Aligning Your Financial Goals with God’s Purpose with Rachel McDonough

This faith and finance podcast is underwritten in part by Christian Healthcare Ministries. Are you finding it increasingly challenging to find affordable healthcare? Christian Healthcare Ministries is a budget-friendly, biblical, and compassionate healthcare cost-sharing alternative that aligns with your Christian values.

And it's available in all 50 states and around the world. Learn more at chministries.org faithbuy. The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. Proverbs 20, verse five.

I am Rob West. Man's ultimate purpose is to glorify God, but deciding how we do that can be a challenge. Sometimes we need help from a trusted advisor. I'll talk about that today with Rachel McDonough, 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 decisions. Well, it's always a pleasure to have Rachel McDonough back with us. She's a certified financial planner and a certified kingdom advisor, and lately she's been deep and thought about Proverbs 20, verse five, and how it relates to fulfilling our purpose in life with our financial decisions. Rachel, great to have you back with us. Thanks, Rob.

Happy to be here. Rachel, I think all believers would like to honor God with the way they use the resources entrusted to them, but perhaps sometimes it's difficult to find the right path for that. Would you agree with that idea?

I would, and I would say, too, our culture really makes it difficult and puts some headwinds of opposition in our path. There's so much in our culture that makes us think it's all about us, right? We come to the financial planning process and we think, okay, what are my financial goals? In fact, as a financial advisor, early on in my career, I was trained to ask people, what are their financial goals? So, we get this notion that maybe we should dream up or conjure up some specific goals to have, and that somehow that's the pathway to meaning and purpose and success in life. But inadvertently, what can happen is that if we start with just trying to decide what our goals should be, it's almost like ready, fire, aim, right? We're starting with, what am I shooting at?

What am I targeting? But we aren't taking the time necessarily to back up a step and think through a more biblical framework for how those financial goals should be derived. That's such a big idea, Rachel, and a critical one, I think, for the believer. You know, you and I recently were at a conference together, and I remember something that one of the speakers said, Paul David Tripp, he said, the thing that is your treasure will control your heart.

And what controls your heart will control your words, your behaviors, your choices, and your decisions. The challenge is if we start with a financial product or even a goal, we're not starting with our heart, our values and priorities as believers, and then how can we expect to get to the right outcomes? Isn't that right?

That's exactly right. I think so many times people come to the financial planning process, and they feel like there's this burden of expectation on them to already know what their financial goals are supposed to be. It's almost like if you show up and your financial advisor asks you, what are your financial goals? And you say, I'm not sure.

Somehow you're failing. And there's almost this anxiety tied to that experience. I don't know if any of our listeners can relate to that, but I want to encourage us to approach the financial planning process rather than saying, ready, fire, aim. Let's take a step back and get our foundation laid through understanding our values, our priorities, and then choosing some specific financial goals that are really the right target for us to be aiming towards. That's right. And Rachel, having someone on the outside asking the right questions really can be critical to this process, right?

It can. Oftentimes we operate with a certain set of assumptions, and if we don't have anyone ever challenge those assumptions, we can end up a little off course in changing the trajectory of our financial lives over time. So let me just give you an example from an actual client that I was privileged to counsel a few months ago through the financial planning process. They came looking for a certified kingdom advisor because they wanted a biblical approach. And when we did the values exercise, we learned, among other things, the wife really valued respect and security. The husband, two of his core values were empathy and loyalty.

So we see right away, there's a very loving and respectful dynamic between the husband and wife. And they came with a particular financial goal in mind of being able to build a cabin on a parcel of land, and another financial goal of being able to refinish part of their house. But as we walked through the priorities and the values process, we learned, oh, maybe it's actually a different season that those are for, and there's a better financial goal for this season.

Oh, that's powerful. We're talking today with Rachel McDonough, certified financial planner and certified kingdom advisor about the role of values in our financial decision making and goals. Much more to come just around the corner. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Outreach every month with their generosity has got provided financial answers for you through this ministry. Please consider becoming a monthly partner by visiting faith, find.com and clicking give. Healthcare is complicated.

It doesn't have to be. If you don't love how your health insurance works, maybe it's time to leave traditional health insurance behind. Take charge of your healthcare with Christian healthcare ministries. CHM offers you flexibility. Enroll anytime.

Choose your own provider and select the program that fits your needs and budget. CHM is the original faith-based way of taking care of your medical bill costs. Learn more at chministries.org slash faith vie. Thanks for joining us on faith and finance.

I'm Rob West. Joining me today, Rachel McDonough, my good friend, certified kingdom advisor and certified financial planner. We're talking about, well, Proverbs 20 verse five. The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. How do your values and priorities as a believer inform your financial decisions and goals and do your values inform them?

And if not, perhaps it's a time to back up and really explore your values and allow your money management to be a reflection of what's most important to you as a Christ follower. Well, Rachel McDonough as a certified kingdom advisor is really unpacking what that can look like today. And Rachel, before the break, you were sharing an example, a couple that came in with a particular financial goal in mind. I suspect as an advisor, you have folks coming in all the time with that approach. And yet during the course of the planning, things changed a bit.

Tell us more. Rachel McDonough Yeah, they came in hoping to build a cabin and hoping to refinish part of their home. But what we learned here, some of the financial circumstances where the wife was coming into a large inheritance from her parents, and so they really had an additional amount of resources to make some different choices with. But what I learned as I talked with them about their lifestyle and kind of uncovered some of their pain points, she was in a highly, highly stressful job, like started crying during the financial planning discussion because of the trauma that she was experiencing on a daily basis through her stressful work. And her husband, as I mentioned, one of his values is loyalty and family.

And so he's watching his wife suffer and it's very uncomfortable for him as well. And by just tweaking the what if scenarios in the financial plan, we were able to model out a new scenario for them that they had not really considered before, where the wife would be able to move down to a part time position or even just earn considerably less doing a different type of work that would allow her to feel respected and secure in her work environment again. And and really, that is a much higher priority for them in this season than building a cabin. Right.

Absolutely. Rachel, I'm curious, what did that process look like to uncover those values that then really became key in the planning process? We have a values discovery tool that we use with clients, and it just gets them out of the financial mindset and helps them to think more broadly about their main values, their core values in life in general. And then from there, we can distill some specific financial priorities and then some unique and individual goals for that season.

Yeah. Rachel, we talk a lot on this program about the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation, these men and women who've met high standards and character and competence, but have also been trained to bring a biblical worldview to their professional financial advice. How can a CKA really be key in this process? Well, a CKA is going to have a unique mindset because what the world tells us is that it's all about us, right? There was a financial institution that had this dream process that they trademarked where they would help clients think about what were their dreams for the future. Well, dreaming is good when we're dreaming with God, but if we're just dreaming up things for us to pursue, those can really become idols that we end up serving over time rather than the inspired dreams that God has for us, our Ephesians 2 10, the good works that he planned in advance for us to do. So, having a like-minded advisor to walk with you prayerfully through the discovery process of your values, your priorities, and the specific goals for this season as they align with God's purpose for your life is really a unique value. That's really helpful. Rachel, can you give us some examples of the sort of questions that someone might hear from a Certified Kingdom Advisor who's really attempting to draw out the purposes of the client's heart?

Yeah, absolutely. One of the things that we like to ask clients is, you know, what do you think the Lord would have you pursue? Like, what do you think God's goals for you are in this season? Another one we might ask is, at this season of life, do you need more income or more impact? And just helping clients differentiate because if they've been in a season where they really needed to prioritize providing for their families and pursuing career goals and now they're in a season of life where they have the opportunity and the capacity to pursue impact, we want to help them shift graciously into that new season of life and pursue all that God has made available for them.

Yeah, that's really helpful. You know, Rachel, I've answered, as you have hundreds and hundreds, I guess on the radio here, thousands of questions from people about money and counseled with lots and lots of families. And my experience is, no matter the income level, people have guilt, shame, and regret about money. And those that are most free from the emotional byproducts of financial decision-making have really asked and answered the questions, who owns it and how much is enough? And I think as we begin to process God's ownership in our role as a steward, and then really the enough question, both for our lifestyle and our accumulation, it does completely change everything about how we approach our finances. And then if we put the values at the center of that for our personal goals, as a reflection of that, it really changes the conversation. That biblical worldview of money management is completely different than what you will hear in the world and what you'll probably get from your typical advisor, right? That's right. Hopefully the CKA is an advisor who is uniquely equipped to co-labor with God, to draw out the Lord's purposes for that individual's life and not just help them to chase after things that the world tells them that they need.

Yeah. And so then if we go back to the client scenario you mentioned, Rachel, how can we then translate this newfound purpose that you've uncovered in the discovery process into real financial strategies and recommendations that are very practical? Yeah, that's a great question because it has to be specific, right? What we decided to do with this client, the recommendations came out and they're still wrestling through this. I don't want you to get the impression that clients instantaneously see, oh, this must be what God's plan is for my life, right?

We wrestle through things and we pray over them. But the wife, we had her set up with a scenario where she was able to earn about half of her previous earnings. The husband who had retired a bit early because he was in the same stressful line of work, he decided to go actually back into the workforce again to give some relief to his wife and take some of the earning pressure off of her.

And then as those inherited assets began to come in, they were able to have the option if they wanted to fully retire, they would have the option to cover their health insurance costs before reaching age 65 when Medicare would kick in. And then they also had the option to not get rid of the cabin goal, but just postpone it a bit until some of the more immediate priorities were addressed. And then we left that cabin goal in the financial plan as something that would transpire in a future season if they still agree that it was important down the road once things were settled at home. That's really great.

Just about 45 seconds remaining, Rachel. So I know you've done this process over and over again with clients. Talk about the fruit. What's the result that comes as you watch clients live out their purpose and their passions and their values in the financial decisions they're making? I will say for clients who are willing to operate out of surrender and really desire to choose what do I believe God's will is and God's purposes for my life and for my finances, the number one fruit that I experience is actually freedom from regret. And then you also see the fruit of the spirit, the peace and the joy and the connectedness with one another, the love that can come from operating out of that sense of wholeness.

Wow, that's powerful. Rachel, really appreciate your insights. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for having me. That's Rachel McDonough, certified financial planner and certified kingdom advisor. If you'd like to find a CKA in your area, just go to faithfi.com and click Find a Professional. We'll be right back.

Stick around. We're grateful for support from Guidestone, whose diversified suite of investment solutions align with Christian values to create positive change in the world. More information is available at guidestonefunds.com slash faith. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of Guidestone funds before investing.

They're distributed by Foresight Funds Distributors, LLC, which is not an advisory affiliate, a registered investment advisor, nor do they provide investment advice. If the heavy burden of debt is robbing you of freedom and peace of mind, Christian credit counselors can help. We're a nationwide nonprofit credit counseling organization that has helped over 300,000 individuals in the last 27 years get out of credit card debt 80% faster while honoring that debt in full. To learn how Christian credit counselors can help you visit christiancreditcounselors.org. That's christiancreditcounselors.org or call 800-557-1985. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. We'd love to get to as many calls as we can. That means your opportunity to call right now.

Here's the number 800-525-7000. You probably have some questions you've been wrestling with in your financial life. We love to hear those questions. It gives us an opportunity to help mind the scriptures, bring you some solid financial advice to make steps forward with confidence, but knowing that you're aligning with God's truth because we know the ultimate source of truth is found in God's Word, and that includes this topic of money. Would you believe that almost a quarter of what Jesus talked about had connections to money? The parables. I mean, we see a lot throughout scripture in the Old and New Testaments, some big themes related to money and money management.

Why is that? Well, I believe it's not because God needs our money. We've already established, and we do all the time here on this program, it all belongs to Him, right? The cattle on a thousand hills, the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, all who dwell therein. Everything belongs to Him and is for His glory and His purposes. And so what does that mean for us? Well, it means that we have to accept our role as manager or steward, what the Bible translates as household manager of the King of Kings resources.

Well, that's a really high calling. We want to understand that role and responsibility, realizing that money is a good gift from God. It's one of His good creations entrusted to us for us to provide and enjoy and to use to bring Him glory, and I think to give generously, even to deploy as capital, to bring funding to business, which is also a part of God's plan for goods and services.

It's not any accident. I don't think that we talk about business providing goods and services, things that should be good for human flourishing and for mankind, services serving one another. Well, the way we supply capital to business, going back to the 1400 and 1500s, starting with the maritime trade, was through investment. Well, there's a conferred, I think, ethical responsibility there when we're taking the capital God has entrusted to us, putting it to work in business, and how should we think about that? What companies should we be invested in? What companies should we avoid? How should we use our influence with those companies? You know, there's a whole worldview that needs to, as a Christ follower, be applied to every facet of our lives, but that includes our money. Well, we want to help you with that each day on this program, so let's do that together. Then I'm going to call 800-525-7000.

To Texas, hi Summer, go ahead. Yes, I was just wondering the best way to invest $5,000 for my daughter and the best biblical, you know, way to invest it for her future. She's 12. I love that. That's a great idea. So when you say I want to invest for my daughter $5,000, that's great, she's 12, and you said I want to do it biblically, tell me what you're thinking there. Are you wanting to make sure the investments align with your biblical values? Yes, sir, yes, and just for it to grow and I'm sure, you know, we're going to add to it and just what overall would be the best outlook for that.

Yeah, excellent. So the first question is what type of account to put it in before we even get to the investment selection. And the big question there when it comes to kids is, do we want to earmark this money specifically for college or not? And I don't think there's a right or wrong answer there, but that really is the first question, because that will determine which direction we go with the type of account.

Have you thought about that? Yeah, it would be probably for college. I don't know if he is going to try and pursue a sports scholarship for her future or, you know, you know, for college, but I just.

Yeah, excellent. Well, if you want it for college, and you there are, were, let me say there is an opportunity to get the money back on a pro rata basis, if she gets scholarship awards and grants, and so you would be able to get it back. Now, if she decided not to go to college, because she started a business or, you know, something else, then that money would be in there. And, you know, you'd have to pay some tax and a penalty on it to get it out. Or you could systematically roll it over to a Roth IRA for her up to $35,000. And that would happen over multiple years, where she would then have the beginning of a retirement account that could grow for, you know, 40 or 50 years and amount to a lot of money, which would be great. But if you if you said, you know, no, Rob, I'd rather this money, you know, just kind of be available for any purpose, then I would keep it outside of a college plan.

So let's talk about both options. If you want to go the college route, I like the 529 college savings plan. So what I would do is head to a website saving for college.com. And they could help you determine which state's plan would be best for you because you don't have to use the Texas 529. And the reason you may not want to is there may be another state that has better returns. So it's kind of like a 401k. Each 529 plan has a menu of investment options inside the plan.

And some of them, at least historically speaking, have performed better than others. And saving for college will help you determine which states plan to use. But again, that money is earmarked for college. And so it grows tax free as long as you use it for qualified educational expenses.

If you decide not to, and there's not scholarships or grants or awards, then you'd either have to pay the tax in a penalty, or you could roll it to a Roth. If you decided you wanted to keep the money just kind of available for any purpose, I'd probably just put it in a brokerage account in your name or you and your husband's name in earmarked for your daughter. The reason being if you did a custodial account, it automatically becomes her money at the age of majority.

So let's say age 18. If she's not spiritually or financially mature enough to handle it, you may not want her to have the money, but you wouldn't have a choice at that point. So I'd probably keep it in a brokerage account in your name. And then you could use one of the faith based investing mutual funds, like the Timothy plan or Eventide or One Ascent. And, you know, just put that money in, add to it systematically whenever you want and just let it grow.

And then you could decide when to give it to her. But if you do really just kind of come in full circle here, and I'll get your thoughts. If you do think, you know what, we're probably just going to end up using this for college.

I like the 529 because it would be able to grow tax free. And that's a real benefit. But give me your thoughts on all that. Well, I've been writing it all down. And I do believe that I'm going to get with my husband and let him know what I, what you have, the ideas you give me and see what he thinks about that, because it was good information. Excellent.

Well, if you guys have questions as you talk it through summer, don't hesitate to call back and I'd be happy to help. Lord bless you. Thanks for calling today. Folks, we're so glad to have you along with us today. We covered a lot of ground, but always look forward to being invited into your stories and taking you back to God's word and helping you consider your financial decisions in light of sound biblical wisdom. Let me say thanks to my team today.

Certainly couldn't do this without him, Jim Henry, Devin Patrick, and Robert Youngblood handling our phones today. Here on Faith and Finance, we want to bring you God's wisdom for managing your financial decisions. You can learn more and listen to our broadcast archives when you head to faithbuy.com. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you and we'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.