Recessions: Actions vs Words

[INTRODUCTION] Welcome to “Christian Financial Perspectives”, where you’re invited to gain insight, wisdom and knowledge about how Christians integrate their faith, life and finances with a Biblical Worldview. Here’s your host Christian Investment Advisor, Financial Planner, and Coach, Bob Barber. [EPISODE] Bob: Good scripture today, Shawn. Shawn: What do you got for us, Bob. Bob: I’ll let you read it. It’s right there on the computer. Come on. Shawn: Well, I appreciate that James, 2:18, “But someone will say you have faith. I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.” Bob: Now how in the world would this go with today? So I’ll tell you. It’s like when you say one thing and do another, okay. Shawn: Okay. So actions speak louder than words, typically. Bob: That’s true. Shawn: That kind of goes with the scripture, doesn’t it? Bob: That’s what we’re calling today’s episode. Shawn: Actions versus words. Is it really that bad? Bob: Is it really that bad? Well, it’s interesting because we did the survey of our clients and got a reasonable amount back. Shawn: About what you would expect. Bob: Yeah, exactly. Shawn: From the survey. Bob: But it was interesting in my questions the way I phrased the questions. You could see what I was trying to do, right? So the first question was, and this was a couple weeks ago that we did this, and I think we might be in a recession now, but do you believe we are headed into a recession? Shawn: Yeah. And the overwhelming majority of people responded said yes, that they believe we’re heading into a recession. Bob: Which means it must be pretty bad. Shawn: Well, you think so, or it’s or it’s getting bad. Bob: So that’s the first thing we asked them. And then the the second question we asked is, well, if you think we’re heading into a recession, do you know anyone personally that’s been laid off as the company’s trying to cut costs. Shawn: Yeah. We only had about 10% of people say yes. Everybody else doesn’t know anybody that’s been laid off. Bob: So they think we’re going into recession when 90% of them don’t know anybody that’s been laid off. Shawn: That seems a little weird, but we should go through the rest of the questions. So the next one we had asked, have you delayed any major vacation plans this year because of inflation? Bob: I can tell you the answer to that. You know me? I said, no. Shawn: And again, the majority of people said no. So, no one knows anyone, or almost no one, that’s lost their job. Almost no one has delayed any major vacation plans, which I’m pretty sure we could win the argument on is that considered necessary or discretionary? Bob: That’s discretionary income. Shawn: Maybe necessary for your mental health, depending on how big your family is, right? Bob: We can’t get into that. Shawn: That’s a whole other episode. Bob: We still remember the episode. We were talking about this yesterday. First time that we did a vacation – I had all daughters. Shawn: And every one of the daughters brought a boy. Bob: We ran out of food by the second or third day and Rachael and I bought for a whole week. Go figure. Shawn: And me and the guys, me and the guys were just sitting there and just dumbfounded. Like, what do you mean? We didn’t eat that much. Bob: And I came back and one of my employees that has boys who says, don’t you realize as long as you keep putting the food in front of ’em, they’re gonna keep eating. Shawn: Yeah. Bob: I didn’t realize that. Shawn: I told my mom after that trip. And she said, well, yeah, cuz I have an older brother and you’re sister. My mom was like, I don’t know what Bob was thinking. That’s how it works. Don’t put too much out. Bob: So she’s been on one of those major vacations with family. You better be ready, especially if it’s a bunch of boys, They eat a lot. It’s really interesting, we’re coming off the 4th of July weekend when we’re making this episode, and they were saying how jammed up the airports were. So, it didn’t seem like a recession. Rachael and I, we just went to Mackinac Island, a place she’s always wanted to go, up in Michigan. It was just packed everywhere. You couldn’t get in anywhere. Shawn: Traffic wasn’t too bad on Mackinac, right? Bob: Yeah. Lots of horses. Lots of horses and bicycles. There’s no cars on Mackinac. That’s what he’s talking about. Mackinac is a really, really neat place. So delaying vacation plans, the majority said no. But wait! They said we’re heading into a recession. Shawn: So the other question we asked, have you decided to delay a car purchase you were going to do? And once again, the majority of people said no. Bob: They’re still purchasing the car, even if they got one that works. I’m guilty, Okay. I ordered my Explorer. We talk about this. I ordered it back in December, and it finally came in and I love it. And they didn’t wanna give me anything for my old one. So if you want one, give me a call. Probably by the time when this comes out, I’ve already sold it. The next question. Are you cutting back on entertainment in general like going to the movie theater, eating out. That’s expensive. I haven’t been to a movie theater so long. I watch on my big screen. What does popcorn cost? Shawn: I actually don’t go very often, but it’s definitely one of those things where eating out, movie theater again, again – very discretionary. So, if you have fears about a recession or you’re needing to try to trim your expenses to be more fiscally sound in your household, what are you gonna cut? You’re gonna cut movie theater and eating out. You don’t have to eat out as often. You don’t have to go to the movie theater. But yet again, almost everyone said no. They haven’t cut back on any of that. Bob: And boy, eating out is expensive today. When we went on this weeklong vacation in Mackinac Island, I just couldn’t get over how much food costs. Rachael and I, we were splitting meals, and it was still like $60, $70. Just crazy. And the last question was… Shawn: Are your current feelings actually resulting in a change of behavior in how you spend, and I don’t know if anyone wants to guess? We’ll give you 3, 2, 1. Almost everyone said yes. Which again is weird. So the majority of people who responded said, yes, I think we’re heading into a recession. They also answered for the question for how you’re feeling, is it actually changing your behavior and how you spend? But then almost everybody said yes to that one. Oh yes. It’s resulted in a change. But all of the questions we asked about discretionary spending, large purchases you don’t necessarily need, no one’s made any changes in those. So I just thought it was interesting that the actions and the words, or the actions and the emotions, don’t really line up. Bob: It’s like when we started today, the actions versus words, is it really that bad? Shawn: I mean, yes, I would argue, we are heading into a recession. Bob: If we’re not, we’re already in it. Shawn: But a recession, also, it’s not always a bad thing. I mean, just like we’ve talked about before with any market, there’s up times and down times. I mean, it’s a natural cycle and sometimes, we need a recession to get us back to a good place. Bob: And that’s why you have to always be careful, as we’re coming to the end of the day’s episode. Be careful about thinking that everything is going to fall apart. Because you can look at the cars on the road. You can go to the restaurants. You can go to Walmart or Target or wherever you go. Buy stuff online. You can go see, are people still spending money? And the answer is yes, they are. And it’s not Armageddon. Not at all. Shawn: Like, is it as good as when we’re not in a recession? I would say no, but it’s definitely not as bad as most of your doomsayers and people who are trying to sell you some product. Sure. It’s not as bad. Bob: Look at the glass like it’s half full. It doesn’t help any looking at it like it’s half empty. Look at it like it’s half full. Shawn: Either way, 50% of it’s filled up. Bob: Mine’s about half right now. Shawn: Did you do that on purpose? Bob: No, I didn’t. It’s about half halfway, isn’t it? I always have to drink my water when I’m doing our episodes. That’s all for today. I hope we’ve helped you a little bit. I just thought this would be good to bring the survey to you. Maybe you can share this with somebody you know. Shawn: God bless and thanks for tuning in. [CONCLUSION] That’s all for now. We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986. [DISCLOSURES] Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors®, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors® believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.