People are understandably nervous, as evidence abounds that the economic recovery is faltering.

An astonishing fact was revealed in a cover story in “The Hulbert Financial Digest” July issue, titled, “Slow and steady wins the race.” The digest is an independent rating service that has tracked investment newsletters for the past 30 years.

It turns out that, “the investment advisor in first place for risk-adjusted performance over the last 30 years has been largely in cash for more than two decades.”

What passes as a pathetic excuse for financial and retirement “planning” was exposed in this month’s issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine¹.

The article profiled a California couple working with a financial and money management firm to ensure they have enough money to retire in two years, when the husband turns 62.

The article details all the steps the couple has taken to properly plan for this event over the last ten years. The husband summarizes it by saying…

Huh?!?! Isn’t that like scraping and saving your hard-earned dollars for decades, stuffing them all in a sack, and dropping it on a craps table in Vegas??

Yet this is what passes for financial “planning”

It may come as no surprise that a new survey by Senior Market Advisor Magazine revealed that 55% of seniors currently without an advisor said there’s “absolutely nothing [an advisor] could do to earn their business.”

I was recently asked by Selling to Seniors magazine to comment on this.  My response shocked the editor – and it will probably shock you, too.  You can read it here, along with two overlooked options available to seniors who want to be sure their money will last as long as they do.

Another recent article on, “The Great Stock Myth,” in The Atlantic² revealed that, “even after a decade of lousy returns and a spectacular market crash, more than a quarter of Americans expect annual returns in the stock market to average 10 to 20 percent.”

The article points out that if the stock market’s return over the next decade or so is 2 to 3 percent above inflation, as some experts are predicting…

“You’ll need to save close to 40 percent of your annual income to replace almost half of your income”

The article concludes, “whether Americans know it or not, they have spent decades basing their retirement plans on expectations of big capital gains in their houses and stock portfolios. Unless we suddenly become willing to save a huge chunk of our income every year, we may need to rethink our retirement plans.”

Housing fades as a means to build wealth

An article this week in The New York Times³ discusses why housing values are likely to only keep up with inflation and may ultimately return the money an owner put in, but will not multiply the investment.

This is actually nothing new. I have written about this for the past five years.  Home prices have only appreciated around one percent more than inflation each year for the past century, according to Robert Shiller, co-creator of the Case–Shiller home price index.

So, if you can’t count on the stock market or real estate values to fund your retirement, what can you count on?

You can Bank On Yourself

Bank On Yourself is based on a twist on an asset class that has increased in value every single year for more than a century – including every period of economic boom and bust:  dividend paying whole life insurance.

The Bank On Yourself concept involves adding little-known riders and options to the policy that supercharge the growth of your equity (“cash value”) in the policy – especially during the early years of the policy.

This lets you use it as a powerful financial management tool from day one.

The growth in these policies is not only guaranteed and predictable, it is also exponential – it gets better every single year – and no luck, skill or guesswork is required.

It gives you peace of mind when planning for retirement, because you can know the minimum guaranteed income you can take – and for how long you can take it.

Plus, you can get your hands on that money with little or no tax consequences under current tax law.

However, no two plans are alike.  Each one is custom tailored to help you achieve as many of your short-term and long-term goals as possible – in the shortest time possible.

If you haven’t already requested a FREE Analysis, why not do so today?  There’s no obligation to find out what your bottom-line numbers and results could be if you added Bank on Yourself to your financial plan.

Still have a few questions?

Find the answers here:

• What’s the rate of return of a Bank On Yourself-type policy?
• What do the companies used for Bank On Yourself invest in?
• How are these policies different from the ones the financial “gurus” talk about?
• Where do I find the money to fund a plan?
• I have good savings habits and little debt – how will Bank On Yourself help?
• How do I get started?

¹ “Get a Jump on Retirement” – Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, August 2010
² “The Great Stock Myth” – The Atlantic, August 13, 2010
³ “Housing Fades as a Means to Build Wealth” – The New York Times, August 22, 2010

Dan Proskauer

It was almost two years ago that Dan Proskauer – a Vice President of technology engineering for a major health care company who holds three U.S. patents – first heard of Bank On Yourself.

Dan lives below his means, has significant savings discipline, and is a sophisticated investor.  But when the financial crisis hit, Dan realized he had nothing to show for decades of saving and investing his hard-earned money and “doing all the right things” we’ve been taught to do.

He felt angry, betrayed… and willing to open his mind and find out if there was something better out there.

Dan is very analytical and has since spent literally hundreds of hours investigating Bank On Yourself.  He has already started seven Bank On Yourself-type policies because, as he puts it, “the more I look into Bank On Yourself, the better it looks.”

Dan recently contacted me and generously offered to share his findings with you.  Whether you already use Bank On Yourself, or you’ve been considering adding it to your financial plan, you’ll learn something of value from this interview. You can listen to the interview by pressing the play button below, or you can download the entire interview as an MP3 and listen on your own player or iPod…

You can also download a transcript of the interview here.

In this fascinating interview, you’ll discover…

Why Dan has cut back his 401(k) contribution to what his employer matches… and why he’s considering stopping funding it altogether

What he discovered were the problems with traditional college savings plans, and why he believes Bank On Yourself is a better option

The surprising result of Dan’s research into the rate of return of a Bank On Yourself-type policy – and why he feels the additional  “intangible” benefits make it the best way to build a financial foundation in both good times and bad

Why Dan has seven different policies – and is getting ready to start more

Where Dan found the money to fund his policies

Why Bank On Yourself will hold its own against things people worry about – including inflation, deflation and fluctuating interest rates

The two downsides to Bank On Yourself that Dan found

Why Dan believes it’s critical to use a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor to set-up your policy… and how getting knowledgeable, on-going coaching and advice can result in your having far more wealth over your lifetime, while ensuring you don’t lose the tax advantages of Bank On Yourself

Why Dan – like hundreds of thousands of others who use the Bank On Yourself method – says the only regret he has is that he didn’t know about this sooner

Dan’s advice to anyone who’s still sitting on the fence and hasn’t started yet

You can listen to the interview by pressing the play button below, or you can download the entire interview as an MP3 and listen on your own player or iPod…

You can also download a transcript of the interview here.

If you haven’t started to Bank On Yourself yet, it’s free and there’s no-obligation to request an Analysis and find out what your bottom line numbers and results could be if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan.

When you request your Analysis, you’ll also get a referral to one of only 200 financial advisors in the country who have taken the rigorous training and meet the requirements to be a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor, like the one Dan is working with.

Request your free Analysis now, so you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing your financial future will be one you can predict and count on!

We want your feedback! Tell us what below what YOU think of Dan’s interview below…

Maybe you don’t quite believe what I’ve been saying for years.  This article confirms exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you…

This article is must-reading for anyone who’s been scratching their head and wondering…

If what they say about the long-term returns you should be able to get in the stock market is true, how come I’m not rich?!?”

Please pay particular attention to…

Myth #1: “This is a good time to invest in the stock market”

Myth #2: “Stocks on average make about 10% a year”

And the article author’s insight into Myth #10: “Stocks outperform over the long term” is priceless.

I’ve quoted many sources confirming what this Wall Street Journal article says.  How many more sources do you need to hear it from, before you request a free Analysis that will show you how much your financial picture could improve if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan?

Fascinating Fact #1: 61% of boomers fear outliving their money in retirement more than they fear death

That’s according to a new study.¹

Maybe you’re one of them.  It appears that lots of boomers should be scared out of their wits – almost half of them could run out of money in retirement, according to a new study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

In fact, most employees recently surveyed – regardless of age – say they aren’t saving enough money for retirement.²

Many people are adjusting to “the new normal” by postponing retirement.

But you may not have a choice:  Nearly four in ten retirees say they were forced out of work earlier than they’d planned, because of layoffs, poor health, or the need to take care of a loved one.³

And, for those already retired, 60% say they have been forced to do without things they had taken for granted, to make ends meet.⁴

Things like meals out, new books and movies, travel, new clothes and home improvement projects.

Can you live without those things?  Sure.

But why should you have to, after a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice?!?

Can you imagine how different things would be if you knew you would have a guaranteed and predictable income in retirement – one that does not depend on the roller coaster ups and downs of stocks, real estate and other investments?

While the “experts” lament that there’s been “no place to hide” during the financial crisis, none of the hundreds of thousands of people who use Bank On Yourself lost a penny in their plans when the markets crashed.  Their plans have never skipped a beat and continue growing every year by a guaranteed, predictable and exponential amount.

However, no two policies or plans are alike – each is tailored to the client’s unique situation.  To find out how much your financial picture could improve if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, how much income you could take in retirement (guaranteed) and to get a referral to a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor, simply request a free, no-obligation Analysis here, if you haven’t already done so.

Fascinating Fact #2:  Social Security may be in far worse trouble than we thought

By law, the Social Security’s trustees’ annual report is supposed to be published by April 1.  This year, however, the trustees have postponed it indefinitely!

Why does the program’s financial condition continue to remain hidden from public view?

Could it have something to do with the fact that the trust fund is nothing more than a bunch of IOU’s… and the run on revenues has turned into a stampede?

In my opinion, Social Security is the biggest Ponzi or pyramid scheme ever conceived!”

To make matters worse, a new AARP survey revealed that 50% of those age 50 and over say Social Security is or will be more important to their retirement than they expected when they were younger.

And 25% say they rely, or plan to rely, on it for most of their retirement income.

Shockingly, only 12% of people over 50 expect to be able to rely on savings and investments for most of their income.⁵

Good luck with that!

Fascinating Fact #3:  Deferring your taxes is one of the worst financial moves you can make

I’ve explained in my best-selling book and elsewhere why the notion that it’s a good idea to use 401(k)’s and other “tax-qualified” retirement plans to defer your taxes is just one more example of how dumb the “conventional wisdom” about money and finances is.

Now, an article on Forbes.com entitled, “Pay More Taxes Now!” confirms everything I’ve been saying…

As the article points out, we already know tax rates are going up.  (Does anyone actually believe tax rates are going to go down over the long term?)

If tax rates do go up, and you’re successful in growing a nest-egg, you’re only going to end up paying higher taxes on a bigger number!

Even if tax rates remain the same, it’s estimated you’ll pay 10-20 times more in taxes over a thirty-year period!

My advice – and Forbes.com’s advice – is to pay your taxes now.  At least you know what they are!

A Bank On Yourself policy is taxed like a Roth IRA.  You pay your taxes up front, and then you can access the growth with little or no tax consequences, under current tax law.

But, you may be wondering, what if the tax laws change?

Of course, the tax laws could change.  For that matter, they could change the tax laws on 401(k)’s, IRA’s and Roth IRA’s.  But the tax advantages of Bank On Yourself are just the icing on the cake.  Even if the tax laws changed for Bank On Yourself, you’d still have all the many other advantages and guarantees of this time-tested method, including:

The Bank On Yourself concept is based on an asset class that has increased in value during every stock market decline and every period of economic boom and bust for more than a century.  That asset is dividend-paying whole life insurance

Your money in one of these policies grows by a guaranteed and preset amount every year.  In addition, the growth is exponential, meaning it gets better (more efficient) every single year you have the policy – with no luck, skill or guesswork needed to make that happen

A properly structured Bank On Yourself-type policy incorporates little-known riders which turbo-charge the growth of your equity (“cash value”) in the policy, especially during the early years of the policy. This enables you to use your policy as a powerful financial management tool from Day One

Once credited to your policy, both your guaranteed annual cash value increase, plus any dividends you may receive, are locked in.  They don’t vanish due to a market correction

Can you imagine how much brighter your financial picture would be if you still had every penny of principal you put in AND all the growth you’d received?

You have peace of mind for retirement planning, because you could know the minimum guaranteed income you can take in retirement, and for how long you could take it

And that’s just a partial list of the benefits of Bank On Yourself, which is why the $100,000 cash reward I’ve offered to the first person to show they use a different product or strategy that can match or beat Bank On Yourself remains unclaimed.

There’s no cost or obligation to receive an Analysis that will show you how a custom-tailored program can help you reach your long-term and short-term goals and dreams – in the shortest time possible.

Fascinating Fact #4:  Apparently, money can buy happiness

A Gallup survey – the largest of its kind – found that people almost universally agree that a lot of having a “good life” has to do with material prosperity.⁶

And not having to worry about whether your money will run out before you do significantly reduces stress and lets you focus on the more positive, fun things in your life.

Which is part of the reason most people say the only regret they have about Bank On Yourself is that they didn’t start sooner.

If you haven’t already added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, now’s the time to make sure you never suffer another lost decade… or even another lost day.

When you request a FREE Analysis , you’ll get a referral to one of only 200 advisors who have taken and passed the rigorous requirements to be a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor.

Tip:  Ask your Authorized Advisor if you can qualify to “turn back the clock” by up to six months to jump start your Bank On Yourself plan and turn your back on the stomach-churning ups and downs of the stock and real estate markets.

¹ “Reclaiming the Future:  Challenging Retirement Income Perceptions,” Allianz Life Study
² Harris Interactive
³ Employee Benefit Research Institute
⁴ Harris Interactive
⁵ AARP Bulletin exclusive survey, July/August 2010 issue
⁶ Gallup poll

Walt Disney borrowed from his life insurance in 1953 to help fund Disneyland, his first theme park, when no banker would lend him the money.¹

Following the 1929 stock market crash, famous retailer J. C. Penney borrowed from his life insurance policies to help meet the company payroll.² Had he not had ready access to capital, the company probably would have been forced to close its doors, adding even more people to the unemployment line.

In 2002, Doris Christopher sold her kitchen tool company, the Pampered Chef to Warren Buffett for a reported $900 million.  Seven years earlier, she launched the company with a life insurance policy loan.³

Foster Farms was founded in 1939 when Max and Verda Foster borrowed $1,000 against their life insurance policy to buy an 80-acre farm near Modesto, CA.⁴

Senator John McCain secured initial campaign financing for his presidential bid by using his life insurance policy as collateral.³

So-called “permanent” or cash value life insurance (versus term insurance, which is like renting insurance) builds up cash value that policy owners can use in difficult times as a ready source of money to cover personal or business expenses for emergencies and even to cover insurance costs.

Almost every day, I receive grateful emails and calls from folks who use the Bank On Yourself method about how they used their equity to get them through a job loss, disability or other family emergency.

That’s as important today as it was in America’s Great Depression, when whole life policy loans helped save thousands of homes, businesses and family farms.

Keep in mind that Bank On Yourself-type policies are dividend-paying whole life policies that incorporate little-known riders or options that turbo-charge the growth of the cash value in the policy, especially in the early years of the policy.  A properly designed policy could have up to 40 times more cash value in the first years than a traditionally designed whole life policy (the kind Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey and 99% of all financial “gurus” talk about).

It’s a virtual certainty that the policies owned by the famous business owners profiled above were not the super-charged version.  But clearly these policies can be lifesavers for the policy owners.

If you haven’t already done so, take advantage of a free Analysis now.   It will show you how Bank On Yourself can give you the peace of mind that comes with having a cash cushion to see you through tough times. It will also show you how it can help you take control of your financial future, along with revealing the bottom-line numbers and results you could have if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan.

An interesting fact is that there was $116 billion in life insurance loans outstanding at the end of 2007.⁵

Life insurers have $4.3 trillion invested in the U.S. economy, making them one of the largest sources of capital in the nation.⁶

And life insurers paid more than $19 billion in federal, state and local government taxes in 2007.  That figure doesn’t include taxes paid by all the people the industry employs or business that supply the industry with services.⁷

In short, the life insurance industry is a key driver of our economy!

While access to credit and capital remains tight for both businesses and consumers, those who use Bank On Yourself have been able to have access to the money in their plans by answering just one question:

How much do you want?

You never know when you’ll have a family emergency or hit a rough spot.   Unfortunately, it’s part of life.Unfortunately, most Americans don’t have much of an emergency cash reserve to fall back on in tough times.  71 percent of all workers surveyed recently said they’d have trouble meeting their current financial obligations if their paycheck were delayed by even one week, according to the American Payroll Association.

If you don’t have a liquid cash cushion, you’ll typically have to use credit cards, ask friends and family to help out, or you’ll have to sell some of your investments to raise cash.

None of these options is ideal. And if you do have cash you can get your hands on quickly in a money market or savings account, the moment you withdraw your money, you’re earning ZERO interest on it.

One of the most important lessons about money and finances I’ve learned in recent years that’s not taught in most economic courses is this:

You finance everything you buy!

That’s because you either pay interest to someone else when you use their money… OR you give up the interest and investment income you could have earned, had you kept your money invested instead.

So, even paying cash has its drawbacks.

But Bank On Yourself is a way of managing your money that’s actually “Better than Debt Free.”

Wondering where you’ll find the money to start a Bank On Yourself policy?  Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisors are masters at helping you restructure your finances to free up seed money.  There are at least eight places they look. Don’t count yourself out.  Request a free Analysis to find out what’s possible.

Bank On Yourself beats financing, leasing or even paying cash for things by a long shot.  Here are 7 reasons why:

You can access your equity in the policy any time you want and for any reason you want

No nosy credit applications are required, you don’t have to beg for money or pledge your first born to get it.

You can pay back your loan on your own schedule, not someone else’s

If you hit a tight spot, you can reduce or skip some payments, and no collection agencies will call, no goon squad will come to repossess your stuff or foreclose on your house, and you won’t get a black mark on your credit report

While you do pay interest on policy loans (at a rate that’s often less than rates available from financial institutions), the interest you pay ultimately ends up back in your policy, as described on pages 100-102 of my best-selling book

If your policy is issued by one of the handful of companies that meets all the necessary requirements, when you take a policy loan, your policy can continue growing as though you hadn’t touched a penny of it! You’ll continue to earn the same pre-set and guaranteed cash value increase every year AND you’ll receive the same dividends as if you had no loans against your policy

While dividends aren’t guaranteed, Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisors use companies that have paid dividends every single year for over 100 years – including during the Great Depression.

Policy loans are not taxable as long as the policy remains in force

Bank On Yourself:  The ultimate financial security blanket?

Let me ask you a question.  How long do you think it will take for the Dow – which has dropped below 10,000 yet again – to get above the 13,000 level and STAY there?

Do you think it could be one year?  Two years?  Five years?  Maybe even ten years?

Let’s be honest – none of us really has a clue!

But are you wondering what’s so important about the 13,000 level?

Actually, the Dow will have to reach and stay above 13,127 to get you back to where you were more than 11 years ago!

That’s based on inflation of over 31% over the past 11 years and 2 months.⁸

What do you have to show for all those years other than sleepless nights and broken retirement dreams?

But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Hundreds of thousands of people use the Bank On Yourself method, and not one of them lost a penny in their plans when the markets crashed.

Their plans have ALL continued growing safely and predictably, just as they have for well over a century.

As Independence Day approaches, consider how Bank On Yourself can give you independence and freedom from…

The stomach-churning ups and downs of stocks, real estate and other investments

The control that banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions have over you

Wondering and worrying if you’ll ever be able to retire and what you’ll have to give up to do so (Bank On Yourself lets you have a guaranteed income stream you can predict and count on, giving you peace of mind for retirement planning

You control your money, not the government (government-sponsored retirement plans have more strings attached to them than a puppet)

So, if you haven’t added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan yet, request a free, no-obligation Analysis now that will show you how you could reach your goals and dreams – without the risk or volatility of traditional methods.

I urge you not to put it off another day.  You have nothing to lose and potentially much to gain!

¹ www.justdisney.com
² www.nndb.com/people
³ Courtesy of Barry Dyke, author of The Pirates of Manhattan
⁴ http://www.fosterfarms.com
⁵ LIMRA analysis of A. M. Best annual statement data
⁶ ACLI
⁷ LIMRA analysis of A. M. Best annual statement data
⁸ www.inflationdata.com

The Dow has dropped below 10,000 several times recently – a level it first reached more than eleven years ago and has since bounced over and back an astonishing 63 times!

Millions of people who were counting on their homes to help fund their retirement now have no equity to count on, because they owe more than their homes are worth.

Credit is still extremely tight for both businesses and consumers, underscoring just how little control we have when we have to rely on other people’s money.

As we face continuing economic challenges, many people are wondering… what does the future hold?

Ever hear the old saying, “Change is the only constant?”  Today that is clearly true more than ever!  Stephen Covey, author of the run-away best seller, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, tells the following story:

A night watchman on a huge battleship alerted the captain that their ship was headed directly towards a light in the distance.  The captain immediately sent the message, “Change your course 10 degrees south.”  A few minutes later came the reply, “Change your course 10 degrees north.”

Perturbed, the captain signaled back, “I am the captain.  Change your course 10 degrees south!”  Five minutes later came the reply, “I am a seaman first class.  Change your course north.”

Fuming, the captain sent one final message, “I demand you change your course.  I’M ON A BATTLESHIP!”

I strongly recommend you change your course,” came the response.  “I am a lighthouse.”

The moral of the story is pretty clear, isn’t it?  The new economic realities are the lighthouse, and it’s insane for us to demand that everything in our way move over so that we can keep cruising straight ahead in our comfort zone.

If you were the captain of the battleship, what would you do?  Hold your course… or change your course?

Well, each of us is the captain of our lives.  We have a choice of changing our course and surviving… even flourishing, for that matter.  Or staying our course and plunging head first into disaster.

So my question to you is, are you staying the course, hoping and praying that somehow things will magically work out?  Or, are you becoming the captain of your ship and taking back control of your financial future?

Wall Street wants you to believe that if you just keep hanging in there long enough (paying them fees and fattening their wallets), you’ll be okay.

And they have the audacity to call this a financial or retirement “plan”!

I can promise you they won’t remind you that over the last 80 years, the Dow was in a stall that lasted from 12-25 years 65% of the time!

They are praying you don’t find out about the stock market study¹ that revealed…

During the 20th century, there was a 77-year span with no price appreciation in U.S. stocks, after adjusting for inflation

Out of the past 207 years, stocks have spent 173 years – more than 80% of the time! – either faltering from old highs or clawing back to recover past losses

The study’s author, Robert Arnott, concluded:

As investors become increasingly aware that conventional wisdom of modern investing is largely myth and urban legend, there will be growing demand for new ideas and more choices”

Yet, the “experts” and talking heads have no better solutions to offer, do they?

It’s all the “same old, same old,” and maybe they’ll throw in some new twist.

Pfui!

You’ve probably heard that old chestnut, “Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.”

How many times have you already been fooled, only to keep coming back for more?

The ultimate financial security blanket in both good times and bad…

While the “experts” lament that there’s been “no place to hide,” none of the hundreds of thousands of people who use Bank On Yourself lost a penny in their plans when the markets crashed.  Their plans have never skipped a beat and continue growing every year by a guaranteed and predictable amount.

However, no two policies or plans are alike – each is tailored to the client’s unique situation.  To find out how much your financial picture could improve if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, how much income you could take in retirement (guaranteed) and to get a referral to a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor (a life insurance agent with advanced training in this method), request a free, no-obligation Analysis here.

When tough financial challenges and family emergencies arise, those who use the Bank On Yourself method have been able to gain access to capital to see them through by answering just one question:

How much do you want?

But please understand – Bank On Yourself isn’t a magic pill – there aren’t any.  It does take a little patience and discipline.  but for those who have those traits, it pays a lifetime of benefits, including:

The Bank On Yourself concept is based on an asset class that has increased in value during every stock market decline and every period of economic boom and bust for more than a century.  That asset is dividend-paying whole life insurance

Your money in one of these policies grows by a guaranteed and preset amount every year.  In addition, the growth is exponential, meaning it gets better (more efficient) every single year you have the policy – with no luck, skill or guesswork needed to make that happen

A properly structured Bank On Yourself-type policy incorporates little-known riders which turbo-charge the growth of your equity (“cash value”) in the policy, especially during the early years of the policy. This enables you to use your policy as a powerful financial management tool from Day One

Once credited to your policy, both your guaranteed annual cash value increase, plus any dividends you may receive, are locked in.  They don’t vanish due to a market correction

Can you imagine how much brighter your financial picture would be if you still had every penny of principal you put in AND all the growth you’d received?

You control the money in your policy, not the government.  You can use it when and how you choose, without the restrictions or penalties common to 401(k)’s and other government-sponsored retirement plans

You have peace of mind for retirement planning, because you could know the minimum guaranteed income you can take in retirement, and for how long you could take it

You can take an income from the policy with little or no tax consequences, under current tax law.  If you believe tax rates are going to go up over the long term, keep in mind that when you defer your taxes in a 401(k) or other government-sponsored plan, you’ll only pay higher taxes on a bigger number!

When you pass on, you have the peace of mind of knowing your loved ones could receive a death benefit many times greater than the value of your plan

I haven’t even listed all the advantages and guarantees of Bank On Yourself here.  But this gives you an idea why Bank On Yourself can give you the peace of mind and solid financial foundation that are missing from most people’s financial plan.

And I’d like to point out that no one has stepped up to the plate and offered a different financial product or strategy that can match or beat the advantages and guarantees of a properly structured Bank On Yourself policy.

My offer to pay a $100,000 cash reward to the first person who can do that still stands.

There’s no cost or obligation to receive an Analysis that will show you how a program custom tailored to your unique situation could improve your financial picture and help you turn your back on the stomach-churning twists and turns of traditional investments.

If you haven’t already started to Bank On Yourself, please take the first step today and take back control of your financial future!

¹ “Bonds – Why Bother?” by Robert Arnott, Journal of Indexes (May/June 2009 issue)

Let’s start by answering the question…

Life insurance companies are highly regulated and required to maintain sufficient reserves to ensure they can pay all future claims.

They are regularly audited by the state insurance commissioners’ offices, and sometimes by dozens of states, to ensure they are on solid financial ground.  And a multi-layer safety net exists to assure your money in a life insurance policy is secure.

You may be wondering, “What about AIG?”  Many people missed the fact that AIG’s problems were caused by a holding company, not its life insurance subsidiaries.  Their insurance companies were walled off from the problems, have always been solvent and did not receive a bailout.

The companies recommended by Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisors are among the financially strongest life insurance groups in the world.

They enjoy some of the strongest surplus positions in the industry, approximately double the industry average.

These companies are, in essence, owned by policyowners, rather than stockholders, which allows them to focus on the long-term interests of policy holders, rather than the short-term demands of Wall Street.

Here’s what the companies used for Bank On Yourself invest in:

Over 90% of their portfolio is invested in investment-grade fixed-income assets

Less than 1% is invested in U.S. Treasury or other government debt

Their bond portfolios are well diversified across many industries and companies, with no investment representing more than 1% of assets

Due to their financial strength and reserves, they have the ability to hold on to any assets that may decline in value for many years until they recover

They had virtually no exposure to the risky investments that caused the market meltdown of 2008

They have NEVER missed paying an annual dividend to policyowners for more than 100 years, including during the Great Depression!

Both your principal and gains are locked in – they don’t vanish due to a market correction

You can know the minimum guaranteed value of your policy in any year and also the minimum guaranteed income you can take from your policy

To find out what your bottom-line numbers and results could be with Bank On Yourself, request a free Analysis here

For these reasons – and many more – we know of no better or safer place to store your money!

The bottom line is that you have to park your money somewhere.

That could be in stocks, mutual funds, bonds, CD’s, money markets, real estate, currency, commodities… or under your mattress.

How many people have lost money in these financial vehicles, including you?

Many families’ nest-eggs have been lost in every one of these conventional investing and saving methods, dashing their hopes and dreams for a secure financial future.

As most people are aware, even putting your money into “insured” saving accounts and CD’s isn’t a sure thing; the FDIC’s insurance fund was almost $21 billion dollars in the red at the end of 2009 and the number of banks at risk of collapsing is growing daily!

Putting your money in your mattress also has its risks – it can be stolen or catch on fire.  And inflation will surely make it worth less every year.

And now, we can’t even be confident that U.S. treasury bonds are a safe place to put our money.

But we challenge you to find any credible proof that anyone has lost money in a life insurance policy in the last 100 years!

For the record, the $100,000 cash reward I’ve offered to the first person to show they use a different product or strategy that can match or beat the advantages and guarantees of a properly structured dividend-paying whole life policy still remains unclaimed.

Go ahead and take the $100,000 Challenge! Because if there is a better strategy than Bank On Yourself, I want to know about it, so I can use it for my family and share it with others.

One more thing.  I know some people are going to ask which companies the Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisors recommend, as discussed above.

Please understand I’m not going to list them.  First, because I’m not in the business of referring any specific company.  And also because it’s not enough to know which companies are the strongest and have the best product for the Bank On Yourself concept.

You also need the help and coaching of a financial advisor who has advanced training in this method and knows how to structure the policy properly and how to use it to maximize your lifetime wealth.

It takes even an experienced advisor at least a year of full-time training and experience to become proficient at this.

Experience has shown that without the guidance of a knowledgeable advisor, there’s an excellent chance your policy will be structured wrong. As a result, it won’t grow nearly as fast, you could lose the tax advantages, or both.

That’s what led to the creation of the Authorized Advisor training program, and only around 200 advisors across the country have passed the rigorous requirements.

You can get a referral to one of these specialists when you request a free, no-obligation Analysis that will show you how much your financial picture could improve if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan.

If you haven’t already started to Bank On Yourself, please take the first step today and take back control of your financial future!

And please tell us what’s on your mind below!

Investors earn returns over time that are far lower than those quoted by mutual fund firms.  In fact, it’s not even a close race.”

This is the conclusion of DALBAR, Inc., the well-respected independent investment research firm.¹

For the past 20 years ending December 31, 2009, “the average equity investor managed to eke out an annualized return that outpaced inflation.”  The average return was 3.17% per year – just slightly more than the inflation rate for that period!

Asset allocation and fixed income investors weren’t so lucky (if you can call that “luck”); they lost ground after adjusting for inflation.

Why most investors don’t come close to getting the returns touted in mutual fund prospectuses…

There are plenty of reasons for this.  For starters…

Investor Trap #1:  “Investors are impatient and irrational,” and “consistently make buy and sell decisions at the worst possible moments,” according to DALBAR, a finding backed up by many experts in the emerging field of behavioral finance.

Investor Trap #2:  You could get a 25% “average annual return” for years and still not make a single dime or even lose money!

This is due to the smoke and mirrors the Wall Street illusionists have been using to pull the wool over your eyes for decades.  Don’t take my word for it – I exposed the mutual fund “rate of return” myth” here.

Investor Trap #3:  If you’re investing in mutual funds inside a 401(k) plan, fees can “eat up to half your income over a 30-year span,” according to an exposé on 60 Minutes.

In addition, most people aren’t aware that employers are making risky decisions on how to invest your money in your 401(k) for you without your knowledge or approval!  And they are automatically moving your money into higher-fee funds, too.

This is all courtesy of the Pension Protection Act of 2006.  Makes you wonder who they’re trying to protect!

Knowledge is power, so I urge you to learn what the government and your employer aren’t telling you about your 401(k).

Investor Trap #4:  Taxes, taxes and more taxes!

Nothing I’ve talked about so far takes into account the wealth-destroying effect of taxes.

If you’re like most Americans, much of your savings is in tax-deferred accounts, like 401(k)’s.  Paying taxes later is one of the big appeals of these plans.

But what direction do you think tax rates will go over the long term?  If, like most people, you think taxes are going to go up, and you’re successful in growing a nest-egg, you’re only going to pay higher taxes on a larger number!

The bottom line is that most people’s financial future rests on a game whose rules they do not understand and have no control over.  No wonder most Americans have no confidence they’ll be able to reach their financial goals and dreams.

Which is why Bank On Yourself should be a part of almost everyone’s financial foundation.

It gives you guaranteed growth in both good times and bad, as well as predictability and control.

A Bank On Yourself policy goes in only one direction:  UP.  Both your principal and gains are locked in.  It gives you peace of mine for retirement planning, because you can know how much income you could take every year in retirement (guaranteed), and for how long you’ll be able to take it.

You can take that income without tax consequences, if you do it right, under current tax law.

You can also use your cash value in the policy to inject needed capital into a business or to help you get through tough times.  To learn more about the many different ways people use Bank On Yourself, check out Chapters 6-12 of my best-selling book.

If you haven’t already added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, why not find out today what your bottom-line numbers and results could be if you did?  Whatever your long-term or short-term financial goals and dreams are, you may be surprised to find out how many of them Bank On Yourself can help you achieve.

There’s no cost or obligation to receive an Analysis that will show you how a program custom tailored to your unique situation could improve your financial picture and help you turn your back on the stomach-churning twists and turns of traditional investments.

If you haven’t already started to Bank On Yourself, please take the first step today and take back control of your financial future!

¹ DALBAR 2010 Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior

Countries go to war because of money.  People marry and divorce because of money.  And we spend the biggest part of our waking hours working to earn it.

The age-old question, of course, is, does money buy happiness?

While writing a fascinating book, John Stossel, the highly regarded former anchor of the investigative TV show, 20/20, did some research into the answer to this question.

Not surprisingly, it turns out that people who struggle on a daily basis to survive – put food on the table, clothe their family and put a roof over their heads – are the least happy.

In America, most people say they are “fairly happy,” but “they’d be happier if they had more money.”

However, Stossel’s research revealed that, after the basic necessities are covered, more money does not equal more happiness.  A survey of people on Forbes Magazine’s “richest” list found they rated themselves no happier than anyone else.  (But I imagine it’s more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Hyundai.)

Note:  Stossel’s book is called “Myths, Lies and Outright Stupidity,” and I highly recommend it.  You can get your copy here.

One thing we do know is that not having to worry about whether the money you were counting on to provide a comfortable retirement will be there when you need it reduces stress and increases your ability to enjoy every day.

Which is a big reason people are flocking to Bank On Yourself.  It gives you peace of mind for retirement planning, because you’ll know the minimum guaranteed income you can take every year and for how long you can take it.

Perhaps the best things about having money are:

Personal Freedom

Money is the tool of independence – not having to do what you do not wish to do.

Charitable Ability

Americans are among the most charitable people on earth.  Being able to give more to your church, temple and/or favorite charities is one of the most fulfilling feelings.

My best-selling book contains some very moving stories of folks who use their Bank On Yourself plans to allow them to devote more time and money to charitable causes.

And check out this video revealing how one family used their Bank On Yourself policy to help raise over $100,000 for their church.

It’s a very creative idea that almost anyone can use!

I think most people would agree that true prosperity is loving relationships, fulfilling work, contributing to a greater good, beautiful sunsets, abundant health, rainbows and talking with good friends.

And… it means having the freedom to live life full-on, doing the things that bring you joy.  It means living without fear of paying bills, scrimping by, or depriving yourself of the things that bring happiness, fulfillment, and meaning to your life.

Maybe money can’t truly buy happiness.  But it sure lubricates life and can prevent a whole lot of unhappiness.

It’s a lot easier to be happy if you’re not worried about paying the rent or mortgage, having the money to pay for braces on your kid’s teeth, or providing a home-health aid for an elderly parent.

Money stress breeds unhappiness, hopelessness, and broken relationships.

If you want more financial certainty, less stress over money and finances, and the ability to enjoy more of life’s luxuries (without the guilt), why not investigate what Bank On Yourself can do for you?

If you haven’t already requested your free, no-obligation Analysis that will show you how adding Bank On Yourself to your financial plan can help you reach both your short-term and long-term goals and dreams, why not request it now, while you’re thinking of it?
If you haven’t already started to Bank On Yourself, please take the first step today and take back control of your financial future!

Tell us what you think below.  Does money buy happiness?  And how do you define true prosperity?

The date was May 3^rd, 1999, and to quote Yogi Berra, nearly eleven years later,

The Wall Street spin-makers are pointing out what a “big accomplishment it is for a measure that was below 7,000 only a year ago” to recapture the 11,000 level.

Before we pop the cork on a bottle of champagne, here’s a few sobering questions to ask yourself…

Q: How much has inflation reduced the purchasing power of your dollars over the past 11 years?

Q: How much will your retirement or investment account be worth 11 years from now?

Q: How will you feel if the markets stall for another 11 years? (Fact: Historically, it’s the norm, not the exception, for the Dow to end up going nowhere for very lengthy periods of time.)

Q: How would your plans for retirement be affected if we experience market crashes this decade as deep and as devastating as the two we suffered during the last decade?

Q: Does your financial plan rely more on hope and luck than on guaranteed, predictable growth?

Ready to have a financial plan you can predict and count on?  Request a free Analysis that will show you how much money you could count on having in retirement.

After researching over 450 savings and investing products and strategies, I ultimately concluded that Americans have been brainwashed into believing we must risk our money in order to grow it.

Do you know the difference between “saving” and “investing”?

Part of the problem is that Wall Street and the financial planning industry have led us to believe that “saving” and “investing” are the same things.  However, they are not.

The money you have in savings is money you don’t want (or can’t afford) to lose.  The money you invest is subject to loss.

Most people today “invest to save,” and as a result, have no idea what their nest egg will be worth when they hope or plan to tap into it.

This is not a financial “plan,” which the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as “a means of accomplishing something.”

It’s gambling.  And it has led to a nation of people wondering if they’ll ever be able to retire, and what they’ll have to give up in order to do that.

Bank On Yourself is based on an asset class that has increased in value during every stock market decline and every period of economic boom and bust for more than a century

That asset is dividend-paying whole life insurance, but with some little-known options added to the policy which turbo-charge the growth of your equity (“cash value”) in the policy.

These policies grow by a guaranteed and pre-set amount every year.  In addition, the growth is exponential, meaning it gets better (more efficient) every single year you have the policy, simply because you stick with it.

And, no luck, skill, or guesswork is required to make that happen.

Once credited to your policy, both your guaranteed annual increase, plus any dividends you may receive, are locked in. They don’t vanish due to a market correction.

These policies give you peace of mind for retirement planning, because you’ll know the minimum guaranteed income you can take in retirement, and for how long you can take it.

And if someone asks you if you know how much your plan will be worth in 10 years, 20 years, or whenever you hoped to tap into it, you can (finally) say “yes”!

As April 15^th looms, and most people agree taxes are only likely to increase over time, keep in mind that it’s possible to take retirement income from these policies with little or no tax consequences, under current tax law.

If you’ve already added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, congratulations!  You can laugh when Wall Street crows about hitting a level we first crossed nearly 11 years ago.

And if you haven’t started to Bank On Yourself, take the first step now towards taking back control of your money and finances by requesting your free, no-obligation Analysis that will show you how Bank On Yourself could
help you reach your long-term and short-term goals and dreams.

If you haven’t already started to Bank On Yourself, please take the first step today and take back control of your financial future!