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Learn more at chministries.org slash faithbuy. More stress doesn't always equal higher salary. And if you bring home the stress along with the salary, is it really worth it?
Hi, I'm Rob West. If you're bringing home stress along with your salary, maybe it's time to rethink the purpose of your work. Today, we'll see what it looks like to work as unto the Lord. And then we'll take your calls at 800-525-7000.
That's 800-525-7000. This is faith and finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Some statistics claim that 54% of American employees are happy with their jobs. Then again, apparently 83% of us are suffering from work-related stress. Whether those are accurate numbers or not, we all know just from looking around that people are stressed out and work is often the cause.
So, what does all this mean for you? If work-related pressure is getting you down, what do you do? Quit? Retrain and change jobs? Grit your teeth and keep going?
Well, let me suggest you step back and ask a different question. As a believer in Christ, why are you working in the first place? The desire to do productive, meaningful work is in our DNA.
In fact, when God created Adam and Eve, he immediately set them to work naming the animals and tending their beautiful garden. Unfortunately, along with everything else, work was twisted by sin after the fall. Now, instead of always being productive and satisfying the way God intended, work can literally make us sick. In Colossians 3 23 and 24, we see the key to rediscovering meaningful work. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Serving God in your work, whether your job is secular or not, is the key to contentment on the job. The verse says, whatever you do, so it's not the work itself that matters, it's the boss.
And if you're a Christian, your boss is Jesus, not you and not even your employer. Okay, for those of you who like examples, let me show you someone who did her job as unto the Lord. We don't know her name, but her virtues are outlined in chapter 31 of Proverbs. She's referred to as a wife of noble character, but her actions and attitudes are worth studying and imitating no matter who you are. One characteristic of this Bible hero that stands out to me is what we might call her work ethic. Here are some of the phrases that describe this woman of noble character.
You can ask yourself, does this describe me too? She works with eager hands. A person of noble character has a positive attitude towards work, knowing that diligence can produce many benefits. She gets up while it's still dark. She provides food for her family. The Bible makes it clear that providing for your family is a primary responsibility. She takes it very seriously. She considers a field and buys it out of her earnings. She plants a vineyard.
Part of the biblical work ethic involves expertise, gaining useful skills and using them for the benefit of your family and community. She sets about her work vigorously. Her arms are strong for her tasks. This hero is aware that living well requires strength and determination.
You don't get there sitting on the couch watching YouTube. She opens her arms to the poor. This woman of character is so successful in her work that she is able to be generous with her surplus.
Are you working just for yourself or so you can help others also? She speaks with wisdom. A person of noble character develops enough experience to teach others. Her work ethic is the water that raises all boats because everyone benefits from her industry. She does not eat the bread of idleness.
It's pretty clear that a biblical work ethic means not being lazy. And the most important quality of the woman of noble character is that she follows and honors the Lord. A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Everything she does comes from a desire to serve God and all of her success springs from this priority. We can learn a lot from the Proverbs 31 woman about working as unto the Lord. I encourage you to read through Proverbs 31 and make it a point to follow her example. Finally, as you consider your own job stresses, remember Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. You see folks, we serve an audience of one. We're not playing to a chorus of men. We're playing to God himself.
And when that's the focus of our heart, it puts everything in perspective. All right, your calls are next 800-525-7000. That's 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. As a faithful listener of this program, you know that there's life-changing financial wisdom in God's Word. And Faithfi is here to help you and millions of others learn to be good and faithful stewards. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on help from monthly Faithfi patrons, supporters of this mission, to help us continue and expand our outreach. Has God provided financial answers for you through this ministry? If so, consider becoming a monthly Faithfi patron.
Visit faithfi.com and click Give. Welcome back to Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. All right, it's time to take your calls and questions today. The number to call is 800-525-7000. Our team is ready to go. They're waiting for your call.
Again, 800-525-7000. Let's dive in and apply God's Word to your financial decisions and choices today. Starting with your heart, yours, and mine, we need to have our feet firmly planted in the eternal perspective, not the temporal, which can rob us of freedom and joy and rob us of God's Word bearing a 30, 60, 100-fold return. You remember what Jesus said to the disciples in the parable of the sower or following it? He said it was the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things that can choke out the Word. We don't want that.
We want to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, see money as a tool to accomplish his purposes, and look to Scripture as really our guide for how we make day-to-day financial decisions as we live, give, owe, and grow God's money. So let's do that together. Again, 800-525-7000 is the number to call.
We're going to begin in Idaho. Victor, I know you were trying to get on yesterday. We couldn't get to your call, so I'm delighted we can speak to you today.
How can I serve you? Yeah, I bought an Equinox, 16 Equinox and Chevy Equinox, and I paid $17,000 for it, and it turned out that it had been wrecked in Colorado. I didn't get the car faxed until after the fact, and it's got a twisted frame and transmission problems, so I called Lemon Loss, gave it back to them, said I wasn't going to pay for it, said they're going to take legal action. They got it on the auction block, but how long is it going to be on the auction block? And they want me to keep making payments on it so they don't take legal action, and I was wondering what your thoughts are on that.
Yeah, unfortunately I don't have a lot of good news there, Victor. You know, you buy a used car, and obviously that information was publicly available unless they misrepresented the car in some way. You know, there's only a Lemon Law for used cars in six states.
Idaho is not one of them. I assume there was not a warranty of any kind that was provided by the dealership, is that right? No, there was a good warranty, and they kept wanting the car back because it was costing them thousands of dollars in tires and struts because they'd really want to realign the front, grind the rear tires off, realign the rear, grind the front tires off, you know, in less than a thousand miles. Okay, so the loan is separate from the car itself, so you're obligated for the loan and you have to keep that up. How are they going to remedy the situation with regard to the car and the ability to keep it on the road?
Well, I gave it back because I know I've been a mechanic most of my life. I know the cars are just scrap iron, and they said they're going to auction it off and I'd owe what was left over after the auction. Well, but what about the warranty? I mean, they're not taking any responsibility for the difference between what you paid for and what they're going to get at an auction? That I don't know.
I don't know how that works. Okay, well there was a warranty on the car, and so that'd be my first look is obviously they've obligated themselves to this warranty, and if it's still under the warranty, then you have a right for them to make you whole with regard to anything that's covered by the warranty. Now obviously, if these things that you're describing that are leading to the ongoing excessive wear and tear that's preventing you from driving it are outside the scope of the warranty, that's another thing, but if it's included because it's powertrain or something else and they're going to either need to fix it or make you whole in some way. An appropriate remedy, if it's covered, is not to auction it off. Anybody can do that and then require you to make up the difference between that and the car note that you owe.
That's not going to be a satisfactory remedy, clearly. So I think I would go back, understand exactly what was covered under that warranty and ask the dealership to perform based on that agreement that you have, the contract that you have, and if you learn that in the fine print that the issues that you've got are outside of the scope of that warranty, well then that's just another issue. Apart from a lemon law, you would have to sue them, but if they didn't misrepresent anything, you just bought a bad car and didn't do as much homework as you would have done now given what you know today, unfortunately. The loan is of course separate, so you have an obligation between you and the finance institution that you will pay back this loan as scheduled and if not, they can try to repossess the car. Clearly that's going to be difficult or they can sue you for the difference, try to get a judgment against you in addition to trashing your credit. So I think at this point I would be working with the dealership on this car that was sold to you with some sort of warranty as a used car and see if you can get them to perform based on that. Okay, I guess that's probably where I'm at right now then. Unfortunately, I'm really sorry to hear it Victor.
I know this is agonizing. If you could go back and do it over again, you'd get a lot more information from Carfax and otherwise. Glad to know that's out there, but oftentimes if we don't do quite a bit enough homework or get it checked out, I know it's perhaps a little different with you because you are a mechanic.
My mom had us something similar. She was about to buy a car. We took it to an independent mechanic, spent a couple of hundred dollars and realized that there was a similar thing. It had been in a major accident that was not reported.
The frame was twisted. You could see when you looked closely that the doors didn't line up quite right and that was uncovered during a pretty intensive inspection. That's why it's so critical that we're buying used and I'm a big fan because we're missing the depreciation of those few years when it rolls off the lot, but we've got to get it checked out and do our homework.
Fortunately, there's more tools than ever, but I'm so sorry Victor. I know a lot of that's hindsight at this point, so let's see if we can't get you made whole by the dealership based on the warranty they provided. I would absolutely start there. Keep us posted my friend and we'll pray that the Lord allows you to work this out to your satisfaction.
800-525-7000 is the number to call. We'd love to hear from you today. We've got a few lines open. I'm sure there's a few questions you're thinking about financially, whether it's something related to where we started today or anything else in your financial life.
Your spending plan, your debt repayment, maybe it's your giving, your long-term savings or investments, whatever it might be. We'd love to chat about it. 800-525-7000. To Alabama we go.
Hi Calvin, go ahead sir. Yeah, my mother who died in 2014, in 1992, bought 15 $1,000 EEE bonds and they matured last year and I am trying to figure out how to get them redeemed, get the money from them. I've been told that I should fill out the form 5336 and 1522.
I'm just not getting a whole lot of help locally on what in the world to do. Can you help me? Are these paper bonds Calvin? Yeah, paper. Okay, yeah, so you can, did you go to a local bank to see if you could cash them in there at a brick and mortar branch? No, they won't do that anymore. Okay, in some cases they still will. I realize fewer and fewer will. So the next step is, yeah, what you just described, it's form 1522.
You fill that out, you send them into the address on the form and if a bond is more than $1,000 you'll have to get your signature certified on the bond and then it will be, you will be able to redeem it at that point. Awesome, so that's not a problem? No. Yeah, okay. Okay, 1522.
1522 is the one you want and that will allow you to redeem these bonds and get the value out of it what's owed to you. Thanks for calling Calvin, we appreciate it. We're going to take a quick break folks.
When we come back, much more to come. We're just getting started here on faith and finance, but we need you to be a part of the program. The calls are coming in. We do have a few more lines open though. If you have a question today, get in on the conversation 800-525-7000.
Hey, just after this break we'll be back with a lot more of your calls and questions. Stay with us, this is Faith and Finance. Because of my past health history, finding affordable health care was nearly impossible. But then I found CHM, where costs are not adjusted based on medical history. Christian Healthcare Ministries even provides the freedom to choose my own providers. And the best part, CHM members pray for me. Too good to be true?
It's not. I'm a proud member of Christian Healthcare Ministries and if you think it could be right for you, learn more at chministries.org faithfi. We're grateful for support from Eventide Investments on the Faith and Finance program. Eventide's approach to values-based investing is grounded in the belief that humankind was created in the image of God with intrinsic dignity, value and worth. Eventide calls this investing that makes the world rejoice. More information is available at eventideinvestments.com.
That's eventideinvestments.com. Welcome back to Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. All right, let's head back to the phones to Florida. Hi, Vez. Thanks for calling. Go ahead.
Hi, Rob. Thanks for taking my call and I just want to say thank you so much for the great job that you're doing every day. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. You're welcome.
I have two questions. My husband is 62 years old and he has a truck that he owed $30,000 and he has a 401k of $95,000 and he is planning on taking $30,000 to pay off for his truck. Is that a good idea or will it hurt him in the future with his taxes?
Yeah, I mean there are tax implications and then there's also just the idea that the reason the money's in the 401k is so it can keep growing even beyond his retirement so that he's got something that you all have something that you can use to supplement your income and the more we pull it you know out of that the less that's going to be there which means we don't have that money available. What is the interest rate on that truck loan? 6.5 percent. Okay, and are you all able to make more than the monthly payment or are you just making the scheduled payment? Just making the scheduled payment. Okay, well I mean the implications from a tax standpoint are he's over 59 and a half so he's not going to have a penalty but all of that's going to be added to your taxable income for the year so you guys whatever you make an income that's taxable you're going to have to add $30,000 to it you know which means that it's certainly going to be subject to the tax rate that you're at.
It may push a portion of it up into a higher bracket but just plan on paying whatever your marginal tax rate is on that withdrawal which means you know you're not going to have the full 30 you'd have to pull more to account for the taxes. What's the alternative? Well, how far is he away from retirement? Yeah, he's planning on doing it in two years. In two years, okay, and what income sources will you all have in retirement?
Well, he's not. He's going to start working but I'm going to continue to work. Okay, and is your income enough to cover your bills?
Yes. Okay, and how long do you plan to work? Maybe until I'm 67.
How far is that? About three years out. Okay, and so once you retire let's say his $95,000 401k is now 60 because he pulled out the money for the car plus the taxes. What other retirement assets will you have at that point? Well, I have my retirement 401k also and that's another question I wanted to ask you about. How much do you have in that? About 200. About 200, okay, and you guys you will be full retirement age but he will not, so he'll take social security prior to full retirement age?
Yes. Okay, so you know if you had $260,000 in that account, let's say it grows a little bit because you've still got a few years. Let's say it's $275,000 between your 401k and his at 60 after you pay off the car.
That would throw off at 4% withdrawal rate which is what I would suggest to ensure that you don't deplete the balance and it continues to maintain at least a consistent principal balance. That would throw off $11,000 a year or about $900 a month. So the question would be, can you all without the car payment, because it would be paid off, can you all get by on social security, his reduced social security, your full benefit plus $900 a month, would that be enough to cover your bills? And if so, well then at least you've got a plan. If not, then you need to think about, okay, does one or both of us need to continue to work?
Do we need to try to build up more of our savings? I would probably leave it there and try to pay it off out of current cash flow just so you can preserve as much of that retirement asset as possible so that you have it available down the road because money is going to be tight. But if he just absolutely wants to do it, one option is you pay it off half this year and half next year. That would spread it out over two tax years. That would be the other option. You could pay down half of it this year, half next. I'd probably not do it, but if you did I could understand, but I would really do some retirement planning just to get a good feel for what is your budget going to look like in retirement, what income sources are you going to have based on your actual social security benefit and an estimated balance of these 401ks, and then make your decision from there. I know you had a second question.
What was that? Yes, so I'm 64 years old and I have my 401ks in two different places. Is it best for me to combine them together since I'm not working at one of the companies anymore? Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I would either combine the old one with your existing one with your current employer just so it's all in one place or roll it out to an IRA.
If your employer will allow you to just roll it in where you are now, I would do that just for simplicity. Okay. All right. Thank you for your call, Vez. God bless you. We appreciate it.
Quickly to Illinois. Hi, Carla. Go ahead.
Hi, I have a question. I'm 68. I retired six years ago six years ago, and I had a rollover IRA and a fixed annuity.
I bought a house two years ago, and because of some work that needed doing, some required to get their house up to speed and everything, I've pretty much taken my savings, my IRA down to $6,000 and the other one down to $20,000, and of course I got hit with taxes each year for that. And I'm just wondering if there's any suggestions as far as building. I have good credit. I paid my car off when I retired, but I just kind of need to build things back up again.
Okay. Yeah, I mean, you know, unfortunately I understand, you know, how you can get into the situation and you didn't expect to have these other costs for the home. The challenge is, yeah, I mean, you could invest that $26,000 and, you know, try to grow that a little bit, but at the end of the day, you know, you're only going to want to pull $1,000 a year or so out of that, and if that's not enough, plus, you know, with social security to cover your bills, I think going back to work so that you can continue to save for the future is probably your best option at this point, even part-time, so you could cover your bills and maybe continue to put some savings away, build that back up so you have enough. But ultimately this comes down to what is your lifestyle expenses and how much do you need to cover your budget? And I think that's really the key.
So I'd start with your budget, figure out how much gap you have from social security, and then decide whether you need to go back to work or whether you can get by with what you've got. I hope that helps you. We appreciate your call today. Thanks for being on the program.
God bless you, Karla. Hey, we're almost out of time, but I wanted to let you know that you don't ever have to miss a program. Just download our Faithfi app for your mobile device and take us with you anywhere. Thanks for joining us today. I look forward to talking with you again next time on Faith and Finance. Faith and Finance is provided by Faithfi and listeners like you.
