Kingdom Advisors equips Christian financial advisors to bring their faith into their practice with the industry-recognized Certified Kingdom Advisor designation. We bring those advisors together with other industry leaders to form a vibrant network. And through that network, we give them the resources, tools, and encouragement they need to serve clients like you, helping you align your values with your financial decisions and investments. To learn more, visit kingdomadvisors.com. Economic headlines may shake our confidence, but God's wisdom gives us something steady to stand on.
Hi, I'm Rob West. When uncertainty rises, fear often follows, and that fear can lead to financial decisions we later regret. But Scripture points us to timeless principles that help us respond with clarity instead of anxiety. Ron Blue joins us today to share how we can prepare our finances for uncertain times while keeping our trust in the Lord. Then we'll take your phone calls at 800-525-7000.
This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Yeah.
Well, it's always a joy to have Ron Blue with us. He's the founder of Kingdom Advisors and the author of numerous books on biblical personal finance. Ron, great to have you back.
Well, it's good to be here, Rob. Ron, you've been speaking to financial uncertainty long before it dominated today's headlines, especially in your book, Surviving Financial Meltdown.
So why is it that seasons like this tend to stir up so much anxiety when it comes to money, particularly?
Well, I think a lot of it comes down to uncertainty. And when people feel like things are out of their control, they become anxious. And when you see the hot headlines about markets or layoffs, it naturally creates fear. It's always interesting to me that. Newscasts always in with what the stock market did today and as if we're supposed to do something about it.
And when fear takes over, people often make emotional decisions, in fact, more likely than ever to make emotional decisions than wise decisions. I think that's right. And I know you often highlight how a few simple, time tested financial principles can bring clarity in these uncertain times. How does having a plan help people stay grounded and avoid the emotional decisions that can lead them off course?
Well, when you don't have a plan, then every headline that you see can push you to react instead of plan. And people panic. They sell investments. They take on debt to maintain their lifestyle or abandon long-term goals. And I've lived long enough to see many panics when the headlines are frightful.
But when you're following biblical principles, you can step back and make decisions with clarity because the principles don't change. Therefore, that takes fear out of the equation. I think that's right. And you've taught four foundational principles that serve us well during uncertain times. Walk us through each of those and why they matter.
Well, first, if you think long term about your goals in investing, you're going to prioritize your spending in the short term, and that would be spend less than you earn is the fundamental principle. Of financial planning. And when you spend less than you earn, you can set up an emergency savings so that you have the liquidity. When something unexpected happens. And finally, minimize the use of debt because debt increases financial risk.
And those principles. Work in good economies and bad economies. They never change because they're principles. Yes, it's so true. And when we apply those principles to someone perhaps who feels unsettled today, what is one practical step they can take this week to start moving toward greater confidence and clarity?
Well, I would start with a simple financial checkup. Take an honest look at what you earn, what you spend, and whether you're living within your means. Then begin building and plan for building an emergency fund, even if it starts small. Take a small step. And those small steps can quickly lead to greater confidence and peace because you're following a plan.
It's kind of like having a roadmap. or GPS. When you know where you're going and how you're going to get there, it makes the travel a lot more certain. Ron, it seems like these times of uncertainty always look a little different, and yet they happen on a regular rhythm throughout history, don't they?
Well, they sure do. I've in the past said what was happening when I was born in 1942 and then take every 10 years after that. And it's in every case, there's uncertainty and fear. the cause of those changes But you look at that and you say, wow, fear is just a part of The culture that we live in, or part of the world that we live in, and the culture.
Well, that is exactly right. But God's word is always true. It's always right. It's always relevant. I know it will never change.
You've taught that for a long time. Ron, thanks for your time today. Enjoyed it, Rob. Thank you for having me. Folks, a biblical view of money doesn't change what we do, it transforms how we think and ultimately who we trust.
That was Ron Blue, reminding us of timeless principles from God's Word to help navigate uncertainty. Back with your questions after this break.
So call right now, 800-525-7000. Stick around. The freedom you're looking for may begin with one question. How much is enough? That's why we created the Faith Five Field Guide, How Much Money is Enough, a scripture-centered resource designed to help believers just like you find contentment through biblical wisdom.
When you become a FaithFi partner by May 31st with a gift of $35 a month or $400 a year, you'll receive this field guide as our way of saying thank you. You can visit FaithPhi.com slash give today. That's faithfi.com slash give. Uh Faith in Finance is grateful for support from Sound Mind Investing. For more than 30 years, they've offered financial wisdom for living well.
SMI provides step-by-step guidance for do-it-yourself investors, from those just getting started to those getting ready for retirement. More information, including a short video webinar on profit and peace of mind no matter what's happening in the market, is available at soundmindinvesting.org. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your phone calls today.
If you have a financial question, we'll help you think about it in light of God's wisdom in the Bible. Call right now, 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Let's go to Mississippi. Miguel, go ahead.
Thank you for taking my call. Of course. My quick question is. I'm sixty years old. You know, I've been giving my money as far as mortgage.
Mm-hmm. to just companies I don't I don't know nothing about. I'm getting ready to refinance, hopefully, this summer. Akuna. find a biblically based, faith-based mortgage company, is there such thing?
I can look up and see. Yes, sir. And I'll ready if I'm giving, you know, some, you know. I can give it to someone that can use. For the kingdom of God, you know?
Yes.
Well, I'm so glad you asked because more and more of our listeners are wanting to align every facet of their lives. With vendors, providers, organizations that they do business with that align with their values as Christ followers.
So I certainly understand that. And that's why we have sponsors here on Faith and Finance. And we've hand-picked each one of them that fits with each category of what our listeners need: whether it's Christian Credit Counselors on Debt Repayment or Christian Community Credit Union for a banking partner or Eventide and Guidestone and others on faith-based asset managers for investments. And in the mortgage category, it's Movement Mortgage. You'll find them at movement.com/slash faith.
That's movement.com/slash faith. And the principals are all believers. They started the company during the financial crisis, interestingly, to love people and serve God's people and also to take a part of their profits. And they've started movement schools all over the globe to help students. In areas where there's poverty or internationally where there's real poverty.
And it's been incredible to watch how God has used movement and the team there and what they have done in the area of education.
So, and all done in the name of Jesus as well.
So, I think that would be a great place to go, movement.com/slash faith. In terms of kind of your next steps, you know, I think many lenders will do an initial quote using a soft credit pull. I know you mentioned to our call screener that you were curious about how do you go forward without dinging your credit. And, you know, eventually you'll need a hard credit when you apply for the firm loan approval. But, you know, you can start there.
And I think, you know, having an initial conversation with one of their loan officers will get you pointed in the right direction.
Okay. Perfect. That's what I needed to know, Rob. Thank you so much. All right.
Lord bless you, Miguel. Thanks for being on the program today. Let's go to Ohio. Michael, how can I help? Rob, pleasure to meet you.
My wife and I are both self employed. I've been self-employed since twenty twelve. She's been since twenty seventeen. Annually, it looks like her company nets probably around three million to three point five million a year. me probably around seven hundred thousand to one million a year.
Or that's gross. I'm sorry, it's gross.
So right now what we've done is there's been a lot going in and trying to grow the business, and we've tried to put most of the efforts and focus on investing in her company because she has a healthcare agency. That there's a lot of opportunity there.
So as and trying to and probably me trying to shift focus into into her company.
So I've I've kind of invested in her company so much over the seven years, there's been some decisions financially that I didn't agree with that were made anyway.
So at this point in time, there's been weekly loans, a lot of loans and everything that has gone on that we are Over our head in debt, and things are backing up, credit is suffering. And my company at this point now is taking, I can't really kind of bear. The weight of our personal bills also helping supplement some income to that company. And so it's just it's very it's very difficult. I'm not really sure what to do.
I don't have a good answer right now. We have a family, seven kids in the house. And so I guess I'm just kind of looking if there you have any um suggestions, you know, as far as bankruptcy or what route to go here? You know, we're With her company, $3.5 million a year, there's a lot of opportunity, but it just hasn't, we haven't been able to catch up. Yeah, yeah.
Well, I appreciate the question. And I think, first of all, you guys need to be on the same page here. Second of all, I think it is time, and I hear this in your voice, by virtue of even you calling today, it's time to be honest about where we're at and then make perhaps some hard decisions moving forward because $3 million in gross revenue doesn't equal profitability. And so if the business is consistently cash flow negative, revenue growth alone won't fix it. And with this mounting debt, that's going to continue to become problematic.
Are these businesses with regard to the debt, are there personal guarantees on everything? Um uh yes I'll say there's definitely some a guarantees attached. Yeah.
So that means it's not just a business decision. This is going to affect your home and your savings and your future income. And so obviously there's a lot more exposure there when that's the case. You know, I think the first question is: is either business viable if debt is restructured? You know, if the business had no debt payments, would it generate positive cash flow?
And it sounds like the answer is yes. And if so, restructuring may work. You know, I think we need to look at all options, including perhaps debt restructuring and workouts where you'd negotiate with the lender, extend terms. You need to do some operational triage where you have brutal honesty and say, okay, what do we need to cut? How do we reduce payroll if that's even an issue?
Maybe it's not. Maybe it's just the two of you. What do we need to do to, if there's any assets in the business, sell those off? Do we need to shut down one business to save the other? You know, two distressed businesses often end up in two bankruptcies.
So saving one, and maybe it's hers. I don't know. It could go either way. Saving one may require sacrificing the other. And so, I think that's really key.
And that's often the most painful, but the wisest decision. Bankruptcy can make sense, but obviously, I think we'd want to avoid that, or we certainly would want to try to avoid that at all costs. You know, I think the next step here is to perhaps get with an advisor, perhaps a CPA. Or a turnaround advisor, somebody who could really come in and provide a fresh perspective on this business to evaluate what's there and help you make without, you know, some of the cloudiness of your own emotional connections to these businesses and the blood, sweat, and tears that you've put into them. Having somebody just look at, take an honest look at where these businesses stand and what needs to be eliminated.
Maybe one of them gets shut down. Maybe we do a workout with the lenders, but we need to get you on a path toward financial health. And it sounds like the problems are just continuing to mount. And that's going to force your hand into bankruptcy. And so.
I think finding that CPA, maybe you call a local certified kingdom advisor and ask for a referral to a CPA who has some real experience. With small businesses and accounting and analyzing where these businesses stand. And to find that person there in Ohio, I'd go to findaca.com and then ask for that referral. Let's do this. I've got to take a break.
You and I will talk a bit more off the air. I want to see if you have any questions. Folks, we have room for a few more questions before we round out the broadcast today. The number to call 800-525-7,000. That's 800-525-7000.
Give us a call right now. A quick break and back with much more right after this. Stay with us. Are you a financial professional looking to grow your practice while offering advice that aligns with your Christian values? By becoming a certified kingdom advisor, you'll gain the biblical wisdom and professional credibility to serve clients who are seeking faith-based financial guidance.
Each year, more than 75,000 people search for a certified kingdom advisor. Join our community and share your expertise with clients looking for someone who shares their faith and values. Start your journey today by going to kingdomadvisors.com/slash get certified. FaithFi is grateful for support from One Ascent. OneAcent believes that your values inspire why you invest and how they can inspire how you invest.
One Ascent's goal is to provide solutions designed for every need and invest in businesses that bless the people and places God has made. They want to help investors do well by doing good. To explore A new way of investing that aligns with your values. More information is available at onacent.com and by clicking analyze my investments. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance.
We're taking your calls and questions at 800-525-7000, helping you apply God's wisdom to your financial decisions. Let's go to the phones to Allen in Ohio. Go ahead, sir.
Well, Rob, thank you for taking my call. Of course. And thank you all for ministry. in this area. I want to ask for assistance Um, my wife and I uh oldest son passed away and uh twenty six years old and uh He lived with us and um We just need some assistance with how to navigate uh taking care of his Affairs that we know of.
He did not have a wheel. Uh but um We are waiting on the Death certificates because I went to get them, and there was a problem with the spelling of his middle name. We're waiting on the phone home to get that information so I can go and get those death certificates. And I wanted to ask how many do you recommend that we Yeah. as far as his death certificates.
Um he did have um life insurance policy and his mother who is my wife, Jackie, is the beneficiary Now she does work from home, but um She is in a meeting. That's why she's not with me. On this call. I see.
Okay. Well, Alan, I am so sorry to hear about your son's passing, and I'd be happy to try to help you sort through the next steps here. You're exactly right on getting that death certificate corrected. That does come first. Most institutions won't proceed with a name mismatch like that.
So it sounds like that's already underway. If not, I would contact the County Vital Records Office or State Department of Health that issued it and request an amended death certificate due to a clerical error. And they'll usually require proof of the correct name, often a funeral home assistance because they file the amendment in most cases. And then there might be a small fee. That can take a couple of weeks, hopefully quicker.
But yeah, that's going to be key. With no will, that's considered an intestate estate. That's not a problem. It's just that if he was unmarried, no children, parents are usually the next of kin. And so the probate court will assign a personal representative, often a parent.
and authorize that person to act on behalf of the state. And so while waiting on that amended death certificate, you can gather all the necessary financial documents, notify creditors of the death without paying anything, because that'll come from the estate. Locate insurance policies.
Sounds like you've already on top of at least one of them where your wife is the beneficiary, freeze accounts. And then you're probably going to want to speak to a probate attorney for guidance here. With the life insurance, you're going to want to open a claim on that. And then eventually provide the amended death certificate once it's been issued. And then the probate courts are going to require the corrected death certificate, probably a sworn affidavit.
If creditors call, you're going to want to let them know what happened, tell them the estate's not open yet and that you're correcting a death certificate error, and to note the account and send written notice. That would be helpful. But once that's sorted out, essentially, kind of the next steps are to go ahead and file with the probate court, get that assignment for probably your wife or you as the personal representative. And then start kind of working through the process of a car title and bank accounts, any property. Um creditor notices take care of the debts then.
So typically Credit cards or medical bills would be paid only from estate assets, so whatever he has in his name. If the estate runs out of money, then often the debts that remain will be unpaid unless somebody else is named on these accounts. Parents don't inherit the debt. And then deal with the car and the life insurance claim from there. But I'm sure you have some questions.
What thoughts do you have? Um just With the um going to the probate court. And you said they will appoint a personal representative Yes. which would normally is a parent. That's right.
Is that correct? Yes, sir. Okay, and it's for freezing the accounts Contacting creditors to let them know of his passing. Yeah, exactly right.
So, with regard to the probate court, you're going to want to file with the probate court. You or an attorney would file in the county where he lived. And petition for administration because of an intestate estate. Again, I'd recommend having an attorney walk alongside you, the death certificate, a basic list of known assets, list of heirs or parents. That sounds like there's not a spouse here.
And then the court would appoint the personal representative. And then you'd get the letters of administration.
So this is a key document that gives legal authority for you to, whoever that personal representative is, that comes from the court to access bank accounts, deal with the car, communicate with creditors. things like that. And then often you open an estate bank account. You know, in the name of the estate, and then all money goes in, and bills get paid from there. You know, I would say you really, in terms of, you know, once the probate opens, the estate would then control communication with the creditors, which would be your wife.
So, you know, I think you're on the right track here. The key thing that's going to start all of this moving forward is getting that amended death certificate. Yes, sir. And how many would you recommend that we yeah, generally 10, I think, is a good number.
Okay. Yeah.
And then you just don't need to go back and ask for more if you needed one because everybody's going to need one that you're contacting. Right.
Okay. Well, Alan, my heart's with you, my friend. The Lord is near. He's near to the brokenhearted. I know this is, wow, something we just can't imagine.
And yet, God is there, He's on the throne, and we have the hope of heaven. Grateful for your call today, sir. If we can help in any way, please don't hesitate to reach out. May the Lord bless you.
Well, folks, we are about out of time for today. Let me just finish by saying how grateful I am for so many of you that tune in regularly to this program. Here's our goal each day, along with my amazing team. And we have an incredible team today, but there's an entire cast behind the scenes that you don't hear from or hear about on a daily basis. Our goal is that you would be encouraged in your journey as a steward of God's resources, that you would understand that you have a high calling and that God's word provides wisdom for the journey.
You to use that's applicable and relevant in any situation and circumstance, and because it's in God's word, we can trust that it's true and it will serve us well. The goal to see money as a tool to accomplish God's purposes. And listen, if you want to support this work as a listener-supported ministry here at FaithFi, we can't do this without you. And a great way to get involved to support the ministry is by becoming a FaithFi partner. You'll get pro access to the Faith Phi app, you'll get four issues of Faithful Steward, our magazine.
So, learn more at faithfi.com/slash partner. That team I was talking about today is Anthony, Omar, Tahira, and Jim, and everybody here at Faith Phi. We'll see you next time. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you.
