Bank On Yourself

The Ugly Financial Truth in Pictures

December 1st, 2011 by Pamela Yellen | 8 Comments

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

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 Professionals have paid them every single year for more than 100 years.

Keep in mind that no two Bank On Yourself plans are alike…

Each is custom tailored to your unique situation, goals and dreams. To find out what your bottom-line, guaranteed numbers and results would be if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, request a free, no-obligation Analysis now, if you haven’t already done so.
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FREE ANALYSIS!
If you’re wondering where you’ll find the money to fund your plan, keep in mind the Bank On Yourself Professionals are masters at helping people find money they didn’t know they had to fund a plan. Here are the eight most common places they look.

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!

TIRED OF WATCHING YOUR FINANCIAL PLAN GO NOWHERE?

Find out how the Bank On Yourself method can give you the financial security and predictability you want and deserve. It’s NEVER had a losing year in 160 years! Take the first step right now by requesting a FREE Bank On Yourself Analysis.

Wondering where you’ll find the funds to start a plan? Don’t worry! You’ll receive a referral to one of only 200 financial representatives in the country who have met the rigorous requirements to be a Bank On Yourself Professional and can show you ways to find money you didn’t know you had to fund a plan.

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

Test Your Money and Investing IQ

November 9th, 2011 by Pamela Yellen | 56 Comments

You can win one of six valuable prizes by participating in our “Test Your Money and Investing IQ” blog contest – just enter your answer in the comments box below by midnight Monday, November 14.

Bank on Yourself financial questions to answer

At a dinner party recently, I sat next to a retired business owner and we got into a conversation about money and finances.

In response to one of his questions, I mentioned an important principle of finance, at which point he turned to me and said, “I’m a CPA and an MBA and I’ve never heard of that!”

Actually, it’s fairly common that I meet highly educated people who are unaware of some of the really critical basics of how money and finances work.

Funny thing is that I think many of our subscribers know these principles, even if they don’t have alphabet soup after their names.

Applying a little logic and common sense (which is admittedly in short supply in our society today) is usually all that’s needed.

And to prove my point, I’m holding a contest to see how many of our subscribers can answer the questions below correctly.

If you answer even one of these questions correctly and/or insightfully, you can win a prize.

I know that people deepen their understanding more when they participate and articulate their thoughts, so I decided to “ethically bribe” you to take a shot at it by holding a contest.

Here’s all you have to do to enter the contest…

Bank on Yourself Test Your Money and Investment IQ contest winners and their prizes

Just type in your answer to any one or more of the five questions below, no later than Monday, November 14, at midnight. If you want, you can comment on someone else’s answer to qualify to win.

After the contest ends, our team will pick the best entry (best because it’s correct, insightful, entertaining or a combination of those). That person will win a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate. And two runners-up will be chosen to receive their choice of a $25 Dining Gift Certificate, or a personally autographed copy of my best-selling book.

Three more winners will be chosen at random – all entries containing at least one correct answer will be entered into a random drawing for another $100 Amazon Gift Certificate and two prizes of your choice of a $25 Dining Gift Certificate or autographed book. (Sorry – U.S. residents only.)

Although there are five questions, you don’t have to answer all of them to qualify.

So test your money IQ now by answering as many of these five questions as you want:

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.

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

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.)

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.

Question: 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?

TIRED OF WATCHING YOUR FINANCIAL PLAN GO NOWHERE?

Wondering where you’ll find the funds to start a plan? Don’t worry! You’ll receive a referral to one of only 200 financial representatives in the country who have met the rigorous requirements to be a Bank On Yourself Professional and can show you where to find money you didn’t know you had to fund your plan.

What percentage of mutual funds, financial representatives and investment advisory services underperform the overall market? And why?

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?

So there you have it – just answer one or more of these questions, or comment on someone else’s answer, no later than midnight, Monday, November 14, to get in the running to win one of the six prizes!

Comments

We’ll announce all the winners in a blog post later this month.

So scroll down to the comments box below and start typing! (Note – all comments are moderated, so there will be some delay before your comment appears.)

Episode 2: Shattering the Mirror of Erised

November 8th, 2011 by Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart | Leave a Comment

In our second episode, Shattering the Mirror of Erised, SuperBOYs use powerful incantations – also known as facts and logic – to fight the mighty spell cast by Aunt Bizarro and her Mirror of Erised.

As our story opens, we come upon a celebration of all good cheer. Our revelers, mostly senior citizens, are toasting the news that in 2012, their Social Security benefits will rise for the first time in three years.

And a woeful trio of years it’s been.

Beginning in 2008, many Americans lost as much as 40% of their retirement funds in the stock market rout. Home values plummeted and have yet to rebound. Energy costs – particularly gasoline, cut deeper than ever into disposable income. Rising out-of-pocket medical costs remain unrestrained. And inflation, although mild, shaved even more spending power from those 65 and older.

So no wonder Aunt Bizarro and her blind-faith minions are throwing a party.

The 2012 benefits increase “underscores the importance of Social Security as the only guaranteed, lifelong and inflation-adjusted source of retirement income for most Americans,” cheers Nancy LeaMond, an executive vice president with AARP, the vast propaganda bureau that masquerades as a friend to those 50 and over.

…For millions of American seniors already suffering in this economy and facing years of rising costs, shrinking returns on their savings and no cost-of-living increases, today’s…announcement lets them know there’s some relief around the corner,”

-chimes in Max Richtman, the ebullient president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

The Rise of Aunt Bizarro and the Demise of the American Social Security Net

November 8th, 2011 by Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart | 3 Comments

Grungy, Yellowed Betsy Ross Flag With Thirteen Stars and Stripes

Sam and his little sister, Columbia, were born in the earliest days of our zealous nation.

History records that the Wilson offspring were raised in Menotomy, Massachusetts – now known as Arlington – to parents originally from Greenock, Scotland.

Sam was always the more visible of the two. In 1797, the stern-eyed, elbow-nosed gent married a gal from Mason, New Hampshire, and together they had four children who they raised in their Ferry Street home. Aunt Columbia, as the tots called her, was a doting kinswoman.

Shattering the Mirror of Erised

In our second episode – Shattering the Mirror of Erised, SuperBOYs use powerful incantations – also known as facts and logic – to fight the mighty spell cast by Aunt Bizarro and her Mirror of Erised. Learn what happens next…

Sam first served our country during the War of 1812. A meat packer by trade, he provided beef rations – which he shipped in barrels – to the Army. Branded on the side of each cask were the initials “U.S.” – signifying their ownership by the United States government.

But the soldiers and workers who knew good ole Sam Wilson took to joshing that the “U.S.” stood for Uncle Sam.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Aunt Columbia also tried her hand laboring as a national emblem, draping herself in the red, white and blue, and bidding to join big brother Sam on the patriotic trail. In 1798, Philip Phile and Joseph Hopkinson teamed to write the music and lyrics for George Washington’s inaugural march, which came to be titled, “Hail, Columbia.” Few historians properly credit Aunt Columbia as Phile’s and Hopkinson’s inspiration.

Sam and Columbia made a nice iconic tag-team, rallying the country through World Wars I and II, and adorning untold numbers of government placards and tourist postcards.
[Read more…] “The Rise of Aunt Bizarro and the Demise of the American Social Security Net”

What Spooks You More – Live Snakes or an IRS Auditor?

October 21st, 2011 by Pamela Yellen | 1 Comment

How do your worst money fears compare with the financial phobias of your friends, colleagues and neighbors?

Don't let the Halloween pumpkin eat your financial security. Take the Bank On Yourself Fear Factors Challenge

Just how far would you go to avoid a full IRS audit or having to tell your loved ones that you’ve lost your home to foreclosure?

Faced with the choice of death or living out your senior years penniless, which would you select?

Already, more than 500 readers across the country have played our fun and very revealing online personal finance game: The Bank On Yourself Fear Factors Challenge. It takes only a couple minutes to complete.

In the true spirit of Halloween, some of our questions might make you squirm. We ask you to compare your money fears to other scares involving live snakes, pockets full of worms and even cow’s blood.

What’s so surprising are the responses we’re receiving!

Hint: So far, more than one out of every five game players say they’d rather walk naked down a fashion runway while being photographed than see their dumbest financial decisions published for everyone to view in their local newspaper.

How about you? Naked or exposed?

There are ten total questions and each is both fun and thought-provoking. We’ve extended the deadline for playing the Bank On Yourself Fear Factors Challenge until Monday night, October 31, at midnight.

But don’t put it off until the witching hour. Do it now and ask your family and friends to record their choices as well. That way you can compare and discuss your financial phobias.

What spooks you more?

Take the Bank On Yourself Fear Factors Challenge to find out!

Whatever else you’ll learn from this game, one message is abundantly clear: Falling down financially is neither trick nor treat. It’s a tragedy.

That’s why now is also a great time to learn more about the Bank On Yourself wealth-building method.

Bank On Yourself is based on an asset that has increased in value EVERY single year for more than 160 years. It’s never had a losing year… or even a single losing day.

So if you’re tired of relying on the “hope and pray” financial planning method, and are ready to grow your wealth every year – safely, predictably AND guaranteed – get the nitty-gritty details here.

Were you surprised by your responses to any of these questions? Tell us in the comments box below…

Bank On Yourself Dividend Paying Life Insurance vs Savings Account

October 13th, 2011 by Pamela Yellen | 5 Comments

We received dozens of insightful entries for our “Bank On Yourself vs. savings account” contest. They confirmed – once again – that we have a whole bunch of very smart subscribers!

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.
[Read more…] “Bank On Yourself Dividend Paying Life Insurance vs Savings Account”

How the Masked Forces of Evil Plot to Devour YOUR Money – and the Brave Superheroes Who Combat Them

October 4th, 2011 by Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart | 9 Comments

Dank and fetid, the inner sanctums of SSH4TT (and no, it’s not what you think!) are devoid of natural light and fresh air.

Few are ever allowed to enter these unholy chambers. Those who do, disfigured and debauched by their own villainy, steer clear of mirrors and other reminders of their foul order.

In public, these odious creatures adorn themselves in gay masks and robes. They are lauded and paraded as paragons of perspicacity. Millions, yeah, tens of millions of innocents flock to the doorsteps of their opulent and cavernous estates – hoping to be swathed in the aura of their being – all the while stone-blind to the magnitude of their deception.

As a corrupt order, members of SSH4TT have a singular mission – and they pursue it mercilessly. Like vampires that require fresh blood to animate their dead carcasses, SSH4TTs lust after money – other people’s money – to fuel their insatiable rapacity.

SSH4TTs conduct their business, as they have for decades, free of a worthy adversary.

That was, until now…

The Six Founding Members of SSH4TT – A League of Evildoers With an Unending Appetite for YOUR Money

October 4th, 2011 by Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart | Leave a Comment

Who are the six masked forces of evil who plot to devour your money? We reveal them here!

Stocks: Octohussy

Queen of Wall and Broad. She expulses barrels of ink (both liquid and digital) to project an image of herself as necessary, advisable, even compassionate. All the while, her eight arms are reaching into every pocket and financial orifice of her prey, extracting their wealth, peace of mind and dreams for retirement. Octohussy has no backbone or moral compass whatsoever. She’ll contort, however necessary, to put the squeeze on her victims.

Social Security: Aunt Bizarro

The sinister, sick-minded, grey-locked sister of Uncle Sam, and a first cousin of J. Wellington Wimpee (below). Adorning herself in the American flag, she promises to protect the elderly and the ill – holding their money in her lockbox until they need it. “I’ll gladly care for you in the future, so kindly hand over your earnings today,” she demands with a stone-like smile. The lockbox, of course, is nothing but a dark void.

Home Equity: Skyresh Detritus

High Admiral of SSH4TT. Luring financial voyagers into his nest – well disguised as a cozy hearth – Skyresh binds them with promises of great wealth and flexibility, all the while chomping away at their financial foundations and opportunities. Unwary investors check in, but few are lucky enough to check out undigested.

401(k)s: Bokor

Corporate accountant discovers Bank On Yourself… and now smiles when the market crashes

September 14th, 2011 by Pamela Yellen | 2 Comments

Derek Logan is the textbook “poster boy” for someone who did all the right things we were taught to do financially. He’s been working since he had a newspaper route at age 10. He diligently set his goals and used a budget system. He maxed out his 401(k) and had his home paid off by the age of 45 – even though he and his wife moved 13 times in their first 21 years of marriage. And he paid cash for major purchases.

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.

What is Your Peace of Mind Quotient?

September 7th, 2011 by Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart | Leave a Comment

If You Don’t Already Know It, You’ll Discover It Here

Executive Summary: Knowing your true risk tolerance, or what we more broadly define as your personal Peace of Mind Quotient (POMQ), is vital to effectively directing your savings and investing strategies throughout the course of your life.

Really, until you get a handle on the emotional price you are willing to pay in pursuit of higher financial returns, you have no business chasing wealth.

People who fail to take their POMQ into account when developing their savings and investment strategies very often pay an exorbitant and unnecessarily high emotional penalty for their shortsightedness. Here we provide you with a fun and thought-provoking Peace of Mind Quotient Self-Assessment and encourage you to take five minutes or less to discover your score.

The conventional wisdom is that “peace of mind” is priceless.

It isn’t.

All of us have some level at which we are willing to tolerate stress, discomfort, worry, anxiety or other unpleasant feelings if the potential financial rewards are large enough.

Think of the popular NBC television show, Minute To Win It. Contestants – ordinary folks with no special skills or athleticism – compete in up to ten consecutive 60-second challenges using common household items.

As the winnings mount, each challenge becomes progressively more difficult. The suspense builds over the contestants’ fateful choice to pocket the cash they’ve already won or continue in pursuit of the ultimate prize of $1 million. If at any step along the way they falter, the game is over and they must forfeit their earlier winnings.

Would you risk 60 seconds of intense stress and many thousands of dollars of existing gains for a shot at $1 million?