Things Worth Knowing

Did you know that slinkies are 82 feet long if you stretch them out? It's an interesting factoid, but is it really worth knowing? Hi, I'm Rob West. The world is full of useless information.

Some of it's fun to learn, but it won't help you reach your goals, especially your investing goals. So today I'll talk with Mark Biller about some things that are worth knowing. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well, Mark Biller is our guest again today.

He's executive editor at Soundmind Investing, where they know a lot of stuff and all of it's useful. Mark, welcome back. Well, thank you, Rob. I don't know if it's all useful, but hopefully we'll get at least some of it.

The vast majority at least. And by the way, did you know that slinkies were 82 feet long? I had no idea. Okay, well, you can tell your kids tonight when you get home, they'll be really impressed. Hey, the whole point, of course, is that all, or not all, I guess I should say, information is worth knowing. But you all have an article in the latest SMI newsletter called Things Worth Knowing, and that's what we want to talk about today.

So Mark, kick us off. Where do we begin? Yeah, well, Rob, it really starts with a question that we often ask to open conversations with potential new investors and have for over 30 years, and that is, what is the number one financial mistake that Christians make? And in our opinion, the answer to that question is, they ignore biblical wisdom when they're managing their money and they follow secular advice instead. And unfortunately, a lot of that secular advice, and this is the kind of stuff that you hear on financial TV shows and so forth, is just relatively useless information. Sometimes it's even worse than useless because it can cause you to actually make mistakes with your investing and your finances. So SMI has long taught that if you use God's protective biblical principles as a guide, that you'll manage your money more wisely and prudently, and you'll glorify God at the same time.

Oh yeah, that's so key, and I think we need to always remember that. You know, that's of course a big part of what Soundmind, Investing, and Faithfi have in common. In this article, SMI founder Austin Pryor really relates this well, I think, in the article.

Share that story with us. Yeah, so Austin came by this knowledge and understanding the hard way. So he tells the story about how from the early 1970s through the mid-80s, he was really relying on his own skills, his own intellect for making financial and investing decisions, and while he had a lot of success, he also had a lot of failures because he was relying on himself and his own wisdom, if you will. And then by the late 80s, Austin had really started to turn to the teachings of his longtime friend Larry Burkett, who a lot of your listeners are familiar with. Larry was a leading voice, really the pioneer, I would say, in the space of helping Christians to apply biblical wisdom to manage their finances. And so long story short, by getting in sync with God's ways instead of relying on his own wisdom, that really laid the foundation for Austin's future financial success. And that experience more than 30 years ago still influences the content that we publish at SMI today. Yeah, that's helpful, and I think a great background to all of this.

So how, in fact, do you do that? How do you determine what investors need to know? Yeah, well, we do a ton of financial reading, as you know, here at SMI, and we're constantly running that through the filter. Is this something our members need to be aware of?

Is this worth knowing? And there's so much constantly being written and discussed about the economy, the markets, specific investments, and of course, we do cover some of that material and comment on some of that, but we try to never lose sight of our purpose, which really comes out of Ephesians 4, and that says that to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up and become mature, and we view ourselves as a discipling tool with that focus. So within our little niche, that means setting biblical priorities that honor God, and given that, the things that are really worth knowing and the things we emphasize are rooted in God's Word.

That's really helpful. Well, we're going to continue to unpack this today with Mark Biller, talking about some of those key passages that can inform our decision-making as stewards of God's resources. Plus, we're also taking for this portion of the broadcast your investing-related questions. What are you thinking about from an investment standpoint as you navigate the markets, the volatility, your retirement, and even this economy? Mark Biller, taking your questions, 800-525-7000.

Call right now, and we'll be right back. Great to have you with us today on Faith & Finance Live. I'm joined by my friend Mark Biller, executive editor at Sound Mind Investing, and we're talking today about things worth knowing, and of course, anything worth knowing has its roots or directly comes from God's Word, and that's certainly true in all areas of life, but that includes our finances and our investing, the topic today. By the way, we'll be taking your investing-related questions from Mark Biller at 800-525-7000.

We've got some lines open today, and we'd love to hear from you. Mark, before the break, you were really talking about how you all look to God's Word as really the foundation for everything that's worth knowing that you're sharing with your listeners. Share a couple of those key verses that help you decide what's important information as you scour all of the financial landscape. Yeah, well directly to that point, Rob, 2 Timothy 3 16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. So that really is their starting point, looking primarily to God's wisdom found in His Word rather than the world's conventional wisdom, and those are the principles that we're trying to build on to guide our financial decision-making.

Yeah, that's really helpful. You know, these principles are of course practical and relevant. I know 1 Corinthians 4 2 is another really important one, isn't it?

Yeah, absolutely. That one says now it's required that those who've been given a trust must prove faithful. So it's definitely worth knowing that we each have to take personal responsibility for making knowledgeable, biblically consistent financial decisions.

And if we don't know how to do that, then we need to get help with that, whether that's from a service like SMI or finding an advisor who can assist us. Even if we go that route, then we still need to recognize, though, that we're still the ones that are ultimately responsible for our financial decisions. Yeah, so after you surrender your life to Christ, then it's a matter of answering the question, what have I done with what I've been given? It's not wrong to have wealth. The question is, to what end?

You know, why have I been entrusted with whatever God has given me, and how can I be faithful and obedient over the whole of my life as a steward of God's resources? We'll continue to unpack these principles and passages with Mark Biller, but he's also giving us some of his time to answer your investing-related questions today. We've got a few lines open at 800-525-7000. We'd love to hear from you.

To Bradenton, Florida. Hi Tom, go right ahead. Hey guys, how you doing? We're doing well, thanks.

Good. So my question is, I'm actually kind of disillusioned because I have been invested continuously in mutual funds through employer 401ks, and then when I change jobs, I'd roll those over to IRAs. So I've been invested continuously for about 30 years now, and if you just do the simple math, you know, of a conservative return of, you know, seven percent per year, my portfolio should look more so, you know, at this point. And in reality, I'm at about $250,000. Now I've never taken a—I've been in the market continuously for 30 years, so how is it possible that my portfolio is so pathetic after all these years?

Yeah, let me ask you, you cut out there just for a moment. Give us a little bit of the analysis you've done in terms of what has caused you to believe you've underperformed. Well, my analysis just, you know, I just kind of simplify it so that, you know, if you just use the rule of 72, then, you know, it should, you know, it should double every 10 years with a, you know, 7.2 percent return. So, and I know that over the last 30 years the stock market has performed above that, and I've never been out of the market. Yeah, I guess one factor just to make sure you were considering, and then I'd love Mark to weigh in on this as to how you should go about thinking about this, have you considered the fact in your analysis that you were adding to it over time? So, I mean, it'd be one thing if you started with, you know, X balance and then you could see what that would grow to over a period of time at a compounded rate of return, but you've been systematically adding to it. So, did you factor that into your analysis?

Yes, but not in depth. You know, I haven't spent hours with a calculator, but just kind of in a macro sense, I think I, you know, grossly underperformed. Okay, and what are your total contributions? Do you know that? Not the gains, but just the amount you've put in? Oh, no, I wouldn't know that without looking. I'm driving right now, so yeah.

Yeah, no, that's fine. Well, Mark, I mean, obviously it seems like that would be a key question. What is the balance today? What are his total contributions? And then looking at the delta between the two, we've obviously got the fact that he was adding to it over this long time period, but what else might he think about? Yeah, I think the biggest question I would have, Tom, is have you been a hundred percent invested in stocks this whole time or have you had some of that allocated to bonds or maybe some other things as well? It's been a mix, but for most of that time, I've been in an aggressive portfolio, so most of the time it's been between 80 and 90 percent stocks and then the rest of it in bonds and cash. Yeah, well, cash of course will be a big drag on those returns, but bonds also would bring that return down a little bit. I think probably, Tom, the most helpful thing that I could suggest would be to perhaps go online or pull statements from one of your IRAs that you have and usually online you can go back, you know, maybe you could go back and get a statement that was five or even ten years old and look at what that balance was and get a much closer view on that particular account at least of exactly how that has performed. It is tough for us to kind of get a bird's eye view and we don't have a whole lot of your information there, but I think the biggest things that I would be looking at are the allocation because, you know, a mixed portfolio is going to bring that return down from a hundred percent stock type return and then I would try to drill down into those specific accounts, specific returns, and if you can say, okay, this IRA was $50,000 five years ago, today it's $55,000, well then you've got a much clearer picture of if that thing is really underperforming or if it's actually been a little bit more in line with what you would expect.

Yeah, I think the other thing is just thinking about, okay, we are where we are regardless of whether we might have made changes in retrospect, and so then the question is how do we best position these assets for the future? How far out of retirement are you, Tom? Oh, probably five to somewhere between five and nine years. Okay, and how much have you accumulated in these retirement accounts across all of the accounts you have? Yeah, it's only about $250,000 right now. Okay, yeah, so I think the next step for you is to determine what ultimately is your goal so that we could convert whatever you're ultimately going to try to save over the next five to ten years into an income stream that alongside retirement will meet your income needs.

Hopefully you'll be debt-free and maybe you're living on 70 to 80 percent of your pre-retirement income, but that will help you determine how long you need to work, and obviously the extent to which you can limit your lifestyle, continue systematically funding these accounts to the best of your ability, and getting those positioned well for growth, especially as the market recovers over the next decade, will be really important. Tom, thanks for your call today. God bless you, my friend. We'll be back with much more with Mark Biller after this. 800-525-7000. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live.

I'm Rob West. With me today, Mark Biller, executive editor at Sound Mind Investing. We'd love to hear from you today. 800-525-7000. While Mark is here specifically with your investing or questions about the economy, how you navigate this market, we'd love to hear from you again.

800-525-7000. Before we continue our conversation with Mark, let me also mention we're headed toward our fiscal year-end here at Faith and Finance, and if you're a part of our Faith and Finance family, you listen to this program regularly, perhaps you've benefited from some of the biblical principles we've been able to share and it's made an impact in your life, we'd like to invite you to be a financial supporter of the ministry. We are a not-for-profit ministry and rely on your listener support for all that we do, and so here at year-end between now and June 30th, it would be a huge help if you would make a gift of any size. You can do that quickly and securely online at faithfi.com. That's faithfi.com. Just click the give button. You can give securely online over the phone, or you can find our mailing address as well if you'd like to put a check in the mail. Again, faithfi.com.

Just click give and thanks in advance. All right, Mark, we're going to head back to the phones here in just a moment, but first we've been really talking about the importance of thinking about the right information that we need to take in, you know, as it relates to our finances and the passages in God's Word that really inform our thinking. And there was a set of verses in your article around the core tenets of biblical financial stewardship. Share a few of those with us.

Yeah, sure. So the first one would be Proverbs 22 7, that says, The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a servant to the lender. So one thing worth knowing is that debt can be enslaving, and we should really try to avoid it as much as we can. Another one comes from Proverbs 21 20, In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. So another key principle then is maintaining a proper balance between our current spending and our long-term saving, and actually this verse indicates that that's a sign of wisdom when we when we learn how to do that. Proverbs 21 5 tells us that the plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. So knowing that we should consistently invest from a carefully considered long-term plan instead of making our decisions kind of impulsively or ad hoc on a case-by-case basis. And then one that a lot of listeners will be familiar with is Ecclesiastes 11 2, I call that the diversification verse, and that one says, Divide your portion to seven or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth. So instead of a preoccupation with market cycles, market timing, that kind of stuff as a means of controlling our risk and protecting our capital, this verse indicates that diversification should really play that primary role in our risk management. Yeah that's really helpful and a great reminder Mark, thanks for that.

All right back to the phones we go, let's head to Rome, Georgia. Hi David, thanks for your patience sir, go ahead. Hey guys, I hear you talk all the time about drawing Social Security before FRA and being penalized. What I want to know is, what is the pay schedule once you become FRA for retirement age? What's the pay schedule? How does Social Security pay you back?

Is it one lot sum? Is it over five years, ten years? Do you guys know what that time period is?

Yeah, I don't know the specific time period, but the idea is correct David. You will have your benefits reduced, a dollar for every two dollars up to the limit, which is currently at $21,240, and then in the year you actually turn full retirement age it jumps up. It's a dollar for every three dollars that will be reduced up to $56,000 and that's on a monthly basis. One twelfth of that is your limit until you reach full retirement age, what you're calling FRA. That is refunded to you in the form of a higher check. It is over time, it's not in one lump sum.

The actual payback schedule on that I'm not exactly sure. We'll see if we can nail that down here in the next few minutes and mention that on the program before we wrap up today, but it will come back to you until you're made whole and it will happen over a series of checks. All right, thanks.

That'd be great to know that answer. Thank you. All right, thank you, David. We appreciate you calling. Indianapolis, Indiana. Hi, Greg. Thanks for calling.

Go ahead. Hi, I was calling because my wife and I are planning on selling the condominium that we have here in Indianapolis and moving to Michigan to be close to my son's family. And we have been looking at purchasing condominiums up there and probably what we anticipate is that the difference in what we may sell our condominium for and being able to buy a reasonable condominium that's in good shape up there, the difference would probably be about $100,000 to $150,000. We are, my wife is retired and I'm still working.

We're both over 70. And we have talked to our financial advisor about if we do need to make that difference, taking the money out of our 401k. And she has assured us that what will be left in the 401k should be sufficient if, you know, if we're diligent about continuing to live and have money for our retirement. So I was calling just kind of a general question to see if that's a smart idea or something you would advise against.

Yeah, Mark, you have some thoughts on that? Yeah, you know, Greg, so much of our retirement decisions come down to trying to balance that quality of life and the decisions that we're making. You know, many of us work, you know, our whole career, get to this age and have these decisions just like you're describing, you know, the quality of life of moving, being close to kids, grandkids, those sorts of things, really, they factor in a big way. So I would say I'm glad to hear that you've got some good counsel and some good help. And if they're assuring you that you're probably going to be able to meet your goals and still make that move, then I would seriously consider it.

Yeah, that makes sense to me, I would just work with your CPM, the timing of that, you're probably going to want to spread that out over two tax years. We're going to take a quick break. Stay on the line, Greg. We'll talk some more and we'll be right back. Stay with us. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live.

I'm Rob West with me today. Mark Biller, executive editor at soundmindinvesting.org. We've been talking about a great new article that they have out in the Soundmind Investing newsletter. It's called Things Worth Knowing, and it's a good primer to help you really have a strong foundation in your life. A foundation for thinking about your role as a steward of managing God's money based on biblical principles and wisdom.

You can find the article and read it for yourself at soundmindinvesting.org. Mark and I are taking your calls today on anything financial, specifically we're looking for questions on investing in the economy, how you're navigating this market in light of the volatility. Mark giving us some of his time to weigh in on those questions specifically.

Let's head to Zephyr Hills, Florida. Byron, go right ahead. Yes, I've got a couple different questions for you, and of course naturally diversification is the key, but what do you think about angel investing, which is startup investing, looking for long-term goals over five years, and then diversifying out between the different companies? Yeah, I think it's pretty risky. Mark, give us your thoughts.

Yeah, I think that's the first thing that pops into my head as well, Rob. You know, the big thing you need to understand, Byron, is that most startups, most of the types of businesses that you're going to be investing in that way, they have a very high failure rate, and so diversification is absolutely critical in that kind of a high strikeout rate because you've got to make really big returns here and there on a couple of winners to offset all of the ones that don't pan out. So that is a high-risk way to do it. It's also kind of difficult for most people to really get access to that, but if you have the ability to do that, the connections and whatnot, and want to take a swing at that, just be aware that you've got to offset quite a few zeros with some big returns, and so that really turns into kind of a boom and bust kind of an approach. So that's definitely not going to be for most people, and you want to diversify as broadly as you can. If you are going to put a toe in that arena, maybe limit that to a portion of your investing if you're going to do that at all. Yeah, very good.

Byron, what was the second part of your question? Well, the second part is on, well, basically with stocks and, of course, dividend. To me, I think, and I'd like to get your views on it, but dividend paying stocks I think are great to hold even regardless of where the market goes to because as long as you've got a very good company that even with the stock prices down, they still pay their close to normal dividend. When prices go down, you ignore them and average your price down.

Yeah, that's right. Mark, your thoughts on dividend investing? Dividends can definitely be a big part. They certainly were a huge part of stock returns for many, many decades.

It's really only in the last maybe 30 years or so that that's been a little bit diminished. You know, I like dividend paying companies. There are some that I really like right now because a lot of the natural resource type companies, energy producers, those sorts of things that I think could do real well over the next five to 10 years often are paying good dividends. One thing you might look at, Byron, is there are groups of dividend payers. Sometimes they're called things like the dividend aristocrats is one term that's used for those, and these are groups of dividend paying stocks that have maintained or increased their dividends for a number of years, and that can be a really good sign of health if a company say over the last 20 years has been able to increase their dividend each year without ever having to cut it. That can give you a real picture of stability for a company.

Now, of course, when you're talking about dividend paying stocks, these are typically going to be more conservative, less of your high growth type payers, but that can definitely be an effective way to invest in stocks. Rob, your thoughts? Yeah, I totally agree.

I think you're right on the money there. And Byron, we appreciate your call today to Chicago. Hey, Bobby, thank you for calling. Go ahead.

Hi, thank you for taking my call. Okay, I'm 23 years old, and I haven't officially started investing. However, what kind of advice would you guys tell me as in starting out to invest? How much should I save to start investing, and what kind of accounts should I start with? Yeah, this is a great idea, Bobby. If you could start systematically investing now at 23, that'll really pay off through the power of compounding down the road.

A couple of questions, then we'll get Mark's thoughts. Do you live on a budget right now? Do you have a spending plan?

I do. I created an organized budget for myself. Great. And are you able to live below your means and have a little bit left over each month? Yes, so right now I'm saving 30% of my income towards savings, which is my emergency and my future car and vacation. Perfect. Yeah, that's great. I love that you're limiting your lifestyle. And are you working full-time, and if so, do you have a 401k available to you?

I do work full-time, and I believe I have a 401k available. But you're not contributing to it currently? I don't think so.

I think there is. Okay, no problem. You're doing great. So Mark, she's got the spending plan, living on 70%, saving 30%, but hasn't started investing, so where should she go from here?

Yeah, that's fantastic, Bobby. You know, I think that one of the big things that will help you, Rob alluded to it here, is if you can begin to invest through some tax-advantaged vehicles, whether that's your 401k or through an IRA, that can really build your compounding over time, because you're not having to dip into that to pay taxes along the way. So the first thing I would check is check into your 401k at work. I would see if they have a match, because that's free money that you can get just for starting to invest through that 401k. If you don't have a 401k, then I'd look at your IRA options and start looking at investing through an IRA. Another thing is once you get to that point, of course, you'll have to decide what you're going to invest in.

And at 23, with many, many, many years to invest ahead of you, you know, you can afford to be quite aggressive, so that usually means stock mutual funds probably don't need a whole lot of bonds or cash or other things when you're starting out at a young age like that. So I would definitely go for mostly stock allocation. I'd love to put a copy of our SMI handbook in your hands. Rob, is that something that we can coordinate for Bobby? We can make sure that happens.

See how he does that live on the air, Bobby? And I can't say no at that point. No, I would have absolutely suggested that. So it's a great idea. If you hold the line, we'll get your information and get that book right out to you. It's the Soundmind Investing Handbook. And by the way, Bobby, I would check out soundmindinvesting.org. They could be a great resource to you to help you with some insight and guidance as you get this set up. But one of the other benefits of participating in that 401k is there's going to be a limited number of investment options. And so you could connect with the plant administrator and just by virtue of the fact that you're 23. And as Mark said, you want to be almost all in stocks, if not 100% in stocks, just given how much time you have ahead of you, there's only going to be a few options for you to choose from.

So it shouldn't be very difficult. But if you just start now and systematically invest, you'll be well on your way. And again, stay on the line, we'll get that book out to you. Also, if you're not giving, Bobby, let me just encourage you to start somewhere now you may be and that's great.

But if not start somewhere because that generosity is going to break the grip of money over your lives. You stay on the line, we'll get your information and we'll take a quick break and back with more with Mark Biller after this stay with us. So thankful you've decided to join us today for faith and finance live as we help you apply the wisdom from God's word to your financial decisions and choices.

Mark Biller with me today, executive editor of soundmindinvesting.org. David called earlier and David is going to take social security prior to full retirement age. He understands that when he continues to work and he's planning to do so, when he goes above the limit, which this year is just over $21,000. Prior to full retirement age, his benefits will be reduced for by $1 for every $2 he goes above that limit. What we talked about is that he will get that back once he reaches full retirement age at 66 or 67. His question on follow-up to that was how is that going to be paid back to me? I told him we'd look that up and get back to him.

Our team did some research and we've got the answer to that David. Essentially what's going to happen is this again you'll lose a dollar for every you'll lose a dollar in benefits for every two dollars you go above the cap which this year is $21,240. Social security makes up for that by giving you a credit for the lost benefits once you reach full retirement age and essentially here's how it will work. Let's say you took your benefits at 62 and the reduction that you had was equal to about two months worth of benefits a year that you lost and you did that for five years between 62 and 67 full retirement age that would be a total of 10 months worth of benefits that was taken from you because you went above the limit. Once you reach full retirement age they will reset your benefit as if you had taken your benefits 10 months later.

So instead of setting your benefits as if you took them at 60 months early which you would have if you took it at age 62 they will reset your benefits in my example as you having filed 50 months early and so that difference would be you know somewhere around four or five percent higher per month for your benefit moving forward and that additional benefit of four or five percent per month moving forward will eventually make up what was taken from you at that point it would drop back down but it's clearly going to happen over a period of time it's not going to be quickly and certainly not in a lump sum. I hope that helps you David we appreciate you being on the program today. All right back to the phones to Tenley Park, Illinois WMBI. Hey Jacob go right ahead. Hi I typically so as I understand it it's typically unwise to lease a vehicle however I was wondering if that is a viable option for given our season and situation that we are in. We are foster parents and we have two children with us that want to have special needs who is five and is immobile still cannot walk so they both need car seats and strollers and stuff like that and obviously we will not need this like for the rest of our life so is it a viable or is it wise to lease a vehicle for a couple years while we are in this stage? Yeah well first of all I love that you're foster parents especially to a special needs child that's amazing. Mark your thoughts I mean typically you and I would say let's not lease a car we're essentially renting it we're not owning it you know as Howard Dayton says the former host of this program and our mutual friend buy a car and drive it till the wheels fall off you can't do that with a lease you've got limited mileage if you go over it you're going to pay you know fees for excess use you've got wear and tear you know so all of that is a factor but given this is essentially a temporary need how would you counsel Jacob? Yeah Jacob you know all of these financial decisions a lot of the the conventional wisdom and and your right to cite that normally we would not advise that you know they do all come down to trying to make appropriate choices as stewards with the Lord's money and so you know you you're obviously got a situation where some of those normal ground rules perhaps they either don't apply or or could be bent now before we too quickly switch then to say yay we can go ahead and lease you know all of the things that Rob said still apply and that the one that I would add is almost by definition when you start talking about leasing a vehicle you're talking about a new vehicle and so that's going to put you in a a higher cost vehicle just almost by definition starting out right out of the gate in that discussion and so um you know I would still go ahead and do the the legwork to see if you can find an appropriate vehicle that is more vehicle that is more in that you know maybe two or three years old 30 000 mile type used situation just because that is going to financially generally be a better decision now if you can't and admittedly covid and the the past couple years have really kind of messed up the auto market so a lot of these normal you know ground rules and and rules of thumb are pretty tough to apply right now quite frankly um if you can't then of course I would say you know it's it's viable to look at that you just want to have in your mind going in that the lease route is probably going to cost you quite a bit more money but yeah any way you slice it by the time you're done you're probably going to pay more now in your specific situation if you can afford to pay more and it makes sense to pay more then don't drive it for the next three years on your lease with a guilty conscience you're doing the best the best stewardship that you can with the situation and that you have so you know certainly no guilt we're just i think what rob and i are trying to convey is that there probably is a more cost effective path but cost effective isn't always everything in every financial decision so that's where i would would come at it jacob yeah and i would completely agree with that jacob i think the other factor here is just keep in mind it sounds like your situation given some of the uncertainties associated with fostering uh is going to be prohibitive with regard to a lease because if you're trying to get out of it early you've got one more fee on top of that and that's the early termination fee where you'd have to pay the difference between the lease balance and the the vehicle's balance so uh you've got to be careful there as well if you try to turn it in early whereas the opportunity just to resell it uh it should retain its value pretty well you know depending on what car make and model you choose so i'd think through that and do the math on it before you make that final decision thanks for allowing us to weigh in on it we appreciate it uh to shaniqua and fort lauderdale go right ahead hi good afternoon i was calling because i had a question can you hear me i'm sorry yes ma'am sure go ahead i was calling because i had a question in reference to retirement and actually listening to the show i thought of another investing question but i want to go with my first question that was on my heart and i'll ask the second if i have the time so i'm 46 years old i'm 20 years in public service i can retire june 1 are going to drop i really have a desire to switch to full-time entrepreneurship and um i just wanted to ask the question in reference to your thoughts on it so my pension will be 76 of my salary um that i can give as soon as i retire in 20 years i have a 457 there's only about 44 000 in that i have a frs i'm an investment and that's only about about 43 000 in that i got about 275 equity in my home it's not paid off i owe 168 on it i'm fairly young i'm not looking to retire to sit home i kind of want out of the career but i feel like it's such a great career with benefit i'm feeling guilty if i leave yeah i certainly understand that janiqua and this is this is a tough one that's going to involve a lot of prayer um just on the financial side if you were to go into the drop program there in the state of florida do you know what you would get the lump sum oh yeah so we can literally um do up to seven years in our drop and basically i'm retiring on paper so i will bring in even not calculating any interest because we can't lose on it i would basically bring in about 76 to 77 thousand dollars a year depending on however many years i do plus whichever cpi and the interest that i receive on it so it's a great lump sum and i'm young but i'm just feeling like my season is switching yeah i understand mark how would you help her process this decision yeah janiqua there are a ton of moving pieces with this so you know i think that trying to find somebody that can really crunch the numbers with you sit down and go through it piece by piece would really be be great if you can can connect with someone like that i think that one other thing to consider might be kind of a third path somewhere in between when you're making a jump from a great career that it sounds like you've got right now to something that's pretty unknown um with the entrepreneurship if there's any way to kind of put a foot in that world and and try that before you've completely severed the ties to what you have right now um that is such a such a wise idea to see if one your idea is really working two if you like it as much as you think you will understand it's very hard sometimes to do both but that would just be the thing that pops into my head as i'm hearing you describe this if there's any way to do that and they kind of do it on a little bit of a trial basis like that that would sure be valuable rob your thought well i'm finding yeah i completely agree i think that we call that a low-cost probe shaniqua and that's uh that's a great way to step into something new i think about that if you want to look for an advisor to help you there in fort lauderdale there's some great certified kingdom advisors you can do that at faithfi.com just click find a cka thanks for your call today unfortunately we're out of time mark great to have you with us my friend thanks for stopping by thanks rob always my pleasure all right hey sharon thank you for your patience i'm sorry we didn't get to you the answer to your question about a qualified charitable distribution is you have to be 70 and a half hopefully that helps you folks if you want to learn more about sound mind investing go to soundmindinvesting.org thank you to dan tahira gabby and robert faith and finance live is a partnership between moody radio and faithfi have a great rest of your day and come back and join us tomorrow we'll see you then bye-bye