Imagine having biblical financial wisdom delivered to your inbox every week, helping you integrate your faith and financial decisions for the glory of God. At faithfi.com, you can join a community of over 70,000 people who are already receiving our weekly wisdom email, filled with articles, videos, podcasts, and exclusive offers on resources that will deepen your understanding of biblical stewardship. Start your journey today by creating your FaithFi account at faithfi.com. Just click sign up.
Now, let's dive into the podcast. This weekend, our nation celebrates freedom, but scripture points us to a freedom even deeper than national liberty. Hi, I'm Rob West. As we mark the 4th of July weekend and the 250th anniversary of our nation, it's worth asking: what does it mean to live as truly free people? Today we'll explore the freedom Christ gives and how that freedom reshapes the way we handle money.
And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7,000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Tomorrow, Americans will celebrate Independence Day with fireworks, cookouts, parades, and gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy. And we should be grateful.
Freedom is a gift. It allows us to worship, work, give, speak, serve, and live with opportunities many around the world do not have. But as Christians, we also know that freedom is bigger than the ability to do whatever we want. In Scripture, freedom is not simply independence. It's not the removal of all restraint, and it's certainly not permission to live for ourselves.
Biblical freedom is the freedom Christ gives us from the power of sin, so we can love God and serve others. Jesus says in John 8, 36, So if the Son set you free, you will be free indeed. That's the deepest freedom any person can know. It's freedom from condemnation, freedom from slavery to sin, and freedom from the false masters that promise life but cannot give it. Paul says something similar in Galatians 5:1, For freedom Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. But then, later in the chapter, Paul explains what that freedom is for. Galatians 5:13 says, For you are called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. That's important.
Freedom is not merely something we possess, it's something we steward. The Apostle Peter says it this way in 1 Peter 2:16. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
So, Christian freedom is not the freedom to be ruled by worldly desires. It's the freedom to no longer be ruled by them. It's the freedom to say no to sin, no to selfishness, no to the world's definition of the good life, and yes to God. And that has everything to do with our money, because true financial freedom is not measured by what we have, but by what no longer has a hold on us. We may say we are free, but fear can still control our decisions.
Comparison can still shape our spending. Comfort can still become our highest goal. Accumulation can still feel like our source of security. The desire for control can still keep our hands closed, even as God invites us to trust Him. That's why Jesus says in Matthew 6:24, No one can serve two masters.
You cannot serve God and money. Money is a good tool, but a terrible master. It can be received with gratitude, managed with wisdom, and used for love of neighbor. But when it becomes our master, it distorts everything and it leaves us empty. As Evangelist Billy Sunday once said, The fellow that has no money is poor, the fellow that has nothing but money is poorer still.
That's why Hebrews 13:5 gives such a beautiful picture of financial freedom. Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Why? Because God Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Contentment is possible because God is present.
Generosity is possible because God provides. Wisdom is possible because God owns it all. And open-handed living is possible because Christ has set us free.
So, this 4th of July weekend, let's thank God for the freedoms we enjoy, but let's also ask Him for a deeper freedom: the freedom to no longer be ruled by fear, greed, comparison, or control. We are free in Christ. Free to love God, free to serve our neighbor, free to use money as a tool for His purposes, and free to live with open hands because our treasure is secure in Him. That's the heart of everything we do here at FaithFi. We exist to help Christians see God as their ultimate treasure so they can manage God's money God's way.
If this message has encouraged you, I want to invite you to become a FaithFi partner. When you give at $35 a month or $400 a year, your support helps us share biblical wisdom with millions of people through this radio broadcast, podcast, website, app, our magazine, and studies, all designed to help believers manage God's money God's way. You can become a partner today when you visit faithfy.com/slash give. That's faithfi.com/slash give. All right, your calls are next: 800-525-7000.
We'll be right back. Imagine having biblical financial wisdom delivered to your inbox every week, helping you integrate your faith and financial decisions for the glory of God. At faithfi.com, you can join a community of over 70,000 people who are already receiving our weekly wisdom email, filled with articles, videos, podcasts, and exclusive offers on resources that will deepen your understanding of biblical stewardship. Start your journey today by creating your FaithFi account at FaithFi.com. Just click sign up.
Are you feeling overwhelmed by credit card debt? As followers of Christ, we are called to be good stewards of what God has given us. That's why our trusted partner, Christian Credit Counselors, is here to help. Their debt management program can help you pay off your debt 80% faster while honoring your commitments in full. Take the first step toward financial freedom today.
Visit faithfy.com/slash CCC or Call 800-557-1985. Oh. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West.
Well, we're looking forward to taking your calls and questions today in just a moment. That number is 800-525-7000. Again, that's 800-525-7,000. We want to dive into the things you're wrestling with in your financial life today, help you think about it in light of biblical wisdom. That's right, even though this ancient text is the source, it is the truth.
Often we can think perhaps it doesn't have anything relevant for today's modern personal financial decisions. And although you won't find terms like bankruptcy or investment or credit report, you will find principles that we can apply, timeless truth that we can apply to today's decisions, very specific decisions that can help you move forward with confidence. We want to help you do that each day on this broadcast.
So when you call with Those questions will certainly help you think about them in light of biblical truth and make a confident decision moving forward. All right, let's dive into your questions today. We've got the lines filling up, but we still have a few open at the moment. 800-525-7,000. You can call right now.
Let's begin today in Mississippi. David, go ahead, sir. Yes, uh can I start out with a comment on giving? Absolutely, please. Uh my wife and I.
We are not to gloat uh in our giving But we're not supposed to hide our faith either. Yes. One way we have found to give completely anonymously. Uh now you don't get a tax deduction and who cares about that all the time. but find somebody in need and pay their power bill.
It's totally anonymous. No one knows anything. You don't have to pay what they owe. You can apply anything to it. But absolute blessing from God.
Wow. I've never heard of that idea. I love that, David. Have you all done that? Many times.
Oh, that's awesome. I love that idea. You know, another thing that I've run across lately, and I've started to do this myself, but I have several friends that do this regularly, and that is they just keep, and this would obviously not be able to be done anonymously as to your idea, but they just keep extra cash in their pocket. You know, maybe you try to carry around if you have the ability to do so, you know, an extra few 20s. And they look for the person that often goes unseen.
And Ron Blue, who we have on this broadcast regularly, is one of my mentors, and he's written 20 books on the topic of biblical finance. But he loves to give cash to the person in the restroom attendant in the airport. Because he just... Makes this point that people just kind of file in and out, and that person who's always off in the corner, you know, serving and waiting oftentimes just goes unseen so often. And he loves to go up to that person and bless them with an unexpected gift of a few 20s or maybe more.
But I love this idea of spontaneous but intentional generosity. It's really a powerful idea.
So thanks for sharing that, David. Go ahead with your question, sir. Absolutely.
So I'll tell you, I'm a long time listener and I I see I go talk to my investment advisor every three to four months, probably more than people need to, but I do. And still listening to you and talking to him for an hour every three or four months, what y'all speak is a foreign language to me. Can't keep up with all of y'all's information, but My question, my wife and I, we're looking to retire soon. We could have already. But we're going to officially do an addition on the house.
Yeah. We don't owe any. The only thing. That we owe, we have a HELOC that's available to us. All right.
Um, So my question, we've got about $140,000 set aside for this edition. Should we use the HELOC that we already have? Yep. Would it be better to borrow against the four hundred one K? Yes, that's a great question and a classic one, and I'd love to weigh in on it.
And this is a great question because we want to be able to, as a goal, improve the home without compromising your retirement security. And that matters more than the remodel itself.
So I really do like option one, the HELOC. That's usually the safest. And most balanced option. Why? Well, it keeps retirement accounts untouched, and that's a big win.
So they can continue to grow and hopefully grow even to the point, you know, with an allocation at age 57, I would imagine you're still largely in stocks.
So you have the ability to even outpace that interest rate in terms of growth, but it's also in a tax-deferred environment, which is helpful because those taxes aren't putting a drag on any kind of gains you have inside the account. It's also flexible because with the HELOC and a construction project, you know, things can take longer than you thought. They could get delayed, and you only take out what you need at the time you need it, which allows you, you know, to really stagger the borrowing and borrow as little as possible. But with a home equity loan, you've got to take it all up front. And this may be an 18-month project or more.
And so that's going to be really helpful.
Now, it adds a monthly debt obligation.
So you got to be. Prepared for that, and that's got to be able to fit into your budget and be able to be paid back in a reasonable amount of time. The reason I don't like the 401k borrowing, even though you could argue, well, wait a minute, I'm paying interest to myself, isn't that a good thing? But if you lose or leave your job, your loan would be due, or it would all be a distribution, which would be a huge tax bill. The money is also out of the market, so it's the opportunity cost because you're missing the growth.
And if it's not repaid, again, there could be a tax problem.
So I would use that only as a backup. But it does carry real risk. And I don't love that, you know. I know you mentioned to the call screener that you would are also considering a Roth IRA. You lose that tax-free growth forever.
So I wouldn't do that. That weakens your retirement foundation.
So that would be a last resort.
So I'd start with the 140. I'd use the HELOC for the gap, and I'd keep your retirement accounts intact. That's at least my best advice, David. Give me your thoughts.
Okay.
Sounds good to me. I kind of answered the question as I ask it to you. Thinking about the interest that I'm losing and the percentage on the HELOC because it's only two point nine. It's very low interest. Wow.
Yeah, that's surprising.
So that must be an introductory rate of some kind because usually they're prime.
So to kind of give you a, we bought a camp several years ago. Uh we we don't owe any money on anything.
So we did the HELOC to buy the camp. If you're not familiar with what a camp is, it's a house up on Stilts on the river.
Okay.
I had some medical issues. We weren't sure how that was going to turn out, so we sold the can. Got it. We got the 95,000 back from that. But then my daughter was ready to remodel her house.
So she pays the HELOC. And we just give her cash because we didn't know how much she was going to spend. And I've done all the work myself, so we've saved her a bunch of money, but now we're finished with the house.
So that money is sitting there.
So it's several years old. I see. But that cash is sitting there. Got it. Okay.
Yeah, that seems like a no-brainer then. I think you're on the right track here, and well done on saving up that $140K. Hey, David, we appreciate your call and thanks for that reminder about giving opportunities. I love your idea of paying somebody's utility bill. Lord bless you, my friend.
Call anytime.
Well, folks, we're just getting started here today on Faith and Finance. We've got some calls coming in, but we also have lines open.
So if you have a financial question today, we'd certainly love to get you in the mix. Call right now, 800-525-7000. Helping you see God as your ultimate treasure. This is Faith and Finance. We'll be back with much more just around the corner.
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Uh Helping you see God as your ultimate treasure. This is Faith and Finance. So glad you're along with us today. We do have a few lines open. If you have a financial question, now's the time to call 800-525-7,000.
That's 800-525-7,000. Let's go to Indiana. Rob, go ahead. Hey, Rob, thanks for taking my call. We're possibly moving from Indiana to Illinois, and I own a house that is looked at as about two hundred thirty five thousand.
Yeah. owing about seventy thousand Left on it. And wanting to know what the best options are, because there's some properties we have looked at, houses. And such that there's one specifically that has grabbed our attention, but it sounds like the area is a very high. demand area that could go pretty quick.
And so without having our house on the market yet and moving forward in a lot of that. What is the best way to try and move forward when you're in this type of a possible situation? Yeah. You know, it's very common, Rob, what you're facing here. And the key is to balance the flexibility with the additional risk that you're taking on.
So the safest option is a contingency offer. And basically, you make an offer on the new home contingent on selling your current home.
Now, a few years ago, those were almost unheard of because we were in a red-hot housing market and there was just so much competition for homes that were priced right that the seller would often just dismiss offers with contingencies because they don't want to take the risk that it could fall through at the last minute. But today, it's a little tighter. It's shifting slowly from a seller's market to a buyer's market. There's more inventory, interest rates are higher. And so I think you have the possibility of getting an offer that's accepted with a contingency.
And that obviously ensures that you don't have the risk of carrying two mortgages. It's more conservative. And so that would be the best option if you can go that way.
Now, you do run the risk on your side of losing the home that you find that you may really want and it may be timely that you haven't sold it, and then you'd have to decide how to proceed.
So that leads us really to option two, which is a bridge loan. And basically, it's a short-term loan that uses your current Homes equity to fund the new purchase, and it lets you buy before selling. Allows you to not rush your current home sale, but they're higher interest rates. You know, it could be 8 to 12 percent. And temporarily, at least, you'd have double payments.
So it's a great tool, but your income would need to support it. And so I would look really closely at that just to make sure you're not stretching and taking on too much risk there. The third option, which I really. I don't love is a home equity line using it for the down payment. But, you know, again, you're having to still carry multiple loans here.
And, you know, you've just got to make sure that you can do that. You know, you could look at a 401k loan if you've got one, but that risks your retirement. It's kind of the same thing I talked to the previous caller about. The money's out of the market. And if you separated from service, you'd have a huge tax liability and that money would be permanently out of your retirement accounts.
I guess the final option would be you'd rent out the current home, create income, avoid selling in a bad market. But we're not in a bad market. It's really just a matter of finding that right buyer in the current market.
So hopefully that helps, gives you a few things to think about. And, you know, I think the best option, again, Is going to be that contingency offer. But get really serious about finding that next home and marketing your existing home so that you can try to sync up these two: the purchase and the sale, and not add this additional risk and debt. But did you have any follow-up thoughts on that or questions? Yes, thank you.
I was wondering about the HELOCs, is that a possibility of using the equity to get started with that situation with a bank and such? It is, yeah. You're just collateralizing your primary residence. Not the new one. And so, and then, of course, you've got to, you know, you're going to have to fund both sides of that equation.
So, if you pull from the HELOC to buy the new place, then you're still going to need a loan for the remaining balance, right?
So, I guess the question would be: do you have enough equity in the current home to fully purchase the new home? Yeah, I would say probably not considering what they're asking.
So would that go along with a bridge then? Or do you just do the bridge on itself? You would typically just do the bridge to cover the whole thing. I mean, you certainly could, but now we're into three different loans and you'd want to work with your lender to kind of figure out what's the best option there. At the end of the day, it just comes down to how do you minimize the interest spent?
And not get overextended with regard to debt service and taking on an unnecessary amount of risk. Um but it it would likely just all fall on that bridge loan typically.
Okay, great. Hey, thank you very much. Thanks for being on the program, sir. Call anytime.
Let's go to Texas. Robin, how can we help? Um, it's my mother-in-law who died She's at an estate, a nice house and some retirement investments. And There are several siblings. And this bank, where her money is, wants information on each sibling, and they want to cut a check to each sibling.
And I guess it's just part of the money. And I'm not understanding, I'm not sure all the money. There's two different. investments, I think. Yeah.
And I don't understand that. I'd never heard of that. I thought that was the executor's responsibility to disburse the money. Yeah, yeah, it's a great question.
So, the executor or personal representative is in charge of distributing assets, but only for those assets that go through the estate.
So the key distinction is the assets controlled by the executor, so typically the house, personal property, and bank accounts without beneficiaries, those are distributed by the executor according to the will. Assets that bypass the executor, and this is likely the issue. is that if you have accounts with named beneficiaries or you have a POD payable on death bank account or retirement accounts or life insurance, those are paid directly by the institution, not the executor.
So, what is likely happening here is that if the bank says they're paying each sibling directly, that usually means the account had beneficiaries listed, including the siblings, and so they're following that designation, not the executor. Oh, okay.
Okay.
Why would you say that? I think I've heard you say that before. That's okay.
So, what you could do to confirm this is you could call the bank and ask: was this account PODP as in payable O on death, POD, or did it have named beneficiaries? And if they say yes, then you completely understand. If not, then obviously it would go to the will and the personal representative. But the beneficiary form overrides the will, and that's likely what's going on here.
So I hope that helps you, sir. Thanks for calling today. Call anytime.
Folks, that's going to do it for us. Big thanks to my team today: Devin, Taylor, Sandy, Pat, couldn't do it without them. And everybody here at Faith By. Enjoy the rest of your day, and we'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
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