When Retirement and Generosity Seem at Odds

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. Proverbs 11 24 tells us, one gives freely yet grows all the richer. Another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. It's one of many verses that proclaim God will provide and bless those who are generous.

I am Rob West. We'd all like to give more, but sometimes that seems to conflict with our need to prepare for when we can no longer work. David Parsley joins us to talk about that today. Then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, where biblical truth always guides our financial decisions. Our guest today is David Parsley, senior relationship manager with the National Christian Foundation in Tampa Bay. David has more than 30 years of sales and consulting experience, but he loves helping families create strategies to enhance their giving. David, it's a real treat to have you with us today. Thanks, Rob. It's great to be part of MoneyWise and a ministry that's touched my life for decades through Larry Burkett. It's great to be here.

You and so many more, and I appreciate you saying that. David, as we said, preparing for retirement and being generous can sometimes seem like conflicting priorities. So tell us how you've seen advisors and givers navigate this to be wise with their resources, to follow the leading of the Lord and also be generous. Yeah, those challenges face everyone as we age, and there's a lot of confusion and fear that people encounter when they develop plans or wish they hadn't developed plans. And really, that's a big part of it.

As you're transitioning in life and mapping out strategies, you need counsel. And really, to put this into context, we have a wonderful gentleman that we serve. His name, I'll call him Steve. And Steve was approaching his 70th year, and in the past year, his wife of many decades has passed away. And he was putting his business up for sale. So there was a lot of changes going on in his life. So that's a particularly challenging time.

And he did not have any children. And so he needed some help and thinking through his plans. And he wanted to be generous, though, during his lifetime. But he also needed help and kind of mapping out what does he need to live on. And that's where ourselves and some of his advisors got together. Well, and clearly developing this strategy is the first step to becoming more generous. So walk us through that a bit further.

What happens after that? The Bible says there's a wisdom and a multitude of counselors. So we were fortunate to be invited into Steve's circle. And we met with his financial advisor, who actually is part of the kingdom advisors, our local study group.

So that's that's a blessing to be a part of such a group. But he took the lead in helping Steve plan what were his lifestyle needs, what were some contingency plans. And then he was able to work with us to secure a way for him to start giving now during his lifetime, because he had some really special charities and ministries to support to lift up kids who are in need of help.

And yet he still needed some guarantee for income. So the plan included some different elements to help him with his income, including a charitable gift annuity that guarantees income for the rest of his life. And then he opened up a NCF giving fund to help him streamline his giving.

We help him with research and we help him figure out where he wants to grant and when he wants to grant out money. And then he also took a look at some of the ways he could leverage his IRA to fund some of his giving. So all of all of those things came together to help Steve accomplish or get a plan together to help him accomplish things. Yeah, it sounds like it. And clearly there was a number of tools being deployed. Did you find that Steve was surprised that he had all of those giving opportunities in retirement?

Steve is like a lot of folks. You're really busy doing what you're doing, building a business, having a family, being engaged in life. And you don't know about these options that are available. So I liken it to someone whenever you're driving a car and you hit a big fog patch and there's confusion, there's a little bit of anxiety, you get a little sweaty when you're driving through that and you're not sure of which way to go. But when the fog dissipates, you have you're actually able to enjoy the journey and to honor the Lord. And in this context, you're able to to have some income and some opportunities to give wisely.

And it's a it's a joy. But I love that this really illustrates the idea that giving doesn't have to be restricted, even in the retirement season of life. We'll continue to unpack this just around the corner. We're joined today by David Parsley with the National Christian Foundation. Much more to come right around the corner.

Then on to your questions at eight hundred five two five seven thousand. This is Money Wise Live. Stay with us. Welcome back to Money Wise Live. Our guest today is David Parsley, senior relationship manager with the National Christian Foundation in Tampa Bay. We're talking today about giving and retirement. Are those two things in conflict with one another?

Absolutely not. And David, just before the break, you were talking about a great example of a gentleman named Steve, where you worked with his financial adviser, a certified kingdom adviser, to develop a giving strategy, even in this retirement season of life. And you mentioned a few of the tools you deployed. You mentioned a charitable gift annuity. You mentioned a giving fund. You mentioned that he was going to give out of his IRA.

I'd love to just quickly define each of these for somebody listening, wondering what is that? Let's start with the charitable gift annuity. A quick description of maybe how that works. Yeah, the charitable gift annuity is a great contract that you can set up to put away a certain amount of money or assets that can secure you a certain amount of money on a quarterly or monthly basis for the rest of your life. You and or your spouse second to die type of contract that just gives you some assurance on what do I need to live on?

How can I secure a contract with a charity that reflects my values and I love and we don't know the duration of our life. And when we're called into glory, there's a certain amount left over that the charity will benefit from. And but it gives the individual or couple some peace of mind and some guaranteed income.

Yeah, that's great. And then a giving fund. You know, we talk about this often here on the program. What I believe is one of the most powerful and underutilized giving tools. I like to describe it as a charitable checking account. Talk about the benefits of a giving fund or a donor advised fund in really any season of your giving. Yeah, it does. The donor advised fund is it is a charitable checking account.

And I also kind of elaborate on that. It's like a Swiss Army knife because you can use it in so many ways to accomplish some wonderful things throughout your life. My wife and I have had ours for over 13 years. It simplifies your tax preparation each year. You have one page for your tax return for giving, for what you've done charitably. But for those folks that are in the later years and they're updating their wills, your donor advised fund, your giving fund at NCO can be added to your will to be like the receptacle for the remainderment of what's left upon your death. So it's a super easy way to direct monies that are left over to the charities that you instruct us to give to.

Or you put someone else in charge of your fund after you're hopefully in glory. But it's wonderful to have that in place. And NCF backs the families. We support them, encourage them and help them in their giving during their lifetime.

I love that. And then finally, the IRA. Perhaps we could touch on the qualified charitable distribution. I think this is a powerful tool in retirement.

It is. If you have an IRA and you will be notified that you need to start taking an RMD, a required minimum distribution, when you face that instruction from your IRA custodian, you have the opportunity in the tax code to redirect that income if you don't need it to live on. So as opposed to you receiving a check from your IRA company and that becomes income to you on your tax return. And you have to pay taxes on that and you will enjoy it. But you'll have to render under Caesar some of that because it's income. If you don't need that income, you have the ability to redirect up to one hundred thousand dollars a year out of your IRA to go direct to charities, which is a wonderful way to avoid income and income tax and have it actually go to your charities that you prefer as opposed to paying unnecessary taxes.

Excellent. Obviously, these tools and others are key to being able to really continue to give, if not accelerate your giving in the retirement season of life. Steve still had a lot of options for how to give that would lead to more impact for his favorite causes. David, how are you at NCF seeing this play out among the families and individuals you work with? It is a privilege and a joy to be a part of those conversations and to see it unfold.

We see a lot more capacity of release during their lifetime. So Ron Blue is another wonderful man we all know and love and who helped start Kingdom Advisors, as well as National Christian Foundation. Ron, one of my favorite sayings is, do your giving while you're living so you're knowing where it's going. And that is a pithy phrase, but it's also very appropriate where we as individuals or couples, as we have children and grandchildren, let's say, we had the privilege of actually mobilizing that charitable giving and helping instruct our kids and grandkids on what matters to us, what reflects our values. And so as opposed to just putting it in your will when you're gone and certain amount of money flows down to the next generations, this helps you really build a generational love of generosity, which is really a great calling and a great stewardship opportunity.

There's no doubt it is. David, you reference the advisors role in this planning process. We mentioned the importance of having a certified Kingdom Advisor who shares your values. But what if you're working with a financial advisor who may not be a believer? Perhaps you've even been met with some resistance from financial advisors to these types of giving strategies. Is that something you've experienced?

And if so, how do you overcome it? We certainly experience. Obviously, we hope and encourage folks we love and engage to choose men and women of faith who have CKAs, that designation, or they share their faith. But if they don't, they're still professional. They still have a fiduciary responsibility. And we encourage those particular individuals or families to invite us into the conversation. So we're able to help walk through the options that are available for them to give charitably to set up these type of giving strategies, giving plans that are not going to conflict with these advisors. But a lot of it is a lack of knowledge. If they don't share the same prioritization of giving and being generous and being a good steward, we can still come alongside and help these families communicate with their advisors and gain some agreement on options and just give them some good advice along the way.

Yeah, very good. Well, obviously, there's so much more to explore and so much that the National Christian Foundation has to offer in terms of assistance with developing a giving strategy and the incredible tools like donor advice funds or the complex gift planning services that you offer and much more. So where can folks go to explore more about wealth and resources and especially as it relates to wise giving?

Absolutely. At the National Christian Foundation, we have a wealth of information, videos, articles that anyone can access. They can go to ncfgiving.com forward slash library and really enjoy some amazing collection of information at their fingertips. And they can also subscribe for a weekly encouraging email that arrives on Saturday morning by going to ncfgiving.com forward slash stories. Particularly, there's an article we offer that shows you how to plan and give using your IRA, which I think a lot of your listeners will benefit from reading.

Absolutely. Well, David, thanks for helping us to learn how to be more generous even in retirement. We appreciate you joining us today. Thanks for the opportunity to be with you.

David Parsley with the National Christian Foundation, again, their website, ncfgiving.com. Your calls are next, 800-525-7000. 800-525-7000.

Stay with us. We're glad you're with us today for MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, taking your calls and questions on anything financial just ahead, 800-525-7000. We have lines open.

That's 800-525-7000. You know, we started today talking about the tension between saving for the future, saving for retirement, that season of life, perhaps when we can no longer work or God reassigns us. We realize we're to be workers throughout the whole of our life, right? We see that we're to be productive, contributing to the kingdom, and that God's calling on our lives doesn't have an expiration date, despite what the culture may tell us. So we take a different viewpoint on retirement altogether. But what about the tension between saving for the future and giving now?

And I think that's something we all need to wrestle through. I love what Paul David Tripp says in his book, Redeeming Money. He says that, you know, if we start with provision, which clearly we're called to provide, we see that in 1 Timothy. If we start there, we perhaps will end up with an unending list of needs and wants that will never get past and perhaps will never get to the giving. And yet the gospel story is a generosity story for God so loved the world that He gave.

We're made in the image of God. We're most like Him when we're giving. And so we need to start with our giving.

Well, here's what's going to happen. Not only will that loosen the grip of money over our lives, but it allows us to experience, I think, being calibrated to the heart of God, being used by God, and we'll also experience the joy that Jesus talked about when He said it's better to give than to receive. So what are you doing to be generous right now, systematically but also sacrificially?

And have you defined enough? What is that financial finish line as you save for the future, both in terms of capping lifestyle, how much do we want to spend on ourselves on a monthly basis, beyond which we'll give everything away, and how much is enough with regard to our balance sheets? Are we ahead of where we need to be in saving for the future, and therefore we need to take more of what we're perhaps putting away for the future and redirect it into God's economy right now, so that we're not a bucket where God's provision stops with us, but a pipeline, a conduit right into God's activity.

Well, I can't tell you what that looks like for you. That's something you need to ask the Lord on your knees. But I would encourage you to really think and pray about setting financial finish lines or answering the question, how much is enough for both lifestyle and accumulation. And as you do, see how God moves in your heart and gives you an opportunity to be even more generous to meet the needs of others around you right now.

And I'm confident you will find great joy in doing that. All right, we're going to get to your phone calls today. 800-525-7000 is the number to call. We have some lines open. 800-525-7000.

We're going to begin in Hagerstown, Maryland. Sue, you're first on the broadcast. How can I help you? Hi, Rob, thank you for the ministry, and you guys make such a difference in so many lives. We have a family that lives over the mountain from us, and they are going through some difficult times financially. And at this point, I would say they are not believers, but hopeful that as maybe we come alongside of them and encourage them to give you all a call to connect with a coach that can help them to assess their financial situation. They've they're probably close to declaring bankruptcy. They have refinanced their house a couple of times, and it's just getting the finances under control, I think. But I wanted to be able to give them a contact phone number to be able to do that, because in Western Maryland, we don't have a lot of good Internet.

So it's difficult to go online and fill out an application or to do that. But is there another way that they could get in touch with somebody to connect with somebody that can come alongside them? Well, I appreciate your encouragement, Sue, and so delighted to hear how you've come alongside this family who's obviously in a time of need. And, you know, this is a season where they need people to walk and journey with them, both in counsel and in giving.

You're doing both. We'd love to be a part of that as well. I think in addition to that, you know, it's an opportunity for the gospel, because as we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, we are often more open to, you know, seeing that there's a bigger story there. And realizing that all of us have this God-sized space in our souls that we need to fill, and we're going to try to fill it with all kinds of things other than Jesus, and we'll find that we're left unsatisfied.

So perhaps this is an open door the Lord will use to bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let me tell you to do this, if you don't mind. If you'll stay on the line, our producer will get your information and we'll get in touch with you. The best way to connect with a coach, and by the way, they are here to serve you, they're wonderful. These are trained volunteers that really see this as their ministry, walking alongside other believers, helping them get on a spending plan, helping them set up a debt repayment plan, a giving plan, but also understanding the principles we talk about here on MoneyWise Live every day, how God's Word informs how we should handle His money. And so they're going to do it clearly from a biblical vantage point, but with really practical help as well. And so MoneyWiseLive.org, clicking connect with a coach is the easiest way to do that, goes right into our system, gets you in line, and a coach will be in touch very soon. But I certainly get what you're saying, and I will have somebody reach out to you to make that connection happen.

So Sue, you hold the line. My producer today, Deb Solomon, will get your information and our team will get in touch with you and let us know how this turns out. And I appreciate your call today. To West Palm Beach, Florida, Janet, thanks for your patience. How can I help you? Hi there, Janet, are you with us? Oh, it looks like we're having some difficulty hearing you. Let's do this.

I'm going to ask you to get to a perhaps a better location, maybe move from one end of the room to the other, or see if you can find a stronger cell signal. And just after this next break that's just ahead, we will come back to you, see if we can get you on the air and answer your question. Let me ask you, folks, what questions do you have today? How do you want to see God's word help you make a next step in your financial journey? I can promise you this. As you lean into God's principles, it will bring clarity and simplicity to your financial life and allow you to live more freely with joy and contentment. That's the promise we find in scripture. Doesn't mean it's always going to be easy.

Doesn't mean we'll always have more than we need, but it does mean it'll lead us into a more intimate relationship with the Father. And that's the goal. Here's the number, 800-525-7000. The lines are open, 800-525-7000. Just around the corner, much more on MoneyWise Live.

Stay with us. We're glad you've joined us today on MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, taking your calls and questions, 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. We have lines open and we'd love to tackle whatever's on your mind today, whether it's saving or giving. Perhaps you want to talk about your credit score. How do you deal with that? Maybe it's this tension that we started with today between saving for retirement and giving here and now and finding the balance for each of us in terms of accumulation.

And actually being generous with those in need and those around us. We can tackle whatever's on your mind today. We'll run it through a biblical lens and see if we can help you.

Here's the number, 800-525-7000. Just before the break, we heard from Janet in West Palm Beach. We didn't have a great connection on the phone line, but let me just read her question and then Janet give you a response. Hopefully you're listening. Janet has some grandkids that have some savings bonds that she actually gave them. They've been lost. Sorry to hear that, Janet.

And she's wondering what can she do about it. Good news is the U.S. Treasury would be happy to help you with that. If they were paper savings bonds that were lost, stolen or even destroyed, what you can do is just get replacement bonds from the U.S. Treasury. They keep a record of, of course, the electronic ones, but also the paper savings bonds that have been issued. And you can search those records to replace your lost bonds at treasurydirect.gov.

That's treasurydirect.gov. Now, it's going to be really easy, and I suspect you don't have these, but if you do, it's going to be really simple. If you have the serial numbers of the lost bonds, perhaps next time if you use bonds.

And by the way, they're not my favorite tool just because they don't have a whole lot of interest associated with them. But if you do have some bonds, take a photo of them or write down those serial numbers and put them in a secure, safe location because that's the easiest way to get them replaced. You'll just provide those serial numbers to the Treasury Department and they will get those replacements for you. If you don't have them, you'll fill out and submit a Treasury form, what's called 1048-1048, and they're going to request information about the bonds, whether you own them or have the authority to act on behalf of the bond owner.

You don't want to sign it because you'll have to get it notarized to verify your identity. And then you'll mail that in and they will search for and hopefully replace the bonds that you bought for your grandkids. So treasurydirect.gov and you can follow those steps and hopefully sooner rather than later, you'll have those back in your hands and then get the kids to put those in a really safe location. Maybe mom and dad can help with that. Janet, we appreciate your call. Phone lines are open. We've got about four lines open, 800-525-7000 to Tennessee. Sam, you're next on the program.

How can I help you? Well, I have a 30-year fixed mortgage. I've had it for about a year. And me and my wife would like to try to pay it off early. And I wondered which would be the best way or make you pay extra payment or two each year or put the money directly towards the principal? Yeah, well, in either case, it's going to go directly toward the principal. So anything you send, whether that's on a monthly basis or one time a year, as long as it's in addition to the regularly scheduled payment. So once a year, you send essentially two payments, your normal scheduled payment, and then you add the same amount to it and double it and send that. And that's going to go directly against principal.

And you'll want to make sure that happens. But these days, it's fairly easy to do, especially if you do it online. You can actually enter it right there as a payment direct to principal, or you can add something to your mortgage payment every month, 100 or 200 dollars. And what's amazing is that, you know, just by adding 100 dollars a month, you can knock years off your mortgage, you know, five years or more, 200, even more than that, of course. So it'll really add up quickly. And if you're going to do this on a regular basis or once a year, I just reach out to your mortgage servicer and ask how you can best do that so that it automatically is applied to the principal.

But, you know, I don't find many folks that have trouble with that, Sam. And I love the idea that you would just systematically be paying this down because, you know, the way the mortgage works is at the beginning of every period, which is on a monthly basis, that interest is calculated based on the outstanding principal balance. So every dollar that you reduce that by, by sending extra over and above your monthly payment going directly to principal is less money that you're going to be paying interest on each month.

And over the life of a 30-year mortgage, that amounts to a ton and will save you a lot of time and money in paying that off. Does that make sense, though? Yes, it does. It makes a lot of sense. All right. I appreciate you taking my call today. Absolutely, Sam. Thank you for listening and calling today. We appreciate it. On to Rockwood, Tennessee.

We're going to stay in Tennessee. Jeff, you're next on the program. How can I help you, sir?

Yes, sir. I have a 401K from my work, I'm retired, and my wife has a 403B from her work where she's retired, and we're approaching age 70, and I'm assuming that we can set up a direct transfer of money from each account to, like, our savings account or whatever, since we don't necessarily need the money. But what I'm wondering is if we do that, when we reach age 72 and have to take the RMDs, will that go over and above what we're transferring out, or will that take care of that?

Yeah, that would take care of it. You just want to make sure that when you reach that point, and you're right, you won't have that until you're 72. So your first required minimum must be taken by April 1st of the year after you turn 72, and then subsequent RMDs taken by 12-31, December 31st of each year, and there's a hefty penalty of 50% if you don't take that amount. So you want to do it, and typically your custodian will report what that amount is on a form that they'll provide you, or you can use the IRS worksheet at irs.gov to determine that amount. But to your question, you just need to make sure you at least take that amount out every year. So if you're already drawing a systematic amount, an automatic transfer from your 401k or IRA to your checking account, as long as that amount that you're already taking when you start to have these required minimums each year is at least the same or more than your required minimum, then you're covered. The required minimum distribution is not in addition to anything you have been taking systematically on, you know, previously. So you're just going to want to look at what that required minimum is, and then compare that to what you're drawing out monthly and therefore the total that's coming out over a 12 month basis for each calendar year. And as long as it meets that minimum, then you've got it covered. Does that make sense? Yes, sir.

Thank you so much. Okay, and let me just mention one other thing, Jeff, once it gets into an IRA, if you do roll it over, take a look at the qualified charitable distribution. This is an opportunity for you to satisfy that RMD every year by doing a direct transfer to your church or a ministry, a not for profit 501c3. You don't recognize it as income. Therefore, the ministry gets more money. You satisfy your RMD at the same time, and you could use it for money you're already giving away and then perhaps hang on to that cash, not make that direct gift any longer, but do it directly from your IRA. And the benefit is not only did they get the full amount to use for ministry, but you get the full amount as the tax deduction. You don't ever pay any tax on it.

So it's called a qualified charitable distribution. You'll want to check that out when you reach age 72, and we appreciate your call today. We're going to pause, but more of your questions just around the corner, 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, where God's word meets today's financial decisions. Stay with us.

Much more to come around the corner. Delighted to have you along with us today on MoneyWise Live, where we apply God's truth to your financial life. Hey, are you a MoneyWise Live underwriter or contributor, I guess I should say?

If not, I'd love to invite you to give to this ministry. We can only do what we do because of your generous support each day. And we're so thankful for so many of you in the MoneyWise community that are active givers to this ministry beyond the gifts you make to your local church. We can only do what we do because of your support. Our coaches on the air, through the app, on the web.

It's all because of you. And as we close out the month here, we could certainly use your assistance, especially as we head into the lean summer months. Here's how you do it. Just head over to our website, MoneyWiseLive.org. You can click the donate button. You can give quickly and safely, whether it's a one-time gift or perhaps you want to set up a monthly gift. Whatever you can do, we would certainly appreciate it. MoneyWiseLive.org, click donate, and we thank you in advance. Let's head to Fort Myers, Florida next. Linda, thank you for being so patient today. How can I assist you?

Yeah, thanks for taking my call. So I'm turning 56 in three weeks and my home, I just paid it off. So I'm wanting to set money aside for retirement. I would like to retire at 62. And so I only have an IRA that I'm putting in 500 a month. It's earning 4% and it's got like $20,000, but my accountant says I can only put in $7,000 a year. But I'm able to put more money aside.

I just don't know where. So what is your recommendation as to what else I could put my money in to set up a retirement? Yeah, that's a great question, Linda. I appreciate that. A couple of things. Number one is I'd love for you to know what your goal is and you might say, well, I just want to save as much as I can.

And I would certainly appreciate that. But I think understanding what you need to make ends meet when you reach retirement is going to be critical. And that really all flows from what are your monthly expenses going to be when you reach that season, when you're perhaps no longer saving for the future because you're in that season. And, you know, hopefully you're debt free and expenses are as lean as possible. But understanding what that monthly amount is and then comparing that to your income sources, be it Social Security and, you know, an income stream from, you know, whatever you're able to accumulate in your IRA and other sources, which we'll talk about here in just a moment.

Have you done that planning? Do you have a good sense of what it's going to take for you to fund your lifestyle when you get to that point and what gap exists between Social Security and that number? So my Social Security is going to be $1,400 a month at $62,000. If I continue to put $500 a month in the IRA, it will be around $60,000 by $62,000.

Right. And so basically that's where I'm at, but I'm able to put away another $1,000. I just don't know if putting it in a savings account is the best place. I want to know where else could I... Yeah, it makes sense. What is it going to take to fund your expenses every month beyond the $1,400 you're expecting from Social Security? Do you have a sense of that?

No. Okay, so I think that's the next step is really to calculate that budget and say, okay, when I reach that point, here's what I'm going to need to have an income to meet my obligations. If you're planning to stay in your current home, you know, what does it take to fund, you know, the utilities and food and insurance and all the things you have? And let's figure out what you're trying to solve for, because that $60,000 ideally, you'd only take about $2,500 a year out of that. But that, you know, is only going to give you an extra $200 a month over that $1,400. So if $1,600 a month is not going to do it, then obviously you're going to need to save a bit more. Now, the good news is, as you said, you've got an extra $1,000 a month, $12,000 a year, that could be another $40,000 right there. So let's say you have $100,000 all in that you can, you know, use for your retirement, and that's going to obviously increase that $2,400 again at 4%. That would put you up at about $4,000.

I would look at a couple of things. I don't want you to take too much risk with this money because, you know, we're talking about, did you say six years from now? Is that right? Are you looking at six years for retirement? Yes, yes. Okay, great. Six years.

Yeah. So, you know, we really probably don't want to put this in the stock market necessarily, or if you do, you know, maybe putting a portion of it in the market, maybe half, and then the other half in more fixed income type instruments. In terms of options to save on a tax-deferred basis, if you don't have a, do you have a 401k or other retirement plan available to you at work?

I waited until today. Okay, I'm having trouble hearing you, so let me just finish by saying, I think that would be my first place to go, is look for another retirement plan option at work. If you don't have it and you're fully maxing out your IRA, you have a couple of options there. You could look at an insurance product, like an annuity, where you can save on a tax-deferred basis, you know, inside an insurance product, or you could save on a taxable basis in an investment brokerage account.

You won't have tax deferral, so you'd pay taxes every time you realize a gain, and I realize that's not ideal. So what I'd do is I'd connect with a certified Kingdom advisor there in your area to talk through this. Just go to our website, MoneyWiseLive.org, and click connect with a CKA, and you can explore both of these options. The key is just be really faithful in setting that thousand a month away, because that's going to be a significant amount of money over the next six years.

I'm delighted to hear you're debt-free, and it sounds like with that hundred thousand plus your retirement, you'll be well on your way to having what you need to cover your obligations. And we appreciate your call today. To Des Plaines, Illinois, Kathleen, you're next on the program.

How can I help you? Well, I was reading financial articles, and I came across this thing called Bump Up, and supposedly it's an app, and you connect it to your credit card, and there's certain companies that want to reward you, and they want you to have part of their stock, so you get like rewards, and there's like four different avenues, and you pick out of these companies, and then it's supposed to get split every time I spend money on that particular credit card, then they reward it a certain percentage. And I don't know if you've ever heard of it, it's called Bump Up, and I just, you know, I think it's pretty new. But I signed up, but I didn't connect it to a card, but I just wanted to know if you heard anything about it. Yeah, I'm familiar with it, Kathleen, and there's not anything wrong with it. It's not a scam of any kind.

It's legitimate. It's actually an app called Bumped, as opposed to Bump Up, Bumped, and basically it's a loyalty program, but instead of the usual coupons or discounts, as you said, they're going to give you fractional shares of company stock. Each time you make a purchase at one of your favorite retailers or restaurants or something like that, and over 100 top brands are participating in it, you become an owner of those companies with the fractional shares.

There's no fees involved. So here's the key with any of these, whether it's, you know, Bumped where they're giving you, you know, fractional shares or some other type of rewards card where you're getting cash back or loyalty points. The key is you just need to make sure you're only spending on things that are within your spending plan because there's no reason to use an app like Bumped to run up credit card debt just to buy fractional shares. But as long as you're buying things that are budgeted items, they're in your plan, and if they're willing without any fees to give you fractional shares, then no reason not to do that. Let's take full advantage of that. You know, credit cards, I don't think are a problem unless they are, and here's what I mean by that.

As long as you're disciplined, as long as you're living on a spending plan, as long as you're only using them for budgeted items, they can be a really powerful tool both for convenience as well as from the rewards standpoint. So I would absolutely take advantage of it, and this is entirely legitimate. We appreciate your call today.

Let's finish in Dalton, Georgia. Anna, thank you for your patience. How can I help you? You're welcome.

Thank you for taking my call. One of the earlier callers reminded me, I've been wondering this for years, but about 40 years ago, I was in a program here locally, and I won a savings bond, a $100 savings bond that I never went to the bank to get, and I've always wondered if that was something I could try to track down somehow. Yeah, yeah. So you actually did purchase the savings bond? It was, I was awarded the savings bond, and I was in a junior mis-paget, and part of my gift, part of my winnings was a savings bond, and I was supposed to pick it up at a bank, and I never did.

I see. I would contact, I would go to treasurydirect.gov and contact the U.S. Treasury through that website, treasurydirect.gov, and they'll tell you the process. The question is, because you didn't buy it, it was given to you as a gift, you never picked it up, there's going to be a lack of information there for them to do a bunch of research on it, especially given how old it is.

I mean, you can try to fill out and submit Treasury Form 1048 with all the information you know about that bond you never claimed, but I suspect given how long ago it's been, and the events surrounding it, and the little bit of information you're going to have, you're going to have some trouble tracking it down, but that doesn't mean it's not worth a try, so I would head over to treasurydirect.gov, get the information, get it back to them, and let's see what happens, and Anna, be sure to let us know how it turns out. We appreciate your call today. Well, folks, that's going to do it for us. So appreciate you stopping by, spending some time with us today as we unpack God's truth related to your finances.

You know, there is an unending number of ways we can allocate God's money, but we can actually make it really simple because as long as we live within our means and avoid the use of debt and have some margin and give generously and set some long-term goals, we put ourselves in a position to experience God's best. Hey, MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. Let me say thank you to my team today, call screener Gabby T., research is Jim Henry, producing today Deb Solomon, engineering Amy Rios, and it's Amy's 20th wedding anniversary. Congrats to you and Marty, Amy, so thankful for you. Folks, come back and join us tomorrow. We'll be here to do it all over again on another edition of MoneyWise Live. In the meantime, may God bless you. Bye bye.