A Bible Study on Earning Money

This is Doug Hastings, Vice President of Moody Radio, and we're thankful for support from our listeners and businesses like United Faith Mortgage. My best friend is blessed with three kids and a big house. All the kids have their own rooms, but recently life in that big old house has been different. In an effort to solve kid boredom, my friend bought one of those massive blue tarps and created a full room tent in the spare bedroom.

They put each of the kids' mattresses under the tent in the shape of a T. And every night, for now five weeks, the kids have slept with their heads feet apart instead of rooms apart. It's Ryan from United Faith Mortgage, and when I see a home, I can't help but see interest rates, escrows, and trying to help listeners pay the least amount possible. But for me, that story was a needed reminder that it doesn't matter whether our homes are big or small.

It only matters whether we're willing to enjoy the little things that God gave us today, like a tarp tent. If you happen to be looking for a new place to put up a tarp of your own, we are United Faith Mortgage. United Faith Mortgage is a DBA of United Mortgage Corp. 25 Melville Park Road, Melville, New York. Licensed mortgage banker. For all licensing information, go to NMLSConsumerAccess.org. Corporate NMLS number 1330. Equal housing lender.

Not licensed in Alaska, Hawaii, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah. What's the most published and most read book in history containing more than 2300 references to money and is worth more than its weight in gold? Well, I think you already know the answer. Hi, I'm Rob West, and of course, we're talking about the Bible. Every speck of wisdom in this world is found within its pages, and we'll dive into that today, including a few verses sometimes overlooked from a financial perspective. Then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, where God's word guides our every financial move. So let's start in the book of John, chapter 14, verse 27, where Jesus says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.

Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Peace to you was a common salutation among Jews in the first century A.D., and it's repeated often throughout the New Testament. Jesus means that true peace comes from knowing that we're reconciled with God through faith in Him. But what does that have to do with money? Well, what peace does the world have to offer except money and materialism? And what is perhaps the most common fear we have in this world?

Well, not having enough money, of course. Jesus tells us that by focusing on God, everything we need in this world will be added to us. But when we rely on our own power to provide, the world can be a scary place. We have to be reminded constantly that God owns everything, that He is our provider, not just of wealth, but even our skills and abilities to acquire it. Deuteronomy 8 18 reads, You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth, that He may confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers as it is this day. A covenant is a promise, and God always keeps His promises.

Of course, we have to do our part. This is found in Proverbs 12 11. Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense. Or Proverbs 14 23, In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. How about Proverbs 12 24? The hand of the diligent will rule while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

Those verses are pretty straightforward. But sometimes people are confused by this one, Ecclesiastes 5 3, which has a similar message, For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. Now, a common interpretation is that diligence, when conducting our business during the day, will lead to peaceful dreams, while idle talk accomplishes nothing. So we must work heartily wherever we feel God calling us, and He will provide the rest.

Believing that leads to contentment. Of course, we're to use our brains as well as our hands when we work. We should plan carefully in all that we set out to do, whether that's earning, saving, or giving. In Luke 14, Jesus tells us to consider carefully the cost of discipleship.

But it's a message we can apply to all areas of our life, including how we manage our money. Jesus says, For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. And of course, as witnesses for Christ, we must be totally honest in all that we do. Psalm 37 tells us, Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. Now, in Luke 16, 8 and 9, we find a passage that seems to contradict that and confuses many people.

There, Jesus tells us, For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. Now, is Jesus telling us to acquire wealth dishonestly?

Absolutely not. He's saying that worldly people often use their money to further worldly pursuits, even more effectively than believers use money to further God's kingdom. And who are those friends we're to make with our wealth? One common understanding is that Jesus is telling us to use worldly wealth to care for the poor. In Matthew 25, he talks about separating the sheep and goats on Judgment Day. Jesus says, Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

When we care for the poor, we're caring for Jesus himself. Well, that's our short Bible study today on earning money, and we hope you found it useful. I'm Rob West. Your calls are next at 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, where God's financial principles shine a light on our path. We'll be right back. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West. Just ahead, we'll be taking your calls and questions today, applying God's truth to whatever you're dealing with financially today.

We have lines open. Here's the number, 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Whether it's saving or giving, perhaps you're wrestling with how much you need to save for the longer term. Maybe it's that credit score that's tripping you up, or how to pay off that debt. Perhaps you want to do more giving, and you're looking for some ideas on ways to maximize your giving dollars. Whatever's on your mind today, we want to apply the principles of God's word to whatever you're dealing with financially. Here's the number again, 800-525-7000. Before we take your calls, an exciting day here at MoneyWise.

Why, you ask? Well, I'd be glad to tell you. We launched the MoneyWise app seven months ago, and after a couple of years of work from a dedicated team of developers, I believe we put out the very best digital envelope system on the market, plus the MoneyWise community, all of the MoneyWise episodes in your pocket, plus our Discover tab with the best content and Christian finance from the leading voices, all in one place. It's a free download from your app store. It's called MoneyWise Biblical Finance, and it's in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. There's also a web app if you'd rather use it that way. Well, the exciting part is we've had a huge response, but today is the day, I believe, I'm very confident of this, that we will cross 10,000 registered users, because according to my dashboard, I have right in front of me, and this updates in real time.

When you have a team of developers, everything updates in real time. We have 900, excuse me, 9993 users of the MoneyWise app today. Now, these are folks who have downloaded the app, but then they've also created their free account in the app as well. So here's the thing, when we cross 10,000, the 10,000th user will get a pro subscription to the MoneyWise app for a year, just as our gift to you. So go download it today. Maybe you'll be number 10,000.

Head over to your app store right now. Just search for MoneyWise Biblical Finance, download it, create your free account, and we'll see who is user number 10,000. All right. Hey, let me mention one other quick thing before we start to take your calls today, and that is we're here at the end of April, and when the end of the month rolls around, just like you have to true up your budget, we do the same here at MoneyWise Media. As you might imagine, we live on a strict budget, and we're a little bit behind for this month because as you may not know, MoneyWise is entirely listener supported. And so if you would consider prayerfully becoming a partner of ours here at MoneyWise Media, we would be grateful. We rely on your support to bring you the app and this broadcast and all of our coaches and CKAs and everything we do on the web is brought to you by your faithful support. So here's how you give. Just head over to MoneyWiseLive.org, click the donate button at the top of the page, and we would certainly be grateful.

All right. We're going to take your calls today. 800-525-7000. We've got a few lines open.

800-525-7000. In just a moment, we'll head to Chattanooga and talk about where to invest some savings. But first, Jose's in California. And Jose, you're on MoneyWise Live. What's your question? Hi, yes. Thank you for taking my call.

I have a question. So I have a 401k at work. I used to have it in the regular traditional 401k, which is tax deferred. Now, I recently transferred it to, in the same job where I'm at, but into a 401 Roth. Is that recommended that I do that? Or should I just transfer it back to the regular traditional, which is the tax deferred 401k?

Yeah. Well, I like the Roth version of either the 401k or the IRA. Most importantly, if you're young, you've got time on your side, you have the ability to let this money grow. After having paid the tax on the front end, have it grow tax free, and then in retirement, you're not going to have to pull it out, like with a required minimum distribution. You will also, regardless of where the tax code goes, if we have much higher tax rates down the road, you won't have to worry about that because you've already paid tax on it and all the gains is going to come out tax free. Now, the only issue is just that when you made that transition, you triggered a taxable event.

I believe you have 60 days to put that back, but I would check with your tax preparer just to make sure that you do that properly. Because again, that money going into the traditional IRA allows you to take a deduction on it. If you were to convert it or transfer it to a Roth equivalent, that generates a taxable event in the year of the transfer.

And so I just want to make sure that you get the tax side of it right. But even if you were to leave it there, you've got the option as for new contributions, whether you want to keep funding that Roth or you want to have the traditional or both. And there's a case to be made about actually funding both because that gives you then two pools of money to choose from depending upon what's going on in our economy and the market, more importantly in the tax code and in your life financially when you get to retirement. And I didn't ask your age, but let's say that's 20 or 30 years down the road, maybe less, but regardless, you'd have the option.

So I think I would probably stick with the Roth at this point as you make future contributions moving forward. Does that make sense though, Jose? Yes. Thank you very much. Okay. God bless you, sir. We appreciate your call. We've got five lines open, 800-525-7000. Let's head to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and talk with Scott. What's on your mind today, sir? Hey Rob, thanks for taking my call today.

I just had a question. We had our house about 18 months ago, roughly our fourth move in seven years, but we got it at a pretty good price and now the market's gone crazy here in Chattanooga. So we've got about $100,000 in equity. Let's see what we can list it for, but we want to do some home improvements.

We're trying to decide whether to make it a forever home. We do probably want to downsize in about five years, but my main question is I've got $40,000 sitting in the bank collecting no interest. It's kind of our Dave Ramsey emergency fund, six-month fund, which would probably be about $25,000 with that. Then we've got $15,000. I'm telling you what, you're going by the Dave Ramsey rule, but I'm just wondering, my main question is would you take out a home equity loan to do maybe $20,000 to $30,000 worth of improvements or would you use that nest egg or how's the best way to go about that situation, I guess?

Well, it's a great question, Scott. So you said you had $40,000 socked away. If you were to follow the six months worth of reserves, you think that's $25,000, is that right? Yes, roughly.

Yeah, that's a pretty good number, yeah. Okay, all right, and so that would obviously leave you about $15,000, and you don't think that quite would cover the home improvements? No, we're looking at doing the master bath, which would be, we got an estimate of about $10,000 to $12,000. Then we'd also like to do the kitchen, which I would imagine would be at least that much more. That leads me to another question is, you know, you wonder if the housing market's so hot, air health's going up $100,000, it's like, if we did a new bathroom and a new kitchen, like would that actually add straight value, like could we list it for, most of the time you get all your money back from that, like could we list it for $30,000 more in four or five years or, I mean, what's your thoughts on just improvements overall? Should you only do it if it's your forever home or if you're gonna, you know, so sorry, that's, that's a lot.

No, that's okay. So let's tackle that. And then we'll circle back to the kind of how you fund all of this.

You know, I think there's a couple of thoughts here. I mean, you never get 100% back on any improvements and bathrooms and kitchens certainly would be included in that. So if you're thinking of moving, you know, in less than five years, I would say three to five years, I would be careful. Now, you know, I hesitate to say, don't proceed with either of these because they are going to add some value.

And obviously, you're going to enjoy them in the meantime. But what you're going to find is, especially with today's construction prices, because so many people coming off of COVID didn't travel, they increase their savings, and they're investing in their homes. So contractors are overrun with work and prices have gone up, lumbers up, everything's pretty much up. So, you know, I think a new kitchens probably starting at, you know, 25 to 30,000, and then goes up from there, for most folks, and then you put a bathroom on top of that, I think you could easily spend, you know, 40 to 50,000, all in. And, you know, I would be hesitant and putting that kind of money into a home that you think you're going to sell in a short period of time, if you said, you know, we maybe this isn't our forever home, but we think we're here for the foreseeable future, at least 10 years, I would say, yeah, you know, put that money in and enjoy it. And you're going to get, you know, a good bit of that back, certainly not all of it, but that plus the appreciation, you know, is going to allow you to do well, three to five years, I'm going to be questioning whether or not you put that kind of money in, you know, one of the things we did is we actually painted our cabinets in our kitchen, rather than putting all new cabinets in, you could put in some new countertops and paint the cabinets depending on what you have.

And, you know, there's a way to kind of lighten it up and freshen it up and, you know, feel like you have something new without putting that kind of major investment into a home that you're getting ready to move out of. So I think bottom line is I'd be cautious and probably careful on what you spend, given that, you know, you're probably selling, you know, here in a short order. In terms of where you go with the money, I mean, I'd be comfortable with you pulling that down to less than six months, let's say you pull it down to three to four months expenses, you pay for it out of cash, maybe you dial back the scope of the work, given what we were just talking about, rather than taking on that home equity loan. The key is going to be, you know, do you have some margin on a monthly basis that you're adding to savings, or are you living right up to the edge every month? Yeah, fairly decent margin, yeah. All right, how much are you putting away in savings every month, roughly? You know, I guess a ballpark could probably be, you know, probably around $1,000 to $1,500, and I'm starting to work more now. Okay. Yeah, probably $1,500 a month, yeah.

Okay, great. Well, I think that's the key, that if you're putting $1,000 to $1,500, I'd probably proceed paying this out of cash, don't take on any new debt, be really careful about what you, you know, how much money you put in the home, given what we just said a moment ago, and that way you're not adding an additional payment. Let's be really careful to budget your resources wisely so that you've got plenty of margin there moving forward, maybe even dial back some expenses. Hope that helps, my friend, we appreciate you checking in with us. This is MoneyWise Live. We'll be right back. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West.

So glad to have you along with us today. Well, we've already had several folks already register their MoneyWise app. I can report we are two away. We have 9,998 registered users.

So if you want to go download the MoneyWise app, you can do that in your app store at the Google Play Store, the Apple App Store, just search for MoneyWise Biblical Finance. User number 10,000 is going to get a one year pro subscription. And so we'd be glad to have you join us in that.

Hey, let's go back to the phones in just a moment. We're going to be talking about how to donate stock to MoneyWise. Also, what do you do about tithing when it comes to transitioning to a new church?

If God is taking you elsewhere, what do you do with that tithe? Diane wants to ask about that. But first, Sterling, Alaska, Charles, you're next on MoneyWise Live. Go ahead, sir.

Yeah, thanks for my call, Rob. So I'm looking at refinancing the house I live in. I'm currently on a 4.89. And they're offering me a 2.895.

I dropped around, you guys turned me on a nerd wallet, had a couple come back from there. And I bank with Wells Fargo, and they just have some member benefits. I think I'm going to wind up rolling with them because they just lower closing costs in about the same percentage. They just tell me I can buy my interest rate down with 2.895 to 2.0 if I purchase points, and it's going to be like $8,000.

I think I'll have lower closing costs with Wells, but I don't know about these points. I don't know if it would show on the monetization table, which is the best route to go. There's $8,000 worth. There's a 0.895 worth $8,000 over a 15 year note.

Yeah, which was a mistake. Okay, well, I'm glad to hear you're shortening the term. I'm glad to hear you're shopping this, this new mortgage, Charles, that's the right thing to do.

Most people only get one quote, I'm gonna say get at least three. And I'm glad you're looking at nerd wallet bankrate.com would be another. You know, buying down points can make some sense in certain conditions. You have to have the money on hand to do it. A lot of folks roll that into the mortgage, which you can, but that's going to take away some of the benefit. And you know, depending on how much cash on hand you have, that may or may not, you know, be something that's advisable, because it may put you in a situation where you've depleted some of your emergency funds or something like that. I wouldn't be tempted to put, you know, down less than 20%, just so you can pay points. The other thing is, you've got to look at how long you're planning on staying in the home, typically, you need to stay there quite a while. And, you know, even with a 15 year note, it's probably going to come out better in the long run, it can take, you know, generally up to eight years or more to recoup the cost of buying down the points before you're quote in the money through the savings that you realize each month on the lower interest rate.

So I think the way to really compare apples to apples here, Charles, is to get the amortization schedules for both loans, just to compare the total interest paid on one versus another and then weigh that against number one, are you going to come out of pocket for the cash? And what does that do to your cash position? Number two, you know, do you generally believe that you're going to be in this home until the loan is paid off?

And if so, that's great. I mean, obviously, nobody knows what the future holds. And so there could be a change of plans, but at least based on everything you know today, you're going to want to be sure that you're there plenty long enough to justify you laying out the cash for this so that you can reap the benefits down the road. And then it just becomes a math equation at that point. But, you know, regardless, this is a great interest rate the bank is offering. And if you're getting 2.5 with really low closing costs, I'd be tempted to go in that direction.

But you can always, you know, ask for the schedules and compare the numbers and see which comes out ahead. You may be able to save yourself several thousand dollars as long as you're willing to stay in this home between now and the end. Does that make sense?

It does. Thank you. I will be keeping the home forever probably. Yeah. So as for those amortization schedules, compare those numbers and see which comes out better.

It sounds like you've got a couple of great options there either way. We appreciate you checking in with us today. Hey, just around the corner, more of your questions, donating stock, how to tithe when you're between churches, that and your question on MoneyWise Live.

The number 800-525-7000. This is where biblical wisdom meets today's financial decision. Stay with us.

We'll be right back after this. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live. So glad to have you along with us today, taking your calls and questions as we apply God's truth to your financial life. Just ahead, we're going to be talking about investing in Bitcoin.

We'll talk about long-term care insurance premiums that continue to rise. We'll also talk about donating stock, but first to Cleveland, Ohio. Diane, you're between churches and wondering about your tithe. Is that right? Yes.

Go right ahead. During the pandemic, our church closed like so many others did. We had a very small congregation, about 10 people, and we were worshiping in a senior citizens complex.

Well, it seems like they may not open that back up to us again, and there are no plans as of yet as to what we're going to do. So I'm looking for another church, and what I've been doing is I've been visiting a church that I like. I also do church on TV, but more so now as the churches are opening back up, I'm going out. So where am I tithing? What I've been doing is just tithing wherever I get the word.

Yes, yes. I like that, Diane. First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your church. I can certainly understand how that would be the case, especially given the location you were meeting and just needing to be really wise about the safety of the residents in that home. I would encourage you to continue to diligently look for your church home as it's safe for you to do that.

We all need to be in fellowship with other believers, and certainly doing church online was a great stopgap, if you will, during a really difficult period during the pandemic. But as things begin to open up and people are able to move about more freely, I love that you're looking for where God is going to plant you next. Now, with regard to your tithe, this is phenomenal because obviously you want to honor the Lord in your giving. I certainly affirm that. I think Scripture clearly affirms that. As to where to give, I think that's between you and the Lord. What you're doing is right in line with Galatians 6.6.

Let the one who has taught the Word share all good things with the one who teaches, and that's exactly what you've been doing. So that could look like tithing as you're visiting these churches. Maybe take what God has entrusted to you through your increase for that week and give to that local fellowship, and continue doing that as you visit around. Or you could tithe to ministries where you're being fed God's Word online or elsewhere.

So I think any of those are great. God certainly knows your heart. It's not about the money, but it's about giving generously and obediently.

I love the systematic giving of the tithe, the principle of the tithe, the tenth to where you're being fed, your local church, which is God's plan A. So I would say just keep on doing what you're doing, Diane, and I'm confident the Lord will show you where you're supposed to head next very, very soon. We appreciate you checking in with us today.

To Willoughby, Ohio, Dave, what's on your mind today? Well, we've been blessed with an emergency fund that's all set, retirement's on path. We've attempted, after listening to you, to give stock to our church. That went well, and we want to give stock to MoneyWise Live, and I can't figure that out on the website. Well, we need to make that money your way.

That's incredible, Dave. Well, first of all, let me just say thank you on behalf of our team here at Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. We are so grateful for your generous heart, and I'm so delighted to hear the Lord has used his principles that we teach in your life for you to be able to get on a stronger financial footing. And this is the goal for you to be able to give more generously as a result of that. I also need to address the fact that you couldn't find that information. Maybe we need to make that more prominent on the website, if it's even there at all. But let me answer your question.

You know what? I love the idea of giving stock, especially in a market like this. Giving appreciated securities or other assets, be it real estate, even a business interest, maybe you've been inherited a piece of art. You know, rather than in some cases, like with an appreciated stock, paying tax on it and then giving the after-tax dollars, why not give it first, right? And the charity or ministry gets the blessing of the full amount. You get a bigger tax deduction, which then in turns creates more resources for you to give away.

And that's the way this virtuous cycle works, if you will. What you're probably going to do, and I'm going to give you an email address to connect with our team here in just a minute. We'll walk you through every step. Probably just make that gift right into our donor-advised fund of MoneyWise Media at the National Christian Foundation. It's going to be a simple transfer over, and as soon as the assets are received, our team will liquidate them and we'll put that right into circulation in the ministry for the great things God is doing here. So it's going to be a simple transfer and we'll walk you through every step of the way.

So I want you to just email info at moneywise.org, info at moneywise.org, Dave, and we'll help you with every step. Does that sound good? That sounds wonderful and God bless. All right, thank you, sir. Grateful for you and tell your wife we appreciate it as well.

Thanks for your call today. Folks, if you'd like to do that as well, I started the show by saying here at the end of April, we're a little behind where we need to be for this month. We would be grateful for any gift at moneywiselive.org. Just click the donate button or if, like Dave, you wanted to give some appreciated stock, that would be helpful as well. Just contact our team info at moneywise.org. On to Spokane, Washington. Marilyn, you want to talk about Bitcoin, huh?

Yes, thank you. Go right ahead. Well, I don't have the funds on hand at the moment, but what I've been hearing is that because the future disastrous downturn in our economy, that if we don't take drastic measures and like even turning an IRA into Bitcoin or whatever, even getting a loan in place of a mortgage portion of a mortgage or whatever, that it's a life raft situation to buy Bitcoin. So I'm just wanting to get your take on that.

Yeah, you know, a couple of thoughts here, Marilyn. Number one, when it comes to Bitcoin as an investment, which a lot of people are talking about, asking about because of the the run up that we've seen, you know, I would stay away. It's been extremely volatile in a three month span from October of 2017 to January of 2018.

You know, the volatility was at about 8 percent, you know, in a very short period of time. And, you know, if we look at a longer span, we'll see obviously some wild swings in Bitcoin. I don't think, you know, it's going away.

The idea of crypto currencies is probably here to stay. But in terms of, you know, taking a step back and looking at where we're at, I mean, clearly we have our challenges as a nation when it comes to the debt that we've incurred and are continuing to occur, incur. And we need to deal with that.

You know, could there be some sort of debt crisis, you know, coming down the road? We've been there before we addressed it. I think we would be able to navigate something like that as a nation. You keep in mind, we have the strongest economy in the world.

And, you know, it continues to grow and flourish. We've got some challenges we've got to address. But, you know, with a fiat currency that's backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, not backed by an underlying commodity like gold, an underlying commodity like gold. You know, I think we're relying on the ability of the United States to navigate whatever may come our way. And when our back's against the wall, we generally make the decisions we need to make, even if they're difficult ones, to get through a crisis. We've been there before.

I believe we'll do it again. So if it's me, I would just stay the course following biblical principles, living within your means, saving, giving. And I keep my money right there in the US dollar in your investments and in your savings accounts.

That's just me, but that'd be the approach that I take. We appreciate your call today, Marilyn. God bless you. We're going to pause. We'll be right back. Stay with us. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live, where God's word intersects with your financial decisions.

Up ahead, we'll be talking about long-term care policies that continue to see premium increases. We'll also hear from Brian, who's been listening to the program since Larry Burkett wants to challenge you to teach on these principles in your church, especially now during the pandemic. But first, on Mondays, we have a brand new segment that we're really excited about. It's the MoneyWise Market Commentary. My good friend and industry veteran, Bob Dahl, who is known for his weekly market commentary, his 10 annual predictions and just his genuine acumen when it comes to the markets and the economy, is something we so appreciate here on the program. He also loves the Lord and brings biblical principles to bear under everything he shares. Bob, great to have you with us today.

My privilege. Bob, tell us, you know, last week, as we look back for a second before we look forward, we saw a slight decline, actually a first in five weeks, huh? Yeah, it was interesting to see four weeks up in a row, which hadn't happened for almost a year.

But they're crosscurrents, Rob. You know, on the positive side, you've got this amazing amount of stimulus, support from central banks, optimism about the vaccines, economy improving and about to take off, strong corporate earnings. And you might say, well, what's wrong with that picture? Well, you also have people worrying is growth peaking out, the progress overseas around the vaccine, some tax issues, might we have a tax increase, sentiment maybe is too bullish and valuations are not cheap. So you've got this tug of war and we're probably going to see more mixed weeks, some up, some down. Bob, looking forward, obviously, a lot of what is expected in this phenomenal growth as the economy restarts is already priced into the market. How do we account for that in the near term? You know, that is definitely an issue on the bears would say everybody knows the good news, what can happen from here?

And I think that is something to pay attention to. Now, I don't want to get bearish because when you have this sort of stimulus that is about to launch absolutely amazing economic and earnings growth, that's not going to make stocks go down. It might stretch how long they can continue to go higher up, because as you just pointed out, a lot of people know these things. So I think we're more in a territory now where it's going to be two steps forward instead of just one step back, maybe two steps back. And we're just going to meander around in this market for a while.

Yeah. Obviously, when we're invested, Bob, as you talk about, often we're invested for the long haul, even though we're talking about what happened last week and what we might see over the coming year, we're focused far beyond that when it comes to our long term investment assets, we need to invest based on a plan, we stay the course. But you're expecting because of what you just described, modest growth as opposed to what we've seen the last couple of years, huh? Yeah, or even the last five or 10 years, we'll be spoiled to witness double digit returns in the stock market, even including that horrible period for a few months last year. I think returns for stocks and bonds the next five, 10 years are going to be much lower than they've been the last five to 10 years. So prudence is going to be absolutely key.

Bob, this is really helpful. Let's finish today with inflation. What are your comments on what we might be seeing on the horizon?

Again, another tug of war. There are some people thinking that the numbers are going to look bigger because of the compares versus the height of the pandemic last year. There are others that think, and I'm in this category, that no, inflation is coming back some. Not hyperinflation, but we've been at zero or 1% for a while. The Fed's been trying to get it up to 2%. My guess is their wish will come true, and then they may be not so sure they wish for that. So I think we'll have a little inflation to deal with, and that will obviously put some upward pressure on interest rates and maybe downward pressure on PE ratios for stocks, and therefore back to this prudence.

Doesn't mean you can't make money. It's just going to be a little harder. I love it. Well, Bob, we appreciate you stopping by today. We'll look forward to having you back next week. In the meantime, God bless you, my friend. The same to you. All right. Bob Doll joins us each Monday with our MoneyWise Market commentary. So appreciate his analysis and perspective that has been proven over decades on Wall Street.

He'll be back next Monday. Let's continue with your questions today. Let's head to Longview, Texas. Tina, you want to talk about long-term care? I understand.

What's on your mind? Yes, I have a policy that right now the benefits are unlimited time in the nursing home. I had to take off the inflation protection of 5% two years ago to kind of get it down, and now they've come back and it's about $3,514 for that policy of unlimited time benefits, and they want to know if I want to maintain that or I have two choices of staying in there three years with a compound of 1%, and one of them is a 180-day facility elimination period and then the 90-day nursing home care, but then it's $1,654, about half the price.

Yes, yes. Well, what you're describing, sure, what you're describing has happened to some folks, and it's why I think you've got to be careful going into a policy making sure you can afford it, plus some increases. Now, they can't increase these policies on an individual policy holder, but they can based on petitioning the insurance department of that state for all policy holders, and it's obviously based on the rising cost of health care. There are several ways to lower the premium.

You mentioned several of them. You can shorten the benefit period so you could consider a three-year policy and then renew it when it expires. You could look at a longer elimination, which you mentioned. I think that's probably going to be your best option. This is the period before the policy takes effect.

Usually it's 30 to 90 days. You can push that out. That's really going to help with that premium, and then reducing the daily benefit obviously will also lower the lower the premiums. You can also opt for a simple inflation protection instead of compound, but it sounds like you may have turned that off completely. The key here, Tina, is that you do what you have to do to have as much protection to offset the risk as possible and yet still allow this to fit into your budget moving forward, because if at some point you had to drop it, it's just cost prohibitive.

Obviously, you'd lose the benefit of the policy altogether. So, I'd probably start with the longer elimination and then move from there. Again, the goal would be to get something that you can manage that fits into that spending plan. If you need help with that spending plan, don't hesitate to reach out to our MoneyWise coaches, Tina, MoneyWiseLive.org.

Just click connect with a coach. They'd be delighted to walk with you, and we appreciate your call today. Next up, Birmingham, Alabama, where I went to school at Samford University. Brian's there. Brian, I understand you've been listening to this program all the way back to our good friend Larry Burkett. Is that right?

That is correct, Rob. Awesome. How can I help today? I just wanted to encourage you. I think Larry would be well pleased with the transitions that have taken place over the years.

Hate to see Steve retire, but you're doing a great job. The other thing that I wanted to share, we've been leading compass groups for years in our church and have been leading them also online with the pandemic. We just encourage people that that is a resource if they want to do a deeper dive into God's Word and walk through the budgeting process and look at the Word and what it has to say about all these things that you guys cover each day, that that's available.

Yes. Well, Brian, first of all, let me just say thanks for your kind remarks. Larry was a hero of mine, as he was for so many, and so your remarks mean a lot to me. I'm so delighted that God has used this program in your life, and boy, I couldn't agree more about leaning in during this season. If God has equipped you to really be interested in this topic, you've studied on it, perhaps you've been through a compass small group study or another study and you want to teach, now is a great time to do it.

And as you said, Brian, you can do it right there from your home. A lot of the compass studies are now being conducted online through Zoom. So check out their website, compassone.org. That's compass and the number one dot o-r-g, and see if you might be trained to be a facilitator and perhaps can do either them virtually or maybe there in your local church.

The other option is to become a MoneyWise coach, which you can do on our website, moneywiselive.org, and we'd be delighted to tell you how to do that. But Brian, appreciate your ministry, my friend. I'm confident you're reaching a lot of folks there, especially during this season where they really need to hear God's truth as it relates to their finances, and we appreciate you calling today. Jay in Sarasota, just about a minute left. You're going to be our last caller on the broadcast today.

How can we help you? Yeah, I just sold a condo a month ago, and I have this large sum of money sitting in my check-in pin off, not making any money, and I'm worried about it sitting there. Yeah. What are you doing with this money in the future? Do you have plans to buy something else? Is this money you don't foresee using? In addition to our monthly income, that's our nest egg until God calls us home, in addition to our monthly income.

Okay, and what do you have? What were the proceeds? $200,000. Okay, and are you needing to convert this into an income stream now to supplement your income, or is this truly surplus? No, it's surplus. It's our emergency money.

Okay, very good. You know, because this money, if the Lord tarries and your health is good, you and your wife could need to last for several decades, we want to put this money to work, I believe, in a way that's prudent given your season of life. So you're not wanting to speculate, take unnecessary risk, but you do want it to be growing, working for you. I could see probably a small percentage in stocks, maybe as much as 30% if you were comfortable with that, the larger portion in fixed income. I'd connect with a certified kingdom advisor there in Sarasota, probably two or three, interview them, find the one that's the best fit to deploy an income-based conservative investment strategy. Just go to MoneyWiseLive.org, click find a CKA, and if you have any other questions, give us a call back. Folks, thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live, where God's word is applied to your financial decisions. I want to say thank you to my amazing team, producing Amy Rios, engineering Dan Anderson, Jim Henry on research, and Aaron Call Screening today. MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. Come back and join us tomorrow. God bless you.