Generosity and Future Generations

The following program was prerecorded, so our phone lines are not open. Do you like giving? Do you experience joy when you give?

If so, you probably would like to pass the experience on to future generations. I am Rob West. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive because it's the truth. I'll talk about that and more today with Brad Formsma, and we have some great calls lined up, but we won't be taking your live calls today because we're prerecorded. This is Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Well our guest today is my friend Brad Formsma. He's author of I Like Giving and the founder of the ministry by the same name. Brad, great to have you back with us. So good to be with you, sir. Brad, you started I Like Giving to inspire people not just to give, but to live generously.

And I'd love for you to start by just talking about why you think that's so critical in today's Me Too culture. Well, if you think about it, we're the recipients. So we're on the receiving end of God's incredible generosity and it starts with our lives. So we're created in His image, and He's the most generous being, and I think that's already where the attack comes in.

So let's just park on this. We're created in God's image, and then if that's not enough, He sends Jesus and He gives us a gift if we choose to accept it of salvation. And then if that's not enough, Jesus says, hey, I'm gonna leave, so I'll send you, give you the Holy Spirit. And I see those three ways of us receiving ultimate generosity from God, and how can I not recognize if it's true, and it is, that I'm made in His image, that I was designed to be about others and to be a generous person.

Yes, that's exactly right. You can't read the scripture and not see generosity just leap off the page, right? It's a generosity story from beginning to end. And I know your heart is that our listeners would be able to pass that joy of giving along. So I want to talk today about your advice to specifically parents and grandparents who are trying to connect with the next generation about generosity.

Where would you start? What would you tell them? Well, I understand that I care about you.

I wake up thinking about you because I interact with you all over the United States as I'm traveling around. And the top fears I hear are we're worried about their faith in God, their being our kids and our grandkids. And right behind that is, you know, we're concerned it's all about them. And we've put some things in place to have them get an inheritance or to have a trust fund. We know there's a major wealth transfer that many will be connected to. And there's concern. Does this next generation get it?

Do they understand that most people, we read it this way, it all belongs to God, and they're concerned do our next generations hold that same belief. And so at I like giving dot com, we've got several avenues of content that we've we've created specifically to help families talk about their own story and to talk about what it means to to live generously. Well, I know you all did a phenomenal job and you've used the power of story to do that.

We've got just about a minute before our first break. How have you used story to communicate this critical topic? Well, isn't it great? We have the best model of storytelling in Jesus.

I mean, this is what he did, right? He used stories to help reveal something to us. And so what we've done at I like giving dot com is to say, look, how can we create age appropriate content? So whether it's kindergarten through eight, or whether it's homeschool families, stories that are connected to God's Word, and how then after we share this story, how can we look for God's Word, you know, and so we believe that stories move people from awareness to action.

And that's where amazing miracles happen. Well, Brad, I couldn't agree more, which is why I'd love for you folks to go to I like giving dot com and use these stories as you communicate the heart of generosity to the next generation. When we come back with Brad form is my author of I like giving. We're going to dive into a few of the seven ways of living generously, specifically attention, words and thoughts.

Check out I like giving.com or generous family.com. Brad form is my back with us just around the corner. Stick around. Delighted to have you with us today on faith and finance live. I'm Rob West with me today, my good friend Brad forms. He's author of I like giving you can learn more and I like giving.com.

When you get there, be ready. Those stories are powerful, and they can be a great tool for you. Brad, I know in your book I like giving you teach the seven ways of living generously. These are thoughts, words, money, time, influence, attention, and belongings. Now, that's obviously way beyond just writing a check. So why don't we talk about a few of those beginning with the generosity of attention, especially as we think about transferring this to the next generation?

Oh, happy to do it. You know, Galatians talks about therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those that are our brothers and sisters in the Lord. And I think that shows us, Rob, doing good isn't just a check only.

It includes that, but it goes beyond that. I had the privilege of a grandpa who owned a bakery, and I was the oldest of five looking for ways to escape the house. And I would tag along with him on Saturdays, and he'd make these special 16 loaves of bread. And then away we'd go around our city, and he'd give two loaves to a widow that he knew from church, and then he would take this time to say, I heard you had a bad week.

You're going to have a good week. And just used words to be generous and encouraging. And then another stop, a few more loaves of bread, and maybe a white envelope. And he explained there was a financial need. And maybe one other time I would see a letter of recommendation, and he would say, I'm just helping other people get to where they need to go with my influence. And so, you know, we talk a lot about generosity for generations, Rob, and I just care deeply that families would lean into what's possible here. Don't be afraid, or think, then believe the lie that your kids and grandkids don't care about engaging around the generous life subject.

They do. And as we said in the earlier segment, you know, we're modeling things. And so would you like me to talk about generosity of thoughts and what we've learned at I Like Giving? I would, because this is such a key area. I like all of these. And certainly generosity of thoughts is a really important one. So what would you share with our listeners?

Well, I love the line daily, weekly, monthly, right? So we can think about these seven ways every day. And generosity of thoughts. Here we are, there's a passage in Philippians that talks about, think about things that are pure, right, true, lovely, excellent. And I think even in my own story, Rob, I've at times struggled with having a preconceived notion or an opinion of somebody.

And I'm not seeing them in the best light. Maybe that's what happens for you as you're driving down the road, you're listening, you're thinking about your kids or grandkids, and maybe they're living a way that you're not giving them the benefit of the doubt, or you have a thought that's not good about them. And that affects our relationship. And so I think it's important that we are also generous with our thoughts about ourselves. I mean, after all, I like to say, we're created in God's image, and we're supposed to love our neighbors ourself. But sometimes my negative self-talk can make me think I feel sorry for my neighbor, Rob. So this goes both ways, this generosity of thought, doesn't it?

It's beautiful. The Lord gave us our mind. And then of course, generosity of words. I'm reminded of a grandfather who said, you know, he took my challenge. I said, why don't you lean in, go have a breakfast with no real agenda other than to listen and to be present and look for a specific way to affirm your grandson. And he came back blown away because he said, I learned some things. I learned he was struggling with suicide.

I learned he was struggling with self-esteem. And it was just me taking the time and the attention and then being generous with his words towards him. He said, it just brought some life. It brought some connection. And, you know, he said something very interesting. You know, I really wanted to go meet with him and several of my grandkids to kind of tell them how I want them to live and tell them how I want them to give with some of the money that I've given to them. And it just isn't going to work that way, is it, Brad?

And I said, generally speaking, no. People remember how you make them feel. And that's really where it starts. And so wherever you're at with your kids and grandkids, pray, pray, pray, and then engage.

And I believe that God's going to do something special and don't have to be once and done. And remember, you're modeling something and you can do that in a good way. Yeah, you sure can. And now more than ever, right, with generosity of words, because so much of the conversation, especially among students, teens on social media, is toxic and it's negative. What an opportunity to model the ability to be generous and kind with your words, huh?

Absolutely. In fact, what we've done is we've taken research, Rob, and now we're in the homeschool world big time with a program called Generous Students. And we're also in K-8 Christian schools across the U.S. And that's also the program called Generous Students. And it's all designed to engage the kids with their families and in their own heart around the seven ways of living generously, connecting with scripture, applying scripture to life. And so if you're connected to a Christian school and you're wondering what's being taught inside, you can do something about that.

Go to highlightgiving.com and connect that school. It's powerful. In our time left, Brad, I want to touch on one more. I think this relates to kids of all ages, but certainly the younger ones. And that's the generosity of belongings.

How can a grandparent or parent communicate how they can hold loosely the belongings they have? Well, Rob, I think it starts with understanding who owns it, right? So if we understand that God owns it all, I use the word model a lot.

Forgive me, I've used it three times with you. Our kids watch so much of what we do and how we give and share and show we care is one of those catchy lines that we're using with younger kids. It doesn't matter if it's a pink pencil and we can link to I Like Teachers, one of our famous short films, where just a pink pencil sharing in a classroom changed the culture there. And so I think, you know, whether you're sharing something simple or something more significant, it's just this posture that if God owns it, what a question for us to ask, what am I holding on to that I wouldn't be willing to share?

Maybe you won't end up sharing it, but you know, just asking it can be kind of scary, right, Rob? Exactly right. And then just in the last 30 seconds that we have here, the generosity of time is obviously something that a grandparent or a parent can give.

Absolutely. And I just want you to know, I care about you, I think about you as a parent, a grandparent, you care about leaving an inheritance, then that could be a spiritual inheritance. And I believe that our ministry and why people get behind what we're doing is we're creating content to help the next generations steward what God has given these amazing families across America.

Oh, it's powerful, Brad. Well, we've just scratched the surface, so we're going to have to have you back, but really appreciate you stopping by and encouraging us in this key area, generosity. Great to be with you, Rob, as always. Folks, if you want to learn more, check out I like giving.com or generousfamily.com.

That's I like giving.com or generousfamily.com. Brad Formsema, author of I Like Giving, has been our guest today. We're going to take a quick break, so don't go anywhere. Still a lot more to come, even though we're away from the studio today and you shouldn't call in. We have some great questions that you're really going to enjoy as we continue to apply God's wisdom to your financial decisions.

We'll be right back. It's so great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. This is the program where we mind the scriptures and apply God's wisdom to your financial decisions and choices so you can live with peace of mind and freedom. As you think about living, giving, owing, and growing, that's really all you can do with God's money. Your lifestyle, your generosity, your debt repayment, or your taxes, that which you owe, or that which you're growing for short-term or long-term savings.

Here's the reality. The Bible speaks to all of it. There's hundreds and hundreds of verses, but also themes and ideas that we can see on the heart of God as it relates to our money and our hearts and how money is morally neutral, but underneath all of that are really our values and priorities that drive our financial decisions.

So we want to help you approach God's money and your role as a steward through the lens of scripture, applying a biblical worldview. Let's head back to the phones. To Florida we go. Hi, Lisa.

Go right ahead. Yes, I'm calling about, I'm trying to help my little sister with her debt. She is $46,000 in credit card debt. She also has a student loan and lots of bills. So she was considering bankruptcy and I'm trying to sway her to pay her bills in the way God would have us to do, and I'm just struggling for a plan of action on how to attack this.

Well, Lisa, I love that you're trying to come alongside her in this, and I would concur. Let's try to avoid bankruptcy if at all possible. She may be forced into that, but I'd love to avoid that. I think you're right also in saying she needs a plan of action. You know, often when we find ourselves in situations like this, especially with her having so much that she owes, it just feels like there's no path forward that can work. And apart from that kind of path, we just throw up our hands and begin to think about more drastic solutions like bankruptcy. Is she currently attempting to or able to make the minimum payments on all of these right now, or has she just stopped paying them all together? She has been making them, and her payments all add up to $11.65 a month. Okay, got it.

Yeah, so what I would do is direct her to what's called credit counseling. Are you familiar with that term, or have you heard me talk about it? I have heard you talk about that.

Okay. Yeah, that's going to give her that plan. Typically, the monthly payment on credit counseling is going to be around 2% of the balance, and so it's probably going to be around $920 a month. It could be a little higher. It could go up to that $1,100, but we're probably not more than she's paying now.

The difference is two things are going to happen. Number one is the interest rates are going to be reduced. Now, it depends upon which creditor she has as to what the new interest rates will be. I see here in my notes that you told our producer, I think she's got Chase and BOA and Citi and a few others. And what the credit counseling agency would do is look at each of those creditors and let her know what their credit counseling rate is.

There's not a negotiation. They have a stated credit counseling rate, but what I can tell you is it's going to be lower than what she's paying now, which means every dollar she sends, more of it's going to principal. The other thing that changes is it's a level payment. Once we figure out what that payment's going to be and they help her work it into her budget, then at that point, the level payment means that as the balance has come down, she's snowballing it. A larger and larger percentage is going toward principal reduction as opposed to if she were just to continue to pay the minimums as those balances come down, the minimums come down and she might just follow that schedule and that's going to slow down the repayment. So the combination of those lower interest rates plus the level monthly payment through credit counseling is going to help her pay that off on average 80 percent faster.

The other thing is these are all believers. They're going to help her work up a budget. They'll pray with her. They'll encourage her and I think perhaps this will give her the path forward that she's been looking for so she feels like she's actually making some progress. So the place to go is christiancreditcounselors.org. There have been our partners in this area for a long, long time. They've worked with hundreds and hundreds of our faith and finance listeners and I think they would serve her really well. How does that sound? That sounds great. I really appreciate this.

So I can just go online? christiancreditcounselors.org. That's exactly right christiancreditcounselors.org and she can contact them or you could touch base with them first.

They'll schedule up a meeting online over the phone or a video call and there won't be any cost to that and they can explain everything and give her the specifics for the actual debt and creditors that she has. Lisa, if we can help further along the way don't hesitate to reach out but God bless you and we appreciate your call today. Let's head to Illinois, a first time caller.

Diane, go right ahead. Yes, I'm concerned. I know that you are talking about the high interest rates on online banks and everything but then I'm also concerned about because Biden is considering highly the digital currency and wouldn't that put our accounts that are online right in his scope for saying, hold on, you got some money, I'll take it. What is your opinion on the safety of online banks even though they're insured by FDIC that's also controlled by the federal government and want to make sure that you know our money is safe?

Yeah, no, I appreciate that question, Diane. So I think these are two separate ideas. First of all, I would share your concern about a digital currency, what they call a CBDC, a central bank digital currency. This would be a digital version of a central bank currency like the US dollar, like the euro, like the, you know, any number of currencies out there and hundreds of countries are pursuing CBDCs right now that total about 90 plus percent of the worldwide gross domestic product. So this is being looked at literally across the globe and the US is certainly a part of that.

Biden was the one that initiated the research, a multi-agency research project to look at the benefits of having a CBDC. The reality though is that he can't do it alone. It's going to take Congress and Congress is deeply divided over this for good reason. Now the key is this doesn't relate to the online banks. You know, if we had a central bank digital currency, it would give the government oversight and insight into our financial transactions in a way that is very alarming.

But without that, there's no difference between you having an online bank versus a brick and mortar bank. I've got to take a quick break. We can pick this conversation up on the other side. Stay right there. This is Faith at Finance Live and even though we're not here today and can't take your live calls, there's much more ahead on the program. So please stay tuned. Hey, it's great to have you with us on Faith and Finance Live, but today we are prerecorded and we won't be taking your calls. However, we've lined up some calls in advance that we think you'll find helpful. So stay tuned and enjoy the rest of the program.

Just before the break, we were talking to Diane, a first time caller in Illinois. She was asking about the prospect of a central bank digital currency and how that may relate to online banking. Diane, what I was saying is I'm as concerned as you probably are about a central bank digital currency, although the good news is the Fed or the executive branch, neither of them can initiate a central bank digital currency.

It's very clear that it would have to be a congressional function because they oversee coinage and Congress is deeply divided over this for good reason because of the loss of privacy, potentially even social controls if all transaction flowed through the Federal Reserve and the Treasury because of the insight and ability to control those transactions. So that is concerning, but that really is a separate issue from online banking. The money in a brick and mortar bank would be just as susceptible to conversion to a digital currency as money in an online bank.

As to the FDIC insurance, we've seen that work and basically what that means is there's a backstop if a bank goes under because it's been mismanaged like we saw with Signature Bank and some of the others, Silicon Valley Bank, where essentially the full faith and credit of the United States government is available to come in and make sure that depositors are made whole and they have access to their funds. That's true at a brick and mortar bank or an online bank. So I don't think these two issues go together, online banking versus a CBDC. I think the key is for you to do online banking, which you probably do with your brick and mortar bank anyway. Even though there's a local branch, you probably don't always walk in. You might use their smartphone app to make deposits. You might go on their website to do bill pay. You're doing online banking.

The only difference with an online bank only is they're just able to pass along the savings from not having to run those brick and mortar branches to you in the form of higher interest rates. But give me your thoughts on all that. Well, I guess I do online banking a lot, and so you're right on that. And so I guess we just have to realize, you know, it's in God's hands. So thank you. I appreciate your thoughts on that.

And yeah, I'll just have to find one that has some good interest rates in. Thank you. Yeah, very good. You're welcome.

And here's what I would say. You know, there are some best practices that I'll just mention again quickly. You know, make sure you're updating that password regularly. Don't use the same password for everything because if it's compromised one place, that means it very easily can be compromised another place. You know, make sure that you I would use a password manager to generate long strings of passwords. Make sure you don't use public Wi Fi when you're logging into your bank. Never click a link you get in an email. I mean, there are things you can do to really ensure that you're at least putting yourself in a position to avoid your account being compromised.

And I think that's really the most important thing. In terms of selecting that online bank, Diane, I would head to bankrate.com. And they're constantly updating the online banks and letting you know who has the best rates. And they also have a rating service.

So you can see out of a five star system which ones rate the best. So that might help you get pointed in the right direction. But hey, thanks for calling and being on the program today. We appreciate it. Hey, before we go to our next caller, I wanted to mention that we've been getting a number of questions lately about tithing in retirement. Now, we are quick to point out here on faith and finance that our giving in the New Testament is really not about the Mosaic law of tithing. Many folks still use the tithe as a way to do proportional and systematic giving.

And I think that's great. But the New Testament idea of giving Jesus essentially raised the bar and said we should give cheerful and we should give freely and we should give proportionately to whom much is given, much is required. And it's a privilege. Frankly, those of us who have seen the cross know how much gratitude we have. And so to be able to be connected into God's activity through our giving is one of the great privileges the Lord gives us. So we should be generous givers.

And I think that includes a systematic proportionate gift on the first day of the week. And if a tithe is a way for you to go about that as a beginning point, not an ending point, well then I think that's fine. My friend Randy Alcorn calls the tithe the training wheels of giving. But if we want to apply the principle of the tithe in retirement, how do we do that? Because it's not as clear as to what our increase is, because if you have been applying the principle of the tithe and you've been doing that in such a way that you were doing it on the gross, essentially you've already been tithing on that money. Well, if we apply the New Testament approach that we just give freely and proportionately, we probably don't even think about it.

We would just continue to give at whatever level we decide in our hearts, not under compulsion, but between us and the Lord and continue to give systematically. But if you wanted to really just look at what is your true increase, it does require you to break down your various asset buckets, if you will, in retirement and say, what's actually a return of principle and what's actually the gain? You can do that. You would actually go to Social Security and find out how much you've paid in. That's available on your Social Security report. And you could determine what percent is actually a return within reason, what percent is a return of capital that I've already paid in and what's gain. You can do that with your retirement account. How much have I put in over the life of this account? And you could establish a percentage to say this percent is actually what I paid in. The remaining percent, which is likely a lot larger, is actually all the gains that I've had. And then you could determine how much is actually a return of principle, how much is a gain, and you could do your giving on that. So there are approaches to that.

By the way, we have an article on our website called How to Tithe in Retirement at faithfi.com if it would be helpful to you and something you'd be interested in. Check it out today. All right, let's head back to the phones. Elizabeth in Oklahoma is a first time caller.

Go ahead. Hi, my question is, how can I get out of a timeshare contract inexpensively and quickly? Yeah, unfortunately, if I had the answer to that, Elizabeth, there would be a lot of folks would be really excited and I really don't.

You know, it's extremely difficult to do. And the reason is, you know, there's just so many people that have purchased these timeshares, they were sold these timeshares, they didn't go out looking for them or trying to buy them, they were sold the timeshares. And then as life happens and circumstances change, they've just found they'd like a little more flexibility in their vacationing or they don't want to continue the maintenance. And so there's just in terms of supply and demand, there's a lot more supply of people trying to get out of these than there is demand of people trying to buy them. And the companies selling them have no incentive to take them back from you, because they want to sell them to new buyers. They don't want to just create a market for existing timeshares that really doesn't help them because you've already made the purchase.

So where do you go from here? Well, a couple of thoughts. One is a website called TUG2.com. That's T-U-G, the number two, dot com. TUG is the timeshare users group.

And it's a place where not only can you get best practices on buying and selling, but they actually have a forum where you could list a timeshare to see if somebody would want to purchase it. You can see if the company would take it back from you. You would just essentially give it to them as long as it's been paid up. And that way you'd get rid of the, at least you'd get rid of the monthly maintenance or annual maintenance. You can also list it locally and see if somebody would be willing to buy it or give it away. But unfortunately I think those are the best options.

There's really not a foolproof solution here. I wish I had more for you, but that's unfortunately the best I've got. Thanks for your call today. Hey folks, we're going to pause now for a brief break, but we'll be back with much more on today's Faith and Finance Live. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. Hey, just a quick reminder, we're away from the studio today, so don't call in. We've got some great questions we'll get to in just a bit, but first let's take an email. These come to us all the time at AskRobAtFaithFi.com and we're delighted to read them on the air when we can.

This one comes from Barb. She writes, I'm 72, retired and single. I owe $93,000 on my home. The interest rate is three and a quarter percent. I have 23 years remaining. I have $430,000 in a traditional IRA. Would it be wise to take 93,000 from my investments to pay off my house? And what would the tax consequences be? Barb, the tax consequences would be significant.

If you took that $93,000 in one calendar year, the entire amount would be added to your adjusted gross income for the year and likely push much of it into a higher tax bracket. So because you have a great interest rate, at least by today's standards at three and a quarter percent, I would encourage you to not pay that house off right now unless you just have a real conviction from the Lord to do so immediately. I'd let your IRA recover with the market.

It's likely down like everyone else. And then at some point, I would look at perhaps doing that down the road once it's fully recovered. And when you do, I do it over a couple of tax years. If you spread it out, maybe a third in one tax year, a third in a second, and a third in yet another tax year, you will probably lessen the tax liability. And you can work with your CPA to determine exactly what that timing should look like.

So that would allow you to pay it off over the next few years, allow the IRA to fully recover, but also still do that in a way that is tax efficient. And I think that will ultimately help you accomplish all of your objectives. I hope that helps you, Barb. Thanks for writing to us again. If you have a question you'd like us to read on the air, send it along to us to askrob at faithfi.com.

That's askrob at faithfi.com. Hey, let me address something that often can happen in our lives financially, and that is financial disappointment. You know, plans don't always succeed.

I don't have to tell you that. Dreams fail, expectations go unmet. Disappointment happens maybe more than we want to admit. I mean, maybe it's you make an investment and think you're going to make lots of money and the returns are disappointing. Maybe you expected your business startup to succeed, but a shaky economy killed your plans. Maybe you expected a promotion, someone else got the job. You expected to have a big nest egg when you retire. Maybe health issues have reduced your savings. Perhaps you expected your adult kids to be financially independent. What so many folks are finding is that we've got some boomerang kids that are ending up in the basement and that can be costly.

And by the way, I think you need to establish a timeline and a plan to move them out on their own. But we can experience these disappointments, and this is not new. We certainly saw this in God's Word. Sarah and Hannah couldn't have children. Joseph, his brother, sold him into slavery. You can imagine how Jesus must have felt when Judas betrayed him. But the Lord had amazing plans for these unmet expectations. Sarah and Hannah ultimately had children who changed the world.

Joseph saved his people and Jesus, well, he saved us all. So our response to the disappointments in our lives can be a powerful witness to those around you. And maybe this isn't the way you thought your life would turn out, but here's the reality, folks. God can use your unmet expectations for your good and for His glory. So how do we approach financial disappointments from a godly perspective? Well, first I would say ask God to help you forgive those who've hurt you, if that's what's going on in your situation.

Second, pray for strength to live through your difficult circumstances. Be willing to let go of your expectations, and ask God to show you His plans. People and circumstances are unreliable, but Hebrews 13, 8 reminds us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Lord is always loving, faithful, and just. Folks, let me just remind you, and I'm talking to myself at the same time, God never fails. You can trust Him, even in the midst of your deepest disappointments. When big expectations come to nothing and people let you down, God will make a way for you every time. It might not be what you expected, but it will always be good. So here's maybe my parting thoughts on this.

Hold on to what's true. Romans 8, 28 says, we know that in all things, God works together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. That good is being conformed to the image of Christ.

That's not good as in our comfort or financial blessing, it might be, but ultimately that good is being conformed to the image of Christ, which is what we all should desire, and ultimately what will last. So I hope that's been an encouragement to you today if you've had some financial disappointments along the way. All right, let's head back to the phones to Texas we go.

Anita, thank you for your call today, how can I help you? Hi, it's a little bit of a complication, and we're just second-guessing what we've done, and I can actually get out of it if I need to. But anyway, what happened is, my husband and I did all our, you know, estate planning and everything like that, and basically what we did was we've had some issues with our children, so we jumped our children and we did 14 individual trusts for our 14 different grandchildren. So basically what that does is it leaves our children out of the picture. And to kind of fix that, we decided to do a insurance policy, and my husband couldn't qualify for it, so it's just on me. And it's about, whoops, I'm sorry, it's about $30,000 a year, and we're just wondering if that was really a smart thing to do. We're just thinking maybe if we do, you know, just gifts to them, you know, the amount of gifts to our children per year that we can legally give to them without any tax implications, that that would probably be a better investment than waiting for me to die. Does that make sense?

Yeah, it does. You know, I'm interested in perhaps you all thinking about the assets that God has given you and how you might divide those through estate planning, whether that's a single trust where you have multiple beneficiaries or separate trusts, and that would ultimately be between you and the estate planning attorney to determine the how. But I don't know that I love the idea of you funding an expensive and increasingly expensive life insurance policy for this inheritance. What about just praying and thinking through how to take the assets God has given you and divide those according to his leading and take all this money that you'd be putting into a life insurance policy and just continue to build your wealth with that?

Right. Well, we're both, you know, we're retired, so we just, we, you know, have X amount of money. Our financial planner tells us, you know, knock on wood, it'll never run out. So that's, you know, that's not really an issue, but it's just, we don't, we don't want to, the trust that we have, we do have a, an individual revocable trust right now. And then we have the split trust. If I die or my husband dies, whatever, we have that. Sure. And so like, if he dies, it goes to me and the half of it goes to a revocable trust that I can still monitor, you know, you know, I mean, you know what it is. Yeah. And that's fine.

And that works. I just don't know about the unnecessarily having that it looks like we lost the color. So what I would just say to you as we wrap up here is I don't know that it makes sense to fund that life insurance policy on your life. Understand your husband couldn't qualify. That's an expensive policy. That's a lot of money every year that could be put toward other things, given away, continued to build your assets and your wealth. And I would prefer that over you having this life insurance policy that's really pricey. And again, it's not needed and you're purely using it as an inheritance.

I would just look at the assets the Lord has given you and just prayerfully decide how he would have you allocate those, whether that's to charity or to heirs, both children and grandchildren. Thanks for your call today. We appreciate it.

To Texas. Hi, David. Go right ahead, sir.

Yes, sir. Thanks for taking my call, Rob. I am scheduled to get a lump sum retirement check here in the next couple of weeks. And I was just curious as to maybe what would be the wisest thing to do.

It's going to be around $60,000 or so. Yeah, I would roll that over to an IRA. And then if you don't need the money, or even if you do need to start to draw a little bit off of it, I would invest it. What is your age, David, if you don't mind me asking? I'm 58.

Okay. So at 58, you know, I would probably think about putting this in maybe 50-50 between bonds and stocks. And at 60,000, rather than using individual stocks and bonds, you'd probably want to use either mutual funds, which is like a basket of stocks and bonds, or ETFs, exchange traded funds, which can either be, you know, based on various market indexes, or otherwise. But the idea would be that you'd have some income, you know, coming in off of these investments, the bond portion will do well as interest rates fall next year in the bond yields that are already elevated, you get to take advantage of that. And stocks will give you a growth component to this. And as you age, you could shift more over to the bond fixed income portion and away from stocks. In terms of, you know, getting somebody to help you with this, unless there was other assets that need to be managed beyond the 60k, David, you're probably beneath what you would need for an investment advisor to take over management of this. But our friends at soundmindinvesting.org could help and give you some mutual fund suggestions. Typically, what you would do is just open an IRA at one of the discount brokerages like Fidelity or Schwab. And then you'd roll that in, which means there's not a taxable event there until you start drawing it out, which you don't have to until you reach at least 75 for required minimums. You wouldn't create a taxable event.

And then you could just redeploy it in some investments. How does that sound? That's good information. I appreciate you. All right. Good deal. Thank you, David.

We appreciate it. Again, soundmindinvesting.org is a great place to go. You'd like to learn more about it. Folks, we've gotten a lot of calls lately from folks looking for a mortgage provider and they want one that shares their values.

They just don't know where to turn. Let me mention for those of you looking for a mortgage right now, either to refinance or a new purchase, a visit with our friends at movementmortgage.com forward slash faith. It's movement.com forward slash faith. Incredible nationwide, God fearing organization run by some believers and they're making an incredible difference literally all over the globe through their generosity. Well, that's going to do it for us today. Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and FaithFi. Thank you to my amazing broadcast team. I couldn't do this without them. I hope you have a great rest of your day and we'll see you next time on Faith and Finance Live.