Financial Challenges

Isaiah 42, 13 reads, I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, fear not. I am the one who helps you. Good to know, especially for managing money.

I am Rob West. When we pray and act in God's will, he'll give us our hearts desire. So let me ask, is your heart up to a financial challenge? Let's talk about that first today. Then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

Call it 24-7-800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well, let's say you've done everything you can think of to get your finances on track. You've drawn up a spending plan, started saving and paying down debt. Maybe you're even taking steps to cut down on impulse buying. That's a great start. And if you haven't done those things, I can't urge you enough to start today. Download the free MoneyWise app to set up a spending plan.

Get it wherever you download your apps. Just search for MoneyWise biblical finance. Then start saving. Set a preliminary goal of $1500.

When you reach that mark, keep going. This savings account becomes fully funded when you have at least three months living expenses in it. If you need help with that, contact one of our volunteer coaches at MoneyWiseLive.org.

Make sure you sign up for our website at MoneyWiseLive.org. Decide on a period of time, let's say a week or two, and commit to not spend a dime on anything but the absolute essentials. I believe you'll gain insight on your spending habits and probably realize you're spending too much on things you really don't need. You'll free up money that you could put to better use elsewhere.

Alright, here's the next challenge. Sell some things. Set a goal of $200-$300. Then sell no longer needed or wanted items that are clogging up your closets and basement. If you can't park in the garage because it's jammed with stuff, well, selling enough to meet your goal should be pretty easy. They say one man's junk is another man's treasure, and having a garage sale is one way to convert your junk into treasure.

But then remember the spending ban. Don't take your newfound cash and buy more stuff that'll end up back in the garage someday. Alright, the next financial challenge also gets rid of stuff, but specifically clothing. You probably have more than you need, and some of it you never wear anymore. So set a goal to unload 25% of your clothing.

You can decide that by the number of pieces or the amount of space it's taking up, but either way, it shouldn't be difficult. Once you know the items you want to part with, you can go online to sell them. Check out Poshmark, ThreadUp, and of course eBay.

We'll have links to those in today's show notes. Oh, and by the way, it's always helpful to set a goal when you decide to sell things. That will keep you motivated.

They say if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time. Alright, here's your next financial challenge. Try to make at least one extra mortgage payment each year. If you do that with a 30 year, $200,000 mortgage at 3% interest, you'll save more than $13,000 in interest and shorten your payments by three and a half years.

Well, like everything so far, this requires delayed gratification, but it's worth it. Making one extra mortgage payment is really paying a bit more now to save a whole lot later. Alright, for our next financial challenge, we need to address giving and tithing. If you haven't made a commitment to be a regular percentage giver to your church, now's the time to take that step. If you're having trouble trusting God to provide, Malachi 3-10 should help. Here's what it reads, Just remember that God's blessing isn't necessarily financial.

He can bless your life in more ways than you can imagine. Now, one more financial challenge. Start investing for retirement if you haven't already. The day will come when age or health prevents you from working and you can't rely on Social Security for all of your retirement income. Start putting as much as you can into a qualified retirement account. That's like a 401k or an IRA.

The sooner you start, the more time you give those assets to make compounding gains and that's the real power of investing. So, those are your financial challenges. Keep us posted on your progress. Alright, your calls are next. 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West and this is MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Thanks for joining us on MoneyWise Live.

I'm Rob West, your host. Hey, we'd love for you to check out MoneyWiseLive.org, our new website. By the way, you can hear an archive of today's broadcast and all of our broadcast archives if you want to go back and listen to a topic of choice. There's a wonderful search feature that allows you to search not only our broadcast episodes but our articles and podcasts and videos. The search even covers our MoneyWise community.

So, if somebody's asked a question that you also have that's been answered by one of our coaches, you'll find that as well. It's there at MoneyWiseLive.org. We've got some great featured articles right now including one we'll cover later this week on how to panic-proof your investing when we talk with Mark Biller as well as Art Rainer's new article, The Five Biggest Financial Mistakes Couples Make and How to Avoid Them.

That plus much more is there for you to learn and study and take in. It's there at MoneyWiseLive.org. We'd love for you to check it out. All right, we're going to head to the phones here in just a moment. We've got some lines open. We'd love to hear from you. Whatever's on your mind today, we'll tackle it together as you invite us into your financial journey and we try to shed some light on biblical principles that apply to your situation. Here's the number, 800-525-7000.

Lines are open right now, 800-525-7000. We're going to begin today in Philadelphia, PA. Hi, John. How can I help you? Hi, Rob. How are you doing?

Very well, thanks. Good. I have two properties. One is paid for and I have a mortgage on my first home. I'm going to be selling all the property. I have no mortgage on it and I wanted to know, should I take the money from that and pay my mortgage off on my original home?

Yeah. Well, that would certainly be the safest thing to do. I assume you've decided you don't want to redeploy that in another investment property, is that right? Well, I didn't know if that was a good idea or not.

I wasn't sure. Yeah, okay. So this money is a part of what you would consider to be long-term retirement savings or something else?

Yeah, I would say so. All right. And are you also saving in qualified accounts through your work or some other type of retirement vehicle with stocks and bonds? No, I'm self-employed and I have stocks. I'm an investment broker. Okay. And are you trying to get as much of that into a tax-deferred environment like through a SEP IRA or something like that? Yeah, I'm not sure. I owe about $200,000 on my house now and I was thinking about selling the other house before. I was thinking about just taking that and paying off my other mortgage so I would be debt-free.

Yeah. Well, I really like that approach. I mean, there'd be some folks, John, that would say, yeah, you can do better other places. And I would say, well, perhaps, but not necessarily. The only way to get a guaranteed return would be to pay off your mortgage and you'd at least be guaranteed a return equal to the interest rate on the mortgage. But there's the non-financial side as well that gives you the peace of mind, the security, and the reduction in your lifestyle spending, namely no longer having a mortgage payment that would just, I think, give you a lot of flexibility moving forward. Clearly, in Scripture, we should see that I think over time we should be moving toward being debt-free just based on the way the Bible talks about debt.

It's not a sin to borrow, but I think we're more apt to be in a position to follow the leading of the Lord without being encumbered. So I don't think you can ever go wrong with that approach. Now, if you said to me, Rob, I'm comfortable hanging onto the debt, I have a plan to get it paid off in a reasonable time period, at least by the time I retire, and I'd rather redeploy this money and invest it, try to do better than I could, I don't think there's anything wrong with that either. What I would say is let's make sure you have at least that three to six months in your emergency fund, and then if you redeploy it, I would try to get as much of that going into a qualified account as possible.

As a self-employed individual, I'd talk to your investment advisor or broker about having a SEP IRA, whether you fund it from the proceeds of the sale or just out of your income and profits moving forward on your small business, but you're able to put away up to 25% of your compensation or $58,000 for 2021, and you would get a deduction on what goes in, and then you would have the opportunity for that to grow on a tax-deferred basis. But with regard to the proceeds of this property, I really like personally the idea of you just wiping out that mortgage, being completely debt-free, and then moving forward, it gives you the opportunity to either save more because you no longer have this mortgage payment or even increase your giving. But in either case, you'd enjoy the flexibility and freedom that comes with being unencumbered, and I can tell you I've never in all the years I've been doing this had somebody call and say they wish they hadn't do that. Does that make sense, though?

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I was feeling that in my heart, I just wasn't sure. Yeah, I feel like that conviction probably is from the Lord, so I'd go with that, and I think you won't look back, John. So we appreciate your call today. Thanks for checking in with us, my friend. 800-525-7000 is the number to call to Wildwood, Florida.

I drive through there on my way south to see family. Hi, Jim. How can I help you?

I'm doing all right. I've got a question about Roth IRA. Does it matter when you go into it? No, it really doesn't. Yeah, so you mean when you move into the market or when you make the contribution? Contribution. I already have it open.

I've got seven in it now, and I can put seven in it right now if I want to, and actually it's both of my wife and I, so it would be seven each. Okay. Well, in terms of the contribution... Does it matter when you go in? Will it make a difference where the market is?

Yeah, so there's two events that occur, John. There's the contribution to the account, which comes in in the form of typically cash, and so as that contribution comes in as cash, then you could theoretically leave that right there in the money market and not deploy it, but you go ahead and get the contribution made. That can be done at any time up until you file that year's tax return, so you could even make a 2021 contribution in 2022 prior to filing the 2021 return, but then there's a second step after the contribution is made into either of those Roth accounts for you to deploy those assets in the stock market. And I would say, based on the fact that you're talking about $7,000, I'd probably go ahead and put that in. One way to think about it would be to set this up as a systematic contribution over each month, and then you'd invest it on a monthly basis, and that way you're going to dollar-cost average into the market. But if you have the ability to kind of front-load it, meaning the cash is available and you could put that money in theoretically in January for the full year, I'd go ahead and start deploying that money in the market right away because then you have more time for it to compound.

Now, you could argue that, well, what if the market heads south? Well, it could, but keep in mind we're talking $7,000 a year, and you're going to buy in at different levels year after year, and the key is if you've got a long time horizon, I want that money working for me as long as I can get it. So I would say if right now you're contributing for 2021, go ahead and put that money in, and then perhaps you'd begin deploying that money right away, and I wouldn't wait over a long period of time and try to time your entry.

I would either do it all on the front end, or I'd do it on a systematic basis if you're going to make those contributions monthly. Does that make sense to you? Yeah, and I'm in a position where I can't front load it, and that's what I was, I've been going to do it and just ain't done it, and I was just wondering, you know, should have gone ahead and, because I was kind of waiting to say, hey, things may fall down the way things were going here a few months ago, so I just thought maybe I might wait until it comes down. Right, and they could, but keep in mind, you know, you're only just a few months away from being able to fund 2022, and if you have the ability to front load next year, you could go ahead and make this contribution, get this money working for you. Perhaps the market's higher in January, but maybe not, maybe it's lower, and then you have the opportunity to go ahead and make your 2022 contributions and redeploy those assets, and perhaps you're buying more shares with the same dollars because the market's down. But in either case, trying to predict the moves of the market and not investing systematically I think is a mistake because generally that doesn't work out. So I'd say in this case, go ahead and make the contribution, deploy the funds, and then do that again as soon as you can in 2022, and we appreciate your call today. You know, as we think about our investing, we want to do it in a way that honors the Lord, but we also want to take full advantage of the compounding. You know, compounding is a powerful force, and it works for us most effectively when it's done over the long time horizon. So we want to invest as early as we can, and I think investing systematically through what I call dollar cost averaging is a very effective way to go.

The key is to start early and be consistent. Hey, more to come on MoneyWise Live just around the corner. Stay with us. We're glad you've joined us today on MoneyWise Live. Taking your calls and questions on anything financial, here's the number 800-525-7000.

We've got four lines open. 800-525-7000. In just a moment, we'll talk to Dave about universal life insurance, and Kim has a question about a traditional IRA. Michael has a balance transfer question related to a credit card, but next up is Lisa in Boynton Beach. Hi, Lisa.

How can I help? Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. I love listening to you every day on my way home.

Well, thank you. So my question is, my husband and I, we've been wanting to invest in real estate for a while, and we're ready to like, you know, hit the button. But I'm wondering if it's a good time to invest in a rental, like short-term property, such as like Airbnb to rent it out? Sure. Have you done this before, Lisa? Or would this be a first for you guys?

First time. Okay. And tell me about your financial situation. Do you have a mortgage on your primary residence?

Yes, we do. We have a mortgage. We just refinance probably, I want to say, at the start of or towards like the summer of the pandemic. So initially, when we purchased the home in 2018, our interest rate was about like high three.

Now we're in the like low two, or yeah, high two. Okay. Very good. And so we have some money phased up that would be put down for this house.

That's great. And what are you planning to put down? How much do you have available? About 20%. Okay.

Excellent. And have you done some due diligence to look at similar properties in that area on Airbnb just to see, you know, what they're renting for in different seasons? Because I know South Florida, if that's where you're buying, is very seasonal.

So you've got to factor that in. And then secondly, have you done any due diligence with others who have done this on Airbnb just to kind of find out what their experience has been? Talk to me about how you've prepared for this. Well, we actually want to look into Davenport area over by the Disney World. What we've noticed, we've done quite a few research, we're like in the initial stages, but quite a few research in terms of like the homes they come fully furnished.

And a lot of it, they come with like a rent roll where they're booked like already nine months out. So it would just be, I guess, the seller just selling and we would just kind of take that type of thing. Sure. Okay. Yeah. So the properties you'd be looking at have been already been used in the same way.

So you'd be relying on some of that history, which is helpful. Well, I'm glad you have at least 20% down. I'd love for that to be a bit more. I mean, I would say that's typically the minimum for a primary residence. I love to see closer to 50% with a rental property just because, you know, the debt service has a way of kind of eating away at our profits. And, you know, if we go through a period where, you know, it's difficult to get renters unexpectedly or there's unforeseen damage that comes and you're not able to recoup that, you know, having that low debt service is key. But, you know, if you feel like you all have the financial health underneath you, this isn't going to rob you of your emergency fund.

You're contributing beyond this savings you've done to a retirement account. And so you're kind of on track there and you had enough margin to then build up separately this down payment. And you've done your due diligence that I'm like this idea of you having another asset class working for you and kind of building this side business, if you will. I mean, clearly, it's a seller's market, so property is going to be expensive, especially in Florida.

There's no doubt about that. You're going to be paying top dollar and that's a potential negative to this. But on the plus side, Airbnb bookings are way up despite the Delta surge.

So, you know, we see strength there. Now, we're in a really strong economy. So one of the questions, Lisa, I think would just be, let's say 18 months, two years from now, we're in a recession and, you know, the bookings are down.

What is your staying power in terms of being able to carry that mortgage? If you know what they had been seeing on these properties the last 12 to 24 months is all of a sudden a completely different scenario. I mean, let's say, Lord willing, the pandemic's gone. But let's say economically, you know, things are headed down for a period of time.

And let's say that lasted a couple of years. Could you all weather that or would you put yourself in a position where you could lose the property and or damage kind of the rest of your financial life? So I think we need to play out some of those scenarios, especially when you're taking on a big mortgage. So talk to me just as my last question as to your readiness for a recession with this property in place and you guys not getting the bookings you had hoped for. Yeah.

So I do. We do have this other side job where it's like passive income. So in addition to like not including the down payment, like we don't have the 50 percent, but we do have some income that actually comes in every month, about twenty five hundred dollars every month. And you don't rely on that for your monthly expenses? Not at all.

We don't even touch it. OK, good. Yeah. So I think that would be there to carry the mortgage if for some reason something happened in the meantime, you're building equity. So sounds like you've got all the pieces in place. I'd say prayer, prayerfully consider this. And I think it sounds like a great option before too long.

Who knows? You may have two or three of these and be calling back to tell us how it worked. But all the best to you in the days ahead, Lisa. And I like your plan. Hey, more to come on Money Wise Live just around the corner. Stay with us. We've got some lines open eight hundred five to five seven thousand. We'll be right back. We're so glad to have you along with us today on Money Wise Live. We've got two lines open for your calls today. We'll take as many as we can. Here's the number eight hundred five to five seven thousand. Hey, we're just three weeks into our new Money Wise Weekly Wisdom email.

That's right. It's a weekly email delivered to your inbox with a short thought from me about managing money God's way, as well as some recommended reads, some trending podcasts and much more. Our new edition comes out later this week, and I'd love for you to have it in there. I talk about the most common financial mistake people make.

We also have some great articles, one called Slaying the Paper Piles to help you understand what you need to keep and for how long related to the IRS. We also have an article on values based investing and one, according to Jesus, what was the greatest hindrance to our faith? That plus some great podcasts and a survey. We're going to ask you to partner with us on along with the National Christian Foundation to help shape the future of Christian giving.

That's right. You'll be able to participate in the survey sponsored by the National Christian Foundation in collaboration with some incredible research firms. And this is going to be a groundbreaking study that will really, I think, help us gain an understanding of the current landscape of Christian giving. And we're partnering to take this to you, our Money Wise audience, to collect some valuable data that we can then bring back to you to share with you in the days ahead. So I'd love for you to go and get signed up for our Money Wise Weekly Wisdom email. It's really easy to do. In fact, the best way for you to do it is just to go download the Money Wise app and create a free account. By doing that, you'll be ready to receive the Money Wise Weekly Wisdom email or you can just go to moneywise.org and sign up. It's quick and easy. And again, that'll be delivered to your inbox every week.

I know it'll be an encouragement to you, so sign up today. All right, we're going to head back to the phones. Dave is in Dover, Ohio. Hello, Dave. How can I help you, sir?

Yes, sir. I'll try to keep my question short. My wife and I each have a $50,000 universal life policy, which we purchased a long time ago. The problem I had to use as a death benefit when we were young and even before we had the kids. I'm now 72.

My wife is 69. I just noticed on the last statement that we got, the surrender value of each of the plans is about $10,000 each. The problem is, I've also noticed that where it shows the contribution of monthly statements and the interest being received, even though that was 5.5% X number years ago, the surrender value is going down because the monthly cost of that insurance keeps going up and, of course, is greater than the interest being paid. Does it make any sense for me to pay an additional amount on that so I could keep each one of those counts going or just cash them out and go whatever?

If I cash them out and put them in a savings account, I really can't earn that much either. The surrender value is going down each month now. Yeah, and it will continue to. Obviously, the mortality expense portion of this is going to continue to rise as you age because there's more cost involved in them being able to continue to provide the death benefit, which it sounds like you don't really need at this point because you have other assets and no dependents that would be relying on this death benefit if something were to happen to you or your wife. Is that right?

Yes. We have a couple hundred thousand and a 403B and we really don't need this as a death benefit for each other if something should happen to us. Yeah, so I think there's an opportunity here for you to go ahead and surrender this. I mean, you're going to want to understand exactly what the tax implications are and any penalties. But you've obviously are seeing there on the policy the surrender value and that's going to be key.

You want to know how much of that is earnings, which could be subject to federal and possibly state income taxes. But apart from that, I think that's going to continue to erode as the mortality expense increases. And as you said, you really don't have a need for this death benefit. So I think getting that out, perhaps using it to shore up your emergency fund, even though it's not earning a whole lot or redeploying it into a good, balanced mutual fund with stocks and bonds. If the Lord tarries and you all are in good health, you could need this money a couple of decades down the road.

And so you might as well have it earning for you without kind of this drag of the insurance expenses on it. So I think that's probably the direction I'd head, Dave. Okay. Thank you very, very much.

That sounds great. All right. God bless you, my friend.

We appreciate your call. Kim is in Farmville, South Carolina. Hi, Kim.

How can I help? Hi. I have a traditional IRA that's funded through Edward Jones, actually in the Charleston area. And I live in this area of Farmville. So I work for a company that matches the contribution. And so there's an Edward Jones here in my hometown, and I'm thinking about transferring that one to this Edward Jones in my hometown, the traditional that I have. And my question is, should I keep the start a new traditional IRA and have it funded through my company, my paycheck, or just have this traditional IRA funded through the company traditional IRA with the Edward Jones, the money that I already have, pretty much. The question I'd have is what retirement plans you have available to you through work.

An individual retirement account is not something you do on a salary deferral. You make direct contributions personally. So what retirement accounts do you have available to you through work other than this IRA, the traditional IRA that you already have? Well, the Edward Jones is affiliated with this company. The Edward Jones here in my hometown is affiliated with the company. And they told me that I would have to open a traditional IRA to be funded through the company. And so I was just trying to take this traditional and instead of just opening a new traditional IRA with this new Edward Jones that I'm thinking about transferring everything over to that's affiliated with the company, should I use this traditional that I've been funding through my bank with the company? Yeah.

Well, I'm a little confused on that. And I'm wondering if perhaps it's traditional 401k that you have available to you. I mean, the bottom line is you can have multiple, but I think I'd put them all together. And so if you're planning on moving to a new local office in your hometown with Edward Jones, I'd visit with that advisor. You don't have to open a new one. They can just reassign the account to the local office and to the advisor that you plan to work with. And then it's just a matter of determining what you're going to be funding moving forward. I would start with a 401k or retirement plan at work that has any kind of matching. If you don't have that available at the very least, let's systematically fund this traditional IRA.

But there's not a need to open a new one if you've already got one. Let's just move it to the local office. The key is just keep consistently contributing to it moving forward. And I think having somebody that you can walk in and sit down with there locally makes a lot of sense, Kim. So I know there's a lot of moving pieces there, but I think you're on the right track, sir. And we appreciate your call today very much. This is Money Wise Live biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. We're going to pause for a brief break, but a lot more to come just around the corner. Stay with us. Welcome back to Money Wise Live. I'm Rob Last year host. In just a moment, we'll head back to the phones. But first, it's Monday, where we're joined in this segment by our good friend Bob Doll, chief investment officer of Crossmark Global Investments, where values and investments intersect.

You can find out more at crossmarkglobal.com. Bob, last week, the U.S. equities finished lower. Wait a minute. I thought the stock market always went up. In your dream. Tell us what happened. What was the headline? So you make make a good point. People have expected the market to go up because it basically has almost months to up for 18 months to review.

Stocks have doubled in the last 18 months, up 100 percent. That's not normal. So a setback, a bit of one last week, more of one today is very normal. We're just not used to it.

And therefore, it kind of we look it's a collection of things. The economic growth is slowing. Therefore, earnings growth is slowing. As we've talked about on this call, not all inflation is transitory. The Fed at some point will cease to be the best friend of the markets. Uncertainty about the fiscal circus.

Can I call it in Washington, D.C.? Then we had a real estate problem in China over the weekend. And that's the excuse for the sell off today. You know, it's in my view, it's in some sense, surprising. We had had some pullback before this rub. Clearly, the bull market is not over. We're just in a pause. That's very normal.

I hope it's a pause that refreshes. Yeah. Bob, were there any of those data points that you just referenced that gives you any kind of concern longer term or are you still encouraged? The one I'm concerned about is inflation one, this belief that inflows all transitory and therefore going to disappear, as we've talked about on other Monday calls, I think is a little naive. I'm going to be careful.

That's a little critical. The Fed's a lot smarter than I am, but I just don't see it that way. Go shopping. Look at wage rates. Inflation up. Yeah. Yeah.

No question about it. But, you know, this really presents for the systematic dollar cost investing type of investor a great opportunity, right? Because, you know, markets don't always go straight up. And when we see these dips and we're buying more shares with the same amount of money, that's a good thing for long term investing, right? Absolutely. If you're a dollar cost average and you do it once a quarter and the end of the quarter is coming, don't hold back because you're nervous the market's been selling off.

Stay with your systematic program. It works over the long term and the volatility helps the dollar cost average. Yeah. Two final questions, Bob, before we let you go. What about jobs, employment? What were your takeaways from the latest data there? So we know the jobs report earlier this month was a disappointment. What we don't know and how much of that disappointment is COVID slash Delta related.

My guess is a bunch of it. We know there are a lot of help wanted ads at all levels, low levels, medium levels, high levels. And so there are lots of jobs out there.

Getting people to apply and go to work has been difficult in part because in many states you've been paid particularly at lower end of wages to stay home and, you know, watch television as opposed to go to work. Many of those programs are rolling off, Rob, as you know. And so I think that's going to create some renewed.

Yeah, very good. Lastly, Bob, what about those who have had portfolios predominantly concentrated here in the U.S.? What opportunities exist elsewhere? So first of all, my hat's off to those people who have either consciously or unconsciously had all the money in the U.S. Congrats. The last decade you've done well. My guess is not that I'm negative on the U.S., but I think there's some catch up coming here in the next couple of years. So diversifying geographically Europe, for example, eventually the emerging markets, I think will pay off as global growth improves.

And we probably as a result witness some sell off in the dollar that will allow non-U.S. markets to do well. OK, very good. Bob, always appreciate your insights, my friend. We will talk to you next week. Have a great one. Bye. All right. Bless you. Bob Doll, chief investment officer of Crossmark Global Investments.

Again, you can learn more at crossmarkglobal.com. Back to the phones today. Katie is in Tampa, Florida, holding patiently.

Katie, how can I help? Oh, hi. Thanks for taking my call. Actually, your speaker answered a question for me myself, but we have just some excess funds that we're holding in the bank account. And we are self-employed and we make we're able to do the seventeen five each because we're over 50 into our IRA.

So we're doing that. We have another smaller portfolio that we've merged with a new with our CPA's financial adviser. He's trying to get us to take cash out of our bank account and put it into half of a safe fund, which doesn't experience loss.

But it's it gets half of the growth, not 100 percent what it's called. And the other half of the money he's asking us for is to put it into Charles Schwab like a riskier. And then my husband in the back of his mind keeps saying the stock market's going to crash because we can't. It's not going to keep making all this money. And then today, of course, I'm listening and it sounds like it's in, you know, kind of toiletty, just like the gentleman before me said.

So originally before he got on, my question was, is it still safe? I'm pushing to put at least 50 grand more into the market because it's literally sitting there doing nothing. Yeah.

Yeah, it makes sense, Katie. So let me ask you this hundred thousand. Would it be in addition to money you would call your emergency savings?

Yeah, we have we have enough of that. OK. And what are you doing to save for the long term apart from building up this cash account? Are you and then you mentioned some IRAs that are currently invested.

Is that really the extent of it? And if so, what do you have in those retirement accounts all in? Now, right now, it's for it's the 401k that we contribute through our self-employment. So and then we have a couple of commercial properties, but they both they both have a mortgage. But the the the value is probably nine times greater than what we owe.

And we are able to use them as tax write offs as well. OK, great. And yeah, go ahead. And that's OK. We're going to say something else. OK, very good.

A hundred thousand dollars. Yeah. Excellent. And what are your ages?

I'm 52 and my husband's 56. OK. And you guys don't plan on slowing down any time soon? No. Yeah. OK. I mean, sure. Slow down. But I still want to make money.

Yeah, I understand. Well, keep in mind, too, that once you all reach retirement age, even if you were to slow down, you know, it sounds like you have a lot of things going on. You guys probably have a lot of energy. You may even enjoy some of this. And you're probably not just going to cease working unless you have to. And even then, if the Lord tarries and you have good health, you know, you're going to need this money for decades beyond that point. So I think putting it to work for you makes sense. I think, you know, number one, pursuing getting out of debt over time is a great goal for all of your properties. And I think that will give you a peace of mind and flexibility with money that is just sitting there.

I like the idea of it become, you know, being moved into the market, but I think I do it on more of a systematic basis. I don't think we're in for any kind of crash. And, you know, the economists and market analysts like Bob Doll, who we talked to a moment ago, has literally managed tens of billions of dollars and has been on Wall Street for decades.

And as a committed Christ follower, he would tell you, you know, he doesn't see that happening, you know, anytime soon. In fact, there's a lot of case to be made for the resiliency and the strength of the U.S. economy right now. But the markets don't go straight up and we're clearly well into a bull market cycle.

And these are cycles, so they do tend to roll over. So we could hit a recession, you know, a year or two or three down the road and that could last a couple of years. But typically the amount that you give up in a recession is, you know, maybe 20 to 30 percent at the most. Whereas most bull markets, you're going to see 100 percent plus over the bull market run, which could be 10 years or more like this one has. And so I think as long as you're a systematic investor, recognizing you can't try to time the market on the upside or the downside. And so even if you were to start moving into the market systematically, not dropping all 100,000 in on one day, but let's say, you know, you take the total amount you want to move into the market and let's say you move in over three quarters.

So, you know, over the next, you know, eight, nine months or so, I think that would be a prudent approach. Because if we did hit some speed bumps along the way, you'd be able to buy at a discount. If the market is going to keep going from here, at least your entry points on the early end of that range would be lower than they are down the road.

But I think you and your husband need to have kind of, you know, one mind about that and you need to come together. And, you know, whether or not you should use this insurance product with the floor on the downside, you're going to give up, you know, a good bit of the upside. And because of the fees and because of the other assets you have, I don't think you need to be that risk averse. So I'd rather you say, okay, of this 100,000, here's what we're comfortable moving into the market and we're just going to focus on that.

And then work on the timing of deploying those assets in terms of dollar cost averaging in so you're not buying all at today's levels. Does that make sense, Katie? It does. So are you… Let's do this. Unfortunately, I'm out of time, but you stay on the line and we'll talk a bit more off the air and finish up. And I appreciate your call today very much. Well, folks, so glad to have you along with us today.

MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. I want to say thank you to Dan and Amy and Jim. Also, thank you for being here. We're grateful. We'll look for you tomorrow in another edition of MoneyWise Live. Come back and join us. We'll see you then. God bless you.