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You can choose from one of three options, depending on your management style, and it's available on desktop or mobile. Go to faithfi.com and click App to get started. In marriage, husbands and wives will disagree on many things, and sometimes the issue is giving. Hi, I'm Rob West. Giving can be an especially difficult topic for some couples because it involves two issues that are often contentious in their own right, money and faith. Ron Blue joins us today with advice for couples who disagree on giving. 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 journey. Well, if you're new to Faith and Finance, you may not know that Ron Blue is the founder of Kingdom Advisors, our parent organization.
He's also the author of a shelf full of books on biblical finance. He's one of my mentors and a great friend. Ron, great to have you back. Always good, Rob.
Looking forward to it again. Ron, we're getting into the time of year when folks begin thinking about year-end giving, and maybe for some couples, giving in general has been a point of contention all year. You've had some personal experience with this that's helped shape how you counsel couples with this challenge. Share that with us.
Well, I have found in counseling people that this is a big area of potential disagreement. Judy became a Christian two years before I did. She mentioned tithing, and I about went through the roof. There was no way I earned that money. It was my money. And Judy, very wisely, she didn't say anything about it, and she didn't ask again, but she lived out a life that was so compelling that it eventually led me to the Lord, and then tithing and giving became a normal part of our financial life, for sure.
But we had rough moments there for a couple years. Oh, I can imagine, but obviously that made a profound impact on you, ultimately you coming to Christ, and I'd love to know how her decision not to press this issue of giving now informs how you counsel other couples. Well, many times I'm asked this question a lot when I speak, and unfortunately it's typically the wife will come up and say, you know, I'm saved, my husband's not, and he doesn't want to tithe, and I feel like it's biblical to tithe.
And my counsel is, well, your relationship, I believe, is the most important thing. So I don't think it's a tithe that's a real issue, it is how you demonstrate a life in Christ. And I would not, the Bible says to be mutually submissive to one another, so in a marriage relationship, I would tend to say, go to the lowest common denominator when it comes to this particular topic. It's not true of all topics, but it is, that's my counsel on this. Just because of my personal experience, I'm not sure I'd have ever considered becoming a believer had Judy not backed off on that issue with me.
Yeah, that's powerful. God's plan, of course, is oneness in marriage, and this issue could actually interfere with him hearing the gospel, and I know that was true in your situation. Ron, what about when both spouses are believers, and yet they still disagree about giving?
How would you counsel them? Well, there are several ways that you could do it. One is that you could separate out the amounts that are given. Now I'm talking probably beyond the tithe.
My own personal belief is that the tithe is the beginning point of giving, so let's assume people are giving beyond that. Probably the most practical thing that I've seen where there's real disagreement is where a husband and wife, maybe they have things that they agree on, fine, but where they disagree that they set up an amount in each of their accounts, we'll call it, where you give the dissenting spouse an opportunity to give to the things that he or she really feels passionate about. Again, I'll come back to the relationship, and I think that that's the most important thing.
So it's not a fight, and it's not, I give in, therefore you lose. It's how can we have a win-win situation where we're both doing that, and I believe it's very legitimate for husbands and wives to have different interests due to experience and due to different personalities. So I know that when certain prayer leaders come to our house, I know what Judy's response is going to be. Exactly. We're going to get to that.
I love your approach, because it allows us each to bring our own wiring and passions to the table, and yet keep the relationship at the center, which you've said multiple times, and I think that's absolutely the key. Ron, we're out of time. Thanks for giving us some counsel in this area. We're grateful. Well, that was good counsel that you just gave, Rob, so follow it. Thank you.
Thanks, Ron. We'll be back with your questions, 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
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800-525-7000 is the number to call. Let's head to Chicago, Illinois we go. Hi, Andrew.
Go ahead, sir. Yes, I have about $80,000 in a savings account right now that's growing about 4% right now, and I owe $160 currently on a house, which is at 2.2%. And I'm paying about $300 more per month than a mortgage, so I'm going to pay it off faster than 10 years quicker than if I were to do the full 30. Would you say me keeping my 80 in my bank account and making 4% is smarter, or should I take that 80 and put it into the home? And mind you, I do have an emergency fund, and I have another savings account that's for emergencies. Okay, and what about long-term investments? I mean, are you saving and contributing to a retirement account?
Yeah, I'm doing about 6% each paycheck into a 401k and some small little stocks that I buy here and there. Okay, what is your age, Andrew? I am 35. Okay, are you single or married? Married. Okay, and does your wife work? My wife works as well. Okay, and is she also contributing to a retirement plan? Yes, she's on the exact same plan that I am.
We actually only have my income we actually use for just expenses, our living expenses and entertainment, and 100% of her paycheck just gets bundled in at $80,000 that's just been growing pretty significantly. We've been blessed to be able to do that. Okay, that's great.
So why are you prioritizing so much outside the retirement plan just in taxable savings versus bumping those retirement contributions up to 10 or 15% of your pay? I could. I don't see why I couldn't.
Actually, it's been just more of laziness. I need to do it. I've been told to do it. I haven't done that piece yet.
Okay, yeah, no worries. Well, the good news is to me, at least you're getting 4% a year on that $80,000. But I think, you know, your opportunity, you and your wife is as you define enough.
And I think that's key. It's not about the mindless accumulation of wealth. And, you know, I think you're in a situation where because you all have limited your lifestyle, you're on track to be debt free, you've obviously got a lot of surplus because you're living modestly. I mean, you guys are ripe for an advisor who could really guide you through from a value standpoint, a conversation about, hey, what's God doing in your life? And how can money be a tool to accomplish his purposes? And, you know, what's important to you all in terms of saving?
And what's the lifestyle he's called you to? And what does that translate into in terms of an ultimate goal for retirement savings? Because we don't want to over accumulate. Because if you capture lifestyle and, you know, you're eventually debt free or on your way to being debt free, then it's really just a matter of defining the give and the grow buckets and determining how much is enough for each. And once you establish a finish line for your long term retirement savings, then you can accelerate your giving.
You know, and that's going to be a blast. So I would encourage if you don't have one to connect with an advisor, we'd recommend a certified kingdom advisor there in Chicago who could really help you think through all of this. But just at a high level, what I would say is, you know, I'd love for you just given how much you all cash surplus you're throwing off on a monthly basis, I'd love to see you prioritize. As long as it's within, you know, the confines of a plan and some retirement planning, I'd love to see you prioritize getting that into a tax deferred environment. So I would quickly increase your percentage of withholdings going into the retirement plan.
Again, then do some planning. With regard to the 80,000, do you all have any other kind of medium, short or medium term goals? I mean, are you looking to buy a bigger house? Do you need to replace a car? I mean, are there any things on the horizon that you need to do with that? No, honestly, we have two great cars that are paid off all with less than five years on them.
Yes, my wife and I, of course, who doesn't want a bigger house, but with the interest rates being so high, I'm afraid of taking a little bit more interest to get a better quality home. It's definitely been talked about, but it's not a high, high priority. We're definitely looking, but not like we don't need, you know. Okay, well, I mean, again, I like the trajectory you're on. I would connect with an advisor. I'd think deeply about your values and how that informs your goals. I'd answer the question, how much is enough? You've already answered that for your lifestyle because you're living on your income only. I would answer that for the long-term accumulation, and then based on that, I would set a target on how much you need to be putting aside every month to reach that goal. And then I would increase your retirement withholdings, and then I'd probably start funding Roth IRAs out of that $80,000 for you and your wife. You guys could each put in $6,500 this year, and then you could turn around and do it again next year. And then once you have surplus beyond that, then I think it's time to start thinking about, well, maybe we ought to start accelerating the mortgage payoff. Because even though it's a low interest rate, there's a non-financial win of you being out of debt, which is just being unencumbered and being debt-free.
And that's going to throw off even more cash on a monthly basis because now you don't have that mortgage payment. And now you can decide, do we give that away? What are we doing?
So I would say that would be my priorities with the $80,000 is first funding Roth IRAs this year and next, and then perhaps looking at accelerating the mortgage payoff. And where do you find these advisors? I've looked before, and I've never been successful of actually finding one of these.
Okay, yeah. So just go to our website, faithfi.com. That's faithfi.com. And then at the top of the page, it says, Find a CKA, and that stands for Certified Kingdom Advisor. It's the only recognized and accepted financial services industry designation for men and women who have met really high standards around character and competence, but also pastor and client references. They've signed a statement of faith, but even more than that, they've been trained to bring a biblical worldview of financial decision-making.
So they'll be able to think about your values as believers and how that should inform your decisions with money being a tool to accomplish God's purposes. Excellent. Well, thank you for answering my question. I appreciate it. Absolutely, Andrew.
God bless you, my friend. 800-525-7000 is the number to call. We do have some lines open today. We'd love to hear from you as we take your questions on anything financial. Let's head to South Pittsburgh, Tennessee. Kathy, go right ahead.
Yes, Rob. I'm kind of financially here, there, and everywhere. I'm 66, widowed, retired. I have one debt, which is an RV trailer that I live in.
I pay $200 extra a month on my payment on that. I have $25,000 in savings, $16,000 in a 401k that's basically kind of dormant. I have $96,000 in an annuity. I have $5,000 in a Roth 401k. And then I have three term life policies that I was kind of wondering what I should do with. Like I said, I'm kind of scattered. My financial person, I called to get some advice. He said on the annuity, he said, you can do whatever you want to.
He didn't expound on that, even though I questioned him. So like I said, I'm kind of scattered right now. Got it. Okay, that's really helpful background, Kathy. So let's do this. I'm about to have to take a break, but I've got all of those notes down. And when we come back, if you can hold the line, I'll give you my thoughts on where we go from here and see if we can get you pointed in the right direction.
This is Faith in Finance. I'm Rob West. We've got a few lines open, although the calls are coming in quick. 800-525-7000 can give us a call. We'll be back with much more just around the corner.
Stay with us. Are you looking for a financial professional who aligns with your biblical values? Certified Kingdom advisors are trusted financial, legal or accounting professionals who have completed a rigorous certification program to ensure they provide biblically wise financial advice as part of their practice.
You can find a local CKA professional in your area by going to faithbuy.com and clicking find a CKA. We're grateful to have you with us today on Faith in Finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls to questions today.
Just two lines remaining. 800-525-7000. Just before the break, we were talking to Kathy. She's in Tennessee. She's a 66-year-old widow. She has some debt, only one debt, on her RV trailer. She's actually sitting beyond the minimum scheduled payment, so trying to get that paid off, at which point she'll be completely debt-free. She's retired, has some savings in 401k accounts, Roth and traditional. She's also got a $96,000 annuity and some term life insurance.
Just kind of wondering where should she go from here. Kathy, do you have a written spending plan or can you give me a sense of just kind of how your expenses match up with your income and whether you have anything left at the end of the month? Really, I will buy things from Amazon and pay that off every month and then I have minimal utility bills.
I don't use much in that way. What would you say you spend on a typical month? I would say probably maybe $1,000 to $1,200 a month. Okay, and is your only income source currently your Social Security? I also have a retirement from the state of Texas, which is only about $1,000 a month, so I make about $2,250 a month. Okay, so you're typically putting, you know, once you take out the $200 extra you're sending to pay down the RV trailer, you have about $1,000 a month left over typically?
Yes sir, it just kind of rages on what I do for the grandkids. Yeah, I certainly understand that. Okay, and you said the $96,000, you have the ability to pull that out sometime next year? He told me in September I could do what I wanted this coming September, but I didn't really know what he meant by that. Yeah, well what happens is with an annuity your money is locked up for a period of time, meaning you can't get it back by transferring it out. If it was put in pre-tax you could roll it out to an IRA, which would give you unlimited flexibility on what you do with it in terms of investing it. But usually there's a surrender period where if you pull it out during that surrender period you have to pay a penalty. And what he's saying probably is that come September you could pull that money out and roll it out to an IRA or another type of account and there wouldn't be any penalty to it. And so then you'd have your full $96,000 at that point to do something else with. What is your primary goal? Just to make sure you're being a wise steward of what you have or was there something else specific that's concerning you? Well, nothing in concern. Of course I want to be able to leave my kids some money and pay for whatever needs that I might have as I get older.
But beyond that I would love to be able to buy some property, but with the way the economy is right now I'm not too sure about that. Yeah, very good. Okay, well what I would probably recommend, Kathy, is that you connect with a financial advisor. It doesn't sound like you have a relationship with an advisor currently, is that right? No, other than we need you to do this and this is what you can do, but not in a sound way.
Okay, good. Well, I think what would be helpful is to connect with a certified kingdom advisor there in Tennessee. That's just an industry designation for those professional advisors that have met high standards and character and competence. They've been trained to bring a biblical worldview. They've had a pastor and client reference and they've been in the business at least 10 years. So they've met high standards, but they really will be aligned with your faith values and that's key. And you could find, I'd say, two or three certified kingdom advisors there in Tennessee to interview, find the one that's the best fit. And you can do that at faithfi.com.
If you're comfortable on the web, go to faithfi.com and click find to CKA. And what I would probably recommend is that you do, in fact, pull this out of the annuity unless you knew you wanted to leave it there and the advisor could advise you on that. The only reason you'd want to leave it is if you'd really just like to have a guaranteed return and you don't want to have to take any risk and you just want to leave that to the insurance company. But you'd have a lot more flexibility to buy a piece of property or invest it if it was in an IRA.
And so that's why I'd recommend that perhaps this advisor pulls the 401k money into an IRA, the Roth 401k into a Roth IRA, and then rolls the annuity money out into an IRA as well, assuming it's put in pre-tax. And then they can help you develop a plan to manage that, minimizing the risk, but trying to grow it reasonably so that it's there if you need it, if you had an unexpected expense or you needed to go into nursing care or to be able to leave to your heirs or to charity or ministry. And so I think having that plan with a trusted advisor that you can call that will manage this for you would give you a lot of peace of mind and then the good news is you're adding $1,000 a month to that or thereabout to that savings so you've got plenty of cushion. In fact, you could do a little more giving or even invest more just based on the fact that you've already built up plenty of money in that savings given that you're only spending $1,500 a month or so on your expenses.
So that would mean my best advice is to connect with an advisor. And again, you can do that at faithfi.com. Kathy, we appreciate your call today. May the Lord bless you.
Quickly to Columbus. John, I've got just a minute left. Go ahead. Hey, Rob. Listen to yourself, Paul.
I appreciate all your advice. I answer this a lot. Two questions I have.
It's a two-part question. The first one I have is I have a car note that I got a car in my finance last year. It was 2022 and the interest rate is like 10.6. It took me off of a refi at 8% but it's a longer term on the loan and it's a cheaper monthly payment but it's a longer note. I was wondering if it made sense to go that route because you do get a little money back from your maintenance coverages on the vehicle and I was thinking that was the only thing that sounded pretty attractive to get the money back out of the loan. Put back for rainy day fund and stuff like that.
Yeah, here's my thought and unfortunately I'm out of time. I don't like you extending that term. I do want you to get the interest rate down. I would look to refinance it at a lower rate but with the same term or at least make the payment schedule such that you won't extend the term at all. I want to get you out of debt, not get money for a rainy day.
I'd look at refinancing but don't extend the term is my best advice. God bless you John and that's going to do it for us today. I really appreciate your taking time to listen to this program and to committing the principles we talk about each time to your financial life.
You see, God's plan isn't difficult but it does take discipline and I hope we can encourage you along the way as you listen to this program. Incidentally, if you've been helped by what you've heard here, would you mind helping us? This broadcast, the Faithfi app and the other great resources we provide wouldn't be possible without the financial support we receive from listeners like you. If you're not yet one of our financial partners but would like to be, would you visit our website faithfi.com and then click the give button to sign up. We'd certainly be grateful. In the meantime, please set an alarm on your phone and make plans to join us again next time for another edition of Faith and Finance. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith By and listeners like you.
