Money Worries

Uncle Ryan is going to talk about how hot, hot, hot cash out refinances are. That sounds fun.

I sound like a broken record. I've been doing this for 18 years. I have never seen a market like this in my life. Home values have generally been skyrocketing the last couple of years.

And with interest rates being some low, I've actually seen refinances where people are able to cash out that newly found equity in their homes, do home improvements, whatever it may be, and still save money per month compared to what their prior mortgage payment was. So it's worth a shot just to give us a phone call. And one thing I can promise at United Faith Mortgage is we will not be pushy.

It's one of my biggest pet peeves. I can promise you we will not be that way. I like to see it as my job is to present you with a few different options. I step back, I let you decide, and I'll let you call me when you want to move forward.

We are United Faith Mortgage. Do you worry about money? Not just once in a while, but consistently? Always fretting about whether you'll have enough for tomorrow? Is it robbing your sleep or hurting your relationships? I am Rob West.

It doesn't have to be that way. You can take tangible steps to overcome your money worries and gain much needed peace of mind. We'll chat about that first today, then it's on to your calls and questions at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000.

Call 24-7. This is MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Well, first of all, if you're a money worrier, it might help to know that you're not alone. Financial stress is all too common. Surveys show that money is one of the top causes of stress in America, one that was only made worse by COVID shutdowns. So why are so many people worried about money in America, the wealthiest nation in history?

Well, I think a lot of it has to do with not managing money wisely and maybe regretting or questioning decisions that have hurt their financial situation. But we need to keep something in mind. There are really two kinds of worry or concern about money or anything else, both rational and irrational.

Rational concern, as the name suggests, makes sense and is logical. It's understandable to be concerned about having enough to pay your bills. That's why we set up spending and saving plans so we're prepared for tomorrow. Those steps obviously minimize financial stress. As long as you're living on less than you earn and you're paying down any debt you have so that someday you can be debt-free, you can trust God to do the rest.

Psalm 9 says, Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. And Jeremiah 29-11, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. By the way, if you're not living on a budget, getting out of debt and saving, I urge you to download and start using the MoneyWise app. It uses the tried and true envelope budgeting system, and it's a powerful tool for getting your finances under control. We also have trained volunteer coaches to help you set up your budget and then stick to it.

You can sign up for a coach today at MoneyWiseLive.org. Now, what about irrational worry about money? That's when you're already taking those steps. You're on a budget, living on less than you earn, working toward becoming debt-free, or maybe you already are debt-free, and you're still worried about money. That's irrational worry. And while that type of worrying about money is unhealthy for anyone, it's a real danger sign for Christians.

As believers, our focus is supposed to be on Christ. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 not to worry about these things, that God will provide for our needs. Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink?

Or, What shall we wear? For your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. So if you have irrational fears about money, it could be that your focus is on wants, not needs, on yourself, and not Christ. But there's one foolproof way to overcome irrational fears about money.

First, understand that money is perhaps controlling you. You're giving it the power to do that. And the quickest way to break that power is by giving.

I know that seems counterintuitive. You're worried about money, so you give more of it away. But it works, because it takes the emphasis off you and puts it on others in need. And you may be thinking, But I don't have money to spare.

Well, that's not a problem. Even giving just a few dollars helps break the power of money. And it doesn't even have to be money. You can help others in any number of ways that won't cost much, if anything. Volunteer at a homeless shelter. Do a chore for an elderly person on a fixed income. Maybe mow the lawn so they don't have to pay someone to do it. Or just have coffee with them if you think they're lonely. Or you could offer to babysit for free. That would be a huge blessing for a single mom or dad who just needs a little me time.

When you cook, make an extra serving and bring it to a sick neighbor or maybe a friend who's out of work. By the way, any of those could also give you the chance to share the gospel. And while you're doing those things, you're not thinking about yourself or money, just what you can do for others.

Jesus also says in Matthew 6, Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So whether your money worries are rational or irrational, there are positive steps you can take to find peace of mind, to recognize that God is the owner, that we're the managers, and ultimately our trust is not in our things, not in our money, but our trust is in the Lord who will never leave us or forsake us. All right, your calls are next. Here's the number 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and this is MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Delighted to have you along with us today on MoneyWise Live.

I'm Rob West, your host. This is biblical wisdom for your financial journey, and we started today by talking about money worries. I'll tell you, so many Americans are faced with money worries, and the key to that is surrendering what we have to the Lordship of Christ, recognizing that He owns it all, and we need to live with contentment within our means. That may sound easier said than done if you find yourself in a difficult spot today, but the Creator of the universe has promised to provide for your needs. And so rather than running to the credit cards, perhaps we need to put all the bills on the table and say, Lord, you see what I have. I want to be found faithful. Would you help me to get on your plan?

And the key to that is to begin by learning God's principles of managing money. We want to help you with that today. Whatever is on your mind, we'd love to hear from you. Here's the number.

We've got lines open. 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000, whether it's saving or investing, perhaps paying down debt. Should you consider a credit counseling program or a consolidation loan? What about your credit score and your generosity?

How do you give wisely? We'll tackle any of those and do it through a biblical lens. Again, 800-525-7000 is the number to call. We started today on the topic of worry.

That was our Facebook question of the day. How do you keep yourself from worrying about money? And Sandy said, Seek first the kingdom of God, and He will bless you. And clearly we need to be seeking first the kingdom. We need to be renewing our minds regularly with God's Word, especially as it relates to money, so that we have God's heart and not the world's messages when it comes to how we should view money and the things that money can buy.

We need to see it as a tool to accomplish God's purposes, not an end in and of itself. Elizabeth said, I count my blessings. I'm thankful for what I do have.

And I think that is so key, Elizabeth. You know, if you want to stop the worry about money, I think starting with gratitude, perhaps even keeping a gratitude journal where you might begin by just writing down those things that God has blessed you with, starting with the non-financial things. You know, even before we get to the first dollar that God has entrusted to us, we already have an abundance. Think about this. Your Heavenly Father has given His Son, who paid the ultimate price to pay the penalty for our sins through His death and resurrection. That is enough.

We already have so much more than we deserve. So when we manage the King's resources, it's a high calling and we want to be found faithful in that. So I think gratitude, Elizabeth, is a great place to start.

Well, we're going to dive into your questions here in just a moment. Again, some phone lines open as the calls come in. 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Before we dive into the calls, though, let me get to an email question. We take your emails at questions at moneywise.org, and often we run out of time to take those.

So I'll pick one up now. Karen wrote in and just simply asked, we're refinancing our mortgage. Rob, what tips do you have to limit or reduce closing costs?

And Karen, this is a great question. You know, we're still at historically low interest rates right now. Interest rates are the lowest they've been in decades. It's not uncommon right now to get 30-year loans with a two handle, a two in the front, and a 15-year even with a one handle.

199, I heard just the other day. But you're right, Karen. The costs are key, especially when you're refinancing. Because keep in mind, any money you spend on refinancing costs is money that you have to pay back in a sense through reduced interest in order to make this worthwhile.

And you're going to need to stay in the home long enough to pay that back or to cover that cost through a reduction in the interest so that you can enjoy the benefit of that refinance beyond that point, which means I would be thinking in terms of staying in your home for at least five to seven years. The best way to reduce those closing costs is just simply shop around. It's amazing with the largest transaction most of us will ever have, we might get one offer.

And think about that. I mean, how often do you price shop other things that are minuscule in cost compared to the transaction we're talking about with refinancing your home? So make sure you get at least three offers and I'd have at least one of those be an online bank. Find out who has the best rates and terms through bankrate.com. But once you have those offers, I would compare those closing costs. The target you'll want to look for is about 2% or less of the mortgage that you're refinancing.

$150,000 mortgage, try to stay under $3,000 in total costs. But we appreciate your question. If you have a question and you'd like to send it in to perhaps be right on the air, you can send that to us questions at moneywise.org. All right, we're going to get to your calls today. 800-525-7000 Becky's in Naples.

Becky, how can I assist? I was wanting to know, my husband has recently acquired within the past month, a company that's been around for like over 25 years. And we do not want to use our personal credit card. Our accountant is saying we need to get a business credit card. And I don't know, I've never applied for a business credit card.

What do we need to know and where can I search for the best rates? Yeah, very good. I like nerdwallet.com, kind of a funny name, but a great personal finance website, nerdwallet.com. They're regularly comparing and reviewing the very best credit cards, including the business credit cards. In fact, I just pulled it up as I was taking your call. And today they came out with a story, the 11 best business credit cards of August 2021.

So you can't get any more current than that. And what they'll look at is the annual fee, any rewards rates, if there's an intro offer, the pros and cons and product details. And I think that's a great idea because we talk often, Becky, about separating your small business, your self-employed business from your personal finances and how critical that is to keep two separate books, not to let them get mixed to make sure that the expenses for the business stay in the business so that when you're paying yourself, you can do that through a consistent salary so that on the personal side, you can budget accordingly. And then as you have built up profits in the business, you can take distributions, which actually have tax advantages. But in terms of the bookkeeping, it is so much more effective for you to keep everything separate because then you can run reports on the business. You can understand the true health of the business and not get that mixed in with your personal finances, which may mask some problems because in your personal finances, you may be covering up some deficiencies that the business has, and you can't really see those as quickly.

So I'd take a look at NerdWallet, compare and contrast those business credit cards, and it's going to come down to just what longevity you have in the business, whether you have any history there. And, you know, typically you're going to have to personally guarantee that as well. Is that helpful to you, though, Becky? Yes, but the personal guarantee is scary because this business does millions of dollars of business over a year. Yeah. And so that's a good thing, though, because to the extent, you know, you have good longevity, you've got a healthy balance sheet, you can demonstrate that you can specifically target a card that does not require a personal guarantee and solely based on the merits of the business.

So I would just make sure you include that in your search as you look for the card that's the right one for you. We appreciate your call today very much. On to Cleveland, Ohio. Patty, how can we help? Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my call. Another question about refinancing. We have an opportunity to improve our loan rate by a full point.

I heard what you said to a caller previous about trying not to target closing costs more than 2%. My husband and I are both in our early 70s, and we want to go from a 30-year mortgage down to a 20. And we do have a young adult child who lives with us. And assuming that, you know, she will take over the house payments or sell the home, but we certainly hope to live five or more years. But just wondering, we would we currently have 29 years on our 30-year mortgage, and we would, of course, eliminate eight years by doing that. So we're all about trying to save money, whether it's for us or our daughter. Yes, very good. Would you be able to absorb a higher monthly payment, even with the reduction in interest rate?

Okay, very good. Yeah, as a rule of thumb, you'd want to make sure that that payment stays lower than 25% of your income, just as a starting point. But I like this because we always want to reduce the term.

Well, you are 29 to 20 years. We want to save at least a point on the interest rate. You're doing that. We want to make sure we watch the closing costs and make sure we keep those in check because every dollar you spend is a dollar you need to recoup in interest savings before this makes sense to you, and you're not getting stretched beyond your budget. You also plan to stay in this home for at least five years, and I think that's really important. And as you said, it will set you up to allow your daughter to take the home, and she'll need to refinance at that point.

These mortgages are not assumeable these days, but that's okay, or she could sell it. But I like this plan because anything that's going to get you out of debt quicker with less interest is the key. Patty, we appreciate your call today. We've got some lines open, about four of them, 800, 525, 7,000, much more MoneyWise Live to come just around the corner. Stay with us. This is MoneyWise Live.

I'm Rob West. The program where we recognize God owns it all, money is a tool, and we're to be found faithful as stewards in managing that money. Let's go to God's Word together. Find the principles to apply to your financial decisions. Phone lines are open, 800-525-7000. Before we get back to the phones, let me remind you that in the MoneyWise app and on the MoneyWise website at MoneyWise.org is an opportunity to connect with the MoneyWise community.

That's right. Imagine a community of stewards on a journey together trying to find God's heart in managing their money. Well, that's the MoneyWise community. And when you post your question in the MoneyWise community, you'll get an answer from MoneyWise coaches, trained volunteers ready to help you on your journey, as well as others in the MoneyWise community that want to share their perspective and insights on whatever you're dealing with. There's no cost to post in the MoneyWise community.

We'd love to have you do that today. How do you do it? Well, head to our website MoneyWise.org and click on the community button or download the MoneyWise app. The MoneyWise community is right there in the app alongside our digital money management system and all of our content. If you head to your app store, wherever you get your apps, just search for MoneyWise biblical finance.

You can download it today and get your questions answered. We'll look for you there. And I'm in there from time to time as well. So maybe we'll meet there. All right, let's head back to the phones again.

Eight hundred, five, two, five, seven thousand Chattanooga, Tennessee. Hello, Scott. How can I help you?

Hey, Chris. Yeah, good. Thank you for taking my call.

Appreciate it. Yeah, I just had a question. My wife had inherited her mother's retirement about ten years ago. And to be honest, for what, the first seven or eight years, we just kind of ignored it outside of taking some emergency funds when we needed them a couple times.

But I started to pay more attention at the last couple of years. So my question now is for you. My main question for you today is, you know, it's been her mom has Edward Jones. And I think right now we're paying about, I don't want to say like one point three, five or something like that per year for them to manage it. So I think it's up to around, you know, maybe five or six thousand a year to, to them to manage them. And then plus she has to take like anywhere from fifteen to sixteen thousand a year, you know, it's a mandatory withdrawal every year, which we finally are in a position where we, this year's, which are we put most of that into opening up Roth IRAs.

But with all that said, do you have any, I know I started to do a little bit of shopping around. I know there might be some places that'll maybe manage it for a little less money, but would you recommend just staying with what you know, or is it a good idea for me to shop around for other money manager type places, I guess? That's a great question, Scott. And obviously this is a lot of money and you want to make sure that you're being wise in how it's managed. I like the idea that you have a professional doing it for you, you know, unless this is your full-time job and you have specialized training in this, you've got some longevity in managing money, or you just want to, and that's certainly okay.

You're the steward. I like the idea of entrusting it to somebody who can give careful attention to it, to not react emotionally and make the best decisions based on your and you and your wife's goals and objectives, not his or her own. In terms of the management fee, one point three percent would be perfectly in line with what would be normal and customary.

So I certainly wouldn't make a change based on that alone. What I would be looking for in a money manager is, do I have a good rapport? Is there, you know, a good flow of communication? Is that happening in the rhythm and the methods that I'd like? How has the performance been? You know, is there somebody that can answer my questions and handle, you know, my needs related to the account when I need them?

And are they responsive? Is there a periodic review, whether that's quarterly or semi-annually to sit down and say, here's where we started, here's where we are today, here's all the withdrawals that have come out and here's how it's performed versus, you know, the other kind of market performance consistent with your investment strategy. Are we taking unnecessary risk or are we being too conservative? And so, you know, as you look at kind of that total picture, you know, that should inform you as to whether or not it's a good fit. And if in any of those things you feel like are not where they should be, I'd bring that to this advisor's attention, give him or her the chance to remedy that. But to the extent it's not working, you certainly could look at other options. In fact, you could connect with any one of our Certified Kingdom Advisors there in Chattanooga if at any point you want to make a change. But regarding the fee alone, I know it sounds like a lot of money, but, you know, that would be a typical fee that you would pay for somebody that is taking discretion over the account, making the buy and sell decisions according to your risk tolerance goals and objectives.

So if you're happy with the performance and the communication, then I'd say, stick with it. We appreciate your call today. More to come on MoneyWise Live 800-525-7000.

Stay with us. Thanks for tuning in to MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, your host. Biblical wisdom for your financial journey. You know, in the last segment I mentioned finding a Certified Kingdom Advisor in your area. If you'd like to find a professional who's been specially trained to bring biblically wise professional financial advice with high standards met and competency, integrity, references from pastor and client, as well as regulatory reviews, that's a Certified Kingdom Advisor, the gold standard in biblical financial advice. You can do so on our website.

Just head over to MoneyWiseLive.org, click find a CKA. We're going to head back to the phones. We have some lines open today.

800-525-7000. In just a moment, we'll be talking with Susan about how you sell your home in this crazy market. She wants to know when we can expect the housing market to stabilize and perhaps even become a buyer's market.

Mary in Sarasota wants to know whether a HELOC is a good option to pay for some home renovations and repairs. But first, in Wellington, Wisconsin. Hello, Rose. How can I help you today?

Hi. I just wanted to know I'm 65 years old and most of my investments are in annuities. And I'm just wondering when should I start withdrawing? Should I keep it in my annuities?

Or I guess the pros and cons. Sure. Are you in what's called a variable annuity where there's investments inside it and it's growing over time? Or is it a fixed annuity where it's paying a fixed interest rate per year? Do you know?

It's a variable. Okay. And how has it been performing? Have you been happy with it? Yeah. Yeah, so far.

Okay. And tell me a little bit about your situation. Are you retired? I am semi-retired right now. I still draw salary from my company, but I am not completely retired yet. I would love to retire in a couple of years.

Okay, very good. In terms of Social Security, have you looked at your budget to say when you fully retire based on what your monthly need is, what your income requirements are to cover your expenses, would Social Security alone cover that? And if not, what would that gap be that you would estimate on a monthly basis? No, Social Security would not cover it. I would think that gap, if I was not getting a salary at that time, would probably be about $3,000. Okay, $3,000 a month. And what do you have in the annuity? What is the value of that annuity?

Do you know? I have several of them. I couldn't tell you exactly on all of them.

I have several. Okay, very good. Well, I think that's really the question we need to look at here because you're in the accumulation phase of this annuity where the money is growing based on the underlying investments and you said it's been performing well. I'd love for an advisor to look at that and just evaluate the performance. At some point, you will get to a place where you want to try to retire and the key will be you'll be looking for income sources because your current income will go away and you'll have Social Security as a base, but then you said you perhaps could have a gap of around $36,000 a year. And so we would want to look first at if you annuitize these annuities, which means you move from them growing and accumulating based on the underlying investments to the annuity starting to pay out a fixed monthly amount in the form of a monthly check, then that would give you obviously supplemental income to add to Social Security. The question is just when you annuitize, is it going to generate enough? Will it be enough to make up that gap for you to fully retire?

And could you pull that money out, which could result in surrender fees, could result in, well, you wouldn't have any early withdrawal penalties, but there could be taxes due depending upon what type of annuity it is. But could you pull all that money out and consolidate it in one place and have it invested outside of an insurance company in such a way that would generate the income that you need or give you the ability to at least pull the income? And then if you so choose, you know, dip into the principal as needed.

So I would at this point connect with a Certified Kingdom Advisor there in Wisconsin just to look over your entire situation. Now is the time, Rose, for you to be planning for that day a couple of years down the road. I'm going to show you a couple of years down the road where you transition from full-time work or part-time work to being fully retired and whatever God has for you in that next season and have a plan for how you're going to cover your lifestyle, which hopefully will be less at that point. You know, if you still have any debt, including a home mortgage, hopefully that's paid off by the time you retire.

We want to get that monthly need down as low as possible. And that professional can also best to stay with the annuity products you have now or to consolidate everything outside of the annuity where you'd have more flexibility about regarding the investment strategy. So I would make that move. There's, you know, too many moving pieces for me to tell you one way or the other which would be the best to go just based on the information I have. You really need a deep dive.

That would also result in you knowing what you need to try to save between now and retirement if you're not quite on track for having the assets you need to support your lifestyle at that point. So once you visit with a CKA, if you have any questions, give us a call back and you can find someone there locally when you visit MoneyWiseLive.org and just click find a CKA and we appreciate your call. Mary is in Sarasota. Mary, how can I help you? Hello.

Thank you very much for taking this call. I need some significant money to pay for repairs on a home that was damaged during a re-roofing process. So I need to re-roof the roof again and pay for significant interior damages to ceilings, other exterior damages to many things and I've already spent significant dollars like six figures in attorney fees, engineering, discovery and I don't want to keep spending down my portfolio which needs to support me for the rest of my life and also create a tax event. I wanted to inquire about a HELOC if that's a way to get the money I need to complete the work and then I hope to sell my home and move on. I do have an existing mortgage of about $233 on my home and I would say with the roof the house would be worth six to seven.

Okay, what do you think you need to spend all in? Unfortunately, at least another $200,000. And this was a result of negligence on the part of the roofer? Well, you can't exactly call it that but yes, they damaged the home during the re-roofing process. They didn't do it to code and they worked during the rain and then they walked away from the job.

There was a dispute about the draw and I was trying to work it out with them and they leaned me and sued me. Well, I'm so sorry to hear that. Yeah, I think you've got obviously quite a bit of equity in the home. I just want to make sure that you've got the cash flow to pay it but a HELOC could be a great option if you just plan to do the work and then sell it if you're going to stay in the home for some length of time. I'd look at a home equity line of credit with a fixed interest rate. The HELOC is going to be variable but if you're planning just to do the work that would allow you to pay as you go and then sell the home and move on.

I'm so sorry to hear that. Make sure you shop around to get those closing costs as low as possible. Use bankrate.com as a tool. Mary, if you have other questions, give us a call back. This is MoneyWise Live.

More to come just after this. Stay with us. We're thankful that you've joined us today for MoneyWise Live. Biblical wisdom for your financial decisions and choices.

I'm Rob West, your host. MoneyWise Live and MoneyWise Media is listener supported. So if you consider yourself a part of the MoneyWise family, you benefit from this program, perhaps you use the MoneyWise app or you've asked a question to our MoneyWise coaches, you've read articles at the MoneyWise.org website, whatever it is that you've participated in, we would certainly appreciate you prayerfully considering supporting this ministry. We can't do what we do and all the things that are to come and we've got some new things rolling out this fall without your generous support.

We rely on that. You can head over to our website to make a gift quickly and securely. Just go to MoneyWiseLive.org and click the donate button. Again, MoneyWiseLive.org.

Click donate and you can give safely and securely as a one-time gift or even set up a monthly gift. We would certainly appreciate it. Back to the phones today. Susan is in Pasco County, Florida. And Susan, I understand you're wondering about the housing market.

How can I help? Hi. We've been contemplating for quite some time.

Thank you so much for taking my call. Sure. And we're really excited about the market and we're not in a hurry to buy a home once we sell.

God willing, everything moves in his direction. We're just, and we're okay with renting. We're just not sure, you know, how long should we anticipate the wait be in the event we sell and we want to buy. But we want to buy at a reasonable rate. We don't want to go too crazy with the prices that have been out there lately.

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's a challenging situation. I mean, clearly the trend is going to be to move, you know, from the seller's market toward a buyer's market just simply because we were in such a seller frenzy even just a couple of months ago. And that's clearly going to begin to wane.

In fact, we've already seen some signs that it is. The challenge is, you know, the rental prices are sky high. So for you to get what you're looking for, even though you're willing to be patient and try to time the market, you know, that's a challenging proposition and you could be, you know, spending quite a bit of money to do that just because of the elevated home rental prices right now. So, you know, we're going to have to buy at a reasonable rate. But what about the housing market? Well, the reason that we believe we are moving toward more of a buyer's market that will come probably sometime in the second half of 2022 is because we've got a few things going on. We're beginning to see increases in mortgage rates from historically low interest rates to something a little higher. They'll still be over, you know, the macro perspective, still be very low, but they'll be higher than we are now.

You know, we'll probably be looking at around three and a half percent by mid fall and maybe a little bit higher than that as we head into next year because interest rates are clearly going to be heading up by the Federal Reserve as the economy dictates. The other thing that we have is an increase in home inventories. You know, we've got, you know, some lessening of the buyers that kind of pulled out because of that selling frenzy. And so that's created more inventory. You've also got an event happening this fall where the forbearances are going to come to an end.

Those special forbearances that were made available through the COVID legislation that allowed folks as a result of the pandemic to initiate a forbearance on a mortgage they couldn't afford. As those come to an end, many of those folks are not going to be able to resume those mortgage payments and they're going to sell. It's unfortunate, but it's going to create more inventory. And when you put all of these pieces together plus the economy reopening, you know, over time, and obviously that's been slowed by the Delta variant of the pandemic, you know, we're going to see less frenzy. Now, will we see the housing market, you know, take a significant dip?

I don't think so. You know, it was by all accounts about six and a half percent overvalued. We saw a surge in prices, but the demand was real. And with low inventory, I think we'll have a cooling of the housing market. I think with more inventory, you'll have less people paying, you know, numbers that are way over market value. That's a good thing, but you're not going to see, I don't think, any kind of major decline. We're not in a bubble situation like we were in 08, 09, where there was real systemic problems in our financial system. So, you know, the approach I would take is if you want to try to wait for an increase in inventory and you, you know, you're okay moving twice and you find a decent situation in terms of not spending just a lot of money that's unnecessary, then I would say, perhaps you wait, you know, into the closer to the end of the year, first half of next year, but waiting much longer than that, I don't know, makes a lot of sense. You know, the good news is you're going to get top dollar coming out, which then allows you to kind of plow that back in. What I'd be most concerned about is that you find the right home for you at the right price point that fits your budget, that meets your needs in terms of location and size, and that you buy right. And if I'm right and we see a cooling into the fall and early next year, then at least you'll be able to not pay more than the market value because I think some of the frenzy will kind of come off. But I wouldn't necessarily be looking to wait for a year or more in hopes that you're going to see a major decline in the housing market because I just don't think we're going to see it. Does that make sense though, Susan? Absolutely.

Thank you so much. So how long are we allowed to wait before we get taxed on our whatever we make from selling our home? Yeah, it doesn't matter how quickly you redeploy that at all. That's not a factor. As long as you lived in your primary residence for two out of the last five years, you can have up to $500,000 in gains, not the selling price, the profit as a married couple.

And if you never redeploy that, you still don't pay any capital gains as long as you don't have more than $500,000 in profits. Wonderful. Thank you so much. I appreciate you and your ministry and God bless. Thank you. Thank you, Susan. We appreciate your call. All the best to you. To Louisville, Kentucky, Casey, thank you for your patience.

How can I help? Thank you. Thank you for taking my call. Hey, I just wanted to see, I currently am, I'm a freelance contractor for my line of work, and I wanted to see where I can, um, look elsewhere to continue saving for my retirement. I currently have a Roth IRA that I've had since 2016, and it's, um, very low. So I just want, I want to be able to, I guess, connect with someone who is managing my Roth IRA or other type of retirement.

Um, and just understand it a little better. Yeah, very good. Uh, what do you have in the Roth? If you don't mind me asking, what's the balance?

The balance is only 2,800. Okay. All right.

Very good. And are you actively contributing to that, Casey? I do contribute about like every, every other month.

Um, I just, you know, as a freelancer, I get paid, um, at random, sometimes it's 30, 60, 90 days. So sometimes it's larger chunks. Sometimes I'll just, you know, feed into it little by little, but just really, you know, hindsight looking at it, it's, that's not working what I'm doing and what I have. So maybe it's, you know, something I need to do, but, um, yeah.

Very good. Well, there's the type of account and then there's the investments inside of it. So you've made a good choice with the Roth IRA, and you can put in 6,000 this year.

And so I would, you know, if you can, you could set up an automatic contribution with freelance work. I realize your income kind of ebbs and flows, so you may want to make those contributions, you know, yourself, as opposed to setting it up automatically, just so you can, you know, as you said, skip a month here and there, but that's the good account for you as a starting point. I would love for you to get up to the point where you could put in more than 6,000 a year, and obviously you'll be capped with the Roth IRA. So as an independent contractor, freelancer, you may want to look at next a SEP S-E-P IRA, which is going to give you a tax deduction, but allow you to put away quite a bit more money as you have the ability to do so. So there's the type of the account, and then there's the investments, which, you know, at $2,800 and growing, you're going to need to find more of an automated solution, either where you select the investments yourself, but as you said, that's not been working, or you use probably one of the robo-advisors, which is basically where there's a pretty sophisticated, well, very sophisticated algorithm that builds a portfolio, low-cost, high-quality portfolio of what are called exchange-traded funds that just capture the broad moves of the stock market over time, which is a great way to invest.

It's very passive. You're not trying to pick the winners and losers. You're just saying, I'm going to be happy with how the market performs, which, you know, historically over every 10-year period has done incredibly well, and you can be pretty aggressive, you know, at your age. So I think the opportunity is to move to one of those, so you would actually just transfer the assets inside the Roth to a new Roth, and I would look at either the Vanguard Advisor, the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, or Betterment. Betterment, Vanguard Advisor, or Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.

All three of those are going to be low-cost. You'll fill out and answer a bunch of questions, and then they'll basically automate a portfolio for you, and then every time you make a contribution, it will be rebalanced among those investments, and it'll be working for you all the time. So I think that's going to be a good fit for you. Check those out.

You can read reviews at NerdWallet.com. Pick the one that's the right fit, and then go ahead and get those accounts open or that Roth open. Transfer your money, and you can get that working for you. I think you'll feel better that it's invested in a way that's consistent with your goals and objectives, and you'll start to see some growth over time, and we appreciate your call today. Quickly to Woodstock, Illinois.

I've just got about 30 seconds, Bob. It looks like you sold a secondary home, perhaps a rental property. You want to use that to pay off your current home, and you're wondering about taxes, is that right? That's correct. Okay. Yeah, there is no way to defer that capital gains tax that you would have on a secondary property, whether that was a rental or just a second home, by putting it into your primary residence.

You would need to use a 1031 exchange to put it into a like property, which would be another rental property, and there's stipulations about how quickly you have to do that, but if it's going into your primary residence, there's no way to push that capital gains down the road. You're going to have to go ahead and pay it. I'm sorry about that, but if you want to hold on the line, I'll see if you have any follow-up questions, and we can talk some more. Hey, I want to thank you for joining us today. MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. On phones today, Eric Tidwell doing research, Robert Sutherland.

Engineering today, Mr. Dan Anderson, and my producer was Amy Rios. So glad you were here. Look for you tomorrow as we do it all over again, providing biblical wisdom for your financial journey. I'm Rob West, and we'll hope to see you there. God bless you. Bye-bye.