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Faith & Finance Live - Rethinking Open Enrollment · CIAM Radio

0:03
S1: This faith and finance live is actually prerecorded, so please
0:07
S1: don't call in. It's almost health insurance. Open enrollment time again.
0:12
S1: But what if you could skip it? Hi, I'm Rob West.
0:15
S1: For many, this is the time of year to sort
0:17
S1: through health plans, premiums, deductibles and coverage for the year ahead.
0:21
S1: But there are alternatives to traditional health insurance that don't
0:25
S1: limit enrollment to a few weeks each year. Lauren Gedeck
0:28
S1: joins us today to explain one of them. And we
0:31
S1: have some great calls lined up, but we won't be
0:33
S1: taking your live calls today because we're prerecorded. This is
0:37
S1: faith and finance. Live biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
0:44
S1: Lauren Gedeck serves as senior director of external affairs for
0:48
S1: Christian Healthcare Ministries, the nation's longest serving health cost sharing
0:52
S1: ministry and a valued underwriter of. This program provides a biblical,
0:57
S1: voluntary approach to health care, where members share one another's
1:02
S1: eligible medical expenses. Lauren. Welcome back.
1:05
S2: Thank you. Rob, I appreciate being back on the show
1:07
S2: with you.
1:08
S1: Well, we always look forward to it. Lauren. Open enrollment
1:11
S1: can feel overwhelming for families trying to choose the right
1:14
S1: health care. What are you hearing from people as they
1:17
S1: sort through their options?
1:19
S2: Well, you know, there's a lot of things for people
1:21
S2: to think about. And it's very easy to feel overwhelmed
1:25
S2: this time of the year. Um, in fact, there was
1:28
S2: a recent survey done by CHS, which is a health
1:31
S2: care policy organization, and they found that among people who
1:35
S2: enrolled on the health care marketplace, 63% said looking at
1:40
S2: their options made them feel worried. Um, you know, 52%
1:44
S2: said angry and 46% said confused. So there's a lot
1:48
S2: of negative emotions surrounding this, this time of year in
1:52
S2: terms of health care choices. So, you know, Christians, though,
1:56
S2: we have a different alternative. there's an approach to medical
2:00
S2: costs that reflect our faith and values and cuts through
2:03
S2: the confusion, and that is Christian healthcare ministries.
2:07
S1: Well, that's exactly right. And with C.h.m. Unlike traditional health insurance,
2:11
S1: there's no limited open enrollment period. So what does that
2:15
S1: mean for someone considering membership?
2:18
S2: This is the time of year when people are thinking
2:20
S2: about maybe changing their health insurance or their health care plan.
2:24
S2: You know, that's very normal. But with C.h.m. The conversation
2:28
S2: doesn't have to happen just during open enrollment time. So
2:31
S2: because we're not an insurance company, we're a health cost
2:35
S2: sharing ministry where Christians help each other with their medical expenses.
2:39
S2: You know, they can join C.h.m. Any time. That's right
2:41
S2: for them, instead of having to fit into a predefined
2:45
S2: window like open enrollment.
2:46
S1: Yeah, that's really helpful. And I know C.h.m. Is in
2:49
S1: the midst of some pretty remarkable growth right now. What
2:52
S1: do you think is behind that?
2:54
S3: Oh that's a great question.
2:56
S2: You know, we have seen just in our second quarter,
2:59
S2: more than 6600 new applications through our marketing efforts, which
3:04
S2: is an 8% increase year over year. So it appears
3:07
S2: that people are just looking for, you know, obviously, affordability
3:11
S2: because health care has become so expensive in recent years,
3:14
S2: but also peace of mind. And we like to call
3:17
S2: it assurance instead of insurance with c.h.m.
3:21
S1: Yeah. That's great. And I know one of the exciting
3:23
S1: things is that more than 80% of the people visiting
3:27
S1: c h M's website are brand new. What does that
3:30
S1: tell you about the level of interest you're seeing right now?
3:33
S2: I think we're reaching a larger portion of the Christian
3:37
S2: population because, like I said, people are looking for an
3:40
S2: alternative to their expensive health plan. So people have never
3:44
S2: really thought about health cost sharing before, are jumping on board.
3:48
S2: And they want to know what choices that they have
3:50
S2: in traditional insurance is not their only option. So CCM
3:54
S2: has been around for over 40 years and we've been
3:56
S2: able to offer help with medical costs that are rooted
4:00
S2: in community and stewardship and believers helping carry one another's burdens.
4:05
S1: If you want to learn more, go to faith.com/ch. Lauren.
4:09
S1: Just about 30s left. Give me just one quick summary
4:13
S1: for somebody who's just hearing about this for the first time.
4:15
S1: What is CHM?
4:18
S2: It's an alternative to health insurance, whereby Christians all over
4:22
S2: the country contribute each month in order to help share
4:27
S2: each other's medical costs. And what I like to tell
4:29
S2: people is it's not health insurance, but the ultimate destination
4:33
S2: is the same because your medical bills end up being
4:36
S2: taken care of. It's just the journey to get there
4:39
S2: is a little bit different and it's worth looking into.
4:41
S1: It sure is. We have some of our team members
4:44
S1: that use C.h.m. They love it. So many of our
4:47
S1: listeners have made the switch to C.h.m. And when it
4:50
S1: comes to managing health care costs, Christians have choices. And
4:54
S1: with CHM, you don't have to wait for open enrollment
4:57
S1: to explore another option. Lauren, so thankful for your time today.
5:01
S2: Oh, thank you for having me.
5:03
S1: That's Lauren with Christian Healthcare Ministries. To learn more about
5:06
S1: how c h works, explore membership options, and see whether
5:11
S1: health cost sharing might be right for your family. Visit faith.com/c.
5:17
S1: That's faith f.com/ch. We'll be right back with your questions.
5:23
S1: Stick around. Thanks so much for joining us today on
5:41
S1: Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West, your host. Hey,
5:45
S1: our team is away from the studio today. We're not here,
5:47
S1: but we've got some great questions that we lined up
5:50
S1: in advance, and we'll get to those in just a moment, folks.
5:54
S1: Have you checked out recently our website at faith.com? If not,
5:57
S1: I'd encourage you to do that. You'll find our community
6:00
S1: there where you can post questions and comments, hear from
6:03
S1: others that are on the stewardship journey as well. You
6:06
S1: can also access our content and check out the Faith
6:08
S1: Fi app. It's at faith fi.com. Hey, before we head
6:11
S1: to the phones, here's what we recognize. One of the
6:14
S1: key ways God shapes your spiritual journey is through your
6:17
S1: financial journey. It's one of the most tangible expressions of
6:22
S1: what we value and where we place our trust and
6:25
S1: what we fear. All of that comes out through our
6:28
S1: checkbook testimony, if you will. Now, maybe we don't use
6:31
S1: a checkbook anymore. Some do. Um, but if we print
6:35
S1: out your financial accounts and look at where you and
6:38
S1: I are spending our money, it tells a story about
6:40
S1: what we value. Here's the other thing. Money is a
6:44
S1: rival for our hearts if we allow it to, but
6:47
S1: we want to put it in its proper place. Make
6:49
S1: it a tool to accomplish God's purposes except our role
6:53
S1: as stewards. See God as our ultimate treasure and the
6:56
S1: owner of everything and our provider. And when we have
7:00
S1: everything in its proper place, then money becomes a blessing.
7:03
S1: Not only so we can have a healthy relationship with it,
7:06
S1: but so we can use it to enjoy, but also
7:09
S1: to advance God's redemptive purposes in the world through our
7:13
S1: giving and through our deployment of capital, our investments, through
7:18
S1: just a, a celebration, a nice meal with family and friends.
7:22
S1: I mean, that is what God intended. But when we
7:25
S1: allow the creation to be something that we worship over
7:29
S1: the creator, well, it creates real problems. Remember, God's Word
7:32
S1: says the love of money is the root of all
7:34
S1: kinds of evil. So each day on this program, we
7:37
S1: want to help you think through the practical decisions you're
7:40
S1: making in your financial life, but do it in light
7:43
S1: of biblical wisdom. Uh, before we head to the phones
7:46
S1: in the news, health savings accounts can be a powerful
7:49
S1: way to prepare for medical costs in retirement because contributions,
7:54
S1: growth and qualified withdrawals are tax free. But leaving a
7:59
S1: large HSA behind can create tax issues for Non-spouse heirs.
8:04
S1: A surviving spouse can inherit an HSA without tax consequences
8:09
S1: and continue using it for qualified medical expenses. But when children, grandchildren,
8:15
S1: friends or other non-spouse beneficiaries inherit an HSA, the account
8:20
S1: loses its tax advantaged status. The full balance generally becomes
8:25
S1: taxable income to them in the year of the owner's death,
8:29
S1: potentially pushing them into a higher tax bracket. To reduce
8:34
S1: the burden, account holders may want to spend down large
8:37
S1: HSA balances, name a charity as beneficiary or divide the
8:42
S1: account among multiple errors or alert beneficiaries in advance. Non-spouse
8:48
S1: heirs may also reduce taxable income by using HSA funds
8:52
S1: to pay the deceased owner's unpaid medical bills within 12
8:57
S1: months of death. So while an HSA is a powerful
9:00
S1: tool for future medical expenses and should be used alongside
9:05
S1: other tools for retirement savings, it shouldn't be treated as
9:09
S1: a set it and forget it account. The more it grows,
9:12
S1: the more important it is to have a plan for
9:14
S1: how it will be used and what happens to it
9:17
S1: after death. For savers, the goal is simple ensure the
9:21
S1: money helps cover health care costs rather than leaving heirs
9:25
S1: with an unexpected tax bill, something a lot of people
9:28
S1: don't think about. All right, let's dive into your phone
9:30
S1: calls today. We're going to begin in Texas today. Danny.
9:32
S1: Go ahead sir.
9:34
S4: Yes. Uh, I've got a retirement account with a broker, and, uh,
9:39
S4: I was talking to him about, you know, figuring out
9:42
S4: how to do it on a biblical, you know, values.
9:45
S4: And he was asking me for like five filters that
9:49
S4: I would think would be, you know, appropriate. And I
9:53
S4: really didn't know. I thought, well, you know, of course
9:55
S4: one of them would be, uh, anti-abortion, but what, what's
9:58
S4: your thoughts on that?
10:00
S1: Yeah, yeah. Good question. Um, first of all, how did
10:03
S1: he respond to that? Did it appear as if it
10:05
S1: was something he had thought through and was able to
10:09
S1: provide to you? I'm just curious.
10:12
S4: Yes, definitely. He said he's done that for other clients also. So, uh, yeah,
10:18
S4: it would just make my, uh, my statement each month
10:22
S4: look a lot longer, you know, because, you know, he's
10:25
S4: not putting them in, you know, mutual funds as much. And,
10:28
S4: and actually my cost would be a little bit higher. But,
10:31
S4: you know, you know, that's, you know, that's, that's fine
10:34
S4: with me.
10:35
S1: Yeah, yeah. Very good. Yeah. I love the fact that
10:38
S1: you're going down this road and, you know, I think
10:41
S1: there's a few markers here you're going to want to
10:43
S1: think about, you know, first is just what I said
10:45
S1: a moment ago. It's the starting place for all of us,
10:48
S1: just to acknowledge God's ownership and recognizing we're managing his resources,
10:53
S1: not our own. So we're stewards. And I love the
10:56
S1: fact that you're thinking about it through that lens. I
10:59
S1: think we also need to understand that investing is ownership.
11:01
S1: You and I, when we invest, we are part owners
11:04
S1: of actual companies that should be providing goods and services
11:08
S1: that are good for mankind and serve people. But to
11:12
S1: the extent we're in companies that are profiting from industries
11:17
S1: that are misaligned with our values, well, that's when it
11:20
S1: can be problematic. So I think the first approach is
11:23
S1: to apply what you're describing and what will often call
11:26
S1: a negative screen, and that's to filter out companies or
11:31
S1: that are in industries. And typically we think about the
11:34
S1: big five abortion related businesses. So companies that are involved
11:38
S1: in abortion services or abortion drugs or abortion related activity.
11:43
S1: Second would be pornography or sexually explicit content. Third would
11:48
S1: be tobacco. Where again, their primary business is tobacco products. Uh,
11:54
S1: gambling would be a fourth. And then, you know, alcohol
11:57
S1: would be, uh, you know, businesses heavily centered on abuse
12:03
S1: oriented marketing and, and where, you know, we know the
12:06
S1: lion's share of, of their users are, you know, in,
12:09
S1: in an unhealthy relationship with, with their products. And so
12:14
S1: those would often be the big five. Now it can
12:16
S1: go beyond that because really this is a conviction matter.
12:19
S1: So some, you know, might look at, uh, you know,
12:22
S1: predatory lending or companies hostile to religious liberty. I mean,
12:26
S1: there could be any number of other categories, but, you know,
12:30
S1: where an advisor can do this, him or herself, then
12:33
S1: they can screen for companies like this automatically using a
12:37
S1: screening tool. Often they will just use what are called
12:40
S1: faith based asset managers or faith based mutual funds or
12:44
S1: exchange traded funds. And because the asset manager has an
12:49
S1: explicitly faith based approach, then they are already providing these
12:56
S1: kinds of screens. And, you know, you could dig into
12:59
S1: or your advisor can into each asset manager to find out,
13:03
S1: you know, what are some of the key ideas around
13:05
S1: which they screen on a negative basis? And so many
13:09
S1: of the asset managers on our program that are sponsors
13:13
S1: of this show are the, the core and the largest
13:17
S1: faith based asset managers in the country. So you could
13:19
S1: go to faith.com or send your advisor there, click on
13:22
S1: the show and what you would find. There is a
13:25
S1: list of those asset managers that you know, he may
13:29
S1: want to use as a starting point. Uh, you know,
13:31
S1: companies like Guidestone or, uh, you know, you could look
13:35
S1: at Eventide, you could look at Praxis. Um, you could
13:39
S1: look at Timothy plan one ascent. These are really some
13:42
S1: of the core asset managers that are going to do
13:44
S1: this for you. The other thing they're going to do
13:47
S1: is often use what are called positive screens. So whereas
13:51
S1: you want to screen out those companies that are profiting
13:54
S1: from industries that are misaligned with your values, they often,
13:58
S1: in addition to that, will actively invest in companies that
14:01
S1: promote human flourishing or ethical labor or community building. And
14:06
S1: then they will also, as a third kind of pillar,
14:09
S1: they will ensure active management. So they're voting proxies to
14:14
S1: advocate for righteous corporate governance and religious freedom. So let's
14:18
S1: do this. I want to make sure you've got all
14:20
S1: your questions answered. I'm up against a break. So, Danny,
14:23
S1: you and I will talk a bit more off the air.
14:25
S1: We'll be right back with more questions. Stay with us.
14:39
S1: So glad to have you with us today on Faith
14:41
S1: and Finance Live. I'm Rob West. Hey, our team is
14:43
S1: away from the studio today, so don't call in. But
14:46
S1: we lined up some great questions in advance that I
14:49
S1: know you will enjoy. By the way, you know, our
14:52
S1: last caller was asking about faith based investing, and a
14:55
S1: growing number of Christians are wanting to ensure that their
14:58
S1: values are reflected in their investments. And today, it's more
15:02
S1: possible than it's ever been with world class investments, where
15:05
S1: you don't have to give up one penny of returns.
15:09
S1: In fact, there's more and more growing empirical data that
15:12
S1: says when you put a faith lens in your investment
15:16
S1: decision making, it's an added source of what's called alpha.
15:20
S1: It can be a factor in driving outperformance. And think
15:25
S1: about it. It should be this way when companies are
15:28
S1: loving their neighbors and their stakeholders and their suppliers and
15:31
S1: treating them well, you know, that's good for business because
15:34
S1: that's the way God designed it. And so by choosing
15:38
S1: those faith based asset managers, either in the mutual fund
15:41
S1: space or ETF space, like the companies I mentioned, Guidestone
15:45
S1: and One Ascent and Timothy Plan and Eventide and Praxis
15:49
S1: and others. You know that you are with a company
15:53
S1: who is not only looking for where is the value
15:56
S1: in the companies we're buying, but are we participating in
15:59
S1: industries we don't want to be as Christians? If not,
16:02
S1: let's make sure we get with a fund family that's
16:05
S1: going to be thinking about that. And if you want
16:07
S1: to find an advisor who has the ability to bring
16:10
S1: a faith orientation to their portfolio construction as an investment advisor,
16:16
S1: you're able to filter for certified Kingdom advisors on our
16:19
S1: website that specifically do faith based investing. So just go
16:22
S1: to find aka.com. And as you answer those quick 3
16:27
S1: or 4 questions there before you get the list of C, k,
16:30
S1: s in your area, make sure when you choose the
16:32
S1: investing category, you select the faith based investing category. And
16:36
S1: that will limit the search results for a certified Kingdom
16:39
S1: Advisor by only those k s that do faith based
16:42
S1: investing again that website find ack.com. All right. Let's go
16:47
S1: back to the phones. David is in Georgia. Go ahead sir.
16:50
S5: Hi, Rob. I really appreciate your ministry. And the last
16:54
S5: question about investments. So after investments, I have a two
16:58
S5: part question about charitable giving.
17:01
S1: Okay.
17:01
S5: What are the tax advantaged charitable giving options available to us,
17:06
S5: such as donor advised funds? And then the second part.
17:10
S5: And what ages are these various options available?
17:14
S1: Yeah. Good a great question. Um, let's just kind of
17:18
S1: move through the most common, starting with the one that,
17:22
S1: you know, I think is the most powerful, but there
17:25
S1: is an age restriction on it and it's a qualified
17:27
S1: charitable distribution. I talk about these often. It starts at
17:31
S1: age 70.5. So you need to be halfway through past
17:36
S1: your 70th birthday through the year. but at that point,
17:40
S1: you're able to give money directly from your IRA to
17:44
S1: a qualified charity. Any 501 C three, including your church,
17:48
S1: you can satisfy your required minimum. Now, those don't typically
17:51
S1: begin until age 73, but it's the only way to
17:54
S1: get money out of an IRA that would normally be taxable,
17:59
S1: but you don't ever add it to your taxable income,
18:02
S1: which is really helpful because, you know it keeps you
18:05
S1: in a lower tax bracket. It doesn't affect your Medicare
18:08
S1: premiums at all. Whereas any other withdrawals from a pre-tax IRA,
18:13
S1: like a traditional would otherwise be taxable to you and
18:17
S1: cause your overall taxable income to rise. So qualified charitable
18:21
S1: distribution straight from your custodian and your IRA to a charity.
18:26
S1: But you have to be 70.5. Um, donating appreciated stock.
18:30
S1: David would be another one available at any age and
18:33
S1: avoids capital gains while allowing a charitable deduction for the
18:38
S1: fair market value, but you've got to transfer the appreciated
18:41
S1: stock before you sell it. So really effective for highly
18:45
S1: appreciated investments. You mentioned a donor advised fund. I love it.
18:49
S1: It's available at any age. It allows someone to contribute assets,
18:54
S1: receive an immediate tax deduction and then distribute gifts to
18:59
S1: charities over time. And it's really effective at not only
19:02
S1: taking cash, although you can do it. And a lot
19:05
S1: of people will use it to give maybe more than
19:08
S1: one year's charitable contributions for the purpose of getting up
19:13
S1: above the standard deduction so they can itemize and then
19:17
S1: kind of giving it away or granting it out over
19:19
S1: multiple years. It's a strategy called bunching. But beyond cash,
19:24
S1: the donor advised funds really powerful where you contribute assets
19:28
S1: because it allows you to give and then sell, and
19:31
S1: you can do it with just about anything. You could
19:33
S1: do it with a piece of property. You can do
19:35
S1: it with I mentioned stock. You could do it with,
19:38
S1: you know, livestock as long as you've got a donor
19:40
S1: advised fund sponsor who's willing to take it, you can
19:43
S1: put just about anything into a donor advised fund and
19:46
S1: then sell it. And there's real benefits to that. Uh,
19:49
S1: charitable gift annuities, usually attractive for those 65 and older
19:54
S1: where you'd give an asset to a charity, you get
19:56
S1: a fixed income, lifetime income payment and a partial charitable gift.
20:02
S1: And then, you know, there are other strategies along the
20:05
S1: way as well, including taxpayers of any age can now
20:09
S1: claim a new universal deduction of up to $1,000 for
20:13
S1: single filers, 2000 for married couples, for cash gifts to
20:17
S1: public charities. Um, you know, that would be another one
20:20
S1: that's just kind of generally available to everyone. But let
20:23
S1: me stop there, David. Is that helpful?
20:25
S5: That is super comprehensive. I really appreciate what you've just
20:29
S5: told us.
20:30
S1: Absolutely. And I appreciate you asking because listen, as Christ followers,
20:34
S1: we want to give as just kind of an overflow
20:36
S1: of the grace that's been extended to us. What a
20:38
S1: privilege it is to take a portion of what God
20:40
S1: has entrusted to us and return it to kingdom advancing endeavors,
20:45
S1: whether it's loving a person you know, right in your
20:48
S1: neighborhood who's in need or giving to a ministry on
20:51
S1: the other side of the world, or your local church,
20:54
S1: which of course should be our starting place. Um, you know,
20:57
S1: we want to do that wisely. I think the Bible
20:59
S1: affirms that. And there are some, some great tools in
21:02
S1: order to do that. Hey, by the way, if you
21:03
S1: want to set up a donor advised fund, I would
21:06
S1: use the National Christian Foundation, NCF. If you want to
21:09
S1: learn more, go to faith fi.com slash. And just a
21:13
S1: quick explanation as to why I would use NCF. When
21:17
S1: you use a donor advised fund, you technically have given
21:20
S1: the money away to the donor advised fund sponsor. Now,
21:24
S1: the idea that it's donor advised means they don't initiate
21:28
S1: their own grants out of the account. They let you
21:31
S1: tell them where you want it to go and then
21:34
S1: they send it. But the donor advised fund sponsor has
21:37
S1: to allow it, and they may choose with certain Christian
21:40
S1: ministries to say, no, they're not on our approved list
21:43
S1: and you don't want that. So that's why I would
21:45
S1: use a company that's specifically designed to serve God's people. Well,
21:49
S1: that's the National Christian Foundation. Billions and billions given away.
21:52
S1: Founded by Larry Burkett and Ron Blue. Just go to faith.com/ncf.
21:58
S1: Thanks for your call, David. I'm so thankful you're joining
22:12
S1: us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West. Hey,
22:15
S1: just a quick reminder, our team is away from the
22:17
S1: studio today, so don't call in. But in just a
22:20
S1: few moments, we're going to get back to some questions
22:22
S1: that we lined up in advance that I know you'll
22:25
S1: find very interesting. But let me take a moment just
22:28
S1: to invite you first to be a supporter of this
22:31
S1: ministry here at Faith Fi. You know, we bring you
22:33
S1: this broadcast every day as a listener supported ministry only
22:37
S1: because of your generous support. So maybe you listen regularly.
22:41
S1: Perhaps you count on this program. Maybe you've been able
22:44
S1: to apply some of the wisdom from God's Word that
22:47
S1: you've heard in your financial life, or it's just help
22:51
S1: you to be that wise and faithful steward, and you'd
22:54
S1: like to be a part of our team. Well, one
22:56
S1: way you can do that is by investing in this
22:58
S1: work through a one time gift, or even by becoming
23:01
S1: a faith partner. I just invite you to join us
23:05
S1: on this journey. When you head to faith.com and click give,
23:08
S1: a gift of any amount would be a big help. Again,
23:11
S1: that's faith fi.com. And just click give and let me
23:14
S1: say thank you in advance. Your gift will make a
23:18
S1: huge difference. All right. We're gonna head back to the phones.
23:21
S1: Let's go to Texas. Vina, how can I help you?
23:24
S6: Hi. How are you doing?
23:25
S1: Doing great. Thank you for your call.
23:27
S6: I hope I you got me some answers. Um, the
23:31
S6: reason for my call is me and my husband. We got, uh,
23:35
S6: we got blessed, and we were able to sell our
23:38
S6: old house for what we asked for and to purchase
23:41
S6: another house straight out with no house payment. So we
23:46
S6: actually have quite a bit of money left over to
23:49
S6: get ready for him to retire. But my fear is
23:53
S6: he's wanting to take some of the money and invest
23:56
S6: in Bitcoin.
23:57
S1: Mhm.
23:58
S6: I, I've always been a, I can't I get very
24:01
S6: nervous about things that I can't see. Yeah. And I
24:06
S6: mean if it if it falls, then we you know,
24:09
S6: we lose. And I'd rather him find something to invest
24:13
S6: as a little more safer.
24:15
S1: Yes.
24:16
S6: Than Bitcoin.
24:17
S1: Yeah. I would absolutely concur with you. And I don't
24:20
S1: want to minimize what he's saying. I mean there's there's
24:23
S1: been a lot of talk and, uh, a lot of folks, uh,
24:27
S1: you know, in the area of, of cryptocurrencies as an investment.
24:32
S1: But let me just say right off the bat. I mean,
24:34
S1: these are highly speculative investments. And I think if they're.
24:40
S1: Not used properly, and I would say in a very
24:43
S1: small percentage of your portfolio, and I'm going to say
24:46
S1: no more than like 3% of your portfolio. It quickly
24:50
S1: becomes a get rich quick gamble that conflicts with biblical
24:55
S1: principles of patient stewardship and what the Bible calls steady plotting.
25:01
S1: And so we just really have to be careful there.
25:03
S1: I mean, it, uh, you know, it has been, uh,
25:06
S1: very speculative, which means a lot of volatility. So, I mean,
25:11
S1: for instance, just take over the last year, Bitcoin reached
25:14
S1: an all time high of about, uh, a little more
25:17
S1: than $120,000 in late 2025 and then fell sharply in
25:24
S1: the early part of this year, in 2026 alone. It's
25:28
S1: experienced some significant pullbacks. At one point it was down 25%
25:33
S1: and this is just in a few months from its high.
25:37
S1: Recently it's been trading around the $80,000 range over two years.
25:42
S1: You know, it's it's outperformed many traditional assets. Um despite
25:47
S1: the volatility but but there's still been significant volatility. Um
25:52
S1: you know, what is it. Well essentially um you have
25:55
S1: to understand, you know, Bitcoin as um, you know, really
26:00
S1: it's a cryptocurrency. In 2008 there was an anonymous white
26:05
S1: paper that was drafted. It was released, um, creating this
26:10
S1: new digital currency called Bitcoin. And the vision was a
26:14
S1: peer to peer currency outside of the control of any government.
26:19
S1: And somewhat amazingly, the whole white paper is only nine pages.
26:22
S1: Anybody can go download it and read it. But it's
26:25
S1: captured the imagination of millions of people. And the reason
26:29
S1: people like it is because, you know, it's decentralized. It's
26:33
S1: outside of government control. Uh, you know, in in direct
26:37
S1: contrast to the inflationary monetary policies that we're seeing around
26:42
S1: the world today. And because of the inflation we're, we're experiencing,
26:45
S1: it was designed from the beginning to act like sound money.
26:50
S1: And so unlike government currencies, which are constantly being devalued
26:54
S1: by printing more, there's a fixed cap of 21 million
26:58
S1: bitcoins that can ever be produced. And so that's why
27:01
S1: a lot of people refer to it as digital gold,
27:04
S1: because they think about it in the same way that
27:07
S1: they think about having an allocation to gold, as it
27:11
S1: being a store of value that protects your purchasing power
27:15
S1: and this constant debasement of government currencies. Not to get
27:18
S1: too technical, but even then, you know, in this year,
27:23
S1: it has not followed. You know, gold like it had
27:26
S1: in the past couple of years. Gold has, you know,
27:28
S1: done very well. And as I said, in the early
27:31
S1: part of this year, Bitcoin had a dramatic fall. And
27:35
S1: so even then, some people are starting to question whether
27:38
S1: it's it's going to moving forward, act like they would
27:41
S1: expect gold to act. But in terms of a gold
27:45
S1: allocation for an overall portfolio, I would never put more
27:48
S1: than 10% in gold. And I think Bitcoin could be
27:52
S1: a part of that 10%. But again, I would say
27:55
S1: no more than 3%. So what do you do with
27:58
S1: the rest of it? Well, the rest of it should
28:00
S1: just be in a broadly diversified strategy. What are your
28:04
S1: and your husband's ages?
28:06
S6: Uh, I'm 61 and he's 67.
28:09
S1: Okay, so let's split the difference.
28:11
S6: We're still young.
28:12
S1: Yeah, absolutely. You are. So let's call it 65. So
28:15
S1: essentially what I would suggest for somebody, uh, you know,
28:19
S1: in their early 60s to mid 60s would be like
28:22
S1: a 6040 or a 5050 portfolio, where you've got half
28:27
S1: of this money in a broadly diversified stock allocation, and
28:30
S1: you've got the other half in a broadly diversified fixed
28:33
S1: income allocation. So one is stocks and one is think
28:37
S1: bonds or CDs or government treasuries, things like that that
28:42
S1: are very stable. And that balance between the stocks and
28:45
S1: the fixed income is going to give you some growth
28:47
S1: on the stock side and maybe some income through dividends
28:51
S1: and on the fixed income, it's going to give you
28:52
S1: stability and more income. And you put all that together
28:56
S1: and you should do well, but you wouldn't have this wild,
28:59
S1: you know, volatility and fluctuation. So let's say we got
29:03
S1: into a recession and the market was down 20 or 30%.
29:06
S1: And it could be if you had a 5050 portfolio,
29:09
S1: you might be down, you know, 10 to 15%, but
29:13
S1: it's only a temporary decline and you're not down as
29:16
S1: much as the market because you've kind of you've tempered
29:19
S1: that with your fixed income allocation. So, you know, that's
29:22
S1: the kind of approach I would take. I certainly wouldn't put,
29:25
S1: you know, a significant percentage. Again, in my example, I
29:28
S1: wouldn't put more than 3% in Bitcoin just because of
29:31
S1: the reasons I mentioned. Now, where do you go from here?
29:34
S1: I would encourage you to reach out to an advisor
29:38
S1: who you could sit with, who could clarify what this
29:41
S1: next season of life is going to look like for you.
29:44
S1: You could talk about your horizon in terms of how
29:47
S1: long you know you all plan to continue to work,
29:49
S1: what your income needs are going to be in retirement,
29:52
S1: how much you've accumulated, what other retirement assets that you have.
29:56
S1: And then together, he or she could build an investment
29:59
S1: portfolio that makes sense, that still has room for growth,
30:03
S1: but it's not overly aggressive and it can help you
30:06
S1: generate the income you need alongside other retirement income sources.
30:11
S1: You're going to have, let's say, Social Security, and if
30:13
S1: there's a pension or anything else. But I wouldn't do
30:17
S1: that yourself. I'd trust an advisor to do that for you,
30:20
S1: but somebody who's going to take into account your goals
30:22
S1: and objectives at the same time. Does that make sense?
30:25
S6: Uh, because we have kids and grandkids that, you know,
30:30
S6: we would like to leave something for them. And I
30:32
S6: don't want to lose it all on craziness.
30:35
S1: Well, yeah. And even before they get it, you want
30:37
S1: to make sure you have it. It lasts the rest
30:39
S1: of your life and it can provide an income source.
30:42
S1: So when your husband stops working alongside Social Security, which
30:46
S1: is not meant to cover 100% of his income, you've
30:49
S1: still got something there. Hang on the line. We'll talk
30:51
S1: a bit more. Just a quick reminder, we're not here today,
30:54
S1: so don't call in. But we're going to head to
30:56
S1: a break and much more coming just after this. Stay
30:59
S1: with us. So glad to have you with us today
31:14
S1: on Faith and Finance Live. Our team is away today,
31:17
S1: so don't call in. But we lined up some great
31:20
S1: questions in advance and we'll be going to those here
31:22
S1: in just a moment. Let me also remind you that
31:25
S1: the advice that I give each day on this program
31:27
S1: is general in nature. We offer principles and ideas that
31:32
S1: apply at a high level. They are not personalized. So
31:36
S1: that's why you should always seek professional financial advice. And
31:40
S1: if you'd like to find a professional who shares your values,
31:43
S1: we of course, here at Faith and Finance Live recommend
31:46
S1: the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation. These are men and women
31:49
S1: who've met high standards, and they've been trained to bring
31:52
S1: a biblical worldview of financial decision making. You can find 1@faith.com.
31:57
S1: All right. Let's head back to the phones to Arkansas. Lynn.
32:00
S1: Go ahead.
32:01
S3: Hi.
32:02
S7: Um, thank you. Anyway, um, my question is about Venmo.
32:06
S7: I don't know if you know anything about that because
32:09
S7: it's not about investing, but, um, you know, people use
32:13
S7: it a lot in buying and selling things and on
32:16
S7: Facebook marketplace. Um, but I heard that you should be
32:20
S7: cautious about taking it from people you don't know. And
32:24
S7: that's the whole point on marketplace. You don't know these people.
32:28
S7: So what do you have to say about that?
32:31
S1: Yes. Great. And is this something you've been doing? Uh,
32:34
S1: have you been active on Facebook Marketplace?
32:37
S7: No, that's that's why I'm asking is because it's all
32:40
S7: new to me and I just take cash, which I.
32:43
S8: Yeah.
32:44
S1: And that's going to be the safest for local sales. Um,
32:48
S1: you know, I think, you know, you do need to
32:49
S1: be cautious with Venmo or digital payments from strangers. Uh,
32:54
S1: a payment may appear legitimate and later be reversed if
32:57
S1: it's tied to fraud or a stolen account. Uh, don't
33:01
S1: ever accept overpayments. So if someone sends extra money and
33:05
S1: asks you to refund part of it, that's a major
33:08
S1: red flag. You always want to be sure if you're
33:10
S1: doing Facebook with any of these, you know, online exchanges, um,
33:15
S1: use a safe public location. So many police departments. I
33:18
S1: know the one in my area has a designated exchange
33:21
S1: zone and it's under 24 hour surveillance with cameras and
33:25
S1: so forth. Um, so just be careful there. But in
33:29
S1: terms of, you know, the scams and the fraudulent payments,
33:33
S1: you know, a scammer absolutely, you know, can use, uh,
33:37
S1: stolen credit card or hacked account and then reverse the money.
33:41
S1: That's typically the biggest problem there. Um, and there's not
33:45
S1: really strong buyer seller protections for personal payments. It was
33:50
S1: really originally designed for transactions between trusted friends and family. Um,
33:55
S1: and so you just, you need to know that, um,
33:59
S1: so I would say that the best safety practices would
34:01
S1: be only transact with people you know and trust. Never
34:05
S1: send money back to strangers for quote, mistakes, um, use
34:10
S1: business profiles, you know, for legitimate business activity and, um,
34:15
S1: you know, make sure you, uh, you turn on your
34:17
S1: two factor authentication on your own Venmo account would be
34:22
S1: the the way to avoid any of these potential problems.
34:25
S9: Okay. All right. Great.
34:27
S7: Thank you so much.
34:28
S1: All right. You're welcome. We appreciate your call today. Lord
34:30
S1: bless you. Uh, let's see, Texas is where we're going next. Hi, David.
34:33
S1: Go ahead.
34:34
S5: Yes, I'm.
34:35
S10: 87 years old. All of my assets have beneficiaries designated.
34:41
S10: Is there any reason to have probate or is there
34:44
S10: a maximum dollar amount that requires probate? So I would
34:49
S10: have to get a trust.
34:50
S1: Yeah, it's a good question. Um, you know, anything that
34:53
S1: has a beneficiary is going to pass outside of your estate, uh,
34:57
S1: directly to the named beneficiary. So that really is kind
35:01
S1: of now been removed from your estate. So the will
35:05
S1: is going to cover everything else because there are going
35:08
S1: to be other things that you're going to want to,
35:11
S1: you know, make sure you have covered at your passing.
35:14
S1: So think bank accounts, well, that could have a beneficiary
35:17
S1: on it. But, you know, any kind of personal, uh,
35:20
S1: you know, property or furniture or jewelry, things like that,
35:24
S1: that's where the will is going to be helpful if
35:26
S1: that's all that's in there, because most of your accounts
35:28
S1: have named beneficiaries. And you know, if you have a
35:31
S1: home with a transfer on death deed, which is like
35:35
S1: a beneficiary for a piece of property, then, you know,
35:38
S1: I think a simple will will cover you and just
35:40
S1: make sure that you've decided in advance where those other
35:44
S1: personal assets are going to go that don't have the
35:48
S1: ability to have named beneficiaries. Does that make sense?
35:52
S10: Yes it does. So there is no, um, certain amount
35:55
S10: of the estate that requires a probate in dollar value.
35:59
S1: Uh, no there's not. I mean, you know, it's always
36:02
S1: going to involve probate, but in terms of the cost,
36:07
S1: you know, it's going to be very minimal. And, you know, typically, uh,
36:11
S1: you know, it could just fly right through. It depends
36:14
S1: on the state. I mean, smaller states, you know, can
36:18
S1: avoid full probate where there would be, you know, and again,
36:22
S1: it's going to come down to the state that you're in.
36:24
S1: And I'm not sure about Texas specifically, but if it's
36:28
S1: on the smaller side and it's below the states small
36:32
S1: estate limit, um, then, you know, you could use just
36:36
S1: a simple estate affidavit to settle it pretty quickly and
36:40
S1: not have the time and the expense of the court costs.
36:43
S1: So I would just check, you know, for the state
36:45
S1: of Texas and see what that is and, and see
36:48
S1: if you're under that threshold.
36:50
S10: So if it was like a million and a half,
36:52
S10: you think that probably would require probate.
36:55
S1: I do. Yeah. So a small estate is typically, again,
36:58
S1: depending on the state, going to be somewhere between, you know,
37:01
S1: 50 and $200,000. Um, I think in Texas, that's less
37:06
S1: than 75,000. You know that before it doesn't go through probate. So,
37:12
S1: you know, I think what you could do is, again,
37:14
S1: if you've got that beneficiary designations, those pass outside of
37:18
S1: the estate. So then it would just be the other
37:21
S1: assets that remain.
37:23
S10: Okay. Yeah. I think I would still value of the
37:26
S10: home would be a trigger because it would be about 400,000.
37:29
S1: Yeah. So then it definitely would. Now on that you
37:32
S1: could put and I'm not sure if Texas allows this,
37:35
S1: you'd need to check, but you could do a Todd
37:38
S1: deed transfer on death deed. You know, such a you know,
37:41
S1: that would allow your house to pass directly to name
37:43
S1: beneficiaries if the state of Texas allows that.
37:47
S10: So then the option to be out of probate would
37:49
S10: be a trust.
37:51
S1: Uh, yes, that's exactly right. Now, remember those assets that are,
37:56
S1: you know, have the beneficiary don't count toward the estate's
37:58
S1: value for probate purposes. But to your point, if your
38:02
S1: home was in it, that would automatically trigger it and
38:04
S1: it would need to go through probate. So then yes,
38:07
S1: your options would be if the deed is available in Texas,
38:11
S1: you could do that. And that would pull that out.
38:13
S1: And maybe that would allow you to get below that
38:15
S1: small estate threshold. The other option is a revocable trust,
38:19
S1: which is going to cost you somewhere between 2 and $5000.
38:23
S1: And then that could pass out of probate as well.
38:26
S10: Okay. Very good. Excellent. Thank you.
38:29
S1: All right. David, God bless you, my friend. Appreciate you
38:31
S1: being on the program. Let's go to Alabama. Hi, Susie.
38:34
S1: How can I help?
38:35
S11: Hi. Uh, yes. Uh, my boyfriend of ten years is 62,
38:40
S11: and he took an early retirement. Um, construction work just
38:44
S11: kind of wears the body down after a while. So, um,
38:48
S11: he took an early retirement, and, um, he's got profit
38:52
S11: sharing that he will be getting in about two more
38:54
S11: weeks and he has no plans other than just to
38:59
S11: get this money and just put it in his checking
39:00
S11: account or keep it in his man cave or in
39:04
S11: the house or something.
39:06
S8: Sure.
39:06
S11: And I'm trying to get him to do something with
39:09
S11: the money, but I don't know how you know to
39:11
S11: go about getting anything lined up for him or what
39:14
S11: to tell him. And he just can't just do that
39:17
S11: with his money.
39:19
S1: Sure. Well, you know, I think we've got to take
39:21
S1: a step back because, you know, the way we handle
39:23
S1: money is ultimately symptomatic of our hearts and what we
39:28
S1: value and where we place our trust. And so I think,
39:31
S1: you know, whenever we're setting financial goals, it's really important
39:35
S1: to start even before we start thinking about the specific
39:39
S1: goals with our values as Christ followers and say, okay,
39:42
S1: what's most important to us? What is where is God
39:45
S1: taking us as he enters this fourth quarter of life? Or,
39:49
S1: you know, this, uh, this next season? You know, what
39:53
S1: is it that he feels like God is calling him
39:55
S1: to do? He's going to have a little bit more time.
39:57
S1: God created us to be workers and to be productive
40:00
S1: with our hands. That might mean a change because, as
40:03
S1: you said, being in construction can take a toll on
40:05
S1: your body. But it also means he has incredible wisdom
40:09
S1: and experience to share with others and to be in community,
40:11
S1: and to be one of those elders at the city
40:14
S1: gate that we see in Scripture. And so I think,
40:17
S1: you know, having a vision for this next season is
40:20
S1: really important. And then kind of marrying the resources, the
40:24
S1: financial resources to that vision, recognizing you and I and
40:28
S1: your boyfriend are all stewards of God's money. It's it
40:31
S1: all belongs to him. It doesn't belong to us. It
40:33
S1: doesn't matter if it's coming to him by way of
40:35
S1: a of a profit sharing plan or Social Security. It's
40:39
S1: all God's 100% of it. And so our charge is
40:42
S1: to be found faithful. And so perhaps it's a conversation
40:46
S1: he may or may not be willing to engage you
40:47
S1: in this, but perhaps it's a conversation that starts with, hey,
40:51
S1: let's talk about what this next season's going to look like,
40:53
S1: and let's talk about how this money that's coming in
40:56
S1: can be a tool to accomplish that. And to the
40:59
S1: extent it's unnecessary, because he has other means by which
41:03
S1: to cover lifestyle spending, maybe the, you know, the thing
41:06
S1: to do is to at very least put it aside
41:09
S1: in a high yield savings account to earn some interest.
41:12
S1: Maybe it's to invest it, you know, and take a
41:14
S1: longer term perspective. Because even at 62, he needs to
41:18
S1: be thinking 30 years down the road in terms of,
41:21
S1: you know, how long this money needs to last. And
41:23
S1: that means in order to offset inflation, which we're all
41:27
S1: very well aware of lately, in order to offset inflation,
41:30
S1: we've got to have the money growing and it's not
41:32
S1: going to grow. You know, sitting in his checking account
41:35
S1: or under his mattress. So, you know, I think perhaps
41:38
S1: it's the vision and value side first, talking about his
41:42
S1: faith and the role we have as stewards and where
41:44
S1: God's leading him in this next season. And then there's
41:47
S1: the practical, pragmatic side, which is, you know what that
41:51
S1: money in a coffee can or under the mattress is
41:53
S1: not going to offset inflation means it's losing value every
41:57
S1: month due to inflation. And therefore, maybe we ought to
42:00
S1: get it working for us. And perhaps those with some
42:03
S1: prayer ahead of time could be the beginning of a
42:06
S1: conversation that would ultimately cause him to say, you know what?
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S1: Maybe you're right. Maybe we need to do something with this.
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S1: And perhaps better yet, he'd be willing to connect with
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S1: a certified Kingdom advisor there in Alabama who has a
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S1: third party, not you, but as a third party professional,
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S1: could give you all some things to think about. Give
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S1: him some things to think about in terms of how
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S1: this might be managed. Well, think about that and let's
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S1: see what the Lord does as you engage your boyfriend.
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S1: We appreciate your call today, Susie. I hope that helps. Well, folks,
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S1: it's been a joy to be along with you today.
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S1: Thanks for inviting us into your story. What a joy
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S1: it is to encourage you with God's Word as you
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S1: seek to be that wise and faithful steward. Our goal
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S1: that you'd see God as your ultimate treasure. Let me
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S1: say thanks to my team today. I couldn't do it
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S1: without him. Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between
42:54
S1: Moody Radio and Faith fi. Have a wonderful day and
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S1: come back and join us next time for another edition
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S1: of Faith and Finance Live.