Christian Financial Perspectives

Christian Financial Perspectives

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Christian Financial Perspectives episodes

  • 197 – Biblical Viewpoints Of Money and Wealth Part 1
    Click below to listen to Episode 197 – Biblical Viewpoints Of Money and Wealth Part 1
    Biblical Viewpoints Of Money and Wealth Part 1

    Learn about the first 3 weeks of a Bible study on stewardship.

    More episodes >>

    Do you struggle with aligning your view of money and wealth with the Bible or are you looking for a deeper biblical perspective? Over the next few weeks, we’ll dive into a study examining God’s design for wealth and work called “Biblical Viewpoints of Money and Wealth”. The study is a seven-week deep dive into what the Bible says about money and how it applies to real life. It covers topics such as the difference between a Biblical and secular worldview and the responsibilities of an owner versus a manager.

    The study is available for purchase on Amazon, but please don’t hesitate to reach out if you are interested in teaching or promoting the study in their churches or small groups.

    HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

    CO-HOST: Shawn Peters

    Mentioned In This Episode
    Christian Financial Advisors
    Website
    Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
    Shawn Peters
    Biblical Viewpoints of Money and Wealth
    Bible Verses In This Episode
    GALATIANS 5:16-23

    So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.

    PSALM 24:1

    The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who live in it.

    LUKE 16:10-12

    The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true wealth to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

    Want to ask a question about your specific situation? Schedule a complimentary 15 minute phone call.

    SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENTDid you enjoy this episode? Sign up for email updates and never miss an episode.
    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    Shawn:

    Do you struggle with aligning your view of money and wealth with the Bible or are you looking for a deeper Biblical perspective? Over the next few weeks, we’ll dive into a study examining God’s design for wealth and work. Let’s get some perspective. Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. My name’s Shawn Peters. I’m joined as always by my co-host, Bob Barber. And today we’re going to be bringing you part one of a three-part series where we give you an overview of a Bible study that Bob had actually developed a number of years ago.

    Bob:

    Originally this was called the Seven Pillars of Biblical Stewardship. You might remember when we did that and that was so intensive, and I remember when we had Pat Hail here, who was a pastor and he would go in and train churches how to conduct this study.

    Shawn:

    It was a great study, but the one downside to it is that you kind of almost needed this – teach someone how to teach it for it to be impactful. And I mean, man, how many churches, entire churches actually went through that study? It was quite a few.

    Bob:

    I think there was 80 to 100 in Texas. So I came up with a simplified version called “Biblical Viewpoints of Money and Wealth” that you can do on your own or you could do in a small group, you just pop right in.

    Shawn:

    It’s also a seven week study.

    Bob:

    It is.

    Shawn:

    But it is written in a way that if you’re on your own or if you’re in a group, you can jump in and it is very scripture heavy and scripture led. So a lot of questions, we’ll give you some examples, but a lot of questions where you have a question and here’s two to four scriptures. Go read the scriptures and then okay, what did the scripture tell you?

    Bob:

    I guess you could say don’t let the thinness of this fool you. Yeah, because there’s so much scripture.

    Shawn:

    It’d be about four times as thick if you included all the scriptures.

    Bob:

    Exactly, yeah. Because it’s very, very scriptural heavy. But if you’re looking for a Bible study that talks about what God’s word says about money and how this applies to real life, this is the study and it’s been years and years of development. The first, like you said, the first series was that Seven Pillars. That was like 10 or 12 years ago. And then this took me another couple of years to come up with this and we’ve had it and we’ve had it out a few years and I think it’s time to bring it back and let our new audience know about this.

    Shawn:

    So if this ends up being something that you’re interested in, we will have the link in the description or you can just go straight to Amazon and search for “Biblical Viewpoints of Money and Wealth”. And this is what the current cover looks like. So it should be fairly easy to find. But alright, so this seven week Bible study just is a deep dive into what God’s word says about money. The foundation of the study is looking at how Biblical wealth comes from, belongs to, and it should honor God as well as how that wealth should be distributed wisely. Biblical wealth, just kind of a definition, it’s providing for those God has entrusted to us, supporting the church, spreading the gospel, sending out and supporting missionaries, providing for God’s family, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, sheltering the homeless, healing the sick, educating the homeless, protecting the innocent, and providing for widows and orphans.

    Bob:

    There’s a lot in there.

    Shawn:

    It’s a lot. Yeah.

    Bob:

    But that is probably, that’s kind of a synopsis of the whole study.

    Shawn:

    Exactly, right there, big picture. So Bob, why don’t you go ahead and let our listeners and viewers know what are the seven viewpoints that are covered within the seven weeks?

    Bob:

    Alright, well, the first week what we do, and this is really the foundation of the study, is we look at the difference between a Biblical and a secular worldview. And like I say, that’s the foundation. And then the second week we look at the differences between an owner, what an owner’s job is and what a manager’s job is. And we are going to go into some examples of these first three today, two or three minutes just for each one. Week three covers the Biblical worldview of work and retirement. Week four looks at the difference between secular and Biblical council when it comes to finance. Week five covers money and wealth from a Biblical worldview. Week six covers giving and blessings from a Biblical worldview. And then week seven covers properly leaving an inheritance and a legacy for the following generations. So what we’re going to do today for just a few minutes is we’re going to give you an example of those first two to three weeks of this study. And that first week, the scriptures that we use and looking at what’s the difference between a Biblical worldview and a secular worldview – as we look at Galatians of 5:16-23, Exodus 20:1-17, Proverbs 3:3-6, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, and John 14:6. And hopefully all that, if you’re watching YouTube, this is going to be up on the screen.

    Shawn:

    Yeah, one correction. It was Exodus 20:1-17.

    Bob:

    What did I say?

    Shawn:

    I don’t know, but it wasn’t that.

    Bob:

    Oh, okay. Well thanks a lot. Yeah, I’m going through all these very quickly. So today, we’re just going to look at the very first scripture and give you an idea of what this feels like. So we’re going to look at Galatians 5:16-23. Shawn, if you would read that for us,.

    Shawn:

    Starting at verse 16, “So I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh; for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the Spirit, what is contrary to the flesh. They’re in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want, but if you’re led by the spirit, you’re not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious – sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” In verse 22, “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” So if you’re doing this on your own, I’m sure you can have a good internal monologue, but definitely in a group, just this first scripture really brings a lot of discussion to the group where we can very clearly see the differences between these two views between the flesh or the world, secular view and the spirit or the Biblical view.

    Bob:

    If you’re not watching YouTube, but I’m going to show this to you, you can see here what we do is we have one column that we put for the Biblical worldview and another column for the secular worldview. So you write down those and you put ’em right against each other and you’re really able to see a Biblical worldview is love and joy and peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control where a secular worldview is sexual immorality and discord and anger, all those areas like that. So that really gives you a good idea, and there’s a lot of discussion that goes into this.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. So then in the second week the study covers the difference between an owner and a manager. The differences between an owner and a manager become clear when you consider examples like a restaurant owner. So the manager has duties and responsibilities to carry out the owner’s wishes. And in the same way, God owns everything and we are merely managers of the resources that he has temporarily given us stewardship over.

    Bob:

    And we use that example in the study. You think about a restaurant franchise, some people own five or six of them, the owner’s not there, but the manager is. The manager is expected to do a good job for the owner or the manager gets fired.

    Shawn:

    So examining your personal possessions through this lens, through that lens of that you’re a manager, not an owner, is very illuminating. Whether you’re talking about your car, home, job – in all of those, who’s the real owner? Is it you or is it the Lord? What duties do you have as the manager and how well are you carrying out God’s wishes with these resources?

    Bob:

    We do that same thing where you put the owner at the top, you list the duties of the owner, you have the manager and you list the duties of the manager. And you can see the differences in the two of those. And looking at Psalms 24:1, which is one of our scriptures, it says God is the owner of everything, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that dwell within it and everything in it.” So it’s really taking that tight fist where it’s all mine and you’re releasing that and saying, God that belongs to you. And then being a good steward. Are you being a good steward with that car that God’s given you? Are you taking good care of it, keeping it clean, things like that. That’s what God wants to see. He wants to see that we’re being good managers with what he’s enabled us. Which brings us to the scripture of Luke 16:10-12. That’s a very important scripture talking about if you wonder why sometimes, why don’t I have more? Well, maybe it’s because you’ve got to do well with the little things first before you do good with the bigger things.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. So Luke 16:10-12, “The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful and much. And the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true wealth to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” To make sure we’re not getting too much into prosperity gospel theology here. Really what this verse highlights is not a guarantee that you’re going to be given a whole lot more, but you look at it as this is a prerequisite to where if you really are expecting God to bless you with more and you have not been faithful with what he’s already given you, why would you expect him to give you more?
    So you should also reference the “Parable of the Talents”. The first two, they did well, they both increased the value and then the first one didn’t do anything with it. He just stuck it in a hole, buried underground and it was taken away from him. Well, you need to show that you’re being faithful before you expect God to, for whatever reason, give you more, I think is the main thing there. But it’s not a guarantee either. It’s also okay if he never really gives you any more, we’re still called to be good stewards of what he’s blessed us with.

    Bob:

    So moving on to week three, and then that’ll be all we cover for today. We explore the Biblical perspectives on work and retirement. There is such a different view. Work appears in the Bible over 500 times, where retirement appears one time and it’s when the chief priests at the age of 50 shall quit their regular duties at the tent of the meeting, but teach. See, they’re teaching. They’re mentoring the younger generation. So retirement is looked at as a time of mentoring others and teaching others, not just checking out of life.

    Shawn:

    I think the key there is that you’re still active, you’re just in a different phase of your life, different level of responsibility. And keep in mind, work existed before the fall, before sin entered into the world.

    Bob:

    That is always a good point. And I think people don’t realize that. I mean, they do realize if they go back and read scripture, but they don’t think about it, they think well work is a curse. No, work is not a curse. Work is a blessing. It provides significance. And especially if you’re a Christian, the amount of ministry you can do Monday through Friday at your job is 10 times the amount than you can do on a Sunday morning. I believe in going to church – absolutely – and being with the body of believers. But that’s just a couple of hours where you’re at work 30 to 40 hours a week.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. So that’s all we’ll cover for today. But the seven modules, if you will, for the study, they build on each other, but they also can, to an extent, stand on their own. Our prayer is that God will use this Bible study in people’s lives to help renew their minds and transform people in how they view and handle money through the lens of how God sees it. So if this study sounds interesting or beneficial to you, we would ask that you consider purchasing your own copy, whether it’s just for yourself or if you wanted to do it with a small group, the link will be in the description. You can also, like I said, we said earlier, go on Amazon search for “Biblical Viewpoints of Money and Wealth”. You can buy however many copies you want. We have it on there basically at cost. We’re not trying to make money on it, we just want to be able to make sure the information’s available, get it out there.

    Bob:

    And I’m also here if you ever want to just talk about it since I did develop the study. If you want to talk about some ideas about teaching it and promoting it in your church or your small group, please give us a call or text us.

    Shawn:

    At (830) 609-6986. And don’t forget to share this video with others who might find it beneficial as well. That’s all for today. God bless.

    [DISCLOSURES]

    * Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.

    14 min
  • Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes Part 2
    Want to avoid money regrets and costly financial errors? Eager to learn common pitfalls that trip up even seasoned investors? Well, in this episode of our 2 part series on “Foolish Financial Mistakes”, Bob and Shawn cover 10 more financial mistakes to steer clear of that can cost you dearly. Instead of blaming others for financial mistakes, they emphasize using wisdom and taking responsibility for one's financial decisions. It's important to seek out professional financial advice from a fiduciary based advisor who has your best interests in mind. As always, please share this content with anyone who you think may benefit from it!
    18 min
  • 196 – Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes Part 2
    Click below to listen to Episode 196 – Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes Part 2
    Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes Part 2

    Try to avoid committing these common, financial mistakes!

    More episodes >>

    Want to avoid money regrets and costly financial errors? Eager to learn common pitfalls that trip up even seasoned investors? Well, in this episode of our 2 part series on “Foolish Financial Mistakes”, Bob and Shawn cover 10 more financial mistakes to steer clear of that can cost you dearly.

    Instead of blaming others for financial mistakes, they emphasize using wisdom and taking responsibility for one’s financial decisions. It’s important to seek out professional financial advice from a fiduciary based advisor who has your best interests in mind. As always, please share this content with anyone who you think may benefit from it!

    HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

    CO-HOST: Shawn Peters

    Mentioned In This Episode
    Christian Financial Advisors
    Website
    Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
    Shawn Peters
    “Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes Part 1”
    Crown Ministries
    WebsiteInstagram
    Financial Peace University
    Website
    Bible Verses In This Episode
    PROVERBS 28:26

    Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.

    JAMES 1:5

    If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

    JEREMIAH 29:11

    For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

    Want to ask a question about your specific situation? Schedule a complimentary 15 minute phone call.

    SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENTDid you enjoy this episode? Sign up for email updates and never miss an episode.
    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    Shawn:

    Want to avoid money regrets and costly financial errors? Eager to learn common pitfalls that trip up even seasoned investors? Well today, we’ll be covering part two of our discussion on foolish financial mistakes to steer clear of that can cost you dearly. Let’s get some perspective.
    Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. My name’s Shawn Peters. I’m joined as always by my father-in-Law, Bob Barber. And today we’re going to be going into part two of our “Foolish Financial Mistakes To Avoid”. We covered a few scriptures on the last episode. If you haven’t already taken a look at that, I would definitely recommend you stop now, click the link in the description, go back and watch that. But we’re going to start with the scriptures and then we’ll kind of get into this next section. So Proverbs 28:26, “Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.”

    Bob:

    Amen. James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you.”

    Shawn:

    And Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.'” As we alluded to a little earlier last week, we did cover part one of this foolish financial mistakes series, if you will, that these mistakes, they could cost you thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you didn’t see it, again, pause now, click the link in description, go check that out. Today in part two, we’re going to be continuing that. Bob put this together from, what is it, over 30 years at this point?

    Bob:

    Yeah, that’s right.

    Shawn:

    Of experience.

    Bob:

    I’ve seen ’em over and over. Just same mistakes over and over and over. And that was really interesting when I put this together, how, gosh, it only took me about 15, 20 minutes and then I worked on it from there. But these were coming into my mind as fast as I could write ’em down, bottom line.

    Shawn:

    And there’s a lot of crossover. So obviously part of that too was kind of bringing that down to a total of 20, so we didn’t have too much.

    Bob:

    It was actually more than 20. And that’s why we did this in a two-part series because there’s so much to take in. So this is not to hurt anyone, this is to help you. This is to say don’t do these. And all of us have been guilty of these mistakes and that’s the way you learn, probably gives you gray hair. That’s why I got a lot of it.

    Shawn:

    So hopefully these don’t insult you in any way, but they are helpful and beneficial. That’s why we like that Jeremiah scripture. So without further ado, let’s get onto number 11 of the 20 that we’ll be discussing today. Which number 11? Blaming someone else for your financial mistakes pointing at someone.

    Bob:

    Shawn, if I point at you.

    Shawn:

    Oh yeah.

    Bob:

    Okay. If I point at you, I got one finger point at you, how many I got pointing back at me?

    Shawn:

    That’s right. You got three.

    Bob:

    I got three pointing back at me. And I’ve seen this, I’ve seen people blame like an older generation. You’re the reason I’m making all these financial mistakes. You’re the problem behind my financial problems. And you can’t do that. You’ve got to own up to it and you’ve got to take responsibility. And we have such good tools today like Financial Peace University by day, wonderful program. We’ve got Crown Ministries that you can go to. There’s a lot of good information out there to teach yourself, including our program. If you listen to this every single week, we’re giving you an education about not making foolish mistakes that financially cost you.

    Shawn:

    And we do that because, with our mission and vision as a company, one of those things is that we want to expand God’s kingdom through the influential gate of finance. And so we feel that doing programs like this, even when we’re talking about something that maybe is a little harder to hear, we want to make sure that we’re honoring the Lord and we are trying to help people with sound Biblical and financial advice. So Financial Peace University is great. Crown has a lot of great resources available, including they actually have one-on-one mentoring. That is really useful if you’re someone who’s in debt or maybe you just got out of it, but you’re trying to get some basics together, they have a really good program for that that they do as a nonprofit.

    Bob:

    They really do. Yeah.

    Shawn:

    Alright, well number 12, investing all your money in one asset class, like say only residential real estate or…

    Bob:

    Tech.

    Shawn:

    Tech, energy stocks, or even just cash.

    Bob:

    You like what I have – in cash.

    Shawn:

    We grow safely because of inflation and loss of purchasing power.

    Bob:

    I have seen, “I’m not going to invest in anything. It’s just going to be all in cash.” Well, you’re investing in cash. In cash, right?

    Shawn:

    And then you lose money because of inflation.

    Bob:

    Number 13 is allowing others like the internet, email, TV ads to manipulate you into making long-term bad financial decisions like buying gold.

    Shawn:

    Yeah, that’s the most common.

    Bob:

    And I know just recently we had a program on that. Because they’re out there and they want to manipulate you and they want to manipulate you because they’re making some very high commissions.

    Shawn:

    That’s right.

    Bob:

    On selling you a certain product.

    Shawn:

    There are better and worse, obviously, places and companies you can buy precious metals through, but from what I’d seen of the averages, it’s anywhere from what, 3% to 10% for a decent company. So whatever you’re buying, you’re paying that commission either on top of or as part of your total, what you actually get back. Some of the companies are at 30% and 50% just very predatory.

    Bob:

    When you told me that and you were doing that research, I was like, you got to be kidding me.

    Shawn:

    And then here’s the catch. Even if it is one of the better companies where it’s the 3% to 10% range, what that also means then is when you want to sell it back, you’re going to be paying a transaction cost again. So whatever that percentage is when you initially buy it and when you sell it, obviously that goes back into it. And so, if you just look at precious metals and see what was the price at this time to this time, you got to make sure you take into account all those additional transaction costs.

    Bob:

    Yeah, correct. And taxes by the way.

    Shawn:

    Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So overall, long story short, we talked about before, but for precious metals, it’s not that you can’t ever make money on it, but it’s typically a shorter term possible option because in the longer term it doesn’t do very well compared to an actual diversified portfolio.

    Bob:

    So number 14, number 14 is procrastination. Boy, this is a mistake I see a lot of people make. They’re trying to wait for that convenient time to come to start saving, start putting money aside, pay off that debt. Lemme tell you, it’s never going to come. The convenient time, it’s never going to come and you just have to start doing it now. So don’t think by waiting you’re getting any farther along.

    Shawn:

    The best time to start that saving and investing plan is today.

    Bob:

    And it might start with just saying, I’m not going to drink that $6 cup of coffee every day and I’m going to start saving that extra $6. I’m going to drink it at home and over a month you’re going to now save at least $100, maybe $120 if you did it all 30 days. And then you start putting that aside.

    Shawn:

    Alright, number 15, spontaneous emotional spending without thinking about the long-term consequences.

    Bob:

    Boy Shawn, with the apps today.

    Shawn:

    Oh my goodness. Yeah,

    Bob:

    On our smartphones, you enter in your credit card information once and there it is and you can just pop, pop, pop, pop. And it’s just so easy now to buy. I see in my neighborhood, I think Amazon and UPS just kind of, they just hang out in their neighborhood and they probably hang out in your neighborhood, too. You probably see ’em every day. You hear those trucks.

    Shawn:

    Those kinds of services. Bob, they’re such a great example of how a ingenuity and technological advancement and improvements in processes, how they can be such a great thing. But if you’re not careful, they can also have that other edge of the sword and be a really negative with people who don’t practice diligent spending and purchases that because it’s so easy, you can very quickly overspend.

    Bob:

    Small purchases can add up very quickly.

    Shawn:

    Right. Alright. Which goes into number 16 then.

    Bob:

    Number 16, it does go right into it. You know how I feel about this? Using a credit card for everyday purchases instead of a debit card. I am a big believer, I do not believe in using the credit card, even if you say I’m paying it off every day. Credit card companies, they’re not going to stop you and they’re not motivated to keep you inside a budget. Okay. They’re actually motivated the other way to enslave you so that you owe money to them and they can charge you. I mean the interest rates today are like 20% plus.

    Shawn:

    Or more depending on…

    Bob:

    It’s just absolutely insane. I was just talking with a Christian brother yesterday and he was talking about, he says, yeah, we pay it off every month. He goes, but then there’s always these extra little things that I see in there and I’m like, where’d this come from? Where’d this come from? If you use a debit card, there’s no way you can overspend. I’m coming up with a program.

    Shawn:

    And if you do, you’ll get penalized.

    Bob:

    And I’m just going to give you a little for the future so you’ll know it’s called “Budgeting Simplified”, and I’m going to explain to you how you get paid into one account and then you have a second account that you use for your expenses and you only put a certain amount over there each week. For those of you that don’t like budgeting with today, with your bank app, you can go online and you can see this is what I have in the balance.

    Shawn:

    Automatically, you only spend what you actually allocated.

    Bob:

    That’s right. Yeah, exactly. You just cannot go over where a credit card, they’re not going to call you and say, “Hey, by the way, you went over.”

    Shawn:

    Oh, it’s the opposite. Jenna and I have had a card for a long time and we get contacted somewhat regularly letting us know, “By the way, did you know that we could increase your credit limit?”

    Bob:

    Oh yeah. Right.

    Shawn:

    We don’t need to.

    Bob:

    Don’t ever.

    Shawn:

    We don’t come close to using it now.

    Bob:

    We don’t want to increase it.

    Shawn:

    That’s just asking for trouble.

    Bob:

    Alright. Okay. Boy, this is an advertisement I see every single day on tv. I just do not like it. Okay, at all.

    Shawn:

    Number 17, buying insurance based only on price, not adequate coverage.

    Bob:

    “Only buy what you need.” That is the most ignorant quote in advertising I have heard – “Only buy what you need.” When you get in an accident, are you going to be happy that you bought as little as possible because that’s what they mean. And I’ve never met anybody that’s been in an accident that bought through one of these companies the minimal amount of coverage, and I mean you can get the minimum can get way down, way down there.

    Shawn:

    Really what it comes down to is when insurance is being promoted as “by the minimum” or by only “what you absolutely need”, The issue with that is you, it’s kind of forgetting the primary purpose of insurance in the first place, which is risk mitigation. You’re trying to cover a risk that you may not be able to cover out of pocket with cash or otherwise. So you’ve got to look at not just what is the cheapest, but like we said, adequate, you need to make sure that you’ve adequately covered the risk that that situation is causing depending on what kind of insurance it is and buy accordingly.

    Bob:

    We know Ron First of Christian Insurance Services and he has had people come to him that didn’t buy from him in the first place. And this is not an advertisement for him, but he’s told me some of the stories of people that have bought strictly based on price and not coverage, and it’s heartbreaking. It’s very heartbreaking. It is one of the most foolish financial mistakes you can make.

    Shawn:

    As a personal, positive story though was that Ron had helped Jenna and I with our auto insurance when she had gotten rear-ended by somebody. totaled the car, but also caused further damage with her back and everything. And one of the things that was just a slight increase in price maybe compared to some other options, but Ron had helped us with the PIP, the personal injury protection. And so it provided so much more money that without even technically waiting for the claim to be filed, we could basically get help with anything related to medical and other types of expenses. And so just those little things like that.

    Bob:

    It doesn’t cost that much more.

    Shawn:

    No, it doesn’t. Yeah. So number 18, not having an estate plan with a will or trust, medical and financial power of attorney. Yeah.

    Bob:

    I have seen families destroyed by this. I just got a call last week, Shawn. It was heartbreaking. It was actually from a mom that’s an older mom and the son’s wife passed away, and there was no will at all and all the bills were being paid out of her account, all of them. So guess what’s happening? There’s no money to pay the bills that needed to be paid because everything was going into her account. Now, he’s got to go through probate.

    Shawn:

    Before they can get access to anything.

    Bob:

    Isn’t that crazy? Yeah. I’ve watched this probate sometimes go on for eight or nine months. I’ve seen families fight over inheritances. It’s just foolishness to not to update your estate plan. I say update. Hopefully, you have one and if you do have one, you probably need to update it, too. They need to be updated every two or three years.

    Shawn:

    Yeah, that’s right. Number 19, not monitoring your bank account balances and spending frequently. No one else is looking at this for you.

    Bob:

    You got to look at it. You hear, well, I don’t want to have the app because I’m scared of somebody’s going to hack me. If you monitor your bank account every day, you’ll know if somebody’s hacked you. This is where when we get to the program where we’re going to talk about budgeting simplified. This can help so much and all the banks have apps today.

    Shawn:

    And number 20, the number one mistake by far, not having a financial plan or blueprint and updating it at least once a year, especially before you make a large withdrawal. It’s a little bit of a long one, but by far the most important one.

    Bob:

    And I say this and you’ve probably heard the statement, I don’t know, maybe you’ve not heard the statement. This is a statement that it’s been around a long time. “No one plans to fail. They just failed a plan.” And kind of goes into the second biggest financial mistake that we shared last week is that we see people all the time selling appreciated assets to buy depreciating ones like a car. And that is a very foolish mistake because you think about you take $50,000 out for a car now, it’s not going to grow and it’s not going to compound to a 100k and it’s not going to compound the 200k, and I’ve said this so many times.

    Shawn:

    The longer you have, if you just went into retirement, chances are you’ve got 30 years, 20, 30 years. So the longer you have the more costly taking money out of appreciated assets to buy depreciated one like a car impacts you.

    Bob:

    Well, there you go. There’s 20 of them. Again, if you didn’t hear last week, we’d emphasize you go back and listen to those first 10. We are here to help you with your financial life. With Christian financial advice. It’s fiduciary based advice as well. We do not make any commissions here. We don’t sell commission based products. We’re paid by you, no one else.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. So give us a call, (830) 609-6986. Visit our website at www.christianfinancialadvisors.com. You can also comment in the video if you’re watching the video.

    Bob:

    Oh yeah, we wanted to mention this.

    Shawn:

    If you know someone that might benefit from this content, either this video or any other video that you watch or whatever it might be, feel free to share it with them. This is for anybody that wants to watch. It’s why we put it out there publicly. So if anyone might benefit from this that you know, share it with them. Thank you. And that’s all. God bless.

    [DISCLOSURES]

    * Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.

    18 min
  • Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes Part 1
    Want to avoid money regrets and costly financial errors? Eager to learn common pitfalls that trip up even seasoned investors? In this part 1 of 2, Bob and Shawn discuss and provide perspective on foolish financial mistakes to steer clear of that can cost you dearly. They emphasize the importance of wisdom and provide Biblical scriptures to support their points. Just a few of the financial mistakes discussed include taking stock tips without doing proper research and buying large items on impulse without considering long-term financial plans. So, tune in to learn how to better avoid these top financial mistakes!
    18 min
  • 195 – Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes Part 1
    Click below to listen to Episode 195 – Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes Part 1
    Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes Part 1

    Don’t let yourself get caught up in the trap of any of these financial mistakes!

    More episodes >>

    Want to avoid money regrets and costly financial errors? Eager to learn common pitfalls that trip up even seasoned investors? In this part 1 of 2, Bob and Shawn discuss and provide perspective on foolish financial mistakes to steer clear of that can cost you dearly.

    They emphasize the importance of wisdom and provide Biblical scriptures to support their points. Just a few of the financial mistakes discussed include taking stock tips without doing proper research and buying large items on impulse without considering long-term financial plans. So, tune in to learn how to better avoid these top financial mistakes!

    HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

    CO-HOST: Shawn Peters

    Mentioned In This Episode
    Christian Financial Advisors
    Website
    Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
    Shawn Peters
    Why Traders Are NOT Investors
    Investing Your Values
    Bible Verses In This Episode
    PROVERBS 28:26

    Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.

    JAMES 1:5

    If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

    JEREMIAH 29:11

    For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

    PROVERBS 15:27

    The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live.

    Want to ask a question about your specific situation? Schedule a complimentary 15 minute phone call.

    SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENTDid you enjoy this episode? Sign up for email updates and never miss an episode.
    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    [EPISODE]

    Shawn:

    Want to avoid money, regrets and costly financial errors? Eager to learn common pitfalls that trip up even seasoned investors? Well, today we’ll be discussing and providing perspective on foolish financial mistakes to steer clear of that can cost you dearly. Let’s get some perspective.
    Welcome back to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. My name is Shawn Peters, and I’m joined as always by my father-in-Law, Bob Barber. And today we’re going to be covering Part 1 of 2 on foolish financial mistakes”. So this is Part 1 of “Avoid These Foolish Financial Mistakes”. We’re going to share some scriptures with you to get started, but please keep in mind if anything said in either of these episodes feels like we’re attacking you or you’re convicted or anything like that, that is definitely not our intent. We want to always tackle more difficult subjects when appropriate, but we want to do so in a way that is always beneficial and done so in a way that allows people to learn and to educate themselves. So never in attack, so sorry in advance, it feels that way if it feels that way.

    Bob:

    This is a tough subject, but I think it’s important as Christians, and this is Christian Financial Perspectives, that we tackle these tough subjects like this. So we’re going to give you a lot of wisdom. But the Bible speaks of foolishness a lot. And when I pulled up, when I put in the word “fool” and I looked up into the Bible, I was trying to think, what do I call this program? And it came up more than 85 times in scripture. So there’s a lot about that. And it talks so much about wisdom, too. And wisdom is the opposite of foolishness, right? So I think it’s good to start off with some scriptures, and to know that we are coming to you from a heart of compassion with this because we hate seeing people make foolish financial mistakes because they’re so costly.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. So without further ado, Proverbs 28:26, “Those who trust themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.”

    Bob:

    James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you.”

    Shawn:

    That’s right. And Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” which I think is just such a great verse on, again, we’re doing this because we want to help people.

    Bob:

    Exactly right. And Shawn, as I was coming up with this program, many times I’ll come up with this subject matter at 10 o’clock at night, or sometimes I’ll get up in the middle of the night, and I was amazed at how many of these items I came up with and how quickly it was. I mean, literally it was 15 minutes. I had 15 to 20 of these, and I could have kept going. I was at 25 or 30 and I was like, no, we’re not going to share that many. Okay, so today we’re going to have part one, we’re going to go through the first 10 of foolish financial mistakes I see people make, then next week we’ll go through part 2 of it.

    Shawn:

    And honestly, these can cost you thousands of dollars, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    Bob:

    They really can. Many times you’d be surprised, hundreds of thousands of dollars. And the first one, we’ve mentioned this many times before, but in today’s society it’s nearly a novel idea, but this is the foolishness that we see. Number one is, “Spending more than you earn.” That’s a major financial mistake that people make. You say, well, how do you do that? Credit cards, there’s more going out than coming in. Because of this, we’re going to have a program in a couple of weeks, I’m going to call it budgeting simplified, and we’re going to be talking about how you can simplify a budget that will help you in this category.

    Shawn:

    And not only for ourselves individually, but on spending more than you earn. That’s a mistake. Continue to pray for our leaders that they would at some point maybe learn to stop doing that, spend less than the tax dollars. So maybe eventually our great, great, great grandchildren will not be in debt.

    Bob:

    Our country, if you go to USdebtclock.org, you’ll see that we don’t have an income problem. We have a spending problem. I mean, the income is really coming in a lot from taxes and the trillions and trillions, but there’s more going out than coming in. So they just need to learn how their own politicians need to learn how to do this.

    Shawn:

    So number two, “Selling an appreciating asset to buy a depreciating one.” I would say, Bob, probably the most common with this is when we have a client that wants to take out a large sum of money from a long-term investment account to buy a car or to do a home remodel, or to go on a long big vacation of some kind or just fill in the blank. And what ends up happening is it’s literally one of the worst financial mistakes you can do. Second only, I guess, to spending more than you earn. You give up so much more long-term potential for something that’ll be worth less and less over the years.

    Bob:

    You’re going in two exact opposite directions because you take $50,000 out for that car. Now that $50,000, by the rule 72’s, we’ve talked about this, it’s not going to double now. It’s not going to grow to 100k and then double the 200k because by the way, it takes the same amount of time for something to go from $50,000 to $100,000, thus from $100,000 to $200,000. And where it hurts so bad is somebody in their older years, maybe they’ve got $700,000 now in their retirement account, well now in their older years, they’re going to have $200,000 less by taking 50k out from an appreciating asset to go put it into a depreciating asset. And you know a car, it’s $50,000 is not going to be worth it in 10, in 10 or 15 years. So yeah, you’re moving in exact opposite directions of each other. Can you imagine an investment doing that? Would you want to invest in anything that you knew was going to be worth about 10%, 20% of what it is in 10 or 15 years?

    Shawn:

    Yeah. So number three, “Taking financial advice from someone that’s not financially successful.”

    Bob:

    That’s nearly a no brainer, but you would think not. People do take advice all the time from family members that are not financially successful. I always say, if you want to fly with the eagles, hang out with the eagles, not the turkeys.

    Shawn:

    But that being said, Bob, I think the other thing to be careful of is kind of the flip side of that is taking financial advice from someone that is wealthy but not from their own hard work.

    Bob:

    Yes, that’s a very good point.

    Shawn:

    Someone who inherited a lot of money for whatever reason – it could have been from parents, grandparents, or could have been from life insurance, whatever the case may be. But if someone is wealthy and seems financially well off, but you know that it wasn’t because that they have worked hard to build up their own business or whatever the case may be, I would also avoid taking advice, financial advice from that same person, because just having money doesn’t make you qualified. But if you have a lot of money and you earn that yourself, okay, maybe they’ve got some good advice, then.

    Bob:

    I would call that 1st generation wealth. Yeah.

    Shawn:

    So number four, “Allowing emotions and feelings to make financial decisions.”

    Bob:

    We know that’s a big no-no, don’t we?

    Shawn:

    Wait, do people struggle with that?

    Bob:

    Constantly, especially when it comes to buying cars or it comes to buying furniture or it comes to that home remodel. I mean, your countertops are fine, everything’s working good, but you’ve watched HGTV so many times that you think you’ve got to change everything.

    Shawn:

    Well, it’s not just that, Bob, you’re talking about some of the bigger financial purchases, decisions that happen less frequently. But I think the thing that probably hurts more of us is the smaller ones where you’re browsing, I’m not going to say the name of it, but there are online websites where you can get things within a day or two and more and more companies have moved to that. And when you are kind of in the moment and you see something that’s, oh, it’s on sale, or I saw a friend had this, and you’re like, oh, I’m going to go buy it and look how easy, it’s just, “Click. Buy.” Wait. Wait a little bit on those.

    Bob:

    That’s your emotions.

    Shawn:

    Think about do you actually need this? Can you afford to buy this? Or are you just kind of buying it quickly in the moment? Okay. Because those add up quick.

    Bob:

    That’s exactly right. Okay. I want to cover number five, by the way.

    Shawn:

    Alright, go ahead.

    Bob:

    This is what I’ve seen a lot in my 30 plus years in the financial advisory business, is, “Taking stock tips from friends or somebody on the golf course or somebody in your book club…”

    Shawn:

    Or some influencer, some financial guru online.

    Bob:

    “…without doing the hours of unbiased research yourself.” And do you really even know how to do that research? A lot of research going into it. Like before we pick a stock, we have 20 elements that we look at on the value side and on the fundamental side. So there’s a lot of different elements, plus just how is it trading over or under, its long term.

    Shawn:

    There’s a lot. But even with that, Bob, we are not saying, okay, we’re going to take client money. We’re going to buy, 50% is going to go into this one stock. Well, no, for what we’re doing, whether it was a small amount or a lot of money, we still diversify that. And so of maybe 50 stocks that we end up narrowing things down to, we still don’t know that those are for sure going to appreciate. It was just we’ve done the best we can with the research trying to remain unemotional, unbiased, and then decide, all right, well these are the ones that we think have the best chance.

    Bob:

    Based on mathematics.

    Shawn:

    Exactly. But it could go either way. And so anyone that tells you, “Oh, you need to buy this stock,” or, “Oh, this is going to do great,” they have no idea.

    Bob:

    Alright, we’re halfway through our 10 today. This is why we’re doing two parts. Number six, “Trying to get rich quick.” Therefore, this results in many unwise decisions I’ve seen over my years. It just doesn’t work.

    Shawn:

    Bob, it’s so hard because even just in the last few years, when you look at how much home prices have gone up and just real estate in general and renting and the cost of just things overall, the desperation, I get it. I understand why more and more people, probably some of you watching this, why you have the FOMO, the fear of missing out or I need to take advantage of this thing because I got to find a way to get ahead quicker. But the reality is, is that there’s nothing new under the sun, right? The scams, the get rich quick, it’s been around for thousands of years. It’s not new. So even though I know it’s very tempting, and even though I know it’s more appealing, if you hear about something that’s like a way to get ahead and you can bypass stuff, the reality is, is it’s not going to work. For every 1 person at worked for, there’s 100 people that lost their shirt.

    Bob:

    This next one goes right into that. So number seven, for every one person this works. 10 million, it doesn’t work. Okay.

    Shawn:

    “Gambling.”

    Bob:

    Gambling on lottery tickets. When they ask me, I want to buy a lottery ticket in a convenience store, you asked the wrong person.

    Shawn:

    To be more broad gambling. It’s gambling, lottery tickets, online gambling, going to casinos, the sports pools, the fantasy football type stuff. And you know what? Look, if you’re playing with your friends, that’s fine, but just don’t get sucked into that because the house always wins.

    Bob:

    We have a good scripture for that. Proverbs 15:27, “The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live.” I think there’s a lot of bribing going on in the gambling business.

    Shawn:

    If you’re watching this, please send Proverbs 15:27 to your local representative, state and federal to remind ’em of that.

    Bob:

    That’d be a good one. Alright, here goes number eight. Now this is one I’ve seen a lot too, “Loaning money to others expecting to get paid back.” Not going to happen. Okay. You loan money to a family member, the odds of getting paid back and if you’re expecting to get paid back, that’s foolishness. You’re probably not going to get paid back.

    Shawn:

    Yeah. You’re doing an uncollateralized loan. And yeah, it’s not worth it.

    Bob:

    Number nine, we’re down to the last two is, “Day trading.”

    Shawn:

    Now, Bob, tell me how you feel about this one. Do you have any opinions, thoughts?

    Bob:

    Well, I will tell you this.

    Shawn:

    We will put a link in the description. We did talk about how…

    Bob:

    In my 30 years of financial advice, okay. I personally, and I’m sure they’re out there. I know they’re out there.

    Shawn:

    You’ve been doing this almost 37 years as of the recording.

    Bob:

    Yeah, that’s true.

    Shawn:

    Almost four decades.

    Bob:

    I’ve never met a single person over a long period of time that’s been successful at day trading. I’ve met ones that are successful in the short term, but I’ve never met a single one that is successful in the long term. Not one, Shawn. Now I know, I’m positive they’re out there. Without a doubt, they’re out there.

    Shawn:

    But you can do the math, Bob. There’s some out there. But if you look at the total number of people doing it, what percentage of those are actually successful at it? Well, it’s the very, very small minority.

    Bob:

    So you understand these last three kind of play in right into that. Trying to get rich quick. The gambling – well, not loaning money. That’s not trying to get rich quick – and day trading.

    Shawn:

    Traders are not investors. We’ll link that in description. It’s a good one. If you want more on why we think this is a mistake to avoid.

    Bob:

    We have a whole program on that. So anytime you see somebody writing and they’re saying, “Investors are thinking this today, investors are thinking that today.” No, it’s traders that are thinking this today. Or that investors think in the long run. They think in 3, 5, 10 year increments, not one day or one week or even one month increments.

    Shawn:

    I do know one guy that has been really, really successful with the opposite of day trading, but actual long-term investing. Some of you may have heard of him, especially if you’re watching the finance channel, Warren Buffett. He seems like he’s done pretty well with long-term strategies. So I don’t know, maybe it works.

    Bob:

    It’s funny. I have Warren Buffett’s 10 guidelines for buying a stock, and that one is so funny – it’s just so funny. He says, “Don’t buy cigar butts.” And I’m like, what does that mean? What do he means by that is don’t buy a company that is that bad. It’s already been used up. Okay.

    Shawn:

    Yeah, that’s a good way.

    Bob:

    Alright, here’s number 10. Number 10, go ahead.

    Shawn:

    Buying anything large on impulse, not counting all the cost and seeing how, or even if, it fits into a long-term financial plan. And again, this does kind of cover a couple of the ones we cover, but large purchases, what would you say that would be, Bob? Anything a thousand dollars or more?

    Bob:

    Oh no.

    Shawn:

    $500 or more?

    Bob:

    No large, I would say $10,000, $15,000. But anything beyond like $20,000, you definitely need to get with your financial advisor, put this in a financial plan and see how this is going to affect you over the long run. And is it a wise decision? Oh, Shawn, this is enough today. I mean, that’s so much to absorb, these 10, and this will be up on our website. Next week, we’re going to cover 10 more. Like I said, I came up with about 25 of these in a matter of 15 to 20 minutes. It’s amazing. I was spitting this out so fast I could hardly write.

    Shawn:

    I asked Bob to please split it up. So, you’re welcome those watching and listening. Well, that’s all for today. But in the meantime, or whenever you happen to watch this, if it’s already after the second episode came out, we’re here. We both work at Christian Financial Advisors. We’re fiduciary based. And our goal in what we do day to day is helping people avoid making foolish financial mistakes and to be successful in the long run, all while glorifying God and how you do it. So if you have questions, comments, want to talk to us, whatever, give us a call. Text us, (830) 609-6986. You can visit our website, www.christianfinancialadvisors.com. All that should also be on the screen, all that. But thanks again for joining us and as always, God bless.

    [CONCLUSION]

    We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986.

    [DISCLOSURES]

    * Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.

    18 min
  • Using 1 Timothy 3 To Find A Financial Advisor
    Are you searching for a financial advisor who exemplifies Christian character and integrity? Do you want their guidance grounded in Biblical truth versus worldly thinking? Bob and Shawn share the qualities to look for in a financial advisor based on scripture, specifically 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy 3 outlines the qualities of an elder or deacon in the church, and we believe that these qualities are also important in a financial advisor. The qualities include being temperate and a good teacher, i.e. someone can explain financial concepts in a way that is understandable. Listen in to find out what other traits we believe a Christian financial advisor should possess!
    13 min
  • 194 – Using 1 Timothy 3 To Find A Financial Advisor
    Click below to listen to Episode 194 – Using 1 Timothy 3 To Find A Financial Advisor
    Using 1 Timothy 3 To Find A Financial Advisor

    We apply the characteristics of 1 Timothy 3 to that of a qualified Christian financial advisor.

    More episodes >>

    Are you searching for a financial advisor who exemplifies Christian character and integrity? Do you want their guidance grounded in Biblical truth versus worldly thinking? Bob and Shawn share the qualities to look for in a financial advisor based on scripture, specifically 1 Timothy chapter 3.

    1 Timothy 3 outlines the qualities of an elder or deacon in the church, and we believe that these qualities are also important in a financial advisor. The qualities include being temperate and a good teacher, i.e. someone can explain financial concepts in a way that is understandable. Listen in to find out what other traits we believe a Christian financial advisor should possess!

    HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

    CO-HOST: Shawn Peters

    Mentioned In This Episode
    Christian Financial Advisors
    Website
    Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
    Shawn Peters
    Bible Verses In This Episode
    DANIEL 6:4

    Then the commission to government affairs; but they could find no ground for accusation or evidence of corruption, because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him.

    PROVERBS 31:10-12

    An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.

    PROVERBS 15:1

    A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

    PROVERBS 25:28

    Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit.

    PHILLIPPIANS 4:8

    Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

    1 PETER 4:9

    Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

    2 TIMOTHY 2:24-25

    The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.

    1 PETER 5:8

    Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

    MATTHEW 5:5

    Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth

    LUKE 12:15

    Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.

    LUKE 16:10

    He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

    1 CORINTHIANS 14:20

    Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

    PROVERBS 22:1

    A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold.

    PSALM 119:160

    The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

    Want to ask a question about your specific situation? Schedule a complimentary 15 minute phone call.

    SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENTDid you enjoy this episode? Sign up for email updates and never miss an episode.
    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    Shawn:

    Searching for a financial advisor who exemplifies Christian character and integrity? Want their guidance grounded in biblical truth versus worldly thinking? Today we share the qualities to look for pulled from scripture. Let’s get some perspective.

    Welcome to their episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. My name is Shawn Peters. I’m joined as always by my co-host and Father-in-Law, Bob Barber. And today we’re going to be covering 1 Timothy 3. It’s a little bit long, so we’re not going to read the entire scripture, but using 1 Timothy 3 to find a financial advisor. So 1 Timothy 3, for those that aren’t aware, in the Bible has many qualities that describe an elder or deacon – the qualities they should have if they’re going to serve in that capacity within the church. Bob and I both believe that these are also great qualities to look for anyone giving you financial advice, especially if they are a Christian. So I would encourage you to go check out 1 Timothy 3 for yourself. Feel free to pause this program, come back to it, or read it afterwards. It’s up to you. But in today’s episodes we’re going to discuss how these various guidelines, these qualities, can help you find your next financial advisor, if you’re looking for one while you’re watching this, which I feel like is probably likely. If you clicked on this video, probably might be what you’re looking for.

    Bob:

    Well, Shawn, I know that it’s this time of the year when people are looking for a financial advisor. It’s usually January, February and March, April. And then I know everybody kind of takes a break during the summer and then they come back around September, October in those years. And that seems to be the months when I’ve noticed from my experience in this business for many years is when people are looking for a financial advisor. So I thought this would be a great topic.

    Shawn:

    Which also makes sense. We totally get it. November, December, people are focusing on their families and then in the summer, kind of the same thing, things going on with the family. So yeah, we get it.

    Bob:

    You cannot go wrong If you look for a financial advisor that has these virtues, has these traits.

    Shawn:

    Again, especially if they’re a Christian. So first quality: above reproach, meaning free from sinful habits and behaviors.

    Bob:

    You had a great scripture here. Go ahead, Shawn.

    Shawn:

    Daniel 6:4, “Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground for accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs, but they could find no ground for accusation or evidence of corruption because he was faithful and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him.” I mean, that’s a great one.

    Bob:

    Yeah, it is. It is. And so the first quality, there’s going to be 14 of these by the way, is to look for a financial advisor that is above reproach.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. That has integrity in their work and their personal life. Are they known to be ethical and honest?

    Bob:

    Now the second approach, there might be a financial advisor that may not be married, but if they are, this is one that we see. Of course, this is for an elder and a deacon, 1 Timothy 3. But I think it’s also a good one to look for as far as a financial advisor that they are faithful in their marriage if they’re married. Proverbs 31:10-12. Now I know this says an excellent wife, but could say husband as well there. Okay, Proverbs 31:10-12, “An excellent wife who can find for her worth is far above jewels.” I’ll say that that’s definitely true.

    Shawn:

    Yep. Amen.

    Bob:

    With my sweetheart of 40 years, “The heart of her husband trusting her and he will have no lack of gains. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.”

    Shawn:

    That’s right. Yeah. Really what it comes down to is a strong, lifelong marriage indicates the responsibility and the commitment. And Bob, I think you and I can both agree that our wives have made us better men.

    Bob:

    Without a doubt.

    Shawn:

    And so I think again, that is also a very positive thing to help with whatever advisor you’re possibly looking at, if they’ve been married for a while, probably going to be a little more on track and responsible and tempered, which goes in the next quality. The third quality: temperate, meaning they’re calm and reasonable. Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

    Bob:

    So look for advisors that communicate calmly and don’t react harshly when you ask them questions like, why are you asking me that?

    Shawn:

    That’s right.

    Bob:

    You don’t want an advisor like that. You want one that’s going to come back with compassion.

    Shawn:

    Which goes right along with some of our many other episodes. We’ve talked about keeping emotions out of financial decisions. If you have someone who is not temperate, they’re not calm, they’re not reasonable, they react harshly, probably not a good sign because if they’re helping to manage your money or helping you with making those financial decisions and they can’t keep their emotions out of their basic communication with you, not a good sign.

    Bob:

    Which goes into another trait just kind of like this. Okay, they’re self controlled.

    Shawn:

    That’s our fourth quality.

    Bob:

    Meaning they don’t act impulsively and they regulate their emotions.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. Exactly. Proverbs at 25:28, “Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.”

    Bob:

    And you have some additional insight here that you put down, Shawn.

    Shawn:

    Do they think through decisions versus acting on emotion?

    Bob:

    The fifth quality that we see out of the 14 is: are they respectable? Respectable meaning they’re honest and they’re good and they’re proper. The scripture that I know you chose for this, Shawn, was from Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

    Shawn:

    That’s right. So something to apply, okay, how does the scripture apply? How does this quality apply? Well, are they involved in respectable community groups and activities? Are they involved in their church? Are they involved in small groups? What kind of things are they doing to be respectable and known in their community? Our sixth quality: hospitable meaning friendly, generous, and welcoming. 1 Peter 4:9, “Be hospitable to one another without complaint.”

    Bob:

    I definitely like doing business with people that are friendly.

    Shawn:

    It’s a lot easier.

    Bob:

    It’s a lot easier that are generous and welcoming. And I think that that would be somebody that… a trait you would definitely want to look for in a financial advisor. Seventh quality: teacher. This is something, it comes about me naturally. I love teaching. But will they teach you? Are they able to teach? Will they explain and show you how their financial advice applies?

    Shawn:

    And for this we have 2 Timothy 2:24-25, “The Lord’s bond servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness, correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.”

    Bob:

    So can they explain concepts in a way that help you to understand it? And Rachael’s told me over the years. She says, “Bob, you speak in a different language when you start saying PE ratios and things,” all the different jargon that we use. Many times I do look at a client across, we’re doing a client review and they’re like, I’m not sure what that means. Well, I need to explain. That’s the price to earning ratio.

    Shawn:

    As they say, explain in plain English. So for those who aren’t a professional advisor, can you explain things to where someone can understand what you’re trying to say? Yeah. So our eighth quality: sober, meaning not given to drunkenness or overdrinking, 1 Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit beyond the alert, your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.”

    Bob:

    Yes. So look for somebody that has self control and has sound judgment.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. You want to do our ninth quality, Bob?

    Bob:

    The ninth quality is: a gentle person, meaning they’re mild tempered, they’re kindhearted, and they’re meek. That’s a really big thing today, being meek. Matthew 5:5 says, “Blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth.” And do they come across as being patient when you’re talking to them?

    Shawn:

    That’s right. That’s right.

    Bob:

    And humble and caring.

    Shawn:

    So our 10th quality: generous and unselfish, not a lover of money.

    Bob:

    Now that’s a big one in the financial industry.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. So Luke 12:15, “Then he said to them, ‘Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed for not even when one has an abundance, does his life consist of his possessions?'”

    Bob:

    That’s why I like that we don’t do commission based products, and we’re fiduciary based. We want to do what’s in the best interest of our clients.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. Not what might get additional commission or extra paycheck.

    Bob:

    Yeah. So are they focused on serving you and your goals versus their own financial goals?

    Shawn:

    That’s right. The 11th quality: a good manager, meaning they manage their business and personal life well. Luke 16:10, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much. And he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”

    Bob:

    That’s one of my favorite scriptures. I quote this one a lot because a lot of times people say, “I just don’t understand why I can’t get ahead?” Well maybe you need to start small and then you can get larger instead of thinking, I’m just going to go large.

    Shawn:

    Number 12.

    Bob:

    A mature Christian. I think this is very important. If you’re looking for a Christian financial advisor, they need to be mature in their Christianity. In 1 Corinthians 14:20 is one that Shawn found here, “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking. Yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking, be mature.”

    Shawn:

    “But in your thinking, be mature.”

    Bob:

    That’s right. Yeah. Be mature. And it takes years of reading God’s word and understanding how to apply that. And if you’re looking for Christian financial advice and what the Bible has to say about it, I mean there’s over 2000 scriptures of what the Bible says about stewardship. So this is a good quality to look for. So we got two more. 14 of ’em.

    Shawn:

    Hang in there. All right. 13th quality: reputation, a good reputation in their community. Proverbs 21:1 states that, “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth. Favor is better than silver and gold.”

    Bob:

    And that reputation comes from years. It takes a while to get a good reputation. You don’t just get it overnight.

    Shawn:

    So, what do others say about their character and service?

    Bob:

    Good to ask around.

    Shawn:

    Yeah, and I mean you can even ask, if you want, many advisors will ask some of their clients if it’s okay for you to contact them, direct one-to-one and see like, “Hey, well what’s it like working with this person?”

    Bob:

    I think this is where reviews come in sometimes, too.

    Shawn:

    Yeah, It can.

    Bob:

    Alright, the last quality, I know there was 14 of these and there’s a lot. The last one is if you’re looking for a Christian financial advisor is: do they have a biblical worldview where truth is based on scripture and is not relative. And this world today is trying to make truth more and more relative. It’s not, contrary to popular opinion. It’s so much easier when you have the foundation. And that foundation is in Jesus Christ and that foundation is in His word. Truth was the same a thousand years ago. It’ll be the same in a thousand years. And it’s the same today. It’s not relative, contrary to popular opinion.

    Shawn:

    And for this one we have Psalm 119:160, “The sum of your word is truth and every one of your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

    Bob:

    Bottom line, do they advise using biblical principles?

    Shawn:

    That’s right. Well, thank you for sticking around with us. That’s all we have for today. We really hope you enjoyed this episode and God bless you.

    [DISCLOSURES]

    * Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.

    13 min
  • 14 Characteristics of Financially Successful Christians
    What makes financially successful Christians different from the prosperity gospel crowd? Bob and Shawn explore 14 characteristics that set apart believers who achieve financial stability while maintaining their faith. Rather than chasing get-rich-quick schemes or the latest cryptocurrency, these Christians focus on timeless principles like spending less than they earn, avoiding materialism, practicing generosity, and maintaining strong moral compasses. Each characteristic is supported by scripture, including Proverbs 21:20 on wise saving and Proverbs 22:7 on debt. The hosts emphasize that these traits aren't about pursuing wealth itself—they point back to loving God, serving others, and maintaining a humble mentality. Financial success, they explain, is simply a byproduct of living according to Biblical principles, not the goal. Whether it's maintaining long-term marriages, building deep community roots, or working diligently as unto the Lord, these characteristics demonstrate that net worth should never be confused with self-worth.
    17 min
  • 193 – 14 Characteristics of Financially Successful Christians
    Click below to listen to Episode 193 – 14 Characteristics of Financially Successful Christians
    14 Characteristics of Financially Successful Christians

    Live financially successful by incorporating these Biblical principles into your daily life.

    More episodes >>

    Are you wanting to pursue financial success without compromising your faith? Are you eager to cultivate Biblical values that enrich your life? In this episode, we’ll explore 14 traits of prosperous Christ followers. It is important to not associate your net worth with your self-worth, because we are so much more than that!

    Just a few of the characteristics of financially successful Christians include loving God, being generous, a humble spirit, and seeking wise counsel. These traits are not about chasing wealth, but rather living a life that is focused on loving God and others. God often blesses those who bless others.

    HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

    CO-HOST: Shawn Peters

    Mentioned In This Episode
    Christian Financial Advisors
    Website
    Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
    Shawn Peters
    Bible Verses In This Episode
    1 TIMOTHY 6:10

    For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

    PROVERBS 21:20

    The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.

    PROVERBS 13:11

    Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

    LUKE 12:16-21

    [Parable of the rich man who built bigger barns]

    ACTS 20:25

    Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.

    PROVERBS 15:22

    Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

    MATTHEW 23:12

    For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

    ACTS 2:42-44

    They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.

    JOHN 3:21

    But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

    PROVERBS 10:9

    Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.

    ECCLESIASTES 4:9-10

    Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

    PROVERBS 17:17

    A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

    PROVERBS 22:7

    The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

    PROVERBS 23:4

    Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.

    COLOSSIANS 3:23

    Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.

    Want to ask a question about your specific situation? Schedule a complimentary 15 minute phone call.

    SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENTDid you enjoy this episode? Sign up for email updates and never miss an episode.
    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    Shawn:

    Pursuing financial success without compromising your faith? Eager to cultivate Biblical values that enrich your life? Well, today we’ll explore 14 traits of prosperous Christ followers. Let’s get some perspective.
    Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. My name’s Shawn Peters. I’m joined as always by my co-host and father-in-Law, Bob Barber. And today we’re going to be talking about 14 characteristics of financially successful Christians. So this is going to go a little bit in the face of the fear of missing out on whatever new cryptocurrency just dropped, or “Follow this course and sign up and you’ll be successful.” But since this is a Christian financial show, we are going to be talking about those financial areas as well as supporting these characteristics with scripture. I feel like that’s applicable, right Bob?

    Bob:

    I think so. We’ve got a scripture for nearly every one of these.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. We do.

    Bob:

    14 of them.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. So our first scripture for you today, 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Now, Bob, I feel like this is one of the more often misquoted scriptures out of the Bible because you hear so many times, money’s the root of all evil. No, no, no, no. Money is a tool.

    Bob:

    That’s right.

    Shawn:

    The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. And really you could insert love of anything other than God if it’s just an object can cause a lot of problems.

    Bob:

    Well, that’s why in the 10 Commandments it says, be careful of idol worship.

    Shawn:

    That’s right.

    Bob:

    Have no other gods before me because people can make money their God. I’ve seen that happen before, Shawn. That’s what it’s really warning us about. Yeah, money’s just a tool like you say.

    Shawn:

    Alright, we’ll just cut right there and we’re good. It’s a good scripture. Thanks for joining us. So first, love God, seek him, and realize he is the owner, not you. And that’ll definitely make it a little harder to have a love of money if you’re loving God first and know that everything belongs to him in the first place. So Bob, why don’t you get us started out on our first characteristic of financially successful Christians?

    Bob:

    Well, this is a really novel idea, this first one. By the way, when I developed these, I had no idea it was going to end up being 14 characteristics.

    Shawn:

    You just started writing.

    Bob:

    Yeah, that’s what I always do. The Lord lays it on me. Many times, it’s like two o’clock in the morning, so it’s kind of crazy. But this is such a novel idea. Spend less than you earn.

    Shawn:

    To say this, that our politicians…

    Bob:

    It’s nearly obnoxious, isn’t it?

    Shawn:

    Our politicians have never heard of this concept.

    Bob:

    Yeah.

    Shawn:

    Because at the end of the year, whatever the budget was for their area, if they didn’t spend it, well they got to quickly spend it because otherwise they won’t get it for next year.

    Bob:

    Well, you think about this first one, Shawn. It is a characteristic of a financially successful Christian. It’s also a characteristic of pretty much anybody that’s financially successful as they spend less than they earn.

    Shawn:

    Yep, yep. And what scripture do we have for that one?

    Bob:

    Proverbs 21:20, “The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.” They eat it all up, right?

    Shawn:

    Yep. Yeah. And then some…like our politicians.

    Bob:

    Hey, we’re picking on our politicians.

    Shawn:

    I know, but they deserve it.

    Bob:

    They can’t help it. I was looking on the debt clock. You bring in 5 trillion in a year and they spend like 13 trillion or something. I mean, it’s crazy.

    Shawn:

    Yeah. Seems like those numbers should be flip flopped.

    Bob:

    It’s like the government doesn’t have an income problem. They got a spending problem.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. Exactly. So number two, save and invest wisely. Proverbs 13:11, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.” If ever there was a scripture to go against the idea of get rich quick schemes, there you go.

    Bob:

    This does it. Right on it. The third one is I just noticed that financially successful Christians are not caught up in materialism. It’s not about the latest car you’re driving or the biggest house, the bigger house. They don’t get caught up in that. Again, that kind of goes into this first one or two of them. By the way, I was looking at a video the other day about the top 10 most appreciating cars. About 5 of those top 10 were the luxury cars that depreciate 40% and 50% in the first two or three years. It’s just crazy. And that’s an example of getting caught up in materialism thinking I got to have the latest new car that costs $80,000.

    Shawn:

    I remember a friend of mine a few years back, he was the third owner of this Mercedes car, and I’m not going to name the specific one, but the original owner, the first owner who bought it, it was like 120 something thousand dollars car.

    Bob:

    Wow.

    Shawn:

    He was the third owner. This car is only, I think at this point, it was maybe five years old, third owner, five years later, he bought it for like 50k.

    Bob:

    Yeah, you can save a lot. And I think what goes really good with this scripture of not getting caught up in materialism is the example given to us in the 12th chapter of Luke about the barns. Building. I’m going to go build bigger barns and then I’m going to build bigger barns and bigger barns. I love Ron Blue. I’ve quoted him many times and there’s the old question. He says, “We’ve got to ask and answer in our own mind, ‘How much is enough.'” And I think that really deals with materialism.

    Shawn:

    It’s kind of a long passage. But Luke 12:16-21 if you want to read that about the parable of the rich man who built bigger barns. Number four, givers both monetarily and physically. Acts 20:25, “Now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.” Now this one, it’s a little confusing. Maybe we should include the couple other verses around it. But this really just comes down to not just giving money, but giving your time, donating your talents. At your church, you can be a very generous giver, but it doesn’t have to necessarily be money.

    Bob:

    It could be both. I hope it’s both.

    Shawn:

    Yeah. It should be both. But the point is you also shouldn’t just, oh, you just throw some money at it. But hey, show up and help volunteer for the kids. Volunteer for Sunday school. Lead a group.

    Bob:

    I know two of our clients, they go to smaller churches, they mow the yard for the church. So you think about that, that’s physically helping out. They get on a riding lawnmower and go for it.

    Shawn:

    Number five, seeks and takes wise counsel.

    Bob:

    The part is takes. They seek it out, but they also believe in accepting wise counsel when it’s given to them. They’re humble. They’re not like, “I know it all.”

    Shawn:

    Yeah. It’s kind of the opposite of, most people have a tendency of giving unsolicited advice.

    Bob:

    Yeah, that’s true.

    Shawn:

    But it’s a very different skill to actually take advice and not be prideful or boastful and think, oh, I already know everything. And Bob, from working with people over the years, it’s really common that the more money people have, there is a tendency to get kind of a big head on your shoulders and think, oh, I have all this money and all of a sudden I’m knowledgeable in all areas of life somehow.

    Bob:

    Well, especially with sudden wealth.

    Shawn:

    Sudden wealth especially. So just be careful of that. Seek and take wise counsel. None of us know everything.

    Bob:

    It’s my favorite scripture, you hear me quote it a lot. Proverbs 15:22, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors, they succeed.”

    Shawn:

    That’s right. Amen. Yeah, I love that one. We quote that one very often.

    Bob:

    Here. We do, we do.

    Shawn:

    Number six, humble and love the Lord.

    Bob:

    Yeah, they do.

    Shawn:

    Matthew 23:12, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

    Bob:

    I don’t think we can add much more to that. Being humble is a great characteristic.

    Shawn:

    Can’t go wrong.

    Bob:

    Nope.

    Shawn:

    Number seven, you want to do number seven?

    Bob:

    Boy do I see this one. Successfully financial Christians are so loyal to their churches, they’re weekly church goers, and they just, like you say, like we were talking about earlier, they support their church by giving of their time and their talents. And the scripture that goes with this I think is fantastic. You’ve heard this one before, but it’s from Acts 2:42-44, “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.” I love my church and I know you love your church too, and it is just so part of that extended family that I think we all need.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. Number eight, live by a Biblical worldview. Very much believers here of that, so John 3:21, “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

    Bob:

    Their truth is in solid ground. It’s in God’s word. It’s the same as a thousand years ago. It’s going to be the same in a thousand years. Truth is not relative, contrary to popular opinion today.

    Shawn:

    Yeah. The culture and overall technology and things like that might change over time and what happens to be trending right now, obviously changes from day to day and week to week, but people are still people. We’re still created in God’s image and we aren’t going to really see that change anytime soon.

    Bob:

    Now, this next one, another very, very strong one for successfully financial Christians, they have a very strong moral compass. They’re extremely honest. They’re truthful, they’re loyal. And Proverbs speaks of this in Proverbs in the 10th chapter, in the ninth verse (Proverbs 10:9), it says, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely.” You never have to be thinking about what you’re saying behind you. If I lied, you always have to be thinking about what you said, right. But if you’re walking security in the Lord and you’re truthful, you never have to worry about covering up your tracks. “But whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”

    Shawn:

    Yeah. That’s such a good scripture for the danger of lying.

    Bob:

    Lies always come out.

    Shawn:

    Yeah. Remember, let all your words be true, but not all true things should be said, because sometimes you could technically share something that’s true, but it’s not going to build the other person up, and it’s definitely not going to put you in a good light sometimes, but if you do speak, make sure your words are true. What is that? If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

    Bob:

    Yeah. Well, it talks about in scripture the tongue being the rudder. You got to be careful about that little tongue getting out.

    Shawn:

    Number 10, low divorce rate, long-term married or long-term marriage, Ecclesiastes4:9-10, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up, but pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

    Bob:

    Shawn, Rachel and I are coming on our 40th year of marriage now.

    Shawn:

    Wow. She’s put up with you for that long? I mean, you guys have been married. That’s such a blessing.

    Bob:

    Hey, I put up with her ,too. Okay.

    Shawn:

    That’s true. It goes both ways, but

    Bob:

    I’ll tell you what, Jesus Christ is the glue that holds us together. You’ve never seen two opposites, so opposite, attract, but her strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. But you know what happens when there’s a divorce? And I’m not saying we know there are circumstances.

    Shawn:

    Sure.

    Bob:

    We are not out here to judge anyone, but divorce just, it breaks all of the assets right in half.

    Shawn:

    Yeah. This is not a condemnation of course. This is just more of an observation that statistically those that are more successful, especially believers – Christians, that is low divorce rate, long-term marriage – because if you’ve been building assets your entire marriage for 50 years, 40, 50 years, versus maybe it was close to that time, you cut everything in half. It’s a little harder to get successful again because you just lost half of it. So practically speaking. Alright. Number 11, deep roots in their community with long-term friends and family. Proverbs 17:7, “A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”

    Bob:

    I like this. I know you picked that scripture, Shawn. That’s a really good scripture that goes with that. And those roots are so important to set. I can say y’all, my family has been in Texas since 1830. I mean, we got some roots that go way, way back, and those roots really, it’s just something that I know that foundation is there, Shawn, and it means so much to know that.

    Shawn:

    That’s right. Number 12, debt-free except for possibly a mortgage. Proverbs 22:7. I know we’ve shared this one before on the show, but Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender.” I think Dave Ramsey would probably agree with that scripture.

    Bob:

    Absolutely. You got it. Number 13, financially successful Christians, you wouldn’t think this, but they don’t wear themselves out to get rich. That’s number 13. Proverbs 23:4, “Do not wear yourself out to get rich. Do not trust your own cleverness.”

    Shawn:

    That’s a good one. And our last one, number 14, loyal to their employer’s job and hard workers if they’re not already retired. Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” I mean, that scripture’s pretty plain, right? You’re not working hard because you have to or because your boss is making you, you’re working hard and doing a good job because you’re doing it for the Lord. Whatever you do in this life, you’re doing it for the Lord and you’re representing him on this earth.

    Bob:

    So there’s 14 of them. And we’re not preaching prosperity theology.

    Shawn:

    No.

    Bob:

    No. We’re just saying that these are characteristics that I’ve noticed, and sometimes people go, why can’t I get ahead? Look at these characteristics and set those roots down and live that honest life and get involved in a church in a small group and form those long-term friendships.

    Shawn:

    Bob, we didn’t have this written in the script, but just going through all 14 of these with you today, it came to my mind that there’s some common themes with this. And like you said, we’re not talking prosperity gospel here or something like that, but notice that all 14 of these traits, they all really point back to loving God, loving other people.

    Bob:

    They do.

    Shawn:

    And having a servant mentality. None of this is actually chasing money, chasing wealth, chasing prosperity. It’s taking care of what’s been given to you, putting God first, putting other people first, and so if wealth comes, it wasn’t because you were chasing it. It’s just a byproduct of living in that way, typically.

    Bob:

    And you don’t live this way to be wealthy.

    Shawn:

    Yeah. You just live this way. It’s good living as a believer.

    Bob:

    You do these things and you have these characteristics and follow them. It just kind of happens. Yeah.

    Shawn:

    That’s more or less all we got for you today. The whole point though of today’s program is Christians that are millionaires, they don’t associate their net worth with their self-worth. I think that’s, if you take away anything from that is whatever your net worth happens to be, that is not what it’s determining your self worth.

    Bob:

    And that’s why I didn’t call this from millionaires. I said, financially successful Christians, I mean, what is financially successful doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a million dollars or even that you have $500,000 or $300,000 success comes differently to all of us. It doesn’t matter what house you live in, it doesn’t matter what car you drive, but do you love the Lord? Do you love others? And like you say, have that servant and humble mentality.

    Shawn:

    It’s just a different mindset than the way of the world. Well, that’s all we have for you today. Thank you for joining us. God bless, and hope to see you next time.

    [DISCLOSURES]

    * Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.

    17 min
  • 192 – Are Rental Homes The Worst Way To Invest In Real Estate?
    Click below to listen to Episode 192 – Are Rental Homes The Worst Way To Invest In Real Estate?
    Are Rental Homes The Worst Way To Invest In Real Estate?

    Learn about REITs and what could be a much better investment than a typical rental home.

    More episodes >>

    Considering becoming a landlord through rental property? Do the returns justify the hassles involved? After insurance, mortgage payments, repairs, and/or marketing costs, a rental home isn’t the cash cow you might think it is. Bob and Shawn discuss the pros and cons of rentals while providing some alternative options to consider.

    Instead, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) may be a better option for the average investor. They explain that REITs allow investors to access a diversified portfolio of properties across various sectors, such as industrial, retail, lodging, healthcare, and more.

    HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

    CO-HOST: Shawn Peters

    Mentioned In This Episode
    Christian Financial Advisors
    Website
    Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
    Shawn Peters
    Bible Verses In This Episode
    ECCLESIASTES 11:2

    Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

    Want to ask a question about your specific situation? Schedule a complimentary 15 minute phone call.

    SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENTDid you enjoy this episode? Sign up for email updates and never miss an episode.
    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    Intro:

    Considering becoming a landlord through rental property? Do the returns justify the hassles involved? Well, today we will discuss the pros and cons of rentals and provide some other options to consider. Let’s get some perspective.

    Shawn:

    Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. I’m Shawn Peters, joined as always by my co-host and Father-in-Law, Bob Barber. Today we’re going to be talking about investing in real estate. Obviously there are a lot of options within that topic, but what we’re really going to be focusing on today is presenting some of the common options available to the average investor. So we’re not talking about a super high net worth individual here. We’re talking about those with less than a million dollars, overall, that they might be investing in real estate. Now, unfortunately, I had to kind of drag Bob in kicking and screaming for this one. I know, Bob, you hate talking about real estate.

    Bob:

    Oh, just hate it. Oh yeah, absolutely. No.

    Shawn:

    No. In all seriousness, Bob, you can’t stay away from real estate. I do know that.

    Bob:

    I love real estate, always have loved real estate. Shawn, my dad was in real estate for 45, 50 years. So I come from a background of real estate and really understand it, and I saw a lot of the mistakes that he made.

    Shawn:

    Which kind of makes sense with your career path then, because you went from your dad having that background, and then you went into more of the finance business side of the home building and then eventually into investment management, financial advice.

    Bob:

    Yeah, that’s exactly right.

    Shawn:

    So yeah, so today the primary things we’re going to be covering is rental homes. That’s one option that the average investor, and that for most people, I think that are the fit in within that category of under a million dollars. That is probably the first thing people think of if you say invest in real estate.

    Bob:

    Without a doubt.

    Shawn:

    Single family rental home. So we’re going to be covering that, pros and cons, we’re also going to be covering real estate investment trusts. We’ll kind of go over a little bit of what that is and the two different kinds. So if you’re waiting for us to talk about the pros and cons of investing in a large apartment complex with a couple million dollars or a large commercial, we’re not really going to.

    Bob:

    But you could do that through a real estate investment trust.

    Shawn:

    You could. Yeah. Okay. But anyway, without further ado, Bob, would you like to start us off on rental homes?

    Bob:

    I will. Rental homes are an interesting subject to talk about. We’ve had many podcasts, at least three or four in the past, out of our 180 to 200, I know we’re coming on 200 podcasts. And talked about just the entire episode has been about rental homes and is it a good investment today? We’re just going to talk a few minutes about it.

    Shawn:

    We’ll link that in the description. By the way, for those of you who want to see something specific on the details of a rental home and the math behind it, we’ll link that in description.

    Bob:

    Yeah, it goes way back. Yeah, we’ve done a couple of them, but in my opinion, Shawn, rental homes are the worst way to invest in real estate.

    Shawn:

    I’m so shocked. I didn’t see that in the script at all.

    Bob:

    Now, why would I say that rental homes are the worst way to invest in real estate? Well, one of the reasons is the tenants you have to deal with. You don’t have diversification. It’s just in one spot. But the other thing is just the yield itself. The actual yield, not appreciation.

    Shawn:

    The math, basically.

    Bob:

    When you look at the math, I went out a couple of days ago and we’re in the Austin, San Antonio area. So I looked at a suburb of Austin, Buda, or Kyle, Texas. I don’t expect of this you up north to know where that is, but just think of the…

    Shawn:

    Between Austin and San Antonio.

    Bob:

    It’s just one big city, by the way. Then I came closer to home, which is in New Braunfels, where we are, which we’re closer to San Antonio, and Buda is closer to Austin, but I found that the prices were about the same. And in our area, about a 2000 to 2200 square foot home was around that $500,000 – $600,000 range, even as we speak with the interest rates that have gone up. So I looked and I found a lot of them for sale, as you know right now with the high interest rates. So I looked in this area, you can do this, by the way, on a realtor app, and you can do the same thing.

    Shawn:

    Don’t just take a word for it. This is just what Bob found.

    Bob:

    You do the filter and you do “buy”, and then you can just go to the filter and say “rent”, and you’ll see what those homes are renting for. So I found a lot of homes for rent in the for sale areas probably because things are moving slower, and I found the rent to be between $1,800 – $2200 per month. So if you take those numbers and the range of 500k to 600k, I’m just going to use $550,000.

    Shawn:

    Split the difference.

    Bob:

    Right in the middle. And let’s say rent’s on the high side. Let’s say it’s 2200 a month that you’re receiving in rent. Take that, multiply that times 12, you’re at $26,400 in gross rental income. Sounds good so far.

    Shawn:

    So far. Okay. $26,400 gross.

    Bob:

    But here in Texas we got the property tax, and I know in a couple other states they have some high property taxes as well, which computes like in the Kyle Buda area at 2.19%. So the property tax is about $10,000 a year.

    Shawn:

    So now we’re down to $16,000.

    Bob:

    Got it. And then take another $1200 or $1500 away from that for the insurance.

    Shawn:

    So let’s just say $1200. Okay.

    Bob:

    So bottom line is you’ve moved that gross rental income from $26,000 down to $15,200 after just, Shawn…

    Shawn:

    Just taxes and insurance.

    Bob:

    What about your time or if you hire a property manager?

    Shawn:

    Or if there’s some sort of maintenance issue where something breaks overflows, water heater breaks down.

    Bob:

    So the way you do this is you take that $15,200 and you divide it by 50, and that’s going to give your yield. Shawn, say what that yield is.

    Shawn:

    2.76% per year.

    Bob:

    Is that crazy?

    Shawn:

    Which, even under normal conditions, that is barely above average inflation. And it’s below what we’ve been seeing recently.

    Bob:

    And Shawn, you realize this is if you pay cash.

    Shawn:

    That doesn’t even factor in a mortgage.

    Bob:

    If you finance today, you’re going to be in a major negative cashflow position. So the only thing you can rely on is the appreciation in that case. This just doesn’t make sense to me.

    Shawn:

    That could be a whole other topic. If any of you are curious, look at the actual change in average prices of homes over the years. When I hear about people talk about, oh, look how great the appreciation is over time, it’s a similar number.

    Bob:

    It’s about inflation. So it hangs right with 3% to 4% inflation, and we’ve been in a 10 year period of ultra low interest rates that were artificially stimulated by the Fed. And those days are over, folks. They’re over. Get used to interest rates being back to where they are today. Go to tradingeconomics.com and put in the average means for interest rates and the fed rate, and you’ll see that. We’re right where we should be with interest rates.

    Shawn:

    So basically to summarize it, rental home, even if you buy it with cash, you’re still in this example, you’re still looking at less than 3% average return, assuming no additional time for the time you’re putting in to doing anything. You don’t have a property manager. You’re not spending any money on marketing to try to get a new renter whenever the renter leaves and the lease is over. No money for annual repairs, none of that. That’s just, that’s basically your gross.

    Bob:

    Shawn. I’ve never seen one. And we have a worksheet if you want to see the worksheet. I’ve never seen one in my entire career that gets over 4%. And today, CD rates at 5% plus. So why would you do that?

    Shawn:

    Why take that risk?

    Bob:

    You may say because of the appreciation. Okay. So now we’re going to get into what, I feel, is the easiest and best way to invest in real estate.

    Shawn:

    Which is a REIT or real estate investment trust. So what exactly is that, Bob?

    Bob:

    It buys a diversified portfolio. It could be housing, it could be apartments.

    Shawn:

    But it’s not a home. It’s maybe hundreds of homes or thousands of homes or apartments or multiple apartment complexes.

    Bob:

    It could be healthcare, it could be hospitals, it can be anything real estate. There’s ones that own billboards.

    Shawn:

    Okay.

    Bob:

    Because it’s all about generating income, by the way.

    Shawn:

    Point being is you purchase this one position or make this one investment to give yourself access to multiple properties.

    Bob:

    That’s correct.

    Shawn:

    Across various sectors and industries. So within that though, there are two types. I want to make sure we make very clear. There are publicly traded and there are privately traded REITs. So before we get into – which today we’re really recommending the publicly traded REIT option, we’ll go with that. But Bob, why would we say to people to avoid privately traded REITs?

    Bob:

    I’ve been down the road, Shawn, I’ve been down the road with both of them, and the privately traded REIT really locks you in. If you get into a privately traded REIT, it may sound really good upfront, like maybe they’re going to give you a 6% or 7% dividend, but then they can pull the rug out from under you. And because it’s privately traded, you can’t do anything about it.

    Shawn:

    You’ve got to basically get it redeemed by the company.

    Bob:

    By the company itself, or somebody’s going to come along and give you pennies on the dollar. I’ve seen it.

    Shawn:

    And if they didn’t manage it well, then all of a sudden you’re kind of in a bad spot because there’s no one really to redeem the shares from you.

    Bob:

    I’ve seen it and even had some clients experience this, and this is why I veer away from privately traded REITs now, because overnight you can go from $10 a share down to $8 a share without any warning whatsoever. You just get the letter and it’s happened. We’ve had some privately traded REITs go public, and we’ve done very, very well at the same time. But in my opinion, you should stay in the publicly traded real estate investment trust arena.

    Shawn:

    So just some highlights before we get into the type of REITs. Why do you say the publicly traded then are a better option?

    Bob:

    Along with just the REIT itself, the reason I like it is there’s no closing cost. There’s no sales commissions, buying or selling. It’s just so easy, and I call it mailbox money because you can invest in these REITs and they all have a certain dividend that they’re paying and you just collect it at the mailbox or electronically have it put into your account. You don’t have to deal with the tenants, you don’t have to deal with the water heaters breaking.

    Shawn:

    None of that. So going back to compare with the rental home, you don’t have to deal with anybody.

    Bob:

    One we’re going to talk about later, but I’ll just mention it right now. We’ve put together a diversified portfolio of 30 plus real estate investment trusts across all the different sectors as we’re about to go into. And the yield is beyond 6% plus appreciation. It can depreciated as well, but it’s because it’s going to go with the markets. But you get the appreciation just like you could in a rental home, back to it.

    Shawn:

    Long story short, publicly traded – a lot of good options. It’s way easier to get in and out of it. You don’t have to deal with tenants like you do with the rental home. There’s no commission sales charges. Great. So Bob, what kind of REITs – we’re going to cover this quick – what kind of REITs are available within the publicly traded space?

    Bob:

    There’s industrial, that’s warehouses and distribution centers. There’s retail, like large regional malls, outlet centers, grocery, anchored shopping centers, and power centers that feature box retailers, like the big Targets or Best Buys. There’s the lodging and resort hotel type REITs. There’s the office REITs, there’s the residential apartment buildings, student housing, manufactured homes, single family homes, warehouses.

    Shawn:

    Then we’ve got healthcare, so senior living facilities, hospitals, medical office buildings. We have data centers. So these are services that keep servers and data safe. There’s uninterruptible power supplies, air chill coolers, physical security. Then there’s cell phone towers. I always thought that was kind of an interesting one. Timberland and lumber. Then you have infrastructure for fiber cables, wireless infrastructure, telecommunication towers, kind a little bit of a crossover with cell phone towers, but it is separate. And you’ve got mortgage – So financing for income, producing real estate by purchasing the or originating mortgages, mortgage backed securities, farmland, and outdoor advertising.

    Bob:

    There you go. 14 different ways. You did good because that’s all the different ways that we can invest in. And when we look at building a portfolio of real estate investment trust, publicly traded, real estate investment trust, we look at all of these different sectors because it really goes with the scriptural principles being that we’re Christian Financial Perspectives of Ecclesiastes 1:2, the wealthiest man that ever lived in the history of the earth, Solomon, he said, “Give your portions to seven. Yes, to eight because you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” So the reason you want to diversify, maybe office is not the best place to be right now. Of course, housing’s not a good place to be, but the housing REITs have depreciated so much….

    Shawn:

    Might be a good time to buy.

    Bob:

    Yeah, because you want to buy when things are down, like cell phone towers. I mean, that’s pretty solid, but the dividend may not be as good on those because it is so solid. So we built this real estate portfolio of approximately 30 different, deep valued REITs using our program looking at value and fundamentals of the REIT. We have two different ways that you can buy it through us. One is we do a buy and hold strategy for at least a year for the capital gain. And that is just 30 basis points a year. That’s what we charge as our management fee. Or you can buy one that’s more actively managed and that’s our 1% fee per year. And you can get in as low as $30,000 to $50,000.

    Shawn:

    Exactly. And right now the yield, as of recording, was over 6%, plus whatever appreciation or depreciation might occur. So if you’re interested, as always, we’re here. Check us out www.christianfinancialadvisors.com. You can also call or text during business hours at (830) 609-6986. Thank you so much for joining us today and God bless.

    [CONCLUSION]

    That’s all for now.

    We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986.

    [DISCLOSURES]

    * Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.

    16 min

About Christian Financial Perspectives

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Biblical wisdom for financial decisions and goals. Conversations about managing money according to Christian principles, featuring expert insights on budgeting, investing, giving, and building wealth…

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