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5 Financial Lessons Learned From A Tram Ride with Sharon Epps

Faith And Finance / Rob West
The Truth Network Radio
January 22, 2025 3:00 am

5 Financial Lessons Learned From A Tram Ride with Sharon Epps

Faith And Finance / Rob West

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January 22, 2025 3:00 am

Sometimes, you have to travel far to learn about things close to home—like your finances.

They say that “travel is broadening”—that it expands your horizons and increases your understanding of how things really work. Sharon Epps experienced that recently on the tram in the Netherlands, and today, she’ll share some financial lessons she learned along the way. 

Sharon Epps is the President of Kingdom Advisors, FaithFi’s parent organization. Kingdom Advisors serves the broad Christian financial industry by educating and equipping professionals to integrate biblical wisdom and financial expertise.

Faith, Finance, and the Tram

During a recent Christmas visit to The Hague, Sharon enjoyed time with her family and learned valuable lessons riding the Dutch tram system. These lessons beautifully parallel financial wisdom rooted in faith. Let’s explore these five lessons and how they can guide us in making faith-filled financial decisions.

1. Plan in Advance

Before boarding the tram, you need to purchase a card or use an app like Apple Pay—cash isn’t accepted. If you’re unprepared, you’ll find yourself stuck.

Financial Takeaway: Life transitions and financial goals require preparation. Proverbs 21:5 reminds us, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” Look ahead and make thoughtful plans for the future.

2. Make Decisions Based on Principles

Interestingly, there are no instructions on using the card readers. Observing others reveals the steps: scan in when boarding and scan out when exiting. It’s a system based on principles rather than explicit instructions.

Financial Takeaway: Life doesn’t come with a step-by-step manual for every situation. However, God’s Word is full of enduring principles. Base your financial decisions on these, rather than rigid rules, to stay aligned with His will.

3. Avoid Decision-Making Traps

Sharon missed her tram stop because she was looking in the wrong direction. She realized too late that the doors she needed were behind her.

Financial Takeaway: Evaluate multiple alternatives before making decisions. Avoid getting stuck with the first option that comes to mind, as it might not be the best one. Broaden your perspective to avoid costly mistakes.

4. Seek Godly Counsel

After missing her stop, Sharon was unsure what to do next. A kind pair of Dutch women guided her to the next stop and helped her find her way back.

Financial Takeaway: Life is full of unexpected turns. Seeking wisdom from God and godly counselors can help you navigate challenges and make wise choices. Proverbs 15:22 teaches, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

5. Know What You Have

After several rides, Sharon realized she needed to check the balance on her tram card and top it up.

Financial Takeaway: Just as you must track the balance on your card, you need to know the condition of your financial resources. Proverbs 27:23–24 reminds us, “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever.” Awareness of your financial position is crucial for wise stewardship.

Life Moves Fast—Stay Prepared

Riding a tram requires quick decision-making—boarding, exiting, and navigating—all while staying prepared for the next leg of the journey. Financial decisions can feel the same way. By applying these five lessons—planning ahead, basing decisions on principles, avoiding traps, seeking counsel, and staying informed—you’ll be better equipped to navigate life’s financial challenges.

If we adopt these principles in our financial decision-making, we won’t find ourselves getting off at the wrong stop and scrambling to figure out our way back.

On Today’s Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:
  • I have a seven-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter, and I'd like to know how to begin investing in her college education.
  • Can I roll my TSP over to an IRA? I'm getting ready to retire within the next five years, and I was told that if I did, the amount would be fixed and could only go up. However, I could still keep my TSP open and contribute to it. Would that be a wise move?
  • I had a CD for $10,000 that matured, and I told the bank to reinvest it. It ended up being $10,210. Do I have to pay taxes on the $210 profit when I file my income taxes?
  • I have been steadily losing money in the TCW MetWest Total Return Fund, and I would like to switch to a Timothy Fund. I'm 80 years old, so I want to change it to something that would make me a little money and keep the fees low. Who would I talk to if I wanted advice about which Timothy Plan fund to use?
Resources Mentioned:

Remember, you can call in to ask your questions most days at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on the Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. Visit our website at FaithFi.com where you can join the FaithFi Community and give as we expand our outreach.

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Kingdom Advisors equips Christian financial advisors to bring their faith into their practice with the industry-recognized Certified Kingdom Advisor designation. We bring those advisors together with other industry leaders to form a vibrant network. And through that network, we give them the resources, tools, and encouragement they need to serve clients like you, helping you align your values with your financial decisions and investments. To learn more, visit KingdomAdvisors.com. Today, she'll share some financial lessons she learned in the Netherlands, 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 journey. Well, we always know we're going to hear something interesting when Sharon joins the program.

She's president of Kingdom Advisors, where she's always looking for ways to teach God's financial principles. Sharon, great to have you back with us. Good to be here. Sharon, you learned a few things while riding the tram in the Netherlands, I understand.

So give us the backstory. Where were you and what was going on? During Christmas, I was visiting my kids who live in The Hague, and it was a wonderful time spent with family. We did a lot of sightseeing, and mass transportation is so readily available that my kids don't even need a car. We frequently rode a tram, and as with anything new, I had to learn how things operate on the trams. And along the way, I learned a few lessons that parallel the financial lessons we teach on faith and finance. So I thought it would be fun to share what I learned on my journey. We can learn a few things about mass transit because they do it really well, don't they?

They do. Oh, I wish we had that here. All right, let's get into those financial lessons.

I know you have five of them. Kick us off. Well, the first financial lesson is you need to plan in advance. To ride the tram, you have to purchase a tram card or use an app like Apple Pay. No cash is accepted. And if you wait until the last minute, you probably won't have the right payment method. So with the new year, this is a great time to learn this lesson. You have to look ahead to make financial plans for coming life transitions and needs. Plan in advance.

Plan in advance, no cash. God's Word, of course, reinforces this. We see in Proverbs the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. All right, lesson number two. Well, surprisingly, there aren't any directions on how to operate the card readers to get on and off the tram.

No step-by-step instructions. However, by observation, you quickly learn that people scan in when they get on the tram and off as they exit, and they have to do it quickly or the doors will close. Well, that's true in life, isn't it? There's no specific steps for faith-filled decisions. However, God has given us principles. So the second thing is make decisions based on principles. If you're following a set of steps, they may or may not be the ones God's called you to follow.

However, his Word is filled with principles that are consistent for everyone. Yeah, I know Ron Blue, the founder here at Kingdom Advisors, talks a lot about principles, and we try to carry those through in everything we do here on the program. All right, take us into lesson number three. Well, this one is you'll get stuck if you're looking in the wrong direction. I literally was looking one way to get off the tram and realized after the doors closed that it was the doors behind me that I should have been facing. So the lesson here is that decision-making requires considering many alternatives. You won't make the best decision if you only evaluate the first option that comes to mind. Lesson three, avoid decision-making traps. And that really leads to the next tram and financial lesson. Once I missed my stop, I didn't know what to do.

A couple of Dutch women were looking at me critically until I said, I don't live here. I don't know what to do next. And they smiled and helped me off at the next stop and helped me determine where I should catch the tram back to where I needed to be. So the fourth takeaway is seek godly counsel. Life is complicated with many unexpected stops. When we ask God first and other godly people will find wisdom to reach the intended destination.

I love this. All right, we're planning in advance. We're making decisions based on principles.

We're avoiding decision-making traps and seeking godly counsel. Take us into that fifth lesson. Well, it really mirrors the experience of life. After a few tram rides, you need to replenish the balance on your card. You don't know how many rides you have left on your card. So the lesson is know what you have. In Proverbs 27, we find know well the condition of your flocks give attention to your herd for riches do not last forever. When you know where you are financially, you can make better decisions. Well, that is great advice. All right, let's tie a bow on this. Life happens quickly. Most of the time we can slow down to take the time for major decisions, but sometimes we need to move quickly like getting on and off the tram.

If we adopt these five principles as a way of living in our financial decision-making, we won't get off at the wrong stop and have to figure out our way back. I love it. That was great.

You know, we were in New York over Christmas, and I think I have different lessons coming from the subway there, but we'll save that for another time. We'll want to hear from you next. That's Sharon Epps.

She's president of Kingdom Advisors, a frequent contributor here on faith and finance. Your calls are next. The number 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West and we'll be right back.

We'll be right back. Check off the affordable box on your list and get back to what you really love running your business or caring for your kids and have peace of mind while doing it. Visit chministries.org slash Faithfi to enroll today. After we surrender our lives to Jesus as Lord and Savior, it's about stewardship. How do we manage what we've been given? What have you done with what you've been given?

I believe is really the key question, and we know that the goal is faithfulness, long obedience in the same direction, and that includes every domain of our lives, including the area of money management. Well, whatever is on your mind today in your financial life, feel free to call right now. We've got lines open and we're taking your calls at 800-525-7000. All right, we're going to dive in today. We'll begin in Florida. Terry, thank you for calling, sir. Go ahead.

Hey, Rob, thank you for taking my call. I have a seven and a half year old granddaughter and I'm wondering what method I could use to start investing for her education, college education. Yeah. You know, the best way to save for a college education is by opening and contributing to what's called a 529 Education Savings Plan.

You may have heard me mention that in the past here on this broadcast. 529 just comes from the IRS section where this is found in the code, but essentially it creates a college savings vehicle that you can contribute to over time. You can do it monthly, you can do it one time, and you can essentially put in as much as you want. I mean, there's very little there in the way of a cap and you would choose which state you open that 529 in. So in Florida, you know, there are no state income taxes, so therefore you wouldn't have any benefit of using the Florida plan versus another plan because other plans might give you a state tax deduction.

Even though there's never a federal deduction for a contribution to a 529, there might be a state deduction, but that doesn't apply in Florida. So you'd be free to choose among any of the state's plans that have a really good track record in terms of the investments. And you can check that out at savingforcollege.com. But essentially, you'd put the money in, Terry, you would invest it like a 401k in that menu of investment choices that that state's 529 made available to you, and then it would grow. And then at the time she's ready to go off to college, you would be able to or she would be able to use that money for qualified educational expenses. Two things I'll mention one is if she gets scholarships and grants, she can pull the money out penalty free on a pro rata basis. And or if she doesn't use all the money or doesn't go to college because she starts a business or does something else goes to the mission field, then she would be able to roll that over to a Roth IRA that would be there for retirement, you know, 40 years later, up to $35,000 of that money. So it's a real great option. And essentially, it acts like a Roth in that the money grows tax free, and then you pull it out tax free so long as it's used for qualified educational expenses. So anyway, that's a bit of an overview. How does that sound? That sounds great. Now you said it was savingsfromcollege.com is the website? Not quite but close savingforcollege.com savingforcollege.com.

Okay. And one other question Rob, can I use my RMD to put into that? You sure could. Yeah, because when you take out the required minimum distribution, if you're 73, which is what that where that RMD kicks in now, then you're going to go and pay the tax on it. And then that's money that you can do whatever you want with. And so if that was the source of money that you were then contributing to the 529, that's great. There's not any tax advantage, you're still gonna have to pay the tax on the money coming out of the IRA. But you could absolutely turn around and then make a contribution to a 529 after that. Okay, yeah, because I give a huge portion of my RMD to my church because I'd rather give it to God than give it to the government. Yeah, sure.

And you do that through a qualified charitable distribution. Is that right? Yes, sir. QCD. Yeah, excellent. So that's the only way to get that money out is you probably know Terry without paying tax on it. So the QCD wouldn't apply here with the 529.

You'd have to take it out, recognize it as income and then turn around and make that contribution. All right. Thank you so much. God bless you, Rob. All right. Thank you, sir. We appreciate you being on the program. To Ohio. Hi, John.

How can I help? Yeah, hi. I was asking a question about my thrift savings plan rolling over to IRA. Would it benefit me to do that now? I'm getting ready to retire within the next five years. I'm eligible now, but, you know, life.

No retiring right now. So I was told that I could roll it over. It would stay fixed at that amount and could only go up in that my I could still keep my thrift savings open and still contribute to that.

That'd be a wise move. I like the idea of rolling the TSP out to an IRA, but I'd love to know more about it can't it can only go up. What are you rolling it into? Like an insurance product? You know that I'm not sure I just was speaking with a guy last night and he was talking to me about it.

I'm not sure that's why I was curious why I was calling you because I'm not quite fully understanding what he's talking about to how that be guaranteed that it wouldn't go down. Yeah, it's probably an IRA annuity, which is a tax deferred annuity, which would not be my first choice. How much have you accumulated in that TSP, John?

It's close to 300, I believe. Yeah. Okay. And how far off is retirement? I realize you said you're eligible to retire, but you need to continue to work for a season. How far off do you anticipate retiring at least at this point? No more than five years.

Okay, got it. And what will you have in addition to this 300,000 and what it grows to over the next five years for retirement? Will you be eligible for Social Security?

Yes, I'm 60 right now. Okay. And so do you have a sense of what that will be just based on your benefit statement?

My Social Security? Yes, sir. I think it's around 1100 or 1400 a month, something like that. Okay, got it.

Yeah. So I mean, if let's say this grows to 350,000, I'd be comfortable with you pulling 4% a year, just as a starting point. So that'd be a little more than, you know, 1000 a month.

So let's call it 1100 a month, if you add that to 1400 a month, we're talking about 2500 a month, I think the question would be, you know, is that enough? Do you have any other income sources in retirement? Or would you be trying to make it just on Social Security plus your TSP? I'll have my retirement from the Postal Service also. Okay, great. Yeah. So could it be that between the Postal Service retirement and Social Security, the goal might be that you don't even touch the 350,000 if that's what it grows to? That's my hopes. Yeah.

Okay, good. Well, I think that puts you in a great position, because if you can limit your lifestyle, live on your postal retirement, plus Social Security, you know, that would be ideal. And then I'd be looking to roll that TSP over to an IRA and have an advisor manage it for you, rather than putting it in an insurance company. There is something nice by transferring the risk away from the markets to an insurance company in the form of an annuity type product, because there's a floor on it, to your point earlier, you can't lose money.

The downside is, in exchange for that floor, there's always a cost for it. And the cost is, you're not going to get the full upside. And so, you know, the way we get the better, you know, annual average annual returns is we take the up with the down, and we manage that risk through diversification and asset allocation. So, you know, if you're retiring at 65, let's say, you know, we might put 40 to 45% in stocks, 55 to 60% in bonds, maybe a small portion of precious metals. We try to smooth it out, get a nice yield coming in. But the real benefit is, even though you're taking on some risk, you are getting 100% of the upside, and you have access to the money if you needed it for long-term care or some other event.

So I like rolling it to an IRA and finding a Certified Kingdom Advisor to manage it. Let's finish up off the air. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.

It's available on desktop or mobile. Simply go to faithfi.com and click App to get started. Well, we're in our final segment here on Faith in Finance. All right now, 800-525-7000. I've got a few lines open, and we will move along quickly, try to get to as many calls as we can. Again, 800-525-7000 to Texas.

Cecil, how can I help? I've got a question on CDs. I had a CD for $10,000, and it matured. And I told the bank, just go ahead and reinvest whatever, redo it. And it turned out to be $10,210, and I just reinvested it. At the end of the year, when income tax comes up, do I have to pay taxes on the profit, which was roughly $210?

Yes, sir, you do. You will get a 1099-INT, which is short for interest, for this year where the interest was credited. And that will be taxable. Taxes due on CD interest is basically considered taxable income by the IRS. So at a federal level, it's going to be taxed at your marginal income tax rate, just like your wages or salary would be. And then you also have, most states also tax CD interest as a part of your taxable income as well. But yes, it will be taxable to you in the year it was credited.

My gosh, you can't get away with it, can you? You try to save a little bit in the bank. If you save it in the bank, they tax you on that.

If you save it on CD, they tax you. My gosh. Okay, hey, thanks. I enjoy your program. You're very informative, and you're very helpful. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you, Cecil. I appreciate it.

800-525-7000. That's true. The IRS is going to get it one way or the other. Although I will say, this new administration is very focused on keeping tax rates low, so you can take more of your hard-earned money and put it back into the economy and a virtuous cycle of productivity and business, which is designed. You know, business offers goods and services, right? Things that should be good for the world and things that serve our neighbors and love them well.

It's part of God's design. And yeah, the more we can get going into business to create human flourishing and productivity and expand wealth so we can give generously as part of God's design, hopefully we'll see more of that in the future. All right, we're going to we've got a lot of calls here.

Let's keep moving along. Mardella, how can I help you there in Arkansas? Well, I have a question regarding the TCW MetLife Total Return Fund, and I have been losing money in that quite steadily. And I would like to change that over to a Timothy Fund of some kind.

And I think you can see that I'm 80 years old, so I would like to change it to something that would make me a little money because I've really been losing in that. Yes. Yes. Well, first of all, I think that's a go ahead. I'm sorry.

I want to keep the fee low. Yeah. OK. And you like making the decisions yourself and picking the funds, correct? You know, you're not looking for an adviser. Well, I'm not really.

I just want to change this one thing. Yeah. Yeah, very good. So you could reach out to Timothy plan directly. They would be happy to talk through their various funds. I don't make actual recommendations on specific investments here.

But what I would tell you, though, Mardella, is that I totally understand your frustration about the performance of your current investments. And I love Timothy plan as a fund family. I mean, they're one of the oldest in the what they call biblically responsible investing fund families.

I refer to it as faith based investing. They have some wonderful funds that would allow you to invest in a way that aligns with your values. And, you know, they have different types of funds that would fit your needs. So if you're looking for a high yield bond fund or an in fixed income fund, you know, if you for the stock portion, if you want to blend between small, mid and large cap or even growth in income, you know, they have those they have defensive strategies. You could even put a little into, you know, the Israel Common Values Fund if that was of interest.

So a lot of options there. You'll see a suite of investments that would allow you, I think, to tailor it to your needs and risk tolerance. But I think just generally, I like the idea, Mardella, of you thinking about using Timothy plan just because I know them well and have a lot of respect for what they do. Because I wanted advice.

Who would I talk to? Yeah, we recommend the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation. So in the financial services world, the only industry accepted designation across the entire industry is for biblically wise financial advice is CKA, which stands for Certified Kingdom Advisor. So these are men and women that have met high standards and character and competence. They've had a pastor and client reference. They've been trained. They've got at least 10 years in the business.

They've had a regulatory review. I mean, there's it's a high bar and you could either search for one there in Arkansas on our Web site. Or if you were not comfortable doing that, I could have somebody call you and give you three or four or five names in your area.

Which would you prefer? Oh, someone call me and give me some names. Got it.

All right. So what's going to happen is somebody from our team will call you. You'll tell them your zip code. They'll put it in the search engine and they'll give you the top three or four names that come up in your area. And then you could reach out and interview them. We also have the ability, Mardella, when we do that search for you. And by the way, anybody who wants to do this themselves can. We can only filter by those CKS that offer what we call faith based investing, like Timothy plan.

So you would be assured that whatever CKA you call can use the fund families like Timothy. OK, OK, OK. That's what I would like. Excellent. So you stay on the line, Mardella. Sandy's going to get your actually I think it's Brent today. Brent's going to get your information and somebody from our team will call you and help get you connected to a CKA. Thank you for calling the program today.

Well, folks, we made some great headway today, covered a lot of ground. You know, folks, as we finish out the program today, let me just invite you to partner with us here at Faith and Finance. This program is brought to you only because of our underwriters and your financial support as a listener supported ministry. Your ability to partner with us as a monthly faithful partner or one time giver is absolutely critical. And so if you've been blessed by the ministry, maybe you listen regularly.

We often hear from people saying, you know what, I've been listening for a long time and I've been able to not only be encouraged, but put some things I've learned along the way to work. Well, we would just say thank you and invite you to be a part of keeping this on the air so we can encourage and equip more of God's stewards. In order to do that, just head to our website. It's faithfi.com. That's faithfi.com. Right there at the top of the page, you can click Give.

That's faithfi.com. Click Give. You'll find a way to give one time and also become a FaithFi partner.

Those are those folks who give at $35 a month or more. And we have a way of saying thanks when you do that. It's each of our studies and devotions come to you pre-release, plus a new publication that will be quarterly that we think you'll really enjoy. You'll get that as well. Just head to our website to become a FaithFi partner.

Again, faithfi.com and click Give. Big thanks to my team today. Couldn't do it without them, Lisa, Dan, Amy, and Jim. We hope you have a great rest of your day and come back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you then. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-22 04:15:18 / 2025-01-22 04:24:50 / 10

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