AAII vs. Bank On Yourself: Total Knockout in Round One

Last week, I posted the rebuttal I wrote to the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) review of my best-selling book, which declared the concept “too good to be true.”BOY Boxing Gloves

Since AAII said they would not publish my response or correction of the misinformation contained in their review, I told them I would publish it here and let YOU be the judge of whether AAII was twisting and omitting things… or being fair and unbiased.

The response was swift, surprising and universal.  There were so many insightful comments made that I couldn’t pick only three to award prizes to, as was my original plan.

So I picked ten (the winners are listed at the end of this post – check to see if your comment was one that was chosen).  And I’ve excerpted from a number of the comments here, so I can share some of the highlights with you.

Jeffrey summarized the thinking of many commenters about AAII this way:

AAII naturally committed the typical strategic blunders essential to the charade proposed by the investment industry (Wall Street) and financial professionals (a.k.a. traders, gamblers, speculators, etc.). Any attempt to allow people an opportunity to truly grow wealth, reduce risk, and prepare for a more stable environment challenges the status quo of buy and lose (commonly referred to as buy and hold) and then industry pundits (AAII) start the negative attacks in order to establish fear of finances and preserve their base of profits. AAII omitted important aspects of your plan, distorted facts of your plan to promote obfuscation, and blatantly twisted all aspects of your plan in order to destroy your credibility.

Thank you for presenting people with an opportunity to actually prepare, plan, and realize a better financial picture.”

[Read more…] “AAII vs. Bank On Yourself: Total Knockout in Round One”

Sure-Fire Results: How Old Sensibilities Are Proving a Potent Balm for Modern Personal Finance Ailments

The ’10/10/10′ Formula of Savings Rescues Many Overstretched Family Budgets

Executive Summary: Most modern Americans overspend, assume too much debt, and fail to invest wisely for retirement.  Tim Austin, a leading proponent of ‘old-fashioned’ spending and savings strategies, recommends a time-tested 10/10/10 financial formula: saving 10% of gross income for the near-term; 10% for the mid-term; and setting aside 10% for the long-term.  Austin’s favorite savings tool is specially-designed dividend-paying whole life insurance policies such as those structured by Bank On Yourself’s specially trained and Professionals.

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By Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart

Even back in 1975, the year comedian Woody Allen wrote, directed and starred in the movie Love and Death, the perception of whole life insurance as a savings instrument designed for fuddy-duddies and masochists was already commonplace.

There are some things worse than death”

…deadpans the film’s protagonist, Boris Grushenko, played by Allen…

If you’ve ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman, I’m sure you know what I mean”

[Read more…] “Sure-Fire Results: How Old Sensibilities Are Proving a Potent Balm for Modern Personal Finance Ailments”

7 Really Scary Facts about Your 401(k)

Before you put another penny in a 401(k), find out what the government and your employer aren’t telling you that will scare the living daylights out of you! Here are seven frightening facts you should know about 401(k)s…

Frightening 401(k) Fact #1:

Your employer can – and probably is – making risky decisions on how to invest your money for you – without your knowledge or approval.

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Watch Pamela Yellen being interviewed about the problems with 401(k)s on the #1 TV station in Los Angeles

GA-sW_Q5014

Watch Pamela Yellen being interviewed about the problems with 401(k)s on the #1 TV station in Los Angeles

Many employers are now automatically directing more of your pay into your 401(k)… and automatically moving it into more risky investments – even if you had previously chosen your own investments!

And most of that money is being re-directed into “target-date” funds, which lost so much money during the last market crash, it sparked scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators. Many funds for people who pinned their hopes on retiring in one year had losses far exceeding 20%, and some funds suffered losses of 32 to 41 percent, according to Morningstar.

Shockingly, stock allocations among those funds were found to be 26%-72% of assets!

Not to mention that the fees charged by target-date funds are “significantly higher than those charged by other funds on plans’ investment menus”.

(Source: “Companies take reins of workers’ 401k’s”, MoneyCentral.msn.com, October 10, 2009)

The growth in a Bank on Yourself policy is both guaranteed and exponential. You can predict the minimum guaranteed value of the plan on the day you want to tap into it, and every point along the way.

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Frightening 401(k) Fact #2:

Get Your FREE Report!

Get instant access to the FREE 18-page Special Report, The Ultimate Wealth-Building and Retirement Strategy, plus timely briefings and solutions to critical news and events that may impact your money and finances.

We respect your email privacy

The important decisions about your 401(k) are made by someone with no training or education in most companies.

[Read more…] “7 Really Scary Facts about Your 401(k)”

How financially secure are you? Take the 3 question test…

I often get asked by subscribers if they should sell some of their investments and put those funds in a Bank On Yourself plan.

Of course, everyone’s situation is different, and I can’t make that call for you.

But I can suggest a few questions to ask yourself, that can help guide you to a decision:

[Read more…] “How financially secure are you? Take the 3 question test…”