Got Long Term Care Insurance?

They say you should always be nice to your kids, because one day they'll choose your nursing home. Hi, I'm Rob West.

Okay, it's an old joke, but there's some truth to it. One way to keep more decision-making power in your hands is to have long-term care insurance. I'll talk about that first today, that 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. Okay, the simple truth is, if you don't have long-term care insurance or a huge pile of money, you'll be limited to nursing facilities that accept Medicaid.

Most of them do, but they're not necessarily the best. Now, you're probably thinking, but long-term care insurance is so expensive. And it does seem that way, until you look at what assisted living care costs, on average, about $275 a day or more than $8,000 a month. Premiums vary widely depending upon your age, health status, and the area you live. According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, the average policy will cost around $2,500 a year for a couple at age 55.

That figure jumps almost $1,000 a year if the same couple purchases a policy at age 60. And it only goes up from there, so that age range, 55 to 60, is probably the best time to purchase a long-term care policy. It might be helpful to explain what long-term care is and isn't. It's insurance that covers your expenses if an illness, disability, or impairment prevents you from performing everyday activities, including bathing, dressing, eating, and walking.

If you can't do those things on your own, you can't earn a livable salary or care for yourself. The older you are, the more expensive long-term care insurance becomes. Now, here's what long-term care insurance isn't. It's not health insurance. It won't cover the treatment of an illness to improve your health. It just pays for the care needed to maintain the quality and routine of your daily life. So, long-term care insurance is a supplement designed to cover what health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid might not cover. It doesn't replace health insurance.

But that doesn't mean you're not getting a lot of bang for your buck. Long-term care insurance covers a long list of important services, starting with adult daycare facilities. These are activity centers for seniors that provide a certain amount of supervision with a minimal level of care. They might have social workers and medical personnel on staff. It will also pay for home care services that help with things like cooking, cleaning, and bathing. It also covers assisted living facilities for people who need help with daily activities but don't require nursing. Respite care is also covered.

This provides family caregivers with intermittent breaks so they can maintain their own lives. It might include home-based care, adult daycare, and short-term institutional care. Then, of course, there is nursing home care that provides help with everyday functions and medical care. A long-term care policy may also cover stays in specialized nursing homes that provide care for diseases like Alzheimer's. But no matter what kind of care you might need, insurers know it's cheaper to pay for it if you're able to stay in your own home. So policies will cover home modification costs for things like remodeling bathrooms for wheelchair accessibility. And of course, long-term care insurance will typically pay for hospice care when a policyholder is nearing the end of life. By now, you're probably wondering, should everyone get long-term care insurance?

The answer is most, but not all. Some people don't need it and some simply can't afford it. Generally, if you've accumulated enough wealth to pay for long-term care without seriously depleting those assets, you don't need it.

But you're in a very small group. And if you have very little in assets, you probably can't afford it. If you're in the middle, where the vast majority of us are, then you do need it. Without long-term care insurance, you could easily burn through your life savings if you ever need an extended stay in one type of facility or another. But some of you may be thinking, I don't need long-term care insurance because Medicaid will cover that care for free if I go into a nursing home.

Ah, not exactly. Medicaid is designed to cover long-term care for low-income people only. And that means you'll have to use up most of your assets paying for care before Medicaid kicks in, so not really free at all. And then of course, some people try to hide their assets and still qualify for Medicare, but this is dishonest and Christians shouldn't do it.

Proverbs 3 27 reads, do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. Well, I hope all of this has convinced you to start thinking seriously about getting long-term care insurance, especially at age 55 and beyond. Your calls are next 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West and we'll be right back. Thanks for tuning in to Money Wise Live. I'm Rob West, your host. We're so glad to have you along with us today. This is biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.

What are you wrestling with today? As you think about your role as a steward or a caretaker, perhaps a trustee of God's resources, well, we want to reflect the master's wishes. A trustee manages the money according to the trust document. Well, we might think of that as the Bible, God's Word that gives us principles, more than 2,300 verses that deal with this topic of money and possessions, more than half of Jesus' parables. It was obviously on the heart of God, and I believe that's because it's often, at least in my view and experience, the chief competitor to lordship. If something's going to derail God from his rightful place and first position in our lives, it's most often going to be money and the things that money can buy. And so what if we bring our resources, the Lord's resources that we're managing under his lordship, and we follow his principles? Well, money then becomes a tool to accomplish his purposes. The question is, what would he have us to do? And as we make daily decisions, what are they saying about what's most important to us as we spend to provide for our families and build relationships and enjoy what God has given us, but do that within his provision so we don't take on debt?

In fact, living on less than you earn means you'll have margin, so you can give more and follow the leading of the Lord, so you can save, so you can get out of debt, and all of that leads to real financial freedom. Well, that's what we're after here on MoneyWise Live. Let's do that together. We've got some lines open today. We'd love to hear from you with your questions. The number? 800-525-7000. In just a moment, we'll be talking to Karen in Michigan. She's taking care of her dad and wants to know about helping him with his situation.

Rhonda's in Somerville, South Carolina, wanting to talk about the stock market in light of these interesting times, but we're going to begin today in Chicago. Nova, thank you for your patience and for calling back today. How can we help you? Hi, I just thank you for taking my call. I just wanted to ask for advice, I guess, about my financial circumstance, and possibly seek out different resources that I haven't thought about yet. I've been in chronic pain for three years, and they finally have ordered the correct MRI this year.

They want to do the surgery, so I need a coccygectomy, and I need a microdiscectomy. So I've sought out all the resources that I possibly can. I'm a foster kid, so I don't have any family.

I'm pretty socially awkward, so I don't really have any friends. I have no support right now in this time, I guess. So I've reached out to the Chicago financial assistance, but they're backed up, and I haven't heard anything from them. Sounds like you're in a tight spot, Nova, and I'm glad you've called today. Let me just assure you that the Lord knows what you're going through, and He's there.

He's our perfect Heavenly Father that we all have in common, and His provision, really, He won't delegate that responsibility to anyone else. And yet, we have an opportunity when the body of Christ is in need, as you're expressing right now, to come around one another. So I'm praying that the Lord will bring some people into your life that will help you in this difficult time. Let's talk about where you're at right now and some of the decisions you need to make moving forward, and I'm so sorry to hear about your health status. Are you able to cover your bills apart from these medical needs, based on the work that you have and the expenses you have?

Well, so I was engaged earlier this year, and the day that we signed the lease, I decided that it was not a good engagement, and I cut it off. And so I got put with all those bills, kind of by choice. But yeah, so it's been kind of rough. And then the fact that like, it's really hard to work with the amount of pain that I'm in every day. But I work every single day right now.

I'm a housekeeper at a hospital, which is not a fun job. But unfortunately, I'm not able to go seek out a loan because the job that I'm working at right now is through like a gig app. It's like all these gig work apps. So it's not like a permanent solution to employment, I guess.

Sure. So you're currently living in an apartment that you're renting, and you're working these various gigs. Would you be able to seek out full-time employment based on those skills that you have? So you could be a W-2 employee and have some more consistent income that would be documented that you could use in the future when you're ready to buy something? So I tried that. The thing is, because I would be starting as a trainee, like most places around here in Chicago start you off at like $11 an hour.

And that's what happened to me last month. I worked at Red Lobster, and not only did they not give me enough hours, they gave me like three shifts a week, but they also were paying me only $11 an hour for training. And there's a lot of jobs that I'm just not physically able to do right now because like, my back is like basically disabling me, which is fortunate.

Yes. Well, let's talk about the medical issues you have. So what expenses are you looking at here in the near term? Well, so fortunately, I have Medicaid, so they, well, they're working, right now my surgeon's working to get the Medicaid to cover it, which I hopefully, because they, Medicaid's kind of annoying sometimes. But yeah, so basically, it's just my living expenses right now. I still owe $500 for this month. And then I would have to say February and March, and hopefully I'm recovered by like the end of March so that I can start working again, which I think is hopeful.

I think for coccygectomy, it's like two to like eight weeks on average for recovery time. So then I have the microdiscectomy, I don't know. So the real challenge, and I'm thrilled to hear that Medicaid is or should cover those medical expenses because we want you to get on the road to recovery here and address the medical challenges you have. The real dilemma though, Nova, is in the interim when you're not working, you really don't have any reserves to fall back on. Is that what you're most concerned about? Yeah.

So the thing is I have to save up right now, like February and March. Yeah. In order to recover otherwise. Yes. Otherwise I can take the surgery now and I'll have to wait.

But the thing is like, I'm in so much pain every single day that I, that I have to work that it's like, it's like I'm only 25 and I can barely even work. Like, yes. Sorry.

Yes. No, I understand. Well, let's do a couple of things here, Nova. Number one, I want to pray for you in just a moment. Ask the Lord to intervene miraculously when your health situation. I'm going to ask that he would provide for your needs right now. He knows your needs.

But we're going to call on him to provide miraculously here in this situation financially. I want to do a couple of things as well. I'd like to give you a gift of what we call Career Direct, which is an assessment that perhaps could help you hone in on the intersection between your skills and your passions, how God has wired you and various job paths, career paths that would exist out there today. And I realize, depending upon your health, although Lord willing on the other side of some of these procedures, maybe things will be much better. But I'd like for you to know where you're headed and perhaps get a sense of where the Lord may be leading for full-time work.

And along with that assessment will be a career counselor that would come alongside you and help you interpret the information and get pointed in the right direction. And so perhaps once you're feeling better, you'll have a better sense of where the Lord is leading for your work. I'd also like to ask the MoneyWise community.

You've heard Nova's story today. If you'd like to help in this interim, we'd love to facilitate that. Our team is able to look into each of these situations, assess the need, and then respond with whatever assistance you might be able to provide. If you'd like to help Nova, just email us, info at moneywise.org, info at moneywise.org. We can make that happen. Nova, we're going to pray off the air.

So you hold the line and we'll be right back. Delighted to have you along with us today on MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decision. Well, I was able to pray with Nova off the air. What a delightful young lady, was able to remind her that God created her on purpose and for a purpose. And we're going to connect her with a career counselor. Again, if you'd like to be helpful to her financially in this really difficult time where she's facing these real medical challenges, just email us, info at moneywise.org. One of the things we do as a ministry is something called Helping Hands, where periodically as the Lord places individuals who are on the program, on the hearts of our listeners, our team is able to vet those needs to make sure they're real and then help to provide assistance that you provide by connecting those financial resources to our callers in unique situations. So we'd like to do that for Nova as your lead.

Just email us, info at moneywise.org. Well, we've got one line open today. We're going to head right back to the phones. If you'd like to take that last line with your question today, 800-525-7000.

Rhonda's in Somerville, South Carolina. Rhonda, thank you for calling. How can I help you? Well, thank you for taking my call. I have unfortunately, fortunately come into inheritance and I, you know, I'm to the point now of investing, but kind of a little gun shy with, you know, the volatility of the stock market and those kinds of things. So just kind of needing a little bit of advice. Yeah. Yeah.

So talk to me. You said you had an inheritance. Would you mind sharing how much you received?

It was, it was over 500,000. Okay. And that's all in cash right now or money market? Yes. Okay. And do you have an investment professional that you work with? Yes, I had, had started.

Yes. I started an IRA and then also a Roth account. Okay.

All right. But those, obviously you'll only be able to put in a very small amount. Did you receive this as an inherited IRA or is it really just in a taxable account at this point? It's in, it's in a savings account at this point. Just a savings account. So, okay.

Very good. And you said you opened an IRA and a Roth, but do you have a trusted investment advisor that you've worked with in the past who's handled or managed investments for you? Just through the IRA and the Roth, I have not, you know, delve into the, I guess that's my concern. It's the risk of the amount of money and wanting to honor my parent and that leaving me that amount of money. And that's, I just, I don't want to, I just don't want to misuse it. I understand completely. Well, and, and you're, you're making, by placing this call, that tells me Rhonda, that you want to be a good steward of this. I hear you, that you want to honor your mom and dad.

You're now the steward. They've entrusted this to you. And so seeking wise counsel, following biblical wisdom and managing this, I think is key. So I think the first step before you do anything is to determine how you want to allocate this money. According to your priorities that you've prayed through and that God has led you to, I would suggest perhaps if you don't have an emergency fund, this would be a great time to shore that up. If you have any debt, this would be a time to consider paying that off. Certainly consumer debt like credit cards and cars, but even accelerating the payment of your house would be one option.

Looking at any short or medium term goals that you might want to set a portion aside for, including giving, being generous and giving to things that are on your heart or that your mom and dad would have loved for you to support. But then beyond that, with anything that's left over, that's long-term in nature, and I would define that, Rhonda, as money that has a time horizon of more than 10 years. I think being able to begin to move that into the market, even given some of the challenges we have ahead, and we do have some, you know, we're in an interesting time right now where the Federal Reserve has been kind of propping our economy up for a long time by expanding their balance sheet and buying assets, and that's flooded the markets with cash, which has led to rising stock prices. Now, we have a very strong economy, we have a very strong consumer, and corporate earnings have been phenomenal. But given the fact that the Fed has said very clearly that they're going to be pulling back their investments and purchases, given the fact that interest rates we know are going up, given the fact this market is probably ahead of itself a bit, we could see a downward trend over the next couple of years.

We could have a what's called a correction of 10%, even 20%. So I would want you to know that going into it, but here's the thing, as long as you're moving into the market systematically, you're properly diversified, and here's the key, you're going to have a long time horizon, so you're thinking 10 plus years, I think it's still prudent, given the challenges that we may find ourselves seeing in the next couple of years, to think about investing this money, again, according to your goals and objectives, and with the proper investments that match your time horizon, your age, and your risk tolerance. Because given the inflation we're experiencing right now, you're going to be losing purchasing power on this money every month by not investing it in assets that have the potential to grow. But the key is, you have to understand that for any portion that you invest, again, you could see a downward leg here in the next year or two, and you'd have to be willing to say, that's okay, I've got a long time horizon, if the market were to roll over and move into a downward cycle, it will eventually come back and move to higher ground, and I would be investing with that in mind. And for that reason, Rhonda, I would also say that it would be really important for you to find an investment professional that you could work with.

I'd interview two or three, find the one that's the best fit for you, with the right experience and the right, you know, communication that will match what you're looking for, and can really understand your goals and objectives and what you're trying to accomplish with this money that your mom and dad have left you, and that can really then take and make the buying and selling decisions of the investment portfolio in light of all of that, and then, you know, move forward from there. But I've thrown a lot at you. Give me your quick thoughts here. Well, I mean, everything's paid off. My house is paid off. I don't have any debt.

I have no debt. So that's why I feel, I feel, I guess, a little more comfortable in taking this plunge. Yes. But what I'm hearing is that probably needs to be, I need to do something, but I don't have to necessarily do all of it all at once, but at least get started with something and know that there will be some ups and downs, but overall, a 10-year projection, it should overall be on the positive side.

You said that very well, Rhonda. A certified Kingdom Advisor in your area would be best found at our website, MoneyWiseLive.org. Just put in your zip code when you click Find a CKA. I'd interview two or three. Hold the line. We'll talk a bit more off the air, and we'll be right back on MoneyWise Live. Thanks for tuning in to MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, your host. We're delighted to have you along with us today. We've got some great questions lined up.

We'll be taking those in just a moment. Let me first say, we want to thank those of you who supported this ministry, MoneyWise Media, at year end. It was an incredible blessing, but there's still an opportunity. This is a listener supported ministry. Everything we do, this daily broadcast, our MoneyWise coaches, certified Kingdom Advisors, the MoneyWise app, the MoneyWiseLive.org website, it's all as a result of your generous support. So if you're a part of the MoneyWise family, you'd like to support this ministry, we'd love to hear from you. You can give quickly and easily online when you visit MoneyWiseLive.org. Just click the donate button. You'll also find a toll-free number if you'd like to give over the phone, or if you'd like to mail in a physical gift, you can do that there as well. Just hit MoneyWiseLive.org and click the donate button, and thank you in advance.

Let's head back to the phones today. Michigan is where Karen's located. Karen, how can I help you?

Hi, so thanks for taking my call. I'm taking care of my dad who just turned 90, and he didn't have any health care in place for long-term care insurance or anything like that, so I've been taking care of him for about four months. Well, he is a veteran, and he does meet the requirements to receive some assistance through what a program called Aid and Attendance. I think it's up to like $2,000 a month that you can get either for whoever is taking care of him, like myself, or you could put it towards a facility. So I'm wondering, currently, I think he's going to be staying with me indefinitely, and I have questions about maybe taxing, or would I be like an independent contractor?

And, you know, how would I... Yeah. Well, yeah, I would check with a tax professional on this, just because there's so many nuances here. Number one, can you claim your dad as a dependent? Number two, just looking at whether, you know, you are an independent caregiver. I mean, that's used to describe a home care professional who doesn't work for an agency, you know, who's paid more than $2,100 a year. But, you know, as a family member, things are a bit different, and so you're going to want to make sure as you're getting all this set up, you do it right, you understand the implications of it, and what you can do to not only potentially claim your dad as a dependent, but caregiver deductions that would be available as you're providing care.

There is a family caregiver tax exemption, and you can deduct certain care expenses depending upon the percentage they are of your, you know, annual taxable income and the income that he's receiving. So there's just a number of factors here that I think, you know, will vary depending upon your situation. Do you normally prepare your own taxes, Karen?

No, my husband had just sold a business like four years ago, and so we usually have somebody do it for us. Okay, so this is a great opportunity for you to talk to that individual about what's going on here, just to get you set up, understand, you know, how all of this should work. So you're handling it properly, taking full advantage of anything you have that would reduce your taxes as a result of the expenses you're incurring, but also the income that you're receiving as well, given that your dad, you know, is living with you, you're caring for him, and he has these sources of income coming in.

So I would be hesitant to give you specific advice over the radio, but I think this would be something that your tax professional could advise you on very clearly. Grateful for what you're doing to honor your dad in this season of life. This is on the Lord's heart, clearly. We read in Scripture, and I know he's honored by what you're doing.

So thank you for sharing your story, and I would get some professional counsel as you're moving forward. God bless you. Longview, Texas is where David is. David, how can I help you, sir?

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my call. I am thinking about getting a loan to take some equity out of my house. Since interest rates are low, I thought of investing it to get another couple of percent above what I would owe on the mortgage if I took the money out of the house. And thinking about taking about 60 percent out, the house is paid for. But at my age, I'm 74. I just wondered what you thought about doing something like that.

Yeah, David, I appreciate the question. You know, I'm not a big fan of this approach. And the reason is, number one, at age 74, you would typically have a fairly conservative investment strategy. So it would be challenging to, with that strategy, overcome even a low interest rate mortgage after taxes, because it would all be invested taxable. Number two, you're giving up the flexibility that comes from being completely out of debt.

You're completely unencumbered. And I think there's just a lot of peace of mind that comes from that. Number three, I think we're potentially in for a really rocky stock market here over the next couple of years. It's going to be quite volatile. Now, if you're in it for the long term, it's the place to be with long-term money. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying everybody should get out of the stock market. But we could see a pretty major correction here, just given what the Fed's about to do, given the interest rates rising, given the fact that corporate earnings have a tall hill to climb to keep up with where they've been. Not to mention the fact that we've got inflation on the scene. And so if we were to see a 20 percent down leg in the market here in the next year or two, you might be really questioning the wisdom of pulling this money out. You get your statement one quarter and it's down 20 percent or more, which could be very possible if we get into a real sharp, short-term correction. Now, if you knew that going in and you said, well, I'm ready for that and because this is long-term money, I can wait it out, then I would say, yeah, it would recover over time.

But I think just given all of that, the conservative nature of an investment strategy at your age and stage, the potential challenges we have ahead and what you're giving up by taking a home that's paid for, pulling the equity out for the purposes of investing, it's just not a strategy I would be real excited about. But give me your thoughts. Well, I've been praying about it and I'm sort of on the fence and what you say makes a lot of sense. And so that's kind of what I think about it. Yeah, okay. Well, you know, I think ultimately it's between you and the Lord, David.

You're the steward. And so I would continue praying about it until you have a real peace. I mean, if this was confirmation of something you're already sensing, great, because I do feel pretty strongly about it. But at the end of the day, I would never presume to tell you what to do, giving you my counsel and ultimately I think it's between you and the Lord. So you take that and continue to pray through it. And we'll ask the Lord to give you some real wisdom here as you make the final decision.

But that's my best advice today. And I do appreciate with sincerity you checking in with us and raising this question. It's a good one. And God bless you. Linda's in Florida. I've been patiently waiting. Linda, how can I help you today?

Hi. I have a 401k with fidelity that I'm going to put into an IRA to give me more options, you know, for investing. And my neighbor said that I should take some of that money every year and put it into my Roth IRA so that when I die, my children don't have to pay taxes on that money. I didn't even know that that was a possibility. And I wanted to know what you thought about that idea.

Yeah. You know, you certainly could do that. I think that's something you ought to talk through as a part of a larger estate plan. But the idea is sound because you're right. As an inherited IRA, which is what this 401k money would be when it's passed on, they will pay taxes on it as they pull it out. Whereas if you go ahead and pay the tax now and it's in the Roth, there's some benefits to that. Clearly you would want to do that over time so you don't mount up too much in the way of taxes. So I'm going to ask you mount up too much in the way of taxes.

So I talked to your CPA about that, but I don't think that's bad advice at all as long as it's given proper attention. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live.

So glad to have you along with us today. We'll be going back to the phones here in just a moment, but we have an opportunity to hear from our good friend Bob Dahl, chief investment officer of Crossmark Global Investments. Bob joins us each week to share his market commentary. And Bob, I know last week you were with us, gave us the highlights of some of your 10 predictions for the year.

I know you've already released them publicly. So is there anything you might want to drill down on specifically as to what you're expecting? Well, let's talk about the equity market. Our equity prediction is that we'll have the first 10% correction since the pandemic. More volatility and returns for the year will disappoint the bulls. I don't think we're going to have a year that's as good as earnings are. Earnings will be good because the economy is good, but it's valuations that we struggle with. With the Fed soon to raise rates, with interest rates moving up out the curve, we just think valuation levels, PE ratios are going to have a little bit of a challenge. So we're not bearish, Rob, but we think it's going to be a volatile trading frustrating year.

Yeah. What about the Fed? You know, historically, they've, at least in the last couple of decades, and when the market sees, let's say, a 20% down leg, they're rushing in buying assets through quantitative easing, lowering interest rates. With inflation where it is now, are they going to be hard-pressed to follow suit if we were to see that type of correction?

Yes, they would, Rob. I mean, inflation, remember they used that word transitory for way too long, finally gave up on it, recognizing we have some inflation in the system. It's not going to go away all that easy. And now they're trying to fight it. They're trying to catch up. They're behind the curve, as it were, and they've accelerated the pace at which they're going to taper their fixed income purchases. And, you know, if we have this conversation, and we did go back to Labor Day, will the Fed raise rates in 2022?

Maybe, maybe not. Now it's, are they going to raise them two times, three times, four times? So the world's changing, and inflation is the reason, Rob, we got to get that out of the system. So what does that mean, then, if the Fed is not able to come to the rescue of the financial markets in the same way they have in the past? Are we going to see a market that has increased volatility and a larger possibility for major declines, given that they can't quote-unquote prop it up? You know, so I think they will adjust their pace of raising rates if we were to come into that kind of period. We think the economy and earnings are strong enough that it's unlikely we get a massive drop that lasts a long period of time. Could we get a smack like we saw the first part of the year? We had an updated day, thank goodness, but, you know, it's been pretty painful year to date prior to today, and we could have more of that sort of thing.

But the title of our weekly commentary this week was something like, we need good earnings for the fourth quarter, which we're about to release to make up for the headwinds of this valuation problem. Yes. What about the rest of the world, Bob? Are the economies of the world doing and seeing similar things to what we are with regard to inflation and their equivalent of their Federal Reserve, their central bank around the world? Yes, we are.

In fact, dozens of central banks have already begun the tightening process, the raising rates process ahead of the Fed, because they're seeing inflation as well. The good news for the U.S. is our economic growth so far is better than most other places, so we're in a pretty good spot. Very good. Bob, quick comments on just what you're seeing happening in the faith-based investing space there as you lead the team from an investment standpoint at Crossmark. Tell me what you're encouraged by. I'm encouraged by the fact that both financial advisors and the ultimate client are asking the questions. That is to say, hmm, maybe I really ought to line up my investments with my values and my belief system.

And when they do that, immediately they need to know, how do I do that? And that's where firms like ours step in and say, you know, this is what we do for a living, let's see if we can help. So the curiosity factor is increasing and that will lead, we think, to good results. Very good. Bob, grateful for you stopping by today, folks. If you want to read Bob's predictions, get signed up for his weekly investment commentary, and learn about the funds that he manages, visit CrossmarkGlobal.com. Bob, we'll talk to you next week.

Sounds great. All right, God bless you, my friend. 800-525-7000, back to the phones.

Antonio's in Chicago. Antonio, I understand you're looking for a car for your daughter. Go right ahead. Yes, correct. Hi, thank you for taking my call.

Sure. So I'm not sure if I should be buying a newer car or releasing it. The car that I'm looking at is about a 2015 all-wheel drive, reliable car. It's about $15,000 now, as you know, the car prices have gone up. And so, you know, with fees and everything else, maybe $17,000, versus if I, you know, there's leasing options that are at $200 a month. So three years, looking at maybe $200, and then I think they want a down payment of about like $4,800.

So that's about $12,000. So I'm trying to weigh it because if I were to resell the car or look at the value in the car at a resale value in three years from now on the one that I'm buying in the 2015, then, you know, I don't know what to guess it at, but I don't know, let's just say $5,000, which would be about the same if I were to buy one at $17,000, $15,000, $17,000, versus leasing one at $12,000. And I'm not sure what else I'm missing on the leasing option and how to weigh that decision.

Sure. Well, you know, at the end of the day, and I appreciate the question, you know, leasing is typically going to cost you more than buying a car outright, especially if you buy a car that's a few years old where you've missed the bulk of the depreciation. You know, depreciation happens most quickly in the first couple of years. And if you'll buy a good quality late model used car and then drive it till the wheels fall off, as Howard Dayton, the former host of this program, always said, you know, that's going to be the most cost effective way where you can come in and buy something and just drive it for a long, long time. And if you maintain it properly and it's been maintained before you buy it, you know, you should be able to drive a car for 200,000 miles or more. The challenge with leasing cars is you've got mileage restrictions, your potential for extra fees, early termination, mile overages.

There's a range of other unexpected costs in the fine print. You might need additional insurance and then you've got to get a new car at the end of the term or buy it outright. Whereas, you know, you have the opportunity with this newer used car to just come in and buy something that you would just keep for a long, long time. So I think, you know, I would rather see you buy it. I think it's going to be a better, longer term purchase for you. And I think it's a great opportunity for a starter car for your daughter as opposed to, you know, something that's brand new that perhaps gets her into a cycle of thinking, you know, that's just the way we buy cars. She always needs something new, even though I'd love for there to be great safety features. But the good news is that if you're buying something two or three years old, you're going to have all the safety features you need.

But where, again, you can miss some of the depreciation and certainly some of the fees that would be associated with a new car lease. Does that make sense? Yes, it does. What I didn't take into account was like keeping it afterwards. Yes.

And I should, because I have a 2005 Mazda with two hundred and thirty thousand miles on it. There you go. But yes, you're right. I think that would be the same approach here.

And it may not be exactly what she'd love to hear, but I think it will end up costing a little bit less in the long run. So listen, all the best to you, Antonio. Thanks for listening and checking in with us today.

God bless you. Columbus, Ohio, is where Crystal is. Crystal, how can I help you?

Yes, I work while being on disability, and I was just wondering, what can I do to make enrich my life and my children's life and ending costs for my life and maybe vacation because I work on disability. So I have really hard I only do customer service and restaurant and stuff like that. So. OK, very good. So you're talking specifically about kind of how to budget, given the limited resources you have or something else? Yes, how to budget, given the limited resources. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Very good. Well, you know, I think the first thing to understand is, you know, it all begins with being able to live within your means. And I realize being on disability, there's limited funds there. And so that's going to be tight. And that's not easy.

I don't want to pretend that it is. And yet we've got to live within God's provision or else that's going to end up, you know, leading to debt, which leads to stress and just all the other things that come with being, you know, in that situation. So I think it's got to start with, first of all, recognizing every dollar that comes in belongs to the Lord.

We're stewards of it. And then we need a plan. And I love the idea that you're saying, listen, I want to be able to enjoy what God's given us. I'd love to be able to take a vacation every now and then.

I want to be able to do some things to build memories with my kids. And yet I've got limited means. And so that means all the more reason that we need a budget, we need a plan that says, here's how we're going to take what's coming in and we're going to allocate it, which means we want to sacrifice in the short term. We want to live as modestly as we can look for ways to cut back.

Do we need that cable TV? You know, what else can we do to lower insurance premiums? What about food costs? You know, how much are we eating out?

What are we doing to cut? So that we can, in our plan, go ahead and allocate a portion every month to that vacation, to that opportunity to celebrate and go out once a month or whenever it is that the budget will allow and just enjoy God's provision and enjoy time together as a family. We sacrifice in the short term so we can experience what we want and what God is leading us to in the longer term. Remember, you know, the longer term the perspective, the better the financial decision today. It's not going to be easy, but if you do it with a plan under the provision and leading of the Lord, following his principles, I'm confident you'll be able to do it the way he wants you to. I want to give you a six month subscription to the MoneyWise app.

So if you hold the line, that could help you get that budget set up and manage it month to month. We appreciate your call today. That's going to do it for us today, folks. MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio, MoneyWise Media.

Thank you to Robert Sutherland on Research Today, Mr. Dan Anderson, our engineer, our amazing producer, Amy Rios. Thank you for being here as well. We'll look forward to having you come back tomorrow as we explore God's truth for your financial decisions here on MoneyWise Live. We'll see you then. God bless you. Bye bye.