Participants: Karen Thomas (Host), Reginald and Ebony clark
Series Code: IAADD
Program Code: IAADD000031A
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00:27 Welcome to "Issues and Answers."
00:29 Say have you ever felt like you'd like to figure out 00:33 how to be better off financially? 00:38 I know I've asked that question myself. 00:40 You know, some people seem to do all the right things, 00:43 you know. 00:44 They know how to be able to pass things on 00:46 and manage their finances so well 00:50 and you look around it, 00:51 it's not necessarily about income. 00:53 Well today we're gonna talk about wisdom and wealth. 00:57 Our guests are Reginald and Ebony Clark. 01:00 They're both graduates at the University of Memphis. 01:02 Reginald is a certified financial planner. 01:05 He's the first elder in his church 01:07 and a recognized leader 01:08 of America's financial planners. 01:10 Ebony is a tax accountant and an auditor. 01:14 Together they run P3 Financial Group. 01:16 And in between that, 01:18 they care for their three precious children. 01:20 Reginald and Ebony conduct seminars 01:22 and trainings to churches 01:23 and the public on how to care for their finances 01:26 and be good stewards. 01:28 Thank you so much for coming. 01:30 Welcome to the program. Thank you. 01:32 Thank you for having us. So glad you can make it. 01:33 Well, I want you to know, 01:35 I have compiled a list of questions 01:38 that enquiry minds want to know. 01:41 And one of those is, what is wealth? 01:44 You have the accountant's version of wealth 01:47 and you have the financial planner's version of wealth. 01:50 Okay, in the accountant and want a best of both worlds. 01:54 There we go. 01:55 So I'm gonna give you my definition. 01:56 It is your assets which is everything you own 01:59 minus your liabilities which is everything you owe 02:03 and what you have left is your net worth 02:05 and another word for net worth is wealth. 02:07 Oh, so it doesn't necessarily mean 02:11 that you are multiple millionaire, 02:13 multi millionaire, billionaire. 02:15 It just means that you've got something left over, 02:17 is that what you're saying? 02:19 You own more than you owe. 02:20 Okay, all right. 02:21 Financial planner? 02:23 Yes, and I don't disagree with that definition at all. 02:24 But I would add to that. 02:25 Wealth is also a measurement of time and not money. 02:29 Here is what I mean when I say that. 02:30 Wealth can be measured in time. 02:32 Wealth is about 02:33 how long can you step away from your job or business 02:36 and still maintain your current lifestyle 02:38 without an interruption. 02:39 For instance, let's say for instance, 02:40 if you have a $5000 saved up 02:43 and your monthly expenses are thousand, 02:45 well, I would consider you to be five months wealthy 02:48 'cause that's how long you can maintain your lifestyle. 02:50 So it's not always the measure of money, 02:52 wealth is also a measurement of time. 02:54 Okay, another question. 02:56 What does wisdom have to do with wealth? 02:58 Wisdom has every thing to do with wealth. 03:02 According to the scriptures, the scripture says, 03:04 "Fear of Lord is the beginning of the wisdom." 03:06 But if you add to that text, 03:08 go to Deuteronomy 8:18, it says, 03:10 "You shall remember the Lord thy God, 03:12 for it is He that gives you the ability to get wealth." 03:15 The one thing I want to bring out there is, 03:17 one thing I probably love that text, it says, 03:19 He gives us the ability to get wealth. 03:22 Two things there, one, 03:23 wealth can't be evil or inherently wrong 03:25 when He want to give us, 03:27 He want to encourage us to do it. 03:28 Two, He says He gives us the ability to do it, 03:31 meaning, we have a part to play. 03:34 You know, He did bless the children of Israel 03:35 all with manna from heaven. 03:37 And but even they had to go gather it. 03:39 So I have a part to play in my wellbeing. 03:42 I can't just sit at home 03:43 and expect God to just stuff it in a mailbox for me. 03:46 And all I'm doing there is just sitting. 03:48 It doesn't work like that. 03:49 Well, okay, let's see what else people want to know. 03:52 So glad you guys are here, you know. 03:54 Sometimes you meet the both people 03:56 financial planner and accountant 03:58 in the same room and you both Christians. 03:59 Good, I could ask my questions. 04:01 Okay, so in a very practical way, 04:04 how does one build wealth? 04:07 People want to know that. 04:08 They're really only three ways. 04:11 There you need to direct your cash flow, 04:14 increase liabilities. 04:16 Okay, hold on a second. 04:17 What does that mean? 04:18 We're gonna get to it. Okay. 04:20 Direct your cash flow, increase your liabilities, 04:23 increase your assets 04:24 and then use your liabilities wisely. 04:27 Absolutely, so you asked so how do we direct cash flow? 04:30 What does that mean? 04:31 Well, think about this... 04:32 Like direct... 04:34 Yeah, think about this. 04:35 Cash, and let me add to that too. 04:38 The most important word you'll ever learn 04:39 in all the financial planning is cash flow, okay. 04:42 Cash, you have to tell your cash what to do. 04:45 Cash flows like water. 04:46 Water takes the path of least resistance. 04:48 If you don't tell your cash where to go, 04:50 it's gonna find a place to go on his own. 04:52 And when we say direct cash flow, 04:53 there's a couple of stoppers you put up along the way 04:56 that where you're telling your cash flow where to go. 04:58 For instance, as soon as you get your income, 05:01 what's one of the first stoppers 05:02 that should be in place? 05:03 Returning the tithe in offer. 05:05 Yes. 05:06 That's your first stopper. 05:07 Your second is going to be your savings. 05:09 And often time this is where you pay yourself first, okay. 05:11 And we heard that term before, pay yourself first. 05:13 And for some people, 05:15 this is a really tough concept to get around, 05:17 but it's very important that you do that 05:19 because by doing that, 05:21 you're telling yourself how important you are 05:23 as well as you giving your cash another great place to stop. 05:26 And one thing I want to say about savings, 05:27 you need to do in terms of percentages. 05:30 Oftentimes we focus in, 05:31 I'm gonna save $50 a month or $100 a month. 05:34 We have to learn to think about money in terms of percentages. 05:37 A tithe is a percentage. Right. 05:38 If you go to buy a home, 05:40 debt to income ratio is a percentage. 05:41 Right. 05:42 So you need to purpose in your mind, 05:44 you're gonna save a percentage of your income, 05:45 not necessarily a whole dollar amount. 05:47 So after you return tithe and offering, 05:49 after you've committed to saving, 05:51 the next couple of stoppers along the way is going to be 05:53 your living expenses and your bills. 05:55 Can I go back real quick to the savings? 05:57 Absolutely. 05:58 What do you guys recommend as a percentage to save? 06:02 You know, sometimes people, 06:03 you know, what do you suggest? 06:07 A good percentage to start off with would be 10 percent. 06:10 But you have to look at your overall finances 06:13 because doing something is better than doing nothing. 06:15 It's about creating a habit. 06:17 So if you can only start with one percent, 06:19 you are still creating that habit 06:21 where you're putting the money aside for yourself, 06:23 and eventually you'll be able to increase 06:25 and then increase it. 06:27 So more importantly than the actual percentage is 06:30 deciding what you can comfortably do 06:32 and creating a habit of getting it done. 06:35 Absolutely, and I'll add to that. 06:37 That's great, you definitely get into a habit of doing it 06:40 and you eventually want to build up too. 06:42 If you can get to what I call the holy grail of saving, 06:44 as well as only taking you about 50 percent of your income 06:48 to sustain your lifestyle. 06:49 Fifty percent of your income? 06:52 Well, I mean, how many people get to that though? 06:54 I mean, your regular working person can get to 50 percent? 06:57 You can get there, I mean, it's about directing cash flow, 07:00 controlling, exercising modesty, 07:03 exercising restrain. 07:06 But you can definitely get there. 07:07 Because if you are... you think about it, 07:09 if you are only using 07:10 50 percent of your income to sustain life, 07:11 to sustain your lifestyle, 07:13 what are you doing with the other 50 percent? 07:14 There's a lot you could be doing. 07:16 Invest in, helping people what have you. 07:17 But you know, the most commonly people are told like well, 07:21 if they want to buy a car, 07:23 that would maybe 30 percent of their income 07:26 or if they want to buy a house 07:28 where your debt to income ratio needs to be 40 or 50 percent. 07:33 So it's very different than what you're suggesting. 07:35 You're saying to really live below your means. 07:39 Is that what you are saying? 07:41 Absolutely. Hard to say. 07:43 It's hard to say, it's even harder to do. 07:46 Like I said, that's what I call it the, 07:48 you know, the UV raft, 07:50 if you can do that. 07:51 But it's very possible. 07:53 It just takes planning and it takes discipline 07:56 and it takes Godly restrain. 08:02 The way it works together 08:03 where it talks about not coveting, 08:04 you know, not worried about what someone else has. 08:07 You have to focus on what... 08:09 you got to stay in your line, 08:10 focus on what you got going on and you can get there. 08:12 You can get there. 08:14 Now another key is not increasing... 08:16 Most people get some type of merit increase 08:18 on their job every year. 08:20 Exactly. Right. 08:21 When you get that increase, 08:22 that doesn't mean that 08:24 your expenses are supposed to increase 08:25 to eat all of that up. 08:26 That's true. 08:28 If you got a three, four, five, ten percent raise, 08:29 but you continue to live at the same level 08:32 that you've been living, 08:33 then that difference can be saved. 08:35 Absolutely. 08:36 And then another thing that we do, 08:37 about every six months 08:39 we pull up all of our bank accounts 08:40 and just go through and analyze it for anything 08:43 that I call a leakage. 08:44 And that maybe 999 service here that you signed up for, 08:49 699 there or you may sign up for some type of auto club 08:54 and it's 1499 a month, 08:56 then all of those things individually aren't a lot 08:58 but when you add it up, 09:00 you may have a 100, 200 dollars of services 09:03 coming out of your account every month 09:04 that you don't even use. 09:06 So you stop up that leakage 09:08 and that's the money that you can spend on other things. 09:11 And as well a lot of people who work, 09:13 they eat out five days a week. 09:15 If you start taking your lunch just three days a week, 09:18 say you spend $10, you're saving $30 a week. 09:21 If you compile that over the whole year, 09:23 that's almost $1,600 that you've saved 09:25 by just taking your lunch. 09:27 Three days a week. 09:29 That's it. Wow. 09:30 So there are small changes 09:31 that can make you have more cash flow 09:34 at the end of the month. 09:35 Wow. Absolutely. 09:37 So let's see. Here's another one. 09:40 How... 09:41 let's see here. 09:42 What sounds another key to building wealth, liabilities? 09:46 What's that? 09:48 Using liabilities wisely. 09:50 Your liabilities are anything that you owe. 09:54 So it's very important to get control over what you owe. 09:58 So can a person build wealth through liabilities 10:02 and so you're saying it needs to be controlled better. 10:04 You can build wealth with the use of liabilities. 10:07 But I'm gonna tell you when we talk about liabilities, 10:09 we're talking about debt. 10:11 Let's talk about how important it is to use it properly. 10:15 Just as medicine can be good but if taken it, you know, 10:19 outside the doctor's prescription, 10:21 it can be very harmful. 10:22 Debt is the same way. 10:24 So for the average person, 10:25 I would recommend just staying away from it. 10:27 Unless you got someone that assist to you 10:29 in a proper way to use it for wealth building techniques, 10:32 then you really don't want to go down that road. 10:35 But when we talk about getting out of debt, 10:38 let's talk about getting out of debt for a second. 10:40 We teach people to collect all their debt, all right. 10:43 Get out the credit card statement 10:45 and let's take a peek at 10:46 what is that you actually spend in, 10:48 that you're swiping this card for. 10:49 Are you swiping this card for things 10:51 that have no value at all? 10:52 For instance, 10:54 if I know I'm going to take a vacation in summer, 10:57 I can just swipe it or I can save up 10:59 and just pay for the vacation. 11:00 Just think about this. 11:02 If I swipe that card to pay for my vacation, 11:04 when I come back, 11:05 what do I have a value concerning that vacation? 11:07 You're not gonna buy my pictures from me. 11:09 Right. 11:10 So, you know, so, although I had a great time, 11:12 it's not an asset. 11:14 I can't do, I can't make anything off of it so. 11:16 That's what we call red debt. 11:18 It needs to stop immediately. 11:21 Then we go on yellow debt 11:22 where we'd be using credit to debt 11:24 for the purchase of something that is an asset 11:26 but does not generate you income, 11:28 okay, such as the home you live in. 11:30 That's an asset 11:31 but it's not making you any money. 11:33 The car you drive, it's a depreciating asset. 11:35 So these are examples of using debt, 11:38 but you want to be careful when you do it. 11:40 And again, green debt would be is what I talked about earlier. 11:44 That using credit to debt 11:45 'cause you can actually purchase things like 11:47 as stocks with debt. 11:48 It's called a margin account 11:50 or you can purchase a rental property with debt. 11:52 But in those situations again, you want to be careful 11:54 'cause you want the cost of the debt 11:56 to be less than then income that is generating. 11:59 You want to make more money from the income 12:01 than what the debt is costing you. 12:02 So now every time you look at your bank account, 12:05 think of all of the things that you own and owe, 12:08 think about the stop light and color code your debt. 12:11 We actually advise people to do it. 12:12 Look at their finances. 12:14 Take out a marker? Write down every thing. 12:15 I got three markers. 12:17 I got three markers and mark them 12:18 red, yellow or green, 12:19 and that way you know anything red, 12:21 you need to stop immediately. 12:22 Stop immediately because it is, 12:24 what is that again? 12:25 Bad debt. Bad debt. 12:27 And it's a non asset purchase of... 12:30 Not an asset, in other words, 12:31 you can't sell it 12:33 or it doesn't have something you can hold or... 12:34 is that what you mean? 12:36 Exactly. Like a... 12:37 What if I like computers? 12:38 What kind of debt would that be if a person...? 12:40 That would be, that would be, 12:42 I would consider it a yellow. 12:43 It is something that has value but... 12:47 What about a student loan? 12:49 Student loan will be well, 12:51 there's a whole can of worms there, 12:52 the student loan... 12:54 Lot of people, that's how they get to college a lot of times. 12:56 Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. 12:58 Student loan could be green debt. 13:01 But I'm so glad you brought that up. 13:03 Here's the issue with student loans 13:06 or here's the issue with college overall. 13:09 So many people today, 13:11 because student loans are so easy to get today. 13:13 So many people are getting student loans. 13:16 But they are pursuing degrees 13:18 that don't have the potential to pay them 13:22 for the cost of the degree. 13:23 What I mean by that is 13:25 you should never borrow more 13:27 in for your total degree 13:29 than what you can expect to earn 13:30 your first year doing what? 13:31 In one year. Yes. 13:33 That's wise. That's very wise. 13:34 Absolutely, because the student loan, if you... 13:36 there's a site you can go to. 13:38 I can't call at top of my head, 13:40 but there's a meter that showing 13:41 where we are as a country 13:43 as far as the amount of student loan debt is out there. 13:45 And what I want to be clear... 13:46 Really? Yes, there is. 13:48 And I want to be sure that people understand 13:49 student loan debt by law can never be bankrupted. 13:53 It's the only debt 13:54 you can't give it up through bankruptcy process. 13:56 So you either gonna pay it off or you're gonna die with it. 13:59 So be carefully with student loan debt and so. 14:01 Then a lot of people, they go back to school 14:04 because they don't know what they want to do. 14:05 Exactly. 14:06 Well, if you don't know what you need to do, 14:08 you can... 14:09 or want to do, you can take time to figure it out 14:11 but you shouldn't incur more debt 14:12 while you're doing this. 14:13 So I know so many people that have gone 14:15 back to get Masters degrees 14:16 because they weren't sure 14:18 how they wanted to use their undergraduate degree. 14:20 But you are about to incur another 14:22 60, 70, 80, possibly a $100,000 of debt 14:26 just to figure out what you want to do. 14:29 And if their Master degree has a potential to earn... 14:31 I said it, again, like she said, 14:33 the Master degree is going to cost you $40,000. 14:36 But only has the potential to increase your earning power 14:39 by another two or three thousand dollars, 14:41 is that a good return on your investment? 14:43 No. Not really. 14:44 Absolutely not. 14:45 So we really need to educate our kids 14:47 and our daughters as well, 14:48 think before you just go 14:51 planting into student loan debt. 14:53 So just think, if the school says, 14:55 hey you got $10, 000 14:56 that you can have for the semester, 14:58 doesn't mean to go get that $10,000. 15:00 Exactly. Exactly. 15:01 You're saying that you need to really be able to see 15:04 maybe go online or look and see 15:06 what the income is going to be 15:07 for that particular career path. 15:09 Absolutely. 15:10 And if you need... 15:11 loans are there if you need them 15:13 but only get what you need. 15:17 I laugh because I've learnt it the hard way. 15:19 We both did. 15:21 Then of course, there are some ways 15:23 that people are able to, 15:25 you know, find a way to get out of their student loan debt say, 15:28 by volunteering in the arm forces. 15:31 I would say volunteering but serving 15:33 in the arm forces or serving in public entities 15:38 where you get your debt forgiveness. 15:40 Absolutely. 15:41 And if you work, make ten years worth of on time payment 15:44 say you work for non profit, your loans are forgiven. 15:48 So you're saying it's a plan. 15:49 Come with the plan if that's what will take you. 15:50 Come up with the plan. Exactly. 15:54 So what are some other ways to be wise about wealth? 15:58 Now you defined wealth now, 16:00 guess we could all be wealthy in that regard. 16:02 You are saying that if we have a way 16:06 to pay for our living expenses 16:09 beyond the immediate month, we're wealthy? 16:11 Absolutely. 16:13 Is that what you're saying, really? 16:14 Absolutely, and let's think about 16:15 this along the same thing. 16:17 Remember in my first definition 16:18 I talked about time being able to walk away. 16:20 Tell me about that. 16:21 You may have given that in a seminar some place. 16:23 Tell us here about that? 16:25 Let's say... 16:26 let's talk about how the wealthy people do it. 16:29 How they think? 16:31 If I want to purchase a car, okay, 16:35 traditionally what we would do is go and borrow the money 16:38 and go out and buy the car. 16:39 But a person is thinking along the lines of a wealthy mindset, 16:42 they would say I need an asset to pay for that liability. 16:46 For instance, good, let's use student's loans. 16:49 If I want to pay back the student loans, I could, 16:52 you know, I've seen people having student loans 16:54 in excess of $100, 000. 16:55 That's no longer abnormal. 16:58 I could work really hard to pay this $100, 000 off 17:01 or maybe I could go purchase some rental property. 17:03 Get the rent from that, pay for the student loan. 17:06 So now I'm letting my assets pay for my liabilities. 17:09 And when my liabilities are paid for, 17:11 I still have my asset that still generate an income. 17:13 That's the bonus. 17:14 That's the bonus usually. Absolutely. 17:16 It's like the... It's like the bonus. 17:17 Tell us about that? 17:19 That's the bonus, the fact that once the liability is paid off, 17:20 once the student loan is paid off, 17:22 you still have the goose. 17:23 You still have what the goose is producing the egg. 17:26 The golden egg. Yeah. 17:27 Okay. 17:29 So you are not using the goose or using the eggs 17:31 and once it's paid off, 17:32 that goose is gonna continue to produce eggs 17:34 and that money can go somewhere else. 17:37 So you know, have you ever seen people that become 17:40 so obsessed with becoming wealthy that they, you know, 17:44 they are doing everything they can to, you know, 17:47 chase the money down? 17:48 Are you suggesting that for everything that we have, 17:51 we should be looking for some kind of way, I mean, 17:53 tell us about that. 17:54 What do you think about that? 17:56 You know there's a lot of things out there. 17:57 Yeah. 17:58 Well, yeah. 18:00 But we talked early that 18:01 the title of this topic is wisdom and wealth. 18:03 And what we want to be sure, we're doing as Christians, 18:06 we want accompany godly... 18:08 We want godly wealth because it comes with godly wisdom, okay. 18:11 We don't ever wanted to seek to build 18:13 wealth outside the will of God. 18:14 Wisdom being, 18:16 that's gonna lead you to a multitude of problems, 18:17 multitude. 18:19 You're gonna get rich yourself 18:20 involving get-rich-quick schemes 18:21 or business that's, you know, less than honorable. 18:25 So we don't want to get, 18:27 we don't want to find our self chasing that rabbit. 18:29 There's a scripture that talks about 18:31 the blessings of the Lord overtaking us. 18:33 I heard this term a lot, people say I'm paper chasing, 18:36 I'm chasing the money. 18:37 Well, I tried to live my life and I wish people lead a life 18:40 as such where I don't have to chase money. 18:42 God's blessings chases me 18:44 if you live in according to His will. 18:46 Yeah, that's excellent. 18:48 That's excellent. 18:49 So now how could a person be prudent 18:52 and responsible and understanding, 18:55 being within the will of God make certain decisions. 18:57 What's that way, you guys mentioned about 19:01 rental property or having a asset 19:03 perhaps that could pay for some. 19:06 How would one go about that if, you know, 19:08 they're not coming from a family 19:10 where people are really good at that? 19:12 Seek advice. 19:15 Just like if my car needs service. 19:18 I don't know how to fix the car. 19:20 So I go to someone that knows how to fix the car 19:22 and then I can be pretty sure that they are going to fix it 19:26 and I can be on my way. 19:28 And there is nothing wrong with realizing 19:30 where you don't know everything about a topic 19:33 and going to someone who can. 19:35 And I think that's being prudent. 19:37 It's seeking advice from professionals 19:41 that can help you reach your financial goals. 19:44 And though, I mean, even if it's... 19:47 If you don't have a professional 19:48 or you don't know someone directly to talk to, 19:52 then maybe you can use other recourses online 19:55 or sometimes you can just talk to someone 19:58 who has done it before. 20:01 And they can be a start. 20:02 So get the information 20:06 and getting the information that's being prudent. 20:09 And then you should be able to be successful. 20:12 And can I add something? Yeah. 20:14 Today, there's a ton of information 20:17 that doesn't cost you a dime on the internet. 20:19 Most of the books on personal finance are there, 20:22 you can just download them today. 20:23 So it's really not whereas back, 20:26 you know years before 20:27 that was a close guarded secret on a lot of stuff, 20:31 a lot of wealth building techniques 20:32 or just good information in general. 20:35 But a lot of the things... 20:36 Yeah, you could just download a lot of this stuff. 20:38 So, you know, just Google in, 20:42 you know, different headings, 20:44 how to be build wealth, 20:45 or how to manage my money builder. 20:47 There are so many websites, 20:48 even when you talk about balancing your check book 20:51 or just tracking your cash flow, 20:54 free websites that are available 20:55 to help you do that, to help you get started 20:57 because documentation is the key 20:59 to ways to beginning. 21:00 It's the first step of the whole wealth building process. 21:03 Okay, I have another question. 21:06 I am, have available on my job a 401k... 21:13 Okay. Okay. 21:14 Plan and I have options to be able to buy stocks or bonds, 21:19 you know, they go to, but the idea of, 21:21 you know, how do you, you know, 21:22 a lot of people, you know, with your job, 21:24 you get pension and you know, how do you, 21:26 what's a good way to do that? 21:28 Is it should we just leave it and let it go or as Christians, 21:34 is it okay for us to take a look at bonds 21:37 and stocks and then how? 21:39 What's the best way to do that? 21:41 Oh, that's a great, great question. 21:43 Let me jump in there. 21:44 Um, 'cause I get that question a lot. 21:47 Should we as Christians 21:49 because some of them purchasing stocks, 21:50 is it, is it, and I get the question a lot, 21:52 is it a lot like gambling. 21:53 Well, let's address that. 21:56 There's a difference between investing and trading, okay. 22:00 When you're stock investor, this is what you are doing. 22:03 You're examining the benefits or the merits. 22:05 You're looking at, what is this company producing, 22:08 what's their good of service, is it something that I like, 22:11 is it something that I use. 22:12 And you're also looking 22:13 at the fundamentals of the company. 22:15 Is this company making money? 22:16 Do they got a good board of directors in the place? 22:18 How is the management team? 22:19 That's the attitude of an investor. 22:21 An investor says, hey, 22:22 this company doing some good stuff, 22:23 they're making money, I want to participate in it. 22:25 I want to own a piece of that company. 22:27 That's all the stock is. 22:28 It represents ownership in a company. 22:30 Whereas a trader, 22:31 trader is not looking at any of the things 22:33 that I've just mentioned. 22:34 Trader is simply looking at stock prices. 22:36 They're jumping in, that's gambling. 22:37 They're jumping in and out, 22:39 they don't care what the company is doing. 22:40 The company could be sinful, they don't care. 22:43 They're just looking at the stock prices, 22:44 they're jumping in and out, that's gambling. 22:46 So investing and trading is two different things. 22:50 So I definitely encourage people to become investors. 22:53 By owning stocks, 22:55 stocks traditionally being the fastest appreciating 22:57 asset in this country. 22:58 So when you look at being a part owner 23:00 of some very reputable companies. 23:03 Yeah, you want to participate in that. 23:05 Absolutely. 23:06 So how does one go about it, again, 23:09 looking background or not, you know, again, the wealth, 23:11 and how to build wealth for people 23:13 who don't know how to build wealth. 23:14 How to be wise about wealth? 23:16 Maybe they inherited some money even. 23:18 Want to be wiser, they don't blow it, right? 23:21 Is it a good idea to go buy a lottery ticket for example? 23:25 No, that's not a good idea. 23:26 What's the Christian, we got to cover it. 23:28 We got to cover it. 23:29 What's the... 23:30 What's the... 23:32 How does God view lottery tickets? 23:33 I wouldn't advice that. 23:35 That, you know, 23:36 as the scripture talks about a get-rich-quick schemes 23:38 that they were following it there. 23:40 But you talked about participating in 401k. 23:43 If your company offers a 401k, you need to participate 23:47 because the thing about it is, 23:49 it's hard to miss what you never had. 23:51 The good thing about 401k is that, 23:52 they take the money out before 23:54 you ever have a chance to spend it. 23:55 And for most people, 23:56 they don't have that discipline on their own, 23:58 that's a great way to get some investments going 24:01 as well as prepare for your retirement. 24:03 And it's also they take it out pre-tax. 24:05 Absolutely. 24:07 So that's less money 24:08 that you use in the calculation 24:10 of how much your taxable income means, 24:12 so 401k is that's taken out pre-tax. 24:15 And then a lot of times the companies will do a match. 24:17 So they may say, okay, if you put in a dollar, 24:20 we'll put in 50 cents. 24:21 And that's free money, 24:23 so we definitely recommend people 24:25 to contribute to their 401k, 24:27 especially, if they're getting a match 24:28 from their company. 24:30 Well, some people would say, well, you know, 24:31 the stock prices going up and down 24:34 and with the market, 24:35 you know, we're just, you know, 24:37 recession and the economy going up and down, 24:39 is it a good idea versus 24:41 just putting the money in the bank? 24:43 Well, let's look at that. 24:46 The average bank right now as we speak today, 24:50 the savings accounts are paying a little less 24:52 or right at one percent, okay. 24:56 And you say, what else, 24:57 I mean, I know my money is going to be safe. 25:00 But you look at the average cost of prices rising, 25:03 is about three percent. 25:04 So if prices are rising at three percent, 25:06 but I'm only earning one percent 25:08 and that says I'm losing two percent 25:10 every year of my purchasing power. 25:11 So it's just the illusion of safety that you have 25:15 with just letting your money sit there. 25:17 So, yeah, stock markets move up and down 25:20 just like real estate moves up and down. 25:22 For years we thought real estate only went one way. 25:24 But the recent financial crisis taught us different. 25:26 The real estate can depreciate. 25:27 So but over the long run, over the long run, 25:31 the stock market has been a great place to build wealth 25:34 averaging 10 to 12 percent of its lifetime so, yeah, 25:37 in short, and you have to, 25:40 the way you balance that is, 25:42 you never put money in the market 25:44 that you need in a short time and by short time I mean, 25:47 within the next, you know, four or five years. 25:50 If you want to use the stock market, 25:52 use it for long term wealth build strategies, 25:54 anything five plus years. 25:56 Well, you guys have, and both of you... 25:59 Reginald and Ebony, 26:00 you both have answered so many wonderful questions. 26:03 You're just so wonderful resource. 26:06 I really appreciate your coming. 26:07 One of you can have prayer before we close out today. 26:11 Sure, absolutely. 26:12 Let's bow. Okay. 26:13 The Lord, thank you so much for another day. 26:15 Thank you for the wisdom 26:16 you've given us to build wealth. 26:18 Thank you for giving us the ability 26:20 to build wealth as well. 26:21 Lord, thank you, please help us to be better 26:24 stewards and managers of our finances 26:26 and help us to consult you 26:28 and seek out opportunities that you would be pleased with. 26:32 And give us a mind and the knowledge 26:33 to bless you with all that we do. 26:35 Give us a heart, to purpose in our heart 26:37 to return unto you a faithful tithe 26:39 and honest offering and let us not be hoarders 26:43 but let us have a mindset to bless others 26:45 as you have blessed us. 26:46 We ask these blessings in your Son 26:48 Jesus' name we pray, amen. 26:49 Amen. Amen. 26:51 So if we wanted to be able to have you come 26:55 or if someone watching the program, 26:57 are you guys available to travel? 26:58 Oh, absolutely. Definitely. 27:00 Okay, so do you have like one day seminars, 27:03 how does it work? 27:05 Yeah, we do one day seminars. 27:06 We've done... 27:08 do a lot with churches. 27:09 We can come in and do 27:11 a Wednesday night Bible study... 27:12 Oh, really? 27:13 Yeah, yeah, Wednesday night 27:15 or Monday seminars, workshops, 27:17 we like workshops 'cause it's more interactive. 27:19 On various topics so it can be as broader, 27:21 specific as you want it. 27:24 Absolutely. 27:25 Well, again, thank you for coming 27:27 all the way from Memphis, Tennessee. 27:29 I appreciate the sharing that you did today. 27:31 And for those of you at home, 27:33 I hope that the program was really helpful. 27:35 I know, I kind, you know, 27:37 it's nice as a host 27:38 when you get to get information from your guest. 27:41 So I know it benefited me tremendously. 27:44 So I hope it does for you at home. 27:46 So hey, we did learn today that we can all become wealthy 27:51 just by learning how to live within our means 27:53 and learning how to live underneath our means. 27:56 We've learned that God has given us 27:58 all the ability to be able to get wealth, 28:02 and so we want to be able to be a blessing 28:05 and open up our hands and our hearts 28:08 to receive whatever God has for us. 28:10 Thank you for joining us today. May God bless you. 28:14 Have a great rest of the day. Bye-bye. |
Revised 2017-01-12