Wise Women Managing Money

Today on Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, a practical topic on women and finances women oversee 51% of the will conquering good stewardship to pair many ladies night say I don't want to know about that.

I don't I don't want to manage the finances but the reality is probably welcome to Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, father of the New York Times bestseller "The 5 Love Languages" here today more and more women are taking possibility finance some reports to do it because of the death of a spouse you wise with your mind about that yesterday, a mother-daughter team want to give practical biblical advice from their own experiences study and Valerie Hogan are straightahead resource is their website wise women managing money.com nibbling to "The 5 Love Languages" .com Gary, I think this will be really helpful conversation Chris.

I'm looking forward to not only for women might be listening to all of us good news will help people how to manage money okay, but I am glad that his mom and his daughter come together and are putting out materials that are gonna really be helpful to the women in them is addressed primarily to women and not just widows it can be others as well but am excited about our conversation today. I am to have seen the website. It is just the videos. There are so specific in their short and go from one to the other. Let me introduce the marionette a great friend, the Moody radio former high school teacher, counselor, the author of eight books including from one widow to another conversations on the new you women and their emotions mere and currently teaches a Bible study for widows.

She is the founder and president of widow connection connection.com and she has several projects for widows in Africa.

Her one minute feature new beginnings is heard on more than 1200 outlets across the country.

She's also an adventurer and a conference speaker. Her daughter Valerie Neff Hogan works with National Christian foundation orchard ministry development and widow connection as well. She holds a law degree and the certified financial planner designation for the past 20 years, she's helped lead groups and individuals toward good stewardship with Christian financial concepts and then Crown financial and financial peace University.

She loves to help people move toward financial freedom so they can be more generous and do more ministry. She's married. They have three children and she's the daughter of Bob and Miriam that if I mentioned that website again wise women managing money.com Merryman Valerie, thanks for joining us all Building Relationships were glad to be with you today. Thank you for having us with you over here and we talked about the impact of your husband, Bob, and your father, Valerie Christian radio in his vision for the outreach of Moody radio. This topic of women in finances is something you've actually lived with right Miriam will for sure. And you know Bob and I did our budgeting together and sat down at the end of the month and I had a good handle on some things and then when he went to heaven. One of the things I hadn't done was investing in Gary, I've come to absolutely love that I love love working with the portfolio. I've learned so many things about the fact that you can do things that you never needed to do, but I found many women out whether they're widowed or divorced or single whatever situation there and have financial issues that they feel they can't quite handle and we're here to say yes you can and I can say you know what, if you say you can't look at me if I can do this. Anybody can. But now Valerie brings a whole level of expertise that I do not have a better you watch your mom blossom after the loss of your father.

What's your perspective on the way she has tackled some of the tough issues and situations I saw this firsthand.

Mom and dad did budget together and the and they did have a good handle on things and they did plan together but they were doing it together so it's it's the two halves and so when my dad went to heaven then that left my mom to do a lot of that on her own she did have wise counsel around us at her and family and she did involve us and others at church and good experts. But she did have to tackle these things and go after it and know what to do really on on her own in her own capacity, so I was just so proud.

I remember one day coming over and she had this giant stack of investing books that she checked out at the library and she read everyone and I don't know that everybody can do that that so her so you're a mother-daughter team and you have different credentials.

As we've noted already. What prompted the two of you to want to create a video series on money.

Valerie, what would you say your mom come up with the idea or did you come up the idea out of this happen. We are told we I started getting involved where I thought mom did have a widows ministry and she launched that after my dad passed away and we saw kind of right on the heels of grief came financial issues.

So it's kind of 12 punch that ladies were experiencing. They come with grief. And then, in addition to that, here comes either a vulnerability if they did have resources or just finding out how much resource they lacked. And so, as she would come to be saying hey what about this in the law and finance capacity, and so we started making a short feature writing some materials. Then we were told hate you – make videos and make them short because that's about enough people just want to absorb it a little at a time so is recommended to us, but it's kind of how Gruen is exciting.

Miriam, you see, this is is a need for all women, not not just widows right.

Oh, absolutely. And you know most women in the United States are single whether they've never been married or they're divorced or they're widowed. So that means most women need this information and also women oversee 51% of the wealth of their country now. So women are managing portfolios and that's going to grow to 73% pretty shortly and you might think. Well, that's because there are a few widows that got a big life insurance policy or something like that. That's a minority women have better jobs now. For instance, my daughters, a lawyer, so women have better jobs now there in the workforce longer so they have greater capacity to save and to invest and also there are moving more into the finance area like Valerie in National Christian foundation with investment and so forth. But the other thing I saw women being scammed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and making poor decisions and what they invested in oh start a new restaurant with me and then the restaurant folds and I'm getting really annoyed about this and so it's kind of like okay Valerie where we got it we got it do some stuff here and one of our television friends said if you'll make it 26 because that's what seasoning television is and it short. Will Eric for free will hello I like free so I cannot say it was kind of things, it came together, and then Valerie and I started having a lot of fun with it because we like to talk about this and we like each other so there is well and that's the whole ministry thing of it. People can go to the website right now you you don't have to pay anything for it. You can look through the videos. If there's something that strikes at your heart you know I'm struggling with this. I don't know what to do with that. Then you can just click on the video.

Watch and listen to it and and get the the teaching right that's right and they're available there are resources that are outlined there so you can do and you can rewatch it and hit pause or rewind or look at that resources and outlines that you can. We also look recommend some reading. If people want to go a little deeper on any of the subjects will Valerie establish that is not just for widows but most women who become widows are not prepared financially.

What are you seeing what are the struggles that they're facing.

We were seeing when when mom was leaving this ministry and some times when she would come to me she'd say no I'm seeing widows that are almost 1 of two branches there surprised by the financial situation therein and statistically there in worse financial situations.

Many widows are there are some that are not. And so what we'd see is just maybe I'd say it this way, we don't lacked the brains to handle these things as women we lack the confidence because I think in the past really at financial teaching has not been as geared toward us know just as I as a segment and so did see women lacking confidence.

What I do. I'm in debt or I'm worse off than I thought and suggest the confidence of you can do this then almost on the other end of the spectrum.

We'd see women who may be, they did not handle the finances before, but now there half owner of, you know, some kind of manufacturing company or something. Now they're vulnerable because they don't have the background information so we were seeing vulnerability on both sides that could be handled with some confidence and good direction and godly counsel. My perspective a while everything that Valerie said is so accurate for all women. I also saw that because women like confidence, they were listening to the wrong people and there are so many people that pull their chair up to our table, so to speak and say you need to know this and you need to put it in this and I saw women being advised to do with their resources, something that would earn 3% a year, and the guy would be advised to do something with the resources that would earn 7% a year. While we are biblical women here and it's all God's on loan to us in Matthew 25 says where to be stewards so I want to be a 10 story plate okay I don't spend 3% won't keep up with inflation or whatever. So I was frustrated that friends of mine and other people I knew were listening to bad advice and it was sometimes selfish advice and maybe it wasn't sinful advice. It just wasn't. It wasn't as productive as it could be in these women were saying okay they know and I don't so we're kind of like okay we can all know and by the way, that stack of books is pictured on one of the videos and I think it's a lot of fun reading for those of us are authors like people who like to read married a man of alien Valerie throughout the whole series of videos that we were discussing our first segment you and your mom focus on the theme of generosity describe the concept and and why you feel it's so important.

One reason is that what we have as believers. I'm at and I guess as believers are not as believers. The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof.

Everything here is his and so we are managing or stewarding his resources and sell at generosity is just an acknowledgment of that it's not ours he's given us something to manage and we want to do well and that's that's part of God writing his story into our lives and the acknowledgment of that. I think it sets our heart and it sets contentment. Since so many of those things that we would lack just a reset button for reality and the world just kinda rages against that with all the messages you knew you need more, you're entitled more. All of that and not biblical. Not true so and that's one thing that generosity does in our life and it just resets our position of who we are in the Lord and and what were to do with what we had to manage and also frees us in God's given us what he thinks I we can handle or what is wise or what is within his purpose for that in that season and generosity is a part of that.

It's the core of who he is. He sent his son for us. He is the ultimate in generosity and so as were modeling our lives after him. It's a natural. You said earlier that 51% of the wealth in the United States is managed by women to be honest, that hit me a little been routed idly ought is that it realize that okay and you say is going up talk little bit about the statistics and and why this is so important. Will that when Valerie was talking about generosity. When you think of the wealth that we as women oversee what are we doing with that and if we want to be the steward. That's really maximizing it. Then the world says then you can have more spell for you can get a bigger home or you can get to homes or you can have more close or whatever and I want to be that woman who is generous toward what God wants to grow and what would that be God honoring things. The other thing about the statistics Gary is that I'm receiving at that could be for a lot of reasons. Some women are remaining single and so there managing their their finances, their whole life or becoming widows such statistically 80% of the time.

He will go to heaven before she does in a marriage. And so even women who are not wanting to manage that.

It's just a reality that many times we will carry the baton to the end in the husband-wife partnership in the in the finances and in many things. So it's good stewardship to prepare many ladies might say hey I don't want to know about that.

I don't I don't want to manage the finances but the reality is they probably will. And so just that preparation. In reality to be prepared to step into that and carry the baton to the end. Well, another statistic is that women make the decisions were spending three quarters of the disposable income decisions so another words were already making a lot of decisions about how money is spent. But that oversight part is what we want to address and that would be that's household spending. If you write you.

That would sorta be true in my family okay if I watch baseball motive and add old stuff you notice the normal normal flow of life are okay with that, Gary LOL and I'm okay with this surveillance will make sure not have arrived about subject with Kurt. We talked earlier about the many women at least lacking confidence in their finances and I'm thinking here not only about widows source of those who've never married nothing about the huge number women who are divorced and many of them didn't want divorced him in there in the middle of it and of course the more situations a little different because the funds are gonna split halfway typically say a word about that that that lack of confidence in it and any insight you might have for for those wives who are in a divorce situation.

I'd say that there's a couple reasons for the lack of confidence. I think just generally in our education we don't do a great job educating for managing practical resources. If you think back to maybe in junior high.

We might have had one class on reconciling a checkbook, but as far as investing savings controlling spending filtering messages about marketing building for our future understanding interest on a mortgage. If you think about it in our education system. Even in general we don't really tackle that and then you hear that too. If you look at maybe several years ago. A lot of the math and finance, conversations, or education was not really geared toward women. We have a lot of stem initiatives now that are you know focused on targeting women and educating them on their and that and on that matter.

And that's a that's for a purpose because we didn't do such a great job of that before. So now you see generations later.

I women are lacking some the confidence in that education now. Maybe they've had a very negative life event and that kind of aggravates it will and I would add regarding the person whose divorced emotions get in the way here because a lot of times because of divorce.

There's a different kind of anger.

There is a different kind of know Iowa to myself, or I'm going to spend on the kids to show them that I am the good parent so you have some additional temptations and problems for that divorced person and probably there's been some lack of financial togetherness in the marriage.

There might have been togetherness, but likely not.

So you've got that on top of it and that's why this information is so important for divorced women write and talk about hurt and lack of confidence and and just you know the feeling that unsteadiness in that season of life.

Now you've got another area where they might not have had confidence to begin with and it's kind of that double whammy again and I think a lot of our listeners who are in the divorce situation or saying as I hear you tell yes yes yes because that's that's where they're living right now if you could focus on two basic necessities for being wise with money maybe can bullet down the tube at but if you did, what would be those two yeah I would say I'm from my perspective, and you will you you definitely want to hear my mom's as well that two basic necessities are understanding what is coming in and going out.

So what do you have what you owe what you just getting a handle on that and getting a handle about on spending and savings to fundamental concepts is understand what's coming in and going out what you have, what you know and then understand, you must save you must make less than what you earn. The equation will never work.

If that is out of balance. It just won't will and now here's why were a dynamic duo or no actually were just highly caffeinated fish. I'd say I just say the same thing but a little differently. I would just say you gotta have a spending plan that works. That means if it's not coming in your it's not going out and we do. Our culture says you can have debt, you can have credit cards that the same thing Valerie that you said so, that's the beginning that's number one in the second day I was gonna say is no debt, no debt noted with was whether many divorced people have more debt than they thought and will they get assigned to pay off this all I have to do that myself. They get assigned your it's it's a division of that as well and simply, we say that is a gritty beast and it is and you can't say if you're spending all your money on credit cards trying to get them down so you know about your right again. You must have margin about her father's will and who do have credit card. It typically what got into slightly paying. Abysmal can just say, you know, 18, 25%. I mean it's just almost impossible to get out of a fear it's a snowball that just becomes very difficult to get out of. And if you think about it when we all love to be on the other side of the equation. Where were learning 18 to 25% because, wouldn't we all have a lot more margin in our life. You just do not want to be on the other side of that equation. What about house debt, though, because you have to have yet to have a place to live.

You know or condo or even an apartment big apartment you wouldn't have the debt for that, but then you're not earning anything either. You know you could move into an apartment and just be paying paying paying and never have an investment come back to you at the end and Chris there's some conventional wisdom around that. And then there's some things that are happening now with that used to be.

You gotta have a mortgage you know you can write some of that interest off and that is true and it's especially true and good if there is a good kind of debt are less worse kind of that. Let's call it could be mortgage something that's appreciating or growing in value, but not all the areas in our country are doing that side say approach with caution because you can buy in a market where it's really not the best investment. Many times it could be but you gotta watch that carefully and mirroring that's where this you've talked before about your financial advisors or your board of of references unity bring around you people that you really do trust who can help you think through all the things that you're not an expert on right know exactly and we do know for many divorced women and widows, many of them have to change where they live because they can afford where they were before. And we don't like to hear that we don't like someone to say oh you know it's time to put that big house on the market and you might want to townhome but you can't have a townhome that maximizes all of your housing because now you got these and you know they're there just a myriad of decisions are that we have one of the videos is specifically on housing with a lot of bullet points on that.

The idea that it has to be flexible. You know Scripture proverb says till your field and then put up your tent to another and you gotta have the money coming in, and sometimes we need to be more flexible.

We don't live in tents here but still you may have to move and you may not want to. Well, it may not be an option and we don't know what we don't know. I think some of that is just having the humility and hopefully wisdom to seek out some wise counsel and maybe not just the first person that you hear tax advisors are graded taxes and real estate persons are great at real estate and at some these people have spent their whole career, becoming an expert and seek that out seriously about Felson whether to buy or not to buy a house depends a lot on where you're living and live you have to check out the local economy. Is that what you were saying earlier that's absolutely right, you can be in an area of the country where you're told and traditionally it's been true.

If you buy a house at Wilbur@it's an inflation hedge.

It will appreciate in value. You know you can write off the mortgage interest that's true, but some areas of the country are not even going up 1% and says he asked me I'd like to make 1/4 of a million or $500,000 investment, but that will make 1% a year for 20 to 30 years. I would say please don't so I'm in some areas the country are doing that. And then there's the cycles Valerie that we went through 0678 where there were people in the area that we were living we were renting a house at the time, but they looked at how much they paid for that house, and in a very short amount of time it was basically her house was worth about half that much in the area that we are reliving it is like the the of fear that then that came now since then, things have turned around and I think it's probably back in that area about the where what they paid for it, but there were several years there where they were scratching their heads. If they got a job in some other state they had to sell. They were losing a lot of money. I would just say what can go up can go down well that's still true in my neighborhood that our homes are worth half what they were. That has not gone up again and we can research that you can Google the states and what happening. But again, here's where we as women are very capable. We have if you have 1/4 grade level math component you can do budget you can do houses you can do investment we can do this and then we have the ownership and the reality of saying before the Lord, Lord.

You allowed me to have this home. It's not my home at yours. So moving on and we study Scripture, and we get biblical counseling and we don't assume more debt and then we can expect God because he promises that he will he's going to honor that in the component of that of contentment. Oh my word that's more valuable than a really big house yet it's the tension between due diligence so were doing what we can and then there's what's gonna happen, so there's trust in the Lord and that's attention where we can't control everything we we may do as much research as we possibly can and then move into an area and something happens and it's outside of our control, having margin helps researching helps it outside and to make it perfect, but can we can do our best in earlier segment Mary and we talked about a spending plan. Creating a spending plan to share some ideas. Each of you all know you do that this good practical okay will Val and I are different. You probably noticed that already, but we but we know people don't like the word budget but my spending plan is paper and pencil and I write down and they kept their categories and I say what score I write down what's going out all the time. Bob and I did that I still do that in these different categories, but I more importantly, write down what's coming in and that spending plan.

As we've said before, what's going out has to be less, than what's coming yet but now I'm a non-techie person and I'm doing that by myself. No Valerie's techie and she's married so that I'm married to a techie so we do as we do things that have notifications and bank balances showing in graphs and charts and all that fun stuff so I can be done either way. Need a budget of what are the parameters that it should be and then track it because you want to know is your plan actually happening. Once you track, you know I'm close to reality or know I have to adjust that and that budget that that overall model, then that is you've got to be bringing in more than your then you're sending out you just can't flip it the other way if that is in the red every month. Something's gotta give.

So I hear you saying that whether you use technology or whether use pencil and paper to go to keep records of what's going out each month, month by month what's coming in month by month so that you have a visual picture in front of you of whether or not you're doing what you just said and that is there's less going out is coming in how we we love this quote year either telling your money what to do or you're wondering where it went. And we we prefer the telling it what to do. I like that. We also know that it's vital that because it's God's word generous and so building into that spending plan is margin an emergency fund, some money so that you know you know something only cars gonna break you know your children speed are going to grow. These are not shocking new realities. So you need to have some margin there that emergency plan and then you decide before the Lord.

What in terms of generosity. Do you give to it may be a church. It may be philanthropic organization.

It may be something like my little connection. The ministry that maybe something that in your heart you know this is God at work and I want to put some momentum to that of by generosity. So that's all a part of that spending plan.

So here you say is not just listing the monthly bills for gas, electricity etc. etc. but it's also listing the reserve fund to take care of things are going to happen.

We know they're going to happen and also a record of what's going on in terms of what you're giving and once you track for a year. It really takes a year because some things might come up that I mean maybe you anticipated and remembered to put it in your original budget, but for example we pay car insurance twice a year paid every month.

Now you can save for it every month but those things once you walk through it for a year. All yeah taxes yet Christmas presents right so some of those things that happen only once or a couple times a year, you can build in and I reminded sigh, I think it takes a long time dear budget, and pencil because it'll keep changing and keep changing, and then once it's done we like to say have a look at that. Does that reflect your values at what's coming and going out is that which you'd like it to be and is that what God would like it to be sub little bit about doing it because you can you call it the greedy beast. We talked earlier about what an individual's putting percentage was interest if it's if the debt is on the credit card. Is there a legitimate debt and if so how do you choose the day it will Gary. We used to have a list of debt that was okay and that's change we used to say a big mortgage might be okay because the house is going to grow in value. We used to say college that would be okay because you can get a better job, and now we say, not the big mortgage and we also say college debt which is kinda hard to hear or very minimal because there might not be a job that accommodates paying back the debt and and living expenses. So there's some debt that we would say no to. And we also say no known loans to get a car, which might mean you're driving an ugly beast for a while. I hope whatever there may be some exceptions to these things and into traditionally mortgage debt educational debt and investment businesses, so we would just say never but be very careful coming due diligence is needed here because it's not the same realities is this money you can afford to lose if you spend enough you if you end up with a college degree and have $80,000 in debt, you cannot write that off in bankruptcy right now so can you get it back. Some things we've seen our people are going into debt and have no intention of ever paying it off or no plan.

If I were to say I'm in a take that from you and I have no plan to ever give it back.

What would we call that I mean think it's kinda harsh, but it's not right. Have we are taking something with no intent of paying back for it, so I don't believe that's the biblical plan we need to really and there are going to be mistakes and we can't predict the future but very cautiously approach that kinda debt and maybe only invest in things that you can afford to lose or you know if you're in a go get some college debt. Look at the program. What are the earnings what are what are the likely coming due diligence.

Are you like my able to get a job that is going to earn and you'll be able to have a plan to pay back so by and large, is it better to purchase a car or lease a car purchase a car I would say that I ride a bike third option, but I had a 230,000 miles on my vehicle and thank you. I'm quite happy. You had a lot of the base of the view I just got a roof. Rollerskates fell will let me address another thing about that, though that's greedy it's greedy with your emotions because with death.

There's anxiety and there is concern, and sometimes her spear and then you're like well if I borrow that from this relative or this friend and it hurts that relationship. There is an emotional price to be paid for not paying for what for your stuff that is not how were supposed to do life and in budget counseling. I can tell you that I've just seen some heartbreaking scenarios but then some great scenarios where but that will hold people back from what media, what God has for them. Let's say you want to go into the mission field or work for a nonprofit.

If you are just saddled and debt you can't go do that thing. And so it's the freedom that comes from not being heavily in debt. Now you can. I mean God can send you anywhere and he can anyway but boy, if you're strapped with $50,000 $80,000 in debt it's gonna be real tough to to have the flexibility to just go where he sent you right then were talking primarily about women managing money. But let's talk just a moment about married women those who are living with her husband. What are your suggestions for doing this. This financial thing together.

One of the things it was delightful and being married to Bob was the time when we came to where we were really talking about everything. Talk talk talk. Nothing is private about money, there can be separate bank accounts, but you have to know what's in both of those you can have some decisions that you don't discuss with each other, but it can't be secret and I say that because so many women, and sometimes it's when the marriage is over, divorce or death. Find surprises. So, communicate, communicate, communicate, and in marriages where they're not doing that.

That's gonna be a problem, not just with finances, but probably other things and I like to say money is not an it's a leading indicator of the heart. I think you can have some really great heart-to-heart conversations that really aren't about money and he started a budget conversation but it's that intimacy of knowing what's important to the other person how is God working in their life and in our marriage we we have joint accounts on everything and sometimes if we decide where doing all cash budget in that area. I we take out money from the bank and then we sit and say where are you going this week.

What are you doing this week and so were sitting on may be a Sunday night with our envelopes out our wallets out in single were learning about. I didn't realize you had that appointment are doing this thing or this is important are talking about giving. I mean, I think it builds a level of and intimacy because you are doing life together. This is your spouse. This is your other half right. So that should all be. I'd say we're what my mom said transparency, communication, and it's about compromise and I love another quote that we've heard hey if both of you. Are you going to be different personalities.

God made it that way.

So if you're both the same one of you is unnecessary. So go ahead and have that difference. It's all right sometimes found that husbands more than wives actually are spending money is I don't tell the spouse about maybe the husbands also keep in the books and she really doesn't know what's going on and she just simply trust him. I guess if she has a wonderful husband whose very loving and tender with my work, but it's gonna be harder for her if that's been the pattern for 30 years. When these gonads can be much harder for her right all my word. There are women who find gambling debt.

When their husband leave this planet that I have because of the ministry I have.

I hear so many sad sad stories and their is another principle that I trust every man and woman, remember this, we will stand before God alone so that woman that didn't know, and now is responsible is going to stand before God. She can't point to her husband.

She can't say will it, he decided, or it was yes were married but God is our father. Jesus is our Savior we answer to him so that more reason sometimes a woman is asking marriage. What do you want to know this and she might say no I'm not interested. You know what you need to know what you just really need to know and that hiding money is a dashboard of something else that's going on wrong right it's a trust problem, it's a pride problem. It's a problem with lack of humility lack of transparency. Shame I mean there's something under that rain and the other thing about that is a man, a husband who takes care of the books all the time. It does the money and doesn't lovingly and and circumspectly. It's a loving thing to bring her into this and show you don't, here's here's what I do this. This is what I hear the passwords to this and that. The other thing because you don't know how long you're going to live.

We all want to live. You know that as long as we think were quick to but that doesn't happen. Everybody I was invited to speak to a wealth management group, and there were many couples of great wealth there and I knew that one of the couples.

They are the man did everything the woman didn't know anything and he was happy with that but I said to the group. I said to the men in the room. I said men do you love your wives.

If so, they need to know everything about your finances and everything about wills and trusts and everything all of your documents and then I should again remember I asked first. Do you love your wife. Yes, don't tell me you love your wife. If you're not sharing all that information and making sure they're knowledgeable about it and some will say I want to deal with that and I would just say come on girls. I have to cowboy up on this life because you fairly good chance that you will end up do you want to do that well because there's a good chance you're going to have to carry the baton so that we don't we don't get to make that choice and just kinda hopped out. This is a big one in and we can rise and really should rise to the occasion on let's talk about investments and investment strategies. I'm guessing that there are many women who know very little about this, maybe a lot of men who know very little about this about how you get started. Even with with the whole concept of investments in understanding. I think it's essential to try to understand, and you really can't, start at the beginning and so unfortunately the financial industry.

It's got words it's got acronyms like a lot better. That just confuse people and civil here at there's a complexity they think to it and then maybe check out and so hang in there. There are some basic concepts I'd say try to understand. You don't need to understand all the segments it wants, but start to learn about basic investments. I think a good starting point is to understand that the cost of living. Generally, on average, goes up about 3% a year and so many people forget about that. I mean, you gotta overcome that just to get started to make some headway and there's a lot of different things you could do answer two really important things are to understand risk and how much time do you have before you need that money and what your tolerance of risk and then look at the different kinds of categories there are bank accounts.

There are CDs. They kind of grow in level of risk. There are bonds there are stocks and to just get some basic information. There are good resources out there. You do not need to be a Wall Street genius in order to be okay and do a fairly good job on and do you want to manage it all the time.

Look at it a lot. Or maybe quarterly at it's not good to look at it daily. There are people that do that but then you don't really want to be looking at it never either, because that's always a bad idea so in our video that we do on investments. We talk about going in a grocery store, you see the deli you see the bakery you see the different areas in a grocery store okay were going in a grocery store up investments and we have equities that are going to earn on the average 7% a year. They've done this for decades and hours S&P 500 average 10% a year. The growth so it ended but all the way down to the bank account. That's like putting your dollar in a shoebox so and with the way we say it, it's like you are going to go in and you're going to learn about these different things and then you're going to make selections and we talk about mutual funds in our opinions on so you're going to make selections based on you learning this, and for many women.

They already have a 401(k) may be connected with their work or some different thing where they're putting money into something in their work might match it. And then there asked will pick which of these you want the money to go into what you can pick in that 401(k) a shoebox or equities. So she needs to know to pick wisely and know the time frame so that average that moms talking about maybe that 7%, a 10% well it can in some years ago, wildly up 20%, 25, and it can go wildly down so if you need the money in one year.

That's not a good option yet. Eight so the timing matters.

If you don't need to touch the money for 20 years you can kinda ride that wave up and down so it's important to understand. I also think in the financial industry. We could do a better job of explaining, you know, using words like assets and equities and that kind of thing really did just put it in layman's terms in a mutual fund is a basket of stocks. It's a grouping together and to just do a better job of explaining in layman's terms.

We don't we don't need all the jargon but we forget that because we use it so often, like any other industry. We just forget were using it and leave people, days, do you think most women will later would profit from a financial advisor and if so how, how do you, how would you select that person. Many women might not be able to afford the cost of that so it might be worthwhile to have that information, but it might not be realistic and also some financial advisors don't give good financial advice. They have self-interest. I think it is worth that well and so take this with where it's coming from, but I think it's well worth it to have a good one that has your best interests at heart. Which means there putting your interest above theirs. And so to find a good one. And there a couple good ways to find one there is kingdom advisors certified kingdom advisor is someone is going to be a believer and be a financial advisor.

But, again, meet with several and that I believe it's broker check.com where you can look at somebody's credentials and look at any reports that are negative about them, but there are some free resources. I love places not get a name name so that people can find these things not to be an endorsement but like nerd wallet on online or I can highlight Kiplinger's is a magazine. It's a basic personal finance I'm in there other magazine so people who maybe can afford or don't want to select yet can start getting some basic wisdom on these things and then on in her interview several and that's hard work that I to get in there and do it because I good financial advisor that has your best interest at heart and that matches your value system is I'm in a wonderful thing to have. And I did that when I knew that I would be overseeing my portfolio.

I interviewed three different people and I said assume that you have and I told them a ballpark number. It was not the exact number that I had to show me a plan of what you would do with that amount of money and one person gave me a plan that took 12% off the top and it went into a certain fund, and I thought okay that's like lighting a match to some dollar bills. I don't go with that person. Well, we could talk another hour on this topic and I'm glad that you have this video series on the website so that women can go and get help over a longer period of time so thanks for being with us today. This is been very very helpful and I know that the women especially your listing are going to go to the website and look at some of the resources that you have so thanks for being with us Gary. We appreciate you. Thank you for addressing this topic. Yes, thank you for having us on maybe you know someone who needs this information.

Send them "The 5 Love Languages" .com you can get the program that we just heard, you can hear the broadcast and you can go to wise women managing money.com and find out what Miriam Neff and Valerie Neff Hogan have been at these videos that they report absolutely free.

Wise women managing money.calm and again if you can't remember "The 5 Love Languages" .com next week, we open the phone lines and take your questions about the love languages, marriage, parenting, and more. Don't miss our January edition thank you to our action team Janice Todd Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman action radio in association with Moody publishers ministry and