Slow and Steady Wins the Race

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 we'll explore how this biblical principle plays out in real life, 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, in today's fast-paced world, financial success is often measured by how quickly one can accumulate wealth. Social media is filled with stories of overnight millionaires, high-risk investments, and shortcuts to riches. To illustrate this principle, let's look at the real-life story of an executive at a major Western bank.

We'll call him Brian to protect his anonymity. Brian began his finance career in the 1990s, confident in his ability to manage money. However, he now admits that he was living beyond his means and accumulating debt. This financial instability made him especially susceptible to the allure of quick wealth, particularly during the height of the dot-com boom in the early 2000s.

Like many others at the time, Brian had not yet embraced the biblical wisdom that chasing quick wealth often leads to financial ruin. When a co-worker offered him a chance to get in on the ground floor of a can't-lose tech startup, Brian didn't hesitate. He scraped together $10,000, convinced he was on the fast track to wealth. In his mind, success was inevitable.

He was already preparing to celebrate. But before he could, Brian heard the sound of the dot-com bubble bursting. His investment vanished, lost in a new company he knew little about. He had chased quick wealth, only to face the painful consequences. His story echoes the warnings of Proverbs 28-20, It's important to understand that God doesn't punish people for making bad financial choices.

Rather, poor decisions naturally lead to consequences. Proverbs 13-11 teaches that when money is gained too quickly, whether through reckless speculation, gambling, or unethical shortcuts, it often lacks a foundation of wisdom and discipline, making it easy to lose. 1 Timothy 6, 9, and 10 warns those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. If Proverbs 13-11 warns against hasty wealth, it also points us to a better way.

Whoever gathers little by little will increase it. This principle isn't flashy, but it's powerful. True financial growth happens gradually through wisdom, patience, and discipline. Rather than seeking quick riches, God calls us to work diligently and earn honestly in Colossians 3-23, save and invest wisely over time in Proverbs 21-20, and be generous and steward money for His purposes in 2 Corinthians 9, 6, and 7. Financial success isn't about speed. It's about faithfulness over time.

Or as the late Eugene Peterson put it so well, it's about long obedience in the same direction. Brian's story didn't end with financial ruin. Instead of giving up, he decided to take a biblical money management class through his church.

That's when things started to turn around. He learned to be more disciplined with his finances, budgeting, saving, and living within his means. Eventually, he began investing again, but this time he avoided speculation and focused on something he understood, real estate.

He started small, took his time, and remained patient. Because he built his investments wisely, his real estate holdings survived the housing crash and the Great Recession. Over time, he was even able to start a fitness-related business with his son, something he had always dreamed of. That business survived the challenges of COVID and is still thriving today.

Brian's financial recovery was an instant. It was the result of steady, faithful growth over many years. His story is a testament to the wisdom of Proverbs 13-11. Building wealth little by little often leads to long-term success.

Now, if you've experienced financial setbacks, don't lose heart. The key is to keep moving forward. The world promotes shortcuts, but God calls us to faithfulness. If we embrace patience, diligence, and godly stewardship, we'll not only experience financial security, but also the joy of honoring him with our resources. So instead of chasing instant success, let's follow God's way, one wise step at a time. All right, your calls are next, 800-525-7000.

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This institution is not federally insured. Hey, thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm really looking forward to hearing from you today. We're taking your calls and questions today on anything financial. This show is really dedicated to helping you live as a faithful steward, recognizing your role and managing God's money. And we know that happens every day in a variety of forms and you have questions about your spending plan or you're giving, perhaps you're investing or saving. Maybe it's trying to dump debt and you're just frustrated.

You haven't been able to do that more quickly. Well, if we can help you, we'd be delighted to. You can call right now. We've got lines open. Sandy Dickinson ready to take your calls today and we'll get you on the air quickly. That number, 800-525-7000. Again, it's 800-525-7000. We would look forward to hearing from you right now with lines open. They won't be open long, but now you can get right through.

Again, 800-525-7000. In the news today, every cloud might really have a silver lining. Well, at least the looming cloud of higher prices due to tariffs seems to have a bit of an upside. Fear and uncertainty over tariffs is credited with pushing down mortgage rates this past week. The average 30-year fixed rate fell to 6.73%.

That's the lowest since December. Now, mortgage rates tend to move in line with the 10-year Treasury yield, which fell to 4.2%. Now, all of that sparked a huge jump in mortgage applications, which were up a full 12% from just the prior week. REFI loan applications soared a whopping 37%, indicating that a lot of folks have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for rates to come down, even a tick.

They may have resigned themselves to the idea that rates aren't going back to 2.5% or 3% anytime soon and they're simply tired of waiting to buy or refinance. Now, if you're thinking about applying for a mortgage, make sure you factor in the full cost of the loan, including not just the monthly payments but also the closing costs, the insurance, the property taxes, the HOA fees, if any, and the like. Give yourself some margin in your budget for all of your housing expenses and make sure you don't borrow up to the limit set by the lender. That will often result in a monthly payment that strains your budget.

What is that guideline, if you will? Well, 25% to 30% at the most of your take-home pay is really that number that I would be most comfortable with in you allocating to that principal interest, taxes, and insurance payment. You're going to need more. You're going to need money beyond that for housing maintenance and utilities, but at least for the PITI, if you can target that 25% of take-home pay for your rent or your mortgage payment, that would be ideal. It'll ensure that you have plenty left over for everything else. What about that down payment?

Well, that's really the 20% target that we set for you for two reasons. One is that's going to allow you to enter with some equity on the front end. That's a good thing if we were to see housing prices take a dip. We're not expecting that, but if we did, houses are not immune from ever going down, that's for sure. At least you'd have some equity in there.

You'd never be in an upside-down position. Second reason is going to keep that mortgage payment as low as possible by you saving up and putting more down. Thirdly, it's going to ensure that you don't pay that PMI, the private mortgage insurance, which can run you 1% of the mortgage balance.

It doesn't do anything for you. It's purely for the lender, and so we'd love for you to be able to take advantage of that fully. All right, let's dive into your questions today. We've got lines open.

We're ready for you. That number to call again, 800-525-7000. Again, that's 800-525-7000. You can call right now. Let's begin out in Kansas today. We'll welcome Judy to the broadcast. Go ahead.

Hi, thanks for taking my call. I've got notice from my bank. It's an arbitration provision and class action waiver, a dispute resolution by individual arbitration. What does that even mean?

Yes. Are they asking you to sign it and return it or what? There's no place to sign, but I have the right to opt out. And I don't, first of all, I don't know what it means. I don't know what happens if I opt out. I'm just confused by this.

Yeah. Well, I would say, you know, generally speaking, and obviously these ultimately come down to legal matters, so you could get some legal counsel here, and arbitration might be the right choice for some cases. Essentially, arbitration, Judy, is where you're settling a dispute by a third party, and it's intended to be objective and independent and avoid the high cost of getting the court involved. Binding arbitration is becoming more common for resolving disputes in the financial services industry.

Sometimes you can't open an account without agreeing to use the process. Individual arbitration seeks to resolve the situation where only one individual or entity on each side is involved rather than multiple parties. So the big idea is that it's faster and cheaper than a court and maintains confidentiality. I would say critics might argue that it stacks the deck against customers.

But here's what I would say. I think it's generally a good idea to opt out of forced arbitration to preserve your options. And the idea here is that you can always agree later to use an arbitrator to resolve any dispute. And if you've opted out, you're going to have more negotiating power if there ever is a problem. So if it were me, I would probably opt out and retain my right to litigate. But considering how costly that might be, recognize that I might want to take the arbitration option when that time comes. Does that make sense?

That's great advice. Yes, I just I had no idea what I was looking at here. Okay, very good. Yeah, I realize sometimes the fine print can be challenging to understand when we're getting into legal terms.

But hopefully that's helpful as you think through what might be the best option for you. We appreciate your call today. Lord bless you. Let's go to Naperville. Hi, Ruth, go ahead. Hi, Rob.

Thank you so much for taking my call. My question for you is that I am doing a remodel. My husband has Parkinson's and what started the remodel is I needed to do the bathroom to accommodate him.

And this particular just the bathroom is going to be about 25 to 30,000. Is it better to take out of the bucket to which would be my 401? Or would it be better to take out of the bucket of my home, which is paid off and has been for about seven years?

Yeah. Or is there a bucket three option, which is take it out of your home in the form of a home equity loan that you pay back, and you still own the home free and clear once it's paid off? I mean, the benefit of the reverse mortgage is you'd never have a payment unless you wanted to. So it gives you the flexibility to not pay it back and just let it grow with interest and fees, or to pay it back and get back into a place where you own your home free and clear. It's just a more expensive option. Because the fees are higher. I mean, right up front, you've got the 2% fee to the FHA to make sure that you never owe more than the house is worth. And then you've got fees on top of that annually plus the interest that's accruing.

So probably the least expensive way would be to do it just with a straight home equity loan, but it would require you have enough cash flow, Ruth, to be able to cash flow the payments on this thing to ultimately pay it back. Is that a position you're in? Or would that be a problem?

Well, we have my husband's retirement and then both of our social and then I'm working, I would like to stop working. So then that would put us down a little bit. I think we could make payments.

I mean, that's not an issue. But you would rather go with that. Well, you know, if you are if you feel like you're going to be squeezed on it, that's where the reverse mortgage could be a blessing to you. Because again, you could take it as a line of credit, meaning you don't have to take what you don't need. There'd be a little higher fees, but you'd have the choice. Do we make a payment on it on it?

Or do we not? And if you don't, you're able to do the renovations you want and enjoy them and accommodate your husband and his health needs, and still have plenty of money to cover your living expenses. I mean, that's where a reverse mortgage I think really shines. And you don't have to continue to pull money out. So I'd check with our friends at Movement Mortgage movement.com slash faith. Stay on the line. I'll make sure you have the information during the break and we'll be right back.

Stay with us. to help align financial choices and faith, ensuring a portfolio that reflects what matters most. Crossmark does this through investment solutions that span the capital market spectrum from large cap to small cap strategies, including equity, fixed income and balance strategies. They are led by industry veteran Bob Doll, CFA, a regular guest on the faith and finance program.

More information is available at crossmarkglobal.com. As the leading advocate for the Christian financial industry, Kingdom Advisors serves the public by promoting the integration of a biblical worldview across every aspect of the financial services industry. And we serve a growing network of thousands of Christian financial professionals, equipping and empowering them to carry biblical financial wisdom to their clients, peers and community. For more information, visit kingdomadvisors.com.

That's kingdomadvisors.com. Thanks for joining us today on faith and finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions today.

We've got room for maybe one or two more. 800-525-7000 to North Carolina. Hi, Alex. How can I help? Thanks for taking my call.

I was listening to your program and I just have a question that is, I have to take a decision very quick. My wife, she had an open heart surgery at the end of 23. And unfortunately, everything went okay. She is fine now, but she's unable to work as the probable bypass that she had. So it's almost impossible for her to keep on some activities continually.

My question is this. She's got now disability, federal disability from the postal service, and she's getting social security also. But I want to keep on building some retirement for her, like a Roth IRA. I understand that I can open one for her as I am working spouse for her. But I don't know if that would affect the benefits that she's getting right now. Do you know anything about it?

I do. Yeah, it's a good question. And you're onto the right track here. So that would be exactly the way that you do it because she can have an IRA even if she's disabled and not working, but the spousal IRA would be the way to go. That's again, as you point out for a non working spouse, and then you could contribute to that IRA, either Roth or traditional based on your income as the working spouse. So long as your earned income covers the contribution limits for both, then she could put in the full amount in her Roth IRA. And then the IRA assets do not affect SSDI because it's based on work history, not financial resources, and you can have any amount in an IRA without affecting those benefits. So I think that would be the way to go.

Okay, one more question. The limit, I know I understand for me, I'm 53. So my limit is 8000 a year, but if I open one for her, will that be split or is another amount the limit for her personal IRA? Well, actually, IRA is individual.

Do you know if that's a 8000 for both or, or it's a different amount? Yeah, no, she can do the higher catch up limit in the spousal IRA if she's 50 or older. So if she's over the age of 50, then she would be able to do the 8000 in the spousal IRA. Okay, well, that sounds great. And if I open one IRA for her now, can I still fund it 2024 or it's just for 2025?

No, you can do 2024 so long as you haven't filed your 2024 tax return yet. Okay, that's awesome. Thank you so much, sir. Okay. God bless you. Thank you so much. I appreciate your call today. May the Lord bless you as well, sir. Let's go to Tom in Georgia.

Tom, how can I help? I'm 65 talking with the guys about, you know, retiring, maybe in a couple of years. And they said, Why don't you take your, you know, your social security now, versus when I'm 67?

I don't really need to use it right now. But they said, you know, take it now and invest it versus waiting. But I would get a little bit more.

And then I thought, well, what if I wait till I'm 70 and get a bunch more? It's a possibility of the investment. Is that a greater chance of even making more money by holding off?

Or what do you think? What's a good option there? Yeah, you know, it really comes down to it's a great question, Tom, it really comes down to several factors. So longevity, your financial needs, your other income sources, and perhaps even tax considerations. So the bottom line is at full retirement age, you obviously get 100% of what they call your primary insurance amount, which you can find at myssa.gov. If you were to wait fully until age 70, your benefit would increase by 8% a year, essentially. So you could get depending on what your full retirement age is somewhere between 24 and 32% more than full retirement age. So if your benefit was 2500 a month at age 70, it could be, you know, 31 $3200 a month.

Now, what would be the break even? Well, you would need to live past that point, which is typically somewhere between 80 and 82 in order to be paid back for everything that you gave up. And then you'd have that higher check for the rest of your life.

If you passed away earlier, which obviously only the Lord knows that. But, you know, then we would look in hindsight and say, well, claiming at full retirement age may have been better. But I think, you know, if you have a family history of living beyond that you're in, you know, good financial health right now, I would say, you know, the likelihood that you're going to live beyond 82 is pretty good. And therefore, you know, it's this idea that you're going to get this guaranteed 8% return per year, which you're certainly not going to get in the market guaranteed. And then, you know, so long as you live long enough to be able to be repaid for what you didn't receive, then, you know, you might really be glad in your 90s that you've got this higher check that you could use for long term care or other purposes. Does that make sense?

Yeah. One follow up, let's say I start taking Social Security, but I don't use it and I invested good option right now at my age 65. Some good things to consider, you know, obviously not long term, but short term, a good idea. Where do I put all that money?

And what what's, you know, you said the market's not looking great. So, you know, IRA, Roth, I don't know, mutual funds, you know, I don't really know what I could get back that might make sense. Yeah, I mean, obviously, if you were to take Social Security at full retirement age and start investing those monthly benefits instead of spending them, you know, then your breakeven age compared to waiting until age 70 will change depending on your investment returns. So normally, without investing the breakeven is, you know, 80 to 82. However, if you invest those and earn a reasonable return, you know, it can shift to later, you know, for sure. And so I think the question is just what would you do with it? You know, I think at that point depends on whether you have earned income or not as to whether you could put it into a Roth IRA. If you, you know, put it in a taxable account, then obviously the taxes are going to have a drag on the return, I would probably take that and just start systematically investing it into a, you know, a mutual balanced mutual fund that's balanced between stocks and, and bonds, you could decide to take a little bit more risk. I mean, just to give you a sense of how that would impact it, if you were to take that money every month at full retirement age, and you would get a just a 6% return on the money, that would shift your breakeven from 80 to 82 up to, you know, 85 to 87. If you got an 8% return during those years, that could push it all the way out to age 90.

And so that is a factor for somebody who doesn't need the money and could invest it. Does that make sense? It does, really. I appreciate that. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah, you're welcome. Thanks for calling, Tom. It was a great question.

And hopefully that gives you a few things to think about. Hey, let me finish today by just saying thanks for being on the program. Thanks for listening. And so many of you are such an encouragement, even our callers today, just sharing how this program has been a blessing to you. If you found this program to be a blessing, or you want to help us reach more people with this message, the way to do that is to become a FaithFi partner. This is the lifeblood of our ministry, those who support us at $35 a month or more. You can become a partner at faithfi.com. Just click Give, and we'll send you four issues of Faithful Steward, our magazine, plus all of our studies and devotionals.

As soon as they come out, they go to your door. Thanks to my team today, Devin, Sandy, Jim. Check us out at faithfi.com, and we'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you.