This faith and finance podcast is underwritten in part by Timothy Plan. Good news! Since 1994, Timothy Plan has shared good news with investors and advisors by offering a family of funds that honor your faith. Learn more at timothyplan.com. Jonathan Edwards once said, "True legacy consists not of what we leave behind, but of what we instill in others." Hi, I'm Rob West.
We often think about leaving behind money and assets, but Scripture calls us to think bigger. What we pass on isn't just wealth, but wisdom, character, and a legacy of faithfulness. Today, we'll talk about how to prepare the next steward and why it's crucial to intentionally pass on wisdom before wealth. And then we'll take your calls at eight hundred five two five seven thousand. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
Decisions. There is a natural desire in all of us to provide for the people we love, whether it's children, grandchildren, or others God has entrusted to our care. We want to leave them in a better position than we were, and that's not a bad desire. In fact, Proverbs thirteen twenty two says, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children." But here's the tension: the Bible never defines inheritance as merely financial. Fact: When wealth is passed on without wisdom, it can become more of a burden than a blessing.
That's why Proverbs twenty twenty one says, "An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end." The goal isn't just to transfer assets; it's to transfer stewardship. Because ultimately, your heirs aren't just recipients; they're future managers of what belongs to God. That changes everything. You see, throughout Scripture, inheritance. Is deeply tied to identity and responsibility.
In the Old Testament, land wasn't just property; it was tied to covenant, calling, and faithfulness. Families didn't just receive something; they were entrusted with something. And the same is true today. If we pass on wealth without preparing the heart, we risk setting someone up for confusion or even harm. But if we invest in their spiritual formation, their understanding of stewardship.
And their trust in God as the true provider, then what we leave behind becomes a tool for kingdom impact.
So, how do we prepare the next steward?
Well, first we model it. More is caught than taught. The way you handle money right now, how you spend, save, give, and trust God, is shaping the next generation, whether you realize it or not. Your financial life is telling a story. Is it a story of fear or faith?
Of accumulation or generosity? Of control or surrender, because long before your children or grandchildren receive anything from you, they're learning from you. Second, we must communicate intentionally. One of the biggest mistakes families make is avoiding conversations about money, values, and legacy. But silence creates confusion.
Deuteronomy six, six and seven reminds us to talk about God's ways when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way. That includes how we think about. Talk about money. Talk about why you give. Talk about how you make decisions.
Talk about what you hope they'll carry forward—not just financially, but spiritually. Help them see that money is not the goal; it's a tool. Third, we train, not just transfer. Psalm 78 reminds us to tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, so that they should set their hope in God. Faithfulness is learned over time.
That means giving the next generation opportunities to see, practice, and participate in stewardship now, not just someday. It might look like helping a child budget their allowance, inviting a teenager into family giving decisions. Or walking alongside an adult as they navigate financial choices, we're not just preparing them to receive; we're preparing them to steward. And finally, we trust God with the outcome. This is where it gets deeply personal, because even with the best preparation, you can't control what someone else will do.
At some point, we release what we've taught, modeled, and invested, and we entrust it to God. That's true not only of money, but of the people we love. Psalm twenty four one reminds us the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. That includes your resources and your legacy. You are not the owner; you're the steward, and the same will be true for the next generation.
So instead of asking how much should I leave behind, maybe a better question is how well am I preparing the one who will receive it. Because the greatest inheritance you can leave isn't what's in your accounts; it's a heart that treasures God above all. It's a life that says God owns it all. I am His steward, and everything I have is meant to serve His purposes. That's the kind of legacy that impacts your children and your children's children, and that's exactly what we explore in our newest Faith Five Field Guide.
How do I prepare the next steward? Launching in just two weeks. Pre-order your copy today at faithfi. dot com slash shop. And if you're ordering for your church or small group, you can save with a bulk order discount.
Again, that's faithfi. dot com slash shop. We'll be right back. Stick around. Wondering who Faith and Finance recommends as a banking partner that aligns with Christian values?
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Great to have you with us today on Faith in Finance. Calls are coming in; just two lines available. If you have a financial question, call right now: eight hundred five two five seven thousand. Let's dive in. We're going to start in Texas today.
Brent, go ahead, sir. Yes, sir. I have several retirement accounts, and I am a registered nurse. This is acceptable to. Having my accounts confiscated because of lawsuits, how can I protect those?
Yeah, do you have anything going on actively, or is this just trying to anticipate any problems? No, not actively. Just I am sixty-one, fixing to be sixty-two, and I just want to make sure that I have something to leave my wife and my family. Yeah, yeah, no, I totally get that. You know, as as you think about this in terms of protection and being sued, which would be likely what you're talking about here.
You know, you want to separate your professional liability protection from protecting the assets you've already accumulated. The good news is that retirement accounts, for the most part, and we'll talk about how they vary, are covered by ERISA, especially the 401k and The 403b and those have the strongest federal protections against ordinary creditors. In terms of the exceptions, let me just kind of run through this here real quick. A private employer 401k or a 403b are they going to be the strongest with that ERISA protection from lawsuits? And you know, 403b, which would be common for a private hospital or a nonprofit, very strong ERISA coverage.
Private pension. The same thing, the government 401k or 403b different rules. Government plans aren't covered by ERISA. You've got the the applicable federal and state law. Traditional IRAs some protection, but different.
So strong federal protection in a bankruptcy, but outside of bankruptcy, the state law becomes most important.
So I guess the only thing I would say is you might want to investigate before moving a 403. 3b, let's say to an IRA because you don't want to assume that the rollover preserves every protection in every situation.
Now, once you are beyond your working years and you know that's no longer a concern, or at least less of a concern related to a lawsuit, then you might want to roll that 401k or 403b into the IRA just for simplicity and having everything managed in one place.
So that's something to consider.
Now, what do you do beyond The protections afforded to you related to those retirement plans.
Well, I would just say make sure you have adequate professional liability and malpractice coverage. You know, even if your employer provides coverage, you might want to understand exactly what it covers and where an individual nursing professional liability policy makes sense. I would always carry a personal umbrella policy. We have one. You know, that's going to address another category of risk.
Maybe an auto accident.
Someone injured in your home, you know, you're going to want to make sure that you've got something that goes beyond the standard limits of a homeowners or an auto liability policy. That's where the umbrella policy comes in. And then, you know, I would just say for significant wealth, you could look to an estate planning attorney for asset protection. But apart from that, those are probably the main steps you'd want to take. Is that helpful, though, Brent?
Yes.
Okay, very good.
Well, listen. Hopefully, we've given you a few things to think about. If we can help further along the way, don't hesitate to reach out. Lord bless you, sir. Thanks for being on the program.
Let's go to Ohio. Hi, Pam. How can I help? Hi. My first question, and I hope it's very simple, but I have my will and everything specified in there how to how things are divided down as far as my house, et cetera, et cetera.
I also have investments, and those are all. Have beneficiaries on it. My financial advisor says I don't need a trust. My kids are pushing me to get a trust to avoid probate. Is that which is true?
As long as everything is designated. Yeah, is it necessary? No, because eventually, with a will that's valid and up to date, your estate, everything in it, your property, personal property, and assets and cash, plus the beneficiaries that are named on the accounts, will ensure that everything ultimately gets to the heir of choice or the ministry or charity that you designate. The beneficiary, the accounts. With beneficiaries will pass outside of probate.
They are correct that it will require the probate court to get involved, but it it should typically be menable in terms of time and expense if it's a fairly simple situation. You know it happens every day, but it you know it will extend it a little longer than if you have a trust. And just in terms of you know, could it take a month or a couple of months? Sure. If it's complicated, it could take even more than that.
And there are some Probate costs, but is it necessary? No, a valid will and up-to-date beneficiaries and other you know legal documents like living wills and healthcare directives is sufficient. The benefit of the trust, even though it's going to cost a little bit more than the will, is that you know it's going to pass all of it.
Well, anything in the name of the trust, which could be your home and and other assets, will pass outside of probate. Will not be a part of the public record. Therefore, it's anonymous. Will not be subject to probate court costs and could be managed by a trustee in the event you're incapacitated prior to death. Whereas a trust only goes into effect at death.
So there are certain benefits, but you're talking a couple of thousand dollars probably to put a trust in place, whereas a basic will is probably more like five hundred. Right.
Now my last will was made prior to my husband passing away. Everything was to come to me, and I did that happen. But do I need to get my will updated now that my husband's gone? I believe the secondary was our children. After you know, if I passed, my husband would get it.
Do I need a new will? I would get it updated. You wouldn't need to to have a new will, but you would want to have it updated. And so I would go back to that. Yeah, anytime you go through a major life transition, or you want to make changes to how you have, you know, your estate distributed.
Absolutely, it's a good time just for for that to be updated. Just that's going to streamline things, make it simpler. You know, in terms of the fees, I mean, an uncontested probate or administration through appointment with no mind. Involved. I mean, you're talking probably less than five thousand dollars in probate costs.
You know, generally somewhere between twenty five hundred and forty five hundred. But you know, again, it's it's totally up to you as to what your objectives are. But both will suffice. At the end of the day, though, I absolutely would get that will updated following his death. And with the deed to my house, both my husband and I's name are on there.
Do I need to get that changed? And does that take a lawyer? Yeah, it's a good question. I would, you know, generally it's advisable to update the deed of the property. You know, the the laws say that you know you.
You know, are now the owner as a result of it, but you know, I don't think it's a bad idea. You would want to get an attorney to help you, you know, get that new deed recorded with the local county recorder's office, and I think that's a good idea, just to have everything current and up to date and exactly the way that it should be in light of you know who is is currently living. I appreciate your time and thank you so much for your ministry. Thank you, Pam. Hey, let me send you a gift just for being on the show today.
There's a wonderful book called "Wise Women Managing Money" that was written by Miriam Neff after the passing of her husband Bob Neff. Just about you know, as you're stepping into this role where you're managing everything. Not that you didn't manage some of it while your husband was living, but obviously you now got all of it. And I think this will just be an encouragement to you. It was written specifically for Widows as they step into this role of financial manager and steward of God's resources.
So stay on the line, Pam. We'll put wise women managing money in the mail to you.
Okay. God bless you all. I appreciate your program. All right. God bless you.
Back with faith and finance just around the corner. We've got the lines filling up.
Some great questions coming up. Eight hundred five two five seven thousand. I'm Rob West, and this is Biblical Wisdom for your financial decisions. Stick around. We are grateful for support from Timothy Plan.
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We want to help you manage it wisely and faithfully over your lifetime. You can call today with your questions, your very specific financial questions, at eight hundred five two five seven thousand. We've got some lines open today, and we'd love to hear from you. Call right now: eight hundred five two five seven thousand. Let's go out to Texas, John.
Go ahead, sir. Hey, how you doing today? Great. I really enjoy your show. You know, you guys got so much good information.
Thank you. But my thing is, I'm about ten years out from retirement, but wanted to kind of start. I'm getting rid of the debt that we have, you know, and consolidate it, and start doing improvements on on my house. And but I want to, my house is paid off. I want to take some equity out.
I just want to know what the best option would be to do that. Whether it be a HELOC or equity plan, or you know just a conventional, you know, mortgage loan. I'm not too sure what are the benefits of each. Yeah. Yeah, it's a it's a great question, and I think you know the goal is you don't want to enter retirement you know with a a big debt.
You want to keep your fixed expenses manageable, and so let's try to borrow as little as we can. And the HELOC is a great way to do that, home equity line of credit, because you know the improvements probably are going to have costs that come in stages, and that's really one of the best features of. The HELOC is you get the line, but you don't have to take it until you need it, and there's a variable rate, which is good because rates are elevated right now, and we expect over the next few years for rates to slowly come down, and you'll get those lower rates with that variable versus the fixed rate. But the key idea is I think you borrow as little as possible, you don't borrow it till you need it, and then you focus on paying it back, so you can get back to a place where your Debt free versus the home equity loan, which is a a known one time amount that you get at closing and a fixed rate, and then a new mortgage would be you know they're going to typically have minimums, so you know that would be where you have a very large borrowing need requiring a long repayment period, but you know hopefully that's not the case here, which is where I think the HELOC is is best suited, and then obviously smaller improvements wherever you can support. Out of current cash flow, that would be even better.
But you don't want to drain your liquidity. You want to keep plenty of reserves, and so again, that's where I think the HELOC would be the winner here.
Okay, yeah, that that really helps out. You know, because my my plan is to to take it out. You know, they they give thirty years, fifteen years, but you know, my plan is to double up on my payments. Yeah, five years.
So yes, as quick as I can. I think that's great. Yeah, and that that would really, I think, support the HELOC, and I love that idea that while you're working, you got good cash flow. Let's try to really knock this thing out so that you're entering retirement debt free or close to it, and you know we're keeping those fixed expenses manageable. John, great question.
We appreciate your call. If I can help further, let us know. Let's go to Arkansas. Hi, Rob. Go ahead.
Okay, so I got a question to ask you. Then I want to do a follow up statement.
Okay, okay, okay. The question is: You were talking about not using the same passport, but I wanted to know that on all my accounts and everything, I use my fingerprint. How secure do you think that is? Yeah, definitely secure. It's a good security practice.
It's much better than leaving your phone unlocked or relying on a simple PIN. It's not enough by itself, but I like it. It's strong. That paired with a strong password of at least six characters, I think, is a great starting point. Obviously, you've got to go beyond that.
But did you have a follow-up question on that, or another thought?
Well, I two things. I wanted to touch up on that real quick. That yes, some of my accounts do do a two-step verification, but I also have one account that automatically forces me to password every six months, and I think that's a good step. It sometimes it's hard for us older people to remember. Passwords and everything, but so the other one thing I wanted to touch on, Rob, was that I've been getting some scam alerts.
They claim to be from TransUnion and the other two credit bureaus, but they're saying that a change has been identified on your TransUnion credit report. Click on this website to do that. I do not suggest anybody does that because that tells me. That they're attempting to get your your your social security number, any other any other valuable information that's going to break the security for you to be. Scammed on, and somebody gets your money.
Oh, it's such a great point, Rob. It can't be said enough. I'm glad you called that out because, yeah, I mean, the best practice here is just don't ever give any information to anyone, phone, text, web, where you didn't initiate the contact using known and verifiable contact data.
So unless you're getting the phone number from the trusted website and calling customer service yourself, or you. Navigating in your browser, not clicking a link, but you know, to your institution's primary domain, and then engaging with them further or reaching out to the Social Security. Yeah, inbound requests for personal information is just an automatic no. No matter how good it looks, don't trust the caller ID by itself. Don't trust an email that looks legit or somebody that sounds you know like they they are legitimate because.
Even the AI now is making these calls, whereas the you know broken English and you know the problems with the emails, you could spot these things. They look identical to the real thing now, and so we just need to you know not respond at all to those inbound requests.
So that's a great thought, Rob, and and I appreciate you calling that out today. Thanks for being on the show, sir.
Well, folks, as we round out the broadcast today, first of all, thank you for your time for tuning in and listening to the broadcast. Each day, I'm grateful for your questions and your testimonies because you know my experience in doing this for a long time is that our financial journey is one of the key ways that God shapes our spiritual journey.
Now, you might say, "How is that, Rob?" Well, you know, the way we handle God's money is one of the most tangible expressions of what we value and where we've placed our trust, and it's that daily demonstration of how we're going to. Allocate God's resources, and ultimately, these are heart issues. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So we know that our heart follows our money, and so we want to be thinking about the story we're telling with regard to what's most important to us. And if our spending doesn't align with that, we'll take a step back and say, "You know what? Maybe I need to take another look at my budget.
Maybe I want to be doing more, giving more, saving more, blessing the people on my path, using money." As a tool to accomplish God's purposes, not spending so much on interest on the debt I've accumulated.
Well, each day we want to help you make steps in that direction. By the way, lots of great resources at our website faithfi. dot com. Not only can you find a certified Kingdom advisor, but you can click on the button there at the top of the page that says "App" and learn about the Faithfi app and how we can actually help you put in place a spending plan to manage your money using the envelope. Assistant in a modern digital expression.
It's all there in the FaithFi app. You can download it today at faithfi. dot com. Big thanks to my team today: Devin, Patrick, Jim, Henry, Sandy, Dickinson, and everybody here at FaithFi. Hope you have a great rest of your day, and come back and join us tomorrow.
We'll see you then. Bye bye. Faith and finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you.
