Dow 11,000: Déjà vu all over again?
April 12, 2010 by Pamela Yellen · 13 Comments
Bill Clinton was President, the world awaited the potentially disastrous consequences of the Y2K computer bug, and – oh, yeah – the Dow closed above 11,000 for the first time in history.
The date was May 3rd, 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…
Bank On Yourself: A financial plan you can count on
December 11, 2009 by Pamela Yellen · 24 Comments
Oh what a roller-coaster year this has been! Our entire financial system and economy almost fell off a cliff.
And while there are some hopeful signs of new life in the economy, this year has also brought us:
- Massive bailouts
- A tripling of an already-bloated federal deficit
- A falling dollar
- Rising foreclosures (and likely to spike as billions of dollars in ARM’s are now coming up for adjustment)
- Major banks and investment houses taking on three times (!) the risk they were before the collapse
So what do you think next year has in store for us?
No one really knows for sure. (Well, except maybe the folks at the Psychic Hotline.) So how do you prepare for a very uncertain future?
Here’s a quick quiz that may reveal an answer for you…
What’s the one financial asset that increased in value during the market crash of 2008? And in 1929? And in every period of economic boom and bust in between?
Answer: The product used for Bank On Yourself: Cash-value life insurance.
As I’ve mentioned, my husband Larry and I now have 18 Bank On Yourself policies. I’ve picked one of them to show you how a dividend-paying whole life policy like this can grow over time – even when the markets are plummeting. It’s a great example of how Bank On Yourself gives you the peace of mind that lets you sleep at night.
Here’s how much this plan has grown each year since the beginning of 2000, a period that includes not one, but TWO devastating market crashes. In four of these years, the S&P 500 was down for the year, as you can see in this side-by-side comparison:
If you had put $10,000 into an S&P 500 Index fund at the beginning of 2000, how much do you think it would be worth today?
Take a guess before you read on.
How to stay safe and sane during the financial crisis…
February 8, 2009 by Pamela Yellen · Leave a Comment
How are folks who use Bank On Yourself faring today, during the greatest destruction of household wealth in history?
I just heard from the Wilder family, who told me how they “stayed sane” during the market crash:
“We have had Bank On Yourself plans for about three and a half years. They were what kept us sane during the stock market crash of 2008. Everything that was not in Bank On Yourself policies lost 32%,
but all of our Bank On Yourself policies grew. Our goal with it is to be free of all interest payments to lenders and to secure a retirement income stream we can count on. We have used the plans to purchase a new car and pay off our mortgage. It’s a pleasure to know our car cannot be repossessed and our home cannot be foreclosed on.”
Find out how people of all ages, incomes and backgrounds have taken back control of their financial future in my New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Business Week best-selling book, Bank On Yourself: The Life-Changing Secret to Growing and Protecting Your Financial Future
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