Have you ever wished someone could take the stress and guesswork out of budgeting? That's exactly what the FaithFi app was built for. FaithFi uses your real spending history to build a personalized plan from day one. And as you categorize transactions, it learns your patterns, automatically simplifying future budgeting so you spend less time managing and more time living. But the FaithFi app doesn't stop with the numbers.
Each daily, weekly, and monthly rhythm invites you to engage scripture, reflect on God's provision, and connect your financial decisions with your faith. And because FaithFi integrates articles, studies, devotionals, podcasts, and community support, you're never walking this journey alone. Try FaithFy Pro Free for 30 days, and for a limited time, get 25% off a pro subscription at faithfy.com/slash app. Dr. Richard Swenson, author of The Overload Syndrome and Margin, writes that we must have room to breathe.
We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. I am Rob West. These days, too many of us are physically, emotionally, mentally, and financially overloaded.
So we'll look at rest from a biblical perspective today, and then we'll take your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
Well, the room to breathe that Dr. Swenson writes about is called margin. It's taking a break before you break, so to speak. For many people, there just isn't enough time or money or energy left at the end of the day to recuperate, and then everything starts again at full throttle the next day. Unfortunately, a no-margin lifestyle can have serious physical and financial consequences.
Let's take sleep, for example. According to the Sleep Foundation, nearly half of people in the U.S. have trouble sleeping, and around one-third of adults sleep less than seven hours each night. Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to expensive health problems, including diabetes, anxiety, obesity, and heart disease. Studies show that lack of sleep deeply affects our emotional health, relationships, and decision-making, reminding us that rest isn't a luxury but a necessary part of living wisely and well.
Perhaps you find things moving too fast in your life. Working late nights and weekends might seem necessary, but burning the candle at both ends is ultimately unproductive. You'll find that exhaustion leaves no energy for the most important things, your relationships with others and with the Lord.
Now, don't get me wrong, God calls us to work for our families, for his kingdom, and for the community. We work to pay the bills, to give, to save, and to invest. It's part of how God made us, but work isn't all there is. We need to rest sometimes, too. You know, rest is God's idea just as much as work is.
On the seventh day of creation, God rested, not because he was tired, but because his work was completed. God blessed that rest and called it holy. Later on, keeping the Sabbath holy was enshrined as one of the Ten Commandments. Like author Rich Volotis puts it, God gives us Sabbath, He gives us rest, as a gift to remind us that our standing in Christ is not based on our works. Days of rest are days where we can tell ourselves, I'm not producing anything, yet God still loves me.
Technology makes it easy to work from anywhere at any time, but just because we can doesn't mean we should. Margin in work means getting enough rest so that you can do your job as unto the Lord with purpose and energy. Staying late at the office or skipping vacation days might make you look like a go-getter, but stress and broken relationships are a high price to pay for professional progress.
Now, perhaps I need to point out that there's a difference between getting proper rest and being lazy. Laziness is choosing not to do what you're supposed to do, or only doing the minimum to get by. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul tells the church to warn those who are idle and disruptive. The suggestion here is that being inactive can lead to mischief. You've probably heard the saying, idle hands are the devil's workshop.
We can see this effect all over our culture. Scripture warns against idleness, massed as busyness in 2 Thessalonians 3. Without rest, our constant activity can become aimless distraction rather than faithful work, draining our purpose and clouding our calling. Proverbs 31 describes the noble woman as hardworking, caring for her home, business, and the poor. Verse 27 says she does not eat the bread of idleness, showing that fruitful labor honors God, while idleness ultimately leads us into trouble.
Laziness can sometimes look like spending more time on distractions, like scrolling or shopping, than on what matters most, like our relationships or the work God entrusts to us. Proverbs 24:30 and 31 paints the picture of a neglected field overgrown and crumbling from despair. If you wrestle with laziness, don't run from it. Bring it to Jesus. He offers not only forgiveness, but strength to live faithfully and diligently in every area of life.
The good news is that God's grace meets us right where we are. Whether we're burned out from overworking or stuck in patterns of procrastination, He invites us into rhythms of grace, not guilt. Rest isn't something we earn, it's something we receive.
So if you're weary, come to Jesus. His yoke is easy, his burden is light, and in him, you'll find true rest for your soul. All right, your calls are next. The number 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and this is Faith and Finance.
We'll be right back. Managing money isn't just a financial decision. It's a discipleship journey. And the FaithFy app is the only app built to guide both your money and your heart. With meaningful check-ins, automated budgeting, personalized insights, and biblical wisdom woven into every step, FaithFi helps you build habits that last.
Join more than 70,000 believers pursuing clarity and peace as faithful stewards. Start your 30-day free trial today at faithfy.com/slash app. Rising health insurance rates are pricing millions out of the market, and Christian Healthcare Ministries is here to help. CHM is affordable assurance, allowing believers to share the burden of medical bills together. You get simple, low-cost pricing regardless of health history or location.
Plus, you can enroll at any time with no contracts, break free from the huge costs and hidden fees of traditional health insurance. Learn more at faithfy.com/slash CHM. Yeah. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. We're taking your calls and questions today.
We've got plenty of room for you, still some lines open.
So if something you're wrestling with in your financial life, call right now, 800-525-7000. Again, that number, 800-525-7000. Let's go out to El Paso. Terry, how can I help you? Yes, I have somebody that I know that is in some critic card um uh issues like they had borrowed some money and they had always always paid it.
But this past year, some issues came up, and so they were like. they were in debt for like ten thousand, then a couple of months. Yeah. And then it was fifteen and now it's twenty five. But they have the credit card closed, so I'm not exactly sure what's happening.
So I thought maybe it was that interest. And they didn't make the minimum payments, or so I'm just thinking how to. Um maybe help them to know what to do. Yes, it's a great question, Terry, and I'm delighted you're helping your friends with this. You know, it depends on the status of the card.
And so if the card has been what's called charged off. then there are less options. But if the count is still active, It's just delinquent. Or pass due, or maybe even in internal collections still owned by the original creditor, then there are options. And I would start by telling them.
to contact our friends at ChristianCreditCounselors.org. ChristianCreditCounselors.org. Christian Credit Counselors is a wonderful nonprofit. They've worked with thousands of our listeners here at Faith and Finance. They will get them into a program that is my preferred way of paying off credit card debt.
And it's simply this: the credit card, the debt stays right where it is with the original creditor. Every credit card company has a credit counseling department. You can't access it on your own, but if you go through a nonprofit credit counseling agency, you can. The benefit there is Two things will happen when you move it to credit counseling. Number one, the account gets re-aged, which just simply means if it's been in a past due delinquent status, it's brought current as long as you start making regular payments.
Second, the interest rate drops.
So the average interest rate today in the United States is just above 22%. And if they've been late, meaning they're in a delinquent status, it's probably closer to 30%.
Well, as soon as they go into credit counseling, depending on the creditor, it's going to be somewhere between 0 and 10%.
Well now, if they start making payments. A lot more of that payment is going to go to their principal. And that's what we want because that's what's going to get this balance going in the right direction.
So, Terry, that would be the advice I would give you to pass along to them, which is simply visit Christiancreditcounselors.org. And they're a wonderful group of godly men and women, and they'll be a big help to them, okay? Oh, okay.
Okay, thank you very much.
So it would not be good to like Put down a very large payment and then continued to try to pay it off.
Well, the nice thing about Christian Credit Counselors is you can prepay it while you're in the program, except now anything that remains over time is at a lower interest rate.
However, if they have the ability to come in and pay a significant amount, Um they may just want to what's called settle with the company. And that just simply means that they will often, especially if it's past due.
Now, I don't recommend this if you're not already in this position because it's going to damage your credit. But if they're already past due and they have the ability to make a substantial payment, it might be worth them calling and just saying, you know what, we can give you 50 cents on the dollar and try to pay this off if you'll consider that settled in full. And a lot of times creditors will do that. And you would want to make sure that your friends get that in writing before they make the payment. Um but if they'll do it, you know, that could be a way to pay it off.
In full, but not write the check for the full amount. And many creditors are willing to do that.
Now, keep in mind, the difference between what they pay and what the balance is is going to be taxable as income.
So they're going to need to just factor that in. But if they have the ability to do that, they may want to call them. Um no what do you mean taxable?
Well, if you let's put on the bottom of the corner. Let's say the balance is $10,000. And let's say they call the creditor and they say, listen, I have the ability to write a $6,000 check today if you will consider this settled in full. And let's say the creditor says we'll do it. And your friend says, Well, I'd like for that in writing.
And they send them something that says, If you give us $6,000, we will consider this paid in full. The difference between what they pay and what they owed, 4,000 in my example, they're going to get a 1099 and that's going to be treated by the IRS's income and they're going to have to pay taxes on it.
Okay well. Is it better to do one or the other to try to say let's pay it off? if they say okay, fifty percent And consider it settled, or is it better to do it like you said the other way?
So, if they have the ability to write a check and get it paid in full, even at a discount, I would do that. Because then it's done.
Now, if that's going to deplete all of their liquid reserves and then put them in a position where, if something unexpected comes up, they don't have the money and they're going to have to go back in debt.
Well, then I wouldn't do that. That's not sustainable. But if they can keep enough in emergency reserves and they have enough to get this settled in full, I would take that option every day. If they don't, well, then let's get in an accredit counseling program and start making some progress each month.
Okay, thank you so much.
Okay, Terry. God bless you. Thanks for calling today. We appreciate you. Bye-bye.
Thank you. Bye-bye. All right. Let's go to Texas. Hi, Julie.
How can I help you? My husband and I are both seventy seven. I'm totally blind. He has a number of health problems. And we'd like to get an irrevocable trust, but we don't have Very much money.
And I've heard of elder law, but I don't know how to get a hold of them. Yeah. Let me just ask quickly, and I'm not an attorney, but we can give you some general advice. And I think your best option is to seek out an elder law attorney who's skilled in this area, and I can help you get connected. But what is it you're trying to accomplish?
Why? And you mentioned an irrevocable trust, which typically we'll have folks seeking out a revocable trust, meaning you can change it. But was there something specific you were trying to accomplish with the irrevocable trust? Oh, we just don't want to go into probate when one of us passes away. Got it.
We're community what property law here in Texas? And I don't know if one of us dies, if the other one has to go through probate or I don't know how any of that works. Got it. Yeah. So you would be looking at what's called a revocable trust, which just simply means you're not actually relinquishing ownership of it to the trust.
You maintain that ownership and you can change the trust at any time, but it does avoid probate.
Now, for somebody who doesn't have a whole lot in the way of assets, typically this might be more than you need. You know, starting with, it can cost you several thousand dollars to put it in place. And there are other ways to avoid probate depending on what you have. But one of the primary benefits of the revocable trust is, and this is one of the main benefits, is that it allows assets to bypass the probate process after you die. Why would you want to do that?
Well, it saves time. It can reduce legal costs. It provides some privacy. And you can have a little bit more control.
So what you're going to want to do is connect with an attorney and talk through that. The way to avoid that without having a trust would be what's called a transfer. On death deed for a house, and then beneficiaries for life insurance and investment accounts, things like that. But here's what I want to do: I want to get you connected with a certified kingdom advisor there in Texas, Julie, who can then refer you to a godly elder law attorney.
So stay on the line and we'll talk a bit off the air. We'll be right back. 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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Delighted to have you with us today. This is Faith in Finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your phone calls today, 800-525-7000. Let's go to Chicago.
Hi, Shelly. How can I help? Hi, I'm calling because I'd like to know I have not started taking out of my compensation that I saved over the years. I worked 30 years. And I'm just living off of my um pension right now.
Bills and everything are coming out of there. But I do have something in savings and they at the bank they keep suggesting that I do something with the one hundred twenty five thousand in the savings Because I also have the 19 plus in the checking.
So I'm trying to figure out. what I should do with it, C D's or Because I'm just not sure. And what they're offering doesn't seem like much, like 3%. Um So, I'm not sure what steps I should take.
Well, this is a great situation here, Shelly, because you've got a pension covering your monthly bills. That's great. You've got plenty in your checking, which is good to keep a little extra so you don't kind of run it down, you know, to zero every month.
So, that's good that you have a nice cushion there of $19,000. That $125,000, I'm glad to hear that you're getting 3%. You can do better than that.
So, for instance, you know, our friends at Adelphi Christian Banking, the biggest Christian banking solution in the country, they're offering 4% right now on money markets up to $100,000 and an additional $400 when you open an account, when you use the code FaithFi.
So, that would be an example of where you could get an extra 1%. And just go to faithfy.com/slash banking to learn more about that. But here's what I'd like to do: I'd like to help you kind of break down how to think about the 19 and the 125 in terms of putting them in buckets. It's So maybe bucket one is your checking cushion.
Okay, so this might be, you know, maybe $5,000 that you want to keep there. Maybe you're more comfortable with more than that, but you're keeping a cushion so you don't drain that account to zero and you'd never have to worry about any kind of overjab charge. I think $19,000 is more than you need there, especially because you're not earning any interest on it.
Somewhere between $2,000 and $5,000 is probably right.
So then we could move the rest of that over to your savings.
So let's say we took 15,000 out of there. That would take your savings up to 140,000. Bucket two, we'll call safety.
So, this is enough cash for emergencies. We usually recommend three to six months' worth of expenses.
So, if we were to do that, how much do you typically spend in a month's time? Maybe uh on um utilities and Guess And what about everything else? Maybe another thousand? Uh no another thousand. Yeah, eating out.
Okay. Yeah. So let's call it, let's just round it up to 2,000.
So if we had six months' worth of expenses, you know, we would put $12,000 in your emergency fund.
Okay. Now you may say, listen, I would be more comfortable with, you know, something like $15,000 or $20,000. I mean, whatever it is, that's going to be our safety bucket. That one belongs in the savings account, either where you're at now, or maybe you move it to something where you can get a little more interest. For instance, I mentioned our friends at Adelphi Christian Banking are offering 4% in their money market for up to a year.
And so that would, you could go to faithfi.com/slash banking, and you know that you would be aligned with a Christian banking partner and getting a little better interest rate. The third bucket I'm going to say is let's go ahead and pay off that debt. Because if you pay off that $8,500 and then you pay off the $17,000, you're going to get a guaranteed return equal. to the interest rate you're no longer paying. And as long as that's more than 4%, then you're in the money.
And I suspect it's probably 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, something like that.
So I just go ahead and pay those off. And then the next bucket is really gonna be what we'll call the growth bucket.
So any money beyond your cushion in your checking and beyond your emergency fund and beyond what you need for the debt repayment has the ability to either stay in the high-yield savings. Move to a certificate of deposit, a C D. Or maybe you start investing it in a diversified way with a very conservative portfolio, and maybe you even get an advisor to help you do that so he could try to grow it. And not take unnecessary risk, but do better than you could do in a savings account. But that's only if you're comfortable with that.
You may not want to take any risk. And if so, you'd want to stay in the high-yield savings, money market, and CD category. But give me your thoughts on all that. Um Yeah, this this works. I was trying to uh figure it out on my own for so long and I and uh I finally decided to call in because I was like, I need to quit waiting.
I'm not getting any younger. This also that thousand dollars also includes my my church that I'm trying to give generously to as well. Once I'm done paying off that student loan, it'll free up money for me to be able to give to that campaign. I love that. That's great.
Yeah. So that's what I was thinking before I called you. I need to figure out how to give more to the campaign that we're we're trying to pay off some of our church loan. I love that. Yeah, that's great.
Well, the good news is you've lived modestly and you've saved diligently. And Shelly, now you're in a position to follow the leading of the Lord in that giving, which is just incredible.
So I love that.
Well, hopefully, I've given you a few things to think about. I appreciate your call today and call anytime if I can help you, okay? We're going to finish today in Michigan. Michael's been waiting patiently. Michael, you'll be our final caller.
Go ahead, sir. Thanks for taking my call, Rob. I'm 59 years old. I have everything paid off. I have a fully funded emergency fund.
I'm contributing to my 401k, so that's looking good. And I have about $200,000 that I would like to invest. And just wanted to get your opinion. You know, there's lots of options, obviously. I want to be Somewhat conservative, but at the same time, I don't want to miss out on a good market and making money that can be used for the kingdom.
So, do you, you know, there's fixed annuities I can get for five and a half percent, or do I jump on some of the crypto? Or, yeah, what do you recommend? I mean, what I would recommend is going to sound pretty plain vanilla, and that is just you know, buy some high-quality mutual funds that are balanced. You know, because at 60, you would typically have maybe a 50-50 portfolio. If you want to be a little more aggressive, you could go 60-40 stocks to bonds.
But I love the position you're in with the fully funded emergency fund. You've got the retirement assets, you're completely debt-free, so you're in a really good spot here to take a little bit of risk, take a long-term view. If the Lord tarries, you might need this money to last 30 to 40 years, and so you know, let's invest it wisely. You could align it with your values and use one of the faith-based investing mutual funds like Eventide or Praxis or Guidestone or One Ascent. You could use indexes, or you could just use actively managed funds.
But I'd probably look for a balance in the. In a fixed income fund where you're going to participate in the rise in the prices of the bonds as the interest rates fall, and then some good high-quality growth mutual funds to complement that. Nothing terribly exciting, but you can kind of set it and forget it and watch it grow over the next couple of decades. I hope that helps. If you need some advice, you can connect with a CKA at faithby.com.
Thanks to my team today: Taylor, Devin, and Robert. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithFy and listeners like you.
