Helping Parents and Grandparents with Harlan Accola

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Learn more at movement.com slash faith. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. That's Proverbs 1322. Hi, I'm Rob West. We're all familiar with that verse, but do we fully understand its meaning?

Is it only about money? I'll talk about that with Harlan Akkala today, and then it's on to your calls at 800. Find 825-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is faith and finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well, it's always educational to have Harlan Akkala on the program. Harlan's with Movement Mortgage, an underwriter of this program. He's also an expert on the use of reverse mortgages, a topic we'll get into in just a moment. But first Harlan, great to have you back. Thanks.

Glad to be here, Rob. Harlan, I want to ask first about that passage I opened with today, Proverbs 1322. Your thoughts on whether that applies to just money, or perhaps it's bigger than that?

Well, I think it's definitely bigger than that. When it comes to an inheritance, we sometimes just equate that with money, but a majority of the average person's wealth at the end of their life often is held in their home. And it's one of their most prized possessions in addition to that, that goes beyond Roth IRAs and even life insurance and their brokerage accounts. And that is one of the things that are confusing, but probably the biggest single issue that I run into with all the clients I've worked with over the years is they don't understand that the biggest possible inheritance they can leave is their faith and their wisdom. And way too much emphasis is sometimes placed on the material things. And of course, we can't take it with us and we have to make plans for that. But money and how we manage it is a very valuable financial wisdom that we can pass on.

And yet, so often it's not talked about, it's almost kind of a taboo subject in a lot of families. And when we can talk about not only what are we going to do with our earthly belongings, but also what we're going to do as well with passing on our wisdom. And of course, helping our children to understand the mistakes so they don't make the same ones is such a big issue and such a bigger part of the inheritance. I know that my own father, the inheritance that he left me was valuable, but far more valuable were the things I've learned. And even though he's been gone for 10 years, I still talk a lot more about the things that he taught me and sometimes quoting him directly than the money which has long since been invested and put into a different place.

Yeah, no question about that. I think going back to that verse for a moment, a proper understanding of this verse says that a good and righteous person ought to instill character and righteousness in their children, which will then be passed on for generations and will be an inheritance that they'll draw from and draw them towards God. Now, clearly, in addition to spiritual capital, we can pass financial capital, and that includes, as you said, not only cash, but other assets. Now, many folks think it's wrong not to leave a financial inheritance to their kids, and that sometimes leads them to sacrifice more than they should. Would you agree with that? Well, there's no question about that, and even many children will often say, Mom, Dad, we just want you to enjoy life.

Don't worry about us. The vast majority of heirs, adult children that I've talked to have that feeling, yet the vast majority of seniors and the parents are often being concerned about that, and there's an overwhelming belief that I must leave my house behind. And it's kind of sad because there's a certain amount of fear also that they might upset their children, and sometimes some people almost use that as a control mechanism or something to try to get their love, that someday all this will be yours if you just have a good relationship with me.

And that's really something that is wrong and doesn't fit in with the right things in the way that we should look at being a Christian parent. I know that even though I'm concerned that my children will be okay with the money they have, I'm far more concerned about their character, about what they are doing in raising their own children, what they are doing with their marriage. And if only we could focus a little bit more on that rather than what are we going to do with all these earthly treasures? Yeah, as Ron Blue, the author, reminds us, it's about answering the question, is the next steward chosen and prepared?

And it's often that and prepared part of that question that we haven't thought about fully. Well, we're talking today with Harlan Akil of Movement Mortgage. When we come back, how could a reverse mortgage be a retirement planning tool you haven't considered? More on that just around the corner.

Stick around. to offer biblical financial advice. To find a Certified Kingdom advisor in your area, visit faithfi.com and click Find a CKA. We are grateful for support from Soundmind Investing in the faith and finance program. For more than 30 years, they've been helping Christians reach their financial goals with step by step guidance for investors at every stage, from those just getting started to those getting ready for retirement. Through scriptural principles and practical suggestions, SMI offers financial wisdom for living well. More information, including the short video webinar on profit and peace of mind, no matter what's happening in the market, is available at soundmindinvesting.org. So glad to have you with us today on faith and finance.

Joining me today, my friend Harlan Akil. He's with Movement Mortgage, an underwriter of this program. He's an expert in reverse mortgages in particular. And before the break, we were talking about an inheritance that we can leave to our children and our children's children. And that certainly can be financial, but perhaps even before that, we ought to consider the spiritual inheritance and the character capital that we're leaving to our kids. Now, as we think about the financial piece of that, we need to make sure not only that steward is chosen, but also prepared, because what we know is that a financial inheritance will in many ways accelerate their life trajectory, which ideally is toward the Lord. But it could also be away from the Lord if they're not ready to handle that financially, but even more so spiritually. Now, Harlan, let's talk about managing our assets in this season of life and even thinking about leaving an inheritance. And although we talk a lot on this program about getting out of debt once and for all and being out of debt for the rest of our lives as we're entering retirement, and that's certainly what a lot of people choose, and I love that. For others, leveraging assets is often a way that they can maintain their lifestyle, even accelerate their giving. And one of those biggest assets is their home equity.

So how should they think about a reverse mortgage in light of today's conversation? Well, I think that when people realize that you can give with a warm hand instead of with a cold hand, which an adviser told me years ago, are you going to give your wealth away with a warm hand or a cold hand? And it just stopped me cold when he said that.

And I said, what do you mean? And he said, well, you can either be in control of what you are giving now while you're alive or after you're gone. And that's one of the main reasons why I personally did a reverse mortgage. And I go on reverse mortgage vacations with my kids to have a better relationship. I help them with things now. I teach them more about giving and how they can help others with the wealth that we have now rather than storing it all in my house. And I think that that's something that has helped our family tremendously and many families that I've worked with, because a reverse mortgage, you can actually use part of your wealth to take out now and use it for giving, use it for helping them get over some rough spots financially that they might have now rather than waiting until I'm 90 and they're 60. Hmm.

Yeah. Now, obviously, the other component to this that often is the case is we know that so many of today's retirees are not prepared in terms of the assets that they need to support their lifestyle. And so especially in light of what's happened with housing prices and the amount of equity they have in their homes, they're going with needs unmet because they don't have the income. Social security isn't enough. They haven't saved enough in retirement accounts. And yet they're missing one of those most significant opportunities for additional income right there in their home. And that's where a reverse mortgage can really shine. Right.

Well, there's no question about that. It's sad for me to see people living to the point where they can't really afford to buy a dependable vehicle. They aren't even able to take care of some of the basic repairs on their homes because they're concerned about making sure that they leave their home to their children free and clear, as though that was almost a religious thing that had to be done correctly. And the fact is, is that many of the children, when I asked them to involve the children, the children immediately say, Mom, Dad, don't worry about us. Please take care of these things. If there's nothing left at the end, we're OK with that. We want you to enjoy life.

We want you to be able to not worry about those things. And quite frankly, Christian children love to see their parents giving and making an impact in the kingdom. And some of them aren't even able to do that because they are preserving too much of that wealth in their house. I just worked with someone last week, a half million dollar house, and they have absolutely nothing in their investments. That's too bad because of lack of planning or whatever the situation was. But regardless, that's where they are. And when we involved their children, they said, Mom, Dad, please get that reverse mortgage. Use that money wisely to be able to live out your life the best that you can. And don't worry about us.

When the children are involved, it almost always comes down to that scenario, as long as they have their parents' best interests at heart. Yeah, that's helpful. We're talking today with Harlan Akala from Movement Mortgage, an underwriter of this program. Harlan, for those adult children listening to us right now that are saying, boy, this is a conversation I need to have with my parents. They're really struggling.

I'm watching this happen. How do they start that conversation? Well, you know, it's strange because I actually had someone tell me early in my career that home equity and money and finances were a little bit like sex. It was just something they didn't feel comfortable talking about with their children. But when the children bring it up and say, Mom, Dad, I have zero interest in how much money I'm going to get at the end.

But I'm very concerned that it's going to be done right, that it doesn't go to taxes, that it doesn't go to the wrong place, that things are taken care of. Can we just talk through what would happen? Because if we have that conversation long before the deathbed, it is so much easier to have.

It's almost kind of you can joke a little bit about it. But when someone has a terminal illness and it's the end, it's not the time to do it. And so if they can just approach their parents and say, Mom, Dad, let's just talk about where we're going with this and understanding that I'm not coming here to get something. I'm coming here to help and make sure that our family is in the best position, because everybody knows families where things did not go well and things were not taken care of before death. And there was family strife and problems and some family members not even talking to each other. It is a situation that is absolutely critical to make sure that that conversation is open and honest long before the deathbed. Yeah, that's helpful. Just a couple of minutes remaining here, Harlan. Let's finish today with some of the misconceptions about reverse mortgages. These have gotten a bad rap over the years, but I know the products today are a lot different than the products from years ago.

So just help us understand a few of those. Well, the most important thing is, is we only use a portion of the equity. There's almost always equity left at the end. We never own the house. It is always owned by the family, by the mom and dad, by the estate at the end. And also, one of the biggest things is, is as long as you're paying the taxes and insurance and living in the house, you can never get foreclosed on.

You're guaranteed to live there and your parents have a safe place for the rest of their life, however long that may be. And probably one of the biggest things when it comes to long term care planning and Medicaid planning and tax planning, a reverse mortgage is one of the safest things that can be used at the end. And when people realize that all these safeguards are in place to protect the senior and not to take anything away from them, it is something that they realize that can be and should be part of the plan, even with relatively wealthy families that are concerned about the amount of the tax bite that should be taken.

And if we can avoid some of that and put more into the Christian coffers instead of the IRS coffers, there isn't very many people that would not want to have that done so that we could be more conscientious about where that money goes at the end. Just 30 seconds left, Harlan, quickly. This is non-recourse debt. What's the significance of that?

Yes, the non-recourse is a technical term, but basically what it means is no matter what happens, even if the values of houses go down in the future and the house is worth less than what is owed at the end because of increasing interest rates and compound interest of payments that were never made, never is that a requirement of the family or the estate to pay, it is covered by the FHA mortgage insurance, which is an absolute guarantee that you can't leave a debt behind for your children no matter what. Great information today, Harlan. Always appreciate you joining us, my friend. Thanks for stopping by. Thank you. Folks, if you want to learn more, just head to movement.com slash faith. That's movement.com slash faith to learn more.

Well, we're going to take a quick break when we come back. Your questions on anything financial at 800-525-7000. Stay on track with your finances. We have three money management options to choose from, so find an option that fits your unique needs.

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Principal loss is possible. Foresight Fund Services LLC. Great to have you with us today on Faith in Finance. We're going to turn our attention now to questions on any financial topic.

Whatever you'd like to chat about here in our final segment today, we'd love to tackle it with you. Whether you're thinking about your spending plan, maybe it's paying down debt, maybe it's continuing the investing related question or giving wisely. You know, having an advisor who can walk alongside you in your planning, who understands your values is something we think is really important because here's the reality. When you lay a biblical worldview on top of financial decision making, there are differentiators. You approach money differently beginning with the idea that God owns it all and we're stewards. That's a game changer when we know that every spending decision is ultimately a spiritual decision. And then as we start with our faith and allow that to inform our financial decisions, it causes us to approach everything differently. The lifestyle and the idea of a financial finish line for both our spending month to month as well as our long term accumulation.

There's differentiators there. There's differentiators in how we approach retirement and our giving and generosity, even how we might deploy capital through our investments. Well, that's where an advisor who shares your values can bring that counsel to bear in light of biblical wisdom. And it's why we talk a lot about the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation here at Faith and Finance, the only industry designation in financial services for biblically wise financial advice. And you can find a CKA in your area when you go to faithfi.com. That's faithfi.com.

Just click find a professional. By the way, we have a new search tool we just rolled out recently. It allows you to say whether or not you want a CKA who offers traditional investments or someone who can specifically offer you screened faith based investments, where you might screen out certain companies misaligned with your values, screen in others promoting human flourishing.

And so you have that ability to select the right CKA for you again at faithfi.com. All right, let's take as many questions as we can between now and the end of the program. Lines are open. We've got room for a couple right now at 800-525-7000.

Any financial topic is in play today. Let's go to Pennsylvania. Hi, Marie. Go right ahead.

Hello. My question is my husband's wallet has been lost and his Social Security card was in that wallet. So I'm wondering if we think we've done covered everything, but I'm not sure. I wondered if there's something more we could do. We canceled our credit card.

Yeah, well, I'm sorry to hear about that, Marie. I know that's a hassle. And so I'm delighted you're being proactive and taking some steps to ensure you won't have any ongoing challenges. I think number one is if you reorder that Social Security card, probably a better idea to keep that locked up in a fireproof safe where you can, you know, grab it and use it as needed if you needed to take it and use it for verification somewhere. But probably not a good idea moving forward to keep that in the in the wallet for precisely the reason we're talking about today. You did the right thing in terms of contacting your bank and any credit card issuers and notifying them. They'll make a note on the account and we'll be quick to alert you of any suspected fraudulent activity.

They're going to issue new cards, probably already have with new numbers. You're going to want to monitor all of those accounts probably even more closely than you have historically, just to make sure that, you know, if you have any unauthorized activity on any of those accounts, specifically the ones where, you know, there was cards in the wallet that you'll quickly pick up on those. Good news is you're not going to be liable for that if you report it on a time in a timely basis. But if you don't know about it and they don't catch it, then obviously that can go on. And in some cases even past the reporting period.

So that's why you're going to want to stay on top of it. I would go online and freeze your credit reports with each of the three credit bureaus. Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Each of them you will have to do that separately.

There is no cost to do it. You can do it either online or over the phone. Again, those three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, TransUnion. By freezing those credit reports, essentially you're putting a PIN number on them. And if somebody tried to open an account in your name fraudulently because they now have your social security number and so if they were to try to impersonate your husband and open an account, in order to open a line of credit or a credit card or take out a loan, every lender is going to want to pull a lender's copy of your credit report. Well, they won't be able to do that unless you provide or the fraudster provides your PIN number. They won't have it and therefore they'll be stopped in their tracks. So even though it adds a little bit of complexity on you if you're ever trying to seek a new loan, because now you have to provide this.

Again, it's not a big deal. But I think that would be a helpful free next step that you can take. And then finally I would say just let's pull a copy of those credit reports from each of those three agencies. Probably every 90 days for the next three quarters at annualcreditreport.com. What you'd be looking for is any fraudulent activity, basically where you see a new account show up that you didn't authorize and you don't recognize. You'd want to then dispute that with the credit reporting agencies, which is a very customary process that's outlined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. And they have 30 days to either verify that it's accurate and provide proof or delete it and get rid of it. And then you would know where to follow up to get that account closed since it was open in bad faith. But are those things helpful to you?

They are. And we already have frozen our credit. But do you say to check it every 90 days for how long? I would just say for the next maybe three quarters.

So for maybe three times and that way if you had any new activity, something that didn't show up this month but a month or two from now, if you pull it again and then maybe one more time three months after that you should be covered. Okay. Okay. And we had asked for a new Social Security number but they will not issue that. Yeah, and that's going to create a lot of complexities.

I'd advise you not to do that. You know, unfortunately, Social Security numbers do get out and it happens not only by your situation where you lose a card but also just in terms of your information being compromised when it's stored by someone else that is a trusted source, including the U.S. government or it could be a healthcare provider. So it happens but as long as you're exercising best practices, you're going to catch anything that was, you know, where your identity was stolen. So I wouldn't worry about that as long as you're doing the right things to monitor it.

And again, even if they would change it, it would just create so many problems long term with, you know, Social Security benefits and other things that I think it would just not be worth it. Okay. Well, I feel better. Good. Well, you guys will get through this.

Unfortunately, it happens. I know it's a hassle but you're doing the right things and I'm delighted that you're on the program today, Marie. Call any time.

Let us know if we can help you further. God bless you. Well, folks, that's going to do it for us today. Man, we've covered a lot of ground, always grateful for your calls and the incredible questions and for your desire to be found faithful as a steward. That's our goal here. We want to help you see God as your ultimate treasure, money as a tool to accomplish his purposes and then help you make practical decisions and choices through the lens of a biblical worldview. I hope we did that and encouraged you along the way. Hey, on behalf of my team today, Robert Sutherland, Devin Patrick and Robert Youngblood.

Couldn't do it without them. I'm Rob West. This has been Faith and Finance. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.