Keeping Christ in the Family Christmas

For Christian parents, the holiday season often feels like a whirlwind of materialism that leaves you wondering, what happened to peace on earth?

Hi, I'm Rob West. In the midst of all the excitement and expectations, we often find ourselves missing the heart of Christmas, which is Jesus. Today, we'll share a few suggestions for keeping Christ in the family Christmas. 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, perhaps this has happened to you before. When January rolls around, you're spent both physically and financially. You wonder what happened to the wonder of Christmas, and you promise that next year will be different. Well, next year is here, and we're going to help you make this a fantastic Christ-centered celebration without any of the financial regrets. As in so many areas of life, parents have opportunities here to set an example.

Here are four ways you can do that. First, you can set a good example with your attitude. If you're frantic and rushed, your kids will be too. Theparentq.org suggests that you do one less thing this year. Choose one event to remove from the calendar and give yourself and your family some margin.

Let peace on earth be the motto in your home, too. Second, parents can set a good example in the area of time management. Make family time a priority during the weeks leading up to Christmas. If you focus on shopping, decorating, and holiday events, your kids will think those things are most important. So as December 25th approaches, back off a bit on the shopping and activities, and leave an evening or two open just for family time. You could gather around the tree and read the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke, do a Christmas craft together or make cookies. You could even start a new tradition this year.

Traditions make memories that last a lifetime. One of my favorites is the Jesse tree. You can make one with your kids to tell the story of God's redemption in the days leading to Christmas.

Go to faithword.org for daily Bible readings and printable ornaments for the Jesse tree. And here's another suggestion. Put the phones down. Challenge the whole family to put the devices away for a time. Be present with each other without the electronic distractions. Leave the phones at home when you go to church or out to dinner.

Drop the devices in the glove box when you go to visit grandma. It's a small thing, but it can mean a lot. Another way to build Christ-centered Christmas memories with the kids is to pray together. At bedtime, retell the story of each of your children's birth or arrival in the family.

Talk about the amazing story of Jesus' birth in a stable in Bethlehem. And pray for other families who are welcoming children in the midst of unusual or difficult circumstances right now. The third way parents can set an example at Christmas is in the area of family finances. I know this is a tough one because there's a lot of pressure to spend money at this time of year. But when you stick to your budget, even during the holidays, your children will see your commitment to financial peace. By the way, it might help to talk to your kids about the family Christmas budget.

They need to understand that cash doesn't grow on Christmas trees. Put your heads together and come up with creative ways to celebrate Jesus inexpensively. Our final suggestion for setting the example for your kids during the Christmas season is probably the most important. Demonstrate generosity toward those less fortunate and invite your kids to participate.

Luke 19-10 reminds us that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Let your children experience the joy of helping others. Here are a few ways you can give together starting right now. Make Christmas cookies together and take them to the local police or fire station along with handmade Christmas cards. Leave bagged Christmas snacks and drinks at your doorstep for the delivery people who stop by.

Make a sign to say thank you. Sponsor a child together with Compassion International or World Vision. If you have older kids, make plans to volunteer at a local soup kitchen or ministry during the holiday break. Restore the peace of Christmas along with your family this year. Rest in God's presence.

Take time to remind yourself and the children in your life that there's so much to be thankful for. My prayer is that we'll all look forward to the coming of the Christ child with wonder and anticipation. As the prophet Isaiah foretold, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Those who live in a land of deep darkness on them, light has shined. All right, your calls are next. The number, 800-525-7000. By the way, you can call that 24-7, 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West and this is Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. We'll be right back. 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. So thankful to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West. It's time to turn the corner and take your calls and questions today. The number, 800-525-7000. That's right, we've got lines open. Our team is standing by ready to take your call.

800-525-7000. Let's dive in. We're going to begin in Kentucky today. Hi, Dan. Go ahead, sir. Hi, Rob. I appreciate you taking my call.

I have spoke with you a couple of times before. I'm a recent retiree, but the issue now coming up at the end of the year with tax planning and so on, I became more aware of the donor advised fund option. I read your material on your website, but I was wondering if you could expand a little bit more on that particularly. My concern is there are multiple entities it seems that would offer the option of opening a DAF, but my concern is not funding through fees and that a company that may support philosophies, hiring practices that I may not want to be party to.

So what would be your recommendations? And I understand NCF is one that you've spoken of before, so I apologize if this is something you've addressed more recently, but could you expand or give me some thoughts, some of your thoughts on the DAFs? Yeah, I'd be happy to, Dan. And I'm glad you brought this up, especially this time of year. You know, the donor advised fund is one of my favorite giving tools or vehicles that exist today. You might think of it for those who maybe haven't heard of this before as a charitable checking account. So essentially you make a gift to your donor advised fund and then you can make recommendations to grant that money back out.

Now, here's the key. You technically are giving up control over that money when you put it into the donor advised fund. And that's how you can get the deduction because you're turning it over to a donor advised fund sponsor. Now, by nature, the whole purpose of a donor advised fund is that the donor advised fund sponsor does not create strategies on where the money is given. It's intended for them to hold the money, even though they technically own it. They are supposed to wait for, and by virtue of how these are designed, the gifts go out of the donor advised fund only at the request of the contributor, the person who set up the account in the first place.

So you'd make recommendations and then they would pass those on. Now, the key here, and you raise a really good point, it's not only about the maybe internal practices of the company, it's also that they have the ability to stand in the way of what ministries or organizations, charities ultimately receive the funds. Because conceivably, and this happens with certain donor advised fund sponsors now, you could say, I wanted to go to XYZ Ministry and they say, I'm sorry, we can't follow your request or recommendation because that particular ministry is on a list of hate groups that we won't give to.

And so we're not going to do that. And so that's why I think it's really important that you choose your donor advised fund sponsor to ensure that they're aligned with your values in terms of what they stand for and that they will ensure that you can always, at any point in the future, make recommendations to ministries or charities of your choosing and including those that align with your Christian values, which is why I would recommend that you look at the National Christian Foundation. The two biggest donor advised fund sponsors in the country are Fidelity Charitable and Schwab Charitable, but for the reasons I mentioned and not because they have any of these curbs in place right now, but they could be added down the road.

And that's why I think using ncfgiving.com founded by Larry Burkett and Ron Blue and others will ensure that no matter how long the money is in your donor advised fund, you'll always be able to recommend that it be granted out to those charities that are on your heart. Does that make sense? It makes a great deal of sense.

And you actually hit the nail on a couple of nails on the head that I was hoping to take care of. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. Yeah, you're very welcome.

It's really simple to set up. I would do it probably by the middle of the month, you know, in December just to make sure you can get it funded before the end of the year if you're looking for a current year tax deduction, and then you'd be able to grant the money out, you know, at whatever schedule you want. Now, if you wanted to get it deposited and to have the ministry receive it prior to the end of the year, then you'd probably want to get that in there by the 15th of December. But again, the website is ncfgiving.com.

They call it a giving fund, but it's, in a sense, a donor advised fund. So if we can help further, don't hesitate to reach out. Thanks for your call today. To Chad Anuga. Hi, Karen, go ahead.

Hi, thank you so much for taking my call. Related question, actually, on RMDs and charitable giving. My mother, years ago, was late on doing her RMD, and she had to pay a penalty of 50%. So I would specifically like to know when mine is due.

It's hard to understand from what I read. My birth date is 1-22-52. So when is that due? I will be 72 in January. Okay.

Yeah. So your first RMD, required minimum distribution, Karen, from a traditional IRA or 401k or other tax deferred retirement account, is going to be April 1st of the year after you turn 73, based on the new, you know, the latest rule and regulation changes. So they've been pushing it out slowly. And just based on your age, that would be April 1st of the year after you turn 73. And then in years following, you'll just need to make sure you take that by December 31st of each year. That April 1st deadline is only for that first year following the date you turn 73. Now, I see in my notes here, you're wondering about Roth IRAs. There are no RMD requirements for Roths. This would only be for traditional accounts. Now, it's never a bad idea to work with your CPA, especially as you're, you know, thinking about taking your first one just to make sure you know the amount you need to take and the date and that, you know, you're in line with what's required of you based on the balance of the account and the IRS tables.

But that is the year you need to be targeting at this point. Okay. And how do I find out how much will my, and I did not say that about the Roth, but that's okay. How will I find out from my traditional IRA how much I owe? Will they send me something?

Yeah. So they would have to, the IRA custodian is required to inform you of the amount of your RMD by January 31st each year. And it's basically an amount that's determined by dividing the December 31 balance of the IRA or retirement plan by a life expectancy factor that the IRS publishes in their publication 590B on their website. But again, your CPA could help you with that.

Or, you know, you would look for that notification by December 31st each year from your IRA custodian or retirement account custodian. Okay. I'd be delighted to.

That's a great idea. So you stay right there and I appreciate you keying off of the music and knowing that that means I need to take a break. So when we come back, folks, we're going to continue talking to Karen and Chattanooga and then we'll head to St. Louis after that. We'll be right back.

Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions. I've got a few lines open. 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000.

You can call right now. Just before the break, we were talking to Karen in Chattanooga, Tennessee about required minimum distributions. But Karen, I know you said you had a second question related to charitable giving.

So go right ahead. Distribution. Can I put that into charitable giving without paying taxes?

And how does that work? Yeah. And we didn't hear the first part of what you said, but did you say a qualified charitable distribution? Yes, I believe that's the name of it. Yes, it is. It's a required minimum distribution to a qualified charitable.

Yeah, very good. So the qualified charitable distribution is the means by which you make a charitable contribution from a qualified account. So think IRA, 401k, which, yes, you will have that required minimum distribution on April 1st of the year after you turn 73 and you're only 71 now. Now, the qualified charitable distribution becomes an option at age 70, even though you don't have that RMD until 73. Now, when you make the qualified charitable distribution, essentially you're making a gift from your IRA directly to a charity or ministry or your church, a 501c3 nonprofit. Your custodian, whoever you get your statements from on your IRA is the one that will send the money to the charity at your request once you complete the paperwork for the QCD. And when that happens, they get the full benefit of that money because it's not added to your adjusted gross income, which would be taxable as it would be if you were to take it out and the money were to come to you directly instead of the charity, which is why it's such an effective tool because you get the money to the charity and you don't have to recognize it as income, which you normally would have.

And furthermore, to your point, once you have those RMDs, it also satisfies your required minimum distribution. So what a lot of folks will do is they will say, OK, I was actually going to do some giving out of cash, maybe cash in my checking or savings account to my favorite charity. I'm going to replace that with money in my IRA that I don't need and do the giving out of there, which essentially allows me to give the same amount and not recognize it as income.

And then I just leave the money in my checking or savings that I was going to send. Or in other cases, you may use it as an additional giving opportunity, but in either case, it's a really powerful tool. Does all that make sense though, Karen? Oh, it does. I'm so thankful for that tool. It blesses all of us. Thank you for explaining that.

Absolutely. And you can do up to I'm not saying you need to, but you can do up to one hundred thousand dollars through a QCD, which is just makes it such a powerful tool. And I think to your point, you know, a lot of people are sitting on IRAs and their bills are covered through Social Security or a pension.

They don't need the money, but they're having to take it out every year as a required minimum and pay tax on it. So the QCD is just a wonderful way to take that money that they don't need and get it into the hands of ministries that can do great work in the name of Christ. So, Karen, thanks for asking about that.

It's a great tool, especially here in the giving season approaching December. Let's go to St. Louis. Hi, Joyce.

How can I help? Hi. Hi, Rob.

Thank you for taking our call. My husband's sitting here with me. My husband and I are both retired and soon to be ages 77 and 75. We're planning in two to three years to enter retirement community. And we currently have about 90, well actually about $100,000 in our IRA and about $130,000 of equity in our home in a solid neighborhood, thankfully.

Our joint monthly retirement income is about $4,700. Questions are twofold. How should we handle these assets to gain and protect them while ensuring we have enough funds for an entrance fee of $200,000 and a monthly rent of $2,800 into this retirement community?

And when the time comes, can we transfer the current $100,000 in the IRA into this nonprofit church-based retirement community with this entrance fee I mentioned of $200,000 without having to pay the 10% IRA withdrawal fee? Yeah. Well, a couple of thoughts on that.

Number one is, it sounds like that $4,700 a month, even today, you know, is enough to cover your bills, correct? Yes. Okay. Yeah, great. And the good news is when you're ready to move into the retirement community, which I think can be a great option, you're going to sell your home at that point, correct? It is correct.

Yeah. So you'd have $130,000 in equity or whatever it grows to between now and then, plus whatever the IRA grows to. Now, this is a little tricky on the entrance fee. You know, I don't think there's going to be a way because even though you said it's a nonprofit, you're obviously getting value from that. So you're not making a charitable contribution, you're buying in to this retirement community. So that's going to be a taxable event.

Now, it's not going to be a penalty. If you're over 59 and a half, you're able to take that money out without any penalty, but it will be added to your taxable income as it comes out of the IRA so that you can then add it to the equity coming out of the house to make that down payment or at least buy in in full to that retirement community. So I think the thing for you to do is work with your advisor.

And if you don't have one, you can find a CKA on our website, faithfind.com. Work with your advisor to take a proactive approach to managing the IRA to protect it, but also grow it modestly given the time horizon you have between now and when you're planning to pull the money out so you can buy in to the retirement community. Hopefully the house continues to grow in value and you're continuing to pay to pay it down. So maybe we're a lot closer to the two hundred thousand that you need when that time comes. But to the extent some of the IRA needs to be used, that just needs to go in to the planning of how the investment allocation is put together. And then I would also work with your CPA on whatever amount has to come out of the IRA as to the timing on that, because you may want to pull it out, you know, whatever that amount is, divide it in two and take it out over two tax years just to lessen the burden on that. The other consideration is, depending on what happens with the election, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires in 2025. So those tax rates are probably going up.

So you're probably going to want to think about maybe pulling a portion of it out prior to the taxes increasing. I hope that helps you, Joyce, and gives you some good information. But I love the direction you guys are headed.

I think that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for your call today. We'll be right back.

Stick around. Great to have you with us today on Faith in Finance Live. I'm Rob West. We've got some lines open. If you have a question today, we'd love to hear from you.

Eight hundred five, two, five, seven thousand is the number to call. Let's go to Lowell, Indiana. Hi Ann, go right ahead. Hi. I thank you for taking my call. The Bible says to ask for wise counsel, so I'm calling to ask for wise counsel. Okay.

I have two questions. My husband and I were older. I'm 63.

My husband is almost 80. We were interested, we have purchased, we had a rental property before and we sold that, but we would be interested in buying another one. It's a distressed property and we want to know because of what's going on in the world, the craziness, we just want to know is that a wise decision for us to be buying property?

Yeah, you know, I mean, it certainly could be. I like the idea of having diversified asset classes, meaning, you know, you might have a retirement account in stocks and bonds and, you know, you can diversify away from that by having a piece of real estate. It can be a great income producer. We have a shortage of homes in this country. So, you know, I don't think we're in any kind of bubble situation where we could see a precipitous decline in real estate.

There are no systemic problems like we had in 2008, even though we do have our own challenges, namely the national debt and high inflation and a few other things. But being able to, you know, offset the effects of inflation, which reduces your purchasing power on your dollars, I like, you know, your wealth, what God has entrusted to you in appreciating assets like stocks, bonds and real estate. I think when we get to this season of life, you know, in your mid 60s, and with your husband in his 80s, I think, you know, we always have to think about what type of investments should we have, being should we be an active or passive investments, as real estate is certainly an active investment, because unless you hire a property management company, which is going to eat into your, you know, returns, you've got to have, you know, the ability to keep up the property and make repairs and, you know, keep it in good working order and market it and, you know, deal with, you know, some of the things that come with being a landlord, which you all are very familiar with having done this in the past versus more passive investments where you don't have to do anything and, you know, hopefully just over time, they're growing and maybe throwing off some income. So given all of that, tell me just kind of your readiness in this season of life to take on another rental property.

My husband needs to go in for surgery, but that should he should recover from that quickly. I think we're ready. We've seen the property. It doesn't seem to us because we're not able to check everything.

Not not everything is on. But it seems like it's in good condition that we might put twenty five thousand in it to bring it up to where it needs to be. Yeah. And talk to me about the purchase price and what you have set aside that you would use for this purchase. Well, they're asking for one twenty five. It's an auction. OK. And they said to for that to to have an additional 10 percent. So that would be the price.

So now more than one hundred and fifty. I see. As far as the money, we do have the cash. It's in CDs, but we would have to break them.

But it's it's it's minimal as far as the charges are, you know, penalties. Yeah, very good. And what so what do you have in CDs total today? Well, we have close to seven. OK, seven hundred. And do you have other investments outside of the CDs? No, that's all we have. OK. All right. Yeah, very good. And so would you be looking to buy this with cash or would you take on a mortgage? No, just the cash. OK, very good.

Yeah, I like this a lot because you'd be talking about putting maybe up to one hundred and fifty of the five hundred in. You know, I think the key here is you need to make sure that, you know, you understand what you're buying. So in some cases with an auction, you're not even able to view the inside of the home.

You know, obviously you could have fierce competition. You want to make sure that, you know, you've got a clear title on it and that you understand the full extent of what you're going to need to put into it to get it ready, you know, to to take on renters and and have the ability and desire to do that. So are you going to get the ability to get a contractor in there to assess it before you make the purchase? No, my husband and I are both. We've we've had a lot of rental.

I have had a lot of rental properties and my husband is like a carpenter all of all of his life. OK, great. Have an opportunity to look at the property inside. But as I said, nothing was turned on. Yeah.

And we we weren't we weren't able to go in the you know, it's across space. Yeah. So things like that. But we did walk into the house and it looks fine.

OK. Yeah. Well, I think I mean, obviously, just understand what you're getting, that you're not going to have it professionally inspected, which could lead to some surprises. You guys have been down this road before. And then I think the other piece of this is just evaluating the market that is in the surrounding area and kind of what demand is there for rent. And, you know, what are the rental rates going for for an equivalent property and just making sure, you know, you could cash flow it the way you want. The good news is you've got, you know, the rest of this money in the CDs that if you needed to put a little bit more in, you could. And even though you're getting some nice rates on these CDs, that's not going to be around forever. So I kind of like the idea that if you're not interested in going into the stock and bond market, that you'd start to redirect some of this into real estate, which has the ability to appreciate more than, let's say, the CD rates you're probably going to be facing three years down the road. So I think this is a good plan, especially since, you know, you don't have to have any debt service. You're not going to have a mortgage.

So you don't have to worry about these high mortgage interest rates right now. So I think for all of those reasons, Anne, you guys have the experience. You know what you're getting into.

Your husband is handy. You've done this before. You know, I like this approach and I don't think there's anything that, you know, despite the the unrest in the world that would cause me to want you guys to hold off on this. OK, very good. I had another question.

If you have time real quick. Yeah. OK. Well, I just wanted to know, we sold the property a couple of years ago and we had to pay capital gains. And I'm questioning it because I heard another caller call you.

Anyway, I'll be quick. Is that across the board that you have to pay capital gains? Yeah. What year was it that you sold it? Two years ago, it was twenty one.

Twenty one. OK. Yeah. So and you had held it for more than a year. We had it was a rental property. We held it more than a year. Yes. OK. So in twenty one, it would have been if you had your adjusted gross income, if you were married filing jointly above eighty thousand eight hundred for the year, then your capital gain rate would have long term capital gain rate would have been 15 percent under that eighty thousand eight hundred adjusted gross income married filing jointly.

It would have been at zero. Oh, OK. But that's including the sale of the property, right?

No, no. Just your adjusted gross income, not the gain itself. Oh, OK.

So it would be zero then. So I can go to my tax man and have him look at that. Yeah, I would have him check it out.

You know, he may there may be another factor here. I'm not considering your situation. But if your income for that year was under eighty thousand and you were married filing jointly, it'd be worth him at least looking at just to see, did we in fact owe the capital gains?

And if you didn't, you could file an amended return. So I'd I get with your CPA. Thanks for your call and we'll be right back on Faith and Finance Live.

Stick around. It's great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. Hey, before we head back to the phones, we love it when you send us emails specifically.

Moody radio dot org slash finance is a way for you to submit questions that we receive and then read on the air. And we take some time throughout the week, but every Wednesday in this segment of the broadcast to tackle a few of those emails and to help me do that is my amazing producer, Amy Rios. Amy, good afternoon. Hello, Rob. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. I'm looking forward to I think we have four questions.

I think we do, too. And you want to get started? Let's do it. OK. Carmen writes, We need to sell our house. We have no savings. We are planning to tithe after we pay off the mortgage. Then we'll pay off the car and other small debts before we invest what's left over. Does this sound right to you?

Yeah. And I love this idea that you're going to sell the house. You're planning to pay off the car and the other small debts. The question I would have is around this, the tithe. So I love the principle of the tithe as a starting point for our giving.

It's a great guideline and it's the idea that we would give a tenth on the increase. You don't have an increase by selling a home unless you're realizing a profit. Now, if you sell the home and you're selling it for more than you paid for it, then you would tithe on that increase.

But if you don't have an increase, there would be no tithe. But I think that sounds like a great plan. And I think the only other question is just making sure you've lined up kind of where you're going for, you know, to live in the meantime before you secure your next property.

OK, great. So Jackie is wondering who should have their assets in a trust? Yeah, Amy, we get this question a lot, don't we, on a will versus a trust. And a trust is really, first of all, if you want to provide assets to beneficiaries while you're still alive.

So think a situation, maybe you're incapacitated. A will only goes into effect at death. A trust can go into effect prior to death.

And so that would be one benefit. Number two, if you want to make plans for your assets, but maintain control over them. So a revocable trust allows you to make changes and still control the assets. Number three, if you want your estate plans kept private, anything that happens as a result of your will will go through probate, which is a part of the public record. A trust happens outside of probate and therefore it can be handled privately. If you're concerned, you may not be able to manage your assets at some point. That's where your trustee can come into play. And then finally, if you in fact want your assets to pass directly to your heirs or beneficiaries outside of probate, a trust can be really effective. Not everyone needs one.

They are more expensive than a will, probably two to three thousand dollars versus maybe five hundred to a thousand for a will. But it can be a great tool if necessary. Okay, that's good to keep top of mind. Marty and I were just having this discussion the other day about maybe the need to have that at some point.

So yeah, excellent. Okay, so next, DJ writes, I'm sixty seven and retired. When I turned 70, I'll be in a higher tax bracket due to retirement income. Would it be wise to move twenty five thousand into a Roth now so that in five to ten years I can buy a new vehicle with tax free money? And as a side note, DJ says this is a small percentage of my 401K.

Yeah, that's really helpful, DJ. I would just say if you're certain that your income will be greater in three years, then yeah, it makes sense to go ahead and move that money to a Roth now because you're going to pay the tax on it as you convert it. And so it'll be subject to this year's tax bracket based on your income and the tax rates.

I would probably think about doing it gradually, moving maybe a third of that amount each year to potentially keep that part of your income from being taxed in a higher bracket. But overall, I like the plan. And then finally, Albert writes, what kind of investment do you recommend for protecting my principal and getting a good return?

Yeah, well, it's a long one. The longer you leave money in a properly diversified account with a percentage, let's say in stocks and a percentage in fixed income securities like bonds, the more likely you are to make good returns. Now, if protecting your principal is your primary concern, then you're going to have to settle for things like CDs and money market accounts, perhaps even an insurance product like an annuity, where there can be a guaranteed rate of return. So in these cases, you're transferring the risk away from yourself, either to a government guaranteed product or, you know, to an insurance company.

But either way, the longer you hold something, in most cases, the better your overall return. Wonderful. Hey, we always appreciate your thoughtful answers, Rob, and go ahead. Thank you. I was just gonna say I appreciate that. And tell folks where they can submit these questions. I was gonna do that. Thank you.

Moody radio.org forward slash finance. And there's a form you can fill out to send Rob a question. Awesome. Thank you, Amy.

Appreciate you. Yeah, folks, again, we'd love to receive those. So send them away. All right, let's go back to the phones.

Louise is in Chicago. Hi there. Hi, Rob. Thanks for taking my call. And for your ministry. Very grateful.

Thank you. Hey, so my question was, I took on a loan from a 401k. That loan is paid for it's, it's, it's paid in full. But I pay some interest to it. My question is, who does that interest goes to? I mean, my is this a good into my funds?

Or do you go somewhere else? Yeah, it's a great question. Louis that you Bennett for benefited from the interest you paid on your 401k loan. So essentially, you took the money out of one of your pockets and you put it into another.

Now the plan administrator may have charged a 50 or $100 origination fee for processing the loan. But that that loan repayment, including the interest that you paid on it went by right back into the account. So at the time of my retirement, when I withdraw the funds, that interest will be included into that into that figure. That's exactly right. And then you'll pay tax on it as it comes out. Yeah, it's, it was a taxable income. Yes. That was my question. And because I was concerned, somebody had told me that no, you don't pay tax interest to yourself that goes.

They say that they go somewhere else know the government or I don't know what it is. I was just, I was just wanted to clear that out. Yes, no problem. No, it's a good question.

A lot of folks are confused by that because it is confusing that you think about paying a loan to yourself and yet that's how it works with a 401k. So we appreciate you asking that. Let's stay in Illinois and talk to Linda. Go ahead.

Hi, thanks for taking my call. There's a lady in my church who has not been able to come to church unless she receives a ride because her car broke down and it cannot be repaired. She also has health issues and she brings her granddaughter who's eight years old to church. I have saved $1,000 to purchase a car for her. And I would like to know if you know of any organizations where I can find a good car for a low price.

Hmm. Yeah, it's a great question. You know, I might start Linda at your local church because if this is a church member, perhaps there's somebody in the church that wants to sell a car and they have a reliable car. Maybe they'd even give you a below market price on it because they know it's going to bless somebody in need.

And obviously they have a vested interest being a part of that church family to provide for the others in the church. So I might start there and just see if there's waves either through a bulletin board or maybe by, you know, talking to somebody at the church who, you know, is involved in community building or some of the other aspects of, you know, just the church family that might help you make this need known, your desire to make the purchase. But obviously you need to find a reliable car, hopefully one that's as inexpensive as possible. The other options are just, you know, where you're going to find a car that, you know, you're going to have to pay a market price for. So you could look at AutoTrader or CarMax or Carvana.

You know, there's also newspaper ads, but you're not going to obviously get those for below market prices, which is why I'd probably start at the local church. We appreciate your call today. Thanks for being on the program.

Let's finish up in Moline. Hi, Zeke. Go ahead.

Hey, Rob. Thanks for taking my call. I had a question. So we've switched tax people and the one we have now is asking for a physical copy of our Social Security. So I was wondering if it's safe to give it to him because the other person that we had didn't ask for it.

Yeah. Is he asking for a photocopy of the card or the actual card from the Social Security Administration? He's asking for a photocopy.

OK. Yeah. I mean, it's understandable that a tax preparer might want to verify your Social Security number, especially if he doesn't know you. So I don't think that would be out of school at all that they're asking you for a copy of that. I might want to know how they're going to secure that. And the same would apply with the the copies of your tax return itself, which is going to have your Social Security on it as well.

But this is probably just for verification purposes. OK. Yeah. Thanks, Rob. All right, Zeke. Appreciate your call today.

God bless you. Well, folks, it's taken us near the end of the program. Hey, before we wrap up today, let me just remind you, as we head toward the end of the year and I know it's just around the corner right about now, it's a really important time for us to hear from you as a listener supported ministry here at Faith Fi. We've just posted our year end impact report and we'd love for you to check it out. You'll find it at Faith Fi dot com slash impact.

That's Faith Fi dot com slash impact. And you'll be able to see the progress that we're making toward our year end goal, which is two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. We're sixty eight thousand into that. We've got a month to go.

And so less than two hundred thousand remains. But you'll see a form there where you can make either a monthly or a one time gift of any amount to help us reach that goal. I'd also love for you to check out just our mission and vision and our impact report on how many of God's people we've been able to impact this year as we educate, equip and connect faithful stewards. Also, some of the stories of impact are on that website as well. And then finally, where we're going, where we believe is God is leading as we really launch a movement to reach millions and millions of stewards with this message of biblical financial wisdom so that we can all make God our true treasure and see money as a tool. Check it out today and make a gift. Faith Fi dot com slash impact. Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and Faith Fi. Thank you to Laura, Dan, Amy and Jim. Couldn't do it without them. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye bye.