Is Your House a Money Pit?

Are prices rising ahead of your paycheck? When that happens, it can really put a crimp in your budget. You have to look for ways around the house where you can cut expenses, but what if your house itself is a money pit? Well, you certainly don't want to waste money on energy and repairs when you can avoid it, so today we'll look at some ways to keep your house from eating you out of house and home. Financial planner and teacher Rob West has some thoughts on that, then he'll take your calls and questions on any financial topic, but don't call in. Today's program is actually pre-recorded in spite of the name. I'm Steve Moore, and welcome to Money Wise Live. Rob, I think a lot of people might be like me. We like to think that we run a pretty tight ship, but where might we be wasting money around the house?

Well, let's break them into two categories, Steve. Energy and home maintenance, and we'll start with energy costs for heating and cooling your home. If you haven't checked with your utility about ways to save energy, you should.

They may be able to help. For example, sometimes they'll install an energy saving device on the outside of your home, usually for free. And there are several other low or no cost things you can do. Obviously, you can lower your thermostat in the winter.

If you do that by just one degree for eight hours a day, it'll save you up to two percent on your heating costs. Another freebie is turning off your lights, of course. But another is unplugging chargers and computers when you're not using them. You see, these and other appliances are called vampire energy wasters because they still use power if plugged in. The EPA says Americans waste $10 billion a year in vampire costs.

And who knew, Rob? You're one of those guys that believes in vampires. You seem like so practical in every other way. Okay. All right.

What else? Well, here are a couple more free ones. Vacuum your refrigerator coils maybe twice a year. I know you do this regularly, Steve.

I look forward to it. Dusty fridge coils could cost you up to 50 percent efficiency. Then don't run the dishwasher or clothes washer unless you have a full load.

Also, with today's detergents, cold water often works as well as hot. That'll cut energy costs for sure. And don't pull the fridge out from the wall too far because back behind there where the coils are, that could be where more vampires lurk. Oh, okay.

Thank you. But those ideas don't cost anything. And you have some ideas that will cost something, I know. But will they be worth it in the long run? Yes, they will.

So let me dive in. For example, switching to LED and CFL light bulbs. Now, they cost more, as you point out, but last longer and use less energy, sometimes up to 75 percent less. Next, we get into a little more money installing ceiling fans. They don't cost much to operate, but they could allow you to keep the thermostat a few degrees higher in the summer. Each degree saves you about one percent in cooling costs.

You can also replace weather stripping around doors and windows if it's worn. Now, this last one in the energy category will definitely cost you some money, but you'll eventually have to do it anyway. When a major appliance like the fridge or washer breaks down and you have to replace it, make sure you get one that's ENERGY STAR compliant. Most new appliances are compliant, but look for a big yellow sticker indicating that when you're shopping around. That's good.

All right. So much for saving energy. What do we have in the home maintenance category? Right, but keep in mind that some of these maintenance items will also reduce energy costs, and they can save you huge repair or replacement bills by extending operating life. So, first is have your heating and cooling systems serviced. Also, make sure to change the filter regularly, at least every three months.

Some people say as often as every month. This will keep those units running efficiently. You might also consider getting a maintenance plan with an HVAC company, especially if your system is older.

So that's inside. On the outside of your house, periodically inspect your rain gutters, downspouts, and the roof. Clogged gutters and downspouts can cause ice damming in colder climates, and that can lead to roof leaks and they can lead to mold formation. Very expensive to remove mold. Also, make sure you don't have any torn or curling shingles and that the flashing is in good shape. You may want to have a contractor do these inspections if you're afraid of heights. Based on the summer we've had this year, I'm not sure my air conditioner has ever gone off, and I'm thankful that we have an air conditioning system that works, but it doesn't work on its own and it does need to be checked, even if things seem to be running well at the moment, right?

Well, that's exactly right, and now they have some of these programmable thermostats that will automatically adjust the temperature when you're away from the house and things like that. That can save you some money in the long run as well. All right. He's Rob West. I'm Steve Moore. This is MoneyWise Live, but today's program is not live, so we'll speak with some pre-recorded listeners next. Money and life run on the same track, but unfortunately, sometimes it seems like your money is heading in a different direction from your goals. In Never Enough, Three Keys to Financial Contentment, author Ron Blue helps you to break down all your financial options to a basic four, and then shows you how to keep it all chugging along in the right direction on the same track. Never Enough, Three Keys to Financial Contentment, available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. When it comes to investing guidance, you want advice grounded in God's word. That's the approach offered by Soundmind Investing. SMI has helped tens of thousands of Christians acquire investing wisdom and confidence. Regardless of your investing experience or how much you have to invest, you can learn to be a wise and faithful steward in the area of investing.

A short video webinar on profit and peace of mind is available now at SoundmindInvesting.org. I was sitting in my hotel room recently, alone. I closed my eyes and I saw my wife's face. I wasn't alone anymore.

Hi, I'm Bernie Dymett. Have you ever had that? You picture someone who loves you.

There's a warmth, a light that just floods your body. If God's supposed to love us, can that happen with God? Can we actually get a handle on him and know that love?

Good question. It's why he sent his son Jesus. Do you want to know what God looks like?

Look at Jesus. God who became man. God who loved the unlovable. God who suffered and died for me, for you. In the very beginning, he said, let there be light, and there was. It's the same God who wants to shine in our hearts the light of knowing him in the face of Jesus Christ. No matter where we are, how alone we feel, how good or bad or indifferent our lives are, let there be light.

Jesus. 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. It's nice to have you listening today. It's MoneyWise Live with Rob West and I'm Steve Moore. And it's like I said, it's a real pleasure to have you out there. We know you have lots of options to choose from. But the fact that you're listening to this radio station means a lot to us. In fact, don't forget, this is the time of year when lots of stations do need your prayer support and your financial support. So if you hear this radio station asking for that right now, prayerfully consider it. Obviously, you want to be generous with what God's given you. First, you want to support your local church. But then, if you're being taught and blessed by this radio station, well, give that some thought and prayer.

And I think you'll be blessed when you do. All right. Let's go back to our phones here. Let's see.

Idaho, I think it is. Hi, Bob. How are you today? I'm doing fine. Thanks for taking my question.

Sure. In light of the rapid expansion of the federal debt trying to prop up the U.S. GDP and the likely devaluation of the U.S. dollar resulting from this, what will be extremely high debt, wouldn't precious metals be a reasonable investment for the carnage that is sure to follow sometime in the near few years? You know, Bob, everything you're saying is sound.

I agree. We have expanded our balance sheet significantly as a result of this pandemic. The Federal Reserve has basically said that they're willing to put every tool at their disposal in play. They're printing money, supporting the economy.

They even just recently announced that they were going to start buying corporate debt, which was a first for the United States. So I would agree this is something we're going to have to deal with in the years ahead. We're going to have to get budgets balanced. We're going to have to start taking this thing the other direction, not just continuing to mount more and more debt, especially now that we've grown the debt beyond the GDP for a year at $22 trillion.

And we're going to have to get serious about it. Was it necessary? I think in many ways it was. Unfortunately, during the years of the greatest economic expansion we'd ever seen, we didn't take the resources we had and start paying down the debt.

We just continued to live, in a sense, beyond our means. And so that just adds to this effect here. Are there inflationary implications to this? Sure. Does that mean it could have an effect on the dollar?

Absolutely. So what you're saying is right, and gold is in fact an inflation hedge. Gold has always been a good inflation hedge. And for our listeners, basically what we mean by that is it's an investment that's considered to protect the decreased purchasing power of a currency, in this case the U.S. dollar, that comes from the loss of its value.

Because of rising prices, either macroeconomically or because of inflation. So I like the idea of you having an allocation to gold. The thing that I wouldn't do, though, is have a highly concentrated position or abandon your long-term investment strategy and overweight gold. I would have it as perhaps a 5 or 10% max allocation that provides some stabilization in the event we get into higher inflation or a falling dollar, or we have some challenges in the U.S. stock market, and so with an uncorrelated asset it'll provide some protection. It's just historically been more volatile with less performance than I would like to see. And I don't think we're headed toward a major problem here in the United States based on our current debt levels, as long as once we're on the other side of this in the coming years we're willing to get serious about it, and of course that remains to be seen. So I like an allocation. I agree with what you're saying. There are some concerns long-term, and gold is an inflation hedge.

I just wouldn't go overweight gold because of the reasons that I mentioned. Does that make sense, Bob? Yeah, it does, and I go back to the picture of the wheelbarrow full of cash in Zimbabwe, I think it was. They were in super high inflation to buy a whole wheelbarrow of their cash to buy a loaf of bread, and so I don't know how I agree with you fully that we can't sustain this. But all the economists I trust, Bob, really don't see any kind of hyperinflation or massive inflation on the horizon. It doesn't mean we couldn't have it down the road if we continue on this track, but not anytime soon.

Again, you could find just about any economist to say anything if you look long enough, but I'm just saying the people that I trust don't feel like we're anywhere close to that in the near term or even in the medium term. So I think you have a reasonable allocation, and beyond that, you keep a well-diversified portfolio. Bob, thank you very much for calling in today.

Great question, a question that lots of people have wondered about and I'm sure will continue to wonder about in the years ahead. Queensbury, New York. Hello, Ann. Welcome to MoneyWise. And what's on your mind?

Hello. I am 67 years old. My husband is two. I retired last year. He will retire a year from now.

We saved over the years, so we're in a pretty good position. He'll have a pension when he retires. My question is, I have a guaranteed income annuity, and I also have a CD that came mature two weeks ago. So when he retires next year, I have to decide where is the supplement for the income going to come from. He has the pension, but that's not near as much as he makes working. Should I tap into the guaranteed income annuity, or do I invest this CD, which is significant, it's $450,000. Do I invest that now to build up dividends to start taking income from it next year?

It's a non-qualified CD. I see. Okay. So you obviously can convert this guaranteed income annuity to a payment stream for life, and if you were to do that based on the numbers you've seen, if you were to convert this to a monthly income stream, plus your husband's pension, would that be enough to cover your expenses? With our Social Security, yes.

Yeah, okay. So the reason I like that, Anne, is it kind of takes all the guesswork out of it and puts you in a position where you all know that your bills are covered, you've got this guaranteed income stream for life between the annuity, the pension, and Social Security. You can budget around that.

You've obviously kept your lifestyle at a minimum. You've prioritized saving and remaining debt-free. And then it allows you to take this $450,000 that's coming due and just put a well-diversified portfolio in place that could perhaps have an allocation to stocks with perhaps some dividends, some fixed income in there as well, which would just throw off additional funds that you could have available as you need them down the road, be it long-term care or additional giving. You could also look at another type of policy that would bring some tax benefits to that. But I like the idea of you all having this base of income that you can count on to know that your bills are covered and whatever is needed is there for your future. Let me just finish by saying I think you could benefit from some planning counsel, somebody to look over the entire situation, both from a tax standpoint as well as an investment standpoint and a risk standpoint in terms of the potential need for long-term care insurance and any other insurance that you have now that you either may or may not need. And for that, I would connect with a certified Kingdom advisor there in New York. Just go to our website, MoneyWiseLive.org, click on Find a CKA.

I'd interview up to three and find the one that's the best fit. And God bless you. We're glad that you called today and glad you were able to get through. Thanks so much.

It's MoneyWise Live with Rob West. I'm Steve Moore. Please don't go anywhere because we're not.

And we'll be right back after this. You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. Then he says, and on this rock I will build my church, different word. That rock now is Petra, P-E-T-R-A. The other one was P-E-T-R-O-S, Petros. This one is Petra.

That particular word means a massive rock, even a cliff. I think it will be so incredible when you and I get to be in heaven and see the visual Bible because see, we can't hear inflections of voices that would make so much difference in communication. What we're looking at is words on a page. We don't get to hear the tone of voice where it's being said.

We also can't see his body language. I think very, very possibly he said, You are Petros, and on this Petra I will build my church. I think he pointed right back to himself. Now, I'm not saying by any stretch of the imagination he wasn't giving Peter authority because there is no denying what he says next when he says to him, and he's talking about the very witness of the apostles being the absolute foundation, the keys to the kingdom of heaven with what he had entrusted to them. So he's entrusting authority to them, but Christ himself is the Petra. He's the mass of rock, and what he's saying to Peter is, and we know it in our terminology, You are a chip off the old block. You've been listening to A Quick Word with Beth Moore. The study of Galatians is now available as an online experience.

Sign up today at BethMoore.org or join Beth in January 2021 for the release of the printed workbook edition. Thanks for listening to A Quick Word with Beth Moore. The financial wealth you leave behind could be the best thing that ever happened to your loved ones or the worst. In Splitting Heirs, giving your money and things to your children without ruining their lives, Ron Blue explains why it's important to make these decisions now instead of forcing your heirs to do it later.

Splitting Heirs will foster a real appreciation for the precious resources that God has entrusted to you, and it's available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. If you're listening right now, please don't try to call. Today's program is an encore broadcast with lots of interesting information still ahead, so please stay with us.

Good to have you with us on this MoneyWise Live. I'm Steve Moore. Across the table is our host, Rob West. We begin by going to Iowa City, Iowa, WDLM.

Great folks working hard up there. Diane, what's on your mind? Hello.

I have a problem. I helped a young lady. I co-signed a car loan, and this was several years back. But if it was just the car loan, that would be okay, but I would say over that two-year time, I probably gave her more than $6,000 to help her because she was in a halfway house and was coming to our church.

And I pick up people from there to come to our church, and that's how we met. But when I co-signed for the loan, I said, now, you can't default on this. I've helped you so much. And she says, oh, I won't, I won't. Well, she moved from Iowa City area, and I had her phone. Her phone's now been disconnected. And I am now, because I didn't know that she didn't pay, and I got a phone call saying, hey, you co-signed the loan, and she hasn't paid. And so since that time, I've been paying, and it's a $3,000 loan. If I continue to pay on this loan, can I take possession of that car? I don't know.

Yeah. Let me say a couple of things here, Diane, and I can certainly appreciate the challenging situation that you're in, especially given that your desire from the very beginning was to be of help, because she's obviously in a difficult spot regardless of the circumstances. You wanted to be of help, and you obviously have demonstrated that in the giving of resources and then also in co-signing. I think one of the challenges here is that when it comes to co-signing, first of all, if we start with God's word, we see that clearly the Bible discourages us. I would even go further than that and say the Bible tells us not to co-sign Proverbs 22, 26.

Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts. If you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. Well, what God's word is saying here proves out every day when we see that the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, tells us that 50 percent of those who co-sign end up having to participate in payment.

And so we realize that God's word obviously brings a very important point to light. If we ever co-sign, we need to be willing and able to step in and make the payments and almost assume that they won't. Now, regardless of how you got here, you're in this situation. So what legal recourse do you have? Well, I'm not an attorney, and so you could get some legal counsel here. But in general, if you are both co-signers on this loan, again, you're really your two options are to ask that the asset be turned over to you because you're the one now making the payment. And my understanding would be that that other party would have to do that voluntarily. You could then sell the asset and use at least the sale proceeds to recoup perhaps a portion of what has been put up here or what will be owed over the balance of the loan. The second option is you allow it to be repossessed, but you have to recognize the impact to your credit for that decision, given that you are an equal party to this as a co-signer.

So the third option would be exactly what you're doing right now, and that is to continue to make the payments. I think moving forward, what you have to recognize is that you are a steward of what God has entrusted to you. I love the idea of giving. In fact, we affirm giving just about every episode here because it's on the heart of God. We see giving throughout the Old and New Testament. We were created in the image of God and he's the ultimate giver. And so we should be generous, we should live with an open hand, and look how we look out for opportunities to meet the needs of others, especially those in difficult circumstances or situations. But I think that has a limit, and it's a part of a plan that you put together saying, of what God has entrusted to me, how do I want to live according to his principles?

Living well within my needs, providing for myself and my family, but also being generous. But I think we don't need to do anything out of guilt or compulsion. We should do it joyfully because we feel like we want to. We want to participate in God's activity in someone else's life, but never because somebody makes us feel like we need to or because we feel guilty about it. So I think moving forward beyond this situation, I think you just need to prayerfully consider the support you're giving and heed the Council of Scripture as it relates to principles like the principle of staying out of a co-signing situation.

I think in this situation you're just going to have to pray that the Lord would give you wisdom. If you had the ability to keep paying on this loan, I would do that to protect your own credit and see if perhaps this car could be turned over to you to be sold to satisfy the rest of the debt. Where would, whose name is on the title, where would that come into play?

Any idea, Rob? Well, it's probably titled in both of their names, but regardless, there's a loan that they have both co-signed on, they're both responsible for, and the collateral for that loan is the car. And so that loan is going to need to be paid or the lender is going to repossess it and there are going to be implications from a credit standpoint. Yeah, and Diane, I think you mentioned that her number is no longer working so you're probably having difficulty even contacting at this point, is that correct? That's correct. That's the main problem. Even the bank has had problems trying to contact her. That's not unusual in a situation like this, especially since you're continuing to pay the bills and she's continuing to drive the car. Correct. And the bank will not give me, they were able to connect to a different number and left a message, but of course they said they can't give it to me because of privacy.

Yeah, probably the only thing you could do at this point, Diane, strange as it may sound, you know, if you hired a private detective, they could probably track her down in that regard. But obviously that would cost you money, not to mention stomach acid, maybe some more sleepless nights, not that you haven't already had some. But we will pray that God opens up a way. We appreciate your compassionate and generous heart.

Nonetheless, the Bible does discourage co-signing, so I know you won't ever do this again, but if any of our listeners are pondering it or considering it, typically not a good idea. Diane, we appreciate your call today. Thank you very much. You're listening to MoneyWise Live with Rob West. I'm Steve Moore. We're going to take a brief break and then we'll be back with more MoneyWise Live. We'll be right back.

Hi, my name is Rose. I'm a communications major at Moody Bible Institute. The Moody Radio Verse of the week is found in Deuteronomy 6, 6 to 7. These commandments that I give to you today are to be on your hearts, impress them on your children, talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lay down and when you get up.

That's Deuteronomy 6, 6 to 7, the Moody Radio Verse of the week. Subscribe today. Go to mymoodyradio.org, mymoodyradio.org. Do you know if you have enough? Enough money? Enough house?

Do you know how much is enough? If not, Ron Blue can help with his book, Master Your Money, a step-by-step plan for experiencing financial contentment. Learn how to save, invest and give wisely, how to create a long-term financial plan and how to get out of debt.

You'll find it all in Master Your Money by Ron Blue, available when you click the store button at moneywiselive.org. With SRN News, I'm John Scott. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin making a last-ditch effort to seal a tentative accord on an additional round of COVID-19 relief. They're aiming for an agreement that would permit another round of $1,200 direct stimulus payments, restore bonus pandemic jobless benefits, speed aid to schools and extend assistance to airlines, restaurants and other struggling businesses.

A man arrested in connection with the shooting of two Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, as they said in their squad car. A Kentucky judge has delayed until Friday the release of secret grand jury proceedings and Breonna Taylor's killing by police. Audio recordings of the proceedings were originally supposed to be made public today.

On Wall Street, stocks have finished higher, the Dow up 329 points, the Nasdaq ahead 82. This is SRN News. Good to have you with us on Money Wise Live. Let's go right back to where we were, Westfield, Indiana. Hi, Donna. What's your question today for Rob West?

Hi, Donna. Are you with us? Yes, I am. Thank you. All right.

Go right ahead. All right. Our daughter and husband have just divorced, just finished a couple of days ago. Nothing that was expected, but now she's in a new spot in life and we've been able to find a house. We're going to mortgage, we're mortgaging the house because she has no steady income and no background because it was all connected to Mike. So what we're wanting to find out, well, we know what to be doing. She'll be on the title and then when we can change it over, the mortgage is hers. We'll do that. But meanwhile, what do we do about, what should she do about having health insurance?

Is the health sharing plans, I can't remember what that's called, but where you're not paying them. Yes. Is that a good idea and how do I help or how does she proceed or how do I? I'm the one that's making phone calls because I have the time.

Sure. Well, I'm sure she appreciates that help and I'm sorry to hear about her recent divorce, but this area of having the cost of health covered can really weigh heavily and it's a significant risk that you want to try to offset. And we love health cost sharing because it's a biblical model based on the body of Christ sharing one another's medical bills. And there's wonderful organizations out there that do this. We happen to talk regularly on this program about Christian healthcare ministries. You'll find them on the web at chministries.org.

And again, they're one of many great ones. We actually have at least one team member on MoneyWise's team that has used CH Ministries for years and has had a wonderful experience. But basically, Donna, the way it works is it's not insurance, so you have to know that upfront, but you pay the cost of your medical expenses upfront and then those costs are shared by all the members. And last year, CH Ministries shared among its members over half a billion dollars. So it's a lot of money that's, excuse me, five billion dollars is actually the number that was shared. Not half a billion.

Yeah, five billion. And you would tend not to use it for the small stuff because they reimburse you $500. It's got to be a minimum of $500 per incident that you have covered.

Okay. Essentially as your deductible. But the great part about it is that the cost of it is for a family just over $500 a month, whereas with insurance, health insurance, you would pay obviously much more than that.

And so I would definitely check it out. I think it could be a great option for your daughter to keep costs down, to know that she has coverage, or not coverage, but she has the ability for Christians to share beyond $500 per incident. And with the savings she would enjoy from traditional insurance, she can put that money aside and essentially build up kind of a war chest, if you will, where she could draw those funds for the typical office visit that happens often with small kids. The other great thing about being a cash payer, which is essentially what you are with CH Ministries, is you can negotiate a lower fee up front and work with your providers to get those costs down, and CHM lets you take the savings off of your $500 deductible.

So it's a great option. Head over to chministries.org and learn more, okay? Okay, so let me just ask you a couple more questions related to that?

Yeah, sure. Okay, so Kristen is 42, Olivia is 15, and they're both very physically healthy people, eating well and just physically strong and so on. So are there ways to cover this less than $500 a month? Yeah, so they look at this on a per unit basis, and so a unit would be an individual, and the cost that I was talking about is for a family. So the cost would be, I believe, around $325 a month, but I would get all the information at chministries.org.

You could do a deeper dive there. It could be as high as $350, but it's definitely going to be less than $500 if it's just your daughter and her child. Okay, so that covers this taking care of, I'll call it catastrophic, things that might not be catastrophic, like a car accident, but things that are going to be more expensive than $500.

Larger, that's right. Yeah, and it's based on an incident, so all of the bills related to that particular incident are combined, and the moment they go over $500 in total, that's when it gets shared among the members. Yeah, and again, that's chministries.org. Great website.

You'll find a lot of good information there that's easy to understand. We wish you and your daughter the best, Donna. Thanks. Cleveland, Ohio, Nicholas, thanks for your patience and for holding What's on Your Mind.

Yes, how you guys doing? Love your show. Thanks. My wife and I, we have about $12,000 saved up, and we want to put it towards debt. So the debt we're looking at is we have a card note, which is $20,000, and then we have student loans. Two student loans, one is $13,000 that has an interest rate about 4%, and the other one is a little over $20,000 that has about 6% interest rate on it. So just trying to see what we kind of should do during this time with that cash.

Yeah, very good. And what is the rate on that car loan? 3.8%.

3.8%. All right. And you mentioned you have $12,000 saved up. Nicholas, if you were to use all of that for debt reduction, would you have an emergency fund in addition to that, or would that deplete all of your reserves? No, we would have an emergency fund about $15,000 to $2,000. Okay.

All right. I'd like for you to hang on to three months living expenses. So if you have a budget, you should be able to calculate that quickly.

If you don't, that'd be step one, is let's get a budget that really is an accurate picture of what it takes to cover your family's expenses for a single month, including those things that are non-recurring and might happen quarterly or semiannually. And then take the total of those expenses times three, and that's what I'd really like for you to hang on to. As much as you'd like to eradicate this debt, I don't want you to be in a position where an unexpected expense or a job loss or something comes out of left field and you don't have the reserves. And then beyond that, I'd probably go after, unless you're trying to reduce your overall outgo, which would require that you pay off one of these in full, so that would be probably the smaller student loan, which is then going to eliminate that payment. If that's part of your objective, then you've got to go there. If not, you're just overall trying to get rid of the debt, then I would probably go toward the one with the highest interest rate, which would be anything left over after you build up your three months emergency funds, I'd go after that 6% student loan debt.

With credit cards, we try to snowball it, but in this case, if you're going to make a lump sum payment, you're going to see the most impact by trying to eradicate the loan with the highest interest rate, and I think that's where I'd go next. Well, thank you for that. I appreciate that advice. All right, Nicholas, thanks for calling, sir. Thanks, Nicholas. We do appreciate that.

Thank you, buddy. And Rob, before we go to the break, we talk about the new MoneyWise e-magazine quite a bit, but it's because we're pretty excited about it. Tell us about it. I'd be delighted to, Steve. Yeah, if you head over to MoneyWiseLive.org, you can sign up for it.

Just look for a green band there where you can give us your email address. We'll only use that to send you periodically helpful information and quarterly this new e-magazine. It's chock full of great articles and resources, Steve, to help you live out God's best as it relates to your money.

This current edition is all around financial hope, and I think you'll find some practical and biblical articles there. Again, MoneyWiseLive.org to sign up. Okay, great. Thanks, Rob. You're listening to MoneyWise Live. Rob West, I'm Steve Moore.

We'll be right back. Call down in a simple, easy-to-follow format that makes it the perfect reference tool if you're interested in gaining a solid biblical understanding of money, possessions, and eternity. Managing God's money is available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org.

Hi, I'm Barry Maguire. I'm here to help you understand how urgent and how fun it is to share your faith at every opportunity through the eyes of a layman. As a layman, you got gave. People expect pastors to talk to them about God. They don't expect people like us to do that. I'm known for being a businessman, so when you or I insert God into our conversations, it gets people's attention. We have credibility because we're not being paid to promote God.

It comes out of the fullness of our hearts. We're not salesmen for God. We're representatives for God. The Bible calls us ambassadors. We represent God's likeness to the best of our abilities to everyone we meet. Jesus said to know we're His disciples by our love, and that's what we're called to do no matter how the world treats us. No matter what people say to you, God loves them as much as He loves you, and He wants them to see His love through you. That's when God has your heart. There is nothing more exciting than knowing God is using you to move people closer to Him.

Join us at IgniteAmerica.com. Got grandkids? Here's Ken Canfield for Grandkids Matter. When we talk about heritage, people often think about material assets we will one day pass on to our children and our grandchildren. That isn't all of our heritage or even the most important part, but it is significant. We should carefully consider wills and trusts and dividing our assets.

We can spare our families a lot of potential conflict by having those documents in order. Along with that, think about keepsakes and items of significance that could be part of your heritage. Did you receive anything physical from your grandparents that holds great meaning for you? Projecting ahead, what similar items do you want to pass on to your grandchildren?

Start making plans to leave a rich heritage in every way. Thank you for listening today. Would you like your life to be infused with joy? Would you like to interject an eternal dimension into even the most ordinary day? Author Randy Alcorn says you can when you discover the Treasure Principle. In a concise, power-packed style, this newly revised and updated book offers a six-step plan to finding the immediate pleasure and eternal rewards of the Treasure Principle. And once you discover it, life will never look the same. The Treasure Principle is available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. Hey, thanks for joining us today.

It's MoneyWise Live. And here's a great verse to hang your spiritual hat on. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6, 21. Let's continue by going to Chicago. And Mary, nice to have you with us today. What's your question for Rob West? Hi. Thank you for taking my call. I really enjoy your show and I've learned so much. Thank you.

So my question is this. In 2010, we were mortgage-free and then kind of hit a bump in the road and we took out a home equity loan. Well, we rolled it into a 30-year mortgage and it's at five and a quarter percent right now. We have about, let's say, about $150,000 left to pay on it.

And in the meantime, things have gotten back on our feet again. We have a good credit rating now of about $800,000. And I was wondering whether it's a good idea to refinance this loan. Oh, yeah, Mary, you're a prime candidate for a refinance in this environment.

You've got a great credit score assuming you have the right income and you don't have a lot of other debt. At five and a quarter, you could get a rate right now, well, 15-year, probably somewhere around two and three quarters, maybe a little less, even a 30-year at under three, although I don't recommend it in the sense that I don't want you to increase the term. So what do you have left on this mortgage? Do you have 20 years remaining?

Yes, correct. So I'd like for you to go look for a new 20-year, 15-year if you can do it, but that may push the payment up higher than what you're comfortable. So certainly a 20-year mortgage, you should be able to get a great rate somewhere around two and three quarters percent right now, which is going to save you a bundle down from five and a quarter.

You'd want to shop it around. I'd go to bankrate.com, look for who has the best rates right now in that 20-year space. You could check with somebody local, but I think you're probably going to do better online with one of the online banks or mortgage companies.

And I think the key is to make sure that, again, you're not increasing the term. You plan to stay in the home. You're going to save a significant amount on the interest, which means that payment's probably going to still be fairly reasonable even at a 20-year mortgage. But given the savings and interest that you'll have, even though there'll be some cost associated with it, you'll make that back if you're planning on staying in this home for, I would say, a minimum of five years. You'll probably pay that back even quicker than that because of how drastic the interest rate reduction will be. I think the other key is make sure you understand the costs associated with it. Don't just focus on that rate because if they're charging you discount points or they're doing something, origination costs, things like that, you're going to want to really compare the good faith estimate on that truth in lending statement so you know what the costs are and try to keep those as low as possible. But there's a lot of competition out there right now. It's going to take some time, could be 60 days or more, just because of the demand right now with these low, low interest rates.

But this will be a great decision for you guys moving forward. Can you just repeat, do you think that you would need to stay in the home for five years? Yeah, it may be less than that. The key is here, you're going to want to look at what is the total cost of the refinance. Could be 1%, could be as much as 2%, so somewhere between $1,500 and $3,000, just the cost of the refinance. And then you're going to want to look at how much interest are you saving every month between now and let's say when you were to sell it. And at some point, you're going to reach a place where you've covered the cost of the refinance in the saved interest. And then you're kind of in the money and you enjoy that savings for the rest of the loan. Obviously, if you stay there over the 20 years, you're golden. You're going to save a boatload. But if you were to sell it early, I don't want you to go through all of this and pay a bunch of money and then turn around and try to sell it. And you haven't even really made it back. So that's why we say five years, although given how high your current interest rate is, you'll probably save that before the five-year mark.

But you're going to want to look at that and the mortgage company can help you analyze that. Oh, great. How's that sound, Mary? Oh, I understand. Thank you very much. And again, thank you so much. Okay, God bless you. Thanks for calling. Thanks, Mary. God bless you too.

Bye-bye. Hey, and if you happen to be thinking about refinancing, as Mary is, or maybe even buying your first home, this is a great time to make those considerations. Something to do before you maybe sign on the dotted line is pick up a copy of our good friend Dale Vermilion's book, Navigating the Mortgage Maze. Dale is a regular guest here, and we find his information so valuable.

Not only does he know his stuff technically, but he's a follower of Christ and really helps us see things from God's perspective, not just the market perspective. There are chapters on applying for a mortgage, various types of mortgage financing, top 10 mortgage traps to avoid, what to do if you don't qualify for a mortgage, and much, much more. Again, the book by Dale Vermilion, Navigating the Mortgage Maze.

You'll find it available for purchase when you visit our website, MoneyWiseLive.org. Let's go to Tampa, Florida. Hey, Eric. How can we help you, sir? What's on your mind?

Hey, good afternoon, guys. All right, so basically, I'm almost 40 years old. I've been working in tech now for a little over 10 years. I have a salary of about $72,000 and a full range of benefits that go with that. For the past year and about two months, I've been starting my own business, a resale business, where I have a store on eBay.

I have a small presence on Amazon and a few other sites as well. Last year, I did a little over $40,000 in sales, gross, not take-home, but gross. I've gotten to a point with the business where I feel like I need to spend more time developing the business than I have because I have a full-time job in tech that's a 24-7 job. How will I know when is the right time to quit my full-time job making $70,000 a year plus benefits and switch over to working for myself with the unknown? Will I make that much money?

And then what about health insurance and retirement and all that stuff? No, I completely understand where you're going with this, Eric, and I'm delighted to hear you have something that's working for you. It sounds like you're somewhat passionate about it, but you're right.

Knowing what the right time is to make that pivot if that time comes is key because you don't want to put yourself in a difficult spot financially and doing this prematurely. Let me ask you, are you married, Eric? Do you have a family? No, sir. Single, no kids. Okay. And do you have some savings, some money you've put aside that has been building?

Yes, sir. I have about $50,000 in the bank. Okay, great. And are you able to take that $40,000 minus expenses and taxes and giving and put 100% of that away, or are you living on part of that? It's all disposable income.

My full-time job pays for everything else plus savings, so it's really just disposable income. Okay. Well, I think that's the key is you're going to have to determine how long is it going to take for you to prove this out. I mean, you've got some history, but obviously you're looking to make a jump by moving into this full-time from the roughly $40,000 gross, and we have to recognize that's gross, to the roughly let's say $100,000 that you're going to need to net $70,000. And what is it going to take to get there? Is that going to take six months? Is that going to take a year? At what point would you know if it's not possible?

Let's assume it is, but we would want to prepare for the worst. And so I think that's the runway of time you need to have in the bank to be able to weather that. So if you had a year's worth of salary, obviously you're not going to start out at zero, because you're already even in a very part-time fashion, you're grossing $40,000. That 12 months worth of expenses in the bank would give me a lot of peace of mind that you've got a runway where if it doesn't work out, obviously you've got some marketable skills in technology that you could jump back into if you needed to and you left your job, but it seems like it would be worth taking an opportunity to explore this further.

I think you're right in terms of figuring out what are the other things that you need to solve for. A retirement plan is going to be key. There are some great options for a sole proprietor. You can look at tax advantage plans like the SEP IRA or the individual 401K. They're easy to administer.

The SEP is probably the easiest. With the individual K, though, there's more generous limits on the annual contributions, and there's a little bit more flexibility in terms of how you do those salary deferrals, the ability to borrow from the plan, and so forth with the individual K. But both options are available to you, and you could look at those, and they're fairly easy to set up. With regard to health insurance, that can be very expensive out there in the open market, so you're going to want to know what that is and factor that into the budget, because when you're on your own paying your own expenses, I would look at incorporating, making sure you're not paying the self-employment taxes, which is, if you are, for a period of time, you've got to factor that in as well. But then look at what it's really going to cost you to get the proper health insurance on the open market. I would put alongside that an alternative to health insurance for you to consider, which is the Christian Cost Sharing Ministries. I'd encourage you to check out Christian Healthcare Ministries at chministries.org. It's not insurance, but it's a great way to have your medical bills covered through the Christian sharing that's taken place there with tens of thousands of members and literally tens of millions of dollars paid out. You'd probably be looking at covering yourself up to $500 per incident, but then it would step in at that point and you'd save a bundle on a monthly basis versus traditional insurance. So I want you to start putting all those pieces in place so you know exactly what your monthly spend is going to be, which is going to tell you what you need to generate gross to be able to net that, and then let's try to get a year's worth of that in the bank so you've got plenty of runway.

Make sure you pray through it and talk to others who have gone before you, but I think if you can check all those boxes, then this might be worth checking out. Eric, just a couple of seconds here. How long is it taking you to get to the 40,000 figure that you're at today?

I've been doing this now for about a year and two months. Okay. My gut, and we're out of time, Eric, but my gut is telling me that I'd give it another year before I jump if I were you, but that's just me. That's not coming from the Lord. In fact, I haven't consulted with Rob, but my gut tells me I'd hang in one more year before pulling that trigger.

And with that, we're going to have to put a bow on it. Thank you so much for calling in today. Hope you've all been having a great day and learned something more about God's wisdom when it comes to your money and your finances. For Rob West, I'm Steve Moore. MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Rudy Radio and MoneyWise Media, and we hope you'll join us again next time.