Paul Hester’s Bank On Yourself Review

Paul’s biggest doubts or concerns when he first heard about Bank On Yourself:

It seemed too good to be true and there are a lot of resources out there which are preaching that the basic system which BOY is founded on is flawed and a waste of money. I had become skeptical of new financial systems which I found on the internet due to the overwhelming presence of ponzi schemes, fraud and deception. It took almost a year of research into the system and many hours of working with multiple financial representatives and discussions with Certified Public Accountants and other insurance experts outside of the system before I took the plunge to give it a try.

Paul’s experience as a result of using Bank On Yourself:

Initially I considered it a low risk investment as we needed life insurance for my wife and this was a way to both have a method of savings and a death benefit. We started small with only $200 a month as it was all we could afford at the time. Initially it was slow and worrisome as there was very little cash value buildup but there was still the death benefit and I had faith in the projections.

It was only about a year into the program when we needed a financial assist. It was small, only 2.5K, but we really needed it as my work was relocating me and we needed to self finance a purchase. A phone call was all it took and we had the money we needed. That’s when I discovered that you can start pulling and using the money as soon as it’s available and by using it you will supercharge your BOY program. There will always be a necessary capitalization phase, however, you don’t have to wait until that “phase” is over before you start using the program. In reality, you can capitalize the system faster by using it.

Specific feature Paul likes the most about Bank On Yourself:

The access to funds when needed with the ability to skip payments if necessary and set your own amortization schedule. There are no constraints on how fast or slow you can pay off the debts to yourself, and you can choose to pay extra all the way up to the MEC limits. In reality it is best for the policy to push the MEC limit annually if possible as that will minimize the repayment time and loan interest, and maximize the growth of the policy.

Also, interest is the financial downfall of pathetically unprepared people, and next to wasteful habits such as cigarettes and beer, interest is the metaphorical concrete block tied to your ankle prior to being thrown into the sea. By simply turning what would normally be debt into an income investment, you have reversed the interest debt cycle and given yourself a financial boost seldom seen in standard investing. All the while your money is in a low risk investment providing peace of mind.

Other benefits Paul likes about Bank On Yourself:

The best part about the program is that no matter how good anyone says they can do in any other investment strategy, you can always beat their system by a few percentage points simply by using BOY funds to capitalize the same investment strategy.

How Paul has used the policy for and how it makes him feel:

We’ve used it to finance everything which it can potentially finance based on it’s current state of capitalization. We’ve financed the downpayment on our home, the remodeling of the home, the purchase of a car, payoff of an unforeseen debt… We are about to finance the purchase of another car. It’s amazing to not need to go to the bank and ask for credit to live your life. We’re hoping in the next couple of years to be able to self finance a small house either for our own use or as an income property.

Why Paul recommends Bank On Yourself:

I recommend and discuss it with people at least weekly. Being a caring and compassionate Christian, I find that it is my duty to help people whenever possible. This program has the potential to change the lives of people and give them hope in a challenged world.

Additional thoughts from Paul:

The most important thing to remember when starting out is maintaining a stable and reasonable means of repaying loans to yourself. If you put all of your investment money into the policies then you have no method of repaying loans to yourself, when you need them, which will defeat the purpose of the program. I have set aside a certain reasonable dollar payment per month to repay loans and I constantly pull money out of the policies while continuously repaying. This cycle seems to yield the greatest return for the program with the least amount of risk.

There is also an inherent responsibility requirement to the program. It is imperative that until the system is fully capitalized and enabled to maintain it’s basic payment requirement independent of contribution, the individual paying the premium needs to continuously function as a productive member of society to meet those obligations and create a contingency plan for the necessarily temporary loss of that ability. This level of fiscal responsibility is fundamentally attainable by all adults willing to make sacrifices in order to protect the freedoms which are afforded by Banking on Yourself. In the end complete individual fiscal autonomy is the ultimate goal.

“All action involves the employment of scarce means to attain the most valued ends. Man has the choice of using the scarce means for various alternative ends, and the ends that he chooses are the ones he values most highly. The less urgent wants are those that remain unsatisfied.” -Murray Rothbard