Giving as a Couple

Knowing where and how to learn about it. Then it's on God's way to learn this. that we're on this planet for, you know, kind of a nanosecond, and we're in eternity for eternity, and therefore focusing on the long term and God's plan becomes so much easier if we really understand that. I think we've also learned, Rob, the older we get, we can't take it with us, you know? That's right.

That's exactly right. John D. Rockefeller's accountant was famously asking, how much did John D. leave? And he famously answered, all of it. And that encourages us to give away as well. And I love all Randy Alcorn has wrote on this subject.

One that sticks with me is, God prospers us not to raise our standard of living, but our standard of giving. And that speaks volume to us. So there's a general principle that we knew at an earlier age, but I think we really believe and are trying to practice as we get older.

Yeah, that's exactly right. We need to renew our minds. Those are truths that we can anchor our framework for giving on. But how does that foundation, Bob, then inform the actual giving decisions you make? So it makes us more generous not to wait to get started, to be all encompassing in how we do it. Look, you know, the article is how to plan your giving as a married couple. It implies we figured it out. This is an ongoing process, Rob. I think, you know, not so much now, although we still have them, but early on, this was a source of a lot of disagreement.

How much? Which ones? I mean, Leslie's propensity is always to really focus on a few causes and organizations that we know intimately.

And mine, I've never met a charity that I didn't think was good. So therein lies a lot of conflict. And so we've tried to find ways to compromise parameters that help us. For example, Leslie gives approximately 20 percent away of what we give.

I give 20. Now we have veto power over certain amounts, and the other 60 we come to jointly. So we've just learned over time how to do that. Yeah. We're going to get more deeply into your system, Bob, that you and Leslie have created.

And I know you said it's a work in progress, but I want to come back to one piece that I know is important to you. And that is many folks will wait to do their giving at death in terms of their real meaningful giving. And you all really have prioritized trying to give as much away as possible while you're alive, correct? Yeah. You know the saying, give it away while you know where it's going. I use the phrase we'd like for our last check to bounce. The joy of giving is a whole lot more powerful if you do it while you're breathing than when you're six feet under, you know? Yeah, that's exactly right. And causes need the money now, Rob, not when we die.

Yeah, no question about it. So what does it look like to give as a married couple? How can we do that in a way that's productive and with unity where we can get money connected into God's activity right now, as Bob said. Bob Dole with us today, Chief Investment Officer at Crossmark Global Investments, much more on giving as a couple just around the corner. Stay with us. Welcome back to Faith In Finance Live.

Joining me today, my good friend Bob Dole. He's Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager at Crossmark Global Investments. We're talking about an article that he and his wife Leslie wrote recently. It was published on the Gospel Coalition's website entitled, How to Plan Your Giving as a Married Couple.

What does that look like? What is the process for giving? Obviously, you need to find something that works for you. But I know Bob and Leslie have worked through this and found something that works for them that I think will really be an encouragement to you today. Bob, before the break, you shared that it's something as simple as you directing 20 to the ministries you're passionate about, she directing 20 percent to hers, and then you do the bulk of it 60 percent together. That's something that works for you because now you can each have your own ministries and really passions reflected in your giving strategy, right?

Absolutely. Early on, we tried to agree on everything and it just took forever and created too much disagreement. And we, I hope creatively, came up with this and, you know, we're educating each other on the 20 we give individually. So we both understand it.

But it's a lot more productive when it goes that way. Leslie knows some ministries intimately that I'll never know intimately and vice versa. And so let's find ways to express that. Yeah. Talk about your giving strategy with regard to the where, because I know you all have developed somewhat of a pyramid and some processes to think about where you're giving ends up. Share that with us.

Sure. So we give to over 100 causes. Some of them are individual missionaries. Some are big institutions that we all know about. And we give about 90 percent, usually ends up about 95 to faith-based organizations. We try to seek balances between, for example, evangelism and discipleship, between feeding the poor in spirit and the poor physically.

Geography. It's not all to the U.S. Most of my giving, because it's where I spend most of my time is in the U.S. Leslie does a lot of ministry work in the Middle East. So a lot of the money she designates go into the Middle East. And yes, you mentioned the word pyramid. The ones we know best, the ones we're on the boards, we tend to give the most to. The ones we know the least tend to be at the bottom of the pyramid.

Smaller amounts and far more of them. And then a couple of levels in between, Rob. Yeah, that's really helpful. Bob, how does prayer fit into the process of you and Leslie determining your giving each year? You know, very importantly, and again, we've learned this over time.

It used to be, okay, December 31st is coming. If we're going to do what we're supposed to do from a tax standpoint, we better get the checkbook out. And boy, it was a laborious process. As we start earlier, think about it, pray about it individually and together, that gives us a much easier process as we move forward, Rob. We try to do a better job. I tell people all the time, God gave me two ears and one mouth. I should do a far more listening than speaking.

And that applies to all kinds of subjects, including the giving process with spouse. So that's really important. We try to dig into the organizations, particularly the ones we give the most to, get an update.

How's it going? Take a look at their financials. Take a look at their website. Take a look at their 990s. Who's giving?

How much are they giving? And that how that helps to inform if we don't know them as well, what it is that God should motivate us to do. Yeah. And that's a really key point.

I mean, Bob, you spend most of your work life analyzing, researching companies. You're very strategic about the investments you're making there as a portfolio manager and CIO at Crossmark Global. You try to be kingdom strategic with your giving, don't you? Hear, hear. Absolutely. I mean, I just remember God gave us a brain and he gave us responsibility.

And I like to say, if this were really my money, who cares where I give it, but it's God's money. So we have to be very strategic about how we do it. Not just emotional.

I mean, we all fall in love with stories and that can be a good starting point, but it's like when I analyze companies, if I love the product, doesn't make it a good stock. And so you've got to work through, you've got to dig in, you've got to think about it, you've got to pray about it and consider what is it that God's calling us to in the giving process. Yeah, that's really helpful. Some may be asking, where is Leslie today? She was going to join us, but she's off with one of the ministries that she's connected to, which brings us to the point about getting engaged in some of the ministries you're giving to. How is that really important?

So important. If Leslie were here, she would really emphasize that. I remember a bunch of years ago, she said, you know, I feel like a checkbook.

I just write checks. And that started the process to say, we've got to be involved in ministries. Now there's different stages in life. If somebody is, you know, 32 and they got three kids under the age of four, it's kind of tough to do that sort of thing. But as life progresses and you find more time getting involved in ministries, Leslie is involved in a ministry in the Middle East.

She's there right now working in Syria to help with the earthquake relief. So that's a perfect example of getting involved, particularly those that are kind of to the top of your giving pyramid. It's not just your check that God wants. He wants our involvement.

He wants our lives. And that's another extension of it. Yeah. Bob, I know you've served on and continue to serve on a number of boards of directors. Is that something you consider with regard to your giving, trying to get involved at that level?

Absolutely. You know, there are so many wonderful causes and so many wonderful boards to serve on. And when you're on a board, you see the thick and the thin. You see the good and the not so good in every organization.

And that's informative. And you'll hopefully help it along, not just by writing a check, but by your presence and your ideas along the way. So that's one way to get involved in a ministry is to participate on the board.

But there are lots of others as well. Volunteer. If this is an organization you love, go volunteer, help them do whatever it is that they do.

You'll get to know it better and it'll raise your confidence level. I love that idea. Bob, what about those that are listening today that are saying, well, I'm delighted to hear that you and Leslie are on the same page, but my spouse and I aren't. I have the giving gift that God has given me. My spouse doesn't really see that as a priority. How do we reconcile that as a married couple? You know, I come back to any reconciliation in a marriage, any subject that creates difficulty, sit down, talk about it, pray about it. When you pray, you generally come together. You know, the old triangle, the closer we are to one another in prayer, the closer we become to God.

And some of those things will break through. I know that sounds an idealistic answer, but it does work. Yeah. Bob, just about 45 seconds left. The need is now there's urgency with regard to the gospel going to the ends of the earth. Would you finish by just challenging our audience today about their opportunity to be connected into God's activity through their giving? Sure. I come back to remember it's not your money.

It's God's money. And you already said it. The time is short. The need is great. And in many cases, the cost is high.

So getting started for a lot of people is the hardest part. They might get a little here, give a little there, but get on with it. Decide how much you're going to give away and let it grow over time.

Experiment with increasing it, particularly if you've got a lot of savings, which a lot of people do. You don't want to die with a million dollars that the hearse has to carry. It's not going to carry it.

And if it does, you can't take it with you in the coffin. So start giving it away. Well said. Let's leave it there, Bob. Thanks for stopping by my friend. My privilege.

That's Bob Dahl. Again, we'll put the link to the article, How to Plan Your Giving as a Married Couple in today's show notes. Your calls are next.

800-525-7000. We'll be right back. So glad to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live.

I'm Rob West. What a joy to start the program today with my good friend, Bob Dahl, as we talk about giving in marriage. You know, giving breaks the grip of money over our lives. It also sends a powerful message that we believe in God's goodness.

We trust God's ownership and we're about God's agenda. It really changes our perspective. If you will, it reorients our thinking and ultimately our hearts towards God's ownership, God's control and his purposes. And one of the great secrets of our generosity is that it allows us to participate in God's grand story. This grander, greater vision that we have for ourselves when we give allows us to live for something bigger than ourselves, which is an incredible opportunity. And when we can bring that into the marriage relationship, two becoming one, including in our giving plans and opportunities. Well, I think it draws us together as husband and wife at the same time we're pursuing God's agenda.

What an opportunity. Hey, do you have a story or testimony today about giving in marriage in your life? We'd love to hear about it.

How have you worked through that? What does that look like for you? Also your questions today on any financial topic and any testimonies of God's faithfulness as you've applied these principles to your financial life. Any and all of that at 800-525-7000. We're nearly full, but still a few lines open. So 800-525-7000 is the number to call. All right, let's dive into Indiana.

Hi, Betty. Thanks for calling. Go ahead. Thank you.

Thank you for taking my call. We have a house that we've been selling our son on contract and he has put money into the house and now he wants to take a loan on the equity in the house to consolidate debt, which we assume probably is a lot of credit card debt. Okay. Is that, can he do that? I mean, does that, because we technically still own the house, so can he get a loan? Right. Well, so there's, it depends on how you've set this up. So is there a purchase contract for this that was drawn up by a real estate attorney? Yes.

Okay. And has there been a closing? Like, has this been, you know, transferred into his name and then filed with the local county and you're holding the mortgage or no? No, he pays on contract. So the closing isn't actually until he gets it paid off.

Okay. Because the other way to go about this is you could create a purchase contract and if it's drawn up correctly, then all the state required property disclosures are made and the home quote unquote sells for fair market value. And a real estate attorney would help you, you know, draw that up. You'd have to have a fair market value because it's not an arm's length transaction, meaning it's not an independent third party.

It's a family member. And then once you have all of that in place, you'd proceed to closing and that would be closed. And then it would be recorded, you know, in the deed would be in his name and then you could hold the mortgage. So that would be seller financing where you'd draw up a promissory note that includes the loan terms and record it with the local government. And you'd want to have a lawyer draw that up.

And then that would be in first position. And then, you know, if he wanted to, he could essentially, you know, go about getting a second mortgage. Now, as to the viability of that strategy, I would encourage him, if you have the ability to do so, not to roll debt, which I think you're assuming is credit card debt into a home, even if he could, because that's just not a good strategy.

It's going to take the pressure off. Oftentimes, it's going to allow him to, you know, get out from under the pressure of the high interest in the monthly payments, spread it out over a long period of time. Now, unsecured debt is now secured by the house. And then if he didn't solve the underlying problem, the debt that led to the debt in the first place, the debt's going to come back in a period of time. And now he's got a second mortgage essentially and the credit card debt again. So I think the better approach would be to say, you know what, what you need to do is go into a debt management program, have these accounts closed, get on a budget, get the interest rates reduced through the credit counseling, which is the approach I recommend. And then with one level monthly payment and the lower interest rates, he should be able to pay this back 80% faster, but it's going to establish the habits of living on a budget, doing the hard work of getting out of the debt over time. And then hopefully he can continue those financial disciplines moving forward so he doesn't ever get back in that situation again.

So as to the first question, it really depends on how it was all structured. And you'd need to talk to a real estate attorney about that with regard to the second question, even if he can, I wouldn't recommend he roll credit card debt into a second mortgage on a house. How do you feel about us taking the loan in our name? Well, you know, that's a challenge because, you know, you have to go back to God's word and realize that the borrower is servant to the lender. And so it changes the relationship. The challenge is now you're changing the relationship with your son. So if he gets into a difficult time and he defaults on it, you know, what is your recourse? Number one, it could be strained relationship.

You certainly don't want that. You're probably not going to foreclose on him, so it could create a financial hardship for you. So typically it's not a good idea. And if he can't qualify for the mortgage on his own, that tells me that he's probably not ready to make the purchase in the first place, which would be a real red flag that perhaps you're allowing him to buy a house he truly can't afford. And that's going to dramatically increase the likelihood that there will be something that goes awry that causes him not to be able to repay it. So I think in your desire to be helpful and generous and, you know, get your son into this house, you know, perhaps, and I don't know the situation, so I don't know for sure, but you just at least need to be do an honest evaluation of whether or not we're enabling him to make a transaction he really can't afford.

Does that make sense? Well, we were concerned about the credit card getting back into debt with that, so I think the advice to do the debt management program probably is the best that we could come up with for him. I think that is, plus he'll have to put a budget together and really be, you know, take a hard look at what is the income he has coming in, what are his expenses, how does this debt repayment fit into that, including his purchase contract with you, and make some hard decisions on whether or not he needs to scale back his lifestyle so he has margin so he can build up an emergency fund and never find himself in credit card debt again, only using credit cards, if at all, for budgeted items. So I think that is the next step.

Christian Credit Counselors, Betty, is where I'd go at christiancreditcounselors.org. Thanks for your call today. Much more to come just around the corner. Stay with us.

We'll be right back. Thanks for joining us on Faith and Finance Live. Just before the break we were talking about debt, really specifically mortgage debt. How do you know if you should borrow, though? What are some questions you should ask before taking on any debt?

Before we head back to the phones, let me give you four questions to consider. The first is, is the economic return greater than the economic cost? Another way to say that would be, am I borrow for an asset that's appreciating? A home would fit into that category. What would not fit into that category is consumer debt, borrowing on a credit card for lifestyle expenses.

So that's number one. Number two, am I presuming upon the future when I take the debt out? In other words, is there a guaranteed way to repay it?

Number three, do I have unity with my spouse? That really goes to where we started today on this program, and that is, if we don't agree on taking out this debt, we just don't do it. And then number four, are there any other alternatives to taking on debt? Is there another way to go about this? Could I delay the purchase and save?

If I'm doing a home renovation, do I do it in smaller projects that allows me to fund it out of current cash flow? Are there other alternatives? If we ask those four questions, perhaps it'll lead us to a better decision and often perhaps not taking on the debt in the first place. 800-525-7000, do you have a financial question today or maybe you'd like to celebrate God's faithfulness in your life financially as you've been applying wisdom from His Word? We'd love to hear from you. Again, lines are open.

Our team is standing by. Luke will be taking your calls today. 800-525-7000, give us a call right now. Let's head to Florida. Genevieve, thank you for calling. Go right ahead.

Thank you for taking my call. Recently, I rolled over my 401k. Well, I was working with an advisor who was going to roll it over into an annuity, but I was declined because I have two other annuities and they said I was in the surrender period or something.

However, this money has landed on me. I know I'll be liable for taxes and I'm prepared to pay the taxes because I really have no savings. I do not have any cash reserve and I thought the best thing to do is just hold on to that in case I need something on the house or something happens to me and the children have to spend money. So I have it presently in my saving account, but I would like to know where I could put this money to get me some interest on it and it being available if I should need it.

People talk to me about rock IRA or CD or the online banking and I really don't know which I should pursue. Sure. How long ago did you take the money out of the 401k?

About a month ago. All right. You do have the ability to put it back in. I guess that would be my first question is what was the reason you pulled it out and created the taxable event if you don't need it? Because I'm retired. I retired in 2016 and I was getting a small RMT which was like 90 something dollars a month from the 401k and I was being taxed at 20% because apparently it's still attached to my employer.

Right. So I didn't want to be paying all that, you know. So I thought I'd put it somewhere into another vehicle where I didn't have to pay the taxes but there the annuity declined me and then on second thought I thought I have no money saved.

I could keep that money for emergencies but keep it somewhere I could get it. How much are we talking about that you pulled out? 46,000.

46,000. All right. Well, I would before we move off of that, I mean I would at least consider putting it back in. You could put it back in if your plan administrator will allow you to. You'd normally have 60 days to do that and it won't be a taxable event and then you could roll it out to an IRA and you'd have complete control over it. It wouldn't be with your employer any longer. It'd be in an individual retirement account at any one of the brokerage firms like Fidelity or Schwab and if you ever needed some money you could call them and tell them to send you a check and they would make a distribution. But in the meantime you could put it in laddered CDs so you could have guaranteed instruments. You could put it in money market, you know, earning four percent or more.

So you could keep it safe, allow it to grow modestly and still have access to it. They could even give you check writing privileges on the IRA which just simply means anytime you write a check as long as you have the cash available and we'd want a cash portion of this IRA, it would go to wherever you want. Either pay it to yourself or someone else. So in a sense you'd have the money available but you wouldn't create a taxable event on this 46,000 all in one year which is what's going to happen if you you know don't put the money back in. If you decided you just didn't want it inside a retirement account whether it was a 401k or my idea of an IRA which you'd have to roll it into after you put it back in, then I would say if you wanted liquid and safe, I think your options are you know for total liquidity you'd want it either in a money market account or a high yield savings account. Right now with the online banks they're paying nearly four percent.

You can get up as high as five percent even in some cases. You could also look at CDs so you could take a third of it and put it in a you know leave it in the cash or the money market or the savings account. Maybe a third of it goes into you know the six month CD and a third of it in a 12 month CD and then every six months you've got a third of it coming due which you could either move it to savings or roll it over into another you know one year CD.

So those are the options. What sounds like it would be the best fit for you Genevieve? I really don't want to go back into the employer business. You know I've been retired all this time so and then if I should get any money else I'd be paying the 20 percent. I would like the Roth IRA sounds good to me but whether I put it in the Roth IRA the CD or the online banking I'd still have to pay the tax upfront you know. You would yeah but keep in mind the way you've done it is you don't have access to the put it into the Roth whereas if you went with my recommendation you would.

So see you're saying I don't want it with the employer and I'm saying you don't have to stay with the employer. You could put the money back in the 401k and then as soon as it hits the account you could tell them you want to roll it out to an IRA. That individual retirement account is not with your previous employer. That's an individual account in your name.

You control it. It's just a tax deferred environment so you're not paying the taxes on the forty six thousand dollar withdrawal. At that point you could convert it to a Roth and pay the tax on it or you could just pull the money out as you need it and pay the tax on it when you need it but you wouldn't pay the tax all at once. Does that make sense?

Yes yes yes. So what I'm saying is option one is you've already taken the withdrawal so this is all going to be taxable to you unless you get it back into the 401k before 60 days. So at that point you've paid the tax you can't get it in the Roth unless you do it unless you have earned income and you could do that at up to seven thousand a year but if you put it back in the 401k and then immediately turn around and roll it out to an IRA now you've eliminated the tax liability and you've got the option to either let it sit there in in money market or CDs pull it out as you need it not all at once or convert the whole thing to a Roth IRA at which point you'd be doing the same thing you're doing now and that is paying the tax on it. So I think those are your options I would prayerfully consider Genevieve and see which direction the Lord leads okay? Thank you so much thank you very much. You're welcome God bless you 800-525-7000 is the number to call this is Faith and Finance Live I'm Rob West and we'd love to hear from you today give us a call again 800-525-7000 we'll be right back with much more. I think the key with regard to money management as a steward a believer understanding that God owns it all is to develop an eternal perspective not a temporal one you know when we view our earthly wealth with a biblical worldview we begin to value eternity over our present reality we realize that eternity is our purpose and that God is enough and therefore we can be content no matter our circumstances perhaps we need to renew our minds today with that truth counteracting the messages of this world that would tell us something completely different to really live for the here and now and really focus on a temporal mindset that's not the biblical approach together as we gather on this program each day we try to reinforce that idea while giving you some practical help with the things you're thinking about financially this is Faith and Finance Live let's head back to the phones Jennifer and Cleveland go right ahead. Hi thank you so much for your ministry it is so appreciated. Oh thank you. Well my first I actually you're welcome I have two questions the first one is about filing taxes for my teen daughters I filed through TurboTax last year with one of my daughters and I won't need to do that again this year but I'm hearing that it's no longer free do you know anything about that? I do the online version of TurboTax is still free if you have a simple return that only uses an IRS form 1040 without any other schedules or attachments so you should still be able to do what you did last year you can also check out the IRS's website at irs.gov they have a link there called free file and if you follow that link it will show you all of the different free filing options it lists several providers where you can file your taxes for free but with a simple return that's 1040 only you should still be able to do that with the online version of TurboTax. Okay great and then one more question I have CDs for both my girls and they've just been with our local bank but I want to switch them to online CDs because they're getting a better return well my oldest daughter just turned 18 so she's no longer a minor but they don't know about this money and we want to save it for a later date for whatever and can I still do that for her without her knowing since she's no longer a minor what uh what type of account is it right now it's just a just a regular cd it has her name it has her name and my name yeah but it is a custodial account currently because I opened those accounts before you know years ago yeah yeah yeah unfortunately a custodial account does become her asset at the age of majority so once she reaches 18 if that's the age of majority in your state it's her money to do with what she wants so if you would ask me prior to opening this account how you should handle it I'd say don't put it in a custodial account just put it in an account either in your name or if you're married you and your husband and earmark it for your child whichever child you would like and maybe you have multiple accounts and then you would just know that that money's there it's separate and therefore any interest is accruing in it and then at the time of your choosing you could gift it to your child but once it goes into a custodial account it's really her asset at the age of majority okay okay good to know all right all right thank you very much you're welcome jennifer thanks for calling today let's head to ohio hi linda thanks for calling go ahead hi thank you um three i'm calling to ask your advice on choosing a financial advisor i recently um was awarded a settlement a little over 100 000 in the form of an ira so i need to roll it over into my own ira and i just i am going to interview at least three different advisors maybe someone from kingdom advisors that list maybe someone from charles schwab or fidelity i've heard you mentioned all of those um investment firms on your show and i want to make sure i'm selecting someone who will be very beneficial to me and i'd like to have a list of questions to ask to help me make that decision on who to work with yeah very good well so a couple of thoughts let me just clarify so kingdom advisors doesn't have financial advisors that are employed by the organization it's a 501c3 non-profit that trains financial advisors to integrate a biblical worldview but also issues a designation so what you hear us talking about on this program is the designation we trust is certified kingdom advisor which is really the seal of approval that kingdom advisors extends to those professionals that have met high standards so they're at all kinds of firms across the industry and big wire houses like maralinch or you know ubs or uh you know morgan stanley or independent firms you know that just have their name on the door that might use fidelity or schwab and everything in between they've just earned the designation which means they've been trained to bring biblically wise financial advice with a university based course they've met a ethics requirements experience requirements pastor references client references a signed statement of faith a whole host of requirements so that's why we recommend if you're going to interview two or three advisors i'd choose someone who is a cka and that way you know that they can bring a biblical worldview but they're going to be a wide range of firms across the industry so you'd head to faithfi.com and click find a cka now if you'd like a list of questions i think that's a great idea to prepare that in advance things like how do you get paid are you a fiduciary which is just a technical term that means they're required to put your interests above their own what are your qualifications i think it's important to understand how your relationship will work how often will you communicate who will be communicating with you how frequently will you meet how are they going to build your portfolio who's the custodian that gets to the fidelity and the schwab all of those kinds of things so those are the types of questions you would ask and i don't expect you to remember all those let me send you one other place if you go to kingdomadvisors.com and click find a cka you'll actually find a list of questions that you can download as a pdf that you can use linda in the interview process just click learn more about finding or choosing a cka and then there'll be a link there that says download the questions to ask to help you choose the right cka professional is that helpful that is very helpful and just one other quick question when i do roll the funds over i've heard you advise others like because i'm this is all new to me and i don't want to jump right into a lot of securities because of the current market so i'm just wondering if i should off the bat ask for them to put it in something that's totally non-fluctuating initially before i make my decision on what types of investments to put it in or should i just hear what they have to say and then make my decisions based off of maybe some security some you know a mix of different investments yeah so let's talk about that for a second because i think the key is you need to understand kind of what relationship do you want typically what i would recommend is that you go with a money manager an investment advisor who's a cka but also one who has what's called discretion which means they do a whole lot of due diligence on the front end and what would you would call discovery so they should rather than trying to talk you into something they're going to spend a lot of time getting to know you and or you and your husband what is god doing in your life what is the purpose of this money you know what are your plans for retirement what other assets do you have how much income do you need how much risk do you want to take i mean all of these questions and that may take you know multiple meetings what is your tax situation and just any other issues or transitions going on in your life will be uncovered and then they'll come back and say okay based on everything we've just talked about over the last couple of meetings here's what we'd recommend in terms of the approach to take in building the investment portfolio this is how much we put in bonds this is how much in stocks these are the types of stocks and bonds you know they might add some precious metals i mean they'll talk to you about all that and then they will deploy that strategy on your behalf now i would try not to say let's you know put it all in cash and i'll tell you when to put it in one of the main reasons for that is i like the idea of them buying at a discount if you tell them to hold off until the market fully recovers it's basically like saying you know i'm going to go shopping i'm not going to buy the the item i'm purchasing on sale i'm going to wait till it goes up to full price and then i want to buy it well we wouldn't do that when we're shopping and i don't think we should do that with our stocks and bonds either plus we're looking at a long-term time horizon here you know even once you reach retirement if you're in good health and the lord tarries you need to let this money last for maybe a couple of decades or more and so we're not thinking about what's going to happen the market next quarter or even next year or even five years from now we're probably looking 10 years plus so i think the key is finding the advisor that's the right fit for you doing all that discovery making sure there's good alignment around the approach and the strategy and then at that point i would let the advisor determine how to move that money into the market and in what timetable rather than dictating that if that makes sense it makes a lot of sense and this is very helpful because it's been a little i've been apprehensive about making this decision so yeah those are a lot of really good guidelines thank you well you're very welcome so kingdomadvisors.com just click find a cka and the reason i'm sending you there is not only can you search for a cka but you'll also be able to get the questions to ask and here's the thing the bible affirms this idea alinda of you seeking wise counsel so god doesn't want you to be anxious about this this is not a burden this is a blessing this is god's provision for you to hold loosely to trust him with implicitly to make wise decisions and that's why i think you need to do multiple interviews and really find somebody that you think is the best fit but then at that point you know at the end of the day we're trusting the lord not these accounts for your future he is your provider and as long as you're following biblical wisdom and principles and seeking wise counsel and you know i think you should be able to sleep well at night knowing that you're doing everything you can do to be found faithful in managing god's resources so i'm gonna pray that there's not any anxiety or anxiousness involved in this because there doesn't need to be you know this is a blessing and god's on the throne he's ultimately in charge of all of it so thanks for being a part of the program today may god bless you well folks unfortunately that's going to do it for us sheldon and bill if you want to hold we'll get your phone numbers and see if we can get you on tomorrow thanks so much for calling today faith and finance live is a partnership between moody radio and faith five thank you to tahira jim luke and ryan i'm rob west hope you'll come back and join us tomorrow we'll see you then bye