Special Patreon Re-Release: Answering Common Financial Questions with Natalie Taylor

Special Patreon Re-Release: Answering Common Financial Questions with Certified Financial Planner and Speaker, Natalie Taylor

 

**Transcription Below**

 

Proverbs 13: 11 (NIV) “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.”  

 

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  

 

Natalie Taylor is a Certified Financial Planner, Professional and Behavioral Financial Advisor who is passionate about helping people cultivate a plan for their finances based on their values and goals so they can not only make progress, but find confidence, balance, and peace along the way. Frequently quoted in major publications such as the Huffington Post, Forbes, Business Insider and Lifehacker, Natalie draws on many years of comprehensive financial planning experience and a decade of professional speaking to share advice that works in real life, not just on paper. 

 

Natalie’s Website 

 

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Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” 

Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” 

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

**Transcription**

[00:00:00] <music>

Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here. 

[00:00:18] <music>

Laura Dugger: I am thrilled to introduce you to our sponsor, Winshape Marriage. Their weekend retreats will strengthen your marriage and you will enjoy this gorgeous setting, delicious food, and quality time with your spouse. To find out more, visit them online at WinshapeMarriage.org. That's WinshapeMarriage.org. Thanks for your sponsorship. 

If this is your first time here, welcome. We are doing something new today, so you chose to listen in on an exciting day. 

And if you've been around for a while, have you heard us talk about Patreon? This is a platform that financially sustains The Savvy Sauce. When listeners appreciate the content they have access to for free, they sometimes choose to financially support our team so that we can be funded to continue producing podcast episodes.

You may have heard me say before that if every listener gave only $1 per month, it would completely offset all our production and team costs to produce this podcast. [00:01:27] As a thank you to those who support us through Patreon, our team releases a bonus episode each month and a downloadable scripture card each quarter exclusively for those paying Patreon. These recordings are timeless and we have decided to unlock the vault and release just a few of these throughout the year. In doing this, we hope to show you what rich content you're missing out on by not being a patron. 

So, I would like to personally invite each one of you today to visit thesavvysauce.com, click on the Patreon link, and follow the prompts under Join Patreon here. For just $5 per month, you're going to instantly have access to over 50 bonus episodes like this one, with new ones released every month. You will also receive a downloadable scripture card designed by Ang at Jars of Grace every quarter. 

So for today, I'm pleased to share an episode that originally aired in January of 2019 with my guest, Natalie Taylor, who is a certified financial planner and speaker. [00:02:30] 

Here's our chat.

Thanks again for joining us. Welcome, Natalie. 

Natalie Taylor: Thank you. Thanks for having me back. 

Laura Dugger: Do you mind just sharing who you are and what's going on in your life right now?

Natalie Taylor: So I am a financial planner. I have been for almost 15 years, and I've worked with thousands of clients over the years and spoken with groups, big and small, about financial topics. 

I'm also a mom and a wife. I have two little boys and one very active husband, and I live out here in Santa Barbara, California.

Laura Dugger: Well, and we'll just dive right in. What are some effective strategies for our listeners so that they can enjoy their finances today but still be wise about preparing for their future?

Natalie Taylor: One of the things that we touched on was the concept of the fun account of having a release valve, a guilt-free splurge account that you save into on a regular basis so that you can enjoy life today. I think that's exceptionally important. [00:03:28] 

I think another way that you can enjoy life today and still be wise for the future is something that I would call finding where your leverage is. When we look at making progress towards your goals, you may have all of your income that comes in on a monthly basis and is always the same amount, and so your leverage is going to need to be found in your monthly income. There's going to need to be a percentage of money that's available on a monthly basis to move you forward. 

But you may be in a place where your leverage is really not in your monthly income. Maybe your monthly income is truly all needed or virtually all needed to support just your everyday expenses. And if that's the case, then you need to find where else your leverage is so that you can make progress for the future. 

And that might be in bonuses or commissions. Maybe you don't plan to save very much on a monthly basis, but you agree that those bonuses, other than the amount going to your fun account, are 100% for your goals, to make progress towards your goals. [00:04:29] 

Or maybe it's that you can pick up a side gig and your regular salary from your regular job is really just enough to cover your expenses, but your side gig gives you the opportunity to put some money towards your goals. 

So I think it's really kind of taking a step back and figuring out where is my opportunity for progress. Is it in my monthly income? Is it in side gig income? Is it in bonuses? Is it in commissions? Is it in career progression or something else? But really identifying where your leverage is and then accepting and being okay with the fact that maybe my leverage isn't in my month-to-month income. And that's okay because I know that I am going to make progress with my bonuses.

Laura Dugger: What would you say is a first step that you would advise a listener to take today?

Natalie Taylor: Any time that you're really trying to focus on your finances, as we talked about last time, going values first, figuring out, okay, what's really important to me, so that you can use that as a lens or a filter as you sort through the rest of the decisions to be made, which yeses are going to stay in your budget, which noes need to go away in your budget. [00:05:38] Those values are going to be a really important guide for you.

And then making sure that you spend some time to develop your goals and figure out what are we trying to accomplish. And in setting financial goals, I would aim to work towards anywhere from two to five goals at one time. If you work towards more than five goals, like I want to build an emergency fund and save for retirement and save for a house and start a business and pay down my debt, if you work towards more than five, it can be really difficult to see any meaningful progress because your water hose is spread across too many buckets and they're not going to fill up very fast.

On the flip side, if you only work towards one goal at a time, that means that other goals are going to take a long time to get to. And when we think about investing, which is appropriate for some of your goals, like retirement, maybe saving for college for kiddos, etc, waiting five or 10 years to start is going to make a huge negative impact. So it's important to not, for example, say, I'm going to pay off every penny of debt that I have, and then I'll think about any other goal. [00:06:43] 

It's important to do a few at once. So if paying down credit card debt, for example, is a goal for you, fantastic. You should probably have a couple other goals that you're working towards at the same time. Maybe it's building an emergency fund and saving to buy a house. Allocating across a few goals all at once is a really, really important habit.

Laura Dugger: Any tips for the following areas? First, generally, just how much should I save?

Natalie Taylor: Yeah, this is such an individual answer. I hate to say it, most of my answers are "it depends". Not because I'm dodging the question, but just because it really does depend on what your financial situation looks like, how much progress you've made so far, what kind of progress you're trying to make, and what your means are. So it really does depend. 

I would say, as a general rule of thumb, I will give a percentage. But before I say the percentage, I want to just give a note of encouragement that if your percentage at this moment is 1%, that is great. [00:07:45] That is okay. That is a starting point. That is moving in the right direction. And you can make a plan to set milestones so that you can reach a larger amount over time. 

The general number I'll give you is saving 20%, 20% of your money going towards your goals. So that doesn't just mean savings in a savings account. Maybe it's 10% is going to retirement, and 5% is going to your emergency fund. And then another 5% is being used to make progress, paying down your student loans above your minimum payments, or paying down credit card debt above your minimum payments. 

But I would say, in general, putting 20% of your income to goals is a great place to be. But again, most people in the US are not there. And it will take time to build to that, and that's okay. So don't let that number scare you off, or cause you to put your head back in the sand. It's just a general number to maybe have in the back of your mind as you move forward and make progress, starting from wherever you are now. [00:08:49] 

Laura Dugger: That's great. So even, like I said, just starting with that 1% and then growing. And over time, if somebody, let's say it's at least maybe 10% that they're saving toward different things, where would like vacations or a house renovation project, would that be part of that 20% that you're working toward?

Natalie Taylor: It can be, yeah. It all depends on what your goals are. But yeah, that can absolutely be part of that. 

I would also say things like vacation. If a family vacation is an important part of what you like to do every year, then it's important that it's part of your budget. So just like we talked about saving into the fun account, maybe there's a vacation account that you're saving if you want to spend $3,000 on a family vacation every year. Maybe there's an account that you have that you save $250 a month into so that when you guys are ready to take your vacation, you've got the cash to be able to do it. 

Instead of putting the vacation on the credit card and then paying it off for 12 months and then doing the same thing over and over, you can get on the front end of it by just setting up a vacation account and saving, in this case, $250 a month so that you have the cash ready when you're ready to spend it. [00:10:04] And that's less of a long-term goal that you're building up cash over time for or investing overtime for. That's more of just a part of your lifestyle that is important to incorporate into your budget. Does that make sense?

Laura Dugger: Yes. And your answer... you're just so good at empowering people. And maybe this is off-topic, but kind of what I hear you saying is just the freedom and the creativity that can go into your own budget. Let's say that child care is something that you value because you want to go on date night with your spouse, but it looks like it would be hard to fit in the budget. Maybe you can be creative.

Natalie Taylor: Totally. If one of the primary values for you is quality time with your spouse or with your family, then finding ways to honor that value. Maybe it's that you find another couple that has kids the same age so they have the right equipment and the right knowledge of how to change diapers if that's what they're doing or whatever, which movies are appropriate if the kids are a little older, but that you can do a swap. [00:11:07] Once a month, my kids go to their house. Once a month, they go to our house. 

Maybe it's a day date because it's easier to get child care during the day with a friend for a few hours than a nighttime date. I also have more energy at noon than I do at 6 p.m. So finding creative ways to figure out how can I honor that thing that's important to me in a way that still works with my finances.

Laura Dugger: That is awesome. That leaves us with no excuses then. Whatever our goals and values are, there can be a solution.

Natalie Taylor: Yes. Creativity is important. I find that a lot of times, finances feel like such this mandatory, there's right and there's wrong and there's black and there's white and this is all about numbers. It's really so little of it, honestly, ends up being about numbers. So much of it is about the creativity that you use to figure out how can I solution through my life and my finances to find contentment and empowerment and peace of mind given what's important to me and use money as a tool to do it. [00:12:08] 

Laura Dugger: I love it. I'll bring us back. I'm sorry I derailed us a little bit, but some of these other popular questions that people have, here's another one, is how soon should I pay off student loans?

Natalie Taylor: Yeah, so this is another “it depends” question. I would say that student loans are not as much of a priority to pay off as things like credit card debt because credit card debt generally has higher interest rate than student loans. So it's costing you more money to hold that credit card debt.

So if you have credit card debt, I would say don't make any extra payments on your student loans. Focus on that credit card debt or any other debt that has a higher interest rate than your student loans do. And then from there, I would say if you have all your credit card debt paid off, if you have the start of an emergency fund and you are doing okay on a week-to-week, month-to-month basis and maybe starting to save for retirement and you have a few extra dollars, then absolutely paying off a little extra on your student loans makes sense. [00:13:08] 

Student loans are really exceptionally complex question to give a simple answer to because there are forgiveness programs and forgiveness time periods. And depending on how much you can realistically put towards your loans, sometimes it makes sense to just let some of it get forgiven at the end. And sometimes it makes sense to pay off as much as you can as soon as you can. But it really is so situational. 

Laura Dugger: Okay. What about, how much home can I afford? 

Natalie Taylor: I can give a couple rules of thumb that can help you figure out. This is kind of part of my “teach them to fish” philosophy. But I can give you a couple rules of thumb that will help you figure out how much house you can afford. 

One very straightforward basic one is two to three times your income. So if you make 50,000 a year, then a house worth anywhere from 100,000 to 150,000 might be reasonable for you. If you make 200,000 a year, a house with a value of 400,000 to 600,000 is likely reasonable for you. [00:14:13] 

When I say reasonable, I mean would give you a mortgage that would be less than 30% of your income, which means you still have some wiggle room to actually live life on a daily basis and make some progress towards some goals. 

Another rule of thumb is that given today's interest rates, if you want to buy a home that's 500,000, for example, your monthly payment will be about half that with a couple zeros knocked off. So a $500,000 home might cost about $2,500 a month, a $300,000 home might cost about $1,500 a month. And there can be extra fees like homeowners association or co-op fees if you're in a big city. But those are some good rules of thumb to kind of figure out what might fit for you.

Then the last one I would add on that is a down payment. It's generally a good idea to put 20% down when you buy a home. There are exceptions to that, but that's generally a great rule of thumb. It gives you some equity, it gets you the best interest rates. [00:15:13] And so on a $100,000 home, for example, that would be a down payment of $20,000. 

If you live on the coast like me, where home prices are really expensive, saving for a down payment can be a really difficult goal to accomplish. But hopefully that information is helpful.

Laura Dugger: What about this one? What do you recommend for helping your children with college costs?

Natalie Taylor: In terms of helping kids with college costs, if you are able to check off a few important things off your goal list, like we've paid off all of our credit card debt, we have at least three months of our income in an emergency fund and we're making some progress on retirement, which is likely going to be like saving 10 plus percent for retirement, if you can check those kinds of boxes, then saving into... usually a 529 plan is the right way to save for most people for college. But saving into a 529 plan and using what's called an age-based portfolio can be a great way to go. [00:16:14] 

An age-based portfolio just means that they'll figure out the investments for you and make them less and less risky as your child approaches age 18, because they know that you'll be taking the money out when your child reaches 18 or 19. So it's a nice kind of autopilot way to save for retirement and have the money invested for you and adjust it over time without you having to really lift a finger.

Laura Dugger: So would you recommend the 529 over the ESA?

Natalie Taylor: Yeah, so an ESA is an Educational Savings Account. It's also called a Coverdell, a CESA, so Coverdell Educational Savings Account. And sometimes it's called an Educational IRA. Isn't that just lovely that there's so many names for basically the same account? 

Those can be a great way to save, but they have very low maximums for how much you can put into them. So if you are in a place, for example, where you can save 5,000 a year towards college, then you're likely not going to be able to put all of that into an ESA or Educational IRA or Coverdell account because the maximums are lower than that. [00:17:18] 

Those accounts also have income limits. So if you're above a certain income limit, you're not eligible to contribute to those accounts. But yes, they can be a great option as well.

Laura Dugger: Let's take a quick break to hear a message from our sponsor. 

[00:17:33] <music>

Sponsor: I'm so excited to share today's sponsor, Winshape Marriage, with you. Winshape Marriage is a fantastic ministry that helps couples prepare, strengthen and, if needed, even save their marriage. 

Winshape Marriage is grounded on the belief that the strongest marriages are the ones that are nurtured, even if it seems like things are going smoothly. That way they'll be stronger if they do hit a bump along their marital journey. 

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While you and your spouse are there, you'll be well-fed, well-nurtured, and well-cared for. During your time away in this beautiful place, you and your spouse will learn from expert speakers and explore topics related to intimacy, overcoming challenges, improving communication and so much more. I've stayed on site at Winshape before, and I can attest to their generosity, food, and content. You will be so grateful you went. 

To find an experience that's right for you and your spouse, head to their website, WinshapeMarriage.org. That's WinshapeMarriage.org. Thanks for your sponsorship. 

[00:18:49] <music>

Laura Dugger: How can people retire well? What can they be doing now to ensure they can retire well?

Natalie Taylor: I think what I'm going to say is probably all the obvious stuff, like paying off debt and saving early and often and investing in a portfolio over time that is appropriate for your goal. 

But the one thing that I think people might not think about is tending to your health. One of the biggest risks to having a successful retirement financially is the cost of health care and chronic diseases. And some of them are not preventable, but many of them are. And so I think taking charge of your health and taking good care of yourself, I think that's honestly, from a financial perspective, among the most important things that you can do to retire well.

Laura Dugger: That's great. And that is outside the box. I like that. Then even somebody who is more so approaching a retirement age, when would you recommend getting long-term health insurance, or would you even recommend it at all? [00:19:52] 

Natalie Taylor: Yeah, that's a great question. And it's another situational one. There's something called long-term care insurance, which is different than health insurance. So health insurance, either you get through your employer or you have through an exchange or Medicare, once you're 65 can be your health insurance, plus maybe a supplemental plan. 

Health insurance covers things like if you have to go to the emergency room and if you have to go to the doctor and those kind of things. But it doesn't cover what's called long-term care. And those are things like help with activities of daily living or ADLs. Things like going to the bathroom on your own and making your meals and getting dressed. The activities that you do on a daily basis, if you need help with those kinds of activities at some point, it can be quite costly to have somebody to help you with those things. So long-term care insurance is a way to protect against and fund those things should you need help.[00:20:54] 

Of people age 65 right now, 70% of them will need help with those things at some point in their life. So long-term care insurance or a plan for potentially covering the cost of long-term care is a really important consideration. Long-term care insurance is not cheap. So it is something that is not affordable for everyone. And I think it's important to consult if you are in, I'm going to say, those pre-retirement years. Sometimes we call them the big 10, like the 10 years before you retire. 

It's a great idea to consult with a financial planner, especially in that season, to make sure that you're lining up all of your ducks in a row and making sure that you're thinking holistically about all of the risks to being able to successfully retire financially. And health is one of those.

Laura Dugger: Thank you. That was really helpful answer to such specific questions. And now we'll transition to a little bit broader question. [00:21:54] What do you think is the worst financial decision someone could make today?

Natalie Taylor: Oh, gosh, there are several. I think the worst financial decision you can make today is sticking your head in the sand. And just not dealing with finances and just being a reactive victim instead of a proactive player, sitting on the sidelines and just letting your finances happen, I think is one of the worst financial decisions you can make. 

More specifically, I think things like accruing a lot of credit card debt, those things can be really detrimental and really hard to dig out of later. If you're a business owner, not saving on a regular basis to pay your taxes can create a really negative cycle where you end up in tax debt every year and then you have to pay it off the following year and then you don't have enough money for the next year and you end up in this chronic cycle of IRS debt. So those are some of the, I would say, financial decisions that are among the worst to make. [00:22:57] 

Laura Dugger: Yes. And it's not as fun to talk about that, but that's great to be warned and to be empowered. What decision to make today? So let's flip it and do the positive side. What is the best financial decision a listener could make today?

Natalie Taylor: I think the best decision you can make, honestly, is to start to not be intimidated by it and to start somewhere, even just like starting with, I'm going to save a little, I'm going to invest a little and I'm going to pay off a little debt. 

If you're working towards those three things and you're not accruing any new debt and you have a good idea of what your income and expenses look like on a monthly basis, you're at a great starting point. So I would say just starting, not being overwhelmed by that end goal of like, oh, gosh, I read a thing that said I have to save 20 percent for retirement or else I'll be a bag lady. Or, you know, gosh, I'm going to have to save $200,000 as a down payment because I live in San Francisco. Just start. I think that's the best decision. Start making progress. It's progress, not perfection. [00:23:57] 

Laura Dugger: That's good encouragement. You've shared a little bit about what you're doing professionally, but what is next for you?

Natalie Taylor: I was in private practice for most of my career. And then the last five years I've worked for a startup aimed at helping people primarily in their 20s, 30s, and 40s get access to financial planning that's affordable and accessible and objective. I'm just like terribly passionate about helping people with their finances and empowering them to make good decisions in alignment with what's important to them.

I'm excited for an upcoming change. After five years in the corporate world, I am going to be going back out on my own, which will give me the freedom to be able to do a greater volume of public speaking and writing and consulting. So that's what's next for me.

Laura Dugger: Which is great. You are going to be incredible at this. I'm so excited. 

For people listening, if they've really enjoyed this conversation and they want to find you or connect with you, where should they go? [00:24:58] 

Natalie Taylor: Go to my website. That will have access to all of the things that I'm up to, some great articles, and other ways to learn. So maybe we can put a link to that in the show notes if that would be okay.

Laura Dugger: That's perfect. Yes, it will be there, and encourage everyone to reach out to you. As we're winding down for today's chat, we're called Savvy here at this podcast for a reason. "Savvy" means practical knowledge or discernment. And we would love to hear some insight from your life so that it can inspire us with our own action item. So as our final question today, Natalie, what is your savvy sauce?

Natalie Taylor: I love this question. It's so good. Opening a fun account is such a good one, but I would say off the financial topic, if that's okay. One of the things that's honestly been really helpful for me on a daily basis, I'm the mother of a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old, and I am always pursuing that ever-elusive work-life balance, or maybe work-life peace is the better way to phrase it. [00:26:02] 

But I set the intention every day to have 30 minutes of undivided playtime with my kids. And in the span of a 12- or 13-hour day of them being awake, it doesn't sound like much, but 30 minutes where my phone is nowhere to be seen, there's no technology, and I'm holding their face, that they know that I am about them in those 30 minutes, I find that it fills them up and it fills me up in a way that far exceeds the 30 minutes that we spent together. Hopefully that's helpful to some of you parents out there. But that's been really helpful for me.

And maybe it's not with your kids. Maybe it's with your spouse. Just having 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to figuratively hold their face and let them know you're my priority, what's going on with you.

Laura Dugger: All of this, Natalie, it was just such a gift to spend time with you. So thank you for the work that you're doing every day to encourage others in this important area of their lives. You are so relatable. You're so full of grace. [00:27:03] I just really admire the special way that you have of connecting with people. And you make this intimidating topic understandable to a wide audience. So, again, thank you for sharing your gift with us today.

Natalie Taylor: Oh, Laura, thanks so much. And thanks so much for having me. This is super fun.

Laura Dugger: We hope you enjoyed this special Patreon release, and we hope it also gives you a glimpse into the amazing conversations we're having on Patreon every month. Next week, the only episode going live is for our paying patrons, and we don't want you to miss out. So head over to thesavvysauce.com, click the Patreon tab, and then follow the prompts. 

By joining Patreon, you are not only financially supporting the ministry of The Savvy Sauce and making our future episodes possible, but you are also signing up to gain access to perks such as downloadable scripture cards and bonus episodes. It will only take you a couple minutes to make a huge difference. So we welcome you to join today. [00:28:08] 

One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners and God is perfect and holy, so He cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore, we're separated from Him.

This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.

This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. [00:29:08] This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. 

We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

So would you pray with me now? Heavenly, Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change their lives now for eternity. In Jesus name, we pray, amen. 

If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him, you get the opportunity to live your life for Him. [00:30:07] 

At this podcast, we are called Savvy for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you're ready to get started?

First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision my parents took me to Barnes and Noble to get the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. Start by reading the book of John. 

Get connected locally, which basically means just tell someone who is part of the church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you. 

We want to celebrate with you too. So feel free to leave a comment for us if you made a decision for Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process. 

Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." [00:31:11] The heavens are praising with you for your decision today. 

If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.