Giving That God Accepts

2 Corinthians 9-7 reads, Each one must give as he is decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Hi, I'm Rob West with some questions for you. Is it more important to give consistently or in a way that pleases God?

Can you do both? I'll answer those questions today, then it's on to your calls. Well, I first want to give a hat tip to the Christian Stewardship Network for their great article, Giving That God Accepts, and we'll put a link to it in today's show notes. So, Christians should be committed to the struggle to do things right.

Christ and His perfect righteousness is our role model. But our fallen sinful nature often leads us astray, not in the attempt to do things right, but in the reasons why we do it. If we act to prove ourselves to God, or to ourselves, we go astray. And it's in giving, perhaps more than any other area of our lives, that the purpose of our attempts at righteousness miss their mark. In one sense that's understandable, because giving involves numbers that are easily totaled up. Our giving provides proof, to us at least, that we're doing the right thing. Other righteous acts like prayer and worship are less concrete. We may wonder if we're doing them enough, but we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. That's not the case with our giving. The numbers speak plainly. Do you frequently check your watch as you study God's Word or pray, pressing on until you prove to God and yourself that you've committed enough time?

I certainly hope not. That's a poor way to show your faithfulness, as it would be with your giving. But because giving always involves a specific amount, it's far too easy to think that giving more means we're more spiritual.

We think that giving 15% of our income requires more faith than giving 10%. So what sort of giving does God accept? Well, we can look to King David for an example of a generous giver. David likely gave billions of dollars worth of treasure to build the temple in Jerusalem. But it wasn't the size of the construction budget that pleased God.

It was the way that David gave to complete the massive project. No amount of giving can sway God one way or the other. He already owns 100% of anything we give back to his kingdom. He doesn't need the money.

What do you give to someone who has everything? Well, to quote David in Psalm 24, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. God owns everything because he created everything.

He's completely self-sufficient and needs nothing from us. But he wants to have a relationship with us. God requires us to give a portion of what he gives us back to his kingdom because he wants us to be a part of it. God made us in his image and he desires relationships. So he made us that way too. And that's how we need to understand giving. David understood this and we see in Psalm 51 how he responded properly.

Let's set the stage. The prophet Nathan had called out David for his adultery with Bathsheba and sending her husband Uriah off to die in battle to cover his sin. That takes place in 2 Samuel 11. And in verse 15, David tells his battle commander, set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retreat from him that he may be struck down and die.

Now, obviously, David sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, but he understood that his sin, born of covetousness, was ultimately against God. Now back to Psalm 51, where David reveals something about God that should direct how we give. In verse 16, David writes, You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.

You do not want a burnt offering. You see, if money could buy God's forgiveness, David probably would have given everything. But he knew God wouldn't accept his gift, however extravagant.

God wanted nothing material from David. He goes on to write, And that's what David really gave him. We must let that be the basis of all we do, including our giving. We can mislead ourselves into thinking that our gifts in and of themselves please God and qualify us for his blessing. True, he's pleased by our generosity, but only if it's accompanied by a repentant and broken spirit. If you give your time and treasure to God so you can just check a box, it gains you nothing. Now, all of us can experience this joy. David was an adulterer and a murderer, but because he repented so sincerely, God forgave him and accepted his offering.

And that's why David is called a man after God's own heart. All right, your calls are next. 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live. We'll be right back. We're grateful you've joined us today from MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, your host. So glad you've chosen to spend this time with us today. In just a moment, we'll be taking your calls and questions on anything financial. What's on your mind today?

Is it giving or saving? Perhaps, how do you set and manage your spending plan? Or maybe those credit cards are giving you some trouble. You'd like to know how to pay them off.

We'd love to tackle that with you today. Here's the number to call with lines open. 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. We began today by talking about generosity. You know, if we think about our giving and how it relates to our role as stewards in managing God's money, the first thing we recognize is that it's a privilege to be about God's activity.

Think about this. God allows you to be a part of his activity through your generosity. Well, that would be enough in and of itself, but it's more than that, because as we said, God wants our hearts. And when we give, it literally breaks the grip of money over our lives. If money is going to compete with God for first position, it's the act of holding it loosely that allows us to be, I believe, calibrated to God's heart, and generosity is one of the key ways that we do that.

So everything we talk about here is ultimately going to lead back to recognizing our role as stewards and holding everything we have loosely, because money is a tool to accomplish God's purposes. Well, let's talk about that as it relates to your calls and questions today with whatever's going on in your mind and in your heart. 800-525-7000. We'll begin today in Philadelphia, PA. Hi, Linda. How can I help you? Yes, hi.

My name is Beth. How are you? Great.

Glad to have you. Okay. Yeah, thank you.

Yeah. So my husband and I are 60 and 61 years old. We have a combined income of about 90,000, and we have a 401 that probably we won't get into for another seven years before we retire.

So it's still kind of going. Well, what we need to do is we need to do a lot of house repairs, because we tried to get a refi, and when they came in to do the appraisal, they said that our house is below even what our mortgage is. So my question is, my mother passed away on Labor Day, and she left us—my brother said the trust is between $150,000 and $200,000 for each of the four siblings.

Yes. So I didn't know if I should cash into that and just pay cash for—I would say maybe an estimated 50 grand for household repairs. That might be a little bit more, but it could be 50,000.

So I didn't know if I should just like pay cash through her inheritance or maybe take out a home equity line of credit or what would be my best. Yeah, very good. Well, thank you for that description, Beth. That really gives me a clear picture of what's going on here. A couple of thoughts.

I think first, given that there are some needed repairs and those repairs are extensive enough that the mortgage company believes the value of the home is actually less than what you currently owe on it, we want to stay completely away from trying to borrow any more money against the house. Now, God has provided you this blessing of these resources, and so we want to use those wisely. Let me ask you a couple of questions, and then I'd love to give you my thoughts on where you go from here. Did I understand you correctly to say you're earning about $90,000 combined in yearly income, and you all plan to work for another seven years, and then you'll be retiring? Yeah.

Yes. Okay, very good. And what debt do you have other than the home? We have only $3,000 in credit cards, which is very good.

I do, because I went back to school in 2010, I do have like a $40,000 student loan that I'm making payments on. They kind of stopped taking payments because of the pandemic, but once things get rolling, I'll probably have to start making payments. That's really like the main thing. All right, and the $3,000, is that monthly charges for your expenses, or is that a consistent balance you've been carrying? That's like total.

Okay. And are you adding to that each month, or are you actually able to live within your income? No, we generally don't use our credit cards, but we had a wedding this summer, and we have six kids, so plane tickets and stuff. We normally don't touch our credit cards, but yeah. I know. With the big family and weddings, I understand how that can add up quickly.

No problem. What about savings, Beth? Do you have any emergency reserves? Right now, we have like $20,000, which we kind of like don't really touch. Okay, very good.

Glad to hear that. Last question. If you were to add up all of your monthly expenses, what do you guess you all spend on a monthly basis? I would say $5,000.

Okay, all right. So I love the fact that you have about four months' worth of expenses. Perhaps it's a little less than that if there's some expenses you aren't thinking of, but that's certainly a good reserve. And I love the fact that you said you don't plan and you don't actively pull from that, which means that it truly is for the unexpected. So I think where you go from here is this. Number one, I'd really love for you to dial into that spending plan, so you have a good sense of what are you actually spending on a monthly basis, both fixed, those things you get a bill for, and discretionary, those things you don't get a bill for, but they're a part of your monthly routine, everything from clothing to eating out to miscellaneous expenses you spend during the month.

Our MoneyWise app could help with that, and if you hold the line here today, we'll get you a six-month subscription so you can connect to your transactions or to your institutions and download your transactions. Our coaches would love to help you with that as well. There's no cost for that, and they can walk alongside you as you get that set up. We have workshops happening every week with folks who can help you put that plan in place, and you can schedule that workshop right through the app. So that's step one. I think step two is, once you have that budget in place, and with the blessing of these added resources, I'd love for you to start to make those repairs so we can get the home back into working order, so that if you were to sell it or refinance it, or if you were just to continue to pay on it until you own it free and clear, that you have it in good working order, you're maximizing the value of the asset.

But I'd do that slowly. I'd start with the most pressing repairs first, and here's why. Right now, on the tail end, and arguably we're still in the midst of a pandemic, we have a lot of supply constraints, and prices are up for home repairs. A lot of people are renovating their homes, plus the prices of the raw materials are up. So you're going to be paying a premium for all of these repairs.

So I'd take your time, but for any of them that you prioritize to do now, as well as those that you might wait six months or a year to do if you can without further damage to the home, I would pull out of that inheritance. But only to the extent you have a budget that you've put in place that balances to make sure that you aren't, in fact, incurring any more debt. But I definitely would not take a home equity loan to do it. Does all that make sense?

Okay. So, like I said, we have this $20,000 savings, and my parents, so let's say we just decided priority number one, like let's get the kitchen. So it'd be okay just to do that in cash.

It would, but be careful with some of these things, you know, because like, for instance, a kitchen. I mean, you could spend $50,000 on a new kitchen easy. And so you've got to really, I think, go slow, the fact that you all are headed toward retirement, and we definitely want to make sure those student loans are paid off by the time you retire. And I'd love for you to be well on your way to owning that home free and clear when you get to retirement. And the best way to do that is to make sure you're not pumping a lot of money into the house, especially if you don't plan to stay there long term, and if you don't have the resources to do it. So, as an added part of this, I would want to make sure that you all do some planning with a certified kingdom advisor so you know what is your ultimate objective for your retirement savings, that 401k, so that when you get to retirement, plus, you know, Social Security, plus a reasonable income from that 401k would cover your expenses. And the best way to keep those expenses as manageable as possible is to make sure you're debt free. Now, having that student loan paid off as one part of this, ultimately, we want the house paid off, it's probably going to take you a little bit more than seven years to do that. But that's ultimately going to get you where you need to go in terms of keeping those expenses as low as you can, so you can continue to give, you can cover your lifestyle, and you can do that well within the resources that God has provided.

So let's get the credit card debts paid off, let's get that student loan paid off in the next seven years, and let's go slow on those renovations, ultimately getting the house back into working order, but doing it when costs aren't quite as high as they are today. We appreciate your call. We've got some lines open. Here's the number 800-525-7000.

We'll be right back. So delighted to have you along with us today on MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. I'm Rob West, your host, and this is the program where we recognize that God owns it all, and therefore we're stewards, and money is a tool to accomplish God's purposes. Well, let's figure out how to use that tool in your life with the decisions you're trying to make. We've got two lines open today, 800-525-7000. Before we go back to the phones, I mentioned in the last segment looking for a certified kingdom advisor.

What's that all about? Well, CKA is the recognized and accepted designation for biblically wise financial advice in the financial services industry. So if you want an advisor that aligns with your values and beliefs and has met high standards and training and character and regulatory review and not to mention experience, a CKA may be exactly what you're looking for. You can find a certified kingdom advisor in any number of five disciplines, insurance, financial planning, investments, estate planning, and taxes, and you can do so on our website.

MoneyWiseLive.org, just click find a CKA. Let's head back to the phones today. In just a moment, we'll be in Chicago with Kanesa and Chagrin Falls with James, but next up is Ernie in Iowa. And Ernie, how can I help you, sir?

Hey, thanks for taking my call. I've been hearing some stuff from our friends regarding purchasing gold or silver or junk silver as an alternative to investing in the stock market, and I just wanted to see your opinion on that. Is that wise, is that foolish, or anything in between?

Yeah, I'm not a big fan, Ernie. You know, when we get into periods of uncertainty, and we certainly are in one of those right now, a global pandemic, we've had massive increases in our national debt, we've got very loose monetary policy right now that's tightening as we speak. Nevertheless, there's a lot of money circulating out there. We've got inflation that's on the rise, even though the consumer is still very strong, and we've got an incredibly strong global economy right now. But any time we get into these periods of uncertainty, this kind of fear trade, if you will, on gold and the precious metals comes back to the forefront.

And I think in particular Christians tend to be a bit more susceptible even to that narrative, and I think we need to be on our guard. You know, if we just look at this as a pure investment, clearly the precious metals have been more volatile and have had less performance in terms of the overall return than just a properly diversified stock and bond portfolio. Plus, they have other challenges. You know, if you own the actual, take physical possession of the precious metals, you've got to secure it, you've got the markup on the buying and the selling from the dealer that you buy it from, and it's very illiquid. You know, if you want to spend a portion of it, you can't very easily chisel off a portion of it. So I think for those reasons, clearly it should be a part of a properly diversified portfolio. It's a store of value. It's a hedge against a falling dollar and a weak economy.

But I certainly wouldn't overweight there. I was talking to a certified kingdom advisor in Delaware this afternoon, and he was talking to me about a client that literally this week, despite his encouraging otherwise, pulled $3 million out of the stock market and put it all in physical gold. And I just think that's the wrong move. I think we've got to check our hearts and just see why is it we're doing this when we look at historically whether or not that makes sense. So bottom line, Ernie, that would not be the direction I would go.

I would encourage you to think about perhaps 5% of your portfolio, and oftentimes a really effective way to do that is through one of the ETF tracking indexes like GLD or any number of others that just move with the underlying price of the precious metal that's behind it without you having to take physical possession. Does all that make sense? Yeah, I think so. So there is a stock option that they work with?

Oh, gotcha. Yeah, so they track the movements of the price of the underlying, in this case, metal. And you can find basically an ETF that tracks just about anything, whether it's a major market index or the price of silver or copper, in this case gold. So that's a way to add it to a portfolio. It's still very liquid because it's marketable. You can sell it on the stock exchange any day that the market is open. But it's a way for you to get the growth of the underlying asset. If the market were to move down, it would move perhaps, in most cases, the opposite way.

So I'd look into that, perhaps talk to your advisor about it. I appreciate your call today very much. Let's head to Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Hi, James. How can I help you, sir? Hi, Rob. I'm doing fine. How are you today? Doing great. Thank you.

Really love your show and fantastic advice. Thank you. And timing is everything. Yesterday I was listening to the show and you all were talking about iBonds. Yeah.

And it just so happened that today we're meeting with one of our financial advisors. Okay. We had the discussion concerning iBonds. We have trust for our grandchildren and we wanted to diversify even further and he thought iBonds would be a good way to go and so did my wife and I.

What I think is when we went to the Treasury website, it appears that the fixed part of the iBonds, the fixed interest rate is at zero. Yes. And we were concerned about that. Okay, good.

Any advice? Well, listen, we're headed to a break but I'm going to ask you to hold. This is a great question. You're right. We did just talk about iBonds yesterday. It's going to be a powerful part of your overall portfolio. So we'll talk about that just around the corner. This is MoneyWise Live. Stay with us.

Much more to come. We'll be right back. Thanks for tuning in to MoneyWise Live.

I'm Rob West, your host. Just before the break, we were talking to James in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. James wondering about iBonds, a great investment option especially right now. The i of course standing for inflation and if there's something going on, certainly you're seeing it in the headlines, you're experiencing it at the grocery store. It's the inflation. The CPI just recently came out. That's the core price index up 6.2% year over year which is the highest level since November of 1990. When we pull out food and energy from the CPI index, it's still up 4.6% year over year, the highest since 91. So clearly inflation is here. The Fed early on called it transitory which is their way of saying it's going to be short-lived. They're backing off that now. We expect it to be around for a little while.

And James, I think for that reason, this is a good move. These are guaranteed. They have tax-deferred, inflation-adjusted interest. They're liquid after a year. And as you said, I believe the most you can buy is 10,000 a year per person. Right now, the annualized rate is just over 7% when you combine the fixed rate which as you said is zero with the composite rate of 7.1. It's the second highest initial rate ever offered on these bonds which just make them really attractive. And I wouldn't be concerned about that fixed rate being at zero because as I mentioned, I think the inflation issue we have going on right now with elevated prices is not going away anytime soon.

And you could liquidate these after a year. So I think this is a great move for you. Okay, great. Thank you. We'll proceed with that program. Absolutely.

Thank you so much. Very good. Let me just mention our friends at soundmindinvesting.org, soundmindinvesting.org. Mark Biller was on the program yesterday and said they have an article coming out next week on the I bonds.

So if you want to learn more about what they are and always from a biblical perspective with sound mind investing, check that out when you have a chance and we appreciate your call. To Chicago, Illinois. Hi, Tyler. What can I do for you, sir?

Hi, how's it going? Good. So I am with my wife and we're just looking for like the best step to invest in in the future. I know that I'm making way more than enough at work. We are faithful Christians. We give we want to be faithful Christians. I would tithe and you know, we're just seeking honor Lord with everything, but we already have a savings account set up with four to six months savings. Yeah, just like the next steps is what we're looking for. She's also going to inherit 15,000 bucks soon from a recent death.

Awesome. So you you said four to six months worth of expenses put aside and it sounds like you're already funding a retirement account. Is that right? Not funding retirement account. So she's going to get 15,000 inherited from a death in the family. And then I just know that I'm making more than enough every month at work. So like there's always surplus. Yeah.

So tell me about that. How are you tracking your expenses and managing that and what kind of surplus are you seeing consistently? So consistently consistently about five grand surplus a month. Yeah. Yeah. And so that's what you've used to build up this four to six months expenses. But have you been socking that away somewhere else? Well, it's the job is somewhat newer. Our marriage is newer. So the Lord has provided really quickly.

We've never been in that situation. Absolutely. Well, that's exciting. Tell me, do you have a retirement plan available to you at work? It's W2. Probably not. Probably not through work. No.

Okay. I would check on that because they may have a retirement plan that you're not aware of. It could be if it's a small business, maybe a simple IRA, perhaps a 401k as well. That would be something I'd love for you to get started on because I love the fact that you said you're prioritizing your giving, that we should do first and you want to give systematically and proportionately. And I would be thinking to let the tithe be your beginning point, not your ending point.

So thinking about how God is leading you to perhaps increase that over time. Then we want to get that emergency fund in place. You've done that.

We want three to six months expenses. You have that. We want to live within our means.

You're clearly doing that. God has provided you a healthy income that's allowing you to have quite a bit of surplus. Then we want to start thinking about those goals that you have. And these are goals that I would love for you to think about and pray about with your wife that align to your values. So what's most important to you guys? Is it living a life of simplicity?

Is it being able to give generously? Where do other savings goals fit on that? Would you like to buy a house if you don't have one today? Do you want to set a goal to save for that down payment of at least 20%? What about other goals you have perhaps down the road, including increasing your giving? I mean, these are things I would wrestle with, pray about, because remember, money is a tool just to accomplish the purposes that the Lord has for you.

And we want to align that not with worldly standards and goals, but with where God is leading you to as a couple and, Lord willing, over time as a family. So I think apart from that process, I think, you know, thinking about saving for the long term as you're young and beginning to get some money going into a tax deferred environment is key. But at the very least, if you don't have a retirement plan at work, I'd look at opening a Roth IRA for you and your wife. You can put in $6,000 a year per person into that. And then I'd perhaps go ahead and if you don't have a relationship with a financial advisor, perhaps you get that scheduled and begin to think and dream with a godly financial professional on where the Lord has taken you and what are some of these goals.

And what's the most advantageous way to put that money aside so you can begin, you know, to accomplish those? Does all that make sense? Yeah, it makes all sense.

Good. Well, listen, you guys are in a really great spot. I love that you're wanting to be found faithful. I love that you're not increasing your standard of living because usually when our income goes up, that's usually what follows. And we've got to guard against that so that we can pursue what's most important to us.

Doesn't mean you can't increase your lifestyle along the way, but I want that to happen by choice, not just because you got a raise. And so I think you're certainly on the right track. I want to send you a copy of Howard Dayton's book, Your Money Counts, and perhaps you and your wife can work your way through that just to make sure you understand some of these biblical principles we talk about here on MoneyWise Live as you think and pray about where you're headed. And if we can help along the way, give us a call back. We appreciate your call.

To Round Rock, Texas. Hi, Nancy. How can I help you? Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. I've called in before in regards to my current concern with my home.

I'm single. I retired in 2018, and I've been in my home 15 years. The location I'm in, the value of my home has tripled in value.

And right now, because of all of the economic, I would say, activity going on, different companies moving in, a lot of people moving in, the values are steadily increasing in this area. So my problem is that my appliances and certain big ticket items for the maintenance of my home are, I can't fit them in my budget. And I don't have an emergency fund large enough to cover it.

For instance, my roof. Or right now I can tell that my dishwasher is about to go along with washer dryer. So those kinds of appliances along with just maintenance of my home and some intermittent bills are throwing me into this place where I'm thinking, is this the time that I should sell my home?

What do I do about repairs? Yeah, yeah, very good. Well, I understand this can be a real challenge. The blessing, as you mentioned, is that we've had an incredibly strong housing market. So this could be just the time for you to go ahead and sell and perhaps downsize. We'll talk about that just on the other side of this break. Nancy, you stay with us. This is MoneyWiseLive.

We'll be right back. We were talking to Nancy in Texas, Nancy, like many Americans, most Americans, especially those living in Texas are experiencing incredible run up in the housing market. But Nancy, you had said, alongside that you're really struggling to take care of the repairs and improvements to the home, including your appliances that are in need of repair.

Let's just get a little clearer picture as to what's going on. Are you able, apart from these repairs and renovations, are you able to meet your expenses each month with the income you have? Yes.

Okay, and do you have anything left over? Marginal. It's a marginal amount. So it'll cover my food costs, but no.

Yeah. And you don't really have any savings to speak of? So it cost me to take on some part time.

I just have a thousand. I spent some of my emergency funds to make some adjustments and some changes in my house to some repairs. Have you had a realtor in there to look at the home just to see whether you could go ahead and sell it in its current state or whether there's something that they would really strongly encourage you to do?

What did they say? Yes, I've had a realtor. Right now, if I wanted to sell, the realtor is saying, don't do anything with the condition.

I guess they're thinking minimally, I could come out with very little changes done in the home. And she was thinking somewhere around $240,000 would be the sale of my home. Okay, and what do you owe on it? So the home, I'm right at $35,000. So you only owe $35,000.

All right. Now, have you looked at where you would go if you were to sell this? Do you have an opportunity to downsize?

Because as your home value is increasing, so are all the others. So I want to make sure that if we're going to go through this, that you could in fact get this money, which you obviously net quite a bit, perhaps $200,000 or so. What would you do in terms of where you'd move? That's been the big dilemma. So the only thing is, I don't see how I can stay at a standstill because the last time I called, that was where things kind of went on pause, like, okay, if I sell, what do I do?

Where do I go? And how much will it cost? So here in Texas, the options are very, they're not very many because the cost of living is going up and up. So I would have to consider looking either rural or outside of Texas. Yeah. All right.

Well, I think that's the key. I mean, because you're living kind of close to paycheck to paycheck, there's really not a lot of reserves to fall back on. I certainly don't want you to take on any debt with regard to a home equity loan or certainly don't want any of this to go on credit card. So I'd kind of push the pause button on the repairs unless there's something that's absolutely critical.

And I'd really work hard to figure out kind of what does this next season look like? Where would you move? And could you find something a little further out that's perhaps a little smaller, maybe a townhome instead of a single family home? I mean, look at all of your options and see what could you buy for cash where perhaps there's not as many repairs that are needed.

Maybe there's some newer appliances in there where you could kind of reorient your budget with less expense because now you don't have a mortgage and where you don't have some of these repairs hanging over you. So I'd love to challenge you to do that homework and kind of begin and maybe this realtor can help to look seriously at what your other alternatives would be because I want you to have that plan before you go ahead with the sale. Let me also encourage you to visit our website MoneyWiseLive.org and connect with a coach, somebody who can give you their perspective and perhaps walk alongside you as you make these choices. We appreciate your call. Keep us updated and we'll certainly ask the Lord to give you some wisdom as you navigate this.

I know it can be challenging, but I'm confident the Lord will provide as you lean into your continued stewardship of his resources. We appreciate your call today, Nancy. Before we go back to the phones, it's Tuesday, which is not our normal day to talk to Bob Doll. Nevertheless, he's here with our market commentary. Bob is chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments where investments and values intersect. And Bob, I'll tell you what, CPI, it seems like inflation is always right at the forefront. We've got some headlines this week that were, well, it just said that these numbers are as high as they've been since what, the 90s?

Exactly. The highest level in 30 years. The consumer price index, Rob, as you probably know, increased for its 17th consecutive months. In year over year, we're running over 6%. That's so-called headline inflation, core inflation where they take out food and energy as if we can live without food and energy only at 4.6%. These are big numbers and inflation expected by Americans over the next 12 months, 5.7%.

That's the highest on record. So inflation is an issue. This notion that it's temporary or transitory is certainly going by the wayside and we have some issues to face in containing this rising price level. Yeah. But despite that, the consumer and the global economy remain strong, right?

Yes. Consumers are rising to the occasion because they have, in general, lots of money in their pockets because they haven't been able to spend it as normal through the pandemic and because the government has mailed a lot of them some checks. So the consumer is flush with cash and corporate America, Rob, as we've talked about before, has done an amazing job despite cost pressures, labor, raw materials, at passing their price increases on to consumers and businesses and we've not blinked. We've gone on and bought the products and so corporate America's earnings have been quite good and that's why the stock market continues to move higher.

Yeah. Near term, I suspect we can expect continued strength. Q4 is usually pretty good.

Beyond that, I know you've said choppy is perhaps the word to describe next year. I saw an article today from Morningstar saying because of their anticipated equity growth rates, they are encouraging investors to pull their typical 4% withdrawal rate in retirement down to 3.3. Are your thoughts consistent with those perhaps modest gains moving forward?

Yes, Rob. Given the starting point, reasonably high valuations in terms of price earnings ratios or price to sale, price to book, stocks are not all that cheap, especially if you believe inflation is going to stick around for a while and earnings have been so good. The corporate profit margins are at all-time highs. Hard to see them going higher, hard to see valuations going higher, so I think returns become more mediocre. I think stock returns will still outpace cash and bonds but not double digits like we've enjoyed in the last few years. Yeah.

And with inflation, we certainly don't want to be in cash because we're losing purchasing power all the time. All right, Bob, before we let you go, remind us where our trust ultimately should be. You covered it with the last caller. Our trust is in the Lord. He will get us through. He will provide.

You used those words. And I love what you said, and I'll reiterate it. It's not ours. It's all his. Everything we have, our bodies, our brainpower, our time, our relationships, and our money are all his. So the question always is not how much am I going to give, it's how much am I going to keep of what he's given us. Well said, my friend. Thank you for joining us. God bless. All right, talk to you next week. Bob Doll is chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments.

You can learn more at CrossmarkGlobal.com. Back to the phone lines. Traverse City, Michigan. Hi, Jeanette. How can I help you?

Hi, Rob. Yes, my husband is in hospice, and I am losing his income. He sold half of the business to his partner last month. In the meantime, because I knew he was passing here soon, I purchased a lot and have a builder. And I'm questioning now if I made the right move, should I have held off because he's living longer than expected and because I'm set to start in the spring.

Yeah, well, Jeanette, first of all, I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's condition, and I know this places quite a bit of hardship on you. As you think about this, you know, you've obviously already purchased this lot. What are the options before you as you consider your housing situation? We own our house completely, and I paid cash for the lot. Financially, I think I'm okay.

I'm not sure. He is getting some disability, too. Private also. And then I've been trying to get him to move for the past five years because it's way too big of a house, and it's only the two of us, and we're in our early 60s. Okay. All right. And so your plan was to sell the home, and then where would you live while you're building? Tell me about that.

Well, it would probably, where I live, houses are sparse, so it would probably sell very quick if I put it out in the market. Okay. And were you planning to stay there until the construction was complete and then move into the new home? Yeah. Okay.

All right. And you already have a relationship with the contractor. You know how much that's going to cost, and you've got a plan for how you would fund that? Or will that come out of the proceeds of the home sale and you'd use a construction loan? I have about $450,000 in the bank, and I have another condo that I'll be selling in about a year in North Carolina.

And I have an IRA and my husband's IRA. You know, there's enough moving parts here that I really am going to withhold my opinion here, and I'd love to get you connected with either a coach or a certified Kingdom advisor to get the complete lay of the land. And I'll personally help to navigate that with you so you get connected to somebody who can help. So stay on the line. My person is going to get your information. I'll follow up with you. We'll get you connected to somebody who can look at all the pieces and parts and help you make this decision. You hang in there. Thanks for your call.

MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. Thank you to Amy, Dan, Eric and Jim. Couldn't do it without them. Hope you'll come back and join us tomorrow. Lord willing, I'll be here. God bless you. Bye-bye.