Rob West Someday someone else will steward the resources God has entrusted to you, but preparing that person involves more than updating your estate plan. I am Rob West. We spend a lot of time thinking about how to manage money faithfully today, but eventually every steward passes that responsibility to someone else. So how do we prepare the next steward? David Wills joins us to talk about that today, and then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith & Finance on American Family Radio, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
Rob West Well, our guest today is David Wills. He's President Emeritus of the National Christian Foundation, he's a good friend, and a contributor to FaithFi's new field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? You know, this resource is designed to help families think beyond simply transferring wealth and consider how to pass along wisdom, values, and a biblical vision of stewardship to the next generation. David, great to have you back.
David Wills Thanks, Rob. Glad to be here.
Rob West David, you've spent decades helping families think biblically about generosity and wealth, and when it comes to passing wealth to the next generation, what do families often overlook?
David Wills Well, there's two things that come to mind, Rob: process and people. So first, most folks start with a focus on tools and taxes. Now don't get me wrong, having the right tools and avoiding voluntary taxes are wise goals. But at the base of the planning pyramid should be the question: why? Why have I been entrusted with much? Next, we ask: what are my objectives with, you know, the accumulation of wealth, investing well, using it, and eventually transitioning it? We've been blessed to be stewards, and that's the next question. And then finally, the third question is we ask: how do we accomplish those objectives? And the tools come into play at that point.
On the transitioning side, it's both during life and after death, and the bigger question is whether we are preparing those who will be the recipients. We should not pass on wealth without the presence of wisdom—that's Ecclesiastes 7. And also a financial transfer can happen overnight, unexpectedly, so the preparation is vital so that we have stewards that are ready to wisely manage whatever we pass on to them. The new field guide puts it this way—it's kind of like a motto: prepare heirs for assets, not just prepare assets for heirs.
A bonus thought: in 99.99% of situations, the spouse is the first recipient. And in seven out of ten times, the husband will precede his wife to the other side. So I often ask men, "Is she ready?" So it's not just the heirs of like kids and grandkids; it's also each spouse needs to be ready as well.
Rob West Yeah, that's well said. Let's talk about that next steward for a moment, David. What qualities or indicators should we look for to know whether somebody is truly ready to become the next steward?
David Wills Great question. So let's think about this through the lens of Scripture. Let's go to Matthew 25, the parable of the talents. It gives us a great roadmap. The master handed out five, two, and one talent, each according to their abilities of the folks that were working for him. So he didn't treat everybody equally; he was very sensitive to the differences. And then the master watched what they did with what he had entrusted to them. And we should do the same thing with those coming behind us. We should look at the responsibilities that they're already carrying, kind of their decision-making ability, how do they respond to like smaller situations, how do they deal with mistakes and consequences, do they surround themselves with good counsel, where are their strengths? So let's try to understand where they really are rather instead of just making assumptions, and encourage them to have mentors as well in their lives.
And one other bonus thought: we have the widow and her mite, and we have the little boy who had a lunch of a couple of fish and some bread. And I often ask the question, "Do you think that Jesus would entrust them with more?" You betcha he would. So we want to look for that kind of generosity in those coming behind us as well. If we want to see our kids and grandkids give, they need to see us give, preferably with no recognition. So anonymous, non-deductible giving teaches profound lessons. Okay, so I think I just went to preaching. Sorry about that.
Rob West No, that was powerful. You know, folks, the goal isn't simply to leave resources behind, but as David has been talking about, prepare the next steward to receive them faithfully. We're talking about the newest FaithFi field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward?, which is available at faithfi.com/shop. Much more around this conversation right after this break with David Wills. Stick around.
SEGMENT 2
Rob West Well, our latest field guide is out. It deals with a really important question: how do I prepare the next steward? Well, our guest today has been thinking about that for decades as he has walked alongside families to deal with this very question. My friend David Wills is here. He's President Emeritus of the National Christian Foundation and a contributor, part of the writing team, for this brand new FaithFi field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? If you'd like to check it out, go to faithfi.com/shop. David, one of the ideas in the field guide that really stands out to me is this idea that preparing the next steward doesn't have to happen all at once. So, what can that gradual process look like in practice?
David Wills Great question. So let's think about where the next steward is. Are they ready to observe, participate, decide, or lead? That's kind of a discipleship methodology. So, invite the next steward into some of the responsibilities that you are carrying now. So let's think about just financial capital. So we make money, then we give, save, and spend money. So, what if we did the give, save, and spend together with those who are coming behind us? Get creative. And this can start at a very early age. So start with giving them opportunities to make smaller decisions on their own. Even consider matching what they do well from a financial standpoint. So let's let them see how and why we make decisions. And more importantly, we want to set ourselves up to see how they are making decisions. We want to spend time, you know, thinking really carefully through the mistakes we have made and what we learned from them. Because the bottom line is, is that those that are coming behind us, they're more likely to do what they see, not what they say. So, yeah, they said they would just do what they say. Right. But there is an exception to that rule, and that is when we're talking about lessons we have learned the hard way, where we have not seen success. That they actually do listen to and learn from. Interesting. So that's those are a couple of thoughts.
Rob West Yeah, I love that. And and this is something you've put into practice in your own family, David, haven't you, as you give, save, and spend together, right?
David Wills Absolutely. We talk about it as a family as well, and so on the give side, it's one of the easiest ways and um so we've set up a giving fund for each of our kids and you know, our goal for them is that they spend it down and when they do, and then they put more in it, we match it. Now we do have limits. So, but uh, we have a lot of kids, but um, it's so much fun and we we get to watch what they're doing and then it's so encouraging to them and we find we know which of our kids uh really kind of understand that if they'll give more, we'll double their money. So, it's a lot of fun.
Rob West I bet it is. David, you mentioned something uh from the parable of the talents a moment ago, that it wasn't distributed equally. And when there's more than one steward, families can struggle with this. Does treating everyone fairly always mean dividing everything equally?
David Wills No, it does not. But this is actually a ver- This question seems kind of simple, but it's actually very complex and very difficult. So, first we want to ask, well, let's say actually, what we don't want to ask is how much can we give. We actually want to ask how much will they need. And when we divide that up, we don't just divide it up what we're passing on equally. So, we ask what do we have that is best suited for each of those who will receive it? So, you know, different folks have different needs, they have different responsibilities, abilities, they have different circumstances. Let me give you a couple of examples. Sure. So, if I'm passing on a business to one of my heirs because they are the only one working in the business, if there are three more, or in my case, six more heirs, I don't want to pass that asset on equally, and if I do, one of the siblings is going to have six bosses. That would not well, I'll assure you. Right. If one of my kids loves working the land, and the others are city slickers, well, if I own land, I should consider giving it to that one child that would love to have it and use it for a long time. Yes. If you have one kid that loves art and literature, and you have those kind of things you can pass on, well, pass on those things to that kid. Now, I will say, okay, this is super important, that this requires communication. So, if I'm not going to communicate with my heirs during life, why we're making these decisions, these, quote, unequal decisions, I've probably forfeited the right to make those decisions if I'm not going to communicate it, because unequal giving can cause real relational damage after you're gone, and that's just not an option. So, if we're thinking about considering meaningful differences, which I encourage, it's especially important to talk about why.
Rob West Mm, wow, that's great. David, we've focused primarily on family. Talk for a moment about a situation where the next steward may not be a child or even another individual.
David Wills Well, if you if you if you get the book, or the FaithFi book about passing on or preparing heirs, you're going to read a story about Pete and Deb Okes, two of my favorite people in the world, frankly. And they have a manufacturing facility that is inside of a prison near Wichita, Kansas. It is an amazing story. But at one point they decided they wanted to help these men experience generosity. So they did some research, got a bunch of different organizations that they felt were worthy of receiving charitable gifts, and they put it before these guys in this prison and said, here are some things you can pick from, and keep in mind, I mean, these guys they they don't make a lot of money, but Pete and Deb said, you choose the charity, you choose the amount you want, we'll double it. And the outpouring of generosity was, frankly, it was just jaw-dropping. And so it's it's an example of how we can engage others other than our family in generosity, and it can really have a profound difference.
Rob West I love that. David, for someone who's listening today who realizes, wow, I've spent a lot of time preparing my estate, but not necessarily preparing the people who will receive it, what's one step they can take today?
David Wills Yeah, that's a great question. I'm going to say that you just don't want to try to bite all this off in one in one chunk. Just start picking each person, sit down and just think through who who are the likely recipients, and just literally start having a conversation with them. Just about being prepared, frankly, in all different ways, not just for financial things, but in in all ways of life. In fact, the non-financial capital, so to speak, that we steward, that we want built in our those that are coming behind us, it it's not just financial at all. In fact, the more important forms of capital are non-financial capital. So, I would encourage folks to think through that, and one other thing is, I would encourage folks to have someone help them think through this process. There are a lot of advisors out there that are getting better and better of helping families process through these things, so don't go it alone. And it's not just for like accountability purposes, but actually, it's just to help along have someone come alongside you in the journey, because it's a journey and it lasts for a long time.
Rob West Incredible. David, what a privilege to have you here today. Thanks for not only your time today, but all the time and care you poured into this field guide. Grateful for you, my friend.
David Wills Thanks for having me, Rob. It was a privilege.
Rob West Our guest today has been David Wills, President Emeritus of the National Christian Foundation and contributor to the FaithFi field guide How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? Folks, if you want a roadmap to transfer wisdom and before wealth, this field guide could be exactly what you're looking for. Check it out at faithfi.com/shop. Well, we're coming up on a break, but much more to come just around the corner. Call right now 800-525-7000. Stick around.
SEGMENT 3
Rob West So thankful to have you with us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. Our goal to encourage you, you have a high calling. You're managing God's money. We want to help you do that in light of biblical wisdom and deal with those those questions that you've been wrestling with. Maybe that you've had for some time. Maybe you feel stuck. You're just wanting to know where do I go from here related to this particular issue. You know, I'm just can't get that debt to budge, or I want to give more, but I just don't know how, or should I? How do I fight that ta- cha- uh tension is the word I'm looking for. How do I wrestle with the tension between giving and saving, or debt reduction and giving, and, you know, these are good things, but we process them through our values and our priorities as we make these decisions. And we would love to help you with any of those that you're wrestling with today. So, uh call right now 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. We would love to hear from you. We've got some lines open and we're going to dedicate the rest of the broadcast just to helping you navigate your financial life. And then Jerry Boyer will stop by in our final segment. We'll get Jerry's uh last check on the markets as we head into the midterms next week. Uh we'll get his take on the economy. We'll also get an update on some of the incredible work he and the team at Boyer Research have been doing in corporate engagement, really shaping uh the future trajectory of our culture in so many respects because these major uh multi-billion dollar companies lead the way in so many respects and um we want to speak into the decisions they're making to the extent they're losing their way. They're getting pulled into political issues or, you know, getting off of their core business uh by getting mired in some of these other issues or maybe they're just not treating Christians the same as others. Maybe it's through their giving programs, whatever it might be. Uh Jerry and his team uh shed light on those things. Often, they don't even know they're doing them, uh but they're willing to make changes if you deal with them respectfully and engage them thoughtfully and and and try to uh highlight opportunities for them to be better. And uh we'll get an update on that in the final segment. But let's dive into some questions today. We're going to head out to uh Mississippi, Diane. Go right ahead.
Diane Hi. My husband is 65 and he's going to retire in June, and I'm 61 and I have to wait till I'm 67. And I have this uh trust fund that I in my old my old job, and it's $8,000 and I was wondering if um, I cash that in this year so I don't interrupt my husband's Social Security and Medicare or or put it in a IRA, a Roth IRA that I have, you know, to put it back in there to because I don't want to um, make it so that we have a big income next year
Rob West Mm-hmm.
Diane if I wait.
Rob West Yes. It's a great question. I love the the thinking that you've got here. Uh I would definitely not cash out the 8,000 until you determine whether it can be rolled directly into a traditional IRA. Have you explored that?
Diane Um maybe. Um I was thinking the Roth IRA, but that's a bad idea?
Rob West Not necessarily. It is just going to be income. And so let's kind of work through these questions. Will it affect his social security? Generally, no. If he's receiving Social Security benefits uh or he will be, uh your withdrawal from an employee retirement trust would not reduce his Social Security checks in any way. Uh retirement account withdrawals are not considered wages for Social Security earnings tests, and so that really wouldn't have any bearing. Um, you know, the only thing it could do would be increase the the taxes on the Social Security benefits, but that's different than reducing the actual benefit. But even then, $8,000 is you know, is a fairly small amount, so there probably would be very minimal impact. Could it affect his Medicare? Uh, you know, Medicare uses a provision called IRMA, which could increase Part B and D premiums. Uh, Medicare generally looks at income from two years prior. And so that means income earned in 2026 is going to affect Medicare premiums in 2028, next year's income is going to affect 2029 premiums. Um, and so if you filed jointly, a withdrawal could increase uh your household income for Medicare purposes, but again, this is a fairly modest amount. Should you roll it into an IRA or convert it to a Roth? I kind of like that. I wouldn't do it in the year where he's still working though, because this is the year where, you know, your income is still probably quite a bit higher than it will be certainly after he retires. So I think next year would be the year to do that. So in the meantime, what you may want to do is just go ahead and roll it to the traditional IRA, if that's an option. That would not be a taxable event. So there would not be any impact on anything other than just getting it into an account where it could continue to grow tax-deferred, but you'd have a little bit more control over how it's invested, and then perhaps revisit the idea of a Roth conversion once he fully transition into transitions into retirement. Probably in 2028 when, you know, his income is quite a bit lower, because even next year he'll have six months of earnings from his current job.
Diane Uh-huh. Confusing. He has a uh uh pension uh a traditional IRA and um it's uh
Rob West I'm sorry?
Diane Yeah.
Rob West He has a 401(k), okay, traditional IRA, and a pension. Okay. That's why I wondered if that would interrupt his if I cashed it.
Rob West No. I mean, again, it's just going to add $8,000 to your overall income for the year, if you pulled it out, assuming it's in a tax-deferred account, which it sounds like it is. Um, and so you'd have some tax due on that. Um, but other than that, you know, there really wouldn't be much of an impact. It's not going to affect his Social Security. The only potential impact, which again would be minimal by adding $8,000 to your income for the year, would be one, two years from 2026, so in 2028, could be a very slight, you know, increase in your Medicare premiums. Um, and then it could make just a a little bit more of his Social Security taxable, but it's not going to affect his benefit at all. So, I think if you want to understand the full implication, you could talk to a CPA, but it's Diane, it's going to be fairly minimal. I think the bigger question is, do you want to let it keep growing, or do you need the money? We appreciate your call. We'll be right back.
SEGMENT 4
Rob West Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. I'm Rob West. We're taking your questions today at 800-525-7000. Again, that number 800-525-7000. Whatever is on your mind today, we would love to hear from you.
And by the way, we're just $12,000 away from our campaign goal this week and we need your help to get there. Any amount given between now and the end of the day, on the 31st, so that's tomorrow at 11:59 at faithfi.com/give will allow us to send you a copy of Field Guide Number Two. What we were just talking about with David Wills at the open of the program today, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? That field guide will be our thank you to you. We're trying to close the gap on listener support for the month of October, about $12,000 away. Every gift of any amount will send you Field Guide Number Two as our thank you. Just head to faithfi.com/give.
All right, we're taking your questions today at 800-525-7000. Let's go to Georgia, Deanna. How can I help?
Deanna Oh, good morning. It's very nice to talk to you. I listen to your program as often as I can.
Rob West Well, thank you, Deanna. That's delightful. I appreciate your call today. How can I serve you?
Deanna Yes. Um, my adult son lost his job and his health insurance several months ago. He's 59 and a half years old, but too young for Medicare. He has been looking at the government ACA website for health insurance. The minimum household income to receive a subsidy is approximately approximately 16,000. With the subsidy, the monthly premium would be less than 200 per month. Without the subsidy, the monthly premium is around 1,200 per month. Since he's not yet working, an option he is considering is to take a distribution in 2027 from his traditional IRA equal to the minimum household income requirement, and thereby qualify for the subsidy. Another option would be for me to gift him the money on a monthly basis to pay the higher premium and not tap into the IRA. So, I was hoping you would give me your thoughts on these two options and is there a third option?
Rob West Mm. Yeah, very helpful. And I know this is uh is a challenging situation. Um yeah, taking a taxable IRA distribution can be a legitimate strategy to qualify for the Affordable Care Act subsidies. Um you know, receiving a financial gift uh will not help meet the income requirement. Um but I think it's a significant planning opportunity. So essentially, for 2026, the premium the ACA premium tax credits generally require uh household income of at least 100% of the federal poverty level with certain exceptions. Um so as as you point out, you know, there's depending on the household size, there's various amounts and it's based on the prior year's poverty guidelines. Um and so what about that IRA? Well, a taxable distribution from a traditional IRA counts toward the ACA modified adjusted gross income. So, you know, let's say you had uh you know, 2,000 in income and then you took IRA distributions of the the remaining amount, um you know, that could put you above the minimum threshold um and to to receive that subsidy, um which obviously, you know, could be significant. Um and so you want to have the qualifying income through the IRA distribution so that, you know, you don't get uh you have enough, but you don't, you know, go over.
In terms of your desire to help with a gift, I think that could work as well. Um are you in a position to do that financially?
Deanna Yes, I can.
Rob West Okay. Yeah.
Deanna Hello?
Rob West Yes, ma'am.
Deanna Oh yes, I can help him without jeopardizing my own finances.
Rob West Okay. Yeah. Uh and so, you know, that would be uh an option there as well, um where you would make the gift to him through, you know, your own means, um and, you know, that would potentially keep him in the same situation. What about a long-term solution? Is he just trying to buy time until he can get to Medicare ultimately?
Deanna Well, he's trying to find work that would give him benefits, but so far he hasn't been successful. So we look upon this as a way to get health insurance, you know, for the time being. Hopefully it would not be forever.
Rob West Yes. Yeah, right. And so then he'll he's out looking for work right now. He just hasn't come across anything yet.
Deanna Correct.
Rob West Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so I I think um you know, this could be a great option for him because obviously if he could do it for 200 a month with the subsidy, you know, that uh that gives him substantial savings. And I would probably go, you know, you could do either route. I think the key is just make sure you understand what those thresholds are and, you know, make sure you comply with the law. But if either option works, I think it ultimately comes down to, you know, whether you're desiring to make that gift to him and and be of assistance. And if so, great, that would be a real blessing to him. Otherwise, I think the IRA route could work as well, as long as you understand what the thresholds are and you stay within the guidelines.
Deanna Yes. Now, if I could ask you one more question regarding that threshold, as I understand it, he has to have a minimum income of 16,000. Yes. Um so if he took the IRA distribution, let's say 17 or 18,000, would that he would then have the required minimum?
Rob West That's exactly right. So he would want to look at any annual income he has. So let's say he had 5,000 in income and then he took 11,000 as an IRA distribution. His ACA household income would meet the 16,000. That would put him above the minimum income threshold for the premium tax credit eligibility. And then that $11,000 distribution in my example would be the taxable income, but the ACA subsidy savings could substantially outweigh the additional taxes. And so the key would be whatever income he has, he just wants to add to it the IRA distribution that gets him to the minimum of the 16,000.
The challenge with the gift is, you know, the the personal gift is excluded from federal taxable income. And so if you give him $16,000, he deposits out on a checking account, that's not going to count toward his ACA income to meet the minimum. And so I think, you know, that's why the the IRA distribution is probably the better option.
Deanna All right. Well, thank you so much. That helps a lot. I appreciate it.
Rob West You're welcome. Thanks for being on the program. Lord bless you. Let's go to uh well, we'll go to North Carolina. Tara, how can I help?
Tara Hi. Um, how are you today?
Rob West I'm great. Thanks for your call.
Tara Thank you for taking it. Um, so my question is, um, I have a CD. I am uh, investing illiterate, and I have a CD that is coming to mature in November, about the mid-November. And my what I would normally do is just let it roll over just because I don't know what to do with it instead of just sitting in a low interest account, I figured I'd put it in a CD. Right now, um, it I put it in uh for 3.69%.
Rob West Yes.
Tara And, um, it's now it's $27,000. And I've heard through different no on your show and other um avenues, um, probably a Roth IRA. I do have an an IRA through my work. Um, Okay. And I I just don't know what to do and thought maybe I could get some guidance.
Rob West Yeah, I mean, I I would love for this to get working for you as long as this is beyond your emergency fund and you have other liquid savings that you can fall back on in the event of the unexpected, then I would love to get this into a retirement account, either one at work if there's matching, or a Roth IRA if you don't have one that offers matching at work. So let's do this. Let's talk a bit more off the air during the break. We'll be right back.
SEGMENT 5
Rob West Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. Just a moment, Jerry Boyer will stop by. We'll get an update on the markets ahead of the midterms. We'll also check in on uh Boyer Research and their work incorporating engagement. But first, before the break, we were talking to Tara in North Carolina. Uh, she's working full-time. She's 60. She started saving a little later than she would have liked to. She's got several accounts, you know, at her disposal. Um, in particular, she's got a a CD that's coming due that's been slightly less than 4%. She's got about 20,000 in her emergency savings. Um, she's also got um a 401k at work with about 120,000 that she's getting matching on and continuing to contribute to and then a a Robin Hood account that she is quote, dabbling with. And so Tara, I would just try to simplify things. I really would love for you to get all of your investable money into that 401k, uh, so that it's all in one place and you don't have to choose the investments. Um, and and really it would just simplify things. So, I think as long as we've got that emergency fund that's liquid and in savings, then I think we can take, you know, the two CDs that are coming due beyond that and the Robin Hood money and then anything else you have beyond your emergency fund, and really try to get that into the 401k. The only way you can do that is through salary deferral. It's got to come out of your paycheck. So, one option is you go ahead and move all of those funds to a separate savings account so it's not commingled with your emergency fund, and then we increase your salary deferral every month to the max uh that they would allow. So, you don't because you can only put in so much for the year, but you know, you've got a window here for these last two months of the year where you could really dial that up. And the idea would be that even if that reduces your paycheck such that, you know, it it takes you below what you need to cover your expenses for the month, you could pull it out of that savings account to supplement, and then essentially what you're doing is moving it from one bucket to the other because you're increasing your salary deferral to get more of it into the 401k, and then you're slowly kind of draining that savings account so that we're moving it all in eventually to the 401k. So, we've got our retirement savings growing for you, and then we've got your emergency fund, and then with, you know, any surplus once this is done, if you wanted to start an a Roth IRA you could, but you're just going to have to open another account, you're going to have to choose the investments, and the the 401k just keeps it all really simple, and, you know, you've probably already selected the the investment options in the plan, and, you know, anything you had to it would just automatically be reinvested accordingly. Does that make sense, though?
Tara It does. It does.
Rob West Yeah. And so, rather than kind of I've got a little bit here and a little bit there and I'm dabbling over there, I just kind of like keeping everything in one account, invested fully in a way that's appropriate for your age and risk tolerance. It's growing for the future, and then you just kind of really focus on, you know, how much can get into, you know, long-term retirement savings while I'm still working whatever that runway is and let's just try to make up for lost time, not by being overly aggressive in the investments, but by keeping your lifestyle at a minimum so that you have more that you can put into that account. I hope that helps, though. Lord bless you. We appreciate your call today. Uh, we'll try to get to uh at least one more phone call before we're done. But uh before we're done, but first, Jerry Boyer's here. And uh Jerry, a lot going on uh in the markets. Uh, you know, we've got a midterm next week. What are you uh what are you watching this week?
Jerry Boyer Yeah. Well, I'm watching the data and uh we got GDP data that was better than expected. So if you remember on the quarterly call that um I did with you for Kingdom Advisors uh members, I said that I thought that the uh third quarter was going to be pretty strong. Um, and it was, which that's because I'm really smart. Um, no, that's not why. That that that's because I think you are. Thank you very much, uh, that you and my wife uh trying to find somebody else now. Um, but at least, I know that there's a lot of smarts out there in the marketplace, right? So, there's a distributed higher calls this distributed knowledge for J. One, a Nobel Prize in economics. Most of the knowledge is out there, not actually with experts. So, when people are making investment decisions, whatever, how you know what they perceive to be going on with business and the economy gets reflected in how markets behave. You know, the valuation of stocks compared to bonds. When people are optimistic, you know, they prefer bonds, you know, find stocks over bonds because that's variable, right? A little bit more um it can you know, bonds you have a fixed rate of return, but with stocks, the dividend might go up if the economy's better. So, that's kind of a signal of what all of us eight billion people in the world, maybe a billion of us actively participating in markets, what we all see, um and markets were signaling a strong third quarter. Um, that doesn't mean we we've got problems for sure. We do. We have high oil prices, um and those high oil prices are I drag on the economy in and of themselves, plus they're inflationary, which means it's more likely when you have inflation that the central bank takes money out of the system rather than stimulating money. So, those two things kind of pull back on markets. Um and we also had the Fed, um we had a dissenting vote from the Fed on hiking, um interest rates. We kind of have mixed signals on what the central bank is going to do. It's amazing to me that we we we're, you know, we have to know the names of these Fed governors. They're just people with PhDs who happen to have a friend in Congress, uh, and yet, you know, their mood, you know, we have to read them like a mood ring, you know, what what's Kevin Marsh look like, you know, what was his tone of voice? Uh, Alan Greenspan, how thick was uh his briefcase when he brought it in? Uh, because they have that much power. Um, and bottomlining it all, it looks like markets are indicating um a little less hiking than they thought before, a little less contracting of the money supply than was expected before, and that will drive down market values a little bit. It will also drive down gold, right? Because that's a hawkish stance. That's a less monetary easing stance, and gold is kind of the alternative. It's the hedge against the dollar against inflation. Um, so, and what's down more than other sectors? Well, the most speculative sector, which is the Nasdaq. We have those tech stocks that have high valuations. So, that's the classic play when we think that the Fed's going to create money and put it into the system, gold goes up, stocks go up, bonds also go up, and the most speculative stocks go up the most. When we think it's going to be the opposite play, the other one of their mandates, fight inflation by contracting the money supply, gold goes down, the dollar strengthens, um, bonds go down, stocks go down, and the stocks that go down the most are the most speculative ones in technology. So, I I it's really a pretty simple story, um even though it sounds a little technical, of essentially the central bank in charge of short-term market behavior.
Rob West Yeah, yeah. Really helpful overview there, Jerry. Jerry, what do you make of this uh crypto hack? Uh you know, largest on record now, 6 billion in client assets. I mean, you know, the the the whole idea of Bitcoin was the security, among things. Um what does this do for, you know, investors and others that are watching this and what might the fallout be?
Jerry Boyer Well, it weakens the case for it, certainly, um, because that was he Hey, crypto, you had one job. Uh, you know, be be secure, um, and um so, a guy I know by the name of Peter Thiel is tech investor, um, at one point was, you know, pretty into Bitcoin, etc., um, and, you know, he said he changed his mind on that when talking to someone from the FBI who said that if there's a bad guy out there, you know, drug dealer, terrorist, whatever, I would rather they use Bitcoin than cash because it's so much easier to track. I was like, okay, we get it. Wow. Um, so, it's I don't know if it's easy to track, but it is not impregnable. By the way, I mean, Jesus told us that, right? Um, there's no there's no place you can lock it away where it's perfectly impregnable. I'm not saying that all asset classes are equally risky. There are more impregnable vaults than others, but there is no vault that cannot be penetrated. There is no place where you can store uh financial wealth and be 100% sure that no one can steal it and that the value is going to hold. Yeah. So, then we're in the area of all of this money stuff has its purpose, it has its risk profile, and then where does it fit in the kingdom of God and where are you in your risk spectrum? So, the fact that a lot of people who are extremely frightened about hyperinflation, and that's been going on with our tribe for a lot a lot of times, is tied to prophecy speculation or it's tied to, you know, conspiracy theories. And, you know, once in a while conspiracy theories are true. I'm not saying they're all wrong. We get into the mode if you're if you're a little older, you go to gold, 100% to gold. If you're a little younger, you go 100% to Bitcoin. Uh your friend our mutual friend Chuck Bentley said one of his staff members was poking fun at them, they called gold um what are the boomer rocks.
So, uh we go to boomer rocks, younger people go to uh go to Bitcoin uh because that's the safe hedge, but it's not perfectly safe and this just reminds us of that. Plus there's just some issues with Bitcoin in general, you know, we don't need to get into the technical details. It's maybe not really the substitute for gold people thought. Now there's there's me talking boomer talk, uh, but you know, no one's ever used it for money yet, really. So, if that's what's supposed to be money, shouldn't somebody be using it for money? If that if the premise is, this is an alternate to the dollar, well I use dollars every day. Some come in the door, some go out the door. Uh Bitcoin is essentially being held in a vault um and not traded uh not used as a currency, at which point then what precisely is its function? Someday it'll be money, okay, maybe. I you know, you can make that bet, but it's not acting that way now. And um, at least cash in the bank is FDIC insured, but the Bitcoin break-ins aren't.
Rob West Hmm. Yeah. Wow. Lots to process there. Jerry, 45 seconds. One win that your team has uh experienced as of late uh as you engage in uh in companies all over the world.
Jerry Boyer Two days ago, big tech companies said we're taking out WPATH uh from our uh from our from our from our healthcare plan. That's the report that calls for paying for trans treatments for children. Wow. That's that's this week. That's two or three days ago. That's not the only one this week. That's I can imagine. Incredible.
Rob West All right, Jerry. We enjoy it as always. Have a great weekend, my friend.
Jerry Boyer You too. God bless.
Rob West All right. That's Jerry Boyer. He's our resident economist joins us each Friday on the broadcast. Well folks, thanks for being along with us today. Thanks for your calls, your encouragement, your emails, and your gifts. Uh we have a uh a big week this week. We had a $25,000 goal to close out October with listener support. We're 12,000 away. Some gifts came in even during the broadcast. Every gift before tomorrow at 11:59 will send you a copy of Field Guide Number Two, How to Prepare the Next Steward. Just go to faithfi.com/give. Big thanks to Devin, Patty, Pat, Taylor, and everybody here at Faithfi.
Rob West Someday someone else will steward the resources God has entrusted to you, but preparing that person involves more than updating your estate plan. I am Rob West. We spend a lot of time thinking about how to manage money faithfully today, but eventually every steward passes that responsibility to someone else. So how do we prepare the next steward? David Wills joins us to talk about that today, and then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith & Finance on American Family Radio, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
Rob West Well, our guest today is David Wills. He's President Emeritus of the National Christian Foundation, he's a good friend, and a contributor to FaithFi's new field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? You know, this resource is designed to help families think beyond simply transferring wealth and consider how to pass along wisdom, values, and a biblical vision of stewardship to the next generation. David, great to have you back.
David Wills Thanks, Rob. Glad to be here.
Rob West David, you've spent decades helping families think biblically about generosity and wealth, and when it comes to passing wealth to the next generation, what do families often overlook?
David Wills Well, there's two things that come to mind, Rob: process and people. So first, most folks start with a focus on tools and taxes. Now don't get me wrong, having the right tools and avoiding voluntary taxes are wise goals. But at the base of the planning pyramid should be the question: why? Why have I been entrusted with much? Next, we ask: what are my objectives with, you know, the accumulation of wealth, investing well, using it, and eventually transitioning it? We've been blessed to be stewards, and that's the next question. And then finally, the third question is we ask: how do we accomplish those objectives? And the tools come into play at that point.
On the transitioning side, it's both during life and after death, and the bigger question is whether we are preparing those who will be the recipients. We should not pass on wealth without the presence of wisdom—that's Ecclesiastes 7. And also a financial transfer can happen overnight, unexpectedly, so the preparation is vital so that we have stewards that are ready to wisely manage whatever we pass on to them. The new field guide puts it this way—it's kind of like a motto: prepare heirs for assets, not just prepare assets for heirs.
A bonus thought: in 99.99% of situations, the spouse is the first recipient. And in seven out of ten times, the husband will precede his wife to the other side. So I often ask men, "Is she ready?" So it's not just the heirs of like kids and grandkids; it's also each spouse needs to be ready as well.
Rob West Yeah, that's well said. Let's talk about that next steward for a moment, David. What qualities or indicators should we look for to know whether somebody is truly ready to become the next steward?
David Wills Great question. So let's think about this through the lens of Scripture. Let's go to Matthew 25, the parable of the talents. It gives us a great roadmap. The master handed out five, two, and one talent, each according to their abilities of the folks that were working for him. So he didn't treat everybody equally; he was very sensitive to the differences. And then the master watched what they did with what he had entrusted to them. And we should do the same thing with those coming behind us. We should look at the responsibilities that they're already carrying, kind of their decision-making ability, how do they respond to like smaller situations, how do they deal with mistakes and consequences, do they surround themselves with good counsel, where are their strengths? So let's try to understand where they really are rather instead of just making assumptions, and encourage them to have mentors as well in their lives.
And one other bonus thought: we have the widow and her mite, and we have the little boy who had a lunch of a couple of fish and some bread. And I often ask the question, "Do you think that Jesus would entrust them with more?" You betcha he would. So we want to look for that kind of generosity in those coming behind us as well. If we want to see our kids and grandkids give, they need to see us give, preferably with no recognition. So anonymous, non-deductible giving teaches profound lessons. Okay, so I think I just went to preaching. Sorry about that.
Rob West No, that was powerful. You know, folks, the goal isn't simply to leave resources behind, but as David has been talking about, prepare the next steward to receive them faithfully. We're talking about the newest FaithFi field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward?, which is available at faithfi.com/shop. Much more around this conversation right after this break with David Wills. Stick around.
SEGMENT 2
Rob West Well, our latest field guide is out. It deals with a really important question: how do I prepare the next steward? Well, our guest today has been thinking about that for decades as he has walked alongside families to deal with this very question. My friend David Wills is here. He's President Emeritus of the National Christian Foundation and a contributor, part of the writing team, for this brand new FaithFi field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? If you'd like to check it out, go to faithfi.com/shop. David, one of the ideas in the field guide that really stands out to me is this idea that preparing the next steward doesn't have to happen all at once. So, what can that gradual process look like in practice?
David Wills Great question. So let's think about where the next steward is. Are they ready to observe, participate, decide, or lead? That's kind of a discipleship methodology. So, invite the next steward into some of the responsibilities that you are carrying now. So let's think about just financial capital. So we make money, then we give, save, and spend money. So, what if we did the give, save, and spend together with those who are coming behind us? Get creative. And this can start at a very early age. So start with giving them opportunities to make smaller decisions on their own. Even consider matching what they do well from a financial standpoint. So let's let them see how and why we make decisions. And more importantly, we want to set ourselves up to see how they are making decisions. We want to spend time, you know, thinking really carefully through the mistakes we have made and what we learned from them. Because the bottom line is, is that those that are coming behind us, they're more likely to do what they see, not what they say. So, yeah, they said they would just do what they say. Right. But there is an exception to that rule, and that is when we're talking about lessons we have learned the hard way, where we have not seen success. That they actually do listen to and learn from. Interesting. So that's those are a couple of thoughts.
Rob West Yeah, I love that. And and this is something you've put into practice in your own family, David, haven't you, as you give, save, and spend together, right?
David Wills Absolutely. We talk about it as a family as well, and so on the give side, it's one of the easiest ways and um so we've set up a giving fund for each of our kids and you know, our goal for them is that they spend it down and when they do, and then they put more in it, we match it. Now we do have limits. So, but uh, we have a lot of kids, but um, it's so much fun and we we get to watch what they're doing and then it's so encouraging to them and we find we know which of our kids uh really kind of understand that if they'll give more, we'll double their money. So, it's a lot of fun.
Rob West I bet it is. David, you mentioned something uh from the parable of the talents a moment ago, that it wasn't distributed equally. And when there's more than one steward, families can struggle with this. Does treating everyone fairly always mean dividing everything equally?
David Wills No, it does not. But this is actually a ver- This question seems kind of simple, but it's actually very complex and very difficult. So, first we want to ask, well, let's say actually, what we don't want to ask is how much can we give. We actually want to ask how much will they need. And when we divide that up, we don't just divide it up what we're passing on equally. So, we ask what do we have that is best suited for each of those who will receive it? So, you know, different folks have different needs, they have different responsibilities, abilities, they have different circumstances. Let me give you a couple of examples. Sure. So, if I'm passing on a business to one of my heirs because they are the only one working in the business, if there are three more, or in my case, six more heirs, I don't want to pass that asset on equally, and if I do, one of the siblings is going to have six bosses. That would not well, I'll assure you. Right. If one of my kids loves working the land, and the others are city slickers, well, if I own land, I should consider giving it to that one child that would love to have it and use it for a long time. Yes. If you have one kid that loves art and literature, and you have those kind of things you can pass on, well, pass on those things to that kid. Now, I will say, okay, this is super important, that this requires communication. So, if I'm not going to communicate with my heirs during life, why we're making these decisions, these, quote, unequal decisions, I've probably forfeited the right to make those decisions if I'm not going to communicate it, because unequal giving can cause real relational damage after you're gone, and that's just not an option. So, if we're thinking about considering meaningful differences, which I encourage, it's especially important to talk about why.
Rob West Mm, wow, that's great. David, we've focused primarily on family. Talk for a moment about a situation where the next steward may not be a child or even another individual.
David Wills Well, if you if you if you get the book, or the FaithFi book about passing on or preparing heirs, you're going to read a story about Pete and Deb Okes, two of my favorite people in the world, frankly. And they have a manufacturing facility that is inside of a prison near Wichita, Kansas. It is an amazing story. But at one point they decided they wanted to help these men experience generosity. So they did some research, got a bunch of different organizations that they felt were worthy of receiving charitable gifts, and they put it before these guys in this prison and said, here are some things you can pick from, and keep in mind, I mean, these guys they they don't make a lot of money, but Pete and Deb said, you choose the charity, you choose the amount you want, we'll double it. And the outpouring of generosity was, frankly, it was just jaw-dropping. And so it's it's an example of how we can engage others other than our family in generosity, and it can really have a profound difference.
Rob West I love that. David, for someone who's listening today who realizes, wow, I've spent a lot of time preparing my estate, but not necessarily preparing the people who will receive it, what's one step they can take today?
David Wills Yeah, that's a great question. I'm going to say that you just don't want to try to bite all this off in one in one chunk. Just start picking each person, sit down and just think through who who are the likely recipients, and just literally start having a conversation with them. Just about being prepared, frankly, in all different ways, not just for financial things, but in in all ways of life. In fact, the non-financial capital, so to speak, that we steward, that we want built in our those that are coming behind us, it it's not just financial at all. In fact, the more important forms of capital are non-financial capital. So, I would encourage folks to think through that, and one other thing is, I would encourage folks to have someone help them think through this process. There are a lot of advisors out there that are getting better and better of helping families process through these things, so don't go it alone. And it's not just for like accountability purposes, but actually, it's just to help along have someone come alongside you in the journey, because it's a journey and it lasts for a long time.
Rob West Incredible. David, what a privilege to have you here today. Thanks for not only your time today, but all the time and care you poured into this field guide. Grateful for you, my friend.
David Wills Thanks for having me, Rob. It was a privilege.
Rob West Our guest today has been David Wills, President Emeritus of the National Christian Foundation and contributor to the FaithFi field guide How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? Folks, if you want a roadmap to transfer wisdom and before wealth, this field guide could be exactly what you're looking for. Check it out at faithfi.com/shop. Well, we're coming up on a break, but much more to come just around the corner. Call right now 800-525-7000. Stick around.
SEGMENT 3
Rob West So thankful to have you with us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. Our goal to encourage you, you have a high calling. You're managing God's money. We want to help you do that in light of biblical wisdom and deal with those those questions that you've been wrestling with. Maybe that you've had for some time. Maybe you feel stuck. You're just wanting to know where do I go from here related to this particular issue. You know, I'm just can't get that debt to budge, or I want to give more, but I just don't know how, or should I? How do I fight that ta- cha- uh tension is the word I'm looking for. How do I wrestle with the tension between giving and saving, or debt reduction and giving, and, you know, these are good things, but we process them through our values and our priorities as we make these decisions. And we would love to help you with any of those that you're wrestling with today. So, uh call right now 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. We would love to hear from you. We've got some lines open and we're going to dedicate the rest of the broadcast just to helping you navigate your financial life. And then Jerry Boyer will stop by in our final segment. We'll get Jerry's uh last check on the markets as we head into the midterms next week. Uh we'll get his take on the economy. We'll also get an update on some of the incredible work he and the team at Boyer Research have been doing in corporate engagement, really shaping uh the future trajectory of our culture in so many respects because these major uh multi-billion dollar companies lead the way in so many respects and um we want to speak into the decisions they're making to the extent they're losing their way. They're getting pulled into political issues or, you know, getting off of their core business uh by getting mired in some of these other issues or maybe they're just not treating Christians the same as others. Maybe it's through their giving programs, whatever it might be. Uh Jerry and his team uh shed light on those things. Often, they don't even know they're doing them, uh but they're willing to make changes if you deal with them respectfully and engage them thoughtfully and and and try to uh highlight opportunities for them to be better. And uh we'll get an update on that in the final segment. But let's dive into some questions today. We're going to head out to uh Mississippi, Diane. Go right ahead.
Diane Hi. My husband is 65 and he's going to retire in June, and I'm 61 and I have to wait till I'm 67. And I have this uh trust fund that I in my old my old job, and it's $8,000 and I was wondering if um, I cash that in this year so I don't interrupt my husband's Social Security and Medicare or or put it in a IRA, a Roth IRA that I have, you know, to put it back in there to because I don't want to um, make it so that we have a big income next year
Rob West Mm-hmm.
Diane if I wait.
Rob West Yes. It's a great question. I love the the thinking that you've got here. Uh I would definitely not cash out the 8,000 until you determine whether it can be rolled directly into a traditional IRA. Have you explored that?
Diane Um maybe. Um I was thinking the Roth IRA, but that's a bad idea?
Rob West Not necessarily. It is just going to be income. And so let's kind of work through these questions. Will it affect his social security? Generally, no. If he's receiving Social Security benefits uh or he will be, uh your withdrawal from an employee retirement trust would not reduce his Social Security checks in any way. Uh retirement account withdrawals are not considered wages for Social Security earnings tests, and so that really wouldn't have any bearing. Um, you know, the only thing it could do would be increase the the taxes on the Social Security benefits, but that's different than reducing the actual benefit. But even then, $8,000 is you know, is a fairly small amount, so there probably would be very minimal impact. Could it affect his Medicare? Uh, you know, Medicare uses a provision called IRMA, which could increase Part B and D premiums. Uh, Medicare generally looks at income from two years prior. And so that means income earned in 2026 is going to affect Medicare premiums in 2028, next year's income is going to affect 2029 premiums. Um, and so if you filed jointly, a withdrawal could increase uh your household income for Medicare purposes, but again, this is a fairly modest amount. Should you roll it into an IRA or convert it to a Roth? I kind of like that. I wouldn't do it in the year where he's still working though, because this is the year where, you know, your income is still probably quite a bit higher than it will be certainly after he retires. So I think next year would be the year to do that. So in the meantime, what you may want to do is just go ahead and roll it to the traditional IRA, if that's an option. That would not be a taxable event. So there would not be any impact on anything other than just getting it into an account where it could continue to grow tax-deferred, but you'd have a little bit more control over how it's invested, and then perhaps revisit the idea of a Roth conversion once he fully transition into transitions into retirement. Probably in 2028 when, you know, his income is quite a bit lower, because even next year he'll have six months of earnings from his current job.
Diane Uh-huh. Confusing. He has a uh uh pension uh a traditional IRA and um it's uh
Rob West I'm sorry?
Diane Yeah.
Rob West He has a 401(k), okay, traditional IRA, and a pension. Okay. That's why I wondered if that would interrupt his if I cashed it.
Rob West No. I mean, again, it's just going to add $8,000 to your overall income for the year, if you pulled it out, assuming it's in a tax-deferred account, which it sounds like it is. Um, and so you'd have some tax due on that. Um, but other than that, you know, there really wouldn't be much of an impact. It's not going to affect his Social Security. The only potential impact, which again would be minimal by adding $8,000 to your income for the year, would be one, two years from 2026, so in 2028, could be a very slight, you know, increase in your Medicare premiums. Um, and then it could make just a a little bit more of his Social Security taxable, but it's not going to affect his benefit at all. So, I think if you want to understand the full implication, you could talk to a CPA, but it's Diane, it's going to be fairly minimal. I think the bigger question is, do you want to let it keep growing, or do you need the money? We appreciate your call. We'll be right back.
SEGMENT 4
Rob West Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. I'm Rob West. We're taking your questions today at 800-525-7000. Again, that number 800-525-7000. Whatever is on your mind today, we would love to hear from you.
And by the way, we're just $12,000 away from our campaign goal this week and we need your help to get there. Any amount given between now and the end of the day, on the 31st, so that's tomorrow at 11:59 at faithfi.com/give will allow us to send you a copy of Field Guide Number Two. What we were just talking about with David Wills at the open of the program today, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? That field guide will be our thank you to you. We're trying to close the gap on listener support for the month of October, about $12,000 away. Every gift of any amount will send you Field Guide Number Two as our thank you. Just head to faithfi.com/give.
All right, we're taking your questions today at 800-525-7000. Let's go to Georgia, Deanna. How can I help?
Deanna Oh, good morning. It's very nice to talk to you. I listen to your program as often as I can.
Rob West Well, thank you, Deanna. That's delightful. I appreciate your call today. How can I serve you?
Deanna Yes. Um, my adult son lost his job and his health insurance several months ago. He's 59 and a half years old, but too young for Medicare. He has been looking at the government ACA website for health insurance. The minimum household income to receive a subsidy is approximately approximately 16,000. With the subsidy, the monthly premium would be less than 200 per month. Without the subsidy, the monthly premium is around 1,200 per month. Since he's not yet working, an option he is considering is to take a distribution in 2027 from his traditional IRA equal to the minimum household income requirement, and thereby qualify for the subsidy. Another option would be for me to gift him the money on a monthly basis to pay the higher premium and not tap into the IRA. So, I was hoping you would give me your thoughts on these two options and is there a third option?
Rob West Mm. Yeah, very helpful. And I know this is uh is a challenging situation. Um yeah, taking a taxable IRA distribution can be a legitimate strategy to qualify for the Affordable Care Act subsidies. Um you know, receiving a financial gift uh will not help meet the income requirement. Um but I think it's a significant planning opportunity. So essentially, for 2026, the premium the ACA premium tax credits generally require uh household income of at least 100% of the federal poverty level with certain exceptions. Um so as as you point out, you know, there's depending on the household size, there's various amounts and it's based on the prior year's poverty guidelines. Um and so what about that IRA? Well, a taxable distribution from a traditional IRA counts toward the ACA modified adjusted gross income. So, you know, let's say you had uh you know, 2,000 in income and then you took IRA distributions of the the remaining amount, um you know, that could put you above the minimum threshold um and to to receive that subsidy, um which obviously, you know, could be significant. Um and so you want to have the qualifying income through the IRA distribution so that, you know, you don't get uh you have enough, but you don't, you know, go over.
In terms of your desire to help with a gift, I think that could work as well. Um are you in a position to do that financially?
Deanna Yes, I can.
Rob West Okay. Yeah.
Deanna Hello?
Rob West Yes, ma'am.
Deanna Oh yes, I can help him without jeopardizing my own finances.
Rob West Okay. Yeah. Uh and so, you know, that would be uh an option there as well, um where you would make the gift to him through, you know, your own means, um and, you know, that would potentially keep him in the same situation. What about a long-term solution? Is he just trying to buy time until he can get to Medicare ultimately?
Deanna Well, he's trying to find work that would give him benefits, but so far he hasn't been successful. So we look upon this as a way to get health insurance, you know, for the time being. Hopefully it would not be forever.
Rob West Yes. Yeah, right. And so then he'll he's out looking for work right now. He just hasn't come across anything yet.
Deanna Correct.
Rob West Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so I I think um you know, this could be a great option for him because obviously if he could do it for 200 a month with the subsidy, you know, that uh that gives him substantial savings. And I would probably go, you know, you could do either route. I think the key is just make sure you understand what those thresholds are and, you know, make sure you comply with the law. But if either option works, I think it ultimately comes down to, you know, whether you're desiring to make that gift to him and and be of assistance. And if so, great, that would be a real blessing to him. Otherwise, I think the IRA route could work as well, as long as you understand what the thresholds are and you stay within the guidelines.
Deanna Yes. Now, if I could ask you one more question regarding that threshold, as I understand it, he has to have a minimum income of 16,000. Yes. Um so if he took the IRA distribution, let's say 17 or 18,000, would that he would then have the required minimum?
Rob West That's exactly right. So he would want to look at any annual income he has. So let's say he had 5,000 in income and then he took 11,000 as an IRA distribution. His ACA household income would meet the 16,000. That would put him above the minimum income threshold for the premium tax credit eligibility. And then that $11,000 distribution in my example would be the taxable income, but the ACA subsidy savings could substantially outweigh the additional taxes. And so the key would be whatever income he has, he just wants to add to it the IRA distribution that gets him to the minimum of the 16,000.
The challenge with the gift is, you know, the the personal gift is excluded from federal taxable income. And so if you give him $16,000, he deposits out on a checking account, that's not going to count toward his ACA income to meet the minimum. And so I think, you know, that's why the the IRA distribution is probably the better option.
Deanna All right. Well, thank you so much. That helps a lot. I appreciate it.
Rob West You're welcome. Thanks for being on the program. Lord bless you. Let's go to uh well, we'll go to North Carolina. Tara, how can I help?
Tara Hi. Um, how are you today?
Rob West I'm great. Thanks for your call.
Tara Thank you for taking it. Um, so my question is, um, I have a CD. I am uh, investing illiterate, and I have a CD that is coming to mature in November, about the mid-November. And my what I would normally do is just let it roll over just because I don't know what to do with it instead of just sitting in a low interest account, I figured I'd put it in a CD. Right now, um, it I put it in uh for 3.69%.
Rob West Yes.
Tara And, um, it's now it's $27,000. And I've heard through different no on your show and other um avenues, um, probably a Roth IRA. I do have an an IRA through my work. Um, Okay. And I I just don't know what to do and thought maybe I could get some guidance.
Rob West Yeah, I mean, I I would love for this to get working for you as long as this is beyond your emergency fund and you have other liquid savings that you can fall back on in the event of the unexpected, then I would love to get this into a retirement account, either one at work if there's matching, or a Roth IRA if you don't have one that offers matching at work. So let's do this. Let's talk a bit more off the air during the break. We'll be right back.
SEGMENT 5
Rob West Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. Just a moment, Jerry Boyer will stop by. We'll get an update on the markets ahead of the midterms. We'll also check in on uh Boyer Research and their work incorporating engagement. But first, before the break, we were talking to Tara in North Carolina. Uh, she's working full-time. She's 60. She started saving a little later than she would have liked to. She's got several accounts, you know, at her disposal. Um, in particular, she's got a a CD that's coming due that's been slightly less than 4%. She's got about 20,000 in her emergency savings. Um, she's also got um a 401k at work with about 120,000 that she's getting matching on and continuing to contribute to and then a a Robin Hood account that she is quote, dabbling with. And so Tara, I would just try to simplify things. I really would love for you to get all of your investable money into that 401k, uh, so that it's all in one place and you don't have to choose the investments. Um, and and really it would just simplify things. So, I think as long as we've got that emergency fund that's liquid and in savings, then I think we can take, you know, the two CDs that are coming due beyond that and the Robin Hood money and then anything else you have beyond your emergency fund, and really try to get that into the 401k. The only way you can do that is through salary deferral. It's got to come out of your paycheck. So, one option is you go ahead and move all of those funds to a separate savings account so it's not commingled with your emergency fund, and then we increase your salary deferral every month to the max uh that they would allow. So, you don't because you can only put in so much for the year, but you know, you've got a window here for these last two months of the year where you could really dial that up. And the idea would be that even if that reduces your paycheck such that, you know, it it takes you below what you need to cover your expenses for the month, you could pull it out of that savings account to supplement, and then essentially what you're doing is moving it from one bucket to the other because you're increasing your salary deferral to get more of it into the 401k, and then you're slowly kind of draining that savings account so that we're moving it all in eventually to the 401k. So, we've got our retirement savings growing for you, and then we've got your emergency fund, and then with, you know, any surplus once this is done, if you wanted to start an a Roth IRA you could, but you're just going to have to open another account, you're going to have to choose the investments, and the the 401k just keeps it all really simple, and, you know, you've probably already selected the the investment options in the plan, and, you know, anything you had to it would just automatically be reinvested accordingly. Does that make sense, though?
Tara It does. It does.
Rob West Yeah. And so, rather than kind of I've got a little bit here and a little bit there and I'm dabbling over there, I just kind of like keeping everything in one account, invested fully in a way that's appropriate for your age and risk tolerance. It's growing for the future, and then you just kind of really focus on, you know, how much can get into, you know, long-term retirement savings while I'm still working whatever that runway is and let's just try to make up for lost time, not by being overly aggressive in the investments, but by keeping your lifestyle at a minimum so that you have more that you can put into that account. I hope that helps, though. Lord bless you. We appreciate your call today. Uh, we'll try to get to uh at least one more phone call before we're done. But uh before we're done, but first, Jerry Boyer's here. And uh Jerry, a lot going on uh in the markets. Uh, you know, we've got a midterm next week. What are you uh what are you watching this week?
Jerry Boyer Yeah. Well, I'm watching the data and uh we got GDP data that was better than expected. So if you remember on the quarterly call that um I did with you for Kingdom Advisors uh members, I said that I thought that the uh third quarter was going to be pretty strong. Um, and it was, which that's because I'm really smart. Um, no, that's not why. That that that's because I think you are. Thank you very much, uh, that you and my wife uh trying to find somebody else now. Um, but at least, I know that there's a lot of smarts out there in the marketplace, right? So, there's a distributed higher calls this distributed knowledge for J. One, a Nobel Prize in economics. Most of the knowledge is out there, not actually with experts. So, when people are making investment decisions, whatever, how you know what they perceive to be going on with business and the economy gets reflected in how markets behave. You know, the valuation of stocks compared to bonds. When people are optimistic, you know, they prefer bonds, you know, find stocks over bonds because that's variable, right? A little bit more um it can you know, bonds you have a fixed rate of return, but with stocks, the dividend might go up if the economy's better. So, that's kind of a signal of what all of us eight billion people in the world, maybe a billion of us actively participating in markets, what we all see, um and markets were signaling a strong third quarter. Um, that doesn't mean we we've got problems for sure. We do. We have high oil prices, um and those high oil prices are I drag on the economy in and of themselves, plus they're inflationary, which means it's more likely when you have inflation that the central bank takes money out of the system rather than stimulating money. So, those two things kind of pull back on markets. Um and we also had the Fed, um we had a dissenting vote from the Fed on hiking, um interest rates. We kind of have mixed signals on what the central bank is going to do. It's amazing to me that we we we're, you know, we have to know the names of these Fed governors. They're just people with PhDs who happen to have a friend in Congress, uh, and yet, you know, their mood, you know, we have to read them like a mood ring, you know, what what's Kevin Marsh look like, you know, what was his tone of voice? Uh, Alan Greenspan, how thick was uh his briefcase when he brought it in? Uh, because they have that much power. Um, and bottomlining it all, it looks like markets are indicating um a little less hiking than they thought before, a little less contracting of the money supply than was expected before, and that will drive down market values a little bit. It will also drive down gold, right? Because that's a hawkish stance. That's a less monetary easing stance, and gold is kind of the alternative. It's the hedge against the dollar against inflation. Um, so, and what's down more than other sectors? Well, the most speculative sector, which is the Nasdaq. We have those tech stocks that have high valuations. So, that's the classic play when we think that the Fed's going to create money and put it into the system, gold goes up, stocks go up, bonds also go up, and the most speculative stocks go up the most. When we think it's going to be the opposite play, the other one of their mandates, fight inflation by contracting the money supply, gold goes down, the dollar strengthens, um, bonds go down, stocks go down, and the stocks that go down the most are the most speculative ones in technology. So, I I it's really a pretty simple story, um even though it sounds a little technical, of essentially the central bank in charge of short-term market behavior.
Rob West Yeah, yeah. Really helpful overview there, Jerry. Jerry, what do you make of this uh crypto hack? Uh you know, largest on record now, 6 billion in client assets. I mean, you know, the the the whole idea of Bitcoin was the security, among things. Um what does this do for, you know, investors and others that are watching this and what might the fallout be?
Jerry Boyer Well, it weakens the case for it, certainly, um, because that was he Hey, crypto, you had one job. Uh, you know, be be secure, um, and um so, a guy I know by the name of Peter Thiel is tech investor, um, at one point was, you know, pretty into Bitcoin, etc., um, and, you know, he said he changed his mind on that when talking to someone from the FBI who said that if there's a bad guy out there, you know, drug dealer, terrorist, whatever, I would rather they use Bitcoin than cash because it's so much easier to track. I was like, okay, we get it. Wow. Um, so, it's I don't know if it's easy to track, but it is not impregnable. By the way, I mean, Jesus told us that, right? Um, there's no there's no place you can lock it away where it's perfectly impregnable. I'm not saying that all asset classes are equally risky. There are more impregnable vaults than others, but there is no vault that cannot be penetrated. There is no place where you can store uh financial wealth and be 100% sure that no one can steal it and that the value is going to hold. Yeah. So, then we're in the area of all of this money stuff has its purpose, it has its risk profile, and then where does it fit in the kingdom of God and where are you in your risk spectrum? So, the fact that a lot of people who are extremely frightened about hyperinflation, and that's been going on with our tribe for a lot a lot of times, is tied to prophecy speculation or it's tied to, you know, conspiracy theories. And, you know, once in a while conspiracy theories are true. I'm not saying they're all wrong. We get into the mode if you're if you're a little older, you go to gold, 100% to gold. If you're a little younger, you go 100% to Bitcoin. Uh your friend our mutual friend Chuck Bentley said one of his staff members was poking fun at them, they called gold um what are the boomer rocks.
So, uh we go to boomer rocks, younger people go to uh go to Bitcoin uh because that's the safe hedge, but it's not perfectly safe and this just reminds us of that. Plus there's just some issues with Bitcoin in general, you know, we don't need to get into the technical details. It's maybe not really the substitute for gold people thought. Now there's there's me talking boomer talk, uh, but you know, no one's ever used it for money yet, really. So, if that's what's supposed to be money, shouldn't somebody be using it for money? If that if the premise is, this is an alternate to the dollar, well I use dollars every day. Some come in the door, some go out the door. Uh Bitcoin is essentially being held in a vault um and not traded uh not used as a currency, at which point then what precisely is its function? Someday it'll be money, okay, maybe. I you know, you can make that bet, but it's not acting that way now. And um, at least cash in the bank is FDIC insured, but the Bitcoin break-ins aren't.
Rob West Hmm. Yeah. Wow. Lots to process there. Jerry, 45 seconds. One win that your team has uh experienced as of late uh as you engage in uh in companies all over the world.
Jerry Boyer Two days ago, big tech companies said we're taking out WPATH uh from our uh from our from our from our healthcare plan. That's the report that calls for paying for trans treatments for children. Wow. That's that's this week. That's two or three days ago. That's not the only one this week. That's I can imagine. Incredible.
Rob West All right, Jerry. We enjoy it as always. Have a great weekend, my friend.
Jerry Boyer You too. God bless.
Rob West All right. That's Jerry Boyer. He's our resident economist joins us each Friday on the broadcast. Well folks, thanks for being along with us today. Thanks for your calls, your encouragement, your emails, and your gifts. Uh we have a uh a big week this week. We had a $25,000 goal to close out October with listener support. We're 12,000 away. Some gifts came in even during the broadcast. Every gift before tomorrow at 11:59 will send you a copy of Field Guide Number Two, How to Prepare the Next Steward. Just go to faithfi.com/give. Big thanks to Devin, Patty, Pat, Taylor, and everybody here at Faithfi.
Preparing the next steward involves more than updating our estate plan. We spend a great amount of time thinking about how to manage money faithfully. Eventually, however, every steward passes that responsibility to someone else. How, then, do we train the person and put things in order? On this Faith & Finance on AFR, Rob West and David Wills explain. Then, it’s on to calls.
Live
Did you know American Family Radio is listener-supported? Your monthly financial support will allow us to continue upholding Godly values through our numerous channels, like American Family Radio, One Million Moms, The Stand magazine, and many more.
Become a Great Commission Partner TODAY to help AFR transform culture by rebuilding the family. When you donate today, you’ll get access to:
