Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY018060A
|
00:01 I want to spend my life
00:08 mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:19 removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 mending broken people 01:11 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today. My name is 01:13 CA Murray and allow me once again to thank you 01:16 for sharing just a little of your, no doubt, busy 01:19 day with us, to thank you as always for your 01:22 love, your prayers, and your support of 3ABN 01:25 as together, we lift up the name of Jesus 01:28 and take the good news of Christ's soon coming 01:31 to the whole world. This is a very special 01:32 program. 1) Because of our subject matter, and 01:36 2) because of the guests that are with 01:38 me on set. I'm in the company of our director 01:41 of trust services, Mr. Roy Hunt. Good to have 01:43 you here, man. - Good to be here. Always 01:45 a pleasure. - Praise the Lord. Good-looking, 01:47 distinguished fellow. This is a fellow you 01:49 want to give your money to because he looks 01:52 so good. - Not to me- to 3ABN. [laughter] 01:56 - And we praise the Lord for that. But what's 01:59 really interesting today is our guests. 02:03 -Are our guests? Is our guests? Are our guests. 02:07 ...Our guests. Attorney Wesley Westphal. That 02:12 name, Westphal, is very familiar to those 02:14 of you who are friends of 3ABN. Been here 02:18 more than one time and his dad was our- was 02:23 YOUR predecessor for many years. - That's right. 02:25 - Hard workin' guy. - Absolutely. [laughter] 02:30 - And his mom is still with us; just left here 02:31 just a few days ago. But our special 02:35 guests- I use that term a lot, but they are 02:38 special guests in this capacity- are JD and 02:40 Shelley Quinn, and you're seeing them in a slightly 02:43 different role because we're going to talk about 02:45 stewardship and benevolence and 02:47 disinterest in benevolence and support of the work of God; 02:50 and along with working for 3ABN, they are 02:54 supporters of 3ABN and are going to talk 02:58 to you a little bit about how they have 03:00 struck to their lives and their work so that 03:02 their legacy to 3ABN is ongoing. Have I covered 03:05 that fairly succinctly? - Amen. - So, we're going 03:07 to have a good program. Talk a little bit about 03:09 stewardship, about surrendering your 03:10 life to the Lord, and what that means; 03:12 we've got the attorney here should we run 03:14 into any difficulty. - He keeps me straight. 03:18 - Amen and amen. So we really should be 03:20 quite fine. Roy's going to kind of take the 03:23 lead on this stuff because he is our- 03:25 this fellow does a good job. When we have 03:29 3ABN board meeting, the reports are-I 03:31 don't say universally good, but they're always 03:34 pretty good, man. You're working really 03:35 hard, and your team is working hard. We 03:37 should give them kudos also. - Yes. Every 03:40 person in our office has a major part in 03:43 what we do, and talking with the individuals that 03:46 call and want to do something for 3ABN, 03:49 they're the front line. Many times, people 03:54 will talk to them before they talk to 03:55 me, so I appreciate every one of them 03:58 that we have. We have one volunteer, even, 04:01 that spends a lot of time with us. She's 04:04 away right now, but when she comes back, 04:06 she's right there, ready to go to work, 04:09 so we appreciate all of them. - Good team. 04:12 A good group of people. Shelley and JD are 04:15 Texans. We got here about the same time, although 04:18 you had done some work previously to your 04:20 coming for 3ABN... We're going to get into 04:23 this; sort of just touching the surface. 04:25 You have looked at your life, at what you have, 04:28 what the Lord's blessed you with, and made some 04:29 long-term determinations for yourself and for 04:32 the ministry. - Absolutely. When I think of 04:35 stewardship, the scripture that comes 04:38 to my mind is James 1:17 that God is the 04:40 giver of every good and perfect gift. Of 04:44 course, Paul said that even- the way I look 04:49 at it, everything that we have is God's. 04:52 Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies 04:55 are not our own but we were bought with 04:57 a price. To me, stewardship is 05:00 recognizing God as our provider, then 05:03 it is our responsibility to manage the resources 05:09 that He has given us for His glory. 05:12 We want to ensure the most important 05:16 ministry to us- we give a faithful tithe 05:20 to the church, we give offerings to our local 05:24 church- but the most important ministry to 05:27 us is 3ABN because we believe wholeheartedly- 05:30 and the reason we're here is because we 05:32 believe that 3ABN is the greatest evangelistic 05:36 tool in the hands of the Lord today. We 05:38 want to ensure that what we have will 05:43 continue to support 3ABN after we're gone. 05:46 - Amen. Amen. When we think of stewardship in 05:48 its broadest terms, it is really the recognition 05:51 that God is in control of every aspect of 05:54 our lives. Certainly, our hearts, our heads - 05:58 that translates into what goes on in your 06:00 wallet. But to limit it just to funds is 06:04 sort of an impoverished view of stewardship 06:07 because it's the health He's given you, it's the 06:10 life force He's given you, it's the time He's 06:12 given you - it's all of those things 06:14 turned over to God given back to God for 06:16 service in the cause of God. I certainly would not gainsay. 06:20 I think 3ABN is an incredible latter-day 06:23 tool in the hand of God for the salvation 06:26 of the souls of men and- I've not been able- 06:31 Irma and I-to do anything large, but 06:33 we have money taken out of every paycheck 06:35 since we've come to 3ABN that goes back 06:36 into the ministry, because I believe 06:39 you ought to buy what you sell. You ought to 06:41 believe in what you sell. And as such, 06:44 it's worthy of our support. When you see 06:46 the good that's being done around the world, you 06:48 want that to go on and go on and go on 06:50 after you. Let's go to our music, Roy, then 06:53 I'll kind of put it in your hands a little 06:55 bit. We're going to talk a little bit more 06:56 about stewardship and then we're going 06:58 to make ample use of this attorney who sits 07:00 before us-good-lookin' guy, you know. He's 07:02 got hair. [laughter] - Praise the Lord. 07:10 Anybody with hair. It's kind of good for 07:15 me. And forgive us; we have fun here 07:18 because we believe in what we're doing. 07:19 We believe in the power of the Lord and there is 07:21 a joy and a line that comes from 07:23 serving the Lord and knowing that you're 07:25 doing what God is asking you to do. 07:26 - Amen. - So if it overflows and expresses 07:29 itself in laughter and joy, forgive us. In fact, 07:32 don't forgive us-join us, because I think 07:34 that's what the Lord would have us to do. 07:36 Our music is coming from Sam Ocampo, and I need 07:38 to warn you and get you ready for Sam. Sam is 07:41 to the piano what Jaime Jorge is to the violin 07:45 visually. A lot of facial expression; 07:47 he's very into his music, so when you watch him, 07:50 half the fun is just watching what he's 07:52 doing facially as is when Jaime Jorge is 07:55 playing. He's just twisting and turning and 07:56 he's into his music. Well, Sam is like that 07:58 on the piano. He's going to be playing "Thank You 08:03 Lord." Listen, but also watch. It'll 08:07 be a spiritual treat. This is Sam Ocampo. 12:26 - Welcome back. That was beautiful. I've 12:29 always enjoyed Sam Ocampo. I've known 12:33 him for- not known him personally but known 12:34 his music style, and the songs that he 12:37 plays are just absolutely beautiful. Thank the Lord. 12:41 - He does get into his music; he really 12:44 does. - Wesley Westphal, I appreciate everything 12:48 you do for 3ABN. Every document that is 12:52 written-almost. There's probably a couple that 12:57 Wesley is not involved with. Wesley's been 13:00 working with 3ABN for many, many years. 13:03 Whenever there is a question, I call 13:06 Wesley. If he doesn't know the answer, he 13:10 knows right where to go to get it. I've 13:12 asked Wesley to talk a little bit about wills 13:16 and trust. A lot of times, I talk about 13:21 the trust and the wills, but I'd like to hear it 13:24 from an attorney. Why is it necessary for 13:27 people to do a will or a trust and what's the 13:30 difference? - Well, wills and trusts accomplish 13:34 the same things, somewhat. They distribute your 13:37 assets once one person passes away. The main 13:42 difference between a will and a trust is 13:44 that a trust will help you avoid probate. 13:47 That's, if you have property- anybody 13:51 who owns property really should have a 13:52 trust, because avoiding the probate system 13:56 will save time and money from your estate 14:01 and make it so much easier for your 14:02 beneficiaries and whoever's handling your 14:04 estate. - Now, Wesley, if I may hit the pause 14:07 button, define 'probate,' 'cause there may be some 14:08 people who don't know that term. - Probate 14:10 is a Core Proceeding that, when a person 14:12 passes away with a will, the will typically 14:19 gets deposited into a court or the county 14:22 court. Then you have a Core Proceeding 14:26 that divides all the assets up, but that takes a 14:30 long time. There's expenses involved- 14:33 attorneys' fees-it's a much more complicated 14:36 process than what you have with a trust. 14:39 - Do attorneys need to get involved in 14:40 probate, or should they? - Yeah, you should. 14:43 If you have a-. [laughter] Some 14:48 attorneys are going to get mad at me for 14:50 saying, "Get trusts," 'cause that takes 14:51 a lot of money out of their pocket. 14:55 Typically, if you have to probate a 14:57 will, you're going to have an attorney 14:59 involved, so you'll have a lot of attorneys' 15:00 fees, a lot of costs, a lot of fees outside 15:04 the attorneys' fees, and it takes it quite a 15:06 while. I've seen some probates last for 15:09 years. Trusts are quick; much less expense 15:15 involved and you avoid the hassles 15:19 of the probate system. - Now, in some states, 15:21 I understand that there are small probates. 15:24 Are you familiar with small probates? 15:27 - Yes. Most states have what's like a small 15:31 estate set aside where you can do declarations 15:35 or affidavits, and you can do that outside 15:40 the court system if your estate is small 15:43 enough. - Do you know how small a small estate 15:47 can be? We're talking 10,000, 50,000? 15:50 'Cause we get asked all the time how much 15:55 money is our dividing line between a will 15:58 and a trust as to how much money I have 16:01 versus a will or a trust. - Well, the key 16:04 thing is if there's property in the estate. 16:06 If there's property, almost always, you need 16:10 a trust to avoid probate. If there's no 16:14 property, then there's some states where it's 16:17 100,000 or less; each state has its own dividing 16:23 line as to how much your estate is worth 16:25 whether you need to have the court involved 16:28 or not. - Okay, take us through doing a 16:32 trust from the time that you receive the 16:35 document. What happens? People are waiting 16:38 on their document to come back. What are 16:41 you doing to prepare their document? - Well, 16:44 I review all the documents or review 16:46 what their wishes are... If there's a problem, 16:48 they talk to them and see what I can do to 16:51 resolve any issues that there may be. I create 16:55 the documents, send them back to 3ABN 16:57 typically, and then they send them onto the 16:59 donors or the trustors, then the 17:06 signatures are done, and basically... 17:08 - That's it? - Yeah, that's it. - I have 17:11 a question, though. There are revocable 17:15 trusts and irrevocable trusts. What do we- 17:19 - We promote revocable trust here. - So you 17:22 gain control? - Well, we do self-administered trust 17:27 here, which means the individual that wants 17:30 to do a trust or the husband and spouse 17:32 doing a trust were doing self-administered, 17:35 that means they are in control. If they want 17:39 to do something, they have the authority 17:42 to go ahead. They are actually the trustee. 17:44 In some states- the reason we chose to 17:48 go this route, there are some states in 17:50 the country where people will lose their 17:53 homestead exemption if they do a regular 17:57 revocable trust. A self-administered trust 18:02 takes them out of that problem and homestead 18:08 exemption is not lost because they are 18:12 still the trustee. - Which is important, 18:16 especially today with taxes going up right 18:18 and left. If you are a senior citizen, you 18:21 can come under that category of them 18:23 fixing it. - That's right. - And so, that 18:26 does make a difference. Otherwise, I mean, those 18:29 taxes could continue to go up and you have 18:31 no control on it anyway. - Now, 18:33 I want to take just a second, because 18:34 from the outside looking in, we're 18:36 going to focus on what you've done. 18:38 One of the things that you said, attorney, is 18:41 if you have property- at that point, think trusts. 18:45 I'm trying to draw a line here so that those- 18:47 if you don't have a lot of cash but you 18:50 do have property, house, land, then think trusts 18:53 because that simplifies it and makes it a little 18:54 easier for you to work with. So if you have 18:57 property, that's the bottom line. Think 18:59 trusts at that point as opposed to will. 19:00 Do I understand you correctly? - That's 19:03 pretty much correct. - Okay. - If you have 19:06 property-... Actually, a lot of the estate value- 19:10 the dividing line goes down. If you have 19:13 property that's worth almost anything, then 19:16 in some states, you're going to have to do 19:18 a probate if you only have a will for it. 19:20 That's why you need to think trust if you have 19:23 property. - Save time, money, hassle, and you 19:27 get your wishes done. - Now, we have questions 19:32 back on the will side. People will call and 19:35 say, "Can't we do a will on our own? Can't 19:39 we go online and find a document to do a 19:41 will?" What are your thoughts on that? 19:45 - You could do that, but it's very generic and 19:50 it's- I don't recommend that because it doesn't 19:54 personalize your particular situation. 19:59 Particularly, there are some blanks you can 20:02 find and say, "I want this to this person or 20:04 this to that person," online and just print it 20:07 out and do that, but it can be awkward for 20:10 whoever's running your- doing your distribution, 20:15 the executor, and you really need something 20:19 that's personalized to you. If you have any 20:22 questions on it, it's personalized to your 20:24 situation to make it the smoothest transition 20:26 that you want. - And one of the advantages 20:29 of doing a trust is that 3ABN's usually 20:33 the successor trustee. Once the person has 20:37 passed away, both individuals-if it's a 20:40 joint trust- once they both pass 20:43 away, that allows 3ABN to come in immediately 20:48 and start processing- start administering- 20:51 the trust. We don't have to worry about going 20:54 to court and getting the judges' OK to 20:57 do what we need to do. The trust can be 21:01 administered from day one. It usually takes a 21:05 period of time to do it, but we can get 21:07 started right away. - Exactly. That's the 21:09 benefits of a trust; you get started right 21:11 away. If you go to probate, I think the 21:14 minimum I've seen is 6 months. - You know, 21:18 I'm just thinking when you said people say, 21:21 "Can't we do a will ourselves?" You can 21:24 pull your own teeth, too, if you want. 21:26 It's something that- first of all-and I'm 21:31 sure, Wes, you can agree with this- 21:34 is that when we're talking with young couples 21:38 where with we're doing, say, premarital counseling. 21:41 We tell them to sit down and write a will. 21:44 It's so important to write a will. People 21:49 think that's only for older people, but 21:51 young people need a will, especially if you 21:54 have children, you need to be saying where 21:56 they're going to go. You may not have any 21:58 assets, but what if you were in a car 22:00 accident and your estate receives 22:04 $250,000 as a payoff on that accident; 22:10 what's going to happen to it? Wills are 22:13 very important and it doesn't- it's not just 22:15 something for an old person. But what we've 22:18 done-and thank you all for the education 22:21 you've been giving all of us-is that- 22:23 - You've been listening. - We've been listening! 22:29 I just wish we'd done it a whole lot sooner 22:31 than we did do it. My grandfather lost 22:34 a fortune during the Great Depression. When 22:39 Walmart- when Walmart? When the stock market- 22:43 where did Walmart come from? When the stock 22:46 market crashed, he lost a fortune and he would 22:48 never put another penny into the stock market. 22:52 He put his money into real estate after that. 22:55 So, I've always been a little leery, quote and 23:01 quote, of "playing the stock market" is what 23:04 he called it, and we unfortunately had a 23:07 business partner who put us seriously into 23:10 debt. So, we began late in our planning for 23:15 retirement, if you will; but what we've 23:17 done is, we had some money in the bank 23:20 and we were getting 0.25% interest-something like 23:25 that-for years. Molly kept telling me, "You 23:29 need to do a cash trust! We're gettin' nearly 23:31 5% on our money!" And so we looked into it 23:33 and it was like, "Wow!" so we transferred 23:37 the money into a cash trust, and it's been 23:41 amazing the return that we get on that cash 23:43 trust with 3ABN. The way we set ours up, 23:47 there are four primary beneficiaries; 3ABN gets 23:54 25%. What we wanted to make sure was 23:57 no matter what happens, as people die off, it's 24:01 going to be equally divided among these 24:04 4. There's only 3 left is equally divided 24:07 among those 3 if somebody else dies off first. 24:10 I mean, that's the way we set it up. But now 24:12 what we're doing is setting up a property 24:14 trust and that was important to us-a self-administered property 24:19 trust-and we want to put- we got some land and we've got 24:22 a home that we want to go entirely to 3ABN. 24:26 We have a few inherited assets that- that 24:29 inheritance cost us money; it was the family 24:32 farm. That will go to our family; we're 24:35 going to keep that into the family, but 24:37 then our home here and the little land that we 24:40 own here, we want that to go entirely to 3ABN. 24:43 I think you work hard and it is very important 24:50 to us. What we have found is when Jesus 24:53 said, "Lay up treasures in heaven-not here on 24:58 earth," it is very important to us 25:00 that God's work continues on and whatever God has 25:06 entrusted us with, we feel that it's something 25:10 that we don't feel that our relatives would 25:14 necessarily help the work of God continue. 25:17 Can I say that? Is that okay? - Well, you did. 25:21 [laughter] - Well, what I'm saying is, 25:24 that's not a priority in their mind. So, 25:28 rather than risk having the money that God has 25:34 given to us-the funds or the property that 25:36 God has given to us- rather than risk 25:38 that going somewhere and just being spent on 25:41 secular goods, we want to take control of that 25:45 and make sure that 3ABN- and all of our money, 25:49 all of our property, that's already had 25:51 a tithe paid on it. The rest of it, we're 25:55 leaving to 3ABN. - And we appreciate that. 25:57 We appreciate everybody that has a burden 26:00 for the ministry, and especially 3ABN. 3ABN 26:04 has been around...34 years? - Just shy of. - Just shy 26:09 of 34, and this type of looking towards the 26:16 ministry with your finances has kept 26:19 this ministry solid. There are times when 26:23 we wonder where the funds are coming from, 26:25 but I call it long-term investment when 26:29 people do a trust because we never know when 26:33 their life comes to an end. It could be 26:39 short and it could be long-term; but when 26:41 they pass away, that money comes to 3ABN 26:44 just in time-just when we need it. - Now, 26:47 what really catches my attention, #1) I was 26:50 raised in a family that believed in giving 26:54 God what He requested, so it was a pattern 26:59 that we've followed most of our lives. 27:02 It's also very important- this is another 27:05 important point for young people that 27:10 are looking for someone to spend their life with 27:13 being equally yoked, is that we are equally 27:16 yoked in what we decide what we want 27:18 to do to help further the kingdom of- 27:20 but what I really believe is evangelism 27:24 and I am very fortunate that I get to work in 27:28 pastoral ministries here. I get to talk to 27:31 people daily that this Word is going into their 27:35 home and touching their hearts and they're 27:39 growing. They call in, "Where is the local 27:42 Seventh-Day Adventist church? Why should I do 27:45 this? Why shouldn't I do that?" So I see 27:48 the funds that are coming in to help keep this 27:50 ministry alive, producing fruit out 27:53 there. I mean, I actually get to experience 27:56 part of that. To us, that's a no-brainer 28:00 because that's where we want to contribute is 28:03 we want to see evangelism continue 28:05 to go out. We choose to believe that we're 28:07 living in the last days of this earth's history. 28:09 It's important that people ARE fed, and that's 28:14 the gift of 3ABN. It goes into people's homes, 28:17 it goes into people's offices, anybody that's 28:21 hungry gravitates to the Word immediately. 28:24 - It's exciting for me. Of all the jobs 28:27 I've had in my career, it's exciting still. I've 28:31 been starting my 9th year here at 3ABN. 28:35 It's still exciting to hear calls from our 28:37 viewers and listeners. - Amen. - They will 28:41 call in, excited about wanting to do something 28:44 for 3ABN. "How can I help 3ABN?" And 28:47 to be able to explain what we're explaining 28:49 today on the phone, I get goosebumps 28:54 and it never ends because of the excitement. 28:57 We hear people that, because they were 29:00 just converted to the church, they want 29:05 to do something immediately, and 29:08 that's exciting for me. That's one of the 29:10 benefits I get from working at 3ABN. 29:12 - So let me understand this. I make a decision 29:13 that, hey, this catches my attention, 29:15 so we call the trust department. Someone 29:18 at the trust department then gets on the line, 29:20 talks with them, goes visits them if necessary. 29:23 Okay, then let's say, hey, yes; I want 29:26 to do that self-administered trust-that property trust. Now, 29:31 say that you go visit them. "How you doin', JD? 29:34 That's good; I'm glad that y'all've come 29:35 to this decision. I think that this decision 29:38 will help add people to the kingdom of God." 29:41 And now, I signed something. So we 29:45 agree to agree 'cause I signed something. 29:49 Now, it goes to Wes. Wes looks it over. 29:52 First thing he wants to know, does he really have that? 29:55 So, I guess- an abstract or whatever needs 29:57 to be part of that package. - He's 30:00 assuming, based on the information 30:02 that we give to him, that you have what 30:05 you say you have. - Okay. And so now, 30:07 do we have an agreement then when you and I 30:11 sign or do I sit here and wait for 6 months 30:13 for this to be processed and then something 30:15 could happen in the meantime and it just 30:17 got left out in the rain some time. 30:20 - The average time, I would say, is about 30:21 6 months from the time- we set- 6 weeks. 30:25 6 weeks. Excuse me, Wesley! [laughter] 30:32 6 weeks for the turnaround. Wesley 30:36 prepares the document, comes back to you, and 30:40 if you're happy with it, you sign it and it's 30:42 legal at that point. If you're not happy 30:46 with it, you say, "I need some changes." 30:48 You can change it. Now, speaking of 30:52 changes. You have a revocable trust. You 30:56 can make a change anytime you want 30:59 while you're living except if you become 31:03 incapacitated. Wesley, can you tell us what 31:07 incapacitation means in the way of a trust? 31:10 - Typically, when a doctor says that 31:12 you're not able to make your own decisions. 31:14 The way that the trusts are written 31:17 is that if your doctor says that you are not 31:19 able to make these decisions on your 31:21 own, then you're incapacitated. At 31:24 that point, the way your trust is doesn't 31:27 change. But then if you regain your capacity, 31:30 then you can go ahead and change it again. - Right. So 31:32 that's the only time that it becomes irrevocable 31:36 is at the time you're incapacitated. - Does 31:39 the doctor have to sign something so 31:41 that there's an official statement coming from 31:43 the doctor that's part of the package as far 31:45 as when if you're incapacitated, there's 31:48 something that someone could say, "Well, 31:49 the doctor says he's incapacitated. I want 31:51 to take care of this" kind of thing. - Yeah, 31:53 you need a record to say, "This is in record." 31:55 That's what's occurred that the individual 32:01 does not have the capacity to make 32:03 those decisions. - You know, some things 32:06 on my mind I just want to say before I forget 32:08 is you mentioned about people who wanted to 32:12 do their own wills or perhaps they go 32:14 somewhere else. If you go to an attorney, 32:17 you can pay out a nice little fee for a 32:21 will or especially for a trust. You can pay 32:24 out a nice little fee. What do we charge 32:26 for wills and trusts? - We don't charge a 32:29 dime. - That's why. We need to advertise 32:32 that because- - We talk about it all 32:34 the time and you got ahead of me, and that's 32:37 fine. You're the person that we're looking 32:41 towards to do something with 3ABN the way 32:45 of a trust, so that's a good question. How 32:48 much is it going to cost me? Absolutely 32:50 nothing. For the preparation, for the 32:53 deed preparation... Recording the deed 32:57 is up to the individual that is doing the 33:00 trust, but the major expense of doing a 33:03 trust is covered by 3ABN. - Amen! - That's an 33:08 important selling point. Years ago, there was 33:11 this push on television- it was kind of like 33:13 will in a box. You just order this box 33:16 and you filed some papers and you 33:17 got this will done, but it was being challenged 33:19 in court by other family members because 33:22 you had this will in a box, sometimes 33:24 signed; sometimes unsigned, sometimes notarized, 33:26 sometimes not notarized. Of course, any time 33:29 you get challenged, you get people making 33:31 money on your money, trying to defend your 33:33 case, so the idea that 3ABN absorbs 33:37 that cost is, to me, a great inducement 33:40 to get something done official that will take 33:43 care of your needs and your desires once you've 33:44 passed on. - Now, we need to move on 33:47 just a bit; our time is getting short. We 33:50 talked about wills and trusts. If there 33:54 are any questions from anyone that's 33:56 viewing or listening, please call us. We're 33:59 willing to talk to you at any time. 34:02 You can ask the same question several times. 34:04 We want to make sure you understand it 34:08 'cause we don't want you to be in the dark when you go into 34:10 a trust. - The next item I want 34:14 to bring up- - What's the phone 34:15 number that they should call? - It is: 34:22 That's right at the bottom of the screen there. 34:24 We appreciate that. We are open Monday 34:27 through Thursday. We're never open on Friday, 34:29 Saturday, or Sunday. So those 4 days, we're 34:33 willing to take your calls. Annuities. 34:37 Charitable gift annuities. This is another form 34:41 of helping 3ABN. It is investing in 3ABN, 34:48 and when you do that, you get an interest 34:51 payment on a monthly basis or a quarterly 34:54 basis depending on how much you actually 34:57 put into the annuity. Annuity is an irrevocable 35:02 document. I want to be very clear on 35:05 that. It's irrevocable. The money that you 35:09 put in, say- I always use $100,000. It can 35:13 be less; the minimum is 5,000, but I use 35:16 100,000 as just a round figure. Is 35:20 that round enough for you? [laughter] 35:26 That money is invested and we pay you based 35:31 on your age at the time that you purchase 35:34 the annuity. Once you bought that annuity, 35:38 you get that same interest rate for the 35:41 rest of your life. 3ABN is obligated to pay 35:45 that money for as long as you live. 35:48 Based on your age- we just had an increase 35:53 in what we pay- the interest payments 35:57 that we make. Starting July 1st of 2018, 36:02 the rates will go up at about half a percent. 36:05 So, if you're 70 years old, you're going to 36:09 earn 5.6% for the rest of your life. 36:13 You know that payment's going to be consistent 36:14 every single month or quarter depending on 36:18 how much that you put in. If you put in 36:21 $50,000 or less, we pay on a quarterly 36:25 basis. Now, you might twist my arm a little 36:29 bit and say, "I need it monthly," and I'll 36:32 probably acquiesce. We want to make you 36:36 happy. But at the same time, administrative 36:39 costs are such that a quarterly payment 36:43 works best for 3ABN for anything under 50,000. 36:48 Anything over, you put in 100,000, you're 36:52 going to get paid on a monthly basis. 36:54 Now, you can have a single annuity, which 36:57 is just one person, or you can have a joint 37:01 annuity with your spouse or a child 37:06 that is old enough that it would make sense 37:09 to do an annuity. And I say, "make sense," 37:12 because really, at age 65 is kind of where 37:16 it makes sense to do an annuity. If you 37:19 did it any earlier, your percentage would 37:22 be a lot less and we don't want to tie 37:24 you into something that may be a 3% interest 37:27 payment for the rest of your life. We say 65 37:32 is the limit. Now, what happens to that money 37:36 when you pass away? If you're single, 37:41 as quick as you pass away, 100% of the 37:44 money comes to 3ABN. Whatever's left in 37:48 that account. If it's a joint account, 37:51 one spouse passes away, then the surviving 37:56 spouse continues to receive the payment 37:58 until they pass away. When that happens, 38:02 then what's left comes to 3ABN. You get a 38:05 tax deduction. Most of your payment is tax free. 38:10 So, there's an incentive to do a tax to 38:14 charitable gift annuity. But remember, 38:17 in doing it, it's irrevocable. If 38:20 you put your money in, you cannot get it 38:23 out. You get your interest payment on 38:26 a regular basis. Some people get confused 38:29 with that. They think they can draw out 38:31 and they cannot. So, that is something that 38:37 helps 3ABN. We did a lot of charitable gift 38:39 annuities years ago, and as time's gone 38:44 along, the interest rates have not changed 38:47 a lot. Usually, when an interest rate 38:50 goes up, everybody wants one. We haven't 38:52 had a change since 2012. July 1st 2018 then 39:01 interest rates our going up. So, after July 39:05 1st, give us a call and we'll work with 39:07 you. - I think that what we're talking about 39:12 today is estate planning for eternity. It's 39:16 something that, to us, to JD and I-and as you 39:23 said, I'm so glad we're equally yoked 39:24 on this-but supporting the work of the Lord 39:28 is incredibly important to us. We're so 39:30 blessed to be here and to be able to 39:33 have a life of purpose that- that's a great 39:37 blessing! But it is our privilege to 39:40 support God's work here and to support the 39:43 general conference with our tithe, and 39:45 we give our local church the offering. But to 39:48 me, it's something that gives me such a- 39:54 you know, as you grow older and begin to 39:57 contemplate your own mortality-you know, 40:01 we don't put on immortality till that 40:03 last trump as according to 1 Corinthians 15:53. 40:06 But you contemplate the idea of, "Whoops! 40:10 How many more good years do I have left? 40:12 Whoops! How many years do I have left?" 40:14 It is so wonderful to know that what 40:19 your life's efforts have gone toward, what you've 40:23 accumulated, what God has entrusted to you as a 40:27 steward, to know that you can still play a part 40:31 after you're gone that there are still going 40:35 to be souls who are won to the kingdom 40:38 by the message that's going forward over 40:41 the air. That's what motivates us. 40:44 - Amen. - We talk about the term 'legacy.' 40:48 What do we leave? You can live your life 40:52 for your life, for your family, and of course 40:54 you need to support your family, but the 40:56 idea that there's something bigger 40:58 that needs to be supported-there's 41:00 something grander that you can tie yourself 41:03 into that you can align yourself with 41:05 that has bearing upon the future 41:10 of humanity. Now, that's very big and 41:12 very grandiose, but it is all very true that 41:14 what we do, what one little person with 41:17 God's blessing and dedication to the 41:23 Lord, can do to prolong the reach of the gospel 41:27 to the world is- first of all, it's 41:32 heady, but it's also something that 41:34 ought to direct how you live your life 41:36 so that these kinds of ministries can go on 41:39 and do the work of the Lord long-term. 41:41 - Amen. - And this would be a good time 41:43 to mention- guess we've talked about what 41:46 you can do for 3ABN. We also want to include 41:51 the family in what we do. I feel like God says 41:57 we need to be prudent in what we do for our 41:59 family and for 3ABN. Our minimum- when 42:03 you do a trust, a minimum of 25% 42:08 only when you pass away, that money doesn't 42:11 come to 3ABN before that time; but when you 42:14 pass away- when both, if there's a surviving 42:17 spouse, when the surviving spouse passes away, then 42:21 we go to work on the trust, a minimum of 25% 42:25 comes to us after everything is completed. 42:27 You can give 100% if you want, but we 42:31 say 25%. We always say it's between you 42:34 and God. Once you make that decision, we're 42:38 here to facilitate your wishes. We 42:41 encourage family participation because 42:46 a lot of times, children feel like the 42:50 ministry was taken- was thought of before 42:55 them. In some cases, they were, and we 42:59 want to avoid any possibility of a 43:02 family issue. We're not here to divide families 43:07 in any way. We want the families to be kept in 43:10 mind in the planning process. - This sounds 43:15 like- I've heard you say, Roy, many 43:17 times, that- at boarding meeting- 43:18 and Shelley touched on this before-the idea 43:20 that if you have 3 children, make 3ABN 43:23 that fourth, and then divide that forward so that 43:26 the children are not feeling 3ABN's getting 43:28 everything and we're getting nothing, but 43:30 divide it equally so that everybody is fine 43:33 with their portion. That's the kind of 43:35 nice, quick way to do that. - Yes. So, we get 43:39 involved in many situations that probably 43:45 could've been avoided if the children were 43:46 involved in the process from the get-go. 43:49 So, we always encourage families 43:52 to be a family and talk about what Mom 43:54 and Dad are going to be doing. - I would 43:58 assume that also is very beneficial in 44:00 the family setting to have an advocate or 44:03 who you're working through that's going to 44:06 represent you upon your demise rather 44:08 than it just shows up in a will someplace, 44:11 and then all of a sudden, there could be 44:14 a war. But if there's someone that says, 44:16 "Well, this is your parents' wishes." 44:19 They're all involved, so there's that person 44:23 there that's actually representing you rather 44:25 than just dropping it out there. 44:27 - I need to touch on another form of 44:31 investment. We have a lot of things and I 44:35 don't want the eyes to start glazing over 44:38 so much information. That's why we say after 44:42 this program, if you have questions, call 44:45 us and we'll answer any questions that 44:49 you might have. But a cash trust, you 44:52 touched on earlier is another form of 44:55 investing with 3ABN. In this particular case, 44:59 it's a revocable document, which means 45:03 you own the money and you can withdraw 45:07 from that account if necessary. It's not 45:11 meant to be a savings account where you 45:15 can withdraw all the time. You can always 45:17 deposit any time that you want. There's 45:20 never a problem. But if you start withdrawing 45:22 on a regular basis, it doesn't do you 45:26 any good to have it here or it doesn't do 3ABN 45:29 because we have to administer all of 45:31 that. That's- we're not a bank. We're 45:34 a ministry. - This is like a savings- 45:37 take your place of a savings account, 45:40 I mean. - It does take of the place, 45:41 but in a savings account, you can 45:43 withdraw all the time. We say here that 45:45 you can withdraw on an emergency basis. 45:48 We don't say what the emergency is. 45:51 People will use it for paying their taxes 45:54 or if they had a car accident, they 45:56 need to repair the car, buy a new car, they want 46:00 to withdraw, that's fine. That's not a problem. 46:03 But if that happens on a regular basis, 46:05 then it's probably best that you keep 46:09 the money in the bank where you have quick 46:11 access to it. The interest rate for 46:13 a cash trust- it's not a guaranteed 46:16 interest rate. However, since I've been here- 46:20 and I said I'm starting my 9th year-we 46:23 have never paid anything less than 4.2% on 46:27 a yearly basis. - It's incredible. We just 46:32 absolutely- - I can remember one 46:34 year-one month-in December, we paid 46:39 9% and Wesley called me, 'cause he has a 46:44 cash trust with us and he says, "Roy, you 46:47 made a mistake." I said, "No, Wesley. 46:51 Merry Christmas." That is what was actually 46:53 paid out that particular month. 46:56 Now, to arrive at that 4.2%, what we do 47:00 is take 12 months of interest that we 47:03 paid on a monthly basis, divide that by 47:06 12, and that's what you actually earned for that 47:09 year. - I'd like to add that that has been 47:12 very stable and that paid out at least 4%, 47:16 even through the financial crisis that we had 47:19 in 2008, 2009, when everything crashed. The mortgage 47:25 market was going crazy; the cash trusts 47:28 kept paying along 4%. - Here's what happened 47:31 in that particular situation. Nobody 47:35 lost anything on their principle. If you put 47:39 in $100,000-that's my magic number 47:41 again-it should be still there. If you 47:46 were earning an interest rate that was higher, 47:49 you probably didn't earn that same 47:51 interest rate; you earned at a lower rate. 47:55 Nobody lost a dime. - But still so much 47:57 more than what the banks paid. - And I think that's the 48:00 bottom line, that the bank can't touch those numbers 48:01 and those numbers have been consistent for a 48:04 fairly long period of time now. - And 48:07 we have many bankers tell our respective 48:09 clients, "There's no way a ministry can 48:12 pay you that kind of money." And they 48:14 will try to confuse our people that want to 48:17 do something. All I say is, "Have those 48:20 people call me and I will let them know 48:25 what actually happens and how we invest and 48:27 how we pay that money." The Lord is very good 48:31 to 3ABN. - Amen. - He's done a wonderful 48:34 work for 3ABN; we're working for Him. We're 48:39 spreading His Word around the world, 48:41 so we're doing everything we can to facilitate the 48:46 Second Coming of our Lord. Something I 48:51 haven't touched on that I definitely want to 48:55 mention is the IRA. We get a lot of calls. 48:58 A couple of years ago, the government 49:01 passed a new law that was permanent which 49:05 says, "If you are 70 and a half, 49:08 you have an IRA; you have to take a 49:10 required minimum distribution on that IRA." 49:14 Whatever that amount is, you have to take 49:16 it every year once you turn 70 and a half. 49:20 What the government said was that you 49:25 can donate that amount and anything up to $100,000. 49:34 It has to be a straight donation to 3ABN. 49:37 It can't be used to start an annuity; 49:39 it can't be used to start a cash trust. 49:42 It has to be a donation. So, we have people 49:45 that will donate what they actually take out 49:48 that they're required to take out. Call us 49:51 before you do it because there are 49:53 some strict laws the IRS has put in place, 49:58 and we want to make sure you do it correctly 50:01 or you won't get the tax benefit for doing 50:04 it. The tax benefit is, you don't have 50:07 to report it as income. You just- it doesn't 50:12 show up on your tax report at all. We 50:15 send your receipt in case the government 50:18 says, "Hey, you got this much money. 50:22 What'd you do with it?" You can show this 50:23 receipt and say, "This was a donation," 50:26 and there's never a problem 'cause it is 50:28 actual law. We've had many, many people 50:32 do that. So, if you are 70 and a half 50:35 and want to do something for 3ABN, call us and 50:40 we'll walk you through the easy steps to make 50:42 it happen. - Amen. - I just want- 50:46 do you have- can I tell a little story? - Sure. 50:48 R. G. LeTourneau lived during the 50:51 1900s and he was a businessman who was 50:53 greatly in debt. God started working with 50:57 his heart that he needed to do something 50:59 more for God, so he went to his pastor 51:01 and he said, "I want to be a missionary," and 51:03 the pastor said, "No, God needs businessmen, 51:05 as well," so R. G. LeTourneau prayed 51:08 about it and then he committed to 51:09 pay an honest tithe and then to make 51:12 some large offerings that he didn't have. 51:14 Well, guess what happened? He just- 51:16 God started bringing in the business. 51:18 Pretty soon, R. G. LeTourneau is known 51:21 for giving 90% to the Lord's work and living 51:25 off 10% and he's famous for saying, 51:28 "It's not how much of my money I give to 51:32 God but how much of God's money I 51:34 keep for myself." You know, there's an 51:37 old saying. You can't out-give God. Let 51:40 me tell you, nobody's trying. You know? 51:44 Nobody's trying to! But it's a blessing 51:46 to be a part of this ministry. - And then 51:51 we have a God-given law, a mandate, that 51:54 if you give, God will support your giving 51:56 and give back to you. No one has ever 51:59 gone broke serving the Lord, and I don't think 52:02 anyone's ever lost any money investing to 52:04 3ABN. - Not one dime. I can say that 52:07 very clearly. Not one dime. Not even a penny. 52:11 - Amen. [laughter] Amen. We've given 52:15 you a lot of information. Should you want to 52:17 investigate, explore, these options, here 52:24 is the contact information that you are going 52:26 to need so that you can talk with Roy and his wonderful 52:28 staff and get that information that 52:30 will help you make a wise and prudent 52:32 decision. 52:35 To find out more information on 52:36 3ABN's Planned Giving and Trust Services, please 52:39 give them a call. Our friendly staff will 52:42 be more than willing to explain all the 52:44 benefits of our cash trusts, property 52:47 trusts, and annuities. You may email them 52:50 at TrustServices@3abn.org. That's TrustServices@3abn.org. 52:56 Or call them toll-free at (800) 886-4800. 53:02 You may also write to them at 3ABN Planned 53:05 Giving and Trust Services Post 53:07 Office Box 220 West Frankfort, Illinois 62896, 53:12 or visit our website, 3ABN.tv. |
Revised 2018-09-26