Unlocking Your Wallet’s Biblical Potential

This is Doug Hastings, Vice President of Moody Radio, and we're thankful for support from our listeners and businesses like United Faith Mortgage.

Let's call it the couch cushion dash. This is the moment when you need a tip for the pizza man, a few bucks for your kid's lunch, or you can't say no to the sweet eight-year-old and her Thin Mints. But you've got no cash and no other options but to tear apart the house searching for hidden money. It's Ryan from United Faith Mortgage, and it's funny how we can usually find a way to scrounge together a few bucks hidden around our house. Shame on you if it's from your kid's piggy banks.

For many listeners though, there's enough money sitting inside your home to buy a swimming pool full of Thin Mints. Home values have gone up across the country the last few years, leaving many of us with a good chunk of equity tucked inside our homes that we could cash out to use for life. If you'd like us to help, we are United Faith Mortgage. Isaiah 5-20 tells us, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Hi, I'm Rob West.

There's a lot of calling evil good and good evil going on these days, and Christians certainly don't want to participate. I'll discuss that today with investing expert Robert Netzle, and then I'll take your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Welcome to MoneyWise Live, where God's word guides our every financial step. Well, I'm always delighted to introduce my guest and friend Robert Netzle to the program. Robert's the CEO of Inspire Investing and underwriter of MoneyWise and a key player in the faith-based investing movement. Robert, great to have you back on the program. It's my pleasure.

Thanks for having me. Robert, Inspire helps Christians align their investing with biblical values, and boy, it seems like it's becoming increasingly challenging in our culture today. Would you agree?

Yeah, I would agree. It is getting increasingly challenging. There's more issues, it seems, than ever before that we need to be aware of. We need to be wise as serpents but innocent as doves, and that's a tall task to handle. Although it is interesting as we do the research on publicly traded companies that are involved actively to promote issues such as abortion or LGBT issues, we find that there's not that many more companies getting involved.

We just find that the volume is sort of turned up on the ones that are involved in these activities. The players that have been kind of pushing these agendas, really these problematic issues from a faith-based perspective, are just doubling down on their efforts. It's been causing Christians, it seems to me, we're getting questions a lot more frequently from everyday people asking how do they manage their finances in a way that doesn't end up funding agendas and issues that just violate their deeply held faith-based biblical values. As we talk about in this program a lot, Robert, it's an exciting development to see the growth of the faith-based investing space as Christians become aware that they can align their values with their investments, and firms like Inspire and many others in this space are building really high quality investment products and solutions to do just that. I think what's helping all of that is the access to information. Think about the tool that you all have built, this free resource, inspireinsight.com, which gives visibility perhaps to how companies are using their corporate dollars in a way that wasn't available years ago.

That's changed the game, hasn't it? It's really an exciting time. There's such an opportunity for us as believers to come together and in a united fashion align our investments, align our financial lives with the intention of shining the light of Christ to the world. Tools like inspireinsight.com and many other of our friends in the industry just doing so much good work and making this data and information available to investors where you can be informed about what's inside your mutual fund. Do you own companies that are manufacturing abortion drugs? Do you own companies that are selling pornography? Do you own companies that are advocating for LGBT activist agendas?

What's going on in those portfolios? Likewise, do you own companies that are operating with high degrees of ethical integrity? Are you owning companies that are a blessing to their communities and to their customers?

This used to be really opaque and almost impossible for investors to discover, and now you can do it with a click of a button for free online. So we have more tools than ever before to really honor God, glorify God with intentional decisions behind our investing, behind our banking, behind our spending, all of our financial life. As you know very well, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, including spending, investing, saving, do it all to the glory of God, and that's what we're passionate about equipping Christians to do. Well, that's exactly right, and you're doing it very well as a leader in this space.

As we've talked about many times, there's multiple ways to go at this. You can avoid companies that are promoting and have practices that are not aligning with your Christian faith. You can engage in companies that are making a positive impact in the world, and you can even express your role as owner by engaging companies through activism and voting proxies. When we come back, we'll shine a light on a specific part of the industry, specifically banking, as we continue our conversation with our friend Robert Netzle of Inspire Investing. This is MoneyWise Live, where God's word guides our every financial step.

We'll be right back. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live. My guest today, Robert Netzle, CEO of Inspire Investing. Today we're talking about aligning your biblical values with your investments, which can be challenging. The exciting thing, though, is that there's a growing segment of the investing landscape that really is built to help solve this challenge, to help you invest in a way that you can feel good about, where you're investing companies that make a positive impact in the world, where you can have assistance to engage the companies you're invested in as an owner, to let them know about your values and perhaps where they may be missing the mark as you advocate.

And then finally, what is the opportunity to avoid certain companies where there's not alignment with your Christian faith, and what does it look like to screen those out? Well, we're talking about all of that today, and that's what Inspire Investing is all about. Robert, specifically, we want to talk today about the banking sector. Many of these large banks are engaged in ungodly practices.

Let's define the problem first. In your view, what's going on with some of the big banks these days? Well, you're right, Rob. Big banks are increasingly hostile towards biblical values, it seems, and having worked at one of the largest banks in the country previously, I've got some firsthand knowledge and experience of what goes on behind those doors, in addition to what goes on out in the public. But one high-profile example was Wells Fargo and Samaritan's Purse, where Franklin Graham publicly made the announcement that they were going to be moving their sizable accounts and sizable relationship away from Wells Fargo, specifically because of the increasing advocacy on behalf of Wells Fargo to promote LGBT activist agendas. They had, in this example, began publishing an advertisement that showed a same-sex couple adopting a baby. This was in opposition to what Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association believe about the Bible and was not in line with their values. So Franklin Graham and his team made the hard decision, it's not easy to move a relationship like that, to extract themselves out of Wells Fargo and move to a different bank.

That's a very high-profile, huge example, but we are experiencing that on a microcosm. I get questions all the time from families, Christian families, Christian individuals. What can I do to align my financial life with God's word and biblical values? I see these banks promoting these things, giving money to Planned Parenthood, advocating for LGBT issues, et cetera, opening fake accounts, violating ethical and moral standards of business, and it just seems to be increasing. It's just leaving Christians in a hard place because it's hard to move banks, and it seems like there may be not that many options to go. That's the kind of situation, that's the problem.

I would just add on to that. I've also spoken to many conservative ministry leaders, really in the past six months it seems, that have mentioned that their banks are actually actively hostile towards their organizations, and some of them have even been expelled from their banks simply for believing the Bible, that marriage is between one man and one woman. They've had their accounts closed, and sadly that's the world we live in, but Christians need a different option. Yeah.

Talk about engaging companies like your bank, or any company for that matter, and the impact that you can make in just opening up dialogue. On a very small scale, my wife in the grocery store we frequent every week, maybe several times a week with the size of our family. She saw a magazine on the rack that shouldn't have been there.

The adults didn't need to see it, let alone kids, just based on what was on the cover. She grabbed the whole stack, took them to the manager, and said, I would ask that you would keep these in your office. I really don't think they belong on the shelf.

He said, you know what, I've been thinking the same thing, and I'll do that. That's a really small example, but can Christians make a difference, Robert, when they engage their bank, for instance, in these kinds of conversations when these practices are occurring? Absolutely. That's a phenomenal example. Imagine a million moms going up to the managers of the stores and having the same conversation.

Those magazines wouldn't be on the shelf anymore. On the investing side, that's also what we're seeing is a huge opportunity as Christians are learning what they're invested in, learning that there's problems, and then learning that we can together just reach out. It's very easy. We've been involved in multiple shareholder engagement discussions with some of the largest companies in the country, including banks.

When you reach out and talk to these companies, it's as easy as a phone call to their investor relations department or shoot an email to their investor relations department. It doesn't have to be fancy. It's not hard. Simply in a reasonable, winsome, friendly tone, but convicted tone with biblical integrity, share our concerns. When you go into your bank branch and tell the manager, that rainbow flyer over there on the wall, it really kind of disturbs me. I'd rather not be presented with that when I walk in the bank. There was my bank branch back in the day when I worked at the bank.

I came in one day around Christmas time. Right in front of the front door was a very large stand-up banner that had exactly that rainbow flags, a Christmas tree, a same-sex couple, and their children said, Happy Holidays, right in front of the door. I didn't want myself or my children or my family to be presented with that when I walked in the bank to make a deposit or withdrawal.

Yeah, I can certainly understand that. Help our listeners. Where do they go from here if they want more biblical alignment with their banking relationships? Well, certainly if you're feeling led to, as Samaritan's Purse did, to disconnect from your bank or at least try some other avenues. We've launched a program recently called Inspire Faith-Based Cash that allows you to do exactly that.

It's free to sign up. Basically, we've screened hundreds of banks across the country for biblical values. They compete for your deposits in this program as a Visa debit card. It works just like any other debit card that you've got and allows you to earn interest and spend money in a way that is aligned with biblical values so you know that your money is on deposit with institutions that aren't working against your deeply held values. Yeah, I mean, that's so key. I mean, at some point we may need, depending upon the situation you're in and what your convictions are, to sever a relationship and make a change and then increasingly seek out companies that are putting themselves out there and being willing to take a stand for Christian values.

At least if they don't share them, allow you to reflect your Christian values, even though they may align elsewhere. The bottom line is you have a choice and something like what the team at Inspire Investing has put together with Inspire's Faith-Based Cash, I think is a great example. Robert, where can our listeners learn more? You can go to inspireinvesting.com forward slash cash.

Simple as that. Inspireinvesting.com forward slash cash. Really appreciate you stopping by today. I know other ways folks can take part in faith-based investing is to seek out advisors that understand this, seek out mutual funds that are aligning this way, and just make sure they understand what's going on with their companies. Inspireinsight.com was built for that reason, wasn't it?

That's absolutely right. We just want to help people invest for the glory of God. Awesome. Well, thanks for sharing a great new way to do banking that doesn't conflict with our biblical values, your faith-based cash program. Again, the website to check that out, inspireinvesting.com slash cash. Thanks for being with us, Robert. My pleasure. Robert Netsley of Inspire Investing has been our guest today. Your calls are next, 800-525-7000.

800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, where God's word guides our every financial step. Thanks for being with us today on MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West.

So glad you're here with us today. We'd love to have you call. This is a call-in program, and we want to unpack God's truth and apply it to whatever's going on in your financial life. What's the number? Well, let me give it to you. 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. We'll be taking your calls in just a moment. You know, we had the opportunity today to talk about an aspect of faith-based investing, and this is a growing interest and segment of the investing landscape. That is, based on your personal convictions, how do you want your money to be invested? Recognizing investing is ownership?

What does that look like for you? And as you search the Scriptures and ask the Lord to make it clear to you how you should respond, based on Romans 14, this idea that each one should be fully convinced in his or her own mind, as we're managing God's resources. Do we want to avoid certain companies?

If so, there's a way to do that. If that's not what you're looking for and you want to embrace other companies that might be making an impact in the world socially or from a kingdom standpoint, there's some wonderful investment options to do that. Or perhaps you want to engage. You want to lean into your role as owner to reflect and express your values to company leadership and executives. There's a growing segment of the Christian universe that is expressing their desires around values in engaging with companies. This is really a whole new development in this faith-based investing space, and periodically we bring you interviews like this that help you understand what's happening out there, and I know many, many Christians are excited to lean into that. Well, we want to turn the corner and take any financial question from you today. Again, the number 800-525-7000. We're going to start today in Fishers, Indiana. Bonnie, you're next on the program. How can we help you?

Hi. I inherited from my parents their house, and I've been renting it out all these years, and I did have to pay $70,000 to the estate because that would have been my brother's house. And now I'm wanting to sell it, and I have no idea about capital gains.

I was just wondering if you could help me out. Yes, absolutely. When you inherit a property such as a house or stocks, the property is generally more than it was when the original owner purchased it, and if you were to sell the property, there could be huge capital gains, typically, but fortunately, when you inherit something, the property's tax basis is stepped up, which just simply means that the basis would be the current value of the property as of the date of death. And so that's typically the way it's going to work based on that inheritance. So essentially, that cost basis resets based on market value as of date of death, and then if you were to hold it from that point forward and it were to continue to appreciate, obviously, then there would be capital gains at that point. But that's one of the benefits of inheriting property, again, whether that's stocks or real property like a home, because of that step up in basis when that property is transferred.

Does that make sense, Bonnie? Yeah, it does. My husband and I do not do taxes together because he's self-employed, so it's just in my name, and I look at something that said if you don't make $40,000, you don't have to pay him the tax, and my particular income is not $40,000. Yeah, no, it's less than that in terms of when you might pay taxes. Typically, you would use the standard deduction as the minimum, which for an individual, a single person under the age of 65 is $12,400. So it would happen much sooner than that. So I'd recommend that if you have some questions about that, perhaps you've been handling this yourself previously, it's probably worthwhile to check in with a tax preparer or accountant who can look over your situation and advise you.

But certainly, income taxes, although you may not have to pay it right at this level, anything over $12,400 and you very well could owe some tax, and you certainly don't want to miss the opportunity to file and pay what you owe because you wouldn't want to have any penalties and interest accruing. I hope that helps, Bonnie. We appreciate your call. Thanks for listening today.

Let's head to Cleveland, Ohio. Kathy, what's on your mind today? Hi, so I started my retirement, I'm six years old, I started my retirement late about 10 years ago now. And I work for a large hospital, I have a 401, I'm not sure if it's an A or a B, but it's invested, I have to stay invested in mutual funds.

I am a little worried about the coming economy. So mutual funds are hard for me to understand, because they're not straightforward like a stock. Does that make sense?

Because they're too diverse for me. Can you give me some guidance? I can, yeah. And really, what that would come down to Kathy is the prospectus and really the funds purpose. So there will be, you know, all types of funds. And as you said, a mutual fund is essentially a basket of investments. Those investments could include stocks of all kinds, it could include bonds and, and even other types of assets. But the idea is based on the funds prospectus is it has a stated purpose that might be to invest in, you know, if it's a growth, stock mutual fund, it would only focus on growth stocks. If it's a balanced fund, it would have both stocks and bonds, it may be a fixed income fund with bonds only. So what you get with the mutual fund is the opportunity to have broad diversification with a smaller amount of money, a larger basket of investments that might be passive, which you would have with more of a what's called an index mutual fund that essentially just tracks various segments of the market, or an actively managed mutual fund where based on that prospectus, the funds intent, you have a professional money manager who is tasked with making the buy and sell decisions to beat the markets and do better than the markets based on his or her unique skill set in that area.

But I wouldn't be you know, concerned about the funds. In fact, they're a good thing, because you're not going to be highly concentrated in just a few companies hoping that they do well. And if they don't or have a bad quarter, it has a severe impact on your overall investments, you get this broad diversification. The key is are you in the right funds based on your age and risk tolerance. But inside that retirement plan, the fund choices you have should give you ample opportunity to be as conservative or as aggressive as you like. So I'd connect with a certified kingdom advisor in your area to look over your investment options, and perhaps make some recommendations.

Just go to MoneyWiseLive.org and click Find a CK. Kathy, we appreciate you listening. Stay tuned.

We'll be right back. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWiseLive where God's word intersects with your financial life. Hey, would you like to connect with a coach? This is somebody who's been trained who volunteers their time to come alongside you to help you put a spending plan together a debt repayment plan or a giving plan. We have coaches available. We had a bit of a backlog that we've worked through. And so if you'd like to connect with someone to get started, just head over to our website MoneyWiseLive.org.

Click Connect with a coach and somebody will be in touch with you. Very soon. In just a moment, we're going to talk about annuities with Jacqueline and Nashville. Bud in Winter Garden wants to talk about money he's got in money market currently and the best way to invest that. But first, Vivian is in Chicago. Vivian, how can we help you?

Hi. So I have a few questions about my credit card situation. So in 2017, when I came to Chicago as an international student, I just applied for a student credit card to just to kickstart my credit help. Well then, so since then, they increased my credit limit limit to 800 over the years and mean in between I had I didn't have a job so I couldn't pay my credit card bills. So since then, I'm just paying minimum on my total due. And my score has really come down. I really want to rebuild my score and, and want to know if I pay off my credit card fully. What are the consequences I'll face if I close the account or do I need to keep paying my minimum, maintain the balance or apply for a new card or switch card?

I don't know what to do. I just want to increase my score and maintain a healthy credit. Yes, very good Vivian.

Well, I can certainly appreciate what you're trying to accomplish here. Let me just be clear, and there's a number of facets to this, but let me be clear that carrying a balance and paying interest is never a good idea. It doesn't really, frankly, help your credit score, number one, but number two, even if it did, it's not worth it, sending you know that money away. I don't think that's good stewardship, especially if you have the ability to pay it off. So I would absolutely pay it off and only use it for budgeted items and pay it off in full every month. And that in and of itself will reduce your credit utilization, which is the difference between your balance and what you have in terms of a limit. And that reduction in credit utilization is actually working to your benefit.

So that's the first thing. The second thing is, you know, how does closing this account affect you? Well, you know, in most cases, closing a credit card account will lower your score a bit, but it's only temporary. It does it for a couple of reasons. Number one is it pulls that particular credit file out of the mix, that particular account out of the mix in most cases, which means you have one less account.

It in some cases will remove that history, may or may not. But the other issue is just that now potentially you don't have anything on an ongoing basis reporting you as an on time payer, which really is the key to having a good, healthy credit score, low utilization, a good credit mix, meaning a mix between revolving and installment and perhaps a mortgage. And then the number one thing is just being an on time payer.

So how should you move forward from here? Well, I would say number one is let's get that debt paid off as quick as you can. So you're not paying any interest. Number two, if you feel like you can handle the having the credit card without it, you know, getting out of control, without using it for unplanned expenses and, you know, taking on debt and there's no monthly fee or annual fee associated with it, then I would just set up an automatic recurring charge of some amount. It could be a very small amount for a budgeted item that you can then pay off every month. And then that's going to cause you to be reported as an on time payer to the bureau every month.

Now, if you wanted to close this account and do that with a different account, for whatever reason, it had better benefits or you wanted it to be a secured account, you could accomplish the same thing. But I think the bottom line is we want low or no debt and then we want budgeted items being charged and paid off because we want to show over time good payment history. The way you're going to get up to the highest levels is, again, by having a good credit mix and a long history of on time payments. But tell me what questions you have based on all of that. So my only concern is I really want to move forward with a good credit health because now I have a family and I have a son here. So I just want to be prepared if there is any emergency.

And also we might I might travel to my home sometimes. So I just need to have a backup in the emergency. So I really want to close this. If I close this card, what are the consequences I'll face financially? Will you have another active account that you're using with some sort of scheduled or monthly transactions that you can then pay off so you'll be reported each month as an on time payer? No, I don't have any other credit card. I have my current account. OK. Why? Why are you wanting to close this one? I don't have I just want to I just want to get get rid of the interest interest, which is increasing on my account.

OK. So as long as you pay it off every month, whatever you charge over a monthly cycle, which is usually a one month period, as long as during that month, whatever you charge, you pay off, you'll you'll never pay any interest. And if you don't have any monthly or annual fees with this card, then you're not paying any expenses. So then you would set it up to charge an automatic recurring charge for a budgeted item. Let's say you have an online subscription for something or you set it up to automatically pay your utility bill, whatever it might be.

It's a budgeted planned expense. It hits your credit card in the same month it hits it. You pay it off.

That's going to ensure that you never pay any interest. But what's going to happen, Vivian, is that when that happens, the credit card company is going to report to the credit bureau, which the credit bureau's file for you is what generates your score, the information in it. It's going to be reported that you're an on time payer and that consistent monthly on time payment is what's going to build your credit score over time.

Now, if you want to get it even higher, you would have a mix of accounts. So you might have an installment loan like a car loan and a home mortgage and a credit card. But if you don't have any of those things, at the very least, having that monthly on time payment reported to the bureau and not paying any interest because you're paying it off, I think is going to accomplish what you're looking for. And the longer you present yourself as an on time payer, the better your credit score is going to get over time, especially as you earn more income over time and those types of things. So I would say as long as you're not paying any fees, keep the account open, pay it off. Let's get rid of the interest and then only charge on the card each month what you've already planned to spend so that you can pay it off in full.

And I think that's going to be what you're looking for as you think about moving forward. Is that helpful to you? Yes, Rob. So what I get is, for example, I pay my phone bills through my debit card. I have set up an auto pay. So if I switch my auto pay to my credit card every month and I keep filling my balance and that would increase my paying credibility. Yes, sir. Just make sure you pay it off during that same period so it goes down to zero and then the next month you charge it again for your electric bill or whatever it is and then you pay it off.

Well, when you do that, it's going to be reported to the Bureau that you're on time and that on-time payment month after month after month is going to keep that credit score up and build it over time. We appreciate your call today, Vivian. God bless you and thanks for being a careful steward of God's resources. Hey, more to come on MoneyWise, including Bob Doll's Market commentary a little later in the broadcast. All that and your calls right around the corner, 800-525-7000. We're glad you're with us today for MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West.

Just ahead, we'll go to Winter Garden, Florida. Bud's with us. He wants to talk about investing some money that he's got sitting in MoneyMarket. Jacqueline wants to talk about redeeming and annuity. But first, Bob Doll joins us each Monday with our MoneyWise Market commentary. Bob's an industry veteran. He's been on Wall Street for many, many years. You probably see him on CNBC and Fox Business.

He manages literally billions of dollars. Bob, we're grateful for your time today. Good afternoon. Happy Monday to you, sir, and all your listeners.

Thank you. Well, the story last week, other than the gas lines around the corner here in Atlanta temporarily, was inflation. It seems like everybody all of a sudden is concerned about inflation. I guess everybody except the Fed.

What say you? Yeah, I think we've got to be concerned. The Fed has argued that inflation has picked up because the compares from last year or at the depths of the recession and therefore the numbers are going to be big for a while. I mean, for the record, Core CPI increased zero point nine percent, triple the pace that was expected and the biggest increase since 1981. And that's put the year-over-year rate of inflation at three point zero up from one point six just a month ago.

That's the highest, Rob, since 1995. Look, we're not going to know for some time. Is it transitory or is it something we're concerned about?

I think there's some legitimate concern. When you throw this much money at the system and get the economy rolling, it's hard not to have some price increase. Yeah, so longer term, let's look two or three years out. And I know there's so many variables, Bob.

I mean, what's going to happen with the corporate taxes and personal tax, income tax rates and, you know, what is going to happen with inflation? And, you know, we saw corporate earnings. They've been very strong. In fact, they moved to levels higher than pre-pandemic levels.

And that's good. But we're also 12 years into this bull market. And so, you know, what's going to take us to the next rung, if you will, and perhaps restart a bull market cycle?

How do we evaluate that? You know, great question. And there's even legitimate debate, Rob. Are we 12 years into this or was last year a bear market? We are in a new bull market.

So we could have that arm wrestle, if you like. It's very confusing out there. Look, I think that we need to recognize that there is a lot of cash in the system provided by both the Fed, the central bank, as well as the government, fiscal policy and the economy because it's generated so much earnings and people have been paid. So you put that all together. We could be on an economic growth trajectory that lasts some time just on all of that fuel, if you will. Yes, policy will matter. And I think lost in the discussion about inflation last week was, believe it or not, last week is a good week in Washington, D.C. for bipartisanship. Nothing decided, but the Republicans and Democrats may actually come together on an infrastructure package. And two weeks ago, if you asked me, I said the probabilities are very low. It's now moving up some probability of big tax increases has gone down some as the Republicans have been unified, not going to allow that to happen. And a few moderate Democrats are saying not so fast.

It's too big. So things are very fluid, Rob. And for now, the economy is in great shape.

I love it. That's good news, obviously, for the folks that are still in that wealth creation phase. They're working, they're saving. We certainly make the case as long as you're looking long term, following biblical principles of diversification and, you know, not being speculative and making sure you have spousal unity and, you know, the things you want to be doing when you're investing God's money. The stock market is the place to be to build wealth. What if I'm nearing retirement and I'm going to be moving from a growth capital growth phase to a capital distribution and income phase?

What do I need to know? Yeah, I don't think you do a whole lot different in implied and always said so far is moderately rising interest rates. And if rates are going to go up slowly but surely bonds are going to go down slowly but surely. So I'm not going to recommend that retiree take a bunch of money out of stocks and put it in bonds. Yeah, you want a few more conservative equities. A lot depends on do you need the money to live, Rob? And if you do, well, then you have to get even more conservative. But, you know, somebody who retires at age 65, you know, their life expectancy is between 25 and 30 years. There is no 25-year period where stocks have not outperformed all other public assets. So don't think retiring, unless you're retiring at 78 or something like that, that you should run for the hills and reduce your equity significantly.

That's really helpful. Bob, just to put a period on it, as a Wall Street guy, you would be quick to say as we wrap up here today, make sure your trust is not in your portfolio, but it's in the Lord himself, right? Amen. As you pointed out in introducing, it all belongs to God in the first place. And so we have a solemn opportunity and responsibility to take care of it well and to realize it's on loan to us while we're here.

Store up your treasures in heaven, which means give it away. I love it. Bob, thank you for stopping by. We'll talk to you next Monday. God bless. All right.

You too, my friend. To Chippewa Lake, Ohio. Charles, you're next on the program.

Go ahead, sir. So about two months ago, I bought a golf cart from my neighbor. At the time, she was asking $1,200. I offered $1,000. You know, it was a good deal.

She was happy with it. And after the last couple of months, my wife and I, we've talked about it. It's a two seater. We have three kids. It's not practical. So we decided to sell it on Facebook to buy, you know, take the money and buy something that's better for our family. Well, I had a buyer at my house yesterday and this neighbor came out holler and I won't use the word she used because on Facebook, when you enter a price, I bought this thing in the dark. When you enter a price, if you do something crazy like too low or too high, it'll come back with a suggested amount.

Right. So the neighbor goes crazy, says, is that the golf cart you're selling on Facebook for $2,800 that you only paid me $1,000 for in front of the buyer? And I've been at work all day and I'm kind of upset because I like to keep no conflict with my neighbors. And I was hoping maybe you could give me some sort of insight on how I can, you know, I'm about to get home and try and rectify the situation. Like, should I give her half the money?

Should I give her all the money? Yeah. Well, I appreciate you asking the question, Charles.

And I think certainly just the fact that you're even trying to go there is a good thing. I think it says where your heart's at in all of this. Here's how I would view it. Number one is you made the purchase based on the asking price. You then, as subsequent to that purchase, got new information that perhaps this golf cart was worth more than you originally bought it for.

And so you reset the price. Are you entitled to do that based on that new information? Absolutely. Was your heart motivation to take advantage of somebody?

No, it sounds to me like that was not the case. You just didn't know what you didn't know until Facebook told you it's actually worth more than you thought. So you're entitled to it. Now, let's go beyond that and say, okay, as a Christ follower and as somebody who wants to have a good relationship with your neighbor, would it make sense for you to go back and say, you know what, even though I don't have to do this based on this new information and based on the selling price, I want to split this with you. I would just feel better about that because then we both win.

We both get a higher selling price. And you know what? I just want to do that out of the goodness of my heart. I think that'd be a wonderful thing. And I think at the end of the day, what that would do relationally between you and your neighbor would go a long way toward restoring that relationship and making it healthy and obviously giving you a platform then to share Christ at some point if that person is not a believer.

And that would be preeminent in my mind. So again, I don't think you've done anything wrong here. I think the question is, Lord, how can I be used in this situation in a way that can glorify you and also set the stage for me to have a relationship with my neighbor, perhaps where I could even influence and encourage them toward Christ.

I think you acknowledging that and sharing part of the profit would certainly accomplish that. Hope that helps, Charles. Hey, let us know how it turns out. We appreciate your call today. Last call for today is going to be to Winter Guard in Florida. Bud, thanks for being patient today.

How can we help you, sir? Yes, I was just curious. My wife and I have about $800,000 in a money market account, you know, just sitting there and it's not, you know, making much money for us and just want to know what what you would think of would be a good idea to do with the money.

Yeah. So talk to me about this money versus what else you might have. I mean, do you have retirement funds that you're putting aside through work or some other means separate from this $800,000? Well, so my wife and I sold our business in March of 2019. I took a job in February of 2020.

And we actually moved from Missouri to Florida in August of 2020. So the job that I have now is not replace the income of the business income. So we are actually, we do have around $300,000 in IRAs. But we actually have more expense every month than income.

We have a daughter that is in a private college and we have one in a private grade school and two in public high school. So we don't have a 529 plan currently. And so we're trying to decide what what we should do to help supplement our income and the money, you know, with the money in the money market.

Do you see and unfortunately, we're about out of time. So just quickly, do you see an opportunity where you can right size the budget by reducing expenses or increased income over time? Hopefully, increased income. Okay, I think that would be key. I think you're really in a great spot for some financial planning, but I would say at a minimum, let's put a year's worth of expenses aside. Let's fund the college to the extent you were planning to fund it and that's a decision you have to make and then probably invest the rest.

The key is going to be dialing back lifestyle and increasing income. Stay on the line, bud. We'll talk some more off the air. Thanks for joining us today. MoneyWiseLive is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. I hope you'll come back and join us tomorrow as we apply God's word to your financial life again. Lord bless you. Bye bye.