Hazardous to Your Wealth

Proverbs 10-4 tells us a slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

I am Rob West. Sometimes we make conscious mistakes with our money. Sometimes they're the result of just not paying attention. Either way, they can be hazardous to your wealth. I'll talk about those missteps first today, then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Now, if you think you've made some poor financial decisions, don't let that opening verse discourage you. But take this opportunity to learn from your mistakes, and here's a verse to encourage you. Proverbs 19-20 reads, Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Who can't use more wisdom, right? So here are some common money mistakes you can correct, or better yet, avoid them in the first place. The whole idea is to hang on to the money you've worked hard to earn and to get that money working for you. So the first mistake that's hazardous to your wealth is living paycheck to paycheck, or put another way, spending all or most of what you earn.

If you do this, you're guaranteed to have nothing left at the end of the month. Sometimes this is called paying yourself first. No matter what, put a little something aside each month where you don't see it and don't spend it. Set up an automatic transfer of some amount of money from your checking account into savings. Then adjust your spending so that you meet all of your monthly obligations. You'll probably have to cut out some things that you've grown accustomed to. Now, sometimes people will say they just don't make enough to save.

Well, that's true for some, but it's a small minority. Almost everyone can cut something from their spending. A worthy goal is to save 10% of your income. If you can do that, you'll very soon start to see your savings grow. Once that happens, all you have to do is leave it alone, which leads to our next money mistake, not having an emergency fund. But if you've begun to set something aside in savings, that becomes your emergency fund.

Keep going until you have at least three months living expenses, but six months worth is definitely better. Which leads us to the next thing that's hazardous to your wealth, and that is paying interest on consumer debt like credit cards. And you get there by not having an emergency fund. So when an unplanned expense pops up, you have to go into debt.

You eliminate that mistake by not making mistakes one and two. But if you already have debt, the mistake is paying only the minimum monthly requirement. If you look closely at your monthly statement, you'll probably see a box that tells you how many years it will take to pay off your balance if you pay only the minimum.

Don't be surprised if it's 15 years or longer. This is a good opportunity to rethink how much things really cost. Let's say you go out to dinner by yourself and you end up putting $30 on your credit card.

If you were to pay that off according to the minimum monthly payment, it would end up costing you $50 or $60. The next decision that's hazardous to your wealth is buying a new car. Now we have nothing against buying a new car. It's a fact that some people have to buy new cars or at some point there wouldn't be any cars left on the road. But you should only buy a new car if you've saved up enough to pay cash for it. In fact, the goal should be to always pay cash for a car whether it's new or used. You can only do that if after you've paid off a car loan, you keep driving that car but continue to make payments to yourself into a savings account. You then use that money to buy your next car when you need it. Eventually by continuing to make payments to yourself after a loan is repaid, you'll have enough to buy the car outright. It may take a few cars to get there but eventually you'll make it. So buy dependable late model used cars until you can pay cash for a new one.

Won't that be a glorious day? The next money mistake that's hazardous to your wealth, especially if you're young, is not setting up a Roth IRA. Once you have your emergency fund in place, start putting money into a Roth. And you can do this even if you're contributing to a 401k at work. You can contribute $6,000 a year into a Roth with after-tax money, $7,000 if you're 50 or older. When you retire, you can withdraw that Roth money tax-free. Now our last thing that's hazardous to your wealth is buying too much house. Too often we think of a house as an investment that always pays off even though the housing collapse of 2008 proved differently and that's especially true these days with home values rising.

So keep your mortgage payment to 25% of your take-home pay and make sure you have at least 20% for a down payment. So that's our list of things that are hazardous to your wealth so you can take steps to avoid or eliminate them. Your calls are next. 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West and this is Money Wise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. We're delighted to have you along with us today on Money Wise Live.

I'm Rob West, your host. In just a moment, we'll begin taking your calls and questions on anything financial we'd love to hear from you. We've got lines open at 800-525-7000. Whatever's on your mind today, financially speaking, we'd love to get you into the mix. 800-525-7000.

We're going to begin today in Wisconsin. Amanda, thank you for calling. How can we help you?

Hi, thank you for taking my call. I had two questions actually about how much you need to earn to qualify for Social Security for an extended amount of time. The situation is my husband and I are dairy farmers. About 20 years ago, our tax advisor told him to start paying me as an employee. He's a sole proprietor. And then at that time, we could take our health insurance as a deduction. After we couldn't do that anymore, he still continued to pay me. But I had heard the other day that you need to earn a minimum of, it was like $5,000 some dollars a year.

I don't know, they said they raised that amount. So I was just kind of wondering, how much do I need to earn a year? And how many years do I have to earn that to qualify? I'm 56 years old. So you know, I'm looking at retirement down the road.

Very good. Yeah, I can certainly understand that. So your income is obviously reported to the IRS to earn credits toward Social Security. The number of credits you need to qualify for benefits is 40. And you earn those credits when you work and pay Social Security taxes. Now the number of credits only determines if you're eligible or not, you don't get any extra benefits for earning more than 40. Here's the key though, you can only earn four credits per year. And they're based on your total wages and self-employment income for the year. So that means you might work all year to earn four credits, or you could earn enough for all four in less time.

The number you mentioned was correct. It's $5,880 this year to get the maximum four credits. So you get one credit for every $1,470, or a total of $5,880 to get all four.

And that amount of earnings that it takes Amanda each year to earn a credit may change, but that's this year's number. So you earn $5,880, you get your max of four credits, you've got to have a total of 40 before you're eligible. So if you do the math, four into 40, it's going to take you 10 years of earning that amount if you get the max four credits every year to get to a place where you qualify. Now the amount that's paid to you is based on your 35 years of highest wages. So when you start collecting at a minimum of age 62 upwards of 70, that would be the cap in terms of when your benefits stop increasing. But once you get to at least 62, you can start receiving benefits.

And the amount that you're paid is based on your age, because if you start taking it before full retirement age, you're going to have your benefits reduced. So it's a function of your age and your 35 years of earnings. And every year you have earnings higher than one of your 35 previous, you'll replace one of those. And for any years where you don't have wages over 35 years, they're going to use zero for that year. So there's two numbers that you're focused on. One is the minimum number of credits to get benefits, and that's the magic number of 40. And then the amount is a function of your highest 35 years of earnings and the age that you start receiving benefits.

I realize there's a lot to that. Does that make sense to you? Yeah, yes it does. And then I was wondering, did that amount change over the years or has it always been that $1,470? No, that number does change. I don't have the historical number in front of me, but it has changed over time and increased.

So it has been lower than that in prior years. Okay. And then if I want to talk to somebody about the specifics of what I have, who would be the best person to talk with? Well, I would go straight to the Social Security Administration. You can schedule an in-person visit or a virtual visit. And what they will do, Amanda, is pull up your particular record based on your social security number and give you actual numbers based on projections that they can see. You know, one great check-in during the year is the report that you should get each year around your birthday that gives you an analysis of what's been paid in and what your projected benefits are based on kind of your work history. But at any time, you can schedule that appointment to get more detailed information and ask questions.

So go to ssa.gov, that's the Social Security's website, and set up a visit. And I think that'll give you the information you need. Well, thank you very much. All right. Thank you for calling and listening.

And we appreciate it very much. 800-525-7000 is the number to call to Naperville, Illinois. Hi, Susan.

How can I help you? Hi. I'm also calling about Social Security and Medicare. My husband, he was born in Canada. His parents immigrated from Ireland, and he was born in Canada.

They were planning on moving to the United States, but they had to wait a little period of time. And when he was 13 months old, they brought him here, and then they had six more children. And so they became citizens in 1962, and he always thought he was a citizen. And so he's gotten a voter's card, Social Security card. He's worked.

We've been married 40 years. And this January, he applied for Social Security, and they asked him if he was a citizen. And he said yes. But then they said, well, you need to show proof of citizenship. And he had passports. And he had passports.

He went to Ireland. He always thought he was a citizen. And he had statements from Social Security saying he's paid into Social Security. And so since January, we haven't been able to get Social Security for him. So I was going to retire last June from being a teacher, and I couldn't because he wouldn't qualify for Medicare. And if I quit working, he would not be covered. And he has major, you know, physical issues. And I mean, after working so hard, both of us all our life, and neither one of us can, now he got a job.

And because to cover him, but I'm afraid to retire because if he loses his job, then he's going to rely on me for Medicare. So it's a very frustrating, we've contacted congressmen and lawyers. And we filed something with the immigration service. But we haven't heard back. They're so slow and behind because of the pandemic.

Sure. So it's very frustrating because he always thought he was a citizen. And now they're saying you're not a citizen, like he was supposed to have a green card and apply when he was 18. But nobody ever said that because he thought when his parents became citizens, he, you know, it was a little dramatic. And I think that's what his parents thought as well. But they're dead now.

So we can't know what they were thinking. Yes. Well, it sounds like you're doing all the right things. I'm sorry to hear what you're going through. I know it's frustrating. And you're right, all of these departments, the IRS, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, they're all behind as a result of folks being displaced, not able to be in the office processing the information as they normally would have due to the pandemic.

And so, unfortunately, it's a waiting game. I suspect you did the form from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services 565, which is the replacement for citizenship document. And this was basically a form to basically provide proof of a US citizen. And, you know, if you discover that he is in fact not, then that would be the question as to what steps need to be taken to do that.

Hopefully, there was an oversight. He is, in fact, does have citizen status, and you can have that verified. But I would, if you haven't already, go to the website at uscis.gov. That's the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. You're able to file that in 565 online, which is the application for a replacement of a citizenship document that would be, obviously, the proof that you need. Clearly, if you discover that he is in fact not a US citizen, then that's a whole other process that you'll need to go through.

But I would do everything you can just to see if in fact he is and get that certificate of citizenship that you need to be able to prove that. And we'll certainly pray that the Lord will give you some wisdom, and hopefully that'll come through sooner rather than later. I realize it is a difficult spot that you're in, and so we'll ask the Lord to intervene there. But thank you for calling. Keep us updated. We'd love to hear how this turns out. And may the Lord bless you, Susan.

Well, more of your phone call is just around the corner. After this brief break, we'll be talking to Anthony in Chicago next up. He's looking to refinance his home, and we've got room for you as well.

Here's the number, 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Stay with us. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, your host.

Delighted to have you along with us. Are you looking for a financial professional that is a planner, an investment advisor, tax and accounting specialist who shares your values? Well, a certified kingdom advisor might be exactly what you're looking for.

These men and women have met high standards in training and integrity, and also from a regulatory standpoint, and they've been especially trained to bring a biblical perspective of money. You can find a certified kingdom advisor in your area when you visit our website, MoneyWiseLive.org. Just click find a CKA. Back to the phones today with a few lines open, 800-525-7000. In just a moment, Thomas in Cleveland wants to know with a potential settlement what he should do with that money.

Robin in Fort Myers is wondering about when she can begin collecting Social Security. But next up, Anthony in Chicago. Anthony, how can I help you? How are you doing today? Very good. Thank you, sir. Okay. God bless you, folks. I've been listening to you for years. My late, my late first, she got me, she got me addicted to your to the channel movie. So, okay, good.

But it's a great place to listen to for sure. Yes, sir. This is the situation I get. I bought a home back in 2002, and I ran into some financial trouble after I bought the house and went all the way to a big rookie court. And I was in a financial trouble after I bought the house and went all the way to a big rookie court and wound up, God led us to a company that was able to do a loan modification. And as of right now, and we have been for probably about three years now, we're back on track, all payments on time and God's open doors financially. And we also have a 2021 vehicle that we are on time with, we don't have any trouble paying our bills right now.

But I'm just thinking that as I'm getting older in my age, I'm thinking of the prospect of trying to find out if it's logical to try to refinance or try to put myself in a position where I could possibly sell and get out from under this house and move on because we do have some rearage also. Okay, very good. So if you were to continue paying on the mortgage, I assume you have a balloon that would come due on the back end, is that right? Yes, sir.

Okay. And at this point, at this point, do you have the credit score and the income to be able to refinance this home, assuming it's the right home for you and fits your budget? Could you refinance to a new mortgage that would allow you just to pay it out and fit it into your budget?

You know what, I'd have to get my score pulled. And also, at this time, I would be adding my wife on to the loan because when we first got it, I told him I wanted her added on as a husband and wife. But for some reason, they screwed it up. And I didn't find out till later that they only put me on the loan. But thank God all things work together for the good because it kept her credit score perfect. Sure.

Because she wasn't on it. Very good. Let me ask you, what do you believe the home is worth, Anthony? You know what, so right now, probably maybe 70,000, but that's just pulling a number out of the air. You believe if you were to sell it today, you would only get 70,000?

Possibly. What do you owe on it? My last statement, it said 70 grand on it, but also with that balloon included, I guess. Okay.

Well, here's the key. I think the first question is, is this the right home for you? Can you afford this home? If by adding your wife and with your credit score where it is, you could refinance it and the principal interest taxes and insurance payment would be no more than 25% of your take-home pay and you could fit it into your budget, I think that's the best way to go.

So I'd start there by just exploring that option. Check with your local bank or bankrate.com. If you find you can't qualify for a mortgage, well then we move forward from there. Keep us posted and we'll be right back on MoneyWise Live.

Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live. Just before the break, we were talking with Anthony and the key to having a mortgage that fits into your budget is to make sure that you go into it with the proper down payment or equity. I think one of the challenges is when we run right up to the mortgage, right up to the value of the home, we don't have any equity.

We put ourselves in a spot where we could potentially be upside down, unable to sell the home. So we want to have margin. We also want to make sure that payment fits well within our plan and usually that's going to mean keeping that under 25% of your take-home pay. But when you factor it all in, the key is not buying too much house such that it really cramps your ability to do other things, to give first, to have margin to save for the future. And so getting that right is key and in this low interest rate environment, we have the opportunity with a decent credit score to keep those expenses down.

But we certainly want to be careful at the home we purchase and not trying to push and stretch to buy too much house that's going to limit our flexibility in other places. But Anthony, we appreciate your call today very, very much. Let's head back to the phones. We've got a few lines open. 800-525-7000 to Fort Myers, Florida. Hi Robin, thank you for your patience.

How can I help? Hi, thank you so much for taking my call. I just want to first give God the glory for his perfect, perfect timing because I just got one of those social security notices that y'all were just talking about a little bit ago. And just like two hours ago in the mailbox and I was getting ready to google some of these questions and I get in my car and guess what you're talking about? It was perfect, this is awesome.

Very good. Yes, it's just like God, it's just so amazing. So anyway, the question is, can I still, can I keep working and collect at 62?

That's one question actually. Yes, and the answer is you can. Yeah, so you can start collecting social security at age 62. Your benefits though will likely be reduced by about a third of what they would have been if you continued working until age 66 or 67. So you'll take about a 30% reduction and that's locked in.

Now it doesn't mean it won't increase. The way you would increase it from that point would be to continue working and replacing any of your 35 years of highest wages. If you earn more than any of those 35, you can replace some of those. That will bring your benefits up and you'll have cost of living adjustments. But that reduced base amount that you begin collecting will be locked in or at least start at about 30% below what you would receive if you'd wait till full retirement age. Now in terms of you working, you can absolutely continue to earn money once you start benefits. You will have a reduction though of a dollar for every $2 you earn over $18,960. So let's call that $19,000. Any amount you earn over $19,000, you're going to see a dollar drop off for every $2 you earn over that amount.

Now that's not a permanent reduction though. That money that's withheld will be reimbursed to you later in increments once you reach full retirement age until it's all been fully restored. So that doesn't concern me as much as the fact that if you start taking it at 62, you're really going to kind of lop off this roughly 30% that you would have received in every check if you'd waited till full retirement age. Do you follow all that, Robin?

Yes. What if I were to invest every penny of that, just to put it away, to save it all? And that's certainly one option. I mean, if you think about it in terms of getting about an 8% guaranteed return with the IRS in terms of letting that continue to accrue versus what you might be able to get otherwise, you know, you can run the scenarios and you may come out ahead or maybe not.

You just have to see. But yeah, that is certainly one option. If you go ahead and take it now, start socking it away, get it invested, you may do better.

I think the question is just whether you want to assume that risk or you'd rather have the guaranteed increases that would come by delaying those, taking those benefits, given that you really don't need the money. Right. Right.

Exactly. Well, that's yeah. I believe, you know, tomorrow is not promised any of us. We don't know. I don't know if I'll make it to 70 or, you know, so that's just sort of, it's just something to pray about. Sure. Yeah. Something to think about. And you can begin playing with the numbers and running some scenarios and see which one you're most comfortable with.

But I think the key is starting with the facts and figures, which hopefully now you're better equipped to make that decision. We appreciate you listening and calling and hope to talk to you again in the near future. Cleveland, Ohio.

Hi, Thomas. How can I help you, sir? I want to find out if my retirement, I went through the situation where I have a large retirement and I'm trying to figure out if my job was to call me back because I'm in the middle of lawsuit with them right now. And I want to know if I win it, should I go back? And if that money is paying off, should I just take that money out and do other things with that money?

Because some of that I need to do some things with and I'd like to move part of it, but I don't know if it'll cost me some years. Okay. I'm trying to understand exactly what your question is. I understand you were terminated from your employer.

You're now in the middle of a lawsuit with that former employer that may result in a settlement. Is that right? Yes. Okay. And you're trying to determine if...

I don't have my retirement, but I also have my retirement money, but I'm not old enough to take my retirement down because I'll give me 59 and a half to take it and I'm not old enough to take it down right now. I'll have to wait. Yes. Well, that's right.

Yeah. The question is whether you want to leave it where it is or roll it out. How much do you have in that retirement account? It's like almost 200,000.

About 200,000. Okay. Yeah. I would look at rolling that out. I think the question is whether you want to move it to an IRA or to an employer retirement plan at your new employer, wherever you land. If they have a 401k, you could roll it in there. What are your plans at this point for work?

Well, I'm working right now and I am with an employer that has the 401k, but they don't allow you to join capital here. Okay. Very good.

Yeah. So you've got a couple of options. You could leave it there and roll it into this new 401k at any point and you'd want to contact your HR department to find that out. They may allow you to roll that in prior to when you're eligible to begin contributing out of salary deferral.

So that would be one question. If not, and you want to go and get it out of the current employer, although there's no urgency there, you could roll it to an IRA. And what I would do, Thomas, is find an investment advisor that could manage that for you, make the buying and selling decisions on your behalf as to which investments to choose. And you could find a certified Kingdom advisor there in Cleveland that you would interview and select on our website.

Just go to MoneyWiseLive.org, click find a CKA and I'd interview two or three, Thomas find the one that's the best fit for you. And then that person could open the IRA for you. You'd move the funds into that IRA.

That's not a taxable event. And then based on your goals and objectives, the investments would then be selected and managed for you moving forward. So you'd know that that's growing on an appropriately diversified basis. And then as soon as you're able, you could begin contributing at your new job. Does that make sense?

Do you have a preference that you like? As to an advisor? No, I'd interview two or three certified Kingdom advisors there in Cleveland. So go to MoneyWiseLive.org and click find a CKA. And I would start with that option first. This is a significant sum of money. And so I think finding an advisor who can manage this for you would be your best option. So I would do that right away.

And then soon as you find somebody, they can initiate the transfer for you. Thomas, thank you for your call, sir. We'll be right back on MoneyWise Live. Stay with us. Thanks for tuning in to MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, your host. This is biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. In just a moment, we'll head back to the phones.

We've got some great questions from Rochester and Florida and Spokane and Fort Myers. But first, it's Monday. Bob Dahl joins us each Monday for our market commentary. Bob is chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments, where investments and values intersect.

You can learn more at CrossmarkGlobal.com. And Bob, I hope you've had your seat belt on since I talked to you last. Sure have. As we've been talking, we expected volatility to move up in both directions. And since we talked a week ago, that's exactly what we got. Most of it was to limit to the downside. And today we have a big update, and we're kind of back to where we started.

Yeah, exactly right. What are the headlines you're looking at? What do you see? So, you know, to have this volatility with kind of unchanged, you got to have some big positives and big negatives. The positives remain good economy, very strong earnings. And the absence of alternatives.

Tina, there is no alternative. On the negative side of the ledger, we've got the Fed slowly taking the punch bowl away because they are finally, like the rest of us, worried about inflation. And despite the good things I said about the economy and earnings, they're very good, but they're slowing. And markets much prefer acceleration to the upside, not a slowdown.

And I could give you 10 more on each side, but they're the primary ones, Rob. Yeah, I suspect so. What about the Federal Reserve? It seems like there's been a lot more talk as of late that they may accelerate some of this monetary policy that we're talking about in terms of contracting what they have been doing previously.

What are you seeing there? Yes, for sure. I mean, the conversation the Fed has shifted from the downside risks to employment to the upside risks of inflation. And so they had a slow process in mind when they put the beginning of the tapering of bond purchases in place a few weeks ago. And now with the inflation kind of rearing its ugly head a little further, they're saying, we better accelerate that. They're not saying it this way, but basically they're saying, then we have the opportunity to raise rates sooner than we originally thought if we want to and need to.

Yeah, no question about that. Now, Bob, as we head into next year, I know you're preparing to prepare your 10 annual predictions. I'm not going to ask you for a preview, but you have said you expect stocks still to outperform bonds. It's the place to be with a balanced portfolio, right? Yes, it's exactly where we are, but don't expect stocks to be up 10, 15, 20% like they are for lots of investors this year. It's going to get tougher from here. It's going to be bumpy and there'll be a lot of stocks that go down. They won't all go up. Yeah, which is why this is a great time to begin thinking about hiring a professional to manage your investments for you.

If previously you've not had one. Bob, a lot of our listeners are calling asking about cryptos. Obviously, this has been in the news in the last week in particular, just because of the downside volatility, which I think underscores the reason why we don't want to be speculating with God's money on the high flyers.

I'd love for you to weigh in on that conversation. Yeah, I'm coming at it from a fairly ignorant standpoint. When I don't understand something well enough, I pass and leave it to somebody else. And that's where crypto falls in. I know enough to say crypto technology is for real and it will have some staying power. But who the winners and losers are, what the regulatory environment is going to be over this stuff, we just don't know, Rob.

So you get big moves in both directions. I say to people, if you've done well, God bless you. Take a little profit.

Yeah. Speaking of doing well this year, and perhaps we'll finish here, there's a real opportunity, Bob, to be generous with some of those investment returns that would otherwise generate capital gains, right? Well said. I mean, if you had $50,000 in the stock market 18 months ago, today that's worth about 100,000.

Stocks have doubled since the pandemic low. And so I say to people, you don't expect to have $100,000 necessary if you had 50 before. Take some of it and give it away.

Give it to so many worthwhile causes to build the kingdom. Yeah, very good, Bob. Always appreciate your comments. You enjoy your week, my friend, and we'll talk to you next Monday. Talk next Monday. Bye bye. All right. Bob Doll, chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments.

You can learn more about Bob's funds and the firm at crossmarkglobal.com. Let's head back to the phones. Claudette is in Fort Myers.

Claudette, how can I help? Okay, we, thanks for taking the call. We are in the process of redoing our wealth. My husband, he has five, eight children. I came into the marriage with three, eight grandchildren.

He has, I am at six. He has one great-grand, while I have two. So the younger ones are between the age of, total grandchildren are between the age of three to 29. So we are thinking because the children are doing well, we should not include them in our will. We should focus on the younger grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And we are struggling with that because we can, because it's combined children and grandchildren, we're just wondering what effect that will have when it's time for it to be distributed.

Sure. Claudette, did you and your husband talk prior to marriage or have you talked since then to decide whether or not you want to keep assets that were accumulated prior to your marriage separate for your respective children or whether you wanted to combine everything and then distribute it on that basis? Combine everything. Right now it's sitting where whichever of us should pass first, the other one will get everything. And then so it would be left up to the person that left back to distribute it. But now we are going to do it over and be specific.

That really is about 20 years old. Okay, very good. And I think it's probably, well, it's certainly time to update that. But before you do that, Claudette, I would really consider how you want to approach this in terms of the amounts that you want to go to each person. And one of the principles that Ron Blue talks about in his book Splitting Heirs is that if you love your children equally, you will treat them uniquely. And what he means by that is there's this idea that we don't necessarily have to distribute that which we're going to distribute to heirs.

And the other place to distribute it would be ministry, give it away. But that which is going to go to heirs, we don't automatically have to give the same amount to everyone based on their need and what resources they have and whether others have a greater need than perhaps one of the other children or grandchildren. So once you talk and pray through that, how you want that distributed, you come up with the rationale, you can change it over time, but you go ahead and make some decisions. And then you would have the will updated to reflect those decisions. And if you needed a trust to be able to be able to distribute it beyond your life to minor children over time, based on certain criteria, that could be put in place. All of that would be done in the context of a conversation and then documents that would be drafted by an estate planning attorney.

And I'd recommend somebody who shares your values, somebody who's a believer. But I think the starting point is to figure out exactly how you want to distribute those assets and on what basis, because the documents and the legal instruments just reflect that and carry out your wishes. In order to help you make those decisions, I want to send you a copy of this book that I just referenced. It's called Splitting Heirs.

It's by Ron Blue, and I think it's the best book on this topic, not in the how of estate planning and wealth transfer, but in the why, the decision making process from a biblical perspective. So I would start there, make those decisions, then have the documents drafted. And then I think the next step is to communicate to your heirs why you've done what you've done and how that's going to happen so that all of that is clear and not being discovered after the fact, after both of you pass away. So listen, Claudette, you stay on the line. We'll get your information. We'll get this book right out to you. I think it'll be a real blessing to you. Let's take one more call today before we wrap up.

John's in Spokane, Washington. Go right ahead, sir. Hi, Ron. Thanks for taking my call. Real quick, I retired from the military about 28 years ago, and my income took a major reduction. You said earlier in the show that Social Security benefits are based on your 35 high years of earning. Do they have to be 35 consecutive years, or will I lose my higher earning military pay? No, they do not have to be consecutive. So it's just straight up your highest 35 years of earnings are averaged to determine your Social Security benefit along with your age based on when you start claiming Social Security benefits. So it's not consecutive. It's just the highest 35 of all the years you've been paying in to the Social Security system. And any years that you earn higher amounts moving forward can replace any of those 35 that were lower than that moving forward, even after you begin claiming your benefits.

Does that make sense? Yes, it does. I started claiming about 16 months ago, and I was concerned about losing part of my military wages. Gotcha. Yep. No, that won't be the case.

As long as you paid Social Security taxes, that's going to count, and you'll have the average of those highest 35. And we appreciate you checking in with us, John. Hopefully that's the good news you were looking for, sir.

God bless you. Well, folks, that's going to about do it for us today. We've covered a lot of ground. There's a lot to talk about when it comes to managing God's money wisely. But when we think about it, it all kind of boils down to these simple principles. We want to give generously. We want to live within our means. We want to avoid debt. We want to have some margin in our financial life so we can accomplish our goals. And then lastly, we want to set long-term goals so we know where we're headed. And if we do that, then that will put us in a position to experience God's best, recognizing His ownership and our role as stewards of His resources.

We want to live with contentment and live well within His provision. Thanks to my team today, Amy, Melody, Dan, and Jim. Thank you for being here. MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. Come back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you there. God bless you.