Rob West Money can be a wonderful servant or a terrible master. Hi, I'm Rob West. Money touches nearly every part of our lives, but scripture tells us it also reveals something much deeper: what we treasure, whom we trust, and ultimately, whom we serve. Randy Alcorn joins us today to talk about why the Bible has so much to say about money and why that's a good thing. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance on American Family Radio, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.
Rob West What a treat to have Randy Alcorn with us. He's a bestselling author, the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, and a trusted voice on biblical stewardship, generosity, and living with eternity in view. Randy has written 69 books, including The Treasure Principle, Money, Possessions, and Eternity, and Heaven. He's also the author of a soon-to-be-released 31-day devotional for FaithFi, which we're excited to share with you in the months ahead. Randy, great to have you back, my friend.
Randy Alcorn Great to be with you, Rob.
Rob West Randy, you open the devotional by noting how much the Bible says about money and possessions. Let's start there: why do you think God addresses this area of our lives so often in His word?
Randy Alcorn Yeah, I remember early on reading books by Ron Blue and Howard Dayton. And Howard had—this was in the 80s when I was a young pastor. And it just struck me what Howard was saying about the 2,300—whatever the number of verses were—where the Bible talks about money. And it seemed disproportionate. You could look at it and you could say, "Well, there's a lot of other things besides money that are very, very important, and we would probably think it would be pretty fairly low on the list," but it's actually very high on the list. 10% to 15% of everything Jesus said related to money. And I just think that money is just way more important to God than we think it is, but not for the reasons we value money.
Rob West Why do you think that is then? What is it about money that God was getting at?
Randy Alcorn Because money is a reflection of who we are. It's always about more than money. Money is not just about everything. Yes, which is a funny way to say it, but it's not, because it's a reflection—what we do with our money is an indication of where our heart is. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". And so we are every day making investments that pull our heart towards particular things. And if all of these things are fairly secular, belonging only to the realm of our personal lifestyle, and we separate that from our spiritual lives, that's where we get into real trouble.
Rob West Well, let's talk about that. Why is that distinction then of a separate spiritual life and financial life so dangerous?
Randy Alcorn Well, we tend to think of worship and prayer and theology as spiritual things, but budgets, careers, and purchases belong to kind of the real world. I mean, it's "real" in quotes. But scripture doesn't make that division. Our lives—we live one life before the Lord, and we're going to answer for it at the judgment seat of Christ. And that doesn't have to be a scary thing; He's going to reward us, but He's also going to hold us accountable. And God cares not just about where our money goes, but where our hearts are going. And money has the power to open doors to very positive things, not just to negative things, not just to materialism and abuse of money, but to worship and generosity and compassion and faith. It can be a great tool—as you said, it can be a terrible master, but a wonderful servant.
Rob West Yeah, that's exactly right. And let's not forget that the author of money, the creator and owner of everything, is also the author of delight and joy and wonder. And so it goes without saying, as long as money doesn't become an idol, it should be a good gift used for good and productive and life-giving purposes. The problem is we get that out of order: we take God off the throne of our lives, we put money there, and it is a terrible master. But when it's a tool—to Randy Alcorn's point, a powerful force for good—we're going to talk about that when we come back. Randy Alcorn is here today. His 70th book will be a devotional for FaithFi that'll be out later this year; we can't wait to put it in your hands. More on this topic right around the corner, stay with us.
SEGMENT 2
Rob West God's wisdom about money is ultimately an invitation to freedom, to enjoy His provision, hold it with open hands and find our greatest treasure in Him. We're talking about why God has so much to say about money. Our guest today is my friend Randy Alcorn. He's the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, he's a bestselling author, and his 70th book will actually be a devotional that we're going to produce later this year. It's a devotional that I can't wait to get in your hands as you go on a journey to explore the freedom and joy that God intends for you to have with his good gift of money. Now, Randy, we talked about how so much of scripture deals with this topic and we believe the reason is, in part, because it has so much to do with our hearts. Now, scripture's words about money in particular, and certainly other topics as well, can be challenging. But you point out that the goal isn't guilt, it's freedom from the promises money can never keep. How can that discomfort actually be a gift from God?
Randy Alcorn Well, it really is a gift. And if you've ever had a friend confront you about something, maybe husband and wife, whoever it is, and you know that they love you, you know, faithful are the wounds of a friend, the proverb says. You know that correction is something that you need. It's not comfortable when it happens, but it makes us better people and it makes us happier people ultimately. So sometimes we tend to want to soften scriptures' plain meaning; sometimes pastors will do this in a message where, "Well, you know, it really says, you know, the take up your cross and follow Jesus". Now, we don't want to make that sound like that's too big of a deal. Well, it's a huge deal. And so let's not soften its plain meaning just because we want to avoid feeling guilty. But conviction itself we should see as one of God's great mercies to us. The Holy Spirit loves to expose our idols and it's not to humiliate us, it's to liberate us from those idols. God's teaching on money is not ever meant to rob us of happiness, yes, but to free us from the false promises of money, which becomes this false god. So this is really the message is really about freedom, not guilt.
Rob West Mm, wow, that's well said. Randy, you say that one of the great illusions of our age is that having more will bring us greater peace. Ron Blue talks about the paradox of prosperity. Why is that promise so persuasive and why does it ultimately leave us disappointed in the end?
Randy Alcorn Yeah, I think we all the longer we live, the wiser we should become. It's not always true, but the reason is because we've seen enough of life that we then realize how it works. And so some of our high expectations of how wonderful we're going to feel when we get that new car, that new house, when we get that salary increase, when we go on that wonderful luxury vacation, or whatever it might be, and then so often there is disappointment. And the disappointment is just a reflection, it doesn't mean that those things were bad, it just means that they were never meant to satisfy our hearts, our longings. That's where giving is is so wonderful because Jesus said it's more happy making to give than to receive in Acts 20:35. And we end up with these temporary things, yes, they can be enjoyed as gifts from God, but they just can't provide ultimate meaning or fulfillment to our lives. So what's happening is we're trusting in the wrong things. We should be trusting in God and His promises, and that requires living by faith, not by sight, but our tendency is to live by sight. Just realizing God made us for something far greater than living from purchase to purchase. It's really a lot more than that.
Rob West Yeah, I think that's right. So then, if possessions can never truly satisfy us, and as we get older we become more and more acquainted with that understanding, how then Randy do we keep from them taking too central a place in our lives?
Randy Alcorn Well, we have to make sure our lives are anchored in the character of God. And I know as a young Christian I read A.W. Tozer's The Knowledge of the Holy; J.I. Packer came out at that time when I was a young believer with his book Knowing God. And then my wife Nancy, in her final days as she was dying before the Lord took her home, she reread those books and Desiring God by John Piper and Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. We just have to anchor ourselves in who God is. Scripture itself, of course, is what those books are about and brings to the fore. So when we focus on God's goodness and generosity, our grip on temporary things just loosens. We become more open-hearted and therefore more open-handed. We're made for an eternal kingdom, an eternal king, eternal joy, and the greatest treasure isn't what God gives us, but God Himself. The God is the gospel. He gives Himself to us and that's the center of everything.
Rob West Mm, wow. We know, of course, there's a connection between our hearts and money. Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. You point out that our hearts tend to follow where we place our treasure. Talk about the importance of that understanding.
Randy Alcorn Yeah, sometimes we we think in terms of our treasure following where our heart is, because well, if we really have a heart for something, then probably we will gift to that thing. Well, that's true to a certain extent, but it works the other way, and the actual words of Jesus should make that hit home with us. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So, that means our hearts follow our treasure. So, if I want more of a heart for God's kingdom, I need to give more to God's kingdom. Put more of my treasure there. It's like if you invest in some company of Apple or IBM or whatever, that means you develop vested interest in it, and now you're interested in reading an article on big changes at Apple or big changes at IBM or whatever it is you're investing in, and that's exactly what's true in the spiritual realm. The more you give to evangelism in different parts of the world, famine relief, to causes like getting clean water to villages, to save the children from all these diseases and when you do that, your heart follows where you put your treasure. And if you're investing in translating the scriptures in a language that has never had it before, and you take whether it's you a few hundred dollars, a few thousand dollars, or whether you sponsor an entire translation for a language group that might be a couple of hundred thousand dollars, whatever it is, your heart is going to be with that, and forever. I mean, in the world to come, we'll sit down at banquet tables and we'll have people sitting on the left and the right, and God will be in charge of the seating arrangements, and we'll be sitting next to people who will look at us and say, "Thank you, you gave so that we could have the scripture in our own heart language, and it made all the difference".
Rob West Wow. What a great place for us to finish today. This has been such an encouraging conversation and a great reminder, Randy, that our money is not just about money, it reveals what we treasure, whom we trust, and where our hearts are anchored. So thankful for you, my friend.
Randy Alcorn Yeah, it's great to be with you and great to be together in God's kingdom.
Rob West It sure is. That's teacher and bestselling author Randy Alcorn. If you'd like to receive his new devotional from FaithFi, become a partner at faithfi.com/gift. We'll be back with your questions after this break, so call right now 800-525-7000, or if you'd prefer to email your question, send it to [email protected]. Stick around.
SEGMENT 3
Rob West So glad to have you with us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. I'm Rob West. Well, really delighted to take your phone calls today here in just a moment as we turn the corner 800-525-7000. Again that number 800-525-7000. Boy, what a treat to have Randy Alcorn here today. He's become a good friend over the years. I'll tell you his book Money, Possessions and Eternity and Master Your Money and Your Finances in Changing Times from Larry Burkett and Ron Blue were three of the books that really set the trajectory of my life toward the intersection of faith and finance in college and have been so blessed to develop a friendship with Randy over the years. And as I mentioned, he is going to be writing and it's-- it's actually the manuscript is done and we're in design and editing right now, but a new devotional from Faithfi that's coming out early next year. It's his first devotional on money and it's his 70th book. Think about that. You know, it's hard enough to write one, Randy's written 70 books, but never a devotional on this topic of money that has been really a key part of his teaching for his entire writing and pastoral career. And so we're so honored at Faithfi to be the ones to be able to bring that to you again early next year.
Speaking of new books, this is a big day here at Faithfi. We are so excited whenever we can launch a new product and today represents the launch of a brand new product. That's right, our latest field guide How Do I Prepare the Next Steward has released starting today and we couldn't be more thrilled about it. It's a practical resource designed to help families pass on more than financial assets. It encourages readers to consider the spiritual and relational and character dimensions of inheritance alongside traditional estate planning. And so we draw on biblical principles, we provide reflection questions, we provide practical exercises to help parents and grandparents and other future benefactors prepare loved ones to manage resources wisely and faithfully. And to celebrate the launch of this product, we want to put it in as many hands as we can and so this week only between now and Friday, October 31st, we are making it available to anyone who makes a gift of any amount to Faithfi. And this is a really key time for us as we head in and really are now into the fourth quarter of the year. This is a critical moment for us to hear from you as a listener-supported ministry. And so what an exciting time to be able to shore up and prepare for year-end funding of Faithfi so we can bring you this ministry and to be able to put a copy of this brand new field guide How Do I Prepare the Next Steward in your hands.
And so here's where you go: just head over to faithfi.com/give, you'll see a picture of the new field guide right there at the top of the page. A gift of any amount is going to allow us to send you complimentary this brand new field guide as a way of saying thanks for supporting the ministry and helping us to fulfill our mission to equip Christians to manage God's money God's way so that we can see God as our ultimate treasure and money a tool. And so if you love the ministry, you've found it helpful, maybe you've been able to apply something you've heard on the broadcast or you've just been encouraged in your journey as a steward of God's resources, this is a great opportunity right now to support Faithfi and every gift of any amount allows us to send you the brand new, just-released field guide number two, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward. Just head to faithfi.com/give, that's faithfi.com/give.
All right, we want to dive into your questions today. We've got lines open, we're ready for you. If you have a financial question, call right now 800-525-7000. Let's begin in Georgia, David, go ahead, sir.
David Good morning... Excuse me, good morning. Thanks for your ministry.
Rob West [Laughs]
David Sorry for the frog in the throat. I've got three related questions, all of it swirling around finding a CKA, Certified Kingdom Advisor. I was on the website last night, and I thought in times past there had been a list of questions I am seeking a financial advisor. Is there a way that you could get a list of suggested questions to me that I might want to ask a Certified Kingdom Advisor in trying to figure out which CKA is right for me? That would be the first question.
Rob West Yes. Well, I'd-- I'd be happy to... and I want to hear the other two, but let me just mention we do have a list of questions that are available for you and I believe they are at if you go to faithfi.com and click find a CKA, you should see them there. But if for some reason, as we update the site, they are not there, I'm also going to ask you to hold the line, give your information to my team so I can be sure that we email you a copy of those questions.
David Much appreciated. Second question, so I'm retired federal service, got a point or 900k to put under management, another 300k that I'm holding in reserve to change houses. My question is, how do I decide whether I want to continue managing my own money and right now I've been using a multitude of mutual funds and that's turned out not too bad. How do I decide whether to do that, continue doing that, or get a CKA, get a financial advisor, turn it over to them, they might want to invest in stocks, which I'm not comfortable with, but how do I make that decision would be the second question.
Rob West Yeah. Yeah, very good. Tell me a little bit more before I answer that about that last comment you made about you're not comfortable investing in stocks. Did you mean just individual stocks versus mutual funds?
David I'm not... I don't know enough about the stock market to do my own picking. So it's not the stocks themselves, it's that I don't know how the whole thing works. And so I'd be more comfortable doing what I've known how to do for years now, and that is work with mutual funds.
Rob West Got it. Yes. No, that makes a lot of sense.
David ...somebody else if-- if they're-- if they're doing it for me, and they know what they're doing, sure. Sure stocks could be an option.
Rob West Yeah. Makes sense. But I will say even advisors, you know, managing money for clients will often use tools like exchange-traded funds and mutual funds. Some of them may do individual stocks, but many of them use those same baskets either actively managed or passively managed to build client portfolios. Well, this is a great question because I totally understand, David, you know, you're heading into the retirement season, you got a significant nest egg. Why use an advisor? I'll tackle that right after this break. Stay with us.
SEGMENT 4
Rob West Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. I'm Rob West. We're taking your phone calls today, your questions on anything financial as you give, save, and spend. We know you want to align every area of your life with God's word. We want to help you do that in your financial journey as you live out your role as a steward of God's resources. So if you have a question today, call right now 800-525-7000. We've got some lines open, we're ready for you 800-525-7000.
Before the break, we heard from David in Georgia. David has a sizable nest egg, nearly a million dollars that he's put together for his retirement season of life, heading into that. And just wondering, I've been managing this money myself, David says. What is the right reason why I would select an advisor? How do I go about interviewing that advisor, specifically a Certified Kingdom Advisor at findthecka.com? And it's a great question, David. And if you listen to the program, you know you hear me talk often about the role of a CKA who can bring both technical expertise, but also a faith-aligned approach, and that's evidence by their training in the CKA program and their pastor and client reference and their statement of faith and their code of ethics and all the requirements we put in front of them, because we believe that in particular, this area of money management, you really need a professional to walk alongside you, but also one who shares your faith, who understands the heart of God in Scripture related to money, the warnings in Scripture, but also the principles that we can apply to every decision that we make, including our investments.
So you ask a very appropriate question. Why would I choose an advisor, you know, as I head into this fourth quarter of life? And I would just offer a few ideas. One would be, most folks, David, who are heading into this season are taking the retirement nest egg that they've been able to accumulate through, you know, modest living and diligent savings, and then turning that into retirement income. And so in retirement our focus shifts toward generating income without running out of money.
So an advisor will come into that saying, how much can we safely withdraw each month? Which account should I withdraw from first? When should I begin collecting Social Security? And then building the portfolio that balances the ability to continue to grow the portfolio and offset inflation while providing the income that you're looking for.
Secondly, protecting against market downturns. So one of the biggest risks when approaching retirement is something called sequence of returns risk. That means experiencing significant investment losses early in retirement while simultaneously withdrawing money and the advisor can help you maintain the appropriate balance of stocks and bonds, keep sufficient cash, creating the withdrawal strategy, rebalancing when necessary.
Thirdly, reducing taxes. This can be one of the most valuable benefits of professional planning, and that has to do with the advisor coordinating the tax strategies with your CPA or other tax professional to minimize taxes which can come in with, you know, the withdrawals, the required minimums, social security taxation, something called Irma from Medicare. So that's a really key idea here.
Also coordinating social security with retirement savings. I think another big one, David, is just the emotional discipline and peace of mind. You know, it's one thing to manage your own money, you know, when the market's going up, which it has, you know, for the last couple of decades pretty consistently, um we're overdue for a recession. They tend to work in cycles. So if the market was down 20 or 30%, when you're managing your own money, often investors will panic and sell investments at the worst possible time with no clear plan for an entry point, and that just can be really problematic. And so sometimes the greatest value of an advisor isn't picking the investments, it's helping you avoid making a costly decision during a stressful market.
Now, do you have to give up control? I mean, that's up to you. Typically, I would recommend you using an advisor who has what's called discretion. So you'll give them the ability after significant due diligence and after, you know, they do a lot of discovery with you and understand your goals and your objectives and your risk tolerance, you will give them discretion to make the buy and sell decisions. Now, you'll have full visibility into everything they're doing, but they have the ability to make those buy and sell decisions without checking with you. And so that's a part of a relationship with an investment advisor, and that would be my preferred approach. They would just operate on an agreed-upon strategy.
The last piece that I'll mention, and I'm sorry I'm throwing a lot at you here, but this is a really great question, is a Certified Kingdom Advisor who offers faith-based investments can also make sure that the investments that he or she is using in your portfolio are screened for your values. You know, if you have a conviction and it's really your conviction that needs to drive this, but if you have a conviction to avoid certain industries that might be in things that are misaligned with your values, maybe there's something related to a media company that has pornography or a pharmaceutical that produces an abortion drug, any number of things, the advisor can screen the portfolio for those holdings, they can also engage with the companies and vote proxies on your behalf to make sure you're not voting for things that would be again contrary to your values as a Christ follower. So, I think that's probably the big idea there, and I think you put all that together and it's worth, you know, in my mind far more than the let's say one to one and a half percent a year you would typically pay an advisor to manage your portfolio. But give me your thoughts on all that.
David Um, that was certainly comprehensive. Congratulations, that was amazing. Um, I do want to leverage off of something that you brought up and that was discretion, to ask my last question and that was, um, basically, uh, when we start getting serious with the advisor, do does the investor like me, um, do we sign over our money and then they just move it? Do we, you know, is there a different form on discretion where it's still our money, but they've got the room to move it around? What sort of forms should I expect?
Rob West Oh yeah. No, it always stays your money. And so it's going to be held in an account that's titled in your name. It could be, you know, your name comma IRA if it's a rollover from a 401k, if it's, you know, um, some other type of account, it could be inside of a trust, but uh it's always going to be titled in your name. So you are clearly the account owner. It's just that when you engage with that advisor, part of the agreement that you'll sign gives the advisor the ability to make investment decisions in your portfolio on your behalf. It doesn't mean the account belongs to the advisor, still belongs to you. You have every right based on the titling of the account that drives the ownership. You're just granting permission until you revoke it for the advisor to be able to trade and manage the account in terms of investment selection.
David Excellent, excellent. Thank you so much. That-- that really helps me a lot because uh, you know, it's one thing to weather downturns, which I have weathered those before, you know, how to deal with it. It's another thing uh to get hold of someone that you thought you'd done due diligence on researching and then they turn out to be a charlatan, and they're done with all of your retirement. Yes, yes. So thanks so much, Rob.
Rob West Well, you're very welcome and and keep in mind the account is going to have a uh going to be custodied, meaning the uh custody relationship ultimately is at the brokerage firm. So typically a a CKA might, you know, be at at Ed Jones and they might be at Merrill Lynch or they might be at Fidelity or Charles Schwab. So your statements are going to come from the custodian, um, who's holding the account. Your name's going to be on the title, and the advisor is just granted access specifically for trading. Also, I did confirm if you go to find a cka.com and you uh go through the questions there and put in your zip code, when you get the search results of the CKAs in your area that match your needs right there on that screen with the results is the link for the list of questions. Again, that's find a cka.com. David, thanks for your call. We'll be right back.
SEGMENT 5
Rob West Well, you can't take it with you. God owns it all and we're managers of His resources. So, every steward has to ask, who comes next and are they ready? Is the next steward both chosen and prepared? Well, that's the heart of our brand new field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? It walks you through passing on four kinds of wealth: your faith, your character, your relationships, and your money. It launches today, and this week, it's our thank you to you for a gift of any amount at faithfi.com/give. So, between now and October 31st, any gift of any amount allows us to put a copy of our brand new field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward: Passing On Virtues and Character Before and Faith Before the Finances. That's at the heart of this brand new guide. We are so excited about it. This is one of the key and primary questions that we hear on this program, and this field guide is a response to that.
So, a gift of any amount, and we mean that, when you go to faithfi.com/give allows us to put one in the mail to you. This is a really important time for us here in the fourth quarter of the year as a listener-supported ministry, so your gift will go a long way to helping us fund the work of FaithFi. So, just head to faithfi.com/give today.
Well, Bob Doll is here. He's our resident market guy. He joins us each Monday as we start a new trading week to weigh in on the markets. Bob, tell us what you're watching as we start a new trading week.
Bob Doll Well, I first have to react to what you just said. I love the line, our friend Randy Alcorn, "Yes, you can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead."
Rob West [Laughs] That's right.
Bob Doll And we all need to learn what that means and and apply it. Anyway, what am I watching? I'm watching green on my screen today, Rob. You know, it's been a tough period for the market as a whole, particularly NASDAQ stock-- NASDAQ stocks, AI, anything technology-related, and lots of other stocks over the last couple weeks. So, market's trying to recover. We have a big week of corporate earnings, watching that carefully as well to see where we're headed. You know my view is we're going to to and fro and not go a whole lot of anywhere for a while.
Rob West Yeah, obviously, we've got an election here just around the corner, but as you've reminded us several times, following the midterms, at least if history is any indication of where we're headed next year, we should see a pretty strong market, right?
Bob Doll Yes! The, uh, tidbit is, as you know, since 1942, every midterm election from that day out 12 months, the stock market has always gone up. I love those little factoids. You just hope history repeats itself.
Rob West [Laughs] That's exactly right. Bob, what about the AI trade? I know that's been front and center, obviously so much of what is happening right now with our economy and some of the momentum we're seeing now even in the markets is a result of the AI trade, the productivity enhancements, what it means for our economy and just everyday life moving forward. But there's also been some questions. I know Elon raised some questions over the weekend about just the debt markets and whether there's going to be funding available for especially some of the smaller AI companies. What are your thoughts on that?
Bob Doll You know, it is going to be checkered. Anytime a new technology comes, people get really excited, appropriately so, and then you get in the period where you realize nothing's perfect out there and you get some splintering. You get some success-- successes, and you got some companies that struggle, and it's around the kind of issues you just talked about as it relates to AI. As Elon said, it's about can the companies that want to get the money to do the expansion get the money? It's part of the reason we've had the increase in interest rates because there's competition because so many companies want money to expand and do cap-- capital expenditures to build their capacity to serve the-- the AI wave.
Rob West Mm, yeah. Well, we'll certainly keep an eye on that. Bob, obviously inflation has been front and center for some time now. It will continue to be. I know you had a comment about the Fed's expectations in this week's commentary. Share that with us.
Bob Doll You know, the-- as you know, the Fed's target for inflation is two. They've stated late-- lately they see it slowing down to two and a half. We are currently around three and a half, and I think as long as this economy stays robust, which it is, we're going to have a hard time getting the inflation rate down. So, watch it carefully. It's key for financial markets, both stocks and bonds.
Rob West Bob, is two and a half sustainable for what we're trying to accomplish here in terms of the growth of this economy, or do you feel like we've really got to get down to two?
Bob Doll Look, the long-term inflation rate, Rob, in this country, as you know, is three, and my view is we are still structured to have an inflation rate around three. If the Fed really can get us down to two and a half without a significant economic slowdown, that would be a victory, much less two, which I think is a pipe dream.
Rob West Mm, yeah. Bob, a lot of economic data every week to digest. One that you highlighted this week was related to housing starts. What is that metric, and what do we learn from it?
Bob Doll You know, how many new houses are-- are started in the U.S. It's measured every month, and for the third straight month, it's gone down. This particular month, 5% decline. Single-family starts dropped to the lowest level since September of last year, and-- and this is a function of, uh-- there's some demographic issues, but primarily higher mortgage rates and affordability to buy a home, and housing is obviously a very important part of our economy, and at the moment, it's weak.
Rob West Bob, there's been a lot of focus on Treasury yields. I know we were getting concerned that they were heading up. Sounds like there's also some concern that they're heading back down. What do you make of where we find ourselves?
Bob Doll [Laughs] Yeah, as you know, the-- the move up, Rob, was, uh, pretty severe from, uh, the last few months, and we got to 5.35% on the 10-year Treasury. Today, we sit at 4.98%, below that magic 5% level, and a lot of the decline is-- it was overbought, the yield, but I think the fundamental decline is there is some concern that the economy is slowing somewhat. So, a slower economy, uh, is generally good for-- for bonds and for, um, declining yields, and, uh, I'm sure the Fed is watching that very carefully as they deliberate, uh, on the inflation problem they have that they have to solve.
Rob West Bob, you mentioned you're expecting lots of earnings this week. The-- the data has been pretty good thus far, right?
Bob Doll It sure has. To-- to refresh memories, revenue growth for the third quarter, which is being reported, is 12%, and earnings growth is expected to be 30%. Not inconsistent, but with what we've seen, uh, for the last several quarters. So, that means a whole lot of margin expansion, and as you point out, we're only a couple weeks into it, but so far, generally so good.
Rob West Yeah, very good. All right, Bob, we always appreciate the update. Have a great week, my friend.
Bob Doll You the same. God bless.
Rob West All right, that's Bob Doll. He's CEO and CIO at Crossmark Global Investments. You can sign up for his investment commentary. He produces it weekly at crossmarkglobal.com.
Well, before we round out the broadcast today, I've been mentioning we are so excited about the launch of Field Guide 2: How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? You know, the big idea is this: it's not about what you leave behind, it's about who you leave prepared. You see, most planning prepares assets for heirs. The bigger job is preparing heirs for assets. Money doesn't create character, it doesn't create wisdom; Ecclesiastes is pretty clear on that, but it does reveal and I'll say amplify what's already there. And that's why we are so clear, and I think God's word is so clear, that we need to pass wisdom before wealth. If wealth outpaces wisdom in terms of being received by the next generation, your heirs, we're in a danger zone. But if we pass wisdom first, then wealth can be received with joy and stewarded wisely and can actually be a tool to lean into their walk with the Lord and and be a part of God's activities through their giving.
And we need to recognize that we pass on, and this is at the heart of the field guide, four kinds of wealth:
• First, spiritual wealth that points to Jesus. Joshua set up memorial stones so the next generation would ask, "What do these mean?" Timothy's sincere faith first lived in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. And so we pass that spiritual wealth by engaging in conversations and we tell our faith story. We don't assume they know it, but we've got to lean into it.
• Second, character. Character wealth cultivates wisdom. Elisha walked with Elijah for years, watching him obey God through hard lessons before he ever carried the mantle.
• Relational wealth, this is the third one, helps to ensure that others will flourish. Think about Barnabas; he invested in people and he opened doors for them. We can't transfer our relationships, but we can help them to think about the importance of the community around them and that they need to be leaning into and building their own relational wealth.
• For the next steward, the fourth and final area that we cover and that we will pass on to our heirs is, of course, financial wealth. But we need to understand that financial wealth is a tool, not a treasure. Zacchaeus shows how a heart changed by Jesus changes how you handle money. David gave generously while he was still alive to guide how it was used.
And so we need to name our next stewards. Are they children, are they grandchildren, or are they a ministry we love? Are they all three? We need to tell our faith story; don't just assume they know it. We need to practice giving, saving, spending, and investing together now, not just later when the money is passed on. We need to ask, is there a reason this gift should wait? Giving while you're living lets you watch it work and guide it, and by the way, fair doesn't always mean equal. All of these ideas and so many more are provided through practical guides in this new field guide and we can't wait to put it in your hands.
It's Field Guide Number 2 from FaithFi, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? And this week only, between now and October 31st, a gift of any amount to the ministry—by the way, we are listener-supported, so we count on your gifts—allows us to send you a copy. I'd love to put hundreds if not thousands in the hands of FaithFi listeners this week, and so let me just ask, would you consider a gift to the ministry right now? A gift of any amount: $20, $200, $2,000 will go a long way to us helping more people handle God's money God's way. Just go to faithfi.com/give, a gift between now and October 31st, we'll send you this field guide. Faithfi.com/give.
Big thanks to Patty, Pat, Devin, Michael, everybody here at FaithFi. We'll see you tomorrow.
Rob West Money can be a wonderful servant or a terrible master. Hi, I'm Rob West. Money touches nearly every part of our lives, but scripture tells us it also reveals something much deeper: what we treasure, whom we trust, and ultimately, whom we serve. Randy Alcorn joins us today to talk about why the Bible has so much to say about money and why that's a good thing. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance on American Family Radio, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.
Rob West What a treat to have Randy Alcorn with us. He's a bestselling author, the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, and a trusted voice on biblical stewardship, generosity, and living with eternity in view. Randy has written 69 books, including The Treasure Principle, Money, Possessions, and Eternity, and Heaven. He's also the author of a soon-to-be-released 31-day devotional for FaithFi, which we're excited to share with you in the months ahead. Randy, great to have you back, my friend.
Randy Alcorn Great to be with you, Rob.
Rob West Randy, you open the devotional by noting how much the Bible says about money and possessions. Let's start there: why do you think God addresses this area of our lives so often in His word?
Randy Alcorn Yeah, I remember early on reading books by Ron Blue and Howard Dayton. And Howard had—this was in the 80s when I was a young pastor. And it just struck me what Howard was saying about the 2,300—whatever the number of verses were—where the Bible talks about money. And it seemed disproportionate. You could look at it and you could say, "Well, there's a lot of other things besides money that are very, very important, and we would probably think it would be pretty fairly low on the list," but it's actually very high on the list. 10% to 15% of everything Jesus said related to money. And I just think that money is just way more important to God than we think it is, but not for the reasons we value money.
Rob West Why do you think that is then? What is it about money that God was getting at?
Randy Alcorn Because money is a reflection of who we are. It's always about more than money. Money is not just about everything. Yes, which is a funny way to say it, but it's not, because it's a reflection—what we do with our money is an indication of where our heart is. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". And so we are every day making investments that pull our heart towards particular things. And if all of these things are fairly secular, belonging only to the realm of our personal lifestyle, and we separate that from our spiritual lives, that's where we get into real trouble.
Rob West Well, let's talk about that. Why is that distinction then of a separate spiritual life and financial life so dangerous?
Randy Alcorn Well, we tend to think of worship and prayer and theology as spiritual things, but budgets, careers, and purchases belong to kind of the real world. I mean, it's "real" in quotes. But scripture doesn't make that division. Our lives—we live one life before the Lord, and we're going to answer for it at the judgment seat of Christ. And that doesn't have to be a scary thing; He's going to reward us, but He's also going to hold us accountable. And God cares not just about where our money goes, but where our hearts are going. And money has the power to open doors to very positive things, not just to negative things, not just to materialism and abuse of money, but to worship and generosity and compassion and faith. It can be a great tool—as you said, it can be a terrible master, but a wonderful servant.
Rob West Yeah, that's exactly right. And let's not forget that the author of money, the creator and owner of everything, is also the author of delight and joy and wonder. And so it goes without saying, as long as money doesn't become an idol, it should be a good gift used for good and productive and life-giving purposes. The problem is we get that out of order: we take God off the throne of our lives, we put money there, and it is a terrible master. But when it's a tool—to Randy Alcorn's point, a powerful force for good—we're going to talk about that when we come back. Randy Alcorn is here today. His 70th book will be a devotional for FaithFi that'll be out later this year; we can't wait to put it in your hands. More on this topic right around the corner, stay with us.
SEGMENT 2
Rob West God's wisdom about money is ultimately an invitation to freedom, to enjoy His provision, hold it with open hands and find our greatest treasure in Him. We're talking about why God has so much to say about money. Our guest today is my friend Randy Alcorn. He's the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, he's a bestselling author, and his 70th book will actually be a devotional that we're going to produce later this year. It's a devotional that I can't wait to get in your hands as you go on a journey to explore the freedom and joy that God intends for you to have with his good gift of money. Now, Randy, we talked about how so much of scripture deals with this topic and we believe the reason is, in part, because it has so much to do with our hearts. Now, scripture's words about money in particular, and certainly other topics as well, can be challenging. But you point out that the goal isn't guilt, it's freedom from the promises money can never keep. How can that discomfort actually be a gift from God?
Randy Alcorn Well, it really is a gift. And if you've ever had a friend confront you about something, maybe husband and wife, whoever it is, and you know that they love you, you know, faithful are the wounds of a friend, the proverb says. You know that correction is something that you need. It's not comfortable when it happens, but it makes us better people and it makes us happier people ultimately. So sometimes we tend to want to soften scriptures' plain meaning; sometimes pastors will do this in a message where, "Well, you know, it really says, you know, the take up your cross and follow Jesus". Now, we don't want to make that sound like that's too big of a deal. Well, it's a huge deal. And so let's not soften its plain meaning just because we want to avoid feeling guilty. But conviction itself we should see as one of God's great mercies to us. The Holy Spirit loves to expose our idols and it's not to humiliate us, it's to liberate us from those idols. God's teaching on money is not ever meant to rob us of happiness, yes, but to free us from the false promises of money, which becomes this false god. So this is really the message is really about freedom, not guilt.
Rob West Mm, wow, that's well said. Randy, you say that one of the great illusions of our age is that having more will bring us greater peace. Ron Blue talks about the paradox of prosperity. Why is that promise so persuasive and why does it ultimately leave us disappointed in the end?
Randy Alcorn Yeah, I think we all the longer we live, the wiser we should become. It's not always true, but the reason is because we've seen enough of life that we then realize how it works. And so some of our high expectations of how wonderful we're going to feel when we get that new car, that new house, when we get that salary increase, when we go on that wonderful luxury vacation, or whatever it might be, and then so often there is disappointment. And the disappointment is just a reflection, it doesn't mean that those things were bad, it just means that they were never meant to satisfy our hearts, our longings. That's where giving is is so wonderful because Jesus said it's more happy making to give than to receive in Acts 20:35. And we end up with these temporary things, yes, they can be enjoyed as gifts from God, but they just can't provide ultimate meaning or fulfillment to our lives. So what's happening is we're trusting in the wrong things. We should be trusting in God and His promises, and that requires living by faith, not by sight, but our tendency is to live by sight. Just realizing God made us for something far greater than living from purchase to purchase. It's really a lot more than that.
Rob West Yeah, I think that's right. So then, if possessions can never truly satisfy us, and as we get older we become more and more acquainted with that understanding, how then Randy do we keep from them taking too central a place in our lives?
Randy Alcorn Well, we have to make sure our lives are anchored in the character of God. And I know as a young Christian I read A.W. Tozer's The Knowledge of the Holy; J.I. Packer came out at that time when I was a young believer with his book Knowing God. And then my wife Nancy, in her final days as she was dying before the Lord took her home, she reread those books and Desiring God by John Piper and Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. We just have to anchor ourselves in who God is. Scripture itself, of course, is what those books are about and brings to the fore. So when we focus on God's goodness and generosity, our grip on temporary things just loosens. We become more open-hearted and therefore more open-handed. We're made for an eternal kingdom, an eternal king, eternal joy, and the greatest treasure isn't what God gives us, but God Himself. The God is the gospel. He gives Himself to us and that's the center of everything.
Rob West Mm, wow. We know, of course, there's a connection between our hearts and money. Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. You point out that our hearts tend to follow where we place our treasure. Talk about the importance of that understanding.
Randy Alcorn Yeah, sometimes we we think in terms of our treasure following where our heart is, because well, if we really have a heart for something, then probably we will gift to that thing. Well, that's true to a certain extent, but it works the other way, and the actual words of Jesus should make that hit home with us. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So, that means our hearts follow our treasure. So, if I want more of a heart for God's kingdom, I need to give more to God's kingdom. Put more of my treasure there. It's like if you invest in some company of Apple or IBM or whatever, that means you develop vested interest in it, and now you're interested in reading an article on big changes at Apple or big changes at IBM or whatever it is you're investing in, and that's exactly what's true in the spiritual realm. The more you give to evangelism in different parts of the world, famine relief, to causes like getting clean water to villages, to save the children from all these diseases and when you do that, your heart follows where you put your treasure. And if you're investing in translating the scriptures in a language that has never had it before, and you take whether it's you a few hundred dollars, a few thousand dollars, or whether you sponsor an entire translation for a language group that might be a couple of hundred thousand dollars, whatever it is, your heart is going to be with that, and forever. I mean, in the world to come, we'll sit down at banquet tables and we'll have people sitting on the left and the right, and God will be in charge of the seating arrangements, and we'll be sitting next to people who will look at us and say, "Thank you, you gave so that we could have the scripture in our own heart language, and it made all the difference".
Rob West Wow. What a great place for us to finish today. This has been such an encouraging conversation and a great reminder, Randy, that our money is not just about money, it reveals what we treasure, whom we trust, and where our hearts are anchored. So thankful for you, my friend.
Randy Alcorn Yeah, it's great to be with you and great to be together in God's kingdom.
Rob West It sure is. That's teacher and bestselling author Randy Alcorn. If you'd like to receive his new devotional from FaithFi, become a partner at faithfi.com/gift. We'll be back with your questions after this break, so call right now 800-525-7000, or if you'd prefer to email your question, send it to [email protected]. Stick around.
SEGMENT 3
Rob West So glad to have you with us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. I'm Rob West. Well, really delighted to take your phone calls today here in just a moment as we turn the corner 800-525-7000. Again that number 800-525-7000. Boy, what a treat to have Randy Alcorn here today. He's become a good friend over the years. I'll tell you his book Money, Possessions and Eternity and Master Your Money and Your Finances in Changing Times from Larry Burkett and Ron Blue were three of the books that really set the trajectory of my life toward the intersection of faith and finance in college and have been so blessed to develop a friendship with Randy over the years. And as I mentioned, he is going to be writing and it's-- it's actually the manuscript is done and we're in design and editing right now, but a new devotional from Faithfi that's coming out early next year. It's his first devotional on money and it's his 70th book. Think about that. You know, it's hard enough to write one, Randy's written 70 books, but never a devotional on this topic of money that has been really a key part of his teaching for his entire writing and pastoral career. And so we're so honored at Faithfi to be the ones to be able to bring that to you again early next year.
Speaking of new books, this is a big day here at Faithfi. We are so excited whenever we can launch a new product and today represents the launch of a brand new product. That's right, our latest field guide How Do I Prepare the Next Steward has released starting today and we couldn't be more thrilled about it. It's a practical resource designed to help families pass on more than financial assets. It encourages readers to consider the spiritual and relational and character dimensions of inheritance alongside traditional estate planning. And so we draw on biblical principles, we provide reflection questions, we provide practical exercises to help parents and grandparents and other future benefactors prepare loved ones to manage resources wisely and faithfully. And to celebrate the launch of this product, we want to put it in as many hands as we can and so this week only between now and Friday, October 31st, we are making it available to anyone who makes a gift of any amount to Faithfi. And this is a really key time for us as we head in and really are now into the fourth quarter of the year. This is a critical moment for us to hear from you as a listener-supported ministry. And so what an exciting time to be able to shore up and prepare for year-end funding of Faithfi so we can bring you this ministry and to be able to put a copy of this brand new field guide How Do I Prepare the Next Steward in your hands.
And so here's where you go: just head over to faithfi.com/give, you'll see a picture of the new field guide right there at the top of the page. A gift of any amount is going to allow us to send you complimentary this brand new field guide as a way of saying thanks for supporting the ministry and helping us to fulfill our mission to equip Christians to manage God's money God's way so that we can see God as our ultimate treasure and money a tool. And so if you love the ministry, you've found it helpful, maybe you've been able to apply something you've heard on the broadcast or you've just been encouraged in your journey as a steward of God's resources, this is a great opportunity right now to support Faithfi and every gift of any amount allows us to send you the brand new, just-released field guide number two, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward. Just head to faithfi.com/give, that's faithfi.com/give.
All right, we want to dive into your questions today. We've got lines open, we're ready for you. If you have a financial question, call right now 800-525-7000. Let's begin in Georgia, David, go ahead, sir.
David Good morning... Excuse me, good morning. Thanks for your ministry.
Rob West [Laughs]
David Sorry for the frog in the throat. I've got three related questions, all of it swirling around finding a CKA, Certified Kingdom Advisor. I was on the website last night, and I thought in times past there had been a list of questions I am seeking a financial advisor. Is there a way that you could get a list of suggested questions to me that I might want to ask a Certified Kingdom Advisor in trying to figure out which CKA is right for me? That would be the first question.
Rob West Yes. Well, I'd-- I'd be happy to... and I want to hear the other two, but let me just mention we do have a list of questions that are available for you and I believe they are at if you go to faithfi.com and click find a CKA, you should see them there. But if for some reason, as we update the site, they are not there, I'm also going to ask you to hold the line, give your information to my team so I can be sure that we email you a copy of those questions.
David Much appreciated. Second question, so I'm retired federal service, got a point or 900k to put under management, another 300k that I'm holding in reserve to change houses. My question is, how do I decide whether I want to continue managing my own money and right now I've been using a multitude of mutual funds and that's turned out not too bad. How do I decide whether to do that, continue doing that, or get a CKA, get a financial advisor, turn it over to them, they might want to invest in stocks, which I'm not comfortable with, but how do I make that decision would be the second question.
Rob West Yeah. Yeah, very good. Tell me a little bit more before I answer that about that last comment you made about you're not comfortable investing in stocks. Did you mean just individual stocks versus mutual funds?
David I'm not... I don't know enough about the stock market to do my own picking. So it's not the stocks themselves, it's that I don't know how the whole thing works. And so I'd be more comfortable doing what I've known how to do for years now, and that is work with mutual funds.
Rob West Got it. Yes. No, that makes a lot of sense.
David ...somebody else if-- if they're-- if they're doing it for me, and they know what they're doing, sure. Sure stocks could be an option.
Rob West Yeah. Makes sense. But I will say even advisors, you know, managing money for clients will often use tools like exchange-traded funds and mutual funds. Some of them may do individual stocks, but many of them use those same baskets either actively managed or passively managed to build client portfolios. Well, this is a great question because I totally understand, David, you know, you're heading into the retirement season, you got a significant nest egg. Why use an advisor? I'll tackle that right after this break. Stay with us.
SEGMENT 4
Rob West Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance here on American Family Radio. I'm Rob West. We're taking your phone calls today, your questions on anything financial as you give, save, and spend. We know you want to align every area of your life with God's word. We want to help you do that in your financial journey as you live out your role as a steward of God's resources. So if you have a question today, call right now 800-525-7000. We've got some lines open, we're ready for you 800-525-7000.
Before the break, we heard from David in Georgia. David has a sizable nest egg, nearly a million dollars that he's put together for his retirement season of life, heading into that. And just wondering, I've been managing this money myself, David says. What is the right reason why I would select an advisor? How do I go about interviewing that advisor, specifically a Certified Kingdom Advisor at findthecka.com? And it's a great question, David. And if you listen to the program, you know you hear me talk often about the role of a CKA who can bring both technical expertise, but also a faith-aligned approach, and that's evidence by their training in the CKA program and their pastor and client reference and their statement of faith and their code of ethics and all the requirements we put in front of them, because we believe that in particular, this area of money management, you really need a professional to walk alongside you, but also one who shares your faith, who understands the heart of God in Scripture related to money, the warnings in Scripture, but also the principles that we can apply to every decision that we make, including our investments.
So you ask a very appropriate question. Why would I choose an advisor, you know, as I head into this fourth quarter of life? And I would just offer a few ideas. One would be, most folks, David, who are heading into this season are taking the retirement nest egg that they've been able to accumulate through, you know, modest living and diligent savings, and then turning that into retirement income. And so in retirement our focus shifts toward generating income without running out of money.
So an advisor will come into that saying, how much can we safely withdraw each month? Which account should I withdraw from first? When should I begin collecting Social Security? And then building the portfolio that balances the ability to continue to grow the portfolio and offset inflation while providing the income that you're looking for.
Secondly, protecting against market downturns. So one of the biggest risks when approaching retirement is something called sequence of returns risk. That means experiencing significant investment losses early in retirement while simultaneously withdrawing money and the advisor can help you maintain the appropriate balance of stocks and bonds, keep sufficient cash, creating the withdrawal strategy, rebalancing when necessary.
Thirdly, reducing taxes. This can be one of the most valuable benefits of professional planning, and that has to do with the advisor coordinating the tax strategies with your CPA or other tax professional to minimize taxes which can come in with, you know, the withdrawals, the required minimums, social security taxation, something called Irma from Medicare. So that's a really key idea here.
Also coordinating social security with retirement savings. I think another big one, David, is just the emotional discipline and peace of mind. You know, it's one thing to manage your own money, you know, when the market's going up, which it has, you know, for the last couple of decades pretty consistently, um we're overdue for a recession. They tend to work in cycles. So if the market was down 20 or 30%, when you're managing your own money, often investors will panic and sell investments at the worst possible time with no clear plan for an entry point, and that just can be really problematic. And so sometimes the greatest value of an advisor isn't picking the investments, it's helping you avoid making a costly decision during a stressful market.
Now, do you have to give up control? I mean, that's up to you. Typically, I would recommend you using an advisor who has what's called discretion. So you'll give them the ability after significant due diligence and after, you know, they do a lot of discovery with you and understand your goals and your objectives and your risk tolerance, you will give them discretion to make the buy and sell decisions. Now, you'll have full visibility into everything they're doing, but they have the ability to make those buy and sell decisions without checking with you. And so that's a part of a relationship with an investment advisor, and that would be my preferred approach. They would just operate on an agreed-upon strategy.
The last piece that I'll mention, and I'm sorry I'm throwing a lot at you here, but this is a really great question, is a Certified Kingdom Advisor who offers faith-based investments can also make sure that the investments that he or she is using in your portfolio are screened for your values. You know, if you have a conviction and it's really your conviction that needs to drive this, but if you have a conviction to avoid certain industries that might be in things that are misaligned with your values, maybe there's something related to a media company that has pornography or a pharmaceutical that produces an abortion drug, any number of things, the advisor can screen the portfolio for those holdings, they can also engage with the companies and vote proxies on your behalf to make sure you're not voting for things that would be again contrary to your values as a Christ follower. So, I think that's probably the big idea there, and I think you put all that together and it's worth, you know, in my mind far more than the let's say one to one and a half percent a year you would typically pay an advisor to manage your portfolio. But give me your thoughts on all that.
David Um, that was certainly comprehensive. Congratulations, that was amazing. Um, I do want to leverage off of something that you brought up and that was discretion, to ask my last question and that was, um, basically, uh, when we start getting serious with the advisor, do does the investor like me, um, do we sign over our money and then they just move it? Do we, you know, is there a different form on discretion where it's still our money, but they've got the room to move it around? What sort of forms should I expect?
Rob West Oh yeah. No, it always stays your money. And so it's going to be held in an account that's titled in your name. It could be, you know, your name comma IRA if it's a rollover from a 401k, if it's, you know, um, some other type of account, it could be inside of a trust, but uh it's always going to be titled in your name. So you are clearly the account owner. It's just that when you engage with that advisor, part of the agreement that you'll sign gives the advisor the ability to make investment decisions in your portfolio on your behalf. It doesn't mean the account belongs to the advisor, still belongs to you. You have every right based on the titling of the account that drives the ownership. You're just granting permission until you revoke it for the advisor to be able to trade and manage the account in terms of investment selection.
David Excellent, excellent. Thank you so much. That-- that really helps me a lot because uh, you know, it's one thing to weather downturns, which I have weathered those before, you know, how to deal with it. It's another thing uh to get hold of someone that you thought you'd done due diligence on researching and then they turn out to be a charlatan, and they're done with all of your retirement. Yes, yes. So thanks so much, Rob.
Rob West Well, you're very welcome and and keep in mind the account is going to have a uh going to be custodied, meaning the uh custody relationship ultimately is at the brokerage firm. So typically a a CKA might, you know, be at at Ed Jones and they might be at Merrill Lynch or they might be at Fidelity or Charles Schwab. So your statements are going to come from the custodian, um, who's holding the account. Your name's going to be on the title, and the advisor is just granted access specifically for trading. Also, I did confirm if you go to find a cka.com and you uh go through the questions there and put in your zip code, when you get the search results of the CKAs in your area that match your needs right there on that screen with the results is the link for the list of questions. Again, that's find a cka.com. David, thanks for your call. We'll be right back.
SEGMENT 5
Rob West Well, you can't take it with you. God owns it all and we're managers of His resources. So, every steward has to ask, who comes next and are they ready? Is the next steward both chosen and prepared? Well, that's the heart of our brand new field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? It walks you through passing on four kinds of wealth: your faith, your character, your relationships, and your money. It launches today, and this week, it's our thank you to you for a gift of any amount at faithfi.com/give. So, between now and October 31st, any gift of any amount allows us to put a copy of our brand new field guide, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward: Passing On Virtues and Character Before and Faith Before the Finances. That's at the heart of this brand new guide. We are so excited about it. This is one of the key and primary questions that we hear on this program, and this field guide is a response to that.
So, a gift of any amount, and we mean that, when you go to faithfi.com/give allows us to put one in the mail to you. This is a really important time for us here in the fourth quarter of the year as a listener-supported ministry, so your gift will go a long way to helping us fund the work of FaithFi. So, just head to faithfi.com/give today.
Well, Bob Doll is here. He's our resident market guy. He joins us each Monday as we start a new trading week to weigh in on the markets. Bob, tell us what you're watching as we start a new trading week.
Bob Doll Well, I first have to react to what you just said. I love the line, our friend Randy Alcorn, "Yes, you can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead."
Rob West [Laughs] That's right.
Bob Doll And we all need to learn what that means and and apply it. Anyway, what am I watching? I'm watching green on my screen today, Rob. You know, it's been a tough period for the market as a whole, particularly NASDAQ stock-- NASDAQ stocks, AI, anything technology-related, and lots of other stocks over the last couple weeks. So, market's trying to recover. We have a big week of corporate earnings, watching that carefully as well to see where we're headed. You know my view is we're going to to and fro and not go a whole lot of anywhere for a while.
Rob West Yeah, obviously, we've got an election here just around the corner, but as you've reminded us several times, following the midterms, at least if history is any indication of where we're headed next year, we should see a pretty strong market, right?
Bob Doll Yes! The, uh, tidbit is, as you know, since 1942, every midterm election from that day out 12 months, the stock market has always gone up. I love those little factoids. You just hope history repeats itself.
Rob West [Laughs] That's exactly right. Bob, what about the AI trade? I know that's been front and center, obviously so much of what is happening right now with our economy and some of the momentum we're seeing now even in the markets is a result of the AI trade, the productivity enhancements, what it means for our economy and just everyday life moving forward. But there's also been some questions. I know Elon raised some questions over the weekend about just the debt markets and whether there's going to be funding available for especially some of the smaller AI companies. What are your thoughts on that?
Bob Doll You know, it is going to be checkered. Anytime a new technology comes, people get really excited, appropriately so, and then you get in the period where you realize nothing's perfect out there and you get some splintering. You get some success-- successes, and you got some companies that struggle, and it's around the kind of issues you just talked about as it relates to AI. As Elon said, it's about can the companies that want to get the money to do the expansion get the money? It's part of the reason we've had the increase in interest rates because there's competition because so many companies want money to expand and do cap-- capital expenditures to build their capacity to serve the-- the AI wave.
Rob West Mm, yeah. Well, we'll certainly keep an eye on that. Bob, obviously inflation has been front and center for some time now. It will continue to be. I know you had a comment about the Fed's expectations in this week's commentary. Share that with us.
Bob Doll You know, the-- as you know, the Fed's target for inflation is two. They've stated late-- lately they see it slowing down to two and a half. We are currently around three and a half, and I think as long as this economy stays robust, which it is, we're going to have a hard time getting the inflation rate down. So, watch it carefully. It's key for financial markets, both stocks and bonds.
Rob West Bob, is two and a half sustainable for what we're trying to accomplish here in terms of the growth of this economy, or do you feel like we've really got to get down to two?
Bob Doll Look, the long-term inflation rate, Rob, in this country, as you know, is three, and my view is we are still structured to have an inflation rate around three. If the Fed really can get us down to two and a half without a significant economic slowdown, that would be a victory, much less two, which I think is a pipe dream.
Rob West Mm, yeah. Bob, a lot of economic data every week to digest. One that you highlighted this week was related to housing starts. What is that metric, and what do we learn from it?
Bob Doll You know, how many new houses are-- are started in the U.S. It's measured every month, and for the third straight month, it's gone down. This particular month, 5% decline. Single-family starts dropped to the lowest level since September of last year, and-- and this is a function of, uh-- there's some demographic issues, but primarily higher mortgage rates and affordability to buy a home, and housing is obviously a very important part of our economy, and at the moment, it's weak.
Rob West Bob, there's been a lot of focus on Treasury yields. I know we were getting concerned that they were heading up. Sounds like there's also some concern that they're heading back down. What do you make of where we find ourselves?
Bob Doll [Laughs] Yeah, as you know, the-- the move up, Rob, was, uh, pretty severe from, uh, the last few months, and we got to 5.35% on the 10-year Treasury. Today, we sit at 4.98%, below that magic 5% level, and a lot of the decline is-- it was overbought, the yield, but I think the fundamental decline is there is some concern that the economy is slowing somewhat. So, a slower economy, uh, is generally good for-- for bonds and for, um, declining yields, and, uh, I'm sure the Fed is watching that very carefully as they deliberate, uh, on the inflation problem they have that they have to solve.
Rob West Bob, you mentioned you're expecting lots of earnings this week. The-- the data has been pretty good thus far, right?
Bob Doll It sure has. To-- to refresh memories, revenue growth for the third quarter, which is being reported, is 12%, and earnings growth is expected to be 30%. Not inconsistent, but with what we've seen, uh, for the last several quarters. So, that means a whole lot of margin expansion, and as you point out, we're only a couple weeks into it, but so far, generally so good.
Rob West Yeah, very good. All right, Bob, we always appreciate the update. Have a great week, my friend.
Bob Doll You the same. God bless.
Rob West All right, that's Bob Doll. He's CEO and CIO at Crossmark Global Investments. You can sign up for his investment commentary. He produces it weekly at crossmarkglobal.com.
Well, before we round out the broadcast today, I've been mentioning we are so excited about the launch of Field Guide 2: How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? You know, the big idea is this: it's not about what you leave behind, it's about who you leave prepared. You see, most planning prepares assets for heirs. The bigger job is preparing heirs for assets. Money doesn't create character, it doesn't create wisdom; Ecclesiastes is pretty clear on that, but it does reveal and I'll say amplify what's already there. And that's why we are so clear, and I think God's word is so clear, that we need to pass wisdom before wealth. If wealth outpaces wisdom in terms of being received by the next generation, your heirs, we're in a danger zone. But if we pass wisdom first, then wealth can be received with joy and stewarded wisely and can actually be a tool to lean into their walk with the Lord and and be a part of God's activities through their giving.
And we need to recognize that we pass on, and this is at the heart of the field guide, four kinds of wealth:
• First, spiritual wealth that points to Jesus. Joshua set up memorial stones so the next generation would ask, "What do these mean?" Timothy's sincere faith first lived in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. And so we pass that spiritual wealth by engaging in conversations and we tell our faith story. We don't assume they know it, but we've got to lean into it.
• Second, character. Character wealth cultivates wisdom. Elisha walked with Elijah for years, watching him obey God through hard lessons before he ever carried the mantle.
• Relational wealth, this is the third one, helps to ensure that others will flourish. Think about Barnabas; he invested in people and he opened doors for them. We can't transfer our relationships, but we can help them to think about the importance of the community around them and that they need to be leaning into and building their own relational wealth.
• For the next steward, the fourth and final area that we cover and that we will pass on to our heirs is, of course, financial wealth. But we need to understand that financial wealth is a tool, not a treasure. Zacchaeus shows how a heart changed by Jesus changes how you handle money. David gave generously while he was still alive to guide how it was used.
And so we need to name our next stewards. Are they children, are they grandchildren, or are they a ministry we love? Are they all three? We need to tell our faith story; don't just assume they know it. We need to practice giving, saving, spending, and investing together now, not just later when the money is passed on. We need to ask, is there a reason this gift should wait? Giving while you're living lets you watch it work and guide it, and by the way, fair doesn't always mean equal. All of these ideas and so many more are provided through practical guides in this new field guide and we can't wait to put it in your hands.
It's Field Guide Number 2 from FaithFi, How Do I Prepare the Next Steward? And this week only, between now and October 31st, a gift of any amount to the ministry—by the way, we are listener-supported, so we count on your gifts—allows us to send you a copy. I'd love to put hundreds if not thousands in the hands of FaithFi listeners this week, and so let me just ask, would you consider a gift to the ministry right now? A gift of any amount: $20, $200, $2,000 will go a long way to us helping more people handle God's money God's way. Just go to faithfi.com/give, a gift between now and October 31st, we'll send you this field guide. Faithfi.com/give.
Big thanks to Patty, Pat, Devin, Michael, everybody here at FaithFi. We'll see you tomorrow.
Money can be a wonderful servant—or a terrible master. Money touches nearly every part of our lives. Through Scripture, we realize it also reveals something much deeper: what we treasure, whom we trust, and ultimately, whom we serve. On this Faith & Finance on AFR, Randy Alcorn joins Rob West to talk about why the Bible has so much to say about money—and why that’s a good thing. Then, it’s on to calls.
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