STEP #6: Don’t Sell – (Borrow till you die.)

So, now we know that the paper and coins we use are completely “my truth” and have no value at all, AND are not built on solid ground. Should we panic or should we seek wisdom? Good choice, wisdom speaks, “We have to start thinking this – “WHAT DO I DO?!?!?”

I have the answer, don’t worry. But first, let’s seek Biblical truth.

The Wise and Foolish Builders

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Build your life upon the SOLID ROCK – On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Matthew 25:14-30

The Parable of the Bags of Gold

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Notice how our Instruction Manuals for Life tell us that the value on earth is found in Gold. Did you ever read this in Genesis? God specifically declares where the good gold is found.

Genesis 2:11-12

¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there.

Nixon, Nixon, Nixon – shame on you for taking us off the Gold Standard. But the historical paper trail of guilt is distributed to so many people. The U.S. effectively left the gold standard in two phases. President Franklin D. Roosevelt suspended the gold standard for domestic transactions in 1933, and President Richard Nixon ended the international convertibility of the dollar to gold in 1971, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This transition moved the U.S. to a fiat money system. 

Did all of you know that the removal of the gold standard and the introduction of federal income tax and the federal reserve – happened all at the same time in 1913?!?!?!?

The 16th Amendment fundamentally changed the way the federal government is funded. Before the amendment, the government primarily relied on tariffs and excise taxes. Today, individual federal income taxes are the largest source of government revenue. 

ugh, we could easily find ourselves lost down that rabbit hole, and get super frustrated at all those insane decisions couldn’t we, but I am going to redirect and get right to the point of this chapter.

So – I titled this chapter, don’t sell. You are asking, don’t sell what?
Answer: Don’t sell your house!

If you own your home and you have equity on your home, that is money in your pocket. That is something you can use when you retire to pay for your living expenses and those expenses will not be passed on to your children.

How do we do this?

Put your home under a trust. – This place says the will do this for $350

Next, wait.

Wait until you retire – during that time – maybe it’s 30 years, well your mortgage is paid off and you have a title on your home. Maybe your home is worth a million dollars? yup, well that home is your piggy bank that will appreciate value, especially here in Southern Cali close to the beach – we struck GOLD!

We can leverage – or borrow – against our piggy bank until we die, $300,000 here and $300,000 there, and just keep borrowing…. do, de do…. live, live, live, borrow, borrow, borrow…then die and see Jesus! yay!!

Okay, so we are dead and we maxed out our million dollar value – which will be so much more in the future – but right now we will only use a million dollars just for our picture painting right now. So we are dead and we max out our money on our home – why is that good? now our kids have to pay off all that money we borrowed!! Why is that good?

Because it is! Lawyers say so….

The step-up in basis applies to property held in a revocable trust because the property is included in the grantor’s estate for tax purposes. (see link above) This ensures that the beneficiaries, like children, enjoy the same tax benefit as they would if they had inherited the property outright.

In normal people talk, this means we borrowed money against our house while we lived it up in retirement, travelling, making awesome memories, and living for the Lord. Then, we died, and we see Jesus, (I said yay before, but I have to say YAY again about that). Now our kids on earth, and they are still raising kids, and living for Jesus, and being disciples… So what we did is this:

1. We put our home under a trust,
2. and made sure that our children were the beneficiaries,
3. so when we die – they get our home and
4. all that debt we accrued by living it up,
5. well, it completely disappeared and
6. they inherited our home
7. free and clear.

Our debt disappeared, and our children receive a free gift.

Big sigh, breathe, Katie, Breathe…. What does that reflect?

Is that a Godly way to manage your money? You bet. Sound just about right to me. Thank you Jesus for the wisdom you share with us. Thank you for taking away our debt of sin, and for loving us so much that you wash us clean with the blood you poured out for us on the cross. Thank you for giving us the free gift of eternal life – that is only found in you. You are so awesome Jesus. So awesome.

In conclusion – Don’t sell your stability. Don’t sell your home. Keep it. Use it to bless your kids and yourselves. Borrow till you die.