One listener that stands out that I worked with recently was this older couple that was interested in refinancing. They reached out to a few different lenders and you know their credit wasn't the best. I know some of these other bigger banks, you just won't hear back from them, which I cannot stand. Not everybody has the 780 credit scores and never had any hardships in their life.
I'll walk you through what you have to do. How can you end up being able to do this refinance, whether it's two, three, six months from now? Back to that older couple, we worked with them for months and months. to improve their credit. And we were able to get the loan done. We were saving them hundreds each month, thousands of dollars a year finally got themselves into a situation financially that they can handle and they could start saving money each month saving for retirement.
At the end of the day, they just could not be happier, which just put a huge smile on my face. We are United Faith Mortgage. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all of your produce, then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine. Hi, I'm Rob West. That verse in Proverbs 3 is just one of more than 2,300 in the Bible related to money and possessions.
God obviously takes this subject quite seriously, and we should as well. I'll talk about that first today with financial teacher and author Ron Blue. Then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7200. Call us at 1-800-525-7000.
Call us at 1-800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Well, our friend Ron Blue is co founder of Kingdom Advisors. He's been a personal mentor of mine for many years. He's an author on God's financial principles and Ron delighted to have you back on the program.
Well, as always, Rob, it's a pleasure and I'm looking forward to it. Going to God's word and finding the principles that we can apply to our lives. What is it about God's word and these money passages that really gives us confidence in the decisions we can make? Well, I think, Rob, first of all, it's because money really the use of money reveals our heart. And God is really interested in our heart.
That's one. But secondly, he gives us principles to live life. And as I tell the financial advisors, you know this, that God's principles of finance are always right, they're always relevant, and they're never going to change.
So I'm passionate about this, Rob, because over 40 some years of counseling people, I have found that God's word works at all times under all circumstances for everyone. So it's relevant and important. So that's why I'm passionate about it.
Well, and I think that last idea is really key. This is timeless wisdom, but its relevancy to today is astounding, isn't it? Yeah, it is. It doesn't change. For example, a very familiar verse would be the borrower becomes the lender slave. That was true 3000 years ago, and it's still true today.
That doesn't say that it's a sin to borrow money, but it does say that you put yourself in obligation to the lender. And the Bible says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So if my treasure is in my bank account, that's where my heart's going to be.
But if my treasure is in the Lord and his wisdom and his commands and his plan for my life, then that's where my heart's going to be also. So it's a very, very important topic that it affects absolutely everyone. Everybody deals with money. And the principles don't change if you have a little bit, none or a lot. And that's pretty profound.
Yes. We also know there's a significant connection between the way we handle money in our hearts and our faith journey. What should motivate us as we try to follow God's principles with our finances?
Well, I think Psalm 24 one says that the earth is the Lord and all that's in it. So what should motivate me is the realization that God created everything, and that everything belongs to him. So if I can start with the truth, the reality that God owns it all, then that affects every decision that I make. It affects how I think about money.
It affects my relationships also. And money, to me, is not stewardship. Money is the tool of stewardship. So if I understand that God owns it all, then I use money as I manage my time, my relationships, the truth that God gives me. And also the material resources that God gives me, because he owns everything. It includes money.
Rod, just about a minute left. As we wrap up today, I'm struck by the illustration that you use when you speak often where you hold up the Wall Street Journal and the Bible and you talk about the difference. Share that with us. Colossians two verses two to three say that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. To me, the Wall Street Journal represents the best of professional knowledge. And God's Word represents wisdom. I tell audiences that you need to read both every day, if you want to be prepared in financial decision making. The difference is that the Wall Street Journal changes every day, and the Bible doesn't. So it is the source of financial wisdom.
Well, so go to the Bible for your financial source. Ron, always a joy to have you. Thank you, my friend. Oh, enjoyed it as always. Thanks, Rob. Financial teacher and author Ron Blue has been our guest today. Your calls are next.
800-525-7000. More to come just around the corner. Stay with us. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West. So delighted that you've joined us today. Hey, guess what? We have a new website. That's right.
If you check out MoneyWiseLive.org, you'll see a brand new site. And every day at this time, the live program streams live. So you can listen to this on the go, whether you're at work or at home. Perhaps you're not near your radio, but you'd rather just listen right there.
You can do so. You can also hear all of our broadcast archives. Check out our show notes. Often our opening topic in particular has resources that we'll reference. We'll put links to those in the show notes of each day's episode. Not to mention all of the great content streaming in from the leading voices in Christian finance, aggregated in one place at MoneyWiseLive.org, plus our community where you can post questions once you create a user account, which is free, by the way.
And our coaches will respond to your questions. You can search for a Certified Kingdom Advisor. You can even find a link to download the MoneyWise app. It's all on our website at MoneyWiseLive.org.
Go check it out. We started today by talking with Ron Blue about God's word on money, and I love the line. I wrote it down as I was hearing him say it today. He said, Money isn't stewardship. Money is the tool of stewardship. Think about that for a moment. As we're all trying to be found faithful as stewards of God's resources, money is not the aim.
It's not the end that we're shooting for. It's the tool of stewardship. It's how we work out our values and our priorities. What's most important to us?
Here's the thing. The way we handle God's money is the clearest indicator into what we value. Larry Burkett used to say it's the clearest indicator into what's happening in our lives spiritually, because it's how we work out what we value on a daily basis. It's so tangible and evident. The question is, what does the story of our money say about what's important to us, and are we happy with the story we're telling, or do we need to make some changes?
Well, here's the good news. As Ron Blue said, we can go to the source, to God's word, to find everything we need to know about how we should handle his money. All the principles are there, and they're timeless, and they're relevant, and they're never going to change. In our Facebook question of the day, we asked the question, which of God's financial principles has most impacted your life?
And we got some great responses. Laureen said, well, paying my tithe has helped me to be more appreciative of what I have, and I've become more generous. Lucas says the principle of God owns it all and giving breaks the power of money has been most important to me. Richard said, I've learned that working harder to not become a slave to lenders, which society tries to tell us is okay, has been invaluable.
Kate said, Jesus' conversation to the rich young ruler was most significant for her. And then Christy said, giving my tithe even when I didn't know how we'd make it through the month, whether it's a last minute cover dish dinner at church, a pay it forward in the drive-through, an unexpected bonus, or overtime to cover the bills God never fails to provide. We appreciate those great remarks today. Checking in at our Facebook page, if you'd like to check out our Facebook page or Instagram or Twitter, you'll find us at MoneyWiseMedia. All right, we're going to begin taking your phone calls today. I've got a number of lines open.
I'd love to hear from you, whatever's on your mind today. Here's the number, 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. We're going to begin today in Philadelphia, PA. Hi, Jean. Thank you for your call. Hi there.
Thanks for having me. I enjoyed listening to what you were saying, and I've always been very conservative in my life and have always tried to save for that rainy day like we're having now. Anyway, I'm confused in this crazy mixed-up world that we're living in. Where do you put your money to make it safe? Because I'm hearing banks could go bankrupt. I have money in the stock market. I have money in checking, 401k.
I'm just confused on what to do with it. I'm hearing that the banking system is going to change to Nasara and Gasara. I don't know if you've heard of that.
And the money will be backed by gold. I've just heard so much. I'm confused.
I don't know where to put my money. Yes. Well, I certainly appreciate the question, and it's something we all should be thinking about because here's the most important consideration. We've all been entrusted as stewards or managers of the king's resources, and that's a pretty high calling.
So we certainly want to be found faithful, and asking the tough questions along the way, I think, is a key part of that. You know, Gene, I would always go back to where we started today, and that is that it all belongs to God. God owns it all, and so therefore it's his. The question then is, how can we be found faithful in managing his resources? Because our trust is not in our things, and it's not in our stock portfolios, and it's not in our money. It's in him alone as our provider and sustainer, and he will never abdicate that responsibility to anyone or anything else.
Remember, his promise that was actually tied to the handling of money in Scripture was, I will never leave you or forsake you. So the question then is, how can we be that wise steward? And I think that gets to the heart of your question today.
And here's the good news. You know, ultimately we're responsible only for what passes through our hands. We can't control the U.S. gross domestic product, or the interest rates, or the tax code, or whether or not the U.S. dollar is going to be the reserve currency of the world. None of that is in our control. But we can control what passes through our hands to apply biblical wisdom. We can operate with contentment. We can accept our role as steward. We can live within our means, have some margin so we can save for the future, and give generously, and set long-term goals, and at the end of the day, trust the Lord.
Now, with those resources, our savings, and even our longer-term savings, whether it's short-term or long-term, where do we put it? And as you said, we live in a fallen world, and there's all kinds of crazy things going on around us. But I don't think that changes the fact that, number one, we shouldn't panic, because that leads to bad decisions. I'm not thrilled with what's happening in terms of the amount of debt we're taking on as a nation, and I think we absolutely will have to account for that at some point. It's not a problem today. We can certainly handle it, but we don't need to see these trends continue.
We're going to have to make some hard decisions as a nation at the policy and legislative level to begin to right some of these wrongs. But at the same time, Gene, what I would say is that the U.S. dollar is the strongest currency in the world, and the U.S. economy is the strongest economy in the world. And so by you having your money in the banks, that doesn't give me any concern. I don't believe we're going to see any kind of bank failures. You having your money in the U.S. stock market, remember, you're investing in real companies that have real sales and earnings, and they're doing really well right now. In fact, our economy is very strong despite a few of the things, the headwinds we're talking about and have talked about, whether it's inflation or debt, that we will have to address, and I believe we will as a country.
So what I would say is let's apply biblical principles to handle what passes through your hands according to God's word. And I think in terms of your investments and your saving, using the U.S. banking system for your emergency savings that is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, and investing in an appropriate way for your risk tolerance goals and objectives using stocks and bonds and perhaps even some real estate, I still think is the very best place for you to be invested as long as you have a long time horizon. You sticking that money in a safe deposit box or under the mattress, it's going to lose purchasing power over time because of inflation, and that's more pronounced moving forward given some of the increases we've had in prices as of late.
And so I believe that's a bigger risk to your long-term financial security than you being invested in the stock market given some of the headwinds that we face. Does that all make sense, though, to you? Somewhat. Okay.
Doesn't mean you have to believe it, but at least… No, I don't believe all of it. Okay, that's fine. I think the stock market can crash at any time. And right now, if I took all the money that I have saved, I'd be fine. I wouldn't have to worry at all.
So I would rather put it in something that's very conservative and where I have a low risk of losing it, and it doesn't seem like there's any place to put it that you can have that. Yeah. Well, you're right. That is a challenge.
Let me react to what you just said. Number one is I would completely concur that you shouldn't take any more risk than you need to take given your present situation. The goal is not to beat the stock market or beat an index or beat your brother-in-law or neighbor down the street in terms of returns. The goal is to get a commensurate return equal to what your needs are and where you feel like God is calling you. And if you've lived in such a way that you've been able to save what you need and you don't really need to grow that significantly, then I would say taking as little risk as you absolutely need to makes a lot of sense because it gives you peace of mind and it allows you to feel good about being a steward of God's resources.
The question is where do you put it? And in this low interest rate environment that has been difficult, especially because as interest rates head up, bond prices will head down. But I think the key is as long as you have the appropriate amount of cash reserves, perhaps in your season of life, six months, maybe even a year, in the U.S. banking system, I think is the right place to be. And with the remaining portion that has a five or ten year time horizon, I think being more concentrated in the fixed income side with bonds, which is the debt of U.S. corporations probably in most cases based on what you'd be investing in, and a smaller portion in stocks so that if we saw a decline, even a two or three year recession, you wouldn't have to touch that portion and you could let it come back. And keep in mind, if you go back over the last hundred years, every decade has a major problem from oil embargoes to you name it.
And so we're not in unprecedented times in the sense that economic uncertainty is certain and every ten years we'll have something that we'll be dealing with. The question is, are you invested appropriately for what you're trying to accomplish? And I think lastly, I would say that's where wise counsel would really come into play here. Perhaps a visit with a certified kingdom advisor, somebody with experience and expertise and a track record, but also who understands the heart of God and biblical wisdom as it relates to managing money. And perhaps you could put a portfolio together that reflects everything you've just said to me.
Very, very conservative. You can find someone at MoneyWiseLive.org. We'll be right back.
Stay with us. We're so glad to have you along with us today at MoneyWise. We're taking your calls and questions on anything financial. Here's the number 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Let's go right back to the phones to central Missouri. Beth, thank you for your patience. How can I help you?
Yes, thank you for taking my call. You might have answered my question with the previous caller, but my husband and I are just starting a state planning. We've had an initial meeting with an attorney who is going to be creating wills and a living trust. And in this process, we're being asked to think about how to allocate assets. And we want to be white stewards of our assets and would like to honor God by leaving gifts to charitable organizations. But we're kind of struggling with how to allocate things. Would we be best meeting with a financial advisor before we proceed with the state planning?
Yeah, that's never a bad idea. But Beth, what in particular are you struggling with? Is it the allocation? How much to give to each? Is it the actual ministries to leave the money to?
Where are you getting tripped up? Well, it's more the allocation. We're a blended family.
We got married about two years ago after both being widowed. So it's more of the allocation. How much to charitable organizations?
How much to children? Yes. Yeah.
Well, I think that's obviously an important consideration. And Ron Deal has some wonderful resources. Are you familiar with that name from Family Life Blended? Okay. I'd love to send you a copy of his book, specifically on financial planning related to blended families, because I think that will help you navigate some of these decisions as you consider them.
So we'll get that out to you. And hopefully that'll help you process this because I think as you head into perhaps sit with a financial advisor, or even, you know, more importantly, returning to that estate planner. Having made some of these decisions as to how you want to handle your assets, and do you want to treat assets that were created prior to the marriage by each party differently as it relates to passing it on to heirs? And if so, that's perfectly appropriate, but you'd want to have made those decisions and be of one mind and heart as you go in to meet with the estate planning attorney.
And then what about new wealth that was created? And how much do you want to go to ministries? And I think this resource that Ron has specifically related to financial planning in a blended family environment will be a great help to you. I'll also send you a second book as well, not to put too much reading on you, but maybe you and your husband can divide and conquer. I'll send you a book called Splitting Errors by Ron Blue, which is the best book on wealth transfer from the principle and a thought process standpoint.
Not the kind of how to's, the trust and the wills, but really just making those decisions. And I think between those two gentlemen and the insights that they have, that'll give you exactly what you're looking for. Does that make sense? Yes, that sounds great. Thank you. Okay. You stay on the line. We'll get your information and get those books right out to you. And Beth, we appreciate your call today.
On to Fayetteville, PA. Jay, thank you for calling. How can I help you? Yes, I have a question.
Maybe you can help with some guidance. I have some Coca-Cola stock I have and I found out Coke is a big woke proponent and I would like to get rid of it, but I don't know what to invest in. If there's any companies out there that don't go without or Christian companies you would recommend to invest. Yeah. You know, there's a growing number of folks that are really interested in aligning their values with their investments.
And the good news, Jay, is that you can do that now more effectively than ever. Let me mention a couple of resources. Number one is inspireinsight.com where you can actually look up individual companies, mutual funds and ETFs and you'll get a ranking and a scoring system that relates how they're conducting their corporate affairs according to biblical principles. I also mentioned some fun families that I think you'll be really pleased with. One is investeventide.com, investeventide.com. Praxis Mutual Funds would be another.
Check out both of those for I think exactly what you're looking for. And Jay, stay on the line. We'll talk a bit more off the air. This is MoneyWise Live. We'll be right back. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live. I'm your host, Rob West. We've got some lines open taking your calls and questions on anything financial. We'll apply the truth of God's word, the principles we find in the Bible to whatever you're dealing with today. Here's the number, 800-525-7000. Next week, we begin our new weekly digest.
That's right. MoneyWise will send you every week a wonderful, concise email with a short note from me and what we believe are the very best new articles and resources in Christian finance. All in one easy-to-navigate digest that will come right to your email inbox. If you want to grow in your understanding of what God's word says about managing money on all topics, from investing to debt to savings to managing your spending plan, you'll find some great resources every week in this concise digest that we'll send out to you at no cost. All you have to do is just create an account, which is free, when you go to MoneyWiseLive.org.
Just scroll to the bottom of the page, click sign up and put in your first name, your email address, enter in a quick password there that will set up your account, and then we'll make sure you're on the list to receive that digest every week. MoneyWiseLive.org. Let me also mention just before the break, I was talking to a caller about estate planning for blended families and I mentioned Ron Deal. I want to give you the name of that book because this is a wonderful resource if you have a blended family and you're wanting to know how to make some of these decisions given some of those complexities. It's called The Smart Step Family Guide to Financial Planning. Money management before and after you blend a family. Check that out today.
Get it wherever you get books by Ron Deal and Greg Pettis. All right, let's go back to the phone. Chicago, Illinois. Emma, thank you for calling today.
How can I help? Thank you for your help. I'm calling because my husband and I retired early. I stopped working early so I used a half of my retirement and now we just have enough money for everyday life from our social security which we started at 62. So I went back to work but then when you work you can only get 18,000 to work. So I was wondering if I go over 18,000 and put the rest in my retirement, would it affect my social security benefits? It will, yes. But you will be able to recoup some of that.
So here's how this works. Along the lines of what you just said, if you begin taking benefits before full retirement age and then you continue working, for anything you earn above 18,000 your benefits will be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn above that amount. But after you reach full retirement age which is probably 67 for you, your benefits will no longer be reduced no matter how much you earn and the amount that your benefits were reduced will actually be reimbursed to you in the months after you reach full retirement age. So that money isn't lost, it's just held back for a period of time and then it will be made up to you over time. So yes, you will have a reduction between now and full retirement age. At that point it will be fully restored and then you'll get back the portion that was withheld during those years prior.
Does that make sense, Emma? Yes, but if I contribute the rest to my 401k, it still changes? It doesn't matter what you do with it, whether you put that into a retirement account or what you do with it. It's all about the amount that you're reporting on your tax return each year in terms of income.
Anything over that $18,000 mark is going to result in a reduction of benefits regardless of what you do with that money when you receive it. Oh okay, but still I will get it when I'm over 67, right? Yes, ma'am. It will be restored to you.
That's exactly right. It's only temporary. So I hope that encourages you as you think about your future. We appreciate your call today very much. All the best to you in this exciting new chapter of your life. On to East Tennessee. Bobby, thank you for calling.
How can I help? Yes, sir. My wife and I have found ourselves in a good situation. We've used a lot of y'all's advice and in about five years, we will have to start taking RMDs. Her from her 403b and me from my 401k.
Yes, sir. And I believe in being proactive in estate in my planning for my finances. And I was wondering, is there a general and I know things change regularly, but is there a general rule of thumb so that I can figure what the RMDs will be? Yeah, I wish I could give you a rule of thumb. Unfortunately, the IRS is involved and usually that means it gets complicated. And that's certainly the case here.
Bobby, I love what you're saying about being well planned and I would certainly affirm that idea. Your best resource is going to in fact be the IRS's website, irs.gov. You'll want to download a copy of their publication 590b. And basically, they'll provide you with a worksheet to make an estimated calculation of your required minimum. Essentially, it's dividing the December 31 balance of that account by a life expectancy factor that they publish in that publication. What makes it though a bit complicated is there's three different tables, a joint and last survivor, a uniform lifetime and a single life expectancy. You're going to have to read up on them to see which one applies to you. But I think by working through their document and that worksheet, you'll be able to get the information you need.
Don't hesitate to pick up the phone and give them a call if you don't understand something, but I think that will at least get you pointed in the right direction. All right. Okay. And can I ask you a further question?
Yes, sir. Is the calculation different for a 403b than a 401k or are they the same? It's exactly the same. It's just going to be the only thing that varies is the amount in each one is going to cause the amount to vary because you'll take that ending balance at the end of the year and you'll divide that by the life expectancy. So you'll have to pull the amount that's appropriate for both accounts given those balances.
But the method to determine it is exactly the same for both accounts, 401k and 403b. And we appreciate your call today, Bobby. Quickly on to Wisconsin. Larry, thank you for your call, sir. Go right ahead.
Thank you so much for taking my call. I'm going to be retiring in five years. And the first of next year, I'm going to be receiving two pensions from old jobs, roughly $1,500 a month. And I'm wondering, I want to aggressively pay down our debt so that we can be debt free when I retire. But I don't know if I should do that or if I should take that money and invest it and just keep paying down our debt as we have been. What's your suggestions? Yeah, you know, I like you getting out of debt as quickly as you can.
It's going to give you more flexibility. And as you pointed out, once those are paid off, then it's going to lower your monthly need in terms of lifestyle expenses. What is it you're trying to pay off? Is it a mortgage or some other type of debt? Well, it's vehicles and a lot of revolving debt, which has really been a pain for us. We've been wanting to get that down.
But every time it's like, you know, the adage about one step forward and two steps back. Have you calculated, if you were to apply 100% of this pension, how long it would take for you to be completely debt free? Great. Yeah, I do it.
I think that makes a lot of sense. You're still working. You don't need the money. And then you can enter this retirement season of life completely debt free with flexibility, peace of mind, and as low a monthly budget as possible, which just lessens what you need for the future.
And then you can continue to save it after that. Larry, thanks for your call. More to come after this. Stay with us. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob Les taking your calls and questions on anything financial 800-525-7000. By the way, I'm going to stay after today.
I've got a little extra time. So when I have the chance to do that, it gives me a chance to talk to a few more callers. So if you want to call right now, we may not get you on the air today, but I will stay after and take your call and see if I can provide some assistance to whatever you're dealing with. Here's the number 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Let's go back to the phone.
Chicago, Illinois. Lane, thank you for calling today. How can I help? Yeah, I took early retirement a couple years ago, and we got a financial advisor to help us get a plan of how we were going to invest money and then have enough money for retirement now that we're both retired, my husband and I. So it's been now two years, and we've been paying 1% on what the value of our assets were to the financial advisor, yet I feel like I did some research, and I feel like that's a lot of money to pay them. And I'm thinking of switching over to Vanguard. I did some research on Betterment and their resources, and I really like Vanguard's model where you still get assigned a personal advisor, but it's like $14,000 less a year, but I also don't want to just do it for the cost.
In Vanguard, I used to have a 401k to a former employer, and they did well, but I never used their financial advisors. So what do you think? I mean, that's just a lot of money, and then you compound that year after year, and I only talk to now our financial advisor maybe twice a year because we've got our plan in place.
So I'm just a little concerned about flipping over, but what do you think? Yeah, a couple of thoughts. I mean, it's an important consideration. You always want to look at what advice are you getting? How much value are they adding in the decision-making process and the planning? But then there's also the asset management and how are the investments performing? Are you getting good communication? Are the returns commensurate with what you expected for the level of risk you're taking and given the market conditions? And then what is that costing you? And 1% a year, it sounds like you have a portfolio of about a million and a half. Is that right?
Two million, yeah, a little over two. Okay. All right.
Okay. So 1% a year would be very typical, Lane. I don't have any pause about that percentage that's right in line with industry norms, but you're right. It's a lot of money. So what are you getting in return for that? And what I would say is, how have the investments been performing?
Have you been happy with how they've been doing? And typically what you're going to be shown by the advisor is the net results after any kinds of fees, including his or her own, plus any kind of other charges that may be embedded in the investments they're selecting. And you're paying a good amount of money, but for professional expertise to make sure that that account performs the way that it should. You're not taking unnecessary risk. And I think there's real value there.
I mean, you've built up quite a nest egg. It's a lot of wealth, and you certainly don't want that on autopilot. How does that compare to what you're describing with Vanguard or any of the robo advisors, even the ones where an advisor would be assigned? Well, it's a bit of a different approach.
It's a bit more cookie cutter. You're going to answer a bunch of questions, and it's going to build an index-based portfolio that's going to capture the moves of the broad market. That advisor that's going to be assigned to you is not going to be making the buy and sell decisions or building the portfolio. They're more there for the planning side, a certified financial planner who can answer your questions, provide some professional guidance, but they're not going to be constructing and overseeing and maintaining that portfolio and making changes as needed along the way.
That's going to be left to some sophisticated algorithms that, yes, are very low cost, but they're a bit more general in nature in terms of their approach. So I think you've just got to consider, given how much you have that the Lord has entrusted to you, do you want and will it give you more peace of mind to know that there's somebody waking up every day who is giving careful oversight and professional expertise to the portfolios, and are they doing as you would have expected or better? And if so, I think the fee is justified, perhaps even more so than what you might get through one of the robo-advisors. Let me just also mention a third consideration would be our friends at soundmindinvesting.org. You could use their mutual fund strategy if you wanted to be a bit more hands-on where they would recommend mutual funds.
You would have to make the buy and sell decisions, but it would also be very low cost. So give me your thoughts, though, on what I've just shared. When talking to Vanguard, it is more, as you say, they didn't say cookie cutter, but that's the impression I got. Yet, I also think about what our current individual is doing, and frankly, we did just as well when I didn't have an advisor just based on what the market has been like the last few years, so it didn't really change, and that was a big blessing. And I also actually talked to a Kingdom advisor, and I talked to him, and I really did like him, and he's actually not 1%, and I'm trying not to look at the cost, but he's at half a percent, and I do like that he's going to be hands-on, so he's still in the running as well. And I like the Christian component of it, too, because someone talked about the woke earlier on in the show, and I don't want to be invested in companies like that, and I think this is a value that the Kingdom advisor can provide, and it's still a little less expensive, and he will be hands-on.
So I'm kind of thinking about him, too. Well, I like that. I would just say, you know, the money you spend for the professional expertise you're talking about, whether it's selling a home or having somebody manage your resources or an estate planning attorney who's going to draft a will or a trust, I think it's worth it, because God's entrusted you with much, and you want to be a careful steward of that. I like the idea that you can apply your values at the same time.
You're certainly not going to get that with a robo-advisor. And I think the last thing is what you just said is very true. You know, when the market's going straight up, kind of you can throw a dart and pretty much win. But we're entering into a season that I think could best be described by the word choppy.
I think we're going to see markets that are a bit more erratic, certainly not going straight up from here, and I think you'll see far even greater value from a hands-on investment professional in a market like I think we're entering into, more so than perhaps you even needed in the last few years. So I like that approach. I would actually encourage you to, if it were up to me, to go that direction, but I think you're giving careful consideration. Ultimately, you're the steward, Lane, so pray through it, see where the Lord leads, and I think you're going to make a good decision. Okay? I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
All right. God bless you, Lane. Thanks for listening and calling. On to Missouri. Iris, thank you for calling today.
How can I help? Hi. I have a question about life insurance. I currently have no debt of any kind, and I'm in my 30s, so praise God there.
But I've been doing a lot of reading on certain life insurances, what to get, so I need advice on it. Sure. Iris, you might if I ask, are you married, or do you have any dependents? I do. Yep, I'm married.
We've been married for 12 years, and we have one daughter. Great. Yeah, well, I'm glad you're considering this. I think you need life insurance.
The question is, what kind? I'm a proponent of what's called term life insurance, which you might call pure insurance. You're basically just paying the mortality expense of what the insurance costs the insurance company based on what are called actuarial tables, what it costs them to insure your life based on your health and your age, and they put you into a pool with a lot of other people and determine what the actual cost is going to be. But no more than that, because it's not bundled with a savings or an investment component, which is what you'll see in something like whole life. And my preference is to buy as much insurance as you need and make sure you get enough. And a starting point would be 10 to 12 times the income you're trying to replace if the Lord were to take you or your husband home. And then you can add to that a college education or paying off debt.
I mean, there'd be other things you could consider. But then you'll come up with a number, the amount of death benefit you need, and then with term insurance you'd go out and buy the pure insurance as low cost as possible with a highly rated company that will pay that death benefit. And you would get that for 20 or 30 years, and eventually that term will end and you'd have to either replace it with a new policy or at some point just drop it. Because when you reach retirement, the kids are grown and off the payroll and you and your husband have saved enough, and if the Lord were to call one of you home, it's not going to place a hardship on the other. And so there's not a need for life insurance at that point. And then you do your savings in other vehicles with less expense and complexity, like a 401k or an IRA or other investment vehicles. So that's the direction I would go. Does that make sense to you?
It does, yeah. How many years do you recommend on it? Yeah, I mean, I would compare the, and this is where an independent agent could help you, but I'd compare the cost of the two and I'd get as long a term as you can. Now, what often happens is if you're healthy and you're young like you are in your 30s, you could get a 20-year policy and 5 or 10 years from now replace it with a new 20-year policy. The challenge is if the unforeseen comes and you or your husband are diagnosed with something that prevents you from getting a new policy, then that would be the risk. And so I think there's a case for going ahead and getting that 30-year policy so that it takes you through age 62 or whatever it is. And then, even then, you could replace that policy 5 or 10 years down the road and get a new 20 or 30 years.
And based on life expectancies that are increasing, oftentimes, even though you're a little bit older, if you're healthy, you can get that new 30 years for the same or even a little bit less than you were paying. So I think that's really what you want to be looking at. Do you follow? Yeah, I do. Thank you so much. I answered my question. Excellent. Well, Iris, God bless you. I would get that policy just as soon as you can. You want to make sure that those sweet kids you have are protected if the Lord were to call one of you home so that there's not a hardship placed on you or your husband as you're trying to provide for your family.
And you should be able to do that very inexpensively with term insurance. So we appreciate you checking in with us today. Well, folks, that's going to do it for us today. So glad you were along with us. I want to say thank you to my team. Amy Rios was engineering today.
Deb Solomon was producing. Answering our telephones today was Gabby T and Jim Henry providing research today. Always appreciate his assistance. Thank you for being here. I'll be back, Lord willing, tomorrow. I hope you will be.
Same time, same place. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you and remember God owns it all and you're a steward. So let's go be found faithful. God bless you. Bye bye.
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