New Name for a New Year

Have you ever wanted to read through some big ones we're making?

Hi, I'm Rob West. We're strengthening the way we express the Christian worldview of faith and finances, to be better used by God to advance his kingdom. I'll talk about that with Chad Clark today. Then we have some great calls lined up, but please don't call in today because we're pre-recorded.

This is, are you ready? Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your stewardship journey. Well, Chad Clark is our executive director and he's busting at the seams to tell you about the changes we're making, not the least of which is a new name for the program and our ministry. Chad, welcome to Faith and Finance.

Oh man, I've been looking forward to this one. I want you to share more about this name change, but let me take a step back, provide some context perhaps first. You know, as we evaluated the ministry, we've of course seen a lot of changes in the last several years as we've expanded beyond radio into a full-fledged financial ministry where we not only do this program, Faith and Finance, every day, but we're able to feature the best articles, podcasts, and videos on biblical finance on our website. We of course have a world-class money management app, a community of stewards asking questions and helping each other every day. We're also connecting people with coaches and certified kingdom advisors. And as we looked at all of these different areas that God has called us to serve in, we realized that we needed a name that communicated that this ministry was about much more than just being wise with money.

And that really takes us to this change, doesn't it, Chad? That's right, and we still want God's wisdom in our financial decisions, but there are several other secular organizations out there using the name money-wise, and people often confuse us with those other organizations. So we felt led to evaluate a different way to express what our organization is really about, and it came down to helping people live out their faith in their financial decisions. And so from this, FaithFi and Faith and Finance were born.

Yeah, that's exactly right. The radio show, of course, called Faith and Finance, and the ministry, FaithFi, which is really a combination of those two words. Tell us about the vision for FaithFi, Chad. Yeah, our vision is we really want to see people's faith in Christ be the foundation for their financial decisions. And that was the heart behind money-wise as well, but we're really excited to more fully express this vision through FaithFi. We want our faith and God's word to always be the starting point and the foundation for our financial decisions. And when we do that, it really comes down to surrender and recognizing God's ownership and authority in every area of our lives, but as it relates to this topic, our finances, right?

Yeah, exactly. And I'd like to just take a look at the story of the rich young ruler, for instance. He followed the law, he loved God, and he did everything right.

I'm using air quotes there. He was willing to give God parts and pieces of his life, but not all of it, specifically his money, which was an idol in his heart. Now, Jesus knew it wasn't about the money, but a matter of the heart.

And as Jesus so masterfully does, he made it clear what this man had put his faith in. Yeah, so the question really becomes one of faith. Do we entrust our whole lives, including our finances to God, and ultimately, what are we putting our faith in?

I think that's a key question. What are we putting our faith in? Scripture clearly points out that money is a chief competitor with God for our hearts. Matthew 6 21 says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I think this heart issue is one reason the Bible talks so much about money, because our hearts have a tendency to idolize it. We may be drawn to putting our faith in our bank accounts, our possessions and money. When we do this, it's no wonder why we feel stressed and anxious, because these things will ultimately be destroyed by moth and rust or the stock market or inflation.

Yeah, that's exactly right. So our name change really reflects this idea that it's not just about being more wise with money, that's important. But the starting point is understanding that we have to begin at the heart level, allowing our faith to inform our money management. And God has always been about our hearts. And I believe money management is really the training ground of the heart. The way we handle money is the most tangible evidence of what's important to us. And we work out our values and our priorities there first, I believe, as a Christ follower. So the goal ultimately is to say that this financial journey is one of the key ways that God shapes our spiritual journey. And of course, the how to's come from God's Word.

We take our cues from the Bible, not this world so we can have an eternal perspective. So we'll tell you much more about this just around the corner. Chad Clark joins us on our same program with a new name, Faith and Finance Live. However, we're not actually live today because of the holiday, but we have lots of great information coming your way.

So please stay tuned. Welcome back to Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West. You might be wondering, what is that name? Well, it's our new name.

That's right. MoneyWiseLive is now Faith and Finance Live, a better expression of our heart here for this program. That is to begin with our faith and then allow our faith to inform our financial decisions. Still the same program you've come to love, trust and enjoy each day.

I'm not going anywhere. Again, just a new name. Our new name is Faith and Finance Live. By the way, we're not here today, but we will be back live in the studio tomorrow taking your questions. However, we lined up some great questions in advance. Hey, coming up a little later in the broadcast, we'll take one of your emails sent to us at askrobatfaithfi.com. This one came to us recently from David. He's wondering, how do I get my kids to move out on their own?

He's got some kids in their 20s that are in the basement wondering how can we encourage them to move along to what God has for them next? Well, I'll weigh in on that a little later in the program. All right, we'll begin in Illinois. Joan, you're going to be our first caller today. Go right ahead. Oh, thank you so much for taking my call. My husband died a few years ago and he took care of all our finances.

And I have a question. What is the difference between a credit union and a bank and which is the safest one to keep my money in? Yes, there really is very little difference. The only difference in terms of safety would be you're probably familiar with the term FDIC, which is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This is basically Federal Insurance for Banks that gives you the backing of the full faith and credit of the United States government. The equivalent of that for credit unions is called the NCUA, which is basically very similar. It's the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund and that guarantees money in a credit union and that is also backed with the full faith and credit of the United States government. So I think from a safety standpoint, as long as you're in a credit union that has NCUA insurance and they all should that you would be working with or a bank with FDIC insurance, you've got that peace of mind to know that you're protected in terms of the failure of the bank. Now, if your account was compromised, you need to understand from your bank if somebody, let's say, fraudulently removed account information because they impersonated you with fraudulent checks or some sort of electronic breach.

There's a process where you would notify them that that's happened and you could probably sign an affidavit that would have to be notarized and they would restore those funds. The key is to report that on a timely basis. But in terms of the safety of the institution itself, Joan, failing, that's where really for a bank or a credit union, you've got this federal backing that should give you some peace of mind. So at that point, I think then it's just a matter of choosing the institution that meets your needs. Do you want a brick and mortar bank or credit union that you can walk into and look somebody in the face or are you comfortable doing business online? Because if you use an online bank, you could get a better interest rate, let's say, so you might be able to get a high yield savings account with FDIC insurance.

But instead of paying a fraction of 1%, you could earn more than 2% a year without any fees for the account itself if you're willing to use an online bank and sacrifice the ability to walk in. So I think that's really the decision making process you need to go through. But tell me what questions or thoughts you have. Well, I've had different people mention that they're concerned about the safety of the banks compared to the credit unions.

And that's why I called. Yeah, I would not worry about that in terms of the safety. You've still got the federal backing. If the concern is, what if the financial institution fails? That's where the government will step in and insure those deposits. And you have the same protection with a bank that you do with a credit union, again, through the insurance that's provided through either the FDIC or the NCUA. So from my standpoint, there is no difference in the level of safety there, Joan. All right.

That's what I wondered because I had some who were very concerned about the banks. And this is my only income because when my husband died, my income stopped. I see.

And my savings is there and I have to be sure I have to have it. Yes, ma'am. Let me do this. I'd like to send you a gift. Just our way of saying thanks for being a part of the program. Our good friends Miriam Neff and Valerie Neff Hogan are a daughter and mother who have a ministry serving widows called Widow Connection. You'll find them on the Web at WidowConnection.com. The book that they wrote recently is called Wise Women Managing Money, expert advice on debt, wealth, budgeting and more. And I'd love to send that along just as our way of saying thanks for being onto the program. And I think you might find some valuable insight there as you explore the chapters in that book. So, Joan, if you'll stay on the line, we'll get your information and get that right out to you.

Again, it's called Wise Women Managing Money from Miriam Neff and Valerie Neff Hogan. Thanks for your call today. God bless you. Let's head to New York. Marie, thank you for calling. You're next on the program. Go ahead.

Yes. My name is Marie and we live in New York State. I'm 79 going on 80 and my husband's 84. We live in a cabin up on a hill that's very isolated. My former husband's family that I took care of his family and him and he died of esophageal cancer.

But then I remarried my my husband now. And when we have winter here, it's very isolated. It's four hundred and some feet off the road and it's on a hill. It's a very small cabin. And we try to look for a place in the winter when it gets real harsh because our electric and our phones go out. And so we're looking for a little place where we can just rent for the winter, sometimes when it gets so harsh. And he did find a place, South Glen Falls. And sad to say, the person that rented to him never had the hot water on. And he rented it in August 15th and it was supposed to go for a year.

So it hasn't had any hot water. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, that's a problem. Let's do this. I apologize for interrupting, Maria. I've got to take a quick break, but I want you to finish your question and then I want to give you my thoughts. So you stay right there and we'll be right back. Stay with us. Delighted to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. Hey, we're still away for the Christmas vacation.

We'll be back tomorrow, but don't call in. We've got some great questions we lined up in advance before we head back to the phones. Let me remind you, we're often asked here on the broadcast, what are the basic principles that we need to know as we manage God's money wisely? Well, there's really five big ideas that come right out of scripture. Once we recognize that God owns it all and we're a steward to manage God's resources, the five basic fundamental money management principles are these. First, live within your means.

We've got to live within God's provision. That's the key to every financial success. Number two, we've got to avoid the use of debt.

Borrowing is not a sin, but there are clear warnings in scripture. And so only use debt for appreciating assets when you and your spouse agree. Third, have some margin or some liquidity. That is, you're living below your means, so you have some surplus that you can use to fund your goals. Fourth, set long-term goals because the longer term the perspective, the better the decision you're going to make today. And then fifth, give generously. That's right, giving breaks the grip of money over your life. So live within your means, avoid the use of debt, have some margin or some liquidity in your financial life. Set long-term goals and give generously.

And if you do that, you'll put yourself in a position to experience God's best. Let's head back to the phones. Just before the break, we were talking to Marie in the Adirondacks. She and her husband in their 70s and 80s have lived in this small cabin 400 feet from the road up in the mountains. It gets really unlivable in the winter because they frequently lose electricity and other basic services.

So they've rented a small place in town that can provide some of that respite during the winter months. But it sounds like, Marie, your landlord has not been willing to provide basic services. Is it the hot water specifically that's been going out? Is that right? Yes, I found out that the hot water is not necessary.

It's considered not necessary in buildings and codes. I've called the attorney general, but he doesn't deal with that and different people. But also, I want to say that I'm a former Larry Burkett listener. Oh, wow. And I used to listen to Christian radio all the time and Larry Burkett and his wisdom that he gave.

I was a widow with three boys that were very small at the time. And so I'm familiar with Larry Burkett and all his teachings and stuff. And I still listen to Money Wise all the time. So thank you. Well, you're very welcome, Marie. And thank you for mentioning Larry.

You know, there's not a week that goes by. Larry passed away in 2003. And there's not a week that goes by that somebody doesn't mention Larry and the impact that he had on their lives.

It's amazing. You know, his kind heart, his approach, his biblical focus is something that is so inspiring to me as I walk in the shoes of giants. Larry Burkett and Howard Dayton in continuing this program.

And Larry continues to make an incredible impact on so many through the work that he did so many years ago. So I appreciate you calling that out. You know, it's interesting that you mention about the attorney general, because the attorney general's Web site has information about what you can do.

Have you been to that site? Because my understanding is that they really require a livable, safe and sanitary home. And I would say a failure to provide essential services, including hot water, would be a breach of that warranty of habitability. But obviously, that's not what you're hearing.

When I called, they said that they don't relate to any problems with apartments and stuff like that. I see. OK. I didn't actually talk to them. I see.

OK, very good. Well, I would certainly reach out and see if you can get somebody on the phone. The bottom line is I think you need to give the landlord a firm deadline to get these necessary repairs to make this habitable for you. Clearly, you all need hot water and in a safe environment. Have you started looking for an alternate place to rent, Marie, that might provide? No, I've got cancer. I've got a mass on my kidney and several problems on both hips. And my husband has trouble getting around.

We've decided to probably stay in the cabin for now. And my husband had a bad fall while he was in that apartment. It wasn't at the apartment, but he he caught his foot on cement. He fell real hard on his head. He didn't break it with his hands. He broke it with a bad concussion right on his forehead between the two eyes. It cracked the bone on the eye and the bone in the sinus and caused a lot of bleeding. His left eye was really beat up and bleeding. The eyeball wasn't affected, thank God. And the nose was really beat up.

And he looked like a monster, actually. We went to Albany Med, but because of the crowd there, he stayed in the emergency room for two days. And I stayed with him. And I'm a former nurse, so I took care of him. Okay. Do you all have, Marie, I'm so sorry to hear about that. Do you all have a church that you're a part of, a community? Yes, I do.

But it's a very small church and most of our people are older and have problems. I see. Okay. Yeah. Well, I think the key is, do you have access to the internet by chance? Yes.

Okay. I would go to your attorney general's website. They do have information on there about what you can do in a situation like this, and it's different from what you heard. You also have grounds to break this lease for the landlord's failure to provide essential services. So I think perhaps reaching out to the church, seeing if there's somebody who'd be willing to walk alongside you all, just as a ministry of the church, both to make sure you have a safe place, because I certainly don't want you all to stay in the cabin if it's unsafe, it's not heated, and you all could be putting yourselves in danger.

We don't want that. But also somebody could help you find perhaps an alternate place to go that you could rent there in town. And keep us posted on that.

Boy, I know this is difficult. Let me pray for you as well. Father, we just lift Marie and her husband up to you, Lord faithful servants of you, and we just ask that, first of all, you would bring a healing touch to their bodies, just based on the medical conditions that have been described here. I pray that you'd give them wisdom, that you'd bring alongside them a community of believers that would help them navigate this, that you would provide that place that would be safe for them to live, that the landlord would respond as needed to provide these essential services, Lord, and that you'd just be near to them. Thank you that we can trust you and that you love them far more than we can ever imagine, and we leave them in your hands, and we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Marie, thank you so much for calling today. I would love to hear how this turns out, and I would go back to the attorney general's website and also reach out to your church and see if you can find some folks that might be willing to help you all out, especially this time of year. God bless you.

Let's take an email before we take our next break from David. He writes, How do I get my kids to move out on their own? They dropped out of school.

Now they're in their 20s. I told them that they stayed in school. They could live at home, but they had to help out with the utilities and pay rent. That didn't work out. They can't afford to move out, and I can't support them forever.

What would you do? Well, here's the bottom line, David. I think we need to exercise some tough love here. First of all, they're not living up to the agreement. They're neither in school or working. They're not contributing to your household expenses. So that tough love, I think, is going to have to involve you giving them a deadline for either getting back in school or paying you the agreed-upon monthly amount, or they'll have to move out, and then you've got to stick to it. You know, as parents, we want to help our children and keep them from experiencing hardship, but here's the reality. Sometimes a little hardship is necessary for growth, and it will cause them to be in a position where they're going to have to take ownership for themselves. If you continue to provide a place for them to live rent-free where maybe some cooking's being done and some laundry, well, why would they ever have any incentive to move out? So I think you've got to give them a deadline. If you want to help, maybe you take some money and say, listen, if you all will save for that down payment on that first last insecurity, I'll match it.

But get tough and give them a deadline. We'll be right back. Hey, great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West, your host.

Our team is away from the studio today, so don't call in. But coming up a little later, we'll have more of your questions right here on the program. Hey, let me take a moment to mention the Faith Fi app.

That's right. Not only does this program have a new name, but our app has a new name as well. It has a whole new look and feel also. We'd love for you to download it. Just head to your app store wherever you download apps and search for Faith Fi. That's Faith Fi.

You can manage your money. You can access the best content in biblical finance, podcasts, articles, and videos. You can also participate in our Faith Fi community, where you can post questions and get answers from others on their stewardship journey. You'll find it in your app store. Just search for Faith Fi. Or if it's easier, head to our brand new website at faithfi.com.

That's faithfi.com, and you'll see the app right there on the home page. All right, let's take another email today before we go back to the phones. This one comes to us from Frank. He wrote in at questions at moneywise.org and said, Should I spend any extra money that I get to pay down debt or save for retirement? And Frank, it's a great question. It really is about priority uses of the funds. And, you know, these are both great opportunities. Yes, we want to pay down debt. Yes, we want to save for retirement.

So how did we decide which comes first? And here's, I think, something for you to realize. Number one, if you use the money to pay down debt, you're guaranteed a return equal to the interest rate you're paying.

That's guaranteed. So it's probably best to pay off the debt first using the snowball method, which just simply means you'd line up, in this case, let's say their credit cards, smallest to largest balance, pay the minimums on all of them, go back to your budget, try to eliminate as much spending as possible to free up as much margin as you can, and then apply all of that excess you have in a month to the account with the smallest balance. Let's get that one knocked out so that you can move on to the next. That encouragement and momentum you get from paying off that first one in full has been shown in many studies that will give you the incentive to keep going right down the line, which is why we ignore the interest rates in this process. And then as you move down through the rest of them, once you get those high interest credit cards paid off, now we need to focus on fully funding that emergency fund up to three months expenses. Beyond that would be an opportunity to start to look for retirement savings. And I would start with any matching that you might have in a company sponsored plan.

Let's try to get at least that covered. And as you're able to, let's increase that up to 10 to 15 percent of your income to make sure that you're putting enough side to have the assets you need to supplement retirement or supplement Social Security in retirement. So I think the short answer is if it's high interest debt, Frank, let's focus on that first, then retirement.

If we're just talking about a mortgage and let's say a car payment that's built into your budget, I would say let's just pay those on the scheduled track and let's go ahead and start retirement first just because we want to take advantage of the compounding effect over a long period of time for as long as we can. Thanks for writing to us today. Again, if you have a question, send it along at questions at MoneyWise.org. All right, back to the phones we go to Tennessee. Hey, Gloria, thank you for calling. Go right ahead. I heard you mention a book. I didn't catch all of it, Wise Women and Money. Yes, ma'am. Can you give me information about how to get that book?

I can do better than that. I'll make sure you get a copy of it, Gloria. It's called Wise Women Managing Money. It's from our good friends Miriam Neff and Valerie Neff-Hogan. They run a ministry called Widow Connection and Miriam Neff is a widow and really had a heart for coming alongside other widows, especially in this area of finance because so many, their husbands handled the finances in the family and they're kind of picking up the pieces after their husbands passing. And so that's really where this was birthed and provide just a tremendous number of resources and Bible studies and insights to widows.

This particular book, which is expert advice on debt, wealth, budgeting and a whole lot more, I think will be a real encouragement to you. So, Gloria, you stay on the line. We'll get your information and I'll get one of these out to you. God bless you. Thanks for calling today.

To Houston, Texas, we go Raj. Thanks for calling. Go ahead.

Hello, sir. See, I do have 401k plans from my previous employers. Yes. Now, I'm just wondering because the market is almost down about like 30 percent. I'm just wondering, is this the right time to roll them to IRAs or do you want me to wait?

Yeah, it's a great question. You know, I think the key is I like moving old 401ks into IRAs. It's going to give you more investment options. It's going to give you more control over how you want to manage the fees that you pay. So there's a lot more flexibility there inside the IRA versus the 401k that you have now. I think the key is we don't want to stay out of the market very long.

So if you do go ahead and roll it out, I would have a plan to get it invested right away because who knows when this market is going to actually find its bottom. We may have already seen it. Maybe not.

We don't know. But the key is you don't want to try to pick the bottom. You want to stay invested with long-term money that's properly diversified so that as the market recovers, once it's clear that we're either not going to have a recession or we're beyond it or we'll get beyond it and the Fed's done raising interest rates, boy, the trillions literally on the sideline of this market are going to be an incredible force to drive it higher at some point, I think, next year. And so you want to be invested when that happens. But the process of rolling it out to an IRA is probably a two-week event where the assets would be liquidated.

It would come over as a rollover in the form of cash. And as long as you were ready to redeploy that money, Raj, I'd be comfortable with you going ahead and doing that. But if you are going to have an advisor manage that for you, I'd go ahead and have that relationship in place, have that advisor open the account so that as that money hits, it can be moved into the market pretty quickly. Does that make sense?

Yes, sir. The only concern I thought like, because anyway, the mutual funds in which my previous fund management has invested is already down. I thought like, you know, because I have liquidated the funds, basically, you know, there is no way that I'm going to, or maybe I have to look for similar funds, right? Well, yeah, it's less about similar funds. And I mean, you could actually theoretically buy the same funds.

But I think it's the strategy. So for instance, if you're 70% in stocks and 30% in bonds, you would probably want to either yourself or your advisor, assuming that's the right allocation moving forward, have a similar investment strategy when you get to the IRA so that you have the benefit of recapturing the growth in the stock market. I think it's less about the actual funds you have and more about, you know, the allocation and the strategy that's consistent with what you have today and also with your goals and objectives.

And I would be confident that if you redeploy that similar investment allocation, that you'd still be able to capture the upside of the market as it moves higher, even though you may be in different funds. You got it. Okay. Yeah. All right. So thank you for sharing. Absolutely. Thanks for your call today. We appreciate it.

Let me just weigh in quickly today. We've had a lot of folks that call us from time to time wanting to know about the benefits of financial unity in marriage. You know, they're struggling with arguments about money and really, you know, how they move forward together with unity. And I think this is so critical and it's why we talk a lot here on the program about joining your finances as you enter into marriage and planning for that as an engaged couple to be ready for that so that you talk through what lifestyle do we want in marriage.

What are we going to do about our generosity and our giving? How are we going to, who's going to be the one to actually write the checks or manage the finances electronically? You know, making all those decisions in advance are really going to go a long way toward helping you be prepared to have unity in marriage. Well, you know, there are incredible benefits and it's why we should pursue financial unity as a priority. You know, unity is God's will for the church and marriage is supposed to be a reflection of Christ's relationship with his people. We realize life is a lot more satisfying when we're working together.

Unity is a priority because you made a promise. Now you may disagree with your spouse about the family finances, but remember why you're together in the first place. And we need to fulfill that promise by working together before God to strive for unity even when we disagree on any issue.

And that includes money issues. You know, it builds virtues that keep a strong marriage when we have financial unity, including love and trust and patience and generosity and self-sacrifice and forgiveness. When we live these virtues out together, our relationship rises above these petty disagreements.

And finally, it's a witness when we have financial unity. Believe it or not, the way you handle your finances as a couple can demonstrate the hope of Christ to people who don't know him. Your loving attitude toward each other and your generosity and integrity as a couple can have a huge impact on the world around you. So just realize that unity between husband and wife is a source of blessing, especially when it comes to the family finances. It takes determination and persistence to achieve, but it's worth it. And more important, it takes a desire on both sides for Jesus to be at the center of your married life without him.

True unity is impossible. We appreciate you asking about money and marriage so often, and I hope that was an encouragement to you as you think about how you can pursue that in your own marriage. I promise you it will be worth it. Well, we're about out of time today. Before we go, let me remind us why we do what we do here on this program every day. We gather for Faith and Finance Live because we recognize we all have a high calling. We're the money managers for the King of Kings, which means we're to be found faithful as we manage God's resources, faithfulness, obedience over a long period of time, applying the wisdom of God's word to every area of our lives.

And that includes our finances. So thanks for being here today. Thanks for calling and for writing and for your emails. We love to do what we do and serving you to be wise stewards of God's money. I want to say thanks to my team today, Clara, Deb, Amy, and Jim. Couldn't do it without them. Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between FaithFi and Moody Radio. We'll see you next time. God bless you. Bye bye.