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When two faith-based credit unions unite, it's not just about growing bigger, it's about multiplying kingdom impact. Hi, I'm Rob West. We're talking about something that's a lot more than just a merger. It's about expanding services and supporting ministries worldwide. Aaron Cade joins us today to talk about the exciting merger of Christian Community Credit Union and Adelphi Credit Union.
And then we'll take your phone calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
Well, it's always a conversation that goes deeper than just the numbers when Aaron Cade is with us. He's Chief Marketing Officer at Christian Community Credit Union, a faith-based, not-for-profit financial institution and proud underwriter of this program. Aaron, great to have you back. We're so thrilled you're here today. Thank you, Rob.
I'm excited to be with you today and to share news of a joyous new season in our credit unions journey in service of the Lord.
Well, I've been looking forward to sharing this news. You and I have been talking about this for a few weeks, and so we're thrilled to be able to share it with our listeners. And that is the merger between Christian Community Credit Union and Adelphi. Give us the big picture. Why now?
And why is this such a big deal?
Well, this is really the culmination of almost a two-year project. Prayerful process. Both boards approved the merger. After thoughtful consideration, after much prayer, after seeking God's discernment, the goal is to create an even stronger Christ-centered credit union that can expand reach and increase kingdom impact. Adelphi has a sixty-year history of the faith-aligned banking, so our missions are naturally aligned.
And like CCCU, Adelphi has a strong commitment to giving back to Christian ministries and missions that are the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. What a vision and what an opportunity, Aaron. I know you and your team are so excited, and that's true at CCCU and at Delphi. Let's get practical for a second. How will this impact members?
Will they notice any big changes in their day to day banking? Yes and no, accounts and services will remain seamless during the transition.
However, members can expect enhanced digital tools, security, and member support. And greater lending capacity means more opportunities to serve individuals, ministries, and faith-based businesses. And our expanded product offerings will help meet a diverse set of member financial needs. Yeah. Let's get back to the Kingdom Impact, which I know is what we're so excited about.
In what ways will this merger, Aaron, allow CCCU to expand its mission and even deepen Kingdom Impact?
Well, this is what's so exciting about this step. Combining our resources allows us to give more generously and to support global ministry partners like Samaritan's Purse. the Tim Tebow Foundation, Mission Aviation Fellowship, and others. Together, we'll have even greater financial strength to support churches, mission sending agencies, and faith-based organizations. At the end of the day, it's not just banking, it's stewarding resources for eternal impact.
Aaron, I love that vision for Kingdom Impact. What about just the sheer size of putting CCCU and Adelphi together? It's significant, isn't it? It is. In terms of assets, we will be by far the largest Christian banking institution in the country with over $1.5 billion in assets.
Wow. Yeah, that's incredible. And then what about any particular expertise that Adelphi is bringing to the table as it merges into CCCU?
Well, Adelphi has really developed strong expertise and product set in serving Christian-owned businesses, and that nicely complements. The work that we've done to develop ministry relationships and develop products in service of ministry. And I know there's a lot of missionaries among their ranks at Adelphi as well, right? They have a real heart for serving missionaries. There's over 4,000 missionaries in the membership ranks.
They have strong connection with several mission sending agencies, and in fact, even directly support several missionaries who are serving abroad right now. That's incredible. All right, one last question. What about the practical side of this merger? Give us just a sense of the timeline and the remaining steps.
Well, this is a merger of equals.
However, because Adelphi members will be leaving federal insurance for CCCU's private insurance, they needed to approve. I'm happy to report that an overwhelming majority of Adelphi members voted to approve the merger back in July. And now, as of the official merger date, each and every one of their accounts will be insured up to $250,000. We've also recently received regulatory approval and will begin to operate as one credit union starting December 1st of this year. Members don't need to take any action at this time.
Services will continue without interruption, and we'll continue to keep everyone updated through email and on the merger hubs on both of our websites. Incredible.
Well, folks, what an opportunity for Kingdom Impact as CCCU and Adelphi come together. Aaron, great to have you with us. Folks, if you want to learn more, go to faithphy.com/slash banking. That's faithfi.com/slash banking. We chase money thinking it'll bring security.
We seek success hoping it'll satisfy. But the book of Ecclesiastes exposes this truth. Lasting contentment isn't found in what we own, but in a personal relationship with Wisdom Himself. Jesus. Faith Vi's study Wisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on Money will help you break free from empty pursuits and discover what truly lasts.
Purchase your copy today or place a bulk order at faithfy.com slash shop. Wondering who Faith and Finance recommends as a banking partner that aligns with Christian values? It's Christian Community Credit Union. When you open a high-yield checking, savings, or Visa cash back card, you'll help advance the gospel when making everyday transactions. Visit faithfy.com slash banking and use code FAITHFI when you sign up.
That's faithfy.com slash banking with code FAITHFI. Membership eligibility required. Each account is insured up to $250,000. This institution is not federally insured. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance.
We're taking your calls and questions today. The calls have already started coming in, but we've got room for you.
So if you want to call right now, just call 800-525-7000. We'd love to tackle as many questions as we can today and things going on in your financial life, helping you process those in light of biblical wisdom. 800-525-7000. Let's begin today in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Christian, go right ahead.
Uh yes, sir. I have about Somewhere in the neighborhood of around six hundred to six hundred and thirty to forty thousand that I'm looking to invest. At the moment, we probably have around twenty thousand dollars in debt. We We would like to pay off. And we'd also like to purchase a home within the next year.
And so just, I guess. you know, trying to decide whether to how much to put into retirement versus I guess just general advice: you know, down payment on a house, pay cash for a home, and just what's going to be most advantageous for our future. Yeah, it's a great question.
So, a couple of questions for you. One is: where is the $630,000 today? It would be in a savings account.
Okay, got it. And then do you have a a retirement plan available to you? At the moment, we don't have have one.
Okay. Are you a self-employed? Do you have your own business or do you work for someone? Um I work for for someone.
Okay. And do you my wife and I were going to continue to work? My wife and I, we plan on continuing to work for the next 15 to 20 years, and we're both 35 years old.
Okay. And you're both W-2 employees. Correct.
Okay. And so do you have any reason to believe that either of your employers will add a retirement account in the future? Yes, I think it's possible. Yes. We're both newer to our positions.
Within you know, with new companies. And so I think that may be an option for us in the future going forward. And I've got a couple of appointments set up to meet with some financial advisors. Um in our area. Got it.
Yep. That's really good because getting as much money in a tax-deferred environment as possible. Is really key. And, you know, when you don't have a small business, you lose some of those options like a SEP IRA or a solo 401k. And so, you know, hopefully, as these companies grow just to retain and attract good talent, they'll add a retirement option, which is going to give you more retirement contribution limit because you're going to bump up against those IRA limits.
You know, under the age of 50, you're only going to be able to put in $7,000 a year. You and your spouse could each do that. But apart from that, really, if you don't have a small business and you don't have access to any other tools, it's really going to be limited to probably an insurance product in terms of getting that into a tax-deferred environment. I think as to how to think about the $630,000, because obviously you've amassed quite a bit of a nest egg, even though it's all in a taxable environment, I think we need to carve off. First of all, you know, no reason with that kind of.
Nest egg for you to have any kind of high-interest consumer debt.
So I think knocking that out immediately makes a lot of sense. Beyond that, you'd probably want to set aside into another account, you know, three to six months of emergency funds or whatever you decide you want. But that I would pull out from the savings account. And then the extent to which you're looking to buy a house, how far off is that? And have you guys begun to think and talk about how much you'd be spending on that purchase, roughly?
Yeah, we would like to stay around. three fifty and we're just you know want some kind of modest But we were thinking about putting around 200 down. And I I don't know if it's going to be better to put more into retirement or investments. Or, you know, go ahead and paste. Yeah, yeah.
It's a good question. I mean, you guys are young. You've got time on your side. And so I'd love to get this into a tax-deferred environment. I mean, I realize it makes more sense now than it did.
Several years ago, to just go ahead and pay for that cash, pay cash for that house just because of where interest rates are.
So, in order to cover a 7% interest rate on your mortgage, after tax, you're going to have to earn quite a bit more than that, maybe eight, eight and a quarter, so you can pay the tax and then have seven left. And so, you know, from that standpoint, it would make sense for you just to go ahead and own that home free and clear, especially if that's one of your goals. And if you guys are looking to retire early, being as debt-free is obviously going to make your lifestyle expenses much less, and it would keep you in a position where it sounds like you've had quite a bit of surplus, and that would allow you to continue to fund some of these retirement accounts. Not to mention, if that's a priority or a conviction for you to be debt-free, I would say go for it. Obviously, as these interest rates come down, that's where we start to see: okay, maybe we can outpace the rate of interest with our investment earnings over time.
at least with the stock portion of our investments, where we can have that compounding effect. And then by starting with a really nice, healthy down payment where maybe you only owe 30% in terms of loan to value, that seems like something very reasonable to get paid off in the next 20 years, if not sooner. And so I think you could kind of split the difference there where you're not using up all of your liquid capital, which allows you to go ahead and get a good chunk of it invested. But it also, by putting a couple of hundred thousand toward this $350,000 home. Not only does it put you in a position to pay it off, but it also keeps your mortgage really modest.
And so it could fit nicely in your budget where you've still got plenty of margin, you're giving, you're saving, all of those other priorities.
So I kind of like the direction you were headed with the 200,000 down payment. Apart from you telling me you or your wife or the two of you really just have a real conviction to be debt-free. And if you did, I'd say go for it and don't look back. In terms of the options for getting that into a retirement account, I'd really stress with your employer to the extent you have this influence to get an account set up, some sort of retirement option sooner rather than later, even if it was something like a simple IRA, which is very easy to administer, not nearly as complex as a 401k. But you're going to want to look for ways to get money in a tax-deferred environment, which today is just going to be that Roth IRA for each you and your wife.
And then you could look at some insurance products, you know, like a whole life insurance or an annuity. Typically, not my first choice. But again, you kind of have limited options here, just given that you're a W-2 employee without a retirement plan at work. Does that make sense? It does.
And so we should both be maxing out our the Roth So it would be 14,000 a year.
So just max that out. before we Do any more retirement? Absolutely. I would start with that Roth IRA and each fully max out what you've got there in order to put as much away as you can.
Okay. I definitely appreciate the advice. Absolutely, Christian. Thanks for your call today. Lord bless you.
By the way, if you want to connect with an advisor to do some planning and perhaps with whatever's left, even in a taxable environment, to help you perhaps give oversight to the investments, you can connect with a Certified Kingdom Advisor there in Chattanooga. There's some good ones. Just go to faithfi.com, click find a professional. That's faithfi.com. Thanks for your call today.
This is Faith and Finance. We still got a lot more to go.
Some great questions. I love when folks just want to be faithful. You know, we recognize the Lord has given us so much. He's given us, first of all, salvation when we place our trust in Jesus and surrender our lives to Him, accept the free gift of eternal life, and we're restored to a right relationship with Him. That's our abundance.
And then beyond that, we have the promises of God that He'll never leave us or forsake us and that He'll provide for us. You know, it's not the government, it's not your employer, it's God as our provider. Even the ability to create wealth comes from God. Himself and then we're entrusted with money, financial resources, which are a good gift from God, and we're to use those to serve the Lord, including through our generosity. But the key is to balance all that in light of scripture.
We'll be right back with much more. Stay with us. We are grateful for support from Timothy Plan. Since 1994, Timothy Plan has shared good news with investors and advisors by offering faith-honoring mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. More information is at TimothyPlan.com.
The investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses are contained in the prospectus and summary prospectus available at timothyplan.com. Mutual funds distributed by Timothy Partners Limited and ETFs distributed by Forside Funds Services LLC. Investing involves risks, including possible loss of principal. Faith in Finance is grateful for support from Sound Mind Investing. For more than 30 years, they've offered financial wisdom for living well.
SMI provides step-by-step guidance for do-it-yourself investors. from those just getting started to those getting ready for retirement. More information, including a short video webinar on profit and peace of mind no matter what's happening in the market, is available at soundmindinvesting.org. Hey, thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. Taking your calls and questions, we do have some lines open: 800-525-7,000.
We're going to head right back to the phones here in a moment. But first, in the news today, the U.S. Treasury and IRS released proposed regulations, not final, clarifying details of President Trump's new no-tax on tips deduction.
So, this was enacted in July and allows eligible workers to deduct up to $25,000 in qualified tips per year. This is from 2025 to 2028 only, at least in the current legislation, and the benefit phases out once income exceeds $150,000.
Now, there's been some questions about which jobs qualify. The Treasury previously identified 68 occupations that customarily and regularly receive tips, although they excluded some. Service, specified service trade or businesses like healthcare, law, financial services, and the performing arts. They also clarified that automatic gratuities, those that are not given voluntarily, like if you're in a large party at a restaurant where they require it over a certain number of guests, that would not qualify for the no tax on tips. The deduction, again, caps out at $25,000 per return, and that's regardless of your filing status.
And basically, what they're saying is about 4 million Americans worked in these tipped occupations in 2023 and 24. It's about 2.5% of the labor force. Treasury officials acknowledge the rules are complex. They will release final guidance after the public comment period, but it is expected to provide significant relief to many service workers, and we'll certainly keep an eye on it in the days ahead. All right, let's head back to the phones.
Again, lines are open, 800-525-7000 to Florida. Hi, Woody. Go ahead. Hi Rob, thanks for taking my call. My question will probably be quick and easy for you.
So that's why I'm calling, is to get your guidance. an instruction I'm Convicted over that parable. Where the servant was given ten talents and took it to the money changers. and brought back ten talents To his master, and then the other five talents, and then the other one talent. And then the one with the one talent hid his money, and he was the wicked servant.
I've been convicted over this, and I'm trying to learn. Coming from a family where I received no financial education, I'm trying to learn how to invest my money. And I'm at a point now where I have a little bit of money, less than 10,000, but I would like to learn to invest.
So I've been watching YouTube videos. I've been trying my best to get educated on how to invest in stocks and funds And you know, the markets So what my question is this. What can you recommend for me as far as resources, websites, or books? That would help me gain my education with investing. And I'm thinking, for example, This week, I watched a YouTube video on a stock labeled QDTE, which was.
Getting attention because it paid out a large dividend. And I had no idea how to learn anything about this. Q D T E stock.
So For example, maybe finviz.com. is a website that offers for pay some stock backgrounds and such, but honestly, I don't know if they're legit or good. What about marketwatch dot com? You know, there are so many resources Which ones do you recommend? Yeah.
Well, it's a great question, and I love that you really want to be educated on this. I think that's the right starting point. Let me send you a book that could be a great beginning point. It's called the Sound Mind Investing Handbook. And it really, I mean, that handbook piece of it is meant to be, you know, something that is for learners.
It is an educational tool, but sound mind investing because it comes from a biblical perspective.
So, while you're getting a lot of the blocking and tackling the mechanics of investing that I think will be an important foundation for you, you can trust that it's through the lens of biblical wisdom.
So, I'll send you that. That'd be a great starting point. The organization behind it is a longtime underwriter of this program, soundmindinvesting.org. You could check that out as well. The Sound Mind Investing newsletter not only has great content, but they actually will provide investment recommendations.
So, they have a couple of different mutual fund strategies where every Month in the Soundmind Investing newsletter, which is available electronically and in print, you know, they will give you, based on your investment approach, the actual investments, the mutual funds you should own, and the tickers, and then when it's time to swap them out.
So, for a beginning kind of DIY investor, which is a great place to begin, you know, if you're just getting started, you know, that would be a real trusted source of wisdom and counsel, but also some very actionable investment recommendations as well.
So, let me send you this handbook. I think that'll get you going. If you became a Soundmind Investing newsletter subscriber, that would give you further education, but also those actual mutual fund recommendations, which could be great. And I think that will get you pointed in the right direction. You also may want to learn, and we're going to roll out a new, we're launching the newfaithfy.com here in the next couple of weeks.
And one of the portals or one of the pages that will be on our new site is a new kind of Of front door to faith-based investing where you're going to be able to read about not only what is investing and what is a mutual fund and an ETF, and how do you create a diversified portfolio and what's the right mix of investments. But in the last five years, Woody, this whole area of faith-based investing where the actual companies or holdings in a fund are screened to make sure they're not misaligned with someone who holds to Christian values, that whole area is just really exploding. And it's an exciting time to be an investor in a way that is aligned with your values. And so, we're going to create kind of an educational portal for you to not only learn about faith-based investing, but then how do you find those asset managers that actually are creating investment solutions like ETFs and mutual funds that also have that faith screen?
So, that you're not investing in things that you don't agree with inadvertently, perhaps without even knowing it.
So, you stay on the line. I'm going to get your information. As our gift, we're going to send you the Soundmind Investing Handbook, and I think that'll get you pointed in the right direction. Thanks for your call. 800-525-7000.
Let's see, we're going to go to Tamarack, Florida. Barbara, go right ahead. Hi, I was going to be applying for Social Security, and I wanted to know: is it the best way to apply for it up online? Go in. To the office, or I can do it by phone, but I want to do it online.
Is it okay to do it online? Yeah, so there's an online application. And so, yeah, I would just, it's convenient. You can do it in 15 minutes or less. And it's the way a lot of folks do that.
You just go to the SSA.gov website and you navigate the benefits application section. I like that a lot. I mean, you can do it in person or over the phone. But I think going through the SSA.gov website is a great way to go. Oh, okay.
Thank you very much. All right. You're very welcome. Thanks for your call today. Well, folks, thanks for being along with us today.
Big thanks to my team today. We're grateful for Sandy and Jim and Devin. Couldn't do it without them. Have a wonderful weekend, and we'll see you next week. Lord bless you.
Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithFy and listeners like you.
