What's most important to you when it comes to choosing your financial advisor? Someone who's aligned with your biblical values. How about someone who will take the time to explain your options? Certified Kingdom Advisors are professionals who meet high standards in competence and integrity and have been trained to offer biblical financial advice. To find a Certified Kingdom Advisor in your area, visit faithfi.com and click Find a CKA. God's Word contains powerful financial teaching that can change your life.
Are you using it? Hi, I'm Rob West. With more than 2,300 verses on money and possessions, the Bible is a storehouse of powerful financial tips. Well, Sharon Epps joins us today to talk about them, some you know, but some may surprise you. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000.
This is faith and finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well, Sharon Epps is in the co-pilot seat today, and that always makes for a smooth and informative flight. She's the president of Kingdom Advisors, our parent organization, and Sharon, we're delighted to have you back. You have had a long tenure in this space, and some of our listeners may not know that that goes all the way back to Larry Burkett.
It does. I had the privilege of being on the program from time to time, even back then. So it's such a joy to be here today.
Well, we're always thrilled. All right, I know it's on your heart today to talk about how God's Word contains powerful financial teaching that can have a dramatic impact in our lives, and we're going to talk about some of these powerful attributes we find in Scripture and give you some practical handles on how you can manage God's money well. And we'll begin today with the power of trust. What would you have us know here? Well, you might be surprised that trust is the first financial tip. You might be expecting me to talk about money, first of all. But let's just go straight to the Word, Proverbs 3, 5 through 6, tells us to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your path straight.
And I think actually, this is the most powerful tip of all. And that is to understand our role, and that we can trust Him to be our leader. And so as we talk about very often here on Faith and Finance, our role is that of steward, and he's the owner, and the implications of that are enormous. It means that we've got freedom, we can look to Him related to His plans for our money, and we don't have to worry about our own plans, because He's the one to be the guide. It's not dependent on me, it's not dependent on the government or even my employer, because God is my provider. Absolutely.
Yeah. Well, Sharon, what are the practical implications to that as we make daily spending decisions in this role of manager? Well, I think the practical implications are we're freed up to focus on what He would have for us. And in fact, that's actually the next powerful tip.
Let's go there. Is that we want to be able to focus on one major goal at a time. I think a couple of Proverbs that help us there, Proverbs 4.25 says, let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you.
Proverbs 16.3 says, commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established. And so this power of focus, I know we talk a lot about multitasking, but research has proven that none of us can really multitask. We have to focus on one thing at a time.
And anytime that I've talked with families who feel a little bit stuck in their finances, it's often because they're trying to accomplish so many goals at one time. And so the power of focus is to ask God, what's the next thing you would have me to do? And focus on that until you've made progress on it to the point that you feel like you're released to go to your next thing. We just can't spread ourselves too thin.
I love that. And the power of focus is certainly underutilized in our lives. And even breaking those singular goals down into bite-sized pieces can often be helpful as well.
It absolutely can because sometimes it just feels like we're eating an elephant. So if we take it one step at a time, it's not so overwhelming. And I can begin to do that today. I don't have to wait until next month when I have 12 hours to dedicate to it.
We've got about 45 seconds until our break. Let's get one more of those powerful financial principles in. Well, it's the power of priorities.
And you won't be surprised. I'm going to mention live, give, grow and the pie there. Because as we set our priorities, we need to remember that the pie is limited. And one decision I make to spend in one area is going to impact the other area. And I think the order matters as well. We always want to make sure that we start with give first, then we want to grow, and then we look at owe and live.
I love that. The power of trust, the power of focus, the power of priorities. We're looking at God's Word today with Sharon Epps and pulling out the powerful financial teaching that can be applied in your life as a steward of the King of Kings resources.
When we come back, Sharon will have more of those powerful principles just around the corner. We're grateful for support from Movement Mortgage, who provides residential home loans in all 50 states. Guided by a mission to love and value people and a goal to redefine the mortgage process, Movement seeks to help others achieve their financial goals. You can find out more at movement.com slash faith. Movement Mortgage LLC supports equal housing opportunity and MLS number 39179.
For licensing information, please visit nmlsconsumeraccess.org. God is the owner. We're the steward, the manager of all that he's entrusted to us. And God's Word is our source, our wisdom for managing that money. This is Faith and Finance.
I'm Rob West. We're joined today by Sharon Epps, president of Kingdom Advisors, and we're talking about some of the powerful financial teaching that we find in God's Word. And Sharon, just before the break, you were talking about the power of priorities. And we can look at those priorities in light of a simple pie chart around living, giving, owing and growing God's money. But we can break some of those priorities down even further, right?
We can. And I'm often asked, well, if we have the live, give, owe, grow pie, how do I know where my pieces should be? And the answer is, ask God, because he has a different pie for each of us. At the same time, it's helpful to have a few templates or a few examples to know how people's pies often work well.
And so what we're about to talk about in these priorities are by no means boundary lines or fences that are set up for you. They are more stories or examples of what has worked well for others. So the first thing I would say in the big overall pie, I would encourage you to at least start with what we call the 10-10-80 principle. And basically that is, give first 10 percent, set aside 10 percent for grow, and then use the remaining 80 for the owe and live. So give first, then to grow, and then owe and live.
So 10-10-80 is just a quick reminder. If I don't even know where to begin with my pie, that's a good place to start to split it up that way. I think also that the live category often is where people get tripped up because it's the 80 after the debt. And so what we see is that there are basically three big categories within that overall live slice of the pie that make the biggest difference to your budget, housing, transportation, and food. And the bottom line is that if we have more than half of our take-home pay in those three parts of the live pie, it's very difficult to have a spending plan that's balanced. And so the thing that is a little bit troublesome in that is our housing and transportation decisions are usually longer-term decisions.
When I buy a home, I'm typically not going to change that in a year. That's right. Yeah. And those big three we often talk about can often derail you. And if those get out of line, it's just so much more difficult to make everything else balanced. It absolutely is. And so Proverbs 27-23 there, know well the condition of your flocks, give attention to your herds, tells us let's look at where we are in each of these areas and make sure that those big three aren't tripping us up because when those are out of sync, you could try to save money on going out to coffee or those kinds of things, but it's going to be hard to make a difference if you don't look at the big three.
Yeah. Lifestyle is the biggest determinant of whether you will be able to accomplish those other goals in the long term. All right, Sharon, what's the next powerful principle? Well, it's the power of planning. We want to encourage you and you hear this from us on Faith and Finance all the time. We want you to spend your money on purpose by making a plan on paper or digitally before each month begins. And I just have to say, Rob, for our family personally and others that I talk to and counsel with, the Faith Fight app comes in so handy here because you can put your money in digital envelopes each month to make your plan before the expenses occur. We mentioned Larry Burkett in the first segment. You had the opportunity to work alongside Larry and he was the one who really popularized this envelope approach to managing money.
He did. And I think it still applies today. In fact, I was talking with a young couple just this last week and they are very digitally savvy and really love, in fact, the Faith Fight app. And they said, you know, there are several of our categories that we've decided we're just going to go to cash because we just aren't keeping up with them very well. And we've decided we're going to put them in a cash envelope and do our spending that way for a few months to get back in control. It's so helpful. Julie and I use it literally every day and we can see exactly what's left in each envelope when we open the Faith Fight app.
If you want to check it out and download it today, just head to faithfight.com and click app. All right, Sharon, there's actually power in cash. Tell us about that.
There is. And I think that's one of the best keys for making sure you know what you're spending, especially if you don't like to do a lot of record keeping. If I have cash in my hand, then I know what I have left over after I get change when I check out. And I'll also say that research actually proves that the more we're aware, it's called saliency, the more we're aware of what we're spending, we actually spend less, which is why the credit card companies want us to put everything on the credit cards because we'll spend more.
Yeah, I mean, the data I've seen says we'll actually spend in some cases up to 30% more when we're not parting with that physical cash. So certainly be on your guard there. All right, Sharon, what is that last powerful principle? Well, it's the power of decision making. God's Word teaches us we can always go to him and we're not sure what to do. I'm looping right back to the beginning, looking to God.
I love this verse, James 1 5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him. So I thought as we close out, I might give you a flow chart kind of idea for this decision making. And these are just some key questions you can ask before you make decisions about your expenses. So first, is the expense essential for the family's survival? Will the purchase help my financial situation or will the purchase hurt my financial situation? Will this purchase move me toward meeting my financial goals or perhaps set me back? Can we wait to incur this expense?
And is there a less expensive alternative? And if you picture that sort of like a flow chart, as you go down that list of questions, if you answer no to any of those, you might just want to stop and reconsider and think about what I might do differently than make this intended upcoming purchase. Yeah, and it means in some cases, we have to slow down. I mean, in an age where, you know, this weekend, we were in the kitchen, Julie and I, we knew we needed an item for the house.
And by the afternoon, it was on the front porch. I mean, in that age, we can just operate so quickly. And that robs us of the opportunity to ask these questions.
Well, it does. And I'm sure y'all have never done what we've done. But sometimes we've gotten it off the front porch and then gone to a closet and realized we had something that would have met the need already. That's so true. Hey, let's finish with financial decision making as a couple. So how do we make sure we're on the same page as we're thinking about these? Well, you know, the most powerful tip I could give there is making sure you have intentional conversations. I even recommend a monthly money date night. And that's a night that you literally go out as a couple and your focus is on how did you do with your finances the past month?
And then what do you have coming up the next month that you might need to be thinking about? And that intentional conversation away from the kids away from distractions gives you the opportunity to make sure that you're on the same page with your goals. And unity is way more important than the actual decision itself.
That's so good. As you said a moment ago, we want to spend money on purpose. But as a part of that, we want to have purpose at the core. What are our values that ultimately drive those decisions?
Right? Absolutely. And I think when we ask the Lord to direct us on those, the decision making becomes more clear. Oh, that's so good. Well, Sharon, this was so helpful today. I appreciate you taking us back to God's Word to look deeply into Scripture to pull out maybe some of the principles we haven't seen along the way. But I know these will be really helpful for our listeners. So thanks for stopping by.
Glad to be here. That's Sharon Epp. She's president of Kingdom Advisors, our parent organization.
She joins us frequently on this broadcast. And you know, as we think about our role as stewards and managing God's money, it's really critical that we're in God's Word, renewing our mind, not taking the cues from this world as we take on this important role of being a faithful steward. Back with your questions after this, 800-525-7000.
Stick around. If you enjoy this radio program, you're going to love all of the many different resources waiting for you at faithfi.com and the Faithfi app. You'll find powerful wisdom, free podcasts, articles, videos, and more from leading voices such as Randy Alcorn, Howard Dayton, Ron Blue, and our own Rob West. Grow in wisdom and knowledge by connecting with a community of thousands of Christians striving to be good and faithful stewards at faithfi.com or by downloading the Faithfi app. Are you a financial advisor or CPA seeking to build your practice on biblical wisdom? Not only does the certified Kingdom Advisor education provide you with deep biblical insights, the CKA designation sets you apart. Each year, almost 50,000 people search for a Christian financial advisor. Join our community and share your expertise with clients looking for someone who shares their faith and values. Find more information at kingdomadvisors.com slash get certified. Well, if you have a question today on how to manage God's money, we'd love to hear it. 800-525-7000 is the number to call.
We'll go to Indiana. Hi Norma. Thanks for your patience. Go ahead.
Yes. So when I was my first baby, I had an attorney, you know, draft a will. And now I'm finding all of this about probate.
So my youngest is going to be 18. I am looking to see what can I do instead of having a will because of probate court. So what I did is all my accounts have beneficiaries, bank accounts have beneficiaries. And I'm looking to get my house title, you know, transfer up on death. So what would you advise for that? How can I get rid of that will?
Because it doesn't apply anymore. My kids are older, you know, they're, you know, people that I put there, they're not longer a part of it. Yeah, very good. Well, you're doing some great things here, Norma. I love that you're being proactive here.
Number one. You know, you've got those beneficiary designations on all your financial accounts, your investment accounts and bank accounts and so forth, life insurance policies. That's great. Those are going to pass outside of probate. The TOD deed or, you know, in the state of Indiana is available.
It's not available in every state. And so you can have the TOD designation on a piece of property that would pass outside of probate. I would recommend you still keep the will.
I mean, you can dissolve it at any time. If it wasn't registered at the county probate office, you simply tear it up and draft a new one. If it was, you'll have to take the new one, you know, take it down to the probate office and go through the procedure for replacing the will. I would recommend you have an attorney help you with that. You do want a will though, just as a catch all for anything that's not inside the trust. Because if you were to put a trust in place, and we'll talk about that in a second, that would only apply to those things titled in the name of the trust.
And undoubtedly, you're at the very least going to have some furniture and other things that you may want to designate where those go. So I would still have the will. But all these other things you're doing, the potential of a trust and with property or assets in it, the beneficiary designations, the TOD, you know, that's all going to supersede the will, the will is just for whatever is left. Now, if you did a trust, and you may not need it because of the other things you're already doing, the trust would make sure that your assets inside the trust pass outside of probate, it can be kept private, it's not a part of the public record. It's an orderly way of managing your finances, if you're incapacitated, so if your health stops you from doing so it could name a trustee that could step in and act on your behalf a will can't do that because it only applies after death.
You know, so those are the main benefits. And if you wanted to pass your air, your assets on beyond your death at certain, you know, triggering events, some air reaching a certain age or something like that, a trust can do that as well, according to your wishes, a will can't. So that would be the situation where you'd put a trust in place. Now, you just want to make sure that it's necessary given all the other things that you're doing, because it's going to cost you a couple of thousand dollars to put that in place. And so I just want to make sure that you've thought through that. And probably the next step for you, Norma is to visit with a godly estate attorney there in Indiana, who can walk through all this with you ask you a lot of questions and then ultimately update whatever needs to be updated and take care of it for you.
At the same time, you're probably going to want to look at a health care surrogate if you don't have one, somebody to act on your behalf with regard to health care decisions, if you're unable, a power of attorney to make financial and legal decisions for you, and then ultimately a living will for those end of life decisions to be made in advance. But give me your thoughts on all that. Yes, one of the reasons I'm asking the question is because I did go see a trust attorney and the price was really scary. So it was like $6,000. So I thought, okay, how can I do something different?
And that's the reason why I'm doing. The important part is that I want to, you know, keep out of probate it's, you know, like bank accounts and property at this point, I don't have, you know, I'm not a wealthy person. I don't have acquire, you know, some property and you know, like my, at least my house. But in the, if we're talking about furniture and things like that, I, you know, I don't think that that would be something that I would do a trust for.
Well I think that, so I think given what I'm hearing, it just may not be necessary. Now the trust attorney you spoke to, maybe you'll call around and see if there's some other folks who could do it for less. That sounds a bit rich just for your situation.
That should be fairly simple. But I just think given what I'm hearing, I'm not even sure you need that because you put all these other pieces in place. So if you really want it because of any of the reasons I mentioned, you know, I would probably check with a couple of additional attorneys before you make that call and see if you can get the cost down.
Otherwise, just having that will with the TOD and the beneficiary designations on the other accounts may in fact solve all that you need. So we appreciate you being on the program today. Thanks for calling.
Let's go to Alabama. Jan, thanks for calling. Go ahead. Hey, I just wanted to ask you, if you have an opinion on this, Medicare has notified me that they're now automatically providing prescription or drug coverage. And so they gave me a new card and all that. And although I have Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage already, which is working fine, I have to opt out of what Medicare provides.
And I just wondered if you have followed that and if you have an opinion on that. Because I started to opt out and then I thought, I mean, yeah, I started to opt out of what Medicare is providing. I just think, you know, they're providing all of this for so many people anyway. Right. What do you think?
Yeah. So, you know, I think what you have to do is look at the different options that you have available. You know, obviously you could look at a Medicare Advantage plan. It's another way to get Medicare coverage besides the original Medicare. Then there's Medigap plans. And then there's Medigap with prescription drug coverage, you know, because some of them don't offer the prescription drug. But just the basic Medicare drug coverage does obviously help to cover the prescription drugs you need. It is optional. It's offered to everybody.
And you know, we encourage people, you know, typically to go ahead and get it, even if you don't take prescription drugs. But do you already have that coverage through another plan? Is that what you're saying? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So if you already have that coverage, obviously, you know, you don't need that portion. So I think you'd be fine to opt out. Okay. I didn't know if you had any thought on that or not.
Yeah. No, I think that would be a great option for you. Just to take what you've got.
There's no need for you to have both. So hopefully that helps you, Jan. We appreciate you checking in with us today. May the Lord bless you. Folks, we're so glad to have you along with us today. We covered a lot of ground, but always look forward to being invited into your stories and taking you back to God's word and helping you consider your financial decisions in light of sound biblical wisdom. I hope you have a great week. Let me say thanks to my team today.
Certainly couldn't do this without them. Jim Henry, Devin Patrick, and Robert Youngblood handling our phones today. Here on Faith and Finance, we want to bring you God's wisdom for managing your financial decisions. We'd love to hear more and listen to our broadcast archives when you head to faithbuy.com. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you and we'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.
