Because of this, most baby boomers have been forced to postpone retirement an average of five years.¹

I’m often asked how using the Bank On Yourself method to save for retirement compares to traditional plans, so I put together this short video that reveals seven reasons Bank On Yourself makes an excellent retirement plan alternative.

Click the play button in the video below and see how many of these seven advantages you’d like to have in your financial plan…

1.  Bankers Life and Casualty Center for a Secure Retirement, May 2011

If you’ve been having a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that you’ve been treading water in your financial plan for what seems like forever, these three graphic “snapshots” reveal the ugly truth.

These snapshots clearly illustrate the fatal flaws in the conventional wisdom that’s been shoved down our throats for so long about saving and investing.

This is your retirement plan powered by Wall Street

A quick look at this snapshot tells you everything you need to know…

Let me ask you a question…

Where is it written that you must suffer a lost decade – or more – growing your nest egg?

Isn’t that what Wall Street wants us to believe?

The fact of the matter is that the only guarantee Wall Street gives you is that they’ll get paid whether you win or lose!

It’s also why they desperately don’t want you to know about the peace of mind, guarantees, and predictability you get when your retirement plan is powered by Bank On Yourself.

Once again, a picture is worth a thousand words, so let’s compare the growth in a Bank On Yourself plan side-by-side with what the Wall Street Casino offers:

The chart on the right above shows the growth pattern in a typical Bank On Yourself-type policy.  The growth is exponential (in the mathematical sense of the word).  That means the growth curve gets steeper every year you have the policy – with no luck, skill or guesswork required to make that happen.

And while these plans grow more slowly at the start (there’s no such thing as a magic pill!), the growth is at its peak at the time you need it most – retirement.

The chart above is based on the actual growth I’ve received in one of my own policies so far, along with the projected growth based on the current dividend scale.

Dividends aren’t guaranteed, but the companies preferred by the Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisors have paid them every single year for more than 100 years.

So now let’s take a look at another bit of conventional financial wisdom gone awry…

We were taught we could count on the equity in our homes to be a major part of our retirement nest-egg.  A lot of people who thought they were doing the right thing made extra mortgage payments, so they could have the “security” of knowing their home was paid off in full when they retired.

They plowed money they could have put into safe savings into their homes instead – which got them a ZERO rate of return on their hard-earned dollars AND locked up their money in a depreciating asset.

And here’s a snapshot of where that got them…

News Flash!  There’s a better way!  Did you know that you can save up enough cash value in a Bank On Yourself policy to be able to write a check to pay off your mortgage in full, any time you choose to do that?

My husband and I could do that TODAY – if we chose to.  But we made the smart decision to leave that money in our Bank On Yourself plans where it is working much harder for us.

How much harder is that money working for us?  This blog post I wrote on the rate of return of a Bank On Yourself plan reveals why you’d need to get a 7-8% return in a tax-deferred account, like a 401(k) or IRA, to equal the return of a typical Bank On Yourself plan.

And that’s without the risk or volatility of traditional investments!

Now let’s take a look at the promise of gold.  Again, a picture is worth a thousand words…

I’ve found most people who are buying gold today have no clue about the volatile history of that metal.  And those who forget (or are ignorant of) the past are condemned to repeat it.

And keep this in mind – Bank On Yourself doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition, because you can use the money in your plan to make purchases or to take advantage of opportunities and investments.  (It’s your money, after all!)  Your policy continues growing as though you never touched it.  (Work with a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor to make sure your policy is from a company that offers this feature.)

Having your money in something that’s safe and liquid doesn’t take away your options!

This is the time of year when people often take stock of where they are today, and where they’d rather be in the future.

If you still believe that Wall Street holds the key to your financial security, and if you believe the economic challenges we’ve been facing that have caused the unprecedented volatility in the market are over with… then keep doing what you’ve been doing and hope it all works out.

But if you’re determined that the next ten years are going to be a lot better than the last ten or more, then today is the day to take the first step towards a financial future you can predict and count on by requesting your FREE Analysis, if you haven’t already done so.

When you do, you’ll find out if you qualify for a Bank On Yourself plan.  It can take up to 60 days for your policy to be approved.  So you can see why you need to start today to hit the ground running in 2012.

Request your free Analysis now… and find out how much your financial picture could improve by adding Bank On Yourself to your financial plan.

But some of these questions about key money and finance basics tripped up some of our readers – almost no one got all five answers right. Making financial decisions without knowing the correct answer to even one of these questions can easily shave six figures or more off your lifetime wealth.

So I urge you to pay close attention to the correct answers below. You’ll also find a list of our six contest winners at the end of this post.

Here are the correct answers given by readers to the five questions…

Question #1: If you finance a $30,000 car through a finance company, your actual cost for the car is the money you spend on it, plus the interest you pay, less the value of your trade-in at the end of your loan repayment period.

If you pay cash for a car, what’s your actual cost for the car?

Answer: Joe Goldsmith pointed out what many people with alphabet soup after their name don’t get – that “paying cash for the car is just another form of financing.”

John Nicholson summed it up succinctly: “If you pay $30,000 cash for a car, your actual cost is the money you spent on the car, less the trade-in value at the end of the period, plus the opportunity cost – the loss of interest that the $30,000 could have earned.”

Perry Blouin went on to calculate the enormity of the total loss you could have over 40 years because of this “opportunity cost.” And Valerie Coffman noted, “If you use a Bank On Yourself policy (to pay for the car), you make money as if you never took it out, and you make money on yourself when you pay it back. Awesome!”

As Eric pointed out, “with Bank On Yourself, you accumulate the $30,000 and when it comes time for your vehicle purchase, request a check from the insurance company, receive it within 48-72 hours and then be ready to negotiate with the car dealership.”

Using your Bank On Yourself policy to pay for major purchases also gives you access to money on your terms rather than someone else’s. You can pay it back on your own schedule without worrying about bill collectors, late fees or black marks on your credit report. It beats financing, leasing or even directly paying cash for things by a long shot.

To find out how much more lifetime wealth you could enjoy – simply by using the Bank On Yourself method to make major purchases versus the other options available to you, request a FREE no-obligation Analysis that will show you your bottom-line results. I think you’ll be amazed!

Question #2: If you have a $20 stock and it goes up by 40%, how much money did you make on that stock? (Hint: This is about a key financial principle, not a math question.)

Answer: The talking heads on Wall Street NEVER get this one and do their best to make sure you don’t figure out the blindingly obvious answer to this question!

As Ruth noted,

You don’t make any money until you actually sell your stock.”

Likewise, it makes me crazy when people talk about how much value their home has lost since the real estate bubble burst. You don’t have a REAL gain (or loss) until you sell an asset and lock your profits in.

Which is in stark contrast to the Bank On Yourself method. The gains you receive each year (guaranteed and predictable) are locked in the moment they’re credited to your policy. As for losses… well, there aren’t any. This is based on an asset class that has increased in value every year for over 160 years!

Question #3: According to Morningstar, Inc., the top-performing mutual fund for the last decade (ending December 31, 2009) enjoyed an 18% annual return.

However, the typical investor in that fund wasn’t so fortunate.

What was the annual return of the typical investor in that top-performing fund? And why was their return so different from the return reported by the fund?

Answer: Only one person – Raymond Trembath – nailed the shocking correct answer to this question (no one else came even close), and he also noted the reasons why:

“The typical investor in the best performing mutual fund of the last decade lost 11% annually, even though the fund itself rose by more than 18% annually. The reason this could happen is that all mutual funds are legally allowed only to advertise the results of their ‘buy and hold’ investors, in spite of the fact that long-term mutual funds tend to be held for less than half a decade!”

Doesn’t this typify the smoke and mirrors that the Wall Street Casino uses to pull the wool over our eyes?

If you find it hard to believe that the results mutual funds report could be so different than the results the investors in those funds get, I urge you to read the article supporting this from the Wall Street Journal.

Question #4: What percentage of mutual funds, financial advisors and investment advisory services underperform the overall market? And why?

Answer: Nick H. hit this one spot on when he said, “80% per Hulbert Financial Digest.”

And it’s not just because of the fees they charge. It’s because all the “experts” are humans, too, and are “predictably irrational,” buying and selling at the wrong times.

Question #5: You could have $10,000 in a mutual fund that reports an average annual return of 25% for four years… and at the end of the fourth year end up with only the $10,000 you started with.

How is that possible?

Answer: Doc Youngblood’s little story was such a great, entertaining explanation of this, I decided to include his response in full:

“How is it possible to have $10,000 in a mutual fund that reports an average annual return of 25% for four years… and at the end of the fourth year you end up with only the $10,000 you started with?

The key to the question’s answer is hidden in this short, simple story, but hidden in plain sight for those willing to see.

And the story? You’ll like this I promise—no animals were hurt during its filming.

Imagine we are duck hunting and I shoot. I miss by a foot behind the duck. So I quickly aim and shoot again. I miss by a foot in front of the duck.

By the law of averages, I hit a bulls eye. By the law of dinner, my plate is still empty.

So, if your mutual fund reports an average annual return of 25% for four years, does that mean you’ve got more money in your account?

Let’s play:

Four years later you still have a $10,000 balance. But not once did the rate of return equal 25%. Here’s the percent change for each year: 100-50+100-50. So we add that up (100%) and then we divide that by four years to show our average rate of return is 25% for four years.

Wait! A 25% average rate of return is supposed to be a great thing, right?

Follow the cash in the example above—did the cash increase? The numbers above show one scenario with a 25% average rate of return and ending up with exactly the same money you started with.

However, 25% annual compound interest is a great thing. Take a look:

Year One: $10,000 becomes $12,500 at 25% compound interest.
Year Two: $12,500 becomes $15,625
Year Three: $15,625 becomes $19,531.25
Year Four: $19,531.25 becomes $24,414.06

Were you like me and confused about the two definitions? It’s very common to confuse them AND to assume that the average rate of return is a linear type of activity, one year after the next being the same. Average rate of return and compound interest are not the same.”

(For the record, you’ll find no smoke and mirrors when you see the bottom line numbers and results you could get when you add Bank On Yourself to your financial plan.)

Now for the list of our six contest winners…

There were so many insightful answers that it was hard to pick out only six winners. (All are being notified by email.)

The best entry, picked by our Bank On Yourself team, is Doc Youngblood, who wins a $100 Amazon Gift Card! (Doc – I guess you can tell your wife she was right!)

And the two runners up, who’ll get their choice of a $25 Dining Gift Certificate or a personally autographed copy of my best-selling book, Bank On Yourself: The Life Changing Secret to Growing and Protecting Your Financial Future, are:

1. Eric

2. Raymond Trembath

There were also three winners who got at least one question right, who were randomly chosen to win prizes. The winner of the second $100 Amazon Gift Card is Robert N.

And the two randomly chosen winners who’ll get their choice of a $25 Dining Gift Certificate or a personally autographed copy of my book are:

1. Carl Schoner

2. Rita

Thanks to everyone who participated in this blog contest. You are all winners for thinking – and seeing – through the conventional wisdom about money and finances that has cost so many people so much in lost money, lost time and broken dreams.

Here is how the responses to each of our 10 survey questions have broken down.  The percentages reveal which option our survey-takers find more scary!

You’ll see that snakes, blood, public nudity, eating fire-hot peppers, and even close proximity to a psychotic killer caused far fewer trembles than did the terrifying prospect of winding up in a serious financial jam.

Here’s what Americans find most scary…

1. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 22.2% – Death

• 78% – Outliving Your Money

  

2. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 28.6% – Having all of your investment decisions — good and bad — published in your local newspaper

• 71.4% – Walking naked down a fashion runway while being photographed

3. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 17.5% – Having to remain awake for 48 uninterrupted hours

• 82.5% – Having to memorize all the fine print on your 401(k) plan in no more than 48 hours

4. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 64.3% – Watching your stock portfolio lose 40% of its value in only a few weeks

• 36.4% – Ingesting 40 habanero peppers within 24 hours

5. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 58.8% – Sitting for 30 minutes in a tub of live snakes

• 41.7% – Explaining to your family or other loved ones that you’ve lost your home to foreclosure

6. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 49.2% – Having to pick the one mutual fund (among hundreds) that will outperform all others during the year

• 52.1% – Bobbing for a 10 oz gold bar in a vat containing 50 gallons of cow’s blood

7. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 9.4% – Going on twelve once-a-month blind dates with a randomly selected bachelor or bachelorette

• 91% – Entrusting your retirement portfolio to an anonymous fund administrator, who may or may not have any special education or training

Editors Note: Although 9 out of 10 Americans fear entrusting their retirement to an incompetent administrator, millions of Americans may unknowingly be doing exactly that right now! Read our shocking exposé and learn the facts!

8. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 64% – Having my personal tax returns audited by the IRS

• 37.3% -Walking around for a week wearing pants with pockets overflowing with live worms

9. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 31.7% – Be strapped atop a vintage stunt plane while it performs a typical aerobatics routine

• 70.% – Be tied to the Social Security program as your sole source of retirement income

10. Which of the following is more frightful to you?

• 66.1% – Losing my job and having to live only off of my current savings for a year

• 34.6% -Renting an extended-stay room in the Bates Motel and sharing a shower with Anthony Perkins

Were you surprised by any of your responses?

These results are a sad commentary on the financial condition and current state of mind of so many of our family members, friends, neighbors and colleagues.

The definition of insanity is doing the same things in the same way and hoping for different results.  So, if you’re ready to find a better way to save and invest for your financial future that gives you peace of mind and lifetime financial security, check out the Bank On Yourself method.

To find out how much brighter your financial picture could be if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, request your free, no-obligation Analysis now, while it’s fresh on your mind!

The contest even inspired one reader to write a poem!

I’ve been studying these topics full time for nearly a decade now, and even I learned some new things.  So, whether you use the Bank On Yourself method or not, or you consider yourself to be an expert or a novice at understanding money and finances, you should read this!

You will undoubtedly learn some things you didn’t already know!

There were so many great contest entries, it was really tough for our team to single out only the five best entries, and the winners of the iPod Touch, Amazon.com gift certificate and more are listed below.

The contest question was:  How is dividend-paying whole life insurance different from a savings account, besides the death benefit?

Our readers gave a dozen or so distinct, key differences between the two, and I’ll summarize a number of them in a moment.

However, I think one really critical advantage of a dividend-paying whole life policy wasn’t mentioned…

Many retirees today can’t stomach the volatility or unpredictability of investing in stocks and other traditional investments and were counting on their interest income from CD’s, money markets and savings accounts.

Most Americans today have NO clue when or even if they'll ever be able to retire!

Unfortunately, they made their plans based on assumptions, NOT guarantees.

Few retirees anticipated interest rates being around 1% for an extended period of time, which is the reality they’re facing today.  And the impact is catastrophic…

Let’s say you have $500,000 saved up, and your plan was to live off the interest when you’re retired, so you don’t have to draw down your savings.  And, like many people, you may have based your assumptions on being able to get an average of 5% interest per year.  That means you anticipated your savings throwing off $25,000 a year.

But “reality” didn’t live up to your best-laid plans.  Now you’re 70, and, at 1% annual interest, you’re only getting $5,000 a year, NOT the $25,000 you had planned on.

Unfortunately, you’re faced with several choices, none of them very pleasant – give up any luxuries and probably some things you consider necessities, go back to work, and/or cash in some of your savings.

If you need to eat into your principal and you have to withdraw $20,000 to make up the difference, well, that’s $20,000 you’ll NEVER be able to earn a dime on again!

It wasn’t “supposed” to work out this way, but you never had any guarantees!  Just like you  have no guarantees when you’re investing your retirement savings in stocks, real estate and other traditional investments.

As a result, most Americans today have NO clue when or even if they’ll ever be able to retire!

Shockingly, the average family headed by a person between 60 and 70 years old has only 25% of the amount they’ll need for retirement saved up! (Source:  October 2011 AARP Bulletin)

So, how does a dividend-paying whole life policy solve this dire problem?

These policies provide you guaranteed, predictable annual increases that are the largest when you need it most – retirement!

If you use the Bank On Yourself method, then you know – right now – what your guaranteed annual increase will be when you’re 75.  And when you’re 80, 95, or 100 – or in ANY given year.

In addition, you KNOW that your guaranteed increase gets larger each year, which also gives you some protection from inflation.

And this critical difference between Bank On Yourself and EVERY other savings or investing product or strategy changes absolutely everything for you between now and the end of your life!

And that’s a big part of the reason so many of the contest entrants also expressed such gratitude for their Bank On Yourself plans.

Many of the contest entries pointed out other key differences between dividend-paying whole life (“DPWL”) and a savings account, including…

1. Savings accounts pay a variable (read:  unpredictable) interest rate.

To keep it very simple, DPWL policies pay you a guaranteed interest rate (typically 4% or so) on your cash value.  PLUS, you have the potential to receive dividends.  Dividends aren’t guaranteed, but the Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisors only recommend companies that have paid dividends every single year for at least 100 years.

DPWL dividends aren’t calculated like any other kind of dividends.  They are credited based on the death benefit of your policy.

Key Concept:  The ONLY way you could receive just the guaranteed annual increase is if the insurance company stopped paying dividends now and never paid you a single dividend until the day you die.

2. You can spend or invest the equity in your policy and the policy keeps growing as though you never touched a dime of it! With a savings account, when you withdraw funds, they no longer earn any interest.

NOTE – only a handful of insurance companies offer policies with this feature, in addition to all the other features required to maximize the power of this concept – another reason to be sure to work with a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor who knows which companies to use and can structure your policy to maximize the growth and minimize your taxes.

To get a referral to one of only 200 advisors who have met the rigorous requirements to be an Authorized Advisor, request your free Analysis now.

3. You can borrow your equity in the policy without having to apply or qualify for it, and you can’t be turned down for a loan!  Plus, you can pay it back on your own schedule, not someone else’s.

If you borrow from a savings bank using your account as collateral, you have to go through an approval process, and you must pay it back on a pre-arranged schedule.  You’ll be charged a penalty if you’re late making a payment.  Many banks will only allow you to borrow up to 50% of your account value, and they can seize your money to cover your loan in full, if you miss a payment.

4. You can immediately withdraw 100% of the money you put into a savings account.  As noted by one contest entrant, Dan Proskauer, “This is not true for dividend-paying whole life.  It’s a long-term commitment, and if you liquidate it early, you will lose capital.”  (Dan isn’t a financial advisor, but he knows more about this than most experts do.  Dan shared his fascinating story on this blog, and I encourage you to check it out.)

And that is what I’m referring to when I say that Bank On Yourself isn’t a “get-rich-quick” scheme.  It takes some patience and discipline.  But for those who have those traits, it pays a lifetime of rewards and provides you with more advantages and guarantees than any other financial product or strategy.

5. Interest you earn from a savings account is taxable at the federal and usually state level, too.

It’s possible to access the growth in a DPWL policy with no taxes due, under current tax law.  This happens through the proper combination of dividend withdrawals and loans against your cash value.

6. Life insurance companies are far more regulated than savings banks.  Unlike banks, which can loan out every dollar ten times, life insurance companies can’t do that.  They are legally required to maintain sufficient reserves to pay future claims.

Learn more about the multi-layer safety net for life insurance companies here.

7. DPWL provides asset protection benefits for both your cash value and death benefit in many states.  (Check with a professional on the rules for your state.)

And that sums up the biggest differences listed by subscribers between dividend-paying whole life and a savings account.

You may also be interested in learning what the rate of return is on a properly designed Bank On Yourself-type policy.

For these reasons – and many more – I know of no better place to park your money than in a properly designed Bank On Yourself-type policy.

And I’ll pay you $100,000 to prove me wrong!

That’s right!  My offer to pay $100K to the first person who can show they use a different strategy that can match or beat Bank On Yourself still stands – nearly three years after I first threw out the gauntlet!

Go ahead – I dare you to take the Challenge!

Bank On Yourself is the best sleep-through-the-night financial security blanket I’ve come across after researching over 450 different financial products and strategies over the past 20 years.

Don’t you owe it to yourself and your family to at least find out what your bottom-line numbers and results could be if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan?

Stop hoping and start knowing what your financial future will be!

It’s easy to find out when you request your FREE Analysis.  Please do it today, if you haven’t already!

And now for our contest winners…

As I mentioned, there were so many terrific entries, it was hard to pick out only five winners.

But here they are (all are being notified by email that they have won)…

1.  The iPod Touch winner is Michael S.  Michael brought out some of the advantages business owners can get by financing business purchases with Bank On Yourself.

Michael also confessed to occasionally forgetting all the advantages he’s getting from his three policies (something other readers can relate to, I’m sure) and how reading this blog and reviewing his policy statements and information “reminds me of all the benefits to stay with the plan.”

2.  The $100 Amazon.com Gift Certificate winner is Craig Yenni, who was inspired to write this delightful poem!

Here are the three winners who will each receive their choice of a $25 Dining Gift Certificate or a personally autographed copy of my best-selling book:

1.  Rose Hillbrand, who made several helpful comments not only in this contest, but also on other blog posts over the last several years.

Rose was an “early adopter” of the Bank On Yourself wealth-building method.   Her story – captured on video – is very moving.  Check it out here.

2.  Gentry Eddings, who pointed out the problems with the reserve requirements for banks and the pitfalls of FDIC insurance for banks.

3.  Kevin C. also wins for figuring out that he could search this website for comments I’ve made comparing DPWL to a savings account.  (I didn’t even remember saying the quote he found.  And I’ve now tweaked it in this blog post.  Thanks, Kevin!)

And thanks so much to everyone who participated!

Did you learn something new from this contest and post?  Let us know in the comments box below…

Enter below to win these prizes!

You could win an iPod Touch, $100 Amazon.com gift certificate, a $25 dining Certificate and more!

In case you missed last week’s contest, I had posted a podcast discussing some of the internet forums where people anonymously debate the merits of Bank On Yourself and discuss whether or not it’s a scam.

On one of those threads that comes up very high in the search results, one of my toughest, potty-mouthed critics has slowly come around and admitted I’m right about many of the points I’ve been making.

When challenged by another poster about the actual returns people get in the stock market, he dragged out 29 years of records of his own investing accounts, and was shocked to discover what his returns had actually been.

The contest was simple to enter – just listen to the podcast where I revealed what my critic discovered was his actual annual rate of return BEFORE accounting for inflation and taxes… and then tell us what the percentage was.

Since the contest has ended, I can reveal the answer now.  My critic averaged a 4.5% annual return over the past nearly three decades of investing in the stock market.

That’s BEFORE accounting for inflation, which averaged more than 3% per year, bringing his real return down closer to 1% per year.

And since much of his investing has been in tax-deferred accounts, he has yet to pay taxes on that money.  Of course, he doesn’t know what the tax rates will be during his retirement, when he’s taking income from those accounts.

But what direction do you think tax rates will be going over the long term?  (If you said “down,” I’ve got a Rolex watch I’ll sell you for $20.)

When you account for inflation and taxes, the question that ought to hit you over the head is…

Was it worth it?!?

Was it worth all the roller-coaster ups and downs and the sleepless nights to get 4.5% per year before taxes and inflation?

As I pointed out in the podcast, Bank On Yourself can beat that with a stick.   And without the risk or volatility of traditional investments.

My critic’s experience wasn’t unique, although I’ll commend him for actually looking at his statements and then being willing to admit publicly – if anonymously – his disappointing results.

One subscriber to the Bank On Yourself blog made a similar discovery and posted this comment on last week’s blog:

Wow. I had the exact same experience when investigating Bank On Yourself before starting my own plans (have multiple policies and am LOVING the results – exactly as predicted or better, no surprises and I sleep well at night). I made the same Google search and spent hours poring over the posts. What struck me was that nobody ever presented any evidence of any kind of scam. Some folks disagreed with the assumptions or touted their wildly inaccurate assumptions about equities as a more attractive alternative, but never did anyone have anything remotely scam-ish to report.”

This comment came from Dan Proskauer, a very analytical man who has spent literally hundreds of hours researching Bank On Yourself, running spreadsheets and crunching the numbers.

He says the Bank On Yourself method looks better the more he studies it.  Dan revealed the conclusions of his research in an interview I did with him last year.  I’d encourage you to read or listen to it.

And this concise comment made last week by a subscriber named John really summed up what a lot of people are (finally) figuring out…

I LOVE my Bank On Yourself plan, it does everything I was promised and more. I’ve not borrowed a penny from a bank or credit card in over a year. Why should I? I lend it to myself! And if you want a scam, I have two words for you … Wall Street”

Now for the details of our NEW contest…

A comment was made on the same thread that debates the merits of Bank On Yourself that it essentially works the same as a savings account, but with the added advantage of having a death benefit.  This statement really got me thinking.

While there certainly are some ways in which Bank On Yourself-type policies function like a savings account, I can think of a lot of major, critical differences.

But rather than me telling you what those differences are, I’d rather hear what you believe they are.  And some of our subscribers are a whole bunch smarter than I am.

So, I’m holding another contest, and our team will pick the five best answers and award a top prize of an iPod Touch (a $229.00 value), a second prize of a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate, and three runner-up prizes that will give you a choice of a $25 dining gift certificate or a personally autographed copy of my best-selling book for you or to give to someone you care about.

Just answer the following question in the comments box below no later than midnight, Monday, October 3:

The contest question is:  How is dividend-paying whole life insurance different from a savings account (besides the death benefit)?

You can address one or more differences, or comment on someone else’s response to qualify.

And if you think I’m “full of it,” feel free to tell us that, too.  (Some of our subscribers don’t seem to need any encouragement to do that…)

We’ll circle back here next week to report on the contest results and winners.

To qualify, just type in your response in the comments box at the end of this post no later than midnight, Monday, October 3rd.  Please note that all comments are moderated, so there will be some delay before it appears.  (Sorry – open to U.S. residents only.)

And now for the winners of last week’s contest.  As I mentioned, we received hundreds of entries with the correct answer by both email and via the blog comments.  These five randomly chosen winners have all been notified by email:

$100 Amazon.com gift certificate – Sheri Browning

The four winners of the $25 dining gift certificate or autographed book – Jeannie Fisher, Kevin Caldwell, Lynne, and Rich Rhoads

Okay!  Scroll down to the comments box and enter the contest…

One such thread that comes up high in the search results has nearly 200 posts spanning the last year and a  half.

On this lively audio podcast, Bank On Yourself founder Pamela Yellen discusses how her toughest anonymous critic on that thread has slowly been coming around.

He now (grudgingly) admits that Pamela is right about many of the points he has been contesting.  And, when challenged by another poster about the actual returns people get in the stock market, he even dragged out 29 years of records of his own investing accounts, only to conclude that he is “just an average investor.”

To listen to this fast-paced, surprising interview, click on the play button below, or you can download the recording as an mp3 and listen to it on your own player or iPod now at:

Near the end of this 15-minute interview, you’ll also discover a fast and simple experiment you can try to determine if Bank On Yourself really is a scam… or if it’s the ultimate financial security blanket in both good times and bad.

We really want to hear your comments and feedback!  Tell us what you think in the comments box below.  Please note that any comments containing the answer to the question of what was Pamela’s critics rate of return will be posted after September 24th, so as not to give away the answer…

But he still got blindsided several times by the totally unpredictable ups and downs of the stock market.

Derek Logan with his newborn granddaughter

As a corporate accountant for more than 30 years, Derek realized he had set – and achieved – all of the goals he set for himself… except for the goal of being able to retire at a specific age with a specific amount of money.

Disheartened and frustrated because he was closing in on his hoped-for retirement age, but his retirement account had been decimated several times, he began to do a lot of soul searching.  He was willing to be open to other alternatives.

Fortunately, my best-selling book landed on his kitchen table as a Father’s Day gift… and the rest, as they say, is history.

Derek started a Bank On Yourself-type policy just a little over two years ago and couldn’t be more thrilled, now that he’s stopped feeding the insatiable Wall Street Casino with his hard-earned dollars.

When the market recently experienced historic levels of volatility, Derek sent me this grateful note…

As the market went down, I smiled.  Not at the anguish so many must have been feeling, but at the joy of knowing I wasn’t being affected – this time, or ever again.  I printed Thursday’s headlines (512 point plunge on the Dow) and included them in my Bank On Yourself portfolio notebook that will serve as a reminder of the best financial decision I’ve ever made, two years ago this month!”

Derek is an enthusiastic champion of the Bank On Yourself method, having shared it with over 50 friends, relatives and colleagues.  So he was thrilled when I asked him if he would share his fascinating story with you.  Whether you already use Bank On Yourself, or you’ve been considering adding it to your financial plan, I know you’ll get immense value from this fast-paced interview.  And you’ll probably identify with Derek’s frustration.

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 the fast-paced and fascinating interview, you’ll discover…

• The five lies Derek realized we’ve been fed about investing (this will blow you away)
• The myth of investing in the market “for the long haul”… and why Derek now demands his savings and investing strategies give him guarantees and assurances both now and for the long term
• How Derek has already used his policy to become his own source of financing three times in the first two years of starting his plan – once again confirming how these policies are different from the ones Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey and others talk about
• Where Derek found the money to fund his plan
• Why “buy term insurance and invest the difference” is really “buy term and spend the difference”
• Why requesting a free Analysis and getting a referral to a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor was one of the best moves Derek ever made

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…

Download the transcript here

Check out these other Bank On Yourself success stories that may also be of interest to you:

• Bank On Yourself under the microscope (a Vice President of technology engineering for a major health care company shares his findings of hundreds of hours he’s spent analyzing Bank On Yourself)
• What side of the debt line are you on? (how Bank On Yourself can help people who’ve accumulated debt – as long as they are ready to change their habits)

We want your feedback!

Tell us what YOU think of Derek’s interview in the comments box below…

Spilling the beans on the myth that financial advisors only sell whole life policies because they receive large commissions

One of the most commonly parroted myths is that financial advisors only sell whole life policies because they receive large commissions for doing so.

As I’ve often explained, when a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor helps design and implement a Bank On Yourself-type policy for a client, their commission is slashed by 50-70%.  (And, yes, that’s one reason most financial advisors won’t tell you about this, or will try to steer you to another more profitable product.)

But if you’ve been wondering exactly how much commission a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor makes on one of these policies, you needn’t wait any longer!

I just recorded a short Podcast spilling the beans on this.

You can learn the surprising truth by clicking on the play arrow below, or you can download the recording as an mp3 and listen to it on your own player or iPod now at:

Often, the accusation that agents and advisors only sell these policies for the high commissions comes from investment advisors and money managers who want you to invest in the stock market, instead.

When you listen to this Podcast, you’re going to be shocked to discover that the advisor who manages your money in the stock market is making at least ten times more than the Bank On Yourself advisor, if the same amount of money is contributed each year!

Maybe that’s the kind of thing Mark Twain had in mind when he said…

A lie can circle the globe in the time it takes truth to put on its shoes”

In this Podcast, I also touch on:

• Why the cash value in a Bank On Yourself-designed policy grows up to 40 times faster than the policies Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey and others talk about
• Why the death benefit in these policies keeps growing and the company does NOT “confiscate” your savings when you die (blasting yet another oft-repeated myth about this)

So check it out right now by downloading the recording or listening to it here:

Have you had enough of the roller-coaster stock market?

Today a lot of people were breathing a sigh of relief that the year-to-date loss in the Dow was just erased.

But the unpleasant reality is that the S&P 500 is STILL almost 11% BELOW where it was 12 years ago today.  And inflation during those 12 years has taken another 34.5% bite out of your nest-egg!

The housing market continues to worsen, consumer confidence dropped to a two-year low this week, and the Fed is now threatening to do more of the same thing that got us into this mess in the first place.

All of which means stocks are now as vulnerable as toy balloons in a room full of razor blades!

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Americans are bypassing banks and Wall Street altogether, and growing their nest eggs by a guaranteed and predictable amount every single year using the Bank On Yourself method.

They haven’t lost a penny during the last 12 years.  In fact, they’ve never had a losing year for the past 160 years!

Nobody is going to twist your arm, and you won’t even be asked to buy anything at your first meeting with your Authorized Advisor.

But at least you’ll know whether Bank On Yourself makes sense for you and your family. So please request your free Analysis today.

Saving Your Nest Egg in Tough Times

Pamela Yellen was recently interviewed by AARP about the Bank On Yourself wealth-building method for an article on “Saving Your Nest Egg in Tough Times.”

Scroll down to the second paragraph below the “50/50, if you’re 50″ subhead to read the advice Pamela gave for investors age 50-65 who are fed up with watching their hard-earned nest-eggs shrink yet again.

What about investors over age 65?

Pamela also gave advice for investors between the ages of 66 and 85 who want to add more guarantees and predictability to their financial plan and bump up their returns without the risk of stocks and other investments.

Although there wasn’t space to include that advice in the AARP article, this is an increasingly popular option for Americans up through the age of 85.

This little-known option provides many advantages that annuities and CD’s do not have, including…

• Provides guaranteed growth and a higher return
• Exceptional flexibility and liquidity
• Protection from estate taxes
• Automatic long-term care coverage at no additional costs (in states where it’s available)

The Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisors are well-versed in this option and can conduct a free Analysis that will help you determine which plan is best for your unique situation.

If you’re not sure where you’ll find the funds to start a plan, don’t worry.  The Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisors are masters at helping their clients of any age restructure their finances to free up seed money to fund a plan that will help you reach as many of your long-term and short-term goals as possible – in the shortest time possible.

Remember – Wall Street already lost more than 45% of the typical investor’s savings TWICE in the last decade.  How would it affect you if this latest stock market rout is just the beginning of another look-out-below crash?

To find out how you can add predictability and guarantees to your financial plan and have the financial security and peace of mind that you want and deserve, request your FREE Analysis now.  You’ll be connected with one of only 200 financial advisors in the country who have met the rigorous training and requirements to be a Bank On Yourself Authorized Advisor.