What if managing your money could actually draw you closer to God? The FaithFi app helps you do more than budget. It helps you integrate your faith and financial decisions for the glory of God. With easy-to-use envelope features, top biblical financial content, and a supportive in-app community, you'll learn to steward God's resources wisely and grow in generosity. Download the FaithFi app today from your app store or visit FaithFi.com and click App.
Um It's only day two of the new year. How are those resolutions holding up? Hi, I'm Rob West. Most of them fade long before Groundhog Day, and often what we really need is a bit of accountability. Thankfully, there's a tool that can help.
Chad Clark joins us today to tell you about it. Then it's onto your phone calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7,000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
Well, there's no better way to kick off a new year on the program than with Chad Clark joining us today. He serves as Chief Technology Officer here at FaithFi, and we're delighted to have him in the studio. Chad, happy new year! Yeah, happy new year to you too. Here's to a great 2026.
It's amazing to think that it's already here. And Chad, as is so often the case during a new year, many people are busy setting new year's resolutions, whether it's for losing weight or eating healthier. But one thing many people want to reset in the new year here is, of course, their budget. That's right. This is the time of year people tend to either refresh or restart their budgets.
Now, here at FaithFi, we have a team of developers that you lead that have developed budgeting software that helps people manage their money. We've been doing that for years.
So, what have you learned from all of these years of experience in this area?
Well, I think one of the things I've learned is that I'm still learning. But an observation I've noticed over the years is how critically important our perspective is when it comes to creating and sticking to a budget. As you know, many people view a budget similar to a diet. It's something we know we need to do, but sometimes it's just easier not to do it.
Well, let's unpack that a bit.
So, how does our perspective then play into our ability to budget?
Well, from my experience, the single most important factor I've found to help people follow through with their budget is they've defined why they're doing it. That's very different than knowing what you're trying to do. You may want to get out of debt or save more or even be more generous. But if you don't have a clear understanding of why, you'll likely not stick with it. That's really helpful.
We need to, of course, start with the why. And as believers, what should our why be?
Well, I think it's important for us to work out our own why statements, but hopefully we can look to scripture and determine what that looks like. When we look at scripture, we see that God is the owner of everything, and our role is to steward or manage what he's entrusted to us. And I think understanding this first-level concept plays an important part in answering the why question. Yeah, this is the central idea of our money management, that God is the owner of everything. We see that clearly in Psalm 24, 1.
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it.
So then, Chad, why is it important for us to start with God as owner as we think about our budgeting and money management?
Well, I think that that's a critical place for us to start because when we recognize God's ownership, it helps clarify our role as stewards or managers. You see, if we see ourselves as the owner, we get to do whatever we want. If we view God as the owner, then our role as a steward changes. But I think that the type of owner we believe God to be is really important. For instance, in a business, you can have a passive or an active ownership structure.
Passive owners turn the management responsibilities over to the managers and aren't involved in the day-to-day decisions. I think this is how we tend to view God when we refer to him as an owner. At least that's the way I used to view him. Yeah, this would be like you managing a coffee shop that someone else owns, but the owner isn't involved at all. He simply gave you the keys and said, good luck.
Yeah, I think so. And again, in this kind of structure, it seems as if we are the owners in many ways because we get to make all the decisions. We're not really consulting with the owner. We're the manager/slash owner of the coffee shop. And I think that that greatly influences the way that we make money decisions.
So, then compare and contrast that with an active owner. Yeah.
So, active owners, on the other hand, work closely with the managers to help them with decisions. And I believe the Holy Spirit wants to be an active owner of our finances. God's entrusted us with His money, and He's willing to help guide us and direct us when we seek His help. This takes a big burden off of us from having to figure out things all on our own. This is so helpful, Chad, and perhaps a different idea than we've considered in the past as we think about our role as a steward and God is the owner.
When we come back after the break, we're going to talk about the implications of God being an active owner as we manage money. We'll talk about how all of this relates to budgeting and how the Faith Vi app can help you in your stewardship journey. If one of your new year's resolutions To get your budget back on track, we're here to help. Chad Clark, Chief Technology Officer here at FaithFi, is with us today. We'll be right back.
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, and grow in wise stewardship. You'll learn to see money not as your security, but as a tool for God's glory.
Rooted in biblical principles, FaithPhi equips you to trust God more fully and steward His resources faithfully. Download the Faithfy app today from your app store or visit FaithFy.com and click App. 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, multi-fund portfolio solutions, and money market accounts, reflecting their 500-year-old Anabaptist Christian faith tradition.
More information is available at PraxisInvest.com. Yeah.
Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance as we step into day two of the new year.
Now, I'm sure many of you are still thinking about your resolutions and how to get 2026 moving in the right direction. And I'm sure at least some of you, perhaps a majority of you, are thinking about that as it relates to your finances. How do you get back on track with your money?
Well, with God's money. And we know that budgeting is a part of that. Chad Clark joins us today to talk about how you can do that. But he said before the break that perspective is everything. And we started with this central idea as stewards, recognizing that God is the owner of everything.
Chad, you introduced a concept to us around God's ownership in terms of determining whether God is more like an active or a passive owner.
So, why don't you frame that back up for us? Yeah, I think that understanding kind of God's role as an owner helps influence the way that we steward his resources. A passive owner is somebody who isn't actively involved in the day-to-day decisions, whereas an active owner actually wants to participate, that wants to help and be involved in those daily financial decisions. And I think that's really important when we think about God as an owner to understand: is he a passive or an active owner in our financial decisions? That's exactly right.
And we shared this analogy. It's kind of like managing a coffee shop that someone else owns, and a passive owner would simply say, here are the keys, good luck, and then walk away. But an active owner would handle that differently.
So, continuing our coffee shop analogy, when we look at an active owner, it would be like the owner handing you the keys and saying, call me anytime. You need help. I'm here for you. You don't need to go this alone. Yeah, I think so.
And I think, like we said before, I believe the Holy Spirit wants to be that active. Owner who is helping us. Like he is the helper if we're willing to reach out and contact him, just like the coffee shop owner. He's not overbearing, but he's there and available for when you need him. And so we just recognize God's role as an active owner that we can go to, that we can bring our struggles, that we can bring our opportunities to, and trust that he will give us some clarity and direction on how we're to proceed with managing his resources.
Right now, at the core of our discussion today is budgeting, getting on track and managing God's money wisely.
So how does all of this that we've been discussing relate to budgeting?
Well, I think that, again, we go back to this idea: if God is a passive owner, I don't think he really wants to be involved in my decisions. I might be tempted to think I can do whatever I want, although one day we will ultimately give an account. Or I might feel this heavy burden of having to make decisions on my own and I'm left having to guess what the owner expects me to do.
However, if I view God as an active owner, I may view my role as a manager differently. I know that I can go to him in confidence, knowing he wants to help. And our relationship to the owner directly impacts our role as a steward. But I think the key idea when it comes to budgeting is to understand our role as a steward of God's resources. Yeah, so the budget is a tool that helps us wisely manage the king's resources on a practical level.
Day to day. It is. And I think this goes back to what we were talking about originally, which is defining why you have a budget. If you see God as an active owner of your finances, the answer to why you have a budget is because you take the role of stewarding the king's resources seriously. You desire to glorify God in your financial decisions, and a budget simply becomes a tool to do this.
It's a means to an end, not an end in and of itself, which is, I think, a lot of people tend to view a budget of I just need to set up a budget. But if you don't understand that that's just a tool as part of your stewardship role, you're going to miss the boat. You're going to probably not be successful in budgeting because you haven't clearly identified your why. Right.
So it starts with the why.
Now we understand why we're doing it. We realize this is a high calling that we've been given as stewards.
So how can the Faith Vi app practically help me manage my money? We built the Faith Vi app recognizing the need for a tool to help people. People be good stewards, but we also recognize that not everybody is the same.
So, when we refer to this idea of a budget, what we really mean is a system for making financial decisions. The FaithFy app was designed with multiple systems to help fit your unique money management style. At the end of the day, it's not really about how you're managing the money entrusted to you. It's knowing that you have a system in place to help you manage it well. Yeah.
And if you're going to do this differently, it has to become a part of your daily routine, right? It does. I like to tell people, it's like if you're a coffee drinker, I'm a coffee drinker, Rob. I know you're a coffee drinker. If you don't have your coffee in the morning, you notice it.
You're just like, something's off a little bit. My routine's off a little bit.
Well, when you have a budget and it becomes a part of your toolkit, you just know that if you're not looking at it, if you're not operating off of it, something's off. And so it just becomes a part of just how you operate. And I think that's a really important perspective to have when you go into budgeting. It's not just, again, I'm going to have a budget, but it really becomes a part of my toolkit to live day to day. No question about that.
Now, Chad, for those out there listening to you right now that are saying, I've been down this road before, I've tried to budget, it's too much work. What would you say to them?
Well, I would say, obviously, I'd encourage you to check out the Faith Vi app. And here's why: because, like I said before, we've got three unique systems built into this application. And when you come into the app, we're going to help you find a system that fits your personality uniquely. And that's different than we see in a lot of different apps out there. A lot of other apps are very rigid.
They want you to follow a certain set of steps and rules. And those are fine and those are great. And we celebrate people that are successful with those. But for us, we recognize that you're unique and that you have unique characteristics. And so we try to meet you where you are in your journey.
And the tool will help you set up a system that's going to set you up for success. And we also love to support you along the way. We've got Certified Christian financial counselors standing by, ready to help you overcome some of the barriers that may have tripped you up in the past. We've got webinars and other resources that we're making available this year to just help you be successful and start the year off strong. And what about those that are married that want to stay on the same page in their budget together?
Is there a way that they can do that through the Faith Buy app? Yeah, absolutely. And we encourage you, if you are married, that you use this together. I know that in a lot of households, one person manages the money and the other one sometimes isn't overly involved. For my wife and I, when we first got married, that was our story.
I was the finance guy. She didn't really have a whole lot of insight or say into what was going on financially. But when we got on a system and we started using a budgeting tool, it changed everything. And for us specifically, we use the Faith Buy app, obviously. It's changed the way that we talk about money.
I can't tell you, Rob, how many times we got in fights as an early married couple about money. It was the number one source of conflict. I know you say that on this show, but for my wife and I, it really was. And the ironic piece was I was the finance guy. And we could not get on the same page, but the budgeting tool allowed us to see where we're at, to have really constructive conversations about how we're stewarding God's resources.
And it's helped our relationship just tremendously. And so, yeah, we're grateful for this tool. And I know that a lot of people, a lot of couples have similar testimonies.
Now, a lot of folks have been listening to this program and go all the way back to the late Larry Briquette. Larry obviously made the envelope system popular. And there's actually one of the three approaches that uses that system in a digital format, right? It does, yeah. If you are looking for an envelope style of money management, the FaithFy app does this, from what we've heard, better than many of the tools out there.
So we'd love for you to check that out. And this system is really great because it allows you to carry balances in your categories forward.
So you can accumulate funds in that auto repair or that vacation envelope. And so we'd love for you to check that system out. All right, Chad, great to have you here today. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks so much.
If one of your new year's resolutions is to get your budget back on track, we're here to help Chad Clark, Chief Technology Officer here at FaithFi with us today. You can download the FaithFi app by visiting faithfy.com. And clicking app, or simply searching FaithFi in your app store. We'll be right back. Are you a financial professional looking to grow your practice while offering advice that aligns with your Christian values?
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We've got room for you.
So, if there's something going on in your financial life, we'd love to hear from you today so we can chat about it. The number to call is 800-525-7,000. Again, that's 800-525-7000. You'll get right through at the moment. We've got our team standing by and any financial question today, again, 800-525-7,000.
Let's go to Cleveland. Nick, go ahead, sir. Hey, Rob. Uh love your show. Thanks, man.
I am 46 years old. I plan to retire at seventy because that's where they tell me it's going to be by that time. I have a four hundred one K with my employer And right now it's set to basically a target day fund. And I am over financing that target day, I'm at about one hundred sixty percent of my goal. And I was wondering if I could or if I should trim that back to meet the employer match and move that money to an outside IRA possibly.
Yeah.
So when you say you're at 160% or on track to be at 160% of your goal, this is a goal you've set that's basically how much you're going to need to continue to fund your lifestyle beyond your working years? Is that the goal that you are surpassing? Correct.
Okay. Yeah, so I mean, I think this begs the question, first of all, how much is enough? And maybe you've already defined that.
Sounds like you have. And then the question is, okay, maybe you want to overshoot that by some percentage just to create some cushion there. But at some point, you know, I think you possibly can over accumulate.
Well, you certainly can.
Now, what ultimately that number is is not a number anybody can tell you other than between you and the Lord as to, you know, how much you should ultimately try to accumulate. But I like the idea of setting a financial finish line both for your lifestyle, how much do we want to spend on a monthly basis? And you probably want to revisit that periodically. And then also for your balance sheet, for your accumulation, how much is enough? Because once we're on track to hit or even slightly exceed it, we may want to say, okay, now I'm going to start dialing it back.
And I'm not just going to move to save in a different vehicle. I'm looking for other uses of that money. I'm starting to give more. Maybe I'm gifting some to the kids, taking advantage of that just because that's available now.
So I would be really thinking through prayerfully kind of the answer to that question of what is your financial finish line.
Now, just in terms of the actual mechanics of where you put your savings, absolutely, you want to take full advantage of whatever matching is available in that 401k. And if you only have the traditional option available to you, I kind of like you having some Roth money, whether it's in a Roth 401k or at a Roth IRA, so that you've got two buckets, both the tax-deferred and the tax-free bucket. Because one of the things we don't know is, you know, what will the tax structure be in the future? I mean, we have a good idea of what it'll be through 2028, but everything's on the table at that point, depending on the outcome of the next couple of elections.
So I would say having the ability to have some money being You know, accumulating on a tax-free basis in a Roth is a great idea. But again, I would come back to just thinking through what is that ultimate target and what happens when you're on track to reach it. You know, you might begin to think and pray, Lord, what would you have me to do with this surplus? Does that all make sense, though? Absolutely, yes.
I think it was last year, maybe year before. the company just got the opportunity to have uh Roth four hundred one K's And I was able to split mine. I have now two percent in my original traditional and seven percent in my Roth. But they match 3% tier 6.
So I have that extra 3% that I was wondering if I should. Move it, let it stay, what we're doing. And I also have a HSA fund too.
So. Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, it sounds like you're in great shape. I mean, you've got, I love the fact that you're prioritizing the Roth 401k now.
So I think at this point, it's probably starting to back it down. I mean, assuming you're well planned and you have some confidence in that target that you set. You know, and as long as you have the access to the investments that are performing and meeting your expectations, then you might as well just keep it simple and stay right there. If your investment options, like your target date fund or the other things available in your 401k, you know, are lackluster, well, then you could start looking to that IRA beyond the matching portion because you've opened up the investment universe and have access to anything, especially if you wanted to do something like faith-based investing that wasn't available in your retirement plan. But again, I would just continue to say, all right, maybe it's time to back it down and not just move it to another account, but to look at other uses for it.
Yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, awesome.
Well, Nick, I appreciate your call. Thanks for your kind remarks about the program. Call anytime if I can help. God bless you. Let's finish up today in Leesburg, Florida.
Hi, Art. Thanks for your patience, sir. Go ahead. Sure. Rob, great to talk to you and many of my church members listen to your program.
My question is for those of us who manage finances for churches and nonprofits, your thoughts on how much should be kept in reserve on a nonprofit operation? Yeah, I mean, I think the same applies to churches and nonprofits as it does to individuals. That, you know, we need to be maintaining reserves for the unexpected so that we've got, you know, the ability to weather just kind of the ebbs and flows of managing the business of the church. I think, you know, having no reserves is inadequate. I think probably having more than 12 months is excessive.
And so I think it's really up to the leadership of the church, probably with the lay leaders, the finance committee, to establish a rationale for the appropriate amount of reserves, given just kind of where the church is. Is it in a growth mode? Is it in a kind of holding the status quo? Is it in decline? You know, what is the kind of the needs?
Are you in a building project? I mean, you've got a lot of factors there. I think probably that six months. Worth of expenses is probably a good number, but you know, some folks Disagree with that. There's a great article, Art.
If you just do an internet search for an article called Church Cash Reserves, How Much is Enough? Uh, it's from ECFA, ECFA, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Uh, and it's just a two-page PDF, but they've done a really good job of just kind of helping you think through what's the right amount of reserves for us, how we should think about it in terms of adding it as a line item on our budget, you know, and then getting to a place where. Beyond designated funds and mortgage reserves that are required, having a specific church reserve goal that's a function of a certain number of months' worth of operations and how you can get there, I think is the way to do it. Does that make sense?
That does. Thank you so much, Rob. Yeah, absolutely. The author is Dan Busby and Michael Martin. It's called Church Cash Reserves: How Much Is Enough.
You'll find it quickly on the internet with a search, and then maybe it'll serve as a great basis for a conversation in your next finance committee meeting. Thanks for your call today, Art. We appreciate it. That's going to do it for us today, folks. Hey, check out our website.
Support our work there when you click give at faithfy.com. And we'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by Faith By and listeners like you.
