52 – One Year of Podcasting

Christian Financial Perspectives

English - September 17, 2019 09:18 - 32 minutes - 45.2 MB - ★★★★★ - 11 ratings
Investing Business Education Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Previous Episode: 51 – If It Sounds Too Good To Be True

Next Episode: 53 – Got Questions? We Have Answers!

My how time flies! It's already been a year since our first podcast episode of “Christian Financial Perspectives” was released. We are celebrating one year with our 52nd episode recapping some of our favorite episodes.

Click below to listen to Episode 52 – One Year of Podcasting

One Year of Podcasting

Bob and Mary Jo recap some of their favorite episodes over the past year.

More episodes >>

My how time flies!

It’s already been a year since our first podcast episode of “Christian Financial Perspectives” was released!

As a financial advisor with the heart of a teacher, I’m always looking for ways to share what I’ve learned over the past 35 years in business. As I began listening to different podcasts a few years ago on my phone while driving in my car, getting ready in the morning for work, or exercising, I realized how convenient a podcast would be to bring educational content on a weekly basis to my clients and friends. So, I began making plans to create a podcast and then the Lord brought me Mary Jo Lyons as one of the most incredible co-host and producers for the podcast I could possibly ask for.

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to any of the 51 podcast we have made in the last year, you can now access all of them at any time, day or night, on your smartphone, desktop, laptop or iPad in many different ways including here on our website and through the iTunes podcast app, Google Play app, Spotify, or Stitcher

We are celebrating one year with our 52nd episode recapping some of our favorite episodes! Listen in anytime and enjoy!

– Bob Barber

HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA® and Mary Jo Lyons, CFP®, CKA®

Mentioned In This Episode

Christian Financial Advisors

.dt-shortcode-soc-icons.soc-icons-6d3d70cdad80c3022dac88b2b035272f a {
margin-right: 4px;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.soc-icons-6d3d70cdad80c3022dac88b2b035272f {
margin-right: 4px;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.soc-icons-6d3d70cdad80c3022dac88b2b035272f:last-child {
margin-right: 0;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.soc-icons-6d3d70cdad80c3022dac88b2b035272f:before,
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.soc-icons-6d3d70cdad80c3022dac88b2b035272f:after {
padding: inherit;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.soc-icons-6d3d70cdad80c3022dac88b2b035272f.dt-icon-border-on:before {
border: solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.soc-icons-6d3d70cdad80c3022dac88b2b035272f.dt-icon-hover-border-on:after {
border: solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af {
min-width: 26px;
min-height: 26px;
font-size: 16px;
border-radius: 100px;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:last-child {
margin-right: 0;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:before,
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:after {
min-width: 26px;
min-height: 26px;
padding: inherit;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af.dt-icon-bg-on:before,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af.dt-icon-bg-on:before {
background: #7ac9ab;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af.dt-icon-border-on:before {
border: 0px solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af.dt-icon-hover-border-on:after {
border: 0px solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:hover {
font-size: 16px;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:hover .soc-font-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:hover .soc-font-icon,
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:hover .soc-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:hover .soc-icon {
color: rgba(255,255,255,0.75);
background: none;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af.dt-icon-hover-bg-on:after,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af.dt-icon-hover-bg-on:after {
background: #014a8f;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:not(:hover) .soc-font-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:not(:hover) .soc-font-icon,
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:not(:hover) .soc-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af:not(:hover) .soc-icon {
color: #ffffff;
background: none;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af .soc-font-icon,
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-735155efa467b416a02a08465938a0af .soc-icon {
font-size: 16px;
}
Website.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20 {
min-width: 26px;
min-height: 26px;
font-size: 16px;
border-radius: 100px;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:last-child {
margin-right: 0;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:before,
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:after {
min-width: 26px;
min-height: 26px;
padding: inherit;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20.dt-icon-bg-on:before,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20.dt-icon-bg-on:before {
background: #7ac9ab;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20.dt-icon-border-on:before {
border: 0px solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20.dt-icon-hover-border-on:after {
border: 0px solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:hover {
font-size: 16px;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:hover .soc-font-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:hover .soc-font-icon,
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:hover .soc-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:hover .soc-icon {
color: rgba(255,255,255,0.75);
background: none;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20.dt-icon-hover-bg-on:after,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20.dt-icon-hover-bg-on:after {
background: #014a8f;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:not(:hover) .soc-font-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:not(:hover) .soc-font-icon,
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:not(:hover) .soc-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20:not(:hover) .soc-icon {
color: #ffffff;
background: none;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20 .soc-font-icon,
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-8b26b2315cc09a22fb5e932567ea5b20 .soc-icon {
font-size: 16px;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613 {
min-width: 26px;
min-height: 26px;
font-size: 16px;
border-radius: 100px;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:last-child {
margin-right: 0;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:before,
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:after {
min-width: 26px;
min-height: 26px;
padding: inherit;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613.dt-icon-bg-on:before,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613.dt-icon-bg-on:before {
background: #7ac9ab;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613.dt-icon-border-on:before {
border: 0px solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613.dt-icon-hover-border-on:after {
border: 0px solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:hover {
font-size: 16px;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:hover .soc-font-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:hover .soc-font-icon,
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:hover .soc-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:hover .soc-icon {
color: rgba(255,255,255,0.75);
background: none;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613.dt-icon-hover-bg-on:after,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613.dt-icon-hover-bg-on:after {
background: #014a8f;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:not(:hover) .soc-font-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:not(:hover) .soc-font-icon,
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:not(:hover) .soc-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613:not(:hover) .soc-icon {
color: #ffffff;
background: none;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613 .soc-font-icon,
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-6299eb3e1ed903acf2ad372a92129613 .soc-icon {
font-size: 16px;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057 {
min-width: 26px;
min-height: 26px;
font-size: 16px;
border-radius: 100px;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:last-child {
margin-right: 0;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:before,
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:after {
min-width: 26px;
min-height: 26px;
padding: inherit;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057.dt-icon-bg-on:before,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057.dt-icon-bg-on:before {
background: #7ac9ab;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057.dt-icon-border-on:before {
border: 0px solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057.dt-icon-hover-border-on:after {
border: 0px solid ;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:hover {
font-size: 16px;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:hover .soc-font-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:hover .soc-font-icon,
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:hover .soc-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:hover .soc-icon {
color: rgba(255,255,255,0.75);
background: none;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057.dt-icon-hover-bg-on:after,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057.dt-icon-hover-bg-on:after {
background: #014a8f;
}
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:not(:hover) .soc-font-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:not(:hover) .soc-font-icon,
#page .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:not(:hover) .soc-icon,
#phantom .dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057:not(:hover) .soc-icon {
color: #ffffff;
background: none;
}
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057 .soc-font-icon,
.dt-shortcode-soc-icons a.single-soc-icon-f9ea5b5e7299c3354b64c021b2f02057 .soc-icon {
font-size: 16px;
}

Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®

Mary Jo Lyons, CFP®, CKA®

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

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

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

[INTRO]

BOB:

Welcome to Christian Financial Perspectives, a weekly program where we talk about ways to integrate your faith with your finances. This is Bob Barber.

MJ:

This is Mary Jo Lyons.

Bob:

Are you ready to learn the truth about money from a biblical perspective?

MJ:

Join us as we discuss what God’s Word says about money and integrating your faith with your finances… If it’s your first time listening, welcome to the program. If you’re a returning listener, welcome back.

[EPISODE]

Mary Jo: My how time flies when you’re having fun. Here we are celebrating a full year of podcasting with our 52nd episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. Today we’re going to revisit the “best of” from our first year of podcasting and share some of how it all got started. Bob, what do you think? Here we are.

Bob: It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe that we’re doing our 52nd podcast. I am excited and if you’ve been following along on our journey and you found value and gained a lot of wisdom, we’d love for you to share it with your friends and your neighbors and all your fellow Christians. Our purpose for our podcast is to really give our listeners an opportunity to feel connected to us and to teach how to better structure your financial lives. Both Mary Jo and I, we have the heart of teachers and we love educating. So we want to help you become better informed listeners and make better financial decisions and be good stewards of what God has given us.

Mary Jo: Before we get started, we also want to acknowledge several key contributors to Christian Financial Perspectives. We cannot do the show without them. Bob and I, we are extremely grateful for their help and the commitment to the podcast. Jenna Peters, our editor and our podcast Guru, she keeps us all in check, keeps us all organized, and she does all the heavy lifting behind the scenes. She takes our raw recordings and makes them into, I don’t know, just a miracle. She’s a miracle worker.

Bob: I remember that one time we did a podcast and the unedited version somehow got uploaded and I said, wait, get that off the air.

Mary Jo: Oh yes. So, she’s amazing.

Bob: Yes. Y’all don’t realize it when you’re listening to us, but we have a lot of mistakes that we make and Jenna takes all that out and makes us sound so good.

Mary Jo: Thank you Jenna. We also want to thank Kirsten Otto and Nathaniel Morris who also work beside us. They make sure our podcasts are compliant for publishing and it’s probably not real meaningful for you, but it keeps us out of advisor jail and we’re very grateful. We have a great team and we just wanna thank everybody for all the help that they do. It does take a village at times.

Bob: So before we start off with today’s podcast, as always, we want to start off with scripture. We thought today would be a good day, being our 52nd podcast, to start off with the scripture that we started off a year ago because it’s really the underlying foundation of why we do Christian Financial Perspectives and it’s from Psalm 24:1-5. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him for he laid the Earth’s foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths. Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God, their savior.” So this scripture is why we started off our very first podcast and why a year ago, our first podcast was “What God’s Word Says About Money”, where we brought numerous scriptures and we wanted God’s word and biblical wisdom to be the foundation for all the podcasts that follows.

Bob: And if you haven’t heard that, we’d invite you to go back and listen to that very first one entitled “What God’s Word Says About Money”. We do this because we believe the Bible is the source of all wisdom, including that for our finances. It is believed by many Bible scholars that Jesus spoke of stewardship and how we handle God’s resources more than heaven and hell combined. And this leads us to believe that Jesus himself was very serious about how we manage his resources. We want to do what we do best to help our brothers and sisters in Christ handle what God has given us and be the best stewards possible of all of these resources.

Mary Jo: You know Bob, all good financial advice has its roots in biblical wisdom. Biblical wisdom, it’s timeless, transcendent, accurate, universal, and above all practical. The way we handle money is a reflection of our biblical values. For a Christian, financial decisions are also spiritual decisions. This means before a Christian makes any major financial decision, they should pray about it and see if and how it aligns with God’s word and if it doesn’t, it may be it’s not the right decision for you. The reason we stress this is to encourage others to become better managers and stewards of what God has blessed them with and is allowing them to have. At Christian Financial Advisors, our focus is on providing financial advice and investment management strategies that are founded on biblical principles. That brings us to our next podcast topic that helped create the foundation for Christian Financial Perspectives, which was episode 2, “Impact Investing” and BRI. So Bob, why don’t you share that one with us?

Bob: Well, the second podcast we did has been one of the favorites as well. It was called “Impact Investing” and we went into that first, what is impact investing and then about biblically responsible investing, which is a subset of that. So we defined that impact investing is investing in companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial, social, or environmental impact alongside a financial return. The goal of impact investing is to help reduce the negative effects of business activity on the social environment, and some even look at it as a form of philanthropy. So biblically responsible investing is a subset of impact investing. And it’s also known as faith-based investing. This seeks to align itself with companies supporting Christian values while avoiding investing in public traded companies that are directly or indirectly violating biblical principles. Biblically responsible investing is truly an ideal strategy for those families and individuals who want their investments to be an extension of their faith and how they choose to worship our Lord and Savior. So the question is, do your investments reflect your Christian values?

Mary Jo: We’re hearing from people all the time who are interested in this, but they just don’t know how to get started. Well, we can show you how here at Christian Financial Advisors. If your advisor isn’t working with you in a way that speaks to your deeply held Christian faith, then maybe it’s time to look for one that does. So how do you choose a financial advisor? That brings us to episode 3, “Virtues To Look For When Choosing A Financial Advisor”. In this episode, we explored the qualities and characteristics of any Christian advisor, whether it be in finance or any other area of your life that you seek guidance in. By looking at the first book of Timothy 3:1-8 which spells out the virtue that church, elders, overseers, and deacons should have.

Bob: Some of these virtues are, is the advisor above reproach and do they have a good reputation in the community? Is the advisor a gentle person, faithful to their spouse and family? Are they able to teach and educate? Are they free from the love of money and greed? Do they manage their own household well? Do they exercise self-control, live wisely, and are not quarrelsome? Above all, are they a mature believer in Christ and know the word of God and how it applies to their own financial life? You know, when I seek advice from anyone who shares these kinds of virtues, I’ve never been hurt by their counsel because it’s just not about the experience. But it’s also important to look for a financial advisor that aligns with your values and who services include comprehensive wealth management and financial planning, not just investment management. And remember, just because a financial advisor happens to be a Christian, this does not make them a Christian financial advisor or a Christian financial firm. Is the advisor instituting biblically or morally responsible investing as part of their investment management process? Do they invest with your Christian values in mind? You know, today with so many choices of no load Christian mutual funds and even ETFs across every major asset class, there’s really absolutely no excuse for an advisor not to offer biblically responsible investing today. But you know, we’re still finding there are many Christian financial advisors and advisory firms that choose not to invest this way. Their investment portfolios include companies whose values and principles are in direct violation of biblical wisdom and it really makes you stop and wonder why with all the choices today.

Mary Jo: You know, Bob, another favorite from last year was episode 4 on “Estate Planning The Wrong Way And The Right Way”. We got a lot of feedback on this one and listeners really enjoyed it. Estate Planning is preparing for the management of an individual’s assets in the case of their death or incapacitation and this includes bequeathing assets to heirs or leaving assets to heirs and family members as well as the settlement of estate taxes. Your estate includes items such as your home or primary residence as well as vacation homes, land including farms and ranches, all your retirement and investment accounts, your bank and savings accounts, business interest, investments that are possibly not held in an account like various valuables and collectables – your car, your jewelry, family heirlooms, etc, and intellectual property and even life insurance. All of these aspects of estate planning can become overwhelming quite quickly. However, with the tips that we give in this podcast, we discussed the wrong and right ways for estate planning through the use of certified professionals and letting your family know your plans ahead of time before the time of crisis.

Bob: So Mary Jo, I’m kind of noticing we’re going in order here cause it was like our first four or five podcasts were some of the favorite ones, weren’t they?

Mary Jo: Well that’s so true. But you know it’s interesting. I think we just started with the ones that we felt like would resonate the most with our listeners and our client base. These kind of come from the heart and are just natural extensions of who we are and the nature of our practice.

Bob: And the good thing is you can go back and you can listen to any of those anytime of the day. So that took us to another podcast, which was a very popular one, and that was episode 5, “The 10 Uses Of Money”. In this episode, we discussed the 10 uses and the four daily uses utilizing the live, give, owe, grow model from Kingdom Advisors, which is applicable for most people in everyday life. It really boils down to money is spent in only four ways. Again, that’s live, give, owe, grow. My favorite of these though is give because giving breaks the power that money can have over us and we open our hands to release God’s resources for his glory. I love the scripture that goes with this is 2 Corinthians 9:7 “You must decide in your heart how much to give and don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully and God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.” What a great scripture.

Mary Jo: After this we discussed the six uses of money when it comes to setting longterm financial goals, including these areas such as financial freedom, charitable giving, freedom from debt, lifestyle choices, family needs, and funding a business. And there’s a lot to explore and consider when it comes to the 10 uses of money, and the most important highlight is to be content no matter how much you have or how little you may have. If you’d like to learn more about this, give us a call for our handout on the 10 uses of money. Our next podcast was also extremely popular because so many people think that buying a residential rental property is a good idea. In this episode we expelled this myth with facts.

Bob: But before we get into that, I want to say something in the middle here. One of the things I love so much about podcasting is that you and I both have the heart of a teacher and an educator and it’s allowed us to bring wisdom to people that we know and those we’d like to get to know. It’s such an easy way to hear the message. They can listen any time of the day that is convenient and easily come back to it. You know, I’ve really become a big podcast listener myself since I am a podcaster because you can listen to it in the car, in the shower, doing the lawn, preparing dinner, and just about anytime you have a few extra minutes. It’s truly a tool to help everyone become a better steward of their God given resources, and I just love that.

Mary Jo: We just came back from a nice, long road trip. We went to Colorado for a week or so, and my husband and I, we did, we took the advantage of that time in the car together and we listened to quite a few podcasts on topics that were important to both of us. So it’s a great tool.

Bob: This does take us again to episode 8 which was “The Real Yield Of Residential Real Estate”. And in this podcast we talked about the pros and cons of owning rental homes from the maintenance of a rental property to seasonal and vacation rentals. We went in depth of the many facets surrounding the secondary source of income. Many individuals we’re finding are interested in residential real estate over the years because of the extra income they think it’s gonna make them. It’s quite a popular thing to do. And for a few people, residential rental real estate works out. However, for many, the net returns from residential real estate is not near as good as they thought. We took a good look at all the hidden costs of owning rental real estate, including the many risks associated with the comparison of investing in real estate property versus passively investing in a diversified moderate portfolio of high quality dividend stocks and bonds. We really suggest to anyone thinking about buying a house for potential rental income to go back and listen to this podcast. Again, it was episode 8.

Mary Jo: So many people think that real estate, it’s something they can see and it’s tangible and they’re more comfortable that with an investment portfolio, but like you said, it just has tremendous risks. So we encourage you to listen to that episode before you take a walk out there on that one. Another great episode that many pre-retirees have commented on was episode 9 “Creating An Income Stream For Retirement”. In this episode, we discussed how to create a replacement income from retirement savings plans and avoid dipping too much into the principle of your retirement investments too early. We also discussed the guidelines for taking and managing your required minimum distributions, and we also went into the various forms of passive and non-passive or earned income, investment and portfolio income, and creating an income stream using a bucket strategy based on your different timeframes for needing retirement funds. You’re going to allocate some that you’re going to need in the next few years, then maybe five to seven years, and then much longer term assets. So, this is the challenge that faces most retirees. How do I go from a paycheck provided by my employer to a paycheck I provide by my various investment accounts? There are a lot of considerations to think about.

Bob: So this next podcast, Mary Jo, applies today more than ever with all the trade wars we’ve got going on with China in the news, creating all this extreme volatility that we’ve been experiencing in stock markets, and that was episode 13 called “The Emotional Investor”. In this podcast, we discuss one of the most fascinating aspects of investing, how emotions and fear can control your investment decisions. More often than not, investor’s behavior is fueled by emotions and as a result they tend to buy high and sell low, which is the exact opposite of what they need to do because the markets can really play with your emotions if you allow them to. Have you ever noticed how the media says the market’s soar to all new highs today and then a day later the same media says they plunged in the negative territory?

Mary Jo: I love those adjectives.

Bob: Knowing how your emotions correspond with all these market highs and lows, this is the first step to being aware of how to better control when it comes to investing. We have a wonderful chart. Also that Christian Financial Advisors has been using for many years when educating our clients. It’s a study of over half a decade of investor responses to market conditions like we’ve been having. So if you’re interested in this complimentary cycle of market emotions chart, give our office a call at (830) 609-6986 during business hours. Again, that’s (830) 609-6986 and ask for that chart called the cycle of market emotions.

Mary Jo: Another popular episode was episode 17 “The Need For Financial Planning”. Would you take a road trip without a map or a gps? In this episode, we covered the many reasons for needing financial planning. Financial Planning is the process of wisely managing your finances so that you can achieve your dreams and goals. Quite simply a map to help you get to the financial future you desire. So that’s where the GPS comes in mind. We all need a map to get where we want to go. A realistic comprehensive plan can help you meet your goals by addressing your financial weaknesses and building on your financial strengths. Without a plan and a strategy, there can be a lot of unnecessary risk in achieving these goals. Risks that can cause emotional stress and financial distress if not managed properly, and you don’t have to do it alone. A qualified financial planner such as a Certified Financial Planner, a CFP professional can help you make decisions that make the most of your financial resources.

Bob: Mary Jo, you probably remember this next one when we had our good friend and guest, Dave Hart from the eVALUEator, which is a computer program that we use and we interviewed him. He’s the President of Sales and Marketing for our eVALUEator tool that screens investments according to morally and biblically responsible values. It’s really a tool for giving investors knowledge and the ability to be a good steward and stay away from those various activities that do not support biblical teaching with their investments. So this tool screens out over 30,000 companies whose corporate policies and activities support things like abortion and pornography, non-traditional marriage, entertainment, Christian rights, alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. We then took a step farther and looked for companies who are good stewards and whose policies support Christian family values. In this episode, and again, this was episode number 18 and that was with our special guests, Dave Hart, and if you’d like to learn more about the eVALUEator, visit evalueator.com or moralscreening.com

Mary Jo: You know Bob, we often get questions for clients on how do we do this and how do we screen and that episode really dug in deep on how we do that. So it’s a great one for our listeners. Two of my favorites were episodes 25 and 26 and this was titled “All In The Family Parts 1 And 2”. In these episodes, we talk about how to have those very important conversations about money with the ones we love the most. This is not always easy to do, but it’s so important and when you’re married, so important to be in marital harmony by being on the same page as your spouse when making financial decisions. These decisions will impact your family. It’s also just as important to bring your kids into the conversation as well as your aging parents. We give you some guidelines on how to have those talks. It’s all part of the live for today, but plan for tomorrow mindset. Don’t wait until a crisis to learn what your parents desire for their end of life care and what that might look like. Have that talk today.

Bob: So next was where we bought the Bible study called “Biblical Viewpoints Of Money And Wealth” and we brought that in through episodes 29 through 33 this is a series again called “Biblical Viewpoints Of Money And Wealth”, which was originally designed as a Bible study. This Bible study is a deep dive into what God’s word has to say about money. So it was a perfect topic to cover on Christian Financial Perspectives over four weeks. The series included things like the difference between a biblical and secular worldview, the difference between an owner and a manager, the biblical worldview of working and retirement, choosing secular and biblical counsel, money and wealth giving and blessings and an inheritance and legacy planning. So if you’d like a copy of this Bible study called “Biblical Viewpoints Of Money And Wealth”, that is great to do either by yourself or in a small group setting, you can go to amazon.com to order one or you can call the office at (830) 609-6986

Mary Jo: You know, Bob, we covered so many important topics over the course of this last year. Another good one was episode 35 we called it “Car Buying 101”. You always started off with this question, what investment loses over 50% of its value on average every four years consistently. Would you ever voluntarily buy a mutual fund, a stock, or a piece of real estate that would lose 50% of its value over four years? I don’t think so, but we do it all the time with the cars we drive. Car buying is absolutely one of the worst investments there is unless it’s a collectible classic, and that’s maybe debatable, but my husband would agree. Yet we all buy cars like it’s nothing. Many of us give very little thought to the total cost of car owning. We shared our personal experiences, some tips and tricks when it comes to purchasing a new car and after all, the more money you save on purchasing a vehicle, the more cash you can put into savings or investments. And especially building that emergency fund. Some of the topics we covered included, helping to get a better price for your trade in vehicle and the best time to purchase a new car and even negotiating skills. If you’re thinking about buying a new car, trading your old one in or just wondering how to save money when it comes to buying one, this podcast is one you definitely want to hear.

Bob: All right, so we’ve gone over quite a few of our favorite ones. Here’s another one, episode 40 it was called “About To Retire, Now What?” Have you worked for a large company for over 20 years? Are you between the ages of 55 and 65 and now thinking about retiring, but you’re just not sure what to do? Well, you’re not alone. Retirement may be on your mind, but you may not be sure how that 401k plus a possible pension plan and company stock is going to work all together to create that stream of income for the rest of your life. We know it can be very scary because making a mistake at this age gives you little if any time to recover. So in this episode, Mary Jo and I covered the importance of working with a trusted advisor to help you understand the complexity of all the moving pieces and parts of retirement and how these pieces fit together for your benefit.

Mary Jo: Bob, I think this next one is my all time favorite, but I don’t know, maybe I’ll have other all time favorite too. But this one is episode 41 from FOMO to JOMO.

Bob: That was really a fun one. I enjoyed that one, yes.

Mary Jo: It was! In this episode of Christian Financial Perspectives, we address the phenomenon of FOMO or the fear of missing out. This episode shows how we can move from FOMO to JOMO, the joy of missing out joy and contentment with where you are and what you have. Wikipedia defined the fear of missing out as a pervasive apprehension that others might be having a rewarding experience from which one is absent. The social anxiety is characterized by a desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing. And Gosh, that is just such a horrible waste of time. I agree. Why do we care? But so unfortunately, so many people get obsessed by that. Ans as financial advisors, we call this mentality following the herd, which many of us are guilty of doing for fear of missing the next big thing. So it’s so true in our investment lives, this FOMO, and it’s also true in other areas of our lives. Many times investors experience FOMO or fear of missing out when they hear about a friend or a family member making a big short term profit on a risky investment. They probably are hearing about this on the golf course, but that might be another podcast. So, once you hear about a trade or investment that everyone is talking about, by that time, it’s usually too late to profit from. And then opportunity is lost. We want our clients to avoid FOMO and embrace JOMO

Bob: Well, I’ll tell you what, and I remember Mary Jo when you were making this, I was thinking FOMO JOMO what is this about? But then like you said, it was one of the funnest ones to listen to. And again, if you want to go back and listen to that when that was episode 41 in which we did do that, you know that’s not that long ago cause we’re making 52 that was just, you know, less than three months ago. We’re just about to the end of some of the best of our podcasts in episode number 42 we interviewed Mitch Mitchell – he’s got two first names there – of Riskalyze. And you know, we really fear volatility. So many people, they fear that when it comes to investing because we think it automatically means losses. However, in this episode we looked at volatility as a natural part of investing.

Bob: The higher the volatility, the higher the possible return, and vice versa. The lower the volatility, the lower the return. It’s the same way with everything in life. The faster you drive, the more risk or volatility you can have, but many people are willing to take that chance to arrive at their destination sooner. So in this podcast we introduced a tool that helps you choose peace over worry when it comes to investing called Riskalyze. Riskalyze is a financial technology company that provides software for analyzing investment risks and building and implementing investment portfolios. So in our interview with Mitch Mitchell, a Customer Success Manager with Riskalyze, he gave us a complete breakdown of this piece of technology, how it works and how you can actually use it, and we have a link. If you go back on our website for Christian Financial Podcast, go to episode 42 there’s a link that takes you to that technology. Finally, the last one in our list of favorites from last year is…

Mary Jo: Episode 43 “Planning For What Ifs And Wins”. We talked earlier about the financial process and you know, that was one of our favorites and how important that is. Well, one of the things that makes the financial planning process real and wakes up our clients and they become really engaged in this process. It’s the what ifs and wins and how we can model that as we walk through the planning process. Have you ever wondered what your future will look like in 10 years? I think we all think about that or what would happen to your retirement savings if you bought that vacation home? Now, instead of waiting, we all have those same questions, even financial advisors. In this episode, Bob and I discuss planning for all the what ifs and whens that can happen in life. Those that are planned, unplanned, even emergencies. Everyone seems to focus their attention on investment management. However, it’s the ongoing relationship between your investments and planning for the future where the real magic happens. Financial planning is a lifelong process where you manage your entire financial picture in order to achieve your financial goals. Basically, when it gets down to it, the core financial planning, it’s really just goal planning. There are a lot of subtopics that should be covered as part of this process, but it all leads to the same place. Can you achieve your goals? What does that look like financially? What if the unexpected happens? And do I have enough?

Bob: Well, Mary Jo, what a year it’s been, we’ve been getting some great feedback on all these podcasts that we’ve made and we hope you have enjoyed listening to them as much as we’ve enjoyed bringing them to you. The reason for this anniversary edition today was to motivate you to go back into our archives and listen to our previous episodes in order to help you with your financial decisions in life, which we know are actually spiritual decisions. So we encourage you to take some time and review all of the many great topics we’ve covered in our first year of podcasting. You can find this at christianfinancialpodcast.com or on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher. So stay tuned for more as we continue on this amazing journey. May all appraise. Go to God, our father in heaven for helping us get through all these podcasts.

[CONCLUSION]

You’re listening to Christian Financial Perspectives. Join us next week as we explore what God’s word says about money. Don’t forget, you can sign up for our free newsletter on ciswealht.com or give us a call at 877-71-TRUTH. That’s 877-718-7884. To make sure that you don’t miss any of our podcasts regarding the truth about money, make sure to subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives at christianfinancialpodcast.com for free. If there are any specific topics you would like to hear more about, we would love to hear from you.

That’s all for now, until next week!

[DISCLOSURES]

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 Mary Jo Lyons. Bob and Mary Jo do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc. DBA Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor.

Twitter Mentions

@ciswmg