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Your money soundtrack, what plays on repeat in your head, will either help or hinder your financial decisions. I am Rob West. We all know the power of overthinking, but the good news is you can change the tune of those money soundtracks playing in your mind. John A. Cuff joins us today to show you how, and then it's on to your phone calls at 800-525-7000.
That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.
Well, it's an absolute pleasure to welcome John Acuff to the program today. He's a best-selling author, speaker, and podcaster. He's written 10 books, including the one we'll be focused on today, called Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to.
So overthinking. John, great to have you here. Looking forward to it, Rob. John, a little known fact.
So you and I were at Sanford together, Sanford University in Birmingham. We didn't know each other, but we discovered we graduated in the same year. Seems a little surprising because it's not a huge school, and yet it's not huge. I'm sure our paths crossed along the way. I bet we had a class together at some point.
Yeah, I suspect we did.
Well, I'm looking forward to this conversation today. I know you've been writing on this idea of soundtracks for a while, and I'm thrilled that you've been thinking about how it intersects with the money conversation. But give our audience first just a sense of your background in terms of your path to the writing and speaking you do today. Sure, I was in corporate marketing for about 13, 14 years with big brands like Bose and Staples and Home Depot. I started a blog called Stuff Christians Like, which was a satire of the funny things we do in faith.
I'm a pastor's kid. I love Jesus. And so I wrote, you know, about the funny things we do in faith, like wishing you had a shirt that said I direct deposit my tithe that you could wear on a Sunday so people wouldn't judge you for not giving because they don't know you give online. They just think you're a heathen. And so I wrote that blog.
It turned into a book. It turned into a couple years with Dave Ramsey. And it turned into the last 12 years of me owning my own business, writing a bunch of books and helping a bunch of companies, a bunch of people change their lives via mindset and goals. Wow.
Well, I've heard you speak a number of times, and I'm just so grateful for the message God has given you. And I think this is a really important topic today in terms of the soundtracks we have playing out in our minds. Set the stage for that. How do you define it? And why did you go in that direction?
Yeah, so really my life changed when I learned a simple principle. It's that your thoughts turn into actions and your actions turn into results. And so all too often we overfocus on the results we want, but we never change the underlying thoughts. And so we don't get the results. And that's why God talks about how you think so constantly.
So in essence, I wrote a book that is a practical version of how do you renew your mind? How do you take every thought captive? How do you think on what's true and noble and beautiful?
So that's what soundtracks is. And it's three simple steps: you retire your broken soundtracks, you identify the ones that are getting in the way, you replace them with new ones. It's not enough to get rid of the old, you got to replace it with the new. And then you repeat those new ones so often they become as automatic as the old ones.
So it's retire, replace, repeat. And you can very clearly see I'm the son of a Southern Baptist minister with that alliteration. I mean, come on, it's so easy. I love it. No doubt about it.
All right, let's unpack those a bit. Before our first break here, we just got about 90 seconds. Start with retracement. retire. I mean, that's not easy to do, is it?
It's not easy, but the first thing is you identify it.
So, I'll give listeners an exercise they can do that's very simple: write down a goal. It can be, I want to get out of debt, it can be I want to own a lake house, it can be I want to give to missionaries. Write down a financial goal and then listen to your first thoughts, listen to your reaction to that goal because every reaction is an education. You're educating yourself about what you really believe about what you're capable of.
So, are your first thoughts positive or are they negative? And most people, Rob, their first thoughts are negative. Who are you to think you could do that? You can't make more money than your parents did. Money is for people that understand how to make money.
And so, a lot of people will surface negative thoughts just by doing the act of writing down a goal they care about. Mm. Yeah, and it's really important to start there with that identification because I would imagine a lot of people don't understand how those soundtracks are affecting them, right?
Well, they're shaping everything you do, and they're often inherited. I had a friend of mine named Steven Scoggins, and his dad used to say, Scoggins don't get ahead, scoggins get by. Imagine speaking that over a kid as he's growing up to go, Hey, we don't get ahead, we get by, we get by, we get by. He became an adult and had to retire that broken soundtrack because it was no longer helpful. But when it comes to money, what are some of those broken soundtracks?
We'll talk about that with John Acuff just around the corner. And what do we believe about those? And how can we move to a healthier soundtrack and replace the ones that are broken? John Acuff here today. He's the author of 10 books, including Soundtracks, The Surprising Solution to Overthinking.
Much more just around the corner. Stay with us. Are you looking for a better way to align your faith with your finances? The FaithFi app is here to help. With tools to track your spending, plan your giving.
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Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. My guest today is my friend John A. Cuff. He's the author of Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking. You can learn more at johnacuff.com.
That's John WithoutTheH, johnacuff.com. John, we were talking about the broken soundtracks that people have in their lives. What's on repeat in their heads that can often derail them from God's best? Translate that to the financial soundtracks. What are some of those broken money soundtracks we walk around with?
Sure, I'll give you one of the most popular. Mo Money, Mo Problems. Mo money, mo problems. There's even a song about it, and what it tells you is more success equals more stress. And boy, is that a lie?
Because I'll tell you what, Rob, I've had no money and I've had some money, and no money did not come with no problems. I guarantee you that. Like, when you don't have money, a transmission issue is a huge emergency. When you have some money, it's a minor inconvenience.
So, what happens is, if you believe mo money, mo problems, you will self-sabotage your success. You will be the one who buries the talent out of fear, out of, oh, I can't handle this bigger opportunity, or what would I even do with all this money? And mo money, mo problems. And so, that's a really common one that I see people struggle with. Yeah, I can certainly see that.
What about as it relates to our giving? Is there a common broken soundtrack there? Oh yeah, I'll give when I'm successful. And you and I both know giving is a practice. It's a skill you get better and better at as you grow.
And so I think a common broken soundtrack around giving is: I'll give when I have more money versus I'll give from what I have now so that later, if I do have more money, I'm already pretty good at giving. I would rather you practice it with a dollar so that the $10,000, you're already in motion. You've already got that skill down. Yeah, no doubt about it. John, there's some in our listening audience today who just feel like I'm not the money person.
You know, whether they're single or maybe in the marriage, it's like, no, that's what my spouse does. I'm not good at that. Can that result in a broken soundtrack? Of course. I meet people all the time.
It'll say, Well, I'm not a money person. I'll say, Well, you're 32 forever? Like for the rest of your life, you've already decided the next 50 years, I don't get to get better at this.
So, in that situation, you're accepting a label. You've labeled yourself: I'm not a math person, I'm not a money person, I've never been good with money. And I would just say, if again, if you treat it like a skill, if you treat it like something you can learn, and you're also dealing with some perfectionism there. Like, somebody would go, I have to be an expert at money, that's hard, so therefore, I can't be even a little better. And I always tell, you know, perfectionists believe in all or nothing.
Even I'm perfect or I don't try at all. And I always say, you know, when it comes to money, some beats none, some education, some learning, listening to a radio show, and getting a little bit better can go a long way. Yeah. We're going to get to how we replace these here in just a second. But to put a kind of finer point on the problem with these broken soundtracks, how do they play out these broken soundtracks in a way that really derails us in our money journey?
Well, you pull back. You pull back from opening all the gifts you've been given. You know, we did a huge survey, 3,000 people. We asked them if they're living up to their full potential, and 96% of people said no. 96% of people.
So, what happens is if you believe a broken soundtrack about money, when you have the opportunity to make more or learn more about it, you pull back. Because if you say, like some people say, you know, rich people are greedy.
So, guess what happens if you get more money? If God blesses you with more money, you feel terrible. And what a great way to ruin a gift. The broken soundtrack ruins that gift. And so, that's a really simple example of where people, what they think about money, ruins how they experience the actual act of money.
And then they feel guilty, and then they refuse the gift from God and they don't put it into the marketplace and be generous with it. And it's just, it ends up being a whole big mess. All right, so perhaps this is an aha for our listeners today. They've started by retiring that idea. They've identified the negative thought they've been repeating in their heads.
So now they're ready to replace it with something that is true. What does that look like in the money conversation?
Well, it can look like a number of things. One, you could just flip the broken one. You could take a broken soundtrack and say, what's the opposite of this? What is actually true here? You could also, you know, read the Bible and go, okay, God, show me what's a better soundtrack for me.
Or you could listen to a radio program and say, hey, what's a better soundtrack for me? You know, how do I like I collect soundtracks, meaning I talk to wise people and go, how are you handling money? What did you learn about money? I always tell people that somebody who's ahead of you in life, somebody who's 10 years, 20 years older than you, they're a time machine. They've been to the future, the future you're trying to get to.
And if you'll ask them how they got there and humbly listen, they'll often tell you.
So you can find new soundtracks everywhere. The world is full of them. They can come from friends, from mentors, again, from content, from the Bible. And so I just, I actively go look for better soundtracks because I know that's how my brain works and I want to be the one who chooses them.
So get us started. What are some examples of healthy money soundtracks we might replace the broken ones with?
Well, you could say, I can do amazing things with money. I can do amazing things with money. You know, a simple one could be, I can make more money than my parents. Like you would be shocked how many people accidentally set the bar of their life on their parents' level of money, and that was one I had to struggle with. My dad's a pastor, my mom was a dental hygienist.
We weren't well off by any means, we weren't poor by any means either. I don't want to dramatize that, but as I became successful in my own career, I could feel myself pulling back from that. And so I had to really say, okay, I can make more money than my parents. Another one is, I am my biggest venture capitalist. What does that one mean?
It means I meet people all the time that say, I want to write a book or I want to start my own thing, but I got this day job that's in the way. And I always say, oh, that day job is paying for the dream. Be your own venture capitalist. Like connect those two things.
Now you've got a reason to give your all the day job because you see that money as helping you with the dream. And so that redeems the day job while you're redeeming the money. I know that's part of your story as well. We're going to have to have you back to talk about that. But you did that in your own life, didn't you?
100%. I, you know, I had a blog that God blessed and started to grow, and but there wasn't any money really. And so it would be easy for me to be grumpy and go, I got to go do this day job, and now I'm demonizing work. And instead, I said, you know what? You're only one person.
You don't get to half do your day job and think you'll hustle on the weekend.
So I had to say, I'm going to honor this day job. I'm going to lean into it. And that's going to benefit every part of my life. And so that's why I always encourage people that feel like they're stuck at a job, like be faithful to that. That's part of your mission field too.
And so, again, if you can change the thought, you'll watch the actions change and then the results will start to happen too. And I didn't, again, I didn't invent this. This is just you reap what you sow. I mean, the Bible is full of examples of this. Oh, that is so true.
Well, John, as we begin to wrap up today, I want you to finish by talking to that person in our listening audience who just feels stuck. What might you encourage them with today?
Well, I would say go at the pace that makes the most sense. The challenge is stuck people often think they have to change everything overnight. I meet people all the time, it'll say, I want to get in shape. And I'll go, great. And they'll go, yeah, I'm going to run a marathon.
And I'll go, well, have you ever run a half marathon? Have you ever run a 10K or a 5K? Even just a K. Because I want it to be sustainable change. And so if you feel stuck, I'd encourage you to do something different with 15 minutes of your day-to-day.
Just 15 minutes. You don't have to radically change everything. You don't have to try to read the Bible in a day. You don't have to try to, you know, get 10 new jobs tomorrow. What could you do with 15 minutes in the right direction?
And what would happen if you stacked that on another 15 minutes tomorrow and another 15 minutes tomorrow? I think those little efforts, I mean, we serve a mustard seed, God. We know that's true.
So, what could you do with your mustard seed? Incredible. John, so appreciate your time. This has been powerful. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for having me. That's John A. Cuff. So don't forget, folks, those repeated thoughts about money really do shape the way you handle it. To dig deeper, go to johnacuff.com.
That's john without thehacuff.com. We'll be right back. We're grateful for support from Movement Mortgage, who provides residential home loans in all 50 states. Guided by a mission to love and value people and a goal to redefine the mortgage process, Movement seeks to help others achieve their financial goals. You can find out more at movement.com/slash faith.
Movement Mortgage LLC supports equal housing opportunity, NMLS number 39179. For licensing information, please visit NMLSconsumerAccess.org. 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, multifund portfolio solutions, and money market accounts reflecting their 500-year-old Anabaptist Christian faith tradition.
More information is available at PraxisInvest.com. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. You know, my hope for you on this program each day is that you'd find encouragement and hope, but we'd also take you back to God's word so you could find practical help in your financial life rooted in biblical truth. We're going to do that as we tackle your questions today.
By the way, if you have a question, call right now at 800-525-7000. All right, Greg has been waiting very patiently in Indiana. Go ahead, sir. Yeah, Rod Sam. Had a question on the Medicare, the advanced plans.
I know they're cheaper up front, but if anything major happens, then you could be paying a lot out of pocket. Is that true? Uh yes.
So you know in terms of A Medigap supplement. I mean, you could go from Advantage back to original Medicare plus a Medigap if you're concerned about. That. I mean, are you thinking about making a change or what is the main issue at this point? What happened?
Like I say, it just worked because my wife is just now getting into it and trying to register and asking me. And she was trying to weigh the facts. And I said, that is true from what I knew. I am a sixty eight and healthy. I didn't know if there was a major issue to try to go back and considering if I said, oh, can I got a a a major uh surgery coming up.
Now I want to switch. That's not the reasoning. It's just She triggered it in me. When I started on it years ago, and just they just told me that advance is probably the best because I was younger. Yeah.
And didn't have any health issue. Yeah, good question. Yes, I mean so bottom line is you can switch, but only during the enrollment periods.
So that would be October 15th to December 7th open enrollment. And then you've got the advantage open enrollment where you can switch from one to another from January 1st to March 31st. You know, if you wanted to move into a Medigap, you would need to go through health underwriting unless you're in your initial enrollment period.
So, in terms of which is better, the advantage Is like an all-in-one plan. It combines everything: hospital, doctor, even sometimes dental vision and drug. The pros are the lower premium and the extras, the dental and the vision. The downside is the doctor networks are limited, higher out-of-pocket costs, and so it's best for people that are healthy.
So, you know, if you go to the Medigap, You know, that's going to be. Lower out-of-pocket costs, broader provider coverage, but certainly you're going to have the higher monthly premiums and it doesn't cover those extras.
So are you thinking you might want to switch from the advantage to the meta gap? Is that the issue? I was just Trying to kind of weigh the facts. I know in October or so they start sending me information emails. asking me if I want to stay with or change, and now is the time for the open enrollment.
Like you said, his son is there. I've already got that dental vision and everything, and it's been pretty value added, so I didn't know it sounds like I'm one that would have to. Then again, go get the dental on my own, go get vision on my own. I know. Yes, that's exactly right.
Well, the bottom line is you absolutely can do it. You'd drop the advantage, you'd return to original Medicare, and then you'd apply for the Medigap supplement. But you just need to know that, you know, apart from that initial enrollment period, which you're beyond, you are going to, you know, potentially face higher premiums, even a denial of coverage based on your health, because they're going to ask health questions and underwrite you accordingly. I hope that helps, my friend. I know it can be confusing.
Thanks for calling today. Let's go to Ohio. Hi, Estella. Thanks for calling. Go ahead.
Hello, how are you today? I'm doing great. Thank you. Great, great.
So I am coming up on my second year anniversary at work. I have not started investing in the company's 401k plan because I'm unsettled as to where the company is going to be investing the money. And so I know they'll be taking some of my earnings and joining it with the free money that they'll be giving me. But I don't know how to work around that because I don't believe in certain things. Yeah.
Yeah. No, I understand that. And increasingly with options now, believers are saying, as I deploy capital, and that's what you're doing. You're taking the capital that the Lord has entrusted to you through your paycheck and you're redirecting it into a tax-deferred investment account called a 401k. That's a part of the tax code.
And then that money, when it hits there, you're directing it into the menu of investment options that you have available to you. And you're saying, I don't want it to inadvertently go into an investment, a mutual fund, probably, that among those holdings are companies that violate my values as a Christ follower. And so, the first thing you need to do is look at what those menu of choices are. Because even though the company's matching your contributions, they don't get to pick the investments. You do.
And so, you'd want to look at what those menu of choices are and see: are there any of the faith-based investing fund families already in there? Because increasingly, these 401k plant administrators, as demand is rising, are adding these fund families to these 401ks. And it could be that you've got an Eventide or a Timothy or one of those fund families already in there. And you could choose that. If you don't, option B would be to put it in, they may have what's called a brokerage window, which is essentially where you put the money in the 401k.
And instead of choosing the menu of choices, you're able to use this quote unquote brokerage window to invest in any stock bond or mutual fund. And then you could choose one of the faith-based investing funds.
So here's what I would do. I would start contributing immediately. You could leave it in the money market until you make your selection, but I want you to get it going in there.
So we're starting to accrue some money. And then I want you to go download the free resource at faithandinvesting.com slash faithfy. That's faithandinvesting.com forward slash faith fi. That's going to give you a free resource with all the faith-based investing fund families on it. That we believe are vetted and would align with your values.
And then you can see if any of those mutual funds exist currently in your 401k. Does that make sense? Yes. It does. Thank you so very much.
I really appreciate that. It makes me a lot better. You're welcome, Estella. Thanks for calling today. God bless you.
We appreciate you being on the program. Let's go quickly to Muskegon, Michigan. John, go ahead. Yes, thanks. Yeah.
helping us with our finances. My question is what is the difference between a living trust and a will and which one is better? Yeah, it's not better or worse. They're just different.
So, a will is really important for everybody because it's going to make sure that your wishes with regard to your assets and your personal effects, and even a guardian if you have minors. Is named so that your wishes can be honored at death. The difference with the trust is why some people will use a trust. In addition to a will, is either A, they wanna try to pass their assets outside of probate, which can be expensive and time consuming. Maybe they have several pieces of real estate, they want their estate plans to be anonymous rather than public.
Uh, you know, those would be the main main reasons why you would have a living trust.
So, I think at the end of the day, you just need to talk through your specific situation with an estate attorney.
So, I would connect with somebody in your area, and if you don't have one, a CKA in Michigan could make that referral. John, I'm sorry we're out of time. I hope that brief information helps you, though. Thanks for calling today. We're so thankful to have you with us today.
I couldn't do this without my team, Jim Henry, Devin Patrick, Robert Youngblood, and the rest of the crew here at Faith Five. Have a wonderful day and come back and join us next time. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithBy and listeners like you.
