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-hmm. Psalm 92, 14 says, they still bear fruit in old age. They are ever full of sap and green. I am Rob West.
When it comes to retirement, many of us are taught to think mainly in terms of escape. Escape from work, pressure, schedules, and responsibility. But is that the full biblical vision? Today we'll consider what scripture says about retirement and how to steward our later years with purpose and faithfulness. And then we'll take your calls at 800-525-7000.
This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. For many people, retirement is pictured as the finish line. Work hard, save diligently, invest wisely, and one day you'll finally arrive at a season of leisure. No alarm clocks, no deadlines, no demands. And after decades of work, rest is a good gift.
There's nothing wrong with enjoying a slower pace or spending more time with family, traveling, or having more flexibility in your schedule. But scripture gives us a deeper vision for our later years. Retirement may change the rhythm of our lives, but it doesn't end our calling as stewards. That's an important reminder because many people reach retirement and find themselves asking, now what? Without the familiar structure of work, the transition can feel disorienting.
For years, your calendar, responsibilities, relationships, and even your sense of purpose may have been shaped by your vocation. When that changes, it can feel like something has been lost. But in God's kingdom, no season is wasted. We see a helpful picture of this in numbers eight. The Levites were instructed to begin their service in the tabernacle at age 25 and then transition at age 50.
But they didn't stop serving altogether. They stepped back from certain forms of labor, but they continued to minister to their brothers. In other words, they didn't retire from purpose, they moved from labor into legacy. As we age, certain types of work may no longer be possible. Energy changes, capacity changes, responsibilities change, but our purpose in God's kingdom does not expire.
The same hands that once built, typed, managed, served, or led can now mentor, teach, encourage, pray, and support. The same heart that once poured itself into a career can now pour itself into people. Maybe that means volunteering with a ministry that reflects your passion. Maybe it means mentoring young professionals or young parents. Maybe it means serving more faithfully in your church, caring for aging parents, helping with grandchildren, or simply being more available to encourage others.
whatever the expression, the heart of stewardship remains the same. Offering your time, wisdom, experience, and resources for the glory of God. Think of Simeon and Anna in Luke two. Both were advanced in years, and yet both were living with expectancy and devotion. Simeon was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.
Anna worshipped with fasting and prayer night and day. Their lives remind us that faithful presence is a powerful gift. God doesn't retire his servants, he repurposes them. That doesn't mean retirement has to be frantic or overfilled. This isn't about proving your value through constant activity.
In God's economy, usefulness is not measured by productivity, but by faithfulness. That's a word many of us need to hear. Our culture often measures significance by title, output, income, and visible achievement. But God sees differently. He sees the quiet prayer, the faithful encouragement, the wisdom shared across the table, the hospitality or generosity, the steady presence in the life of a child, a neighbor, a church member, or a younger believer.
So, if you're approaching retirement, one of the wisest questions you can ask is not merely, what am I done with, but what am I now free to do for God's kingdom? And if you're already retired, maybe today is a moment to revisit that question. What experience has God entrusted to you? What wisdom has He formed in you? What time do you have that you didn't have before?
Those are not leftovers, they're stewardship opportunities. Retirement may look different from your working years, but it's no less important. It may become one of the most spiritually rich chapters of your life if you choose to steward it well.
So don't simply retire from something, retire to something. My devotional Our Ultimate Treasure, a 21-day journey to faithful stewardship, is designed to help you do just that. To slow down, open God's word, and consider what it means to treasure Christ above all else in every season of life. You can place your order today at faithfi.com slash shop. And if you'd like to go through it with your church or small group, we offer bulk discounts.
That's faithfi.com slash shop. Back with your questions after this, 800-525-7000. Stick around. What if your money struggles aren't really about money at all? but 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 faithphy.com and click shop. Is health insurance eating up your budget for 2026? If you're looking for ways to better steward your finances, consider this.
Christian Healthcare Ministries is a health insurance alternative at half the cost. As a ministry, CHM allows you to share the burden of medical bills with other believers while also saving you money. Join CHM today and ditch traditional health insurance by visiting chministries.org/slash faithfy. That's chministries.org/slash faithfi. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance.
All right, we want to turn the corner and begin taking your calls in just a moment.
So now is the time to call 800-525-7,000.
Now, we've got some lines open today. We're ready for you.
So, whatever your financial question, now is the time to call. Again, 800-525-7,000. Let's dive in today. We're going to begin in Texas. James, you'll be our first caller, sir.
Go ahead. Thank you for taking my call. I'm planning on retiring july thirty first from the government. And I have some funds in Uh T S P I was wondering if I should leave them there or put them into a an IRA or a Roth RA. Because I want to be able to pull some out, some of my cash out to work on my house.
Yes. What's your advice? Yeah, it's a great question. And just for the benefit of our listening audience, when James refers to the TSP, he's talking about the thrift savings plan, which is a very solid James, and you've probably gleaned this over time, very solid low-cost retirement account. And I think the first question is just what you've said: should you move it?
I think the reasons to keep it right where it is are: we've got extremely low fees. We've got simple, well-diversified funds. And a really strong platform. The reasons you would roll it is if perhaps you have an advisor already, maybe you have other investable assets beyond the TSP, or you have a spouse that either has assets that need to be managed by an advisor or will at some point. You get more investment options when you roll to an IRA.
It's easier to coordinate with other accounts. You get a little more flexible withdrawal strategies. And when you get to 70 and a half, you'd have the ability to do a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA direct to a charity, which is the only way to get it out without paying tax on it. That is not available in the TESP. The other consideration is: do I, assuming it's not in a Roth TSP, is it a traditional version?
Okay. It's traditional. All right. Yeah.
So, the benefit of going to the traditional IRA is that you could then do a Roth conversion from the traditional IRA. And, you know, if you're in a lower tax bracket now, once you retire or you want tax-free growth, especially if you're going to delay Social Security, and we haven't talked about that, but if there was a period of time between when you retire and when you start collecting Social Security, it may be a really opportune time, maybe not all of it, for at least a portion of it to convert to Roth. And you'd want to work with your CPA on that.
So I would just say, you know, at some point you are going to want to transfer it, but you'll need to work out who's going to manage it. Because it's not as simple as when you're in the TSP. And if you want to do any Roth conversions, then you definitely want to roll it to the traditional. But if neither of those apply, I would say don't be quick to rush out of that TSP because it's such a solid plan. But give me your thoughts on all that.
Sure.
Well, if I pull out money, if I leave it in the TSP and I pull out money to repair our house, make home repairs. they'll withdraw the tax and hold on to it.
So that'll be paid at the end of the year, correct? That's right. Yeah.
They will certainly do that. And that means it's going to already be there and you won't have to think about it. But on most withdrawals that are taxable income, they'll do a twenty percent federal withholding. And they'll go ahead and send that to the IRS. And you may not owe all of that.
That's not the final tax. That's just a prepayment. And you could owe more, you could get some back. But yes, that will be done in advance. All right, and what about the regular just uh not the Roth IRA, but an IRA?
Is that something I could do and Can you explain that to me? Do I have to put it in there and leave it for so many years before I can withdraw? Or with an IRA? Yeah, it's a good question.
So, you would have essentially what's called a rollover IRA, which allows you to transfer the money that's currently in the TSP to a traditional IRA, which essentially, from a tax treatment standpoint, is identical to the TSP. It's just that you're no longer limited to the menu of investments that you have in the TSP. As soon as you get in the traditional IRA, you now have access to an unlimited number of investment options. But there are no requirements for you to leave it in there any certain period of time. You can withdraw it at any time.
It's just like the TSP, it's going to be taxable as income on your tax return. They won't withhold it. You'll have to do that yourself, but it's treated almost exactly the same. I hope that helps. We appreciate your call.
Let's go to Arkansas. Hi, Ann. How can I help? I appreciate your program.
Well, thank you very much. A couple of months ago, the company that administers my retirement funds notified me of a data breach, and they offered free monitoring through CROL. I believe that was for two years, and I signed up for that.
Well, this week, our bank has notified us of a data breach. And they are offering free data monitoring. through a company C Y E X. For twelve months. I would like to know if they're a reputable company and if it's advisable.
to have two different companies monitoring you at the same time. Yeah, yeah, it's a good question. Where are you in the croll free period? Do you still have a ways to go on that one? Oh, yes, that started just a couple of months ago, and it was for two years.
Okay. All right. Very good. Yeah.
So, I mean, here's my position on this. I don't think, unless you've been the victim of ID theft or you have somebody who's willing to pay for it for you because of a breach, which seems like that's just kind of a rolling thing now because of how often that's happening. My opinion is there's no need to pay for credit monitoring as long as you're using best practices, checking your credit score, which you can do free now, at creditkarma.com and even your website, or excuse me, your credit card. Many of them will offer that. You're checking your credit reports on annualcreditreport.com three times a year.
You're not clicking on phishing links. You're changing your passwords. You're not doing financial transactions on public Wi-Fi like at a coffee shop. I mean, if you're doing those things, then I don't think you need to be paying for adding another subscription for credit monitoring.
Now, the exception to that is. Go ahead. Most of these are free. Yeah.
And so for your case, I think absolutely, somebody's offering it to you free. Why not have that extra layer of protection? Do you, you know, Kroll is very reputable. I'm not as familiar with Syax. I know they are a legit company.
I just haven't read any reviews on them. You know, does it hurt for you to have two? No, I don't think so. Although Kroll is one of the big ones. And so I think they'll probably be sufficient.
But if they're paying for it, at least the new one would continue. After Kroll drops off, because this is a new instance.
So, again, I don't think it's a problem. Just make sure they're not automatically renewing it at the end of the free period. And then all of a sudden, you're paying for something that you didn't intend to. Is it bad to have overlapping monitoring? No, I don't think so, as long as somebody else is paying the bill.
Okay. We have credit freezes with all three credit bureaus.
So is there any point in us getting our credit reports? I think there is because here's the thing: credit reports on occasion will have inaccurate information.
So, even if somebody hasn't compromised your account by opening a fraudulent account, because the credit freeze should take care of that, because the lender won't be able to access the credit file to approve the loan, there could be inaccurate information on there, and you just don't know about it.
So, I think at least a couple of times a year, I'd go to annualcreditreport.com, pull it. Just make sure there's nothing out of the ordinary that you think is incorrect. It's less of an issue with a credit freeze, but I'd still do it.
Okay. Thank you very much. All right, Ann. Thank you for calling. May the Lord bless you.
A quick break and back with much more after this. Stay with us. We are grateful for support from Timothy Plan. Since 1994, Timothy Plan has shared good news with investors and advisors by offering faith-honoring mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. More information is at TimothyPlan.com.
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It's a tool to accomplish God's purposes. Helping you do that on this broadcast each day is what drives us here at Faith and Finance. All the lines are full, so let's head right back to the phones. We've got two Davids. We'll start with the first, David.
Go ahead, sir. The reason I'm calling is I just recently lost my job of almost ten years yesterday. And um Right now I'm seventy years old. My life is 64. I'm really at the point where I'm already drawn to Social Security.
And um My wife isn't quite old enough to draw Medicare yet.
So, um My question becomes what did I do with my four hundred one K and everything and my stock share accounts and all that stuff I had from the job I just lost. I already have another role of our IRA that I Established Um several years ago. I'd roll it into that. I was wondering if that'd be the best option. Yeah, yeah.
It's a great question.
So, with regard to the health insurance, and I'm sorry about your situation here, David, you know, the first option as you evaluate your health insurance. Considerations here would be COBRA.
So that's the short-term bridge. You could continue your employer plan for up to 18 months. It's the same coverage, but it's the full cost plus a small fee.
So it's expensive. There's the ACA marketplace.
So you could go to healthcare.gov and there are subsidies based on income.
So lower income equals lower premiums. You also could look at our friends at Christian Healthcare Ministries, chministries.org. That would be another option where you could use health cost sharing to really step in. And it's very cost effective. And we've got a lot of listeners and even some staff members that use it and love it.
So I think that's really key. In terms of the 401k, you know, instead of just pulling money randomly, I'd really be, you know, have controlled withdrawals to manage income.
So, you know, ACA subsidies, if you go that route, are tied to income. Income, so too much 401k income means you lose some of the subsidies. In terms of what you do with that 401k, you could certainly leave it there. Uh, and you know, start taking required minimums when that time comes. You could roll it to an IRA, that's going to give you a little more control over the withdrawals, a little easier to manage income for ACA planning.
If that's what you do, you just need a strategy for who's going to manage it, and you might want to consider bringing an advisor into the equation. And then you're going to want to coordinate your income and your insurance just to make sure you understand what you're doing. Your wife's going to enroll in Medicare at 65. And at that point, this problem disappears potentially. And so we're just really solving for this temporary gap.
So I would check out chministries.org. You could also price out the ACA plans at healthcare.gov. You could then consider rolling your 401k to an IRA for more flexibility. Carefully control the withdrawals to keep insurance costs low if you go with the ACA plan and then reach out to a CKA. To manage that IRA at findaca.com.
But it sounds like this is primarily just a one-year bridge problem. That as long as you can navigate that, you should be in much better shape. But give me your thoughts on all that. I think I think they probably might want to look into that and see what's going on there, Chris. I've been faithful to Titan for quite a few years and Lord has really blessed us, so Because of that.
When I figured we're his blessing is with all this and faithfully attending a church and everything, we were able to get into a new house. Um August. Which ended up the payment being lower than what the rent payment was. Wow.
So I actually saved a little bit of money. Awesome.
So. Really don't want to lose the house either. That's the biggest thing.
So, but it's on the Lord's will anyway, whatever He decides, and I'm going to go with what He does. He might open another door that's better than what I just had.
So, we don't know what's going to happen.
So, well, I love that perspective. You're right, David. God is your provider, and we can trust Him in that.
So, let's make this a matter of prayer, but you need to get some wise counsel. And I would connect with an advisor. What do you have in that 401k at your old employer? It's not really a lot right now. I got like almost thirteen thousand dollars in that.
And then I've got some money in um And another deal several thousand in a uh A savings plan, and I've got some money in a 12-month CD right now that comes due in December of this year.
So it'll be 12 months.
Well, let's do this, David. I want to connect you with one of our certified Christian financial counselors, and there's not going to be any cost for this. I think that's going to be a better option for you. We'll pay for it. They'll meet with you several times to go over your spending plan and your budget, help you think about what you need to do to position these assets to cover this one-year bridge, and there won't be any charge for it.
I think they'll give you some really sound advice, and it'll be an encouragement to you.
So stay on the line. We'll get you connected with a CERT CFC. Thanks for calling. David D has been waiting patiently in Texas. David, go ahead.
I've got some individual stocks in account. They're of zero value. I put in a sale order and of course, no one's buying them. I want to know what to do with them, how to document a loss and Move on. Yeah.
So are these still trading? Do they have some value or has the company been delisted or bankrupt?
Well, th they're in an E-Trade account and I put in a sale for like half a cent and no one buys it.
So I'm assuming is zero.
Okay. I don't know at what point it'll drop off as move. Got it.
Okay. It makes sense. And so, you know, if it shows no value, you know, either the stock is delisted or bankrupt, or it just may not be tradable anymore.
So you can't just sell it normally.
So the best option is often to just realize the loss. And so you could ask E-Trade to remove it as worthless. You could call them and say, I have securities that have no value. Can you process a worthless security removal so I can realize the tax loss? And they may just journal it out of your account.
They may mark it as a worthless security. You could continue to, option two would be you could continue to try to sell it. If it's still tradable at pennies, and I realize you've attempted that with no success. But until you dispose of it, you don't get the tax benefit. And so you can deduct losses with the Internal Revenue Service, or you can offset gains up to $3,000 of income annually, or offset gains.
So you don't want to just leave it there. And assume it doesn't matter because you're leaving a tax benefit on the table.
So the key question to ask E Trade is, is this security still tradable? And if not, can I process a worthless security write off?
so that you can then trigger a taxable loss event. And that can benefit you from a tax standpoint, either against income up to a limit or offsetting other gains that you might have in your account.
So I think that's your next step, David. I know that can be frustrating, but at least you'll get some benefit out of it. Thanks for calling and for your patience today. Lord bless you, my friend. Folks, so grateful to have you along with us today on the broadcast.
We'll be back tomorrow, Lord willing, to do it all over again. Our goal: help you see God as your ultimate treasure and live as a wise and faithful steward. Big thanks to our team today: Pat, Devin, Jim, and everybody here at Faith By. Have a great day. We'll see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.
