The Paradox of Planning

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Give by May 31st to become a FaithPhi partner and help point hearts toward what truly lasts. To become a partner, visit faith5.com slash give. That's faithfi.com slash give. Proverbs 19, 21 says, Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Hi, I'm Rob West.

We're told to plan for the future, but what happens when the future doesn't follow the plan? Scripture reminds us that even our best plans are not the final word. Today we'll explore a tension many of us experience but rarely talk about, the paradox of planning. And then it's on your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.

Whether it's a financial roadmap, a retirement timeline, or even a weekly budget, planning helps us feel prepared for what lies ahead. And the truth is, the Bible actually encourages planning. In Proverbs 6, we're told to consider the ways of the ant. Even without a ruler or a boss telling her what to do, she instinctively prepares her bread in the summer and gathers her food in harvest. In other words, be diligent.

Look ahead. Use the season you are in to prepare for the season that's coming. Planning is not the problem. In fact, planning can be a form of stewardship. It reflects diligence, responsibility, and wisdom.

But there's a tension we have to manage. While planning is wise, it can easily drift into something else: self-reliance. When we build a plan, we can begin to believe we control the outcome. We may not say it out loud, but deep down we start thinking, I've got this figured out. That's why the book of James gives a powerful warning.

In James four, thirteen and fourteen, we read this Come now, you who say, To day or to morrow we will go into such and such a town, and spend a year there, and trade, and make a profit yet you do not know what to morrow will bring. James isn't condemning planning, he's confronting presumption. Planning that assumes we are in control. Planning that forgets God. That's the paradox we face.

God calls us to plan wisely and trust deeply at the same time. In other words, prepare diligently, but surrender completely. Our plans should never replace our dependence on God. Instead, they should reflect it. The Apostle Paul's life offers a great example of this tension.

In Acts 16, Paul and his companions had a clear strategy. They planned to preach in Asia. That was their mission, their direction, their plan. But something unexpected happened. The Holy Spirit prevented them from going there.

Then they tried another route to Bithynia, but the Spirit redirected them again. Eventually, Paul received a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, Come over and help us. That moment changed the course of Christian history. Instead of Asia, the gospel crossed into Europe for the first time. Think about that.

Paul had a plan, it was thoughtful, it was strategic, it was ministry-driven, and yet God redirected it. What looked like an interruption was actually divine guidance. That's an important reminder for us.

Sometimes, when our plans change, a job opportunity falls through, an investment underperforms, a door closes, we immediately assume something went wrong. But what if those moments are actually invitations? Invitations to trust, invitations to listen, invitations to let God lead. Because faithful planning doesn't mean gripping our plans with a clinched fist, it means holding them with open hands. The late pastor and author Tim Keller once put it this way.

You can make plans, but you cannot make outcomes. That simple line captures the heart of faithful planning. We are called to act, to think ahead, to steward what God has entrusted to us, but the outcome never ultimately rests in our hands. Like Proverbs 16:9 reminds us, In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. That means our budgets, strategies, and financial goals are wise tools, but they're not our security.

They're expressions of stewardship that we hold with humility, trusting that God may guide, redirect, or reshape them along the way. When we understand that, something beautiful happens. Our peace no longer depends on whether our plans unfold perfectly. Instead, it rests in the one who holds the future.

So hold every plan loosely enough that God can redirect it, because sometimes his detours become our greatest blessings. The paradox of planning isn't a problem to solve, it's a posture to embrace. If you'd like to explore that idea more deeply, it's something I write about in my new devotional Our Ultimate Treasure: a 21-day journey to faithful stewardship. It's designed to help you see every part of your financial life, saving, giving, planning, and investing through the lens of scripture and the joy of trusting God with what He's entrusted to you. You can purchase your copy or place a bulk order for your church or small group at faithfi.com/slash shop.

That's faithfi.com/slash shop. As the leading advocate for the Christian financial industry, Kingdom Advisors serves the public by promoting the integration of a biblical worldview across every aspect of the financial services industry. And we serve a growing network of thousands of Christian financial professionals, equipping and empowering them to carry biblical financial wisdom to their clients, peers, and community. For more information, visit kingdomadvisors.com. That's kingdomadvisors.com.

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Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance, taking your calls and questions today at 800-525-7000. Ohio is where Shane is located. Go ahead, sir. Hi, Robin. Thank you for your ministry.

I appreciate that. Sure. Um So my son, he is uh he works full time in the ministry. And he doesn't get paid very much money, and he is struggling to make ends meet every month. Um they're living pretty lean.

And so He had come to me and wanted to know if if it would be worth it if he pulled money out of his is kind of long term investments. It's not a 401k or an IRA, just a regular taxable investment. And he was wondering if he should pull that out and pay off his mortgage so that he could have some um you know, some more margin. throughout each month.

Now, the problem is he makes way more. He has a pretty low interest rate. And I told him that you're kind of losing money if you. If you take it out of the investment, making more than the interest that you're paying. And I'm curious what you thought about that.

Well, I mean, you're certainly right. And I think we need to look at this and start with the heart of the issue. It's, you know, it's a cash flow problem because he can't make ends meet right now. And so, you know, before touching the long-term investments, we need to understand: is this a temporary strain or a structural issue? And it sounds like, just given the salary he's at, you know, his budget just doesn't balance.

So, really, the only options would be, you know, pay it off and, yes, forego that additional money he'd be given up long-term. And we'll talk about that a bit more.

So, the opportunity cost of what this money is doing working for him, sell the home and downsize, or find a way to get income up or cut expenses in other areas. But, you know, the three big budget busters are generally housing, transportation, and food. Food is a little easier to right-size. Transportation after that, housing is the most challenging because it's so costly to buy and. Sell homes, not to mention just the expense and time that goes into moving.

And especially if he's going from a low interest rate mortgage to a higher interest rate mortgage, even downsizing may not help to right the ship, so to speak, because that payment's going to go up as a result of that higher interest rate.

So, you know, obviously, he can't get in a position where he's going to put his house at risk or cause other things to fall behind.

So, we're going to have to deal with the cash flow issue. And, you know, unless there's an opportunity to cut expenses in other places to make the budget balance, you know, this is one way he could go. I mean, if you had said it was a retirement account, which you said it's not, that would be concerning because of the tax hit.

So now it's really just the opportunity cost. But we need to make sure that even once he liquidates this, that he's still on a solid financial footing. Meaning, does it truly right-size the budget, number one? Does he have an emergency fund? Fund remaining when this is done and he's paid it off to get rid of the mortgage payment.

Will he, beyond that, be able to fund retirement with a goal of even if he's not there today, over time, getting up to 10 to 15 percent of his pay? Because if not, then we may need to deal with the bigger issue, which is maybe there's just too much house here. And I realize these are not easy, but what are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I do agree with you. I I know that um He has a pretty good I mean, it's a He has a growing family.

So it seems like the house is it's not too big for him. And he's doing all the little things that he can to get to get extra money. Um, but it it always seems to to come up a little short. um you know, the rising inflation, just costs are going up and and and stuff like that. Yeah.

No, I certainly understand that. You know, so I think where it might make sense, because there's no tax impact, although he does need to look at if it's been doing well, he could have capital gains.

So he's going to have to factor that in. But again, as long as he's not completely depleting himself of investments, hopefully he has been funding retirement accounts or he has the ability to, and that this is truly solvable by getting rid of this mortgage, such that, again, emergency fund living below his means with some margin and putting money toward long-term investments, primarily in tax-deferred environments. I mean, those are all key. And if not, we need to perhaps deal with the bigger structural issues before he were to make a move as major as this, where he's, you know, depleting a lot of his liquidity.

So perhaps we do this. I don't know if he'd be interested in meeting with one of our certified Christian financial counselors, but this would be somebody who's trained to deal with budgets and spending plans and. You know, debt repayment, and you know, perhaps could be an arm's length, not a family member, but somebody just to give objective counsel to help look at the entire picture. We'll cover the cost for it, so it won't cost him anything. They could have several meetings and maybe develop a path forward looking, you know, beyond just what you and I have a couple of minutes to talk about here, but kind of getting into all the numbers.

Would that do you think that would interest him? Yes, I do.

Okay, let's do that, Shane.

So we'll make that available to you. If you hold the line, we'll get your information, get you connected. You can pass it on to him. Again, there won't be any cost for it. It's just our gift to you.

And let's just pray that together they can come up with a plan that makes sense that may involve just what he's suggesting. But I'd want them to believe that and see on paper how this works longer term, assuming they do, in fact, pay off this mortgage.

Okay. Thank you so much, Rob. I appreciate your advice. Absolutely, Shane. Lord bless you, bud.

Take care. Let's go to New York. Rebecca, how can I help? Hi, Rob. Thank you so much for your show.

And we learned a lot and we're thankful. I'm calling because we've kept our emergency fund money. in um the government money market, so it's like government bonds. Yeah. And I was just reviewing our finances the other day and noticed that it's not FDIC insured.

And so I'm wondering, is that Probably not the best place to keep our emergency fund. Or should I move it into a regular bank account? What are your thoughts? Yeah, great question. Where do you have that?

Is it at a bank or a brokerage firm? It's with Fidelity. It's their SPAXX, I think. Got it.

Okay. Yeah. So you're right. It's not FDIC insured. But what we're talking about here, if it's a government money market, it's backed by government bills, bonds, and notes.

So that means this is very safe either way because you're invested in government securities.

So, you know, I wouldn't have any concern about, you know, the safety of this. Again, even though it's not FDIC insured, what it's invested in is very safe underneath it.

So I think at the end of the day, what you would want to look at is safety, and we've already said that's good. Liquidity, do you get easy access? And then what kind of yield are you getting? Are you getting a competitive yield on this versus other options?

So how does it compare to a high-yield savings account or direct treasury bills that you could get through directly from the US government at treasurydirect.gov? Or a money market account that does have FDIC insurance, are you satisfied with the yield on it? I am. It's comparable to, if not a tiny bit better than, our high-yield savings account. Don't It's pretty good.

Okay. Yeah. Very good.

So, you know, I would say that if your primary concern because the yield's okay, it's with an institution you're already with, and, you know, you've got ready liquidity, then in terms of safety, a government money market fund that's not FDIC insured is still in the very safe category just because of what it's invested in. They're backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.

So I would feel pretty good about that.

So I think you can stay right where you are, Rebecca. But it's a great question. I appreciate your asking. And thanks for listening to the program. Call anytime.

We'll take a quick break and then come back with much more. Here's our goal to 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. Every day on Faith and Finance, we hear from believers who want to follow Jesus faithfully with their finances.

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Soundmindinvesting.org Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. Let's head back to the phones. We're going to head to Dublin, Georgia, Randy. Go ahead. Hey there, thank you so much.

I know this is a God thing to get a hold of you. Hey, my wife and I are raising four granddaughters, two of them in college and two of them at home, and we're looking at ways to save money uh She's retired. I'm still working at 50%. One area we were looking at, my wife has an insurance policy which has a cash value of about $103,000. And she has uh The life insurance deposit is on eight grandchildren, each of them the cash value is about four thousand.

the combination of those Oh, it's a thou it costs us a thousand dollars a month. We were wondering if it would be wise to cash those in and put them in into the investment accounts that we have. Yeah. It's a great question, Randy. I appreciate you asking.

So, let me just clarify a couple of things. First of all, starting with the big picture, $1,000 a month in premiums on a limited income is significant, $12,000 a year.

So, we want to make sure that money is doing the most important job for you right now.

So, let's break these down. You said your policy, is it on your wife's life payable to you as a death benefit? Oh, yes.

Okay, and what is the death benefit? And then also, what is the cash value? Yes, it's a three hundred thousand dollar uh whole universal whole life. As of now, the cash value is $103,000.

Okay, got it. All right, so you guys have been paying on that a long time, huh? Yes, sir. Yeah, okay, great. And so, I mean, I think the key there is: you know, what could you do with that $100,000 invested where you'd have access to the money during your life if you need it?

It's going to be increasingly more expensive over time, is likely the case, which could at the very least just chip into that cash value that's there. And, you know, I like the idea of you all perhaps looking at reinvesting that with an advisor. I'd want you to have a plan on what you're going to do with it before you, you know, collapse that policy and pull the cash value out. But I might strongly consider that. I would have an advisor evaluate that in light of your overall financial picture.

In terms of the policies on the grandchildren, life insurance on grandchildren is usually not a great idea. You know, they don't have income to replace, which is the primary purpose of life insurance. There's a very low probability of a need. There's a high long-term cost.

Now, we didn't talk about how much of that thousand a month goes to these policies, but that money could be redirected into a savings account or an investment that could be used for their education, could be used for gifts, could be used as a gift that you give to them all at one time when they get out of college or start on their own. The only benefit to a policy to a child is really that it locks in insurability in the event they become uninsurable, which again is very low. And it can build some small cash value, but again, I'd rather you redirect the money, whatever it is that's going to these grandchildren policies, I'd rather you redirect that into just a 529 college savings or a straight investment account that you could systematically invest every month in a good, high-quality, low-cost mutual fund. I just think that would give you a lot more to show for it down the road and could be a real blessing to the grandkids. But give me your thoughts on all that.

Well, I totally agree. I feel exactly like you do.

So, thank you so much. That's what we would like to do. All right. If you want to connect with an advisor there in Georgia, Randy, to evaluate that whole life policy that you have, you know, we only have a few minutes here together on the radio, and that's a pretty big decision to collapse that $300,000 policy.

So I'd want an advisor to talk to you about your wife's health status, your overall financial picture, and help you make a decision on: okay, if we collapse the policy and she's in good health. And we lose that $300,000 death benefit, what would we do with it? And based on a reasonable growth rate, how long would it take for us to grow that to $300,000 versus the ongoing costs associated with keeping that policy in force and really run that analysis for you all to make a really well-informed decision? But I think the grandchildren, those policies, that's pretty easy in my mind to say we could probably repurpose that money in a better way, even without you connecting with an advisor. But if you want to find somebody in your area, you can go to findacka.com, or if you'd prefer, you can hold the line and our team can help you get connected with somebody who could do that search for you.

Randy, you sound like a great grandfather. We appreciate your call today. And if I can help further along the way, just give me a call. Let's see. Quickly, we're going to go to Whitney in Florida.

Whitney, go ahead. Yeah, hi Rob. How are you? I'm great. Thank you.

Yeah, a quick question for you. I'm helping our family. My wife's here with me. Her mother is 92. She is still living on her own, amazingly.

She comes down with us for half the year where we live now. But she wants to make sure that the house is secure now into my wife's name. In Connecticut, and we know the laws are a little bit different there, so from Florida. And basically, she's already put it in the will that the house is going to my wife, but she would like to go ahead and put her, I guess you would say, name on the deed or give her a deed to the house. Our one attorney suggested just doing a quick claim deed.

However, when we talked to some other friends that have gone through this, especially in Connecticut, they said that that can still be contested and things like that in Connecticut. And they said we were better off doing a warranty deed. And then somebody else said, well, a warranty deed means you need to buy the house, which didn't make any sense. I was like, well, why if you buy the house, you're going to have the deed anyway.

So, but I could be wrong. Maybe I'm wrong on that. But we wanted to see what's the best secure avenue where it doesn't go into probate and it can't be contested by some relative that could come out of the woodwork. That's probably her biggest concern, you know. And so anyway, it is in the will already that she's giving it to my wife.

But my wife and she, you know, I'm helping them out to find out what would be the most secure. Way that it doesn't go into probate and wouldn't be contested. Yeah, good.

Well, at the end of the day, you do need some legal counsel here. I mean, I would say, first of all, I'm not an attorney, and you're right, the laws of the state do matter. Both would be valid ways, quick claim and warranty deed to transfer ownership. A warranty deed does carry stronger legal protection and is less likely to be challenged later, especially by heirs. That may or may not be an issue, but it is less likely to be challenged.

So I think there is some validity to that. I think the other consideration here is just a recognition that the downside to receiving this as your wife's property prior to her mom's death. Is that it's going to inherit the cost basis so that when she ultimately sells it or the two of you sell it, she's going to have to pay capital gains from when her mom originally bought it versus if she waits and gets it through a trust or a TOD deed or a will, she gets a step up in basis to the value, market value as of the date of death.

So just keep that in mind, but I would ultimately get counsel from an attorney. Thanks for your call. Big thanks to my team today, Lisa, Tahira, Taylor, and Omar. See you tomorrow. Faith in Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.