Dow 11,000: Déjà vu all over again?

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.

Yogi Berra

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

This is like deja vu all over again”

Yogi Berra

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…

[Read more…] “Dow 11,000: Déjà vu all over again?”

Bank on Yourself hits The New York Times Best Seller List!

Buy your copy today...The recently released paperback edition of Pamela Yellen’s first book on the Bank On Yourself concept will debut at #3 on the coveted New York Times Best-Seller List on April 11.

It also hit #2 on the USA Today Money Best Seller list for the week ending March 28th.

The hardcover edition was released a year ago and immediately hit the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Business Week best seller lists.

Find out what all the buzz is about and learn more about this proven, time-tested way to grow a nest egg, so you can take back control of your money and finances today.

Bank On Yourself: A financial plan you can count on

Oh what a roller-coaster year this has been!  Our entire financial system and economy almost fell off a cliff.

Bailout

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
Bailout

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:

chart
chart

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.

[Read more…] “Bank On Yourself: A financial plan you can count on”

Six Frequently Asked Questions about Bank On Yourself

FAQ

I thought you might find it helpful to have the answers to the six questions about Bank On Yourself we’re most often asked – right at your fingertips.

FAQ

How many of these questions have you been wondering about?

FAQ?FAQ #1: How does Bank On Yourself compare with traditional investing and savings strategies?

You can compare the Bank On Yourself method to traditional investments here, including stocks and mutual funds, a 401(k), a ROTH plan, real estate, gold, commodities and several other investments.

If there’s a different financial product or strategy that you think can match or beat the Bank On Yourself method, I encourage you to take the $100,000 Challenge. If you’re right, you could pick up an easy $100K!

FAQ?FAQ #2: How does Bank On Yourself let you recapture every penny you pay for major purchases like cars, vacations, business equipment or a college education?

I’ve summarized this in a short video overview of how Bank On Yourself works.

However, for a more detailed explanation, you’ll want to review Chapters 2, 6, and pages 52-54 of my best-selling book, Bank On Yourself. If you don’t have the book, we offer a 35% discount on it.

FAQ?FAQ #3: I’ve heard people like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman say whole life insurance is a lousy place to put your money. Is a Bank On Yourself-type policy different from the kind they’re talking about?

[Read more…] “Six Frequently Asked Questions about Bank On Yourself”

No new taxes?!?

Did you know that the U.S. income tax was first instituted in 1913?

I recently came across a copy of the very first IRS Income Tax Form 1040 our forefathers were required to file and wanted to share it with you.

1913 Form 1040 Tax Return
1913 Form 1040 Tax Return

But BEFORE I show you the rest of it, take a guess at the answers to these four questions:

  1. What percentage of taxable income do you think the average family paid back then?
  2. What was the top percentage paid by the very wealthiest Americans?
  3. How many pages long do you think that first tax return was?
  4. How many pages were the instructions needed to complete the form?

The answers to these questions may shock you!

[Read more…] “No new taxes?!?”

Government Motors?

Remember the old jokes about what it would be like if Microsoft built cars?

government-motors
government-motors

For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day… the airbag would say “are you sure?” before going off… executing a maneuver would occasionally cause your car to stop and fail to restart and you’d have to re-install the engine…

Now imagine what it’s going to be like when the government makes your car… coming soon to a dealership near you!

Stock market investing myth exploded!

Do you believe it’s true that you have to risk your money in order to grow a sizable nest-egg?

If so, you’re not alone – that’s the conventional thinking we’ve long been brainwashed to believe. But a shocking new study reveals just how fundamentally flawed this belief is…

For the last 40 years, ordinary long-term treasury bonds have outpaced investing in the stock market! This is according to a just-released study in the Journal of Indexes (May/June 2009 issue) by Robert Arnott.

So, what does that mean?

It means that for the past four decades, the only “rewards” investors have received for taking the extra risk of stocks and equity mutual funds are sleepless nights and broken dreams of retirement”

Other revelations in the study include…

[Read more…] “Stock market investing myth exploded!”

Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman on Whole Life Insurance: Let’s Debate!

UPDATED March 2024:  It’s been more than a decade since I challenged Suze and Dave to a debate, but they haven’t taken me up on it yet.  This post sparked some very lively debate and insightful comments, so be sure to read those, too.

Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey and many other financial advice-givers tell you to avoid whole life insurance. However, the policies used for the Bank On Yourself strategy are dramatically different in three key ways from the kind of whole life insurance that Suze, Dave and others talk about. Here, I reveal these key differences and prove their validity by showing you examples of my own policy statements.

What’s more, my readers have alerted Suze and Dave. But sadly, both have chosen to ignore the facts I reveal below. I’m sure neither Suze nor Dave relish the idea of having to rewrite all their books and materials. But once YOU learn the critical key differences between Bank On Yourself policies and the ones Suze and Dave mention, I’m confident you’ll be asking the same question we hear Bank On Yourself policyholders mention repeatedly: “How come no one’s ever told me about this before!?”

Here are the three key differences:

Suze Orman & Dave Ramsey
Suze Orman & Dave Ramsey

Key difference imageKey Difference #1: These experts say the money you can have access to in the plan (your “cash value”) grows too slowly in a whole life policy, and say you typically won’t have any cash value at all in the first few years.

Suze Orman & Dave RamseySuze Orman & Dave Ramsey

A Bank On Yourself-type policy, however, incorporates a special – and little-known – rider or option that turbo-charges the growth of your money in the policy so you have up to 40 times more cash value, especially in the early years of the policy. This allows you to use it as a powerful financial management tool from Day One.

Don’t take our word for it – here’s a statement from a Bank On Yourself-designed dividend-paying whole life policy, at the end of just one year.

But each policy is different, so to find out how much cash value you’ll have each year – guaranteed – request your FREE Analysis here.
REQUEST YOUR
FREE ANALYSIS!

Key difference image

Key Difference #2: Most financial experts, including Suze and Dave, talk about policies where your death benefit stays level for the life of the policy.

However, in a dividend-paying whole life policy, dividends can be left in the policy to purchase additional coverage, while at the same time growing your cash value in the most efficient way possible. This policy statement shows you how the death benefit keeps growing, and proves these policies are different from the ones Suze and Dave talk about.

Please note that this statement is from a policy I started before I learned about Bank On Yourself, and it has grown much more slowly than a policy designed to maximize the power of the Bank On Yourself concept.

Even so, this policy has left my mutual funds and real estate investments in the dust.

Key difference image

Key Difference #3: The financial experts often rant about how, when the policy owner dies, the insurance company “only” pays you the death benefit and keeps your cash value.

But with a Bank On Yourself policy it’s very different, as you can see on this policy statement. It shows you how, had I died on the date this statement was issued, my family would have received a check for more than the original death benefit AND the cash value in the policy… combined!

So I am throwing out the gauntlet to Suze, Dave or any expert who wants to challenge me. Just name the time and place!”

And keep in mind that Bank On Yourself will beat anyone’s best financial strategy or we’ll pay you $100,000!

No two policies are alike, because each one is tailored to the client’s unique situation. So your results will be different. To find out what your bottom-line numbers could be, and how much your financial picture could improve if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, request a free Bank On Yourself Analysis. There’s no obligation.
REQUEST YOUR
FREE ANALYSIS!

Update! Our hidden video camera captured Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey discussing Bank On Yourself…

5FqBLNBsi50

If Bank On Yourself is so good, why isn’t everyone already doing it?

If you browse the personal finance section of any bookstore, turn on the TV or open a magazine on finance, you’ll discover that 99 out of 100 financial “gurus” will insist that whole life insurance is a lousy place to put your money. Most will recommend you buy term life insurance instead and invest the difference in mutual funds.

Part of the problem is these financial experts know nothing about the specially designed type of dividend-paying whole life policy used for the Bank On Yourself method, as I’ve demonstrated above. [Read more…] “Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman on Whole Life Insurance: Let’s Debate!”