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.
Why this concept is not included on insurance licensing exams
Pamela & her husband Larry
Bank On Yourself “Inc.” doesn’t sell insurance or charge consumers anything…so how does it make money?
Introducing the Bank On Yourself Nation…soon to be the center of the universe when it comes to financial literacy education and learning to be self-reliant
So checkout this fast-paced interview now by pressing the play button below, or you can download the interview as an Mp3 and listen on your own player or iPod…
And if you still have any unanswered questions about Bank On Yourself or Pamela Yellen, please tell us in the comments box below…
Grow your money safely and predictability even when the markets crash…
Wondering how the Bank On Yourself method can help you reach your financial goals and dreams in the shortest time possible… without the stomach-churning ups and downs of traditional investments?
After much deliberation, five members of the Bank On Yourself team each picked their favorite entry – each of these winners will receive their choice of a $25 dining gift certificate or a personally autographed copy of my best-selling book, Bank On Yourself, for themselves or to give as a gift to someone they care about.
And together, the team picked their favorite entry and that person won a $100 American Express Gift Certificate. (All winners will soon be receiving an email letting them know how to claim their prizes.)
After losing half of his retirement savings not once, but TWICE, during the past decade, Dr. Bryan Kuns decided, “there has to be a better way.”
Dr. Bryan Kuns
Dr. Bryan Kuns
A family and occupational medicine practitioner for 25 years, the doctor realized that, at age 50, he and his wife might only have one more chance to get it right. “I need some more guarantees than taking a chance and gambling again with my retirement,” Bryan realized.
It’s an answered prayer. I’m sleeping a lot better at night, now. The guarantees that this program has are what I was looking for.” –Dr. Bryan Kuns
Bryan offered to share his story with you. Whether you already use Bank On Yourself, or you’ve been considering adding it to your financial plan, you’ll learn something of value from this interview. You can listen to the interview by pressing the play button below, or you can download the entire interview as an Mp3 and listen on your own player or iPod…
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.
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.”
In every economy – whether boom or bust – opportunities arise. Unfortunately, most people don’t have the financial resources to take advantage of them.
This is an inspiring story of how people are using the Bank On Yourself method to be in a position to take advantage of some amazing opportunities…
Here’s a new reality: You need cash now more than ever. Not credit. Not equity. Cash.” – “Why Cash is King,” Men’s Health, November, 2010 issue
“Bank On Yourselfers” Joni and Dave Schultz
Take Joni and Dave Schultz, who just happen to be my sister- and brother-in-law. Joni is a hospital department supervisor and Dave just retired from his job in construction.
“Bank On Yourselfers” Joni and Dave Schultz
They came to visit us recently, and Joni’s first comment when she walked in the door was, “Now I get it! I understand why Bank On Yourself is so much better than using a credit card or finance company, and why it’s even better than paying cash for stuff!”
Joni and Dave started a Bank On Yourself policy about five years ago, in order to supplement their retirement income and add predictability to their financial plan.
But they’d never used it to finance any purchases… until now.
A couple months ago, I interviewed Dan Proskauer. Dan lives below his means and has significant savings discipline. But after decades of saving and investing and “doing all the right things” we’ve been taught to do, he realized he had nothing to show for it.
Dan is a vice president of technology engineering, very analytical, and he has spent hundreds of hours investigating .
His conclusion? “The more I look into Bank On Yourself, the better it looks,” says Dan. And he has implemented it for his family in a big way.
Dan shared the findings and conclusions of his research in a fast-paced interview. I encourage you to check it out now, if you haven’t already done so.
But what if you’re in debt?
Dan told me he was talking to a friend who was complaining that he and his wife were always in debt and confessed, “There are things we want to do – we don’t want to deprive ourselves of life. We can’t really afford them, but we do them anyway.”
Maybe you can relate to Dan’s friend’s situation. It’s a seemingly endless cycle of living beyond your means, using high-cost borrowing, which means you have interest to pay – leaving that much less for everything else.
C. Northcott ParkinsonPerhaps surprisingly, it has little to do with how much you make – people of all income levels suffer from this. After all, as the late British economist, C. Northcote Parkinson noted…
Expenses rise to equal income”
It’s part of “Parkinson’s Law.” He also said that, “a luxury, once enjoyed, becomes a necessity.” I can definitely relate to that, can’t you?
When Dan described to his friend how Bank On Yourself could be used to become his own source of financing and help free him from the endless cycle of debt, his friend’s first reaction was, “Yeah, it sounds great, but we could never do it – we have to get ourselves out of debt first.”
But as Dan explained more about it, his friend realized he didn’t have to wait. He could start now and reduce or eliminate debt while at the same time increasing savings. He realized Bank On Yourself could help his family “move to the right side of the line.”
What side of the “line” are you on now?
If you’re on the “wrong” side of the line, you know it. You’ve probably tried to get to the other side of the line, but it’s not an easy journey to make.
The good news is that if you’re truly fed up with your situation and ready to make a change, Bank On Yourself can help you get there. My New York Times best-selling book, is filled with stories of folks of all ages and incomes who have done just that.
One woman who shared her story in the book is Rose Hillbrand (Chapter 8). Rose knew the feeling of hopelessness that came with the crushing debt she had incurred. The video below updates her inspiring story of how Bank On Yourself helped her move to the other side of the line. It was filmed when I was in Ohio speaking to a standing-room-only crowd of over 250 people…
And, if you’d like to get a no-obligation Analysis and a referral to a knowledgeable Bank On Yourself Professional like the one Rose got referred to, who can show you how much your financial picture could improve if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, simply request a free Analysis here.
Most financial experts say that the way to avoid getting into debt is to save up and pay cash for things.
They are wrong! There is actually a better way to purchase things. I call it the “better than debt-free” method, and it actually beats paying cash.
How is that possible?!? The conventional wisdom says that paying cash for things is the answer. But this ignores an important, but little-known principle of finance…
What do I mean by that? Let’s say you’ve decided you’re going to beat the financing and leasing rackets by paying cash for major purchases. So you start putting money aside into a savings or money market account. When you hit your savings target, you pull your money out to pay cash for that item.
Now how much interest are you earning on that money?
You’re earning ZERO interest, of course. Which is why financing, leasing and paying cash are all losing scenarios.
Fact: You’re either going to pay interest to others to finance things, or you’re going to lose the interest or investment income you could have earned, had you kept your money invested instead.
When you Bank On Yourself, you do pay interest on your policy loans. But the interest you pay ends up in your policy, as I explain in detail on pages 100-102 of my book.
But far more important, as Dan Proskauer puts it…
The Bank On Yourself method offers something you truly deserve, but may not have – financial security and peace of mind. With Bank On Yourself, you can sleep well knowing your savings can only grow, never shrink. With Bank On Yourself, you know, rather than hope.”
Bonus: Some companies have a feature that allows you to continue to earn the exact same interest and dividends – even on the money you’ve borrowed!
However, only a handful of companies offer a dividend-paying whole life policy that meets all the requirements to maximize the power of this concept AND pay you the same interest and dividends, regardless of whether you’ve borrowed from your policy .
And if your policy isn’t structured properly, your cash value won’t grow nearly as fast, you could lose the tax advantages, or both.
So, whether you’re on the side of the line that Dan Proskauer is on, and you want to strengthen your financial position and have predictability and peace of mind… or you want to be on that side of the line, chances are excellent that Bank On Yourself can help!
It was almost two years ago that Dan Proskauer – a Vice President of technology engineering for a major health care company who holds three U.S. patents – first heard of Bank On Yourself.
Dan lives below his means, has significant savings discipline, and is a sophisticated investor. But when the financial crisis hit, Dan realized he had nothing to show for decades of saving and investing his hard-earned money and “doing all the right things” we’ve been taught to do.
Dan Proskauer
He felt angry, betrayed… and willing to open his mind and find out if there was something better out there.
Dan is very analytical and has since spent literally hundreds of hoursinvestigating Bank On Yourself. He has already started seven Bank On Yourself-type policies because, as he puts it, “the more I look into Bank On Yourself, the better it looks.”
Dan recently contacted me and generously offered to share his findings with you. Whether you already use Bank On Yourself, or you’ve been considering adding it to your financial plan, you’ll learn something of value from this interview. You can listen to the interview by pressing the play button below, or you can download the entire interview as an MP3 and listen on your own player or iPod…
The surprising result of Dan’s research into the rate of return of a Bank On Yourself-type policy – and why he feels the additional “intangible” benefits make it the best way to build a financial foundation in both good times andbad
Why Dan has seven different policies – and is getting ready to start more
Why Bank On Yourself will hold its own against things people worry about – including inflation, deflation and fluctuating interest rates
The two downsides to Bank On Yourself that Dan found
Why Dan believes it’s critical to use a Bank On Yourself Professional to set-up your policy… and how getting knowledgeable, on-going coaching and advice can result in your having far more wealth over your lifetime, while ensuring you don’t lose the tax advantages of Bank On Yourself
Why Dan – like hundreds of thousands of others who use the Bank On Yourself method – says the onlyregret he has is that he didn’t know about this sooner
Dan’s advice to anyone who’s still sitting on the fence and hasn’t started yet
You can listen to the interview by pressing the play button below, or you can download the entire interview as an MP3 and listen on your own player or iPod…
The more I look into Bank On Yourself, the better it looks.”
– Dan Proskaur
The ultimate financial security blanket
If you haven’t started to Bank On Yourself yet, it’s free and there’s no-obligation to request an Analysis and find out what your bottom line numbers and results could be if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan. REQUEST YOUR FREE ANALYSIS!
When you request your Analysis, you’ll also get a referral to one of only 200 financial representatives in the country who have taken the rigorous training and meet the requirements to be a Bank On Yourself Professional, like the one Dan is working with.
Request your free Analysis now, so you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowingyour financial future will be one you can predict and count on!
We want your feedback! Tell us what below what YOU think of Dan’s interview below…
There is probably nothing in the world that people spend more time discussing than money.
Countries go to war because of money. People marry and divorce because of money. And we spend the biggest part of our waking hours working to earn it.
The age-old question, of course, is, does money buy happiness?
While writing a fascinating book, John Stossel, the highly regarded former anchor of the investigative TV show, 20/20, did some research into the answer to this question.
The recently released paperback edition of Pamela Yellen’s first book on the Bank On Yourself concept will debut at #3 on the coveted New York Times Best-Seller List on April 11.
It also hit #2 on the USA Today Money Best Seller list for the week ending March 28th.
The hardcover edition was released a year ago and immediately hit the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Business Week best seller lists.
