NRB Chronicles - Wise Women Managing Money

We're on the convention floor of the National Religious Broadcasters Convention 2021 in our show Kingdom Pursuits.

How does God take your passion and use it to build a kingdom? And so I'm here with a totally old friend, really great old friend in so many neat ways, and a new friend I'd never met her daughter before that I know of. And so there's a ministry I've been familiar with, really since my first or second or third NRB 15, 16 years ago. Oh, and then there's something new and exciting. And then so we want to share that with you. But first off, let me introduce my old friend Miriam Neff.

I'm your vintage friend, smoked Gouda cheese, you know, just fine. She really is. Because, you know, I'll never forget the first time I saw her, we were at a a bad breakfast, if I'm not mistaken, she was winning an award, and starting this ministry called the Widow Connection almost exactly at the same time that God had put it on my heart to start the Jesus labor love car repair labor for single moms, and widows in crisis. And so like, it was a natural thing.

And I came up and, and we connected websites, and we connected ministries. And like, wow, you found out real quick as you became a widow that things weren't something was needed. Something was needed.

Right. And so now we've decided there's some new things that are needed. Or got it better yet is put an opportunity in front of you that I can't be more excited about it. And you got your daughter involved in it. And so tell our listeners about why is women managing money? Well, it started with I had women coming to me who didn't know how to handle their budgets, but also some were very wealthy and hadn't been overseeing big portfolios. Now Valerie at that time wasn't like officially helping me, but she will not deny me any kind of advice.

So I'm going to Valerie to help me do what I'm called to do. I think your mom was almost in essence, sticking your head over the backyard fencing kind of right on the heels of grief. We're finding that widows are also having financial issues, either way on the spectrum of so much debt or it's really a bad situation, or also wow, now this woman is half owner of this company she's never been involved in before.

So either dealing with really rough finances on one end, or with more than she'd ever managed before and not feeling confident or informed enough to do that. So how do we help them? So I had some thoughts on that with my background and was able to contribute. You had many, many words that were smart. Yeah, and what's really neat is maybe about three years ago, a man by the name of Hans Shiel, who works with Cardinal Guide, who's also a CFP, came to us to do a radio show. So for about the last three years, I've been doing a radio show called Finishing Wealth, which talks about the very same things. And I understand a lot more because of that, how critical it is to have a CFP in your corner.

And so how cool is it that you guys are there, right? Because what women are on the radio talking about money that you know about, and even better so, what Christian women are on there talking about this really critical subject, especially because there are so many single moms, and so many widows. So as the Christian car guy, I'll just tell you that I noticed almost immediately when I started doing the show 16 years ago, that almost all my email came from either widows, or single moms, right?

Like men don't want to admit they don't know how to fix a car to begin with, you know, or they wouldn't need to know. But I would get these questions. So the classic example after I started the Jesus Flavor Love, which fits in with what you guys do so well, is this poor widow had been driving around without air conditioning for two years. Oh, so you can imagine, and we're talking North Carolina. So this was not a pleasant experience.

And so we couldn't even think about how she was driving around. So she found out about the Jesus Labor Love, and she goes into a body shop that's in the Jesus Labor Love, not thinking that, you know, gee, a body shop wouldn't be where you go to get your air conditioning done, but she didn't know. And so one of my guys, Jerry Mathis with Raised Body Shop, just a nice guy, well, we really don't work on air conditioner, but let me see what you're doing. Let me see your calling. So, so she sits him down in the front seat like that. And he says, Well, you know, show me what it's doing. And there was hot air coming out. Sure enough. And he said, Well, you see this little snowflake on the dash right now?

He said, just push that button. And like, Oh, my goodness, like, okay. But if you're hearing me, what I'm saying is how many things like that in my life, that like, Oh, my goodness, when I started finding out about Social Security, like, I had no idea. I had no idea that you could print your statement online, and that you would get a different amount when you're 65 and three months old than when you're 65 and 10 months old.

Or if you took it when you're 67, versus if you're 62, or that you had to pay different taxes on it at 62, then you would at 65. In other words, all those questions, and I'm a guy, right? And I thought I knew something. Well, and the other thing is women are totally capable of learning everything. And in fact, most of the most of the wealth of the United States now 51% of the wealth is overseen by women.

And in 15 years, it'll be three quarters. And it starts with the young women who are getting better jobs, and they're getting 401ks and all of that kind of thing. So the reality for the woman, the vintage woman, and the reality for people that Valerie's working with, with high assets that are wanting to be generous people, there's a big spectrum. So we're addressing stuff for all women.

And we have, as we've talked a little bit before, we have this website where we have the 26 videos, they're only five minutes long. But we do find that, like what you were saying, there's a lack of confidence. So it's not the lack of ability to learn about it or figure it out, but it's the lack of confidence, even more so with women, that they're just not sure, especially if for a long time they haven't been handling the finances someone else has. So they've kind of defaulted to that person, all of a sudden, they're not able to do that anymore. So it's a quick learning curve that they're going to need. So many people are intimidated by what they don't know about finances, but maybe even more so if you've never had to approach that, and so you're doing it later in life, or suddenly, that can be really scary for anybody. Yeah, and especially when you think about it from my perspective, because turning 65, all of a sudden found myself in the world of Medicare and Social Security and all these things.

I didn't have a clue. I mean, and there's all sorts of penalties that are involved if you don't do this stuff right. And so how awesome that you guys have these resources, right?

Oh, yes. And the other thing is, for instance, when we talk about the younger generations, when they see our video, for instance, when we talk about the value of that 401k, how many young women think, well, I don't want to take money out of what I could spend now, because that's a long way away. And we talk about, and in fact, in the books, we'll have charts and easy to see stuff so that they can say, wait a minute, I'm going to be able to be confident about that year down the line. And they also see that Valerie and I, not only do we have a lot to say, but we like each other and we throw in funny stuff.

And I can tell you some of her funny stuff, but then she wouldn't be happy with me. Well, it's meant to make it approachable, I think. Because I think a lot of people are intimidated by just managing finances, approaching stewardship, wanting to do it well.

And then I'm doing that from a biblical worldview is yet another thing. So I know we've whetted their appetite pretty good. What is this website?

I mean, where do these people get these views? Okay, our widowconnection.com, widowconnection.com. So it's still there at your original website, widowconnection.com? Yes, because this is a fairly new thing.

Now, what happens, though, is it's on a Bimeo also, but widowconnection is really easy, widowconnection.com. On the home page, you see our picture, not with the earphones on like we are here at NRB, and they're all 26, but you can click to what you want to learn about. So when we start out, we say, God has entrusted you. You are a Matthew 25 steward.

I want to be the 10 that earns 10. Right. And we do, it's under the Wise Women Managing Money.

And so now we'll have a book coming out in March of next year on that same topic. So it might get its own website, but for now it's under that widowconnection.com under the Wise Women Managing Money. So how beautiful is that? Again, Wise Women Managing Money on Vimeo.

I'm sure you could just do that and find the videos. But again, it's such a beautiful thing to me. It's unique. And the other thing is it's not monetized on the website. So in other words, we're not grabbing your email, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. We're selling stuff. But what they're saying is it's easy, and it's free.

That's F-R-E-E. It's free. And the other thing is that with the book, we're going to have on the cover inside and on the back that all proceeds will go to raising women's financial literacy, because we're a little bit passionate about that.

You might be able to tell it. But like just the concept, it's not ours. It's God loaning it to us.

That makes a really high motivational factor. So you may not think it's a coincidence that God was raised up wise women, right, managing money for such a time as this. Like here we are with all these massive amounts of wealth that's coming under the control based on just the way that the baby boom happened and longevity. And so here we go. And so God's raising up people all over. It's like he's got secret agents, you know, that he's all of a sudden, you know, got out there that are teaching on these subjects. And so those 50 videos, I'm curious, Valerie, which of those are you most excited that people would want?

Oh, boy. Well, I think the pinnacle of wise stewardship is going to be the generosity piece. And that's what really brings joy is because once we get confident, we come out of struggling to stable and then to surplus eventually, which that's where that path, we're not promised that it would lead there, but many times it does. But then we can be generous with others, we can help support others and ministry. So that would then go into kingdom purposes, right, and fund more of that. So I think that's the summit of the experience of getting financially independent. So we have that kind of once you win, now what do you do with the generosity piece?

So that's probably my favorite and legacy. You know, how do you teach the next generation, so that they know it from the onset, and they can be generous and do kingdom work from the onset? You know, I'd love for my kids to do it much earlier than I did. Yeah, me too. Yeah, absolutely beautiful. And Miriam, how about you?

Are those videos, you know, a little different generation, which one are you the most excited about that, that while these people are going to see this and learn some new stuff? Okay, mine is real practical and ordinary, but that's the difference between them. I'll tell you the one for me that I think is so important. It talks about what's important about your spending plan, and the first thing is, and it's a proverb that says, kill your field and then build your house. Our culture says, get a mortgage on a biggest house as you can, and hope your income will go up to match it. Accumulate credit card debt.

This is real stuff, Robbie, you know this. And so we're saying, what has God enabled you to learn? And it's not a field that you're plowing now, but it's a job, or it's a barista, or it's a law degree, or women have more buried positions now.

Your spending plan fits in under that, with margin, generosity, savings, and then you make a spending plan. That is a life-changing concept, and our younger generations, I mean Val and I, we will not be quiet. We're just, we keep, and yes, we talk to the youngsters in our relative circles and friends about this, but it's basic.

It sounds kind of primary. What Valerie said about generosity is the most important. That's the God honoring thing. That's the motivation. That's the know your why.

And then the how is, till you feel, build your house. And so, you know, I'm sure some listeners, you know, you've heard that term CFP, but it's not just, I mean, it's a significant issue. And so when they're talking about wise women, you know, Valerie, you have that and can see you explain to our listeners a little bit about what a CFP is. It's a certified financial planner. So I am an attorney and certified financial planner by credentials. I don't independently practice either one of those. I practice those with the ministries that I'm working with.

But that is a professional, the CFP that can help people make financial plans, financial strategies along the way. Yeah. In other words, there's wisdom that comes from learning, right? And the love of learning and the love of God.

And sitting for tests. And she passed the patent law, but she's not doing it. Well, I know that our listeners are more than blessed to know about this again one more time. Wise Women Managing Money. It's there at Widow Connection, my own friend, Miriam Neff, widowconnection.com, which is actually still linked at christiancarguy.com, widowconnection.com.

And you can find Wise Women Managing Money. God bless. Thank you so much for how God has given you guys this passion and you're using it to build a kingdom. Thank you, Robbie.