Using a HELOC To Speed Up Mortgage Payoff

If you've never heard of a Rube Goldberg contraption, well, it's a machine that performs a simple task in a very complicated way. Not exactly what you want to help you pay off your mortgage faster. Nevertheless, there are oodles of systems out there that can claim that you can be mortgage-free in just a few years. Today, Kingdom Advisors President Rob West explains what's behind this idea. Then it's your calls on anything toll-free 800-525-7000.

800-525-7000. I'm Steve Moore using a HELOC to speed up your mortgage payments. That's next on MoneyWise Live. Rob, I can remember as a kid seeing cartoons of Rube Goldberg contraptions where you needed a soup ladle, a bird, a clock, and a sky rocket all working in sequence just to dab your face with a napkin. Are you saying that these speedy mortgage payoff systems are a bit like that?

Not quite that excessive, maybe, but still pretty complicated and relying on things going pretty close to perfect, just like in those cartoons. If one link in the chain doesn't work, well, the whole thing may just fall apart. We get lots of calls about these kinds of plans, so fill us in on how they work. There are variations, no doubt, but for any of them to work, you have to have a healthy, positive cash flow. That means a significant amount of money left over at the end of the month.

If you're struggling just to meet your obligations now, this definitely isn't for you. Basically, the idea works like this, although again, there are a number of varieties of this. To start, you need a credit card that gives you a grace period of ideally around 45 days to make a payment without hurting your credit score. Then you need to take out a home equity line of credit or what's known as a HELOC. In certain months, you'll put your entire paycheck toward your mortgage. The amount above your normal payment goes against the principal, of course. Meanwhile, you'll use the credit card to pay for all of your other expenses running up a tab there. Then when that card's grace period is about to end, well, you'll pay off the entire credit card balance with the HELOC. Are you with me so far?

Yeah, barely. Then what? Well, then instead of paying your mortgage, you use your next paycheck to pay off the HELOC balance and then you do that over and over again. Okay, well that is at least to my mind a little bit complicated, but does it actually work?

Well, it certainly works for the company selling the ideas because most of them are also selling expensive software to help you run the system, sometimes as much as $2,500. But here's the thing, if you need a special platform to stay on course, is this really something you want to be involved in? Yeah, and what if you're not able to stay the course? Yeah, and therein lies the real danger, Steve, because unless you're awfully good at staying on a budget, you'll end up just borrowing even more and racking up more in interest. So yes, a scheme like this can look great on paper if everything works very well, as you expect it.

But in practice, well, that's another matter. You see, you're committing yourself to paying maybe an extra $20,000 a year on your mortgage. What are the odds of that actually happening over an extended period of time? You may very well get tired of the system. And what if your plans change? You have another child or you decide that you want to start a business or you get sick and can't work and have huge medical bills. We never know what the future holds, but very often it has unexpected twists and turns.

That will, of course, set you back your HELOC strategy by several years and increase the chance you'll tire of it pretty quickly. Okay, all right. Understood. Any chances the Bible has anything to say about something like this? Well, generally speaking, of course, I think that borrowing to save is hardly biblical stewardship. Proverbs 22, 7 warns the borrower is slave to the lender. So you're always borrowing from two lenders to pay off a third, in a sense, floating your debt around in a circle. Then there's presuming upon the future something else we don't want to do. That's pretty clear in Proverbs 19, 21.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. So my advice? Well, I'd take whatever discretionary income you have and put it directly on your mortgage principle. I'd probably, at least for me, skip the credit card and HELOC idea. It's a lot simpler and you don't have to pay anyone twenty five hundred dollars to get started. Again, there's varieties of this, Steve. One is where you replace your traditional mortgage, your conventional mortgage, with a HELOC, and then you put all your money against that as your paycheck comes in and then borrow it back, moving from amortized to simple interest. But again, it's just complicated and I'd rather keep it really simple. If you can't explain it, my rule of thumb is then you just don't do it. I like that rule of thumb and I'm the guy who can't even spell thumb without others at being there somewhere. Hey, this is MoneyWise Live. He's Rob West. I'm Steve Moore.

Your call is at 800-525-7000. 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. If you have money in a retirement account or just a general investing account, you know the stock market can sometimes be like a roller coaster. 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. My husband and I bought an IKEA desk for my home office. That's real, and I'm Hannah Lynn. With all IKEA furniture, you have to put it together. Without fail, we seem to always get a piece of furniture attached backwards.

The front part should be flipped or another screw should have been put in first. Sometimes this can happen with the gospel message. A friend told me once that she wasn't good enough to be a Christian yet.

Guess what? That's the backwards upside down message of what the gospel actually is. Luke 18, 19 says that only God is good. Romans 3, 23 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Knowing Christ means acknowledging that you're not good enough and that you need him to redeem you. That's called repentance. You're good because he's good. That's the gospel.

Don't get it backwards. That's real. Follow me on Instagram at that's real radio. 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. Hey, we hope the sun is shining wherever you are, if not literally, if not literally, figuratively.

And of course, if it's the S-O-N rather than the S-U-N, well, we know that he shines and his grace shines on us on a 24 hour basis. So good to have you along. Here's our phone number again, 800-525-7000. If you have a question about anything financial for Rob West, he's in the hot seat ready to take your call, 800-525-7000. Let's begin, Rob, by going out west, Stafford, Arizona. Arnold, you're thinking about some sort of insurance policy, huh? Well, Rob, first of all, God bless you guys. Thank you for the program.

And our reward is eternity with our Lord and a gift of salvation. I bought this when I was 47 years old, Universal Life. Okay. And I want to know, I can renew it to 102, but of course my payments will go up. Yeah.

Okay. If I do it right now, I'm 68. If I do it right now, it'll go to $1,562 a year.

I mean $3,124 a year, $1,562 every six months. I feel that I've been in it long enough that I shouldn't let it go. I don't want to think you're thought about it.

I think at the end I will still come up and again, because the Lord asked us to be wise, you know, to leave our families prepped. Yes, yes. What is the death benefit on that, Arnold? $250,000.

Okay. And so the premium over the next 12 months will be $3,100. And do you know what the internal rate of return is that you're getting on this policy, on the cash value? They say from four to seven, but I don't think it's really built up all these years with the way the market's been, you know? Yeah, yeah.

Well, you know, I mean, sure. So I think the key here is to evaluate, first of all, whether you still need the insurance, you know, the fundamental purpose of insurance is to protect against and manage risks that can't otherwise be borne by you. And when that need no longer exists, then you really don't have a need in this case for the life insurance. You know, and so I think that's the first issue. The second, though, which would be the caveat is that in today's low yield environment, many permanent life insurance policies can provide another value and that is a favorable internal rate of return if it's held until death, which is potentially appealing as somewhat of a bond alternative.

And I think that would be the only reason potentially that you'd want to hang on to it is that even though perhaps you don't need the death benefit, and it's essentially unnecessary, it's not necessarily wise to surrender it, but to actually keep it because if you look at the alternative as to what you would do with it, you might find that you are going to have trouble, you know, finding an equivalent rate of return with a commensurate risk level. So I think perhaps, Arnold, do you have a financial advisor that you work with or do you manage everything yourself? I manage everything myself, asking my Lord for guidance. Yeah. And that's always a great place to start.

We go to his word and we find all these principles and certainly James 1-5 is a great reminder that if we lack wisdom, we can ask for it and the Lord will give it to us. And so certainly it sounds like you've been doing that. I am delighted to hear that. I think, though, that this would be a situation where a competent financial professional, not where you're having to engage necessarily something, someone on an ongoing basis, but somebody who could just help you evaluate this policy in light of your overall financial condition. Just in a couple of minutes here on the radio, I'm hesitant to say, yeah, go ahead and surrender that quarter of a million dollars worth of death benefit and, you know, take this money and in terms of the cash value and redeploy it, given how much you've put into this and not knowing really the full picture of your financial situation. So I'd really prefer, Arnold, in this case that you visit with a competent financial professional, I'd prefer you to visit with somebody who has the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation, who really shares your worldview, understands an eternal perspective of money and can bring that to bear alongside competent financial advice.

So the way you'd go about that, if you choose to go in that direction, is just to go to our website, MoneyWiseLive.org, and then just click Find a CKA, put in your zip code and anyone that you come up with will have that designation and find somebody who would just allow you to pay them for their time to really help you evaluate whether there is another alternative you should be considering before you make this really significant decision related to this policy that you've been paying on for a long time. So I apologize, I can't give you a definitive answer, but I just feel like there's enough variables here that I probably shouldn't. But I think at the end of the day, this comes down to what is the internal rate of return on that money if you carry it to death? What would you use as an equivalent replacement if you were to surrender it?

And do you need that death benefit for any reason? Those are really the factors. You know, Arnold being a can-do guy who's done it all by himself all these years is probably thinking, well, what's that going to cost me? What Rob suggested, sitting down with someone, whether it's a CKA or someone else for an hour and getting their thoughts and having them review this, what's that going to cost me?

Can you give us some parameters? Probably a couple hundred dollars, Steve, somebody to give you an hour or two of their time just to help you evaluate this in light of the overall situation. Now, if it were to result in a full-blown financial plan, that could run a couple of thousand dollars. But if it's really just related to this specific question and giving you some options to consider, it would be anywhere from no cost as somebody just evaluates this as a part of kind of considering whether they're a good fit to literally, you know, a couple of hundred dollars for an hour of their time. Okay. And if Arnold were to say, listen, I know Rob and Steve personally, that would probably increase the cost.

It may go up. Arnold, God bless you, my brother. Thank you very much for calling in today. We wish you the best. Akron, Ohio, WCRF and Jonathan, what's your investment question?

Yes, sir. I have a question about Bitcoin. I don't know enough about it to, to really want to invest. I just heard from different friends that said investing into Bitcoin is a good idea, but I just didn't know for sure.

So can you give me some inspiration? I can, Jonathan, and I would just be real clear here and say, stay away. You know, this is not something you should look at for investing God's money. Cryptocurrencies, of which Bitcoin is one of several thousand now, are essentially as an investment, an ultra high risk investment. There's way too much volatility.

It grossly exceeds any other investment class. And that's just because they're unregulated. And so as a result of this being an unregulated market, and as a result of this being new technology, that's still in somewhat of an adoption phase. And because of, you know, the fact that many of these exchanges have been hacked. One in particular, in South Korea, where users lost their currency, and investors lost their assets, not to mention there's fake cryptocurrency exchanges that have defrauded folks out of their money. We've even have tourists, excuse me, terrorists using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a part of just what they do in wreaking havoc all over the world, which again, fuels the volatility. Because in some cases, it could be outlawed because of the anonymity and the fact that they're not regulated, all of that just really, you put that together, and it ends up being a very high risk investment. Does that mean folks haven't made money? No, there's probably plenty of folks that made a lot of money investing in these cryptocurrencies. But I just think for the average investor, this is not something you want to be doing with God's money, I would take a much more sure and steady approach, which the Bible describes as steady plotting, and be well-diversified with a long time horizon and high quality investments. Be systematic in your contributions.

Make sure you're giving first, make sure you're spending plans in line, make sure your consumer debts paid off and, you know, you have an emergency savings fund, but then beyond that, just be diligent and systematic in your investments, not trying to pick the next winners and losers with a high-flying investment strategy, but really just a sure and steady approach that's going to win over time. And Rob, it's not that there aren't some people who have done amazingly well with Bitcoin, but to us, it's a little like Las Vegas. You know, there are some people who win, but most people don't, and not in keeping with the slow and steady principle that we find in God's Word, correct? Well, that's exactly right, Steve. Alrighty. Jonathan, we're glad that you called, but we wish you the best with that. When we come back, we'll speak with Chris, who wants to know about credit card security, and also Becky in Springfield, Missouri. You're listening to MoneyWise Live with Rob West. I'm Steve Moore.

We'll be back with more right after this. God cares a great deal more about our money than most of us imagine. In fact, Jesus says more about our use of money and possessions than about anything else, including both Heaven and Hell. In Managing God's Money, author Randy Alcorn breaks it all down in a simple, easy-to-follow format that makes it the perfect reference tool if you're interested in gaining a solid biblical understanding of money, possessions, and eternity.

Managing God's Money is available when you click the Store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. The depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. When he says, oh, the depth, what he's saying is there's no getting to the bottom of it. I worry depth is just, have you ever just tried and tried to get to the bottom of something?

There's just no getting to the bottom of it. That's a little bit of a picture. I want to throw out the association between wisdom, Sophia in Greek, and knowledge, gnosis there. Wisdom and knowledge, because they're a pair continually. You constantly see them in Scripture together.

And what in the world is that about? What's the distinction between the two? And wisdom is the ability to use knowledge to its highest purpose. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge to its highest purpose.

You might think of it this way. Wisdom is knowing what to do with knowledge. There's knowledge. You and I want to study God's word. We do not want to be ignorant. But wisdom does something with it.

Wisdom knows it never was just to complete a Bible study. It was because something in the life was meant to be different. Something in the heart was meant to be different.

That's a little bit of the distinction between the two pair of not identical twins. You've been listening to A Quick Word with Beth Moore. We have two ways to experience now that faith has come, a study of relations. The online experience is now available at BethMoore.org.

The workbook edition will release in January 2021. Either way, Beth would love to have you in Bible study. Keep listening for another Quick Word with Beth Moore. Buying a home is the largest, most nerve-wracking purchase most of us ever make. It doesn't help that you're entering a maze of unfamiliar words and confusing options that can leave you intimidated, frustrated, and afraid you've been taken advantage of. Navigating the Mortgage Maze by Dale Vermilion helps you clear up the confusion, unrack your nerves, and make the best mortgage decisions possible with confidence. Navigating the Mortgage Maze, available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. Nice to have you joining us today on Money Wise Live, where timeless wisdom meets today's financial decisions and choices. And if we can help you, we'd love to try, 800-525-7000.

Out West, from our perspective, Retrim, Idaho. Chris, thanks so much for holding on. How can we help you? Well, I had heard on, I don't know where it was on the radio sometime, about credit card. And I have one, and I heard about what they were associated with and supported, the groups that stood behind them. And I wasn't comfortable with it because I thought, it's God's money, and I don't want to represent, I don't want a card that represents something I don't believe in.

So I was wondering, what's the difference between a debit card, a credit card, and a secured credit card? Yeah, yeah. And let me just make sure, Chris, I understand what you're asking about.

I'm happy to explain the differences between the three. But when you're talking about doing business with a company that perhaps is doing things you don't agree with, you're talking about how they spend their corporate profits, and whether or not you'd want to be aligned with one of those companies. Is that right? Well, I found out I was, I just heard a blurb on the radio, and I thought I had no idea that they supported, you know? Yeah, sure. And I think there's an opportunity there for you to really think about who you do business with and what they're doing. We've talked in the past about a new website that's really helpful in this area called inspireinsight.com, where you can actually put in the ticker symbol of a company or the name itself. And they scrape the web and amazing databases to find out how these companies are using their dollars, advocating for certain causes and organizations that may conflict with your values, at least gives you the transparency to know. And so that would be a way to check that out.

Again, it's inspireinsight.com. As to the difference between the three, obviously with a credit card, unsecured credit card, you are basically having a line of credit extended to you. So you're applying for and being approved for a certain dollar amount that you can charge against. There's no money on deposit, they're putting this line out there for you based on your credit worthiness. And then you're able to use that as long as you pay it off. There's no interest if you carry a balance.

There will be, of course, interest and then if at any point you don't pay it back, then you'll have obviously fees and penalties and at some point they could seek a judgment against you. With a secured credit card, the only difference is you actually are putting a certain amount of money on deposit. So you would give, let's say, two or three hundred dollars to the bank.

They give you a line equal to that. You charge against it and then you pay it down. They don't tap any of those funds, but it's there as security. So if at any point you didn't pay the balance, well, they have no risk because they could take the money on deposit that is securing that credit card. With the debit card, obviously there is no line of credit and you are just tapping into the funds you have on deposit and you actually are spending those dollars immediately as each transaction goes through. In terms of fraud, historically the credit card was always the obvious choice, but these days it does vary.

There are better consumer protections through fraud protection from the Federal Trade Commission all the way through the warranties that the issuers offer themselves. And basically with a debit card, the only downside is the money, if it was compromised, does come out of your account. So you'd have to wait for it to be returned to you, which does give you a period of time where you wouldn't have access to those funds. But at the end of the day, the liability is zero if you report the loss or the fraud immediately.

It's up to fifty dollars if you do it within forty eight hours and then up to five hundred if you notify the bank with forty eight hours within sixty days of it being lost or stolen. So I think the key is to stay on top of it, recognize there are protections in place, but you want to identify it just as quickly as you can. And the good news is, although there's more fraud than ever, there's more security than ever before. And the issuers are going to great lengths to protect your funds and to stay in constant contact with you.

So I've thrown a lot at you there, Chris. Tell me what questions you have. I mostly just want to make it. God blessed me with some extra money and I just want to make sure that I'm, you know, walking the straight path and the most secure path and using wisdom to guard it. And I and I have had a debit at one point. I've had a credit.

I don't think I ever did a secure, but I just want it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, here's here's where I would go with that. Number one, I love what you're saying. I would always operate based on a spending plan to make sure that where you're spending your money is in line with your values and where you feel like God is leading it. As to how you go about that, whether it's cash in an envelope system and literally paying for it with cash or whether you're using an electronic means, I like the idea of you using a credit card for budgeted items and then just being sure that you're watching that account to make sure that it is not compromised and that every charge that comes through is in fact one that you recognize. And to the extent that it's not, I would try to notify the issuer immediately and know that there are protections in place. So I think if you're doing that and just following good principles with regard to doing business online, assuming that is something you're doing, including never clicking on a link in an email, including never doing business over a public Wi-Fi at a coffee shop or something like that, then I think at the end of the day, Chris, we just trust the rest of the Lord knowing that you're doing your part as a faithful steward. Chris, we're glad you called today. Thank you very much, and we trust how all that information helps you.

You're listening to MoneyWise Live with Rob West. I'm Steve Moore. When we come back, we'll take some more calls. Of course, 800-525-7000.

Please don't go away. 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. American 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 Elizabeth, a communications major at the Moody Bible Institute. The Moody Radio Verse of the Week is found in Psalm 91, 2 through 4. I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge.

His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. That's Psalm 91, 2 through 4, the Moody Radio Verse of the Week. All Christian parents want what is spiritually best for their children. Knowing how to pray for them can often be as challenging as knowing what to pray.

I'm Drew Dick, host of Moody Publishers' Reading for a Change podcast. Erwin Lutzer's new book, A Practical Guide for Praying Parents, challenges you to become more guided in the prayers for your children. Learn how to pray more effectively for your children, even those with hardened hearts or those that are prodigals.

Pick up your copy of A Practical Guide for Praying Parents by Erwin Lutzer at moodypublishers.com. Many people are experiencing financial challenges, such as credit card debt, downsizing, dead end 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. With SRA News, I'm Bob Agnew in Washington. The Trump campaign says the president will debate Joe Biden on Thursday. That's despite some concern about a rules change in which moderators will have mute buttons to keep the candidates from interrupting one another.

That's a move the president says is designed to aid Biden in the debate. The U.S. Senate wasting no time now. It's on track to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court by next Monday. That includes a rare weekend session. Judge Barrett's confirmation would seal a 6-3 conservative majority on the court for years to come. NATO says it plans to create a new space center to help manage satellite communications and the alliance's military operations, the move all part of NATO's effort to keep ahead in a fast-moving high-tech sector, especially against adversaries like Russia and China.

At the close on Wall Street, the Dow was up 113 points and the NASDAQ up by 37. More details at SRANews.com. Great to have you out there today. You know what I wish, Rob?

I wish that each of our listeners slash callers could hang with us for a day behind the scenes and see the fun that we have in the background. You know, I drink a lot of coffee. You don't. But still and all there's that dynamic. There's that that vibe, that chemistry that happens. Yeah, I'm well aware of it, especially during the breaks for some reason. Well, all right.

We'll see if we can make that happen. Stay by your phones. Springfield, Missouri. Hello, Becky. How can we help you? Hello. Hi. I would just like some direction.

I'll give you some notes I put down and then see what you what you think. I'm 57. My spouse died.

He he died about five months ago. I have a new vehicle that's paid for. I have 15000 in savings. I owe two hundred thirty thousand on the mortgage and I have about two thousand dollars extra money per month. My my question is, would it benefit me more to pay that on the mortgage to put it in savings to do half and half?

I kind of did one of the calculators online and I could retire in five to seven years paying that mortgage off. But I have a grand baby that's due in November and I I really struggle with wanting to go part time for six months or a year to spend time and help out my daughter. So I just like a little bit of your opinion direction on that.

Yeah, Becky. Well, first of all, I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's passing. You know, you've done a great thing in that it sounds like you have a real clear understanding of what you have, what you've been entrusted. It sounds like you have a real solid financial foundation under you and an exciting future that the Lord is going to take you on with new birth coming in the form of a grandchild.

And it just this exciting season that you're stepping into in terms of your finances. What would you say your monthly expenses are when you total everything up, those things you get a bill for, those things that are more discretionary in nature? Do you have a rough idea of how much it is in total?

Well, I would say somewhere around two thousand a month. Okay. All right. Everything and then I have and then I have two thousand above that.

That's just extra that I can do something with. Very good. And if you were to go part time, would that take away that whole two thousand extra or not quite?

Not quite. Okay. What would you estimate your surplus to be at that point? Oh, probably five hundred a month. Okay. All right.

Very good. And what retirement assets do you have besides the fifteen thousand in savings? Well, the monthly amount I get is a thousand a month pension and then I have twenty five thousand just a small 401K. Okay.

So the pension plus Social Security, once you begin drawing that down the road, should cover your monthly expenses because by that time the house would be paid off. Is that kind of what you're thinking is? Yeah. Okay. And last question, do you plan to stay in this home, Becky, for the foreseeable future? I do.

I've I've gone back and forth, but it's very secure. It's in a good neighborhood. I'm a little bit insecure about where I would live otherwise. Yeah.

No, I totally get that. Well, the exciting thing is that you have, you know, seven and a half months essentially in expenses in that emergency savings. So you've got a good bit built up for the unexpected. And I love the fact that you've got this extra two thousand a month that you can put away. I might go ahead and continue to save that full amount until you get a year's worth of expenses in the bank. That'll give you a nice cushion to know that you've got plenty of money to fall back on in the event something came out of left field. Obviously, you're healthy, you're still working, you're feeling good. And yet, you know, this grandbaby is coming and that's going to continue to be a draw for you and wanting to spend a lot of time there. So I think while you're still working, let's go ahead and build that up to a full year's worth of expenses, which means taking that fifteen thousand.

Again, this is just a recommendation, but up to twenty four thousand in the bank. At that point, I would be comfortable with you taking all of this money unless the Lord's directing you somewhere else and putting it against the house, because we obviously do want to pay that off as quick as you can. And that would get a good bit going to principle and bring this balance down quite rapidly, both now and in the future.

If you were to go to part time, the good news is you have the ability to do that, because even with part time work plus the pension that you have sounds like you still have quite a bit of surplus there so that if if anything changed in your financial life, you could stop sending the extra to the mortgage and you would have the ability at that point, you know, to reclaim that surplus. So I think that's probably the direction I've had. But give me your thoughts.

I like that. If I were to go part time, would it be, do you think, OK to go part time for maybe just six months to help out with child care and then go back to full time? Absolutely. You know, we go back and we understand God's design. He created us to be workers, to be productive and to take what he created and improve it. And so, you know, you're using your skills in working and doing that for an audience of one, for the Lord himself. And so I think no matter how he directs you, whether it's in your place of business currently or something else that he might direct you to down the road, I think any time you can use your skills and be a blessing to others and continue to save, which you would be able to do, which affords you the opportunity for more giving or to be able to bless family members, perhaps this new little grandbaby or even to continue to build up some of your retirement assets. I think that's a great option. But good news is you really have the ability to kind of feel that out as you go.

And I think it'll become clear as you get a little further along. Becky, thank you so much for calling. And again, we're very sorry to hear about your husband, but we pray that the Lord will bless you and encourage you and that you'll feel his presence as you go forth. Thanks so very much.

Lake George, Minnesota. Al, just a little bit of time. What's the situation there?

Thanks for taking my call. My wife and I are both retired and we have our IRAs invested in a major church denominations IRA fund, which entails the funding of ministries and churches within the denomination. We recently had a note come, you know, that matured and now have decided to hold off on going back into that and put it in a demand note within the IRA just to see how things are going to shake out with rates. So what we're wanting to know is the day we live in, with churches not having the attendance that they normally do and the amount of offerings and things, how this would affect this type of an investment, and then what other options are there for IRAs within the church body or ministries that might be helpful? Yeah, let me make sure I understand what you're referring to here, George, and we may have to continue this after the break, but are you invested in church bonds? Is that what the portfolio consists of? No, no, it's not.

It's a fund and a financial fund that they support. Let's do this. We're going to hit this break right here and then we'll talk some more on the other side of it, see if we can give you some help. Yeah. Al, stay with us.

We'll be back in just a few seconds. This is Money Wise Live. 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.

Hi, I'm Barry Maguire. I'm here to help you understand the urgency and how much fun it is to share your faith through the eyes of a layman. Here's a thought for you. Leading people to Jesus is the most patriotic thing you can do. If you're in shock over the direction of our country and the godlessness of our leaders, they're a mere image of those who elected them. Godless people elect godless leaders.

It's a simple fact with profound circumstances. By almost completely ignoring the Great Commission over the last 50 years, most Americans are now unchurched, have no concept of God's love for them or his desire for them to spend eternity with him or the moral absolutes of the Ten Commandments or that it was God who made America the most prosperous and generous nation in the world. There's 30 million of us who know and serve God as our Lord and Savior. If each one of us just leads one person to the Lord before this next election, we'll make America Christian again. There's nothing more exciting than knowing God is using you to move people closer to him.

Join us at igniteamerica.com. Here is something you may not have thought about. There is one kind of person on earth who never lies, never exaggerates, never criticizes, and never brags. Who is that person? It's the person who never speaks.

Now, I've used that impossible example to make this point. The more we speak, the more likely we are to say something we will regret. That's a principle of Scripture, too. Proverbs says that in a multitude of words, sin is not lacking. The book of James says to be slow to speak.

Conquering the impulse to speak out takes self-control, a fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is David Jeremiah encouraging you to get on the road to new life. Discover God's gift of edifying speech on Route 66. Route 66, driving the word home.

Log on to route66life.com. Start your journey home today. Do you know if you have enough? Enough money? Enough house?

Do you know how much is enough? If not, Ron Blue can help with his book, Master Your Money, a step-by-step plan for experiencing financial contentment. Learn how to save, invest, and give wisely, how to create a long-term financial plan, and how to get out of debt. You'll find it all in Master Your Money by Ron Blue, available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. Hey, as we went to the break, we were speaking with Al. He and his wife live in Lake George, Minnesota. He's concerned about some of his investments that involve an organization that works with local churches.

Rob? Yeah, Al, I think I'm going to need just a bit more information. And perhaps what you could do is just send a bit more detail to us through questions at MoneyWise.org. I'm just not familiar with the types of investments that you're talking about.

It sounds like if they're not church bonds, perhaps these are demand certificates. But regardless, I'd love to know a bit more about what it is before I weigh in with any advice. So, certainly appreciate your calling today. I would love to get you some help. So here's what you do.

Just send some more information to questions at MoneyWise.org. Our team will pass that along to me. We'll check it out and either get you back on the air or share our thoughts tomorrow on the program. And we appreciate you giving us a call. Al, thank you very much. Stan, let's make sure that you have that information because we really would like to be able to comment on this and help you clear things up.

Thanks so much. Brimfield, Ohio. Hello, Mark. What's your question for Rob West? Good afternoon, gentlemen. Thank you for taking my call. Opening up a new checking account or an additional checking account over the weekend had the banker call me yesterday, actually, for a financial wellness conversation. And during that conversation, he let me know about something that the bank offers called a HE loan. And your topic today at the beginning of the program with a HE lock seemed very appropriate time to ask about the HE loan, a home equity loan that would take the place of the mortgage at a much lower interest rate. And I just wondered what your thoughts were about it.

Tell me about what's being offered to you. Is it a fixed rate of interest that he's suggesting? Yes.

Okay. So it would essentially… And the rate… Go ahead. I was just going to say the rate that they were, as of yesterday, would have been 2 and… It was either 2.13 or 3.13. I think it was 2.13. It's just slightly over prime with a discount.

Okay. That sounds a bit low if it were 2.13. The prime rate today is 3.25.

So I think it's probably 3.13. What were the terms being offered? I could take a 15- or a 20-year loan. If it's held for longer than three years, there are no costs other than a small administrative fee of $295. If it's prepaid within the three years, it would be the appraisal and the title search that would be owed. But if you held it longer than three years, there are no additional fees.

There's nothing added on to the principal. Yeah. Okay. Well, the only thing is just really comparing. I mean, it all comes down to what type of loan is it, how is it amortized, meaning if it's amortized over 20 or 30 years. I think secondly, it's all about rate. And so if it's 3.13, which it makes sense if you said it was a discount off of the current prime rate, then that's a bit higher than what we're seeing in just conventional mortgages. With a 15-year, you should be able to get slightly better or just a little higher than 2.5%, probably 2.6. With a 30-year, 2.75, 2.86, something like that, we're in a really low interest rate environment.

And then beyond that, it's all about the expenses. And it could be that, as you said, if you're willing to hold the loan, they rebate some of those back to you. But at the end of the day, you need that truth in lending statement to figure out, am I paying discount points?

Is there any origination? How much is the various fees and expenses, underwriting charges and appraisals and all the things that come with it? And then you just want to compare the various options and really shop this around, beginning with bankrate.com, considering your local bank that you're speaking about here. And at the end of the day, I think it will become obvious, Mark, whether this type of loan, again, considering those factors versus other options, makes some sense for you.

So I would do a bit more due diligence, get all your numbers, the costs, the rate, and then compare it after you shop around. And if you have any questions when you do that, give us a call. Mark, are you in broadcasting? I am not. Well, you ought to think about it.

Because as we say in the biz, you have great pipes. Now, don't try to get my job, but anyone else is fair game as far as we're concerned. So give that some consideration, okay? Yeah.

Well, Ron, if it ever comes open, let me know. Okay. Well, here's what I would say, Mark. Most days, I'm very happy with my co-host.

You know, there is that rare exception. Boy, he's already making a move here. My goodness. Mark, don't ever call us back again. We don't want to talk to you.

Independence Mo, Independence, Missouri. Jonah, thanks so much for holding and how may we help you? Thank you for taking my call. I'm trying to save for the future and also buy a house. My loan for a house is only like $25,000. I'm having trouble with investors beating me to the houses I want. Okay.

Yeah. Well, in this kind of market, Jonah, it is very difficult. It's what we call a seller's market where there's not a lot of inventory, a lot of people looking to buy homes, not a lot available for sale.

And unfortunately, in that environment, coupled with the fact that we have historically low interest rates, it seems like homes are selling in a matter of hours, maybe days, but certainly not weeks as long as they're priced right and in a good area of town. So let's back up for a moment. You said you're trying to save for a house. Give me a quick rundown of your situation. First of all, do you live on a budget? Yes. Okay.

Second, do you have any emergency savings set aside? A little, not much. Okay. How much roughly? Probably about $500. Okay. And what are your monthly expenses all in over the course of a full month with just roughly? Probably around $700.

$700 total? Mm-hmm. Okay. Are you living with a family member or where are you living currently? Yes. Okay.

Yeah, I'm living with a friend now until I get family to back and forth. Okay. Very good. And do you have anything beyond the $500 in savings that you've already accumulated for the down payment on the house? No, I just live on a part-time job. Okay.

Very good. Do you have any debt? I'm getting to the end of my questions. I don't have many left, but do you have any debt to speak of? What I'm owing, yes.

Like credit cards or a car loan, anything like that? Yeah, that's part of the $700. You know what I'm saying? Let's see. Okay.

Yeah. You're including your minimum payment, but what do you owe total to the credit cards? Oh, I don't have any credit cards. Okay. No credit card debt.

Okay. Do you have any other loans you're paying on? Maybe a car loan? Yeah, just my car loan. Okay.

Very good. Well, the good news is you don't have a lot of debt. I mean, you've got a car loan, but it's not like you're living on the credit card.

It sounds like you're keeping your lifestyle in check. I think the key here is that we've got to get to a place where you've got a little bit in the way of emergency reserves. We would recommend you having three to six months expenses. So if you were to stay where you're currently living, which obviously that would increase once you get out on your own, but we're talking about at least $2,100 or if you were to have six months expenses, $4,200. And that's before you begin saving for the house because that's money we don't want to put down on the house or the condo, whatever it is you're looking at, townhouse.

We want to keep that available for you to have for the unexpected. But once you have that in savings, then it's a matter of saying, okay, what can I afford? What can I put into my budget? And with a part time income, you know, that's going to be a challenge because obviously whether it's rent or a mortgage, that's going to add quite a bit to your budget every month. And so I think next step is to start looking for full time work. But I think at this point, it's really not a matter of starting to look for a home because I think once you're ready to move out, kind of on your own, you really need to be renting, I wouldn't be comfortable you taking on a big mortgage right now without having anything in the way of a down payment, not to mention, we don't have any emergency savings built up.

So I think your next step is try to look for full time work, try to save that $2,500 to $5,000 in emergency savings, and then get your income up such that you can afford a rent payment and the expenses that come with that and then live modestly so you can save for that down payment. Because when you're ready to buy a house, I'd love for you to put down 20%. And Jenna, we're gonna have to leave you with that because we're pretty much out of time here for today. But thank you so much. And we will pray that God gives you wisdom and direction as you move forward with this. But do make sure that you save up a bit more for that down payment.

Thanks so much. And with that, we're going to have to put a bow on it for today. Rob, anything else that you want to mention in old 20 seconds or so? Well, I would say two things, Steve. Number one, why do we do a program on money every day on the Moody Radio Network? And I would just say it's because God's word has so much to say about this topic.

And we need to heed the Council of Scripture recognizing he's the owner and we're the manager. And the second thing I would say is if you haven't downloaded the MoneyWise app, do it today. You get it in the Apple Store, the Google Play Store, or you can go to app.moneywise.org. Yeah, and we're excited about the app because it is so easy to understand. It's going to help lots of people. It could certainly help you and your family members as you try to work through your finances, whether it's saving for a house, a car, just putting your finances your money under God's umbrella. And we can help you with that. And just visit our website moneywiselive.org. Search around there, you'll find the brand new MoneyWise app. I want to thank our technical crew today, Clara, Amy, Dan, and of course, Jim Henry. We also want to remind you that MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media.

It's also a partnership between us and you. If you'd like to make a donation of any size, we'd be blessed and honored by that. Just visit moneywiselive.org. Lots of great information there. Other things you can download, free resources. And right up there at the top of the page, you'll find connect, excuse me, right up there at the top of the page, you'll find donate moneywiselive.org. Thanks so much. Join us again next time.