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Create your free Faithful account by going to faithful.com and click sign up to begin receiving weekly wisdom in your inbox. The dictionary says integrity is being honest and having strong moral principles. God's Word says, better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich.
Hi, I'm Rob West. Are you living with integrity in your financial dealings? We'll check up on that today, 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. You know, integrity has another definition besides being honest. It can also mean strength and dependability. When we say a bridge has integrity, we mean it's sturdy and consistently reliable.
No matter how much traffic drives over that bridge, it's not going to break up and fall into the river. Christians are called to be like that bridge. We represent Jesus Christ to the world, so it's our responsibility and our privilege to be honest, strong, and dependable in all we do. Of course, we're not always going to do everything right, but with God's help, we persevere. As it says in James 1-12, blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Well, we're talking about financial integrity today, because your attitudes and actions around money reveal a lot about your heart.
So here's the question. Are you being honest, morally strong, and dependable in your personal money matters? We'll start with honesty because it's the most important element of integrity. Honesty is one of the first things Jesus requires of new believers. When some tax collectors approached Jesus to be baptized, they asked, Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Collect no more than what you have been ordered to. That's from Luke 3-13. You need to be honest to be effective for God's kingdom work.
Titus 1-7 says, The overseer must be above reproach as God's steward. Communities are healthier when people are honest. Proverbs 28, 12, and 13 paints a vivid picture. When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.
He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper. Here's what honesty looks like in real life. It means doing what is right, whether people are watching you or not. It means always telling the truth on timesheets, tax forms, tests, and applications, and in your social media posts as well. Honesty also requires fair treatment of employees, clients, co-workers, and customers.
All financial dealings should be transparent and upright. The second element of integrity is moral strength. Moral strength isn't something we can come up with on our own. The power we need to live the Christian life comes from God.
He fills us with his Holy Spirit and leads us in paths of righteousness for his name's sake, as it says in Psalms 23. The more time you spend studying the Bible, the better you'll understand God's ways. The more you apply biblical principles to your life and finances, the stronger your moral principles will become. As a person of integrity who belongs to Christ, you can be confident that God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory. Now the third characteristic that defines integrity is dependability.
Dependability goes hand in hand with good reputation. Proverbs 22 29 confirms this. Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings.
He will not stand before obscure men. You see, our goal as Christians is to point people to Christ, and a solid reputation gives you a platform to do just that. In light of all of this, ask yourself, can your family, friends, and co-workers depend on you to do what's right? Are your words and actions consistently godly?
As far as personal finances, are you sticking to a clear, manageable plan? Being honest, morally strong, and dependable is a challenge, and nobody does it right all the time. Selfishness and ungodly desires often get in the way of integrity. That's when we have to repent, pray for God's forgiveness, and ask for his help.
Then we can make things right with anyone we've injured, and move forward. Remember, the only power Satan has is to accuse and confuse. He can't snatch you from the hands of your Heavenly Father. Romans 8 1 reads, So you can afford to pursue integrity in your personal and financial life, even if you fail from time to time.
I hope that's been an encouragement to you today. All right, it's time to turn the corner and take your calls and questions on anything financial. The number to call is 800-525-7000.
We've got lines open right now, 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and this is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Faith Fi is grateful for support from One Ascent. One Ascent believes that your values inspire why you invest and how they can inspire how you invest. One Ascent's goal is to provide solutions designed for every need and invest in businesses that bless the people and places God has made. They want to help investors do well by doing good, to explore a new way of investing that aligns with your values. More information is available at oneascent.com and by clicking Analyze My Investments. Find out more on that topic at soundmindinvesting.org. Since 1990, Soundmind Investing has sought to offer financial wisdom for living well.
Soundmindinvesting.org. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance for taking your calls and questions today. We've got a few lines open. The number to call, 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000.
Welcome to Springfield, Illinois. Hi Elizabeth, go right ahead. Hi, thank you for taking my call. My husband left me in April, but he wants to stay married until next October to keep the insurance. He left me with $100,000 and we had bought a very cheap home when he retired from his job because he was afraid that the pension was going to go broke. He had also asked me to sign off on the pension so he could get the full amount.
Lo and behold, the pension, they revived it and so now he's getting the full amount and I won't get any survivor's pension because I signed off on it. So like I said, he left me with that $100,000 and I have already spent $20,000, $10,000 on the house and $10,000 on bills. So I had asked him for maintenance and I want maintenance money and I wonder if he thinks that's greedy or if that's reasonable.
No, that's very reasonable. Have you engaged with an attorney about all of this? Well, that's kind of what happened and then I told my husband that I had talked to an attorney.
He hasn't really spoke to me at all since April. So I texted him that I had talked to an attorney and that they had suggested an amount. So now he's telling me he's going to divorce me right now and take half of everything. But like I said, I told him that the money that I have right now was in case something were to happen to him because I would get no more money because I didn't get any pension.
When we sold our house, when he retired, that was supposed to go into an account in case something did happen to him and then we bought the cheap out. Yeah. Oh, Elizabeth, I'm so sorry. And clearly it sounds like he's abandoned you apart from this one text exchange that you've had. Yeah, I think you need somebody to walk alongside you just from a legal perspective to make sure that you are taken care of as a part of this. I mean clearly there needs to be somebody who's looking out for your best interest as a part of this and clearly no one is at this point. So I think we need to leave it up to the courts and that's perfectly appropriate. So it sounds like you do have an attorney that you've talked to?
I spoke to the attorney, yes. Okay. That would be the direction that I would go. I mean if you want another opinion or something, you could contact your church and see if there's a believer in your church who could help you.
But you need somebody who can walk alongside you. You're certainly not being greedy. I think what you're describing here is perfectly appropriate and you don't need to leave it up to him to make sure you're protected and provided for. At this point, because he's vacated the situation, you need to leave it up to the courts.
So I would say to your question, no, you're not being greedy and you need some wise counsel and some legal assistance in this. Okay. I appreciate your comments. Thank you so much. Absolutely. Yeah, the Lord bless you. We'll certainly be praying that the Lord will watch over you and guide every step here.
I know this is challenging. Thanks for calling today. Let's go to Chicago. Hi, Rod. Hey, Rob.
How are you? I enjoy your program through the week. My question is, I'm still working and I'm 65 and I'm going to keep working probably till I get my full Social Security at 67. My question is, if I draw the full amount and my wife decides to draw off of my Social Security and you said it was up to half, do I still get the full amount or does when she draws the half cut into my full amount? Yeah, it has no bearing on the amount you'll get. So you get a retirement benefit equal to your high 35, whatever your Social Security benefit statement says you will get at full retirement age. And then as a spouse, she can either collect on her own work record or she can get spousal benefits, which is up to half of yours, but it has no bearing on your benefit.
Now, you have to walk through the door first. So as long as you begin taking your benefits, then she can collect the spousal benefits. Now, if she takes it prior to her full retirement age, she's going to get it further reduced. So 50 percent is the max she can get and it will go down from there. But if she waits until her full retirement age and you've already started collecting, then she can get up to half of yours as a spousal benefit.
And that will not in fact impact what you're getting one bit. OK, because I had no idea that the spouse could get half of my Social Security, which is no problem. Yes. Yeah.
So the spouse can get either half of the spouse's benefit up to that amount or their own work record benefit, either the higher of the two, not both. OK. I appreciate the answer. And I thank you and God bless. All right. Thanks. And you as well. Thanks for being on the program.
Let's go to South Carolina. Denay, how can I help you? Hey. OK. So I was trying to figure out how to pay off my credit card because the interest rate was just extremely too high.
It's changed after an amount of years. And so and I knew I couldn't do it, but I was still trying to. And it was just going to dig a deeper hole. And so, like, I was getting out the car with it and I was like, Lord, please help me with that. And I got in the car and as soon as I got in the car, the radio station was like, Christian credit counselors. And I was like, oh, wow, that answered my prayer immediately. And then I was like, oh, was that the enemy? So then I started doing my research and I was concerned about Christian credit counselors being legit or not, just because I was like, was that me? Was that like, was that really God or was that the devil trying to get me scammed?
Well, Denay, I'm glad you called. And I can vouch for them only because they've been a longtime partner of ours here at Faithfi, an underwriter of this program for years. And they've literally worked with thousands of our listeners over the years. And I can't tell you we've ever had anybody send us an email or call with a complaint. So they're nonprofit. They're all believers.
We know them well, just in terms of relationally that we've just so enjoyed them. And, you know, what they will do is not only get on the phone and encourage you and pray with you and help you set up your budget, but they'll analyze the credit cards that you have. And the reason that debt management, which is what Christian credit counselors does, is my preferred option is you're not taking out a new loan. You're not stopping payments and getting behind and trashing your credit. You're sliding into a program that already exists, but you can only access it through a nonprofit credit counseling agency, which they are. Which just means you'll have one level monthly payment, probably about three percent of the balance, and the interest rates will come down.
And the combination of the level payment, the lower interest rates means you'll pay this back on average about 80 percent faster. So I think it's absolutely the direction to go, and there is nothing that, in my view, you should be concerned about. Awesome. Thank you.
And then there was one more question. Is it a debt consolidation or the nonprofit is just totally separate? Yeah, so debt consolidation generally means taking out a new loan to pay off the existing loans, and then you pay back the new loan on new terms.
That's not what we're talking about here. This is not debt consolidation. It's also not debt settlement, where you stop paying and try to negotiate a lower payback. This is debt management, what's called credit counseling or debt management, and there's no consolidation. The debts stay right where they are, the interest rates come down, and you just pay those original creditors that you're currently with by way of Christian credit counselors. So you send the payment to Christian credit counselors.
They forward it onto your creditors, but they do so at much lower interest rates. Thanks for calling today. Before we head into our break, let me remind you, if you'd like to find a financial professional who shares your values and priorities, who's met high standards and character and competence, who's been trained to bring a biblical worldview of financial decision making, well, we'd encourage you to look for a certified kingdom advisor in your area.
There's more than 1,500 men and women who have earned CKA all across the U.S. You can find one at faithfi.com. Just click Find a Professional. We'll be right back. . . . Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions today, and we have a few lines open, 800-525-7000.
If you have a financial question, you can call right now. Let's head to my hometown, Fort Lauderdale. Hi, James. Go ahead, sir.
Hey, Rob. Thanks so much for your show. My question is whether or not my wife and I should sell our home. I'm in a position at work where I'll be moving about every two to three years, and housing will be provided. Yeah, and I assume it's moving out of the area. Is that right? Yes, it'll be overseas work.
Yeah. You know, it's not terribly easy to be a landlord. I'm not discouraging it. You can make a lot of money in real estate. It can be a great investment. But there's just challenges that come with it, especially when you're a long-distance landlord, unless you hire a management company to oversee the property.
But that's going to cost you somewhere between seven and ten percent of the monthly rent often. So I think the question is, first, your financial readiness to keep this property. And what I mean by that is, you know, I know the place that's going to be moving you is providing housing, so that's great. But, you know, I think the first concern would just be, let's say, you know, things are great right now.
South Florida real estate's doing well. But let's say, you know, two years from now we're in a recession that's pretty deep, and let's say the housing market starts to turn down. We've already got some folks saying that, you know, maybe we have the inventories building to a point where we could see some pullback in the housing market. Let's say you don't have a renter for an extended period of time. Would that create any kind of financial hardship for you?
It could. My wife won't be working, so we'll have one income when we start moving. Yeah, okay.
And right now you have two incomes, and that's what's allowing you to keep all the bills paid? Yes, and we also own another property, a commercial unit that we rent out, like a strip mall. Okay. And both of these would be mortgaged, your current property that would become a rental and the commercial property? Right.
Okay. And what's your debt to equity if you combine both properties plus the mortgages? What kind of equity do you have?
We have, let's say we probably owe a little over $6.20, and they're worth about $1.5. Okay, so you have pretty good equity, so that's a good thing, which means you shouldn't have trouble servicing the debt, assuming you can keep the commercial property occupied and you could keep the residential property rented. Obviously it's been your primary residence, so it's a place you like, but do you foresee any issue keeping it rented?
No, no we don't. Okay, so I guess the next step is number one, to decide do we want to be a landlord? Obviously you're already a landlord in the commercial property, but how do we feel about that now that we're going to be absentee, and do we need to put a management company in there? Then we need to run the numbers and just see if the economy weakens, kind of what kind of risk are you creating in both the commercial property, which commercial has its own challenges just given some of the changing nature of our economy, on top of the residential property, and how many months could you weather without one or both of those being fully rented or leased, and just kind of determine what risk you're assuming. I think best case scenario, if you're at all concerned about being able to service the debt, even though you still have good equity, you still have $600,000 in mortgages and you're going from two incomes to one. So I think you just need to be realistic about the potential additional risk you're taking on by maintaining these properties with you not being here and dropping some significant portion of your total income with your wife leaving the workforce. And I think that will give you a better indication, the more conservative approach would be to say, Okay, we're just going to go and sell this property, we'll take the equity out of it and either invest it, or, you know, pay down the mortgage on the commercial property and try to get to a place where you're debt free. And then, you know, maybe you're buying something when you come back, and you decide to, you know, not continue to move with your current company, or maybe you just put that money to work for you and invest it, but you do it in such a way that doesn't have any debt associated with it. And so you just have less risk involved, but you still have that money working for you. And now you have one less headache with regard to an additional property that needs to be serviced and maintenance dealt with and, you know, getting it rented out once somebody leaves and you know, the repairs that have to be done those kinds of things. But give me your sense of, you know, as you and your wife have talked about it, plus what I shared here today, what what thoughts you have?
That makes sense. We weren't sure where to go. I think if I had to make a decision today, I'd probably sell it and pay down the mortgage on our commercial unit. Yeah. We also wanted to have some place our own so that if anything happened with work, we weren't scrambling to find a home.
Yeah, yeah. Well, we certainly know we're at somewhat of the peak of the market there in South Florida. We know that South Florida real estate has been softening.
It will probably continue to soften, especially if we get into a tighter economy with regard to a recession. So I don't think it's a bad idea for you to go ahead and take that money off the table right now. Go ahead and sell that property, get it working for you or pay down that mortgage, which is just going to create more cash flow for you guys to be able to pile back into savings. And then you're not so highly concentrated in one asset class, namely real estate, and one asset class real estate that's concentrated in a market, South Florida, that's been red hot, but has challenges because, you know, we've got, you know, what's going on with homeowners insurance rates and property taxes, not to mention the fact that, you know, there's just been so much appreciation over a short period of time.
So I think without knowing the full breadth of your situation, but just what I've heard today, I kind of like the idea of you all selling it, paying down that mortgage, building up cash, maybe investing systematically as you have more cash flow being thrown off of the commercial property, and then being ready to buy something perhaps in a softer real estate market two or three years down the road. Perfect. Thanks again, Rob. Really appreciate you taking my call. All right, James. God bless you, my friend.
We appreciate your call today. Well, as we round out the broadcast today, let me remind you of the five wise money management principles that we find in God's word. You see, folks, once we recognize God owns it all and that we're stewards or managers of the King of Kings resources, then the next question is, well, how do I manage God's money wisely and faithfully?
And that's where these five wise principles from God's word come into play. Number one, spend less than you were. I know it sounds simple and it's not, but it's the key to every financial success. Number two, avoid the use of debt because debt mortgages the future. Number three, set long term goals because the longer term your perspective, the better the decision you'll make today. Number four, have some margin or liquidity, meaning you don't spend everything that you bring in because that margin is key to you being able to fund your long term goals like giving more, paying down your debt or saving for the future. And then finally, number five, give generously because giving breaks the grip of money over our lives and allows us to bless those in need and even take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Well, I hope those are an encouragement to you today as you apply those wise five principles in your financial life. A big thanks to my team today, Taylor Standridge, Chad Clark and Amy Rios. And for everybody here at Faith by I'm Rob West. Come back and join us next time. We'll see you then. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith by and listeners like you.
