Every day, Faith Phi is making a profound difference in the lives of thousands of Christians. We help them integrate their faith and financial decisions, all for the glory of God. Our resources, including Bible studies, devotionals, the Faith and Finance program, articles, videos on FaithPhi.com, and the FaithPhi app, are instrumental in this transformative journey. We are so grateful for your faithful love and support of this ministry, and we'd like to invite you to partner with us in this work. Has God provided financial answers for you through this ministry?
If so, please consider becoming a monthly FaithPhi partner by visiting FaithPhi.com and clicking Give. That's faithfi.com and click Give. Financial loss can happen slowly or all at once. A business closes, a home is lost, an investment collapses. A scam wipes out savings that took decades to build.
Hi, I'm Rob West. When money disappears, the loss can reach far beyond the balance sheet. But scripture reminds us that while wealth can be lost, our true treasure cannot. Today we'll look at three stories that can help us respond faithfully when financial loss comes. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.
This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Few people in Scripture understood loss like Job. In a remarkably short span of time, his possessions, livelihood, and children were taken from him. Job grieved deeply. He tore his robe.
He wept. He asked hard questions. But the Bible never suggests that faith requires us to pretend loss does not hurt. But Job also shows us something important about where his confidence ultimately rested. In Job 31, 24-28, he reflects on the possibility of putting his security in wealth.
Have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of my gold? Have I gloated about my wealth and all that I own? If so, I should be punished by the judges, for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven. That is powerful because scripture notes Job is one of the wealthiest among all the people of the East. His possessions were real blessings, and losing them was a real tragedy.
Yet even before they disappeared, Job understood that wealth was never worthy of carrying the weight of his hope. Financial loss often reveals what prosperity can conceal. We may say our security is in God, but a collapsing account balance can expose how much security we were actually drawing from the account.
So when loss comes, the first question may not be, how quickly can I get this money back? It may be, Lord, what have I been trusting to do what only you can do? That doesn't mean we stop rebuilding. It means we rebuild on the right foundation. Horatio Spafford knew something about that kind of rebuilding.
He was a successful Chicago attorney and real estate investor who suffered major financial losses around the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Then, two years later, tragedy struck at a level money could never measure. His wife and four daughters were crossing the Atlantic when their ship collided with another vessel. His wife survived, but their four daughters did not. Spafford soon crossed the Atlantic to join his grieving wife, and in that devastating context he wrote the hymn we still sing to day, It is well with my soul, as he passed near the spot where his daughters perished.
Notice what he did not say. He didn't say everything was well. It wasn't. Christian peace is not the denial of loss, it's the assurance that loss does not have the final word. That matters when you've been scammed, when the business fails, when retirement savings disappear, or when the house you thought you would grow old in is gone.
You can grieve what was lost without believing that you have lost everything. And that brings us to the story of young John Wesley. When he was only five years old, an angry group believed to be hostile toward his father set fire to the Epworth rectory in England. John became trapped on the second floor as the flames spread. With no time for a ladder, neighbors climbed onto one another's shoulders and pulled him through a window just before the roof collapsed into the room.
The house and nearly everything in it was lost, but Wesley later remembered his father gathering the neighbors and saying, Let us give thanks to God. He has given me all eight children. Let the house go. I am rich enough. I am rich enough.
That is a radically different definition of wealth. Financial loss has a way of forcing us to take inventory, and sometimes after the numbers have changed dramatically, we discover that the greatest riches were never held in an account to begin with. We still belong to Christ. We still have His promises. We still have His people.
We still have work to do, people to love, opportunities to give, and a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
So, if you're walking through financial loss today, give yourself permission to grieve. Ask the Lord to reveal where your trust is placed, seek wise counsel, and take the next faithful step toward rebuilding. But do not measure your life solely by what disappeared. Financial loss is real, and it's right to grieve what was lost, but when our circumstances have been shaken, our ultimate treasure remains anchored in Christ, and what we have in Him can never be taken away. All right, your calls are next.
The number 800-525-7000. No matter what you're thinking about in your financial life, giving, saving, spending, we want to help you put it under the Lordship of Christ and make the next wise, faithful decision. Again, that number: 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. What we do is very special and it's very unique.
This is Bethany. She is a Certified Kingdom Advisor. I became a CKA because we're not building bigger barns and we're not trying to figure out how we can just amass more and more and more. We're figuring out how much do you really need? What are your priorities?
What has God called you to? And then how can we give it away? How can we be more generous? You can find an advisor like Bethany at findaca.com. Millions of children throughout the world lack one simple item, shoes.
This month, FaithFi and Buckner Shoes for Orphaned Souls are partnering with you to provide hope to 1,000 children in need throughout the world by providing new shoes and socks, critical care, and the love of Jesus in some of the most vulnerable places. Visit GiveShoestToday.org to learn how you can impact the lives of these children. That's GiveShoest Today.org. Hey, thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West.
We're taking your calls and questions today: 800-525-7000. You can call right now. Let's go to Kent, Ohio. Chris, how can I help you? Hi, I have a mortgage for my house at 7.1.
I have an offer for um A mortgage At six point one and um It would be $4,900 in closing costs. And I wanted to know if that's something maybe I should do. Yeah, it's a great question, Chris. There's a couple of factors that would drive that. First is: do you know if this is a permanent reduction or is it temporary?
Oh Oh, I didn't ask that. Yeah.
Well, if they didn't mention that it was just for a set period of time, it probably is a permanent reduction. They're essentially just recognizing that rates are down. And rather than you leaving and going to refinance, they're going to try to keep you there and allow you to lower your rate, but they're going to charge you closing costs, which you said is $4,900.
Now, second question is: how long do you plan to be in this property just based on everything you know today? Um ten, fifteen, twenty years.
Okay. Yeah, so that's really key because you need to be there long enough such that that 1% reduction in interest rate. Is going to amount to more than $4,900 in interest savings so that you can offset the cost of the closing costs. Because if you don't, you might as well just stick with your 7-1%. But if that 1%, because you're there for 10 to 20 more years, results in substantial savings in interest over the life of the loan, then that's a good idea.
Now, the key question on these, Chris, is what is the break-even point? How many months of lower payments does it take to recover the $4,900 in closing costs? Let's say, you know, it's. Four years, which would be common with a 1% rate reduction, depending on the loan balance, then, yeah, staying in the home another 10 to 20 years means you'd enjoy many more years of net savings. But you also don't want to extend the term.
Do you know if there was any talk about extending the term, or were they going to just reduce the rate and keep the term right where it is so that you pay it off at the same time schedule? we're going to lower the term. I still owe twenty four years and they were going to lower it to twenty. And I would still make about the same payment. That I make right now, and then I try to make some ex put extra on it every month also.
Okay. Yeah, I mean, I'm liking this because not only are you not going to extend the term, you're actually lowering it.
So if you can shorten the term from 24 to 20, you can lower your rate from 7-1 to 6-1, keep the same monthly payment. And stay in the home for 10 to 20 years, then I like this a lot. I think it's a great move because you'll pay it off four years sooner. More of your payment will go toward principal instead of interest. You're going to save tens of thousands of dollars in interest over the life of the loan.
I don't love the $4,900, but I think that's a worthwhile trade-off for you as long as you don't plan on moving in the next few years.
Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
Call anytime. God bless you. Let's go to Belleville, Illinois. Gloria, go ahead. Hi.
Um, I called a few weeks ago. And I had a question. I was trying to decide whether or not I should refinance or do a home equity line of credit. But you gave me the advice. to not refinance because I'm already at a four percent interest rate.
and the refinance was going to put me at seven. And also I only owe $83,000 on my home and the equity, the the um value of the home is just two hundred and forty thousand. And so I did try the home equity line of credit with another bank. And I was denied because of my credit history. And so and I'm I was wanting to take the uh money out for repairs, home repairs.
I really need to do some urgent home repairs. My ti um railroad ties around the house I live on a hill and the railroad ties are rotted out. And when it rains, it's just it's you know, it's like a little mudslide.
So, um So you suggested me calling back if I ran out of options, and I was just wanting to know what other options you may have for me. Yeah, great.
Well, I I still believe in in the advice I gave you, so that's good news. And I guess um what uh reason did they give what basis did they give for the denial, do you recall? Um my credit history, um, late payments.
Okay. Do you know what your credit score is? Uh six sixty-five.
Okay. Yeah.
You know, even with a 665, you should be able to qualify for some home equity products, maybe not, you know, the top tier, but I still think you'd be able to be in a position where you are going to make this worthwhile to keep the existing mortgage, just given you're already well into paying it off.
So we don't want to reset that or extend the term. You certainly aren't going to get anywhere close to 4% if you refinance the whole loan. And so I think it's really just a matter of finding that lender that's willing to work with you on a 665 credit score. Don't worry about the inquiries. You know, when you're shopping for a mortgage or refinance or looking for a HELOC, multiple credit inquiries made within a relatively short period of time are generally treated as a single inquiry for credit scoring purposes.
You just want to do it in as short a window as possible. Depending on the scoring model, in some cases, it's as little as 14 days where they lump them together. Other scoring models will go out to a month and a half, 45 days. But you just want to try to get that done as quick as you can. Lenders, of course, look closely at payment history.
And so, you know, some late payments. can lead to a denial depending on who you're talking about uh to. And I would ask when you may qualify again. They may want to see a certain number of on time payments before reconsidering your application.
So that might be a question to ask to those that have already done their due diligence on you. I would make sure you focus on being an on-time payer moving forward. But I think it is worthwhile for you to maybe check with a few others. Was one of those that you reach out to, our friends at Movement Mortgage, by chance? No, it wasn't.
Okay. I might check with Movement. You could go to faithfi.com slash movement and get with some of the team there. They're owned by believers. They're just a wonderful partner.
They're nationwide. And that might be one to look at. Another might be a local credit union. Have you talked to a credit union by chance in your town? I did.
And that was the last denial.
Okay. All right. Actually, it was a bank. It wasn't a credit union. It was a bank.
So perhaps a local credit union and then check with movement and let's see if either of those, and then maybe go back to that bank and just say, hey, I wanted to check back and see how many on-time payments would you need to see moving forward to reconsider this, especially given the fact that you've got so much equity in the house that there's just not a lot of risk here for the lender, kind of given the strength of the equity that you have. But nevertheless, I would take a little bit more look at this and get at least a couple of more potential bids going before you move to something else. Great.
Okay. All right, so much. You're welcome, Gloria. Thank you for your call. Lord bless you.
Well, folks, we're going to take a quick break. We come back, more of your questions. And we've got some lines open.
So, if you have a question, we'll try to give you an answer. 800-525-7000. You can call right now. This is Faith and Finance. We'll be right back.
We are grateful for support from Praxis Investment Management. Since 1994, Praxis has offered investment products designed to meet practical needs for everyday investors seeking to steward their assets consistent with their desire to promote positive social and environmental impacts. Praxis aims to bring a faith-based approach to ETFs, mutual funds, multifund portfolio solutions, and money market accounts reflecting their 500-year-old Anabaptist Christian faith tradition. More information is available at PraxisInvest.com. We are grateful for support from Movement Mortgage, who provides residential home loans and reverse mortgage options in all 50 states.
Guided by a mission to love and value people, Movement seeks to help individuals and families make informed financial decisions from buying a home to planning for retirement. More information. Is available at faithfy.com slash movement. Movement Mortgage LLC supports equal housing opportunity. NMLS number 39179.
For licensing information, visit nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. We're taking your calls today. We've got just one line open: 800-525-7000. Let's head out to Kansas.
Shawna, how can I help? Hi. I am wondering, I caught the end of you talking to someone the other day who was behind on their taxes, and I am behind on filing. Most usually, I get a refund. But I'm my income has gone up, and I just want to get right and I'm not sure how to go about doing that because I'm not sure how many years I am behind.
And I just want to collect what information or recommendation you have for getting straight with the IRS. Yeah.
Well, it's great. I'm glad you're thinking through this, and I would concur that this is an important step for you to take. And, you know, the IRS is willing to work with you, despite popular opinion. You know, if you are behind, and even if you can't pay, it's important to go ahead and file those missing tax returns. That's going to stop the failure-to-file penalty from continuing to grow, though interest and penalties may still apply.
At least you're going to slow some of that down. And if you need them to, they'll often work with you on a payment plan, or in some cases, they'll offer relief options, depending on your financial situation. But really, your next steps are: I would say file the current year.
So, if they're whatever the current year is that you still have not filed for, I would go ahead and get in compliance. For the current year and moving forward, and then we can start tackling those back years that maybe you need to get caught up on.
So with any year you're working on, you're going to want to gather your tax documents, W-2s, 1099s, other income records. A second step would be to request what's called an IRS tax transcript. You can get that going back seven years directly from the IRS, and that will give you all the information that they've collected on your behalf.
So that's wage and income transcripts shows exactly what they've received from your various employers and financial institutions. And so that way you can match up and make sure you have all of the necessary information based on what they're showing that you should be reflecting when you file. And then you want to file those missing tax returns. Again, even if you can't pay the full amount. You'll find out what you owe, and once the returns are processed, the IRS will calculate any tax plus penalties and interest.
And you can also create an IRS online account to view your balance and account information. But if the returns are straightforward, you might be able to prepare them yourself using tax software or something like that. But if there are multiple years or self-employment income or significant tax debt, it's often worth working with a CPA or enrolled agent, someone who can make sure everything's filed correctly and Even represent you before the IRS on the best payment strategy. But you don't want to wait for them to come to you. You want to go ahead and get those returns out as soon as you can.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I think that you recommended someone to the last person that you spoke to that does that kind of tax work. I do have someone. Yeah.
You know, he's often very full, but he does occasionally take a new client, especially if someone is coming from this program.
So let's do this. I'd be happy to, you know, get you connected. He does specialize in back taxes and offers and compromises.
So if you want to stay on the line, our team will get you that information, okay? Thank you very much. You have a fine. And you as well. Just hold the line.
Thanks for your call today. Let's go to Miami. Spencer, how can I help? Thank you so very much. for taking my call.
Absolutely. Thank you for calling. How can I serve you? I have a grandfather 403B account. It's about sixty thousand in there.
that reach its surrendered period. at that contributing to this account almost two years ago. And My employer wanted me to Create another account. since I cannot contribute to this account.
So I'm wondering what would be you would buy as far as If I wanted to continue contributing to a disaccount, I'm 58 now, and I really want to. start making withdrawals on this account. I would say when I'm sixty-four, God's willing. I see. Yeah.
So this is an old employer, or it's a current employer, but just an old plant administrator? It's an alternate administrator, but I'm still working at the same employer. Got it. And are you participating in the new 403B at your company? No, I don't have any 403 right now.
The one that I had, you know, they told me I cannot contribute towards the one that I have now.
So that's the reason why I'm not able to make any more contribution. But the money is still there, sitting there doing nothing. Right. But did they close the old 403B and basically move to a new plant administrator and now they offer a new 403B to you and your coworkers? Yes, they w they told me I can um Go ahead and apply with another company, use that 403B, just roll that money over.
But I just don't want to have another 403B. I'm trying to see if I can roll it over into a rough or something like that. I'm just trying to get your expertise on that. Yeah, yeah.
Well, I mean, the challenge is that, you know, there's a real benefit to you participating in that 403B because the contribution limits are so much higher. And so, if you're wanting to maximize your retirement contributions, you know, in this season of life, you're going to be able to do that much more effectively through the 403B than you are an IRA.
So, for instance, for 2026, the IRS will let you put in $24,500 into a 403B. If you're 50 or older, well, 50 to 59, you could put in $32,500 and then $60,000 to $63, $35,750,000. Whereas the limit 50 and older on an IRA is only 8,600.
So if you're wanting to put it more than 8,600 away, you know, you're really going to want to look to that 403B because that's going to give you a tax-deferred environment for these retirement funds to grow without the drag of the taxes along the way.
So what I would probably do is just roll that 403B, the old one, into the new one and start contributing there and try to put 10 to 15% of your pay in. I wouldn't look to convert it to a Yeah. Especially if it's a traditional 403B, because that's going to create a big tax liability. And that may make sense once you retire, but not while you're working because you're probably in a higher tax bracket.
So I'd merge the 403Bs and start contributing there. Thanks for your call.
Well, folks, we covered a lot of ground today.
So thankful to have you along with us here on Faith and Finance. Our heart that you would understand your opportunity and mine as well to be faithful stewards. Everything belongs to God. He entrusts it to us. We're to be his household managers.
Our goal, manage it faithfully over our lifetime, give it generously, save it appropriately. Spend it wisely. We want to help you do that each day.
So come back and join us tomorrow. We'll do it all over again. Big thanks to my team today: Taylor Stanrich, Sandy Dickinson, Devin Patrick, and everybody here at Faith By. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
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