The Real Secret to Financial Wisdom

This Faith in Finance podcast is underwritten in part by Guidestone. Guidestone envisions a world transformed by Christian investing. Through screening, corporate engagement, and impact investing, our investment strategies allow investors to be more proactive with their investment dollars to make a meaningful difference in the world while preparing for their financial future. Learn more at guidestonefunds.com/slash faith. When it comes to money, most people are looking for two things: security and peace of mind.

I am Rob West. And that's understandable. Life is unpredictable. Expenses pop up. Markets swing.

But here's the question. What if peace or security isn't found in your circumstances at all? What if the foundation you're building on isn't as solid as you think? Today I'll share the real secret to financial wisdom and then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.

Financial wisdom isn't just about knowing what to do with your money. It's about knowing who your provider is. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. That's where wisdom begins, not with a budget, not with a savings plan, but with surrender.

If you're chasing peace through your paycheck or portfolio, you'll always come up short. True peace, peace that surpasses understanding, can only be found in Christ. But when you start there, when your foundation is trust in God, you begin to see money differently.

So, what are the secrets to financial wisdom?

Well, let me give you a few, not from Wall Street, but from God's Word. Secret number one, know who owns it all. Psalm 24, 1 says, The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Everything belongs to God. Your income, your home, your retirement.

Even your ability to earn. Financial wisdom starts by recognizing we're not owners, we're stewards. Stewards manage resources on behalf of someone else. That mindset shifts the question from: what do I want to do with my money? to Lord, what would you have me to do with what you've entrusted to me?

Secret number two, spend with purpose. In Luke 16, 11, Jesus asks, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? How we manage money reveals our hearts. Wise spending isn't just about avoiding debt, it's about aligning our decisions with God's purposes.

So create a plan, not just to track dollars, but to prioritize what matters most, giving, saving, living within your means, and investing in things that last. Secret number three, avoid the slavery of debt. Proverbs 22, 7 says the borrower is slave to the lender. Debt can chain us to the past and limit our future. It creates stress, restricts generosity, and often limits our ability to fully serve others or to respond to new opportunities that God may place before us.

Wise stewards build margin. They avoid debt when they can and pay it down as quickly as possible, not because all debt is wrong, but because freedom is better than financing. Secret number four, save with perspective. Proverbs 21:20 says, The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down. Saving isn't hoarding, it's preparation.

It reflects a heart that's thinking ahead and trusting God with tomorrow.

So save for emergencies, save for what's coming, but do it knowing that your ultimate security is in the Lord, not in your savings account. Secret number five, give first and freely. And here's maybe the greatest secret. Be generous. 2 Corinthians 9, 7 says God loves a cheerful giver.

Why? Because generosity reflects the heart of God. It loosens the grip of greed, reminds us we're not defined by what we own, and gives us the opportunity to participate in God's kingdom work today. When we give, we're saying with our actions, God, I trust you more than I trust this money.

Now hear this. Stewardship, purpose, freedom, preparation, and generosity, these don't guarantee worldly success. You can do all the right things and still face hardship. That's the reality of living in a broken world. But when your financial foundation is Christ and his wisdom, you're anchored, even in the storm.

Because financial wisdom won't always make you rich, but it will make you ready. Ready to respond with peace when markets drop, ready to be generous. When a need arises, ready to walk confidently, not because your finances are perfect, but because your hope is built on something greater. Isaiah 33, 6 says, He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.

So if you're seeking peace or security in your finances, don't start with a spreadsheet. Start with Christ. Let Him be your treasure. Let His word shape your choices and let your money become a tool not to build your kingdom, but to build His. At the end of the day, the secret to financial wisdom isn't really a secret at all.

It's surrender, faithfulness, and trust. All right, your calls are next: 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. Are you looking for a financial professional who shares your Christian values and offers advice you can trust? Certified Kingdom Advisors are experienced financial, legal, and accounting professionals who have completed a rigorous certification program rooted in biblical financial wisdom.

They need high standards of integrity, competence, and stewardship, helping you honor God with all He's entrusted to you. To find a Certified Kingdom Advisor in your area, visit FaithFi.com and click Find a Professional. We're grateful for support from Guidestone, whose diversified suite of investment solutions align with Christian values to create positive change in the world. More information is available at guidestonefunds.com/slash faith. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of Guidestone Funds before investing. They're distributed by Forside Funds Distributors LLC, which is not an advisory affiliate. registered investment advisor nor do they provide investment advice. Hey, we're so glad you're with us today on Faith and Finance. We realize you have very specific questions, things going on in your financial life, and we would love to help you sort those out through the lens of scripture.

And we can do that when you call 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. We've got some lines open. Our team is standing by. This would be a great time to call.

You'll get right through. No waiting. Financial questions, 800-525-7000. You can go ahead and call right now. Let's begin in California.

Ron, how can I help you, sir?

So my situation, particularly here, is uh I have a deceased in probate. A friend of mine is the beneficiary in the will, and unbeknownst to him, he's got some LLCs that lock up. other pieces of property, but He died the the fellow that died died broke.

So in the particular state this LLC is locked up in, it says in the state's Guidelines for LLCs that It's without a manager, the L L C is considered closed. After 90 days of not having any manager.

Okay.

So this probate in California is murderous. It's already been. six months uh sorting this out. How do we settle this with the LLC once the the friend here gets the letters of instruction or whatever? Can you explain how to deal with that?

Yes. And did you say the LLC is in California? Is that right? No, it's no, it's it's in another state uh for for preferential reasons like tax and reporting benefits So I'm just wondering, it can't be that unique of a situation. No, huh?

People must have come across this too. Yeah, well, an LLC itself doesn't stop operating just because the owner dies, but someone needs the legal authority to manage it. And so, of course, if it has other members, they usually keep it running. If it's a single-member LLC, then the successor named in the operating agreement or the executor of the estate can manage it during probate.

So it's, you know, the best smart step is to check the operating agreement because it often spells out what happens when the owner dies.

Now, if there's no clear plan, then the probate court may have to appoint someone to manage the business temporarily. And that's typically the way that would work in kind of the most simple terms.

Well, what if he doesn't want to declare it to the court?

Well, yeah, I mean, that's where I would go back to the operating agreement and just see what is in there. You know, in normally, an operating agreement would include a provision that automatically admits a designated successor within the statutory timeframe, as you said, typically 90 days to maintain continuity. And then state... State law often allows the executor or that personal representative of a deceased member to be admitted as a member, preventing dissolution. But the executor has to act quickly.

And to your point, if they don't want the executor to step into that role, then really it's going to come down to the operating agreement. And hopefully, there's a designated successor named. Nope. There's not.

Okay.

Well, you know, so if all members withdraw or pass away and no new member is admitted within 90 days, then that could be subject to dissolution.

So I think at that point, you know, he needs to reach out to an attorney and find out what his options are. Because if there's no manager, then there's, you know, no access to the property, signing new leases, defending claims. And so to avoid a lockup, you know, after that 90-day grace period, you know, you have to either provide for a successor admission upon the member departure or authorize the estate or executor to designate that successor or have essentially dissolution within 90 days.

Well, what after n what about after ninety days receiving letters of instruction? How is that? How is that? Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think, you know, that is the stated grace period.

It does come down to that particular state, but there is typically a 90-day window where they have to elect a new manager. And so I would say, you know, try to get it done within the 90 days. Otherwise, it could be, you know, automatically dissolved and enter the wind-up phase, which you don't want.

So I would reach out to an attorney, you know, quickly on this one. Ron, I hope that helps. We appreciate your call. To Chicago. Hi, Jason.

Go ahead. Hey, how's it going? Money got a little tight recent economy, and I'm not going to be able to make my this month's mortgage payment.

So what two products that they're offering me are a repay and a forbearance. And I was wondering what the difference was, 'cause I want I want to have a sound mind about this, but what the difference was between the two and if there's any spreaded implications on either one of those. Yeah. And so talk to me about the first one. I'm familiar with the forbearance, but when you say they're offering a repay, tell me more about what they're saying.

Well, they're saying that I can skip the payment for this month and then spread it out over the next six months. They said that I asked the I talked to numerous people over there, and they don't have a credit specialist. But what they did say was that they are going to report it to the Bureau as a repay.

So I don't know if that's if you knew about that or if that was anything that yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. And so then the other option they're giving you is a forbearance, which is essentially where they give you permission to temporarily pause or reduce payments. What are they telling you about that option? They told me I can pause it for six months and then spread it out over, I think, the course of six months or pay one month sum. I think that's what she said, if I remember correctly.

Yeah, I got it.

Okay, yeah, I mean, the difference essentially from what I'm hearing is, you know, what they're offering sounds like a repayment plan where they allow you to skip the payment this month, but then spread out what you owe over the next several months. And this is different from a forbearance where the payments are paused without immediate repayment. I think the key thing to understand is if your payment is officially late according to your original loan terms, your lender may report it as late to the credit bureaus, even if you're on a repayment plan, and that could hurt your credit score.

Some lenders will report it differently if you've arranged the plan ahead of time.

So I think it's really important to ask: one, will this show as a late payment on my credit report? And two, can we structure this so that it doesn't hurt my credit? You know, and then I would be sure that you can afford the higher payments in the coming months. You know, if not, you may want to ask for the forbearance option or even a loan modification. If that's needed, do you feel like this is a temporary event, or will this continue to be a problem in the future?

Well Pope is saying that it's temporary, but it could maybe be something that's reoccurring. Yeah. I'm trying to make it so that it's not. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, the good news is, and I'm sorry to hear about that uncertainty. I know that weighs on you heavy. I'm glad you called the lender because that's really one of the keys. You want to lean into that. You don't want to just ignore them because that's where you can really get into a problem with a foreclosure, which adds a lot of expense.

Even if you're able to get it out of foreclosure, it could be really costly because of the legal side of that.

So you want to try to work with them as best you can. The more drastic option would be asking for what's called a loan modification, where they permanently change the terms of your mortgage to make your payments more affordable. That could be lowering the interest rate. That's unlikely. Could be extending your loan term to spread out the payments.

It could be adding any mispayments to the loan balance.

So this would happen after the forbearance. And then in some cases, although this is really rare, even reducing the principal owed.

So, unlike the repayment plan and the forbearance, which are temporary solutions, the loan modification is a permanent adjustment. But I would only use that if you feel like this is going to be something that happens more than just temporarily.

So, I think you need to ask those questions: Will this show as a late payment and can we structure it so it doesn't hurt my credit? We're going to take a quick break and then back with our final segment, just a few lines open: 800-525-7000. You can call right now, and we'll be right back. Are you a financial professional looking to grow your practice while offering advice that aligns with your Christian values? By becoming a certified kingdom advisor, you'll gain the biblical wisdom and professional credibility to serve clients who are seeking faith-based financial guidance.

Each year, more than 75,000 people search for a certified kingdom advisor. Join our community and share your expertise with clients looking for someone who shares their faith and values. Start your journey today by going to kingdomadvisors.com/slash get certified. Faith in Finance is grateful for support from Sound Mind Investing. If you have money in an investment account, you know sometimes the stock market can seem like a roller coaster.

but it's possible to enjoy both profit and peace of mind as a do-it-yourself investor, no matter what's happening in the market. A short video webinar about that is available at soundmindinvesting.org. Financial Wisdom for Living Well.

Soundmindinvesting.org I'm so glad you're with us today on Faith and Finance. This is the program where we help you apply God's wisdom to your financial decisions, help you to see God as your ultimate treasure. He is the only thing that will satisfy and fill that God-size space that we were created for. We were created to be in relationship with him.

Now, he gives us good gifts along the way. Work is a gift. We're to be co-laborers with Christ, and that's a part of his plan. Money is a gift. He's entrusted to us the resources that belong to him, but put under our care.

And the goal of this program each day is to help you live as a faithful steward. We do that as we take your questions and bring you encouragement from God's word. We still have a few lines open today with half the program remaining.

So call right now, 800-525-7000. Let's go out to Missouri. Hi, Christine. Go ahead. Hi, thanks for taking my call.

I've got just, I've gleaned just enough knowledge. From listening to be dangerous when it comes to 401ks, because I kind of know, but I don't know.

Okay.

And the what's going on is my husband's looking to change jobs. And the company that he's with now has a 401, but the new company does not.

Okay.

And he's only been with the old company probably be right around a year. when he does change jobs.

So there's not a lot in the 401k. Yeah. But I know just taking it out, they're going to eat it up in fees and taxes. Right. Yeah.

What is his age? I'm just wondering. He's 59.

Okay.

Yeah. So he's pretty close to being able to pull it out without any penalties, but it would be taxable. How much is in there? Right now, there's less than five hundred dollars in there, so there's probably going to be less than one thousand in there when he changes jobs. Yeah.

Okay.

Do you all have any IRAs, individual retirement accounts? No.

Okay.

No.

Yeah, so I think it's a good one. Got it.

Okay.

So, what I would generally recommend is not leaving it there. And you have two options: either rolling it to a new 401k at your new employer, which does not apply here because, as you said, his new employer doesn't have one, or two, rolling it to an IRA. And although there's not a whole lot of money in there, it would give you some incentive to go ahead and get one open. Maybe you do that at Fidelity or Schwab, and then get this rolled in there. And even though it's not a whole lot, maybe you put it to work.

And especially given that he doesn't have a 401k available at his new job, he's going to want to be putting something away on an annual basis, you know, so you all have something in the future when he's no longer working, at least for pay, and maybe the Lord shifts you all to something else. And so, this could kind of be the beginning, maybe the seed money of that IRA that hopefully you could continue to fund maybe on a monthly basis. Over the age of 50, you. You have the opportunity to put in a little bit more.

So, for 2025, if you're over the age of 50, you can put in up to 8,000. And you'd each be able to do that, even if you're a non-working spouse.

So, you all could put away a total of 16,000 for the year between the two.

So, that would be my recommendation, Christine, that he go ahead and open that IRA. He'd roll it in from the 401k. That's not a taxable event. And then, as you're able, you all could begin contributing. If you have the ability to put away more than $16,000 a year between the two IRAs, well, there are some other options that he could explore, especially if he's self-employed.

All righty.

Well, thank you. That helps a whole lot. And you guys be blessed in your day.

Well, thank you very much, Christine. I'd love to send you a resource that I think might be helpful to you. It's called the Sound Mind Investing Handbook, and it covers a lot of these ideas, some that I just mentioned, but all from a biblical perspective. And so, if you're interested in kind of learning a bit more in this area, I think this would be a helpful read for you. We'll send it to you just as our way of saying thanks for being on the program today.

So, stay in the line. We'll get your information and get the Sound Mind Investing Handbook right out to you. Thanks for your call. Let's head out to Virginia. Hi, Roy.

You've been very patient, sir. Go ahead. Hi, thank you. I have a son that's considering bankruptcy. He has more than just credit card debt, and I'm concerned what that will do with taking the bankruptcy, what that will do with his Credit and how long would it take him to recover?

He's hoping to be able to buy a house. in the near future. Yeah. Well, Roy, I would say he wants to avoid bankruptcy if at all possible. If he does go through bankruptcy, the impact on his credit, to your question, depends on the form of bankruptcy.

If it's a chapter seven, it's going to stay on his credit report for 10 years because the debt is completely wiped out. If it's a chapter 13, it's going to stay on for seven years because he's going to agree to make at least partial payment on the debt.

Now, either way, the credit score is going to begin to improve after a few years. It won't be back to where it was until the bankruptcy disappears from the reports at seven or 10 years, but it certainly improves along the way if all other payments are made on time because the way the credit scoring algorithm works is the most recent information is the most significant in terms of how it factors into your credit score.

Now, I would say, just kind of from a biblical worldview, you know, the Bible is clear: the wicked borrows and does not repay.

Now, if he's forced into bankruptcy for legal protection, you won't find the word bankruptcy. Bankruptcy in the Bible. But I think the idea is that, you know, as he has the ability, he should make a plan to repay, whether that's through a 13, where it's through the courts or on his own. But to your question, you know, there is a way out of this in terms of repairing the credit over time. It's not going to happen quick, but it will happen and it'll start a few years following the bankruptcy.

So how would that how would you be able to do it in another way?

Well, I think, you know, I don't know his situation, but I think, you know, really dialing back his lifestyle as best he can, contacting each of his creditors, trying to work out a payment plan, you know, I mean, leaning into this in a way that does everything possible apart from being forced into bankruptcy, which may happen if they're seeking judgments and he just doesn't have the ability to pay.

So I would just say, again, without knowing the situation, the next step would be to contact each of those creditors and try to, you know, get on a plan that, you know, keeps it out of bankruptcy because nobody wants bankruptcy. He doesn't. They don't. And so if it's at all possible to work something out outside of the courts, that would be ideal. It may not be.

And even then, he could still work on repaying it through either a Chapter 13 or just negotiating directly with them following the bankruptcy. And they may say, we can't take it. The debts have been discharged, but he can make every effort to make restitution.

So hopefully that helps, Roy. We appreciate your comments. All today. We covered a lot of ground today. You know, as I think about our role in managing God's money, there are an unlimited number of decisions we make every day around our finances.

And yet, we can boil them down, we can simplify them into really just four big categories: the money we live on, the money we give, the money we owe, and the money that we grow. But the big idea over it all is that God owns it all. And our goal is to be faithful stewards, looking to God's word for counsel and wisdom to apply to our financial decision making. And when we do that, I believe it draws us closer to the heart of God. It ultimately draws us into a more intimate relationship with Him when we handle His money according to His ways.

I hope you found something today helpful and encouraging. I want to say a big thanks to my team today. On behalf of Taylor and Pat and Devin, I'm Rob West. I hope you'll come back and join us next time for another edition of Faith and Finance. May the Lord bless you.

Faith in Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.