5 Ways to Make or Save Money

Hey, looking for a way to make some extra bucks? Or maybe you'd just like to hang on to a few more of your hard-earned dollars? Either way, the digital age is providing new ways to improve your cash flow.

If you have an internet connection and a computer or smart phone, you can make or even save money online, sometimes with little effort on your part. Financial planner and teacher Rob West tells you how today. Now, this edition of the program is pre-recorded, so please hold your calls until next time. I'm Steve Moore cashing in online. That's next on MoneyWise Live. Well, Rob, we've covered a number of ways listeners can use their digital devices these days to improve their bottom line, but you have five more today that we haven't talked about before or maybe just mentioned briefly.

So where do we begin, sir? Well, Steve, let's start with thinking about apps that already exist and require no startup effort or time on your part. We've talked about ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft before, but there are many others. One of them is called Postmates. And to make money with it, all you need is a smart phone and a car, just like with Uber and Lyft. But instead of driving people around, you do their grocery shopping and deliver it to their homes. Once you're set up and approved, Postmates sends you a free delivery bag and prepaid card to get started. You just have to be at least 18 years of age and have a properly insured vehicle. Postmates says its couriers can make up to $25 an hour, including tips, which they get to keep.

But one reviewer said it's more like $20 an hour for an experienced buyer. Postmates isn't available everywhere yet, so you have to check if your area is covered. Well, thanks for the offer. Get me a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. Okay, well that's great for people who love grocery shopping. What's next? Well, number two is something called Trim, and this is a money-saving app that can allow you to keep hundreds of dollars a year with almost no effort on your part.

Sound good? Well, Trim looks at your monthly spending for places where you might be overspending, like unusually high bills or digital subscriptions you forgot about. It gives you a list of targets, and you can choose the ones you want to cancel.

You'd probably want to use it several times a year. All right, great for folks who sign up for free trials and then don't realize that they're being charged for things after 30 days or so, and that's something I think maybe I've done once or twice myself. What do you have for us?

What's next? All right, number three is called Inbox Dollars, and it's a way to earn money just by surfing the web. You use their search engine instead of Google or some other, and the app monitors your search habits and provides data to companies trying to better understand consumers. It doesn't pay much.

Reviewers report making less than 50 cents an hour, but then again, you're only searching online like you normally would, so it doesn't require any extra effort. Now, listen, don't take this personally, Rob, but with all that I've been reading, I'm starting to feel a little antsy about privacy issues. Yeah, well, that's always a concern with any of these apps, Steve. Legitimate companies aren't supposed to sell or share your personal information like email addresses with third parties, but make sure you opt out of receiving emails and other notifications whenever you sign up for an app. Okay, good idea.

What's next? Number four is the Nielsen app. We know them for tracking TV ratings, but they're also big into Internet usage research. Nielsen pays $50 a year just for keeping their app on your browsing device, and this is a good one if you are concerned about privacy.

You see, the app collects statistics on your Internet usage anonymously, so the data is never linked to you. And as an incentive to sign up, Nielsen offers various other rewards, including a $10,000 prize each month. Okay, because yeah, I'm looking at this, I'm thinking $50 a year.

It's like less than a dollar a week, but still, it does add up. All right, time for one more. All right, yes. And number five is an app called User Testing. Most of us have gone to some company's website and found it less than helpful.

Maybe it has problems with navigation or they've buried information that should be readily accessible. Now you can get paid for grumbling about websites. When you sign up to be a website tester, you get to offer your opinions about website design, quality, ease of use.

User Testing collects that data for companies so they can improve their sites and increase sales. The company says you can make $10 for every 20-minute test you complete. So those are five ways, Steve, you can make or save money online, most of them without leaving the house. But I think we should add one other disclaimer, and that is we haven't tried them ourselves, but we have checked online reviews to make sure they're legitimate outfits. The main complaint we see is that they don't pay a lot of money. But buyer beware, just some ideas for you today as you think about being a good steward of God's money.

And listener beware, we'll be right back. This is MoneyWise Live. Many people are experiencing financial challenges, such as credit card debt, downsizing, debt in jobs, and depleted savings. In fact, more than half of all divorces are the result of financial pressures at home.

But there's hope. In Your Money Counts, biblical financial expert Howard Dayton shows that the Bible is a veritable blueprint for managing your finances, and you'll discover the profound impact it has on your relationship with God. Your Money Counts is available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. If you have money in a retirement account, or just a general investing account, you know the stock market can sometimes be like a rollercoaster. But it is possible to enjoy both profit and peace of mind in investing, no matter what's happening in the market. You can see a short video webinar on that topic at SoundMindInvesting.org. Since 1990, Sound Mind Investing has sought to offer financial wisdom for living well.

SoundMindInvesting.org. The notion of right and wrong, well, it's not too popular these days. I saw a bumper sticker recently that said, there are no rules.

G'day, I'm Bernie Diamond. But imagine a society without rules, without consequences. We don't have to look very far in this world to see how brutal we can be when we think there are no consequences. People sometimes look at God and think, old man, big stick, a bunch of rules that none of us can live up to. But God created a fantastic world. He breathed life into us.

He gave us a free will, the choice to choose him or reject him. That's love. But at the end of the day, there are consequences. Justice goes hand in hand with love. So does forgiveness. That's why he sent his son Jesus to pay the price for our failures. And whoever believes in him will receive eternal life. One day, we will stand before him.

And on that day, the choice we make today will have consequences. Do you feel like your hands are tied with debt, preventing you from serving God? If you have credit card debt, Christian Credit Counselors can help. Through our debt management program, we can get you out of credit card debt about 80% faster while honoring your debt in full. For more information on how Christian Credit Counselors can help, visit ChristianCreditCounselors.org. That's ChristianCreditCounselors.org, or call 800-557-1985, 800-557-1985. We're MoneyWise Live, and we talk about our telephone number often, usually because we're live.

But today, we're prerecorded. So if you hear a mention of the phone number, please don't call us, but you can find us online at MoneyWiseLive.org. It's MoneyWise Live, Rob West, taking your phone calls, your questions on any financial topic.

Rob, I think you had something you wanted to share with our listeners. Well, you know, Steve, we hear from so many listeners each day, really, so many of them talking about how long they've listened, some of them just finding us recently, all just so encouraging about the chance we have together to learn God's way of handling money. And so just appreciate so much those of you who tune in each day, and would like to invite you to participate with us, perhaps to partner with us to keep this program on the air. We have a wonderful team here and look forward each day to bringing you God's truth as it relates to money. And if it's beyond your tide, you have the ability to give a gift to MoneyWise Media, we would be incredibly grateful whether that's a monthly gift and you want to partner with us as a MoneyWise patron or give a one-time gift, however little or however much you would be able to bless the ministry with, we would be grateful. And so I just want to thank you in advance for those of you who are already partnering with us and those maybe for the first time who want to step up and give a gift, want to say thanks.

Yeah, thank you very much. Let's continue on up to Ohio. Curtis, we appreciate your patience, buddy. What's on your mind? What do you have to share with us?

Well, this has been going on for almost a year now. I have a 31-year-old daughter living in a house that we own and hasn't paid rent and want to object, but wife is totally against it with a four-month-old baby and significant other living there and not knowing what to do, asking the Lord for wisdom. Yeah. Well, you certainly need that. James 1-5, if you lack wisdom, let him ask. And certainly this is an area where you need great wisdom because clearly on one hand, you don't want to enable bad behavior and almost reward someone who's not following God's plan with regard to their finances and honoring their parents. On the other hand, we realize you want to provide for your family. And we've got a little one in the equation here as you have not only your daughter, but her baby.

And so I think this is very challenging. As you just assess her ability to care for herself and the baby, what is your assessment at this point of her situation? Well, six days after having the baby, she had a brain bleed and went to ICU. So she's lucky to be alive and she's a miracle that she's alive, but she hasn't been released to go back to work. And but this not paying rent was previous to having the baby.

So. OK, well, I think the first thing is, again, for you and your wife to make this a matter of prayer. Second thing is to make sure that you both are on the same page about the plan moving forward. And that's going to take open and intentional communication. So you are of one mind with regard to how you approach the situation, whether you decide to exercise tough love or whether this is a time to be lavish in your generosity toward your daughter.

I think, you know, one step I would certainly take is to sit down with her face to face and say, listen, we love you. We want to support you and your baby, your child, our granddaughter. And we need to come up with a plan here. And so part of our continued assistance in this situation is going to be predicated on several things happening. One, you learning God's way of handling money to you progressing in your demonstrating.

You understand how to handle your finances, which includes you getting on a spending plan, showing that to us, beginning to manage your money wisely, including some rent in that plan and making good on that. And to the extent you're not willing to take these steps while we continue to provide assistance, there are going to be consequences and then lay out those consequences, whatever those might be. But again, I think you all have to have that plan going into it. A couple of additional thoughts. One is you could involve a third party if you feel like that would be more helpful. And so you could say part of this plan is you getting with a MoneyWise live coach who is going to walk with you and over the next month is going to help you put a plan together that you're going to present back to us. And so it gets you out of the details of that.

But it does have someone who's godly who can help put a plan in place, walk alongside her. That would be one option. The second option is you give her a period of time where you say we're going to be willing to help for X number of months. And at that point, our support is going to stop unless we see the following things. And so I realize it's difficult, especially when there's a child involved. And so this is a time for you all to be prayerful and as husband and wife communicating very clearly as you develop this plan. And we'll certainly ask the MoneyWise live community to be praying for you in that.

Yeah. Curtis, thank you very much. I like your advice there, Rob. Obviously, the baby does complicate things. The other question you have to ask yourself, husband and wife, is it a situation where they won't pay or that they can't pay? And you're right, sitting down and trying to work out a budget, having a conversation with them. As parents, sometimes the dynamics make that difficult. So involving a third party, perhaps a budget coach would be a good thing there. And again, you can find out how to contact a budget coach when you visit our website, Curtis, which is MoneyWiseLive.org.

And there's no charge for that. And perhaps that would help the situation. We're glad you called and we'll pray that God works that out. Thanks very much.

Indianapolis, Indiana. Hey, Terry, what's on your mind today? Well, first, let me say I really appreciate your program and biblical wisdom that you share on a regular basis.

Thank you. Secondly, the reason I called, I've been a general contractor for over 30 years, done work for many wonderful people. However, it's been my life experience that some claiming to be Christians simply don't feel any responsibility to pay their bills. And case in point, one particular individual I did work for, $5,000 worth of work. They never had the money, yet they were able to buy three new cars, take their family on great vacations, and go out to dinner on a weekly basis. But they just never had the money to pay the bill. Totally happy with the work.

No complaints. I'm just curious how you feel that situation like that should be handled. Well, I think you've got two situations going on. One is where we give to someone, and the other is where we're in business with someone. In the case of giving, we just have to be prayerful and decide as the steward of the money whether the Lord is leading us to do the giving, and then we've got to leave the rest to Him regardless of what they do with it or how they're living their lifestyle. In a business situation, we have to know our customer. We've got to be prudent. We're stewards of the business in addition to the resources that God has entrusted to us, and part of that is making wise decisions. Now, we may decide to be gracious and give or not collect in certain situations because we want to bless someone, but in other cases, we have to collect in the right way. And Terry, with that, I'm afraid we're going to have to say goodbye, but we're glad that you called today.

Thanks so much. More Money Wise with Rob West after this. Many people adopt an attitude toward marriage and finances that it'll all work out somehow, but sadly, it often doesn't. Financial woes can devastate a marriage, but there is a better way. God's Way. Money and Marriage God's Way by Howard Dayton will help you discover God's approach to growing your finances, strengthening your relationship with your mate, and cultivating Godly joy. Money and Marriage God's Way is available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. HeBlues412 says, for the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.

Here's Beth Moore with a quick word. If you and I have truly run into the rock, it had dire consequences in our lives. There's no way for it not to. It's going to be dire, and I don't mean negative. I just mean it's going to be huge.

It's going to have effect. And I want you to look further at that word. I'm looking back at Romans chapter 9, at the word when it says, a rock that makes them fall, or the other version, a rock that makes them stumble. That word, fall, makes them fall, is a Greek word. And I want you to write this one down, because you can already see the word in the Greek word.

So get ready. The Greek word, this is the transliteration, s-k-a-n-d-a-l-o-n, scandalon. What word do you see in that?

Scandalous, scandalous, scandalon. Essentially, this is the trigger on a trap upon which the bait is placed. In other words, this is a rock that can somehow become to us, if we let it, it can become something that is used of the enemy to so bait us into unbelief and into failure and into falling away that it may be incomparable in our Christian experience. Beth is dedicated to encouraging people to come to know and love Jesus Christ through the study of Scripture. Why wait? Click online today. Pick a podcast or television teaching or both. Just visit Bethmore.org. That's Bethmore.org or download the Living Proof app. Search for Bethmore in your app store.

See you next time for another Quick Word with Bethmore. Many people adopt an attitude toward marriage and finances that it'll all work out somehow, but sadly, it often doesn't. Financial woes can devastate a marriage, but there is a better way. God's Way. Money and Marriage God's Way by Howard Dayton will help you discover God's approach to growing your finances, strengthening your relationship with your mate, and cultivating Godly joy. Money and Marriage God's Way is available when you click the Store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. This is Money Wise Live. Your host is Rob West.

I'm Steve Moore. If you hear a phone number mentioned today, please ignore that phone number. Today's broadcast is a reprise edition of the program, but I think the upcoming information will help you and bless you and make you a wise steward of what God's given you. Tampa, Florida, and Heather, thanks for holding What's On Your Mind today. Hello.

Thank you so much for taking my call. I'm a newlywed, and we have gone through all of our bills and looking at what we have in surplus after tithing and extras and emergencies. We have about $1,900 left over each month with our combined income. We have a house. The mortgage has about $116,000 left on it, but we haven't really started thinking too much about retirement or what we would need for the future. So how would you advise us to take that surplus to build up for retirement or family in the future?

Yeah, Heather, I love this question. You all are thinking about all the right things. It sounds like you're well-planned, and as you start this new marriage and family, you are really in a position to honor the Lord with what He has entrusted to you by following His biblical principles and really managing your money very, very well.

I love that. You mentioned that you all are tithing. You mentioned that you've got this extra money. You have no debt right now. Is that right? We have the mortgage, and then I do have a student loan after getting my MBA.

It's about $14,000, but I am on a low-income-based plan, and I have what they call public loan forgiveness because I work at a university. Yeah, very good. Excellent. Okay, and you said you have established an emergency fund? Yes, I started tithing. We have about $14,500 just sort of sitting there right now.

Okay, excellent. Tell me about the mortgage. What is your interest rate, and what is the house worth versus the loan balance? Yeah, so my husband actually, being the wise man that he is, bought it before we got married. When I met him, he had the house, so he's had it about three years. He has a rate of about four, I think four and a quarter in terms of a percent, and he started with $130, and he's already down to $116. Excellent. All right, and what do you think the house is worth today? Do you have any idea? I think the outlook pretty often says on the low end, $160, but on the high end, closer to $180.

Okay, excellent. So you're already building up some equity. Obviously, he's paying this down rapidly.

I suspect he's put even a little bit extra toward the house beyond the monthly payment periodically, and so you all are doing all the right things. You're keeping income low. Obviously, your expenses are going to grow if you decide to, and the Lord would bless you with kids down the road. You're going to have increases in your expenses. You'll have to start thinking about college and those kinds of things.

So this is a unique season. You've kept your lifestyle in check, which is why you have roughly a couple of thousand dollars extra. Let's talk about what your options are for longer term savings like retirement. Do you have a 401k or 403b available, either of you?

Yes, I have a 403b. I get 10% without even matching it. So I have a really amazing retirement plan. He gets a 3% match at the school he works at.

He's a teacher. So we're just hoping that between the two of us, we can save as much now knowing that we're not able to possibly put away more once we have a family. Yes, excellent. Okay, well, again, I think you're certainly on the right track because you're giving, you've got your emergency fund in place, you're maxing out at least the matching portion of your 401k or 403b, and you've paid off all debt except the mortgage with the exception of the student loan, but that's going to be taken care of through the forgiveness. Then I think the next step is really to bump your retirement savings up to 15% of your overall pay. And so I would take a look at what you all are doing, your 10% on your income, plus what you're doing in his income, put all of that income together and say, are we saving 15%? And that would be my goal. Beyond that, then I would start looking at opportunities to give even more, you know, to things beyond the tie that the Lord would be directing you to, and perhaps even, you know, putting some additional savings aside for any short term goals like the next car you might want to buy that you'd like to buy for cash, those kinds of things.

But I think given everything you're telling me here, before I go and start paying down the mortgage even more quickly, I'd make sure that your retirement savings is up to 15% across the board based on all your income. Okay, well, thank you very much for that. Excellent. Hey, let's send you a book for you all to really get started the right way.

Steve, why don't we send them Howard Dayton's Money and Marriage God's Way just so they can begin to learn these principles and start out right. Yeah, I think that's a great suggestion. If you'll stay on the line, Heather, we'll get your contact information. We'll get that right out to you guys. And we wish you the best. Thanks very much. Thank you. All right.

Bye bye. Rob, for any other young couples who are getting married, any other thoughts, suggestions, recommendations, caveats or warnings? Well, I would say for those that are still in the premarital phase, I would be doing a lot of talking about what was money like growing up? What expectations do we have?

What kind of lifestyle are we going to lead? What about giving and what are our plans there? Let's go ahead and put a budget together. I think those are the kinds of things we need to be doing in advance of getting married.

Once we get married, it's really important to establish discipline early. That begins with that B word, the budget. Let's get it on paper. Let's get a process to control the flow of money. Let's start establishing our goals. Let's talk about our values. Do we want to prioritize the value of generosity or simplicity or family experiences? What's important to us? And then let's make sure our spending reflects that, Steve. And I think beyond that, we've got to learn God's way of handling money. So we have to be regularly learning these principles.

And that's why I think a book like Money and Marriage God's Way is a great, great resource. I agree. Here's a quick email from Lewis.

Dear guys, I love your show. Thanks. What are your thoughts on investing in crypto currencies? Yes, crypto currencies. All right.

Let me try to do this quickly. Crypto currencies, for the benefit of our audience. This is virtual money that is, for the most part, unregulated in traditional terms. So people buy the virtual coins as an investment, but they're also used as a means of exchange, has no intrinsic value like gold because there's no physical form. And the supply is not determined by a central bank. Now, as to investing in crypto currencies, no way. Crypto currencies are ultra high risk, way too much volatility, grossly exceeds any other investment class. And the Bible has something to say about this.

Proverbs 21 5, the plans of the diligent surely lead to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. By the way, Steve, a good rule of thumb. If you can't explain it, you probably shouldn't be investing in it.

I like it. Or if you can't explain it to your spouse, you probably shouldn't be investing in it. I mean, you probably would be better off with collectibles, you know, buy a muscle car or or something and wait for that to turn around. I mean, crypto currencies can be fun. We all know someone who put five hundred dollars in them and then cash down at five thousand. But believe me, there are far more people who put money in that can't get it out or have lost it all. The Bible also says the way of a fool is right in his own eyes. And I think we can attach that to crypto currencies pretty easily and pretty well.

More Money Wise Live with Rob West after this. How should we as Christians think about investing? What if we could invest our money in a way that aligns with what we believe? At Eventide, we believe it is possible to love God and love our neighbor in the very practice of investing. We design investments for performance and a better world so you can invest for the future with a sense of wholeness and purpose. We call this investing that makes the world rejoice.

More information is available at investeventide.com. Christian Health Care Ministries enables believers to show love for one another by sharing each other's health costs. Through CHM's voluntary health cost sharing programs, members uplift each other spiritually and financially. CHM is an eligible option under the Affordable Care Act and a Better Business Bureau accredited charity.

Interested? Learn more by calling 800-791-6225 or online at chministries.org. 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, 6-7. 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, 6-7, the Moody Radio Verse of the Week. Moodyradio.org, mymoodyradio.org. 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 MoneyWise Live. With SRN News, I'm John Scott. President Trump and First Lady Melania are experiencing mild symptoms of COVID-19. However, the White House physician says the president is expected to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering. The president's son Barron has tested negative for COVID-19. The president's campaign manager says all campaign events involving the president and his family will either be turned into virtual events or postponed until further notice.

Bill Stepien, who heads Mr. Trump's reelection, says Vice President Mike Pence, who has tested negative for COVID-19, plans to continue his campaign schedule and the debate with Kamala Harris is still on. Major U.S. stock indexes ending lower today. The Dow dropped 134 points, the Nasdaq off 251, and the S&P fell 32. This is SRN News. This is MoneyWise Live and we will go live back to our callers, Cleveland, Ohio, Zoraida. Thank you so much for your patience today. How can we help you? First of all, let me say thank you to you guys for having this show. That is so informative. I have learned so much since you guys have been on the air.

That is incredible. Oh, you're very sweet. My question, I would like to know. I have a retirement plan from the place that I work at, and it's public employees, so I get my Social Security reduced because I'm going to get that money from government employment. But my question is about defer comp. I do not have defer comp.

I never sign up for that. And I now found out I'm two years from retirement. I could retire at the end of this year, but I'm thinking that I will stay until I am 66. And my question is, is there a point in contributing to defer comp because I will be getting about $11,000 from the sixth time that I have accumulated and they pay back. So I'm thinking, is that a good option to put that money into, or should I be looking into putting that money into somewhere else? My plan is to let it sit and grow until I actually need it. Yes. Yeah.

It's a great question. So for the benefit of our listeners there in Ohio, she has access to the Ohio 457, which is a deferred comp plan for Ohio public employees. And Zoraida, if you don't need the money, another option would be to make that contribution to a Roth IRA up to the limit, which if you're over age 50 would be $7,000 for this year. The benefit there is you don't get the tax deduction, but that money would be able to continue to grow. So assuming you don't need this money anytime soon based on the payout you're going to get on your retirement plus Social Security, you would not bump up against that required minimum distribution at age 70 and a half where you have to begin pulling it out, which is what would happen with this 457 once it's rolled into an IRA. And so that money could be invested, albeit very conservative, but you could have a growth component to it again if you don't plan on using it because just because you enter a retirement season, assuming you live long in the Lord Terry's, you have a decades long need for this money to last and grow, which means we'd still need it to be working for you, even though it'd be in a more conservative posture. So the benefit of that Roth is you wouldn't have that RMD that would kick in at 70 and a half. Otherwise, I don't mind you continuing to contribute to the 457 just because you will get the tax deduction now, which is probably at a higher tax rate than you would realize in retirement, maybe slightly higher, and that money could continue to grow for you on a tax deferred basis while you continue to work for the next few years. But I kind of like the Roth IRA a little better.

Does that work? But I thought that I would not get my money. I would not get that money that I can contribute until I retire.

Right. You know, like that would be a payoff when I retire. I thought you had said in previous shows that if you don't work, you can't contribute to a Roth. Well, you have to have earned income to contribute to a Roth IRA.

So as long as you have any earned income wages, which you would as long as you're working, then you can contribute to a Roth IRA. And so you're saying I'm sorry. I'm not understanding. Okay. Because what I'm looking to do is roll over the money that I would get as a payoff when I retire. So if I don't plan to continue to work there, I could still open a Roth. I see. I missed that. I thought you were continuing to work.

My apologies. No, if you don't have any earned income, you would not be able to contribute to the Roth. So at that point, any additional money that you have that you'd want to be able to put away, if you're not working, you don't have any earned income, you no longer have access to the 457, you would just have to save outside of a retirement plan and just build your money up that way.

You could, any money you had coming in, you can obviously set aside in longer term savings, but it would not be in a retirement vehicle if you don't have access to a retirement account and you no longer have earned income. Does that understand? Does that work for you? That is very, that's very clear.

If I may, I would like to know, okay, so what then, what I should, should I then open a Roth instead of the defer code? Yeah. You mean now while you... What you were saying, that is a better, now while I'm still working. Right.

And that's what I was talking about before. And I think, yes, if you feel like you're going to over accumulate and therefore you don't need the money, I like the Roth for you now while you're still working because that money then could stay there and continue to grow and you wouldn't have to take it out. So I do like that option for you right now. Zoraida, we wish you the best. Thank you very, very much. Time for one more quick one.

Appleton, Wisconsin. Ruth, what's your question for Rob? Thanks for taking my call.

Yes. My, our situation is this, I'm watching my mom go through her money like a sieve because my dad is with dementia in a nursing home, $9,000 a month. And my husband's mother is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's. And so I guess our question is, do you see for us then that it would be a wise thing to get that long-term health insurance for us, for in the future? We're in our 50s right now. And I just didn't know if there were different options with that or if there's a reason to say yes or no to that.

Yeah. Ruth, I hear what you're saying and you all are experiencing firsthand what is for most people the single greatest risk in terms of eroding your assets during that season of life. And that is long-term care. And the percentages are very high in terms of the percentage of Americans that will need some sort of long-term care.

More than 50 percent will and it tends to average somewhere between 18 months and three years on average. The key is you want to try to preserve assets through offsetting that risk, transferring it to an insurance company and be able to have control over how you receive care. Do you want in-home care? Do you want to be in a nursing home?

Do you want to be in assisted living? You don't want the government making those decisions. So that's where a policy like this comes in. I like you looking for a policy like this between age 55 and 65.

And here's the general rule of thumb. You want at least to have assets of more than around $350,000 less than $3 to $5 million because once you get over that you can self insure pretty easily and under $350,000 in assets you're going to be relying on government assistance. But in that window which is most middle income and mass affluent Americans, I like this policy assuming you can make it fit in the budget and you take it from a company that's committed to this space and really is a solid company in the long-term care space.

The key is if you can't fit it in the budget and you keep it for a few years and then drop it if it's of no value to you. So I would find an insurance agent who specializes in long-term care insurance. If you don't have someone you could contact a certified kingdom advisor in your area, ask for a referral to someone who does and find a company who can really give you something that fits in your budget, meets your needs and I think it'll give you a lot of peace of mind especially given what you've seen happen with your parents. God bless you. Thanks for calling today and we appreciate it very much. Yeah, thank you very much, Ruth.

And in your 50s you still have plenty of time to take a hard look at this. Thanks so much. We'll be right back.

Don't go away. 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. Hi, I'm Barry McGuire. 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. Are you concerned about what's happening in America? So many people you know have lost hope. But God has given us a cure to the disease of hopelessness and despair.

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Join us at IgniteAmerica.com. Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson-Tada and you will agree that lions are fearsome not to be trifled with. You don't want to get near them, right? That's how I feel about 1 Peter chapter 5 where Satan walks about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And I wonder today, do you feel as though a lion is out to get you? Well, there's a stronger lion in you than the one who's on the prowl for your soul. It is the lion of the tribe of Judah. And the Bible assures you that greater is he that is Jesus who is in you than he who is in the world. Yes, the lion of Judah is also fearsome, but he's not out to kill. He's out to save. Just like he gave strength to David and Samson to kill their lions, the Spirit of the Lord will come mightily upon you so that you can shred to pieces that prowling lion the devil today.

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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. This is our final segment of a broadcast we previously recorded. Thanks so much for being with us today, and we hope you'll stick around and enjoy the rest of the program. It's Friday. It's MoneyWise Live. And we are so glad that you are there.

Miami, Florida, Sabrina. Nice to have you with us as well. And how can we help you? Hello, gentlemen.

Thank you very much for taking my call. I have a retirement question. I'm planning to retire around about September, and I'm wondering what to do with my 50 savings plan, whether to leave it there or rather to move it, how to diversify it, because recently I moved it from a risky fund into the G Fund. I know that's not earning much, but I want to do it to just secure the money.

And I'm so glad I did because I would have lost the chunk had I not done that. But I know I need to diversify it. So should I move it or not move it?

Where should I move it? Please tell me. Yeah. Once you separate from the company or in this case, the federal government, you have the option to take that thrift savings plan, Sabrina, and roll that out to an IRA, which is what I would typically recommend. How much do you have in there roughly? About $600,000. Okay.

All right. So you've obviously put in a long tenure with the government and you've been working hard and saving a good amount of money. And so I think the key for you right now, how far off is this before you're done working? September. The end of September. Very good.

Well, congratulations. Well, I think the key is to be planning now, Sabrina, about what that season looks like. Both with respect to Lord, what do you have for me in this really exciting season of life where you have an incredible amount of wisdom and experience and where does he want you to go and what does he want you to do and all of those things. But then also, how can I be a faithful steward of this wealth that you have that you've been able to put away diligently by following his principles and not putting that on autopilot I think is really important.

I think having someone who's a trusted professional who can help you make those decisions in a way that gives you peace of mind and of course is in light of your goals and priorities, not taking any unnecessary risk, but also allowing it to work for you so that it can produce an income to supplement Social Security and whatever other income sources you have. So do you have an investment professional, Sabrina, that you know of? Well, I have been working with a kingdom advisor. You have? Okay.

Great. So that individual could help you with this and I would be planning now for what that looks like as you move this account out because that's going to give you more options if you put the TSP inside of an IRA and it could then be invested in any number of mutual funds or stocks or exchange traded funds. There'd probably be a bond allocation in there. And again, the key is to make sure that it's invested in light of what you're trying to accomplish. We're not trying to beat the market or anybody else in terms of the returns. We want to preserve the capital first and then we want to make it grow. Remember, part of the role of a steward is to take what God has entrusted to you and put it to work, but in a way that's consistent with that. So that's where I would go next.

Talk to your certified kingdom advisor about that and it's likely going to be that that individual recommends you roll that out to an IRA. And Sabrina, it's a great call. Great question. Thank you very, very much.

St. Louis, Missouri. Ryan, what's on your mind today, sir? Hey guys, thanks for taking my call. Glad I found you.

I kind of stumbled across your radio show today and glad I found you. Enjoying what I've heard so far. Great.

So real quick, I'll try to make this succinct. My wife and I fully contribute to a Roth IRA every year and I've already fully funded my Roth for this year and I'm in sales. My income kind of varies wildly from year to year and I've done some calculations and it looks like this year we're dangerously close to being at that income limit to be able to contribute to a Roth.

And I mean like right on the button. And my question is, if it gets to be the end of the year and it looks like we're going to exceed it by, you know, a couple thousand, would a contribution to a regular IRA for my wife, would that reduce our ATI for the purposes of staying under the number so that my Roth is fine for this year? Does that make sense?

It does, yeah. And it really is a function of, you know, the income limits that you have and whether you go over that. And there are ways to reduce the taxable income that you have. And one of those is a contribution to a tax deductible retirement plan. There are no income limits for the traditional IRA. So yeah, whether it's a SEP IRA or a deferred comp plan or a traditional IRA, those are all ways to reduce that income so that you would then have the ability to contribute to a Roth. The key is if you over contribute, you want to make sure you deal with that because that excess contribution will result in a penalty and some taxes potentially do if you had any growth on that.

But I think the key is right now I would be working with your tax preparer to see how do you maximize that opportunity to take the money that you received in this great year where you've earned quite a bit, get it working for you, reduce your taxable income in a way that allows you to continue to contribute to that Roth. And it sounds like you're doing a great job socking some money away. And we appreciate you listening.

Glad you found us today. OK, Ryan. OK, I have a quick follow up question. Sure.

Yes. So what would happen if we didn't if we weren't paying attention and we just made those deposits and we did exceed our income? What happens? I mean, do we can we take that out without a penalty or do we probably go over that income? Yeah, well, there is a penalty that applies to an excess Roth contribution, but it can be avoided when if you were able to take it out. I would just work with your CPA.

It's going to depend on when it went in and when you realize this and whether or not there's been any gain on that money that will have to be recognized from investments. But you want to try to identify that as quick as you can. So you're not bumping up against the limit and deal with it as soon as you know about it.

And that's going to obviously lessen any penalties and taxes that are due. Thank you, Ryan. Rob, Jean is calling from Chicago. Jean, we're so glad you called today. How can we help? Hello and thanks for taking my call.

Sure. We have two car payments and the total is about twenty thousand that we owe. I would like for us to pay those loans off.

My husband does not want to. What would be the advantages of paying those loans off? Well, I don't see any reason to keep the loans in place. You know, that's debt.

And after we pay off credit card debt, we want to go after consumer debt as kind of the next focus other than our saving and giving goals. If anything, having a car loan could raise your insurance rate because your lender would, in many cases, most cases require you to have full collision insurance, which wouldn't be required. Doesn't mean you shouldn't have it, but wouldn't be required if you owned it outright. And so I like the idea of you paying that loan off. That's a guaranteed return equivalent to the interest rate you're paying right now to the lender on that car. And so I don't see any reason to keep it.

And I think having a loan doesn't do anything to help you with regard to the insurance. OK. All right. Then I have something to tell him. Thank you so very much. All right, Jean. Thanks for your call today. God bless you. Thank you, Jean.

Bye bye. You know, Rob, our previous caller was calling from St. Louis, obviously St. Louis, Missouri. And those are or that is one of the states that's been so severely impacted this past week by bad weather, storms, tornadoes, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas. We just want our listeners to know in those states that we are keeping them in our prayers. You know, you just can't do much about tornadoes and these kinds of storms other than prepare yourself as best you can hunker down and lots of praying. Right.

Well, that's exactly right. It has been a rough week and our hearts and prayers do go out to those folks in the in the path of that. And this is the time when the body of Christ can really be the hands and feet of Christ as they come to the aid of those in the midst of that destruction. But I'm glad you mentioned that. We certainly need to be praying for those folks.

That is for sure. Hey, Rob, what do you say we tackle a couple of emails? All right, let's do it.

All right. Here's one from Tim. Dear Rob, we've been giving 20 percent to our church, but overtime at work has been cut. I can't see anywhere else to cut the budget.

We're already pretty cheap on things like groceries. Do you have any advice for being able to keep up our giving or should I cut back to 10 percent? Tim, I appreciate your desire to continue to give. I think at the end of the day, we recognize we can't outgive God. And so whatever he leads you to do, I would do out of faith and trust in him. At the same time, I also recognize part of your responsibility is to provide for your family. And that means living on a balanced budget and cutting back where necessary as income decreases or certain expenses come up along the way.

We have to navigate all that. So I would start by just making this a matter of prayer, number one. Number two, I'd set some financial goals. Of course, anything you do needs to be within biblical principles, which means you need to live within your income.

So the budget needs to balance. We should be able to pursue our goals, both giving and saving, and then ask God to give you and your spouse peace of mind about what that means. I don't think there's a magic number, if you will, about what you need to do.

We don't need to take a legalistic approach. It's a matter of being a cheerful giver, giving proportionate, and giving in light of what God leads you to do. And if that means for a season, you have to cut back. Well, I think there's nothing wrong with that. I would just take that matter to the Lord. Rob, with that, I think we're going to have to put a bow on it for this week. Thanks so much. Trust you and yours. We'll have a wonderful weekend. Once again, thanks very much, Rob. Thanks, Steve.

Alrighty. Well, if you're having any money problems or concerns, I'd like to recommend a book that's blessed thousands of people. It's by our good friend, Howard Dayton, and the title is Your Money Counts.

Obviously, the way we manage and use our money impacts every other area of our lives and plays an important part in how God is able to use our lives. The book, Your Money Counts, available for purchase when you visit MoneyWiseLive.org. You'll see lots of resources there. You might want to check them out. MoneyWiseLive.org.

MoneyWiseLive is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. My thanks to Judy, Courtney, Jim, and Gabby T. for their assistance today. And thank you, again, as I mentioned, for tuning in and for listening and for being a part of the program. For Rob West, I'm Steve Moore, hoping you and yours have a wonderful remainder of the day. Then join us again next time.