12/8/2022_MWL

Hi, everyone. My name is Emma, and I serve as a producer here at Moody Radio. I want to take a quick second to tell you about our newest podcast, 52 Weeks in the Word. This podcast hosted by Trillia Newbell will walk you through the Bible cover to cover in 52 weeks. Each week, Trillia sits down with a guest for a 10-minute conversation about the weekly reading, Bible reading habits, and spiritual disciplines. Some of these guests include our very own Chris Brooks, Jen Wilkin, Nancy Guthrie, and many more. If you've ever wanted to read the Bible in a year, now's your chance. Listen to the trailer, follow and subscribe on the Moody Radio app or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Episode one drops on January 1st. Most people understand that time has value. Maybe that's why we often use the expression spending time. Hi, I'm Rob West. What a lot of folks don't understand is just how valuable time really is.

And if they did, it just might change the way they spend money. Today, I'll help you figure out what your time is worth. 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. Okay, to start, I think it's important to point out that God values our time. Like all the other resources he provides, he's given each of us only a certain amount of it. He wants us to be faithful stewards of the days and hours we have. Psalm 90 verse 12 reads, Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. And James 4 14 admonishes us to make the best use of our time today. It reads, You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life?

For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. And of course, since most of us have to work to provide for ourselves and our families, it's important to understand what our time on the job is really worth, so we can be faithful stewards of it. To figure out what you really earn per hour, take the total or gross amount you put down on your last tax return.

Jot that down. Then subtract anything you paid in taxes, including Social Security and Medicare taxes, plus the income tax you paid. You're left with your net earnings.

Here's an example. Let's say you earned a total of $52,000 and you paid $10,000 in Social Security, Medicare and income taxes, leaving you with $42,000. Next, you divide that $42,000 by 52 weeks and you get roughly $800. That's what you're netting in a week. Now, assume you work a 40 hour week, divide 800 by that number, 40, and you get $20 an hour. That's your real hourly wage. Of course, if you typically work more than 40 hours a week, it means you're earning even less than $20 an hour after taxes.

Now, all of this might seem a little disheartening, especially if you've always thought you earn more like $25 an hour, which of course you do, but that's before taxes. That's why it's important to understand what your time is really worth in real dollars, dollars that you can actually spend, because then you begin to see how long you have to work to buy something. Let's say one night you're tired and you don't feel like cooking, so you pick up fast food for the family and that costs you $50, which is pretty easy to do, by the way.

When you realize that you had to work two and a half hours to pay for that meal, you're much more inclined to spend one hour making dinner at home and cleaning up after. When you know what things really cost, it really can change your spending habits. You'll be far less likely to give in to impulse spending. Some economists are now calling this value-based spending.

What's that? Well, it's about spending only on things that really matter. If you look at your last several months of checking account statements, you'll probably see a purchase here for $10, another one there for $20, maybe one for $50, and so on. Now, look at each item you purchased, a dinner out, or maybe some gadget caught your eye at a big box store. Look them over and think, did they really add value to my life? Especially knowing how long you had to work for them.

Probably not, because you begin to realize that you can never get those hours back. And what about your credit card statement? Not only for things you purchased, but if you are maintaining a balance, look at the interest you're paying every month. What value did you get from that?

Fun. Now that you know how long you have to work for those things, you probably want to make some changes, and just cutting out impulse spending is a huge step forward. As your time becomes more important to you, you'll free up money that you can spend in areas that have more value. That means paying down debt, building an emergency fund, saving for your next car, investing for your retirement or kid's college education, any number of things. Grasping the concept of value-based spending will do something else too. It will make you want to overhaul your budget because you'll suddenly find yourself with more money. You'll be able to cut back in some categories and reallocate money to others that'll help you in the long term, and that certainly includes giving more generously. It'll take time for all of this to happen, but it's easy to get started once you've figured out your real hourly wage. Just keep that number in mind before you make a purchase.

It'll help you decide whether it's really worth your time. Hey, as we head toward year end, let me remind you Money Wise is listener-supported. We do what we do because of your generous support, and now more than ever, we could use that support.

At moneywise.org, just click Give. Stay with us. Much more to come just around the corner. Well, it's great to have you with us today on Money Wise Live. I'm Rob West. We're going to turn the corner to anything financial, right? That's right. Whatever you're thinking about, you've been thinking about something rolling around in your head related to managing God's money wisely. We'd love to hear about it, and I'll certainly weigh in on it.

800-525-7000. The key is how can we be found faithful in managing God's money? Faithfulness. That's right.

Making the right decisions according to God's Word over a long period of time as we move in the same direction and understand our role as stewards of God's money in all areas of our finances. That's what we tackle here on this program each afternoon. Just like every program here on Moody Radio. 800-525-7000 is the number to call. Again, that's 800-525-7000. We're going to begin today in Naperville, Illinois. Hi, Belinda. Go right ahead. Hi.

I have a question. I'm ready to purchase my first home. I have the 20% down payment that I would be putting towards the purchase of the home, so my question is, is this a good time for me to actually pursue that or should I wait a little bit longer? I'm not in a rush. I still have about 11 months left on my rental lease, so I'm not in a rush to have to mover anything.

Yeah, very good. You know, I would say it's not yet ideal. There never is an ideal time, but Naperville, like many parts of the country, is still, according to what my team is telling me here, somewhat competitive. Houses are selling on average after 57 days on the market. That's certainly longer than it was six months or a year ago when we were in a red-hot housing market.

And yet, prices are still about 9-10% above where they were this time last year. So, I don't think we're going to see any kind of significant drop, but I do think we're going to see a continued softening in the housing market as the prospect of a recession increases into next year, especially given the significant run-up in interest rates that we've had. So, I think the key for you, Belinda, is if you know how much you want to spend, and it sounds like you do, and if you've got your down payment in place, and it sounds like you have that as well, then there's no reason not to start looking. I think perhaps, you know, given that you've got some time, if we were to see a continued slight softening in the housing market, you're probably between now and the next 11 months, when your lease is up, going to see a more favorable environment over time for finding, negotiating, and ultimately buying the home that is going to be cost-effective for you, and it's not going to be sold out from under you. The good news is the red-hot housing market, where there was a lot more competition, houses were often lasting hours not days on the market, and there was bidding wars in many cases where you'd come in and people would start with full price and go up from there. You know, that's largely gone now just because of what we've seen with the run-up in interest rates on top of inflation that's squeezing a lot of people, and just the fact that we could be headed for a recession next year.

So, I guess all that to say, I'm glad you have some time on your side. I wouldn't be in a rush, but I wouldn't be opposed to you starting to look right now, especially since you've made some clear decisions about what your budget is, how much your down payment's going to be, and don't let anybody kind of push you to stretch beyond that and buy more house than you can afford. Be patient.

Ask the Lord to direct your steps and wait for the right house to come along. Does that make sense? I will.

It makes a lot of sense. Thank you so much. All right, Belinda. All the best to you in that house search. I know that's exciting and yet somewhat overwhelming at the same time, but we'll trust the Lord to give you some peace in that process and help you find just the right thing.

God bless you. 800-525-7000 is the number to call. We've got a few lines open today, and we'd love to hear from you with your financial questions. To, let's see, Beverly Hills, Florida. I'm not familiar with Beverly Hills, Florida.

Dee, go right ahead. Yes, my question is regarding high-yield account savings. You've talked about them, but I did not get the names of the banks that you recommended. I know these are not brick-and-mortar banks, and how do they work, basically?

Yeah, sure, I'd be happy to win. You know, when it comes to savings accounts, and we recommend having, at a minimum, an emergency savings. If you've got credit card debt you're working to pay off, I'd kind of cap that at $1500.

There's nothing magic about that. It's just kind of a good starting place for an emergency savings to tap into. And then once you've got all of your high-interest credit card debt paid off, and you may not have any that you're carrying a balance on, but if you did, I'd stop there. Once that's paid off, go up to three to six months expenses. That, I think, the ideal place for is in an FDIC-insured online savings account. Why is that? Why not a brick-and-mortar savings?

Well, there's two really keys. One is because they don't have the brick-and-mortar outfit, they don't have the cost of the overhead and the staff, they're able to pass that on in the form of two things. One is higher yields. So, you might, on a high-yield savings account at an online bank, get 2.5% or more per year. It's not an insignificant amount, especially if you have a sizable savings, versus maybe 0.1% at a brick-and-mortar bank. The other thing you'll find is no fees, so no monthly or annual maintenance fees. So, you could not only have an emergency savings, but if you wanted to open multiple savings accounts to kind of earmark funds for a specific savings project or goal, like a vacation or something else, you can do that.

Again, no cost. You would link it to your checking account so that electronically, you could move money through the ACH system in a couple of days with no cost. And they're carrying the same FDIC insurance, so the deposits are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government up to $250,000. So, I like that option, Dee, and you could go to bankrate.com and search for who has the very best and most competitive rates right now. Three that just generally are on the very high end of that spectrum and they're known for good service are Ally Bank, A-L-L-Y, Capital One 360, and Marcus. That's the Goldman Sachs retail operation, marcus.com.

I think any of those three would be great choices, but you could certainly look around and see what other options you might find at Bankrate or NerdWallet. Does that make sense? It makes a lot of sense, and I really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Okay, you're very welcome. Thank you for your call today. We appreciate it.

Quickly to Georgia. Hey, Larry, how can I help you? Hi, Larry, go right ahead, sir. Can you hear me?

I sure can. You're on MoneyWise Live. I retired. I didn't retire. I started drawing my Social Security at age 66.

Yes, sir. And I've been drawing a few years now. I'm 72, but I'm also maxing out my Social Security payment every year, and my employer, of course, matches that every year. Do I ever get credit for this extra money that I'm paying in after I've retired or started drawing Social Security? Well, you would in this case, Larry, if you replace any of what they call the high 35. So your Social Security benefits are based on your highest 35 years of earnings. So if the earnings that you have in any current or future year, even though you're collecting right now, are more than any of those 35 years that were used to determine your benefits, then you'll drop one of those lower years and replace it with one of these higher years, and that will allow you to get that check up. Was that what you were asking about or something other?

No, that's exactly what I was asking. And I know that at the end of the year, they usually issue a small amount of money, and it's an adjustment. And I was wondering if that was that adjustment.

That could be that. The only other adjustment you'll have periodically, which comes regardless of whether you're working or not, is the cost of living adjustment. Larry, thanks for your call. All the best to you, sir. We'll be right back on MoneyWise Live.

Stay with us. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, your host. We're taking your calls and questions today on anything financial.

We've got a few lines open. 800-525-7000 is the number to call. Hey, we're excited to announce that on January the 2nd, just after the first of the year, the MoneyWise radio show will have a new name. That's right. It's the same great advice. I'm not going anywhere either, but the name will change to Faith and Finance Live, along with our new FaithFi app. That's FaithFI and our website at FaithFi.com. As an organization, we really sense the need to strengthen the way we express the Christian worldview of faith and finances. We understand that our legacy should be more than simply being wise with money.

We need to be faithful, selfless stewards used by the Lord to advance his kingdom. Again, we're not changing anything other than the name, but we think it more appropriately reflects the heart behind the ministry and our desire that we begin with your faith and then allow that to inform the financial decisions you're making. Coming up by January the 2nd, this program will be Faith and Finance Live, and we're excited to share that with you, plus all of the enhancements on our brand new site, as well as a lot of enhancements coming to the FaithFi app, your single destination to be a wise steward with God's money. It's all coming right after the first of the year, and we're excited to share that with you right now. All right, let's head back to the phones.

To Missouri, we go next. Let's see, Noel, how can I help you? I'd heard you mention about the I-9 bonds for investments, and I wanted to see how you initiate that procedure. Are you talking about the I bonds, Noel, the inflation bonds? Yes, whatever it's called. I heard you mention it a couple of times. Yeah.

So let me put it in context for you. So again, these are inflation bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury, backed by the U.S. government, and they have two components that make up the rate, the fixed component, and then there's a component that's tied to the consumer price index. They happen to be fairly attractive right now, whereas they're not normally getting all this attention, and that's because the portion that's pegged to the consumer price index is up with inflation. And so because of that, they got a lot of attention through October of this year because they were paying 9.62% because of what inflation was doing, which were essentially a risk-free investment that's far more than you would ever imagine. Still fairly attractive right now at 6.8%. You see, that rate adjusts every six months. That just happened in November.

It will happen again in May. What money would I consider putting in I bonds? Well, if you think in terms of three different buckets of money, you might have your emergency fund that you need immediate access to. That's not for I bonds because by definition, the I bonds, the money has to stay in there for at least a year before you redeem any portion of it, and that would violate the idea of the emergency savings because that needs to be completely liquid.

Let's skip bucket two for a second and go to bucket three. That would be money that I'm looking to put to work, and I don't need it for five years or more. That I would say, let's invest in the stock market, in the stock and bond portfolio, especially given where the market is today versus where it was a year ago. And with a long-term perspective, that's going to give you the best prospect for long-term capital appreciation and growth. Now, bucket two is that money that you don't need for at least a year, but you'll probably want access to in less than five years, and I think that's ideal for the I bonds because normally we wouldn't put that to work in the stock market.

We'd want to be more conservative than given that it has high degree of safety backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government and currently paying 6.8%. That's a very attractive investment. Now, you can only purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds per person per year, so you could put $10,000 in for you if you're married, you and your wife. For this year, you could turn around and do it again with $10,000 each in 2023, and you would do that at treasurydirect.gov. That's the government's website, the Treasury's website, where you purchase the electronic bonds, and that's, by the way, the only way you can purchase them.

Does that clear enough for you, Noel? Would you repeat the name treasurydirect.com, did you say? Close, treasurydirect.gov.

G-O-V is the internet URL extension for the government, for the U.S. government. Yes, I'll just look that up on the internet to initiate the start. Yes, what's going to happen is you'll create an account for you, and if you wanted to do it for someone else or your spouse, you'd create an account for them as well.

And then once the account's created and you link the funding account, which would be a checking or savings account, then you can initiate the purchase of up to $10,000 in the electronic I-bonds there inside your Treasury Direct account at treasurydirect.gov. Thanks for your call today, Noel. All the best to you.

To Lakeland, Florida. Hi, Carol. Go right ahead.

Hello. Three and a half years ago, my husband and I bought a mobile home in a 55 and over park. That's our main residence. At that time, we didn't have money to buy a regular house, and the price of the mobile home was reasonable.

We were able to pay cash for it, and it gave us much more space than we would have had in an apartment. And the lot fee is a lot lower than the rent of an apartment. Now, we like our house, we like our community, we like our situation, but I'm wondering, looking at how the lot fee is rising each year with the consumer price index, it's about to go up $50 a month for the next year. And thinking of retirement, the lot fee could be up to $1,000 by the time we retire. So I'm wondering financially if that is an unwise decision. Yeah, I think it's certainly something to consider. You know, it's commonly thought that manufactured homes depreciate, not appreciate. That's not always true. They typically don't appreciate like a stick built home, but they certainly can go up in value depending on the housing market.

It's difficult to say, oh, there was a good move or a bad. It depends on your circumstances. And if that was a better option versus continuing to rent, then I would say probably is because they are more cost effective. But I would say going forward, you do have to consider what you're describing. And that is the price of that lot is going to continue to increase and could make this cost prohibitive over time. I prefer a single family home just for the long term appreciation and to lock in the price. I think the key is does it fit into your budget? So I think perhaps look around, see what might meet your needs and see if you could find something that fits.

Otherwise, I'd probably stay with this until you have the ability to do that down the road. Thanks for your call, Carole. We'll be right back. Stay with us.

Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live as we apply the wisdom from God's word to your financial decisions and choices. I'm Rob West, your host. We're taking your calls and questions. We have some lines open 800-525-7000. Let's head to Indianapolis. Randy, I understand you want to talk about your TSP.

How can I help you? Yeah, I was wondering if TSP is taxed when you take it out? It is, yes. So it would be added to your taxable income, just like a 401k distribution. And then on top of that, you would have a 10% penalty if you take it before age 59 and a half, unless you're using the exception around the rule of 55, which is just if you retire at age 55 or older, you can avoid that 1% penalty.

But yes, it is added to your taxable income as it comes out as a distribution. Okay, so if you don't collect Social Security yet and still working, you actually can take some of it out or all of it out? You can through an in-service withdrawal. If you're still working after 59 and a half, you would be able to start in-service withdrawals. I think you can take up to four withdrawals per calendar year, but you can do that even though you are still working. Okay, there's no maximum on the withdrawals four times a year? There is not, no.

Okay, very good. And my second question real quick is the long-term insurance for like three years, is that worthwhile? A long-term care insurance?

Yes. Where the benefit period would be for three years, is that what you mean? Yes, so let's say age 60-something now and 30 years from now, maybe an extended care facility, would that be worthwhile purchasing now for that period?

Yeah, I like it. What did you say your age was today? In the 60s. Yeah, so between 55 and 65 is usually the best time to buy it. The average woman needs long-term care services for just shy of, well, a little more than three and a half years, the average man for a little over two years. So usually two to three years is kind of that sweet spot of how much coverage you will actually need or how much benefit you need. But this is the ideal time to buy it. The key is getting a policy that will meet your needs but also fit in your budget, recognizing that the premiums can increase and they have been across all the, you know, the company has to petition the state insurance board and they raise everybody's rates all at once based on the rising cost of healthcare. And we have seen these premiums increasing over time. So just because you can afford it today, you need to make sure that if it were to go up down the road that you can still absorb that. But this is probably the largest risk that you'll have. 70% of Americans 65 and older will need long-term care for some amount of time and, you know, that gets very expensive depending on what type of care you need. So this could cover that or at least offset a portion of that so you don't erode your assets.

Is that helpful? I think so. I think I calculated $184,000 by time those 30 years are up and in payments premiums, so that is. And then I'm assuming in three-year period, it'd be a million dollars for three years at an extended care facility 30 years from now possibly.

Yeah. I mean, I haven't run the numbers lately or ever really around, you know, specifically that looking at the inflation over 30 years. But today, you know, the average cost of a private room in a nursing home can be about $9,000 a month. So, I mean, we're talking about a significant sum of money, semi-private around $8,000 a month. And, you know, if you were to continue to see, you know, that rise over 30 years, it sounds like you've done the math and have figured that out. So, yeah, again, this is a way to assume that you'll need some type of care, help to shoulder that through this policy.

And again, as long as you can fit it into the budget, including any kind of increases in the premium over time, then I think it's a good thing to have for sure. Very good. Hey, your program is excellent, and you do a great job. Thank you. Oh, thank you, Randy. Very kind of you. God bless you, sir. To Florida, Elliot, thanks for calling. Go right ahead.

Yes, sir. Yeah, I recently moved from New York to Florida, and I'm receiving a pension and Social Security. Is there anything that I need to report to my pension system? I heard that there are some savings that you get by moving to Florida.

I'm not sure if I need to call my pension and Social Security to let them know that I'm here. Yeah. Well, the only thing that you would have there is that Florida has no state income tax.

And so that would be, you know, the primary savings that you would be looking for is that as a resident of the state of Florida, as you earn income that's subject to federal income tax, you won't also pay a state income tax, which you would have paid, you know, where you were previously. Is that what you're asking about? Yeah, but is that done automatically?

I mean, is that done automatically, or do I need to report anything? Well, if you were a permanent resident in more than one state during a tax year, you may have to file, you know, two part-year state tax returns. So you'll want to get a CPA to help you navigate this change just to make sure that that's filed appropriately. Because if you've lived in both states during the year, again, you may have to account for part of your income with one versus another. So I would connect with a CPA or accountant, Elliot, if you normally do your taxes yourself.

This is the year to get some professional advice just to make sure that's done. But going forward, once you take care of this year where you're kind of in between, you will no longer have any state income tax. And, you know, when you file your return, it's on you to determine, you know, which state you're filing under. And that's going to have to do with where your permanent residency is.

And so you won't need to notify anybody of that other than just this change in your tax filing. We appreciate your call today. Thanks for checking in with us.

To Georgia. Hi, Sandy. How can I help you?

Hi. I was wondering, I just turned 65 and I understood that as long as I was working, that I did not have to take Medicare. And so I chose, you know, I decided I didn't want to do that. But then I was told that if I did take Medicare, it would be like a secondary insurance to my insurance through work. Is that correct?

Yes, it is. So if you're still covered by your employer sponsored health insurance, you don't need to sign up for Medicare to avoid paying the penalty later. Once you leave that plan, then you'll have open enrollment to be able to sign up for Medicare at that point. Now, if you do take it, it can be a secondary form of insurance if you're still covered by the employer group plan, which you are. It's then referred to as Medicare secondary payer that would cost you about $160 a month. But I would want you to get kind of up to speed on what it covers and doesn't cover in that situation. It does get pretty complicated.

So you could head to medicare.gov Sandy and then just search for the term secondary payer. And there's lots of articles about it. And I think you could do some reading on it. Is that helpful? Oh, absolutely. Yes. Okay, very good.

So the term is secondary payer. And yeah, it's medicare.gov. You're welcome. Thanks for calling today. We appreciate it.

800-525-7000 is the number to call. We're going to take a quick break when we come back. Ann, Betty, Jean, Doris, we're going to try to get to all of your calls as we apply the wisdom from God's word to your financial decisions and choices. Hey, as we head toward year end, I would invite you to be a supporter of the work we do here at MoneyWise Media. We're listener supported and your tax deductible gifts before December 31 go a long way toward helping us meet our goal.

You can get an update on that goal and give right at the top of our homepage. Just head to moneywise.org and you can click the button that says Give Now. If you're part of the family and you count on this program, it's been helpful to you. We would just invite you to consider a gift beyond the support to your local church and any other giving you're doing like here at Moody Radio. Again, moneywise.org. We'll be right back. Stay with us. Hey, great to have you with us today on MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West. Quick email before we go back to the phones.

This one from Kate. She writes, I like my bank's free bill pay service. It simplifies paying monthly bills and helps me with my money management. Is it okay to automatically send a check to my church each month? It feels weird to let the plate pass by without putting money in even though I pay my tithe by mail.

Kate, you're not alone in wondering about this. A great many Christians struggle with the idea of automated giving. So consider that giving is an act of worship and I would just simply ask yourself which way feels more worshipful to you. If you want to make it through an online gift, there's nothing wrong with that.

The Lord knows your heart. But if you were perhaps to find that this kind of internal wrestling is that you don't feel like it's worshipful any longer, then perhaps putting something physically in the plate might be the great option for you. I talked to a caller not too long ago that said, you know what?

We do it specifically by putting it in the plate or the basket because we want to model that for our kids. That would be another reason to do it. My mentor Ron Blue, he found that automated giving was making him feel like it was no longer worshipful. And so they made a change. He and Judy now, every Sunday, he writes on a three by five card all the income that came in that week. He brings that with him to breakfast. They look at it over breakfast on the kitchen table. They pray over it, thank God for his provision. And then Judy writes the check for a tenth, and then they take it together to church.

Doesn't mean that's the right way to do it, but that's the way that they've found they can do their giving together and make it a worshipful experience. So I think you should just ask the Lord what would he have you to do, and then God will lead you to make the right decision for you. Thanks for writing to us. If you have a question you'd like read on the air, you can send it along.

Questions at MoneyWise.org. All right, back to the phones. Minnesota we go. Hi Ann, go right ahead, ma'am. Yes, well what I would love some help with, you know, I went, just as a little bit of a backstory, in 2015 I went through, I guess it would be called the perfect storm, both financial, personal, extreme upheaval. I am just now climbing back out of that. I was blessed with a great job. I've been in sales my entire life, and so I'm saving again, and I was almost at the point of losing a home, and that's always just kind of at the back of your mind, oh I didn't lose it, I better save every penny, and I am saving. I have managed to save 300,000, and I still have a mortgage on my home.

I'm 71, I mean, and I just have to say this, I just give all the glory to the Lord, because he opened that door for me, and he saved me. I mean, he literally saved me from bankruptcy, and other very difficult things. So anyway, I've got that money, but you know, in my mind, I think I'm frozen, so I just keep saving, keep saving, but the money isn't doing anything.

It's just sitting there, like, you know, at Fidelity, doing nothing, and I feel like the Lord is saying, come on now, trust me, and let's start having that money do something for you. I still have a mortgage of about $185,000, I thought I should just pay off the house. I'm not going to do that though, it just doesn't seem prudent. I see, yeah.

Well that was going to be the first question that I asked. I don't think you certainly have an obligation to pay that off. You certainly could very well, especially if this is an older mortgage that has a very low interest rate, do much better elsewhere. The only exception to that might be if you really had a conviction from the Lord to be completely debt-free.

It doesn't sound like you do, and I think that's perfectly appropriate. And so in that case, what I would say is, apart from the emergency fund you'd set aside of maybe six months expenses, I would say putting this to work makes a lot of sense. It's a significant sum of money.

I love that you've given testimony to God's faithfulness in your life and pulling you out of that difficult spot. What I would do, and because this is a significant sum of money, is interview and ultimately hire an investment advisor that could understand you, your goals and objectives, your age, where the Lord's taking you, what you want to try to accomplish with this money, how much risk you want to take, and then allow that individual to deploy an investment strategy for you that could put this money to work. You could have great confidence that you've got some wise counsel, somebody with expertise in this area overseeing it, but you'd obviously be in full view and ongoing communication about what it's doing and how it's invested and why. Does that sound like something you'd be looking for? That was my main reason for calling.

It's like, where do I find that person? I've checked out Kingdom Advisors, but you're right. I love that. Interview Advisors.

I think that's right. That's a powerful step because I'll never learn it all. I'm reading and I'm learning, but I've got to have advice and counsel.

Yeah. Well, and that's very biblical as well, that we should seek wise counsel. I would head to our website, Ann, MoneyWise.org. Click the button that says Find a CKA. You can do a zip code search, and I'd interview two or three. We trust the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation just because these are men and women who've met significant experience requirements, pastor reference, client reference, regulatory review. They've been trained to provide biblically wise financial advice, code of ethics, a statement of faith. I mean, it's a rigorous designation so that you know you're working with somebody who's met high standards and offering biblical financial counsel. And in your case, you would want a CKA that is also an investment advisor.

They work in five disciplines. So I would interview, again, two to three and find the one that's the best fit, and you could transfer that money in. The other good news is this is a great time to get started because the market is well off of its highs. So again, MoneyWise.org. Just click Find a CKA. Thanks for calling today.

To Chicago. Hi, Betty. How can I help you? Yes. I need assistance with my finances across the board.

And I was wondering if I could talk to someone to give me a number or whatever to talk to someone about savings and paying down my bills and that kind of thing. Yes. Very good. You know, we'd love to help you with that. Do you feel comfortable using an app on a smartphone or would you rather more of like a kind of a paper and pen mechanical system? No, I can use the app.

Okay. You know, we're partial to the MoneyWise app for implementing what Larry Burkett used to call the envelope system. It works very effective for managing your money. And you set up basically envelopes for each of your budget categories. And then we built it out as a digital expression of that in the MoneyWise app.

There's three different options for setting up your budget so you can find the one that's the best fit for you. And there's trained MoneyWise coaches that will come alongside you to get all of that set up and make sure that it's working properly. And then, you know, if you have any other questions as a part of that, you know, they would help you with that.

They can also point you to helpful articles on budgeting and anything else that you're dealing with. So what I'd like to do is get your information and we'll send you a complimentary six month subscription to the pro subscription to the MoneyWise app. And then we can get you set up with one of our MoneyWise coaches to meet with you and help you get all of this in place. Does that sound good? Yes, that's good, sir. Okay, very good, Betty. You hang on the line. We'll get your information and get that right out to you. And thanks for calling today.

To Grand Haven, Michigan. Jean, you're next on the program. Go ahead. Hi, I have a similar situation as your previous caller with being blessed with some money. And I did the same thing.

I just let it sit, which is unbiblical. I finally got enough courage and enough trust in the Lord to to invest this. And I'm not sure if my investment is the right if I did the right thing. I have this in a five year CD at two point five percent. And would it be in my best interest to take a hit and move this to something else?

It may be, Jean. And so you'd want to look at that, just given that rates have moved up so significantly right now, you'll find one year CDs at four percent. And I've even seen one recently at four and a half with FDIC insurance. So what you want to do is you want to call the bank and just say, if I were to break this CD to get my money back, what would I have to pay? And then you'll want to calculate the additional interest you would earn over these the rest of this five year period. If you were to redeploy that in a CD at, let's say, four and a quarter, which is where you'll find plenty of CDs right now for 12 months and and just see, you know, if it makes sense, it probably will. And then at that point, you could go ahead and invest it for a year.

And then once that comes due, you could just roll it over. And if rates are higher, then then you can take advantage of those at that time. The place to find the very best rates. I just looked earlier today and Capital One had a great one year CD at four and a quarter. You can go to bankrate.com and find who has the best programs right now and then call your bank and find out how much the breakage would be and then you can decide whether it makes sense.

Again, bankrate.com to find your best CD right now and thanks for your call today. Let's finish in Illinois. Hi, Doris. You'll be our final caller. Go ahead. Hi. Yeah.

I'm just like your other viewers. I was going to ask you a question about Treasury bond. I looked it up that goes. You mentioned earlier a minimum $10,000. You can deposit per year, right? Are you talking about the I bonds? Yes. Yeah.

Yeah. Inflation bonds. It's a maximum of 10,000. You can only put up to 10,000 per year per person.

And what are the risks involved with that? It's backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. So it's essentially risk-free because the US government has said we're going to guarantee this money.

Okay. So it's similar to a CD account then? It is, although that's going to use the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which carries that US backing. This is issued by the US Treasury, but again, full faith and credit backing of the United States government. And what are the terms? Do you have to leave it in there?

Yeah. So this is a 20-year bond that can extend for 10 years. So up to 30 years, but you can pull it out after a year. You've absolutely got to leave it in for a full year.

You can't touch it. But after a year, you can pull it out. Now, if you pull it out after a year and less than five years, you're going to pay a small penalty. When you redeem it, they credit the interest. But if it's less than five years, they'll take the prior three months worth of interest only, and they'll take that as a penalty. But it's still a very attractive rate, paying right now 6.8% until May of next year. Although if you were to put 10,000 in today, you'd get that rate for a full six months.

And then when it adjusts after six months, you'd get the new rate, which we won't know until May of next year. Thanks for your call Doris. We appreciate it. Folks, thanks for being along with us.

MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Mooney Radio and MoneyWise Media. Thank you to Luke, Amy, Tahira, Gabby, and Jim. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.