Money touches every part of our lives, our fears, our hopes, and the things that we trust most. That's why scripture speaks so often about it. In the devotional Our Ultimate Treasure, Rob West guides you through a thoughtful 21-day journey into faithful stewardship, helping you move beyond budgets and balances to the heart behind your financial decisions. Each day includes scripture, reflection, and prayer, inviting you to see money not as something to cling to, but as a tool God uses to shape us, free us, and bless others. If you're looking for greater clarity, contentment, and purpose for how you steward what God has given you, this devotional is for you.
Our ultimate treasure, written by Rob West, is available now at faithfy.com/slash shop. Mm. J.I. Packer once said, What matters in life is not what you make of it, but what God makes of it for you. Hi, I'm Rob West.
You feel that contrast most acutely with money. When circumstances change, the quiet question rises: will there be enough? While culture tells us to secure peace through self-provision, we're going to talk about how scripture invites us to rest in a father who provides. And then we'll take your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
In Matthew 6:26, Jesus points our eyes upward. Look at the birds of the air. Birds don't make quarterly projections or worry about storage barns. They don't have any rainy day funds or income streams. And yet, Jesus says plainly, Your heavenly Father feeds them.
His point isn't irresponsibility, it's relationship. Behind all of our planning, earning, and working is a God who sees, knows, and provides. Throughout scripture, this theme is repeated like a drumbeat. When Abraham walked up a mountain in obedience, prepared to sacrifice Isaac, God provided a ram in the thicket. When the widow of Zarephath had only a handful of flour and oil left, God replenished her jar and jug until the drought ended.
When Peter wondered how they would pay the temple tax, Jesus sent him fishing, and the exact coin needed was found in the mouth of the first fish he caught. From Genesis to Revelation, the message is the same. God's provision is always precise, purposeful, and personal. Paul affirms this truth to the generous believers in Philippi: My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Notice what Paul doesn't say.
He doesn't say God will meet every want, preference, or wish list. He says every need, and that the supply flows not from our economy, our paycheck, or our portfolio, but from His riches and glory. Our provision isn't sourced in us, it's sourced in Him. And here's a remarkable detail. Jesus doesn't just provide.
Jesus is our provision. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. That means peace isn't found in the absence of problems or in the presence of financial comfort, but in the presence of Christ. When we forget God is our provider, we drift into two common traps, fear or self-reliance.
Fear says, what if there isn't enough? Self-reliance says, I'll make sure there's enough. Both cut us off from trust. But the foundational truth we must stay anchored to is that God is the source of all we have, not only the provision itself, but the very power to earn it. As Moses told the Hebrews, Remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth.
Our abilities, skills, opportunities, and even our work ethic, all of it comes from him. And when we believe that, something shifts. We stop treating financial security as something we manufacture and begin receiving it as something God provides. And that kind of trust doesn't make us passive, it frees us to work, save, and give with joy because God is the one who provides. Our work, planning, and generosity become acts of stewardship, not self-provision.
And once money is placed into that frame, it becomes a place of formation rather than fear. When Jesus teaches us to pray for daily bread, it's not because God lacks resources. It's because our hearts need to be tethered to the source. Daily bread cultivates daily trust, it keeps us close.
So ask yourself today, where am I looking for provision? In my paycheck, in my savings, in my future plans, or in the hand of a father who feeds the birds and calls me his child? Maybe you're in a season of abundance, or maybe you're in a season of need. Either way, Jesus doesn't just promise provision, He gives Himself and He invites you to trust Him day by day. When we trade fear for faith, striving for surrender, and self-reliance for dependence, we discover the deep joy of resting in a Father who sees and provides.
That's the journey we explore in my new devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure. It's a 21-day invitation to trust God as provider, owner, and treasure in every financial decision. You can pick up a copy today or place a bulk order for your church or small group at faithfi.com/slash shop. That's faithfi.com/slash shop. And if you're using the FaithFi app, you'll see snippets that show up in the first 21 daily rhythms.
That's right in the app, we're going to help you establish a new daily rhythm of seeing your financial decisions intersect with your faith and your spiritual journey. Check it out today. Head to your app store and search for FaithFi. That's Faith FI. All right, your calls are next: 800-525-7000.
That's 800-525-7,000. This is biblical wisdom for your financial journey. We'll be right back. We're grateful for support from Guidestone, whose diversified suite of investment solutions align with Christian values to create positive change in the world. More information is available at guidestonefunds.com/slash faith.
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Taking your calls and questions today at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7,000. Let's head to Mississippi. Tommy, go ahead. Rob, thank you for all your hard work keeping us in line with our future.
I appreciate that. Absolutely. Rob, I got a little dilemma here, and I was hoping to get your input. I'm getting advice from several people. We've pretty comfortable with the 401k and got some ROS and some C's.
And I'm looking at probably five to six more years of full time work. And we've got sixty five thousand that's been kind of sitting and in a raw R RA and not doing anything.
So shame on me on that. Um So we've been advised a couple of different things, looking at maybe some corporate bonds Looks like we might get 4.5, and I've got a good Christian. Brother, that's super successful. He recommends the John Deere and the Dominion Entergy.
Okay. There are other options that we're looking at: C D. Um In I don't know if it's going to get the interest rate that's been projected. He's He's telling us six percent. I don't see how that's going to happened.
And then my accountant threw a curve at me and said an ETF. Mm. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, these are great questions, Tommy. And I love the fact that you said: listen, we're 65, we've still got some work years left.
You've got a good 401k. It sounds like to me, you feel like you're on track. For having what you need with Social Security and maybe a reasonable withdrawal rate from that 401k once you do get to retirement. And then this is just kind of a bonus that would be a part of those overall retirement assets. And I think we need to view this Roth, this $65,000, kind of as a piece of the whole and not necessarily look at it as a standalone component because really it is a part of your overall retirement assets.
And then the next step, even before the individual investments or products you might use, whether that's corporate bonds or an ETF or even a CD, I think it's what is the right allocation in terms of asset class.
So typically we would say, the rule of thumb used to be 100 minus your age is the amount you might want to think about having in stocks, the rest in bonds. People are living longer. We use now 110 minus your age.
So it's 65, let's call it. That would be 110 minus 65. 65 would mean you'd have about 45% in stocks, 55% in bonds, or a fixed income type approach. You could round that out at 50-50, or you could go a little more conservative with 60-40, 60% fixed-income, 40 stocks. But somewhere around there acknowledges that, listen, if the Lord tarries, and if he doesn't, it doesn't matter.
But if the Lord tarries and you're in good health, this money could need to last this account plus the other retirement assets for three decades or more, well into your 90s or beyond. And so you still have the ability to take a long-term perspective with at least a portion of this money. And as a result, because of inflation and because you're losing purchasing power and because you want to grow it, even though you want to be more conservative than you were during your working years, that's why you might want to think about somewhere between a 60-40 portfolio, you know, all the way up to maybe a 50-50 type portfolio. But once you make that decision, then we answer the question: okay, for the fixed income portion, what are we going to use? And that's where I think corporates are appropriate.
CDs are appropriate, maybe even a little bit of gold in that allocation. And then for the stock portion, that's where I think ETFs could be a great option for you.
So I think perhaps all of these could be in play. The only challenge you're going to have is buying individual corporate bonds. You know, if we get down, let's say you went with a 60-40 portfolio and you said, okay, on 65,000, you know, we're talking about, you know, 26,000. Is the entire, or actually 60% of 65,000 would be about 40,000 would be the entire bond portion. And, you know, that's not a whole lot in terms of buying individual bonds because you don't have a lot of diversification.
A lot of people might look at a bond ETF where you're just getting a basket of short and medium-term corporate bonds that are really high-grade. That could be one way to go. Or you could buy the individual ones. Maybe you buy $10,000 worth of a corporate bond or something like that. But does that all make sense?
I know I've thrown a lot at you there. It does, and thank you so much. This is great information. Is there an ETF that you like over the Others? I looked at a couple that were done, the top performers like Amsol and It looks like A C Del Co.
Sure. I didn't know if there's one that's a little bit more faith-based, too. Yeah, it's a good question.
So, I don't actually make individual recommendations. And so, you've got a couple of options here. I mean, there are some great mutual fund families and ETF fund families that are faith-aligned. You'll find all of them on our website at faithfy.com. Just click on the show and you'll see Crossmark and Praxis and Guidestone and Eventide and others.
And many of them have ETFs in the bond space.
So, you would be confident that they'll all be screened for Christian values. Praxis, in particular, has a great one that's faith-aligned, that is a bond fixed-income type fund that's doing impact bonds and has a great return, but it's really getting to some much-needed places in the world in terms of the places that these bonds are being lended to.
So, I think starting with that allocation, is it 50-50? Is it 60-40? And then once you land on that, maybe working with your advisor or this trusted friend who has some expertise to actually select the investments. Because for that income, fixed income portion, maybe it is one CD and a couple of corporates or a corporate ETF. And then on the stock side, you know, maybe it's just a high-quality, you know, growth, you know, faith-based ETF from Eventide or Crossmark that could solve for that asset allocation.
And I think that could serve you really well. Excellent, Rob. You've been super helpful, and I appreciate all y'all's hard work. Thank you, Tommy. Lord bless you, my friend.
Call anytime. North Brook, Illinois. Pete, go right ahead, sir. Hey, Rob, thanks for taking the call.
So I'm 50 years old, and I've got a pension. worth about a lump sum of seven hundred thousand dollars. I was interested in investing into a income variable annuity product. Put it in for like three years to grow it. It's got a buffer of 20%, so I won't lose anything if the market goes down 20%, but I do gain based on the index.
And then maybe start pulling it as fixed income in about three years at some pretty good withdrawal rates. I'm wondering if that's a good idea. Yeah. So that variable annuity with the 20% buffer offers, as you stated, market-linked growth potential, partial downside risk, absorbing the first 20% of any losses. And it, you know, it balances the opportunity and the risk because, you know, with trade-offs like capped gains, meaning you only own so much and complexity and the costs with the downside protection.
You know, these aren't my favorite just because, you know, when you look at the historical average annual returns of most market indexes, what gets those 7%, 8%, 9% annualized returns up where they have been over a long period of time is those years that have dramatic upside potential. And you've got to give that up. In order to get the downside protection.
Now, you may say, listen, the peace of mind, Rob, is worth it. And I'm happy with the upside. And if I can get the downside protection, I'm all in. And I've got some tax deferral, and I can convert that to an income stream.
Okay, then that's fine. I just want you to go into it knowing that they're complex, there's some limited liquidity. Meaning, if you need to get to the money, you might have some surrender charges, at least in the first few years, and you've got that capped upside. But if the downside protection is worth it, then I'd say go for it. I don't have a problem with it.
I will say, Pete, get multiple bids, talk to two or three advisors. Let's compare two or three products before you make your final decision. Thanks for your call. But, folks, we're going to take a quick break and we come back to our final segment just around the corner. We'll be right back.
What if your money struggles aren't really about money at all? What about what your heart treasures most? That's the focus of Our Ultimate Treasure, a 21-day devotional written by Rob West. Through daily readings grounded in scripture, he invites you to discover the freedom that comes when God, not money, becomes your source of peace, security, and joy. You can pick up your copy or place a bulk order at faithfi.com and click shop.
Faith in Finance is grateful for support from Sound Mind Investing. If you have money in an investment account, you know sometimes the stock market can seem like a roller coaster. But it's possible to enjoy both profit and peace of mind as a do-it-yourself investor, no matter what's happening in the market. A short video webinar about that is available at soundmindinvesting.org. Financial Wisdom for Living Well.
Soundmindinvesting.org. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. We're taking your calls at 800-525-7000, Louisiana. Heather, go ahead. I just wanted to ask a quick question concerning crypto.
I don't know how much you're into that, but My husband and I pastor a church. and he retired from his other secular job.
So he is pulling a little bit monthly from his 401. I also have a small amount in 401k and I'm still currently working. He's 60, I'm 55. And we are wanting to Get started into dabbling into crypto, which neither one of us really knows a whole lot about it. Um, but my main question is: Is there a way to transfer funds?
some of the funds out of our four hundred one K directly to purchased crypto. There really isn't. Yeah, 401ks don't allow direct crypto purchases. You'd have to take a distribution, which would make a taxable event, and then you'd buy the crypto directly.
So that would be one way to do it. The other way is you could roll it out to an IRA. An individual retirement account, assuming you've separated from employment in both cases, and then buy a Bitcoin ETF exchange traded fund, you're not owning it directly. You're owning essentially a basket that investment that mirrors the price of crypto.
So, I think the first question is, or the first kind of decision point, is to decide how you want to approach this. You know, what is it you're trying to accomplish? Do you want to actually have actual cryptocurrency? Like, do you want a Bitcoin with the keys and the wallet and so forth? Or are you just believing that crypto is going to continue to rise and you're wanting to capture the appreciation?
And if so, a really simple way without getting into the digital wallets and having to keep up with the keys and all of the things that come with owning crypto directly is you could buy one of the institutional Bitcoin ETFs. It's an exchange-traded fund. And just like a gold ETF mirrors the spot price of gold as it moves up and down in lockstep, a Bitcoin ETF would move directly with Bitcoin.
So, it's just a really simple way for you to start to take an allocation in Bitcoin. In terms of who should consider having a Bitcoin in their portfolio, it really comes down to your risk tolerance and position sizing. You know, a lot of people are starting to think about it and even referring to it as digital gold because it's a store of value and it can protect a person's purchasing power against the constant debasement of government currencies.
Now, it might sound crazy to call an asset that routinely has the volatility of Bitcoin a store of value, and yet it has a lot of the characteristics of gold. It has scarcity built into its DNA. You can only, there's only going to be 21 million Bitcoins ever produced.
So, that appeals to investors who are watching what's going on with global governments and central banks around the world saying, wait a minute, they're going to continue to debase their currency. I like gold a lot. It's one of the reasons gold has had a huge run-up as of late. And again, Again, a lot of people, especially younger generations, are saying, you know what, I'm going to see Bitcoin as kind of my digital gold allocation. But even then, I would say the most you'd want to put in gold is 10%.
And I'd say no more than 3% to 5% as a part of your gold out. If you have a 10% gold allocation, I might take up to half of that and put it in Bitcoin.
So that would only be 5%.
Now, you may be thinking a larger percentage, and that's up to you. You just need to understand that it's pretty speculative, very volatile, and it moves around a good bit. And so in this season of life where you all are in retirement, I would caution you about getting an allocation in any crypto. And I would recommend Bitcoin because I think there's Bitcoin and then there's everything else. And everything else is the wild, wild west.
So I'd stay in Bitcoin, but I'd be recommending only a 5% allocation.
So if we looked at your 80,000 and your 30,000, we're talking 110,000, you know. A 5% allocation is $5,000.
So, not a whole lot. And again, you may be saying, I was thinking a lot more than that, and I would caution you against that. But the nice thing about the Bitcoin ETF is it can easily be bought in an IRA once you roll this out to an IRA, and you can buy it any amount of money, as little as you want. And so, a $5,000 position in a Bitcoin ETF would be very easy to do. And then you could just kind of watch it and see how it does over time.
But give me your thoughts on all that. It sounds pretty good. We weren't going to risk a lot anyway. I wasn't going to do anything over five thousand.
Okay. If that much anyway. But like I said, we're just dabbling in it right now, just trying to get ahead of the game. And that's pretty much it. Sure.
Well, the two biggest in the country are the iShares, Bitcoin, Trust, ETF. The symbol is IBIT. And then the next largest is the Fidelity. Bitcoin Fund, FBTC. And so I think either of those could serve you well.
Again, you could take somewhere between a $2,000 and $5,000 position very easily, and then it would just follow the price of Bitcoin over time. And it could be a small part, but a meaningful part of your portfolio. Heather, I hope that helps. Let me just remind you, though, it would require you to roll those 401ks, or at least your husband's 401k, out from where it is now into an individual retirement account before you do this. But then at that point, you could buy one of these ETFs.
Hope that helps. Let's finish up quickly in Ohio. Judy, you'll be our final caller. Go ahead. Hello, Rob, thank you.
I have a quick question for you. When a married couple invests in a car, is it better to put the loan in one person's name or both persons' names and why? You know, I I would generally say yes. It's better to put it in both names. And the reason is because as a young typically a young couple just starting out is looking to build their credit.
And the benefit of putting it in both names is that it will be reported to both of their credit files because you don't have a joint credit file as a married couple. You each have a credit file based on your social security number. And so by putting that loan in both names, It will be reported to both credit files. The other reason why you might wanna do that is if they're both working spouses. then you may get, not always, but you may get more favorable terms because if it's in both names, they're able to include both incomes.
In terms of determining the debt to income ratio, which may allow them to qualify for a better rate.
So those would be the two primary reasons why, in my view, you'd want to do that. What if it's not a young couple?
Okay. Well, even then, I mean, I think the benefit is really from the credit report. If that's not a concern in terms of who would own the property, it would come down to what type of state you're in, whether it's community property, and this would be joint tenants with right of survivorship or not.
So you could check with your estate planning attorney, whoever did your will, just to see if there's any benefit there. But I would say there's really not a huge difference one way or the other, especially if one spouse is going to inherit that at the passing of the other. Hope that helps, Judy. Thanks for your call. Big thanks to my team today.
Jim, Amy, Dan, and Anthony couldn't do it without them. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you. Uh
