Why A Biblical Worldview Matters In Our Finances with Chad Clark

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That's faithfi.com slash give. Now let's dive into the podcast. If you've ever thought you view the world differently than others, that has probably never been more true. Hi, I'm Rob West.

A new study has revealed a sharp drop in the number of Americans who hold a biblical worldview. Chad Clark joins us today with his insights. 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 journey. Well, Chad Clark is our executive director here at Faithfi. Chad, great to see you as always. Thanks for having me. All right, Chad, let's dive into this study.

What do you have for us? Yeah, so the American World View Inventory 2023 by Arizona Christian University did a survey led by Dr. George Barna, and it asked over 2,000 people about their views on topics such as marriage, money, and morals. And shockingly, it discovered that only 4%, that's right, only 4% of American adults have a biblical worldview, which continues to be a downward trajectory from previous years. And not surprisingly, we see age has a consistent correlation with biblical worldview. Only 1% of those under 30 holding a biblical worldview.

Yeah, that's discouraging and a lot to take in. So that was all Americans with roughly 68% of the American population identifying as Christian. Chad, what percent of Christians hold a biblical worldview, according to this study?

Yeah, well, you would hope that it would be significantly higher than 4%. But unfortunately, what the study found is that only 6% of self-identified Christians hold a biblical worldview. This indicates that many Christians are more influenced by the world than by God's word.

Yeah, wow. So according to this study, 94% of self-identified Christians are being heavily influenced by the world and not the word, God's word. Yeah, that's exactly what this study is indicating. But I want us to make sure we take a step back for a moment, because we might be tempted to see a stat like this and immediately want to jump in and take action to better inform Christians on the right answers.

I'm gonna use air quotes there when I say that. But I want to make sure we're clear that we are not saved by answering the survey correctly. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. And it is our faith that influences every area of our lives. You see, we are a new creation.

The old has gone, the new has come. And so our faith not only informs our worldview, it fundamentally transforms it. And in Romans 12 to we see this very clearly, it says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. And I'd like our listeners today to just sit with Romans 12 to read over it again and again and ask the Lord to reveal ways in which you are being conformed to this world. And that by His grace, you'd be transformed by the renewal of your mind through His word. Boy, that's such a great reminder for us, Chad. And that renewal of your mind isn't a one-time activity, but daily, right? Absolutely.

This is a daily activity. We see this in Psalm 119, some encouragement to be transformed by the renewal of our mind. It says, In the way of your testimonies, I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes.

I will not forget your word. This Psalm is a beautiful reminder that points us to God as our ultimate treasure. I'm glad you said that because that's, of course, our vision here at Faithfy, that every Christian would see God as their ultimate treasure. But as we well know, one thing often stands in the way of that, and it's money, which has a significant influence on our worldview, doesn't it?

It absolutely does. And that's one of the reasons we exist as a ministry. We teach, equip, and encourage Christians to be transformed by God's word so that they come to have a biblical worldview of money.

Yeah. And like you said, it's not only the information about what to do with money, but more importantly, the transformation of our hearts that influences how we manage money. So, let's get to how our listeners can respond. How can they ensure that more Christians adopt a biblical worldview of money? Yeah, this is a really exciting time of year to partner with us, whether you've been personally impacted by the work of this ministry, or you're hearing us for the first time and want to learn more about the impact we are having. You can go to faithfy.com slash impact, and a generous group of donors have put up $150,000 end of year match. So every dollar given to Faithfy between now and December 31st will be doubled in impact. Again, you can learn more about this opportunity and the work we're doing here at Faithfy by going to faithfy.com slash impact.

Awesome. Chad, I appreciate your leadership very much. Thanks for stopping by. Thank you. Folks, we hear from so many of you all the time saying, I listen regularly. This has been so helpful to me.

I love what you're doing. This is your chance to respond. Every gift doubled between now and December 31st, up to $150,000 at faithfy.com slash impact. Back with your questions after this.

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Soundmindinvesting.org. So thankful to have you with us today on Faith & Finance. All right, it's time to take your calls and questions today. The number is available to you right now when you call 800-525-7000. That's the number to call with any financial questions today. We'd love to get you on the program, hear what you're thinking about financially, and help you process your questions through the lens of biblical wisdom. Again, the number 800-525-7000. You can call right now. We're going to begin in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with Steve.

Go ahead, sir. Hi, Rob. I just started Social Security about a year and a half ago, and I'm going to end Medicaid and start Medicare pretty soon. I have a small 401k. I was forced to retire early because of the stroke, so I have a 401k of about 50,000, and I have a credit card debt of 17,000 and a car debt of 5,000. I was wondering what you knew about transitioning is like, and should I pay off the credit card debt first or the car because I need to free up some spending money. I'm at my threshold of what I can afford, and when the Medicare starts, I have to start paying $177 a month for Part B. So I need to free up some cash flow.

Yeah, very good. I like you paying off that credit card debt regardless. I would imagine your interest rate is pretty high. What do you owe? What's the total amount owed on credit cards?

16,000, I think, right now, and the payment is $330 a month. I think that's about 20%. Yeah, so you're only paying about 2% of the balance per month.

Is that right? Because that's $320. Normally, we see payments around 3%, which would be up around $480. But regardless, what I would recommend, Steve, is you reach out to our friends at ChristianCreditCounselors.org. That's ChristianCreditCounselors.org. They're all believers, and credit counseling program is really the most effective way, in my view, to pay off credit card debt.

Two things happen when you do that. Number one is the average interest rate will be dropped to somewhere between 0% and 12% from where they typically are north of 20% right now. And then you're going to have a level monthly payment. So that minimum payment that you send every month is going to be fixed based on the starting balance. But as the balances come down, you're not going to have a payment that comes down with it. And the combination of that level payment on top of those much lower interest rates are going to help you get this paid off on average 80% faster. And obviously, if you have the ability to send extra beyond just the scheduled payment, you can do that at any time. And with those lower interest rates, it's going to help getting more going to the principal, which is going to be the key.

And then to your point, as soon as you pay one of them off, now you're freeing up that money to help you absorb any increase to your budget. With regard to your Medicare premiums for Part B and D, they're going to go up when your income exceeds certain thresholds. So for instance, if you're single and making $103,000 or less, your premium is $174.70. At $129,000, it goes up to $244 and it continues to increase to a max of $594 a month if you're making over half a million a year. And then similarly, you know, you can have some increases in your Part D, it's normally included in your plans premium, but that begins to rise when you get over certain income thresholds. So I would avoid taking any money out of a 401k, just because I would like for that money to continue to grow and not have you add to your tax bill, if you can do that. And I think, you know, getting that credit card debt paid off will be a key part of this.

But give me give me your thoughts on all that. Yeah, my income is with Social Security is $24,000 a year. So that's pretty low. And if I did a monthly thing with the 401k, which rolls, I would only do like $100 $200 a month to make up the difference of the changes. And I think if I start withdrawing at all, that was the other question. If should I go IRA or Roth? What's the difference? If I start withdrawing at all?

I'm told I have to switch over to one of them pretty soon. Like I was 60 days. Is that right? Say that again?

What's the question specifically on that? If I think when I start withdrawing from 401k, I can't leave it there. I think I have to switch it over to IRA or Roth account.

And which one is better? And yeah, so with the 401k, there's a difference between a rollover where it stays inside the pre tax environment when you're going to a traditional IRA versus a withdrawal. And so if all you're doing is moving it out of the 401k, and you roll it straight into a traditional IRA, there are no tax consequences to that. The only tax consequence would be when you take the money out as a withdrawal.

Now, you can't go into a Roth IRA, that would as long as it's a traditional 401k, it needs to go to a traditional IRA, if you moved it to a Roth, that would be creating a taxable event if you did a conversion. Okay. Yeah.

But in terms of where to pull from, if you have the Roth existing, that would be key because that does not count as income withdrawals from Roth IRAs don't count as income for Medicare Part B, but social security and traditional IRA or 401k withdrawals do so you just want to keep that in mind and make sure you're staying under the thresholds that are going to increase those premiums for your Medicare premiums. So hopefully, that helps you. I know a lot of moving parts there, Steve, but it sounds like you're on the right track. We appreciate your call today. May the Lord bless you.

Let's go to Ohio. Hi, Estella. Thanks for calling. Go ahead. Hello, how are you today? I'm doing great. Thank you. Great, great.

Hey, so I'm coming up on my second year anniversary at work. I have not started investing in the company's 401k plan because I'm unsettled as to where the company is going to be investing the money. And so I know they'll be making some of my earnings and joining it with, you know, the free money that they'll be giving me but I don't know how to work around the table. Because they don't believe in certain things, you know?

Yeah, no, I understand that. And increasingly, with options now, believers are saying as I deploy capital, and that's what you're doing, you're taking the capital that the Lord has entrusted to you through your paycheck, and you're redirecting it into a tax deferred investment account called a 401k. That's a part of the tax code. And then that money when it hits there, you're directing it into the menu of investment options that you have available to you. And you're saying, I don't want it to inadvertently go into a, an investment, a mutual fund, probably, that among those holdings are companies that violate my values as a Christ follower. And so the first thing you need to do is look at what those menu of choices are, because the even though the company's matching your contributions, they don't get to pick the investments you do. And so you'd want to look at what those menu of choices are, and see are there any of the faith based investing fund families already in there, because increasingly, these 401k plan administrators as demand is rising, are adding these fund families to these 401ks.

And it could be that you've got an even tide or, you know, Timothy, or, you know, one of those fund families already in there. And you could choose that if you don't, option B would be to put it in, they may have what's called a brokerage window, which is essentially where you put the money in the 401k. And instead of choosing the menu of choices, you're able to use this quote unquote, brokerage window to invest in any stock, bond or mutual fund, and then you could choose one of the faith based investing funds. So here's what I would do, I would start contributing immediately, you could leave it in the in the money market until you'd make your selection, but I want you to get it going in there. So we're starting to accrue some money. And then I want you to go download the free resource at faith and investing.com slash faith by that's faith and investing.com forward slash faith fi, that's going to give you a free resource with all the faith based investing fund families on it that you know we believe are vetted and would align with your values.

And then you can see if any of those mutual funds exist currently in your 401k. Does that make sense? Yes, it does. Thank you so very much. I really appreciate that.

All right. You're welcome, Estella. Thanks for calling today. God bless you. We appreciate you being on the program. We'll be right back.

Stay with us. at faith fi we're passionate about meeting people where they live and work through our national radio program app resources and website to influence widespread positive change in our culture. Please consider becoming a monthly partner at faith fi.com slash give Do you feel like your hands are tied with debt preventing you from serving God? If you have credit card debt, Christian credit counselors can help through our debt management program. We can get you out of credit card debt about 80% faster while honoring your debt in full. For more information on how Christian credit counselors can help visit Christian credit counselors.org that's Christian credit counselors.org or call 800-557-1985 800-557-1985 Welcome back to faith and finance.

I'm Rob West. Have you thought about the fact that money is one of God's good creations? He gave us money to provide. He gave us money to enjoy, but also to give. It's one of the ways we can be connected to God's activity. And when we do it frees us from our own little mini kingdoms and reorients our perspective and our minds on the eternal Kingdom God's eternal treasure. That's one of the things we want to direct you to each day on this broadcast is we help you answer your practical questions and decisions related to God's money.

Let's do that right now. We'll head back to the phones to Florida we go Hi, Erica, go ahead. Yes, I have a question for my daughter. She was working with a company and they lost a lot of the money. So she had a hundred hundred thousand leftover, but she left the company and she wanted to know if he should put it in an IRA or in a Roth. Yes. So is it a 401k that she has with her previous company?

Yes, but they didn't match anything. Okay, that's what she had put in and they lost a lot on their stock. So okay, I understand all she has.

This is all she has left. Sure. And do you happen to know there's two types of 401ks?

And this is going to directly relate to your question. There's the traditional 401k, which is like the traditional IRA where the money goes in tax deferred, meaning you don't pay tax on it as it goes in, and then it grows tax deferred. But there's also a Roth 401k, which means she's contributing after tax money to the 401k.

Do you know which kind it is? No, I think it's before taxes. Okay, so then she would want to roll that to a before tax IRA, which is called a traditional IRA, because then she's not going to create a taxable event. So it's just moving from one account to a similar account with a different title, one's 401k, one's IRA, but there's no taxes generated. Now, at that point, she would have the option if she's young, and it makes sense for her to, you know, convert that to a Roth. But however much she converts would be added to her taxable income for that year. And so, you know, if you're getting closer to retirement, typically, it's not worth it, because you're, you're probably at the peak of your earning years. So you're already paying a lot of tax.

So the last thing you want to do is add more taxable income, you know, especially if you don't have a lot of years left for, you know, the Roth effect to work. It's magic, where, you know, it's growing tax free. Does that make sense? Yes, it does. I was wondering now, she's with another company that has 401k.

Okay, okay. Yeah, so that would be the other option. So she instead of rolling it to the traditional IRA, if her company allows, and they don't, not all of them do most do, and she just want to call her plan administrator to ask, but she could just roll that right into her new 401k that she's actively contributing to.

And the benefit there is now all the money's in one place. You know, she's only selecting one set of investments. And then once she separates from that company down the road, she could roll it out. Yeah, but because of her age, she's very skeptical and, you know, concerned about the stock market and everything like that. What is her age?

She was trying to 62, 62. Okay. Yeah, I mean, here's the way to think about that.

I mean, I get that. And yes, I mean, even though the market recently hit new highs, there's a lot of, you know, question marks around the US economy, we have some big macro challenges that, you know, we have a lower birth rate. And so that means that our population is not going to be growing as quickly. And therefore, we're not going to have as many workers. And we've got a lot of national debt.

I mean, there's a lot of geopolitical issues. And yet, despite all of that, and we've certainly had our challenges in every decade, historically, the very best place to build wealth over time in a properly diversified portfolio is in stocks and bonds. And even at 62, let's say the Lord Terry's and she lives to age 95. She's got 30 years for this money to last. And so it's not like you have to take a short term perspective on it. Even if we hit a major recession next year, and I don't know that we will most economists are not predicting that.

But let's say we did. I mean, she's got decades for this money to recover. And every other recession or even, you know, crash that we've had historically, the market has recovered and moved to new highs. So I think even though she wants to get more conservative at 62, maybe she's got 50% in stocks 50% in bonds, to create less volatility, she can still take a long view. And the way you overcome inflation, and the effects of inflation on your on your money is to invest so you can grow it. So that's just something to consider. So I agree, she should get more conservative. But I think, you know, her moving to cash or getting out of the market because she's concerned about, you know, short term volatility is probably not the way for her to grow this money, offset the effects of inflation, and have it available down the road.

Just something to think about. Thanks for your call. She wants to get out. I just think she wanted to know if the IRA or the Roth. Yeah, and I would say, you know, I wouldn't believe that. I would probably roll it into the 401k. And that way, everything's in one place. If she doesn't do that, then I'd go to the traditional IRA, not the Roth.

If she goes to the Roth, through a conversion, she's gonna have an extra $100,000 in taxable income. So I hope that helps you. If she has further questions, tell her to give us a call. We'd love to chat about it.

Let's go to Texas. Emmanuel, how can I serve you? Yeah, what type of business are you in, Emmanuel? I'm in the trades.

I'm an electrician. Okay, great. Yeah.

Yeah. So let's just take a general contractor business. And I think you can apply this to anywhere, you know, a good general markup for a contractor business is usually in the range of 15 to 20%, over the cost of labor materials and other direct expenses. So the markup allows for you to cover your overhead costs. So we're talking about, you know, insurance, office, office expenses, equipment, and generate some profit.

It's, of course, based on, you know, several factors. So, you know, depending on the industry and the location, if you're in a high demand area or specific trades, and I would put yours in these categories, you mentioned electrical, plumbing, you know, would be the same, where the markup might be higher than just a general contractor. I would expect an electrical contractor or a plumber to have a markup of about 25% or more, you know, while you're in a, you know, competitive area. Now, if there's lower demand, it obviously could be lower, you need to let the market dictate. But I would say, you know, in your line of work, you know, especially for smaller residential projects, you know, it could even be 25 to 30%. And then for a large commercial or government project, you know, it might be down at 10 or 15.

But I would say, you know, generally speaking, that 25% markup, you know, would be pretty typical. Does that make sense? That does. That's very helpful. Thank you so much.

I really value that perspective, and I love your show. All right. Thanks, Emmanuel.

All the best to you, my friend. God bless you. Well, folks, that's going to do it for us. Big thanks to my team today. Certainly couldn't do this without them. Grateful for Amy and Dan and Anthony and Jim. Also thankful for everybody here at Faithfi that makes this organization happen every day. We'll see you tomorrow. Faith and Finance is provided by Faithfi and listeners like you.