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I am Rob West. We spend a lot of time chasing what we think will satisfy, but Jesus offers a radically different vision of abundance, one that can't be measured by what we own. Today, we'll explore what true abundance is and why it matters for every financial decision you make. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance: biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
In Luke 12, someone in the crowd approaches Jesus with what appears to be a practical financial request: Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.
Now, on the surface, this seems reasonable. Inheritance disputes were common and rabbis were often asked to weigh in. But Jesus doesn't step into the legal details. Instead, he goes straight to the heart. He responds, Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
That statement would have been startling then, and it's still startling now. We may not say it out loud, but if we're honest, we often live as if the quality of our life relies on the abundance of possessions. We find ourselves thinking that more money will bring peace, more savings will remove fear, more success will secure our identity, more stuff will satisfy the longing in our hearts. But Jesus says abundance isn't found there.
Now, notice something important. Jesus warns against all covetousness. That means this isn't just a temptation for the wealthy. Coveting can show up in any income bracket. It can surface when we envy someone else's lifestyle, resent what we don't have, obsess over what we want next, or place our hope in what money can do.
That's why the issue is never just dollars and cents. As we often say on this show, money issues are heart issues.
So, if abundance isn't found in possessions, where is it found?
Well, Jesus answers that question clearly in John 10, 10. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Think about that. The abundant life is not something Jesus merely points to, it's something he brings. In other words, true abundance is found in an abiding relationship with him.
That means abundance is deeper than circumstances. It's possible to have much and still be empty spiritually. It's also possible to have little and still be full of joy, peace, and security in God. As the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4.11, I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. His contentment wasn't rooted in favorable conditions, it was rooted in the sufficiency of Christ.
Psalm 23 paints the same picture. The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. In other words, when the Lord is your shepherd, your deepest needs are met in Him.
Now, does this mean possessions are bad? Not at all. The Bible never teaches that money or material things are evil in themselves. They can be gifts from God, tools for provision, generosity, hospitality, and blessing, but they make terrible saviors. That's why financial stewardship begins with worship.
Before we ask how much should I save, or what should I invest in, or can I afford this purchase? we should ask a deeper question, What am I looking to for life? That question can reshape every financial decision we make. A budget becomes more than a spreadsheet, it becomes a reflection of what we treasure. Saving becomes wise preparation, not a substitute for trust.
Giving becomes an act of worship, not a threat to our happiness. Spending becomes more thoughtful because we're no longer chasing fulfillment in things. And success is redefined, not by accumulation, but by faithfulness. Maybe today you feel anxious because you haven't reached the number you thought would bring peace. Maybe you're discouraged because resources feel limited.
Or maybe you've already achieved your goals you once believed would satisfy, only to discover they didn't. Jesus meets each of us with the same loving truth. Your life does not consist in the abundance of possessions, it's found in Him. And when Christ becomes your treasure, you are finally free, free from comparison, free from endless striving, free from the fear of not having enough, free to steward what you have with gratitude, wisdom, and open hands. That's true abundance.
Folks, if you'd like to go deeper into this powerful teaching from Luke 12, I want to invite you to pick up a copy of our four-week study on the parable of the rich fool called Rich Toward God. You can order yours today at faithfi.com slash shop. If you go through it with your church or small group, we offer bulk discounts. That's faithfi.com/slash shop. All right, your calls are next.
The number 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and we'll be right back. Stick around. Every day on Faith and Finance, we hear from believers who want to follow Jesus faithfully with their finances. Because of faithful partners, Faith By reaches millions through radio, books, and the Faith By app, helping people see that money issues are really heart issues.
Become a Faith By partner today with a gift of $35 a month or $400 a year, and you'll not only help sustain this ministry, but also receive our latest resources too. Visit faithby.com/slash give today. Faith in Finance is thankful for support from The Good Investor, a book by Robin John. In his book, Robin shares his journey from an immigrant child struggling in school to co-founder and CEO of Eventide Asset Management, a faith-based investment firm. This Faith and Work memoir seeks to inspire readers to view their work and investments as opportunities to honor God and bring blessing to the world.
More information is available at goodinvestor.com. That's goodinvestor.com. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions today.
Anything financial? If you've got a question, we've got some lines open. We'd love to hear from you. Call right now, 800-525-7,000. That's 800-525-7,000.
Let's go to Texas. Diana, how can I help? I have a question. Like, um, I barely make like twelve hundred dollars a month. And I want to invest a little bit of money because I feel like I'm just stuck.
You know, I barely have any money left over. But I have like, I mean, just even a little a bit of money, like $40 a month that I invest in something and try to make some more money that way. And like, You use a lot of words that are like I don't understand. Like, I don't know anything about anything. You know, and I hear you talk about the Kingdom Advisors, but I.
I'm sure they probably cost money and um I just I just wanna Do something.
Well, I'm so glad you called. And yeah, it can get confusing. There's a lot of acronyms and a lot of terms. And if this is not a space you're familiar with, which is most people, so don't feel bad at all. You're not doing anything wrong or you haven't missed anything.
I think this is very common. But I love your desire to get started. And that's really the key because even modest monthly investing will help you create a savings habit. And so we want to try to automate it, whatever it is. You mentioned 40 a month.
That's actually a great habit to start. It's going to help you start by preparing for emergencies. And then once you've prepared for emergencies, we can move beyond that toward other savings goals and then even retirement, money for your future when you are no longer able to work someday. And you can gain confidence financially over time as you become more acquainted with how to put your money to work. And Diana, I think that's the beginning point of you building even a more solid financial foundation under you.
Now, the key to that begins with what I call an emergency fund. That's just simply something outside of what you need on a monthly basis to cover your known expenses. That's in a separate savings account, what we often refer to as a high-yield account. And that just simply means that it's probably with an online bank that doesn't have a local branch in your area, although it could be a credit union in your city there in Texas, but it's a bank that's offering a better interest rate than a typical brick and mortar bank, where a typical brick and mortar bank might offer a fraction of 1%, maybe one-tenth of 1% in terms of interest on your money that's on deposit. An online bank or some credit unions might offer 4% a year.
So, you know, if you had $500 over 12 months, you could get another $20 added to it in interest. You know, that's something. And we want, as that builds, for you to get some interest on that.
So the starting place would be if you don't have that emergency fund, To open a high-yield savings account, and we could talk about where you do that if you're interested, but you would set up an automatic transfer. out of your account, treat it like a bill. From your checking account into that high-yield savings account every month and aim for $500 and then $1,000 and then one month's worth of expenses. And if you can get up to three months' worth of expenses in that savings, then we want to move from emergency savings to investing. And you could just keep that $40 going, except now we're going to open something.
If you want it for retirement, if you're trying to start to build what you have for the long term, we can open something called a Roth IRA. That just stands for Senator Roth created these. That's where the Roth comes from. IRA is short for individual retirement account. And essentially, you put in after-tax dollars, so money that you've received from wages, you've already paid tax on it, and we're just putting it into this account.
And you could do $40 a month, and there's something called a Robo-Advisor that's very inexpensive and essentially would manage the money for you in the stock market with the goal of growing it over time so that someday down the road you have a nice nest egg. But let me stop there and just see what questions or thoughts you have, and then I can get more specific about where you go from here if you'd like.
Well, I have been starting to put money in my I have it's a three percent um In savings account. Great. And But I've just started doing that. I have like $500 in there now. Perfect.
Yeah. Yeah. So and I don't have a lot of expenses, honestly. Um Yeah.
So, I would say, keep going with that. Let's make the next goal $1,000, and then let's ultimately get up to whatever your total expenses are over a month's time. Let's multiply that by three and let's make that your ultimate emergency savings goal. And I'd put all of your surplus into that. Because here's the thing: if you were to lose your job, or you had a major unexpected medical expense, or you all of a sudden your car, and instead of just normal routine maintenance, you've got a transmission that goes out.
We want you to have that emergency fund so you're not having to take on unnecessary debt. But once you get to three months, now all of a sudden we can redirect whatever surplus you have into. Either another specific savings goal, like I need to replace my car in three years, you know, and we're saving for that, or a down payment on a house, or we can start putting it toward retirement. And you can either do that through a company-sponsored retirement plan if you have one available at work. And if you don't, that's where the Roth IRA could come in.
And where would I go to find such a thing as this Roth IRE? Yeah, I would use something called a RoboAdvisor, which is essentially an automated investing tool. That after you answer a series of questions about your age and what's called your risk tolerance, how much risk you're willing to take and what your goals are, it will essentially take whatever you put into it and automatically invest it in the broad stock market.
So, what you don't want to do with $40 a month is pick individual companies. Because that would be, you would have too much riding on the performance of one company.
Okay. Instead, you want to buy a basket of stocks that represent the stock market, you know, hundreds of companies in the United States and even internationally. And the best way to do that is through something called indexes. And you don't have to understand totally what those are, although I'm going to send you a book if you want to explore it that will help you. But these robo-advisors will essentially do this work for you.
You just put it in every month. It's very inexpensive and it will automatically invest whatever you put in. I would use one called, and you can put this into your search engine, the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. It's from Charles Schwab, one of the biggest and most well-known discount brokerage companies, investment companies in the world. And it's very trusted and would do a great job for you.
It's the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. You can open your Roth there, you can set up an automatic. Transfer into the Roth. And then, based on those questions that you answer, the Schwab intelligent portfolios would do the work.
Okay, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to explain everything. You're welcome. Listen, stay on the line. My team's going to send you a book called the Sound Mind Investing Handbook.
And this is going to, if you're interested, kind of start you down the road of understanding some of the terms and you know some of the uh the ideas around what it means to invest so you can just become more familiar with what all of this is and how it works, but also through the lens of scripture. It's going to take a biblical approach to it all.
So stay on the line. That's our gift to you, Diana, and we'll get that in the mail right away. We appreciate your call, folks. We've got room for additional questions in the remainder of the broadcast. Call right now, 800-525-7000.
We'll be right back. Stay with us. If budgeting feels like a second job, the new Faith Phi Pro was built just for you. It learns your spending patterns, categorizes your transactions, and helps you build a budget based on your real life. Plus, scripture readings and biblical devotionals help you manage God's money God's way.
Try Faith Phi Pro free for 30 days and lock in 25% off a pro subscription. Download the Faith Phi app from your app store or at faithphy.com/slash app. That's faithfi.com/slash app. 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. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance.
Taking your calls and questions today, 800-525-7000 is the number to call. Let's go to Michigan. Brian, go ahead. Thank you for taking my call, and we appreciate your ministry here in Grand Rapids. Thank you.
My daughter is traveling through Europe for a few weeks this summer. and I'm looking for recommendations for the company for travel insurance.
Okay. Is she on your policy, Brian? Yes.
Okay. And have you checked with them just to see what they're recommending and what coverages would be provided just based on your existing coverage? I guess not, but Yeah, that's actually a better idea. I checked with my general insurance guy and it was a little bit out of his realm.
So. You were my next best bet, and there you are with your always great suggestions.
Well, I appreciate you thinking of me, and I'm glad you called. But yeah, you definitely want to just call your current insurance company.
Some employer plans provide limited international emergency coverage, others may provide none.
So you're just going to want to start there and just say, does the policy cover medical care overseas? Is emergency hospitalization covered? What about even medical evacuation? And will she have to pay up front and get reimbursed? I mean, you're just going to want to know kind of all the details.
And, you know, many people do buy a separate travel medical policy insurance just to make sure, you know, that they have, you know, some of these other pieces in place. And so I'm not saying that wouldn't be a great thing for you to consider. It certainly could be. But I think starting with your insurance company is probably the place to go. And then you could look at some other options, you know, whether that's, I mean, for instance, you know, Blue Cross has an international, you know, medical network and Allianz has a travel insurance that's known for their travel and medical coverage options.
So, you know, once you know what gap you're solving for, then I think you can do your homework and find out, you know, read some reviews and see where you need to go next. But I'm glad you're thinking about this in advance. This is something a lot of people don't consider and I think it's a, it's a good idea.
So, Brian, we appreciate your call today, sir. I appreciate your, you're just great. You're just really great. God bless. Thank you, sir.
I appreciate those kind remarks. Call anytime. To Wellington, Florida. Hi, Maria. How can I help?
Hi, Rob. Thank you so much for taking my call. My question is this. I'm looking to close out some credit cards that I have not used in like the last couple of years at least. And I really don't want these open cards out there because just because I'm not using them, I put them away.
I just fear with all the Internet stuff that someone could get hold of a number somehow. And so anyway, my question is, what is the best way, the safest way to close out credit cards I remember years ago one would cut a credit card up and send it to the creditor in the mail, but I'm worried about doing something like that because I've heard that people can put your card back together again somehow and take the number and use it. Yes, very good.
Now I understand completely.
Now, how many cards are we talking about? I've got about four or five. that I would like to just close out because I really I only use a couple of cards and I don't need anything else. And I'm going to your show like forever. And praise the Lord.
I am debt-free and stay that way. And yeah, I'm thankful. I love it.
Well, I'm so glad you're a faithful listener, and it sounds like you're a wonderful steward of God's resources.
So that's great. Let me ask you, Maria, do any of these cards have any unused rewards, points, or benefits of any kind? Um no, nothing nothing that would matter. Like I think I saw one the other day that maybe had like about ten dollars worth.
Okay. Yeah, very good.
So, you know, that's just something to think about if it's something sitting out there that you might want to redeem before closing it, because once that account is closed, you're going to likely lose any unused rewards. The other issue we always think about is just what's called credit utilization, which is a key factor in your credit score, but it doesn't sound like it applies to you because if the card you're closing has a high limit and you're carrying balances on other cards, it could increase your credit utilization because those balances would be a larger percentage of the now lower total available credit. Since many of these cards' available credit will come out of the equation, but if you're not carrying any balances, it doesn't matter. And then the last thing we want to do before we close it is just think about automatic payments. Doesn't sound like you have any, but if you did, you know, automatic payments tied to that card, you'd want to turn that off and cancel those to avoid any missed bills.
Once you're ready to close them, you would want to contact the card issuer. And generally, what I recommend is just you. call the customer service number on the back of the card and inform them that you want to close the account, follow any instructions they give you. And then you'll want to ask them for written confirmation that your account has been closed and a zero balance is there. And this can protect you in the case of any future billing errors.
Just hang on to that documentation so you'd have that for reference. And then you may want to check your credit report 30 or 60 days down the road just to make sure that it's reported as, quote, closed by consumer. Rather than by the issuer, which can negatively impact your credit score.
So, what you're looking for on that credit file is a zero balance and then the words closed by consumer. If it says closed by issuer, then you'd want to dispute that because that's not what happened. But those are really the key steps. The only last thing I might finish with is just asking whether you are anticipating seeking a new loan of any kind. You're not going out to buy a new car in the next couple of months that would require you to take out a car loan or anything like that.
Is that right? Right, nothing like that. I have a vehicle that is A few years old, it's from 2017, but it is just fine, and I'm retiring.
So I'm going to be using it even less.
So got it. Yeah, so I think you could go ahead and do them all at once. I mean, if you wanted to, you could do two of them now and then wait six months and do two or three more. But if you're not going out seeking credit, you're probably going to see with all these coming out of the equation, because part of your score is based on the history that you have. And if these are no longer a part of your history because they're not active, you know, you could see your score dip a little.
But I'm not hearing that you have a whole lot of need, you know, to have a credit score of 820 versus 770 or something like that.
So even if you saw the 20, 30, 40, 50 point drop in your credit score, it probably doesn't matter because you're not out looking for new credit. And even though it's used for other things, I would imagine you're still going to have a fairly high credit score, even though you may not have the best one. And there's not really any benefit to that. And I like the idea of, as you said, getting those closed because now that's just one less account that has the potential. Potential to be compromised.
Does that all make sense? Yes, absolutely. Thank you. All right. We appreciate your call, Maria.
Thanks for being a faithful listener. And you call back anytime if I can assist you. Hey, big thanks to my team today: Devin, Sandy, Taylor, Jim, everybody here at FaithFi. Couldn't do it without them. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Check out our website at faithfy.com and come back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you then. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithFy and listeners like you.
