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Hi, I'm Rob West. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray in Matthew 6, 11, he invited them to trust God for provision, not all at once, but one day at a time. Today we'll talk about what it means to trust God for daily bread in a world obsessed with tomorrow. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
The idea of daily bread takes us back to Israel's journey through the wilderness. In Exodus 16, God fed his people with manna each morning. It was enough for the day. No more, no less. They tried to store extra, it spoiled.
The point wasn't food, it was trust. God was teaching them that He, not their stockpiles or strategies, was their provider. Today, we work, budget, plan, save, and invest. Scripture commends that. Proverbs celebrates diligence and Joseph's plan in Genesis 41 saved nations.
Trusting God is not passivity and faith isn't irresponsibility. But here's the tension: our planning must never replace our dependence. When Jesus taught us to ask for daily bread, he was forming a rhythm of trusting God with today, not burdening ourselves with the need to control tomorrow. And for many people, this hits close to home. We live in a time of economic anxiety.
Budgets are tight, housing is expensive, and the future feels uncertain. And if we're honest, money doesn't just expose our financial fears, it exposes deeper questions. Will I have enough? Will I make it? Does God see me?
Will he take care of me? Jesus speaks to those fears directly just a few verses later in Matthew six, twenty five and twenty six Do not be anxious about your life. Look at the birds of the air they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Jesus isn't calling us to ignore real needs. He's inviting us to rest in real care.
Birds do work, they gather, they build, they hunt, but they don't worry. They don't wake up asking whether God will put worms in the dirt. Provision is built into creation because God is faithful. Relying on God for daily bread invites three responses. First, daily bread invites gratitude.
When we ask for what we need today, we remember that what we have today is a gift. Gratitude pushes back against the pressure for more, more comfort, more security, more status. Ecclesiastes 5:19 says that even the ability to enjoy what we have is itself a gift from God. Second, daily bread invites contentment. Contentment doesn't mean settling for less.
It means we stop treating the future as the only place where peace exists. Paul writes in Philippians 4:11, I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. The learning happened within circumstances, not after ideal ones arrived. Third, daily bread invites generosity. When we trust God to provide for today, our hands loosen.
Fear tightens, trust frees. The widow in 1 Kings 17 gave Elijah some of her last flour and oil, trusting God's promise, and God sustained her household through the drought. The point isn't that generosity guarantees prosperity, it's that generosity reveals where our security lies. And here's a practical encouragement. Trusting God for daily bread often expresses itself in very ordinary financial habits.
Building an emergency fund shields from unnecessary anxiety. Making a budget helps us steward what God provides. Saving for future needs reflects Proverbs 21, 20, which says a wise man stores up choice food and oil. But even the wisest planner must remember financial stability is not ultimate security. no account is large enough to silence fear if our hope is in money.
and there is no scarcity too deep for God to sustain His children. For some listening today, trusting God for daily bread is literal. You're not sure how the bills will be paid. Others are in a season of plenty, and the danger isn't lack, it's forgetting the giver. Deuteronomy 8 warns Israel not to say, my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth.
God gives the opportunity, strength, creativity, and breadth to work. In the Lord's Prayer, daily bread comes after hallowed be your name, and your kingdom come. Provision is framed by worship and mission. When God gives us daily bread, it's not simply for comfort, it's for his kingdom. Our needs matter to him, but his purposes are bigger than our pantry.
So ask God what you need. Thank him for what you have, and open your hands toward others. He is faithful in the wilderness, faithful in the budget, faithful in the seasons of uncertainty, and faithful today. All right, your calls are next. We'll be right back.
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Soundmindinvesting.org. Yeah. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. We're ready to start taking your calls and questions. That number is 800-525-7000.
Let's begin in Florida today. Tracy, go ahead. Yes, thank you for taking my call. Yes, ma'am. I invested in a business that didn't go as well as planned.
and I had major car repairs.
So as a result of that, I accumulated large credit card debt I have. American Express. two American Express cards. one for eight thousand over eight thousand and the other is over ten thousand. And I have a third.
card that's over five thousand. My question is Should I American Express they have a financial relief program. Should I take that route? Or Should I take the route, um going through um Yeah, consolidation. Yeah.
My preferred approach here, Tracy, and I can understand this happens when we have an event like this. My preferred approach is not debt consolidation where you take out a new loan and try to pay off the other loans. Oftentimes, even if the rate comes down, it just extends the repayment period out. And I would much prefer you just leave the debt right where it is, slide it into a credit counseling program, which each creditor offers, where the accounts will be closed while they're in it. The payment will be typically about 2% to 3% of the balance.
So on the full $25,000, you'd make one monthly payment to our friends at Christian Credit Counselors. That's at least where I'd recommend you go.
So somewhere between probably $500,000 to $750 a month. But the really nice part is that payment stays level.
So you're sending a larger percent of the balance every month. Secondly, the interest rates would be dropped.
So often that average rate of 22% is down somewhere between zero. Zero and 8% in the credit counseling program. And, you know, that's going to allow you to pay this off on average about 80% faster. It will end up improving your credit score over time because, as those balances fall, it will show you as an on-time payer. It will also drop your credit utilization, meaning the amount you have outstanding versus the total that you have available to you.
So that would be the way that I would go: ChristianCreditCounselors.org. But I want to give you a chance to ask any follow-up questions on that. That sounds good.
So are you recommending credit card consolidation?
Well, it's not what so when normally when somebody says consolidation, they're talking about taking a consolidation loan from a bank, a new loan, and then paying off the credit cards with that new loan. That's not what I would recommend. Instead, I would go into a credit counseling program, and you have to go through a nonprofit credit counseling agency. And we've worked with our friends at ChristianCreditCounselors.org for decades. They've worked with thousands of our listeners, and they just do a fabulous job.
They're all Christ followers, and that would be the program that I would recommend.
Okay, okay, sounds good. Thank you.
Okay, thanks for calling, Tracy. Let's see: 800-525-7000. We've got some lines open. If you have a question today, go ahead and call right now. Tamarack, Florida, I know it well.
Barbara, go ahead. How are you? Doing great. Thanks for your call.
Okay, the reason I was calling today is I get Social Security.
Now, I was wondering, do I just get automatic raises every year? Do I have to ask for them or I don't get any raises? And also, do I pay taxes on that amount? Yeah, good question.
So, first part of that question is related to something called a cost of living adjustments. And you do get that automatically.
So, your Social Security benefit does increase each year through cost of living adjustments. Every January, benefits adjust based on inflation measured by the government.
So, some years the increase is small, other years it's larger. It's just all a function of the government's inflation gauge. And then they use that to drive what are called the COLAs, the cost of living adjustments. It comes automatically, even if you've only been on benefits for one year. One important note, though, is Medicare premiums.
If they're deducted from your check, Can reduce how much of the cola you actually see because they rise most years, the Medicare premiums, Part B and D. Oftentimes, the increases in the Medicare premium are quite a bit higher than the cost of living adjustment.
So, it may almost entirely, if not more than that, erase the gains you're getting. And it's because you're actually getting hit, even though you're getting the cost of living adjustment, the Medicare premiums are going up as well. Does that make sense? Yes, it hasn't gone up so far because of the Medicare, but it just happens automatically. You mean that too, every time you?
If you have it automatically deducted, yes, those increases on Medicare would automatically come out, but so would the amount that's added to your check, your benefit by way of the cost of living adjustments, both would happen automatically. I guess for b for me now I should call them. Yeah, that would be good. Or you can go online, myssa.gov, and you could see it all there and you wouldn't have to wait. The second part was your Social Security, is it taxed?
It can be. It really depends on your total income, not just your benefits.
So the IRS looks at what's called combined income, it's your adjusted gross income. Plus half of your Social Security, 50% of your benefit. Are you a single filer or married filing jointly? A married following generally.
So if your combined income, that is your adjusted gross income on your tax return, plus half of your Social Security, if the total of those two is under $32,000, then you have no tax. If it's between 32 and 44, then up to half of your Social Security would be taxable. And if it's over 44, again, your combined income, then up to 85% of your benefit would be taxable. That doesn't mean you lose 50 or 85%. It just means that that percentage of your business is counted as taxable income and taxed at your normal rate.
Does that make sense? Uh-huh.
So in other words, I my husband's income and mine, because we file jointly, will be included with That's correct.
So that would be your adjusted gross income, which is the total of your income, like wages and Up to fifty percent of your Social Security, pensions, investments, rental income, and then you subtract. Uh, you know, your deductions, and then that produces what's called AGI. It's your income after adjustments.
So, you know, business expenses, IRA contributions, HSA contributions, things like that. That results in your adjusted gross income. If that AGI number is below 32, none of your Social Security would be taxable. But if it's 32,000 to 44,000, up to 50% will, over 44,000, 85%. And also, I wanted to ask you, if I get a job, would I be able to still get the same amount of social security that I'm getting?
Yeah, as long as you're full retirement age or older, what is your age? Yeah. Okay, yeah.
So you can earn as much as you want and it will never impact your benefit. The only thing that would happen is you may find that because your income is going up, the portion of your Social Security that's taxable could also go up.
So you may pay more in taxes, but you would not see a reduction in your benefit just because you're working. You can earn as much as you want once you're full retirement age.
Okay, and if I have questions we I should ask the tax person that's uh that prepares our taxes. I would. That's always a great idea. Absolutely.
Okay, thank you so much. That was great. All right, Barbara. Thank you for your call today. We appreciate it.
Bye-bye. We'll take a quick break and then come back with much more. Here's our goal: be an encouragement to you, to point you back to God's word, and help you live as a wise and faithful steward. Thanks for being with us. More to come right after this.
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That's chministries.org slash faithfi. Delighted you're along with us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. I may have room for one, maybe two more questions before we round out the broadcast today. If you have a financial question, that number is 800-525-7000.
Let's go to Chicago. Kevin, thanks for your patience. Go ahead. Rob, thank you for taking my call, and thank you for your wonderful show. I'm very familiar with the charges for When you invest with Vanguard or Fidelity, Schwab, or if you have somebody like Edelman or Fisher investments.
that you're investing with you in terms of their scales. But I never I haven't heard anything about the Certified Kingdom Advisors in terms of How how do they charge? How do they get paid? Yeah, it's a great question, Kevin. And there really is not one approach because remember, CKA, these folks are not employed by us.
We're a not-for-profit here at Faith Vi and Kingdom Advisors. They're at Merrill Lynch and Edward Jones and LPL and Independent and UBS. I mean, they're all over the industry. They just earn the CKA designation by meeting our high standards of training and character and competence and pastor and client reference and all the other requirements that really allows them to hold themselves out as being a specialist and bringing biblically wise professional financial advice. But the way they charge is totally dependent upon them.
And so what you're going to get is a good cross-section of just how financial advisors get paid. The most common way these days, which would be true, I think, of Fisher and other active money managers, would be an AUM fee, Assets Under Management, where the advisor charges a yearly percentage, often around 1%. Of the assets under management per year to manage the investments. And, you know, that's the most common way. There's also commission-based.
So that's usually a mix where they offer some financial products that may generate a commission, like an insurance product or an annuity or even mutual funds. And then if they do this, the advisor would disclose upfront the compensation. Others might provide a fee-only advice. Let's say they're just comprehensive financial planners and don't do any investment management. You would often pay a fixed fee, either hourly or flat, for advice and a financial plan, but there's no commissions and no ongoing fees there as well.
So those are typically the way advisors are going to be paid that are wealth managers where they're offering investment management and/or financial planning. And it's going to vary, which is why I think it's important as you're interviewing. Any advisor, and this would include a CKA that you ask very clearly, how do you get paid? And let the advisor explain that. Does that make sense?
Absolutely.
Thank you very much. All right. Thanks, Kevin. We appreciate your call today. By the way, if you want to find a Certified Kingdom Advisor in your area, just head to findacaka.com.
Chicago is where we were. We're going to stay there and talk to Paula. Go ahead. Hi, I have a question regarding Social Security. My husband passed away.
His Social Security was rusted in mine. But I wanted to wait until I was 70 to get the full amount and try to work and get more income to increase my Social Security payment. I was reading an article that says that if you took your husband's Social Security when you get ready to get yours, it will not increase.
So that'll be seventy next year. And if that's true, I don't know if I should cancel his and take mine. Yes. Yeah. So you're only your own retirement benefit.
earns delayed credits up to age seventy.
So, here's how survivor's benefits work. Survivor's benefits max out at your full retirement age, usually 66 or 67.
So, waiting past your full retirement age does not increase the survivor benefit.
Now, you can switch. Between survivor's benefits and your own retirement benefit later, if it helps maximize the total. This is not available for spousal benefits where your spouse is living, but for a survivor benefit, it is available.
So, a common strategy is: if your survivor benefit is larger than your own, you can take your benefit early and then switch. To the full survivor benefit at your full retirement age. If your own benefit will grow higher, then you can take the survivor benefit first and then switch to your own benefit at age 70 because your own benefit does grow with delayed credits all the way up to age 70. Does that make sense? Okay, that's what I was doing.
And then when I read the article, I was like, what? I'm not going to be able to.
So, have you started taking your own benefit? No, I'm taking his because his was much less than mine.
Okay, so you're taking his his full Survivor benefit, correct? Yes. Okay. And and what is your age now? I'll be seven next year.
Okay. Okay, great. Yes. So you you should be able to switch to your own benefit at age seventy.
Now so you're pretty sure that yours will be higher, is that right? Yes. Okay, yeah.
So if you're getting survivors' benefits, you can switch to your own benefit at age 70, and that's been not only was probably that higher to begin with, but it's been getting delayed retirement credits all the way up to age 70. And so, you know, at that point, if you switch over to your own, then you could take your larger benefit from that point forward.
Okay, and so when should I apply for the My benefit. Because um My birthday is at the end of the year and I want to make sure that I have all of my income. Yeah, you just need to get you just need to get past your 70th birthday.
Okay. So I can apply for it after the seventieth birthday. That's right. No, and then, well, in terms of when to actually alert them, you could call them and see. I'm not sure if there's any benefit.
I mean, the key is you want to start the benefits at 70 years, your birthday or older. Whether or not you can begin that process early, you may want to reach out to them and ask that question. That's a good question. I'm not sure. Yeah, I'd rather do it later, is what I was saying in different case.
They get the full income 'Cause about twelve to six months before, then I won't get to six months worth of uh additional income. That's right, because it's actually 1/12th of 8% every month. And so you do want to wait until you are at your 70th birthday. But from that point forward, there's no reason to wait.
Okay. Thank you so much. All right. Thanks for your call today. We appreciate it.
Folks, we so appreciate you being along with us each day, and we look forward to taking your questions and hearing your stories and being invited into your stewardship journey. It's our privilege to come alongside you. I couldn't do this without an amazing team behind me each day, certainly contributing to today's broadcast. Mr. Devin Patrick, our producer, handling our phone calls today, Pat Montague.
We're so thankful for Pat and also Mr. Jim Henry on research, plus the entire cast and crew here at Faith Phi. It's an amazing group of men and women committed to equipping you as wise stewards of God's resources. If you want to check out our work, you can learn more at faithby.com where you can give and download the app and check out some great content as well. Have a wonderful weekend and we'll see you next week.
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