):
old logo, saying it would do wonders for the company.
Amid intense backlash, He said they got a billion dollars
worth of free publicity if they play their cards right.
Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity. So I
was thinking at the time, why on earth are the
markets reacting to this? Nothing has even happened. Trump just
gave an opinion, which he does all the time. But

(15:41):
apparently they knew something I didn't know, because later that day,
Cracker Barrel released this statement. We thank our guests for
sharing your voice and love for Cracker Barrel. We said
we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is
going away and our old timer, that's the old logo,
will remain. Trump then responded with congratulations, wishing them luck,

(16:01):
saying they he hopes they make lots of money and
most importantly, make their customers very happy again.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
Trump really loves the make fill in the blank something again.

Speaker 3 (16:11):
Doesn't he make America great again? Make customers happy again?
That sort of thing. I find that kind of funny.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah, So right off the bat, folks, I think we
can take this as certainly a win against wocism.

Speaker 3 (16:22):
I think that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
We we saw how this rebrand was fueled by woke policies.

Speaker 3 (16:28):
We've seen this with Cracker Barrel.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
Unfortunately in recent times that there was some whisperings of
pride themed rocking chairs, their staple rocking chair that they have.
There's pride themed stuff happening there, all that, all that
sort of thing. So I think right away we can
take this as a win. I think it's great. I
think we're seeing the power that the that the people have,
you know, the voice of especially this was this was
spearheaded by conservatives saying we don't like this, we like

(16:53):
the old There was nothing wrong with the old time one.
And so I think that's that's great. I say yes,
and a men to that. As bad the remodel, the
rebrand was really not good. And long live Uncle Herschel, Right, Sam,
I mean, I think it's great. And you know what,
Trump was exactly right in his criticism yesterday. The company
took the opportunity, they took the free publicity. They by

(17:15):
all rights admitted that they made a mistake. So this
is as close as we'll get to I'm sorry is
by changing back. And I think you know in the
when you're talking about crutainly from a biblicly responsible perspective.
We care a lot more about actions than we do
about words. So I think this is great. But what
I really want to discuss here, Sam, is something that
is becoming more and more of an issue, and it's
one that has long term BRI investors need to be

(17:37):
aware of. And as we speak all about this, folks
with Cracker Brow, keep in mind we're not promoting Crackerbow
as a company that you should invest in.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
We actually issued a sell alert about a year.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
Ago for this company and miunderstanding as we don't plan
on entering back into it. But here's the deal. These
companies will pop or drop at a mere word.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
Sam.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
It reminded me of one of my favorite hymns written
by Martin Luther called A Mighty Fortresses are God. And
there's a line in that hymn that says something like
when when we're talking about the battle with the enemy,
Luther says, one little word shall fell him. And that's
great power that we have. We we we we have
the power in us that one little word brings down
the enemy of our souls. But I was thinking about,

(18:16):
you know, one little word from one specific person can
either cause these companies to go berserk or they can
have a party. And something about that doesn't seem right
to me. It's not everyone. Donald Trump, Jerome Powell, maybe
one or two other people have the power with one
sentence to cause these companies to go into a tizzy

(18:39):
one way or the other. Sam, is there something wrong
with this?

Speaker 8 (18:42):
Am?

Speaker 3 (18:42):
I just am?

Speaker 2 (18:43):
I just grasping at straws here. I feel like this
shouldn't be the way it is. All Trump said was
that they need to bring back the old logo. And
like you said, the stock popped five percent and this
change nothing can changed. What's the fundamentals right the company?

Speaker 9 (18:56):
Yep?

Speaker 2 (18:56):
And this was before the the the official rebrand announcement.
Stock pops five percent on Trump's word, folks.

Speaker 3 (19:03):
All vibes and hype. Yeah, that's exactly right. It's also
with the Sydney.

Speaker 4 (19:06):
Sweeney add nothing about the fundamentals of that company had changed.
Maybe you could argue, ye, they maybe would sales would
increase in the future because of that ad. But it
popped something what twenty five percent just because of one
advertisement when the company is exactly the same.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
Yeah, that's that's exactly right. There's there's really no change there, folks.
I think this is maybe part of the reason why
you know, and and obviously you know when we made
this decision a year ago to part ways with this company.
We don't have a crystal ball. We didn't see this
stuff coming. But look at it and look at it
in you know, hindsight. Companies that do this kind of stuff, uh,

(19:42):
they they don't seem to be the best kind of
companies that we're looking at for long term good investing.

Speaker 3 (19:47):
Folks.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
This is a tremendous lesson for us not to be
swayed with each and every word coming from the mouth
of whichever influential public figure says it.

Speaker 4 (19:56):
Apparently a top investor in Cracker Barrel got wind this
redesign rebrand and he told them, he said, this is
a terrible idea. I think the word was folly. He said,
you're abandoning what makes you great for the modern wins,
the modern trends, and it's just a terrible.

Speaker 3 (20:12):
Great lesson. That's a great lesson.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
Cracker Barrel was listening to what they thought were the
modern trends, going along with the woke stuff all that.
It's a good lesson for us that we can't do
that folks, we really can't.

Speaker 3 (20:23):
We're long term. We're long term investors.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
The companies that I'm investing in right now with the
FIM strategy, I don't plan on barring a sell alert,
barring a BRI violation. I don't plan on every getting
out of these companies. I plan on being in them
for decades. And I hope that that can be the
same model that you follow as well, Folks, that we're
going to go through ups and downs in the market,

(20:45):
possibly bull markets, bear markets, wars, stuff like this.

Speaker 4 (20:49):
Good advertisements, bad advertisements, rebrands, Donald Trump sharing his opinions.

Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yes, rebrands, all that sort of stuff, the US buying
stock into certain companies, all that stuff.

Speaker 3 (20:59):
We're going to go through all of that, and you
just got to.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
Stick with it. You have to stick with it. Of course,
trust what our experts say. If there's a cell alert,
if it's for fundamental reasons, if it's for BRI reasons,
that's when we part ways with the company. But if
that doesn't happen, you're in it, and you're staying in
it for the long term. Man stick with it and
stay at it. I think that's so important for us,
and such a good life lesson for us, not only
when we're talking about our investing, but in everything that

(21:23):
we do ultimately in our relationship with Christ, that we
continue to stick at it, working hard, trusting that he's
doing a good work in us. That may take decades
before we see the fruition of that makes sense, Sam,
Hopefully it wasn't too controversial like that we've seen the
last couple of days. I think our long term audience
would probably agree with that. Let's get here, Sam, a
quick one, so turning our attention to the White House

(21:46):
versus Federal Reserve continual just soap opera.

Speaker 3 (21:48):
That's really quite delightful to watch.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
But it seems as though now Fed Governor Cook's attorney
says he will file suit over Trump's attempt to fire her.
The latest news I'm seeing here, Sam, is that the
Fed is now saying that Trump need that Trump needs
cause to fire Lisa Cook.

Speaker 3 (22:05):
And that's the tricky word.

Speaker 4 (22:06):
That is what the law says exactly what the President
can remove a Fed governor for cause?

Speaker 3 (22:11):
What is cause? What does that mean? That's what we
need to figure out. Sam.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
You had mentioned what's kind of going on with Lisa Cook?
Could you just bring our listeners up to speed on
why there's some controversy with her at when it comes
to fraud.

Speaker 4 (22:24):
Well, there's a question about did she commit mortgage fraud?
That's basically the gist of it. The DOJ has launched
an investigation into this. She has not been officially convicted
of anything yet. But Trump is arguing just the fact
that there's a question about this, even if it's just negligence,
that means that you should not be fit to serving
on the Federal Reserve Board because it's the highest financial

(22:46):
institution in the land and you don't even know how
to properly fill out financial documents.

Speaker 3 (22:51):
Exactly right. That's a good question.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
It's almost like if you serve on the highest court
of the land and you don't know the definition of
a woman. We certainly wouldn't have that in this country,
would we joke? No, that's a joke, that's the twilight.
Exactly right, that's exactly right. But it really is interesting here, Sam,
I think you're exactly right. We need we need our
Federal Reserve officials to actually know about money. Our founder
Dan Celia used to say, these types of people couldn't

(23:13):
manage their way out of a paper bag and they
couldn't manage their own lunch money.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
And I think that's true. I think we're seeing that
right here.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
But nonetheless, the latest news I heard, Sam is that
it looks like this case could and probably might go
all the way.

Speaker 4 (23:24):
To the Supreme I think the Supreme Court is going
to have to define what does this mean for a cause? I,
for one, am happy about that.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
I'm not sure how confident I am in the Supreme Court.
I guess I could say I'm cautiously confident in it.
What I'm more happy about, though, Sam, is that we'll
finally have a rule book that's written. We should have
had this since nineteen thirteen. Apparently we didn't. Now we do,
and you know, the pro FED people will say, well,
yes we did. It's that the president can fire a
FED officials. Just no one's ever done it before.

Speaker 3 (23:52):
No one's ever done it, very unknown, Terri.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
So if she shows up to work today, what happens? Yeah,
what exactly happens? Are they supposed to bar her? Are
they supposed to just let her keep working while this
lawsuit settles out? That's probably what's going to happen. She's
going to stay on the FED until we actually figure
out if Trump can do this.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
But it is a weird situation.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
I think to allow due process to happen, what should
happen is she should be placed on some kind of leave,
administrative leave. I would prefer leave without pay, but if
you want to pay her, that's fine. But place her
on leave and give this investigation the chance to run
its course. Something has to be done here. You can't
just let her keep working. And you know this, of
course gets back to the question of if the President

(24:31):
of the United States can't do it, who can. We
got to keep this organization accountable. I know they're independent,
I know all that stuff, but there has to be
some accountability here.

Speaker 3 (24:40):
It really has to.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
So hopefully some accountability comes out of this here, folks,
I certainly do hope.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
So we also saw some news real estate.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
Experts are now warning of a New York City exodus
if Democratic socialist.

Speaker 3 (24:50):
Mom Donnie wins the mayoral race. I'm sure those Florida
realtors are licking their chops.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
Get excited, absolutely, especially because you're thinking these are high
net worth people. These are the people that Mom Donnie
is going to target, assuming that he wins.

Speaker 3 (25:03):
So they're gonna want to get out of there. Absolutely. Folks.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
Had a great conversation yesterday with Alex McFarland about this.
If you want to go back and listen to it,
you can go on to Financial Issues Dot or go
to episodes. So it's uh, yeah, it's the resources tab episodes. No, no, no,
I'm sorry, it's watch. You go to watch and then episodes.
You can click on that and yesterday's episode should be
up there. That was in the second segment yesterday. Interesting
stuff here, folks. Nonetheless, Hey, if you have to leave us,

(25:26):
we hope you have a great rest of the day.
But we've got Mark Manilla coming up next. We'll talk
about some interesting stuff here for sure. Hope you'll stick
with us on financial issues more to come after this break.

Speaker 10 (25:57):
In the last ten to fifteen years being in ministry,
being married, something that has been constant in our lives
is Samaritan Ministries. As we've moved, we've had babies, we've
had different things come up. We have just been able
to rely on Samaritan in ways that we never really
even thought about before becoming members.

Speaker 8 (26:15):
Our heart's desires to plant roots and be in a
place for a really long time it's how we were raised.
We see the benefits of that, but we also see
the open handedness of being used by the Lord wherever
he calls, because we just assumed when we started pursuing
church planting, the quickest way to get from point A
to point B is a straight line, and with the Lord,
sometimes you find out it looks a lot more like this.

(26:38):
And yet Samaritan was with us through the entire entire thing.

Speaker 10 (26:42):
We didn't have to look into, oh, we have to
change insurances now because we've moved states, or whatever the
case may be. And it's just been a real blessing
to us in different phases of life. I'm Kyle, I'm Colleen.
Where the genics and where Samaritan members.

Speaker 11 (27:00):
When it comes to money, I always have so many questions.
I never know where to go to get answers to
those questions. They never really teach you this stuff in school,
like some of the best ways to handle it, how
to save, when to invest, where to invest, even just
what to do with the money, and if I put
it in the stock market, what's the best way to
protect from losing it? All that fear can be paralyzing.

(27:24):
You don't really know what decisions to make as a Christian.
I don't want to give my money to people who
are going to use it for things that God hates.
When I discovered financial issues, it was like a burden
was lifted off my shoulders. Not only did I gain
access to a simple investment strategy that I can manage myself,
I also have the peace of mind that my money
will not be going to companies to actively promote things

(27:47):
that Got hates. Financial issues has allowed me to experience
peace in my investments.

Speaker 3 (27:53):
Invest your money in a God honoring way. Go to
Financial Issues dot org.

Speaker 12 (28:00):
I just love the first book of Exodus. The king
says that Jews are too many. To get rid of them.
I command you to kill the firstborn. But the midwives too,
of the Hebrews heard the order. And what did they do?
They defied it. And God dealt favorably with the midwives
and gave them families. He blessed them for loving life,
He blessed them for saving babies. We have re entered

(28:24):
the death cults in this country. You think about how
much we elevate death, whether it be the chopping off
of parts and we call it transgender care, whether it
be shouting our abortion, and you see it so beautifully
in John ten ten. It is the divide of the
entire scriptures. Now most people would say John three sixteen,
but think about it.

Speaker 3 (28:42):
The enemy has.

Speaker 12 (28:43):
Come to lie, steal, cheat and destroy. I have come
to give life and life more abundantly. That's the whole
ball game, everybody. It is everything, and we have to
have the joy of Jesus Christ to enjoy life and
to protect it.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
It's a gift.

Speaker 12 (28:57):
From above and preborn is leading the charge.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
Welcome back, folks, Financial issues. Good to be here with
you this morning. We're having some fun on the show.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
Let's see if the markets are having fun here, Sam there,
they're not, really, They're a kind of pensive, tepid, kind
of like I am when I'm waiting for a doctor's
appointment in the doctor's office.

Speaker 3 (29:21):
I don't particularly enjoy myself all that much.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
The Dow Jones is just above the flat line, the
S and P is just below, and the Nasdaq slightly
further below than that.

Speaker 3 (29:29):
So that's what we're looking at this morning. Mark Manila
back with us.

Speaker 9 (29:33):
Mark.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
Great to have you brother, Always love having you on
the show.

Speaker 13 (29:36):
Well, thank you. Honored to be here this is. It's
always fun, it's always exciting. And you know, every time
I come home with.

Speaker 9 (29:43):
You, with with both of the I learn a lot.

Speaker 13 (29:45):
Actually, Yeah, and especially with the chat room, that's really
interesting to see what goes on in there, the chair,
the comments, and how how in tune those who are
part of financial issues are.

Speaker 9 (29:59):
I mean, it's amazing.

Speaker 13 (30:01):
There's not a lot of shows that have such a
good following. Intelligent following. I guess godly following would be
a better way to say it.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yeah, well, Mark, I appreciate that so much. I know
our chat does as well. Chat make make sure you
guys say hello this morning. It's good to see all
awesome love. Right, we'll do a little chat run down
later on in the show here, but Mark, let's get
to this here. You know, we've had John several times
over the last couple months. You've got decades of financial experience,
and we've discussed a lot of topics. I thought to
start it'd be kind of fun. I have some financial

(30:30):
questions on my mind. I'd just like to pose a
couple of these to you. They've been on my mind lately.
I've been thinking through them as I'm moving forward in
my own investment journey. I know Sam is as well.
So let's just run through a couple of these questions. Brother,
why don't we start with this year? This one says this,
I've invested well in the markets for some years and
have now reached the point where my investments are equivalent
to the remaining total balance on my mortgage that amount

(30:53):
roughly around one hundred and forty thousand dollars. Should I
continue to invest in equities and mutual funds while slowly
paying down the mortgage? Or should I cash out pay
off the mortgage but also while doing that knowing I'm
going to need to start from scratch again in the markets.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
What would you say to that?

Speaker 9 (31:09):
Mark?

Speaker 4 (31:09):
What do you think, Seth? I've wondered this question myself.
I don't have a mortgage right now, but I thought
if I did have one, what would I do in
this situation?

Speaker 2 (31:16):
And Mark, you know, I got to tell you as
kind of an amendment Sam with what you just said.

Speaker 9 (31:19):
Sam, are you living out of your car?

Speaker 3 (31:21):
It's a nice car, Yeah, that's exactly is. It's a
seven Toyota Okay.

Speaker 2 (31:27):
Mark, I have wondered this also, jumping off of what
Sam said there, because I'm doing some investing.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
I have a mortgage.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
I'm trying to get that number of the you know,
the remaining balance it's left off to be equivalent to
the investments that I have. And so I'm wondering this
as well, what do you think?

Speaker 13 (31:41):
Well, it's an excellent question, and it's one that shows
why it's so important to balance both sides of the issue,
practicality and biblical concept. One of the things that I
think is very important when it comes to finances always
answering the question what does this mean to me as
a Christian? So we have to look at the debt
issue in there, and you did a very good job.

(32:04):
Several times I've seen you on the air talking about debt,
talking about how it's not a sin, but it can
lead to sin. But it is a warning, and I
don't know when the God of all creation gives me
a warning. It's something I need to take very seriously,
you know.

Speaker 9 (32:20):
So.

Speaker 13 (32:21):
But the other part about this is that when it
comes to if this is youseth or if this is
somebody else's question, it comes down to your relationship with
God in this what do you believe he feels like?

Speaker 9 (32:35):
Is it considered a debt.

Speaker 13 (32:36):
If you have an asset that's worth two times as
much as the what you owe on it, is it
considered a debt If you have other assets, liquid assets
that could pay it off at anytime, I'd say, yes,
it's still a debt. That's a debt part of the formula,
but you have it covered. It's back by an asset.
And that's what's unique about the mortgage that the debt

(32:58):
and the Bible didn't talk about. The debt in the
Bible usually talked about, Hey, I can't feed my family.
Can I have some food? Can I have some money
to buy some food? And they say sure. And if
you don't pay it back, you become my slave for
two years and you work for free from me for
two years. And some people would say that's great because

(33:18):
then I could feed my family too, you know, But
it was that's what the type of debt of the
Bible was about. A mortgage is a little different when
it has an asset back in it that generally is
of the same value or more than the debt itself.
Now we had to take into effect liquidation and costs
and attorney fees and all that. But some people would say, well,

(33:42):
Mark I feel very comfortable I have enough in my
four one K or I have enough in my savings
to pay this debt off at anytime. But I'm earning
more than what it's costing me after my tax deduction.
I'm actually making money by keeping my investments and not
paying my mortgage off in full, just making payments on it.

(34:03):
So from a mathematical, practical perspective, it makes sense not
to pay it off.

Speaker 9 (34:09):
In fact, many of my clients what they.

Speaker 13 (34:11):
Did was they would set asite an investment fund to
manage it so there's liquidity in there and make it
easy to be able to make a payment and have
their payment automatically come out of that investment fund. And
then at the end of every year they'll say, you know,
I got more money in my investment fund than I
started with, or my investment fund went down a bit,

(34:32):
but I'm still better off having done it this way.
So from a practical, mathematical, real world perspective, it makes
sense to keep it invested. From a biblical perspective, when
I say it's between you and God, I really mean this,
because with debt, it's not a sin.

Speaker 9 (34:50):
It can lead to u sin.

Speaker 13 (34:51):
It can lead to foolishness like gambling.

Speaker 9 (34:54):
It can lead to addiction where we're circumventing.

Speaker 13 (34:58):
The worst part about debt that I see that the
Bible explains to us is it presumes upon the future.

Speaker 9 (35:04):
If you borrow money to buy a car and you.

Speaker 13 (35:07):
Don't have enough money to pay it off in your
savings or investments, and you lose your job, you lose
your car. The same thing's true with your house, and
it goes beyond that. Think about this. I have one
client that I know of. Over the years, they were
adamant about debt, no debt, so when they took out

(35:28):
a mortgage, they paid it off as quickly as possible.

Speaker 9 (35:31):
And this was near their retirement. They had very little
left over.

Speaker 13 (35:35):
And they had some medical issues, so they had no
money for that. They also had some structural problems happened
with the house and they couldn't repair it. They could
not get a loan on the house because the structural issues, nobody.

Speaker 9 (35:51):
Would give them the loan, nobody would.

Speaker 13 (35:54):
Allow them to borrow against it. They did not have
their own money to fix it. So effectively, they had
to sell a house at a serious discount and actually.

Speaker 9 (36:02):
Move into an apartment.

Speaker 3 (36:05):
Wow.

Speaker 13 (36:05):
I mean so that they presumed upon the future in
more ways than one.

Speaker 9 (36:11):
So here's some thoughts.

Speaker 13 (36:13):
Before you go and pay off your house and take
all your money, make sure you have a moat around
your castle.

Speaker 9 (36:19):
You've heard me talk about this before.

Speaker 13 (36:21):
Make sure you have money that is going into an
emergency fund to carry you if things don't work out,
and make sure you have revenues replacing that on a
monthly basis.

Speaker 9 (36:33):
You know, you've.

Speaker 13 (36:33):
Calculated your monthly expenses and your occasional costs and you've
looped that in divided by twelve, and you're putting that
away every month for those emergencies. Then if you still
have the money, plenty of money to pay off your house,
and you're totally convicted that this is a type of
debt that the Lord would not want you to have
in any way, shape or form, I say go with

(36:55):
your instincts with the Lord before anything else, your sleep factor,
with the Holy Spirit, you know, otherwise from a from
a world perspective and even slightly biblical. If you have
the assets that cover this comfortably. Let's say you have
two three times more than your mortgage in your investments
and whatnot, you could set aside some in safer investments,

(37:19):
more liquid that would allow you to pay off your
mortgage a little bit at a time, you know, make
your payments out of that. So effectively you have taken
the money set it aside on your mortgage, but not
paid it off because you're earning more than you're than
it's costing you.

Speaker 9 (37:35):
Or if you wake up.

Speaker 13 (37:37):
One morning and you know, you had a dream and
God said pay off your mortgage and do.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
It, I'm glad that you did.

Speaker 9 (37:44):
That makes sense or was it?

Speaker 3 (37:46):
Or really it really does?

Speaker 2 (37:48):
So so what I'm what I'm getting from that, because
you know, the question asks you know, once I hit
that exact mark of you know, they throwout the number
of you know, one hundred and forty thousand. So if
I've got one hundred and forty thousand investments, one hundred
forty thousand left off, what I'm here and you saying
is may it would be good to seek the Lord
in all this, but might be better to have a goal. Yeah,
it might be better to have a goal that's a
little bit higher than that one where you've still got

(38:10):
some kind of cushion there where it's not all your
investments that you're sinking into the house. You still have
some investments. So maybe a better goal would be once
I hit twice the amount or three times the amount,
maybe that's when you can start asking those those questions.

Speaker 13 (38:23):
Yeah, those are arbitrary, but the thing really comes down
to your conviction on debt between you and the lord
first and foremost, and we got to be there. But remember,
when you pay off your house, you're not done paying
on your house. You have repairs, you have taxes, There's
all sorts of things that come into it that you
have to make sure you have the income to take

(38:44):
care of. So if you take all your retirement money
away and you retire, how do you make those payments?
How do you do those things? So I think God
wants us to be wise on this. I do believe
that he warns us over and over and over again
that not to presume upon the future that your income
is going to continue or everything is going to go right,

(39:06):
your house is going to stay sturdy, or however you know,
you you want, you have insurance payments you have to make,
there's there's you know, there's a lot of money that
still has to go into your house afterwards, So make
sure you plan for that.

Speaker 9 (39:19):
As you pay it down.

Speaker 13 (39:20):
And again, if you have this money set aside over here,
that is more than your mortgage, and you're paying your
mortgage out of that, and it's in fairly safe or
or and liquid assets, and you're making more than the
mortgage costs. At any time, you could pay it off
when the conviction or the the economic situation scares you

(39:45):
into doing that. But at the same time you might
be making a little more more money to help keep
the house up, Help help keep the value of help
pilly the taxes, help pay the insurances.

Speaker 3 (39:55):
Market's great brother. Folks talking to Mark Manilla here.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
We got more questions Mark, but I think we have
to wait for side the break to get to them.
Hey quickly, folks, we don't have the AG report today
on the live show. However, you can get the AG
report on our website. We can hear fro Our Farmers
and ranchers, Craig Holgard's great words. There should be up
after the show. So we should go to Financial issues
dot Org and you can go to the let me
see here. I believe it's under the show. We'll get

(40:19):
that exact link there. If you get the agrapard on
the other side, of this break more financial issues coming
up right.

Speaker 3 (40:23):
After this the same.

Speaker 14 (40:30):
Most people have no idea what their money is funding.
That's why it's so important to know who you're investing
in and what they stand for. At Financial Issues, we
help Christians invest with biblical values. We equip believers to
manage their own portfolios, offering research backed asset allocation models,
biblically responsible stock recommendations, and practical guidance. If you're ready

(40:53):
to align your faith with your finances, go to Financial
Issues dot org. That's financial Issues dot org.

Speaker 15 (41:01):
Sho Preborn is making motherhood possible for thousands of moms

(42:05):
across America.

Speaker 9 (42:06):
I found out that I was pregnant.

Speaker 1 (42:09):
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Speaker 4 (42:13):
I met mss SO Linda.

Speaker 6 (42:15):
She offered to get me a ultrasound.

Speaker 15 (42:19):
That's where I've very first heard the heartbeat.

Speaker 9 (42:22):
It was really a great thing that I was led
to the.

Speaker 10 (42:25):
Choice to keep them.

Speaker 15 (42:26):
To find out how you can support the life saving
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Speaker 4 (42:33):
The opinions and recommendations expressed on this program do not
necessarily represent the opinions of the station or any of
the program's sponsors. Additionally, all products or services offered by
the program sponsors may not be known by the program.

Speaker 3 (42:50):
Great to have you all this morning, folks.

Speaker 2 (42:51):
It's been a good show and I'm delighted that each
of you have taken the time out of your Wednesday
to join us here. Hey, make sure to check out
the partner commentary. We got new commentary up. If you
are a partner, or if you're not one, you can
become one right now. It'd be a great thing for
you to do. Folks, if you're listening to the show
and you're wondering what we're talking about with all this stuff.
Become a partner today at Financial Issues dot org. Just
click that become a partner button when you go to
our website there.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
Speaking of the website, the AG report is under the
learn button.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
So if you're at the top page of the website,
hover over learn you can go down. Agriculture Update is
right there, so you can click on that and you
get today's AAG update.

Speaker 3 (43:21):
Let's say he lo to some people here in the chat.

Speaker 2 (43:23):
We've got George saying hello, Hi George, nice to see you,
and as well other George in Bethlehem is saying, isn't
that the truth even paid off, you never really own
it as long as you have.

Speaker 3 (43:33):
To pay taxes on it. Technically, George, isn't that true?

Speaker 2 (43:36):
We're just talking during the break about that awful legalized
thievery known as a property tax. Income tax isn't so
great either, but property tax as well. Not to see
if Ron DeSantis has his way done to help, I
hope so hope that hopefully we can see that precedent
spread there.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Let's see, we've got Lisa.

Speaker 2 (43:51):
Good to see you there, Lisa in the chat, Sam
is talking about Sam. I like that study diet government cheese.
That's a good, good deep cut there. You and Brian Nathan.
Good to see you as well. Claude, Hello Claude and
Steven from Oklahoma. I know we also had yesterday in
the chat we had Mitchell. Mitchell, it was the first
time I'd seen you in the chat yesterday, so make
sure to say hello if you're watching this morning, brother,

(44:12):
and then we also have I wanted to give one
more shout here Debbie from Kentucky.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
Good to see you Debbie as well in the chat.
So many of you on this morning.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
Apologize if I missed you, but make sure to say
hello otherwise.

Speaker 3 (44:22):
Mark. Let's get to another one of these questions here, brother.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
So this one says, what are the benefits and drawbacks
to investing in mutual funds versus regular equity investments?

Speaker 3 (44:33):
And how might I know which one is right for me?

Speaker 9 (44:35):
Ah? Good question.

Speaker 13 (44:38):
The benefits a mutual fund if the under the basics
of a mutual fund is it's like a bucket that
a bunch of people pour their money into and then
a manager will go in and take that money and
invest it. So let's just say it's an equity growth fund.
So you might have anywhere from twenty to two hundred
and believe it or not, yeah, stocks in this bucket,

(45:00):
depending on how it's managed. And each you own a
share a little not a share, a fraction of each
share that's in there. So if there's two hundred million
dollars in there and you have a little bit of
money in there, whatever your money comes out to is
a fraction of two hundred million, that's how much you
own of each one of these shares. So you're getting

(45:21):
diversification there. One of the key components that we talk
about here that you've heard Seth and many others talk
about with our asset allocation models and whatnot. So you're
getting the diversification or some diversification depending on the type
of the mutual fund, at least in multiple issues of

(45:42):
different stocks. So that's one of the benefits of it.
The downfall is usually you have a lot of expenses
with the mutual funds. Some mutual funds have some very
high expenses actually, and depending on the type of share,
you could pay upfront costs, you could pay back end costs.
You know, you could pay ongoing monthly costs along with

(46:04):
all the internal expenses of the trades and the management
fees and all that kind of stuff. So it can
be expensive. That's the major downfall of it. Also there's
things like capital gains which don't seem fair. You could
get into a mutual fund midyear and have to pay
a lot of capital gains even though the fund went
down because of the trading from managers in there. So

(46:27):
that's an issue, some tax issues there, but it is
Mutual funds can in general be a good way to
start investing. However, I would take it a step further
and say move to exchange traded funds, which are like
a mutual fund, but they don't have the same tax issues,

(46:47):
and they're traded openly on the market where a mutual
fund is traded at end today. If you went in
to sell off your mutual funds today like a ten
am this morning, they do not sell off until after
the market and the value of all the stocks and
everything in that has been posted and put down, so

(47:09):
you have more flexibility of being able to buy in
or buy out at any time and knowing.

Speaker 9 (47:13):
What you're going to get for it.

Speaker 13 (47:15):
In an ETF, you don't have the same capital gains issues,
and usually the expenses are a lot lower, so you
get the same concept of a diversification in an ETF
exchange traded fund that you would in a mutual fund.
Now compare that to individual stocks. Individual stocks you can
go in and buy as many as you want, or

(47:36):
any kind you want, so you're not limited to that manager.
You can manage them yourselves. You can make sure that
every one of the stocks that you're a participant in
through ownership is clean and honoring God is not grieving
the heart of God. Because you're involved in companies supporting abortion,

(47:58):
pornography and other things like in many mutual funds. There
may be seventy percent of the stocks in there clean
but thirty percent dirty. You know how much dirt do
you want in your portfolio? You know, so it makes
it easier to be biblically responsible. You also can thematically
make your your investments match your lifestyle and your asset allocation.

Speaker 9 (48:23):
That way.

Speaker 13 (48:24):
The issue with individual stocks is the cost of them.
Buying a share of a single share of a stock generally,
isn't that great of an idea. I know there are
many brokerages that allow you to do that, but you
usually don't get the best price when you buy it
or when you sell it. You usually need a little
bit longer, larger lots for that. And if you needed

(48:46):
twenty to forty different stocks and the average stocks was
one hundred dollars, you have to make sure that your
portfolio can handle that, and you don't. So getting the
diversification for small accounts is hard to do with individual stocks.
So the diversification could come from ets. In fact, one

(49:09):
of the ways some people do it is they use
an ETF for a broad brush of let's say small
cap value funds are large cap growth funds, and they
find one that is clean like some of the Timothy
plan ETFs or there's different ones out there, so you
could use them mostly Timothy Plan I trust them in

(49:31):
their screening more than anybody else.

Speaker 9 (49:34):
So you could use that as a broadbrush.

Speaker 13 (49:36):
But then you could go and say, okay, but technologies
just for the last four or five years, ten years,
whatever however you want to look at, has gone through
the ceiling. So I want to own a couple of
stocks and technology to kind of overweight that segment. So
you could use the ETS as a broadbrush for your
general allocations, and then you could use an individual stock

(49:57):
or two to overweight those air So the positive aspect
of mutual funds or ETS, let's stay with ETS, because
I don't like the tax or the expenses of most
mutual funds. Let's stay with ETS Exchange traded funds is
that you get the diversification all in one place and

(50:18):
they trade like a stock. Then the positive aspect of stocks,
as you can you can build your own asset allocation
if you have enough money in the portfolio to supply
that the three percent you know, ten stocks at three
percent in ten different twelve different economic sectors.

Speaker 2 (50:36):
Mark that is awesome. But folks, in the chat, I
know many of you who are partners. You're either investing
in our regular model, which what Mark was just talking
about would be much more heavily invested in stocks, or
you're in our what we call the fund model, which
is more heavily invested in some of those other ones
exchange traded funds, mutual funds. Let us know how your
experience has been with those. Maybe you've got a little

(50:57):
bit in both there. Mark, I'm so glad that you
mentioned Timothy Plan because I agree with you. Timothy Plans
got those options, and boy, we can trust them for
biblically responsible investing.

Speaker 4 (51:05):
And Mark's exactly right about the fund model ETFs being
a gateway into learning how to invest. That's how I
learned years and years ago, how to navigate my brokerage,
how it worked. What does it mean to be designating
money into these different funds? So I think he's exactly
right about that. It can be a wonderful entry point.

Speaker 2 (51:24):
That's great, Hey, Mark, We got a follow up question
on the chat there, James from South Carolina is asking
what about so called active ETFs?

Speaker 3 (51:32):
Do you have anything to say about those?

Speaker 13 (51:34):
Yeah, yeah, I saw that in there and I'm really
glad you asked that the difference between active and passive.

Speaker 9 (51:41):
Active and passive.

Speaker 13 (51:42):
Is kind of like the difference between investing in an
index which has a set of stocks in it and
they don't really change unless the index changes, and active
means they're looking at the economic situation. They're looking at
every asset class and comparing them to one another.

Speaker 9 (52:00):
Into the broad market.

Speaker 13 (52:02):
They're managing it on a list of criteria to help
over emphasize certain industries and or sectors and or asset
classes over others. Some of them do very well, some don't.
The issue here is keeping up with that active management
as a exchange in and out stocks that may or

(52:23):
may not be clean. So what you need to do
is make sure you're checking in with evaluator services on
a regular basis, you know, at least quarterly, and screening
those those active managed funds so that you know that
you're not compromising your biblical investments.

Speaker 2 (52:41):
That's great, Mark, And by the way, folks, if you
want that evaluator tool, grab that on our website under
the resources tab.

Speaker 3 (52:47):
It's the fourth one down. Mark.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
I enjoyed our conversation today so much, Brother, I need
to give one more shout out in the chat here,
Alan from is that Mississippi Allen saying hello, Alan, good morning.
I think I either missed you or I have not
seen you in the chat before, but boy, it is
great to see you there this morning, and so many
of you as well.

Speaker 3 (53:03):
Mark.

Speaker 2 (53:03):
I appreciate our conversation so much today. Brother, we're out
of time.

Speaker 9 (53:06):
You're already.

Speaker 3 (53:07):
I know it goes by so fast.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
Time just flies when you're having fun, or as I
like to tell my wife, time's fun when you're having flies.
If you're a frog. So away, that's my joke for
the day. I think with that awful dad joke, we
ll have to sign off for today.

Speaker 3 (53:21):
Mar Yeah, there you go. Sam's got It's very difficult.
That's what they really pay me for.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
That's right, and they pay the big bucks, don't thank Sam. Boy,
great to be here with you, folks. Mark appreciate you, brother,
Thanks so much for joining. Thanks for having again soon, yep, folks,
keep in mind everything you have belongs to the Lord.
Let's be found good and faithful stewards with it. Of course,
tomorrow we'll be back. We got an Nvidia earnings report
to talk about. Any of what's gonna happen with the.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
Trump versus Federal Reserve saga.

Speaker 2 (53:48):
That we've continued to see. We'll be keeping an eye
on those things as well. Hope you'll join us again
tomorrow for financial issues. Until then, remember it's all his.
Let's be found good and faithful stewards. See you next time.

Speaker 6 (54:13):
If we ever forget that we're one nation under God,
then we will be a nation gone under.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
Thank you for joining us. This has been an fism production.
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