This Faith and Finance podcast is underwritten in part by The Good Investor, a book by Robin John. This Faith and Work memoir hopes to inspire readers to view their work and investments as opportunities to honor God and bring blessing to the world. You can learn more now at goodinvestor.com. That's goodinvestor.com. It's one of the clearest signs that God has changed your heart.
Generosity. Hi, I'm Rob West. The Bible tells us that giving isn't just about money. It's about reflecting the heart of the giver himself. Today we'll hear what godly men and women throughout history have said about generosity and how their words still inspire us to give with joy today.
And then we'll take your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.
Well, the Bible paints a rich picture of generosity, one that reaches far beyond money. Jesus told his followers, whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise. In other words, generosity begins with compassion, a willingness to meet the needs right in front of us. The Apostle Paul builds on that idea, reminding us that true giving flows from the heart. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
And Psalm 112 ties generosity to righteousness itself, showing that it's not just something we do, it's a reflection of who we are when our hearts are aligned with God's character. That truth has inspired countless believers throughout history to think deeply about what it means to live open-handed before God. Here are 10 timeless quotes on generosity that remind us why giving is central to a life of faith. CS Lewis, the beloved author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screw Tape Letters, answered the question, How much should I give? with this response I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give.
I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. John Wesley, the eighteenth century preacher and founder of Methodism, offered this memorable encouragement Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. Generosity transforms ordinary possessions into eternal blessings. A. W.
Tozer, a twentieth century American pastor and theologian, explained it this way. Any temporal possession can be turned into everlasting wealth. Whatever is given to Christ is immediately touched with immortality. We know that everything we have belongs to God, and He calls us to use what He provides to bless others. Evangelist Billy Graham emphasized the link between our view of money and our relationship with God, saying, Tell me what you think about money, and I will tell you what you think about God.
For these two are closely related. A man's heart is closer to his wallet than anything else.
Well, what about our motives for giving? Author and theologian Evelyn Underhill reminds us that generosity begins in worship. The spirit of adoration is the spirit of generosity, for worship is giving. Randy Alcorn, the author of The Treasure Principle, explains how giving reshapes our priorities. Giving affirms Christ's lordship.
It dethrones me and exalts Him. Generosity flows from a heart transformed by God's love. S. Augustine of Hippo, a fourth century theologian, described giving, what he called charity, as a virtue that connects us to God. Charity is a virtue which, when our affections are perfectly ordered, unites us to God, for by it we love Him.
Irish missionary and writer Amy Carmichael beautifully captured the link between love and generosity, saying, You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Early church believer S. Paula of Rome, a wealthy widow who gave away her fortune to serve the poor and support the translation of Scripture, understood generosity as a path to deeper fellowship with Christ. She said, The more we give to Christ, the more we possess Him. Finally, Jesus himself summed up the heart of generosity when he sent out his disciples with these words.
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received. You know, when we give, we reflect the heart of the giver. Generosity isn't measured by the size of the gift, but by the surrender of our hearts. Every time we open our hands we echo the love of Christ, the one who gave everything for us.
At Faith Phi, we love helping you live that out. Integrating your faith and finances for the glory of God. That's what each issue of our Faithful Stewart magazine is all about. Encouraging you to live wisely, give generously, and seek God as your ultimate treasure. You'll receive four issues as well as our brand new devotional Our Ultimate Treasure releasing early next year when you become a Faith Phi partner by December 31st.
Learn more at faithfi.com/slash partner. That's faithfi.com/slash partner. All right, your calls are next. Stick around. If you love what you hear on this program, there's even more waiting for you at FaithFi.com.
Explore podcasts, videos, articles, Bible studies, and devotionals, all designed to help you see God as your ultimate treasure and money as a tool to advance his kingdom. Pursue wisdom, practice generosity, and steward God's resources in a community with others who share your faith. Visit FaithFi.com to take the next step in your faith and financial journey today. That's faithfi.com. 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 FAITHFY 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. Yes. Oh.
Well, each day we gather together on this program to make much of God and to talk about our role in managing his resources. We're stewards, you and I. We don't own anything, God owns everything, and that's a game changer in terms of our money management. Our goal: well done, good and faithful servant. Faithful management of God's resources over a lifetime.
Now, we're all going to make mistakes along the way, and we put that at the foot of the cross. God is in the business of restoration, but we surrender, we hold it loosely. And yes, we choose contentment. We find contentment in Christ, not money. And when we do, when He is our ultimate treasure, well, we live within His provision.
It doesn't mean we don't try to get a raise and improve our situation and earn a little bit more. Because remember, part of God's design for the money He's entrusted to us is our enjoyment. That's not a bad thing. This is not about necessarily choosing to go without, it's really understanding that it's. It's the glorification of God, bringing God glory through our money management is our ultimate goal.
And wow, what a powerful opportunity we have when we give to the causes on the heart of God, when we invest strategically to promote human flourishing and to create a virtuous cycle of economic expansion and flourishing and giving back to the Lord that created all of us. That's the big picture we want to paint each day and encourage you in as you join us on this broadcast. And so let's do that together. And we'd love to hear from you with your questions today, anything going on in your financial life, whether it's how do I give wisely? By the way, one of the best ways to give effectively is through a donor advised fund.
If you don't have one or you don't know what it is, think of it like a charitable checking account. As soon as the money hits that charitable checking account, you've given it away. You get an immediate tax deduction. And by the way, you don't just have to put cash in it. You could put stocks that have appreciated.
You could put real estate, a piece of business, piece of art. Livestock, you name it, it can go into the donor-advised fund and then it can be sold in there without generating any capital gains on the appreciation. And then you can gift it out. You make grants, and your donor-advised fund sponsor then sends the check.
Well, we recommend the National Christian Foundation. You can open what they call a giving fund in less than three minutes. Just go to faithfi.com/slash NCF. By the way, National Christian Foundation is the oldest and biggest in this space, founded by, among others, Ron Blue, Larry Briquette. Know those names?
They started it. And more than $21 billion has flowed through there to churches and tens of thousands of Christian ministries. It's amazing.
So consider opening your giving fund, basically a donor-advised fund here before the end of the year. Just head to faithfi.com/slash NCF. All right, we're going to begin taking those calls and questions today. We do have some lines open.
So if you've got a question, you want to talk about paying off debt. Giving wisely, investing for the future. What about gold? It's kind of running crazy right now. Should you have an allocation of gold in your portfolio?
Any of those questions and more: 800-525-7,000. That's 800-525-7,000. All right, let's dive in. Louisiana is where we're starting today. Regina, how can I help you?
Really? Um, yes. I was calling because I am trying to work with an attorney right now, and I've actually this is the second one. I'm redoing my will. And I want my daughter to have my house when I pass away.
Um and she's on SSDOd. What do you recommend for me to do? Because I keep getting different opinions as to what to do from these attorneys. And I'm just not sure. It's like they're not both saying the same things.
We're talking about a trust, but I want to hear what you have to say because I love listening to y'all.
Well, thank you. And let me just start by saying I'm not an attorney, but I would love to talk you through kind of how most people think about this.
So, what you want to try to avoid is putting the house in your child's name now. That could hurt more than help, both for taxes and the child's benefits.
So it's usually better to keep it in your name and then let them inherit it later. Why?
Well, first of all, there's a loss in what's called the step-up in basis.
So if she inherits the house after you pass, she gets a step-up in the cost basis to the home's current market value. That means when she sells, she'll likely owe little or no capital gains. Or only on the appreciation from the point of your passing and the current market value to whatever she sells it four years later. If you gift it now, her basis is your original purchase price, which could create a large taxable gain later. Second, let's talk about the impact on SSDI, Social Security disability.
Ownership doesn't affect those benefits. SSDI is based on work history, not assets.
Now, if she's ever on SSI, a supplemental security income or Medicaid, well, then yes, owning property can disqualify her from benefits, but not SSDI. All right. And then the third issue is the control and the flexibility. Once the home is in her name, you lose control. And if she faced a legal or a financial or some other challenge, the home could be exposed.
So what is the better option?
Well, the better option is either a revocable living trust, and it sounds like that's what's being suggested to you, where you keep control during your life and then pass the house smoothly to her without probate, but also with that step up in basis. Depending on your state, I don't know right offhand if Louisiana allows this, but a TOD deed is another option in some states where you can name her as the beneficiary, and then she automatically receives it upon your passing and keeps that step up in basis, no probate. And then the third would be if she receives SSI, supplemental security income, or Medicaid now, or she might in the future a special needs trust. Could protect her government benefits and allow her to hang on to the property. And so that would be where you'd want to go if that's potentially going to be the case in the future.
So is that helpful though, Regina? Yes, and I just have one more question concerning the house. I owe like seven years left on it, and I wondered, should I pay it off now? Or Just I mean, my interest rate is three point seven five. Yeah.
Where is the money right now that you would use to pay it off? In a Sagan's account.
Okay. Yeah. Um like about forty thousand. 40,000 in savings. What do you owe on the house?
Right around forty thousand.
Okay. And you don't have any other liquid assets? Um yes, I do.
Okay, what are they? Investments? Yes. Okay, and you have quite a bit there? Um yeah.
Okay. Yeah, I mean, I don't want you to be without liquid emergency funds.
So if you say I have 40,000 savings and I can pay off the house for 40,000, I wouldn't do that. Number one, the interest rate is low. Number two, it would deplete all of your liquid savings.
Now you could say, well, but then I'll have the mortgage payment every month, or at least the tax, you know, what was the principal and interest that I could put into savings, and that's true. But you'd only have that if you pay it off in full. And if you deplete everything, that's just not a good situation.
So I would probably keep paying on it until you can save a bit more so that when you pay it off, you've still got at least one month's expenses, and then you can rebuild it with the mortgage payment you're no longer making. And then if you have plenty of other assets, that's great because that will continue to provide you income. And I love the idea of you owning your home outright. I just wouldn't do it now if it's going to deplete all of your liquid reserves.
Okay, alrighty. Thank you so much. I appreciate your help and thank y'all for being there to help everybody. Delighted to do it, Regina. Hang on the line.
I'm going to send you a gift, a copy of our latest edition of Faithful Stewart, our magazine. I think you'll enjoy it. Thanks for calling today. Lord bless you. Hey, much more to come just around the corner.
We're just getting cranked up here. We still have a whole nother segment left and some great calls coming up just around the corner. We'll get to those here right after this break. If you want to download the FaithFi app, do that on our website, faithfi.com. We'll be right back.
Faith in Finance is thankful for support from The Good Investor, a book by Robin John. In his book, Robin shares his journey from an immigrant child struggling in school to co-founder and CEO of Eventide Asset Management, a faith-based investment firm. This Faith and Work memoir seeks to inspire readers to view their work and investments as opportunities to honor God and bring blessing to the world. More information is available at goodinvestor.com. That's goodinvestor.com.
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Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions here. We've got room for you. Call right now: 800-525-7000.
Again, that's 800-525-7000. Let's head to Texas. Janie, thanks for calling. Go ahead. This is Janie, and I am wanting to ask How should I advise my granddaughter instead of her saving her cash in an envelope or just having it in the bank?
to invest? What's a good company to start investing with where they don't ask you a lot of money for? And as being conservative you know, uh wanna make sure we choose a good company. Yes. Yeah.
Very good. Yeah, I love this. First of all, Janie, that you're thinking about getting her started early and learning the power of compound growth. I think one key is to really think about the money that she's accumulated in buckets.
So we might think about this as spend, give, invest. Because whatever we invest or she invests with your help, you're going to want to take a long-term approach. Because what we don't want to reinforce is the idea that she would jump in and jump out and try to make a quick gain, is that really this is about investing is about the long-term.
Now, it'd be fun for her to get into the investment and learn about it, whether it's an individual stock by using fractional shares, a company that she knows and maybe even likes. or through just a broadly diversified exchange traded fund that she can watch and have some fun just getting to know the companies that are in it. But we want her to stay with it for the long haul. And so that's why carving out the portion of the savings that's really for short-term spending, even if it's not right now, in the next, let's say, six months, and the portion that she would want to give away, we wouldn't want to tie up all of her money. And then she's got something that she wants to buy and she's having to sell it.
A loss or something like that.
Now, with that portion that she wants to invest, then we've got to decide: okay, what type of account do we want to open? And if she's not working yet, then that's going to be a taxable brokerage account. It could be a custodial account, so you could open it for her, but ultimately it's for her benefit. And then it becomes her asset at the age of majority, 18, but you would have control over it until then. Or you could just open an account in your name, but earmark it for her with her money.
And everybody knows it's for her, but you would control it. And then you would be able to determine, not based on her age, but based on when you think she's ready, you could control when you turn it over to her down the road. But that's the first question. We've got to decide what type of account and how much money. And then the next step is to decide: okay, what investment are we buying?
And that's where You've got to decide, you know, do you want to let her kind of pick the companies based on companies she knows that she could research? And, you know, she could understand this idea that I'm a very small but very real owner of these companies that I'm buying. And a good app for that is called Stockpile. It allows kids and teens to start investing with as little as $5 and they buy fractional shares. And then you again would act as the guardian because it would be a custodial account.
And she could have some fun picking those investments. It doesn't teach diversification because she's going to have all of her eggs in one or two baskets, but it's something that kids understand because they're like, wait a minute, I go to XYZ company or I like their products. And so I'm going to be an investor in it. And that's the idea behind stockpile.
Now, if you would rather her just buy an exchange traded fund that's like a basket of stocks where she may not know the companies, but it's the idea that we just want to get her started and we want to make this something she could continue to use.
Well, that's probably where you'd open an account at Charles Schwab or Fidelity. And then you've got unlimited investment options. And you could even use an exchange traded fund from one of the faith-based investors. Companies that we talk about on this program all the time, like Crossmark and Eventide and One Ascent and Timothy and Praxis and those types of companies.
So I've thrown a lot at you there. Give me your thoughts on all this. Yeah. Well, I appreciate all that information. I've been writing, taking notes right now.
And I forgot to mention to you she's already 19.
Okay. Okay. That's good. Yeah, I was thinking this was an elementary age child.
So, yeah, is she working or is she in college? What is she doing? She's in college.
Okay, so she doesn't have a job. No, she still helps take care of the little one when the little one comes home. She's doing online college. Yeah, cool. Yeah.
All right. Well, as soon as she starts working, she could start putting money in a Roth IRA. And if she started a Roth at 19, where you put in after-tax money and then it grows tax-free for the next 45 years, that would be incredible. I mean, that is the most powerful tool, but she has to have earned income from like wages or self-employment or something like that. But apart from that, she's old enough now where, you know, she doesn't need to use something like stockpile to buy fractional shares.
She wants to do some serious investing. I think, you know, that's where she could use what's called the Schwab Intelligent portfolios. That would be a really simple, low-cost way for her to get a nice, diversified strategy that's very low-cost, very easy to set up.
So let me give you two options: Schwab Intelligent Portfolios or Betterment. Either one of those, I think, would be a great place for. Her to go next. Awesome. Thank you very much.
I greatly appreciate this. Absolutely, Janie. All the best to you. You sound like a fabulous grandmother, and we're grateful for your call today. Lord bless you.
You know, folks, one of the things I've wanted for a long time is these robo-advisors make investing really simple because you go in, open the account, you answer some questions, and then it uses an algorithm. And this is for just investors who have, let's say, less than $75,000. And basically, it builds a low-cost, automated portfolio for you. And then as you make contributions, it just automatically reinvests it and it's constantly rebalancing it. It's really powerful technology.
But there's not one in that's a robo-advisor that only uses faith-based investments. And a growing number of our audience want to make sure that their investments are aligned with their Christian values.
Well, that's all changing. I can't tell you the name yet. I'm going to be testing what's called the alpha version of it. It's a smartphone app. And then it's going to be in beta by the end of the year.
And then early next year, it's going to be out if everything goes according to plan. And we're going to have the first Robo-Advisor for faith-based investments, where it uses exchange-traded funds. There'll be five model portfolios, but the only ETFs it uses are from the faith-based investing providers that we know and love in this space. There's about 15 of them, and it's going to be amazing. And so I'm really excited about it.
You'll, of course, hear a lot more about that in the days ahead. Folks, we're so glad to have you along with us today. We covered a lot of ground, but always look forward to being invited into your stories and taking you back to God's Word and helping you consider your financial decisions in light of sound biblical wisdom. I hope you have a great week. Let me say thanks to my team today.
Certainly couldn't do this without them. Jim Henry, Devin Patrick, and Robert Youngblood handling our phones today. Here at Faith and Finance, we want to bring you God's wisdom for managing your financial decisions. You can learn more and listen to our broadcast archives when you head to faithby.com. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you, and we'll see you next time.
Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you. I'm going to use the same method for the first time.
