Do You Have Unclaimed Money?

Is there unclaimed money out there with your name on it? Finding it might be easier than you think.

Hi, I'm Rob West. It's hard to imagine, but every year millions of dollars in assets go unclaimed. These are things like insurance benefits or inheritances, and some of it might be yours. I'll tell you how to find it today, and then it's onto your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Now, I want to be clear that I'm not encouraging you to have a get-rich-quick attitude about this.

Proverbs 13-11 warns, wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. If you do find unclaimed money in your name, I hope you'll manage it wisely. Okay, let's start with life insurance policies. They're lost more often than you think. Sometimes survivors aren't aware that a policy exists. Paperwork gets lost. Important insurance papers might accidentally get tossed out.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, or NAIC, says that each year millions of dollars in insurance benefits go unclaimed. So how do you find out if you're the beneficiary of a lost insurance policy? Well, the NAIC has an online tool called the Life Insurance Policy Locator Service. It lets you search nationwide for policies and annuities left behind by deceased family members and friends. You'll need a death certificate to get started.

Then you type in some basic information, the deceased's social security number, full legal name, date of birth, and date of death. If there's a match, the insurance company holding the policy will contact you within 90 days. That is, if you're a designated beneficiary or legal representative of the deceased. Since 2016, the policy locator service has matched over a billion dollars in benefits to the folks who should get them. Now, since all insurance is regulated at the state level, several states have their own lost policy locator services. You can check directly with the state insurance commissioner in the state where the deceased lived to see what additional search options are available. You might be wondering how insurance benefits go unclaimed. Well, life insurance companies have access to databases that alert them when a policyholder dies. But that doesn't mean they always find the beneficiaries. If you're a designated beneficiary on a policy and the company can't locate you, well, they're required to turn those funds over to the unclaimed property office in the state where the deceased lived. That office is generally located in the state's Treasury Department, so that's another place to check for unclaimed benefits or other assets.

Many states have online tools to help you identify unclaimed property in your name. Now, if you're a policyholder, you can save your loved ones a lot of grief by taking some preventative steps. Keep your beneficiary designations up to date and make sure the insurer has their latest contact information. Let the beneficiaries know that they're named in your policy and give them contact information for your insurer or agent or both. And always keep the latest copy of your policy with your estate papers. And a great place to store those documents is in a fireproof safe. Okay, now let's say there actually is unclaimed money out there with your name on it, insurance benefits or otherwise.

You may not even know about it. This could be almost any type of unclaimed funds like pension plans, 401Ks, bank accounts, IRS refunds and savings bonds. There might be uncashed checks, CDs, trust funds, utility deposits, stocks and bonds, wages, and even the contents of safe deposit boxes.

There's another great resource for tracking down those assets. People move around a lot and it's possible to have assets in several states. So a good place to start is at missingmoney.com. It's sponsored by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators and allows you to search more than one state at a time. When there's a match in any state, missingmoney.com gives you information and links to official websites where you can file a claim. And finally, the federal government also has a tool for tracking down unclaimed money that Uncle Sam or anyone else might owe you. This includes tax refunds, benefits from VA life insurance policies, court settlements, bankruptcies, and more.

We'll put a link to that site and all the others we've mentioned in today's show notes. So now if there's money out there in your name, you know how to find it. All right, your calls are next, 800-525-7000. By the way, if you have a testimony you'd like to share with us, maybe God's faithfulness in your life financially as you've applied these principles, we'd love to hear that as well. Again, 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West, your host. All right, we're taking your calls and questions now on anything financial. We'd love to hear from you at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. Let's head to the phones. We're going to begin today in Rushville, Indiana. Hi, Suzanne. Thanks for calling. Go right ahead.

Thank you, and thank you for your program. I just had a question about the Larry Burkett book that he wrote several years ago. I think I read it after probably the 2008-2009 crisis, and do you see anything in the future here coming up that might be a decline that he's talking about?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think Larry was very astute in this. He was probably early, but we have seen pretty much everything he talked about beginning to transpire.

That's clear. I mean, debt levels that he talked about, the demographics. He even talked about healthcare. He didn't know at the time it would become Obamacare, but essentially what he was describing played out.

He talked about some of the economic policies in this country that have led to most recently high inflation, so I think Larry was certainly very astute at what he was saying. Keep in mind, under Reagan, the debt to GDP was at about 20%, and obviously we're at 130% right now. The last time the CBO just reported, they added $3.1 trillion to the debt, and then we've got the deficit on top of the debt, so that's the amount. You think about the average family, the debt is the total debt they have on a specific date and time. The deficit is the shortfall every month that's then adding to that debt, and our deficit is increasing at about $2 trillion a year, and when they came out with their latest projections, they weren't forecasting a recession, which clearly that's what the base case is for just about all economists now for this year, and that always increases debt rapidly because of more social spending and less tax revenues. Now, our debt levels are manageable at this point at around $30 trillion, about 6 or 7%, and we, in terms of the deficits and so forth, we see in the emerging market crisis in the 90s, those deficit levels were about 10-20%, and so at 6 or 7% deficits, we can manage that, and that's why a debt crisis I don't think is the base case for the short run, but longer term, clearly we're going to have to deal with this. In two or three years, the interest will be our largest federal expense in our expenditures on an annual basis, just the interest on our debt, and they're not even forecasting normal interest rates, they're forecasting suppressed interest rates, which is inflationary. That's what we've had with these zero interest rate policies. So what do we need?

What is the answer? Well, the demographics are working against us because we've got two people entering the workforce for every five that are retiring, and so we've got to deal with that. We need better monetary policy, we need pro-growth policies, people that are in legislation and office that understand God's design for economics and wealth creation, that we've got to live within our means, and we've got to avoid debt, and if we don't and we had a debt crisis, we've seen that play out in other countries.

Again, I don't think that's coming anytime soon, but it could result in high interest rates, a severe contraction of the economy, high inflation, unemployment moving much higher than it is today, and obviously none of us want to see that. So where are we in this country right now? Well, I think clearly we're still the biggest and strongest economy in the world.

There is no other replacement for the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. There's nobody that, you know, is really close to us in terms of the size and the reach of our economy, the free market that we have, the innovation. We're still in a very strong position, but we've got to make some changes. The trajectory that we're on is not good, and that's what Larry was writing about.

It's obviously not played out as quickly as he thought, but certainly we're seeing a lot of that come to pass. So what do we do? Do we pull our money out of the banks?

No, I don't think that's right. Do we get out of the stock market? No, I think to overcome inflation, we still want to be owners of real companies with sales and earnings, and you know, the U.S. again is still in a very strong position in terms of our innovation and our free markets and the strength of our economy, but we need people that are going to put the right policies in place to deal with the spending that we have in this country, the debt levels, and the monetary policy moving forward, and I think the day of reckoning is coming certainly much further down the road. So all that to say, I think you're right to point out Larry Burkett's book, The Coming Economic Earthquake. We need to heed a lot of that counsel and wisdom.

We need to be wise with our own economy, what's passing through our hands in terms of how we manage that, and we need to show up and vote for people that understand these things and can make the hard decisions that need to be made for this country moving forward. Now, I threw a lot at you, Suzanne. Does that resonate with you? Yes, yes, it does, and thank you for kind of detailing that for me. I appreciate that. Well, I do have a second question if I could. Yes, ma'am, of course. I have inherited some coins, gold, silver, and platinum coins, and I just would like to know how to sell them to a reputable place now that the market is pretty high right now.

I just need to know how to go about that. Okay. You know, if you've decided you want to sell them, I'd say, you know, go ahead. I think it's probably as long as it's not an inordinate amount of your overall investable assets.

It's probably still for the reasons we just talked about something you may want to consider holding on to. But if you are going to sell, I would, you know, you could visit with a few dealers there locally, maybe see who's most highly rated. You could go online and do a Google search.

I'd read a lot of reviews, make sure you're dealing with somebody who has a high reputation online. I don't have a specific resource to point you to in this area. I wish I did. I don't. But I would just say spend your time to do your homework, whether you use somebody face to face locally or you use an intermediary that you find online to make sure that they are highly rated before you proceed.

But unfortunately beyond that, I don't have any specific recommendations to make. Suzanne, we appreciate you being on the program today. May God bless you. And by the way, folks, if you'd like to check out the book that Larry wrote many years ago now, it was a national bestseller, still is.

It's called The Coming Economic Earthquake by Larry Burkett. And you can still find it wherever you buy books. All right. Let's continue along.

In fact, you know what? We just have 60 seconds left. So if you're holding, please continue to do so. We'll get to you just after the break. In the meantime, let me tackle a quick email.

We receive emails all the time at AskRobAtFaithFi.com. This one comes from David. He writes to us, what do you advise concerning planning and paying for funeral arrangements prior to our deaths? We don't want this to be a burden on each other or our children.

Here's what I would say, David. We usually recommend not getting prepaid funeral plans for three reasons. One, your money won't earn interest.

So you could get interest if you put it in a savings account. Number two, funeral homes can go out of business and you could lose your money. And three, there's no provision for relocation. So if you wanted to move for any reason and you wanted to then be buried in a different place at a different funeral home, that plan likely won't move with you.

So what do you do? Well, best to simply save the money and then specify in your will what arrangements you'd like. Go ahead and communicate that to your loved ones well in advance, but keep that money under your control as opposed to prepaying it.

That's just our general recommendation. All right, Jennifer, Bob, Cindy, we're coming your way plus your call. Give us a call right now. We'll be right back on Faith and Finance Live. I'm so thankful you're joining us today on Faith and Finance Live where we understand that God owns it all and we're stewards of God's resources and therefore money is a tool to accomplish God's purposes.

So we need to seek first the kingdom to counteract the messages of this world so we can keep our eyes fixed on the eternal, the things of the Lord and use money not as an end but as a means to an end to accomplish God's purposes in our lives. We'd love to hear from you today. We've got two lines open at 800-525-7000 with your questions or maybe a story of God's faithfulness in your life. We'd love to hear that as well. Also coming up on the broadcast today, a special treat.

That's right, I don't say that often. Today genuinely is a special treat because as we celebrate five years of Faith and Finance Live, formerly MoneyWise Live, on Moody Radio, that's right five years this week, we're going to welcome a special guest back to the program. He needs no introduction. He's my former co-host of this program, Steve Moore, loved and adored by so many of you and I know you'll be thrilled to catch up with Steve Moore. That's coming up today. A little later in the broadcast we'll be able to hear from Steve and what he's been up to. I've got a few questions for him and we'll just enjoy catching up on the air with you.

So Steve Moore coming up a little later in the broadcast. I can't wait. All right, let's head back to the phones. To Tampa, Florida we go. Jennifer, thank you for calling. Go right ahead.

Thank you for taking my call. I purchased money orders about 35 years ago and I lost the receipt and the bank changed names a few times. The money orders are showing up in the Florida unclaimed property. However, because I don't have proof of ownership, I cannot claim the money.

Is there a workaround or a way around that so I can claim the money that has my name on it? Hmm, interesting. So it's really not about being able to cash them.

It's about being able to prove to the state that they are in fact yours. Is that right? Yes. Okay. And what is the, what led to these money orders? I mean, what's the background on why they were issued and how you no longer have access to them? So I purchased the money orders with the intent of giving them to others, but I never did. And then I just moved a few times and lost the money orders and the little receipts that come with it, the proof of purchase. Okay.

So I actually purchased the money orders. Okay. But you don't have a receipt for them and you're not in physical possession of them? Correct.

Okay. So you just have a rough idea of when you bought them and they're showing as unclaimed property and you can match them back to that date, but you just don't have the documentation. I wonder if there's an old bank statement that could be generated. Did you get them, you know, out of your account with an old bank? Yes.

Okay. And then I know that you said that bank has changed hands a couple of times or been purchased, but obviously all those documents on whoever the current bank is that, you know, purchased that bank, even if it was two or three names ago, would have access to all of those historical records. You could request them as a previous account holder. I wonder if that might be the documentation you need to go after, which is the amount actually coming out of your account that syncs up with the face value of those money orders that you're seeing as unclaimed property.

I mean, the whole idea behind unclaimed property, which is regulated by each state, is that they want to get that back in the rightful hands of the owner. And so if you're saying, listen, these are mine. I bought them.

I can tell you when I bought them, under what bank they were purchased under. And now, you know, I even though I don't have the documentation, I am that person. Have them tell you what they'd like you to do to be able to verify that. And I'm wondering if perhaps trying to chase down those historical bank statements might be the very best way. It sounds good to me.

I'll try that. Okay, very good. So I think you need to go to the current bank, whoever that bank is, and say, listen, I was account holder in this month of this year when you were under this name. I need to know how do I get access to those historical electronic statements.

I know it might take a while, but I need to put that request in in whatever way I need to, so that I can be able to document these money orders that I had coming out of my account, and then use that to go to the state of Florida and try to justify that. So wow, that's a tough one, Jennifer. I hope we wish you all the best in that. I know that can be frustrating, but it'll be worth it once you get it done.

And here's the end at the end of the day, they want to get that money to the rightful person. So I think if you go through these steps, you'll end up being able to get it. Let us know how that turns out. This spring, Springfield, Missouri. Hi, Cindy, thanks for your call.

Go right ahead. Yes, my husband is considering retiring early. He is 63.

And I am almost 62. He is wanting to leave his work and start drawing early retirement. With the economic situation the way it is, we've been praying about it and debating, is this a good time?

Or should he wait till he's old, you know, a year or two older? Yeah, well, there's the financial and then the non financial side of this. So the non financial side is, you know, we always say you should be retiring to something and not from something.

And we'll talk to Steve Moore about that in just a little bit, get his take on that since he's actually living this out right now. But you know, the idea is what are we retiring to, you know, God created us to be workers. Now, that doesn't mean we have to work for pay, you could, God could be redirecting you or you and your husband to something else. And that's great. But what is that productive activity in God's service? And how can you use the wisdom and experience you have to be productive in this season of life?

What does that look like? Have you fully thought through that not only individually, but as a married couple? And then the second piece of that is, okay, we've thought through that. Now, what about the financial readiness? And that's going to come down to what is our retirement budget? Usually, it's 70 to 80% of your pre retirement income.

But what is that number? And how are we going to solve for that? Is that going to come from Social Security? Well, if we retire early, if we at least 62, we can get Social Security, but we're locking it in permanently 32% lower what it could be. Is that going to come from part time work? Is it going to come from retirement assets? And if so, do we have enough assets that maybe at a 4% withdrawal rate, we can cover the income that we need.

So there's that financial piece where we need to run through that exercise to see if there's enough in the way of assets. I want to get your take on all this, but I've got to take a quick break. So Cindy, stay right there. We'll be right back. Hey, great to have you with us today on Faith in Finance Live.

I'm Rob West. By the way, I talked to Karen during the break, and she said, maybe not so fast. We own some funeral homes, and you're not always pre paying in the sense that I'm most familiar with where you're actually turning the money over, you're pre purchasing your plot at a funeral home that stays with that particular funeral home, she said, at least in Ohio, and probably true many other places, you can actually prepay, but it can travel with you to whatever funeral home you want. So maybe just do your homework there. My general suggestion is to save that money and just make your wishes known. So you've got access to the money and more control over it. But if you have the option to get interest and it's portable, and you want to make sure those expenses are covered in advance, certainly do your homework.

Thanks for checking in with us, Karen. Hey, just before the break, we were talking to Cindy about retirement and Cindy, I was sharing with you know, there's the non financial side of preparing for retirement. What am I retiring to?

And then there's the financial side. What is my retirement budget going to look like? And what income sources do I have, especially if I'm retiring early?

And will those meet my need? Or should I delay my retirement to either build social security or continue to contribute to my retirement assets? Give me your thoughts, though, on what I was sharing.

Okay. We don't really have haven't really thought about retiring to other than spending more time together. But also we have a another thing in the fire is my parents own a business. I've been working for them for a long time. They're in their 80s.

Still running it doing a good job, but you know, their health is in decline. And we me and my sister will be taking that over if anything happened. So that's kind of where I'm at all the time.

And my husband, you know, would like to come down and maybe help out. But he's, you know, debating on whether just to wait a little longer. The job he's in is very physical, and it's really breaking his body down.

He's really wanting to get out before he gets, you know, really bad. So that's kind of the dilemma we're in. Yeah, and those are all realities. And so obviously, it's not always simple. There's a lot of moving pieces there. And I love that you're going to take over that business with your sister.

And I get that. So just what about the financial side of it? Have you all really worked through your budget to say, Okay, let's say we're, we're at retirement right now, given the income sources we know we'll have, how are we going to be able to pay our bills based on our retirement budget?

Have you looked at that? And, and do you feel like you have the resources that you'll need? At this point, I believe we can, you know, he would have to rely on Social Security. And from what I understood that the, you can work up to like $24,000 per year.

On top of that, before you're penalized, we don't want to get into that penalty phase for sure. But he could work, you know, at my family business and definitely get those hours in. And that would be plenty to cover, you know, any expenses. And that's not even including my income.

So you know, we've got a little bit of a buffer there. But yeah, so 2023, you know, if you're under full retirement age, the annual earnings limit is $21,240. Now keep in mind, you know, that money is reduced $1 for every $2 over that, but that eventually will be made up to you once he reaches full retirement age. So that's not a permanent reduction that will come back to you whatever's withheld in the form of a higher check until it's fully repaid after full retirement age. The thing that is going to be permanent, though, is that permanent reduction of 8% a year that you take it prior to full retirement age. So he's going to lock in about a 32% reduction on Social Security if he were to take it at 62.

And then separate from that, if he earns over the limit, it'll be reduced by $1 for every $2 over the limit, but that eventually will be made up to him. So just wanted to make sure you were clear on that. But apart from that, I think this is just the exercise you need to go through. Am I ready to be you know, to move away from my job and I realized the physicality of it is a is a factor.

But what will I do with my time? Let's kind of you all spend a good bit of time talking through that. I always remember that the statement Judy Blue Ron Blue's wife made when he retired the first time and he ended up kind of he's busier now than ever. But she said, Ron, I married you for better or for worse, but not for lunch. And it was just kind of her funny way of saying don't be around too much.

I need my space. But no, they have a wonderful marriage. And she was she's a very funny person. But then there's the financial side and just spend some time really thinking through that. But it sounds like you guys have a great plan here, Cindy. And so I don't see any issue with that.

Just as long as you really counted the cost. Thanks for being on the program today. Let's see. Let's head to Florida. Hi, Michelle. How can I help you?

Hi. Yes. So the reason why I'm calling today is because I owe over one hundred thousand dollars on student loans. And every month I'm paying about close to two thousand dollars for my loan. So I wanted to know and I'm under Sallie Mae.

I don't know if I'm sharing too much, but I wanted to know how can I reduce the interest rate and pay my loan faster? Yeah. So, you know, these are federal loans and or no, is this so this is a private loan. Is that right? It's actually private.

Yeah. So it's a private loan. So the first thing you could do if it was a federal loan, I would say you probably don't want to refinance it because you'd lose the ability for income based repayment if you needed it. But if it's private, then, you know, you could refinance it. Now, rates have gone up, so you might be able to refinance to a lower rate. But there's a good chance that you won't.

So that'd be the first question. The second is you can automate your payments. Lenders will often offer a quarter of a percent discount on the interest rate for auto payment.

And then you could perhaps get a loyalty discount of another quarter of a point. But apart from that, there really aren't a whole lot of options to get that rate down, especially in this environment where rates are up on everything. In terms of being able to pay that down quicker, I mean, I realize it's a big number and it's probably weighing on you. So I would just, you know, focus on limiting your lifestyle as much as you can so you can free up as much margin as possible, just so you can be really diligent in your payments over and above your regularly scheduled payment. I realize it's going to take some time. But I think, you know, from this point forward, I would just try to focus on, you know, just send an extra each pay period as you're able to and try to get that knocked down.

Unfortunately, there's not any quick fix for that, for sure. But we appreciate you checking in with us. You'll get there. I'm confident you will. Just hang in there.

Let's see. Let's head to quickly St. Louis, Missouri. Hi, Tina. How can I help you?

Hi, I'm glad and thank you for taking my call. Listen, I have a 401k that I've had like for several years and I have another job. So I have been in two or three different jobs and in those jobs, I've had 401ks, but I've gone on to another job. So I have one that's kind of large to me and then the other ones are small. So I need to find out whether or not what to do with those, the other ones that I have.

I have one that's like over $50,000 and then the other ones are just smaller ones. So I need to know, do I combine those? Are they all with former employers? Yes.

Yeah. So what I would probably do from here, Tina, is roll these over into an IRA and that would just consolidate it. You'd have less paperwork, less maintenance. It streamlines things for beneficiaries. You'll likely have less fees. So you'd open an account probably with Fidelity or Schwab. You could combine them all into one individual retirement account.

That's not a taxable event. And then you could reach out to a certified kingdom advisor on our website faithfi.com, faithfi.com. Just click Find a CKA and interview two or three and find the one that's the best fit. Or you could visit with our friends at soundmindinvesting.org. Thanks for being on the program today. Stay with us.

Steve Moore joins us just around the corner. It's great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. Here at Faith and Finance, we love a good celebration and we've got one to celebrate this week. That's right. Five years on the air on Moody Radio with this program.

It used to be called Money Wise Live, now Faith and Finance Live. But this week marks our fifth anniversary with the live program at 3 Central and 4 Eastern in the afternoons. And we're thrilled. And to be able to celebrate that, we thought we would invite a friend back to the airwaves.

He needs no introduction. My co-host from the time I started this program, but he certainly precedes me with Howard and Larry Burkett is our good friend Steve Moore. And Steve joins us today on the broadcast.

Is it true? Are you there? I'm here.

There he is. Unfortunately, I still don't have my parking space. The parking space and the dressing room was always a big one, too, that you wanted.

Well, I've given away lots of my work clothes, so I don't have need of the dressing room any longer. Well, we saved your mic for you. So that's all that matters. Steve, it's great to hear your voice. Tell us how you're doing. Give us just a bit of an update on you and Marsha.

Oh, well, thanks for asking. Yeah, we're doing fine. We're doing great. Our health is good, though, like many people.

We kind of ran the the covid gauntlet and then a couple of other related things that all cropped up at once. But I'm happy to say I'm blessed to say that both of us are healthy. We're doing well. As I mentioned to you off the air, we're doing a lot of babysitting. My my daughter is in her final year of nursing school.

And that would mean my granddaughter, Olivia, needs a little bit of help because she's only in kindergarten. So we're doing a lot of babysitting. So we've been we've been having a lot of fun.

Thanks. I'm sure you have. Are you are you still getting the drums out every now and then? You know, not as much.

And that was part of my retirement plan, if you will. I was doing a lot of drumming, which I've done since I was like 12 years old. But then when covid hit, you know, the bottom dropped out of a lot of things that weren't necessarily needed. And I'm not sure that that weekend bands, whether they whether they're regardless of what kind of music they are, just the bottom sort of dropped out of that. So I've not been playing as much drums as before, but I've replaced that, as I mentioned, with babysitting, short term projects.

I've had a number of short term projects, nothing full time. And as you know, Rob, we live here where the Atlanta Falcons are the NFL team. They need some help. And I'm contacting them, but they're not returning my calls. I'm not sure why. No, I don't know. I could see you as a kicker. Maybe. Maybe a kicker. I need a kicker.

I think maybe I'm I think I would be the ball more than likely. Here's the thing, Steve, I've been thinking about, you know, ever since you went off the air with me, the economy has just never been quite the same. I mean, inflation sky high.

Now here we are headed toward a recession. And I feel like it all started when you stopped. I don't know whether there's a correlation there or not.

Well, I don't want to be the one to point that out. You're aware of how and why I stopped. And if you're, you know, if you feel good about what you've done to the economy, then I'm fine with it. Now, another thing that you told you told the caller earlier that it's not always a wise thing to prepay for your funeral because you might want to consider a change of location. Now, my location is with my father in heaven, I think. I hope, you know, I don't know what you had in mind, but I'm not changing my location. It's a it's a great point. And we all certainly are going to be there if we've trusted Christ as our savior. Yeah, I was referring to prior to death.

If you decide where your burial site wants to change, you might want to be mindful of that. Well, Larry Brackett used to say, Larry Brackett used to say, if you're really budget oriented, all you need is a gunny sack. And so, you know, that's one approach. But that was Larry.

It may not be for everybody. We know how frugal Larry was. I'm glad I'm glad you brought up Larry, though. Let's talk about Larry for a second. You won't be surprised to know, Steve, that to this day, there's not a week that goes by that somebody doesn't mention Larry on this broadcast.

He's already come up once today. If you were listening, you heard somebody asked about the coming economic earthquake. I know you're probably not surprised by that fact because you had a chance to see up close and personal who he was, the impact that he has. But it still amazes me how many people reference the impact he's had on their lives. Well, I don't want to get too crazy here, but, you know, when people pass away, generally 10 years later, then the real facts come out about that person. Well, I'm here to tell you that Larry on air was the same person as he was off air. His commitment to Christ and the gospel was the same then as the very last day of his life. Even his funeral was an incredible testimony.

And I am a little surprised that people still mention his books. The coming economic earthquake, as you pointed out earlier in the program, was what someone was concerned about. But, you know, Larry's focus was God's word as it pertains to money and finance. And that hasn't changed at all. The same problems people were concerned about 2000 years ago with their money and finance and stewardship and managing it well and knowing God's wisdom when it comes to that, that's still in play today, maybe more now than ever before. We were talking about sheep and cows and cattle and that kind of thing. And today it's much more sophisticated and concerning.

So I don't think that's ever going to change. So I was blessed to work with Larry and I was blessed to work with you. And as you know, also Howard Dayton, Rob. So God's given you a wonderful ministry and given me a wonderful opportunity to just hang out with you guys. Well, you had an enormous impact and that continues to this day. Steve, tell us, you know, there's so many that were so fond of Larry and you. Give us a what's the story that comes to mind, maybe even something that was just you and Larry had a lot of fun together over the years, but you did a lot of ministry, too. When you think of Larry, what's that story that just immediately comes to mind? Boy, that that is a tough subject because I just have so many stories. I go places and people say to me, tell us stories about Larry.

And an hour later, I've covered half of them. But I would have to say, because I travel with Larry and I so I got to know and see the real man. I would say the thing that jumps out at me is often during the radio program, someone would call with an issue with a problem that Larry didn't have a quick and easy answer to. And often that involved money, money they didn't have, stressors on their life. I remember one person who called that their their child had his bike stolen and they were trying to teach the value of saving. And and and when it was all said and done, when it was over off the air, Larry instructed us to contact those kinds of people and he would write them a check. And, you know, he took care of that bicycle. He called the woman and said, what do you need?

How can we help? And often Larry would then contact the local church to make sure that they knew about this particular person, because just one one check doesn't always do it. So I would say Larry's invisible generosity that only his family and those of us who were very close knew about. Wow, that says so much. I love that.

Thanks for sharing that. Steve, we've got just a couple of minutes left. We've already had a couple of questions today on retirement.

One person asking, you probably heard it. How do we know if we're ready to retire? Should we retire early?

You've been at this now a couple of years. What's one takeaway you would have for folks in our audience today contemplating retirement? How can they be ready for this next season of life? Well, as you've said, Rob, first of all, I mean, don't rush into retirement and don't necessarily want to take your Social Security as as soon as you're legally able to do that, because people who are contemplating retirement are really thinking they want to retire. So when they start looking at the money and the finances of it, they sort of talk themselves into believing, no, we can live off this money. Well, interestingly, when you retire, some expenses get smaller, but some expenses get larger. You start traveling more than you did before. You start babysitting more than you did before. And that means saying yes to your grandchildren because you're incapable of saying no. But that may just be my problem. And that is, you said a million times and as we used to say to everybody, the importance of retiring to something, not just retiring from something.

And the two can't be a fishing rod on the front porch or something like that. It really means to be I mean, I really think God wants us to continue to use our spiritual gifts right up until the end. Now, that may change a little bit, but make sure you have something worthwhile to retire to make sure that you and your spouse are on the same page in that regard, because your spouse is going to be seeing a lot more of you than ever before. And as my wife has put it. Does it have to be this way? I mean, I mean, see, I retired to the bagel shop down the street and in the NFL is the bagel shop closed and the NFL won't return my calls.

All right. Well, speaking of bagels, you and I need to get a bagel suit. It's an everything bagel, right?

That's the thing. I prefer an everything bagel and I'm laying off the donuts. So I'm going with the carbs in bagels. But thank you. You and I are going to get a bagel soon. Hey, Steve, we love you. We miss you. We're so thankful for you. We're grateful for the ministry and the impact you've had in countless lives that we will only know in eternity.

And we're thankful that you spent a few minutes with us today. Do I have time to say do what you can to support Faith in Finance and also Moody Radio? Do I have time for that? I think you do.

Yes. And you did. Well, I just pretty much did it. So God bless you, Rob. It's been an honor and a pleasure. Thank you.

Yeah. We'll talk to you again real soon, Lord willing. That's Steve Moore, folks, celebrating five years on the air here in Moody Radio.

Faith in Finance Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and FaithFi. Hope you have a great rest of your day. Thanks to my team today and come back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you then. Bye bye.