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To learn more about making a positive impact in the world through your portfolio, please visit investments.1ascent.com or speak with your financial advisor about OneAccent Investments today. Jim Elliott once wrote, he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Hi, I'm Rob West. Generous might not be the first word that comes to mind when you think about pro athletes, but Kirk Cousins is rewriting that playbook. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback in the NFL is using his platform and resources for eternal impact.
Today, we'll hear how his faith shapes everything from football to finances. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7,000. This is Faith and Finance: biblical wisdom for your financial journey.
Well, Kirk Cousins has spent 14 seasons throwing touchdown passes in the NFL. But even more significant is how his faith in Christ has shaped every part of his life, from how he plays the game to how he stewards his finances. It all flows from his walk with Jesus. And Kirk, what a treat to have you in the studio today. Oh, it's great to be here.
Thanks for the opportunity. Kirk, I'd love to go back and maybe start with your upbringing. I know you've mentioned before that you were a PK, a pastor's kid, and maybe you start there. How did growing up in a ministry home influence your perspective on faith and finances from an early age? Yeah, my dad really handled the finances, the numbers, if you will.
But I would say my mom was the one who had the spiritual gift of hospitality. And so she really modeled for me generosity. And I remember when I was in middle school and high school, and I'd be going out with friends. My mom would say, do you need any money? And I would say, no, I'm good.
I think we'll be fine. I got, you know, five, 10 bucks in my wallet that helped me. Enough and she'd hand me two 20s and take these. And so there was just a holding it loosely that I think I saw in my parents that, you know, we were budgets and we were stringent on not overspending for ourselves. But I also felt like my parents were pretty extravagant when it came to being generous towards others.
And that was caught, not just taught. And that's probably more important that it's caught than taught. And so I'm grateful that my parents modeled it in a way that I could just observe and then go put into practice myself. Yeah, absolutely.
Well, modeling is obviously one of the key ways that we learn, even though we understand that kind of our approach to money is often hardwired at those early ages. What mom and dad do has huge implications. And that then allowed you to be grounded as you found yourself as a young athlete with more and more money coming in. Of course, life in the NFL brings plenty of pressure and public attention and often significant wealth. How has that helped?
you to stay rooted in your faith amidst all of that. Yes, I remember when I was first drafted, I didn't know how Paychecks worked and how it would all go and the cash flow. I've certainly learned a lot over the last 14 years. But when I was a rookie, I got my first check, which was called a signing bonus, which is a large percentage of your entire contract for four years that is given right up front. And the check was several hundred thousand dollars.
And as a college kid who had really only made minimum wage at a local golf course picking up driving range balls, I hadn't really seen a paycheck bigger than maybe three digits at the most.
So I called my dad. I said, Dad, what do I do with a check this large that has six figures before the decimal? And he said, Kirk, I don't know because I've never gotten a check like that either.
So we started kind of this journey of what do we do with that. And certainly it was, you know, great to have a base and to know, you know, certainly you give, you tithe, you know, and you save and you live on the rest. And but I certainly had to practice it from right away my first check after being drafted. And then it's been a stewardship journey ever since.
Well, and you know, you look around you and your peers were probably handling it quite differently. I mean, and and it can be challenging, right? When you get a a check like that at a young age and just wondering how do I maintain this lifestyle that's expected from me and yet be a faithful steward at the same time. How did you navigate that tension?
Well, I think, you know, first of all, being a professional athlete, you know, there's an end game. You know, we have diminishing returns as we get older. And so there is a need to save probably more than someone who's coming into success and they feel like their business is something that is built to last. I think as a professional athlete, you know, it isn't built to last. It's built to diminish.
And so we're pretty. We're pretty good with saving. I think the harder part is knowing that when you give it, if you're working a job that is diminishing, it's scary to give it because you're saying, I'm approaching a cliff career-wise that's going to end. What do I do if I'm giving it away? You know, what's next?
And I think that's where faith comes in and allowing room for God to show up and to have a plan and to direct your steps.
Well, we're going to unpack that after the break. Kirk will share the journey of generosity he's been on with his wife Julie, how they think about stewardship and how he's used this incredible platform as an NFL quarterback to bring God glory. This is Faith in Finance. I'm Rob West, NFL quarterback. Quarterback Kirk Cousins in the studio today.
We're talking about his stewardship journey, and we're just getting started. Stick around. FaithFi is grateful for support from One Ascent. OneAssent believes that your values inspire why you invest and how they can inspire how you invest. One Ascent's goal is to provide solutions designed for every need and invest in businesses that bless the people and places God has made.
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Learn more at chministries.org/slash faithfi. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. With me today, NFL quarterback Kirk Cousins. Kirk's talking to us today about his journey of generosity and the role we each have as stewards of God's resources. Kirk, our goal as stewards is faithfulness with what God has entrusted to us.
And more than anything, it's about our hearts and not just checking the box on a list of money management do's and don'ts, right? Right. No, I don't think that's the abundant life Jesus speaks of. And I've been tempted to do that, to just say, well, God wants me to tithe. He wants me to give.
I'll check those boxes. I'll do that and then I'll be good. That's really not the Christian life. That's religion. And when you read Jesus' parables and he teaches about the man who found treasure in a field, sold all he had and went and bought the field.
Once you find the treasure... The rest of the decisions are just, that's just logical. Why wouldn't you go sell everything you have and go buy the field if there's a treasure in there that's worth a thousand times more than anything you could be saving? The problem is, we many times are told, hey, there's this treasure here. You should go sell all you have to go get the treasure, but we never really see it as a treasure ourselves.
So we say, okay, I'll go sell what I have. That's what I'm supposed to do. We need to first discover the treasure and see the treasure for what it is: that Jesus has an abundant life for us and He wants us to experience the kingdom of heaven.
So that's the first step. And then the financial decisions really stem from there. But I've often put it in the wrong order where, okay, I'll go make the right financial decisions and then things will align. It's like, well, first go find your heart to be in the right place and seek Jesus as the treasure. And the only logical choice is to have your finances follow that.
Well, and if you get to that place that you're describing, and I completely agree, it is ultimately about surrender, then you can face some of these tensions and struggles around, well, I do have a career that's diminishing. You know, there is a lifespan as an NFL quarterback, and yet I can continue to give generously, even though I feel it and maybe there's some uncertainty around it, because I know God is ultimately my provider. I've kind of enjoyed the moments that require more faith financially because I feel that the pressure goes back on God.
So it's, okay, God's provided, and I don't know what's next, but I know if I give or if I put it back into a vehicle that God has to steward and use, the pressure's off of me. Absolutely.
So I can also view it that way, which helps to say, okay, now the ball's back in God's. Court and he's got to do something with it. In that meantime, while you're waiting to see what God does, it can be a little stressful. But that is a big faith thing for me. And I almost enjoy that challenge.
But certainly from a lifestyle standpoint of what is something that God's given us to enjoy, and then what starts to become self-indulgent and excessive. That's an interesting balance that we all have to walk as Christians. And each person has to discern for themselves and for their family and in their relationship with God what is wise. But I think that's something that tension that will never go away as long as we're here on this earth of feeling like, was this too much? Or am I being too strict?
And should I give myself some grace? I think that's the part that there's no set formula. We just have to walk with God and let the Holy Spirit lead us. I love that. You know, it'd be easy if the Bible said you're to live on 68.2% of your income.
It's not there, but that's good because it drives you to your knees for you to say, Lord, what would you have me to do? How have you worked that out? How have you and your wife defined enough? We're still defining it. I do think that God has given Given us all things to enjoy.
And so we want to enjoy what he's given us. I think it's also important that when you save, you know, I've had this conversation with my brother, with my dad. Both of them are in ministry and they're very wise on these topics. I like to bounce ideas off of them along with many other people. At some point, money is a tool.
It's a test, it's a testimony. It's those three T's. But money is a tool such that if it's just. Being put into a snowball that can just get bigger and bigger and bigger as you invest it. That's not really a tool.
That's just becoming a bigger snowball. That's right. I guess to make us feel like we have more control over our lives.
So while I believe in maybe growing that snowball somewhat, I also believe in growing the snowball for an end game. There has to be an end purpose to growing the snowball. And so that's where, you know, I think we have to check ourselves and say, am I trying to grow this bigger for a purpose? Yeah. To have an end game?
Or am I just growing this bigger just so I can have more control and feel better about myself? And I think that, again, goes back to the heart because we could both be trying to grow our, what we steward, but the heart behind growing it could be very different between two people. Absolutely.
Well, and even more so for a married couple because we have different money personalities. You know, one might be more inclined to hold it a little tighter. They like the security aspect. Another might be more inclined to give it away. How have you all found that path forward as a couple?
I was advised when I was only in my second year in the pros by a very wise man who had given away. Probably nine figures at that time. And I asked him, you know, tell me some things you've learned about your giving journey. Because he would tell you, there were things I did right, there were things I did wrong. And one line that just stuck out with me immediately was: he said, Always give in unity with your wife.
And I wrote that down because it. Was something I probably would be tempted to not do. I would be tempted to go off and say, Well, I disagree, Julie, we're gonna do this. And so that always stuck with me. And it's something when my wife says, I don't feel comfortable with that, or I do feel comfortable with this.
I really try to listen and apply that. And pray about it, and especially if I disagree, to really think about it and pray about it because many times the spousal consent, the support of your wife, is another way for the Holy Spirit to speak. And so I try to make sure that if we're giving, especially in more sizable ways, that we're not just on the same page, but that we're really in lockstep as to feeling like this is wise and this is what the Lord is leading us to do. Yeah. Ron Blue has taught for many years: we need to decide how much is enough for us, how much is enough for the kids, and then what do we do with the rest?
How are you handling that with regard to inheritance and the kids, and even going back to your mom and dad, modeling that for your boys? Yeah, we set up a family office a few years ago, and so those conversations became very real as we put together the estate plan. In fact, they're in, you know, what are the rules around estate plans? And does the government take a certain percentage up to a certain amount? And talking through all those conversations.
But we, we, first of all, our boys are young. And so we want to kind of see how they develop. Is our, you know, would it be very wise to give them a lot of. Of assets, it very well may be. And in that sense, we want to plan accordingly.
If heaven forbid, One of them, it would not be wise to do that. We also want our plan to basically say. We would love to give it to you, but that would not be wise. It's not being stewarded properly.
So, in the years ahead, as we raise them, you know, we certainly need to invest in them. But our hope and prayer is that we look around and we say, There's no wiser place to put this money in the hands of someone than of our own kids. That's really the goal as a parent is that we would get the end of our lives and say, we don't want it to go into anybody's hands, but theirs because of how wise we feel they are and how well they'll steward it. But then, certainly, you know, we want to give heavily to our foundation when we pass. And I think our boys will have enough to, you know, do what they want to do in life as far as their giving and their kingdom impact and whatever's left we'd love to give to our foundation and then have that not only be given to kingdom work but also probably go to zero yeah shortly after our death so it doesn't live on in perpetuity and reach intentions we never had for it i love it but i think you're prioritizing passing wisdom before wealth and that's the key we've got just a minute left uh in terms of what to do with the rest you mentioned your foundation what's something you and julie are most excited about giving to right now i went to a christian high school and i was a public school kid all the way through sixth grade and then went to a public school for college so i kind of had this public school education san uh that sandwiched the middle being christian education from seventh grade to twelfth grade and it had a very profound impact on my life and so my high school holland christian is one that just has always tugged at my heart since the day i was drafted into pro sports and it's only grown and i desire over the long haul to really continue to support My high school to support Christian education.
To really give teachers the resources they need to try to make it affordable to go to Christian schools. And so that's a passion of mine. I love it.
Well, Kirk, this has been a treat. I'd love to have you back sometime. We've just scratched the surface, but really grateful for your time today. Thank you. That's Kirk Cousins, husband, father, NFL quarterback, and faithful steward.
We're so glad you're along with us today. After this break, we're going to take your calls and questions. The number 800-525-7000. Or if you'd prefer to email your questions, send it to us at askrob at faithfie.com. I'm Rob West, and this is Faith and Finance.
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That's goodinvestor.com. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. For taking your calls and questions today, we've got lines open for you. 800-525-7000. Naples, Florida is where Terry's located.
Go right ahead. Hi, thank you very much for taking my call. I own my house outright, and I've been hearing a lot about home title protections, that that's a wise thing to do. How much jeopardy is the title of my home in at this point, would you think? Yeah, you know, that can give peace of mind, but it's not.
Something I generally recommend.
So, what does it do?
Well, title protection essentially claims to monitor public records to alert you if someone tries to transfer or tamper with your property title.
So, it's intended to try to help you detect the fraud early. What it doesn't do isn't prevent the fraud or legally stop someone from filing a fake deed, because remember, if they're doing that, it's fraudulent anyway. And it's not title insurance, so it won't cover financial losses or legal fees if fraud occurs. Is there a high risk of this? There really isn't, and frankly, kind of like other credit monitoring services, you can generally do it yourself.
So, you've got a couple of options. You know, more and more of these county recorders' offices are providing a free alert system, either for you just to go in and check it periodically online free, or many. They are adding where you can be alerted if there's any kind of change. And that would not be going through a third party that you would have to pay. You do that directly with your county records office.
At the end of the day, if somebody filed a fake deed and then took out a loan against your property, claiming that they owned it with the fake deed, and then they got the money and didn't pay it back. And then somebody notified you they were foreclosing on the property, well, you'd have to go to court and it would not go through because it was all done fraudulently. That's illegal. What this is trying to do is to help you spot that before it happens. It's very uncommon, though.
And I just feel like, just given the potential risk that exists, which is fairly low, that it's just an unnecessary added expense for you.
So if you're looking for peace of mind here, the first thing I would do is call your county and just say, what's out there? Do you all have a way that I could be alerted if there's any change? If so, great, take advantage of it. Second option is. You could just monitor it periodically, just set a reminder to check it a few times a year.
Apart from that, if you had the money in your budget and it just gave you added peace of mind to know that somebody was monitoring that for you, well, that's where this could come in. But I just want to make sure you understand what it does and, more importantly, what it doesn't do. Does that make sense? Yes, it really does. And you're telling me to go to the county records office?
Yes, or you could. Yeah. Are you comfortable using the internet? Yes.
Okay. Yeah. So that would be the easiest place to go is just go to your county deed website and just see if they have any kind of automated alerts. You could stop by there and just ask that question face to face, but I'd probably just start with their website. You most certainly would be able to log in and just see the title and see how it's, you know, whose name it's in, and it would be yours.
And then you could check that periodically. The question is, do they have an alert system? And again, more and more of these counties are putting that in place.
Okay, that's good information. Thank you very much. I think I'll check that out. Awesome. Thank you, Terry.
Spend extra money when you don't need to. I think that's the big idea for me. Yes, ma'am. I'd love for you to keep that hard-earned money and put that to better use. Terry, thanks for your call.
Call anytime. To Arkansas. Hi, Raymond. How can I help you? I'm here in Arkansas, and my kids are in California out there in San Diego.
And of course, they've told me right out there they're not ever coming to Arkansas. I got these houses that I paid for, and I've got them fixed up in good shape, got them rented out, and they give me a good income. But I know. I just know what's going to happen if I kill over dead. They're going to auction them houses off.
And I've been to a lot of house auctions here, and they go real cheap. They don't bring near what they're worth because people don't even come and look at them. They don't clean them up. They just auction them off. And you can pick up a home for anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 that's worth $120,000 to $100,000.
So, I don't want that to happen to me, and I was just wanting your advice. Should I sell those houses, put that money in a trust for my grandkids to go to school? What should I do with that? Yeah, it's a great question. I mean, listen, you know, you typically folks will have a will at the very least, and you would name an executor of the estate.
And the executor named in the will is tasked with managing your estate. And their duties include administering the state, even selling that home. And so there's no reason that this home would be sold in an auction and kind of a fire sale. I mean, if the executor is doing his or her job, they're properly marketing and selling these properties to get the market proceeds, whatever the prevailing selling price is based on the market conditions. And then that would be a part of your estate after all debts and obligations are settled.
Then it would be distributed.
Now, should you put these into a trust? What would be the benefit of that?
Well, you certainly could. The benefits would be, number one, that it would pass outside of probate. You would name similarly to an executor, you'd name a trustee who would be tasked with managing the property, including the sale of the property. And so, you know, I think that would be a nice option for you. And the other benefit of it passing outside of probate would be that if you wanted the proceeds of the house, the houses, once they're sold, to be distributed to your heirs over time, you didn't want it all to happen at once.
Perhaps you wanted to wait and distribute it to the grandkids when they reach a certain age or when they graduate from college. All of that could be done inside a trust, a revocable trust, whereas that would not be able to be done with a will. The will gets settled immediately. But even with a basic will, going back to your original point, there's no reason these houses should be auctioned off. You know, that executor, if they're doing their job, they're going to get the prevailing market value for the property when it's sold.
Does that make sense? Make sense? Yes, sir, it sure does. And I do have an executor, my younger sister, and I've told her what my wishes are, and that's exactly what I want to do. As the kids reach age, For college, help them with some college money, and then when they graduate, they can get a lump sum there too to help them get started business or buy a home or something.
Okay, so given what you just said there, Raymond, and I'm not an attorney, but I'll just tell you generally, I think you do want a trust, a revocable trust, because you see, the will has to be settled in its entirety, which means who's eating the money is getting it at around the time of death. Whereas a trust, your sister, if she's the trustee, could leave the assets or a portion of the assets in the trust and then distribute them over time based on certain triggering events.
So it sounds like given the desires you have and the control you want over the proceeds, you want a trust.
So I'd encourage you to go find a godly estate attorney and put that in place. You could get a referral from a CKA on our website, faithbuy.com. Folks, thanks for being along with us today. I hope today's been a blessing to you as well as very Practical and helpful. Big thanks to my team today: Taylor Stanrich, Sandy Dickinson, Devin Patrick, and everybody here at FaithFi.
Have a great weekend. We'll see you next week. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithBuy and listeners like you.
Okay.
