Are You Loving Your Kids Into Debt? with Dr. Art Rainer

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Visit christiancreditcounselors.org or call 800-557-1985. We all want the best for our kids, but knowing what's truly best isn't always easy. Hi, I'm Rob West. You've probably heard it or said it yourself, I just want my kids to have what I didn't. It sounds noble, but it can sometimes lead to financial trouble. Today I'll talk with Dr. Art Raynor about how that mindset can push parents into debt. And then I'll take your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Well, we're delighted to have our old friend Art Raynor with us today.

He's the director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health, the organization that certifies Christian Financial Counselors, or CERT CFCs. Art, it's great to have you back with us. Hey, it's always an honor.

Thank you for having me. Art, a lot of folks, as you know, struggle with wanting to give their kids the best chance in life and yet not break the bank while doing it. You have an article on faithfi.com titled Six Things That Can Lead Loving Parents Into Debt, and I want to get right into them. So what's the first one?

Sounds good. The first is keeping up with the Joneses, trying to maintain the lifestyle of those around you. Your neighbor or coworker dresses their children in a high-end clothing, and so you want to do the same. Or your neighbor sends their children to a private school, so you decide to follow suit even though you can't really afford the cost. The Joneses are a frustrating crew to chase because they're always shifting the standard, right?

As soon as you feel that you have arrived, they move it slightly out of reach again. So we need to be careful here. There will always be other parents who spend more on their children, but they may be using debt to finance it. You could be chasing a facade. All right, so don't get trapped into debt by keeping up with the Joneses. I love it.

Number two. It's one you might not think of spending time on social media. The images that you see on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, whatever, are simply the filtered versions of those that you follow. The constant barrage of great vacations, child accolades, and perfect family moments can make you feel like you're a bad parent at times. You can easily create unrealistic expectations and try to buy your way to feeling better about yourself. Yeah, the best version of someone's life on social media has certainly added to the comparison trap. All right, that's two.

What's number three? Yeah, so this one is easy to fall into. Thinking your kids won't succeed in life if they don't have it all. You know, extracurricular activities have entered a whole new realm. Travel leagues, academic and athletic camps, and private tutoring have become just a commonplace now. Unfortunately, there's a cost to all of these activities and experiences, eating up time and money. Now, are extracurricular activities good? Yeah, absolutely. But are they worth going into debt? Absolutely not. Oh boy, I know this one all too well.

A dancer, a soccer player, two basketball players. We've certainly been down that road. You have to be careful.

All right, what's number four, Art? And that is caring more about your child's future career than their future character. Often, the focus of our parenting is centered on getting our child into a good school or setting them up to have a good career. Those are important, but they're not the most important. The most important part of parenting, shepherding our child's heart, is difficult and time-consuming, but it's also less costly. Yeah, and the one can never make up for the other, that's for sure. Yeah.

All right, what's number five? It's the one that you mentioned in the beginning, wanting to give your kids what you didn't have growing up. You probably remember a time when, as a child, you didn't get something you wanted. Maybe it was a new bike. Maybe as a teenager, it was a certain car. You or your parents, they just couldn't afford it. And you remember how you felt. Now, as a parent, you don't want your child to experience those exact same feelings you had.

So when they ask, they get, even if the purchase requires a credit card. Oh boy, and that's a tough one. And it leads right into the last one.

We've got just 30 seconds. Yeah, that's right. Not considering how lacking something actually helped you as a kid. You remember lacking something as a kid, but do you also remember what resulted from not being able to get that item?

You may have resorted to more creative play. If you were a teenager, you may have gotten a job. Those moments in your childhood helped you in your growth as an individual.

Now, don't you want your children to have the same opportunity? Absolutely. Boy, those are really good. And I really appreciate you stopping by, Art.

Really good stuff. Thanks for having me. That was Dr. Art Rayner, Director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health. You can learn more at christianfinancialhealth.com. All right, folks, your calls are next, 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. We are grateful for support from Praxis Investment Management. Since 1994, Praxis has offered investment products designed to meet practical needs for everyday investors seeking to steward their assets consistent with their desire to promote positive social and environmental impacts. Praxis aims to bring a faith-based approach to ETFs, mutual funds, multi-fund portfolio solutions, and money market accounts reflecting their 500-year-old Anabaptist Christian faith tradition.

More information is available at praxisinvest.com. Great to have you with us today on faith and finance. We're looking forward to taking your calls today at 800-525-7000. Again, that number 800-525-7000.

I'm sure there's some things going on in your financial life that you'd love to talk about today. I know I always have questions I'm wrestling with, and it's always helpful to have somebody to bounce those ideas off of. Well, here's our promise to you. We're going to be encouraging and empathetic. We're going to be hopeful.

We're going to be biblical because we're going to go into God's word and look for principles and themes and ideas that we can pull out. But we're also going to be wise and practical, helping you solve for those very specific things that you're wrestling with in your financial life. So the number 800-525-7000. Again, that's 800-525-7000 you can call right now.

Before we dive into those phone calls today, let's see what's happening in the news. Well, the IRS has announced updated contribution limits for health savings accounts, what are known as HSAs for 2026. Individuals with self-only coverage can contribute up to $4,400. That's up from 4,300 this year, 2025, while those with family coverage can now save 8,750. That's up from 8,550, so $200 higher.

To qualify, you of course have to have that high deductible health plan with minimum deductibles of $1,700 for an individual or $3,400 for a family and annual out-of-pocket limits, no greater than 8,500 or 17,000 respectively. The HSA, if you're not familiar with it, offers what we call the triple tax advantage. So you get the contribution on the, well, you get the tax deduction on the contribution. That's advantage number one. Then you get tax-free growth on that money so you can actually invest it and allow it to grow tax-free. And then the withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are also tax-free.

So three advantages. Now, unlike FSAs, the flexible savings accounts, unused HSA funds roll over annually and remain with you even if you change jobs or retire. These features make HSAs a powerful tool for retirement healthcare planning, especially considering that a 65-year-old today may spend an average of $165,000 on medical costs during retirement. That's not annual, of course, and that doesn't include long-term care. Now, though most employers offer HSA investment options, only about 18% of participants invest their balances. Financial advisors recommend investing HSA funds to maximize long-term growth and prepare for future medical needs. That's, of course, how you take advantage of those, the triple advantage. Again, contributions going in, tax deduction, growth on the money when it's invested, tax-free withdrawals, also tax-free when it comes out.

Just a huge advantage there. I don't want you to miss that. Uh, contributions for the 2026 tax year can be made up to April, 2027. So I know this is a little ahead of the game, but just for your planning purposes, this is what's coming.

Now, I will say just a kind of a personal note on this. We use the HSA here at Kingdom Advisors and Faith Five for our team, and we actually see enough savings in the premiums that we're able to contribute up to almost that full deduction, just as a contribution for our employees. And so they get a kind of the double win there. We're saving money. We're also helping them shoulder that, uh, out of pocket costs up to that high deductible by making direct contributions for them. And then if they're relatively healthy and they can maximize their contributions on their end, which again gives them a deduction, that's money that could be invested. And that's really where an HSA shines. If you're relatively healthy and you can max it out and not use it all and just let it grow. Having that alongside your other retirement accounts in retirement is a huge benefit because again, you can pull that money out, uh, tax free for those qualified medical expenses. So if this is a new idea, take a look at the health savings account.

It can be a really powerful tool. All right, we're ready to dive into your questions today. Again, that number 800-525-7000.

You can call right now with any financial question 800-525-7000. Let's go to Texas. Hi, Lissette.

How can I help? I have a question. My husband and I, we have a whole life insurance policy that we've been paying it for about 10 years and we only have 19,000. We should have 24,000, but that's what it shows.

And we were thinking if we should cancel it, they would only get 16,000. Yes. Okay. What is the death benefit on that Lissette? Do you know?

I believe it's 150,000. Okay. And do you all need that death benefit?

I mean, if something, well, first of all, who, who is it? Whose life is insured? Is it your husband's?

For my husband. Okay. Payable to you. Yeah.

And we have two children, so we're all in there. Okay. But the, but you're the beneficiary. So if he passed away, the 150,000 would come to you, right? Yes. Okay. And if he passed away, would that create a hardship for you because you lose income? Yeah. He's the one that provides more for our home.

I work hard. Got it. Yeah. So that's the real purpose of this and, and that, you know, I would prefer you see this life insurance as offsetting that risk that exists, that if he were to be called home by the Lord and he passes away, that would be a diff, you know, create a challenge for you because his income is gone. But the most cost-effective way to get that life insurance is not through a whole life policy where it's combined with a savings vehicle. It's through what's called term insurance, which is pure insurance. You're simply paying the cost every month for the mortality expense, what it actually costs based on the actuarial tables to ensure his life for a set period of time based on his health and the amount of coverage that you want.

But I suspect that 150,000 wouldn't be enough. But the nice thing about term insurance is, you know, maybe you get a 10 year policy on his life so that between now and when you all retire, where at that point, hopefully you've got enough in the way of assets and income sources like social security, where you no longer need his income, uh, he wouldn't have it anyway, if he's retired and then you don't need that insurance anymore, you drop it. But while he's still working, you've got plenty of insurance so that if he passes away, you've got enough to be able to, you know, fund your lifestyle for the rest of your life. Well, the most cost-effective way for that insurance is term insurance. So here's what I would consider doing.

And, you know, remember we only have a couple of minutes together on the air here. So if you want to get an advisor to get in the middle of this, that would always be the better option, but just my kind of high level thoughts are, let's see, let's determine how much insurance you need. You know, what would it take for you to replace his income at least between now and when, you know, he was planning to retire instead of 150, you may decide that's three or four or $500,000. And then let's go see what it would cost to get a 10 year term policy for that amount on his life payable to you. And then I suspect it's going to be perhaps less than the policy you're already paying.

And once it's in force and that's the key, we wouldn't want to do anything until that policy is enforced. But at that point, then you could cancel the whole life, reclaim the 19,000, maybe use that to shore up your emergency fund. And now you're no longer paying for the whole life policy. You've got the cash value to do something else with, and you have more life insurance for the next decade, so that if something happens to him, you're good.

And then once you all get to retirement, you don't need that policy anyway, and you drop it. Does that make sense? Thank you so much for your advice. All right. You're welcome, Lisa. Thanks for calling today. We appreciate you very much. Well, folks, we're just getting started here today on faith and finance. We've got some calls coming in, but we also have lines open. So if you have a financial question today, we'd certainly love to get you in the mix.

Call right now, 800-525-7000. Helping you see God as your ultimate treasure. This is faith and finance. We'll be back with much more just around the corner.

Stick around. We work, we earn, we save. But is that all there is? The book of Ecclesiastes gives us an entirely new perspective on money that impacts our day to day lives. Faith by study wisdom over wealth, unpacks life changing biblical truths about wealth, work and contentment. This resource will help you grow and how you handle wealth by deepening your trust in God. Request your copy of the wisdom over wealth study with your gift of $35 or more by going to faithfi.com slash give. Are you feeling overwhelmed by credit card debt?

As followers of Christ, we are called to be good stewards of what God has given us. That's why our trusted partner, Christian Credit Counselors is here to help. Their debt management program can help you pay off your debt 80% faster while honoring your commitments in full. Take the first step toward financial freedom today. Visit christiancreditcounselors.org or call 800-557-1985. Hey, great to have you with us today on faith and finance. Before we head right back to the phones and we will get to as many questions as we can this segment. So if you have a financial question, call right now 800-525-7000. We just got to our first delivery of Faithful Steward issue two today. Boy, I'm so excited to put it in your hands. It is chock full of some incredible content that I think is just going to be a real treat for you and your financial life.

Where is true wisdom found? Is it okay to leave different amounts to my kids from Ron Blue? What if you're the non-financial spouse? You're not money-minded.

Do you get left behind? Well, Shanti Feldhahn has an article talking to both spouses about how we keep the the non-financial spouse in the mix with regard to the money conversation, crafting a faithful legacy for future generations with an intentional inheritance, how Christians should respond when someone owes them money, finding an uncommon retirement based on biblical wisdom. I mean, that's just half of the articles in this latest issue of Faithful Steward. If you'd like to receive a copy, the best way to do that is to become a Faithful Partner. That means you'll get four issues of Faithful Steward every year and you'll get pre-release copies of our studies and devotionals.

And our next study is dropping this month, Wisdom Over Wealth, 12 Lessons on Money from the Book of Ecclesiastes. So it's a great time to become a Faithful Partner. It will help support this listener-supported ministry, help us reach more people.

It's a win-win-win. So just head to faithfi.com and click Give at the top of the page, faithfi.com and click Give. If you're a monthly supporter at 35 or more per month or 400 a year, you become a partner and you get all of that. Plus, we did just add for partners, you get pro access to the Faithful app, which means you can connect up all of your checking and debit card accounts and your credit cards. You can use the digital envelope system, automatically download your transaction securely.

That pro subscription rolls into the partner program as of this month as well. So just head to faithfi.com and click Give. All right, back to the phones. We're going to get to as many calls as we can.

Russ is in Wyoming waiting patiently. Go ahead, sir. Hey, Rob, I've got my daughter with me here and she's a sophomore in college looking to get her first credit card ever. Give me advice on is her companies better than others? She really would like to get the points and benefits of a credit card, but I don't know about the big companies and so forth. Do you have any kind of input for her?

Any thoughts? Yeah, it's a good question. Now, I'll give you my recommendations here as to kind of what you want to look for, as to just the corporate practices of each of these. It's a good question and I wouldn't be able to give you kind of a screen to answer for what are they doing with their corporate profits? And, you know, does it align with your values?

It's a great question. You know, we just don't have access to that at the ready for each of these companies. But, you know, the top three student credit cards right now come from either Discover Capital One or Bank of America. So Capital One probably has the most the best one right now. It's the Capital One Saver, S-A-V-O-R, as in like Saver your dinner, Saver Student Cash Rewards credit card. So there's no annual fee, which is a big key for me. No foreign transaction fees.

So she's going on a mission trip or something that's helpful. And it really is designed for students with limited credit. And, you know, it offers some great cash back. So, you know, 5% on hotels and rental cars and 3% on dining and entertainment and streaming services and groceries, the kinds of things that students buy.

And, you know, the key is to make sure and I suspect with you asking this question, you've done this, but this is a good time to kind of reinforce this. This is only to be used for budgeted items and paid off in full at the end of the month. This will have a high annual percentage rate on it. But again, the first month that it's not paid off, it really needs to go away just because, you know, that's not the reason to use it.

Now the upside is it's going to create some convenience. She'll get some cash back and she'll start building her credit score. So when she's ready to get that first apartment or, you know, someday buy a house, maybe qualify for a car loan down the road, you know, now all of a sudden her credit score is good. So I think the key is even if she were to just to put, you know, a small budgeted recurring charge on it, like a streaming service that she was already, you know, planning to pay for and in the budget, and then she pays it off in full, that's great. But again, the last thing we want to do is rack up any kind of debt. The second kind of the, you know, the saver card is the first, the second would be the discover it student cash back card from discover, and no credit score needed strong rewards, no annual fee. Again, those are probably the keys in terms of what I want to look what you would want to look for in terms of screening those companies.

You know, you could do some some digging online just to see if there's anything on discover or Capital One that that doesn't align with your values, but those would be the top two. That is perfect. She just took tons of notes.

You're welcome. Hey, I want to send you actually her a gift. You know, there's a study that was put out by some of our friends called open hands finance. And basically, when they were right out of Taylor University as graduates, they wrote this for college students, basically to help them understand it, you know, with a podcast each week, and then a workbook, how do you build your first kind of financial plan? And how do you integrate kind of biblical principles into that, I think she'll love it, it'll actually help her put a mock budget together and kind of understand some of the dangers of debt and the importance of generosity.

So I'm going to send you this workbook and I think she will have a lot of fun kind of working her way through it. Okay. That is great. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Absolutely. Russ, you stay on the line, we'll get your information and get open hands finance right in the mail to you. And you tell her if she needs anything along the way or has questions. Give us a call. God bless you, bud. Let's go to Illinois.

Hi, Mike, how can I help? Thanks for taking my call. I'm going to be born 1959. I'm going to be 66 and 10 months as my full social security age. So I still want to keep working. I make about $60,000 a year and my social security will be about 38,000 a year.

So can I work and collect my full social security or do I, is there a wage gap or a cap that I need to worry about? Yeah. And are you talking about waiting until full retirement age to take your social security? Which minus 66 and 10 months will be next June. Okay.

Yeah. So as long as you wait until full retirement age, Mike, you can earn as much as you want and it will not affect your social security benefit whatsoever. The only thing it would affect is your Medicare premium.

You know, the more you make, you know, that goes up, but as far as your social security benefit is concerned, once you reach full retirement age, you can earn an unlimited amount and you will still get that benefit. All the best to you, Mike. Thanks for calling today, sir.

Well, folks, we covered a lot of ground today. So thankful to have you along with us here on Faith and Finance. Our heart that you would understand your opportunity and mine as well to be faithful stewards. Everything belongs to God. He entrusted to us. We're to be his household managers. Our goal, manage it faithfully over our lifetime.

Give it generously, save it appropriately, spend it wisely. We want to help you do that each day. So come back and join us tomorrow. We'll do it all over again. Big thanks to my team today, Taylor Stanrich, Sandy Dickinson, Devin Patrick, and everybody here at Faithfi. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faithfi and listeners like you.