Category: Retirement Plan Alternative

Countdown to Social Security Cuts: Are You Ready?

August 4th, 2025 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

According to the latest official projections, the Social Security trust fund is expected to be depleted by 2033—just eight years from now. Benefit checks will be slashed by 23% by 2035, less than a decade from now, unless Congress intervenes.

That’s a near-certainty based on the government’s data. If anything, the Social Security shortfall situation may actually be worse because the projections assumed people would suddenly start having more kids, and there would be much more illegal immigration.

It’s a BIG deal for most Social Security recipients: 63% rely on their benefit checks for at least half of their total income, and for 44%, it’s three-quarters of their income, according to the Pew Research Center.

So the question is: Will you bet your retirement security on Congress getting its act together in time?

Or would you rather take control now, so you never have to slash your lifestyle or give up the things that make retirement worth looking forward to?

The earlier-than-expected depletion of the Social Security trust fund means you’ll likely need to save far more than you originally planned. How much more depends on your age, but one thing is clear: You need a safer, smarter strategy starting today.

And adding the Bank On Yourself strategy to your financial plan may be the answer.

It helps you grow wealth safely and predictably—even when Wall Street and Washington are in chaos—and gives you guarantees no other financial vehicle can match.

Here’s What Bank On Yourself Gives You

Guaranteed growth that never takes a step backward—even in a recession or bear market
Safety and security that has stood the test of time, backed by a multi-layer safety net
Access to your money when you need it, without penalties or permission
Tax-deferred growth and TAX-FREE withdrawals, under current law
Peace of mind, knowing your future isn’t at the mercy of Wall Street or Congress

The clock is ticking, but it’s not too late to secure your financial future.

The time to prepare is now. Start building a retirement income strategy you can count on, no matter what Congress does

Request your FREE, no-obligation Analysis today and discover how to lock in a lifetime of financial security. You’ll get a referral to a Bank On Yourself Professional who can answer your questions and create a custom-tailored strategy to help you reach your goals, without taking any unnecessary risks.

They can also show you how you could transform assets into a guaranteed income you can never outlive. So, request your Analysis by clicking on this button today:

REQUEST YOUR
FREE ANALYSIS!

How to Protect Your Family from Life’s Biggest Hidden Expense

June 20th, 2025 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

As Andy Rooney noted, “It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.”

As medical science improves, people with chronic conditions and disabilities are living longer. You might be hoping that the script for your later years will read “healthy-healthy-healthy-dead.” But the statistics tell a different story. More than 80% of us will require some form of care in our later years, according to a new study from the Center for Retirement Research.

Fortunately, there is a new breed of life insurance policies that offer long-term care solutions. They can help you pay for almost any type of care, whether informal care delivered at home by friends or loved ones, or more specialized full-time support. We’re living longer than past generations, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be skiing the slopes of Telluride in our 90s. [Read more…] “How to Protect Your Family from Life’s Biggest Hidden Expense”

Average 401(k) Balances Have Barely Budged in 5 Years

December 6th, 2023 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Fidelity Investments, the largest provider of 401(k) plans, just reported that the average 401(k) account balance barely budged in the 5 years since the 3rd quarter of 2018. They increased by only $1,200 from $106,500 to $107,700… less than 1.2% total.

To make matters worse, inflation was a whopping 21% during the same period. (Here’s a great inflation calculator.) That means those average 401(k) accounts needed to be at nearly $129,000 – just to keep up with inflation!

Okay, but what if you waited longer, say 10 years, like the “experts” say you should. On the surface, that looks better. The average 401(k) was $84,600 10 years ago and is now $107,700 (a 27.3% gain). But inflation over that period was 30.45%, so the average 401(k) would have to be at $110,357 today to keep up with inflation.

In 2022, the average 401(k) balance plunged 22.9%, according to Fidelity Investments. As I write, the market has been rallying, but you’d need an increase of almost 30% to get back to where you were… and another 3.5% increase to keep even with inflation in 2023, let alone have a gain. It’s pretty nasty news if 2022 was the year you had planned to retire.

And the typical IRA hasn’t fared any better over the last ten years, according to Fidelity:
Average Retirement Account Balances [Read more…] “Average 401(k) Balances Have Barely Budged in 5 Years”

Is There a Safer Place for Your Money Than in a Bank?

March 21st, 2023 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

The problems at Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse, and First Republic Bank are fueling anxiety for people who want to make sure their money in banks and money market funds is safe.

Adding to the fear that this may just be the tip of the iceberg is that banks borrowed a record amount from the emergency last-resort support the Federal Reserve set up in the last week.

So, it’s not surprising people want to know how safe their money is in a Bank On Yourself plan. Read on for the answer. And, since you must “park” your money someplace, I’ll also explain why you would be hard-pressed to find a safer, more advantageous place to put your dollars – in good times or bad – than in a Bank On Yourself plan. [Read more…] “Is There a Safer Place for Your Money Than in a Bank?”

Why “10 Times Your Income” Isn’t a Smart Retirement Goal

February 22nd, 2023 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

ChatGPT has been making headlines since it launched last year and gained 1 million users in the first week.

If you’re not familiar with ChatGPT, it’s an artificial intelligence computer program that generates human-like answers to almost any question you ask.

So I decided to conduct a little experiment and ask it a simple question:

How much do I need to retire?”

Here’s what the “robot” told me:

The 5 Biggest Financial Threats You Face in 2023

January 9th, 2023 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

As the New Year gets underway, it’s good to set goals and make plans – but it’s also important to review the biggest threats you face.

Here are the top 5 threats to your financial future in 2023…

Threat #1: 2023 Recession

If you had money in the stock market, you know how bad 2022 was. The S&P 500 lost nearly 20%, and the average 401(k) lost 22.9%. Seeing one-fifth of your life savings vaporize in a single year is a hard pill to swallow.

And after having the worst year in the markets since the 2008 financial crisis, it’s only natural to want to put that behind us and move on. However, what we want to happen and what is happening are two different stories. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg see a 70% chance of a recession in 2023 – which means it’s very likely things will get worse before they get better.

Threat #2: High-Interest Rates

The Secret to Eliminating Your Financial “Icks” in 2023

December 12th, 2022 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Two-thirds of Americans intend to make a financial New Year’s resolution for 2023, but only 20% are confident they’ll be able to keep their resolution.

That’s according to a new survey from The Ascent, a Motley Fool service. It’s not surprising why. It’s been a very challenging year, and everybody’s got a case of the financial “icks.”

In a year that many would just as soon forget, a few of the “low lights” include…

Inflation hit a 40-year high
Americans have gotten themselves into a savings crunch with mounting piles of debt
The Federal Reserve continues raising interest rates at a dizzying pace, and market volatility has spiked as investors try to second-guess the Fed’s next move
The stock market entered its longest bear market since the 2007-2008 crash
The once-hot housing market has fallen off a cliff
The crypto bubble has popped
The war in Ukraine has gone on longer than anyone expected, impacting supply chains and more

A Majority of People Worry about Money Daily, and Many Lose Sleep Because of It

Are “Termites” Destroying Your Financial Foundation?

August 24th, 2022 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Chomp… Chomp… Chomp…

That’s the sound of termites destroying your financial foundation.

But most people aren’t aware it’s happening. And it’s claiming more victims than you might think.

Of course, you’re aware of how inflation is eating away at the value of your dollars. You feel it at the grocery store, the gas station, when you pay rent, and just about everywhere you look.

But, if, like many Americans, you own a term insurance policy, personally or through your workplace, it might not even be worth the paper it’s printed on when you need it.

Inflation has been running at a 40-year high, currently around 9% per year. But let’s say the Federal Reserve gets it right and brings inflation down to 4% annually in the next few years.

Imagine that you have a $500,000 20-year term policy. In the event of your death, the benefit your loved ones would receive will lose up to 56% of its purchasing power.