Today's Faith in Finance Live is actually not live, so our phone lines are not open. 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.� Hi, I'm 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 we have some great calls lined up, but we won't be taking your live calls today because we're prerecorded.
This is Faith in Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. 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. Not only that, but research from the RAND Corporation shows that more than two percent of U.S. gross domestic product is lost due to workers' lack of proper sleep.
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. Obviously, God puts a premium on rest, because we need it.
We need the time and the space to be with the Lord, to reconnect with friends and family, to relax, enjoy God's creation, exercise, take a few deep breaths, and to sleep. 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. According to the Bible, laziness is sinful. 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. In 1 Timothy 5, Paul emphasizes other dangers presented by idleness, including a tendency to gossip and to lead others into sin. In other words, idleness, unproductiveness, and laziness open the door for harmful habits. Laziness is also the opposite of industry. In Proverbs 31, the woman of noble character works hard to take care of her family, run her business, train her workers, and provide for the poor in her community.
Verse 27 confirms that she does not eat the bread of idleness. Hard work produces success, while idleness results in loss and trouble. Laziness can also mean spending too much on things that don't matter, like scrolling endlessly through Instagram or shopping online instead of finishing chores around the house. At its core, being lazy is failure to take care of responsibilities. A stern example of this comes again from Paul in 1 Timothy 5.
Anyone who does not provide for their relatives and especially for their own household has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. If laziness is a temptation for you, turn to Jesus in prayer. So whether your problem comes from working too hard or hardly working, perhaps it's time to restore the margin in your work and finances.
Do your work as unto the Lord as God's Word advises in Colossians 3.23. All right, your calls are next, 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. So thrilled to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. Our team is away from the studio, so don't call in, but you will hear some questions that we lined up in advance in just a moment. You know, the why behind what we do here on this program has everything to do with how God is working in your lives, and we love to hear those stories of life change. In fact, here's one.
Take a listen. Thank you so much for this program and everything that you do. I've just learned a tremendous amount of wisdom with finance and how to kind of tackle investments. So you always would say to save up three to six months of an emergency fund before you make any kind of crazy investment and so I started doing that and almost to the exact day that I saved up six months of an emergency fund, I lost my job and God called me into global missions. So because I had the six months emergency fund there, I didn't have to be frantic and look for a different job and I was able to really focus on my ministry and go to training that I needed to do and I expedited that entire process and I literally leave for the mission field in January. So without this program and your advice, who knows where I would be right now, but I just wanted to call in and just say thank you so much for everything that you do.
That's incredible. Folks, if you'd like to see more people freed up to follow the leading of the Lord by managing God's money wisely, you can give today at faithfi.com. Just click give and between now and June the 30th, it would be a huge blessing to us. All right, as we look to some recent news, more patients may be required to pay upfront for surgeries in the future. Many hospital and surgery centers are now requiring patients to pay before they'll perform surgical procedures, sometimes even delaying that care until payment is received. According to Kodiak Solutions, a healthcare and software company, nearly a quarter of patients are now paying for surgeries ahead of time. Of course, hospitals are required to handle medical emergencies, but they have the option of requiring advance payment for some procedures.
We're talking things like knee replacements or other types of imaging, perhaps in some cases even births. According to the Wall Street Journal, late payments have become a serious problem for many hospitals. By some estimates, up to 20% of treated patients have paid, haven't paid their latest medical bill.
Experts advise that if you need to schedule a surgery, find out ahead of time what it will cost, how much you'll have to pay separate from what your insurance might cover and the date you'll have to pay it. That's good advice even if you aren't required to pay upfront, knowing the total cost will help eliminate sticker shock if an unexpectedly high medical bill comes in the mail. Keep in mind often they will work with you on a payment plan and so that may be something you want to discuss in advance, especially if you're having to come out of pocket. But just something to be aware of as these delinquencies climb, these healthcare providers are taking steps to mitigate their risk and one way they're doing that is by these advance payments.
Alright, again, we'll be turning to some calls we've lined up in just a moment. By the way, I mentioned we'd talk about debt here. Interesting data out as well on the debt front and this has to do with seniors entering retirement. You know, here on the program we talk a lot about the fact that it's really ideal for you to be debt free as you enter retirement.
Really important that you be able to eliminate this largest expense from your budget so that you can keep your expenses low and maximize whatever savings or income sources you have. Well, it's ideal, it's just not happening as much as it has in the past. Listen to this, 25 years ago about half of Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 were debt free. Half of them in this retirement season.
Now, only about a third. As we know, debt hems us in, especially when the economy slows down and housing prices drop and the stock market declines. That's happened before, it'll surely happen again. So if you can get out of debt by the time you retire, of course you will absolutely be glad that you did. Now, as we think about debt, that does beg the question of, okay, when do we borrow?
What should that look like? And certainly as we think about borrowing decisions, we have to start with this idea that borrowing is not a sin. Yet, there are clear warnings in scripture around borrowing that you need to be on your guard, starting with the wisdom of King Solomon from Proverbs 22, seven of the rich rules over the poor. The borrower is the slave of the lender. So there's a change in relationship when we borrow. And that's why we need to be really careful about borrowing. We certainly need to be on our guard about getting into a lender, borrower, master slave relationship. When it comes to family members and friends, we talk about that a lot. We also need to recognize that borrowing may deny God an opportunity to work.
You know, when you pull out that plastic to kind of intervene in a desperate situation, I think it lessens our desire to be able to move into a situation where we can trust the Lord for His provision. You know, inviting God into our financial life and asking Him to intervene miraculously. Borrowing always presumes upon the future. We certainly know that debt mortgages the future. So what are some of those questions that we need to answer before taking on debt? Well, I think one of them is the economic return is greater than the economic cost.
What does that mean? Well, it just simply means that when we're borrowing, we're borrowing for appreciating assets. So that certainly doesn't mean borrowing for consumer debt like going out to dinner or entertainment. What it does mean is borrowing for a business or the purchase of a home because those should be assets that are appreciating. So we want to make sure the economic return is greater than the economic cost. Second, spousal unity.
This one is essential. I think this is a non-negotiable decision that when I'm taking on debt, my spouse and I are in complete agreement. And if one of you is disagreeing about the taking on of this debt, well, I think at that point you just don't do it.
I think you need to have an absolute commitment to spousal unity before taking on debt. Third, there's no better alternative. We've exhausted all of the other alternatives and decided there is no better way to go.
It doesn't mean there aren't any other ways to go. It just means there aren't any better ways to go before we take on this debt. And then fourth, is there a guaranteed way to repay?
And you might say, well, Rob, what does that look like? How do I have a guaranteed way to pay back debt? Well, you would have an asset. You would have collateral that's attached to it.
So with your home, as long as you're borrowing with enough of a down payment and we recommend at a minimum that down payment of 20 percent. Well, if you have that in place, then you're going to ensure that you've got equity and therefore there's a guaranteed way to repay by liquidating the asset. You can satisfy the obligation. So you just want to make sure before you get into taking on debt, there is a guaranteed way to repay.
And, you know, this certainly gets into this area of co-signing as well. Remember, I said you won't find a prohibition against debt. You'll just find warnings on it in scripture. But where the Bible is very clear is that you shouldn't co-sign. It's a big no-no in God's word. And here's the reality.
The statistics, the data bears out the wisdom that we see, the truth that we see in God's word around this topic. The Federal Trade Commission tells us that in about 50 percent of the cases where you co-signed for another person, you will have to step in and make that payment if you don't want to get into a past due status and trash your credit. And the reason is because so often when we're co-signing for someone, it's because a lender has decided in good faith not to allow them to borrow. And so we're stepping in and kind of playing that role of, you know, lender where we probably shouldn't be. Not to mention the fact that, again, it changes the relationship. And even if that person, despite their best efforts, is unable to pay, well, you've got to decide, does the relationship come first or does the finances come first? And that's a difficult situation.
So just stay away from co-signing. Hope that's helpful. This is Faith in Finance Live with Rob West. Hey, if you hear a phone number mentioned today, please ignore that number and don't call us, because today's broadcast was previously recorded. But we think the upcoming information will help you and make you a wise steward of what God's given you.
So please stay tuned. Let's begin today in Tennessee. Melanie, you'll be our first caller. Go right ahead. Thanks for taking my call.
Sure. I will be retiring, Lord willing, March 31st of 2025. And at that time, I'll be 63 years old. My husband is self-employed. He's 61 now.
No, he's 60 now. He'll continue to work a little along. And I am not planning on tapping into my Social Security unless you say I may as well do that. We will be at that time probably free of any payments or debt except for a 2019 Yukon, and it'll be right at $20,000.
We'll still owe on that. I am probably over-insured in every area of the word, but that's okay. We use Samaritan Ministries for his health insurance, and I will convert to that once I retire for my full-time job. I'm a nurse, so I'll be doing something. There's something that I can do, and I've been away from hands-on care, so I'll be getting back into some frontline hands-on care is what I want to do. And that'll be on a very part-time, like a couple days a week is what I'm thinking. So my 401k will have around $200,000, give or take $10,000 at that time, depending on if it crashes or whatever. So what would you advise as far as my 401k?
We do have an emergency fund, and we have three rental properties. Excellent. I love it. Well that's a great overview, Melanie. First of all, congratulations.
You guys have put yourself in a really strong position. You're debt-free except for that car. I love the fact that you've got a plan as you head into retirement, thinking about what it looks like to start to slow down, but you have the ability to continue to do things that you're passionate about that align with your gifts and talents and God's call in your life. It allows you to continue to have some sources of income, even though maybe you're pivoting towards some things that allow for a little bit more seasonal rest and enjoyment of just all the things you have in your life. I love the fact that you've got good diversification, not only in stocks and bonds through that 401k, but you've got an emergency fund and then you've got some property as well. Three rental properties that as long as you're willing to continue to serve as a landlord should throw off some nice income and continue to appreciate.
So that's great. Have you run your budget, Melanie, for what that will look like as you transition into retirement here in a couple of years, just to look at, okay, what changes might we have? Maybe you don't need as many work clothes and maybe you're not eating out for lunch as much. Just looking at what that budget might look like for that season and with your expected step down in income for both you and your husband, would you be able to cover your bills with the income you have from your part-time work and your rental properties without taking Social Security or drawing from the 401k or will you need to supplement it? We should be able to do without tapping into that. The big thing, the question I had about the Social Security and not taking advantage of it early is the threat of it not being there, you know, yeah, yeah. So that was my only thing about the Social Security.
Yeah. No, I think it does make sense for you to wait. You're going to get certainly waiting till full retirement age, which is probably 66 and a half for you or closer to 67. But I'd even consider waiting all the way till age 70 just because you don't need the money and you'll grow that check by 8% a year. You are in a situation where you're close enough to retirement where, you know, you're probably not even going to see any changes in your benefits. I mean, what we're looking toward is 2035 when the headlines have, you know, telling us that the Social Security trust fund will run out.
And that's true. We're on track for that to happen, even if that were to happen. And I don't think it will.
And I'll tell you why. But even if it were to happen, they'd still be able to pay 70% of retirement benefits, even with that trust fund at zero, just through ongoing revenues coming in through FICA taxes. But they it's too much of a political hot potato. It's not something that, you know, they will be able to allow to even drop to 70%. They'll shore it up either, in my opinion, through higher FICA taxes or continuing to push out the full retirement age as a means to restore it. You know, there's just too many voters in that category for anyone on their watch to allow Social Security to, you know, be insolvent. So I wouldn't worry about that. And I like the guaranteed increase of that 8% a year because as long as you have you're in good health, you know, as long as you live past 82, you'll have that check probably about 25 to 28% higher for the rest of your life, which could come in really handy down the road if you need long term care.
And it's, you know, increasingly, you know, the inflation on that is pretty high. So I like that option because you all can cover your bills, you've done a great job preparing and you don't need the money. I'd probably look to roll that 401k to an advisor who can manage that. Once you retire, get out from under the 401k, open up your investment universe, give your advisor a little bit more control over the investments that are selected and the fees.
And if you don't have an advisor, you could go to our website at faithfi.com and interview two or three certified kingdom advisors when you click find a professional and find the one that's the best fit. You said you're overinsured. Have you taken on any long term care insurance along the way? I don't have long term care insurance.
We have three daughters and being a nurse, I'm very resistant to medicine and medical care. My daughter has always said, you know, we've got this basement, I'm going to convert it to a nursing facility and we'll put my in laws here and y'all here and we're going to take care of y'all. Don't worry about it. I love that.
What a blessing that is. All right. Well, listen, I think you're doing great here, Melanie. I love the plan. I would delay social security. You pray about it and decide what you want to do, but that would be my recommendation. And then I'd look to get an advisor for the 401k when the time comes. Stay on the line. I'm going to send you a book on an uncommon guide to retirement that'll give you a biblical worldview of how to think about this next season.
But I love your plan. Just keep at it. Hang on the line. We'll be right back. I'm so thankful you've joined us today on faith and finance live where we apply the wisdom from God's word to your financial decisions and choices. Now our team is not here today, so don't call in, but we did line up some great questions in advance that I know you'll enjoy. All right, back to the phones we go. Alan will be coming your way in Texas, but first to Arkansas. Ken, you'll be in our next scholar.
Go ahead, sir. Appreciate all your common sense and your knowledge you're sharing with us. Appreciate that very much. I listen to you. I really, really like what you're sharing.
God's words and touching our hearts and again, helping us live our life and share with others as we do. I'm 75. I'm still working.
I'm having to take money for my hour each year. And I'm just curious to know, is there a best time to take that? Do you take it in the early part of the year, the middle part of the year, the end of the year?
What's your recommendation? Yeah, it's a great question, Ken. Thank you for your kind remarks about the program as well, sir. You know, many advisors will tell you to wait until late in the year to take that RMD for a few reasons. Number one, it allows you to delay the income tax due on the distribution as long as possible because you may want to be sending it throughout the year if you're taking it starting at the beginning of the year. Number two, it maximizes the deferred return inside the retirement account. Obviously, a lot of that comes down to market performance, but all things being equal, the market is gaining some ground over the course of the year, having that continued deferred return where the taxes are not impacting it and it's free to continue to grow is a good thing. And then, you know, on occasion there might be new deals that arise for RMDs during the year and you could take advantage of those, but it generally comes down to the first two points I mentioned.
So I think all things being equal, I'd probably wait till later in the year. Now, the question then begs the idea that you don't need the money. Is that right, Ken? You're not living on this.
You're just taking it because the IRS is requiring it? That's correct. That's correct. And really, I'm directing it directly to my church. So it's not like I'm, you know, I've heard you talk about that and I did it last year and it worked out real well.
And I'm gonna do it again this year. Okay, great. So you're using the qualified charitable distribution? Yes, sir. Okay, great.
Yeah. So you're not even having to add this to your taxable income, which is excellent. So really, the only benefit there is just maximizing the deferred return. Now, obviously, that works against you in a year where the market happens to be up in the first part of the year and down in the second. And that may, in fact, be the case this year as, you know, we've got this market that's sky high. And we'll talk about this with Alan in a moment because he wants to ask why the market has been performing so well. But just a preview to coming attractions, I think it's largely driven by corporate profits and we're counting on those continuing to be high. But we're already seeing some chinks in that armor, just because of the fact that, you know, we're seeing the effects of this sticky inflation and these high interest rates. So, you know, you don't want to time the market at the same time, you know, just given where we are with the market, and the fact that you're not having any impact with taxes using that qualified charitable distribution, you may want to think about, you know, doing it before we get into the last quarter of the year, just because, you know, we're starting to see signs that the consumer is losing some steam and corporate profits, I think, are going to begin to trend down.
So that would probably be the only reason why you may want to take it sooner than later. Does that make sense, Ken? Oh, it looks like we lost him. Ken, it was a great question. Thanks for being on the program, sir. God bless you.
Let's go to Texas. Alan, go ahead with your question. Yes, I was just wondering, my investment portfolio is sky high. I mean, it's up 35% in the past three years. And I was just wondering what you thought was driving this bull market.
And do you think our grandkids, grandkids will ever be able to pay their way out of a $7.8 trillion national deficit? Yeah, well, a couple of things you're hitting on there. Number one is why the strength in the market. And, you know, it really comes down to the bull case rests on solid continued solid earnings growth for corporations. And, you know, we're still seeing that now, even though this is a lagging indicator, because we're we're looking backwards when we see companies, profits and quarterly earnings, because it's for the previous year. But 59% of companies are still exceeding their revenue estimates that we're talking about the S&P 500. And, you know, 80% have reported earnings.
And when they did, 77% of the S&P 500 that have reported are exceeding their earnings per share estimates. So we just have a lot of strength with regard to corporations and what they're doing. We also have a strong consumer that is held up quite resiliently, even in the midst of these high interest rates. We're starting to see some cracks there with rising debt levels. But nevertheless, at least to this point, we've had consumers holding up quite well. And so that earnings growth, the belief that inflation is contained has been a lot of the driver of this market.
That remains to be seen for sure. It's been ticking up as of late. And I think the big idea here that's a big driver of this market clearly, is this longer term artificial intelligence, secular growth theme. So it's this idea that AI is going to be a boon for the economy. And, you know, it's going to drive productivity and innovation like we've never seen before.
And I think there's a lot to be said about that. I was, you know, listening to an interview just last week with a billionaire investor who's highly respected on Wall Street. And he said, you know, despite Biden-omics, you know, if you set some of that aside, which is, you know, really hurting business, you know, we're in a period right now which is some of the most exciting that we've ever seen for innovation and productivity and, you know, what the opportunities are here in America for the future, which have far reaching implications for our economy. The question is whether we're going to stifle that with higher taxes and higher reg, you know, more regulations, which make it harder for businesses to do business and unrestrained. And you hit on this as well with regard to our our fiscal situation. I mean, we're at a one point eight trillion dollar budget deficit. I mean, it's just staggering to think that we'd have that kind of deficit in the midst of, you know, incredibly low unemployment. And, you know, just at a full workforce, essentially, to be running these kinds of definite deficits are just it's mind boggling to think that we'd be in that situation.
And yet we are. And yet, you know, and at the same time and you hit on this, we've got debt, national debt that that's running away. So, you know, I think there is a case to be made for why the market has done what it's done. The question is, where does it go from here? And I think if we're starting to see corporate profits, you know, not be as strong and we're already starting to see some early signs of that, if inflation tends to be stickier than we expected and settles in, you know, at three plus percent instead of the Fed's target to, you know, and we hit that recession and they have to start lowering interest rates.
And so that becomes the new norm. If that's the case, then we're probably going to see a market that doesn't perform as well as it has over the last two decades in the coming decades. How do we deal with the debt? Well, it's going to require significant budget fiscal restraint. Will we have leaders that will be willing to do that?
I don't know. We'll find out. And it's going to require that our economy continue to perform. We have all the makings for it.
We just need to get out of government out of the way and let it run. Thanks for your call, Alan. All right. We're going to head to a break, so don't go anywhere. Still a lot more to come, even though we're away from the studio today and you shouldn't call in. We have some great questions that you're really going to enjoy as we continue to apply God's wisdom to your financial decisions. We'll be right back. So glad to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live.
Our team is away today, so don't call in, but we lined up some great questions in advance and we'll be going to those here in just a moment. Let me also remind you that the advice that I give each day on this program is general in nature. We offer principles and ideas that apply at a high level. They are not personalized, so that's why you should always seek professional financial advice. And if you'd like to find a professional who shares your values, we, of course, here at Faith and Finance Live recommend the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation. These are men and women who've met high standards and they've been trained to bring a biblical worldview of financial decision making.
You can find one at faithfi.com. Let's go back to the phones to Pennsylvania. Hi, Tim.
Go ahead, sir. Thank you for taking my call. My situation is my wife and I have wills and, you know, after the Lord calls us both home, whatever is remaining in the estate is scheduled to be divided evenly between our son and our daughter. We find ourselves in a situation where our son's marriage is rocky. His wife quite often threatens to divorce and, you know, and leave.
So I am looking into the possibility that maybe what we need to do is establish a trust because I don't want to be the one that finances the family split. That makes sense to you? Yes, absolutely.
And I can certainly understand that. Obviously this is a matter of prayer and we want to pray for unity and oneness and the Lord would work in their marriage. I understand you're also charged with being the steward of these resources and part of that is deciding how you want, well, who the next steward is and whether they're not only chosen but prepared. And a trust is a way to give money to your kids and, you know, that without it going necessarily to the spouse, although there is, you know, it becomes marital property and so it depends on the state and so forth. So what I would recommend here, Tim, is for you to visit with a godly estate planning attorney who can really talk you through kind of what the options are for how you would lead this money and accomplish your wishes, you know, according to the laws of the state there and the options that you have.
Okay, excellent, yes. Because the trust is basically a legal entity that holds and manages the property for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries. And so, you know, if you're looking to shield assets from a child's spouse, you know, the most common and effective way to do that is going to be a trust. But from that point, you know, you're going to have to get into the legalities of what makes the most sense in your situation and according to the laws of your state and that's where an estate planning attorney comes in. In terms of finding that individual, if you don't have one, you could reach out to a certified kingdom advisor in Pennsylvania and ask for a referral.
They'll all have a godly estate planning attorney that they work with. So you just head to our website faithfi.com. That's faithfi.com. Click find a professional and you could do a zip code search and then just contact one of those.
Say, listen, I listen to faith and finance and I just need a referral to an estate planning attorney and they should be able to direct you. Okay, excellent. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. God bless. All right, Tim. You too, sir. Thanks for calling today.
Let's go to Tennessee. Hi, Rebecca. Go right ahead. Hi. Hi.
Yes, I have a question. So I have not always been the best at saving money. I felt pretty much in my whole entire life, but my father passed away when I was about 16, received a large check from his life insurance. And for example, I just blew it.
I mean, of course I was young, but there's nothing of it anymore. Now that I'm married, I am, it's always a conflict between my husband and I because I spend so much money. We can't ever save to buy a home.
So I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with me and how to stop it. Because now I know at this point, if I was to pass away, my children would have nothing. And if my husband saves money, he saves it and he doesn't tell me about it. So he will say, we're running out of money, but we'll have some just to try to slow me down on spending. I don't really know if it, to me, it feels like I've always felt like if I had it, I have to go use it.
Um, and my kids have to have the best. I feel like I'm always trying to compete. Um, and I feel like I'm depriving them. And now I know that in the long run it has hurt us because we don't have anything substantial.
And I just turned 29, my husband's in 30 and he received the VA disability, but he's also working and I'm working at part-time job. So I don't know what to do. I don't know if I need to work full time or what I needed to help my family, but I know I'm a big thorn in their side right now. Yeah. Well, Rebecca, I so appreciate your transparency here today. And you know, that's obviously the beginning point to you getting beyond this. Uh, you know, compulsive spending is, is real. Um, and it could be that you need to, to get some counseling, you know, around this, just to try to get to the root of it, to determine what are the emotions that trigger the spending along with fear and guilt and feelings of inadequacy. I mean, there, there is, you know, money issues are hard issues and the spending is just symptomatic of something deeper there, but you acknowledging that is obviously key. And so your ability to kind of work through that, um, you know, at that level, at the heart level and spiritually, um, and identifying what's going on here and having somebody help you work through that is key. And then there's the mechanical side that we'll put alongside that because obviously where this is headed, you know, is, you know, the, what the, the symptoms of this are disunity in your marriage because now you, you know, your husband's feeling like he has to keep things from you.
And obviously that's not driving toward God's design for marriage of oneness. It's leading toward, you know, you all not having anything for the future and not being able to save. And obviously that, you know, is, is going to be problematic not only longterm, but even in the short term, just in your ability to operate without debt and you know, have the things that you need and enjoy what God has given you and being able to take a trip and build memories with your families and those kinds of things. And so that's going to involve, you know, perhaps a really strict budget where, you know, we build into that budget, some, some, you know, something for you to be able to spend on the things that you love and enjoy, maybe your hobbies or whatever it is, but it's done within the context of a plan.
You're probably going to want to operate on a cash basis, not with credit or debit cards and use a physical envelope system just to limit your spending. But, you know, I think as long as you know that, Hey, I'm working on this at the heart level and I'm identifying the root cause of this. And you know, that may involve you, you know, with a professional counselor, but I'm also working on this on the mechanical side and we've identified a balanced budget that works for us. And in that budget, I have a portion that I can enjoy, you know, to the extent there's money available to do that, but you're willing to curb that and you've got the proper controls in place for that to happen when the money's gone.
I mean, that's all the sudden, you know, a plan that, you know, is sustainable long term and will take you in the direction of where you ultimately want to go. And I think a lot of this is spiritual too, you know, just praying and saying, Lord, I want to be a wise steward of this money because it's not mine. You know, if everything belongs to the Lord, then you're his money manager. And so this is a really high calling, Rebecca, that we all have.
And that's not, you know, to place any guilt on you or anything like that. That's just to say, we all need to be those wise and faithful stewards. And at the core of that is obedience. And so you need to be renewing your mind in God's word around, you know, what he would have for you in terms of his ownership and provision and your ability to live with contentment, you know, living within what God has provided and not beyond it. And also to say, you know, what are those goals that we have that money can be a tool to accomplish that line up with our values and priorities as children of God? And what do you want to do long term, you know, short term and long term in terms of your desire to save and your desire to give and all of those things that I know you want to do.
But it's not a matter of you feeling shame. It's a matter of you getting help and making steps forward in this direction. So here's what I'd like to do. I'd like to have one of our certified Christian financial counselors reach out to you and your husband.
There's not going to be any cost for this, Rebecca. We'll cover the cost on it just as our gift to you. But that individual is somebody who's been trained to help put spending plans together. They know the Council of Scripture. They'll pray for you and encourage you and they can help you set up a system. But I think alongside that, you and your husband really need to pray about you reaching out either to a pastor or a counselor who can really help you uncover some of the root of some of the things you just described.
But give me your thoughts on all that. Yes, thank you so much. It really hit the nail on the head there. I definitely feel, I don't know, everyone compares me to my father because we had to have like instant gratification when it comes to wanting something or needing something. So I've always felt like he passed that on down to me, unfortunately.
But I definitely want to break that in my family lineage so that my children don't have to, you know, go through this and struggle. Yeah. Well, this is the key is you identifying that. And that was a question I didn't ask you that I often do. And that is, you know, what are some of your earliest memories of money growing up and how was money handled growing up? Because so often the way we handle money today. Yeah, it's it's driven by how God has wired us and, you know, things that are a part of our DNA. But it's largely informed by our childhood and how money was handled and modeled. And a lot of that just you have to, you know, you bring that with you, good or bad.
And that means you've got to break some cycles there, you know, to the extent you didn't have those, you know, positive disciplines reinforced for you. But that's okay. You're identifying that. And here's the good news. You're young. You guys have, you know, that the Lord tarries and, you know, he's still got more for you. You got decades to save and enjoy. I mean, you know, we can write this ship and you're not calling me with one hundred thousand dollars in credit card debt either.
At least if you have it, you didn't tell me about it. So I think you're in good. Okay. So, you know, you're not in bad shape here. We just need to get this ship turned in the right direction. So, again, here's what we're going to do.
You stay on the line. Robert's going to grab your your information. We're going to have one of our certified Christian financial counselors call you to work on the money side, the budget and the control system. And then you and your husband pray about you perhaps schedule an appointment with one of the pastors at your church or a counselor, a Christian counselor in your area to talk about the compulsive nature of your spending.
And let's get to the root of that. And I believe if you deal with both of those, God will get you going in the right direction. I'm going to commit to praying for you as well. Rebecca, you can do this and the Lord can help you break through it. Thanks for your call today.
Stay on the line. We'll get your information. May the Lord bless you.
Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and Faith 5. Thank you to Laura, Dan, Amy and Jim. Couldn't do it without them. See you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
