Christian Financial Perspectives

We’ve probably all found ourselves caught up in Christmas sales, the need to find perfect gifts, and all the stress that comes along with this holiday. What used to be a time of celebration, joy, and giving has slowly turned into a holiday of big businesses making sales quotas. No longer is Christmas the joyous occasion that it used to be. We present statistics on just how money driven Christmas has become, and also present what Christmas time should truly be about. It’s jaw dropping the average amount an American household spends on Christmas! Instead of focusing on all of the gifts and decorations, sometimes it is good to take a step back and refocus on what Christmas is truly about.

Financial success is not just making a lot of money, but more importantly, it is WHAT you do with the money you make. Are you investing it correctly and diversely? Is your family prepared financially if something were to happen to you? Do you have money set aside for the future in case of a financial disaster like a loss of a job or disability? All of these and more are key to being financially successful and prepared. So, what two words can easily sum up financial success? Bob and Shawn discuss what most financially successful individuals do in order to invest wisely, save consistently, NOT procrastinate, and have a financial plan in place. Listen in to discover the key reason behind financial success!

There can be many reasons for financial failure, but one sticks out above all the rest. Bob and Shawn go into detail about the #1 reason for financial failure and the detrimental effect that it may have on your financial future. What exactly do we at Christian Financial Advisors consider financial failure? It can include a variety of items, but some financial failures that Shawn and Bob talk about are: - Not having a will in place - Not having life insurance (or enough life insurance) - The inability to retire because of lack of savings Listen in to see how you can help prevent financial failure in your life!

Is creative giving something that has crossed your mind when it comes to your investments and legacy? If giving back is part of how you want to be remembered, then this episode is for you! Christian Financial Advisors is here to help you find unique ways to give back and help create a positive impact in our world. This is such a great episode that coincides with the giving season we are in right now at the end of the year! Bob and Shawn discuss unique and creative ways that you can give using devices like donor-advised funds or even creating your own family-giving fund. Really, no matter which way you decide to give back with all that God has blessed you with, paying it forward is a way to love your neighbor as yourself.

It’s that time of year again! The time where we all start looking at our finances to try and figure out what types of tax savings we can procure through various strategies before December 31st hits. Christian Financial Perspectives is here to help you out with that! Of course, we always recommend running these strategies by your CPA or tax professional first. Bob and Shawn mention multiple tax saving strategies and deductions with data included for married couples, single filers, head of households, and those over a certain age. There’s a lot of information in this episode, so we recommend grabbing a pen and paper to take notes.

In this episode, we present several verses on Biblical stewardship, management, and ownership to help better understand how Christians should approach money and wealth with a Biblical worldview. If you are a Christian, does the way you handle wealth line up with your Biblical worldview? Did you know that you could be unintentionally supporting anti-biblical values with your investments and not even know it? Not only that but the way that we view and manage money is so important. We are actually the managers of all that God has blessed us with here on earth, and we are to manage His property and wealth wisely. This is also known as stewardship, or being responsible for managing something that belongs to someone else. As Christians, it is important to be good stewards of all that God has blessed us with in His name.

Finding a financial advisor should be treated like a job interview, especially when searching for a Christian financial advisor. You probably don’t want just any investment advisor handling your money, which is essentially your future. In order to try and find the best financial advisor for you and your situation, Bob and Shawn have put together 21 questions that they believe you should ask a financial advisor. This includes questions like: - What is your educational background? - What kind of safeguards do you have in place to protect my financial information? - What if something happened to you, or you were out on vacation or sick leave, who would serve me? All of these and more are addressed in this episode so that you can be as confident as possible in your future when it comes to choosing a financial advisor.

It has happened to the best of us. We have a big financial decision, and we jump the gun to make a large purchase before we ask for advice or really think things through, leaving us financially vulnerable afterward. Since making big financial decisions is something that we all face eventually, Bob and Shawn have put together seven recommended steps you should take before making a large purchase. These steps can be used for anything, such as buying a new car, your first house, or even new appliances. Gaining advice and insight through using these seven steps can help take away the stress and fear of the unknown when it comes to your finances. Knowing you have the monetary means to confidently make a large purchase can offer an indescribable feeling of financial freedom.

Bob and Shawn discuss the pros and cons of an annuity, i.e. the good, the bad, and the ugly. What exactly is an annuity? It is an insurance contract issued and distributed by financial institutions with the intention of paying out invested funds in a fixed income stream in the future. We discuss the types of annuities – variable annuities, fixed annuities, and fixed indexed annuities. Did you know many annuities don’t require you to be a financial advisor to sell them? This is why it is so important to always go through a fiduciary-based investment advisor when dealing with annuities and other investment products. For example, fixed and fixed indexed annuities are the MOST sold annuities but are NOT regulated by the SEC or FINRA, which can lead to abusive selling practices. This, along with several other issues, may lead to severe complications in the future for investors. There are some good qualities as well, which are also touched upon in this episode, but we want you to get the full story.