Spending to Make Money

You've heard the saying you have to spend money to make money, but do you really know how much you're spending?

Hi, I'm Rob West. We usually think that spending money to make it involves a business, but it applies to folks working for a paycheck too. Today I'll talk about what it really costs to earn that paycheck. Then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Okay, so people go to work for many reasons, but when asked, most would say for the paycheck, of course. What we often forget is that work also costs us money. Working, especially working outside the home, has hidden costs, and some not so hidden.

It's the rare person who doesn't have to work. Almost all of us do, so what's the point of knowing how much it costs us? Well, the point is deciding whether to work is largely a financial decision, just like any other. Knowing the true cost of work, how much you're spending to bring home that paycheck is information you need to make that decision wisely. By subtracting those costs from your paycheck, you discover your actual take-home pay.

Depending on your situation, it could make all the difference. For example, if you're a parent deciding whether to enter into the workforce or stay at home with your child. Let's start with some of the obvious costs of venturing out into the working world.

The first thing you'll have to decide is how will you get there. In most cases, that will be with a car, so you have to consider the cost of buying and maintaining a vehicle, and putting gas in it. A very expensive proposition these days with sky-high prices for new and used cars. Don't forget about the cost of registering the vehicle and insurance.

Now, in many cases, you'll still need a second car if you're a stay-at-home parent, but in that case, many of your vehicle-related costs will be lower. For example, you won't spend as much on fuel and insurance if you're not commuting. In most cases, you'll need to buy clothing that's appropriate for your job, and very often the higher the paycheck, the more expensive those clothes will be. It costs money to look professional. A paralegal working in a law office may spend more on clothes than someone working in retail, for example. But the biggest obvious expense with working outside the home is child care.

According to the career site Zippia, the average cost of daycare in the U.S. is $340 per child per week, or $17,680 a year. That will take a huge bite out of your paycheck. And there are many other smaller costs of working. Unless you're very disciplined, you may spend money on coffee and lunches, more than you would at home. You may also have dry cleaning costs for that professional wardrobe, or maybe you need a very nice-looking late model vehicle if you're meeting with clients, that sort of thing.

So it all adds up. All right, let's look at some of the less obvious costs to working outside the home. It'll make you a much busier person. You might get takeout meals more often, or buy more expensive pre-packaged foods. You also won't have time to shop for deals or clip coupons, and you may end up going to stores that are more convenient, but more expensive as well. Some of these costs might seem trivial, but small things add up. If you treat yourself to a $9 lunch once a week, that's about $470 a year. And that's just a small expense compared to almost $18,000 a year for child care. When you total up all of these expenses, you get a much clearer picture of how much you're actually making.

If you take home $35,000 a year after taxes, but your costs are $20,000, you're actually bringing home $15,000. Well, that comes to a little more than $7 an hour, and then you have to ask yourself, is it worth it? Now, I'm certainly not trying to convince you not to work, but it's important to think about the true cost of working so that you can make an informed decision. In some cases, those who can live without that second paycheck may decide it's not worth it, especially if doing without means you can stay home with your children.

Not surprisingly, there's been a 13% decline in the number of working mothers over the past two decades due to the high cost of child care and other factors. On the other hand, if you really need to work, knowing how much it's costing you could motivate you to look for a better paying job or to finally ask for that raise you deserve. At First Timothy 5-18, Paul says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, and the laborer deserves his wages.

Remember, God created us to be workers, but you should also count the cost. All right, your calls are next at 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and you're listening to Money Wise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Much more to come just around the corner.

Stay with us. Great to have you with us today on Money Wise Live. I'm Rob West, your host. We're taking your calls and questions now on anything financial. The number to call is 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000.

We've got some lines open today. We started today by talking about spending money to make money and how we can think about what we earn and what it actually costs us. Well, another way to potentially save money is by researching alternative health care options. And an underwriter for this program is Christian Health Care Ministries. Everyone is in a key decision-making period right now for better health care options, and CHM is a budget-friendly, biblical, and compassionate health care cost solution for Christians in all 50 states and around the world. So you may want to consider that as you're looking at a biblical option for health care cost sharing. Christian Health Care Ministries is the oldest and longest running in this space, and they serve many, many of our listeners, including some on our very own team. Give them a try at chministries.org and you can learn more on their website. All right, we're taking your calls and questions today.

800-525-7000. We'll also tackle a couple of emails today as well, some great ones that came in recently. And we'd love to hear from you, by the way, if you have questions you'd like to send our way, just email them to questions at moneywise.org.

That's questions at moneywise.org, and many of them will make their way onto the air. All right, to Tampa, Florida we go. Danny, thanks for your call. How can I help you? Thank you.

My father is 90 years old and he hasn't been doing too well with his health. He has a house that he wants for the brothers and sisters to keep out of it. So basically what he wants to do is he wants to put me on the title and take out $220,000 from equity from the house. So the house is worth $420,000. He wants to take out $220,000 and out of the $220,000, he wants to give the two sisters and two brothers $33,000, each one of them. And the rest of the house, he wants to basically, me and my brother, two of us, split it later on. So my question is, I'm trying to see how can I go about it, making a contract with my brothers and sisters regarding this.

Interesting. Let me just make sure I understand the scenario. So, excuse me, you said the home is worth $420,000. Is it owned free and clear? He owes $101,000. He owes $101,000. And he alone is on the title to the home, correct? Correct. Yeah, he wants to put me on it.

No, I understand that. I'm just trying to figure out what he's trying to accomplish. So he owes $101,000 and his goal is what? Other than to, I guess, give a portion of his inheritance, i.e. the value of the property to the kids now, is that right?

Correct. He wants to do that because he feels that something is going to happen to him. And before he goes, he wants to leave everything settled with the four of us. Now, the two girls, they will only get $33,000, I will get $33,000, my brother $33,000, and then the remaining portion of the balance of the house, he wants for me and my brother to split it later on. Yeah, but he's taking it out in the form of a mortgage, is that right? Yes, refinance, like a cash-out refinance.

Yeah. Why not just put this in a trust or just leave it to the kids on a pro-rata basis the way you just described at his death? Okay, so how does that work? Yeah, so here's the thing, you know, first of all, if you try to take the equity out now through a mortgage, it's very expensive money. I mean, mortgage rates are up over 7% right now, so he'd be giving them a portion of this equity, but somebody's going to have to service that debt, that's going to be a huge monthly payment.

Beyond that, it's going to create tax implications. If it's left to the kids as an inheritance, the cost basis for the home, which is what determines how much capital gains is paid when it's sold, the cost basis will increase to the date of death when it's passed to the heirs. So let's say you receive equal to 50% of the remaining portion, let's say that was $100,000, your cost basis on that $100,000 worth of equity in the house is reset to the date of death, so essentially you have no gain unless you were to hold it and it appreciates further. If you just add your brother and you to the title, then you're receiving it as a gift. The cost basis remains the same, what your dad originally bought it for, and so when you sell it, you're going to have capital gains on all of the gain going back to the original purchase price. So from an estate planning standpoint, it's actually better for him to pass it to his heirs in whatever percentages he wants, either through a will, so he would create a last will and testament within the estate planning attorney who would draft the will according to his wishes, and then the house would go through probate and pass to the heirs, or he could set up what's called a trust, a living trust, where he would name a trustee, the house would be retitled in the name of the trust, and based on certain triggering events, either him being incapacitated prior to his death or at his death, the home would pass outside of probate directly to the beneficiaries of the trust in whatever percentages he establishes, but again, the cost basis would be raised to the value of the home as of the date of your dad's death, which means that there's no tax consequences when it's sold. Does that all make sense? Yes, it makes sense. Yes, that's why I wanted to call you and see which way to go because I would have to be paying the mortgage from here on, the $326,000.

Right, yeah, you don't want to do that. That's going to be a pretty expensive mortgage, only in the primary reason is just to be able to give this $33,000 apiece to the other kids, but I think they're just going to have to wait and receive that at his death. The next step would be for you to visit with a godly estate planning attorney with your dad to make sure either the will or the trust is put in place. They can advise you on which is better and then make sure his wishes are carried out. At the same time, you could also get a durable power of attorney to cover whoever's going to make financial decisions for him if he's incapacitated. You can do healthcare directives and a healthcare power of attorney. You can make sure all of those documents are updated, but a primary objective will be to make sure that the will or the trust or both are in place to handle the distribution of his assets at his death.

That's going to be a far better way than trying to tap into the equity now and give it away because now you've got to service the mortgage and you've got real tax implications on the sale. Okay, all right. That answered my questions. Let me then see a Christian lawyer. No help.

That's right. If you don't have an estate planning attorney there in Tampa, you could reach out to one of our Certified Kingdom Advisors and ask for a referral. Just go to our website, Danny, at MoneyWise.org.

You could do a zip code search when you click Find a CKA. Call any one of those Certified Kingdom Advisors and say, listen, I listen to MoneyWise and I need a godly estate planning attorney and I need a referral and they'll give you a phone number. All right. Thank you so much. I will do that. Very good, Danny. Thanks for calling.

God bless you, my friend. Well, what a delight to talk to Danny. His dad obviously is wanting to take care of the kids. The key is to do it in a way that makes sense and is not only tax efficient but doesn't create a huge debt service issue in the meantime as he tries to handle these finances. Well, folks, a lot more MoneyWise ahead. The questions you have are what I'd like to hear. What's on your mind financially speaking today? We'll apply the counsel of God's word to your financial decisions and choices, help you move forward with confidence. Give us a call.

We've got some lines open. The number, 800-525-7000. By the way, MoneyWise is listener supported. If you're a part of the MoneyWise family and you'd like to support our work, you can head to MoneyWise.org and click the Give button. Again, it's MoneyWise.org.

Just give. Great to have you with us today on MoneyWise Live. We've got some lines open today. We'd love to hear from you. The number to call is 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000 to Miami Springs, Florida. Hey, Carlos, thanks for calling. How can I help you, sir? Thank you. Anyways, my question is very brief. All my beneficiaries, unfortunately, they passed because they were older than me.

My family, they lived to be a long time. So now I'm in the dilemma that I don't know who to leave, you know, my whatever, to this call. Sure.

Yeah. Well, you know, there's only three places you can leave your estate, your personal effects and assets. You can either leave it to heirs. You can leave it to charity or ministry or to the government. Now, the good news is the government shouldn't get any of it because unless you have a massive estate, you would likely not have any kind of taxes on it. So you just have to decide, is there individuals, family members or others that you want to leave this to?

And if not, you know, what an opportunity to give really to support the Lord's work, either at your local church or your church, plus other ministries that are on your heart that you're passionate about. What would you guess, Carlos, at your passing you would have in the way of a total estate? What would the value of the estate be if you kind of add up everything, real estate and stocks and bonds and savings and cash and all of it? Like about $5 million. About $5 million. Okay.

So here's what I would recommend. Do you have charitable interests? Do you have ministries or charities that are on your heart? Yes, yes. Actually, Charles Schwab. Charles Schwab told me I could create a—I could make them the trustees of whatever I leave behind. And depending on what I choose, they will be the trustees.

So I don't have to choose a family member that will squander it and, you know, whatever. Yes, yes. Are there particular passions that you have, Carlos, that you would—if I were to say, what really gets you excited in terms of ministry activities? What type of ministries would you like to support? Oh my God. Wow. There may be a lot of things that really capture your heart.

Here's what I would recommend as one alternative approach. I would say Moody Institute and also—I call myself ecumenical. There's so many different, you know, websites and people and, you know, either Catholic or Protestant, that they do so much good work, and actually for the poor.

Yes. Let me make a recommendation. There's an organization that was founded by Ron Blue and Larry Burkett called the National Christian Foundation, and they're one of the largest charities in the world. But what they do—and they actually have an office there in Fort Lauderdale, and I believe they have one in Miami as well—they are all believers, and they will actually help you create what they call a giving strategy, where they will take you through a process at no cost to you to uncover your passions and see where those passions align with God's activity, both there in South Florida and around the world, and help you develop the giving plan. You mentioned Larry Burkett was the one that got me into the situation that I'm in, that I was able to manage my income.

Well, there you go. Well, Larry started the National Christian Foundation, and billions of dollars flow through NCF, the National Christian Foundation, every year into tens of thousands of Christian ministries. But the team at NCF can help you create a giving strategy and really come up with not only a plan for how you give it away, but also the actual ministries that it will be given to. And so we can do this. Either you can go to their website and contact them directly, or I would be happy to have my team get your information, and we can have them contact you.

Which would you prefer? Please contact me. Okay, great. So you hold the line, and Courtney will get your information, and we will get somebody in touch with you from the National Christian Foundation in South Florida, okay? Thank you so much. Very good. God bless you, Carlos. Thanks for calling today.

Quickly to Chicago. Hey, Roland, how can I help you? Hi, I am interested in paying off my house. Okay. I am wall-point on whether I should. I've been advised by other friends that there is nothing seriously wrong with my idea. So I just bounced it off one more person to see if there is... Okay, go for it. Okay, I have 18,000 left on my house, and I have about 40,000 in my, let's call it emergency fund.

It's just being there and checking it out. And if I pay off the house, that's $1,000 a month that I don't have to pay out, which lowers my amount that I need in my three-month strategy. Yes. So what I want to do is grab 18,000 and pay off the house, and that's one more payment I don't have. And then you can... And then the payments I have. Yes. And then you could take the money that you're saving because you don't have the mortgage payment and build the emergency fund back up, right? That's correct.

Yeah. I love this plan, Roland. I think that's a great strategy.

You know, here's the thing. When you get out of debt, there's just a whole lot of freedom that comes with that, peace of mind. You've got 40,000 in your emergency fund. You'd drop that down to 32,000, but then you could increase that by more than 1,000 a month to build it back up to the 40,000 or whatever you feel comfortable with. I'd recommend three to six months expenses. So I think there's not any reason why you shouldn't just go ahead and wipe it out, but then be really careful not to allow your monthly lifestyle spending to creep up and, you know, take advantage of that extra 1,000 a month or more. Make sure you get that going into that savings account until you get it replenished.

I think you're on the right track, my friend. Thanks for checking with us. We're going to take a quick break. Much more just around the corner on MoneyWise Live. 800-525-7000. We'll be right back.

Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, your host. We're taking your calls and questions. 800-525-7000. Let's head to Austin, Texas. DJ, thanks for calling. Go right ahead. Thank you for taking my call.

I have a question. I'm not sure if you know about it or heard, but have you heard the tax forgiveness from IRS? Because I have these people calling me. I guess maybe I search online to see if I can do it and some people calling me. So finally I spoke with one person today and he said, well, the tax forgiveness, he will give me a loan and then he'll pay off IRS for me. Then I pay them off.

So is there something I can go... Well, I wouldn't go anywhere near that. If you're going to work, you would want to only work directly with the IRS and it's called an offer and compromise that you would want to have representation. They are willing to work with you to in some cases reduce your tax liability if you're able to pay it in full or get you on a payment plan, but you don't want to go through a third party. The reason is that there is a lot of scams out there that are rampant. Basically what they will do is they will tell you that they can get you to find a way for you to qualify for a government plan to settle your tax debt, but it's basically they're impersonating a government entity that's either the IRS or related to the IRS.

They'll charge you typically a large upfront payment and that's often equal to the amount of cash that you might list on an asset inventory if they have access to that, but essentially they're just trying to scam you out of an upfront payment and then you're never going to hear from them again. So I would go anywhere near this. DJ, do you have back taxes that are owed? Yes. Okay. What do you owe? Do you know roughly?

About $25,000, $27,000. Okay. And do you have a CPA that you work with? No.

Okay. What I would do is connect with a CPA or accountant, somebody who probably is what's called an enrolled agent, but the key is just that they have experience representing taxpayers before the IRS with what are called offers and compromises and they should be able to get you set up on a payment plan that would fit into your budget or if you have a lump sum that you could do a payoff with, they may even be able to get that negotiated down, but you need somebody that can help you. You can do it yourself, but if you don't know what you're doing and most people don't, it's nice to have somebody representing you before the IRS to help you navigate all of this. So I would connect with a CPA. If you don't have one, you could go to our website moneywise.org, find a certified kingdom advisor there in Austin and ask for a referral to a godly CPA that you could connect with. They could probably help you or they might connect you with another CPA who specializes in IRS representation, but that would really be the only direction I would go, DJ. And I'm not calling IRS directly? You could.

You certainly could. I just find in situations like this, it's going to be a little more effective to have somebody working for you who knows how to navigate the CPA system, especially related to these offers and compromises and can represent you. It's just, you know, it can be tough to do it on your own, but if you certainly want to start there, there's no problem with that.

The IRS will work directly with you. But in my experience, having somebody represent you who's experienced in this particular area is helpful. Okay. Thank you. All right.

God bless you, DJ Tyrone and Muskegon, Michigan. Thanks for calling. Go right ahead. Yes.

Hi, how are you? Hey, my question is, I'm trying to make it quick as possible. Um, I have a friend, she's doing a quick, she want to do a quick claim, a quick claim, how you pronounce it, on her home that she inherited with her sister.

But it's so many complications. What if she just want to wipe her hands because she don't SSI, so she can't really outright sell it because the money that she get off the house won't be enough to cover her medical and all that, you know, through the years. And she just went through about a cancer.

So she doesn't want to now try to get rid of the headache and stress and all that. So she was planning on doing a quick claim to her two children, you know, like 25, 25%, 25% out. Her question was, would she have any tax revocation on that? She owed about maybe 2000 back taxes on it, but she was planning on paying that off before she do the quick claim. That way it'd be clear.

Yeah. Uh, no, it would be considered a gift and she'd have to file a gift tax notification to the IRS. So you're allowed to give away 16,000 per person per year. It's going up to 17,000 next year and you don't even have to let the IRS know if you go above that number.

So let's say this happened next year. If it goes above 17,000 per person, that 25% share, then the rest of that would be considered a gift and it would go against her lifetime gift exclusion, which starting next year is over $12 million throughout your lifetime. So as long as she doesn't plan to give away $12 million and she's good, but she would have to notify the IRS of the value of that gift so they can apply it to her lifetime gift exclusion.

But apart from that, there would be no tax ramifications. Okay, cool. Thank you very much. Yeah, you're welcome. I would recommend that she connect with a real estate attorney there in Michigan, somebody who can help her think through just how to do this to make sure that it's done properly with the quick claim deed and that it's filed with the county deed office properly and that this transfer happens the way that it needs to legally.

So I think it would be really valuable Tyrone for her to have a representation and it would be a real estate attorney that you'd be looking for. Okay? Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. They're going to help 100%.

Absolutely. Thanks for your call today. God bless you. Cleveland, Ohio. Hey, Dorothy, how can I help you? Hello.

Thank you for taking my call. I have an IRA, which I've had about 20 years. I did use some of it for a car, but as of last month, it just worth $13,000 and I have it in a local bank and I was wondering, should I take it out and put it somewhere? It doesn't seem like it's drawing any interest. So that was my question. Yeah. Is this money that you don't intend to touch for a long time?

Yes. No, I don't want to touch it. I'm probably just leaving it for my children. Okay. So I think the question is, how do you want to grow it? You could put it in CDs inside that IRA.

As soon as you take it out, it's going to be added to your taxable income for the year. What is your age? 88. Okay. So are you taking a required minimum out each year? Well, no, I haven't touched it for a while.

I did have to get a car, about $6,000, but I haven't touched it. Okay. And it is an IRA, correct? Yes.

Okay. You're going to need to connect with a CPA to find out if you should have been taking out starting at age 70 and a half, a certain amount each year based on the IRS's table. It's called a required minimum distribution. They make you take out based on your life expectancy and the balance of the account, you've got to take a certain amount out each year. And if you don't, there's penalties and interest on it. So you're going to want to connect with the CPA to find out how much of that needs to come out in order to satisfy that required minimum. Apart from that, you could either put it in CDs right there in the bank, or you could invest it maybe in a high quality growth mutual fund because you don't plan to touch it.

So it could just grow until the Lord calls you home. And at that point it could then be distributed to your heirs. So I'd call your CPA or find one and ask about a required minimum distribution on your IRA. And then I decide, do you want to stay ultimately safe on the investments? If so, let's use CDs.

If you're willing to take a little risk, I'd put the IRA money into a high quality mutual fund and our friends at soundmindinvesting.org can help you with that. Dorothy, thanks for your call. We'll be right back on MoneyWise Live. Don't go anywhere.

Great to have you with us today on MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. I'm Rob West, taking your calls and questions here in our final segment today. All right, back to the phones we go.

Miguel's in Texas. Thanks for your patience. Go right ahead, sir.

I got a question. I used to have a house in California for 10 years. I sold it and I bought one in Texas in 2019.

And I sold it two years after and bought another one. My question is, do I have to pay capital gain on the one that I sold here? If I lived there more than two years? Yeah, for the annual exemption? Yes.

Yeah, for the housing capital gains exemption. Yeah. So you did tell me how long you owned it? Well, the one here in Texas, I own it for two years and four months.

Yeah. So as long as you lived in the home and you occupied it as your primary residence for two out of the last five years, you are eligible for that exemption of up to $250,000 for an individual. Yeah, because I wanted to make sure because I'm buying another property and my property is paid off, but I'm buying another property in Puerto Rico and I have that type of money. I was kind of concerned if I had to pay the property gain because my tax preparer told me that I'm going to have to pay because I sold two houses in between five years. But it wasn't like that.

I lived for two years on this one. And then I called my tax preparer in California and she said that, no, if I live in more than two years, I'm good. Yeah, that's my understanding as well. Our team will do some research on that and we'll get back to you to confirm that. But the way I've always understood it is that if you live there two out of the last five years, then you're entitled to that exemption. Now, if there's a limit on that where you can only do that once in five years, I can understand that. But I'm not aware of that limitation.

Obviously, you'd want to check with a tax preparer or CPA to confirm that. We can certainly check that out as well for you. So if you'll hang on the line, Miguel, our team gets your information and one of our coaches will get back to you with the answer to that question. But listen, God bless you, my friend. Thanks for checking in with us today. We appreciate it. Judy in Arkansas, you go right ahead. You're on Money Wise.

Thank you for checking my call. My husband is full time pastorate. We're in our mid 70s. We have no debt and we have an annuity, which we do not take any distributions from it. We're having them put back in. We have some stock, about $20,000 worth of stock and we've not taken those.

He has whatever he had to do to sign not to take the required distributions. We're just reinvesting those. But we had a vacation home and owned it for three years and we sold it and we will net about $200,000. My husband has a health issue which could force him to come out of full time ministry at some point.

By God's grace, we're great right now. But I need to know what do we need to do with the $200,000 to park it because we will have to come up with another home should we live on into our 80s to 90s or whatever. And would we pay on this $200,000, do we pay capital gains on that?

Yeah. So several questions there. First would be what to do with it. And if you're telling me, Judy, that you plan to re or potentially plan to redeploy this money into the purchase of a home sometime in the next couple of years, then I would say we don't want to invest it.

We just want to protect it. And the best place for you to do that is just in a high yield savings account. The good news is you're actually going to get a little bit of interest these days with rates heading up. And I'd look at marcus.com, M-A-R-C-U-S or Ally Bank or Capital One 360. Any of those are online banks, but they're FDIC insured backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, not any less safe than a brick and mortar bank.

It's just that they don't have brick and mortar, you know, branches. And so they're able to pass that savings along in the form of no fees and higher interest rates. So that would protect the money, give you, you know, one point five percent over the next year per year. And that's going to continue to head up as rates head up. So that's what I do with the money. And then your second question was, are you going to have to pay capital gains on it as long as you lived in that home as your domicile for two out of the last five years?

Then as a married couple, you'd have an exemption of up to a half a million dollars in gains, not the selling price, the gains where that would be excluded from any capital gains tax. Okay. Well, thank you so much. You are welcome, Judy. God bless you. And thanks for calling today.

To Ohio we go. Robert, thank you for calling. Go ahead, sir.

Yes, sir. We're looking at a problem coming up at the end this year with government issuing a money that they will offer in place of cash dollars. And we're looking at investing some money in the purchase of grams of gold for flexibility in the event they determine that they can stop you from buying or they can reduce your asset base by simply saying you don't need that much.

You're wondering about my thoughts on that. You know, all that is going on right now, I'm not trying to tell you what's going to happen in the future. But the government today is studying a U.S. central bank produced digital currency.

There has not been a decision to create one, let alone forcing people to move into it. So there is no digital currency in the United States. With the rise of the cryptos, they're certainly taking a look at it as to kind of what the regulatory environment is going to be with the crypto currencies and whether the U.S. would want to get into a digital currency.

So I don't think there's any action that needs to be taken right now. Certainly gold is a hedge against fearful times against a falling dollar. It's a store of value, but it tends to be more volatile and long term performance is not as good. It also becomes problematic if we're thinking that we're buying it because of an impending collapse, because how do you kind of take a bar of gold and turn that into something you can use, you know, to buy a loaf of bread and then you've got to secure it and you've got the dealer markups on the buying and the selling and it just, you know, is challenging there. So from that standpoint, Robert, there's not anything on the near term horizon with regard to a digital currency.

And I'd caution you against overweighting in gold and precious metals for the reasons that I mentioned. All right. Good point. Thank you. OK. We appreciate your call, sir. God bless you. Let's head to Texas. Jim, thanks for calling.

Go right ahead. Thank you. I'm retired.

I'm 68 years old. I'm drawing money from my thrift savings plan. I would like your recommendations on how that should be distributed in the thrift savings plan. Yeah. In terms of which investments, Jim. Pardon me?

In terms of the which investments, how the you should break that down among the TSP investment options. Yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah.

OK. Yeah. I mean, you know, kind of a quick way to determine that is just to take, you know, one hundred and ten minus your age. We used to use one hundred, but people are living longer these days.

So if you're 68 years old, you'd take one hundred and ten minus your age. And essentially what you'd come up with is probably a seventy thirty portfolio of 70 percent bonds, 30 percent stocks, which you could do that on your own. You know, the F fund in the TSP is the fixed income.

That would be the 70 percent. And then I'd probably mix the 30 percent between the common stock, the C fund and the small cap S fund. The other approach is just to use the L funds for the whole thing. That's the lifestyle funds or lifecycle. And basically that automatically allows your funds to be, you know, more conservative over time. That one would give you probably closer to 80 percent in the bond funds and about 20 percent in the stock fund.

So it really just comes down to how conservative you want to be. Well, I currently have the thing allocated as one hundred percent in the G fund. Yeah, well, you're not really earning anything on that. And the challenge with that is that, you know, the with inflation, you're losing purchasing power on that. So I'd consider moving that back into more of a 70 3070 bonds, 30 stocks, perhaps 80 20 if you want to be even more conservative, as long as that money can continue to grow. You know, that's probably not a bad idea.

I hope that helps. We appreciate your call. Well, folks, we've covered a lot of ground today. I want to wrap up here in our final remaining moments by talking about materialism. You know, we live in a culture that materialism is just running rampant.

The pastor and author Tim Keller talks about greed and our tendency here in this country to try to redeem greed in the name of the American dream. You know, we, if we're not careful, can allow the things of this world, which Jesus talked about in the Bible, certainly in Mark four, the parable of the sower, that the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things can crowd out or choke out the word from bearing fruit. So we need to be on our guard on materialism. You know, first Timothy chapter six, verse seven reminds us we brought nothing into the world.

We can take nothing out of it. So why do people spend so much time and energy running after money? Well, I think there's three lies materialism tells us. Number one, that our life is better when we have more.

Well, that's not true. We know that life can actually become miserable if we go down that road. Ecclesiastes five is clear. Whoever loves money never has enough. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied. The answer to this lie is contentment.

Well, then there's the other lie. We have to keep up with other people, with what other people have. Well, there will always be someone that has more than you, which makes envy a treadmill of unhappiness.

So we need to be on our guard against that one. And then thirdly, the lie. Well, it's not fair when other people have things you can't afford. And, you know, blaming others circumstances or blaming others for your circumstances combines discontentment with a lack of responsibility, which is not good. And we need to really make a commitment to pursue God's best for us and not live this materialistic life. So wanting things is a part of life.

But what you do with your desire for things is a heart issue. And I believe we can avoid that by working diligently, being content, planning faithfully and trusting the Lord. Hey, folks, thanks for being along with us today. My privilege to journey with you this hour each day. Thank you to Amy and to Courtney and to Gabby and Robert, the team serving us today, doing an amazing job, pushing buttons and serving you as you call in and doing all the things that makes this show possible.

MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. That's going to do it for us, but I hope you'll come back and join us next time. We'll do it all over again. In the meantime, may God bless you. Bye bye.