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. Without counsel, plans fail, but with many advisors, they succeed.
Proverbs 15, 22. Hi, I'm Rob West. You should always interview two or three prospective financial advisors before deciding on one.
But do you always know what questions to ask? I'll talk about that first today, 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 as you know, we always recommend you look for a financial advisor with the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation.
And you can do that by going to faithfi.com and clicking on Find a CKA. Now when you do, you'll also find a long list of questions you can ask potential advisors. We're going to give you some of them today though, because folks have been asking. Okay, the first thing you should understand is the type of advisor you're interviewing will determine what you ask. And that only makes sense because you'll need different information from a financial planner than from an investment professional or tax attorney.
So let's go over some of these questions by category. First, a Christian financial planner. They equip people to use God-given resources to accomplish their God-given goals. The Christian financial planner can help clients identify their God-given goals and quantify how much is necessary to accomplish them. So some of the questions you'll want to ask include, how do you integrate Christian values into your advice? How long have you been a financial planner and what licenses do you hold? And describe the financial planning process. Okay, next we have investment professionals and this could be a fee-only investment advisor or investment consultant. This person provides professional expertise to managing investment assets held in retirement accounts, trusts, individual and joint accounts. A fee-only investment advisor is compensated by fees directly from the client. An investment consultant is compensated from commissions derived from the purchase or sale of a stock or mutual fund.
Now, here are a few questions to ask. Again, how do you integrate Christian values into your advice? How do you determine whether or not a client should be investing? What is your investing experience and philosophy?
And how do you select the most appropriate investment options? Where are your clients' investments held? A brokerage firm? A mutual fund?
Which one? If a brokerage firm or mutual fund holds your client's investments, does the brokerage firm or fund charge separate fees for this? What type of investments do you use?
Load or no load? Stocks, bonds, annuities? How do you monitor and how often do you report investment performance?
And how do you consider the impact of income taxes? What about other financial services beyond investments? And do you offer faith-aligned investing?
That's a lot of questions for an investing professional, but asking them should give you the information you need to make a wise decision. Now, what if you need a tax or estate planning attorney? What should you ask those candidates? Well, you can start with these questions. First, can you tell me about your practice and ways you integrate a biblical worldview into your advice? What are your areas of specialty? What about some examples of complex cases you've handled? Have you handled many cases in my area of need, whether that's estate planning, business succession, tax planning, or something else? Now, if you need someone to help with tax preparation, you would typically look for a certified public accountant, and these questions could be used for this candidate.
Can you tell me about your practice and ways you integrate a biblical worldview? How long have you been a CPA? What other licenses do you hold? Have you helped clients in a similar situation, and what is your approach or perspective in interpreting tax laws and regulations and accounting and audit standards? Now, what about an insurance professional? Well, you may ask them about their biblical worldview, whether they're required to recommend specific insurance products, how many companies they recommend, and the ratings of those companies, whether they receive higher compensation for recommending proprietary products, and what percentage of their business comes from insurance commissions. And finally, a few additional questions you should ask all CPA professionals you interview. How long have you been in practice? How long will it take for you to do my work? Do you have clients with situations similar to mine who might be willing to speak with me about your services?
And have you ever had any complaints filed against you with any organizations that regulate you? Well, we recommend you find a certified kingdom advisor, and you can do that on our website at faithfi.com. By the way, the complete list of questions is there.
When you click Find a CKA, you can download it at the top of the page. We hope that'll be helpful as you interview to find your next certified kingdom advisor. All right, your calls are next. The number 800-525-7000.
That's 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. 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. Throw 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 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 faithfi.com and clicking Find a CKA. Welcome back to Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions today on anything financial with a few lines open. The number to call is 800-525-7000. Again, 800-525-7000. Let's head to Florida. Donna, you'll be our next on the program. Go right ahead.
Hi. So, I want to find out if I should refinance my mortgage at this time. I know I have quite a bit of equity, and the reason why I want to do it is because the payment is now a lot higher than it was. It jumped up a whole $600, and it's kind of difficult to make the payment in one full swoop.
I'm ahead by two months, though. Okay. So, do you have a variable rate mortgage, Donna?
No. Right now, it's fixed, and I do believe it said 375, if I'm not mistaken. Why did it jump up? Was it related to your escrow on taxes or insurance? I believe a combination of both.
Yeah. Well, you need to get to the bottom of that and figure out what's going on. So, I would call your mortgage servicer and just ask them to give you a heads up on why it increased by $600 a month. I suspect your property taxes went up or perhaps property taxes and homeowners insurance, especially with you being in Florida. It's probably all related to homeowners insurance, just given what's going on there in the state of Florida. If that's the case, your mortgage is not the culprit. You would have to pay that homeowner's insurance regardless, if that's what it is. There would be no other reason with an amortized mortgage that has a fixed rate while your payment would increase apart from the escrows on taxes and insurance.
So, I would get to the bottom of that, though. But if that's the case, that's not a mortgage problem. That means you need to perhaps go shop your homeowners, and I realize that's going to be challenging, just given the environment we're in right now, especially there in the state of Florida. So, I would hang tight on that mortgage, just try to make your budget lean and mean.
Once the big three are in check, housing, which I realize is the problem right now, food and transportation, then we really need to just go to work and try to dial back any unnecessary spending to free up extra margin so you can keep that mortgage current until either things stabilize there in Florida, if it's in fact homeowners insurance, or until you can find another carrier that's a little less expensive. Does that make sense? Sure. That makes sense.
Okay. So, you're saying it doesn't make sense to refi just because the rate is a lot more higher than what I'm already at? Well, again, I want you to get to the bottom of that because if you're right and you have a fixed rate mortgage, the only reason that payment is going up is related to escrows, which would be taxes and insurance. An amortized mortgage has a consistent monthly payment every month if there's a fixed interest rate. Now, if it's a variable rate and you're wrong and it was 375 and now it's up to five or six, well, that would be the reason and maybe it's a combination of the two. But if it's in fact a fixed rate mortgage at three and three quarters, I wouldn't touch that mortgage. And in fact, there's really no reason, even if it's not, to refinance right now. You'd probably want to wait a couple of years until rates come back down to lock in a fixed rate mortgage if you don't have one now. But if you do, then you need to look at the escrows.
That would be the culprit. Okay. All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. You're very welcome. Thanks for your call, Donna.
We appreciate it. 800-525-7000. We've got some lines open today. We'd love to hear from you.
You can call right now. Let's head to Lake Worth, Florida. Hi, Orlando.
Go ahead, sir. Hey, Bob. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Thanks for calling.
Yeah. I have a house that I've been putting in the market for almost a year, no good results. I guess we burn it, put in the price high and then down and no results. Maybe it's good advice to keep going on the sale or renting it out or the problem I have is that because I was going to sell it, I didn't consider refinancing and I have an adjustable mortgage.
Within six months, my mortgage went like $500 up. Are you moving either way? Are you moving out of the area? Why are you selling it? Down sizing. You're downsizing. Okay.
You're staying there in Lake Worth. You're just trying to buy something smaller. Yeah. Another thing is that all our savings is in the profit of the sale. Sure.
Yeah. You don't want to rent it out because you're going to need this money to buy the next home. If in fact you've counted the cost and you understand what it's going to take to get into that quote-unquote downsized property and it is in fact going to help you accomplish your goals whether that's lowering that monthly payment which right now is going to be a difficult time to get a mortgage because that mortgage is going to be up at 6.5% plus and you're just going to have to factor that in because that's making home affordability more challenging. Even though you're buying something smaller there in Florida, especially in Lake Worth, that's a red hot housing market that on top of the fact that rates are now much higher and I realize with that variable rate mortgage, you've got the same thing with your current home but you're just going to need to do the homework before you sell it because there's a lot of costs associated with selling and do your homework to make sure there is something that's smaller that you can buy that ultimately accomplishes the goals because usually when we're downsizing, we're doing it to save money, less upkeep, less utilities, less mortgage payment, that kind of thing. Now with regard to the current home, there's no reason this home shouldn't be selling.
If it's been sitting on the market for a year, it means you didn't price it right. Did you try to do this yourself or did you have a realtor? No, I have a realtor that we're not happy with. So I'd find another realtor maybe through your church, maybe drive around, see who has the most signs in your neighborhood or in the surrounding neighborhoods who really specializes in your area.
If you price this house right, you should get a bunch of offers in a very short period of time but I want you to do the homework first to make sure that what you're going to buy would ultimately accomplish your goals so you don't end up selling this and then you're surprised you can't get what you need and you're in a really tough spot. To West Chicago, Anthony, you'll be our final caller. Go ahead. Yes, I so enjoy your program. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. The question is that I have some money in savings, about $450,000, but everything that I have been reading lately is pointing to the possibility of a severe meltdown here financially in this country, and then we're looking at the situation with our national debt being so high and possibly very difficult to handle the interest. What's your feelings about possibly buying some stronger currency, possibly like a Swiss Franc or so on?
Yeah, the challenge is there really is no stronger currency, Anthony. I hear you on the challenges we have in this country, but I would disagree with that hypothesis that we're headed for a meltdown of some kind, either a collapse of the U.S. dollar or the U.S. economy. Yes, our debt levels are way up and we need to rein in our spending and reverse course there. We absolutely can handle the current debt levels we're at. Economically speaking, there is no other rival that's been stronger than the U.S. economy. We do have longer term trend issues with demographics and debt and overspending, and we do have some challenges, but there's not another contender for a world reserve currency anywhere close to the U.S. dollar. I think your best option is still a properly diversified stock and bond portfolio, investing in companies with real sales and earnings, and for bank products banking in the United States backed by the U.S. government. I think that's your best option.
If we had a severe issue down the road, it's going to be much further down the road in my opinion. Anthony, thanks for your call today. I'm Rob West. You're listening to Faith in Finance, and we'll have more of your calls and questions on the other side of this break. The number to call is 800-525-7000.
We'll be right back. We are grateful for support from Praxis Mutual Funds. Praxis Mutual Funds has seven impact strategies that are designed to create positive real-world change. More information is available at praxismutualfunds.com. The fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses are contained in the prospectus and summary prospectus. This and other information is available at praxismutualfunds.com. Investments involve risk.
Principal loss is possible. Foresight Fund Services, LLC. Are you struggling to fit your faith into your practice as a Christian financial advisor? The Certified Kingdom Advisor designation teaches you a step-by-step process to confidently deliver advice that aligns with Christian values. Discover the skills you need to help your clients make a kingdom impact. Get started today by enrolling in the CKA educational program at kingdomadvisors.com slash get certified. That's kingdomadvisors.com slash get certified. Welcome back to Faith in Finance.
I'm Rob West. God's word is clear. The two become one flesh in marriage. We see this in Matthew 19, again in Genesis 2, yet again in Ephesians 5. Does that include our finances?
Absolutely. Valerie in Ohio, you have a question about recently married for the second time. Her husband is refusing to be transparent about the finances that he had prior to the marriage. Now, with a second marriage, we may decide to treat assets that were acquired prior to marriage. That belongs to the Lord, but we're the managers of it, but those assets that the Lord entrusted to us prior to the marriage, especially with their children prior to the marriage, those may be handled separately, but it's still done with complete transparency and openness driving toward oneness.
From that point forward, absolutely, there needs to be everything done with shared goals and planning. Valerie, give me your thoughts on approaching him and then if he wasn't responding, perhaps asking if a third party could be brought in. We actually went to a counselor in church and the counselor was saying the same thing. My husband agreed to sit down with me and he created a spreadsheet and we sat down at home and he presented this spreadsheet, but it just was not true. And he presents this like, oh, I only have $9,000 saved and I just don't believe that. And asking him, because right before COVID, he lost his job and I told him, I said, so am I to believe that you would be out on the street?
Because until 9,000 carried you, that you would be out on the street? And he knows he wouldn't and he would just get quiet, like he wouldn't say anything. It just makes me not trust him, it makes me wonder about who I married and if I did the right thing and I just feel helpless.
Yeah, yeah. Well, I certainly understand that and I think this will reveal itself, patience is a weapon that allows deception to reveal itself is what Ruth Graham, Billy Graham's wife would often say and, you know, I think this will reveal itself as you lean into it more fully and either he's going to say, I'm not willing to share this with you and become transparent about that. And then there's obviously other issues that need to be explored, or you'll find out exactly what's going on. And what would typically happen is, and I'd be happy to cover the cost here at Faithfy just as our gift to you, the cost of a Christian financial counselor who would come in as a third party, completely anonymous, isn't a part of your church, doesn't have any kind of loyalty to one or the other of you in marriage and just say, hey, let's get everything on the table and he or she will pull a copy of both of your credit reports so that you can both see exactly what's owed.
It will require that you build a balance sheet, which is assets and liabilities, and you need to have, you know, access to all of the accounts, login information for, you know, bank accounts, checking accounts, investment accounts, all of it. And not only so you all can make shared goals together about where you're headed, both with your monthly spending as well as your long term accumulation and savings and debt repayment and giving, but also so that if something happened to him, you wouldn't be completely in the dark. I mean, how are you supposed to steward what God has entrusted to you both as a married couple if you have no idea what's there? And that's just not wise stewardship and there's no justification, there's no basis that's logical for that, especially in light of God's design for a Christian marriage.
So I think the next step again is for you to be prayerful about it, you know, ask the Lord what he would have you to do, but to the extent you think it would be helpful, I'd be willing to provide that certified Christian financial counselor that could step in as a third party and help the two of you come together first to say what do we have so there is perhaps for the first time transparency and then second, help you all work on a plan moving forward. Does that sound like it would be helpful? I'm almost speechless.
I'm like five bacteria, absolutely. Thank you so much. Well I'm happy to do it. And here's the thing, I mean, to the extent, money issues are hard issues, Valerie. And so what we're talking about here is not about the money, it's about what's going on beneath the surface, you know, it's that iceberg and only 10% is above the waterline and that's what we're talking about here today, but it's really the 90% that's below the waterline which is really what's going on spiritually and you know, why hasn't he been transparent with all this?
That's going to be uncovered so this may get harder before it gets better. Now let's pray that this is the thing that causes him to say, you know what, I haven't been transparent and here it is and this is what it is and let's deal with it and move forward. But to the extent he's unwilling to do that, then you know, you're going to have to peel the layers of the onion back some more and perhaps this is spiritual and not financial and the two of you really do need some marriage counseling. But let's start with the financial side and just see if we can get you guys on the same page, get you access to the accounts and in full knowledge of what's going on so that together you all can make a plan and drive toward even greater oneness and unity as a married couple which is obviously what God's heart is. You know, it's not about the money, it's about your heart and your relationship and devotion to the Lord. So let's do this. You stay on the line, we'll get your information, we'll have our certified Christian financial counselor reach out to you and then to the extent it makes sense, keep us posted on how it goes.
Okay? Thank you so, so much. I'm delighted you called today Valerie, may the Lord bless you. 800-525-7000, you know these are hard conversations and this is really where the rubber meets the road and yet what we know from scripture is money is not the root of all evil but the love of money is and we see that there are clear warnings in scripture about what money can do to derail us and there is something called financial infidelity and we need to be transparent, we need to be open and honest with our spouse about exactly what's going on financially to the extent mistakes have been made. We have to own those just like any other area of our lives as sinners. We need to confess and we need to move toward reconciliation and forgiveness and a plan that allows us to move forward together and that starts with each of our own walk with Jesus and our commitment to him and then bringing that into the marriage relationship with the Lord at the center, you know making sure we deal with all of these issues that can really cause us to trip up and finance is one of the biggest as Shanti said you know 70% of married couples will have conflict over money in marriage.
How do we deal with that? Well it starts with first of all our trust and commitment to the Lord as our Savior allowing him to forgive us and redeem us and bring us into a right relationship with the Lord and then our willingness to pursue the scriptures and get to know the Lord including these financial principles that we talk about here and then bringing that with a heart of communication and a spirit of oneness and togetherness into the financial area of our lives and when we do that and live with a plan and hold what God has entrusted to us loosely and allow the power of money to be broken through generosity, well it's a game changer. 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.
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