Does God Care Where We Give?

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Hi, I'm Rob West. We all have to make decisions about where we will give from our limited resources. So a good question to ask is, Does God care where we give? I'll talk about that today with David Wills, and we have some great calls lined up, but we won't be taking your live calls today because we're prerecorded. This is Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well, our guest today is my friend David Wills, president emeritus of the National Christian Foundation, and he spent a lot of time helping hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of individuals and families decide not just how but where to give. David, great to have you with us today. So good to be with you, Rob. Thanks for having me.

Absolutely. David, your article on the NCF website titled Does God care where we give caught my eye and I invited you here just to unpack some of your thoughts about this really important topic with our listeners because you point out that sometimes we have this backwards. Why don't you start there and tell us what you mean by that?

Well, Rob, let me back up and give some context so that people can understand what I'm saying. I think there's, you know, we often say there's three primary uses of financial resources we give, save and spend. And when it comes to the give of those three, there's three questions that we ask. Why should I give? How do I give? And where should I give? So we're going to talk about the third question, the where to give question. And so one thing we need to be kind of clear about when we're thinking through the where to give question is that it is primarily a matter of the heart when it comes to our giving. So Jesus didn't command the widow, the history's most famous giver, whose name we don't even know, for giving to the best synagogue. He committed her for a sacrificial heart.

So the widow walked away that day having experienced what 1 Timothy 6 says was life that is truly life. Then the next question is when we're thinking about where to give, how do we get it backwards? And I'm very guilty of this, this thought process. And often I will ask myself and I'll even tell others, you know, what are you passionate about?

And then figure out what you're passionate about and then give there. And that's where I think we kind of get it backwards, because I think our priority should be first asking the question, what is God passionate about? And then asking the question, is my giving aligned with his heart?

Wow, that's powerful. Yeah, and perhaps an entirely different approach to our giving than we've considered in the past. All right, so how do we determine that? Does God tell us where to give, David? I think you're kind of asking that as a rhetorical question. Absolutely. So yes, he does care.

And he does tell us. So let me take a stab at a framework. It's not perfect.

No framework is perfect. But I think maybe it will help us think through this. And so imagine a three by three grid with nine boxes, kind of like a tic tac toe with a box around it. All right. So let's go the left side of this box. And I'm going to kind of put together this framework that will help us think about this.

Okay. And so what God, the places God cares about are in the three slots on the left side, and the passions that God cares about are on the three boxes along the top. And then we'll see how they interact and ask us to ask the right questions. So the left side, the verse that really helps us here is Acts 1-8. And we're all familiar with this verse about being witnesses in all Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth. So each of us can decide for ourselves these geographies. So you might say in the upper left, the first one might be your community, then your country, then internationally. So that those three pieces of that framework are the kind of the starting point of this framework that I hope can help us think through what is it that God would have us do. So that's the first place that we need to think about. Does that make sense to you?

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and it's a little bit, it's important for us to think through the two facets of this because we're going to have this grid. And when we get to the top in just a second, one of the first questions you will ask is, so at the local level, am I giving to these areas of what God is passionate about? And then we'll ask that question maybe for your country. Are you giving to areas in your country of these three things?

You're not going to hit every box, but hopefully this will give a framework and then we'll get to the top here in just a second. I love this, David. And I think you're exactly right. Having a framework that allows us to think more intentionally about our giving in light of the heart of God that we see in Scripture perhaps is going to change entirely the where piece of our giving. David Will is with us today, President Emeritus of the National Christian Foundation. This is Faith and Finance Live, and even though we're not here today and can't take your live calls, there's much more ahead on the program, so please stay tuned. Welcome back to Faith and Finance Live.

I'm Rob West. Joining me today, my friend David Wills, President Emeritus of the National Christian Foundation. We're talking about a recent article that David wrote on NCF's website titled, Does God Care Where We Give? And David, just before the break, you were really setting up this perhaps grid or framework that we can think about in terms of the where of our giving. But does God's Word tell us who we should give to as well?

Absolutely, it does. So it kind of, one of the great things about the Word of God is if we'll go there first, it'll really give us a picture. We just talked about the left side of this framework, this grid, if you will, and just one additional thought about this left side where we talk about giving locally, maybe giving to your country and then internationally or whatever you think are the best three ones that kind of mirror Acts 1a. It probably is wise for us to think back just for a second on what did the disciples think when Jesus or when it was Acts 1a was said? And so just so when they hear Jerusalem, they're thinking, well, this is where we live. This is our community. When they think Judea, they think, well, I know where that is.

It's a short journey, but it's not where I live. When he added Samaria, there was a little bit of a twist on that one, because that was a place that they probably would not have gone had Jesus not told him to go there. So when we think about our giving, there are times when we should think, are there places that God really is telling me to give that, you know, I just have never thought about giving there before? And then, of course, the ends of the earth for the disciples were way beyond anything that they would have ever imagined, but they ended up obeying Acts 1a. And today we are followers of Jesus because of their obedience. So now are we ready to go on to the top of the grid?

Absolutely. So let's move to the top of the grid and talk about who we give to. Yeah, so the left side are the three places and the right side are the three passions that God cares about.

And of course, you know, it would take us a long time. There are dozens and dozens of verses that describe the passions that God has, but there are three biggies, if you will. In fact, you might call this framework the great giving framework because each of the top grids describes something that God's Word describes as great. So the first one at the top left is going to be the Great Commission, Matthew 28, 19 through 20. The verse we all know about making disciples, baptizing them, teaching them, going to the uttermost parts of the world. And you can see how all of these things intertwine.

So this is not, they're dashed lines, if you will, of this grid. In fact, the lines are probably not perfectly straight because the kingdom doesn't work that way, but it's helpful for us to think about. So there's a lot packed in that verse with regards to the, you know, who should we give to or the things that we should give to. So let's just say as an example in this column, there would be things like missions or evangelism, discipleship, maybe giving the scripture translation or Christian education.

Those are the kind of things that you hear about when you read the Great Commission. And of course, we all come up with our own specific things, but that's just kind of some examples. So in the middle box at the top, let's call it the greatest commandment, and that's found in Matthew 22. And that very famous verse is that we're to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul and all our mind.

So when we think about that one, that's the second column. And then the third one to the right, upper right, would be the second greatest commandment, which is in the next verse that says we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. So the types of things we want to give to are the things that are, you know, in the greatest commandment, you know, possibly could be preaching and teaching and cultural issues, things that are central to us loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind.

And the third upper right box, those kind of things are the ones that are most often mentioned in Scripture, and there's really five big ones, but underneath there's lots of other ones. So widows and orphans, prisoners, the poor and needy, the sick, the oppressed. God talks about basically giving to them over and over and over again, and we should be a little maybe more creative. So when you think of widows, maybe you also think about single moms, or when you think about orphans, you could think about foster care or adoption. You know, and so let's take the oppressed, for example, we're living in a world right now where there's a refugee crisis going on in so many places in the world.

And of course, there's also issues of trafficking and slavery of all kinds. Those are people that are oppressed, if you will, immigrants as well, and so we want to be a little creative here, but we do want to be biblical. We want to really stick to that top part are the passions of God. What is it that God is passionate about? And there's overlap, and all of us can kind of make our own grid, but I'm just kind of giving a framework out there to help us think through what is God passionate about, and then let that drive what I am passionate about giving to. This is really helpful, David, because I love that it involves intentionality, but it's rooted in Scripture. And so again, if we have this three by three, these nine boxes, down the left side, we have our community and our country and then international, and across the top, we have the three greats, the Great Commission, the Great Commandment, and then the second greatest commandment. It gives us a framework to think about our giving.

Now, what does it look like for you, David, or you and your wife as you think about your giving? How do you go about putting this together, let's say on an annual basis? Yeah, let's take the top one, the local. Most of the folks that I work with, by the way, Rob, they actually look at it kind of like concentric circles with regards to the places. So first they ask the question, how should I be engaged locally? And then they ask, what's the next outer circle?

And then the uttermost parts. And so let's just take the local, for example, when you talk about the Great Commission, the greatest commandment, really everything that we give to locally is going to intersect one of those three if we're following this framework. So let's just take an example, giving to my local church. If you looked at what I just talked about, you would see that giving to my local church clearly fits within what God's passion is. I live here in Waco, there's several organizations that we've given to that are ministering to the poor and needy. And so that fits in the upper right hand box. And there are other organizations that we give to here that are educated, doing different types of education, especially some special needs related things. And we give to a local organization here that's connected to our church that deals with trafficking. And so I know that what we're giving to these things, I can clearly put them in just on that top row in the local. And then I want to ask the same questions about the middle two boxes. Am I doing this in my country?

And am I doing this in the uttermost parts of the world? We've been very involved in what's gone on in Afghanistan and Ukraine, for example. And it's just easy to see there's refugee issues there. There's poor and needy issues. There's healing. And you can see how they all intersect so you can really be competent. If I'm giving to those things that God is passionate about, then I'm definitely going in the right direction.

That's so helpful, David. All right. We've almost out of time. Tie a bow on this for us. Well, just as we're closing up, I would ask one more question. What if my passions don't align with God's passions?

Well, the answer to that is give to the things that God is passionate about, and where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I love it. David, thanks for stopping by, my friend.

Thanks for having me, Rob. Really appreciate it. That was David Wills, president emeritus of the National Christian Foundation.

You can read this article at our website, faithfi.com. All right, we're going to head to a break, so don't go anywhere. Still a lot more to come, even though we're away from the studio today and you shouldn't call in. We have some great questions that you're really going to enjoy as we continue to apply God's wisdom to your financial decision. We'll be right back. Stick around. So thankful to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live.

Hey, our team is away from the studio today, so don't call in. But we lined up some great questions in advance. We'll get to those in just a moment. But first, let's tackle an email. These come in to us all the time at askrob at faithfi.com.

We'd love for you to send one along if you want your question read on the air. This one comes to us from Wanda. Wanda writes, When I give to some ministries, I receive free gifts. The retail price of those gifts is taken out of my donation. I don't need the gifts and don't want that money reduced from my donation. What should I do?

And Wanda, it's a great question. It's wonderful that you don't want to be compensated in any material way for your giving. Oftentimes, when you make a gift, especially online, you'll be able to either opt in or opt out of that gift. Obviously, if that's made available to you, you can go ahead and choose not to receive the gift. And then you'll get the contribution statement for the full amount. If that's not available or maybe you're giving over the phone, just ask the ministry if they wouldn't mind holding that gift for somebody else. And then you can go ahead and make your gift, not receive anything in exchange, and they'll be able to give you a contribution statement reflecting the full amount.

If that's not possible, that's just an automatic process. Well, then you can give as unto the Lord and maybe re-gift that item back to God's kingdom to passing it on to somebody else who can use it. But at the end of the day, I'm grateful for your generous heart, and we certainly want to be active givers.

But we want to do that wisely, whether it has to do with a gift we're receiving or just giving in an efficient way, perhaps using something like a donor-advised fund. But thanks for writing to us today, Wanda. We very much appreciate it. All right, let's head to the phones. We're going to begin today in Texas. Carlos, thank you for calling, sir.

Go right ahead. My question is this. I just moved from New York, and I used to work for the school district over there, and I have a pension from there. And I moved to Texas, which I still do in the same type of work for the school. Here is a TRS, they call.

Yes. And they told me that I cannot collect Social Security and TRS at the same time. Yeah, that's typically true with the teacher's retirement system, and it gets terribly complicated, unfortunately.

And so you need to talk to the Social Security Administration so they can look at your particular record and see, given that you've got two different states that you've taught in, it will come down to how many years you paid into the Social Security system. Oftentimes, depending upon the state, you will not pay into Social Security because they'll have an independent pension. And so if you did, you have to get to those 30 years that are really critical of having paid into Social Security.

There's a couple of provisions that come into place. There's one that's called the Windfall Elimination Provision, and this allows your benefits to be reduced. If you've worked less than 30 years, you will have a reduction in your Social Security benefits. There's what's called the Government Pension Offset, and that is if you're entitled to Social Security benefits as a survivor or a spouse and have a TRS pension where you did not pay into Social Security, it will reduce that survivor's benefit. The key is whether or not you paid into Social Security, and if you did not, then you would only qualify for the TRS, the teacher's retirement system, and not get any Social Security benefits. So you need to do a little bit of digging and due diligence just to figure out how many years are on your Social Security record currently and what could you do to get to a place where you have Social Security benefits that you're entitled to. What you may find is that really the teacher's retirement system is the only thing you'll be eligible depending upon how Social Security has been handled to this point in terms of your working life. So unfortunately, it's very complicated, and you're going to have to get specific information, especially given your situation where you had two different states' retirement systems going on, but the Social Security Administration can help you navigate all of that.

Have you reached out to them by chance to schedule a meeting or have a phone call? Not yet, because I don't have the age yet to retire, and I was thinking because I put two or five years in New York, and this is my first year in Texas. And I just also was thinking to get the pension early over there because I'm going to be turning 55. I know they're going to give me a penalty, and they're going to give me only the 75, so I was thinking to take advantage of the pension that I have there just to take advantage. I don't know if I should do that.

Yeah, this gets fairly complicated. It's going to come down to, Carlos, what options you have and what you plan to do from here in terms of any additional work. Are you planning to fully retire, or are you just planning to retire from teaching and go get another job elsewhere? I'm planning to fully retire, and the estimate that I have from the job that I have in New York, the pension, is like $3,000. Whatever I build in here, that's a different story.

Yeah, okay. Well, here's what I'm going to recommend because unfortunately I'm not going to be able to give you direction on where to go from here just given all the moving parts that you have. I would schedule a meeting with the Social Security Administration, either over the phone or in person, just to get them to pull up your current work record and explain to you what options you have based on your work record to this point.

Because what you may find is if you can continue to work and pay into Social Security in the future, you may be able to get to the point where you can at least get a reduced benefit, especially given that the majority of your working life was in another state. Beyond that, I'd probably connect with an advisor. You can find a Certified Kingdom Advisor there in Texas on our website, faithfi.com. Just click Find a CKA, and what they can do is look at the various options you have with regard to collecting your teacher's retirement early, compare that to your monthly budget needs, your plans for the future, and help you determine the right timing on that so that you have enough to cover your expenses.

But, you know, you're not doing it too early and limiting your future, you know, earning potential with regard to these retirement options that you have. So I think you need to do a little bit of due diligence first with SSA.gov and then next with a Certified Kingdom Advisor. Again, our website is faithfi.com. That's faithfi.com.

Just click Find a CKA. Carlos, thanks for your call, sir. All the best to you. We'll be right back on Faith and Finance. Stay with us. This is Faith and Finance Live with Rob West. Hey, if you hear a phone number mentioned today, please ignore that number and don't call us because today's broadcast was previously recorded. But we think the upcoming information will help you and make you a wise steward of what God's given you.

So please stay tuned. We started today by talking about generosity, the opportunity to give, which sends a powerful message when we give that we believe in God's goodness. We trust God's ownership and we are about God's agenda. You know, giving changes our perspective and it reorients our thinking and ultimately our hearts toward God's ownership, control and purposes. And it allows us to be a part of his grand agenda, his grand story that we can participate in with our giving.

You know, when we give, it really allows us to have a grander vision that we were created to live for something bigger than ourselves. All right, back to the phones to Wisconsin. Hi, Margaret. Thanks for your patience. Go ahead. Hi. Thanks for taking my call. Yes, ma'am. I have been trying to reach Christian credit counselors, which I believe you talk about on your program.

Yes, ma'am. I'm very low income and I'm very deep in debt. I can't reach them. I don't know how to. I've tried to find them online.

That has not worked. Do you have a phone number? I do.

Yes, ma'am. So just revisiting the online for a second, then I'll give you the phone number. If you did want to find them online or for anybody else listening, this is my preferred way to pay off credit card debt. If you have more than 4000 in debt, that's the number that I kind of find that less than that, you can snowball it yourself. More than that, using a debt management program where the interest rates are reduced. One level payment in your budget, which snowballs it as the balance comes down, is the way to pay that debt off 80% faster. And these are wonderful, godly people that will help you get out of credit card debt once and for all. On the web, it's christiancreditcounselors.org. Now, to the phone number, Margaret, it is this. If you've got a pin handy, 800-557-1985.

They'll be ready to work with you on your budget, evaluate all of the creditors you have, tell you what the interest rates will be reduced to, and if it makes sense, get you enrolled in the program. Okay? Thank you so much.

Okay. God bless you, Margaret. Thank you for going today to Pennsylvania. Hi, Kay. You're next on the program. Go right ahead. Hi.

Thank you for having me. I was wondering, we are looking to purchase real estate, either for a rental or an Airbnb to use to offset our tax burden for our income, because even with our itemized deductions towards $26,000 with our tithe and everything, we still are ending up paying more than $4,000 to $7,000 a year in taxes. We've also contacted our employers, and they withhold as much as they can, but we just feel like that's just kind of shoveling money forward, and it's not really doing any sort of investment. It's just decreasing our spring tax burden. So we currently have $60,000 cash available in addition to our $7,000 to $15,000 that we have monthly for in and out expenses, and so we're just wondering what the wisdom would be to purchase a rental or an Airbnb or something so that we could take that as a loss.

Yeah, well, I'm not sure why you'd want to take it as a loss. I mean, you know, the good news is taxes are symptomatic of provision of income, so if you don't have any income, you don't pay any taxes. Now, obviously, we don't want to pay a dime more than you're obligated to, even though Jesus was very clear, we should be willing to submit to the governing authorities, and we need to pay our taxes, but he didn't say pay any extra. So I like the idea and affirm the idea that we need to be trying to reduce our tax burden as much as possible, and, you know, upwards of 90% of taxpayers now don't itemize because the standard deduction, at least right now, until it expires, is so high that, you know, most folks just take the standard deduction. Obviously, there are other ways to reduce your tax liability. Charitable giving can be a way, bunching your giving, if you have the ability to do that, where maybe you'd put more than a year's worth of giving into a donor-advised fund to get you up above the standard deduction, and then maybe you'd give it out over time out of your donor-advised fund.

That would be one strategy a lot of folks would use. You could look at your specific situation and talk to a CPA about potential deductions and credits you might have available to you, especially if you have a small business or are sole proprietorship. With regard to a rental property, I wouldn't be going into it looking for a loss just to save on taxes. I'd go into it, try to make a profit, and then take full advantage of all of the tax deductions available for someone who has a rental property, which includes mortgage interest.

You can deduct property taxes, insurance premiums, depreciation, maintenance and repairs, utilities, professional and legal fees, office space if you're conducting business in a commercial office space or a spare bedroom, things like that. Again, I think the key for you is to say, how do we make as much as we can so that we can be generous and pursue what God has for us, but not pay any more taxes than are absolutely necessary? That's where I think a really capable CPA to help you with that could make some sense.

I'm a big fan of real estate as long as you're ready for it, meaning you can go into it with enough of a down payment, preferably up to 50%. So that with the debt service and your surplus and your cash flow every month, you're able to put aside the proper reserves, you're able to cover a period of time where you're without a renter, and you can obviously cover the maintenance property taxes, insurance, that kind of thing. But if it were me, I wouldn't go into it hoping for a loss just to save on taxes. Does that make sense?

Yes, absolutely. We're not hoping for a loss. We're assuming a loss, at least for the first three years. Especially with an Airbnb, we would probably be assuming a loss if it would be just something we would purchase for use for our family and stuff, but we would also rent it out. The income from that would be lower than the expenses.

So yeah, it's not that we were hoping for a loss, it was just we were trying to think of ways to build our portfolio. I mean, our mortgages paid off. That was the second part of my question was if we would use a home equity loan versus does that make us unable to say that there is a loss? If it's a home equity loan, because would the government see that as actually like a mortgage then?

Yeah, not necessarily. And in fact, you can deduct mortgage expense from a mortgage interest for a rental property. So that would reduce the amount of taxable income you have on the income you have coming from your renter. But I would be hesitant to use a HELOC for this property.

Number one, it's a variable interest rate. Number two, I'd rather you get a mortgage on the property itself because if something happened unforeseen that was catastrophic financially, I want you to treat this as a business. And if you lost that property, we certainly don't want that, but it would still not impact your primary residence.

I'd rather you kind of treat this with separate books as a true business, keep the mortgage on the property itself where it's collateralized by only the rental property, and not tie this up with your personal finances, including your private home, if that makes sense. Absolutely, it does. Yeah, that's really helpful.

Good. Well, I think a good CPA could be key here just to make sure you take full advantage of it. I like the idea that you're continuing to build out your portfolio. You guys are debt free.

That's amazing. And building a real estate portfolio makes a lot of sense for all the reasons you said. So I think you're on the right track, Kay.

Hey, thanks for calling today. Hey folks, we're going to pause now for a brief break, but we'll be back with much more on today's Faith and Finance Live. You know, money management is often complex and confusing.

Mixed messages from the world and seemingly endless choices lead to indecision and frustration. But here's the reality, folks. There's only five things we can do with money. We can live on it.

We can give it away. We can owe it for debt and taxes and grow it for the future. And the good news is that timeless wisdom from God's Word offers principles and practical help so we can make financial decisions with confidence and peace of mind and ultimately pursue God's heart as we seek first the kingdom of God so that we love God and not money.

We don't allow money to compete with God for his rightful place of first position in our lives. We want to help you do that on this program every day and we're so thankful you've joined us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West, your host. Let's head back to the phones now to Michigan. Hi, Tommy. Go right ahead, sir.

Hi. My question is, I'm invested in 401k and as I talk to the people in 401k, they told me that right now where I got it, they not managed it. So I'm trying to find out which way should I go?

Should I let them manage? Because I have a slight idea. I'm kind of new at this.

So I'm trying to find out which way, best way to go. Yeah, very good. It's a great question, Tommy. How much do you have in there currently in that 401k? About 30 something right now. About 30,000? All right.

Yeah. You know, they're not going to manage it and an advisor is probably not going to want to take that on just because typically they're going to require you have at least 75,000, maybe even over 100 or more before they'd want to manage it. Inside the 401k, there's what's called a limited investment universe, which just simply means if you were to open a brokerage account and put 30,000 in it at Fidelity or Schwab or one of the others, you could invest basically in any stock bond mutual fund exchange traded fund, you name it, you could invest in it. Inside though, a 401k, you've got a menu of choices that's much smaller. And that's good in some ways because it makes it a little more simple in terms of actually picking those investment options.

So I would do a couple of things. Number one is you could reach out to the plant administrator and ask for someone from the plant administrator to help you understand the investment options that are there and help you select. They're going to make you do it, but help you select the right investments for you based on your age, your time horizon between now and retirement, your what they call risk tolerance, how much risk you're willing to take to achieve a desired return on the investments.

They can help talk you through that. There is kind of, you know, one more option that's a more, you know, kind of do it yourself, set it and forget it option. And it's called either a lifecycle fund, or a target date fund, and pretty much every 401k will have it. And basically what it is, and you can call and ask them about this, is you give them your expected retirement date. Let's say that's, you know, 2030. Okay, we're in 2023. That's seven years down the road that may or may not be yours, but I'm just using this as an example. And you would pick the 2030 target date fund. And what that does is it automatically builds the portfolio based on a seven year time horizon. And every year that goes by as you get closer and closer to retirement, it's going to get more conservative, meaning it's going to use more bonds and fixed income type investments and less stocks.

Until you actually get to retirement, you won't be completely out of stocks, because even once you reach retirement, you still need this money the last decades if the Lord tarries and you're in good health. But at least you're going to know that you're not taking an unnecessary, you know, or ineffective amount of risk based on your age and goals. And so that that would be a way to kind of put it in there. And then you wouldn't even really have to think about it from that point forward. Does all that make sense, though?

Yes, yeah, they talk about, they did talk to me about that. Okay, okay. That's probably the easiest way to go for you, given the amount of money you have in there. And what you're looking to do, I think, you know, just using that target date fund is probably the right move for you. You could obviously connect with an advisor and pay them a fee just to look over the investments and help you construct something a little more tailored to what you're looking for.

But the the target date fund is certainly a much simpler option. So hopefully that gives you some ideas as you think about where you go from here. We appreciate you checking with us, sir. God bless you.

To Tennessee. Hi, Vicki. Thanks for calling. Go ahead. Hey, thank you for taking my call. I'm a first time caller.

I'll try to give you the scenario quickly so you can give me some direction. I have a house that I sold. I lived in it for 10 years. I moved out of it in 2020.

Didn't rent it. My son lived in it for that period of time. But I sold it for 300, and walked away with 302,000. I did my tide of 30, and then I had a 50,000 mortgage, paid that off. And the rest of the 100,000 I used to do some additions to my house. I have 200,000. 100,000 I've got 60 in shops with my broker, 20 in a CD, and 10 in an I-Bond. And then the other 100,000 is laying in my savings account. I have two questions.

What would you suggest to do with this 100,000? And second, what is the exclusion? Is it 250,000 you can sell a house for and not pay capital gains?

Yeah, very good. Well, thank you for that question, Vicki, and that great summary of your situation. Let's start with the capital gains question.

You will not have any capital gains. Are you single or married? Single. It's 79.

Okay, great. So if your gain was less than 250,000, not your selling price, but your gain, so the selling price minus the original purchase price, minus any improvements to the property, if the gain was more than 250, you'd have capital gains, but if it was less than 250,000, you would not. Did you have more than 250,000 in profit? Well, I picked it up at 52,000 as a repo. I have receipts of 160,000 maybe, and I know about additions, but I don't have the receipts for another 60,000, 70,000. But with receipts for the renovation, I have 130,000 or 40,000, 50,000. I can't tell you.

I'm in the car. Sure. And how much did you sell it for? It sold for 390, but I walked away with 302,000 after the commission and everything. So it sounds like when you do that, and you could talk to a CPA about the, you know, all of this just to have a definitive answer, but it sounds like once you subtract all those things, you're going to be under 250,000 in profit.

Wouldn't you agree? Yes, definitely. No, I don't, but I don't owe anything. The house I'm living in is paid off.

My car is paid off, but no, I do not have any. Okay. And what do you think your expenses are per month, roughly? I got 10,000 set aside.

Okay. And what are your expenses over a month's time, roughly? Well, I have no mortgages. I'd say expenses, maybe $600 a month, maybe.

I don't know. I have food and everything. Yeah. I mean, let's say it's double that 1200. I mean, if you had somewhere between six and 12,000 in liquid savings, that would give you upwards of a year's worth of expenses available.

So that means everything beyond that is available to be put to work. Do you have this 100,000? Or let's say we were to take 10,000 out of it for emergency savings. Do you have that earmarked for anything? Are you going to purchase another property? Do you need a new car? Anything that's specific?

No, I just think eventually I have to put a new air conditioning unit in. But I have a separate 10,000, not this 100. That's a separate 10,000.

Okay, very good. So that 100 is all able to be put to work, it sounds like. What are your income sources currently? Just Social Security?

I get 2,600 a month in Social Security. That's it. Alright, but that's obviously far more than you need based on your limited expenses, right?

Is that right? Alright, I think we lost you. So I think what I would do from here, Vicky, given that you've got your emergency fund shored up, given that you're debt-free, your expenses are modest, you've got plenty of income coming in with Social Security, and it sounds like you've got quite a bit of surplus, I'd connect with an advisor to build a portfolio, very conservative, you don't have to take any more risk than is necessary, but I'd connect with an advisor to be able to talk about how to manage this moving forward. And you can find a Certified Kingdom Advisor on our website at faithfi.com, click Find a CKA. I'd interview two or three and find the one that's the best fit. Quickly to Texas. Lissette, I've got just about 30 seconds. I understand you have a testimony.

Give us that really quickly. I wanted to tell you that since I've been tithing, I've been faithful, and I have a lot of trouble with my husband approaching me, too. But since I explained and told him what the blessing starts receiving, he's been faithful for a few years, and he has received as much from God as he can. Happy Shire. That's incredible.

Well, hey, you stay on the line. I want to talk a little bit more about this, but thank you for finishing this program for us on a really positive note. God is faithful, and we should give generously, and there's incredible joy and satisfaction and peace of mind that comes with that. I'm so encouraged when we hear those testimonies of God's faithfulness and your application of his principles over a long period of time, and for us to hear how that bears fruit in your life. What an encouragement to everyone listening today.

Well, folks, that's going to do it for us. We're so thankful you're along with us today. Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and FaithFi. I want to say thank you to my team, Amy, Dan, and Jim. Thank you for being here as well. Come back to join us next time for another edition of Faith and Finance Live. God bless you. Moody 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.