Christian Financial Perspectives

Christian Financial Perspectives

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Christian Financial Perspectives episodes

  • 222 – Tax Efficient Asset Location
    Click below to listen to Episode 222 – Tax Efficient Asset Location
    Tax Efficient Asset Location

    Navigate the various nuances of asset allocation and how it works.

    More episodes >>

    This episode covers the in depth topic of tax-efficient asset location, which involves strategically placing different types of assets (such as stocks and bonds) in various account types (such as taxable accounts, Roth IRAs, and traditional IRAs) to minimize the overall tax burden on investment returns over time.

    Bob and Matthew break this down into various key points of asset allocation, asset location, how exactly it works, is asset allocation for everyone, and what is the advantage? Asset allocation is not a “one size fits all” strategy, and it can require analysis and understanding from a certified financial advisor.

    HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

    CO-HOST: Matthew Barrovecchio

    Mentioned In This Episode
    Christian Financial Advisors
    Website
    Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
    Shawn Peters
    Bible Verses In This Episode
    PROVERBS 13:11

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

    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 (00:00):

    Are you placing your investments in the right types of accounts to minimize taxes? Smart asset location could help you keep more of your investment returns over time. We’ll explore how strategically positioning your stocks and bonds across different account types can lead to better tax efficiency in your portfolio. Let’s get some perspective.

    Bob (00:27):

    Welcome to Christian Financial Perspectives. This is Bob Barber, the host of this program today, and we have a very unique program that we’re going to bring to you that Matthew has put together most generously. And we had some really good discussion about this before. It was kind of a little bit of hot discussion going back and forth. It wasn’t hot, but I mean it was like, what about this and what about that? But today we’re going to be talking about tax efficient asset location and Matthew put this together. So I’m going to put Matthew on the spot today.

    Matthew (01:00):

    Yep. That’s great.

    Bob (01:01):

    This is a unique idea I’ve heard about, but you want to bring it to our audience.

    Matthew (01:07):

    Yep, yep. I think it definitely can add value to clients’ portfolios long term.

    Bob (01:13):

    Yeah.

    Matthew (01:14):

    So let’s get into the verse. Proverbs 13:11, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but whomever gathers money little by little makes it grow.” I feel like this really, especially the second part of that exemplifies this. This is not a get rich quick scheme or anything like that. This is one of the building blocks for building long-term financial wealth and of course we’re going to look at it from a biblical perspective.

    Bob (01:43):

    So you mentioned asset location. What do you mean by asset location?

    Matthew (01:48):

    Yeah, so asset location is essentially the strategic placement of putting certain types of assets in certain types of accounts. Okay.

    Bob (01:57):

    So what do you mean by certain types of assets?

    Matthew (02:00):

    Yep. So stocks versus bonds and then the different account types that one may have a Roth IRA being one, a pre-tax IRA being a second, and then any non IRA account being a third. That can be a joint account, an individual account, a trust account, et cetera. And all three of those different types of accounts are taxed differently. And the two different types of assets, stocks and bonds are known for two different things. Generally, one friend come one for price per share increase, which we’ll talk about. This asset location strategy is really about concentrating the assets in proper places, locations, to take advantage of and optimize the tax efficiency of the portfolio, which over the course of time can be very beneficial.

    Bob (02:52):

    So somebody that would be in a high tax bracket would definitely be interested in this.

    Matthew (02:58):

    Absolutely. The impact can be for anyone who has, and we’re going to talk about this, who is this for? But for anyone who has different types of accounts, there’s going to be some benefit. But yes, absolutely. Individuals who have larger balances, the impact will be larger. Absolutely.

    Bob (03:17):

    Is it still a strategy for somebody in a lower tax bracket?

    Matthew (03:20):

    It absolutely can be, yes. Again, the marginal impact, incremental impact may not be as significant, but it’s a step in the right direction and a positive nonetheless. So why wouldn’t you do it?

    Bob (03:35):

    Absolutely. I agree with you because I just had a brainwave about something. Sometimes the capital gain tax can be zero depending on what your income is. It can be, right?

    Matthew (03:43):

    Yeah.

    Bob (03:44):

    So it looks at that income to determine whether you have to pay 0%, 15%, 20%, and of course if you’re in a real high tax bracket, you could be paying 23.8% in long-term gains. But still that’s better than an income tax bracket, which can be at 35% – and if you’re in a state with state income tax could be you could be at 40%.

    Matthew (04:09):

    You could be.

    Bob (04:11):

    Some places like California, you might be at 45%.

    Matthew (04:14):

    Yeah, yeah.

    Bob (04:15):

    Alright.

    Matthew (04:15):

    So just one point before we move on to who is asset location really for, I want to talk about asset allocation, right? Individuals from the beginning might be thinking, wait, don’t you mean asset allocation not location. Now they’re two different things. So while asset location is important, asset allocation continues to be the most important thing in one’s portfolio. So the location strategy or concepts that we’re going to talk about takes a backseat to making sure that your overall stock to bond ratio in your portfolio is being met because that is the strongest determinant of risk over the long term. And so we want to make sure that we’re…

    Bob (04:56):

    And how much risk can you take, right?

    Matthew (04:58):

    Exactly right.

    Bob (04:59):

    Yeah. So you say is this for everyone? It can be really.

    Matthew (05:07):

    It can be. So let’s go through some primary examples though. The first is you have to have multiple account types. If you only have a rollover IRA, then you only have one account and there’s no asset location opportunity. But for someone who has a Roth IRA, a taxable account like an individual or a joint account, a pre-tax IRA, now you have different types of accounts that are taxed differently and you can take advantage of those differences in the taxation law.

    Bob (05:41):

    Well the reason you and I had such a good discussion before this was because I fit that scenario and especially because we sold some family land for a sizable amount, I have a sizable amount that is not in an IRA, it’s outside of an IRA and I’m scared to death the time to ever sell anything because I’m in such a high tax bracket for that. So this tax efficiency is extremely important for me. Yeah.

    Matthew (06:05):

    We already touched on the second thing here, which is having a large enough account balance to make it meaningful. So certainly there can be an advantage for anyone who has different types of accounts, but for an individual who says has $100,000 in a joint account and then has a Roth IRA with $2,000, there’s an asset location opportunity, but it’s not going to be significant compared to someone who has a more even distribution amongst different types of accounts.

    Bob (06:37):

    Meaning that like $300,000 in non IRA accounts like a joint account and $300,000 inside of an IRA account.

    Matthew (06:47):

    Correct. Exactly.

    Bob (06:47):

    That’s a real scenario that would work here.

    Matthew (06:51):

    That is a recipe for allowing this to be more prevalent and have a larger impact.

    Bob (06:56):

    What are some other things that you point out here?

    Matthew (06:59):

    So I’d say the other big thing is the psychological impact. So for some individuals, this may not work for them simply because they are uncomfortable with having certain accounts in their portfolio more aggressively invested than others, right? So there needs to be an understanding that asset allocation of the overall portfolio is top priority, but underneath that you can have different accounts invested more aggressively or more conservatively and the individuals psychologically need to be okay with, hey, this account is performing differently than that account because they’re invested differently.

    Bob (07:39):

    I want to point something out there then. Okay. Because I’ve been through so many cycles with how long I’ve been in this business. You’ve heard me probably mention the bucket strategy. And the bucket strategy is where you have your different buckets of money and where one bucket is for your aggressive account and that’s going to be the most volatile, have the most up and downs like a rollercoaster ride, in another bucket, more conservative. And I’ve actually helped some people by taking a moderate portfolio, a balanced portfolio, and dividing it up and saying the aggressive portfolio is a long term, let that ride. And then you have your other money over here that is in the least aggressive and it’s helped them with the psychology of the markets. Does that make sense?

    Matthew (08:29):

    Absolutely. Yeah, that’s great. That’s great. So yeah, the individual needs to be comfortable with that. If this is going to be something that keeps someone up at night, don’t do it. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth the stress.

    Bob (08:42):

    Like I was saying, I’ve actually, it’s helped with people not keeping up at night by doing this kind of strategy.

    Matthew (08:47):

    It’s great. Alright, so how does it work. Now let’s get to the details finally. How does it work?

    Bob (08:52):

    Okay.

    Matthew (08:53):

    All right. So first, bonds, what are bonds known for primarily?

    Bob (08:57):

    Their interest. They produce interest.

    Matthew (08:59):

    Interest income. Exactly. So where can you put bonds? You can put them in an individual account or let’s say an IRA, Roth or Pre-tax. If you put bonds who are known for interest in an individual account, you are going to pay taxes at ordinary income rates every year in which those interest payments are distributed. If you instead have your bonds insulated in an IRA pre-tax, ultimately you’re going to pay those same ordinary income taxes on the interest, but not until you withdraw. So on the bond side of the equation you are paying the same tax, but by putting your bonds in the pre-tax IRA, you actually have more control on when you realize the tax. It’s not until you withdraw. So that’s one side of the equation. Let’s talk about stocks now. What are stocks known for?

    Bob (09:55):

    Well, they’re known for equities. They’re known for their capital gains. I mean you want capital gains as much as you don’t like to pay the taxes on ’em, you want capital gains.

    Matthew (10:05):

    So price per share increase, capital appreciation, right? So if we put stocks in a pre-tax IRA and you have it grow when you pull it out, you’re going to pay tax at ordinary income rates, which is what you pay when you would do a withdraw from a pre-tax IRA. If you instead concentrate your stocks in the individual account or what we call it…

    Bob (10:31):

    Or joint account, yeah. Okay.

    Matthew (10:32):

    You are going to pay, as long as you hold onto it for over a year, you’re going to pay long-term capital gains on that same capital appreciation, that same price per share.

    Bob (10:43):

    Which are much lower than the income tax rate.

    Matthew (10:45):

    Every taxable income level is lower than the ordinary, right? So you put bonds in your pre-tax IRA gives you more control, okay? You put stocks in your non-qualified individual accounts, take advantage of lower tax rates through the long-term capital gains. And it’s, it’s a great strategy.

    Bob (11:04):

    Why isn’t every accountant talking to their clients about, especially if they’re in a high tax bracket scenario. But if you’re in a low tax bracket scenario, like I said earlier, and my lights kind of went on after we’ve talked about this today before we made the program, is that, wait a second, really you can be at a point where you don’t have to pay any capital gain tax depending on if your income’s low enough, your long-term capital gain tax can be as low as 0, 15%. So it can actually be very, very low. So I can see where this scenario could work for maybe somebody that they have $100,000 in a non-qualified account.

    Matthew (11:46):

    And there are certainly situations where this strategy may not be exactly the best strategy for certain individuals, but as a general rule, this is the approach people would strongly consider taking.

    Bob (11:59):

    Now you remember one of the arguments I was talking to you about? Well this means though that do you have to, if you buy that set of stocks and that unqualified account, I feel like I’m nearly forced. I got to hold it at least a year so I have that lower tax bracket. But in a situation where the economy is starting to go south and it’s going to go farther south, it is still better to do the right thing asset allocation wise and take those gains. I’ve heard some people say I don’t want to sell any because I have to pay taxes on the gains. Well, there’s a saying, I always come back at ’em. We can wait for all the gains to go away and you won’t have to pay any taxes. Right?

    Matthew (12:41):

    Right. Exactly. That’s exactly it. So going back to something I said earlier in the conversation, right? Asset allocation is still a primary consideration here.

    Bob (12:50):

    So this has to be looked at each person individually to see where they fit with this. This is an individual tax strategy.

    Matthew (13:00):

    Correct.

    Bob (13:01):

    But I think a lot more people could do it than we both maybe realize. The more that we talk about it and I could see where we’re going to look at my portfolio more like this and do this with it.

    Matthew (13:16):

    So let’s look at a simple example just to illustrate it. So let’s say we have an individual with $200,000 in their overall portfolio and they’re targeting hypothetically 60% stocks, 40% bonds. Let’s say that they just happen to have a joint account with their spouse of $120,000 and a pre-tax IRA worth $80,000. Well I did this intentionally. The math works out perfectly.

    (13:41):

    You can put the $120,000 joint account in equities and stocks. The 80% IRA pretax IRA, in bonds, you maximize the asset location while also simultaneously for the overall portfolio meeting the asset allocation to make sure that your risk level of the overall portfolio is what it should be. So that’s a very simple example. Individuals may say, well what if it’s not so straightforward? What’s the process? I’d say the process you would want to follow is going to be putting your stocks as much as you can in the non-qualified accounts, putting your bonds as much as you can in your pre-tax IRAs. And if one fills up before the other, then the pour over goes into the other account with the Roth IRA being in the middle, right? So if you fill up a joint account per se, a non-qualified account, and you still have more stocks to meet your asset allocation strategy, then you put stocks in your Roth, putting the bonds in the pre-tax IRA, and then the overflow into the Roth as well. So that’s just an overall process and you can kind of think of it as if you have three cups and you’re pouring equities into the non-qualified cup and bonds into the pre-tax IRA cup. Once one of them gets filled up, it kind of goes into the Roth IRA cup.

    Bob (15:10):

    You know why I’m grinning, I just think about this as my wife was listening to this. She lost you by the way about three minutes ago. But the bottom line is you could help, can help anyone to figure this out.

    Matthew (15:22):

    Absolutely.

    Bob (15:22):

    Because it’s on an individual basis and do this through software programs, and we can show the actual tax savings that could be there. All right.

    Matthew (15:31):

    Sounds good.

    Bob (15:32):

    Okay, well I think that’s going to finish up for today. This is a very interesting subject that I think all of you need to look into. And if you’d like to give us a call at (830) 609-6986 during business hours that you’d like to talk about this or you can also text that number and just say, I’d like to talk about this strategy, or you can go visit us on our website and there’s also, there’s a contact tab on our website which you could actually set an appointment and by going to www.ChristianFinancialAdvisors.com. I think that’s going to do it for today.

    Matthew (16:05):

    That’s great. God bless y’all.

    Bob (16:06):

    Thanks.

    [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
  • The Power of Compounding Interest
    Learn about one of the most powerful mathematical formulas that has been around for hundreds of years when it comes to investing – The Rule of 72. Bob and Matthew break down compounding interest and how it works through the unique mathematical formula of the Rule of 72. The Rule of 72 truly shows the power of compound interest and how it can dramatically impact long-term wealth building. Investing must have a long-term perspective by avoiding distractions. By just being patient and not removing money periodically from your investments, the Rule of 72 demonstrates how money can double in value over time at a given rate of return. How else can you enhance your investment portfolio? By starting young and investing early, as discipline is crucial.
    16 min
  • 221 – The Power of Compounding Interest
    Click below to listen to Episode 221 – The Power of Compounding Interest
    The Power of Compounding Interest

    Your Impatience May Be Costing You Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

    More episodes >>

    Learn about one of the most powerful mathematical formulas that has been around for hundreds of years when it comes to investing – The Rule of 72. Bob and Matthew break down compounding interest and how it works through the unique mathematical formula of the Rule of 72. The Rule of 72 truly shows the power of compound interest and how it can dramatically impact long-term wealth building.

    Investing must have a long-term perspective by avoiding distractions. By just being patient and not removing money periodically from your investments, the Rule of 72 demonstrates how money can double in value over time at a given rate of return. How else can you enhance your investment portfolio? By starting young and investing early, as discipline is crucial.

    HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

    CO-HOST: Matthew Barrovecchio

    Mentioned In This Episode
    Christian Financial Advisors
    Website
    Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
    Shawn Peters
    Bible Verses In This Episode
    2 CORINTHIANS 9:6

    Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

    PROVERBS 14:24

    The wealth of the wise is their crown, but the folly of fools yields folly.

    ECCLESIASTES 9:11

    I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.

    PROVERBS 3:9

    Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops;

    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

    Matthew (00:00):

    Did you know that Einstein called compound interest the most powerful force in the universe? Whether you’re 25 or 55, understanding the simple math behind this wealth building could dramatically change your financial future. We’ll explore how time and consistency can transform modest savings into significant wealth, and why waiting or withdrawing can cost you way more than you think. Let’s get some perspective. Welcome to Christian Financial Perspectives. I am Matthew Barrovecchio, joined by Bob Barber, and today we’re going to talk about the power of compounding interest.

    Bob (00:45):

    A pretty exciting subject for me. As you know, I’m kind of a math nerd, and when I heard this as a kid, it started absorbing into my mind. But I’m really seeing the power of compounding now at my age of 62. So today is a great program for young and old alike, and I really want everyone to get in touch with this because compounding is extremely powerful and I’ve got some great scriptures to go with it. And then we’re going to quote some geniuses from the past too about what they said about compounding.

    Matthew (01:23):

    That’s great. There’s power in the name of Jesus, and there is power in compounding interest. So let’s take a look at what the word says here. So 2 Corinthians 9:6 says, “Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

    Bob (01:42):

    What do you think of that scripture?

    Matthew (01:43):

    I mean, that’s a promise straight from the Lord, and it’s encouraging. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if we sow monetarily, we will reap monetarily. It doesn’t mean that if we sow in this lifetime, we will reap in this lifetime, but we have an eternal perspective.

    Bob (02:00):

    But there is a scriptural principle behind sowing and reaping.

    Matthew (02:04):

    Absolutely.

    Bob (02:04):

    It’s very clear in this scripture.

    Matthew (02:06):

    Proverbs 14:24 says, “The wealth of the wise is their crown, but folly of fools yields folly.” It’s a tongue twister.

    Bob (02:19):

    Okay. So as you look at this and you think about this, this will make a lot more sense as we get into the compounding and how the wealth of the wise is their crown. The wise, there’s wisdom in compounding. This’ll make sense. You just got to stick with me on this, all right.

    Matthew (02:35):

    Let’s do it. Ecclesiastes, a lot of wisdom in this book, 9:11, “I have seen something else under the sun. The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does the food come to the wise or the wealth to the brilliance or favor to the learned, but time and chance happen to them all.”

    Bob (02:56):

    A key word, okay, time. In Ecclesiastes, it talks about there’s a time for everything. It’s not always about now, it’s about the future. And then Proverbs 3:9, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruit of all your crops.” So as we’re talking about compounding, we’re talking about honoring God with that as well. Now, I’m going to make a switch, and we’re going to look at some worldly men, and one of them is Albert Einstein. Ever heard of Albert Einstein?

    Matthew (03:31):

    His hair is different than mine.

    Bob (03:34):

    His hair is very different…

    Matthew (03:35):

    Very different than mine. We did not go to the same barber, no pun intended, Bob Barber.

    Bob (03:41):

    That is true. It’s interesting that he’s a brilliant man. Many people knew him as a brilliant man. He said one of the most powerful forces in the universe is compound interest. And he referred to it as one of the greatest miracles known to man.

    Matthew (03:57):

    Miracles around us. That’s great.

    Bob (03:58):

    And then Benjamin Franklin, what a hoot he was. And he was fascinated by it. And he built this legacy. He left just $4,000, which was a lot back then. He left it in a trust for Boston and Philadelphia. Later, that turned from 4,000 to six and a half million dollars. That’s compounding.

    Matthew (04:20):

    Didn’t you tell me the other day that he was intentional within the trust to make sure that it couldn’t be touched for like a hundred years or something?

    Bob (04:27):

    Yes, exactly. Yep. He sure was. And then who’s the modern day, the modern day financial guru that we were thinking in the worldly sense?

    Matthew (04:35):

    Shawn Peters? No, not him.

    Bob (04:38):

    Warren Buffett. Yeah, Warren Buffett, yeah. And one of the three things he said that wealth has been a combination for him of living in America, some lucky guesses and genes in compound interest. So we’ve got scriptures that show sowing and reaping and wisdom. And then we’ve got some very smart worldly men as well that says compound interest is amazing. And it is, and it really comes down into the rule of 72.

    Matthew (05:06):

    What is that? Yeah, tell me.

    Bob (05:09):

    Tell you, huh? You know what the rule of 72 is?

    Matthew (05:11):

    I do.

    Bob (05:12):

    But okay. So the rule of 72 is a mathematical rule that when I learned it in school, I thought, man, this is really cool. People think, man, you are a math nerd. But the answer is, if you take a certain rate of return and you plug it into the number 72, and then that will tell you how long it takes for a dollar to double to $2 or 100,000 to double to 200,000 or a million to double to a 2 million. What’s interesting in all of these scenarios is a dollar to double to $2, it takes the same amount of time at a stated rate of return as it takes for a million to double to 2 million. That’s the power of what I see in the rule of 72’s. And you got to understand the rule of 72’s to understand compounding and how that works. So always in my head, I can go 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, I double this because that’s the way my mind thinks about math. But let’s just assume a reasonable kind of, maybe a moderate to growth portfolio, 7% return.

    Matthew (06:34):

    Over a long period of time.

    Bob (06:35):

    Right? Yep. So 7 goes into 72 about 10 times, right?

    Matthew (06:39):

    A little less, but yeah.

    Bob (06:40):

    So yeah, it’s actually…

    Matthew (06:43):

    A little more rather.

    Bob (06:44):

    It’s what?

    Matthew (06:45):

    A little more than 10? A little more than 10.

    Bob (06:47):

    Yeah. But it’s like 10.2. Okay. We can get technical here, of course, but at 10 years it’s saying if you have a stated amount of money and you don’t touch it, you don’t withdraw. Just leave it there. It’s going to double.

    Matthew (07:01):

    Yeah. So the don’t touch it piece and the time aspect is really important because what could happen, and we’ve seen this in investment principles across in our careers and in our experience of stewarding people, but let’s take the concept and apply it to this is, okay, compounding interest is going to work over the course of say, a 40 year career, but a couple years into it, if it’s not working out exactly how one thought it would, they abandoned the strategy, they abandoned the principle. And that’s exactly the opposite of what we want to do. You want to stay steadfast, trust the math, trust the process, and focus on the long-term is a good recipe for success in this.

    Bob (07:47):

    So I think you have a real good example of this that you’re going to go into in a minute. But yeah, it is so hard to think about compounding. Cause the time and when you’re in your younger years, you can get so easily sidetracked of all the things that are hitting you right now. So it takes a lot of discipline. But discipline is how wealth is obtained by discipline and doing the same thing and being very consistent in your life and following those biblical principles.

    Matthew (08:14):

    There can be a lot of distractions, including financial FOMO, which we’ve talked about a podcast before. And so we want to stay steadfast. All right, so let’s take a look at an example. If we assume 7%, which for a moderate portfolio, stocks, bonds, mixture over the course of a 40 year career, it’s reasonable roughly, Investor A invests 3000 every single year for the first 10 years of their career. And then starting in year 11, invests no more, right? So the 30 years after, they don’t invest anything.

    Bob (08:52):

    So they put $30,000.

    Matthew (08:53):

    30,000 in.

    Bob (08:54):

    3000 a year.

    Matthew (08:55):

    Three grand in for 10 years, and then just allow that to continue compounding interest.

    Bob (09:00):

    Not putting another penny in?

    Matthew (09:01):

    Nothing else. Okay. Alright. Investor B does the exact opposite. They don’t do anything for the first 10 years starting in year 11. For year 11 through year 40, they do the same $3,000 each year. Who do you think has more money at the end?

    Bob (09:17):

    Well, I think investor B would, wouldn’t he? Because he’s been investing for 30 years versus 10 for the first one.

    Matthew (09:26):

    Yep. So many people would think that, but that’s obviously based on…

    Bob (09:30):

    I knew that’s not the case.

    Matthew (09:33):

    So at the end of the 30 year career, you have investor A who has about 30,000 – 35,000 more dollars in this example than Investor B. Again, while they only invested 30,000 of their assets versus investor B who invested a total of 90,000.

    Bob (09:52):

    Oh, okay. So the Investor B had to invest three times the amount to get to the same. Oh, actually he had less.

    Matthew (10:00):

    He had about 30,000 – 35,000 less. So again, investing early and investing often and staying disciplined to the plan is really this key to success with compounding interest. And so for our younger investors, hey, every little bit counts. So it can be very powerful over the course of your lifetime.

    Bob (10:23):

    But there are two things that can really hurt the compounding effect.

    Matthew (10:28):

    Kind of just spoke about the first one. What are they?

    Bob (10:30):

    Well, number one is, yeah, you did speak of it. The cost of waiting, because the younger you are, the more time is on your side and waiting is tremendously costly. I want to explain something real quick too here that you didn’t share an example, but I’m going to give an example is that at my age, 62, we meet a lot of investors. I mean, they’ve been investing in a 401k, they’ve been getting a match, and they retire and they have a million dollars and they’ve been consistent, 30 years they’ve been investing. It’s possible, very possible today, and it happens all the time. So they have a million dollars. So you realize if they don’t touch that million for six or seven, eight years, it’s going to double or 10 million. And we can’t say for sure. But we say it can. Right? And it has in the past. So when I look at this and think about the cost of waiting, I look at the cost of waiting as taking a million and it going to 2 million, and that person that’s waiting to save $200 or $300 a month,

    (11:45):

    That’s what they’re waiting. You can get that just from not buying an expensive coffee every day. Or you can get half of that and then your employer’s going to match the other half with the 401k match. That’s costing them $7,777 a month. And all I’ve done is taken a million and divided it by 10 years, divided it by the month, bought it all the way down 7,000. So for every month you wait to save $200 or $300, it’s costing you $7,000…

    Matthew (12:18):

    Wow. That’s pretty powerful.

    Bob (12:21):

    …Later down the road. That’s very, very powerful. The second example I see that blows compounding is the cost of withdrawing to go buy a depreciating asset like a car. I mean, a car today costs $50,000, a nice one, 40-50k. You buy one of those trucks we drive right here in Texas, you’re talking 80,000 to 100,000, but let’s say $50,000. When you are withdrawing $50,000 from a portfolio, now you’ve taken that part that can no longer, that 50 can no longer turn into a hundred, turned into 200, let’s say over a 20 year period. And I always like to ask the question, if you buy a $50,000 car today, you’ve hurt your portfolio by $200,000 in the next 20 years, what’s the car going to be worth in 20 years? Or the truck?

    Matthew (13:18):

    Right. Very little.

    Bob (13:19):

    Very little. It’s 20 years. It’s probably in the, where they take cars when they die. I dunno that much about all that, but that’s probably what it is. The power of compounding is just simple math, right?

    Matthew (13:36):

    That’s it. Very simple.

    Bob (13:37):

    If you can understand this concept, I will say at 62 years old, and I’ve been disciplined, it kind of blows my mind every day to see what’s happening, to see how it was just so small amount that was doubling at first, but now it’s getting bigger and bigger. If you put it on a graph, if you’re listening to the podcast, you can’t see this, you’re on YouTube, it just kind of goes like this. It feels like it’s going straight up.

    Matthew (14:06):

    It’s the momentum.

    Bob (14:07):

    It’s the momentum. The momentum is building so strong. And I think that’s why you ever heard the term the rich get richer?

    Matthew (14:15):

    Of course.

    Bob (14:15):

    Yeah.

    Matthew (14:16):

    And again, it’s very simple, but it’s very powerful and it’s staying disciplined to and focused on that. And like we said earlier, not getting distracted.

    Bob (14:24):

    Yeah, exactly. Well, that’s going to do it for today for our program on Christian Financial Perspectives. I hope you’ve learned about compounding and the Rule of 72s, probably might be the first time you’ve ever heard this before, but if you’d like to give us a call.

    Matthew (14:37):

    Yeah. So if you want to hear more about how compounding can help your situation or apply to your situation, call us or text us at (830) 609-6986 or visit us online at our website, www.ChristianFinancialAdvisors.com. God bless you, and we’ll see you soon.

    [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
  • The Parable of the Talents: What It Teaches Us About Stewardship
    The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 teaches powerful lessons about stewardship, trust, and making the most of what we’ve been given. This week, Bob and Matthew break down the parable of the talents, including ways that the servants may have invested, how long they invested, and what principles they might have used when choosing how to invest their talents (like how Christian Financial Advisors uses Biblically responsible investing). Key lessons from this parable and our podcast episode include: - Stewardship: We are accountable to God for how we use the resources and gifts He has entrusted to us. - Faith vs. Fear: The parable contrasts the servants who acted in faith versus the one who was paralyzed by fear, highlighting the importance of trusting God rather than succumbing to anxiety. - Growth and Accountability: The master rewards the servants who grew their talents, emphasizing the need to be productive and make the most of what we’ve been given.
    15 min
  • 220 – The Parable of the Talents: What It Teaches Us About Stewardship
    Click below to listen to Episode 220 – The Parable of the Talents: What It Teaches Us About Stewardship
    The Parable of the Talents: What It Teaches Us About Stewardship

    Are you wisely using what God has blessed you with?

    More episodes >>

    The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 teaches powerful lessons about stewardship, trust, and making the most of what we’ve been given. This week, Bob and Matthew break down the parable of the talents, including ways that the servants may have invested, how long they invested, and what principles they might have used when choosing how to invest their talents (like how Christian Financial Advisors uses Biblically responsible investing).

    Key lessons from this parable and our podcast episode include:

    • Stewardship: We are accountable to God for how we use the resources and gifts He has entrusted to us.
    • Faith vs. Fear: The parable contrasts the servants who acted in faith versus the one who was paralyzed by fear, highlighting the importance of trusting God rather than succumbing to anxiety.
    • Growth and Accountability: The master rewards the servants who grew their talents, emphasizing the need to be productive and make the most of what we’ve been given.

      • HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

      CO-HOST: Matthew Barroveccio

      Mentioned In This Episode
      Christian Financial Advisors
      Website
      Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
      Shawn Peters
      Bible Verses In This Episode
      MATTHEW 25:14-30 – The Parable of the Talents

      Matthew 25:14-30

      14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 The one who had received the five talents immediately went and did business with them, and earned five more talents. 17 In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. 18 But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

      19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’

      22 “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have earned two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’

      24 “Now the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. 25 And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’

      26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? 27 Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

      29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

      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

      Matthew (00:00):

      Have you ever wondered what you would do if someone trusted you with millions of dollars to invest? The Parable of the Talents teaches us powerful lessons about stewardship, trust, and making the most of what we’ve been given. We’ll explore this timeless story and its surprising modern day value equivalence. Let’s get some perspective. Hi, welcome to Christian Financial Perspectives. My name is Matthew Barrovecchio and I’m joined here with my good friend and founder of CFA, Bob Barber. And today we’re going to be talking about the parable of the talents as described by Jesus in Matthew 25.

      Bob (00:47):

      I am very excited about this today, Matthew. We’re going to take off in the next few weeks, and we’re going to really just, we always talk about scriptural guidelines for finance, but we’re going to get to some of the parables and what they mean. And Jesus spoke on stewardship more than any other subject in the Bible. As a matter of fact, a lot of the Biblical scholars will say he spoke on stewardship more than heaven and hell combined. So this parable is a very famous parable. It’s a very long parable. So without further ado, we’re going to get into this and I’m going to let you do the reading like I normally let Shawn do the reading.

      Matthew (01:27):

      Absolutely.

      Bob (01:27):

      Okay. And so yeah, if you’re wondering, who’s this, Matthew? Well, Matthew is with our firm and he’s been meeting with our clients for a year and comes with a lot of experience in the financial services business and loves the Lord. And if you want to try to pronounce his name, go for it. How do you say it again?

      Matthew (01:44):

      Barrow-vekk-ee-owe.

      Bob (01:45):

      See Barovecchio. I’m getting better. It took me about a year.

      Matthew (01:49):

      It’s actually the first time you said it correctly.

      Bob (01:52):

      Alright. All right. Read Matthew 25:14-30 for us.

      Matthew (01:56):

      Here we go. Verse 14, “For it is like a man about to go on a journey who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them, to the one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey and the one who received the five talents immediately went and did business with them and earned five more talents. In the same way, the one who had received the two talents earned two more, but he who received one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled the accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents saying, master, you have entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.

      (02:48):

      His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant. You are faithful with a few things and I will put you in charge of many things. Enter the joy of your master. Also, the one who had received two talents came up and said, master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I’ve earned two more. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things and I will put you in charge of many things. Enter the joy of your master. Now, the one who had received one talent also came up and said, master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you do not sow, gathering where you do not scatter seed. And I was afraid, so I went ahead and I hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.

      (03:35):

      But his master answered and said to him, you worthless and lazy slave, did you know that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter seed? Then you ought to have put my money in the bank and on my arrival I would’ve received my money back with interest. Therefore, take the talent away from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents, for to everyone who has more shall be given and he will have an abundance, but from the one who does not have even what he does have shall be taken away and throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

      Bob (04:15):

      This reminds me of some of the scriptures that you read in Proverbs. It is not messing around here. And I did a lot of research and you did the research too, and so did Shawn about what is a talent and what was considered a talent. I think we came along with somewhere, one talent could be the amount of money that a normal person would take to make 20 up to a lifetime. So when he’s giving a talent, I think of it as what you’re doing with your life as well. But it is a monetary amount too, and it’s a lot. I mean it’s a whole lot. It can be anywhere today. I mean it could be from $500,000 on up to 3 million. It could be anywhere in between. We really don’t know, but we know it’s a lot and there are multiple interpretations in my research of this parable of the talents, it’s not just about investing.

      Matthew (05:14):

      Agreed. Agreed, yeah. Yeah. Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven and when he’s returning in this parable and he uses money because he knows that we understand that. But as you said a moment ago, and we’re going to review now, there’s many other lessons to be learned from this.

      Bob (05:33):

      What’s the one that you see?

      Matthew (05:34):

      Yeah, I think the biggest one is the first one we have listed there around stewardship. There are so many things that the Lord has entrusted us with, whether it is things that we can see and touch like our family or our possessions, but it’s also the gifts that he has instilled in us and are we using what he’s given us to glorify his name?

      Bob (05:57):

      Absolutely. Yeah. Another one is that interpretation that a lot of people see on the surface about investing, but it’s the idea of growing what has been entrusted to us. Everything comes from God, the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. Psalms 24:1 says that, so what are we doing with what God is giving us? And then that third one is…

      Matthew (06:20):

      Accountability.

      Bob (06:21):

      Yeah. Very accountable. Well, my goodness. I mean you see what the guy did with the one talent, the master was upset, right? Very upset.

      Matthew (06:31):

      Well, it’s interesting because in the scripture it talks about how the master gave each according to their own ability. And so the master knows what they are skilled in and his response is holding them accountable for you didn’t use all your gifts and everything that I’ve given you or that I know that you can do in order to produce for me.

      Bob (06:58):

      Kind of going with the talent is maybe a lifetime of income. So what did you do with the life that God has given you? And boy, at the very end of that, throw ’em out. I mean, that was pretty tough words. Again, it reminds me of a lot of the things in Proverbs and that comes to another area is consequences. There are consequences when we’re given responsibility for us to do something good with it and not just to go throw it in the ground and do nothing with what this life that God is giving us, right?

      Matthew (07:34):

      Yeah. I think it’s easy for us to criticize the one talent servant.

      Bob (07:39):

      Yeah, it is. It is. But we could all fall in the same realm.

      Matthew (07:43):

      Well, that’s it. I think a big part of the parable is for us to look at ourselves and to see, hey, what are we doing between now and what the Lord wants us to do before he returns? And a lot of that requires us having faith and not subscribing to fear, which we will talk about here in a moment or so.

      Bob (08:04):

      This is all about building the kingdom of God and how are we working with what God has put us here on earth to do. Now this gets in again, we get to the end here what we were just speaking of is what was a talent worth? And as we say, it was worth a lot, a whole lot. And if you go do your own research, you’re going to find this that the numbers are outstanding, but this parable, like we said, it’s not just about financial stewardship. I think it’s important that one of my emphasis in this entire passage is he gave each according to their ability, so he’s not going to give us more than we can handle. Right?

      Matthew (08:46):

      Amen. One of the things that again really stuck out to me is this concept of fear versus faith, right? The one talent servant really was fearful and he allowed that to drive his decision on what is he going to do with this money. I just happened to be studying through Romans right now, and Romans 8:5-8 talks about how we really should be submitting our whole minds to the Holy Spirit and thinking of things that are righteous, not thinking of things that are sinful or of this earth. And this is really a great example of how it’s obvious that the servant was subscribing to fear, not subscribing to faith in God and allowing the Lord to work through him. We know from Romans 8, we know from Hebrews 11:6 that it’s impossible to please God without faith. And so it’s a much better outcome when we follow the five talent and the two talent servants and do what we know that the Lord is calling us to do, even if it’s uncomfortable and even if it’s beyond what we can see and understand.

      Bob (09:59):

      The one that got the two, one that got the five came back and said, look, I’ve doubled it. How long do you think that was between the time because the master went away and when we’re thinking about a talent, we’re thinking about a lifetime as well. You have a guesstimate. I have a guesstimate. I’m just wondering. I’m going to put you on the spot here.

      Matthew (10:18):

      I have a feeling I know what your guesstimate is, so I’m not going to piggyback off of it. I’ll let you say.

      Bob (10:23):

      Well, we’re going to cover this in the next few weeks about compounding and the Rule of 72, and God calls for us to handle money in a Biblical way. So I don’t believe they gambled it. I don’t believe they went and invested it in organizations that would tear down the kingdom of God. I think that probably somewhere around the 7 to 10 year mark is when that master came back and had seen what he had done because just based on my scriptural knowledge of investing in what it says in the Bible and the rule 72s, it takes about 10 years for something to double.

      (11:04):

      10 to 12 years. So I think it was that amount of time. It wasn’t the next day, it wasn’t the following year. So he gave them ample time to do something with what was given to them. And like I said, I don’t think they would take anything and put it immoral ventures because 2 Corinthians 6:17, it says, “Come out and be separate. Touch no unclean thing, and I’ll welcome you.” So this gets back to Biblically responsible investing and the importance behind doing it the right way. And I also think that they invested across many different ventures because Ecclesiastes 11:2 says, “Give your portions of seven or eight because you do not know what disasters may come upon the land.” And there’s some other scriptural guidelines in here, too. And also that when we do invest, we need to ask for wisdom. Proverbs 1:7 speaks of asking for wisdom, and James says the same thing.

      Matthew (12:03):

      “If any of you ask wisdom, you should ask God.” Get on your knees.

      Bob (12:08):

      And that it wasn’t about timing anything, timing any kind of market back then. Proverbs 13:11 says, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” So I think they used very wise scriptural principles if you are looking at this from the investing point of view.

      Matthew (12:28):

      Yeah, the last thing about the time in the market versus timing the market, again, going back to my comments earlier about fear. We all know what happened in 2008. We all know what happened in 2020, and you and I have been serving in this capacity for long enough to unfortunately have experienced individuals who emotionally just subscribe to fear and abandoned their long-term financial plan. And we know that unfortunately, that doesn’t put them in the best chance for long-term investment success. So there’s also an investment lesson here of not allowing panic and other things that the enemy wants to use to derail us, but rather focusing on the long term and what the Lord wants for us.

      Bob (13:19):

      Well, I think we’ve done a pretty good job of speaking about the Parable of the Talents. I would invite you to go to God’s word and read about this. There’s so much rich information and guidelines in God’s Word. It just is exciting to me to always bring Biblical guidelines of finance when very few are talking about it today. If you would like to contact us, you can give us a call at 830-609-6986. You can call or text that number during business hours, or you can reach us on the internet at www.christianfinancialadvisors.com.

      Matthew (13:56):

      So thanks for watching. God bless you, and we’ll see you soon.

      [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.

      15 min
    • Financial Wisdom from the Bible: 10 Principles to Guide You
      This is one of the most personal podcast episodes that you may hear from Christian Financial Perspectives, as these scriptures are what have directly shaped Christian Financial Advisors and the business we are today. Because of this, Bob and Shawn have many scriptures to share that have to do with 10 Biblical principles that the business has used to guide our financial advisors (and personal finances) when it comes to Biblically responsible investing. From being good stewards of our financial resources and creation because “God owns it all,” to sharing exactly what the Bible has to say about hard work and savings, you will hear some great stewardship principles on finances. Most are pretty straightforward, but you may just have your eyes opened with these financial wisdom tidbits straight from the Bible!
      17 min
    • 219 – Financial Wisdom from the Bible: 10 Principles to Guide You
      Click below to listen to Episode 219 – Financial Wisdom from the Bible: 10 Principles to Guide You
      Financial Wisdom from the Bible: 10 Principles to Guide You

      Check out these Biblical stewardship principles that have directly shaped Christian Financial Advisors.

      More episodes >>

      This is one of the most personal podcast episodes that you may hear from Christian Financial Perspectives, as these scriptures are what have directly shaped Christian Financial Advisors and the business we are today. Because of this, Bob and Shawn have many scriptures to share that have to do with 10 Biblical principles that the business has used to guide our financial advisors (and personal finances) when it comes to Biblically responsible investing.

      From being good stewards of our financial resources and creation because “God owns it all,” to sharing exactly what the Bible has to say about hard work and savings, you will hear some great stewardship principles on finances. Most are pretty straightforward, but you may just have your eyes opened with these financial wisdom tidbits straight from the Bible!

      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
      PSALM 24:1

      The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

      PROVERBS 22:7

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

      2 CORINTHIANS 9:7

      Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

      MALACHI 3:10

      Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

      PROVERBS 14:23

      All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

      PROVERBS 6:6-8

      o to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

      PROVERBS 13:11

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

      PROVERBS 21:20

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

      HEBREWS 13:5

      Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

      LUKE 14:28

      Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?

      MATTHEW 22:19-21

      “Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

      PROVERBS 10:9

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

      EXODUS 20:16

      You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

      EXODUS 20:17

      You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male slave, or his female slave, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

      MATTHEW 6:19-21

      Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

      ECCLESIASTES 11:2

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

      2 CORINTHIANS 6:17

      Therefore,“Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

      MATTHEW 25:14-30

      In this parable, a master entrusts different amounts of gold to three servants before going on a journey – five bags to one, two to another, and one to the third. While the first two servants double their master’s money through investments, the third servant buries his portion out of fear; upon the master’s return, he rewards the productive servants with greater responsibilities and punishes the unproductive one by taking away what he had and casting him out.

      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 (00:00):

      Are you looking for timeless principles to guide your financial decisions? With over 2000 scriptures addressing money management, the Bible offers practical wisdom that has stood the test of time. We’ll explore 10 essential Biblical financial principles that can transform how you handle money. Let’s get some perspective. Welcome back to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. My name’s Shawn Peters, and this is Bob Barber. And today we’re going to be covering 10 Biblical financial principles to follow. And in the next 15 minutes or less, we will discuss these 10 principles that are timeless, true, and transcendent.

      Bob (00:46):

      Shawn, I’ve never met anyone hurt by following Biblical financial principles, but I sure have met many harmed by not following them.

      Shawn (00:58):

      Amen to that.

      Bob (00:59):

      And with over 2000 scriptures on stewardship, Biblical stewardship, it is very hard to pick just 10.

      Shawn (01:06):

      Yeah.

      Bob (01:07):

      We could be here all day long talking about this easily with that many scriptures.

      Shawn (01:10):

      But we won’t. We understand no one wants to be here that long.

      Bob (01:14):

      So in this short time. And then like I say in the next 15, hopefully we can get through this in 15 minutes.

      Shawn (01:18):

      I think we can, we’ll keep it on 15 for y all.

      Bob (01:20):

      We’re going to cover the ones from experience that I’ve seen that are some of the most important Biblical financial principles to follow.

      Shawn (01:28):

      That’s right. That’s right. Alright Bob, well why don’t you get us started. What’s number one?

      Bob (01:33):

      I think number one is truly the foundation for it all and that is what I call ownership. And you’ve heard me talk about this many times, Psalms 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it and all who live in it.” And this is the foundation…

      Shawn (01:49):

      And all who live in it.

      Bob (01:50):

      Yeah, the world.

      Shawn (01:51):

      Everything.

      Bob (01:52):

      Yeah. Everything is a good way of everything. And this is the foundation for stewardship that God owns it all. And once you really come to this realization that God owns it all, then the rest of this makes so much more sense.

      Shawn (02:05):

      Yeah, yeah, that’s right. Number two, debt.

      Bob (02:08):

      Yeah. We’ve talked about this over and over. Proverbs 22:7 is the scripture that goes with this, “The rich rule over the poor” [are the banks. The banks rule over the poor] “and the borrower is slave to the lender.” You can’t get any more clear than that, can you?

      Shawn (02:25):

      Yeah, yeah. That is, I mean, straight to the point.

      Bob (02:28):

      So when you get in high debt, what’s happening?

      Shawn (02:33):

      You’re becoming a slave.

      Bob (02:34):

      You’re becoming a slave to the lender and we are not to be a slave to anyone.

      Shawn (02:39):

      And keep in mind, debt isn’t inherently wrong.

      Bob (02:43):

      I didn’t say debt was evil.

      Shawn (02:45):

      But you do want to keep in mind that, I mean Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender.” So you need to be very careful what you’re borrowing, when you’re borrowing, and looking at are you putting money on a credit card that you can’t pay off? Is this something happened that you weren’t prepared for? Was this a systemic issue? Which many times it is. It’s where people are just not, you’re looking at your finances and wondering why they’re out of whack. Well, if you don’t manage them properly, you don’t make sure you’re spending less than you bring in, you’re going to get into this problem. And so avoid that debt for things like that.

      Bob (03:28):

      We want to say again, debt is not a sin and I’m not against responsible debt. It’s very difficult for anyone below 40 years old or even below 50 to go buy a home today and not borrow.

      Shawn (03:41):

      You don’t buy a home without borrowing some money at least.

      Bob (03:44):

      And my dad used to say, whether you rent or whether you buy, you pay for the place you occupy.

      Shawn (03:50):

      We’ll have to do a whole episode if we need to on why you can’t buy a home for cash anymore. But yeah, so debt just be responsible with it, I guess is a good way to cover that one. Number three, giving and tithing.

      Bob (04:02):

      You’ve heard me say me again many times, giving it breaks the chain of materialism, but I think it’s important that you not be giving from a point of guilt. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” There’s a starting place for everyone. And maybe that starting place is just a hundred a month right now and then you get to 120 a month or maybe it’s just $10 a week, just little bits at a time. And then Malachi 3:10 goes with the tithing part, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house…” And you realize in scripture this is the only place that says this…”Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be a enough room to store it.”

      Shawn (05:07):

      That’s right. Think of giving, again, the reason why we kind of did them in this order, God owns it all. So if God owns it all, when it comes to giving, you’re not holding onto it tightly, but you’re willing to let it sit on your hand. And so if the Lord is directing you and guiding you like, “Hey, I want you to give some of this up.” It’s okay because it didn’t belong to you in the first place, and he is faithful to take care of our needs.

      Bob (05:33):

      When we said the debt was the second then we went to giving was because debt takes away from giving.

      Shawn (05:38):

      That’s right. That’s right.

      Bob (05:39):

      Yeah.

      Shawn (05:40):

      Number four, working and saving.

      Bob (05:43):

      Proverbs 14:23, “All hard work brings a prophet, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” Working is good.

      Shawn (05:53):

      And it existed before sin entered into the world. So we know it has always been part of God’s plan for creation.

      Bob (06:00):

      This is the fourth principle, is that working and saving you look at Proverbs 6:6-8. I’ll have you read that scripture. That’s always a funny scripture.

      Shawn (06:10):

      I was going to ask, do I get to read something today?

      Bob (06:11):

      Yeah, you get read that.

      Shawn (06:11):

      So Proverbs 6:6-8 is, “Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise. It has no commander, no overseer or ruler yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”

      Bob (06:25):

      It works and he saves.

      Shawn (06:25):

      Works and saves up. Yeah.

      Bob (06:28):

      At the same time. And then another one that goes along with this.

      Shawn (06:32):

      Speaking of that, I think it’s amazing. There are certain ant species that actually are farmers. They don’t just gather and prepare ahead of time, but they actually cultivate and grow different types of fungi inside their colony for extra food.

      Bob (06:48):

      You would know this because you come from a farming family.

      Shawn (06:51):

      It’s just a really cool science thing. And then Proverbs 13:11, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.” That is one of the most direct, but definitely not the only ones, that goes against the idea of get rich quick.

      (07:06):

      And it really hurts my heart how much content and stuff there is out there of all these supposed influencers that most of them are literally faking it and trying to act like they’re, oh, they’re already wealthy and they know what they’re doing and they sell people on this idea of the course that they want people to sign up for. Oh, if you invest in this thing or getting this new particular cryptocurrency or whatever the latest fad is that you’re going to be able to get ahead. And it’s all lies because it goes against what God’s word says all the time. It’s not flashy, but as we see in Proverbs 13:11, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.”

      Bob (07:50):

      You remember we did the podcast last year, what was it? The 10 traits of Christian Millionaires.

      Shawn (07:56):

      That’s right.

      Bob (07:57):

      And if we could put that, which one that was, I don’t know which one that was.

      Shawn (08:01):

      We’ll find it, put it in the description. So by the time you’re listening/watching this, it’ll be in the description for you.

      Bob (08:06):

      But most all of them did not get wealthy by huge big investment returns.

      Shawn (08:13):

      No, it’s very, very rare.

      Bob (08:14):

      Yeah. It’s by following Biblical, these Biblical principles, right here, which we get into number five. Number five, overspending. Proverbs 21:20 says, “The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but the fools gulp theirs down.” Proverbs never is…it’s just right to the point, isn’t it?

      Shawn (08:37):

      I feel like it’s as close to plain English on some wisdom and principles as you’re going to get.

      Bob (08:41):

      Yeah, yeah.

      Shawn (08:42):

      Hebrews 13:5, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.'” And that’s another one, too. Again, it says from the love of money. Because again, a lot of times people talk about like, “Oh, money is the root of all evil.” No, no, no. The love of money is the root of all evil and all kinds of evil. And a big part of that is because, well, if you love money more than you love God, you’re going to put it ahead. You’re going to serve it instead of God.

      Bob (09:15):

      Creating…

      Shawn (09:15):

      And God already owns all the money in the first place. So you’re putting the creation on the throne of the Creator.

      Bob (09:22):

      Again, you’re creating overspending, which is this principle and the second part of that scripture and it says, “Be contempt with what you have.” And here in America it’s always, you need more, you need this newer, you need this better. And it’s always just a little bit more. That’s right. You’ve got to ask yourself the question, “How much is enough?”

      Shawn (09:44):

      The drive – a little bit more, a little bit more – when it comes to the materialism and the consumerism of wanting to get a little bit more, buy a little bit more, own a little bit more things. It’s actually a perversion of something that is actually a really positive thing, whereas our reflection of being made in God’s image and that God is a Creator God and so He created, but then you look at, okay, wine and bread and there’s all these things that were made by mankind who discovered a way to take things that God had originally made and make something new from it that didn’t previously exist. So if you’re not careful, that drive can turn into consumerism and materialism. But that drive to a little bit more to make things a little bit better is actually a reflection of God’s nature. You just have to be careful with where it’s focused. Is it getting things to get things or is it, “Hey, I just want to take good care of what God’s entrusted me. I want to make this a little bit better. I want to make my kids’ lives better,” whatever that case may be. So anyway.

      Bob (10:51):

      This next scripture really warns us also about overspending is Luke 14:28, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the costs to see if you have enough money to complete it.”

      Shawn (11:03):

      I think it’s a great scripture for retirement planning, too.

      Bob (11:06):

      It is.

      Shawn (11:06):

      Like, okay, well if you want to retire at X, whatever the age is, you have to plan ahead. Am I on track to make that? Because if you’re just chasing returns all the time, it’s not going to matter. You need to plan ahead and figure out what you actually need. What’s the target?

      Bob (11:18):

      Yep. Number six.

      Shawn (11:19):

      Not cheating on taxes.

      Bob (11:22):

      This is a big one. I’ve met Christians even that said, they’ll say, “Well pay me in cash.” And I’ll say, “Why do you want me to pay you in cash?” “Well then I don’t need to report it.” I’m like, wait a second.

      Shawn (11:32):

      Well, as a Christian, you absolutely should still be reporting it whether you technically can get away with it or not.

      Bob (11:39):

      And Matthew 22:19-21, if you’ll read that one for us.

      Shawn (11:42):

      Sure thing. “‘Show me the coin used for paying the tax,'” was Jesus talking, “They brought him a denarius and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this and whose inscription?’ ‘Caesar’s?’ They replied. Then he said to them, ‘So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.'”

      Bob (11:58):

      It’s absolutely critical as a Christian that we pay our taxes fairly.

      Shawn (12:03):

      That’s right.

      Bob (12:05):

      My good friend Ron Blue, he always says, that’s God’s provision.

      Shawn (12:07):

      That’s right. If you’re not paying any taxes, you’re not making a whole lot of money. My dad always told me growing up, always pay your taxes. Don’t try to cheat on your taxes, but pay as little taxes as you have to. There’s no sense in paying more than you have to, but pay what you owe.

      Bob (12:24):

      Alright, number seven, we got three more. Three more honesty. And that goes into paying the taxes.

      Shawn (12:29):

      That’s right.

      Bob (12:30):

      Proverbs 10:9, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” When you’re honest, you never have to worry about, what did I say? Because every time you lie, you have to have to say another lie to make up for that lie.

      Shawn (12:49):

      Yep.

      Bob (12:50):

      That’s right. So it ends up going down a slippery slope. It’s given to us in the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20:16, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor,” which is again, not lying and being honest about everything.

      Shawn (13:06):

      That’s right. Number eight, coveting. Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

      Bob (13:20):

      This is the last commandment of the 10 commandments. And it’s such a Biblical financial principle because we cannot start looking over and comparing. And when you get into that game again, it’s a game of greed and coveting and God calls for us. And that is a strong Biblical financial principle.

      Shawn (13:41):

      Number nine, hoarding. Kind of goes right, right off of a coveting, really.

      Bob (13:44):

      It does.

      Shawn (13:45):

      To not just over store up and, “Oh, I want more. I need more.” And so number nine, hoarding. Matthew 6:19-21. Would you like me to read that one, Bob?

      Bob (13:57):

      You go for it.

      Shawn (13:58):

      Okay. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.”

      Bob (14:14):

      Amen. And the last one. We’re not going to get a whole lot into that because the last one today we’re going to say is investing.

      Shawn (14:22):

      That’s right.

      Bob (14:22):

      We’re going to give you some Biblical principles and then next week we’re going to have a complete program on the parable of the talents. But investing Ecclesiastes 11:2 says, “Invest in seven ventures. Yes, in eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” This is a warning given to us in scripture that when it comes to investing, we need to be very careful about putting all our eggs in one basket, as the old saying goes.

      Shawn (14:46):

      So two examples on that. One, if you’re investing in the markets, that doesn’t mean you work with say, two advisors that are both investing you in the S&P 500 index. It doesn’t mean if you’re investing in real estate that you have more than one single family home. If anything, that real estate is not diversified. Number one, it should be different types of properties. But I would argue even more so if you only have the real estate, you’re still not really that diversified.

      Bob (15:13):

      Right.

      Shawn (15:14):

      It needs to be different kinds of investments.

      Bob (15:18):

      Across many different sectors. That correct. We always emphasize about what we call Biblically responsible investing here, and that’s 2 Corinthians 6:17 is a great scripture of that is, “‘Come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.'” Speaking of being careful how we do invest, and we’ll speak more about this in our next episode. In the next episode, like I said, it’s going to be taken from Matthew 25:14-30, which is going to go deep into investing, looking at the parable of the talents, which is a very long scriptural passage, and it needs to be broken down and talked about.

      Shawn (15:55):

      That’s right. So that’ll be next episode, right, Bob?

      Bob (15:57):

      That’s correct.

      Shawn (15:58):

      All right. So hope you tune in for that one. As always, thank you so much for joining us. God bless. And if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave those comments on the video or you can call or text us at (830) 609-6986 or visit our website, www.ChristianFinancialAdvisors.com. Thank you and 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.

      17 min
    • Values Over Location: How To Choose Your Financial Advisor
      Within the past 5 years, our world has truly transformed the way individuals can receive personalized financial advice, making location no longer a barrier. With advancements in video conferencing, digital documentation, and secure online access, values based financial advisors, like Christian Financial Advisors, can give personalized financial guidance without the need for in-person meetings. Even if you do live close to your financial advisor, the convenience, ease of communication, and extended adviser availability are benefits of the shift to online financial advice. Finding an advisor that aligns with your values and needs is more important than geography, as technology enables advisers to serve clients nationwide, and Christian Financial Advisors is here to help you with just that!
      17 min
    • 218 – Values Over Location: How To Choose Your Financial Advisor
      Click below to listen to Episode 218 – Values Over Location: How To Choose Your Financial Advisor
      Values Over Location: How To Choose Your Financial Advisor

      Why proximity is not greater when it comes to the quality and values of a financial advisor.

      More episodes >>

      Within the past 5 years, our world has truly transformed the way individuals can receive personalized financial advice, making location no longer a barrier. With advancements in video conferencing, digital documentation, and secure online access, values based financial advisors, like Christian Financial Advisors, can give personalized financial guidance without the need for in-person meetings.

      Even if you do live close to your financial advisor, the convenience, ease of communication, and extended adviser availability are benefits of the shift to online financial advice. Finding an advisor that aligns with your values and needs is more important than geography, as technology enables advisers to serve clients nationwide, and Christian Financial Advisors is here to help you with just that!

      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
      2 CORINTHIANS 6:14

      Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness?

      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 (00:00):

      Are you limiting your search for a financial advisor just because of where you live? In today’s digital world, you shouldn’t have to compromise on finding an advisor who truly understands your values and aligns with your financial goals. We’ll explore why location no longer matters when it comes to getting expert personalized financial guidance, and how technology has transformed the way you can receive financial advice that matches your specific needs. Let’s get some perspective. Welcome back to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. I’m so glad that you’ve joined us. My name’s Shawn Peters. I’m joined as always by Bob Barber, and today we’re going to be covering a very interesting topic, one that’s kind of close to my heart because it’s going to be covering a little bit technology stuff, but the shift from local to online personal financial advice. And before we get too far into this, I do want to go ahead and share the scripture we have for this episode 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be mismatched with unbelievers for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together or what does light have in common with darkness?” Now, the reason why that scripture was chosen by Bob for this is the idea of picking a financial advisor that happens to be nearby but may not be the right fit for your needs and in alignment with your values versus finding an advisor that geographically maybe as far away from you, but within a “click” you can connect with that advisor and not just be online like a robo-advisor or tool, but actually get online personal financial advice.

      Bob (01:41):

      That’s correct, Shawn. And this scripture really does go with it. And I have seen such a paradigm shift in my 30 plus years in this business. When I first got into it, it was all about I’m going to sit across the desk from you, and that’s the old school.

      Shawn (01:59):

      So people would just choose someone based on who happened to be nearby to where they lived and really didn’t go into, well, what experience and skills or specialization do they have? What kind of team do they have to serve them? It’s just, well, they’re nearby, they’re downtown, and so I guess I’ll go talk to them.

      Bob (02:18):

      Which was hard for us because we were Christian focused from the very beginning. And of course our town is full of a lot of Christians, but you realize we serve that “Christian within the Christian” that really has a Biblical worldview. So then I started going on Christian radio and that really made a difference because now we were able to get the word out across San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Corpus Christi in our area, which I was on for eight years. But I’ve seen this change go from that local advisor to online advice, which was very big in the late 90’s, early 2000’s. And now I’m seeing the shift of going to online advice, but it’s personalized, very personalized, which we’ve become that a lot because of you, Shawn. You are very dedicated to technology and the need for having an advisor sit across the desk from you versus online. There’s really no need anymore because of the tools that have been available to us. Does that make sense?

      Shawn (03:24):

      No, I think so. And for those who aren’t aware, but my background was working with Bob for what was about five years or so, right out of college. And then the Lord had a very circuitous path, if you will, on working here at the firm longterm because he called me into working in tech, website development, app development, things like that. And so coming back to work with Bob in 2020, my perspective was very different than right out of college and working with you. And I kind of approach things, my personal philosophy, if you will, but especially here at the firm, technology is never meant to replace the human connection. The intent is never to remove that you never talk to a real person, you never have a conversation.

      Bob (04:11):

      Well, like I said, always high tech and high touch.

      Shawn (04:13):

      Exactly. High tech and high touch. Because ultimately, what you want for the technology is to bridge the gap between people who are looking for someone like you and being able to connect and maximizing the amount of human touch. And so the things that can be automated or moved to technology instead of an individual person having to manually type in or do some of that stuff, great, do that because then it gives us people more time with people, even if you may geographically be very far away. So, we have for today’s program, five reasons a local financial advisor may not be the best choice and cover those and talk about a little bit of the shift.

      Bob (04:59):

      These are reasons I thought about this. And first, they just may not have the experience or the qualifications that a person might need. And that second is they may not specialize and most don’t as an example, such as Biblically responsible investing, we specialize in Biblically responsible investing and Christian-based financial advice based on a Biblical worldview.

      Shawn (05:22):

      That’s right.

      Bob (05:22):

      There’s not a lot of advisors that do that. I mean there is a couple thousand now through Kingdom Advisors, but when you compare with the industry as a whole, oh, when you compare the industry, the country, yeah, it’s very small. So where does a Bible believing Christian that believes that God owns it all? Where do they go? Because their local advisor may not provide that. A local advisor may not be able to get the experienced, qualified staff because they could be limited by location unless they’ve grasped technology like we have, they may not be the technologically advanced. And also, I just got an invitation this morning for another workshop and I could tell this was a commission-based advisory. It said it right in there, there are conflicts of interests with coming to this workshop, yet they said it was fully educational. And that be that local advisor may be only commission-based, which creates a conflict of interest to that. So there’s this shift that’s going on that I’ve seen, like I said, from local to online, personal financial advice where location really just no longer matters, Shawn, and that we’ve grown and grown from across the United States.

      Shawn (06:35):

      I would say just honestly in the last couple years alone, 60-70% at least of our new clients have come on board are not even within two hours drive. Most of them.

      Bob (06:47):

      Maybe not even in Texas.

      Shawn (06:48):

      Yeah, I’d say only about half of those are even in Texas. And so Bob, let’s get into some reasons of why we say no location no longer matters. What would you say is the first thing?

      Bob (07:02):

      Well, I think the first thing with the technology, because technology goes along with all this, is the ability to have face-to-face online meetings. And you’ve introduced me to where basically with the click and within seconds we can be having a face-to-face online meeting with anyone, anywhere, regardless of location.

      Shawn (07:22):

      And the client or potential client who’s wanting to speak with us doesn’t have to download anything either.

      Bob (07:27):

      And we do the personal financial planning online as well in real time. And investing has become so easy because of this, how we can talk directly with someone just like they are sitting across the desk.

      Shawn (07:42):

      Exactly.

      Bob (07:43):

      Yeah.

      Shawn (07:44):

      So, what would you say is the second reason?

      Bob (07:46):

      Second reason is definitely convenience, convenience, convenience. I could say that three times just because it has become so convenient for someone to conduct business actually from their home.

      Shawn (07:59):

      Yeah.

      Bob (07:59):

      Okay. Because if they just have a decent internet connection and a tablet or

      Shawn (08:05):

      You don’t have to worry about traffic or planning for the actual, even if traffic isn’t bad, planning for the 20 plus minutes each way.

      Bob (08:15):

      At a minimum. I mean we’re in New Braunfels between Austin and San Antonio, and if you’re coming from Austin, you’ve got to figure out a half day coming down here and back or San Antonio’s the same way. And many of you across the nation may be the same way. I mean if you live in a large city and you just want to go across town and back, it could be an hour.

      Shawn (08:35):

      That’s right.

      Bob (08:35):

      Cause of traffic.

      Shawn (08:36):

      The other convenience with that is not just technology from our clients and potential clients being able to communicate with us, but one of our advisors who worked at a large firm that, I won’t mention the name, but he had worked there for about 20 years and since joining us, he is in the office physically one week a month on average, but the rest of the time he’s working in Florida remotely. And so because of that, we actually have slightly extended hours now because one of our advisors is on east coast time zone versus central time zone. And one night a week he is extending those hours even further and it allows people who, maybe it’s after work. I know for a lot of people, if you have a career, it’s hard sometimes to meet with an advisor between eight and five. And so that’s kind of what the other convenience things that us embracing the technology to bring on staff from other places also opens up some opportunities for us as a firm to be more available to people, again, through technology.

      Bob (09:41):

      And a third reason is communication is so easy today. I mean with a smartphone, text messaging, email just makes it so easy to communicate with the financial advisor and their team. We monitor, all of us are monitoring the emails and the text messages here. So as soon as the text message comes in, we answer right back.

      Shawn (10:02):

      One of us sees it.

      Bob (10:03):

      Yeah, one of us sees it. Hey, did you see that one go through? They’ll point something out to me if I’m not looking at it right then.

      Shawn (10:08):

      Exactly. “Hey Bob, check this out.”

      Bob (10:09):

      I’ll immediately get one of the team members saying, “Bob, did you see that text?” I’ll say, “Well, no I didn’t. I’ve been busy for the last 15 minutes.” “Okay, well you need to go look at that.”

      Shawn (10:19):

      Alright, what would you say a fourth reason would be?

      Bob (10:21):

      By far, you’ve helped so much with this, Shawn, and this has been how easy documentation is today and how that because of Digitize and things like DocuSign, this secure documentation has taken the place of paper. And I look at this too, this is much safer. As an example, if you’re going to mail forms through the traditional mail. Traditional, I guess snail mail, there’s the danger of that being stolen and somebody getting into your mailbox and getting that mail. But this wonderful digital documentation just makes it so fast and so easy to bring somebody on board. And when there needs to be anything signed, it can be done through DocuSign.

      Shawn (11:10):

      And what about our fifth reason?

      Bob (11:12):

      I love this one, direct deposit, remote capture, withdrawals can all be done today by account to account, as long as those accounts are exactly the same, they have to be awarded same social security numbers, same addresses, same everything. And even I like the idea of how who we use allows ATM withdrawals from any ATM. So you can go to, most people have a local ATM, within a mile of where they live. So you could do the cash withdrawal, also really again, why does your advisor have to be down the block from you? Your ATMs down the block from you.

      Shawn (11:51):

      And 6th reason. We’ve got eight total. So bear with us. We’re almost there.

      Bob (11:54):

      Electronic storage.

      Shawn (11:55):

      Yep.

      Bob (11:56):

      This is a big one we use. It’s very easy to see all the forms that you’ve signed anytime of the day. We use what’s called a digital vault, and that’s becoming very mainstream. It’s 24/7.

      Shawn (12:07):

      It’s quick and easy. If a client needs something for a bank loan or verification or just anything that we get signed, we always share a copy of that right there in the vault. Number seven.

      Bob (12:20):

      Secure online access.

      Shawn (12:21):

      Kind of goes right into number six.

      Bob (12:22):

      It does. That’s been around for a long time. But it’s still nice to know that with your advisor, you can go online anytime and there’s transparency, you can see all the holdings, you can see what the values are. So you’re never in doubt, “What is my advisor doing?” It’s all laid out right there through online.

      Shawn (12:39):

      And speaking of the online ease of use, number 8.

      Bob (12:42):

      Appointments, you can go right online to an advisor’s website and just make the appointment anytime. You could do that at eight o’clock at night and make your appointment with your advisor the next day or two or three days from now.

      Shawn (12:54):

      Exactly. No back and forth of, “Well, what about this time? Do you have anything on this date?”

      Bob (12:58):

      Yeah. The bottom line to all this is that you look for somebody that’s technologically advanced today.

      Shawn (13:04):

      Yeah.

      Bob (13:05):

      And like I said, we’ve gone from one extreme, from the local advisor to the online. Now, a lot of your local advisors like us, we’ve adopted all the technologies available to us to make it where location just really no longer matters.

      Shawn (13:21):

      So using the technology as a way to bridge that geographical gap, if you will, or that barrier to entry. And so that way, you can connect personally with a local advisor even though that local advisor may not be locally to you.

      Bob (13:40):

      Yeah, that’s true. It may not be physically local, but you can still get that same local, personal advice. And around here, we’ve all got the same phone systems. We were in a chat room altogether during the day, so you and I, when we want to talk, it’s just as easy for me to talk to you through an online chat…

      Shawn (14:04):

      Whether you’re here at the physical office or you’re at your home office or you’re at your office on the coast. It’s always the same communication. And so it’s also nice for disaster situations, too. If we had an issue with the local office, not a big deal. We all have laptops. You just go to the nearest place that has electricity and internet.

      Bob (14:25):

      Shawn, it just really comes down to if you’re choosing an advisor just solely based on location today, you’re nearly cheating yourself of a superior of personal experience that you could have with an advisory team that fits you. And speaking of the advisory team, that fits you too, Shawn. I like it that location does not limit us to getting the brightest and best minds from around the nation.

      Shawn (14:53):

      That’s right.

      Bob (14:54):

      That you don’t have to live right here where we are, we’re headquartered in New Braunfels between Austin and San Antonio. Like I say, we’ve got Matthew, that’s all the way in Tampa, Florida. And then Theresa that works with us, she never comes into the office. She might as well be in another state.

      Shawn (15:11):

      Because every once in a while she notarizes something.

      Bob (15:12):

      Yeah. Yep.

      Shawn (15:14):

      Pretty much it. So once again, 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and lawlessness share together or what does light have in common with darkness?” Here at Christian Financial Advisors, we can technologically serve Christians with Biblically responsible investing in Christian-based financial advice regardless of their location. We do serve many local believers here in our area and is new Braunfels Texas’s oldest financial advisory firm. Bob, you’ve been in the industry for a long time, been in the industry here.

      Bob (15:49):

      One of the oldest in Central Texas, actually.

      Shawn (15:50):

      That’s right. So we just encourage you that when you are looking for an advisor, don’t settle for an advisor that just happens to be nearby geographically. Find the one that has the right team and tools to serve you, and one that aligns with what’s important to you, your values, and what you’re actually looking for. And with that, thank you as always for joining us and 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.

      17 min
    • 10 Steps to Making Wise Financial Decisions
      Are you struggling with an upcoming decision that may cost a lot financially? Many of us come to this point when it is time to purchase a new car, new house, make renovations, or anything else that can put a damper on your bank account. Finding a way to navigate the minefield of the pros and cons of a big financial decision can be confusing and stressful! This is why Bob and Shawn discuss 10 steps – or questions to ask yourself – before making a decision that is financially large. Will you go into a debt that you can't dig out of or is it something that seems like a passing whim or fad? All of these questions and more are discussed to help you the next time you need to make a wise financial decision.
      19 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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