Financial Information to Collect in Case of Emergency

You may be one of those people who makes a list for everything, grocery, school, work, or packing for vacation. But even if lists aren't your thing, there is one list everybody needs.

Hi, I'm Rob West. Nobody wants bad things to happen, but it's smart to be prepared when they do. Today, we'll tell you what information to collect in case of an emergency. And then we'll take your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Well, accidents and natural disasters are always in the news, but we never really expect them to happen to us, do we? When a freak summer storm knocked out the power around here for many hours, most of us were completely taken by surprise.

You don't appreciate running water and electricity until you don't have them. Well, you may not live in an area that's prone to natural disasters or weird weather, but we still think it's smart to be ready for any kind of emergency, from car accidents to house fires or even the death of a family member. Being ready may be as simple as knowing where your important documents are.

We'll help you with that today. First, let's talk about those personal and financial documents. Keep the originals in a safe deposit box at your local bank or in a fireproof safe at home. Depending on your circumstances, you may need to keep certain documents with you, and you can store copies of other documents on a thumb drive or in the cloud. Family documents you need to keep handy but in a safe place are items that prove your identity and family status, including driver's licenses, birth certificates, social security cards, marriage, divorce, and child custody papers, vaccination records, passports, military ID, adoption papers, and citizenship papers.

Some of these can be digitized, but you need to have originals or certified copies of any document that verifies your identity. Other documents to locate and keep safe include tax, real estate, and insurance documents. For example, you should have copies of the tax returns you filed over the past six or seven years.

Gather any real estate titles, including information about original costs, proof of improvements, and depreciation taken if it's a business property. Make sure you also have access to the registrations and titles for any vehicles you own. You need to keep all insurance policies and contact information for your agents in a safe place as well. Once you have your identity documents together, as well as any tax, property, and insurance information, it's time to gather your medical files. Medical information you'll need to have on hand includes medical history and prescription information, as well as medical plans for anyone in the family with a health condition that requires special care, such as asthma or food allergies.

Have copies of your health insurance cards and health care provider contact information handy, too. Living wills, health care directives, and powers of attorney for health care are legal documents you will need in case you or someone in your family becomes incapacitated. Finally, let's look at what documents you'll need in the event of the death of a spouse or family member.

Although we don't like to talk about it much, being prepared for your own death or the death of a loved one can make the grieving process much easier for survivors, so here's some of the information you should have available. Title to a cemetery plot, if applicable, and funeral or burial instructions. A list of benefits expected on retirement or death of a spouse, including pension, military, social security, and others. Location of safe deposit boxes, keys, and passwords. A recent statement for each bank and investment account, along with contact information related to each account. A copy of your wills and the location of the original, along with the name and number of the attorney who prepared them.

Contact information for the family attorney, CPA, investment advisor, and insurance agents, and the names and addresses of family members and any others who might need to be notified. Of course, nobody wants to think about possible emergencies, but being prepared will make a difficult time less stressful for your family. Taking care of these details in advance is also a part of being a good steward of everything God has given you. Let me finish with a word of encouragement from Isaiah 41 10. Fear not, for I am with you.

Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you.

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I hope this has been helpful and will take the stress out of an already difficult situation. All right, we're ready to take your calls and questions today. The number 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and this is Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Stay tuned. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West. It's time to take your calls and questions today on anything financial. We'd love to hear from you. The number to call today, 800-525-7000. That's right, your financial questions today at 800-525-7000. Let's dive in today.

We'll begin in Miami. Hi, Marilyn. Go ahead.

Hi, how are you? This is Marilyn. Thanks for taking my call. My question is, I have several investments in our accounts, stocks and bonds. I also have equity in the home, but I also have some credit card bills and some two-car payments. So I'm trying to figure out, should I take investment and pay them off? Should I take the equity in the house and pay them off?

Or should I just take them out? Yeah, I'd be happy to. So let's start by just kind of unpacking what you have here just a bit. So you mentioned you have some credit cards. What is the amount that you're carrying on about?

Credit cards is about 20, maybe 30,000. Okay. And how long have you had that? Has that been building over time or has that been with you for some time?

About the last, since COVID, I think, since, yeah, COVID 2019. All right. Okay. And are you adding to that balance every month? No, no, everything has not.

It's just closed. Okay. How did the credit card debt come about? Was it just lifestyle spending beyond your means? Was it a single event? I'm sorry.

Let me get out of the noise. That's okay. What was the question? Yeah, it was, how did you end up with the credit card debt? Was there a single event or were you just spending beyond your means? Yeah, one was the single event and just the others just opening up and paying off something else and then adding.

Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, I want you to get out of debt. The challenge is that I really want you to correct the issue that led to the debt in the first place, which is usually consumptive spending beyond your means. And I realize life happens and there's challenges along the way and that's why we really need to build a solid financial foundation. So I'd love for you to start by building up at least the beginning of an emergency fund. So if you just pay the minimum on these credit cards and keep all the other debt serviced and if you cut back as much as you can on your bills, do you typically have anything left over at the end of the month? Yes, a little left over, but not so much to say, let me put aside. Sometimes what's left over is zero, sometimes left over is a little bit, but I've been paying double the amount towards my credit card to pay them off and I'm paying the higher interest rate ones off first. Sure.

Yeah, no, that makes sense. Do you have anything in liquid savings right now or have you put everything toward getting out of debt? Put everything towards getting out of debt.

Okay. Well, I'd love for you to start with the budget and really look at any opportunity to cut back so we can free up as much margin as you can. And I agree you need to get out of debt, but we also need to break the cycle of additional borrowing.

So I'm going to recommend you try to save between $1,000 to $1,500 just so you have something to fall back on when the unexpected comes so we can get out of adding to that credit card debt once and for all. The other approach is not to pull from your home. That would be expensive money. Plus it would take unsecured debt and now secure it or collateralize it by your home. I wouldn't pull out of your investments either. I really would prefer that you go through what's called a debt management program. That's my preferred way to get out from under credit card debt. Essentially what would happen is you would contact our friends at christiancreditcounselors.org.

They would tell you how low they can get your interest rates. So each of these credit card companies will have the credit counseling rate, which is going to be significantly lower than what you're paying right now. And the combination of one level monthly payment going through Christian Credit Counselors and the lower interest rates will allow you to pay that back on average 80% faster. But the key is that we're not taking out new debt or adding it to your home or even pulling out of your investments at a time, especially while the market is down. And in you paying it monthly, it really puts the emphasis back on getting that budget right and getting your expenses as low as possible and looking for ways to cut back because you also have the ability to send extra beyond just the scheduled monthly payment that you'll send through Christian Credit Counselors whenever you're able.

But I really want you to establish those new disciplines that allow you to make this sustainable. So once you get out of debt, you know, you never go back there, at least with regard to, you know, spending on lifestyle expenses on credit cards. Does that all make sense, though? Makes sense completely.

Definitely. So what I would do is contact christiancreditcounselors.org. Tell them that you heard about them on the program. They'll take good care of you. They will work with you on getting that new budget set up and helping you evaluate your expenses and thinking about how to control the spending coming in and out on a monthly basis.

Then they'll review all of your creditors, tell you what they can do on those getting those interest rates down, and then they'll tell you what that one new monthly payment is. And I think that'll get you on a good path forward. But I'd also love at the same time for you to at least get something going toward emergency savings every month, even if it's $25 or $50 a month. Let's just try to, you know, build up a little bit of a nest egg so that when something comes out of left field, you've got the ability to cover that and you know, we're not adding to these credit cards.

So again, christiancreditcounselors.org is the place to go. Marilyn, we appreciate your call and we'd love for you to keep us posted as things progress down the road. Thanks for being on the program today. Let's go to Chicago. Hi, Joe. Go ahead.

Hi, Rob. Thanks so much for taking my call. My question is, what are your thoughts on life insurance settlements? We purchased two term life insurance policies to cover me while I worked in case something happened to me. And the policies are set to increase to a higher rate in 2024 and 2025 and beyond.

That's when they were maturing. And our plan is and always has been to let them lapse. Now, when I was looking at LinkedIn one day, I saw that its firm would give us money for the policies.

I haven't filled out the information yet. But just wondering what your thoughts were on this. Yeah, you know, for the average person, Joe, who's in a situation like you, where you had a term policy, you're in relatively good health. You know, you have a policy that's about to lapse. This really isn't a case for life insurance settlements.

They're going to want to make sure that you know, you have a terminal illness. So there's some reason to believe this, you know, from an investment standpoint, this makes sense. And obviously, you know, with this policy about to go up dramatically at the end of its term, unless it has, you know, it's convertible to a whole life policy and from an actuarial standpoint, in terms of your life expectancy, unless it makes sense to them, there's just really not a whole lot here. So the idea behind life insurance, I mean, you could think about it like car insurance, you know, you have it to protect you and offset a risk, but you hope you don't ever have to collect. And the same is true with the term insurance, which is just the pure insurance offsetting the risk that you have during your working years, that if you were to pass away, it's going to create a hardship for a loved one who's depending on that income. Well, you had that coverage, you paid for it, you know, just covering the mortality expense, but you didn't have to use it. And that's great. So we let it lapse, we either replace it with another term policy, you know, maybe a shorter term to get you through your working years, or we just let it go because, you know, we had that coverage and it offset that risk.

But unless you're in a particular situation with a certain type of policy, and a health status that warrants it, I think the life insurance settlement is really not a viable option. I hope that helps you, Joe. We appreciate your calling today. Thanks for being on the program. We'll be right back. Great to have you today on Faith and Finance Live.

I'm Rob West. Hey, we've got a few lines open today for your calls and questions. The number 800-525-7000. Again, that's 800-525-7000. Whatever you're thinking about financially today, we'd love to weigh in, talk about it with you, encourage you, direct you back to God's Word, see if we can help you apply biblical wisdom to the decisions and choices you're making today. So give us a call with your financial questions. Again, 800-525-7000. Let's go to Frankfurt, Illinois, WMBI. Hi, Bill. Go ahead.

Hi. Just had a question about online auto refinance companies. You know, we talk often about, you know, the banks, there's no brick and mortar to get better interest rates, same service kind of things. And I'm wondering how that works with auto refinance companies.

I just bought a new truck and retiring and, you know, you're at the 4.9, 5.9 interest rates, but these online companies are advertising 1.9, 2.9. And I'm just wondering, is it legit? Are they, are these companies out there? Cause you talked about nerd wallet and you go to the website and they show all these companies that you never heard of before. Are these companies good?

And then one sends me, it's like, well, the fees are 299 to 499, which I never, you know, didn't know that. Sure. Are there companies out there as a good way to refinance car for cheaper rates than just going through your normal bank or credit union? Yeah, absolutely. I would say you definitely want to take a look at these now.

Here's the key. I mean, you just want to look at not only the rate, but you also want to look at the, the expenses and make sure that it actually is a good deal. I mean, I'd be looking to get probably three bids at a minimum. One of those could absolutely be your bank, but why not go online to LendingTree or one of the others and see who's offering the very best rates right now for your credit score on a auto loan refi and let them compete for the business. And if they're offering a more attractive interest rate, as long as you've compared, you know, all of the costs of, you know, the, the loan itself, not just the interest rate, but those other expenses, if it comes out better, I'd say, go for it.

There's no downside there. I mean, you're, you know, they're going to go ahead and fund that loan right on the front end and, you know, they're going to service it or they're going to sell it. But at the end of the day, I mean, I would exhaust, you know, plenty of options before you make your final decision because it can add up to a significant amount of money. Now, you're not going to find a car loan right now at 1.9 or 2.9. I mean, that's probably going to be a dealer incentive.

But, you know, I would certainly take a look at some of the online lenders and using one of those lending search engines is probably the way to go. Okay, because yeah, like the one surprised me, and they're like, well, others charge 299 499, which I never even considered. You know, they then they're like, of course, we don't do that.

So, as you said about rates, you know, about fees at $500 fee, you get a half a percent or percent cheaper, is it really worth it? So, yeah, exactly. Right.

In company heard before. Yeah. So I think you need to get that good faith estimate. So you can see what is the total cost of this loan over the life of the loan. And that includes more than just the rate. But if you can, you know, find somebody with low fees, and they're going to give you a rate that's a point or two below somebody else, you know, why not take it? So absolutely, I do your homework here, but but consider the total cost of the loan as you as you shop these around. Bill, thanks for calling today.

All the best to you. As you look to get that refinanced. We've got a couple of lines open 805257 thousand is the number to call. VG is in Fishers, Indiana. Go ahead.

Hi, Mr. S. Thank you for your for taking my call. And my question is my required IRA withdrawal to go. I want that to go to my charitable distribution, like church and other institutions before tax. So my tax bracket don't go up.

Is it possible? Yes, absolutely. So what is your age?

I'm 80 years old. Okay, very good. And you've got an IRA. Is that right? Yes. Okay.

Yeah. So you can do what's called a qualified charitable distribution. And basically what happens here, as long as you're 70 and a half, you can satisfy that required minimum. But instead of them sending you a check, you can have it go directly to a charity or a nonprofit of your choice, including your church. And they'll get the full amount.

You won't have to add that money to your taxable income, which you would otherwise. And you'll satisfy the required minimum distribution. So the way you'd go about that, VG, is you'd call your custodian, whoever, you know, sends you your statements. So where is where is this account located? At Edward Jones. Edward Jones.

Okay. So you'll call either your advisor or if you're on the retail side, you'll just call Edward Jones customer service, let them know you're looking to do a qualified charitable distribution. They'll give you all the paperwork either electronically or physically, where you would, you know, give them the name of your of the charity and, you know, the tax I.D.

number and the amount and so forth. And then you'd want to alert them that it's coming so that they're not surprised by it. And then the money will never come to you. It goes straight to the ministry or the charity. And, you know, you'll have the proof that it was done for your taxes so you can show that you took your required minimum. But as you said, you don't have to recognize that as income, which means you have more to give away.

That's what I thought. But last year I asked them to do that. But my Edward Jones did not. They withdrew the money and then they distributed like I asked. So that means it was my tax back. It went up. That's what I see.

Okay. Well, then then they didn't do it as a qualified charitable distribution. They just did it as a distribution. So you need to tell them, listen, this year, I don't want you to take a distribution and send me a check.

I want you to do a QCD. And that means that the money never comes to you. It goes straight from your IRA to that ministry or charity, which also will satisfy your required minimum but will not add to your taxable income. So you just need to get ahead of that.

Call your adviser or call Edward Jones. Let them know you want to do a QCD or a qualified charitable distribution. They should.

I mean, they do it all the time, so this should not catch them off guard one bit. Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. You're welcome, Viji. Thanks for calling today. May the Lord bless you.

Well, folks, we're going to take a quick break when we come back. More of your questions, 800-525-7000. Also, if you have a testimony about how you've applied these principles in your financial life, we'd love to hear about it. Call us with that as well. Stick around. The opinions offered during this program represent the personal or professional opinions of the participants given for informational purposes only.

Any information provided is not intended to replace advice from a financial, medical, legal, or other professional who understands your specific situation. Great to have you with us today on Faith in Finance Live. I'm Rob Last. We're taking your calls and questions. We've got some lines open 800-525-7000. Again, that's 800-525-7000. You can call right now.

Let's go to Fort Lauderdale. Hi, Renee. Thanks for calling. Go ahead. Hello. How are you? Thank you again for taking my call.

Absolutely. Thanks for being on the program. My biggest question is, what do I do with my 403B? I found out that the Broward County Public Schools stopped servicing where I had been putting my money into. And so they just, the money's like out there. I have $49,000 sitting in this account just out there. When I finally tracked everything down, the company that will be able to reuse or whatever you want to call it, but not until like January or February next year.

So do I start a new account and can I start a new account or do I have to wait and take this account? You understand what I'm asking? I do. Yeah. I'm not familiar with the specifics of what's going on there with Broward County. So they've suspended your current account and you're not making new contributions, but then they're going to have a new plan for you in the new year.

Is that right? That's the way I understand it. I don't even know how it even got stopped. I thought if we're contributing to something that unless we sign, they could take it and stop it, they could. But apparently they did.

And this apparently happened about 18 months ago. And I only found that out because another company started saying, Hey, come, come join us. I'm like, I'm already filled up. I got my 357 and I've got my 403b. And they're like, no, you don't. I'm like, yeah, I do. And they're like, no, you have this 403b open. We can take that slot. And I'm like, what do you mean you can take that slot?

And that's when I started looking into it and found out everything. Okay. Yeah.

Very good. Yeah. Unfortunately, I think you're going to need to get some more details on this.

I'd love to be able to tell you what direction to go, but I would need to know a bit more just about what's going on with the plan. Do you have an advisor Renee that you've worked with in the past or you currently work with? Sort of.

I mean, just the company itself, you know, when they come in and are, you know, tell me how much I need to put away to, you know, supplement my income once I retire. Yeah. Okay. Uh, yeah, very good. So I think the key is that, uh, you get an advisor to kind of look over this for you, help, uh, you kind of read through the paperwork of what's happening with the plan.

And then as a part of that, perhaps you do some retirement planning just to determine the very best place and way for you to save for the longterm. Um, and so I would probably reach out to a certified kingdom advisor there in Fort Lauderdale just to have that individual look this over and help you make this decision because I wouldn't, I just don't have enough information to be able to tell you one way or the other, how you should proceed. Um, so the way to do that is just to head to our website at faithfi.com. That's faithfi.com. And, um, then you can click right there at the top of the page.

Find a CKA. Okay. Thank you so very much. And I'm sorry to have bothered you. Oh, you're not a bother at all. I'm so glad that you call and call anytime if we can help further. Thanks for calling.

Uh, let's head to Minnesota. Hi Tina. How can I help you?

Hi Rob. First of all, thank you for what you do. You're definitely a blessing to a lot of us. Well, thank you.

You're welcome. So the question that I have for you, my husband and I were actually looking at downsizing and, uh, we came up on what they call a lifestyle home loan. And what it's supposedly is not is we were told it's not a reverse mortgage. They require about half of the home purchase by price. And then, uh, for the re remainder of your life, if you want, you can pay the taxes, insurance, and HOA. Um, while the own the own amount to remaining on the mounts continues to accrue interest. If the buyer decides to sell at, at, at the end of their life, or if they want to sell and move in into another home, then you would end up paying that interest.

And I wanted to know, what do you think about this? To me, it still sounds like a reverse mortgage, but it's on a new purchase home. Okay. Well, you can do a reverse mortgage on a new purchase. Um, and that's what I suspect this is. I mean, I think this is probably just a rebranding of a home equity conversion mortgage, which again, you can do on an existing property if you have enough equity and you're at least 62, um, or you can do it on a new purchase as well.

And there's a couple of varieties of it. I mean, you can do a lump sum payment where you'd, you know, use it to pay off an existing mortgage or purchase a retirement home when downsizing or upsizing. Um, and then you can use it for a purchase.

Um, you know, you can also do it, uh, as a line of credit and you can do it also as you get a monthly income stream out of it, but essentially it is a reverse mortgage. Now, one of the benefits of the home equity conversion mortgage is that, you know, it's backstopped by the, uh, the FHA, the federal housing administration. So, you know, the lender is kind of off the hook and you don't ever have to pay it back. Um, you know, until either you sell the house or you die and you know, that life expectancy is, is not an issue there as long as you're alive. Um, you know, they're going to, uh, not require you to pay anything.

And if for some reason they paid you more than the value of the property, that's where the FHA steps in and backstops that payment. Um, and so, you know, it can be a, an option for somebody who's looking either to just eliminate that major expense in this season of life or they're looking to, you know, convert this asset to an income stream so they don't have to rely so heavily on investments or, you know, social security or both. Now, some people don't want to go this route and I certainly understand that because they want to get out of debt and stay there.

And if that's your conviction, I would say go for it. But for some folks, you know, this can be a viable option. I think the key is kind of the fine print just in terms of, you know, they're calling this a lifestyle home loan. Uh, you know, what does that mean? You know, that's obviously just their branding for a particular product. And so you're going to need somebody who can evaluate what it is they're offering and compare that to another type of product to see is there something better that accomplishes your ultimate goals and objectives.

So what I might do, Tina, is get a second opinion. Our friends at Movement Mortgage are specialists in this. I'd go to movement.com slash faith.

That's movement.com slash faith. And just ask them to take a look at it, give you a second offer for this type of product that accomplishes, again, what you're looking for and just make sure because these things aren't all created equal. Some of them have lots of high fees and expenses. Um, you know, there's an embedded interest rate inside of it. You want to know what that is.

You want to make sure that it has the features of the home equity conversion mortgage so that you can't outlive this and that, you know, there is the FHA backstop. So I just think you need to get a bit more information and you really need somebody who can evaluate it objectively or at the very least just give you a second opinion. Does that all make sense? It totally makes sense, Ralph. Thank you so much. All right. Very good.

Yeah. Just head to movement.com slash faith and you can, uh, somebody will get in touch with you and give you all the details. God bless you, Tina. Thanks for being on the program. Back with more of your questions just around the corner.

Stay with us. This is Faith and Finance Live. It's great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West. Hey, coming up in just a moment, we'll be joined by a good friend here at Moody radio, Bill Curtis. He's the president and CEO of Redeem TV.

That's right. Uh, I know you want to bring good content programming, something that's uplifting and encouraging even faith-based into your home. As you think about entertainment and you think about a programming that will edify and encourage and even educate you.

Well, that's what Redeem TV is all about. And we want to take a chance to tell you about it today and how you can sign up at no cost. But first let's go right back to the phones and Vicky has been holding patiently in Ohio. Go right ahead, Vicky.

How can I help? Hi, thanks so much. Um, my husband and I just recently downsized two years ago and we are considering for a, an additional income at some point. We're actually wondering if we could use like a HELOC to get to build like a small Airbnb on our property would bring income. Um, and I'm wondering how to, how to pick the company that we would get the home equity line of credit with.

Yeah, it's a great question. Um, so let me ask you what, what is your home worth and what are you all on the current first mortgage, if anything? Um, actually we're mortgage free.

Um, we bought, it's like three 85 right now. Um, I was just going to say that what we're looking at is probably going to cost us around 120 to put on our property. So it could do multiple things, whether my mom wants to come and visit, you know, there's a place for her to stay. Um, but then also do put it up for an Airbnb, um, to, you know, get some extra income and for it to pay for itself. Yeah, no, I like that a lot.

Do you have the ability Vicki out of current cashflow to service the mortgage even without a tenant? Yes, we do. Okay.

All right, good. Yeah, I think that's the key. And normally I would say, let's not get a home equity line of credit. Let's just get a home equity loan and lock it in. Obviously with rates where they are, the home equity line line of credit gives you the ability to ride those rates down.

And we think that'll probably start to happen, uh, you know, sometime next year. Um, so I think, you know, that's a good option for you. The other benefit is when you, with new construction, it would allow you to draw that money as you need to and hopefully cashflow some of it so you could borrow as little as possible. I would just think about a reasonable payback period, make sure you have enough to float and service that debt and also cover any kind of maintenance or upkeep, although with new construction and probably be pretty minimal in those early years. Uh, in terms of how to select that lender, I mean, really you just need to look at, uh, at the total cost. Uh, so there's not only the prime plus, so they're probably going to charge you plot prime plus one or, you know, 2%.

Um, but then what are the fees around it? And that's obviously key so that you make sure that, you know, you look at the total cost of the loan over the life of the loan, not just get fixated on that interest rate. Um, so I'd probably, you know, you could do an online search. I would definitely check with our friends at movement mortgage just because they're a faith based alternative. So you'd know you have somebody who shares your values and they're nationwide and, and would probably give you, you know, exactly what you're looking for. So movement.com slash faith is the place to go. Um, but obviously you could get a couple of other bids while you're at it.

And I'd probably look at lending tree or, you know, one of the, uh, online search vehicles. Is that helpful? Oh, it looks like we lost her.

So, uh, hopefully that was the information you were looking for. Thanks for being on the program today. We appreciate it. All right.

I've been looking forward to this. Um, we have, uh, some wonderful underwriters here at moody radio. One of those is redeemed TV. Their, uh, tagline is streaming goodness. And I know that's what you're looking for in your home.

It certainly is for me as well. We're joined today by the president and CEO redeemed TV, bill Curtis and bill were grateful. You stopped by today. Good afternoon. Hi Rob. Good afternoon.

Pleasure to be here. Absolutely. Well, give us the download on redeemed TV. You know, I think now more than ever, families are tired of the things that are coming into their home that just conflict with their values.

They're not edifying and they're looking for an alternative and they don't know where to go. And so I'm excited for you to share about redeemed TV today. Yeah, thanks.

Yeah. Our ministry was started about 50 years ago by my dad, uh, got involved making the film lacrosse and a switch blade. So we've been around for the 16 millimeter, the VHS and the DVD days. And as things move to streaming, um, we always wanted to get, uh, to, to, uh, start streaming the program so they could be available to homes that way. Um, and we, we started in 2019 at the end of the year, um, with a plan to provide it. And our plan was to provide it free on a donation basis. Um, so we were able to launch right in Jan, in March, right as COVID hit, uh, three, three and a half years ago. Oh, that's great.

Uh, you mentioned the cross and the switch blade. I remember, you know, as, uh, in, in youth group showing up at the church, we watched it on the screen, you know, there at the church. So, you know, that was kind of the beginning. Obviously, this type of programming has come a long way just in terms of production value, whether it's, uh, you know, animated or actual, uh, you know, live, uh, type of footage, but give us a sense of the type of programming that you'll find on redeemed TV. You'll find quite a bit of a lot of different programs. Um, there's quite a bit of dramas. Uh, it's, there's a lot of documentaries, there's family programming, there's Bible studies. Um, there's over 2000 titles actually on redeemed TV. And our goal is to provide the family with a whole variety of, um, different programs that are edifying and uplifting.

And there's some that are entertainment and there's some that are, you know, very spiritual. Yeah. Now folks are used to paying a subscription whenever they think about media consumption. How does redeemed TV offer operate? We work on a donor, um, basis. So we, it's a, it's a free signup.

It's as easy as go to redeemed tv.com, put your email in and select a password and you're ready to go and you can get 99% of the programming. This, this a slight amount of programming that's behind a donor wall. It's called additional donor content. And to get to that, you need to make a donation. But we, we've been, um, faithfully supported by viewers for the last two and a half years, uh, strictly on donation.

Yeah. And I understand this is, uh, you know, some of the largest, uh, Christian movie distributors, uh, in the country provide this content. So this is quality programming and build, they can be comfortable that anything on here that, you know, would be appropriate for kids as well. Well, it's certainly in the family category and the children's category they would. Um, but some of the programming, we do a lot of historical programming and you know, some of it just by the nature, um, is more geared for adults and isn't just appropriate subject wise for children. Got it.

Yep. And give us a sense of just the type of thing they'll see there for kids, for instance. Well, one of the most popular series is a series that Christian history Institute, which owns Redeem TV, um, produced called torch lighters, which gives it's geared for eight to 12 year olds. Um, and it gives heroes of the faith, um, an alternative to the entertainment and, um, athletic heroes, which are sometimes not worthy of honoring. So we've got 22 episodes from featuring people like Harriet Tubman and John Wesley and, um, Martin Luther, Jim Elliott, Gladys Allwood. There's a whole, whole variety of, of heroes of the face, George Mueller. And that would be an example of a series where, uh, the first episode is on Jim Elliott.

Um, you know, he, he is dies of a spearing. So for a young child that could be, that could be intense and, uh, you know, the parents should use their discretion. Yeah. Very good. And you know, what are you most excited about as you guys move forward here? Well, um, we've got a few new productions. Uh, we're now in the middle of producing season four of vindication, which is a Christian crime drama.

Um, the first two seasons are streaming free on Redeem TV. So we're pretty enthused about that. We just released a new program on William Penn. That's getting a tremendous response. Um, one of my personal favorites is a series called the eyewitness Bible, um, which is like 150 different segments that gives the historical context, um, behind the Bible.

There'd be a few of the, uh, the ones I'm most enthused on. Yeah, that's great. And then finally, uh, what options do they have and just in terms of how they consume this, obviously they can go to redeem tv.com to sign up, but what about, uh, app availability and other platforms? Yeah, it's available on most apps. If you stream, uh, apple TV, Roku, the I S O app, the Android app, um, sang sung TVs, Amazon fire. Um, we LG is in the works, so it's, it's available on just almost every app out there, at least the main. Yeah. And so it's as simple as just going to the website to get started.

Is that right? The easiest you can sign up on the app, but it's much easier to just do it on the website. Redeem tv.com.

You put your email in, you put your password, you select a password and you're ready to go. Excellent. Well folks, if you want to start streaming goodness right into your home through the web or the redeem TV app, you can check it out today. And as bill said, uh, there's no cost. So we'd love for you to check it out again.

Redeem tv.com is the place to go. And right there at the top of the page is, uh, how you can sign up bill. I appreciate you stopping by today. Thanks for telling us about this. Thank you so much. All right. God bless you, my friend. Thanks for being here.

Well folks, that's going to do it for us today. You know, we covered a lot of ground. I so appreciate your calls and let me just tell you, um, we would love between now and the end of the year to collect your testimonies. You know, we know that God is at work in your lives all the time and in your financial life, as it relates to this program. Uh, we hear from so many of you that write us and send emails. It comes out through your, the questions you ask on this program each day, uh, that God is moving as you apply his principles and really seek to be found faithful as a steward of his resources. And we'd love to hear those stories. So would you consider calling in maybe, uh, someday this week even, and tell us how God is at work in your financial life, how you've seen him, uh, his faithfulness exhibited as you've applied these biblical principles of finance, uh, each day, just call the regular number 800-525-7000. We'd love to have you on at some point. Well folks, thanks for being along with us. Faith and finance live is a partnership between Moody radio and faith five. Thank you to Robert, Amy, Dan, and Gabby T. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye bye.