Still a Time for Thanksgiving

Romans 3 has a prescription for difficult times. We glory in our sufferings, because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope.

Imagine trying to cope with the difficulties of the COVID pandemic without knowing Christ, and you quickly see there's much to be grateful for. Today host Rob West talks with investing expert Mark Biller about staying thankful. Then it's your calls on anything financial at 800-525-7000.

800-525-7000. I'm Steve Moore. Still lots of time for Thanksgiving. Today on MoneyWise Live. Well, Rob, Mark Biller is executive editor at SoundMind Investing, and we know they're constantly analyzing financial data over there. But what folks may not realize is that they also spend a great deal of time pouring through God's word. So Mark is here to help us today, to help us keep things in perspective as we approach Thanksgiving next week. And I'm not sure how quickly that got here, but it did. It sure is upon us.

It's been a tough year, no doubt, and the pandemic obviously continues to take a toll. So we could certainly use some perspective, and that's why I'm delighted that Mark is back with us. Mark, good afternoon. Well, good afternoon. Glad to be with you again.

We're delighted to have you as always. Mark, let's focus on that word, perspective. Where should we look first for perspective in these difficult times? Yeah, well, it's always a good idea to head right to God's word when we need perspective, isn't it?

And I think that a good spot to dive in here today is in 1 Chronicles 29, where it says, David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. And I think that that's just a great reminder to us that God is still in control. So yes, there's no question that 2020 has been a really tough year for a lot of people.

Don't have to go into much detail. You know, everybody knows we've had this global pandemic, there are over a million lives lost and all the people left behind that are grieving. The financial side of that has been pretty intense for a lot of people with jobs lost, businesses closed forever.

You know, really, the only comparable here in the United States on the economic side is really to look all the way back to the Great Depression. And when we have tough times like we've had this year, oftentimes it really kind of acts as a mirror of sorts, and it shows us where our confidence really lies. It's easy to say one thing, but kind of exposes where our confidence really is when we have these tough conditions and who or what we turn to in these times can be kind of revealing. You know, if we're turning to anyone or anything other than the Lord as our hope, then we're bound to be disappointed. Well, there's no question about that. And perhaps identifying some of these false idols, Mark, that we may place our hope in that can lead us astray would be helpful.

So why don't you do that? Where might we look to avoid some of these? Sure. Well, you know, a couple this year that have been easy to identify, one would be science. You know, we've had some good vaccine news over the last week, which is wonderful, but we've spent most of the year watching the experts kind of tie themselves in knots with different conflicting advice. You know, politics is another one that has been a big one this year, but, you know, ultimately very unsatisfying and a very fickle basis for hope. You know, one that hits a little close to home for us in the investment industry is personal savings. And the reason that hits a little close to home is it's really easy sometimes for folks with a lot of savings, maybe money in the bank or in investments, to feel okay during a time like this, because really they're looking at their savings as what's going to make everything okay through a period like this.

And, you know, please don't misunderstand. Of course we need savings. It's entirely biblical and prudent to save, but we've got to recognize and resist that all too common tendency to trust in the provision rather than in the provider. Well, that is such a good word, Mark, and a reminder that we all need all the time. If we put our hope in anything or anyone else, we will be sorely disappointed, and we'll continue to unpack this right around the corner. We will indeed. You're listening to MoneyWise Live with your host, Rob West. I'm Steve Moore, and joining us today from soundmindinvesting.org, our great friend, Mark Billard. Stick around.

We'll be right back. Here's our phone number, 800-525-7000. 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. For 30 years, Soundmind Investing has been helping Christians reach their financial goals, with step-by-step guidance for investors at every stage, from those just getting started to those getting ready for retirement. Through scriptural principles and practical suggestions, SMI offers financial wisdom for living well.

More information, including a short video webinar on profit and peace of mind, no matter what's happening in the market, is available at soundmindinvesting.org. Oh, yeah! There's nothing like the game of footy! What is it like playing for three? I reckon the ballroom is just awesome!

Hi, I'm Bernie Darnit. Isn't it just amazing how we worship our sportsmen and sportswomen? But just a season or two later, those players that we've idolized, well, they can end up forgotten nobodies, because we move on to the next one. What do we worship, you and I? Do we worship people or things that are here today and gone tomorrow?

Or do we bow our lives down to something or someone eternal, someone who loves us with the most amazing love, someone who cares about even the smallest details of our lives? Do you know Jesus, this Jesus who heals lepers, this Jesus who loves the poor, this Jesus who died for you and me, the Jesus who rose again? Do you know him, this Jesus who aches for you?

Do you know him? If the heavy burden of debt is robbing you of freedom and peace of mind, Christian Credit Counselors can help. We're a nationwide nonprofit credit counseling organization that has helped over 300,000 individuals in the last 27 years get out of credit card debt 80% faster, while honoring that debt in full. To learn how Christian Credit Counselors can help you, visit ChristianCreditCounselors.org.

That's ChristianCreditCounselors.org, or call 800-557-1985. Nevertheless, a time for Thanksgiving, and that's the cover article in the November edition of the Soundmind Investing newsletter this month. If you'd like to check out this month's newsletter and past newsletters, including a number of articles that have been set aside for our MoneyWise Live listeners, you can do that by visiting SoundmindInvesting.org.

That's SoundmindInvesting.org. Mark Biller with us today. As we discuss these things, I mean, where do we put our faith? Where do we put our trust?

What do we have to be thankful for this time of year when so many things are up in the air? And here to lead us in that discussion, of course, Rob West. You know, Mark, that was so poignant as you were talking just before the break about the perhaps false idols, we could call them, that we have a tendency to place our trust in, especially in uncertain times. And it becomes very plain, very quickly, that when we trust, as you said, the provision rather than the provider, we will always be disappointed. The good news, Mark, we can always trust God to provide for our needs, can't we?

Yeah, we absolutely can. And it's so reassuring, again, to turn to Scripture, to see the Lord's conditional promise from the Sermon on the Mount, to seek first the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and the Father will give you everything you need. That's Matthew 633. Yeah, it's so true. And, you know, we talk about, as you said, a conditional promise because there's God's part and then there's our part. Let's focus in on our part for a moment.

Help us have a perspective on what that looks like. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, it's no surprise for folks who've heard me on here before that at SMI, you know, we're always trying to counsel people in the protective, money-managed principles that are found right in God's Word. And we're confident that when we follow those, that folks can survive and possibly even thrive through difficult storms that come along periodically. That really starts with having the right motivation, and that involves seeing yourself as a steward or a caretaker of God-given wealth. We find scriptural basis for that in 1 Chronicles, the scripture that I led off with, that yours, Lord, is the greatness and power and everything in heaven and earth is yours. So, you know, that tells us that we're not in this really for ourselves. It's not about increasing our wealth, but to increase our abundance so that we can make our Father happy through our generous giving and through taking care of the people in our lives, our own households and beyond.

Yeah, that's right. We want to be a conduit of God's resources into God's activity. And what you're describing is really the attitude, the heart attitude that we need to begin with. But then we build on that, going again back to God's Word as we put this foundation in place, right?

Yeah, that's right. You know, Psalm 119 tells us that your word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path. And specifically, as it pertains to building a financial foundation, that means that we're living within our means, spending less than we earn, using our monthly surplus to pay off debt and build a savings reserve exactly four times like we've been through here lately. And all of these are solid biblical principles and a real good illustration of that light to our path. So even though you talk about stocks and bonds and Wall Street and maximizing your investments and increasing your savings, again, all of that because, number one, first and foremost, you, Mark, and everyone else there at Soundbind Investing are born again followers of Jesus Christ. And is it OK? I mean, do you guys see yourself as a ministry even though you don't wear a collar or have a what?

I don't know. But I mean, do you see yourselves as ministers of the gospel? Yeah, absolutely, we do. And, you know, just this morning, we gathered as a staff, as we do every Monday morning, and prayed for each other. But also we prayed that as we go about the Lord's business this week, that He would help us and help us in our ability to help the people that He's entrusted to us. And that's really how we view it, that we pray, you know, if we do marketing or something like that, we pray that the Lord will bring us the people that we can help. And then we pray, you know, regularly that the Lord will help us to help them. So that's what it's all about for us. Absolutely.

I love it. So if we can help you today with anything financial, give us a call right now. Anything investment related, particularly, well, Mark's here, 800-525-7000, 800-525-7000. So as Christians, Mark, do you say, God, what stock should I buy this week? And does God give you an answer when you sign up?

Well, you know, I don't. Not that specifically, but I do absolutely pray all the time that the Lord would lead me. You know, if I'm doing research that He'll open my eyes, that He'll show me the things that I need to know. And I absolutely believe that part of His provision to me, to our company and the people that He's entrusted to us is that He is answering those prayers and leading us in the paths and directions that we need to go to see the things we need to see to be able to do this job well. Yeah.

Well, that's a great word. And, you know, that's what it's all about, going back to God's word to pull out these principles that we can then apply to every facet of our lives. But that certainly includes our money. A moment ago, Mark, you were talking about some of those foundational pieces that we mentioned here often on the program, spending less than you earn and using your monthly surplus to pay off debt and build savings for difficult times. But if you're on a path, you just referred to it again, that means you probably need a plan as well for where you're going.

Yeah, absolutely. And that personalized investing plan is central to everything that we do at SMI. You know, that comes right from Proverbs 21, 5, the plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. And so often people are so eager to jump right in to invest, get their money working for them, but really spending that time to put together a personalized plan that reflects your kind of what we call inside out thinking instead of being influenced by all of the outside invoices, the CNBC programs and headlines from magazines and newspapers and things. You know, we want our folks to be initiators rather than responders and to have their investing driven from their own internal needs that they've kind of fleshed out in that investing plan rather than being blown around by whatever the market happens to be doing at the time. Let's take some calls.

Anchorage, Alaska. Rebecca, we appreciate your call today. And what's your situation? Hello. Thank you for taking my call.

Yes. So I'm in a situation right now where I opened a solo 401k account two years ago, and I just received notification that the custodian, the solo 401k company is shutting down. And I need to do something with that money. Now they're based in New York, and I have no idea what to do with this account. I don't know who to turn to.

Anchorage, unfortunately, I mean, maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but it doesn't seem like they have people I've talked to don't have experience with solo foreign case from my tax people to my current financial advisor. Okay, very good, Rebecca. We appreciate the question. And just for the benefit of our listening audience, Rebecca is referring to a solo 401k that's otherwise known as an individual K. It's basically a 401k like you have with your employer, but it's for an individual, a single person who's perhaps a sole proprietor.

Mark, how would you go about evaluating an alternate custodian for her account? Yeah, that's a great question. You know, the idea with a solo 401k, Rebecca, I'm assuming is that you're making your own investing decisions within that account. Is that right? So you're directing how that is invested right now? Yes, that's correct. Yeah.

Okay. So I think the way that I would approach that Rebecca is I would look at the larger custodians for other self-directed investments. The ones that we typically talk to our readers about frequently are Schwab, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, which is actually going to be bought by Schwab before too long. Some of those, and I'm not sure which of those would be the most attractive for a solo 401k, but I would think that that would be a very good place to start looking.

Normally with retirement accounts, you can transfer those custodian to custodian so that you're not taking possession of those funds, but your old custodian just transfers the account to the new custodian. And so I would take a look at those first as a resource to see if one of those looks like it would do a good job for you. And Rebecca, we hope that helps. If it doesn't, give us a call back and we'll kick it around some more with you.

We have to hit a break right now, unfortunately. But this is MoneyWise Live. Our guest today, Mark Biller, always a blessing to have Mark and the rest of the staff with us. Your host is Rob West. And here's our phone number, 800-525-7000. 800-525-7000. We'll be right back to take some more calls, open lines, anything financial, anything investment related for the next few minutes while Mark's here.

800-525-7000. And we will be right back. The financial wealth you leave behind could be the best thing that ever happened to your loved ones or the worst in splitting heirs, giving your money and things to your children without ruining their lives. Ron Blue explains why it's important to make these decisions now instead of forcing your heirs to do it later. Splitting heirs will foster a real appreciation for the precious resources that God has entrusted to you.

And it's available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. 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. He brings us through practically a blood bath and he's made us victorious. I mean, there is nothing that makes him more conspicuous to us. After something like this, we don't just believe he exists. Let me tell you something my loved one would tell you. God is real. God is real.

There's no possible way you can think something up with enough power to get you over that kind of an addiction, that she would tell you herself she has fought for thirty years. When you're talking about something like that, you know God is God. He becomes more conspicuous when he becomes the banner in your victory. You know.

You know. We don't just think, we don't just believe, this is the time when we know. Banners, almost always, we'd see it in the context. We're going to learn something with this mention right here that we'll carry throughout Scripture. Most often it has a military association. So when you think banners, you think military. When you think the Lord, my banner, always think in terms of war.

Because it's always about being victorious in war. That is the Lord our banner that brought us through. You've been listening to Beth Moore with today's quick word. 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.

That's BethMoore.org. And thanks for listening to A Code Word with Beth Moore. 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. Nice to have you joining us today. It's MoneyWise Live and we're here discussing not only your money, your finances, but also God's word.

What does it have to do with what we do each day, Monday through Friday here on this program? Here to help us today and to help us talk through this concept is Mark Biller from SoundMindInvesting.org. You really ought to check them out online. They have a lot of great resources, a fantastic world-class monthly newsletter and much, much more. They're at SoundMindInvesting.org. And gentlemen, with your permission, we'll take another phone call, okay? Sycamore, Illinois. And Jeff, how can we help you? Hi, thank you for taking my call.

I just have a question for you. Approximately about 20 years ago in that time frame, I purchased double E savings bonds for my niece and nephew with the intention of them using it for college. And unfortunately, my brother and his wife divorced and they're not very good financially, so I don't know that they even have that paperwork anymore or ever cashed those in. I still have the copies of that paperwork and I'm just wondering, I didn't see anything on there, any way to track these down to see if I can cash them in or somehow I can get these and get the money so that the kids can use that for school as it was intended.

Sure, sure. Yeah, you know, if you want to look up the value of these savings bonds, Jeff, the best place to go is treasurydirect.gov, treasurydirect.gov, and you'd be able to actually, if you have the information on those particular bonds, you can actually type the numbers in there and find out the value of them. If they're paper bonds and you've lost them, you could have new electronic bonds sent to or get the numbers for the electronic bonds to replace them. At that point, you could then redeem them for the purpose in which you purchased them in the first place.

But I would start at treasurydirect.gov to establish the value and then work through the process of getting them replaced if in fact they are lost and then you can kind of move forward from there. That's a great resource and a great website. We appreciate your call today. Mark, you had said something just before the break that I think was pretty important. You were talking about that we can't take our cues necessarily from CNBC. They might have some great financial information, but if we find ourselves glued to that 24-hour news cycle, especially as it relates to our money, it can really lead to some irrational thinking, perhaps emotional decision-making. Talk about the importance of really guarding ourselves against getting caught up in that.

Yeah, absolutely. It's a big deal, and I think that it's so important that we as the consumers of that information understand the dynamic around financial television and financial media in general. The reality is those stations have to fill a certain amount of time, and these days it's really 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with some kind of material.

And just like any other kind of news show, they know what attracts attention, what will grab your attention and hold it, so it's always sensational. It's always very short-term. What's impacting you today? Well, investing really shouldn't be a what's impacting you today kind of endeavor. We really want to strive to cultivate a long-term perspective, and these programs really are completely at odds with that. They're really cultivating a very short-term perspective, typically. So we just need to be very careful. It's not to say that those shows are all bad or that they're lying to you. I'm not saying any of those things.

I'm just saying it tends to give you the wrong perspective on time, and you need to be very careful. That's exactly right. Mark, we so appreciate you stopping by today. Thank you for recentering us in the midst of uncertainty on the truth of God's Word, that He didn't give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind, and we're grateful for Soundmind investing and the wonderful resource you are to us. Thanks for stopping by today.

Absolutely. Always my pleasure. And please, Mark, give our thanksgiving best to the rest of the staff. We appreciate all of you.

We'll be right back with more after this. We call this investing that makes the world rejoice. More is available at investeventide.com.

That's investeventide.com. If you're interested, learn more by calling 800-791-6225 or online at chministries.org. Hi, my name is Ryan Koch, a youth ministry major at the Moody Bible Institute. The Moody Radio Verse of the Week is found in Galatians 2-20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

In the life I now live in the flesh, I live my faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. That's Galatians 2-20, the Moody Radio Verse of the Week. Uplift, our online source to let you be among the first to know about all things Moody Radio. Sign up to receive Moody Radio's free monthly e-newsletter, Uplift, delivered straight to your inbox. You'll get exclusive stories, helpful articles, and updates on what's happening at Moody Radio.

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Navigating the mortgage maze. Available when you click the store button at MoneyWise Live. With SRN News, I'm John Scott. Moderna says its shot provides strong protection against the coronavirus. The announcement comes a week after Pfizer revealed its own vaccine to be similarly effective. Initial supplies of a vaccine will be limited and rationed. U.S. officials say the Pentagon expected to cut the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by almost half. That's by January the 15th. The Pentagon also expecting to cut the number of troops in Iraq to 2,500, a reduction of more than 500.

The decision follows the president's shakeup of the Pentagon last week, in which he installed those who share his frustration with a continued troop presence in the Middle East. The Dow has closed at a record high, erasing the last of its pandemic losses. The blue chips picking up 470 points today. The Nasdaq ahead 94.

The S&P 500 up 41. This is SRN News. Hey, here on your favorite radio station, this is MoneyWise Live, where timeless wisdom, God's wisdom, meets today's financial choices and decisions. And if we can help you with that, well, that's why we're here. So call right now.

We have a number of open lines. 800-525-7000. 800-525-7000.

Let's go to Allentown, Pennsylvania, next. Mark, we appreciate your persistence and your patience. How can we help you? Hey, thank you guys very much for having me on the call. I enjoy listening to you and I feel like I have learned quite a bit over our time together on the radio.

So thank you. Excellent. Sure.

Yeah, so my two questions for you, if I can sneak two in. Question number one, right now the interest rates are so low. I know you guys talk regularly about interest rates. My situation is I'm trying to decide whether I would like to buy my next home at this point because the interest rates are so low.

So what do I mean by that? I mean the lifetime of a loan in terms of what you pay back when you can get, let's say, a 2.5% interest rate compared to if you go five, six years ago, it was 4.5% as an interest rate are significantly, significantly different payback totals. So my first question is, are the low interest rates a motivator for me maybe to buy a house a year or two sooner than I was planning? And then secondly, the property that I'm currently in, I would like to refinance to get down to those much lower interest rates. But with the possibility of selling this home in the near future to buy the next home or even potentially keeping this as an income property, I just wanted to hear your opinion on refinancing on the home I currently live in with very much questions up in the air about what the future holds. Yeah, yeah. No, I appreciate that, Mark. That's very helpful.

Let me start with the first question. And, you know, no one knows what the future holds, obviously. The Federal Reserve, though, has been pretty clear that it's not even thinking about raising interest rates. That's what Fed Chairman Powell said recently. And so, of course, someday rates will rise, but not likely anytime soon.

And I think anytime soon means probably over the next 12 months. Obviously, I could be wrong, but just given everything we know about what's happening around us and given recent comments in the last six months by the Fed, I just don't see rates heading straight up from here. If we were to see inflation begin to creep in over time, then that would be the time where they would begin to raise interest rates, but I don't think that's happening. Secondly, though, I don't think, although these rates are attractive, I would really want to unpack a bit what it means for you to make this purchase a year or two sooner in terms of your financial readiness. Because although these interest rates are very compelling, the last thing I would want is for you to stretch, buy something you're not quite ready for that would either put too much pressure on the family spending plan because, you know, you have too much house and you don't have the income to support it or you're not putting enough down and so you don't have any equity. And, you know, we have to think about kind of worst case scenario and we want to make sure you have plenty of equity and we want to make sure that that payment fits into your budget so you can accomplish the other goals and objectives the Lord has for you. So I would never stretch to buy a home that I can't afford just because the interest rates were compelling. So give me a little bit more information about what that would mean in terms of you doing that a year or two sooner.

So what that means, my background is I'm a math teacher. So I ran an amortization table last week and what I had learned was my initial plan was going to be try to save about $20,000 a year going forward so that I'd have a really nice down payment going into my next home. Well, when I ran the amortization table on what I believe my next home is going to cost me, the payback number on that lower interest rate being two and a half percent was about $160,000 difference from the payback if that interest rate goes up even 2% to what the rates were five, six years ago. So in my head I'm trying to look at it as, well, if I save 60 grand up over the next three years and then I additionally have to pay back at a higher interest rate another 160 grand, would it make sense monetarily to move all of that up two or three years because now what I'm going to pay back is possibly, depending on what the interest rates do, $160,000 lower, which is excluding the $60,000 I would put as a down payment. Sure, sure. It sure does, yeah. Have you looked at the corresponding monthly payment without you putting this extra money down but at this low two and a half percent interest rate to see how that fits into the budget?

I have, yes. And budgetary-wise, I believe that I'm going to be able to handle it. I'm also a big believer in God has a plan in everything I do, and I just love the way things work out in life that I wasn't really thinking about this heavily. I get in the car one day, your show is on, and you started pretty much the wheels in my head to have all these thoughts, and part of it might be just I get excited about numbers or the other part might be God is kind of encouraging me to go this route in the present. Yeah, I think though the key is, you know, we certainly don't know what the future holds, but we do know that God's principles work.

And so, you know, I think we need to apply a lot of this thinking in terms of making sure we're not getting too far ahead of ourselves. You know, I would use 25% of your take-home pay as a rule of thumb for PITI principal interest taxes and insurance. I would also like you to get to 20%. So perhaps you need to, first of all, continue to pray, ask the Lord to give you wisdom, James 1-5, but then secondly, perhaps you split the difference rather than waiting four years until you get to the full, you know, 20,000 or three years. Maybe you wait a year and, you know, watch interest rates and see what they do. Again, I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon. And if you could put another 20,000 away, you know, that may give you the peace of mind to know that it is time to proceed at that point.

So I probably wouldn't jump right now. I'd just hold on, continue to pray through it, continue to save, keep your lifestyle at a minimum, and then be ready to move, you know, sometime in the next year or two. With regard to refinancing the current property, it's just not going to make any, you know, sense to me unless you're going to stay there for probably at least three, more like five years.

The cost involved in the transaction of the refi is something you're probably not going to recoup even with these lower interest rates if you're talking about waiting only one to two, perhaps even three years. So, hey, your students are blessed to have you, Mark. We appreciate you listening to the show and calling in today. Hey, Mark, are you married? I am married, yes, to a beautiful, beautiful faith-filled woman as well that teaches in my building.

That's great. Well, you know, one thing you didn't mention, you know, you were talking about how you turn on the radio and there we are. I heard you were trying to drag us into your decision making and therefore putting the onus on us if you made a poor decision. But, you know, one other aspect that's all about God that isn't necessarily all about numbers is your spouse. If the two of you can't come to the point where you're of one mind about major decisions like this, then you probably shouldn't do it. Now, whether she understands math the way you do or not, that's not the point. The point is that God gives us spouses, better halves, if you will, that complement who we are. So she may not have what you have.

You certainly don't have what she has. But the two of you together make one complete person making great choices for God. So, you know, give that super consideration and we wish you the best as you work through it. And we appreciate your phone call today.

Thanks so much. And, Rob, I can't tell you the number of times when Marcia and I have sat down and talked about these things. Larry Raquette used to discuss it all the time. My wife doesn't know anything about money and finances, but somehow she arrives at the right answer.

And, you know, he was passionate about that and how vital that is. Well, there's rules for borrowing that Ron Blue laid out very eloquently in his book Master Your Money. The economic cost needs to be less than the economic gain.

That you need to have a guaranteed way of repayment, meaning there needs to be collateral so you can sell it and pay it back. But one of them, Steve Moore, is don't borrow anything unless husband and wife are in complete agreement. I love it. Thanks, Rob. 800-525-7000. Open lines now. Make them ring if you have a question. 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. Your free e-magazine subscription is waiting for you right now at moneywise.org slash sign up.

Hi, I'm Barry McGuire. I'm here to help you understand how urgent and how fun it is to share your faith at every opportunity through the eyes of a layman. Now is the time because there's never been a time like this time when everything we hold onto for security is in motion. Except God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Because of what's happening today, over 80 percent of all unbelievers are hoping there's a God who can make sense out of the chaos and are looking for somebody to tell them about Him.

Wow, that's opportunity knocking. Nothing happens unless God allows it or ordains it. Might it be possible that God has ordained this chaos to happen for the specific purpose of drawing unbelievers to Him?

And if so, how are they going to learn about Him unless someone tells them, unless you tell them? Our churches are closed, so you, my friend, are the church today. You are Christ's ambassador, and now is the time to let your light shine in this dark and depraved world. There is nothing more exciting than knowing God is using you to move people closer to Him. Join us at igniteamerica.com.

This is Anne Graham Lotz with Daily Light for Daily Living. Noah built the ark. We know he had never seen rain because at this time it had not rained on the earth. He probably wasn't an experienced carpenter or zookeeper. It must have taken him 120 years to build the ark. Noah must have put his whole heart, mind, soul, and strength and all that belonged to him into the work of the Lord. Why? Because God said so. What a solution for loneliness. Noah would have had no time to be depressed over his isolated life in the midst of a wicked world.

He was just too busy. Listen to me. Galatians chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 says, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we'll reap a harvest if we don't give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people. We find a meaning as God Himself shares our loneliness while we work for Him and reap a harvest.

This is Anne Graham Lotz. 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. Hey, we're talking turkey today, financial turkey on MoneyWiseLive. Now, if you have a question for Rob, anything financial, anything related to Thanksgiving, I suppose.

We were getting an early start, but why not? 800-525-7000. You know, Rob, a number of years ago, a long time ago, 10 years ago or something, we had a turkey farmer on the program. And we talked about turkey farming, the pros, the cons, the financial ramifications, and how the sale of turkeys impacts the sale of dressing or stuffing or whatever you happen to call. If anyone listening right now is a turkey farmer and you can provide some turkey expertise, give us a call.

800-525-7000. Rob, I'm not even looking, but I know I can tell Rob is shaking his head right now, thinking will he please lay off the caffeine after 3 p.m. How can you just sense that my head is shaking? It's amazing how you do that.

Well, I could hear the rattle through the microphone. I got it. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, perfect.

Chicago, Illinois. Lane, I know you've been holding a long time. Thank you for that. How can we help you? Okay. You guys are going to help me greatly, I'm sure. Okay, good. We'll try. I retired last year.

Oh, yeah. I retired last year. And we have a husband and I, an adult disabled daughter, and we opened a joint account and been putting money in there for her, and the company we used was Fidelity, and I have an advisor there. And they're recommending I get a wealth management company to manage the trust because we want to move that money from the joint account to the trust we created for her. And they say I should get a wealth manager because my former employer, part of our compensation was stock. And they said I have way too much of that one stock as part of all of our assets, and then we should come up with a plan to sell it. And so I talked to one, I'm talking to another one, and they want to charge like 1% a year to manage those two accounts, which equates to about $15,000 a year. And I just don't know if that's something I should jump into, and I actually like the stock, and I kind of don't want to sell it either, but I also am not a financial expert in any way, shape, or form, so I need help.

Yeah. Well, Elaine, I can understand how you would balk at that price tag when you calculate it out and you think that's a lot of money. And you're right, it is a lot of money, and yet what you have to think about is being able to steward those resources in those portfolios is a huge task. And the Bible is very clear on a couple of principles I think that relate to this. One is the importance of having wise counsel, and I think that would speak to the nature of the type of relationship you're talking about here, where you have an investment professional who's charged as an expert to oversee and invest these assets for you. And the second is the principle of diversification found in Ecclesiastes, that we don't want to put all of our eggs in one basket.

We want to put our portion in seven or even eight. The idea is we don't want everything at the risk of one particular company in the case of an investment or one particular investment class. And so as you look at that, even though the company, and I don't need to know the name because it doesn't matter, even though the company perhaps has done well and the stock has done well with it, there is risk there because if the company has a bad quarter, if the company makes a mistake, if the company, well, let me give you an example. Enron might be a company that you may have heard about years ago, and a lot of folks that were with Enron had all of their retirements tied up in Enron stock.

Well, we know the end of the story. It essentially blew up because of all that was going on inside the company fraudulently, and a lot of people saw their retirements evaporate. Well, if they were diversified among not one or two or five companies, but hundreds of companies with a large retirement account, then if you have one that fails or has a particular problem or has a period of decline over a number of years, it's offset by the overall growth of the portfolio. And that's the whole idea behind diversification. So I think there's wisdom in you not being what's called highly concentrated, despite your affinity for the particular company in the past performance. And secondly, I think there's real wisdom in having an investment professional to manage this for you. And if we're talking about a portfolio between one and two million dollars all in, one percent is a very appropriate management fee. And I think you'll get your money's worth in the sense that you'll have somebody looking after this, making the investment decisions with your goals and objectives and your your daughters in mind, specifically related to the trust. And, you know, that would absolutely be the direction I would head. I would absolutely, though, make sure you interview several investment professionals. And I would consider there in Chicago some certified kingdom advisors.

And if you need some another name or two to consider, you could go to our website, MoneyWiseLive.org, click find a CKA and then put in your zip code. But is that helpful to you, Elaine? Hugely, you put my mind at ease. Like you said, that that price tag, you know, and that's now and if it grows, it's going to be more. I just thought, wow, I've been managing it this whole time for free. But yeah, I agree.

I need to get somebody who certainly knows a heck of a lot more than me. Well, and I think it'll give you a lot of peace of mind knowing that it's not all riding on you or one particular company and that you have a team of people or an individual who's a professional that can really take responsibility for this moving forward. And we're grateful to the Lord that it's done well.

But I think now's the time probably to entrust it to some wise counsel. But we appreciate you listening and calling today. Yeah, thank you, Elaine.

God bless. Let's go to Tennessee. Hi, Gary.

How can we help you? Hi, Gary. You with us today? Oh, we're having trouble. Oh, there. OK, Gary. Jump right in.

How can we help? Well, I live in Tennessee and I am going to sell my house. The real estate lady told me I could probably get about 170 to 180 for it.

And I want to move closer in my wife passed away last year and and I'm 74 and I need to get closer in this to get this is countryside. And it's a lot of work out here. I got a couple.

Well, I from half. Anyway, I guess long story short, I want to buy a townhouse, but they're hard to come by. They sell about as fast as they come on the market. And my house probably sell shortly real quick.

Both houses in the neighborhood sold for in a week. But what my question is, I wanted to get a loan. To come down on the other house and go ahead and buy the house, get a get a sort of a preliminary authorization to for a long time to go through a bank. So anyway, I wanted to do that. And but what I wanted to do is, is how much do you think I've got about $50,000 I can put down if I needed to say $200,000 or $220,000 home. Yes, sir. At townhouse in town. And I could sell mine fairly quick.

But what I need to do is find out what kind of loan I need to get so that there wouldn't be any problem on me paying it off with the sale of my house or paying it way down. Yes. Let me ask you this, Gary. Am I understanding correctly that you own your current home outright? Yes. Okay, so you'd be getting a small mortgage or, well, it'd be a sizable mortgage because you'd be putting down $50,000 on $210,000. But essentially, you'd be able to come in and pay it pay it off or pay it way down as soon as you sold it.

A couple of things there. Number one, I think this is wise because you're probably not going to get a contingency on that sale as quick as things are selling the townhomes I'm talking about. They're probably not going to do it contingent upon the sale of your home. One option would be you go ahead with the sale of your home, but you put in the closing documents that you have the right to rent it back for a period of time for maybe up to six months, at least several months for you to have the time to stay in your property, and then go ahead and close on it. You're renting it from the new owner. And then you only move once in the new property that you would buy during that period of time that you're renting. If you didn't want the expense of the new mortgage and the hassle of that, that would be one option. And then that way you'd come in and essentially you'd be a cash buyer for the new property or at the very least you'd get a very small mortgage. The second thing, though, is if you decided not to do that where you'd rent it back and you want to go ahead and get this larger mortgage, you just need to make sure there's no prepayment penalty. But you're not really going to find mortgages these days with prepayment penalties.

That's really just not a common thing. You need to ask, but you won't find that to be a problem. Does that make sense, though?

Yeah. If I say I bought a house for $190,000 to $200,000, how much would I need to come down on it? Well, I mean, you could find a mortgage, you know, almost up to 100%, even though I don't recommend it. So, you know, it'd be very easy, assuming you have the income, to support it, and that's really going to be the key. They're going to look at those ratios of your debt to income.

They're also going to make sure that in the event this property didn't sell, I realize you'll have the money to put into it as soon as it does, but they're going to look at your cash flow apart from the sale of this property and want to be able to justify that mortgage. So assuming you have the income or the assets to support that, then, you know, you wouldn't have any problem getting a mortgage with 10% down. So that'd be, you know, $19,000 on $190,000. So with $50,000 available, you'll have plenty.

I mean, you'll go way over 20%, which would be great. I think the only thing to consider, though, Gary, is if you come in and you make a big down payment when that property sells, keep in mind that mortgage payment is going to stay the same until you pay it off and it goes away unless you refinance. So let's say you have a $150,000 mortgage for the sake of argument. You come in and you put $125,000 down. You only have $25,000 remaining, but your mortgage payment didn't change.

So you need to be able to support that mortgage payment with your monthly cash flow until it's paid in full. Hey, I hope this is helpful to you. We appreciate you calling in today. So sorry to hear about your wife's passing. We'll pray the Lord gives you some real wisdom here. Indeed we will, Gary. God bless you, sir. Thanks very much. And with that, I think I hear music, which means they want me to wrap it up. So Money Wise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and Money Wise Media.

For Rob West, I'm Steve Moore. Thanks so much for joining us. Tell a friend and be with us again tomorrow. We'll be back with another edition of Money Wise Live.