Questions About Biblically Responsible Investing

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Hi, I'm Rob West. That's what we'll be doing today, asking questions specifically about faith-based investing. And who better to provide the answers than investing expert Robert Netsley? Then I'll take your calls and questions at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. Welcome to MoneyWise Live, where God's word guides our every financial step. Well, it's always a pleasure to introduce my guest and good friend Robert Netsley to the program. Robert's the CEO of Inspire Investing, an underwriter of MoneyWise, and one of the leaders in the rapidly growing faith-based investing movement. Robert, great to have you back with us. It's great to be here.

Thanks, Rob. Robert, before we dive into our list of FAQs related to faith-based investing, which I'm really looking forward to, why don't you give us a definition? What is faith-based investing? Faith-based investing, sometimes termed biblically responsible investing, is really just an approach to First Corinthians 1031, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, you do all to the glory of God. That includes how we manage his money.

It all belongs to him. As Christians, we really strive to do that in every area of life. With investing, we're looking to invest in companies that are more closely aligned with God's heart, companies that are doing good things in the world rather than doing bad things in the world, to put it very simply. In practice, that can involve excluding certain companies that are maybe manufacturing abortion drugs or selling pornography or things of that nature, and instead looking for companies that are creating innovative medicines or just operating with high degrees of ethics and integrity, really a blessing to their communities, their customers, the world in general. That's, in short, what biblically responsible or faith-based investing is.

I appreciate that. I think the construct of embrace, avoid, and engage is really helpful as we think about this. You mentioned two of the three, both avoiding companies who don't align with biblical values, embracing companies making a positive impact in the world, or even in some cases a kingdom impact. And then thirdly, engaging, which you and I have talked about before on this program, engaging as a shareholder or as an owner to express your values with the goal of influencing decisions made on the part of the company by the leadership and the executives at the company, which I know you've had incredible success on.

So there really are different facets of this exciting, growing movement. I want to begin today with the avoid side. Robert, as you know, in Matthew 7-5, Jesus rebukes hypocrites. He says, you hypocrite.

First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. So here's our first question, a softball right over the plate. Is it hypocritical to screen out companies from my portfolio when I'm still buying their products or services as a consumer?

Yeah, it's more like a fastball at chin high. I think that's usually how I get that question. But no, it is a good question. And I have no interest in being a hypocrite for sure.

So it's really important to answer. And really, it was one of the first questions that I had to wrestle with some 10 years ago when God really challenged me in this area of biblically responsible investing. It can't seem hypocritical to be talking on an iPhone and doing business on a Microsoft computer and so on and so forth, when I'm also advocating for people to not invest in those companies and others. But it boils down to the difference between ownership and consumerism. Some people, they wrestle with that idea, like, well, if I'm screening these companies out of my portfolios, but I'm still using their products, is that hypocritical? And I put it this way, Netflix is a good example. So I can sit down on the couch and watch nice family friendly cartoons with my kids on Netflix. And I have no issue with that.

There's nothing wrong with that. It's a good use of a good product. However, you can also use Netflix in many other ways. And there's all kinds of other adult type content on Netflix that would be completely inappropriate and immoral for me to watch. So as a consumer, I'm responsible for what I am consuming. As an owner, I'm responsible for what we're selling as a company. So if I own shares of Netflix, I'm responsible for everything that goes through that, and I'm making profits on all those items.

So that's the difference. Yeah. Well, maybe we can unpack that a bit more just around the corner. Robert Netzle from Inspire Investing, joining us today, answering questions about faith-based investing. Stay with us. More to come on MoneyWise Live.

We'll be right back. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live. Do you have questions about the growing segment of the investing universe called faith-based investing?

Well, Robert Netzle, CEO of Inspire Investing, is here today to answer some frequently asked questions and hopefully give you a little bit more insight into this exciting investment landscape. Robert, just before the break, we were talking about whether it's hypocritical to own a company's product or use a company's product and avoid their stock. Being an owner as a stock, you were explaining that. And you used the example of Netflix and perhaps watching a family-friendly program on Netflix, which means you're a subscriber, and yet avoiding owning their company, which means you're profiting from their business activities. But as a follow-up to that, I mean, couldn't you make the case that you're actually directly benefiting the company by making that subscription payment every month, whereas on the secondary market, buying their shares has really no impact on them as a company? Yeah, you absolutely can make that argument.

And you'd be mostly correct. And a question a lot of people have when they're discovering faith-based investing, if we're going to not invest in these companies, does it even matter? Because, I mean, if I do buy their shares on the New York Stock Exchange or in a mutual fund or in an ETF, the money's not going to the bank account of that company. It's going to whoever sold that stock, just like buying a used car. If I buy a Ford from you, Rob, you get the money.

Ford doesn't get the money. Same thing with stock. But the question sort of misses the point, because the point of biblically responsible investing is not that we're supporting these bad companies that are doing bad things, going to use your money to do bad things in the world.

That's not really the point. When God convicted my heart on this issue, it wasn't because I realized my money was going to these evil companies that were going to use the money for their own sorted gains. The conviction was that I'm an owner of that company. I am the company and I'm profiting from those things. It's not that I'm sending money as a subscriber to Netflix and they're benefiting from that. It's that I own Netflix and I'm selling pornography to millions of people around the world and ruining their marriages, ruining lives.

I'm selling abortion drugs to people. That's what I'm doing as an owner and an investor. Jesus said, where your treasure is, that your heart will be also. If I want my heart to be aligned with the heart of God and yet I'm investing my treasure, literally, into companies that are selling products like pornography, I'm conflicted. On the one hand, I want to do the will of God.

I want to be completely lined up with what He wants in this world. On the other hand, I'm invested in a company that's selling things that break the heart of God. I'm, in a sense, hoping that more people buy those products that are immoral because I make more money when they do that. There's this inescapable divide there. For me, again, when the Lord just brought this on my heart and I'm wrestling with these things, I just realized I can't have it both ways. I don't want it both ways, honestly.

I want to invest for the glory of God, just like everything else in my life. That's how I help people through that question of consumerism versus ownership. There really are different responsibilities and different moral obligations.

Yeah. One of the things that really helped me as I've thought about my own convictions in this area is to recognize this is a conviction matter. Romans 14, let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. I think we need to wrestle through this and come to our own conviction about how we want to approach our investments in light of what you just described. What is our role as owner?

What is our role as consumer? Do we want to avoid? Do we want to embrace? Do we want to engage? Do we want to do all three? I think the opportunity is now there to have our values reflected appropriately.

Robert, next question. Can we really make a kingdom impact on big corporations with our investment decisions? If so, how do we do that? Yeah. These businesses are so huge. Companies have never been bigger in the history of the world with companies a trillion dollars and larger. It's quite easy to feel insignificant, to put it mildly, when we're investing in these companies. There's the temptation to think, well, I can't really do anything. I can't make a difference, so why even try? Not only is that just a bad attitude, chin up people, but God is on the throne, no matter how small your bank account is. He can use David to slay a giant, he can use you to change the world if he wants to. The truth is in practicality too, if you're a shareholder of a company, you certainly have a voice.

They have a whole department of people and the rest of relations whose job it is to listen to you. It doesn't really matter how much or how little you have in the company. We are not the biggest company in the world ourselves with Inspire Investing. God's blessed us with growth, but far from being a big company in the scheme of Wall Street. Yet, the Lord's been gracious. We've been able to influence major corporations to stop donating money to Planned Parenthood and to change corporate policies to reflect more family friendly values and things of that nature. You absolutely can make a difference, but ultimately, it also boils down to even if you didn't make a difference, is it still worth it to try? Even if nothing changes, should we still try to be salt and light by the power of the Holy Spirit?

I think so, and I think the Bible is clear on that. Yeah. Well, I appreciate that. Let's talk about engaging a bit more. Can you give us an example or two where corporate engagement is working?

Absolutely. Some of my favorite stories over the past couple of years or so, one of them is with Chevron, a large oil company. They're headquartered out in the Bay Area, California where we're from. They had been donating money to Planned Parenthood for some time. We had been engaging with them, letting them know how that was problematic in our view and why. They were polite, but weren't changing anything. We came to a head when a friend and colleague of ours in the faith-based investing movement went to their shareholder meeting, their annual shareholder meeting, and asked the question directly to the executives there in the room and put them to the point. Why are you giving money to Planned Parenthood, who by the way, is under congressional investigation for the sale of body parts of these children? It's all sort of mess that was going on back then.

Anyway, he and I, my friend and I were in Boston together at an event. When he got the email back from Chevron some weeks later saying that because of our engagement together, they had made the corporate decision to stop their donations to Planned Parenthood. Praise God. Here's a company that did not want to change, really, but it just came to the point where faith-based investors, Christians, and others who were concerned, frankly, made a difference. We give God the glory for that, but that's one example of many of the kind of impact you can have as an investor. That's really helpful.

Well, just a few seconds left. Robert, how does someone get started? What's the first step someone should take if they want to align their investments with God's financial principles? Step one, open the Bible and pray, right?

Read those verses. You can go to inspireinvesting.com. We have a lot of biblically-based content about BRI, and then you can screen your investments. Learn what you own.

You can screen them for free at inspireinsight.com and see what you own. Just go to the Lord and see what he'd have you do. Excellent. Thank you for joining us, my friend.

My pleasure. Robert Netzle of Inspire Investing has been our guest today. Your calls are next, 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, where God's Word guides our every financial step. We'll be right back. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live.

I'm Rob West. Taking your calls and questions next on anything financial will take your issue, whatever you're dealing with, whether it's how to save more, how to track your spending. Maybe you have some questions about giving wisely or increasing your giving. Maybe you and your spouse find yourself on different pages when it comes to managing God's money.

Whatever it might be, we want to apply biblical truth to your situation, help you take the passages in God's Word, the principles we can extract, and apply them to today's financial decisions. We'll do that when you call 800-525-7000. Today you'll be able to talk to our call screener Eric Tidwell and Deb Solomon, our producer, will be there waiting for you as well. It's quick and easy and we'll look forward to hearing from you again.

800-525-7000. Just before the break in our opening segments, we were talking with our friend Robert Netzle about faith-based investing. And folks, this is an exciting and growing area of the investment landscape, if you will. This idea that we have the ability now, where we didn't just a few years ago, really, in the same way we do today, to be able to align our values with our investments, to invest in companies through mutual funds and ETFs that either screen out companies that conflict with our values or specifically screen in companies that give you incredible growth potential but are making a positive impact in the world, and in some cases even a kingdom impact in the world. These types of investments weren't available even just a few years ago, and so if you've not looked into this whole space of faith-based investing to see how, in fact, you can be an owner of companies that are actually contributing to the common good and investing that makes the world rejoice, be sure you do that. You can check with one of our incredible underwriters here at MoneyWise, whether that's Inspire, which we heard from Robert Netzle today, InspireInvesting.com, our friends at InvestEvenTied.com.

Eventide's doing some great work in this space. The Praxis Mutual Funds are another one. There's just a growing number of these world-class investments out there and fund families that are doing just great work in the name of the Lord, in many cases, that still are delivering award-winning results. So you can be a wise steward and see great growth in your portfolio while at the same time really making a difference. So ask your advisor about faith-based investing, or if you don't have one, you can search for a Certified Kingdom Advisor that can help you navigate this faith-based investing landscape.

When you visit our website, MoneyWiseLive.org, just click Find a CKA, and then you'll just quickly and easily put in your zip code. You'll get a list of all the professionals in your area that have earned that designation that we believe is the gold standard for biblically wise financial advice. And then you can begin to interview and find the one that's the right fit for you, and then perhaps start your journey into this whole area of faith-based investing. And let us know how it's going. We'd love to hear from you. Perhaps you're just getting started, or maybe you've been at it for a while.

Tell us your story. All right, phone lines are open. We're going to begin to take your calls and questions. Here's the number 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Whatever is on your mind today that you want to deal with, we'd love to tackle it.

We're going to start today in, I believe, Miami, Florida. Ismael, thank you for your call today. How can I help you?

Hi, yes, good afternoon. Thank you so much for taking my call. I really appreciate the work that you guys do.

Thank you. Married for about 12 years, 12 wonderful years, praise God, and we have been serving at one particular church for about 18 years, prior to us even being married. That's where we met. And we're now, we've now transitioned on from that ministry, and we're kind of like in this in-between space, seeking, you know, where our next space should be. Now, we're a firm believer in tithing, and we've been tithing for years.

But at this point, we're just kind of in that in-between. We've been tithing to our old church, even though we're no longer there, because we believe in just continuing to support that ministry. But now we're looking for a new church home, and we're not sure if we should continue tithing at that particular church, or should we start taking our tithe to the new place where we're actually interested in worshiping? We haven't made a commitment to worship at this new place.

So that sounds like it's kind of a difficult spot, so. Here he is, Mel. I appreciate this question. You know, I love that it comes from a heart of really wanting to honor this, honor the Lord in this area of giving. You know, the tithe, I think, is a great beginning point when it comes to our giving. We should be systematic givers, and if we want to follow the model in Scripture using the principle of the tithe that we see clearly in the Old Testament, we see it referenced in the New Testament, even though the law of Moses was replaced with the law of Christ, you know, we, I think, can still use that as a great beginning point. The author Randy Alcorn calls the tithe the training wheels of giving, and I think that's a great way to look at it. The word tithe simply means a tenth, and it'd be based on your increase. You know, it's all the Lord's, but as the increase comes into you in whatever form, then beginning with giving back a tenth to where you're planted, to God's plan A, the local church, I think is a great idea. But then when we stretch and we begin to give perhaps more on a percentage basis or more on a sacrificial basis, then we get to experience, I think, the more complete joy that comes with giving. But I think to your question, you know, the wear of the tithe is clearly to the storehouse.

Because you're in a transition period here, I think what you described is exactly right. You know, the extent to which the Lord has moved you on, you're looking for a new church home, you're visiting, I think you've got a couple of options. Number one, I'd continue to be faithful in that systematic giving to the Lord.

If you wanted to do that to a place you're visiting, I think that's perfectly appropriate. If you wanted to give it, you know, perhaps for a short season while you're waiting to figure out where you're going to land, to a ministry that God is using in your life, perhaps a teaching ministry or some other ministry that has been meeting your needs in this area, that would be another opportunity. But for me, I'd probably, as I visit around, whether that's one place or multiple places, I'd maybe just give my weekly tithe to that particular church. And then as the Lord makes it clear that that's your new church home, and then clearly you would want to get that on a more permanent basis set up, whether that's through a physical gift each week or electronically, whatever you want to do there. But appreciate your testimony of giving today, Ismael.

We'll ask the Lord to make it clear where He wants you moving forward. We have some phone lines open today. Looking forward to taking your calls and questions.

800-525-7000. Much more on MoneyWise Live, just around the corner. Stay with us. So grateful you've tuned in today to MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob Lass, taking your calls and questions on anything financial, applying the truth of God's word to your situation. Just ahead, we'll talk to Rosa in Arkansas.

She wants to know whether to sell her house, take the equity, and buy a smaller house. That's a question so many people are asking. What's your question?

We've got, let me count them, five lines open. 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Before we talk to Rose, let me remind you of the new MoneyWise app that's available in the App Store. I want you to focus just for a second on the Discover tab.

So inside the MoneyWise app, again a free download in your App Store, is the digital envelope system where you can track your finances and download your transactions and categorize them in envelopes automatically. In the Community tab, where you can post a question and get responses from other folks in the MoneyWise community, as well as our expert coaches. But in the Discover tab is what I believe is the very best content in biblical finance, all flowing in in one place.

And I was just looking at today's lineup of articles and podcasts in the Discover tab in the app. I mean, today, they're from the Ron Blue Institute, five conclusions on money from the Old Testament, and from Soundmind Investing, the impact of low inflation over time, and whether or not you need rental car insurance. From Compass, they're dealing with what the Bible says about debt, and from Eventide, looking at values-based investing. And this is just great content that I would love for you to take advantage of. So as you begin to think of your money in terms of it being God's, and then understanding from a biblical perspective how to handle it, over time, it will change the way you manage God's money. We want this to be an encouragement to you. So go download it today and check out these great articles and much, much more in your App Store. Just search for MoneyWise biblical finance.

All right, so Arkansas, Rose, you've been incredibly patient. How can I help you today? Okay, I'm 71 years old. I am a widow, no children, live alone in a fairly large house. It's about 2,200 square feet, and the maintenance on it is just getting too much for me. And I could sell it with the house prices as they are now. I could probably probably sell it for around $300,000 or more, and I owe $97,000 on it. And I was thinking, if I sold it, I could take the proceeds and buy, say, a 1,300-square-foot house and pay cash for it, and then I wouldn't have a mortgage at all. And I was just wondering if that's a wise decision.

Yeah. You know, Rose, I like that idea that you would downsize in this season of life to try to reduce your expenses. At the same time you'd be reducing your expenses, you'd be in some respects reducing just the amount of upkeep and overhead with a smaller footprint home. You know, smaller footprint means less literal square footage of things that can go wrong, and perhaps that would be a benefit as well.

Certainly less upkeep in terms of just keeping the home in working order on a daily basis. I think the question, though, in this market is making sure you understand what it's actually going to cost for you to secure this smaller home, and whether or not you can in fact do that with the proceeds of this larger home. So I would not only do a little bit of due diligence, if you haven't already, beyond just looking at the Zillow value, if you're familiar with that website of your home, perhaps get a realtor in there who specializes in your particular market, your particular neighborhood, who can do a comparative market analysis to confirm what it is you think you can sell this for. And then I would do a little bit of homework on where do I actually want to live, what location, what neighborhoods, you know, is there that smaller home that I'd be happy with in terms of all of those things that I mentioned, and can I in fact buy it for what I'm expecting to in terms of a purchase price. And then you need to factor in the cost, both of the sale and the purchase, and then, well, you wouldn't be getting a mortgage, so that's good, you wouldn't have those costs, but at least the transaction costs for both the sale and the purchase of this new home to make sure that you do in fact come out the way you think you will, or close to it, so that after you go through this process of selling and moving and buying and everything that goes with that, you're going to be in the financial position you expect to in terms of, you know, the outlay and expenses. Do you feel like there's still some questions on some of that, Rose, or do you feel like you've already looked into that well enough? Well, there's a house just like mine that's on the market for $295,000 and it's not even as nice and not nearly as nice. And then I looked at one that was $197,000 and it was 1,300 square feet and it was nice, but the neighborhood wasn't exactly great, but it was much smaller and, you know, something I could live with.

So, you know, it's just, I'm getting older and it's getting harder and I'm recovering from cancer and, you know, I have so many things and it's getting too much. Yes. Well, I completely concur with that. So I think you're on the right track here.

I think what you're thinking makes a lot of sense to me. I just want to make sure you're using good data. So, you know, somebody listing a home is different than a closed sale. So you're going to want to, in addition to looking what's actively on the market right now, you're really going to need to look at what some of those closed sale prices have been with similar homes where somebody actually bought them because, you know, that's really the most telling. Anybody can list a home for anything.

It doesn't mean somebody's going to buy it. And then make sure you really think through, are you going to be happy in the new neighborhood you've selected and, you know, with the purchase prices we're talking about. But if those things check out, then I think you'll be very happy with less upkeep, less financial overhead. And this is a great time to do it because the housing market is so hot, but you do have to think about how you coordinate the buy and the sell. The good news is with this new purchase, you won't need a new mortgage. So you don't have to worry about any contingencies or anything like that.

Buying with cash is going to put you in a really strong position in terms of going in to that next purchase. I hope that's been helpful to you. May the Lord bless you and give you some wisdom here as you navigate these decisions. But I'm completely on board with where you're headed.

To Savannah, Georgia. Dan is up next. Let me mention we do have some lines open, 800-525-7000. Dan, how can I help you?

Yes, sir. Hey, I was just calling to find out, as I told the gentleman, I've got some money that is invested in a 401k with Vanguard and I wanted to do more socially, more morally ethical investing. And I was looking at both Soundmind investing and the Timothy plan.

I wanted to get your ideas on which one is a better way to go. Yeah, I love the fact that you're thinking about this, Dan, and wanting to align your values with your investments. As I mentioned earlier in the broadcast, it's a really exciting space right now because there are so many world-class mutual fund families and ETFs that are coming out and have been out for years now and doing very well in this space. The challenge with the 401k is obviously you're limited to the investment options inside that plan. So, you know, whether it's the Timothy fund or, you know, some of our underwriters that I just think are world-class like Eventide or Praxis Mutual Funds or Inspire, have you seen any of these names inside your 401k?

Not as of this point, I haven't. I've gotten the Timothy plan brochures and I've read through kind of the things that they offer and I also looked at what Soundmind Investing offers and they actually use some of the Vanguard funds in Soundmind Investing. So, yeah, you're exactly right. Well, that would be a great option.

Soundmindinvesting.org and then I'd look back in your 401k and see if you find Eventide, Praxis or Inspire because you could do some direct investing there. But I think you're on the right track and I would keep it up. This is a great direction that you're headed. We appreciate your call today. More to come on MoneyWise Live Around the Corner 800-525-7000. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Thanks for tuning in to MoneyWise Live.

I'm Rob West. You know, we can't do what we do every day without you. Our financial partners are key to bringing you this broadcast in partnership with Moody Radio every day, delivering our app, our MoneyWise coaches, our CKAs, all the content that's available on our website at MoneyWiseLive.org. All of that is as a result of your financial partnership.

Would you consider a gift one time or perhaps set up as a monthly giver? You can do that quickly and securely online at MoneyWiseLive.org. Just click the donate button and we would certainly be grateful. To LaSalle, Illinois. Barbara, thank you for your call today.

How can I help you? Yes, I have built up enough money in my 401k to pay off my mortgage and I'm wondering if that's a wise decision. I also have my pension and I'll have social security.

I'm currently almost 60 years old so I'm just curious if it's a good decision to pay off my mortgage with that part of that 401k. It's a great question, Barbara. I love the idea of you becoming completely debt-free as you enter this next season of life. You know, we like to say we want to become debt-free as quickly as possible but certainly timing the paying off of the home mortgage as you enter that retirement season, asking the Lord what's next for your perhaps reassignment, if you will, just brings your overall lifestyle needs down which means you don't need as much money.

It gives you more flexibility, not to mention the peace of mind that comes from being unencumbered. Are you still working, Barbara, or have you stopped working and moved toward retirement? I am still working. Okay, so you would need to wait to pay off that mortgage out of the 401k until you separate. So when would that be? Most likely when I'm 62. I can actually withdraw on it now but I would have to pay taxes on it.

Yeah, yeah, and so you'll have to pay taxes either way but you're right, you know, you could take that withdrawal. So how much is left on that mortgage? A little over a hundred thousand. Okay, and what do you have in your 401k roughly? 150. Okay, and you've done your budget and you feel like through your pension and social security which you're planning to take at 62, is that right?

Correct. Okay, so based on the reduced amount you'd get at 62 because you get about a 25% reduction versus waiting for full retirement age but with that reduced amount plus the pension that would cover your lifestyle as long as the mortgage was gone or could you cover it even with the mortgage? I could cover it with the mortgage but I'd just rather have the mortgage gone. I think of all the interest I'm paying while I continue to pay a mortgage. Yeah, yeah, well I think as long as you've, you know, done the math you really have it sounds like a conviction to be completely debt-free.

You plan to stay in the home. I think really the only consideration at that point if you've run the numbers and clearly if it works, you know, taking the social security earlier and meeting the needs that you have, if it works with the mortgage it'll work even more effectively without it. I just want you to look at the tax side of it. So I'd probably rather you spread this out over a couple of tax years at a minimum, two maybe even three and you'd probably want to talk to a tax preparer about the impact of that. You know, if you take it all in one tax year that's going to add a hundred thousand dollars to your taxable income for the year which would likely push a portion of that up into a higher bracket which means you're paying even more tax. So I just want you to consider that and it could be that the way you end up doing this is you plan between now and age 62 to systematically pay it down over multiple years. You know, you could even string it out if you do it right at the end of this year and then next tax year and the beginning of the following over three tax years but you really time the payoff to your retirement so that you pay as little tax as possible but by the time you're transitioning into that other season of life you've already got everything paid off and you own your home free and clear and now your expenses are as low as they could possibly be. So I would talk to a tax preparer if you don't have one, find one. If you do, visit with that person just to do a little bit of planning to see the best way to do that to minimize that tax liability but otherwise I'm on board with that plan as long as you've run the numbers and you understand the impact of not having those funds available as you, you know, have as you move into that next season of life and we appreciate your call today.

To Elmhurst, Illinois. Pat, thank you for your patience. How can I help you?

Hi. My husband has an annuity that's coming due or, you know, it ends and we have to find what to do with it. I don't know the correct terminology and when we set it up we thought it was the same as my annuity with my 401k when I was let go from my job in 2008 but it's not because I get money every month now that that came to, you know, to the point where I could get that when I turned 70.

So we don't know what to do. It's 78 thousand dollars with that and then we also have a CD that we have to do something with within the next month or so and that one is about 26 27 thousand dollars. So could we put it all into a new annuity that would give us monthly money or not sure what to do? Yeah, so generally, Pat, you have two options with an annuity. You can elect to receive your funds in a lump sum or you can take it in monthly payments. You know, that's called annuitizing the account and just about every annuity should allow you to do that. Now if you can't for some reason you'll want to reinvest that somewhere else.

Do you happen to know if it's a qualified account where the contributions are pre-tax? Well, we didn't, we put it all in and once some he had an inheritance. I see. And so we weren't putting anything into it.

It was 70,000 when we put it in and now it's at 78. Okay, all right. Well, I would go back to them and explore your options because you know basically you should just say listen I'm looking to annuitize this contract and I want to take a monthly income stream over the rest of my life and you'll want to have survivor's benefits on that which will reduce the monthly amount to make sure that not only do you get that through his life but also through your life if he pre-deceases you. So I think you know that's one option you want to explore further because I'd be very surprised if that option wasn't available to you. Secondly, if not then you could roll it out to another annuity and then perhaps look at adding this these other funds from the CD. I would connect with the Certified Kingdom Advisor there in Illinois to look at the contract that you have, read the fine print, perhaps help you navigate contacting them to see what they're saying and what options you have and then also exploring where else you might be able to roll it out to. If you all are concerned about you know taking any risk by investing this money and you really want to transfer that risk to an insurance company even though annuities aren't my favorite product because they tend to be complicated and you give up a little bit of the upside and they're expensive in terms of fees and commissions you know if you're looking to not assume any risk and just get that monthly payout and that's going to meet your needs meaning that that monthly annuity amount plus whatever other income sources you have social security and anything else if that meets your expenses and that gives you peace of mind to know at least our bills are covered then you know that can be a great you know resource and reason why you'd want to still have an annuity but I'd want you to have some competent objective financial counsel from a professional to look both at what you have in your current annuity and then what options are out there if you roll it out into a new annuity and add the the cd proceeds to it so if you go to our website moneywiselive.org just click find a cka put in your zip code and you'll find a number of them in your area i'd interview two or three find the one that's the best fit and then have that professional look over these options and give you some counsel we appreciate you checking with us today our final call today crown point indiana janet how can i help you hello good evening thank you very much for taking my call and thank you for the great service you render on this program i have a very young nephew i have a young nephew of mine who i raised like a like a son to me going through a very very painful divorce and um i i just need your guidance please to enable me work with you with an informed insight especially with respect to the financial aspects of it because i sometimes we check the website he has a an attorney working with him but sometimes we check the website you get different information and i always see safe with the kind of information you give on this program that was why i said let me come to you and see if there's any help any guidance you can give me in terms of some awareness you know because we want to be very careful that we take the right steps so that is really why i'm calling today very good and what we just have about a minute left what are your primary concerns at this point as a certainly we want him making good decisions and you know understanding this is god's money and setting up a spending plan and you know we're going to have to wait after the divorce is final to see what assets are his and what are going to go to his ex-wife and then he can make a plan moving forward but is there anything specific that you're concerned about like housing just like housing they don't have any children like housing like 401k like you know things like that you know that's really you know the the area that i completely you know i i don't have much information got it okay what i want to do janet when we're done here today i want you to stay on the line i want to send you a copy of ron blues book master your money it's a great high level overview of how you handle financial planning in all of the areas you know thinking about retirement and the long term and you know in the short term your spending plan and saving for the future and giving and you know even estate planning i mean it really covers the waterfront but from a biblical perspective and if he reads that i think that'll give him a real strong basis beyond that our coaches at moneywiselive.org our coaches could help him set up a spending plan and then our certified kingdom advisors could help advise him on retirement planning and making sure he has the proper insurance and just all the things he needs to be thinking about i know it's a difficult season but he needs to seek some wise counsel right now so stay on the line we'll get you that book and then you get connected with a certified kingdom advisor on our website that's going to do it for us today folks money wise live is a partnership between moody radio and money wise media thank you to deb solomon dan anderson jim henry and eric tidwell today for my amazing team i'm rob west we'll look forward to having you back with us tomorrow we'll do it all over again may god bless you bye-bye