Timeshare Tribulation

Moonie Radio's Spring Share event has officially ended, but we could still use your help.

Will you partner with us in our mission to be bold for the Gospel in 2023? To see our impact or partner with us, visit springshare.org. A certain group of people will tell you it's a timeshare.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it's just another budget buster. I'll give you your options for getting out of a timeshare today, and then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.

Well, you steady listeners know it's a question we get fairly often, but I want to go into a little more detail today. How do I get out of my timeshare? You actually have several options, although none of them are great. In a perfect world, you'd sell your timeshare for enough to get your money back. That's not going to happen.

If anyone has done it, please call us, because we'd love to hear how you did it. Seriously. Now, just why is a timeshare so difficult to sell or get rid of at all, for that matter? Well, for most potential buyers, it lacks a clear need. You can book a week at a similar resort any time you want without a huge upfront cost and monthly fees, so there are few customers out there to buy your timeshare. Also, let's face it, timeshares have a significant amount of time.

Most people don't like the high-pressure sales tactics typically used by the companies that sell them, so timeshares in general have a badly tarnished brand image. Before you attempt to sell your timeshare, you should get all the information you can about the process, and the best source we know is the Timeshare User's Group, or TUG. You can find it on our website at timeshare.com. This is a community of timeshare owners who offer advice and share their experiences.

The membership fee is $15 a year, and it's probably well worth it. Now, if you try to sell it on your own, you need to have a realistic idea of what it's worth, and that's almost certainly a lot less than what you paid. Next, you'll have to advertise, and TUG has an online marketplace that's probably the most active site you'll find for buying and selling a timeshare.

But, you can also try eBay, Craigslist, Facebook, and newspaper classified ads. Once you find a buyer, if you find a buyer, you'll need to write up a list of timeshares, and you'll have a list of timeshares. Okay, let's say you've been unsuccessful in selling your timeshare. If you've given up hope for getting any return on your money, you can simply ask the resort to take it back. It's called a Timeshare D-Day.

And if the resort agrees, it's an inexpensive way to get rid of it. You'll probably need to have paid the entire cost of the timeshare, which could run around $24,000, so that would have to be a last resort. Your next option is to use a so-called Timeshare Exit Company.

This one can be tricky because there's a lot of scams out there. You'll want to find one with a track record of helping people get out of their timeshare, and be sure to ask for referrals. There's one more option for getting out from under a timeshare, and that's to go with a contract attorney. You want to find one that's experienced in getting folks out of a timeshare.

It can happen because these companies don't always keep their end of the bargain, and are found in breach of contract. Now you're probably wondering what some of these options might cost you. If you're able to sell your timeshare, you'll probably have several hundred dollars in advertising fees. You'll also lose the difference between what you paid and what you'll sell it for, which will likely be substantial. If you go with a timeshare exit company, costs often start around $5,000 and could go well over $10,000.

Hiring an attorney could cost you nearly as much. Now, here are some of the don'ts. Don't go with any timeshare exit company that makes extravagant claims that they can get you released from your timeshare for a low cost. If the company asks for payment up front, head for the door. Also, don't go with any company that suggests you'd do anything illegal, or in our case as believers, anything that would dishonor God.

Here's another don't. It might be very tempting to just stop making payments. That will result not only in being endlessly harassed by the timeshare company or some collection agency. It will ruin your credit and may result in foreclosure. You've also signed a contract, pledged your word that you'd pay this money, and the Bible is pretty clear about your obligation. In Psalm 327, it reads, Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

So, as I said, you have a few options for getting rid of a timeshare, but the easiest way of all is not to buy one in the first place. All right, your calls are next. The number, 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. Delighted to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live.

I'm Rob Last year host. We're taking your calls and questions. We've got a few lines open today.

800-525-7000 is the number to call. We'd love to hear your questions. Also, your testimonies. Perhaps you'd like to share what God has been up to in your financial life. Maybe you've been applying these principles we talk about for a long, long time, and you've seen them bear fruit in your life.

You'd love to give testimony to that, and we'd love to hear it. 800-525-7000 is the number to call. Let's begin today in Glenview, Illinois. Hi, Karen. Thanks for calling. Go right ahead.

Hi, Rob. Thank you so much for taking my call. I have money coming back from my income tax refund from last year, and it'll total between federal and state to about $5,000 or $6,000. I wanted to open an I-bond, but my question is, I think the maximum you can open in a year is $10,000, but I wondered, how long do you have to keep it in an I-bond without getting penalties, and can I add to it? If I don't have enough to put in $10,000 now, can I put in $6,000 and then add to it during the year?

Oh, sure. Yeah, so the rule on that, Karen, is an individual can put up to $10,000 in I-bonds per year, and that would be in buying the I-bonds directly. Those would be electronic bonds, and you'd do that through electronic transfer when you set up an account at treasurydirect.gov. Now, you would be able to do that in whatever increments you want throughout the year. You just can't put more than $10,000 in in one year.

Now, there's one exception to that. You can put an additional $5,000 in, and you'll get them in paper bond form, and that comes through a tax refund. So, if you have a tax refund coming to you on IRS Form 8888, you can specify how much of your refund you want to be issued in I-bonds, and you would be able to get an additional $5,000 for a total of $15,000, and that would again be over the course of a year. Oh, that would be great, but what would the penalty be? Do I have to keep it in there 10 years?

Oh, no. Yeah, so there's a penalty if you take it out in less than five years, and it's just three months' worth of interest. So, you know, as you redeem the bond, the interest is then credited. It's been credited, but you would redeem the interest along with the bond. But prior to redeeming it, they would just take the prior three months' worth of interest and keep that as a penalty, and then give you the rest. So, you've got to leave it in there for at least 12 months. That's non-negotiable, but if you take it out in less than five years, but beyond one year, you'd just have that three months' worth of interest penalty. When you get beyond five years, there's no penalty at all. Even though they're 30-year bonds, you would be able to take them out without any penalty whatsoever. Okay, and would you know, just, I'm receiving a refund because I paid estimated taxes last year, and then when I had my taxes done this year, I was told I'd be getting all of that back.

Would that be considered the same thing as the 8888? Yeah, so any tax refund coming to you from the IRS, you'd be able to receive in the form of paper savings bonds, and you can elect the I bonds up to $5,000, and so that would be in addition to the $10,000 you could put in directly through treasurydirect.gov. And that's federal and state? Federal refund would come to you.

Oh, okay. So the $5,000 is only federal because I'm getting half from the federal and half from the state, but I couldn't add the additional from the state. It's only the federal.

That's correct. From your federal refund only. Okay, and how would I find out what the current rate is for I bonds? Yeah, it's 6.82% right now.

It will adjust again in May. We won't know that until we get that rate that's published in May based on the consumer price index at the end of April. But 6.8 is where the current rate is, and if you were to open, let's say $10,000, whatever amount of I bonds you open today, you would get six months' worth at that current rate of 6.82. And then when it adjusts in May, you'll find out what the new rate is, and then that would be for the second six months that you own the bonds. So you get the interest credit to you in six-month increments based on the prevailing rate, but you would get the full six months based on the rate when you initiate the purchase.

Okay, and one more. How many years can you keep it in there? So I'm 65. Could I keep it in 20 years? Yeah, they're 20-year bonds with a 10-year extension, so it's basically a 30-year bond, so you could keep it in there up to 30 years.

At that point, you would redeem it because it wouldn't be accruing interest any longer. Okay. Thank you so much. Really helped. You're welcome, Karen. Thanks for your call today. We appreciate it very much.

800-525-7000 is the number to call. Let's head to Illinois. Actually, we'll stay here in Illinois. Go ahead, Sandra.

You're next on the program. Yes, we have a timeshare, and we had gotten it halfway between us and our children, and that place is now closed down. Does that mean we can get out of our contract? Yeah, you're going to need to read the agreement.

I would imagine if it's closed down and there's not any alternate options there, then they can't perform on the contract, then you could get out of it, but you'd want to have an attorney review that just based on contract law, see what provisions are in there, and what opportunities you have to get out of it, given that the place that you've had access to is no longer available. So it really is going to come down to the fine print of that legal agreement. Okay, so we have to go through, but there is a possibility maybe we can get out of it, and you can't just not pay, huh?

No, you really don't need to go that route. I mean, you need to look at the contract, read the details of it, and really exercise your options given to you in the contract based on the situation as it exists today. So unfortunately, I think you're going to need to get an attorney to help you just look over that and tell you what options you have moving forward. It's never a good idea to just stop paying because perhaps there's somebody that would attempt to collect on this debt and that could hurt your credit and a whole host of other things. So hopefully you'll be able to get out of it, Sandra.

That would be really nice and allow you to move on and do something else. Thanks for calling today. We appreciate you being a part of the program. 800-525-7000 is the number to call.

A quick email before we head to our first break and then back to more of your phone calls today. Nancy writes to us at AskRob at FaithFi.com, I'm wondering what the best and most secure way is to save education money for my three-year-old grandchild. Obviously, he won't need access to the funds in the near future.

I live in Michigan, if that is helpful. Well, Nancy, since you have 15 years for this money to grow, you don't have to be too concerned about preservation. I'd be focused on growing this money in a tax-advantaged way.

That's certainly more than enough time to overcome any market fluctuations. So I would say let's use a 529 education savings plan. That's my preferred approach for saving for college. Plus, you can also use it up to $10,000 for K-12 education as well for private education. And you would want to look at SavingForCollege.com to see which state's plan is going to be best for you.

I know you're in Michigan. You may find that it's good to stay right there in Michigan and use the Michigan 529 because of the tax advantages. You may find that it's better to go to another state, which you absolutely can do, because their performance is far better than Michigan. That's what SavingForCollege.com will help you analyze. But you can put in basically as much as you want. You'll be able to get this growing on a tax-free basis, so long as it's used for qualified educational expenses.

You can get it back based on grants and scholarships, or transfer it to another child, or even now coming in a few years, put it into a Roth IRA if it's unused. Thanks for writing to us. We'll be right back on Faith & Finance Live. You know, as we apply biblical wisdom to our financial decisions and choices, our goal is to develop the mind of a steward, that is, a manager of God's resources. That's what we want to help you do on this program each day. Welcome to Faith & Finance Live.

I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and testimonies today, 800-525-7000. We'd love to hear from you. By the way, before we get back to the phones, let me just say a big thank you to so many of you in our listening audience that participated in our Spring Share Bold for the Gospel last week. What an amazing opportunity to hear your stories, and to see you partner with Moody Radio to reach people in the name of Jesus, and to continue the incredible legacy of this broadcast ministry that's reaching so many people, both through terrestrial radio, but through incredible modern means like the Moody Radio app and Moody Radio TV. We're going to be right back. So many folks being impacted by the Gospel, and you're helping us out. When you participate with us and support this ministry, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the incredible work you did last week to partner with us. We are very grateful.

By the way, if you didn't get a chance to participate in our Spring Share and you're just hearing about it now, there's still an opportunity for you to do so at moodyradio.org. All right, let's head back to the phones to Idaho we go. Hi, Ken. Thanks for your patience, sir. Go right ahead.

Hi, Rob. God bless you and thank you for your ministry. I appreciate it very much. My wife is approaching age 65, and I have heard that it's better to get long-term health care before she turns 65. Can you briefly tell me what long-term health care is and how to research the best deal for this? Yeah, so most Americans will need some form of long-term care.

The numbers are about 70% plus once you reach age 65. And long-term care insurance, although it's, you know, not for the faint of heart because it's fairly pricey and you need to make sure not only can you can cover the premium now, but if there are increases and with most of these policies there have been in the future that you could be able to absorb that because your ability to continue that policy is obviously critical to being able to get the benefits if you need it. And, you know, 20% of Americans, 70% will need some sort of long-term care. 20% of Americans will need it for more than five years. And this is obviously one of the key ways that your assets could be eroded just given the cost. I mean, you know, we're talking nursing, home care that could run you $9,000 a month plus.

And then obviously all varieties of care, you know, around that whether it's in home or adult daycare or assisted living, that type of thing. So it is very expensive. You do have to shop around to find the lowest premiums with the policy that's going to fit your needs, making sure you have the appropriate riders like an inflation rider, which is obviously really key. And just given any health considerations that you have, some companies may look at that more favorably than others. Now, you mentioned the age of 65, and you are correct. You will hear most folks say that in order to get this at the most cost-effective price range, you're going to want to look at a policy like this between ages 55 and 65 is really the ideal time. Doesn't mean, you know, once she turns 65, it's automatically going to be too expensive or she wouldn't qualify by, you know, that's definitely not the case, but it is going to get more costly and it's going to rise rapidly after age 65.

So if you are going to buy it, this would be the time to do it. You can also get a hybrid life insurance policy that has long-term care insurance or a life insurance policy with an LTC rider, but both of those are in whole life policies and, you know, they have drawbacks. You could start at just one of the online research vehicles like policygenius.com. My preferred approach though with long-term care specifically because it is a fairly expensive policy and there are, you know, different riders that you'll need to consider based on, you know, your situation is to get an independent agent who's a long-term care insurance specialist who writes on one of the major carriers and can really help you not only shop this around to find the best policy for you, but also really ask the right questions to make sure that, you know, the policy you end up with is the one that's best suited for your needs. If you don't know of someone, I'd reach out to a certified kingdom advisor there in Idaho and ask for a referral to an insurance agent who specializes in long-term care and just about every financial advisor will have someone because this is often in need of their clients.

And you could find a CKA there in your area, Ken, by just going to our website faithfi.com, faithfi.com, and then just click find a CKA. Is that helpful? Yes.

I've got one more quick question. I have knee issues, bone on bone. I played too many sports when I was younger and it's bearable, but I was just wondering would it be financially in my best interest to wait till after retirement when I am receiving Medicare and will hopefully be on Tricare at the same time as opposed to using my current healthcare? Yeah. So what healthcare coverage do you have currently?

I have I have coverage through work. Okay. It's just, yeah. Yeah. You know, it I'm sorry, go ahead.

It's actually an HSA policy right now. Ah, I see. Yeah.

And how far away is that? Five years. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, it just really depends on what you have now. You may find that, you know, with that two layers of coverage there with both Medicare and the Tricare coverage, you know, you're going to have less out of pocket. Obviously, if you could hang on to that HSA money into retirement, that becomes a pretty attractive vehicle and it gets even more attractive after age 65 just in terms of your ability to use that money even for other things.

So if you could let that money grow, you know, that's obviously a good thing. I think that the bigger issue, though, is your health. And, you know, if it's bone on bone and it's causing more damage, then obviously you don't want this to become worse in five years, not to mention just the discomfort that you're in. So I think you've got to balance the financial implications with, you know, your health and the current situation and whether this is something you want to let go. You can deal with that with your health care providers. But I think from a purely financial standpoint, obviously, if you could get to that point, you probably would be better off just to let this HSA grow and have Medicare and Tricare take care of it. What I'd probably do is go and reach out to your Social Security office.

They handle Medicare questions and just have them explain to you what the out of pocket costs would be and how that would work and compare it to your current situation before you make a decision. But don't wait if it's going to cause you more health problems, Ken. I certainly don't want you to be in pain for the next five years. Hey, thanks for calling today. We appreciate it. We'll be right back on Faith and Finance Live.

Stay with us. So thankful to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. Hey, have you checked out the FaithFi app? With its simple, beautiful interface, you can manage your spending plan, perhaps in a way that gives you control and visibility into your monthly spending that you've never had before.

And if you're sharing a budget as husband and wife, then you can both be on the same page, maybe for the first time. Check it out today. Just head to our website, faithfi.com. That's faithfi.com.

Click the app tab and you'll find the download link right there. By the way, while you're there, if you'd like to support the ministry, you can click on give and give to support our listeners supported work. We're grateful for any support.

You give us and I know so many of you do and we are very, very grateful. 800-525-7000 is the number to call. Coming up a little later in the broadcast, Bob Doll stops by with his Monday market commentary. A lot going on in the markets today. Stocks green across the board.

The Dow Jones, the S&P and the NASDAQ with some pretty good strength today. On the heels of this news we got over the weekend about Credit Suisse being really supported and taken out by UBS. And that gave some confidence to the market that maybe we're at the tail end of this banking issue we had that started in Silicon Valley and spread quickly to the UBS.

And maybe we're at the tail end of this banking issue we had that started in Silicon Valley and spread quickly to at least a few other banks. So we'll get Bob's take on all of it and what's ahead with regard to the Fed decision and the market and the economy coming up a little later in the broadcast. All right, back to the phones we go. Let's head to Elwood, Indiana. Hi, Rob. You're next on the program, sir. Go ahead. Hi, Rob.

Thanks for your ministry and taking my call. I'm 53. My wife's going to be 50 somewhat soon. We don't have any debt except for our house. We've used the debt snowball thing and we've got rid of all the debt. We've got two cars. So we're set that way. Our monthly income is paid from what we get and we're about $200 or $300 short every month that we make up through working.

I do. And so my question is, our house is about $98,000 that we owe on it and it's our only debt. It's about $700 a month. And I have my total 401k savings is about $95,000. Now half of that is in a Roth, which I converted a few years ago, and the other half is in traditional. So I know there's going to be taxes on that and of course penalty on the whole thing if I take it out soon. My question is with the volatility and stuff of the banks and everything, I just feel like I would be better not having that $700 payment and a piece of paper in my hand that almost guarantees I always have a place to live rather than my money in the bank. Can you advise me about that?

Yeah, Rob. I mean, I certainly appreciate where you're coming from and the volatility that we've experienced in the market is not any fun to deal with and, you know, opening your statement and seeing the fluctuations and the unrealized losses. And then, you know, you've got this monthly mortgage and you'd love to just wipe that out, especially given that you're $200 or $300 short on your spending plan, being semi-retired and having to work part time.

I can see where, you know, the wisdom in knocking that out. And if you just really had a conviction from the Lord, as you and your wife think and pray about it, that you just want to be debt free, then I'd say go for it. I mean, from a purely financial standpoint, I don't think this is the time to cash out of an IRA. I don't like pulling retirement money out before 59 and a half anyway, just because, you know, when you take the 10% penalty plus the taxes on at least the traditional IRA portion, I mean, this is expensive money for you to get to on top of the fact you'd be locking in unrealized losses with the market where it is. I mean, these cycles, they're always for different reasons, but these cycles always happen. About every decade or so, we were overdue for one with a 12-year raging bull market, you know, 12 plus years really after 2009. You know, and we've seen incredible wealth. And I think even though we have longer term, a little further down the road, you know, we have some issues we've got to deal with with, you know, our budget deficits and rising debt levels in this country and just are the ramifications of the fiscal policy we've had with easy money and, you know, artificially suppressed interest rates that are not commensurate with the real risk that's present. I still think the stock and bond portfolio is the very best way to build wealth. And this is a pretty key time for you over the next, let's say, decade for you guys to let this money continue to grow so that when you retire, hopefully fully, hopefully your home is paid off, which you've done out of current cash flow, and you have another asset, you know, that's been growing all the while that you could convert to an income stream to supplement Social Security and whatever other retirement vehicles you have.

I mean, you guys are still young. And again, you know, with all the penalties plus the unrealized losses, I'm just not a big fan of this approach. But I'm certainly I resonate with the idea you'd love to be debt free and you'd rather, you know, know that you own your home. And so I get that. I just think you've got to look at what am I giving up in order to achieve that?

And is it really worth it? And I'm not saying it's not. I just am throwing that out as an alternate consideration. Does that make sense?

Yeah, it actually does. Thank you. I was wondering, the only thing I was worried about is it is expensive. And I could certainly make up that 300 plus put some to the house until I'm 59 and a half. I was thinking it was going to have to be 62. But, you know, I'm 53. So 59 and a half is only seven years away. So I we would be financially it would be a bad idea until at least 59. And then see how it works. If we still want to do it, I could do it. If something looks better, then we can take that. That's what I'm here.

Yeah, I think that's right. And you'd only be a few years away if you wanted to take Social Security, although that'd be another consideration just to think, you know, long and hard about because you'd be locking in about a 32% permanent reduction on those benefits if you took it at 62. But you could find that, you know, if you'd wait till 62, perhaps you guys could just take care of this mortgage out of just really controlling your expenses and, you know, paying it down out of current cash flow, perhaps even accelerating it beyond just the regularly scheduled payment. And then when you get to that point, maybe you're entering retirement. And with the mortgage gone, now you can cover your bills, you know, and maybe you just let the Social Security grow. But clearly, once you start taking that now you're in a in a surplus situation, which, you know, puts you in a real good spot moving forward. So I'd just love for you to have this asset available to you down the road, if you needed it for long term care or something, you know, out of left field as opposed to depleting it and even though you could build it back up with surplus.

I just like this continuing to grow on a compounded basis and being able to recover from the losses you've experienced in the last year or so. Okay, yeah, that makes perfect sense. Thanks a lot. God bless. Okay, Rob, thanks for calling today. We appreciate you very, very much. 800-525-7000 is the number to call. You know what, we're gonna have to hit another break here in just a second. Let me tackle another email. This one comes to us from Jill.

She writes to us and ask Rob at faithfi.com. Is it better to continue putting the maximum amount toward my retirement 200 a month into an IRA that my employer matches at 50% or should we put that money toward paying off our debt? So if this is a simple IRA, Jill, the maximum contribution your employer can make is 3%. Perhaps you're talking about a 401k. I think the big idea here is that when we look at debt payment versus retirement, both are positive, both are a good thing. So which is the priority? Well, what I would say is if it's consumer debt with high interest, let's absolutely prioritize that first, especially credit cards. But once we eliminate that high interest consumer debt, I think you're better served to just make a reasonable payback period over time for the rest of your debt and let's focus on leveraging those years of compounding on a tax advantage basis, which is what your retirement plan will give you.

And if you're getting a match, absolutely prioritize that because that's free money you're not going to get anywhere else. Thanks for writing to us. We'll be right back on faith and finance live. Stay with us. grateful to have you with us today on faith and finance live.

I'm Rob West. Hey, before we head back to the phones here in our final segment, it's Monday, which means Bob doll stops by to give us his insights on the markets and the economy. Bob, obviously green across the board today. I guess the weekend action with credit credit Swiss and UBS is perhaps giving the financial sector a boost, which maybe is spilling over into the rest of the market. Is that right?

That's all accurate, Rob. And at a minimum, it's an oversold bounce for the financials, which got destroyed last week. And so we're seeing some allowed green with a nice number behind that positive sign. We'll see if it lasts.

Yeah, no question. Bob, obviously, we're a couple of weeks into this now, just with everything that's going on in the banking sector. What's your current thoughts on just where we stand and what we know today about whether this is truly contained?

So we won't know for some time. The feds did step up in many different ways. One, guaranteeing deposits, ensuring deposits all the way up, not just to 250,000. Number two, providing some relief from banks that had a mismatch between their assets and liabilities by allowing them to borrow at the window at par rather than below par where a lot of bonds are. And thirdly, helping to organize some of the purchases and takeover action that we've seen in those distressed banks. So they're trying to stop it here.

So there's no further contagion. A lot of it will rest, Rob, as you know, on confidence. Does the American public, consumers and businesses think the system is okay? My vote is, yeah, we're heading to okay.

The system made some mistakes. And when the Fed raises rates as fast as they do, something goes bump in the night. And that's what's happened the last couple of weeks. Yeah, no doubt about that. It does, though, I think, perhaps illustrate how fragile the system can be in just in terms of consumer sentiment and how quickly fear can result in a rush on exiting the banks and how that can be self-fulfilling in some ways. I mean, is there anything to take away from this in that regard? Yeah, look, fear and greed are what makes markets.

We know that. And, you know, if there's only two dollars in the bank and you have a dollar deposit and I have a dollar deposit, we're going to race to the bank to see who can get there first and get their dollar out. That's what happens in these situations. It's that simple. And we just have to have a little patience and watch the system come back together.

Yeah, very good, Bob. Just broader picture with the economy and where we stand today. Obviously, we've talked about the importance and the role of the Fed and all of this. And this obviously has us putting our eyes back on the Fed with regard to whether this event is going to have any implication on where they go from here. What's your latest analysis?

Well, the answer is it does affect them. You'll recall a couple of weeks ago, the consensus was the Fed's probably going to go 50 basis points at their meeting this Wednesday. Now the debate is, do they raise 25 or not at all?

I'm in the 25 camp for a bunch of reasons. So, yes, this has impacted the Fed. And what I would argue is the probability of recession in light of the bank problems has gone up some. So, in some sense, the slowdown, the deferrals have gone up. The Fed was looking for the Fed's doing some of their work for them or the banking crisis is some of the work for them. And the Fed's got to thread the needle now. On the one hand, they want to respect the fact that there are financial dislocation issues. But on the other hand, they respect the fact that, you know, they're the inflation fighters. Inflation is still running five and a half, six percent.

That's just too high. Yeah, no question about it. And yet, Bob, you know, this particular issue of the banks was really brought on, or at least we now know about it because of the Fed's actions. You know, having the interest rates this high and contracting the balance sheet this quickly does cause some of these cracks perhaps to become evident. Do you feel like there's other places in the economy that may see a fallout as a result of their action?

These things are generally in the financial system. And yes, the Fed made a mistake by waiting too long to raise rates. But certain banks made a mistake by not paying attention or close enough attention to their assets and their liabilities and matching them.

A lot of banks will make it through these same problems without a problem because they've been very careful to manage it. So there's a little blame to go all around, Rob. Yeah, no question about that.

All right, Bob. So in your estimation, you know, this could be perhaps a bottom, but there's still a great likelihood we could see that retested, especially if a recession is in later this year, correct? Yes, that's the way I see things. We could get a bounce here from the big oversold, especially in the financials, but we still have earnings risk related to potential slowdown slash recession.

And that probably makes equities still go lower. I think we have another low below the October low before we can clean the system and move forward. All right.

Well, clean the system and move forward is certainly what we're all looking for at some point, although perhaps we're willing to be a little more patient on that. Bob, appreciate you stopping by, my friend. Thank you so much. All right, Bob Doll, chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments. You can learn more. And while you're there, sign up for his Dolls Deliberations, his weekly investment commentary at crossmarkglobal.com. All right, back to the phones and our remaining moments here on the program today to Glenview, Illinois. Hi, Phyllis, go right ahead. Hi, Rob. Thank you for taking my call. I recently signed up for Social Security benefits and because I waited a year and a half, two years after I was eligible to take it, I received a one time payment of $27,000 for back benefits.

And I'm just wondering how to invest this money long term. Yeah, let me ask you a couple of questions, Phyllis. Do you have any debt?

Just our home. Okay. And go ahead. You know, we're down to $25,000 on that. Okay, very good. What's the interest rate on that? I think it's two point something or two.

Two point something or three point something. Yeah, okay. So very low.

Yeah, excellent. And what other investable assets do you have? We have a portfolio. We have a pension. And how much do you have roughly in your retirement account roughly? About $400,000.

Okay. And how close are you to retirement? My husband's younger than I am.

So a couple more years for him. I'm working part time. I'm retired mostly. Okay. Yeah, very good.

And do you all have emergency savings? We do. Yeah. Okay. Okay, very good.

Yeah. So I think the question is just, you know, whether you feel like you're on track for retirement. If you are, you know, obviously you could use this to shore up just, you know, additional emergency savings to have it liquid. If you know of another major expense you're going to have in the near term, like you need to replace a car, maybe this is an opportunity, you know, for you to do that with cash. Obviously, you could just wipe out the mortgage at this point, although it's a low, very low interest rate.

But if you did, you could then take the payment and then start socking that away if that would give you some peace of mind to own your home free and clear. If you want to put this away for the longer term, I would say 10 years plus, you know, perhaps you put this in a traditional IRA if you all don't have one. If you're over age 50, you guys could put each 7000 away this year in two traditional IRAs, take the tax deduction. And if you haven't filed your 2022 taxes, you could do, you know, 6500 for last year each, so 13,000 and then another up to 14,000 this year. So you could get basically all of this money into some IRAs and get that tax deduction to lower your taxes for last year and this year, and then, you know, get that invested so that that's growing alongside the 400,000. Another option if you wanted something, you know, shorter term is you could, you know, take advantage of, let's say some I bonds, you could put in up to $10,000 per person at treasurydirect.gov.

They're backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, and they're paying 6.8% right now. Now, you'd have to leave that money in for a year. And that interest rate is probably coming down as inflation comes down.

But for the next year, it's a fairly attractive rate. So I think the question is just how long the time horizon is on this money, and the risk reward on that. If you said this is money, we just want to invest it and forget about it. I'd say drop it into those IRAs, invest it in some good high quality, you know, mutual funds and just let it grow over the next decade. And let's see if this 25,000 becomes 40,000, you know, by the time you need it, especially with you being able to buy in while this market is down. Does that make sense?

Yeah, it does. What about the taxes on the money, you know? Well, if it's going into an IRA, you get a tax deduction when it goes in, and then you'd have the opportunity to grow it tax deferred. So there's no taxes on it as it's growing.

And then when you take it out after 59 and a half, you would just have the ability to, you'd have to pay taxes on it as income. Got it. Okay. All right. So I think that would be a way to reduce the tax bite for this payment from Social Security, which is going to be taxable to you because of the income that you have from your husband.

So I'd probably look at IRA contributions, and you could talk to an advisor about that. If you need one, you could find a certified kingdom advisor at our website, faithfi.com. Just click find to send me an email. Let's go quickly to Akron. Laura, we have just about a minute left.

How can I help? Yeah, I was wondering, with what's going on with the banks right now, would it be better to purchase a CD, high yield CD? Or would it be better to purchase an I bond? What's the time horizon on this money, Laura? When do you need to get access to it?

I could wait for a long time. Okay. Yeah, you know, if it's, if it's money that, you know, is one to three year time horizon, I like the I bonds. I mean, both are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, if you're less than 250,000. And obviously, it is because you can only put in 10,000 per person per year in an I bond.

So in terms of safety, there's no difference. If it were me, I'd probably do the CD, just because I don't want to buy it. Because right now you're getting some very attractive rates. And I'd maybe take a third of it and put it at six months, a third of it at a year and a third of it at a year and a half.

And you'll get between four and 5% on that money completely guaranteed. Thanks, Laura, for your call today. That's gonna do it for us.

Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between Faith Fi and Moody Radio. Thank you to Amy, Jim and Tahira. We'll see you tomorrow.

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