Why and How We Save

Moody Radio's spring share event has come and gone, but there's still more work to be done. This year, we want to be bold for the gospel in encouraging, teaching, and empowering you, our listener. To do this, we need your help.

See our impact and learn more about Moody Radio's new initiative at springshare.org. The Human Genome Project discovered amazing things about man's makeup. What it didn't find was a saving gene. Hi, I'm Rob West. In my book, that means saving doesn't come naturally. It's a habit we have to learn, and God's Word tells us why it's so important. I'll talk about the why and the how today, and then it's on to your calls and questions at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance Live. Biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Well, you might be surprised to learn that surveys show less than half of Americans can handle an unexpected expense of a thousand dollars.

They have little or nothing in their emergency fund, and when the inevitable financial setback happens, they have to borrow, often using credit cards to cover emergencies. It's also no wonder the Bible tells us that saving is wise. Proverbs 10, 4, and 5 reads, And while it's wise to save, we also have to be careful not to put too much trust in our bank accounts, because our trust should always be in God, our ultimate provider. He's promised to meet our needs, and He is always faithful.

And there's good reason to trust God. Luke 12, 24 reads, God has His part in our provision, and we have ours. We're to save because His Word tells us to. And if you think you can't save because the temptation to spend is too great, take comfort in 1 Corinthians 10, 13.

It reads, He will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it. Why, then, is it so hard for some people to save money? Well, for some, it can't be avoided. There are people whose income is just too low, basically those below the poverty level. And while that's a real concern and not one to be taken lightly, most people we hear from, who are having trouble saving, actually make enough to put something away.

In their case, self-discipline is the main issue. It comes down to living below your means. God wants our lives to be in balance. He wants us to enjoy His bounty. But Christians are also supposed to take care of their families and come to the aid of others in the church from time to time who may have needs.

That's difficult to do if you have no savings. Remember, everything you have belongs to God, not just what you put in the offering plate. All that we have comes from Him and belongs to Him.

We're supposed to be faithful stewards of the resources He entrusts to us. So here are some steps you can take to start that process. From the budget. And at the same time, don't try to do it all at once. Establishing savings doesn't mean you have to live on rice and beans for every meal. If it hurts too much, you won't stick to it. So be realistic as you cut your spending. Next, make a resolution that you'll save something from every paycheck.

Establishing that habit is much more important than reaching the ultimate goal. You want to develop the discipline of saving. As time goes on, and you're successfully putting something away each day, you can begin to increase your savings. You should also set a goal for the amount you'll save.

It should be attainable. Instead of thinking, I'll save $5,000 this year, shoot for $100 or $200 a month to get you started. Now, all savings should begin with your emergency fund.

And here you can set another goal. Start with trying to get $1,500 in the bank, then one month's living expenses. Keep going until you have three to six months saved up. After that, your savings goals can change to things like buying your first home, taking a trip to build family memories or giving to your favorite ministry. If you're married, this all has to be a team effort. So set your long range goals together and celebrate your progress along the way.

But keep it in the budget, of course. And by God, you'll sleep a lot better too. All right, your calls are next, 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West and this is Faith and Finance Live.

We'll be right back. We'd love to turn our attention to your calls and questions today. We'd love to hear from you on anything financial.

Perhaps there's something you've been wrestling with financially speaking. We'd love to help you apply the wisdom from God's Word to your financial decisions and choices. 800-525-7000 is the number to call.

That's 800-525-7000. Or perhaps you have a testimony, something you'd like to share with us. Maybe you've seen the evidence of God's financial principles bear fruit and you'd like to share with us. and you'd like to be an encouragement to those listening to the program today, we'd welcome those calls as well.

Again, 800-525-7000. Hey, here as we start out a new month, still in the first week of the month, let me encourage you, if you're a part of the Faith 5 family and you listen to this program regularly, we would love to hear from you as a financial supporter of the ministry. Faith and Finance Live is listener supported, which means that you play a vital part in your life.

keeping us on the air and helping us to do the work that we do every day on the broadcast, through our app, with our coaches, on our website at faithfi.com. So if you'd consider a gift, we'd certainly be grateful. You can head over to our website, again, faithfi.com.

That's faithfi.com. You can click on the give button and that will take you to a page where you'll have three different ways to give. First, you can make a gift online, securely, and we'd love for you to do that.

You can also find our mailing address if you'd like to send something through the mail, or you can find our toll-free number if you'd like to give us a call and our team would be happy to assist you. Again, faithfi.com and just click give. By the way, this month is our gift to you. We would love to be able to share the book, Business God's Way, with you, just as a way to say thanks for your giving to the ministry. This will help you really understand God's heart as it relates to business and your finances.

This comes from our friend Howard Dayton. He's the author and again, it would be a great resource I know you would enjoy. So head over to faithfi.com and just click give and thanks in advance. Also, we'll be taking your emails today.

As well, you can always send an email into us at askrob at faithfi.com. We'll be looking forward to grabbing a few of those a little later in the broadcast. All right, let's head to our first caller today. We're going to begin in Grand Rapids. Alvin, you'll be our first caller on the broadcast.

Go right ahead. Yeah, I wanted to know. I've been trying to get online banking and I try to do it over my phone, but I have no success. I wanted to know if you have a phone number for online banking.

Yeah, it really just depends on what you're looking for, Alvin. So you're wanting to establish online banking. Is that right?

Right. Well, just make a just a savings account. Okay, and I hear you are quite, I hear is quite is the interest the with whatever they pay. It's a lot more than my, my credit union.

Yes, sir. Yeah, so online banks do have the benefit of not having the brick and mortar operations. And because of that, they can pass those savings along by not paying for those buildings and a lot of additional staff and keeping the drive through functional. They can take that those funds and redirect them to you in the form of higher interest rates on their savings and other bank products like CDs, as well as what I would look for is a bank that doesn't have any fees. So you can open up a fee free checking or savings account. What I like to use online banks for is for savings. So perhaps you might want to have a brick and mortar bank where you have a relationship for your checking where you can actually walk in and see someone and get a bank check or go through a drive through if folks do that anymore. But then you open an online savings account and link it electronically to your checking account, which means that the money is not there where it can be spent, but it's only a day or two away from an ACH transfer if you need it.

What I would look at is perhaps Marcus and Marcus.com. You can also look at Capital One 360. Or you can look at Ally Bank, any one of those three. Right now they're offering I think the latest is around three and three quarters percent for their online savings at these internet online banks with FDIC insurance. They're still backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government and there won't be any fees to set them up. So I think those could be great options for you Ally, Marcus, M-A-R-C-U-S and Capital One 360. You can also head to and I'll give you one more website bankrate.com and you could just search by the banks that have the very best savings rates right now. And they also have a rating system at bankrate.com so you can see is it a four star rated bank or a five star.

And as long as there's FDIC insurance and it's a strongly rated bank, I would be comfortable with you moving forward with any of those. Does that make sense Alvin? Yeah, I still want to know if you have a phone number. Okay, which one were you looking to connect with?

I would try the last one you gave. Ally Bank? Yeah.

Yeah, so you could connect with them. My team just pulled up the number. If you've got a pin handy 877-247-2559. 877-247-2559. I hope that helps you and thanks for calling the program today. To Pennsylvania. Hi Faye, how can I help you? Thank you for taking my phone call.

I'm good, thank you. I'm just asking on the savings and the emergency funds, how much should we have for each? Yeah, so let's start with that emergency fund. I like to put money in buckets and have that bucket be defined by how liquid do I need those funds, meaning how accessible do they need to be, and what is the time horizon.

So by definition, an emergency fund, Faye, would be that money that you need for the unexpected, which means we don't know when we're going to need it, so it needs to be readily available, like immediately. And because of that, I would keep that in a liquid savings account, and as I mentioned to Alvin, I'd probably put that in one of the online FDIC insured banks, so at least you're earning some interest. My recommendation is to have three to six months living expenses in that emergency fund. So if you total up in your budget, everything it takes for you to cover all of your bills, both fixed and discretionary, the things you get a bill for and the things you don't, in a month's time, and then multiply that by three or as much as six, that would be the amount that I'd like for you to have in liquid savings. Then beyond that, we would probably want to define what other near-term, and I'm going to say in the next three years, savings goals you have. Replacing an automobile with as little debt as possible, saving for a down payment on a house, you've got a child going off to college. Those would be the types of savings goals that you might have, or a vacation you've been planning. And then start building that in your budget, and maybe save that into a separate online savings account specifically for that purpose. You'll need to define that, and I'd look at that as you do your goal-setting process. Beyond that, you're probably thinking about something like retirement, and that's where you'd want to define how much you need as a retirement savings goal. You could use a free online calculator, or you could get the advice of a certified kingdom advisor and actually do some really in-depth retirement planning. But in either case, you'll want to come up with an ultimate goal that's updated throughout the years, but that tells you how much you need to be putting aside every month. Does that make sense?

It does. The other thing I wanted to ask you on that same line is, so I do have money in the savings, and I have money set aside, how much do we go with giving? Because I help a lot of people, and not so much giving them money, but I buy food for them, I make meals for them, I buy firewood for them. Let's do this. I've got to take a quick break, but if you hold the line, I would love to tackle that question just around the corner.

We're talking to Faye in Pennsylvania, and perhaps your question, 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. You know, money management is often complex and confusing. Seemingly endless choices lead to indecision and frustration, but the reality is there's only really five things we can do with money. We can spend it, we can give it away, we can pay off debt, pay taxes, and save it for the future. We can condense that into live, give, owe for debt and taxes, and grow. And here's the really exciting part. Timeless wisdom from God's Word offers principles and practical help to make financial decisions with confidence and peace of mind, so long as we understand that it's ultimately about pursuing God's kingdom and all that we do.

So now money is a tool to accomplish his purposes. Welcome to Faith in Finance Live. I'm Rob West. Just before the break, we were talking to Faye in Pennsylvania. And Faye, you were asking about your emergency fund, but then we had to take a break. You wanted to continue the conversation around a question related to your giving. So share that with us. Yes, I help a lot of people.

I cook for them meals, or like I've been helping a lady just set a baby and her husband's out, so with firewood or electric bill, things like that. Now my true belief is that no matter how much I give, God always gives back to me. And it's been proven over and over, but somebody said, well, maybe you should think about how much you give. And I've never thought that. I've always just relied on God and knew that he would provide.

Yes. Well, first of all, I love your generous heart. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think following the leading of the Lord in your generosity makes a lot of sense. And ultimately it's between you and the Lord, and I would never want to get in the way of you being totally dependent upon him. You know, the most famous giver in the Bible, you might remember, was the widow, and Jesus celebrated her for giving out of her poverty. You remember she gave her last two copper coins, and it wasn't that the temple she was giving to her, the synagogue, was better than another.

It was about her heart, and her heart was fully surrendered to God. She was giving as an act of worship out of her poverty. And so, you know, if that's the most celebrated giver in the Bible, well, we could start there and just say that there's nothing wrong with what you're doing. Now, to be wise as a steward and step back and say, OK, I want to be a bit more planned in my giving. I want to go ahead and order my finances in such a way that I have a spending plan and I allocate as much as I want toward giving. I understand how I'm going to meet my other obligations so I can stay current on my rent or mortgage and keep food on my table and, you know, gas in the car and, you know, that type of thing. I mean, I think that makes some sense, but at the same time, we don't want to be so rigid about our budget that we miss what God may be leading us to do, even if it's a little bit scary. And it requires us to depend on him because clearly we've seen throughout history, you know, when we are willing to surrender everything to the Lord and depend upon him.

Well, his promises are true and he's going to provide for our needs and allow you to meet the needs of others as he leads. So I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think it's just a matter of you being very prayerful about it, being prudent in your planning, but leaving room for God and through the Holy Spirit to redirect you away from the plans that you set.

Does that make sense? Yes, and that's really what I have been doing for a long time. And it just has, God has always been very gracious, even when I had nothing, I still gave and you just, I could tell you story after story after story of when he replenished, replenished, replenished. So, and since I was very obedient in that, at that time, maybe about five years now or maybe even longer, I've never been in that situation and God just keeps giving.

So, and my feeling is you can't outgive him. Yes, I think that's absolutely right and I would absolutely affirm what you're saying there, Faye. Well, thank you for sharing that testimony and perhaps challenging us to be willing to trust God for our daily bread and allow him to lead where we should go in our giving. We appreciate you being a part of the program. 800-525-7000 is the number to call, let's head to Illinois.

Mary, you're next on the program, go ahead. Hi, my parents are 85 and 86 and my dad's been paying on a life insurance policy. It just, a letter came today, it went up to $128 a month and it's, the value is now at $30,000. When he started this, it was, I don't know, $300,000.

So every year it's scheduled to, the premium goes up and the value goes down. I feel like he should stop paying on it, but he feels like if something happens to him, it'll replenish what my mother would have had from his Social Security. And if he were younger, I would say put that $128 in your 403B or something, but I don't know what to tell him with this. Yeah, I think the key is, you know, let's play this out five years and give him a picture of where this is headed and what it will ultimately cost him in exchange for the benefit, the death benefit that would be received. If the Lord tarries and, you know, the Lord's not done with him here quite yet, not calling him home, how much is he going to spend and for what benefit coming back?

Because it is becoming more counterproductive, it seems like, you know, every year. The question here is, you know, is the life insurance really necessary at this point? I mean, if something were to happen to him, if she doesn't qualify for Social Security benefits on her own work record, then obviously she could get a spousal benefit and, you know, that would be obviously a base of income. But do you have a sense, if the Lord were to call him home, what that would do for her in terms of would she have enough to meet her obligations? I feel like she would have enough.

I'm not sure. She would have half of his benefit. Her benefit is not that much, and that's his concern. They're renting a mobile home from us that we bought about five years ago, so that'll be paid off in a couple years. I told them maybe just consider putting the 128 to pay that off sooner. Yeah, I think that could make some sense. I've mapped it out for 20 years, but he's not going to live 20 years, you know. Right, right. Well, I think the key is to just continue that conversation with real data and help him just understand, based on the trajectory he's on, how much he's going to be putting into this policy in exchange for the benefit that he has, and what could be done to shore up their emergency reserves, which they could access during his life or after if needed, as opposed to continuing to fund this policy that has diminishing returns.

So I realize that's not an easy conversation, but I think you just need to approach it in love and with a lot of data, just to say, Dad, I just don't think this makes sense anymore. And we'll certainly pray for you as you have that conversation. Thanks for your call, Mary. We'll be right back. Thankful to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. The number to call, 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Quick email before we head back to the phones. These come in to us every day at faith, excuse me, askrob at faithfi.com.

This one comes from a listener in Charleston, South Carolina. He writes, on a recent show, I believe I heard it said that those of us who took our Social Security payments early at 62 would receive the money we lost back when we reach full retirement age. Is this true and is it something I need to do or is it automatic? And I'm afraid to our listener here, you're confusing two different Social Security provisions. First of all, if you take your benefits at 62, which it sounds like you did, they are permanently reduced by 8% for each year you took those benefits prior to full retirement age. So 62 versus 66 and a half, you're going to see about a 32% reduction and that is permanent.

That will not be repaid to you. What you're probably referring to is there is a provision that says if your benefits are reduced because you took your benefits prior to full retirement age and you went above the earnings limit, there's a cap until you reach full retirement age of around $21,000 that you can earn. And if you go above that, you earn more than that in your combined income, you'll have your benefit reduced by a dollar for every $2 you go above that limit. Well, in that case, when you get to full retirement age, that amount will be repaid to you over time in the form of a higher check until it's fully paid back to you. That's different from the permanent reduction that occurred when you started taking those benefits at 62. So hopefully that clears it up. The reduction from earning over the cap, that is repaid.

The reduction that's locked in because you took it early, that will not be repaid. Thanks for writing to us. Again, if you have a question you'd like read on the air, ask Rob at faithfi.com. All right, let's go to the phones. 800-525-7000. We've got a few lines open.

To Florida. Hi, Diana. Go right ahead. Yes, hello. Hi.

Thank you for taking my call. Can you hear me fine? Sure.

Yes, ma'am. Okay. Okay. All right.

Thank you. So I'm not certain if you can address this question, but it has to do with a payroll question. I just received a notification that due to a job restructuring, there would be a change in position title and salary. But with the new salary being offered, my education and experience is not being taken into consideration. They're starting like all employees over at the minimum. So I don't know if this is the minimum salary for the new pay grade.

I don't know if you can perhaps direct me to a resource that can address this if you can't. Well, you know, they're certainly able to do that in the sense that they've reassigned you. Is that right? So the position you've got, you didn't ask for.

They've reassigned you within the company. Is that right? They've reclassified the title of the position and increased the pay grade. Okay. But the pay grade is based on the experience and skill set and training that you have for that particular job. Is that right? The pay grade went up correct, but the position calls for a bachelor's and I have a higher degree and seven years experience.

But what I'm being told is that I would start back at the minimum, which requires just a bachelor's degree. I see. Okay.

Yeah. Well, I mean, they're entitled to do that. It doesn't mean you have to accept that. So I think, you know, perhaps your next step is to meet with your superior and just let this person know that, you know, you're willing to accept this new position. But you want to let them know about the experience you have and the educational background that you have and what value you can bring to the organization in light of that. And that you'd like to request that your salary be set higher to really acknowledge this prior training and experience that you have. Now, they may be unwilling to do that. The good news is here, Diana, if you're unsatisfied with the way they've handled this reclassification and where they've started you in terms of the pay grade for this position at an entry level, when you're not that clearly based on your experience and training, this is a really strong labor market.

In fact, incredibly strong. The latest data says there's two jobs open right now for every person looking for a job, which just gives you some indication of how desperate a lot of employers are for good, high quality workers that have experience and training. So this may be the opportunity to either let that person know who you would report to in your in your new position, and they may be eager to hang on to your skill set and be willing to offer you higher pay or it may be time to freshen up that resume and just see what else is out there because you will find there are a lot of open positions. And perhaps you might find one that you're better suited for with more pay. Does that make sense?

Yes, yes. Okay, so but there's nothing legally wrong with with what they're doing. No, I mean, you could certainly talk to an attorney, I am not one but I, you know, they're basically free to do what they want in terms of how they reclassify your position and, you know, they can change the pay grades and basically bring you in, you know, at whatever level they deem appropriate as long as they're applying that consistently across the board.

So I don't think you'd have any ability to reject that legally, apart from appealing for their desire to hold on to you because of your contribution to the organization and to keep you from leaving and moving to another organization and finding another job. But obviously, if you'd like to get some legal counsel, you could certainly do that just to explore this a bit further. We hope the best for you, Diana, as you explore this and sorry to hear about your situation.

Let's move along to, well actually we'll stay in Florida. Hi, Mary Ann, go right ahead. Hi, Rob, thank you for taking my call. I listen to you daily and I appreciate your ministry. Well, thank you.

Something happened to me today that's a little crazy in my mind. I had invested my Roth IRA back in 2016 and today I received my check for the, I cashed it in, okay. But when they sent it to me, it was an IRA, Roth IRA investment. They sent me the check, it's like $89,000 and some change and they didn't mark the check IRA and I wanted to reinvest with someone as an IRA. But I talked to another bank today, I don't know if I should say the name of the bank so I won't, and they told me that if it's not marked IRA, it's not valid. Should I ask the investment life insurance company to reassure me another check or what do I do from here? Yeah, well one option would be when you take that money out of that IRA, you have 60 days to put it back in. And if you were to have called me prior to asking for this distribution, I would have said don't ask them to send you a check, leave it right there. Let's open a new Roth IRA at whatever new institution you want to be at and then let's initiate a rollover, essentially a transfer so that the IRA money goes directly from the current institution to the new institution, not through you. At the end of the day, you would be able to provide documentation of the IRS, but I'd rather it not flow through your accounts. So I'd probably, if it were me, call the institution that sent it to you and ask if you can put it back in because you're within the 60 days and once it goes back in, then you'd open that new Roth and transfer it.

And that way there would be no question as to the fact that this is going Roth IRA to Roth IRA as opposed to going Roth IRA to you and then into your checking account and then out to the new institution. I've got to hit a quick break here, Mary Ann, but we'll talk a bit more off the air and just make sure you're comfortable with that and don't have any other questions. We'll be right back on Faith and Finance Live.

Stick around. Delighted to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West taking your calls and questions today. Back to the phones to Idaho. Hey, Becky, thanks for calling. Go ahead.

Hi, Rob. Thank you for taking my call. A couple of years ago, my sister, who is a number of years younger than me moved into my house. When she did, we both contributed money to adding on so that she could have her own space. I don't have a problem with if I die first, passing it on to her through my will. But she, how do I, what's the best way to pass on to her heirs if she dies first, since it's really my estate, not hers?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think one of the ways you could do that would be to put this into a trust. So if I understand correctly, she moved in with you, she put some money into fixing the house up and your desire is that either she or her heirs would receive the proceeds of this home sale, regardless of who dies first, correct? I want her portion. She owns a percentage of it in my opinion.

I know how much she put in. And I would like her portion to go to her, which is easy if I die, but if she dies first, I want to pass it on to her heirs with as little tax issues as possible. Yes, got it. Okay.

Yeah, very good. So I think your best option is going to be a trust that would basically you'd retitle the house in the name of the trust. And then it would, you'd be able to direct how this particular asset inside the trust is to be handled at your death. And you could, you know, direct her portion to her heirs, it would pass outside of probate, and then they would receive it with a stepped up basis, or you could determine that it's to be sold and then the proceeds of the cash are to be sold.

I think that's going to be the best option here. And I would talk to a godly estate planning attorney, do you have somebody Becky that you've used to draft a will or something like that? Actually, we were just about to update our wills next in about a week or two. So we were going to talk to someone. Very good.

Yeah. So I would just mention this to that estate planning attorney, and let he or she know what you're trying to accomplish. And what will likely happen is they'll establish a living trust, the house would be retitled in the name of the trust, and you would make sure that you express your wishes about how the sale of the proceeds of the sale of this home are to be handled. And the the trustee would take care of distributing it accordingly, based on your desire. So I think that's probably going to be the most efficient way to do it.

And all that can be spelled out. Okay, thank you. Okay, very good, Becky. Thanks for calling today. God bless you.

To Tennessee. Hey, Mickey, go right ahead. Hey, Rob, I just wanted to say, you, other than Mr. Burkett, you are the only one that I've ever listened to on the radio that told the truth about giving, you know, especially dealing with ties. We try to teach people you don't pay your tithes, you pay a power bill, you pay a water bill, a house payment, and you don't like doing that. But when you do like y'all say and learn what the true meaning of giving is all about, it changes your life. I mean, you and Mr. Burkett are the only two people that I've listened to on the radio and I listen to you religiously daily, because I know I'm gonna get the truth.

And I'm gonna get the true meaning. And I just want you to know, I really appreciate you being the man of God you are, and teaching people the true meaning of giving. And I would challenge anybody out there, take three months and take and learn what the meaning of giving is and see if it don't change your life.

I mean, it will. Instead of paying your tithes at church, start giving. Just give it and learn what the true meaning of giving is that y'all teach.

And it's just unbelievable. And I just wanted to say thank you for being the man of God you are. Well, Mickey, let me just tell you, that means so much what you just said. And to be in the company, to have my name voiced in the company of Larry Burkett's means a lot to me, because I had the utmost respect for Larry and his kind heart and his incredible wisdom and his dependence on God's Word.

There's not a week that goes by that somebody doesn't still, and he passed away in 03, mention Larry's name, which just tells you the impact that he has had and will continue to have in so many lives for all of eternity. And I appreciate you bringing up generosity. You know, I would submit to you that most teaching around money, even in Christian circles, starts with the idea that we're to provide for our families. And that's clearly biblical. I mean, we could point to a passage in 1 Timothy.

If you don't provide for your family and your relatives, you're worse than an unbeliever. And certainly we are to provide. But I would submit that the primary reason that God entrusts to us is to be a part of his grand story through our giving. And we need to be holding what we have loosely. It breaks the grip of money over our lives, and it allows us to be participants in what God is doing, not only in the people on our path and in our communities, but literally around the globe and certainly in our local church.

And I think in many cases we've got that wrong, and we need to be asking the question, how much should I keep, not how much should I give? And clearly you've seen the fruit of that, Mickey, in your life. Let me just ask you, what has been most meaningful to you in your own giving journey? What has the Lord done in your life through that? Well, I would say 20 years ago, I was at church and the pastor was talking about a family.

His wife had to be tucked to the hospital, and she had five kids, five babies. And the place where he had his car financed, he was a day late getting to make his payment, and they took his car away from him. And so we had a car, an extra one, and it was just like the Lord said, give it to them. And so I did, I gave it to them, and I was so happy to do it. And to this day, I've never paid over three payments on a car. I mean, we bought a car and paid the second payment and started to pay the third one, and I got the title in the mail. And I called them and I said, hey, what's going on here? I'm fixing to send my third payment. They said, Mr. Atkinson, your car has been paid out. We sent you the title. And I said, who done it? They said, we don't know.

We just got the check and processed it. And that's happened time and time again, just because you learned the gift. Yes, yeah. Well, you can't outgive God, and we see that time and time again, and his promises are real, and he said he would provide for us. And I think ultimately, he's always been about our hearts, Mickey, hasn't he? And one of the ways we work out our faith is our daily dependence on him, and I think a lot of that has to do with our willingness to hold what he's entrusted to us loosely and give it generously. And giving is the good life. You know, what you've experienced by being willing to follow the leading of the Lord in giving to the people in need, even when perhaps you've felt it and it's hurt a little bit and you didn't know where the next, you know, whatever was going to come from for your own family, and you did it and responded to the Lord, and he just continues to show himself faithful over and over again.

And, boy, it's just a joy and it's a privilege to be partnered with God in that way. Well, my friend, I'm so grateful for your call today, for your kind heart, your just willingness to be vulnerable and transparent here, and I know what you've shared today has been an encouragement to our listeners. So thank you very much, Mickey, for calling, and may God bless you and call back anytime.

Let's finish up today in Ohio. Sue, you'll be our final caller. Go ahead. Okay, thank you so much for taking my call. I really appreciate it. Sure.

I have a question for you. And it deals with Social Security. The question, the true question is, how secure is it? I want to wait until full retirement age to take my Social Security, but my mind, I mean, you listen to people and things and you read things and you're not sure if it's going to be here then some things as it will.

So that's about five years out for me personally. And I'm just wondering if you have any insight on Social Security and its security. Yeah, well, the latest report from the Congressional Research Service says that the Social Security trustees project that the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2035, which means that the trust fund would be insolvent at that point. Now, does that mean it can't pay any benefits if nothing changes? No, it would be able to pay, I think the latest estimates are about 70% of the current benefit.

Well, that's not acceptable. And politicians know that and this is probably one of the biggest political, you know, hot buttons there is with regard to current elected officials and new elected officials staying in office. And so there will be changes. In fact, that the conversations have already started, what it's probably going to look like if I were to guess, and you're going to hear more about this in the days ahead, it's probably going to look like the new full retirement age not being 66 and a half.

But 70. And it's probably going to look like Social Security taxes, payroll taxes increasing. And the combination of those two will allow them to maintain the full benefits. We just have less workers, we have a real long term demographics problem here in this country. And it's going to have to be solved by workers working longer and higher taxes, among other things. So I would still if I were you and you have the ability to delay taking it because you're working longer, or you have, you know, other income sources, I would still delay it and maximize that benefit.

I wouldn't make changes because you think it's going to run out because I think we're going to see the changes in the Social Security system that shore up that trust fund and make it sustainable to pay the full benefits. That's just my perspective. Obviously, it all remains to be seen. But that's at least the best information I can give you at this point. So thank you for your call, Sue. We appreciate it. Well, folks, I'm just still thinking about what Mickey shared today about, you know, giving and our ability to give generously and what God does in our hearts when we do that. And I hope that was an encouragement to you today.

I know it was for me as well. On behalf of my team today, Gabby T, Amy Rios, Dan Anderson, Robert Sutherland, I'm Rob West. This is Faith and Finance Live, which is a partnership between Moody Radio and Faith Buy. So thankful for you being with us today. Come back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you then.

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