Economic and Market Outlook

Today's Faith in Finance Live is actually not live, so our phone lines are not open. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I am Rob West. Matthew 634 is a good reminder not to worry needlessly about the future. But still, the Bible also tells us to prepare for it. I'll talk with David Spica today about what that means for your investments.

Then we have some great questions lined up for you. But don't call in today, because we're prerecorded. This is Faith in Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well, we're delighted to have David Spica on the program again. David is the chief investment officer at Guidestone, a financial services firm helping those in ministry, as well as the broader Christian population and an underwriter of this program. David, great to have you back with us. Thank you, Rob.

Happy to be here. David, the recent debt ceiling impasse in Washington affected the markets for weeks. There was a great deal of worry about the future, even though the prospect of a debt default, at least long term, was highly unlikely. Now that the dust is settled on that agreement, what do you see driving the economy right now? The same thing that's been driving the economy for the last year and a half. Interest rates and inflation. Inflation is too high. We have core inflation that is as high as it's been since 1990. And the Fed is committed to bringing it down to the 2% level. So they've got the Fed funds rate over 5%.

And Chairman Powell has been very clear he's going to keep it there for an extended period of time, maybe as long as two years. So what that leads to is weaker employment and weaker spending. Ultimately, we cannot reduce inflation to a realistic and sustainable level unless we have a recession.

And to do that, you have to reduce consumer spending by reducing employment. So those are going to be the key factors in the near future. Yeah, and it sure seems like the Fed is trying to engineer that recession to accomplish that goal. So then what is the likelihood, David, that markets continue to go higher in the months ahead? Well, we would have told you they weren't going to go higher year to date, and they're up 12%.

So take this with a grain of salt. But stocks are very expensive today at 20 times future earnings, and they do not reflect higher interest rates, higher inflation, nor do they reflect the potential for recession and much lower earnings growth. So we think the market has to come down. We expect stocks to decline by potentially as much as 15% to 18% retesting the lows we saw last October before they reach a level that's realistic. And ultimately, though, that's good for long-term investors, particularly those who have cash on the sideline and are looking for a better entry point. That's really helpful. Let's talk about fixed income securities.

Obviously, they've gotten beat up over the last year or so quite a bit. Now that the Fed seems to have at least paused its interest rate increases, David, how will that affect fixed income securities? We believe that the Fed pause will create much lower interest rate volatility, which is very positive for bonds.

Fed's near its peak. Interest rates should be relatively stable and ultimately will go lower. So we think that bonds are likely to produce the best total return we've seen since 2007. You've got very high yields today in short and medium duration bonds. So if you own high quality bonds, you're probably pretty well set over the near term. Yeah, so that's obviously good news for those counting on the income from bonds that have taken a hit in the recent past. David, can you talk a little bit about the options at Guidestone, specifically for folks who really are concerned about their savings and looking for peace of mind?

Sure. On the equity side, because you never want to try to time the market, I just admitted we didn't call this 12% year to date, our defensive market strategies fund is a low volatility defensive equity strategy that tends to incur only half of the volatility on the downside of the S&P 500. So that's a great place to have equity exposure.

On the bond side, our low and medium duration bond funds, both with yields nearing 5%, really, really play a role today in cushioning your equity volatility and also generating nice total returns. And finally, our impact bond fund, a relatively new fund, which provides for impact investing in areas such as the sanctity of life and spreading of the gospel, is a true core bond portfolio that does have a good place in most investors' portfolios. David, for all of your strategies, can folks be assured that their values will be reflected in these investments?

Absolutely. We provide exclusionary screens in all of our funds. We also provide investor advocacy where we work with companies that aren't meeting what we think are true Christian values and then the impact piece as well.

So yes, all of our funds will adhere to Christian values. That's great. Well, David, really appreciate you stopping by today with an update on the markets and Guidestone. We're grateful for our partnership.

Thanks for being here. Thank you, Rob. You can get more information at guidestonefunds.com.

That's guidestonefunds.com. That was David Spica, Chief Investment Officer at Guidestone, an underwriter of this program. Hey, folks, we're going to pause now for a brief break, but let me remind you, we're out of the studio today. Our team is not here, so don't call in, but much more to come just around the corner on Faith and Finance Live.

Stick around. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance Live. Again, we're not here today. Our team is away from the studio, so don't call in, but we've got some great questions coming up. Hey, before we head to the phones, let's take a few more emails today. These come in to us all the time at askrob at faithfi.com.

That's askrob at faithfi.com. This one comes to us from CJ. He writes, We use three credit cards and pay them off every month, one for gas, one for groceries and one for bills. Since we proved we could handle credit, they raised our spending limits. With so much identity theft, we're thinking of closing the accounts. Is there an amount of time we should allow between closing each card? We don't want to mess up our excellent credit scores. Well, CJ, first of all, I appreciate that you've managed this credit so wisely. It wouldn't really hurt your credit to dramatically to close these accounts.

I'd probably do one every six months. That's going to lessen any kind of minimal impact you would have. I will tell you, though, that if you're managing this wisely and you're getting rewards on these cards, one way to handle the potential for identity theft, if you wanted to continue to use them, would be to freeze your credit at each of the three credit reporting bureaus Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. It's free of charge. You do have to do it individually at each of the three. You can do it online, but that would prevent thieves from opening accounts in your name without the PIN number. And when they can't provide the PIN number, they would be stopped in their tracks. So yes, you can close those accounts if you want to. And again, I do one every six months.

But if you wanted to continue to use them, you continue to pay them off every month and you like the rewards you're getting, either cash back or maybe travel rewards, then freezing your credit might give you an alternate approach to protecting yourself from identity theft. Thanks for writing to us. And then from an anonymous writer, this is a concerned mom. She says, My son needs help with paying back credit cards and loans. Is there a free service to help?

Thank you very much. And yes, there is a service to help. My preferred way to pay off credit card debt in particular is through what's called debt management. Our friends at Christian credit counselors.org can help him get the interest rates reduced and pay this off 80% faster.

Here's how. When you go into credit counseling or what's called debt management, each of the creditors have a pre-negotiated lower interest rate. Now the accounts will be closed when they're put into the program, but through the combination of that lower interest rate combined with a level monthly payment, which simply means as the balance comes down, because more is going to principle with that level payment, you're actually going to get a snowball effect in the process. The combination of those two things is going to allow you to pay this back up to 80% faster.

The great thing is you're honoring God by paying the debt in full, and it's a great service for you to take advantage of. So if you want to contact them, you can reach out to our friends again at Christian credit counselors.org. And thanks for writing to us. All right, now let's head back to the phones. Let's head to Texas. Steve, you'll be our first caller, sir. Go ahead.

Thanks for taking the call. I listened to a lot of financial news, and it's inundated with news about the decline of the US dollar, how the US dollar is not going to be the major central bank asset of central banks around the world. And then really famous people like Warren Buffett are saying that US economy is no longer going to be an exceptional economy going forward and such. And I just wonder, is it time to look overseas on overseas stock markets for investments?

Or should I stay right here in America? Yeah, it's a great question. I think to the latter part of your question, it's absolutely an appropriate time to have an allocation to the international stock markets. I mean, we've been saying for a long time and Bob doll who joins us regularly a veteran Wall Street money manager managing billions of dollars, has said that we believe that the international stocks will continue to outperform the US in the near term.

We saw that last year, it's continuing this year. And I think that that just underscores the idea of being properly diversified, Steve, that includes not only diversified among stocks and bonds, but inside your stock allocation diversified among small cap and large cap growth and value, but also domestic and international. So I think clearly you want an allocation to the international markets as to the long term outlook for the US economy. I mean, I would certainly agree that the trends are not good. I mean, our runaway debt or sky high inflation are problematic. We've got our demographics long term that are working against us as we have less babies, and we've got more people aging out of the workforce.

And then you have to factor in, apart from the life issue, which is paramount, the economic implications of nearly 30 million babies that would be in prime working age who've been aborted. I mean, all of these things put together, just create some challenges for us. And yet, and I think this is a big deal. The US is still the primary player. We're the biggest and strongest economy in the world.

We have a lot going for us here in the US protected by oceans, just the richness of the natural resources we have the policies here that value human life and productivity. Despite some of the cultural challenges we're facing right now. I think we have a lot going for us in terms of the American ingenuity and how far ahead we are in technology.

So I think we will certainly continue to be a dominant player. Although I would say for the first time in our lifetime, the possibility of a debt crisis is really a possibility here. And it's probably a decade or two away if we don't change some things and rein in spending and try to get this going in the right direction. But our largest federal expenditure in the not too distant future will be interest and that's not a good thing.

But we can handle it at these levels just given the size and strength of our economy. In terms of the US dollar, I would just say, you know, if we're grading on a curve against any other viable currency out there, there really isn't another option at this point. I mean, the euro hasn't proven to be a viable alternative and the one and really any others. 60% of global currency reserves are in US dollars.

90% of all foreign exchange trades involve the US dollar. So yeah, there are longer term implications to all that we are doing and the Federal Reserve's action and our monetary policy and our debt levels and the, you know, near zero interest rates for over a decade. I mean, all of that is real and yet there really isn't another alternative. So what do we do with all of that? Well, we need to show up and vote for people who understand God's design for economics and wealth creation, that we need to value human life and that we're more heart and mind and hand than we are mouth. And therefore, we need to understand that God created us to be productive and inside that productivity creates economic expansion and wealth creation. And we should then respond to the God who created us in generosity and that virtuous cycle is how God designed it. And when we don't follow that, there are implications to that. I think the other thing we need to just really be focused on is the primary opportunity we have is our own economies, what's passing through our hands, spending less than we earn, avoiding debt, setting long term goals, giving generously, trusting the Lord, having margin and demonstrating to the world how God would have us to handle his resources, understanding he is king and not the state or the government. So I know that's a lot to throw at you there, Steve, but I think the bottom line is I wouldn't be exiting the stock market, I wouldn't be exiting the banking system, but I would be properly diversified and that should include an allocation to international stocks.

But give me your thoughts on any or all of that. One just, it's an amazingly detailed and brilliant answer and I thank you for that. Any guidance on allocation? Yeah, in terms of how much to have in international? Yes, sir. I would say a typical allocation, depending upon your age, just in general somewhere between 10 to 20% of your overall portfolio, I would say for the average investor who's still got time on their side, should be for the stock portion of your portfolio, I would say generally about 20% international.

But that all varies according to your age and your risk tolerance. I've got to take a quick break, Steve. Thanks for being on the program. We'll be right back. Hey, great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West, your host.

Our team is away from the studio today, so don't call in, but coming up a little later, we'll have more of your questions right here on the program. Hey, let me take a moment to mention the Faith Fi app. We'd love for you to download it. Just head to your app store wherever you download apps and search for Faith Fi. That's Faith Fi.

You can manage your money. You can access the best content in biblical finance, podcasts, articles and videos. You can also participate in our Faith Fi community where you can post questions and get answers from others on their stewardship journey. You'll find it in your app store. Just search for Faith Fi or if it's easier, head to our website at faithfi.com.

That's faithfi.com and you'll see the app right there on the home page. Hey, before we head back to the phones, let's revisit this conversation we were having with Steve just before the break was specifically related to the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency. You know, my friend Ken Franke likes to remind us that often people speak of the end of the dollar as a reserve currency and that being imminent. Frankly, comments like that reveal, I think, a misunderstanding of how the international monetary and currency systems work.

Analyst James Rickards points out that the key mistake in almost all such analysis is a failure to distinguish between the respective roles of a payment currency and a reserve currency. You see, payment currencies are used in trade for goods and services, remittances of dividends, interest, royalties, any flow from a direct foreign investment. Almost everything we read about the dollar's demise has to do with other nations' efforts to substitute their local currency or a new multilateral currency for the dollar, but as a means of payment in trade relations and remittances. This is entirely different than a reserve currency, which is like the savings accounts of sovereign nations who earn surpluses from international trade. So I think it's important just to distinguish between those two as we think about the implications of potentially being replaced as the world's reserve currency. Keep in mind, 60% of the global currency reserves are in dollars. Second place at only 20% is the euro. So, and we still, as I mentioned earlier, 90% of all foreign exchange trades involve the dollar. So it's a far cry from the dollar being replaced anytime soon. And hopefully that distinction is helpful to you as you think about where we're headed in the future. All right, let's head back to the phones to Oklahoma.

Craig, go ahead, sir. Yes, I was telling your call screener that it's been back several months ago now. I was offered a deal from social security that if I would take the pay for 69 years old, uh, 69 and a half, excuse me, versus 70, which I was 70, that they would give me a check. And at first she didn't tell me how much not said, well, how much? And then she come back and she said, $22,000. And at $22,000, I kind of did a quick figure in my head and I thought I'll never make up the $22,000, you know, at like $160 a month. I thought it would take me forever, you know, to make up that difference.

Have I made a mistake? How was this brought to you? I'm a little confused by it because, you know, I'm not familiar with this approach and part of me thinks this might've been a scam.

How, how did you get this information that you could take a reduced benefit amount at an earlier age in exchange for a lump sum payment? Well, when I called in and I talked to, I think it was Larry, was that the gentleman's name that passed away? That was doing your show? Larry Burkett? Yeah.

Back into the early 2000s. I talked to him back, back several years ago and he said, you know, and I told him I was kind of, uh, as far as a 401k and all that stuff, you know, I have very little in it. It's, it's somewhere less than $50,000. Uh, and he said the best thing for me to do would be to wait till I was 70 and then draw so scared. So I did that.

Well, when I called and was making the arrangements, the lady come back and said, uh, you can, uh, if you will back up to 69 and a half, we will send you a $22,000 check. I see. Okay.

I'm following you now. Yeah. There is, um, the ability to get a lump sum option worth six months of social security benefits. Um, so, you know, would it have been better to take that and invest it and take the reduced amount or would you be better to get the higher check for life? I mean, eventually it's, it typically it works out to about, uh, you know, 12 years that you would have to live in order to make that up. And then at that point you would, um, you know, be in the money so to speak for the rest of your life with a higher check.

So if the Lord Terry's and if he doesn't, it doesn't matter, but if he does and you're in good health, um, you know, and you'll live beyond 82, you'd probably be glad that you didn't take it and that you get this higher check for the rest of your life. Okay. Well, that's the problem I have already. Okay. Well, and that's fine too.

I think the key is just to put it to work for you. What did you do with it right now? I paid off every I'm debt-free. Okay. Um, I still have about 12,000 of it left in the bank. It's just sitting there. It's not really doing much.

Uh, it's kind of a emergency fund for me or something along them lines. I am still working. Okay. I still have an eight to five job that I'm, uh, that I'm, uh, you know, still doing if the Lord allows me to continue on, uh, you know, which he has been with me for a lot of years.

A lot of people don't realize I'm 70 years old when they look at me. Wow. That's great. Well, I don't think this was a bad decision. I liked the fact that you paid off some debt. I liked the fact that you shored up your emergency fund.

Let me ask you, uh, Craig, if you were to stop working, do you have enough with the benefit you will or are receiving plus your savings to maintain your lifestyle or are you going to fall short in terms of covering your monthly bills? You know, it's, it's really close. It's really close. Okay. Yeah. I think the key is just continuing to work as long as you can and save so that you've got something to fall back on. So you just keep following Jesus, live modestly and work as long as you can.

God created you to be productive. We know that. Thanks for your call today, sir. We'll be right back on faith and finance. Stay with us. You're listening to faith and finance live, and you can find us online at faithfi.com.

However, today we are not live. So if you hear that phone number, please don't call, but do stay with us. There's lots of good information ahead. You know, let me touch on a topic that, uh, I think is often overlooked on the part of stewards that is so critical.

Uh, it's not one we like to talk about, but it is really important. Uh, you need to think about your estate plan. Now, there are some common misconceptions about estate planning that I'd love to touch on today because I think this is really important.

I'll move through these and we'll certainly mix in your calls and questions along the way at 800-525-7000. First to definition, what is estate planning? Well, it essentially prepares your assets so that your wishes and the law are followed in the event of your death, but also, and a lot of folks miss this in the event of your incapacitation. You see your estate is everything you own. It's your car, it's your home, it's your bank account, it's your investments, your life insurance, as well as your personal possessions. Now, an estate plan can include a will, but also legal trusts, uh, powers of attorney, funeral arrangements, and even healthcare directives. So your wishes can be followed, uh, in the event that you need decisions made and you're unable to make them. You know, the first assumption that I want to dispel today is that, um, estate planning is about what happens after you die.

And that's only partly true. Uh, while an estate plan does prepare your assets or what's called your estate, quote unquote, for distribution after your death, it also goes into effect if you become, again, incapacitated, which gives instructions about your medical care, uh, and how to handle your financial affairs. So really important to think about, uh, your estate plan. And I'll give you a few other, uh, misconceptions between now and the end of the program. But the first one to realize is that it's not just about death.

It is bigger than that, which makes it really important. All right, back to the phones we go. Let's, uh, get another caller here. First time caller Chris in Alabama. Go ahead, sir.

Uh, thank you, sir, for taking my call. Um, a question is, uh, my daughter's getting married toward the end of the year and, uh, I don't have the money to pay for it in savings, but I've got a 401k. It's got about 175,000 in it.

And, or do I take a personal loan? Hmm. Yeah.

Uh, it's a good question. Uh, were you thinking of taking a withdrawal from your 401k or a loan from your 401k? Well, I was looking at it and they were going, if I do a withdrawal, then they were going, I'm fully vested.

So I've got 35 years in with my company. So they were going to go ahead and take the taxes out, uh, to pay, you know, uh, the federal. Yeah. 20%.

So, um, yeah, it was, yeah. And the, uh, the loan is probably cheaper. I wasn't real sure on, you know, because of the amount, I'm not wanting to borrow a whole lot. Thank the Lord that my daughter is not, uh, she's kind of frugal like me. So she, uh, they're not going to have an exorbitant wedding, but, uh, yeah. Well, I would say, uh, Chris, first of all, I love that you're giving this some careful thought.

Number two, I think it's important to try to set that not to be exceed number, um, that you want to make available to her. And if they decide to go over that, they're going to need to fund that themselves. And you could also make the opposite truths is that if they want to spend less than the amount you're willing to give them, um, then they can hang onto that for maybe a down payment, first last insecurity on a, uh, apartment or maybe a down payment on a car or something like that. So I think the key is to think about how much you can actually afford and then have that conversation with them.

Cause we don't want to impact your retirement plan. Um, you know, just to pay for this wedding. Um, you know, and I think to that end, I would prefer you don't touch that 401k as a loan or withdrawal, especially right now while the market's down, I want all that money to be available to recover and continue to grow as we get beyond the recession and these interest rate hikes so that you've got what you need as much as possible to offset or to supplement social security to cover your expenses. So I think the key is set a modest amount as what you would be willing to fund. And then I think if you don't have it available, taking that personal loan and just trying to limit your lifestyle as best you can so you can pay it back as quickly as you can, uh, is probably the best approach at this point, as opposed to pulling that money out of the 401k and preventing it from being able to recover with the market. Right.

Okay. Well that was, you know, it's not going to be a large personal loan. Plus I don't have a lot of personal debt. And so, uh, it was probably going to be 10 or $12,000. So I've got a friend that said a local credit union that, you know, said he could set it up for five years if I wanted it. So yeah, that's great. And I think just try to focus on prepaying that and getting that paid off as quickly as you can by just cutting back wherever possible and send in extra money. Uh, don't just settle into the automatic scheduled payment.

Try to accelerate that to the best of your ability. But Hey Chris, congratulations. You sound like a wonderful father and all the best to your daughter and her future husband as they enter this exciting season of life. God bless you, my friend. Thanks for being on the program.

Uh, 800-525-7000 is the number to call, uh, to another first time caller in Tennessee. Hugh, go ahead, sir. Uh, yes, sir. I'm just wanting to check with you to see what your thoughts are on, uh, investing and rolling part of your, uh, our 401k or our rate of from a, uh, you know, from that to a, to gold or silver. Yeah. Um, I like the precious metals.

I wouldn't overweight there personally. I mean, it's a safe investment. It's a safe haven when the markets typically are in decline, uh, because it's uncorrelated. Um, it also can be a little bit more volatile, uh, than, than a just properly diversified stock in bond portfolio. It's not an income generating asset. So, you know, unlike stocks and bonds, the return on gold is based entirely on the price appreciation.

Um, were you thinking of investing in physical gold through like a self-directed IRA or were you thinking of buying just maybe a gold tracking ETF that just follows the price of gold inside the existing retirement plan? I guess the, uh, the first thing you mentioned the self-directed IRA. Okay.

Yeah. Um, I, I probably wouldn't do that if it were me. I mean, there's additional complexities there of just the, the premium on the buy and the sell, and then you've got to store it and you know, you can obviously use some folks that would help you do that. There are a lot of, uh, gold IRA custodians that would help you with the self-directed IRA and actually secure the gold for you. But in, in my view, having a 10% allocation of the precious metals is probably the right number not to exceed that. Some folks think that, you know, we're going to get into really hard times here in this country and therefore they should really start to overweight in gold.

I'm just not there. I think, uh, I think this market will recover as soon as we know the fed's done raising rates. Yes, we've got some longer term challenges here in this country that we've got to deal with, but I don't think those are going to come to roost anytime soon.

And I think your very best opportunity to build wealth and overcome the effects of inflation is a stock and bond portfolio with a modest allocation to gold, either physical gold or a gold tracking, uh, investment, but probably not more than 10%. That's just my take on it. I'm just curious, would you mind me mentioning a company that I was, that I was looking at? I can't weigh in on a specific company as to the pro or con there.

Um, you know, so I think you need to do some research on that, read plenty of reviews before you make a final decision there, but we don't give specific advice on individual companies or investments. So I think we've got to keep it more general in nature, but, um, I like the way you're thinking. I think absolutely having an allocation there in your investable assets makes sense and it will just keep you properly diversified as we read it in Ecclesiastes.

That idea comes right out of God's word. You thanks for being on the program today. Well folks, we're going to head to a break, but let me remind you, we're out of the studio today. Our team is not here, so don't call in, but much more to come just around the corner on faith and finance live. This is our final segment of a faith and finance live program that we previously recorded.

Thanks so much for being with us today, and we hope you'll stick around and enjoy the rest of the program. You know, if we're going to operate from a biblical worldview as it relates to money management, we have to start with the idea that God owns it all. That's a game changer in terms of how we manage money because it puts God in his rightful place where he's always been, and that is the king of everything, the owner of everything. Remember Psalm 24 once says, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. That means it all belongs to him, which also means that we have a high calling as money managers of God's resources, the king of King's resources.

That's a incredibly high calling. So how do we approach that? Well, we have to understand the heart of the master. That's how any steward manages his or her master's resources, and we do that by going to scripture, to God's word to say, what are the principles, the passages, the big ideas and themes that we should hold God's money loosely, that we should give generously, that we need to live with contentment, that we can't let money become an end, but it's a means to an end, a tool to accomplish God's purposes, and that having more than we need can be a distraction if we allow it to. You remember in the parable of the sower, that which robbed in the story, the 30, 60, 100 fold return from the fruit of the word was the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things and the cares of this world. If we get too focused on the here and now, the temporal, we will miss the opportunity to keep our eyes focused on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and stay focused on the eternal, the life that is to come, and our ability to send God's resources on ahead through our giving. That's the treasure principle. So we've got to guard our hearts, but we also live in the here and now.

So we want to apply God's wisdom to our daily decisions and choices. We want to help you do that on this program. Let's head right back to the phones to Ohio. Hi, Thomas, you're next on the program, sir.

Go ahead. Hello, I'm 62 and retired. I was in an accident several years ago, got named in that. I'm on disability. Basically, I keep hearing people call and say they have 250,000 or whatever or more in an IRA to invest. What do they do with it? I have, if I scraped everything together, maybe $8,000 to my name. Is there anything I can do with that to grow that money to do something positive with it, besides let it sit in the bank?

Yeah, absolutely. I think the key is to decide kind of what the time horizon is. Now, did you say that's in an IRA already? No, I don't have an IRA or anything. It's just in a bank account. Okay, very good. He's like three tenths interest.

Yeah, no problem. Do you have, Thomas, what I call an emergency fund, some liquid savings separate from this 8,000? Or is this really the extent of your savings? That's the extent of my savings. I just set aside 3000 in my mind for emergency fund. Yeah.

Okay. See, I'd like for you to have a minimum of three months expenses in that emergency fund. So I think perhaps seeing this whole 8,000 as that which you would fall back on the problem is, if we go ahead and put this to work, and we could, you know, maybe drop it into an IRA and invest it and try to grow it for the future is if you need the money and the unexpected always comes and that's why having that three to six months worth of expenses in an emergency fund is so key, you would have to potentially sell those investments at a loss.

We're headed into likely a recession later this year, the market will likely retest its lows and may go lower before it goes higher even though we're up a little bit today. So I don't want you to get into a situation where you happen to rely on credit cards because something came out of left field versus, you know, having to sell these investments at a loss. So I would probably just move this into a high yield savings account. So you're not getting three tenths of 1% but you're getting 4% plus and that's possible now in a bank account, probably an online bank with FDIC insurance. And what I would do is link that online savings account to your existing brick and mortar checking account so you can move money back and forth as needed for the unexpected but it's also out of your kind of regular spending account that you use for your monthly bills so that it's separate and it doesn't get used up unless you make a conscious decision to do so. The way to find the best bank for an online savings account where they would be fee free, you're not paying any maintenance fees and you're getting a really attractive interest rate like 4% plus with complete liquidity and FDIC insurance, would be to go to bankrate.com and you can search for the highest yielding bank accounts and savings accounts out there. Again, it's bankrate.com and then you could just move that money over and although 4% isn't terribly exciting, at least you'd have it working for you, you're getting a decent return but the key is that it's safe and it's liquid when you need it. Does that make sense?

Yes, it does. That's all I've got. I've got some gold and silver just a little bit and I'm not sure exactly what to do with that except that it sits in a box. Yeah, I think that's typically what you do with gold and silver is just hang on to it. You don't want to be buying and selling it a lot because you've got this cost of the transaction. Unfortunately, it's not generating any income for you and so the other option would be you decide to sell out of it and put that money into a stock and bond portfolio but if you'd rather just hold the precious metals, you really just probably want to sit on those and hold them for long-term appreciation but I think the key for that $8,000 is to get that working for you. Don't pay any fees on it but you can get at least a decent interest rate right now and then you've got it safe but also readily available as you need it. Thomas, we appreciate you being on the program today, sir.

God bless you and call back anytime if we can help you. You know, folks, before just a bit earlier in the program, we were talking about this idea of estate planning and I made the comment that estate planning is for everyone. You know, often we think it's just for certain groups of people and there are some misconceptions. The first misconception I mentioned earlier is that estate planning is only about death and what I mentioned is that yes, it does a lot of it happen at death but it also has to do with when or a time comes perhaps where you're incapacitated which is something we all need to think about. The second misconception is that estate planning is only for retirees.

That's false. While retirees typically have more assets and a shorter time horizon, only God knows the hour of our death so every adult needs to make a plan. Every adult needs a will at least. Without one, the state, your state where you reside decides where your money goes and here's a key one, they decide who gets guardianship children if you have minors living at home and so it's critical that you have a will for that reason. Without an estate plan, some of your property including your house or your car could end up going through probate increasing or delaying the distribution to your heirs and so you just want to know about that. If you're remarried, especially with a blended family, an estate plan is crucial given the complexity of blended relationships and finances. If you have a complicated financial picture with investments and property, maybe a business, an estate plan is really essential so don't just think, oh that's for maybe a season down the road, it doesn't apply to me. No, it's important that every adult have an estate plan and beyond that it's critical if you have children living at home. The final misconception I want to mention today related to estate planning is that it's only for people with major assets.

That's just not true. Estate planning is really essential regardless of how many assets you have and that's because most important things in your life aren't assets at all, they're people. An estate plan protects your family, again, especially your minor children by designating beneficiaries and the distribution of money for the children's benefit. No matter how much you have, you still want to make your wishes known in case you become incapacitated. So an estate plan lets you know, or excuse me, lets you choose the person who will handle your finances and make sure you're taken care of in the way you want. Whether your resources are many or few, it will also outline your wishes for your giving after your death so that your giving dollars benefit the organizations, charities, your church that really matter to you.

That's a key part of this as well. Now, it can be complicated because each state has different laws in place so this is why I really recommend having an estate planning attorney put all of this in order and update it as your life circumstances change. Yes, there are online free tools, but I like the idea of somebody who's a competent professional asking you the right questions, making sure that the documents comply with the laws in your state and beyond a will or a trust that you again have that durable power of attorney if you're incapacitated. You have that health care surrogate. You have that living will that is going to give end of life directives about how to handle end of life decisions if you can't make those on your own. Those are all really important.

Here's the bottom line folks, estate planning is an issue of good stewardship and that's why I recommend it for every adult, but it doesn't have to be a cause for anxiety or fear. Remember as Jesus reminded his disciples in Matthew 10 29 are not two sparrows sold for a penny yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside of your father's care. Even the very hairs on your head are all numbers so don't be afraid. You are worth more than the sparrows. God loves you. He will provide for you. He will never abdicate that responsibility to anyone or anything else but our job as a steward of God's resources is to be well prepared and planned as a manager of what God has entrusted to us. You remember this idea of wealth transfer and estate planning. It's the last stewardship decision you will make. We want to get it right as we transition into glory if we've surrendered our lives to Jesus and so think about today perhaps putting an estate plan in place remembering that it's not just about death it's not only for retirees and it's not only for people with major assets it really does apply to every adult.

I hope that's helpful to you today. Hey before we wrap up today let me remind you you know financial decision making can often seem overwhelming, seemingly endless decisions about money but we can boil it down into something perhaps a bit more simple. All we can do with money is live, give, owe and grow.

There's the money we spend on our lifestyle, the money we owe for debt and taxes, the money we grow for the future and the money we give to the Lord's work and all of those are addressed in scripture. Every one of those have principles that we can pull out of God's word, our hope and prayers that we can help you do that on this program each day. Faith in Finance Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and Faithfile. Let me say thank you to my team today Amy, Dan, Jim and Gabby T couldn't do it without them. Thank you for being along with us as well. Have a great rest of your day and we'll see you next time on Faith in Finance Live. Bye bye.