Financial Fantasies

Daydreaming can be lots of fun thinking about what ifs, but when wishful thinking replaces wise money management, there could be some nightmares down the road. The hard truth is all the happy thoughts in the world won't help you pay the bills.

Today, Kingdom Advisors President Rob West reveals three delusions about money so you can avoid them. And we'll take your calls and questions on anything financial at 800-525-7000. Lots of open lines right now. Get in line.

800-525-7000. I'm Steve Moore, avoiding financial fantasies. Next, on MoneyWise Live. So Rob, when does daydreaming about lots of money or things we'll certainly never have become harmful? Well, you could argue that it's never a good thing because it's a waste of time and mental resources that could be put to better use elsewhere perhaps. So in the broadest sense, it's harmful all the time, but there's no doubt that it's harmful when you act or fail to act based on wishful thinking. Okay, and what may I ask that, what would that look like?

I had a feeling you'd ask that. One example would be that you run up debt because you think there's money coming later. That's presuming upon the future, of course, which the Bible warns about. Proverbs 27-1, do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth. That could also mean that you fail to do something like not drawing up a spending plan and sticking to it, which leads to not saving. The Bible warns us about that too. Proverbs 21-20, precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling but the foolish man devours. Okay, well I think you've laid some pretty scriptural groundwork for avoiding some financial fantasies, so can we identify some of them so that we can know exactly what to be wary of? And I think you may have a couple there already written out, huh?

Three in fact. Let's start with number one, thinking that you might someday inherit a pile of cash and that will solve all your financial problems, but how often are heirs unpleasantly surprised by the provisions of a relative's will? It happens all the time. And think about this, if you're wishing for an inheritance, you're looking forward to someone passing away. That's not only morbid, it's in direct conflict with the 10th commandment, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male or female servant, ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Alright, I'm going to go out on a limb here because I'm not thinking about my neighbor's donkey on a regular basis. This probably also applies to family members stuff. So what would be the next financial fantasy? Yeah, that would be dreaming that you're going to win the lottery.

If that's your retirement plan, be nice to your boss because you'll be working for a very long time. Statistically, you're more likely to die in a car crash on your way to buy a lottery ticket than you are of actually winning. And if you decide to walk to the store to buy a ticket, you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than winning the lottery. Proverbs 28, 20 says very plainly, a faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

Now, that doesn't mean you're going to be hit by lightning for wanting to get rich quick. It means you'll naturally miss out on God's blessing if you fail to follow his principles for money management. Those blessings aren't always financial, I should point out. They could be something like peace of mind that comes from knowing you're being a good steward of his resources or any other way that the Lord may choose to bless us. Okay, yeah, peace of mind really does have great value.

Alright, I'm peeking ahead here a little bit and seeing that a lot more people might have a problem with this last one you have. Yes, it's probably a lot more common and that's thinking the government will provide for you. It's no secret that entitlement programs are in big trouble. The latest projection, Steve, we've talked about this social security benefits expected to exceed income by next year and that the program's reserve fund will be exhausted by, I believe it's 2035, barring congressional action. Medicare is on an even faster downward trajectory and the COVID crisis hasn't helped either program. Now, that's not to say those programs won't be available. They will be, but they'll have reduced benefits or higher taxes to support them. The point is we all have to plan and save for the day when we can no longer work and be productive.

And by the way, even if they look exactly like they look today, social security was never intended to fund more than 40% of your pre-retirement income. Okay, well some of that information is kind of stark. How about when we come back, we think about some positive encouragement that we can give our listeners when it comes to these kinds of things. Okay, sounds great. Alright, here's another thing that sounds great, at least to us, 800-525-7000.

800-525-7000. If you'd like to call in with your question, 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.

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The space these celestial beacons occupy would require 80,000 light years to traverse. Isaiah 40, 26. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. There is a creator. His name is God. It was he who made the stars, the heavens and earth.

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That's Christian credit counselors.org or call 800-557-1985. Great to have you along today on MoneyWise Live where we do our best to remember that God owns it all. It's all his stuff, not really ours even though it may feel that way at times. And we're just taking a quick look at some financial fantasies. Wishing and hoping for lots of money doesn't really accomplish much or anything along those lines. So, Rob, what's a better, more effective way of looking at our money and our financial future? Well, I would say, Steve, why not put your hope in a sure thing and that would be God's promise to provide for all of our needs. Of course, we have to do our part by following his financial principles.

We talk about them every day on this program. Live on less than you make. Stay out of debt. Save for the future. Give generously. By doing these things, you can improve your financial situation without any help from the lottery or a rich uncle. And it's not a get rich quick scheme. It takes time but we know it works. Here's the thing. When we follow God's principles of managing his money, we put ourselves in a position to experience his best.

And my experience is that when we get this area of our lives right, it has a ripple effect into our intimacy in our relationship with him holistically. So, just incredible benefit from being able to take God's money, put it under his lordship and see it as a tool to accomplish his purposes in our lives. You know, I'm thinking out loud. I haven't given this any real thought but time and time again, we hear of or we see people who won the lottery and come away with millions and millions and millions of dollars only to find that five or ten years later, they have none of it left. Maybe they've gotten divorced. They've run into some problems with the law.

They didn't handle their taxes properly. And yet, they've had for just a moment all that many people wish for and it just seldom works out. People aren't prepared to handle it or they have their priorities in the wrong place. And that's the peace of mind that we look for when it comes to knowing God personally through his son, Jesus Christ.

Well, that's exactly right. And we need to keep in mind, Steve, because we can get this wrong. Our self-worth is not equal to our net worth. We can start to equate those two and that's a big no-no. I think we also need to recognize that financial resources are not a reward for godly living. That we could live an incredibly faithful and disciplined life in following Jesus and struggle financially.

There's not a direct correlation there. He's not a cosmic vending machine. We're called to faithfulness with what we've been entrusted. I love it. Cosmic vending machine. He is not.

God has a different plan for each of us, even though his principles and his promises apply to all of us. Now, here's our phone number, 800-525-7000. If there's something financial you've been thinking about, wondering about, some situation you find yourself in, you're not quite sure whether you should go left or right. Well, let's kick that around a bit. 800-525-7000.

We go to Tampa, Florida. Selena, thanks so much for holding on and what's your question today? Hi. I have a question about, how could I, well, I have two questions actually. So my first question is, how could I build up a short-term savings in a quicker way, I guess, is my question. Currently, my husband and I do have a savings account that we're putting money into every paycheck, but I wanted to know if we want, we're trying to save up for us to do some renovations on our house. So how could we like build that up quicker?

Yeah. Well, Selena, it's a great question and I think there are some strategies that are key, but it always comes down to one financial, excuse me, one fundamental idea and that is really spending less than you make. And it sounds simple and yet it is so key to being able to have margin to do anything that God may be leading you to do, whether it's build up your savings, give more, pay down debt, whatever it might be. It only happens, you know, through margin and we can only have margin, meaning something left over after all the bills are paid, fixed and discretionary if we're living on a spending plan and we plan to have that margin and then we have a system to control the flow of money in and out. Do you all operate off of a budget, Selena?

Yes. So we do have a budget currently and we thankfully only debt that we have is our mortgage. So I guess there's what I guess my question was, we have it in a regular savings account.

I was wondering if we could put the money that we currently have now into some other type of account. Oh, I see. Got it. Yes. Okay. I get your question now. Well, I'm glad to hear you have a spending plan. Sounds like it's working well. Also sounds like you've limited your lifestyle and you really are following these principles because the only debt you have is a mortgage.

Here's the thing. If this is short term savings, meaning it's for an emergency fund or it's money that's going to be used in the next five years, let's say as much as you might be frustrated by the lack of interest you're receiving on your savings account, that really is the very best place for it. Now, if you've not opened an online savings account, I would do that. Marcus Capital One 360, Ally Bank, any one of those three or any other online bank that you might find at bankrate.com. What you're going to find right now is they're paying about point six percent.

So a little better than a half of a percent, no fees whatsoever. And you can link it right to your checking account and move money back and forth electronically. That's going to give you FDIC insurance, protect the money and give you a little bit of interest. Now, I realize it's not going to grow significantly, but the key with that type of account, a savings account that short term in nature is it's not the return on our money that we're concerned about. It's the return of our money. We want to not be invested in something that has the risk of principal loss such that when we need the money, we might have to sell it and take a loss.

And I just don't think that's the best approach. So I'd open an online savings and and put it right there. What was your second question? My second question was our mortgage. I was wondering if there's a way that we can go about paying it off. So currently we pay $800 a month for a mortgage and we're putting an extra $200 towards the principal a month. But I was just wondering if there's anything else we could do to pay it off quicker. Yeah. Well, I'm delighted to hear you're doing that because essentially if you're putting an extra $2400 a year on it and your payment is $800, you're sending an extra three payments a year that's going right to principal.

And that's a big deal. That's going to take a 30 year mortgage and cut it down by about, I think about seven years if I've looked at that correctly in the past. So you're on track to pay this off much quicker. I would say if you do nothing but just continue with that extra $200 a month, making sure it's going right to principal, that's a great option. Really, that's the bottom line. I mean, apart from you refinancing, assuming you could save at least a percentage point, you're going to stay in the home for at least five years and you don't extend the term.

That would be the other way. But beyond that, I think just sending as much as you can to the principal on a monthly basis, assuming your other priorities are in place. You've got that savings account you're giving regularly, you're saving toward retirement, then I would say anything you can put toward the principal is going to get that mortgage balance coming down. Selena, it sounds like you guys are really doing a great job there. Hang in there and continue on. We appreciate your phone call. Hey, we're going to take a brief break then we'll come back and we'll chat with Jack and also with Matthew. And we have some open lines beyond that as well. So this would be a great time to get in your phone call today in your question.

800-525-7000. Don't forget, you can find us on Facebook and all social media that you're used to seeing. Check us out. You'll find us under Money Wise, Money Wise Live as well.

We'll be right back with more. Stick around. 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. Hebrews 4-12 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. It says that in verses 33 through 36, we'll start with 33. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.

How unsearchable is judgments and its paths beyond tracing out? In the King James, you just see O, I believe, and in several other translations, OH. What it fully ought to be, you need the H on the end of that O. Because O by itself is just giving emphasis.

O with an H is giving exclamation. And it's coming to one. This is the doxology here for Paul. Sometimes I even know this and I've never been under the inspiration in the way that these people, to whom God inspired His Word, have been. But haven't many of us been in a situation where God caused something to come out of your mouth to someone else that you know wasn't even in your head? And it was scriptural. I mean, you know it was dead on God. It just was. But you know that it missed your head and went straight to your tongue.

It's the weirdest thing. Where it just, just right, I mean, where, yes, where did you just stand back and go, oh no, that was good. I don't, I'm telling you, I don't know who that was, but that was. And it had to be one of those just flowing off of his tongue like this, written down by the scribe. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, because Paul cannot even explain this to us. 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.

Keep listening for another Quick Word with Beth Moore. 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.

From the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 15, 22, without consultation plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed. So perhaps, just perhaps we can provide you some consultation today or consult you on anything financial you might be struggling with or you're wondering about. Give us a call right now with some open lines available at 800-525-7000. Springfield, Missouri. Hello, Jack.

Thanks so much for holding, sir. What's on your mind? Well, I am a disabled vet. I'm 50 years old and I can't work.

And my question is, I got two boys. They're still in high school, but do I save like I am in retirement mode or do I save like I'm saving up for retirement? I don't know because I'm technically retired, I guess, at age 50 because I don't work.

But I don't know where to put the money. Well, Jack, I'm sorry to hear about the challenges you've had, but I'm grateful for your service, sir. Let me ask you, you know, I realize the dilemma that you're in here in terms of the income that you'll be able to count on for the rest of your life. Is that pretty much set and it will not change at this point? That is correct. I get a retirement from the Army.

I get Social Security and it's all a set amount. OK. And so you've you're able to conduct your lifestyle in such a way that you can live on that within the provision of those resources? Yes. Yes. We have our house paid off. So we don't have to worry about that kind of debt. Very good.

Yeah. So I think at this point you ought to treat it as if you're in retirement because normally we would be saving building assets during our working years so that we can convert those assets to an income stream in retirement so that alongside Social Security or a pension or any other retirement income sources, we would be able to have enough to cover our lifestyle, our expenses, our giving, the things that we feel like God has called us to do in that season of life. Because you find yourself in a situation where apart from God's healing, which he could do, you're unable to work. We're thankful that through these government resources, because of your service and through Social Security, you have a monthly income that's going to last the rest of your life. And given that that will provide for your needs, I think that's really the key.

I think the only question would just be, would there be anything else on the horizon outside of that that you could envision? I imagine you have good health care and that should cover pretty much anything that would come up. But that would typically be, you know, the major, a major medical event would be the most costly possibility in the future that somebody may not have the resources for. But apart from that, it sounds like you really are in more of a retirement mode where, sure, you're trying to keep your lifestyle in check. And if you have margin, you know, you don't have any more debt.

So you eliminate that bucket. You're not going to pay any more in taxes because that is what it is. And you're not going to increase your lifestyle. So that only leaves two uses of money, giving and saving. And so the question is, with any margin that you have, what is your financial finish line?

How much do you would you believe God would have you to continue to put aside for the future? And then the rest is just increased giving opportunities at this point. So is that helpful, though?

It is. Do we do we buy like Roth IRAs once a year? You know, do we do we continue to do that or not?

Yeah. You know, I think given that you don't need the money, anything that you have over and above your living expenses, as you look at where to put that now, you'd have to have earned income to be able to fund a Roth because, you know, you can only put in up to over the age of 50 in the year 2020 $7000, but up to the amount of earned income that you have. So if you don't have any earned income, you wouldn't be able to fund or contribute to a Roth. But I think the key is, you know, wherever you put it, let's try to get a good return on it so it grows for the future. But do some thinking, praying and planning about what that financial finish line is, because I also don't want you to miss out on additional giving opportunities as the Lord leads. Jack, thank you very much, sir. Again, we appreciate your service and that you gave us a call today.

God bless you very much. Volo, Illinois. Matthew, is it Volo?

Am I reading this correctly? Yes, it is, sir. Thank you. My pleasure to have you with us today. What's on your mind? Well, thank you for taking my phone call.

I had a question. My father and I and my brother and I have an aunt that's involved, are looking to buy a bigger piece of property so that we can take care of, have a long-term vision and take it to the next generations. And we have previously have our own property up for sale.

And I'm curious to know if we can justify taking on a second mortgage, even though we might, we have enough reservoir of cash to make both mortgages for maybe a year or two, and didn't know if that such a thing as a wise step before one is sold, or how much reservoir or cushion, you might say, in cash before one does that, or is that not a wise thing at all, no matter what the amount of cash. Yeah, tell me a bit more about the plan here, Matthew. So you plan to sell your primary residence that you live in today and then relocate to this new piece of property that you would own along with other family members, is that right?

That is correct, yes. And what's the timeline on that? Timeline for the second piece of property. Well, and how quickly you'd plan to sell your current property so you could pay off that second mortgage?

It's on the market now, so it could be any time. So it's currently up for sale, so as soon as it was sold, we would move. Yeah, okay. And so really the question is, I suspect because you all are doing this together in terms of the purchase of the new property, the piece of property has already been selected, everybody's ready to move forward, and so you're just wondering if it's premature for you to go ahead and enter into that, taking on the second mortgage, realizing that your current property hasn't sold yet. And what I'm hearing is that in order for you to cover both mortgages, you'd have to come out of savings as opposed to being able to fund that out of current cash flow, is that right? Yes, yes.

Maybe a little bit of income, but so cash flow as well as reservoir, yes. Okay, let's do this. We've got to hit a break here, but I'd love for you to stay on the line so we can finish talking a bit more about this because it's a great question. I think you do need to give it some careful consideration. So if you can hold the line, we'll take a short break and we'll come back and we'll finish up right around the corner.

We'll come back and chat some more with Matthew and Tony and Brad, also in line. This is MoneyWise Live 800-525-7000. 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.

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www.moodyradio.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 moneywiselive.org.

With SRN News, I'm John Scott. There's word of progress toward a compromise COVID-19 economic relief package. The White House and congressional Democrat negotiators have agreed to include a national coronavirus testing strategy and the White House pressing Senate Republicans to agree to a package approaching $2 trillion.

Prosecutors have provided enough evidence to move toward trial for five Michigan men accused of planning to kidnap the state's governor, Gretchen Whitmer. The British government says trade talks with the European Union are effectively over and the country must prepare for a no-deal break with the block. That's despite EU leaders declaring that negotiations will continue. Stocks took a late tumble on Wall Street, erasing an early gain and leaving the major indexes mixed. The Dow gained 112 points. The Nasdaq dropped 42.

The S&P 500 was up a fraction. This is SRN News. OK, let's go back to our phones. We were just before the break talking with Matthew in Illinois. He wants to buy, along with some other family members, a house, some land prior to the sale of the current house that they're living in. Yeah, well, Matthew, I appreciate this situation. It's interesting. And I can appreciate what you're trying to do with family members wanting to buy a piece of land that you can hang on to for generations and live near each other and do life together.

And that all sounds great. It also adds a lot of complexity to the situation, especially since you're going to be entering into a contract to buy a piece of property with other parties. Again, complexity read into that whereby you haven't sold your primary residence, which is the means by which you're going to fund it. So normally, I would say, let's not go ahead with the purchase until you sell your primary residence. Just not worth putting yourself in that position where, yes, it's a hot real estate market as long as it's priced right. There's not any real problems with the property. And you're in a normal area of real estate that's actually selling fairly well. You should be able to sell it in a very short period of time.

But there's always the exceptions, right? And so we just don't want to put ourselves in a position where we risk our financial foundation in order to make the purchase. Now, I realize there's added complexity here because you're wanting to do this together. I assume they've already picked out the property or you all have together and people are ready to move forward and people are saying, well, we'll float you until you get there.

And so I would just say, you know, the wisest thing to do would be to say, no, I need to push the pause button until we get this piece of property sold. I realize it may not be that simple. And so you've got to work through that side of it. The other piece is just recognizing the complexity of the legal structure, the shared expenses. And I realize the intention is for this to be for generations and generations.

But is there sort of an off-ramp here? Because everything needs an exit strategy except for a spouse, you know, where two become one and that's for life under the Lord. But apart from that, we need an exit plan because we don't want to end up with damaged relationships as a part of that. So I would go into this, whether it's a business with a partner or a piece of property with a home or homes with family members, knowing that there was a legal way that somebody could get out of it if they so choose and actually have a way that they could value their portion and it could be sold to the other parties and that type of thing so that all that is thought through on the front end. And therefore, we don't end up with damaged relationships on the back end. But I just think, I mean, I can't in good conscience say, yeah, let's go ahead knowing that you've still got this piece of property. Your savings is going to eventually run out and it's a very illiquid because it's owned jointly and nobody else is going to want to sell it.

And even though they're saying they may float you, the collateral damage relationally may be significant if for some reason you just couldn't sell your property and you were in a really tight spot, not to mention you're the one on the title. So I realize, you know, I'm not giving you necessarily any clear answers other than some real warnings just based on what I'm seeing, despite the fact that I'm all in on the the big idea, as long as you've accomplished the things that I'm raising here. Does that make sense, though? Yes. Understood. Yes. Yes, fully understood. Yes.

OK, unusual. But I understand your concern. Definitely. So I thank you very much. OK, listen, why don't you I mean, I'm sure you have, but make sure there's a godly real estate attorney in the middle of all of this, just helping you think all the nuances of how it's bought and again, building in some of those exit strategies on the front end. So all that's thought through as to how each person values their portion of it. And, you know, if you don't assume you don't need it, that's great. But if you did, you'll be glad you had it.

And you thought through it on the front end. Matt, thank you very much. God bless you.

Brentwood, Tennessee next. And Tony, what's your question today for Rob West? Hey, guys, thanks for taking my call. I've been on this show for about a year and a half.

Really enjoy the show. I hear people call in asking, you know, what they should do with their money. Sometimes they've had a windfall or something or they just want to invest smartly so they could retire at a decent age.

And I was wondering why you guys never mentioned or recommend Index Universal Life for my training and understanding. There's no risk with Index Universal Life. You participate in the market gains. But when the market tanks or goes down like it did in 2008, you know, you don't have to lose all your money and then, you know, play catch up.

You know, the worst you can do is break even. There's also living benefits you can use while you're alive. Of course, you get the death benefit. And I've always been told that life insurance has tremendous tax advantages also. So I was wondering why you guys have never recommended that or or, you know, maybe you don't know enough about it. Sure.

It's a fair question, Tony. And I'm not someone who says and there are plenty of people out there that would say no, never use an insurance contract in this way, including universal life. I'm not one of those. I think they have their place for people who don't want to assume a measure of risk, want to transfer that risk. And you mentioned some of the benefits, although I would say that, you know, you said, well, at the very least, you break even. But I would say that's a huge risk because breaking even in terms of the missed potential for, you know, gain over a long period of time is a big deal because we're counting on these assets that we're putting away for retirement to be compounding year after year. And so, you know, one of the things that I'm not crazy about with universal life is the caps on returns. You know, the insurance company sets the maximum participation, of course, at less than 100%, which is how they account for the downside. And in some cases, it's low as low as 25% in terms of how much you are able to capture on the upside in the good years. There's not the guarantees in terms of a guaranteed interest rate. As you said, at the minimum, you get your money back. You don't lose money.

But I would say that's a that's a pretty big deal. If you're counting on this money compound over time. Also, just in terms of the, you know, the cost of this, we're talking about larger premiums here for the death benefit. So this is not like a level term policy in terms of what you can expect to pay for the death benefit portion of it. And, you know, over time, it makes the policy more expensive. And, you know, as you know, with insurance contracts, you don't have the ability, you know, to get your money back. And so, you know, if you want to be able to access your funds, the cash value that you've built up, you're allowed to take that out. But you're going to pay a surrender charges depending upon how long you've had the policy and how much of your own capital you're looking to access.

So I think just because of the complexity of them, we're giving up the upside. And you mentioned the tax benefits, but we can get tax advantaged investments through traditional retirement vehicles. So I guess from my standpoint, I just see enough people that are underinsured that I want them to buy all the insurance they need during the working years when they need it.

And the most cost effective way to do that is term life insurance. And then I'd like to see them take the rest of their money that they're saving for the long term and use traditional retirement vehicles, capture 100% of the upside with a well diversified investment portfolio, which historically speaking, should do very well if we're invested for the long haul, meaning, you know, at least 10 years and in the case of retirement, probably a lot longer than that, and not necessarily try to tie it up into an insurance contract. I realize there are some features of them. And you mentioned a few of them that we're missing out on in that scenario I just described.

But for all, you know, things being equal, I would prefer that, that more traditional approach, but but give me your thoughts. Well, I've been shown graphs that go back like 20 years. And, you know, maybe it's only because of what happened in 2008, you know, when things went down significantly, and some people lost 70 or 80% of their money, but it shows that the IUL outperformed the market over that 20 year period.

Yeah, I need to see that because that's not my experience with all things being equal. And as long as you're not selling in 2008, you made up all your money in the years following. Hey, we appreciate you checking in, Tony. You've brought us some great ideas. We'll be right back after this. Stay with us. And this is MoneyWise Live.

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. Sharing the good news of Jesus isn't hard when you rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

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Join us at IgniteAmerica.com. Who are you voting for? Voting is certainly on a lot of people's minds this year, but I'm voting for Jesus. My trust is in Jesus.

It's in him. According to Scripture, Psalm 20 verse 7, some trust in chariots and some in horses, some in presidents and some in Congress. Okay, it doesn't say that, but we trust in the name of the Lord, our God. Who are you voting for? I'm voting for Jesus to be Lord and King over my life and over this nation. Will you join me in praying for the Lordship of Christ to be experienced in this nation in a dramatic way?

My name is Dave Butts, chairman of America's National Prayer Committee for OneCry.com. We'll be right back. Good to have you along today.

It's Money Wise Live. I just want to give a shout out, a shout out, a heads up to our technical crew today because it's just a team that really gets it done. I'm talking about Amy, I'm talking about Dan, also Aaron, not to mention our own Jim Henry, who handles all digital research and biblical exegesis. At least that's what he tells us, particularly when he's asking for a raise. All right, let's continue on here.

North Canton, Ohio. Hello, Brad, how can we help you, sir? I'm doing good. Thanks for taking my call.

My question is this. I've just retired from my military career and my federal career, and I have a TSP, which is my 401k, and I don't need that money now. I probably won't need to touch it.

As I look at it now, probably five to ten years. One of the questions that I have, though, is I've been researching and do I, my TSP, I can manage that myself, but I don't know it that well. And one of the questions I have, should I pay the 1% to an advisor and let them invest it for me?

You know, obviously we're going to put the plan together, but or should I just try to do it myself? Yeah, I'm just going to answer with one word. Yes. Now, let me explain. So for the benefit of our listeners, TSP, what is that? Well, that's a thrift savings plan.

This is the retirement savings and investment plan for federal employees and members of the uniformed services. So with your TSP, you can, in fact, roll it out, Brad. And, you know, here's my perspective on it. I mean, you spend a lifetime building this up through hard work and contributions and sacrificing and keeping your lifestyle in check. And now you're sitting on this significant amount of money. And for you not to employ a professional that's going to help you manage it wisely, make sure it's properly diversified, not too highly concentrated.

You're taking the right amount of risk. And, you know, all of those factors, it's being managed from it in a tax advantaged way. I mean, all of those things is just worth it in the same way, you know, you'd go to a doctor and for a medical need and you'd hire a realtor to sell your home. I really think there's incredible benefit to having a financial professional at your side. In fact, a fiduciary, somebody who's charged with putting your best interest in mind and, you know, constructing and managing the portfolios.

And I would take it a step further. I'd encourage you to consider somebody who has the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation. So they share your values and they really understand an internal perspective of money. Where would you find such a person in Canton, Ohio? You could do that at our website, MoneyWiseLive.org.

Just click on Find a CKA, put in your zip code. I'd interview two or three. If you already have a couple, that's fine, too. But I would definitely interview some folks, find the one that's the best fit in terms of experience and track record, but also how they're going to communicate with you and how interested are they in what God's plans are for you in this next season of life. And, you know, all of those factors because this will be a really significant relationship.

But bottom line is, yeah, I would definitely use a pro. Brad, thank you very much. We have to move quickly here to Chelan, Washington, a beautiful part of the country. Linda, how can we help you? Well, good afternoon.

Hello. I recently sold my primary residence and of the proceeds that I'm getting, I would like to use $100,000 of it and I have a duplex. And I'm wondering a better way to use it. It's on a line of credit. I owe about $220,000 on it right now.

It's probably valued between $450,000 and $500,000. Would it be better for me to get rid of that line of credit and give a traditional mortgage, put the $100,000 that way, or do some improvements on it? The upper duplex would need new windows and possibly build a garage.

Yeah. Linda, would the improvements be for you to enjoy or would they improve the rental side or both? And if it's for the rental side, would it allow you to earn more money in terms of the rent you could bring in?

You know, I don't know that answer. So what I did was this was a single family house, probably had it for about 10 years. So the lower part of it was all brand new, new windows, new insulation, everything like that.

The upper part was a 1964 house. You know, it has old windows where I could use the improvement that way. The rent from the upper unit does take care of the line of credit and the taxes. So I guess to either pay it down or add improvements.

Yeah. Well, I mean, the goal is to be debt-free, right? Because that's going to give you added peace of mind. It's going to save on the insurance costs. But I realize that, you know, this is, you know, half of this is a business.

Let's look at it for what it is. And so we need to operate that business in a way that makes sense, meaning you have proper reserves, that you're maintaining the property appropriately. And what we don't want you to do is be cash poor such that all of a sudden these renovations on the upper unit, which sound nice to have today, become necessary a year from now or two years from now, and you're going to have to go borrow money in order to do that. Because my preference would be that you do, in fact, refinance with a new first mortgage.

Make sure that it's going to make sense, but it probably will, given that this is a line of credit. In terms of getting a better interest rate, let's put as much money as we can toward that with the goal of being debt-free over time. But then the question is, how much of that 160 in proceeds from your primary residence do we want to put into it? And how much do you need to hold back on so that you can have the right amount for reserves and do whatever improvements are needed to maintain the property and maximize the asset in terms of not only your own enjoyment in your portion, but the rental income that you can receive upstairs. But I think the big idea is let's do what we need to do to try to move toward being debt-free.

So all things being equal, I wouldn't hesitate to put a full $160,000 against the mortgage, apart from this idea that there are some necessary renovations that we need to do that we can't fund out of current cash flow. Does that make sense? Yes, it does. Thank you. That answers my question. Okay, very good. Thank you for calling today.

God bless you. And let's see if we can answer another one. Oh, this will be an easy one, Rob.

Chapel Hill, Tennessee. And Elizabeth, what's going on in your house? Yes, so my husband and I have been married for three years. We're both believers. But one of us really is aggressive with spending, and one of us is really aggressive with saving.

So we have about $800 that we could be saving on paper, but the spender in the family makes it to sometimes where we don't have any money to save at the end of the month. So I want to know how to tackle that. Sure, and here's what I promise, Elizabeth. I'm not going to ask who it is, all right? I don't even know. I really want to know, but I'm not going to ask.

No. But this is so common. So I want to first of all encourage you. God puts us together in such a way that we're usually opposite. There's usually one spender and one saver, and that's just the way that it tends to work out. The key is, under the Lordship of Christ, how do we come together, recognizing we need a shared vision for how we use God's resources, and we can't do that without a plan.

But here's the thing. You know, 70 percent of married couples have disagreements. You might say, fight over money. This was a study that came out recently in Shanti Feldhahn's new book, Thriving in Love and Money.

And one of the top reasons, there was five reasons they identified why this happens, one of the top reasons is a misalignment in values related to how they use their money. Because you see, if we start by saying, God, this is your money. You want oneness in this marriage relationship. You want us to use it to accomplish your purposes. So what are our values? What's most important to us? Do we want to live a life of being debt-free? And what are our savings goals?

And what lifestyle have you called us to? And how much giving do you want us to do? And as we begin to start at that level saying, God, give us a vision for what you would have us to do as a married couple and what you want us to accomplish, then the money is just a tool to that end, right?

It's a tool to accomplish God's purposes in our lives. And the way we administer that is through the spending plan. And by the way, there needs to be a reflection of each of us in that spending plan, meaning it's not just the bills and it's not just the discretionary spending, but there's probably a small amount that fits into the budget that each of us can use however we want, right?

If I want to use it for my hobby and you want to use it for something entirely different, that's OK, as long as we've built it into the plan. But the plan has to reflect what's most important to us. And the extent to which our spending tells a story about what we value, if that story isn't consistent with where God is taking you guys, then we need to make a change. And that really requires you all coming together to start with on your knees saying, Lord, we want to invite you into our finances, recognizing it's yours to begin with. Give us a vision for where you're taking us and then help us to use your resources to accomplish your purposes in our lives. And then we start to build the plan.

Now, I realize that's easier said than done. And there's all kinds of things that come into that. And how did his parents handle money?

And how did your parents? And what are all the ways we're wired? And one's a spender and one's a saver and all of that. But I think together you more accurately represent Christ where you can enjoy God's resources and yet be disciplined to be saving for the future, recognizing that that's clearly found in Scripture.

So let's do this. Kind of given all of that that I just said as a backdrop, it really does all come down to this plan. So I want to give you six months of the brand new MoneyWise app, a pro subscription, because I think that will help you begin to put all of this into a form where you can get it on paper, you can get it into the app, you can use that to track the flow of money in and out.

I also want you to connect with one of our MoneyWise coaches, because this will be a third party that can come to the table to walk alongside you guys to help you build that plan so that you can really have somebody to bounce ideas off of, that can be kind of a neutral third party and help you move toward kind of this vision for your future that I just described. Does that all make sense to you? Yes. Thank you so much. That was so helpful. Well, good.

I want to do one other thing. In addition to the six months of the new MoneyWise app, I want to send you Howard Dayton's book, Money and Marriage God's Way, because I think if you guys start reading that together, maybe take a chapter a week or a chapter every two weeks, I think you'll be really encouraged. So just for the sake of my team, we're going to do six months of the app, we're going to give you Howard's book, and God bless you guys as you move forward in this. And for the sake of our team, I'm going to say goodbye. We are out of time. MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend. Join us again on Monday.