Wayne Strout

Biblically Responsible Investing may be a well intentioned attempt to please God, but be careful. We are taught not to judge others. God causes his sun and rain to fall on both good and evil for his purpose. Christians are God's wheat and we must be careful when trying to eradicate the weeds lest we harm the important wheat.

When you leave your job, you usually take all of your personal stuff with you. Many suggest that you should not leave your money in your 401K or 403b account behind. Moving your money from a retirement plan at work to an "individual retirement account" or IRA is the most common form of rollover. There are a lot of rules,  and many advantages/disadvantages to weigh and consider, so consult a professional and perform you own "due diligence" before making any decisions.

Listen carefully to Annuities- Part I.  Perhaps the most important benefit offered by some annuities is "income that you cannot outlive".  An annuity is simply a contract between you and the insurance company. There are many different types of annuities. Like with any contract, read the fine print carefully. And, be sure you know all of the costs, including the sales commission.

Like any annuity, a variable annuity is a contract between you and the insurance company. There are many complex variations--read the fine print carefully. One benefit of a variable annuity is that gains within the variable annuity are "tax-deferred" and money is kept separate from the general funds of the insurance company. Another benefit is you can generally select many different money managers and switch from one to another with little of no additional cost. Read the fine print carefully and remember that there is seldom a free lunch--benefits have costs. Be sure your understand all of the costs, including the sales commission.