Top 10 Personal Finance Mistakes

One listener that stands out, that I work with recently was his older couple that was interested in refinancing eight reached out to a few different lenders and the other credit wasn't the best.

I know some of these other bigger banks. You just won't hear back from that which I cannot stand not everybody has the 780 credit scores and never had any hardships in their life. I'll walk you through what you have to do.

How can you end up being able to do this refinance. Whether it's 236 months from now back that older couple.

We work with them for months and months to improve their credit and we were able to get the loan done. We were saving them hundreds each month thousands of dollars a year.

Finally got themselves into a situation financially that they can handle and they could start saving money each month, saving for retirement at the end of the day they just could not be happier. Which just put a huge smile on my face. We might heads for the site once turned down an offer to buy Google for $1 million today was worth 420 when it comes to financial mistakes.

That was a big Rob West. We all make the occasional misstep with our money not on such an epic scale. But they can be painful. Nonetheless today. I'll give you a top 10 personal-finance mistakes to avoid your calls and questions 800-525-7000 525-7000 moneywise live biblical wisdom for your financial decisions well before we start about making mistakes. Proverbs 2460 makes it clear that will stumble from time to time and that certainly includes how we handle money, it reads for the righteous fall seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity is a God owns everything and we are stewards of his resources. When you stumble with finances God is quick to forgive. Psalm 85, five says for you, oh Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you, God is there to help you avoid repeating your mistakes or making new ones.

James 15 says it like this.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. God's word contains more than 2300 verses on money and possessions everything you need to be a wise and faithful steward. Now, what mistakes should you avoid well. First, borrowing from your 401(k) comes to mind.

It's tempting because it's your money and it's easy to get to, but often this is just to fix an earlier mistake like going into debt. It's a bad idea because you'll likely reduce or suspend new contributions during the period you're repaying the loan. Will that will rob you of investment growth from the missed contributions and the cash you borrowed. Mistake number two is claiming Social Security early if you take benefits at 62 instead of waiting until your full retirement age of 66 or 67 you'll permanently reduce your benefit by as much as 32% number three paying the minimum on your credit cards.

If you have a $5000 balance on the card with a fixed rate of 12 1/2% and you make only the minimum payments it will take 10 years and $1700 in interest to eliminate the debt so pay more than the minimum to pay off credit card debt as fast as you can.

Mistake number four is a huge one. It's putting off saving for retirement. You need time to take full advantage of the power of compound earnings. If you start in your 20s, saving 10 to 15% of your income. You will be well prepared for the day when you have to stop working all right.

The number five financial mistake also involves retirement even though a lot of folks realize it too late.

It's bankrolling your kids, you may want to give your children the best college education or wedding. That money can buy, but not if it comes at the expense of your own retirement savings. Now I know that's a tough decision but if the kids are disappointed asked them if you can move in with them after you retired. That might help. Number six is not getting professional financial advice, though a lot of folks could have used the services of a trusted advisor when the pandemic hidden stocks plummeted people panicked and sold stocks low. Others waited to get into the market and missed buying opportunities in the huge gains we've seen over the past year. The number seven personal-finance mistake is cosigning a loan.

The Bible explicitly tells us never to do it. Proverbs 17, 18, warns one who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor and neighbor includes friends, family or anyone else. By some estimates, 40% of cosigners get stuck paying off the loan. Part number eight is quitting school. Yes, some people make a ton of money without going to college and some college grads barely make enough to pay their student loans, but that's not the norm. In general, the more schooling you have, the more money you make. As long as your studies give you marketable skills that employers really need number nine is buying a timeshare in the vast majority of cases people really regret this one so much so that in the entire industry of companies has risen the claim to know how to get you out of a timeshare. That alone should be a warning and the number 10 money mistake only for scam con artist can play on your fear or agree to milk you out of thousands of dollars. The FTC says Americans are scanned out of nearly billion dollars a year.

Bogus offers are made by telephone, text mail, email, and sometimes even face-to-face.

Watch out for guarantees of big profits with no risk for before you can proceed.

So those are the 10 personal-finance mistakes to avoid state under 525-7000 West listening to moneywise live for your financial decision. If an moneywise live on Rob West.

Your host were so glad you're alone with us today. Just a moment. Will be taking your calls and questions. Here's a number 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000 got a few lines open yet today and were looking forward to diving into whatever's on your mind today applying biblical principles to today's financial decisions before we do love to encourage you to sign up for our black brand-new moneywise weekly wisdom. The first edition went out yesterday, but will still get you a copy. It's a weekly email delivered right to your inbox and it's really an aggregation of the best content for the week in Christian finance and podcasts delivered right to your inbox. I know it will be an encouragement to you and here's my experience as you renew your mind around biblical wisdom related to money management.

It will counteract the world's messages which often are the opposite of God's heart as it relates to our money and I think as you begin to dive into this content with quick reads and great podcasts and short videos you will begin to understand these principles that can then change the way you think and ultimately the way you behave so sign up today.

It's free to said to moneywise live.org scroll to the bottom of the page. When you create a free user account will make sure you get signed up for the moneywise weekly wisdom and you'll get your first edition very very soon. All right. Working ahead to the phones today two lines remain open 800-525-7000 were going to begin and will. This is a fun one. Walla Walla hi Mary how are you thank you for taking my call. Finding a Cupid advisor how to make. I will graciously thinking of the family went out causing any hard feelings. Yes.

Tell me what you're most concerned about what is it that stripping you and your husband up as you think about this well may have a well and we just we just made it out of it. Whichever one of the kids was able to do the executor, not giving up everything and taking care of our expenses, whatever that we know now the oldest one with distantly for is closer by not if just have not gotten along well. Great big trouble afterward on yes okay, well, a couple of things at me.

So there's the executor selection and then there's obviously the distribution of your assets in terms of who should be the executor know this is somebody who's personality. I think, and responsibility level warrants.

This type of role you want, obviously responsible parties. So I would look for somebody in good financial standing in a location doesn't usually matter, and you're gonna want somebody who really is more a detail oriented, and someone who can be patient. I think even emotionally grounded because you know that often times it's very simple cut and dry, but not always in some somebody who really just is wired that way.

And again it doesn't have to be the oldest and it doesn't have to be the person closest so just make sure you pick the person that you believe is most suited for that role of executor and I don't think you need to worry about offending anybody that's just a job that needs to be done and that God hasn't wired us all the same.

We all have different money personalities and you know that plays into. I think this role is executor now. Are you also struggling Mary with how to divvy up the assets or is that pretty clear to you a lot of how I would like to include everybody but then invalid as time goes on. Things change yes well. Things to think about is obviously you are the steward you and your husband of these assets overmuch or however little, you have and this is the last stewardship decision you make it so you want to think about the financial standing of each person. You also want to think about the lifestyle that their living and even their spiritual condition because we wouldn't want this to get in the way of somebody coming to Christ which is the ultimate objective. If somebody is making poor decisions.

Money can often make those larger and so here we have to think through that side of it as well.

And there's this principle that the author Ron blue, my good friend and mentor talks about in his book splitting hairs, which by the way I'll get you a copy of that is our gift is I think it really could help you and your husband think through this with confidence. According to biblical truth, but he shares this principle that if you love your kids equally. You will treat them uniquely. That's interesting because as Americans all say often we think that's unfair to think that we would do something that's an equitable meaning we should give exactly the same amount to each child and his point is that perhaps there in different situations you one child might be a single mom with three kids and another a successful business owner, it doesn't mean you need to leave them the same amount and that will change over time and that's okay. And so you and your husband may pray through this and decide know we want to be exactly equitable and that's fine too but at least I think you should have the permission to say working to evaluate each child or each air. Think about where they're at in and make decisions accordingly based on where they find themselves today and as the steward I think that's your responsibility, and then you can absolutely communicate that clearly so that's all been laid out in advance, but let me do this. Let me send you a copy of this book. It's called splitting errors.

It's I believe the very best book on processing wealth transfer from a biblical perspective using a principle-based approach and I think is you and your husband read together. Perhaps it will clear up some questions you've got in your mind about how you should go about this scenario. Hope that helps you. You stay on the line will get your information get that book right out to you to Ferndale, Minnesota, J thank you for holding Sir how can I help.

Well, I appreciate taking my call. Enjoy your show.

I'm on the road, mostly in my life and I are looking at retiring within the next five years on 57 she is 55 and we just got a pretty heavy stand in the market and just wondering if it's time to get out.

Yeah well here's the thing you say get out. I think that's somewhat of a loaded question in the sense that yes, you should be moving toward a more conservative posture as you get closer and closer to retirement and eyes you have time on your side when you're in early in your working career. You can be more aggressive because you've got time for an account that will be more volatile to recover if it has some significant declines in the goal would be that you'd have higher returns over an annualized basis. As you look at, you know, a 10 year or 20 year. But as you get closer and closer to retirement and you've accumulated what you have. You don't need and probably shouldn't be as aggressive. You need to get more conservative because you're going to get to a point where you don't have that time horizon to necessarily let all of your portfolio recover enough your hundred percent invested in stocks. I would want you to say to me, Rob, I could get a statement in over 1/4's time be down 35% on my portfolio and be okay with that. Not that you'd like it but you be okay with it and not be rushing to make changes and move to cash, but you be comfortable waiting for it to recover which may take a year to spell last meal, April, May, when the pandemic was raging the first time we saw those kinds of declines, but they came it came back very quickly was the fastest move to a bear market and the fastest recovery we've ever seen doesn't typically work like that.

Normally we've hit a recession that would be systemic and it would take quite a while.

Maybe a year or two to recover and I want you to build a weight for that but that probably is not prudent as you get closer to retirement, which is why you would want to move more and more toward fixed income. Stable type investments now in retirement. It doesn't mean you're completely out of the stock market go for most people because here's what you know when you reach age 65 life expectancy increases to 83 and 84 years old for men and women if the Lord tarries and you're in good health.

That portfolio perhaps needs to last for several decades or more. Because people are living longer and so the equity or the stock portion of that portfolio even if it's only 20 or 30% is a somewhat of the engine that's going to get those returns on an aggregate basis up one or two or three percentage points so that you have the ability to get higher returns than you might have in a straight fixed income portfolio. But if the market was down related to that recession I mentioned, then you wouldn't touch that part of the portfolio until it fully recovered and moved to higher ground. So I think you should be moving toward a more conservative position, but that doesn't mean we exit the market altogether. For the reasons I mentioned last thing I would say is this is really underscores the need J to have a professional advisor whose walking with you who can make these decisions whose arm's-length and can help you build the appropriate portfolio that's consistent with your goals, objectives and risk tolerance.

But I got just a minute left before my first break got give me your thoughts. You have a percentage in mind and in the you know what what percentage maybe should be in the market at that well yeah I mean I can give you a rule of thumb is. That's all it is because the art really depends upon what you have in the way of investable assets and how does that relate to what you ultimately need to be able to generate. Let's say the income shortfall you have beyond Social Security at a 4% rate of return so that the portfolio lasts the rest of your life and a lot of that is going to dictate it. If you've over accumulated you could get even more conservative, but that rule of thumb I mentioned this used to be 100 minus your age. Now we typically say 110 minus your age. So if if you were 55 years old. That would put your stock position at about 55% and your bond position at 45% and then as you get older you know that would decline you at 65 to be 45% to 75.

35% so on so that at least gives you a starting point, but again that doesn't replace real retirement planning from a professional that can really help you analyze and think through all of this for you based on your goals and more to come on moneywise live all the lines are full but we got some great questions coming up to stay tuned for M were grateful you join us today for moneywise live wisdom for your financial decisions.

Got a couple of lines open 800-525-7000 800-525-7000. Have you participated in our moneywise community would love for you to do that moneywise live.org just click the community button and you can create a free account and then ask questions, you'll hear responses from others in the moneywise community as well as our moneywise coaches. If you have a burning question you'd not been able to get through. Or perhaps you didn't want to ask it on the air.

Perhaps the moneywise community is the place for you. You can find it again moneywise live.org just a moment will be going to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the home of the Alabama Crimson Tide will be in Hampshire Illinois Island Lake, but the first actually so it isn't Tuscaloosa's well good afternoon Harry great.

How can I help you question out in a 401(k) with the company that I'm no longer.

Let there are Now cadets which company in detail what that money to an IRA.

I really have no claim okay in did you say you went to part-time student. Does that mean, then you are with the same company or you move to a different company company part-time that I'm contributing to my 401(k) that they are no longer, and the company have made a I'm not eligible yet to start a 401(k) there. I see okay how long before you will be eligible when I can get a full term and I'm not sure maybe a year or two during artery night and I probably would be looking to roll this to an IRA. But before you do that I would want you to really decide how you're going to go about managing the money in their how much do you have roughly in this 401(k) and 35,000 okay yeah so there's a significant sum of money in there, which means you don't want to just put that on autopilot and one of the benefits of an IRA is that you open up the entire investment universe to yourself. The downside to that is you have the entire investment universe.

So you have to decide what to buy and sell and you're not limited to just a very few investment choices. That's a good thing, but I think you're going to need some help in doing that. So what I would think about doing so in you is interviewing a couple of certified kingdom advisors there and Tuscaloosa investment professionals to find one that you're comfortable with so that when you roll this out to an IRA you've already determined who's going to take responsibility for managing this money according to your goals and objectives. You know this person would really understand you and what God is doing in your life and your age and your risk tolerance and marital status, and you together or talk about what you want to try to accomplish with this portfolio and then that the professional could then take responsibility for making in building that portfolio of investments that's consistent with all of those objectives. I would want you to have that determined in advance and then once you do that if that's the direction you go, you'd open that IRA at the custodian that that particular investment professional works with.

It could be one of several, typically they work with more than one and then that the assets would be transferred into the IRA.

That's not a taxable event and then once it comes in the form of cash, it would be able to be deployed in the stock market that that's probably the best option because you have's a lot more control over the fees that are paid the investments that are selected and you're not limited just to those few investment choices inside the 401(k). If you had already started and were eligible with the company that allowed a new 401(k) could look at just rolling it into the new 401(k), but given that you may have a year or more before that is available to you.

I think the IRA is the best approach to find a CK there and Tuscaloosa just sent to our website moneywise live.org see a button that says find a CK can search by city, state or ZIP Code again. I'd interviewed two or three.

Find the limits best fit.

They all the best to you as you transition to a different work status and perhaps we time for other things hundred 57. Thanks for joining us for moneywise live on Rob West you hosting your calls and questions on anything.

There's number 800-525-7000. Would you like to connect with whatever moneywise coaches would be happy for you to do that if you had to our website moneywise live.org we have trained volunteer coaches that are delighted to walk alongside you to help you set up a spending plan. Perhaps answer some of your questions even teach you many of the biblical principles related to money management.

We talk about here on the program so just had to moneywise live.org and click connect with the coach.

What were to head back to the phone's next up Island Lake, Illinois, W MBI Tim, good afternoon Sir, how can help Michael appreciate wondering what your what what you think about your opinion as to why is the United States dragging its feet like on the immediate American bitcoin. I would like to get on the crypto currency but I am a little edgy about it and it seems some other nations like China are taken the lead on and I see nothing wrong with United States.

It would be out in crypto what you think. Well, it's true that the US does rank. I believe this purse. The percentage of the population using crypto currencies behind. Interestingly, Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, even Kenya, it's probably because those countries don't trust their currencies and I suspect a lot of the crypto currency owners aren't necessarily investors there using them to purchase things and many folks see these crypto currencies like bitcoin as a hedge against inflation. Now I think it's probably too soon to say that that's the case. In fact, you know, we've seen just the opposite happened in certain cases, but a lot of investors believe that as the economy continues to grow and as folks lose trust in fiat currencies because of the incredible money printing. We've seen pie. The central banks around the world that it will drive up these crypto currencies like bitcoin and again it could serve as a hedge against inflation into the future. Again, it's still too early to know exactly how they're going to respond and so I think that's why we need to take a wait and see. The technology is clearly here to stay and these things are going away, I'm of the opinion they shouldn't be used in our investment portfolios just because of the speculative nature and the incredible volatility that were seeing others disagree. In many fortunes have been made in a very short period of time, but I think an equal amount have lost a significant sum of money and that volatility would just cause me to stay away but I think because of the sound nature of our economy and our banking system. That's why folks here in the states.

Haven't seen as much need to move into these crypto currencies as some other nations around the world doesn't make sense though my question was, what about the government getting about crypto I would like it that it has its values but I just recently had a disaster with my first crack at it and there was nobody I can contact was like go to www.take a hike and it took you to WW fly a kite which took me of the current WW go hang yourself with a bus of the eye is regulated by every night.

She got the wrong but that you were not going to see that the central banks. I don't believe are going to get involved at that level you know part of what makes these crypto currencies what they are is that they are unregulated and a lot of folks that like that aspect of them because they don't want quote and quote manipulation involved so I don't think working to see that.

I think the US banking system and the Federal Reserve is going to stay the course of the way we have been stay away and use other means to create digital transactions. Apart from this block chain technology.

So if that's what you're waiting for. I think you're to be waiting a long time. You never know what could happen down the road but I don't see the US are making a move in that way, but clearly working to see greater and greater adoption over time by people using the crypto currencies as a means of exchange and as a currency and it will be a fascinating case study to watch this unfold the attempt. We appreciate your calling today and they should be a part of the program to Hampshire Illinois.

Amanda, thanks for your call can help hi thank you for taking my call meeting tonight husband 401(k) company matches up to 6% at the conch contribution on we've been only putting in 3% with his plan. I just recently got a full-time job� Bring a 401(k) should we start with needy in my job, or should we take the additional income and maxed out on my been up to the 6% think they match on my job does not match contribution yeah I would absolutely start with your husbands until you at the minimum get the full value of the match at 6% before you start putting money into yours recognizing you these are both assets that year as a married couple going to have access to in your retirement season and so the question is how do you get the most return on God's money. And clearly somebody willing to give you 100% immediate guaranteed return, i.e. a match is something you're not gonna find anywhere else. So let's take advantage of that free money to build that portfolio quicker now once you get to 6%. No, I would say your goal should be to get to 10 to 15% of your pay going into retirement assets as you're able to. You would want to max it out if you had credit card debt or you needed to save for a short-term expense or you didn't have your emergency fund in place.

Those would come first. But assuming those are taking care of a goal of 10 to 15% going into retirement accounts would be ideal and I would say you'd absolutely want to make sure you take advantage of both plans, but start with the fully maximizing that 6% before you do anything else from a retirement perspective. Does that make sense.

It sure does the training session at my other job we have money that we had rolled into an IRA on about $8000 and there should be to leave in that whole transitional crop that you there's nothing else you can do that once it's an IRA. You can't move it back into a 401(k) so I yeah I would just make sure that that's invested, you probably want to use a sum exchange traded funds. You could look at Schwab intelligent portfolios are better mentor you could head over to sound mind investing.org in the sunlight investing newsletter would give you some great mutual fund options you could use so as long as it's invested because even though it's probably not a huge part of your total retirement assets today but $8000 $1000 and we don't want to just park there. So get it working for you.

If it's not already, but then yeah, you don't need to add to that right now, I'd focus on getting up to that 6% and then go over time. You could make that a part of what you use to contribute, but I'd focus on the 401(k)s in the meantime, okay wonderful thank you so much for your help. Have a great weekend and you as well Amanda, thank you for your call today.

Well, those are the kinds of questions we deal with, but we'd love to hear from you. You know what I love about this program is being invited into your story and since God is really allowing your money story to be part of what he's doing in your life and on the question is what is the way we are using money say about what's most important to us in.

We like the story that tells more, we need to make some changes because here's the reality. Money is not an end. It's a tool to accomplish God's purposes, but that's often not the way the world sees so you need to really shape our thinking and align our hearts. God's heart manage his money. Let's do that together give us a call 805 five 7000 number unless this is moneywise live back with more so I really think and Howard each day to talk about money. Well, this is a critical part of our lives, not just our financial lives, but the whole farm. My experiences that your money journey is one of the Key Way, God shapes your spiritual journey, that the question is, is money competing with God for first place in our lives, or are we seeing it as a tool to accomplish his purposes will that's what were aiming for here moneywise live each day to renew our minds and think about our money. This powerful tool the way God thinks about it and it's on his heart and the key is we got a hold it loosely got to live with contentment.

We gotta use it to accomplish his purposes let's do that together we head back to Tuscaloosa, Alabama Lori with the first home game this weekend. Tuscaloosa's got me pretty busy. I guess tomorrow will know you are okay latte old Ms. LeGrand this weekend that they were going to talk football here, but how can I help you, and ended in divorce and everything it I know I will have money to pay to have thought that on that night on my retirement at the moment of the past year and the last in real estate for the past couple years but that industry is up and down over or I need to concentrate on just trying to principal Dan Kiley hereby yeah well first of all sorry to hear that Lori and the Lord's good to be near to you work and ask her moneywise live community be praying for you as you navigate into this next season. Your main question right now is should you pay off the house versus hanging on to the assets that you have and perhaps investing is it really the primary question back out that mind. Now I considerately understand that. Tell me the status of the home that what is it worth and what you owe on it today at 190 have enough money and not letting okay so in the divorce settlement. You're saying you're going to get enough to pay off the hundred $90,000 mortgage but that would basically deplete all of your investable assets is that right now I have about 25,000. Okay so that could be you could serve as your emergency fund. But yeah to your point, you wouldn't have the money at that point to go to investor yell beyond that which you would have just in a liquid emergency fund, you know, Mike, my first position or posture would be that you know that's gonna put you. It's going to deplete you know all of your investable assets. Besides this emergency fund in. That's probably not a great thing.

Now I don't want to dismiss the peace of mind that you're talking about. By having your home paid off free and clear. That's a big deal and that's real and I think we need to think and pray through that if the Lord convicts you just to get that house paid off and then you know that's gonna free up more money on a monthly basis that you could then systematically put into retirement accounts as a realtor you could open a separate IRA or something like that and then just begin building. From there, because your lifestyle will be lower and you have that piece of mind. The flipside is that if you needed to access some funds for some unforeseen event beyond the emergency funds that you have, you know, it would be all tied up in the house. Of course you could sell it but it be an illiquid asset. So I think this really does come down to a conviction issue and you know if you're going to sleep better at night.

Lori, knowing that that house is paid for and you're then able to live your your budget accordingly so that you take the equivalent of that mortgage payment and you begin to put that away systematically every month. I would certainly be okay with that but if you said you know what, I'm okay with that of the mortgage payment. You historically even though my income is variable, on average, conservatively. I should have just what I need to be able to cover all my bills including the mortgage and I'd rather deploy this hundred 90,000 so that can begin compounding and working for me. Over time, you know, II could go that approach as well. So I don't have a strong position, one where the other. I think it's ultimately to come down to in this season of life, or there's a lot of uncertainty in a lot new if you're going to sleep better at night knowing that house is paid for than I'd say go for it. We look when we look to Scripture we should. We see this idea that we should move toward being debt-free over time, and I think the Lord would honor that decision. So give me your thoughts just on some of what I shared that certain think that will change here shortly, but there it is not currently having it hateful part that said, with an family that has knowledge of principles promptly old and I'm bad that they would help me if I needed that. Your timing on staying in this home for the foreseeable future. Yes, there are very good.

Well, yeah, I think I wouldn't do anything right away, I would just you know allow this to play out to you. You obviously this is something that still occurring and you know it doesn't sound like it's even been finalized yet, so I don't think this is a decision you need to make quickly, perhaps even wait six months just to get out, sit with this don't invest that money put it in high-yield savings account with FDIC insurance so it's protected it's not going anywhere and then just going to transition into this new reality of you working and you got this your precious daughter.

That's a critical age of 15. About to start driving.

There's a lot of changes going on, and so making a decision like this to pay off the home. I think right away is probably not the best one. Unless you just absolutely, you know, feel like the Lord is leading you to do that, but perhaps saying I want to take six months to see how this goes with my budget moving forward them to figure out what it takes to fund my lifestyle and I want to think and pray through this before I make that decision. But if you decided you know that what you needed to do to have the peace of mind and the security you're looking for with a lot of other things in flocks was to pay off at home.

I wouldn't have any problem with that, Lori. I think that would be a good decision but perhaps just not right away.

Okay well thank you. We pray for you before we let you go. Father, we just lift up Lori and her precious daughter. Lord, to just be near to her in this difficult season and we know you said you never leave us or forsake us.

And so were to cling to the Lord and I despair you give her wisdom on how to navigate your finances moving forward and pretty. You provide and bless her desire to be found faithful in her relationship with you as a parent but also as a steward of your resources, the Lord, we know you're right next to her. We just want to thank you for that in advance and I look forward to seeing what you're going to do in this next season of her life. We ask all this in Christ name, amen. God bless you Lori and thank you for your call today. Tampa, Florida Judy, thank you for holding.

How can I help you yes thanks for taking my call. I was calling to see how you felt about the critical illness insurance. I have a supplement or insurance and also a Medicare uncovered and and it you know, that's pretty good, but this critical illness.

Patient like a lump sound if you get cancer, heart attack, stroke or kidney failure. They did pay out a lump sum in 2014 some panel. The policy so I can't get it covered for that anymore. Just the other three.

You think it's worth me going mad or should I use that money put an emergency fund or debt what's good question. Obviously use benefited from it so it's been of value to you. The thinking for these policies that these is that these emergencies or illnesses that you mention heart attack, stroke, cancer incur greater than average medical costs of these policies pay out cash to cover the overruns where maybe traditional health insurance fall short the challenges the consumer report says that it's rarely worth the money even though it can give you some additional peace of mind. So unless you just felt really strongly about it.

I'd say on average.

The general consensus is that you could do better by not putting this money there. Now if you don't have enough in your emergency fund to cover deductibles and so forth by your regular health policy, it might make sense to pay 50 or $75 a month for a critical illness policy. Depending upon your age, but I think if you have that emergency fund in place and that may take you some time to get there. Then I would say at that point you may want to consider dropping it because you've got what you need to cover those deductibles and you could take this money and redeployed elsewhere in your budget. So general consensus is probably not the best use of funds. But let's not drop anything until you have that emergency fund fully funded. We appreciate your call today.

Judy Dennis in Chicago. I got just a few seconds left. Understand Dennis, you received a cash settlement from an insurance company about 35,000. You don't need the money so that tells me you have an emergency fund in places that right well I do good thing that I can invest that I can't put it in the banker CDs are paying nothing.

So what you think I should do like like put it in a mutual fund if you got an emergency fund.

And this is money.

You can have a 10 year time horizon on I think putting it into a high quality either stock mutual fund or balanced fund the stocks and bonds makes a lot of sense and just let that grow over time and I like compounding do its work.

I had the sound mind investing.org Dennis soundbite investing newsletter will give you some great mutual fund suggestions and they'll update those every month and you can change them over time and appreciate your call today is a partnership between anywise media thank you to Amy Dan, thank you, Eric and Jim make this happen.

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