Category: Contest

Is Your Money Frozen in Your Retirement Plan?

One of my biggest beefs with government-controlled retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, IRAs, 403(b)s and Roth Plans, is the total lack of liquidity. The money you’ve socked away in your conventional retirement plan is about as solidly frozen as the iceberg that sank the Titanic! And because of this, if your financial ship hits rough waters, you might end up sinking as well.

Here’s the critical question: How quickly and easily can you get your hands on all the money in your retirement account if you need it before age 59½?

We all know life happens. Cars break down. Roofs need replacing. A tough medical diagnosis can create mountains of unexpected bills to pay.

Every year many participants in employer-sponsored government-controlled retirement plans make early withdrawals for a number of reasons. And every year, the IRS collects penalties related to those early withdrawals.

In fact, in the last year for which statistics are available, the Internal Revenue Service collected $5.7 billion dollars in penalties from Americans who took out $57 billion from their retirement funds before they were supposed to. [Read more…] “Is Your Money Frozen in Your Retirement Plan?”

Retirement Planning that Helps You Sleep at Night

Let me be blunt. If you’re like the vast majority of Americans, your retirement plan is about as good as the survival plan of that last lemming heading over the cliff!

For most of us, our “retirement planning” has been manipulated by our employers, Wall Street, and celebrity talking heads – all of whom have their own agendas that don’t seem to prioritize our financial security and well-being. And the vast majority of personal financial representatives have chosen to stick with conventional strategies without even questioning the less-than-stellar results they’ve given us over the years.

Risk, a four-letter word?When a “plan” proves that it isn’t getting the results it’s supposed to produce, doesn’t it make sense to come up with a different plan? (The answer is “Yes!”)

Over the next several blog posts, I’ll illustrate specifically how and why your conventional retirement plan is failing you and changes you can make that will let you build a retirement savings fund that is safe and secure – guaranteed.

Let’s start with the problems of conventional retirement plans. I know of at least six major pitfalls and traps and I’ll cover each one in detail. The first painful trap is RISK. [Read more…] “Retirement Planning that Helps You Sleep at Night”

The REAL Reason Forbes Got Too Scared to Publish the Article They Asked Pamela Yellen to Write

As you can probably imagine, I felt honored when Forbes asked me to write an article for them. Wouldn’t you be flattered if Forbes wanted you to write an article?

It was one of their regular columnists who requested the article, who I’ve called “Pat” to protect the guilty.

Pat had asked me to answer ten questions for publication. The questions indicated Pat knew I have a contrarian take on Wall Street and that I’m a consumer advocate.

I was eager to answer Pat’s questions and tell the world about the scams in the mutual fund industry and expose the wealth-killing truths about 401(k)s and IRAs.

And I supported every statement I made with impeccable and unimpeachable sources, from Morningstar to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

But two days after receiving my article, Pat declined to run it “because there’s just too much controversy.”

So I Published the Article Myself

[Read more…] “The REAL Reason Forbes Got Too Scared to Publish the Article They Asked Pamela Yellen to Write”

The Article Forbes Asked Pamela Yellen to Write – But Got Too Scared to Publish

Recently I was asked to write a full-length article for the Forbes website by one of their regular columnists, who I’ll call “Pat” to protect the guilty.

Pat had taken my Financial IQ Quiz and found it very insightful. So Pat asked me to answer ten questions in writing for publication in Pat’s column.

The questions indicated Pat knew full well that I have a contrarian take on Wall Street and that I’m an advocate for consumers and investors.

They included questions like…

  • “What are some of the scams in the mutual fund industry?”
  • “What’s the shocking truth about 401(k)s and IRAs?”
  • “How can investors protect themselves?”

So I painstakingly answered Pat’s questions, supporting each statement with highly credible, unimpeachable sources including Morningstar, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Government Accounting Office and the Department of Labor.

As requested, I made no mention of Bank On Yourself or the asset it is based on (super-charged dividend-paying whole life insurance).

About two days later, Pat thanked me for sending the article, but declined to run it “because there’s just too much controversy” surrounding my work.

Pat even suggested I repurpose the content for my blog (a good case for “be careful what you wish for”…).

So below are Pat’s questions with my answers in full, which I think you’ll find very interesting. Some of these questions I’ve never addressed publicly before. (Check out question #5 about “what mutual funds do you recommend?”) [Read more…] “The Article Forbes Asked Pamela Yellen to Write – But Got Too Scared to Publish”

Important 401K and IRA Advice

While doing my research for my new book (The Bank On Yourself Revolution, to be published on February 11), I came across four stunning new wealth-killing revelations about 401(k)’s and IRA’s.

If you have money in one of these plans, I urge you to read this advice about your 401K and/or IRA today to find out how to protect yourself from making costly mistakes:

Wealth-Killer #1: The fees you’re paying may be much higher than you think

Target Date Funds

I’ve written in the past about how Congress passed a law in 2006 protecting employers from liability as long as they automatically put employees’ contributions into certain types of mutual funds, known as “default” investments.

Target Date Funds

Target-date funds (TDF’s) have emerged as the default investment of choice. Unfortunately, they’ve also proven to be very risky AND they’re among the most costly mutual funds you can buy. (Would it surprise you to learn the mutual-fund industry lobbied Congress to get that law passed and make sure their interests were protected? Didn’t think so.)

So last month, an article in Forbes (“The Trouble With Target Funds”) revealed that, according to the prospectus of one popular target-date fund, your projected fees and expenses for each $10,000 invested is $2,478 over a ten-year period (assuming it grows at 5% a year).

That’s 25% of your savings!

So, if you had $300,000 in that fund for ten years, you’d get soaked for – are you sitting down? – $74,340! (And that’s just over a ten-year period!) It also doesn’t take into account all the other fees you’re charged in a 401(k).

The author of this article concluded…
[Read more…] “Important 401K and IRA Advice”

Allan Roth CBSNews.com MoneyWatch Review of Bank On Yourself Contest Winners

We had some terrific comments made on our response to Allan Roth’s CBSNews.com MoneyWatch review of the Bank On Yourself book. Many of the comments were posted by people who have been using the Bank On Yourself concept for some time. These are people who have first-hand experience using the specially designed dividend paying whole life insurance policies on which the Bank On Yourself method is based.

I hope you’ll take a little time to read the comments at the end of the post, which are very insightful and further prove that Allan Roth sped right past the solution he himself said he was seeking.

It takes courage and wisdom to turn your back on the conventional financial wisdom that has caused so much financial insecurity and pain for so many. We commend all of our subscribers who have bypassed banks and Wall Street and now have the financial security, flexibility and control that had previously eluded them.

If you haven’t yet begun to Bank On Yourself, find out what you’re missing when you request your free Analysis.

Now here’s the list of winners…

[Read more…] “Allan Roth CBSNews.com MoneyWatch Review of Bank On Yourself Contest Winners”

Response to Allan Roth CBSNews.com MoneyWatch Review of Bank On Yourself

Because the Bank On Yourself wealth-building method lets people bypass Wall Street to grow wealth safely and predictably every year – regardless of “whether the market goes up, down or sideways”™  – we’ve taken a lot of nasty flak from financial “gurus” and investment advisors over the years. That seems to be heating up as individual investors continue to flee the stock market in droves, which is having an impact on many advisors’ livelihoods.

Bank on Yourself book review response by author Pamela YellenAllan Roth – a financial planner and blogger for CBSNews.com MoneyWatch – has written an article about why he believes this tried-and-true strategy is “snake oil.” But Allan Roth is not an investigative reporter. Allan Roth is an investment advisor with some very strong opinions. Of course, we understand that Mr. Roth is entitled to his opinions, however, his article about Bank On Yourself is filled with numerous misstatements of fact and misquotes. When I sent a detailed accounting of his blunders to the legal department of CBSNews.com, it got routed to an editorial “executive producer” who refused to correct the record.

Therefore I am taking this to the court of public opinion and giving you the facts so you can decide for yourself. We really want to hear from you, so we’re going to pick 10 of the most interesting or insightful comments made on this blog and award posters valuable gifts. (Details at end of this post.)

I’ll address just one of Roth’s misstatements in this post. In a nutshell, Allan Roth’s argument is that using a Bank On Yourself policy to finance something like a car and following the strategy laid out in my best-selling book is a losing strategy. But the “logic” Mr. Roth uses is flawed:  Allan Roth was comparing the total cost of purchasing a car and financing it through a Bank On Yourself-type policy to the total cost of not buying a car at all!

How did he arrive at the “well, duh” conclusion that at the end of the day you’ll have more money if you don’t buy things than if you do? And how did Allan Roth completely miss the boat on what Bank On Yourself is all about? Read on to find out…

After a number of Roth’s clients asked him about adding more guarantees and predictability to their financial plan with Bank On Yourself, Roth contacted one of the Bank On Yourself Professionals to determine if the book’s claims were true. Roth was particularly interested in knowing if the process described in the book for becoming your own source of financing for major purchases worked as claimed.
[Read more…] “Response to Allan Roth CBSNews.com MoneyWatch Review of Bank On Yourself”

Enter Our Stock Market Contest and Win $500!

The results of our “guess what the Stock Market will close at on the day after the election” contest are in!

We had almost 150 entries (I’m surprised there weren’t more – it was an easy way to win up to $500!).

Most people who entered guessed high – often way high. And the range of guesses was enormous; the Dow closed at 12,932.70, but the guesses ranged from 10,000 to 16,000!  Which points out the sheer unpredictability of the stock market, which has barely budged for the past 13 years. (Ready to say goodbye to the roller coaster ups and downs of stocks and other volatile investments?  Request your FREE Analysis and find out how much your financial picture could improve if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan.)

And the winners were…

[Read more…] “Enter Our Stock Market Contest and Win $500!”

Fire Your Banker Video Contest Results

Wow! We received more than 150 terrific entries when we invited readers to tell us what you think about our unusual new video on “How to Fire Your Banker and Become Your Own Source of Financing”.

Prizes-neon

We want to thank everyone who took the time to give us such detailed and honest feedback, which is exactly what we need to be able to communicate the benefits of Bank On Yourself more effectively.

Prizes-neon

Five people on the Bank On Yourself team – myself included – poured through every single response, not just to pick the contest winners, but to also learn what questions and concerns you have about the Bank On Yourself concept.

At $1,000 per finished minute to film this kind of video, I was really glad no one said what they liked most about it was when it ended! Most people really liked the unusual video style and felt that it helped them better understand one of the most intriguing advantages of the Bank On Yourself method: How it lets you bypass banks, credit cards and finance companies and become your own source of financing.

If you haven’t watched the video yet, I encourage you to do that now…

NRnduZFfC4M

There were many terrific insights and questions in the contest entries. It was tough to pick just five winning entries (we actually picked six), but you’ll find the winners listed below.
[Read more…] “Fire Your Banker Video Contest Results”

Money and Investing IQ Contest Results

The results of our “Test Your Money and Investing IQ” blog contest are in – once again proving that we have a lot of smart subscribers!

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?

Finance major purchases like cars through Bank on Yourself method to save and make money
Finance major purchases like cars through Bank on Yourself method to save and make money

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!

Unlike stock marketing, Bank on Yourself method does not rely on sale of asset to deliver profits

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.)

Unlike stock marketing, Bank on Yourself method does not rely on sale of asset to deliver profits

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.

The ultimate financial security blanket

Did you know that the Bank On Yourself wealth-building method has NEVER had a losing year? Used by Walt Disney and J.C. Penney, it has stood the test of time for more than 160 years.

To find out how you can grow your nest-egg safely and predictably, even when stocks real estate and other investments tumble… and how much money you could have – GUARANTEED – on the day you plan to retire, request your FREE no-obligation Analysis and Recommendations now.

You’ll also get a referral to a Bank On Yourself Professional who can help you find money you didn’t know you had to fund your plan.

 mutual funds and investment experts are human too and sometimes make mistakes

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

 mutual funds and investment experts are human too and sometimes make mistakes

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.

rubber duck in a sea of cash

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.

rubber duck in a sea of cash

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:

Year One: Year Two: Year Three: Year Four:
Starting balance: $10,000 Starting balance: $20,000 Starting balance: $10,000 Starting balance: $20,000
Change: +100% Change: -50% Change: +100% Change: -50%
Ending Balance: $20,000
(woo-hoo!)
Ending Balance: $10,000
(ah well, at least I didn’t lose my initial investment)
Ending Balance: $20,000
(hmm. . .it’s like déjà vu)
Ending Balance: $10,000
(can anyone say, “spinning my wheels”?)

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.

investor hiding from reality

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.

investor hiding from reality

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 are:

1. Eric

2. Raymond Trembath

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

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.

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

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.