Christian New Year’s Resolutions

Hello and Happy New Year. It's the first day of 2021 and we'll begin with a question. What's the one thing most New Year's resolutions have in common? Give up?

It's that most of them don't make it to Groundhog Day. But that doesn't stop most of us from making new resolutions every year, hoping this time will be different. Financial planner and teacher Rob West has some ways to help you achieve those goals this time. Now today's program is prerecorded so don't call in, but we do have some listener questions already lined up and we'll get to those shortly. I'm Steve Moore, Christian, New Year's Resolutions.

That's first today on MoneyWise Live. So Rob, first of all, Happy New Year. You too, Steve.

Happy New Year. Why do you think so many people make New Year's resolutions and so few of them are kept? Yeah, it's a great question. I think the reason we make them is hope. We hope we can make our lives better by making these improvements and the failure rate is high because even though many of these resolutions sound simple like lose weight, they require fundamental changes in lifestyle.

Surveys show that the majority of us still make New Year's resolutions but less than 10 percent of us actually achieve those goals. Yeah. Why are you looking at me that strange way?

I don't know. Not at all. I wasn't. Okay. All right. What are the top New Year's resolutions?

Yeah. Well, there really aren't any surprises here. A survey of 2,000 people showed that going on a diet is still number one at 71 percent followed by, well, more exercise at 65 percent. I'm surprised money didn't make it somewhere in the top there. Well, actually it wasn't far behind. Save more or spend less came in fourth at 32 percent.

After that came learn a new skill, quit smoking, find another job, and spend more time with family and friends. So pretty much what you'd expect. Okay. And all of those seem like worthy resolutions to me but are we saying that Christians shouldn't make those?

No, not at all. Those are good things to strive for in life and it's fine for believers who want to make those improvements. However, there are other resolutions that Christians should make that will help them achieve greater success in all of them. And these Christian New Year's resolutions should focus on God and fulfilling His will, not our own. If a resolution honors Him, for example, He's more likely to empower you to achieve it in my view. All right. So these Christian resolutions, as we're labeling them, might come first or be in addition to things like quitting smoking.

What are some examples here? Well, a great place to start, Steve, is by asking for guidance on what resolutions God would like you to make. James 1-5 clearly says, if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you. Then resolve to pray daily for wisdom and strength to keep the resolutions you feel God is leading you to make. We know that God works through people, so resolve to be accountable to another person for sticking to your resolutions.

That, of course, can be a two-way street with you helping to keep the other person accountable too. Now, if you keep the resolutions we've talked about so far, seeking God's will, praying for wisdom and strength and making yourself accountable, you'll probably start to see success fairly quickly and you might start feeling pretty good about yourself. Well, that's where our next Christian New Year's resolution comes in and that is resolve not to take the credit for that success.

Let's go back to God's Word, Philippians 4, verse 13, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Keep in mind that it's God empowering you to achieve success with your resolutions and you'll still experience setbacks along the way, but knowing that God is with you will make it much easier to get back on track. What about some other New Year's resolutions Christians might make? Things like maybe reading the entire Bible over the year or to pray more or go to church more often.

Those are good, aren't they? Clearly, yeah, and we should all want to achieve them, but maybe sometimes we fall short because we're making these spiritual resolutions, if you will, for the wrong reasons, maybe to make ourselves look good. Instead, be sure that your motivation is to, in fact, honor God or a desire to grow closer to him or to become more Christlike. I like that. You know, I will admit here, if you don't mind, Rob, that every year one of my resolutions, spiritual resolutions, is to spend more time in God's Word and also to spend more time trying to memorize God's Word. I have my good seasons and my not so good seasons and I know it's hard to believe just by looking at me, but I have not memorized the entire book of Job. Keep at it, Steve.

I believe you can do it. Oh, thank you very much. He's Rob West. I'm Steve Moore. Today's program is pre-recorded, so don't call in, but we do have some calls we've lined up next. This is MoneyWise Live. 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.

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You'll find it all in Master Your Money by Ron Blue, available when you click the store button at moneywiselive.org. And we're back with you on MoneyWise Live. Your host is Rob West. I'm Steve Moore, and we do our very best here every day to remember that we are not owners. We're managers.

We're stewards and that God really owns it all. And if we can help you with that, well, that's why we're here today. So let's help Kathleen, calling from Des Plaines, Illinois. And thanks for holding, Kath. What's on your mind? Well, first, thanks for taking my call.

Sure. I can't work, but I can't collect any kind of disability. Don't want to get into that, but I'm 60. And my husband is 67. And last year he started to collect Social Security when he was unemployed.

Now he is employed and he's working full time. So he's collecting both. But I know that I can't take full. So I do qualify for it. But like if I start to take it at 62 and I think I can I'm entitled to like half of whatever he is receiving as far as my amount. Right. As spousal benefits. That's true. You don't have your own Social Security benefits.

I do. But I thought I was able to take either his or mine as far as the amount you are. And so you would want to compare your reduced benefit amount to 50 percent of his. Did he wait till full retirement age, Kathleen? Excuse me. Did he wait until full retirement age to begin collecting?

Yes, he did. OK. And your 50 percent of his benefits would be higher than yours, is what you're thinking on a reduced basis. But would I be getting a reduced basis if I start taking it at 62?

You would. Yeah. So if you take it at 62, you're going to take, depending on what your full retirement age is, somewhere between 25 and 30 percent less than if you wait until full retirement age to begin collecting your own. Now, if you take your spousal benefit, you're not going to get a reduced portion.

You'll be entitled to the full 50 percent of whatever his higher amount was that he has is now collecting based on his full retirement age benefits. Oh, OK. So I would get half of that, as you said. That's correct. Yeah. I mean, there's a. Go ahead. So then my benefit would be half of what his full benefit is.

Yes. I mean, there are some factors that go into it. And so I would probably call as the Social Security Administration or go to SSA dot gov. But the maximum amount you can claim is 50 percent of your spouse's full benefit, which his full benefit is what he's receiving right now. And so you would just have to see whether that is, in fact, the case for you.

It probably is. And so then you would compare that to your own benefits on a reduced basis at age 62 and determine which is the higher amount, which would be what you're entitled to collect. OK. Now, what happens? Like, it doesn't matter. Like when I turn 67, it's still going to be the same because I started collecting it early.

Right. If you based on your benefits, if you delay, yes, you would be entitled to the higher amount based on you waiting until reaching full retirement age for your own benefits. You can move over to collecting your own benefits at that point. OK. Now, what happens if my husband dies and I've been collecting just his? Do I get the full amount of his or does it just stay the same? You do get the the full amount. I think the key is when you start collecting.

So let me just be clear here. If we're talking about you waiting until you reach full retirement age, that's where you'd get the full 50 percent benefit. If you're going to start claiming your spousal benefits at 62, then you would take a reduction based on collecting early.

So it could end up being thirty two and a half percent or thirty three percent or something like that. That's where you need to look at what is his benefit? What age are you going to begin collecting? And then based on that age, what is the amount you're entitled to as a spouse? What is the amount you're entitled to as someone who has their own benefits that you are entitled to and which is the higher amount? And then you can proceed from there at that point where you perhaps wait until collecting your own benefits. You may be able to switch to a higher benefit when you reach full retirement age. It would just be up to you as to the time to begin collecting. So I think based on all these moving pieces, that's where it's really helpful for you to actually sit down with somebody at Social Security.

Look at the all of the factors. Look at what you're entitled to. Look at his benefit.

Talk about waiting versus getting it early and see where the math is going to come out better in your favor. And Kathleen, I've never found a more helpful government office to spend some time in than the local Social Security office. They were really helpful. They took it to the extra mile for my wife and myself.

And again, I came away really understanding lots of things I didn't know going in. So that would be our best recommendation for you. We wish you the best. Thank you very much.

Fort Smith, Arkansas. Hello, Judy. What's your question? Thank you. Could you recommend a book for a high school senior on getting through college debt-free? Yeah, there is actually a couple of great resources. One is from our friend Dave Ramsey. Actually, Dave wrote a great article that you'll find on his website called How to Pay for College Without Student Loans. And I've found that to be a great resource.

You can also look on the web at any number of options and savingforcollege.com is another one of my favorites. They have some great resources there. Of course, you could go to Amazon if you'd rather buy a book and do just a regular search there. But I would probably start with a number of these free resources, including the one that I mentioned from Dave Ramsey.

And you'd find that at daveramsay.com. And I think that would be really a great place to begin as you start to think about getting through college and if he can do it without taking on student loans, that's going to be key. I think also, Judy, really explore the scholarship option. There's some wonderful resources out there now.

We actually did a program on this recently and you could revisit that on our website at moneywiselive.org on college scholarship opportunities that we gave a lot of links to a lot of repositories of various scholarships that you'd want to understand. And then let me throw out one last one. It's called Launch. And this is actually a book. You'll find it on Amazon. And it's the subtitle is how to get your kids through college debt free and into jobs they love afterward.

And it's by an author with the last name Berlowski, Jeannie. So I would check those out. And if you need anything else, give us a call back. That's right. And of course, we always want to encourage the community college option, at least going to community college for the first couple of years and then transferring to the college of your choice.

Also, just consider it done that the student will work a part time job, particularly after the first year scholarships and grants start early saving in high school. We're glad you called Judy. This is Money Wise Live. Your host is Rob West.

I'm Steve Moore, and we'll be back with more right after this. 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. 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 percent 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. 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. Toward the very top, next to Elohim and Yahweh, in importance to the people of God in the Old Testament, to the Hebrew people, this name was right there. The God who is the Lord of hosts.

Now I want you to see on the very front of that, as we're looking at that word, Sabaoth, see the Saba on the very front of it, S-A-B-A. It is a word that means a mass of people or things, especially for war. And I want to say to you, just so you'll know, not always for war, but especially for war. So it's a mass of people or things, especially for war. A campaign, an army, troops. Jehovah Sabaoth has been rightly called, I love, this is one of my very favorite definitions, if I could have, we'd have just memorized this whole little part.

But at least we can get it down today. Lord of powers, the Lord all-possessing, all-controlling. Those phrases depict the Lord of hosts better than any I could come up with as I was preparing for today's lesson. Let me say that again, as long as you've got it written down so you can now absorb it into your spirit.

Lord of powers, the Lord all-possessing, all-controlling. That is the concept behind the name Jehovah Sabaoth. You've been listening to A Quick Word with Beth Moore. The study of Galatians is now available as an online experience. Sign up today at BethMoore.org or join Beth in January 2021 for the release of the printed workbook edition.

Again, that's BethMoore.org. On behalf of Beth Moore and the entire Living Proof team, happy New Year. Thanks for being with us today on MoneyWise Live. This reminder, today's program is prerecorded, so please don't try to call in. But I think we have some interesting calls coming up, so stick around.

We all might learn something. Let's go up to Etowah, Tennessee. And Trevor, we appreciate your patience, my friend. What's your question?

Hey, thank you for taking my call. My wife is doing some private sitting and they're paying her cash. We're wondering about how to deal with the tax. It's not going to be very much income, maybe $1,200 for the year. But if they don't issue a 1099, what should we do?

Yeah, it's a good question. If you get over $600 in income, you would want to treat that as taxable income and you're required to report that on your tax return. Now, if you don't receive a 1099, and this happens periodically, could be because it was lost, it was never issued, it was issued late, whatever the reason, it's really not a problem unless you don't have your own records and you don't know how much income to report. It's not like a W-2 where you need to include it with your tax return. You would not include the 1099 form itself. So I think the key is just keep track of that yourself on your end. And when you do go to file, just mention that to your tax preparer. Or if you prepare your tax return yourself, you just include that income. So you're covering your part, even though perhaps it isn't being reported because a 1099 perhaps wasn't issued by the person who's providing payment.

But at least you've done your part to make sure you're rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's and following the IRS rules and regulations. Does that make sense, Trevor? It does. Thank you very much. Yes, sir. We appreciate your call.

Lord bless you. Thanks, Trevor. Hey, Rob, you know, we haven't done in a while. I've got a stack of emails here. It's like it's like a stack of waffles, blueberries and everything here.

It's a mess, actually. But I've got some emails here. What do you say? We do a couple of these. I think I'd rather have the waffles, but that's OK. We'll do the emails.

All right. This is from Lucy. She says, Dear Rob and Steve, is it OK for Christians to give to non-Christian charities? Yeah, that's a great question. You know, we want to be givers. We look through the Council of Scripture, the Old and the New Testament, and we see clearly giving is on the heart of God.

Here's the thing. We were created in God's image and he's the ultimate giver, right? He gave us his son to pay the penalty for our sins that we might be reconciled to the Father. And so when we give, I like to say we're most like him. Now, where should we give? Well, I think we should give first and foremost to the local church, the storehouse. I like applying the principle of the tithe at the very least systematic proportionate giving to the local church where you are planted. Then beyond that, I like giving to ministries that are on the heart of God. You know, when I look at the scriptures, I see the ministry of God's word, evangelism, preaching, teaching and discipleship. I see the ministry of God's mercy as a place we should give to the poor and needy, food, clothing and shelter, healing and recovery, even prisoners. And then the ministry of God's justice, widows and orphans, the oppressed, helpless victims.

So how do we allocate God's resources among those things? And then is there something else that you're passionate about? Would you like to give to a local charity that's doing something perhaps not necessarily in the name of Jesus, but meeting a real need? Or is it an alma mater, a school that you'd like to help out? There's nothing wrong with that. I would just say, at least for me, I like to prioritize those places for my giving that I know are going to be reaching out to people in the name of Jesus. Does that mean we have to exclude anything else?

No, not by any means, but I think we should make that our priority. OK, I like that. Thank you, Rob.

See, our next one is from Arnie. He says, Dear Rob, is it OK for my wife to keep all of our financial records? She's better at it than I am. By all means.

You know, here's the thing. God puts two become one, right? But invariably, one of us is a spender, one's a saver. And we have different backgrounds with money that we bring to the table, most notably how our parents handled money that informs how we then make financial decisions and different temperaments and skill sets. One is generally more detail oriented, which lends itself to being the bookkeeper.

The other is perhaps a little more free spirited and maybe not as good as an organization. Bottom line is you both need to be setting the course for how you handle God's money. Where are we going? What are we doing with God's money? What are our values and how do those values then drive our financial decisions? Meaning what kind of lifestyle do we want to live and what financial goals do we have? Our savings goals? What are we saving for? How much is enough? All of those things really need to be discussed prayerfully as husband and wife together. Now, when it comes to bookkeeping, though, that needs to be done by one person.

And I would say absolutely. It should be the person that has a greater proficiency, skill set, temperament for the details. Somebody who can stay on top of things, make sure the bills are paid on time, make sure proper records are kept. So when then tax time comes, you're not left with a big pile of waffles like Steve was talking about a moment ago.

And you're ready to pull all that together and give it perhaps to your tax preparer. And if that's the wife, great. If that's the husband, great. One is not better than the other. I just think you need to find the person to take that responsibility where it's the best fit for them. But that doesn't mean, Steve Moore, by any means that we don't operate as one unit, husband and wife, in making decisions. All right.

Well said. Rob, we had a caller who couldn't hang on, but he left us with this. His name is Chad.

He was calling from Ohio. He essentially is saying, should I ask my children to tithe on their Christmas gifts? My parents often give them very sizable gifts of cash. They are 13 and 16. Tithing on their Christmas gifts. Now they're not little kids anymore.

They're 13 and 16. Any thoughts in that regard? Well, here's what I would say. Is it your increase? And I would say it is your increase. And I like the idea of teaching our kids early that we're to give systematically. That means on a percentage basis, starting with the local church and then beyond that, sacrificially to whatever other ministries, causes, passions are on our heart. And so is a gift of a Christmas gift or a birthday money that a kid would receive, is that a part of their increase?

Absolutely. And that's a great opportunity to teach the principle of the tithe. And I would use a simple 10% as a great starting point, certainly not an ending point. It's really just the beginning, but let's start early and let's build in that discipline now so that, Lord willing, they'll continue with that throughout the rest of their lives. You know, the interesting thing, I can say this because my children are grown now, but the interesting thing about the whole giving concept within the family is that letting them take some responsibility, as opposed to you just forcing them, gives you an opportunity to look into their spiritual hearts. You may choose to say something or not say something, but just you observing them tells you something about where they are in their walk with Christ, don't you think? I think that's a great idea, Steve.

And we need to be looking at every opportunity to shepherd our kids, looking into their hearts, certainly praying for them and seeing how we can mentor them along the way. All right. You're listening to MoneyWise Live with Rob West. I'm Steve Moore. We have to pause. That's what that music means, but we'll be right back.

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With SRN News, I'm John Scott. Congress has delivered to President Trump his first veto override in the final days of his administration. The GOP controlled Senate met during a rare New Year's Day session, and more than two thirds have voted to override the president's veto of a defense bill. President Trump also extending pandemic related bans on green cards and work visas to large groups of applicants through March 31st. Also, a federal appeals court has sided with him on a rule that requires new immigrants to have their own health insurance. California is surpassing 25,000 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic, and officials there are closing that three more cases involving that mutant variant of the virus have been confirmed in San Diego County.

And health officials say they found evidence of a Florida man with the coronavirus variant. This is SRN News. Happy New Year to you. You're listening to MoneyWise Live. Find us on the web at moneywiselive.org. But today we're not live, so if you hear that phone number, please don't call, but do stick around. Lots of good information ahead. A real pleasure to have you with us today.

We do our very best to remember that God owns it all, not just the 10%, but he really owns it all and wants to work with us to manage it well for kingdom purposes. Now, if we can help you today with your personal finances in any specific area, just give us a call, 800-525-7000. Let's travel north just a bit up to Minneapolis.

And Carol, what's on your mind today? Well, I am 66 and I have some money set aside in deferred comp. And I'd like to be able to, when I have to take the required minimum distributions, I'd like to be able to use that as my tithe and send it to organizations. And you had talked a few months ago about some umbrella organization where you could send it and then they would distribute it according to your instructions. Can you give me the name of those organizations that do that?

Yes. And I'm so glad you're asking, Carol, about this because I think many people are in your situation and that is that they have money that they've saved throughout their working life. It's in perhaps a retirement account, but it will eventually end up in an IRA. And then as they approach 70 and a half, they realize they need to take required minimum distributions because the penalties for not doing so are stiff. But they don't need the money. By God's grace, their expenses are covered. They've kept their lifestyle low, debt's under control, but they want to do God's work and fund ministry. And there's a great opportunity to do just that.

So I'm going to mention two things you need to know about. One is the National Christian Foundation, and that's probably what you heard me mention. You can find them at ncfgiving.com, ncfgiving.com. And they have what's called a donor advice fund there at NCF. They call it a giving fund. And you can actually put your charitable contributions into a donor advice fund and then use it almost like an online bank account where you then distribute the money at your discretion to Christian ministries. And it's very simple to do.

You can do it anonymously and you can do it very easily. And it consolidates your giving statements, your contribution statements at the end of the year just to the one contribution to the donor advice fund, not to each individual ministry. Now, when you're talking about giving right out of the IRA, you're not looking for a giving fund there because that really has to do with you personally. What you're going to want to do there is what's called a qualified charitable distribution or a QCD. And this is an opportunity for you, Carol, to actually make a gift directly from your IRA straight over to the eligible nonprofit or charity by bypassing yourself.

You're not going to be taxed on it. And you're going to allow to give it's going to allow you to give the full amount to the charity. And that's going to count toward your required minimum distribution. So I would actually check with your custodian wherever that IRA is being held about the QCD. They can probably help you do the paperwork to make that qualified distribution directly to the ministry. Again, it'll count toward your required minimum and you'll give the ministry the blessing of the full amount and it won't be subject to tax. Is that helpful? Is that what you were looking for? Yes. And I know that where the money is now, they can't do that.

It's in a 457C. But so I'm planning when I reach that age of transferring it into an IRA where I can do the qualified charitable distributions. Now, does it matter that I contribute to about 15 different things?

No, not at all. I think you would have to set up qualified distributions to each one. That's where if we're not coming out of an IRA, it can be really helpful to use a giving fund because when you put the money in the giving fund, then you can distribute it to each of the ministries just like an online checking account would.

But in this case where you need to do the qualified charitable distribution, it'd be best to go right through your custodian to make those gifts. Okay, that's great. I have one other question if you have time. Sure.

Okay. I am 66 and recently got a small inheritance and I'm wondering if I should start a Roth IRA. I worked enough last year that I can fully fund it this year. Probably in future years I'd be making about $2,500. So that would be what I'd be contributing in future years.

Yes. I like the Roth for this purpose, as you probably know, based on the way you're describing your situation, you have to have earned income and you can't contribute more than the earned income you had in any given year up to the maximum contribution for that year. But as long as you have that earned income, you don't need the money. You can go ahead and make the contribution. It's going to then grow tax free based on how you invest it and you don't have the required minimum distribution with the Roth.

You can also pull out your contributions at any time without any penalty. So I think that could work very effectively in this situation and I like it a lot. Okay. Well, thank you so much. Thanks Carol. We appreciate your phone call today.

Rob, rather than take another phone call now with a break coming up, I think, how about an email? This one is from Rachel. She says, dear Rob and Steve, I'm interested to learn more about faith-based investing. I didn't know this was a thing until I heard a recent MoneyWise episode where this was referenced. Is this something I can do as an everyday investor? Can I access faith-based investment options inside my 401k? Ah, yes.

I love these questions. Faith-based investing is something that has really taken off and I'm excited that this whole segment of the investing universe is really growing. Here's the thing, you know, as you think about being an investor, you're an owner, right? You own companies, whether that's directly by buying shares of a stock or whether that's through mutual funds. And as you become an owner, the question is, what companies do you own? Do they align with your values? I would quickly describe three buckets to put your faith-based investments in, okay?

The first one is what I like to call a void. These are companies you're avoiding because they don't align with your biblical values. And so you would screen them out. The next would be embrace. These are companies that have a kingdom impact or a social impact. Some people call this a triple bottom line where there's a financial return, a spiritual return and a social return. And so you're screening in companies that are making a difference in the world.

And then the third category is what we call engage. We've talked about this quite a bit with our friend Jerry Boyer, where we're engaging as a shareholder in expressing our values to the company management. And in doing so, we can have an impact on the company and how they use their corporate dollars, what they support. Now, within that, you have to decide which one do you want to pursue.

And I would really develop your own convictions around that. So where do you go from here? Well, there are a growing number of mutual funds, ETFs and investment advisors that will help you implement faith-based investing strategy. If you'd like to use an advisor, I'd recommend use a certified kingdom advisor. Just go to our website, MoneyWiseLive.org. Click find a CKA, put in your zip code and ask the folks that you interview about faith-based investing. Beyond that, you can go directly to these fund companies. A great website to find them would be FaithDrivenInvestor.org. FaithDrivenInvestor.org. And when you get there, you should be able to find a list of all of the mutual funds and other investment options that are offering faith-based investing. This is an exciting development in the investing universe.

It sure is. Great question, Rachel. We appreciate you sending that in. If you have a question for Rob, keep it brief. It's questions at MoneyWise.org. You're listening to MoneyWise Live.

He's Rob West. I'm Steve Moore. And we'll be back with a bit more after this. You probably have a strategy for your finances, your career, even your retirement. But do you have a strategy for your giving? At the National Christian Foundation, we can help you create a giving strategy to inspire your family, maximize your resources, and leave a lasting legacy of faith.

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The Treasure Principle is available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. This is Barry McGuire. I'm a car guy here to help you understand God's purpose for your life through the eyes of a layman. The term smiling on the outside has never been more relevant than in this new year, as more than 80% of us are currently impacted by moderate to serious problems. Without showing it, that means most of the people around you need encouragement right now. We live in an age where almost everyone wants to be seen as younger, happier, healthier, and more successful than they really are.

That's a problem. It's actually fun finding those who need encouragement, like an adventure to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into God-orchestrated, life-changing conversations at precisely the right moment with hurting people you don't even know. And there's nothing that compares with going beyond all doubt that God just orchestrated your life to fulfill His purpose. Your job is to ignite revival outside the walls of your church by moving everyone every day closer to Jesus.

For help doing that, go to ROTW.com. Hospitality. Dustin Willis and Brandon Clemens say it's the simplest way to change the world. Gospel-centered hospitality makes a powerful witnessing statement as we open our lives and homes to others. The simplest way to change the world will show you how you can be hospitable even if you don't have the space for it. Most people are more likely to step into a living room than a sanctuary, so why not read The Simplest Way to Change the World?

More at moodypublishers.com. Do you feel stuck? Are you tired of going through the motions of faith? Do you want to make real progress in your life but not know where to start? How to Grow is a book to help you grow spiritually and help others grow as well.

We often see the Gospel as a starting point of the Christian life rather than the main point of all life. How to Grow, a new book by Daryl Dash available at moodypublishers.org. That's moodypublishers.org. This is our final segment of a broadcast we previously recorded.

Thanks so much for being with us today and we hope you'll stick around and enjoy the rest of the program. It's MoneyWise Live. He's Rob West. I'm Steve Moore and you're at, well, we don't know exactly where you're at.

Could be Spokane, could be up in Maine, could be Fort Lauderdale, or it could be Valdosta, Georgia. Hi, Lisa. You're on the air. Lisa, are you with us? Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Go right ahead. I'm from Valdosta. How are you doing? Great.

I have a question. I'm a single mom. I've adopted four children. I'm in my early 50s. At my age, I've adopted a kind of silly, but I own my own home. I owe around $94,000 worth.

I think it was a price for around $255. Okay. My question is my utilities, it's a 4,400 foot square home, 4,400 feet square. My utilities run anywhere between nine to $1,100 a month, which is totally, yeah, that's expensive. My home's going to need around $50,000 in repair and I've got about $3,000 credit card debt. My monthly income is anywhere between $4,000 to $5,800, but I struggle and I think I'm struggling because of my, I have a rental home, I'm sorry, that I have finance, owner finance and the lady, she's also single. She pays sometimes, sometimes she doesn't, but I pay $400 on that per month. So, most of the time that comes out of my income also.

I'm just trying to think, should I sell my home, purchase another home or not purchase perhaps rent or I don't have any other debt other than my home and a small amount of credit card debt. Yeah. Yeah. Well, first of all, I'm delighted to hear about you adopting these four precious children. You've got a lot on your plate. You're trying to manage it all.

I suspect you're doing a great job at that. You've also got this rental property, which adds to the complexity. Do you have good equity in the rental property?

Well, the rental property, I had good equity in it, but I'm owner financing it. I owe the bank around, well, he told me I owe him right at $6,500 and she still owes me around $20,000. After it's paid, I'll have a little money coming back into me. I'm going to try to pay him off. I should have him paid off by next year.

I pay $400 a month and she's paying me $400 a month. I see. Okay.

But you're not able to count on that every month and you're just being gracious there when the funds don't come in. Well, I think, again, you've got a lot of moving parts here. How imminent are these repairs? Is that something you can put off? Oh, definitely. I've put them off for a while. I've been in my home for nine years.

My windows are single pane, so some of the windows, they've already started falling apart on the bottom. Looks like two of them. So that's going to have to be done. My AC unit, they've stopped working. It's just a lot when you own a home. It's fairly new.

Right after the five-year warranty, it ran out. Sure. Sure. Well, I know it gets hot there in Valdosta as well. And so that's probably a challenging in the summer. Well, I think right now, given the situation you've been in, kudos to you that you don't have more in the way of debt. We need to get that savings up.

We're kind of right there teetering on the edge. I think part of the reason your utilities are so high and we're having to throw so much at that on a monthly basis is because of the insulation and the window challenges that you've got. So I would probably start by looking at what you could sell this for, given the condition of the home. Maybe find a realtor who specializes in your area, a professional could come over, take a look at it in its current condition and give you an honest understanding of what you could get for it so that you could cash out, walk away from having to invest in these repairs, build up your savings and do just what you said. And that is focus on renting until this other property is paid in full. At that point, buy a place that perhaps is a little bit smaller that you could buy ideally for cash so that you'd no longer have any payments or at least a small mortgage. But where you have everything in good working order, you're not sending $1,100 a month for utilities. You don't have all these repairs hanging over your head. Perhaps you reduce your overall debt load.

And I think you'll feel much better at that point. And certainly you'd want to do that in such a way that you have at least three to six months expenses left in your emergency fund when you're all said and done. So I think that's the way I would go at this point.

Leah, you could certainly given the fact that you've got all these things going on and these wonderful children at home, you could use probably a little less stress in your life. And I think by going this route, even though it's going to cost you a bit to get out of it and sell it, I think in the end you'll end up in a much stronger position. So again, for Lisa, your first step for her would be to do what, Rob? Contact a realtor.

Just understand what kind of impact these repairs are going to have on the sale of the home. What is she actually going to walk away with realistically? Then run the numbers and make sure that she can get enough in the way of proceeds and then check into what the prices are to rent something that's going to meet your needs.

And then if everything lines up, the sale price and the cost of renting, then I'd go in that direction until she gets this rental property paid in full, the owner financing, and then perhaps look at buying something a little less expensive at that point. Right. Lisa, you sound like an awfully generous person. We're going to ask all of our listeners to remember you and their prayers that you get some of these pieces worked out and sorted out and in the future, get back to us if there's anything else we can help you with. We wish you the very best. Thanks so much.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Hey, Daniel, what's your question for Rob West? Yes, I am currently enrolled in a debt management program and I just don't have a good feeling about it and I would like to build a house a year and a half from now on land that I own outright. So would you guys suggest that I pull out of this debt management program and just go into like a Dave Ramsey snowball payoff mode and just handle it that way or stay involved in the debt management? Yeah, Daniel, I'm a big fan of debt management. What is the, uh, what's causing you the concern about the program you're in? Um, the debt management.

So I pay in an amount and then they are supposed to go through each and every account and get them to agree to a lower interest rate in order to pay stuff off. Right. So, but I just, um, I don't know. I've never done it. Yeah. So it's just kind of nervous. You know what I mean? Sure.

No, I'm familiar with it. As long as you're going through one of the reputable ones, we of course here at MoneyWiseLive recommend Christian credit counselors at christiancreditcounselors.org. They do wonderful work.

These are all godly people. This program, debt management is where you're getting into approved programs with each of the lenders. You bring the interest rates down, you pay through the debt management company and you know, the statistics are and 300,000 folks have done this through Christian credit counselors. You'll pay off this debt on average 80% faster and it doesn't factor into your FICO score. Now a lender could pull your credit report and they will and they'll see it on there and they could choose to factor that into the decision, but it doesn't factor into the FICO score. A fair Isaac tells us, so I'm a big fan of you getting out of debt quicker by paying through debt management and paying less in the way of interest.

I would just want to make sure you're with one of the companies that we, we like and, and as a reputable organization, but other than that, I'd stick with it, especially if you're already enrolled. Daniel, we're glad you called today. Thanks very much. Maria is in Fort Lauderdale. Maria, we have like 90 seconds, so give it to us real quick. Okay. Very quick.

Thank you so much. I have a line of credit of $50,000. It was at 33% before, now it's getting too high at 575%.

I wonder if I should, uh, re-referential that loan for a fixed rate. Yeah. Maria, what is the value of your home?

It's, uh, 380 or three, three, yeah, 380 or 350, probably. Okay. Sure. What do you owe on the first mortgage?

Uh, 180 or 179. Okay. Very good. And you've been paying on that quite a while, I bet, huh? Uh, yes, yes.

And the credit line, I was for fixing the house, fixing, you know, kitchen, bathroom, all the things to do for the house to value more the house. Yeah. And let me ask you this, Maria, after you pay the mortgage and all your expenses and you pay the payment to the, uh, home equity line of credit, do you have a little bit leftover or are you struggling to make ends meet?

There is a tie. It's whatever I have. I pay a check in my check. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. Well, I don't want you to touch that first mortgage because you've been paying on that a while. I certainly wouldn't want you to, uh, extend the term on that, but I don't like the line of credit for you just because you know, that interest rate is likely going to continue to rise. Um, and you know, you're putting yourself at risk there with a variable rate on that home equity line of credit. And so I would look at a new home equity loan, um, that is, has a fixed rate.

I would do my homework. You'd want to go to bankrate.com to find a number of options there and find the one with the best rate, the lowest expense, but it's going to lock you in, make sure that the payment fits well within the budget. And if you're unsure, visit with one of our MoneyWiseLive coaches at moneywiselive.org.

Just click on connect with a coach. They'll help you work through your budget, but I think that'll give you more peace of mind because that payment's not going to change anymore. And as long as it fits into the budget, at least you'll know that you don't have to worry about that. And then let's focus on trying to put as much, uh, beyond your emergency fund of three to six months. Let's put as much on that second mortgage as you can. Maria, we hope that helps you and we certainly appreciate your call today.

Thanks very much. Well, Rob, that, uh, that does it for this year, sort of, I mean, I guess it's the end of this year, the beginning of another year, 2021. What do you think, Rob? I mean, what do you think? Well, I think it's going to be a great year.

Absolutely. And so we should go into it believing that recognizing that the Lord is on the throne and he can be trusted and that we are managers, caretakers for God's resources. So here's what we want to do on this program. We want to come alongside you this year. We want to encourage you. We want to laugh with you and cry with you, but above all else, we want to share God's principles of managing money his way, and we'll do it together. Amen. We certainly will. Rob, thanks very much. Our thanks to our production crew behind the scenes and thank you for tuning in. MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media.