Many people are using the FaithFi app to help provide the wisdom, community, and money management to stay on track, financially speaking. To date, over 37,000 members are using its digital envelope system, participating in our community forums, and engaging in virtual workshops. And one of the most convenient features is the ability to keep all your accounts in one place for an easy-at-a-glance view.
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. This is how dependence on God helps us stand firm through any financial storms. 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. Well, in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus tells the parable of two builders, a foolish one and a wise one.
You probably remember this. The wise builder builds his house on a rock, and the storm can't destroy it. But the foolish builder builds his house on the sand, and when a storm comes, it all gets blown away. Jesus tells his disciples that everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like the wise builder.
As with all of Jesus' parables, there's an underlying message for us here about God's kingdom and how we should live. This parable about the wise and foolish builders can also apply to our financial choices. Here are three things we can learn.
The first lesson is pretty obvious. It's better to be wise than foolish. Depending on God is the wise thing to do. If we follow God's principles and our finances, listening to the words of our Savior and doing what He says, we will be like that wise builder, and our efforts will have eternal value. The foolish man who ignores and disobeys God's word will end up with nothing to show for all his hard work. The second lesson we learn from the parable of the wise and foolish builders is that a firm foundation can protect you from the storms of life. The key is to choose a firm foundation instead of a weak one. Worldly promises and desires are made from human weakness and have no power to protect or save us. Jesus, the Son of God himself, is a solid rock. Place your trust and obedience in Him, and the storms of life won't destroy you.
The third lesson might also seem pretty obvious, but it's worth repeating. Storms happen. To everyone. Both the wise and the foolish builder had to live through the bad weather, but in the end, the wise man was the only one left standing. So let's inspect your financial foundation for a moment. Are you really depending on God for everything? It's tempting to think you can go it alone financially, but the do-it-yourself philosophy of life is a blueprint for financial and spiritual disaster. Only the Lord is strong enough to provide, protect, and rescue you. In Christ, He provides salvation and the forgiveness of our sins.
We desperately need Jesus, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, according to Romans 3.23. Ephesians 5.15 admonishes us, as believers, to be very careful then how you live, not as unwise, but wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Wisdom like this isn't something we can muster by ourselves, because it comes from God. No matter how smart or successful or hardworking you are, you still need God. Depending on God for everything takes practice.
It's also a matter of daily discipline. So here are a few actions you can take to stand firm in Christ in your finances. First, study God's Word and follow Biblical principles.
God cares about the details of your life because He loves you. That's why there's so much in the Bible about how to be wise with money and possessions. Next, stick to your faith when temptation and opposition come.
And they will come. Satan does not want you to depend on God. That's why Paul warns his readers in 1 Corinthians 16-13 to be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong, do everything in love. Another action you can take to stand firm is to practice discernment. I love the truth in Romans 12 too. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
The wise person chooses the foundation of truth instead of the shifting sands of worldliness. Finally, keep praying. Test every financial opportunity with prayer. Seek Godly advice and ask the Lord for the wisdom you need. If we can help you address some of your financial concerns, visit us at faithfi.com and click on the community tab. You're not alone and we have many wise financial contributors available to answer your questions. I hope you'll build your spiritual house on the rock of Christ today. Continue to depend on the Lord for everything you need and make your financial choices with the wisdom found in God's Word. Alright, it's time to take your calls and questions today at 800-525-7000.
That's 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West and we'll be right there. We are grateful for support from Lightpoint Portfolios, which seeks out family and faith-friendly investments for 401K and 403B plans, integrating faith values and fiduciary duty. Lightpoint Portfolios offers retirement plans for a variety of organizations such as businesses, nonprofits, and churches, and we're grateful for their sponsorship of the Faith and Finance Program.
More information is available at lightpointportfolios.com. Welcome back to Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We'd love to take your calls and questions now on anything financial. We've got some lines open, perhaps one for the question you've been wrestling with financially speaking. The number to call is 800-525-7000.
Again, that's 800-525-7000. Gabby T, answering your calls today and we'll get you on the air quickly and look forward to hearing from you, whether you're thinking about your spending plan, your debt repayment. Maybe it's your giving strategy. You want to give more wisely, more intentionally. I'd love to talk about that. Or maybe it's your long-term savings or investments. Whatever it is, give us a call.
800-525-7000. You know, often we can allow idols to creep into our lives. 17th century mathematician and theologian Blaise Pascal said, There's a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing, but only by the Creator made known through Jesus Christ. God made people for relationship with himself, which is why we have that God-shaped hole in our hearts. Unfortunately, we've been choosing other things besides God since the beginning of time. You know, often the things we try to cram into that God-shaped vacuum are related to money.
Everything would be great, we might say, if we only had a bit more money or a bigger investment portfolio or a better house or a better job or financial security. You see, the minute you put yourself and your own financial desires in the center of your life, well, you and I have created an idol at that point. An idol replaces the Lord in our minds and in our hearts and ultimately has no power to satisfy us. Take work as an example.
Here are a few clues that your work might be an idol. Your self-worth rises or falls based on job success or failure. You give up rest, family time at church in order to put in extra hours. You can't take your mind off of work tasks, emails, calls, and issues. You're stressed out, discouraged, and exhausted by work. Maybe you believe that only financial security will keep you safe. You're obsessed with productivity, success, income, and promotion. You believe your paycheck is your provider.
You make money, but you don't like to give money. If work is becoming an idol for you, here's what I would encourage you to do. Rest and turn to Jesus instead. Author Jim Neuheiser says it takes faith to enjoy God's gift of rest.
In your financial distress, you are probably tempted to work seven days a week in order to improve your situation. Your flesh thinks that everything is up to you, but faith looks to God to meet your needs and trusts that he will provide enough. Perhaps that's a message that you need to hear today. I know at various points in my own work life, it's a message that I needed to hear as well, because any time we allow something to replace the Lord in our minds and in our hearts, well, it's ultimately going to leave us empty. And so, may that be an encouragement to you today to look at putting God right in that God-sized vacuum, making sure he is our pursuit, because he's enough. Ultimately, he does satisfy, and he allows our work to be an expression of his handiwork, something that we do as unto the Lord as an act of worship. Well, when you and I approach our work that way, it puts everything in its proper context. We're living into our created order, why God designed and created us to be productive, to take his creation and improve it and order it, but it keeps God at the center where we're playing to an audience of one.
And hopefully that will be an encouragement, as you think, and pray today about any potential idols that you've allowed to creep into your life. What's going on financially? We'd love to hear from you today. The number to call is 800-525-7000. Again, with whatever financial question you have today, we'd love to tackle that call right now. Phone lines are open.
800-525-7000 will be going to your phone calls here in just a moment. Speaking of work, if we look in the news, the latest data is showing the job market remains really strong. Layoffs declined slightly, and employers hired more workers, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as the JOLTS report issued monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Americans also quit their jobs in larger numbers. Since most workers quit for new employment, the uptick suggests a rebound in workers' confidence that they can find a new job, economists are saying.
It wasn't all lollipops and rainbows, though. Job openings, a barometer of business demand for workers, fell by about half a million. They're still well above, though, their pre-pandemic level. This strong jobs report is actually weighing on the market.
You might say, why is that? I thought a hot jobs data report would actually boost the market. Doesn't that signal a strong economy? Well, it does, but what it also says is that the Fed may not be done with rate hikes, because if this economy is not slowing in their view, as we've learned from Jerry Boyer week after week, well, they think they need to do more to slow the economy so that we can temper inflation. That means more rate hikes and, well, the market doesn't like that.
So we're going to have to watch this seesaw, if you will, between an economy that's proving to be fairly resilient in the midst of these massive rate hikes and still a looming recession in light of this hot jobs report. All right, it's time to take your phone calls today. 800-525-7000 is the number to call. Again, 800-525-7000. We've got some lines open. Let's begin in Ohio today. Laurel, you'll be our first caller.
Go ahead. Hello. I'm just calling to find out if you can recommend some kind of app or program for tracking, budgeting, reconciling your checking account. I'm having a hard time finding something that I feel like is user-friendly and not over cumbersome that, yeah, is straightforward, doesn't cost a lot of money every month. Well, Laurel, I've got an app for that.
So the Faithfi app, we spent several years with a team of developers and they're improving it every day. But we built for this purpose because we wanted a simple spending plan app that was built on the tried and true envelope system with a modern, beautiful expression that you could connect to your bank accounts and credit card accounts and even your investment accounts, download all of your transactions and then quickly have a place to see how much is left in each of my digital envelopes at any point during the month. What do we have left in eating out? What do we have left in clothing?
What about recreation? So you and if you're married, you and your spouse can open it up and have an instant look into where you stand in each of your envelopes. And the great thing is when it's gone, well, you can stop your spending in that particular category for the month. It's really easy to set up and I'd love to help you with a six month subscription to that.
It would be our gift to you and we can even have one of our certified Christian financial counselors help you set it up and make sure it's going to work for you. So Laurel, if you stay on the line, we'll get your information and we'll tell you how you can take advantage of that. How does that sound? It's really great. Thank you. Awesome. Stay right there. Tahiro, pick up the line and get you all your information and we will make sure we get that right out to you. We're going to take a quick break.
Can we come back? More of your phone calls and questions today on anything financial. So call right now. Get in the queue. We've got some lines open and we'll tackle your financial questions just on the other side of this break. The number 800-525-7000.
That's 800-525-7000. Give us a call. We'll be right back on faith and finance.
Stay with us. For more information, visit KingdomAdvisors.com. That's KingdomAdvisors.com. 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 taking your calls and questions here in our final segment, 800-525-7000.
You can give us a call to Indianapolis we go. Jeanette, thanks for your patience. Go right ahead. Hi, Rob. How are you? I'm doing great. How are you today? Oh, I'm doing good.
I just have a basic question. How do you get out of credit card debt when you're on a fixed income? Yeah, you know, it's really challenging, Jeanette. You know, the starting point is to, and I realize this is easier said than done, but you've got to break the cycle of the spending on the credit card beyond what you have the ability to pay off every month. So let me ask you this. Are you able to make the minimum payment on the credit cards and cover all of your bills without adding more debt to that credit card on a monthly basis? No. You're not. Okay.
Well, I have a better option for you. It is going to mean that you need to be able to, you know, keep those minimum payments current, but we're going to be able to get the interest rates down. So my first call for you in this situation, Jeanette, would be to our friends at Christiancreditcounselors.org and set up a phone call.
There's no cost for this. And what they're going to do is a couple of things. Number one is they're going to look at what credit cards you're working with, who are your creditors, and they're going to tell you how low they can get those interest rates. So right now you might be paying 18, 20, 22% interest. They're going to get those down to probably between, you know, 8 and 12%, which is going to really help because now as you send a monthly payment, more of that is going to principle to reduce the balance instead of just paying the interest. And then they're going to work with you on a budget to understand exactly what you have coming in on your fixed income, what your expenses are, and then they're going to tell you what that monthly payment would be that you'd need to send to them for them to then pass on to all of your creditors. But the difference is, as you send that level monthly payment to them every month and they pass it on, now you're going to get those balances coming down much quicker because you're at a lower interest rate and you're going to be an on-time payer every month. So that will help to rebuild your credit over time. And if you can stick with that every month, sending that budgeted amount that you'll come up with, and they'll tell you what it is, then you'll be able to pay these debts off 80% faster than if you try to do it on your own. The other options are you snowball it yourself, which is probably what you're doing. You pay all the minimums and then you take whatever extra you have every month, which I realize money's tight, and you send it to the card with the lowest balance. And then when that one's gone, you move to the next one, and when that one's gone, you move down the line.
That works. The problem is if you have more than $4,000 in debt, the interest rates are just eating you alive. And so that's where Christian credit counselors will help you get the interest rates down.
The other two options are just not even options in my mind. Debt settlement is where you stop paying them, let them go into collections, and then try to negotiate with the creditors. I would never do that. And then the other one is debt consolidation, where you take out a new loan, pay them off, and then you pay the new loan company. The problem is oftentimes you have a longer payback period and you don't solve the real problem, which is overspending, so then six months or a year later, now the credit card debt's back on top of the new consolidation loan. So I wouldn't do either of those.
I like debt management and Christian credit counselors are the folks to work with. Okay? Okay, thank you. You are welcome. God bless you, Jeanette. Thanks for calling.
To Tennessee. Hi, Gail. Go right ahead.
Hi. I was wondering about buying some iBonds or investing part of my savings. My husband passed away a little over a year ago, and he had a retirement account that's between, it's not quite $30,000, but $600 a month of it goes into our savings account. And it's just been sitting there, so I would like to put that somewhere where it'll get a little more interest than it's getting now.
Yeah, very good. How much do you have, how much have you built up in that account, Gail? There's probably about $50,000, maybe $50,000.
Okay. And what are your expenses on a monthly basis? Well, I don't have the exact number, but our house is paid for. So really all I have is utilities, you know, our insurance, house and car insurance.
So maybe a couple of thousand a month, would you say? Yes. Okay. Yes.
Yeah. So I wouldn't use iBonds. I mean, iBonds were attractive about a year ago, but they're not any longer because they're only paying 4.3%. That would last for six months, and the next time the rate is published in first of November, it's going to go down below 4.3. And you can only put in $10,000 and you can't touch it for a year.
And if you take it out in less than five years, you're going to have a small penalty. So I would just go to a high yield savings account, which is right now paying over 4%. So I'd open an online high yield savings account at one of the online banks. You can find the best one paying the best rates at bankrate.com. They'll rank them for you and show you who has the best rates right now.
It might be Marcus, it might be American Express. I mean, you could look around and find the one that's the best fit for you. The thing is, though, you know, typically, I would say in this season of life, six months worth of expenses at the most a year. But for you, that's only somewhere between $10,000 and $25,000.
You've got twice that. So if you're going to continue to add $600 a month, $7,200 a year to this, might you want to think about either taking a portion of it and buying a CD to get a little bit better yield? Or would you want to start investing some of it, you know, systematically and trying to grow it? Tell me what your thoughts are and kind of how secure you want this money to be beyond what I would call your emergency fund, which in your case is probably, you know, somewhere between, you know, $12,000 and $24,000. At this point in my life, I'm not willing to take any risk.
Okay, yeah. So then what I would do is I wouldn't do the I bonds, I'd put it into a high yield savings, that's going to give you 4% plus with FDIC insurance. So backed by the US government, and you know, that'll throw off a good amount and 50,000, you know, that'll give you an extra couple of thousand a year in interest. And then if you want to get a little bit more, maybe you take half of it 25,000 and put it into a CD, and you could maybe get five and a half percent if you'd be willing to lock it up for a year and that would be FDIC insured, so guaranteed by the US government. How does that sound?
That sounds good. Now the five and a half percent on the CD is that that's no risk, that's just a CD. That's correct. And it'd be FDIC insured, which means it's backed by the US government. Okay. And I wouldn't have any penalties unless I took it out early, correct? That's correct.
Yes, ma'am. And so the place to go to find the best, you know, online bank, which is typically what you're going to need to get these higher rates, not a brick and mortar bank, but an online bank is bankrate.com and they can tell you which of the, you know, online banks is paying the best rate right now. If you wanted someone who shares your values, you could look at Christian Community Credit Union. They've got a CD in the fours and you could go to joinchristiancommunity.com.
But apart from that, I think bankrate.com will give you what you're looking for. Gail, I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's passing, but I'm delighted to talk to you today. If we can help you further along the way, let us know. God bless you. I hope you'll make plans to join us again next time for another edition of Faith and Finders. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.
