Category: Bank On Yourself

The Secret to Making Your Financial New Year’s Resolutions Stick – You!

December 21st, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 8 Comments

By Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart

Perhaps this year, finally, you will get your financial house in order. That means roping in spending, slashing debt, maximizing income and choosing investment and savings vehicles that actually deliver what they promise.

Even if you’ve fallen back on your New Year’s Resolutions, it’s not too late to get back on track. Learn how by watching this fascinating interview of Pamela Yellen on Good Day New Mexico

Hardest of all, it means sticking to your New Year’s resolutions beyond Valentine’s Day, past Mother’s Day and July 4^th, all the way through Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and yes, New Year’s Day 2012.

Remember, past failures are no guarantee of future failures! In fact, before they ever succeeded, research shows that most successful New Year’s goal-setters faltered for five consecutive years or even more.

You are far more likely to be successful if your resolve comes from within, instead of being imposed on you by outside forces.

This could be the year that you surprise everyone – perhaps most of all, yourself – by keeping and maintaining your New Year’s resolutions.

For the roughly 45% of us who determinedly set off on January 1^st with a full head of steam, but run out of inspiration before February 14^th, a subset of Americans – about one out of every five – do push ahead and do achieve their stated goals.

Whether the resolution is to lose weight, exercise more, quit smoking, drink less or spend less, for a small percentage of the population, New Year’s Day is the very trigger they require to set off on their final journey towards – or away from – a lifelong pattern of behavior that previously seemed unattainable.

7 Secrets to Get Your Financial House in Order – Permanently

We all have it within us to modify our behavior
Real, permanent change is usually driven by your own desire, rather than by the pressure others exert on you
Have a heart-to-heart talk with yourself. Where are you right now… and where do you want to be?
Enlist the support of one or more allies or a coach to encourage you and help keep you on track
Consider using websites that give incentives – and disincentives – for sticking to or breaking your commitments (such as a GoalPay.com)
Don’t wallow in self-blame when you fail – put aside your emotions and plot a logical pathway back
Don’t set yourself up for failure by insisting on an all-or-nothing change. Learn from the past, realize where you made errors and build on them like stepping-stones

What does it take to be one of the successful few?

The “unrealized loss” riddle

December 8th, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 14 Comments

Note: this post has been updated in November 2011

-$62,734.06. That’s the “unrealized” loss we’ve had in one of the mutual funds in our retirement account, according to the statement we just received.

A $62,734.06 unrealized loss.

I keep staring at the statement, hoping that number will somehow magically turn positive. After all, we’ve had a nice run-up in the stock market recently, and that mutual fund has one of the best long-term track records of any fund.

What the heck is an unrealized loss, anyway?

I realize I’ve lost a whole bunch of money. And I remember working my butt off to make that money!”

A $62,734 “unrealized loss.” Is that an oxymoron, like “Great Depression,” “small fortune,” “accurate forecast” and “quickly reboot”?

I dunno if it qualifies as an oxymoron. But I do know it’s moronic that we pin our hopes and plans for financial and retirement security on things we can’t predict or count on!

My husband Larry is 61 and theoretically four years away from retirement. He probably won’t retire when he’s 65 because he says he’d get bored. But if we were relying on the conventional wisdom about saving for retirement, it wouldn’t even be an option for him.

Did you know that 40% of retirees were forced to retire sooner than planned, due to health problems, job layoffs and other factors beyond their control?

Of course, none of us want to think that could happen to us… but what would you do if it did?

Another mutual fund in our retirement account shows an $8,012.16 “unrealized” gain.

And there lies the rub: You don’t actually lock in a gain or loss until you sell an investment.

(November 22, 2011 Update: Our most recent retirement account statement shows our “unrealized loss” is virtually unchanged since I wrote this blog post almost a year ago. And looking at the Dow’s ups and downs over the past year makes a day on the roller coasters at Six Flags look tame.)

Unfortunately, studies and history show that most of us are far more successful at locking in our losses than our gains.

Can you tell me what your retirement account will be worth on the day you plan to tap into it? (Not what you hope it will be.) If your answer is “no,” how can you even call it a plan? And what will you do if the market plunges by 50% – again – right before you planned to retire?

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

December 1st, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 13 Comments

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.

Love_and_death.jpg‎ (233 × 358 pixels, file size: 34 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

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”

When it Comes to Money Management, Grandma & Grandpa Knew Best

December 1st, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

As detailed in the accompanying article, Sure-Fire Results: How Old Sensibilities Are Proving a Potent Balm for Modern Personal Finance Ailments,Tim Austin is one of the nation’s most-respected and leading proponents of revisiting the financial playbooks of our grandparents and great-grandparents.

Using the following core principles, Austin’s clients have reversed years of debt accumulation and money struggles, allowing them to pay for their children’s college educations, repay all bank and credit card loans, and save safely and effectively for retirement.

Here in a nutshell is what Austin advises:

Whole life insurance consistent with the Bank on Yourself strategy should be a cornerstone of every family’s financial planning
Save at least two years’ worth of anticipated expenses before investing a single dime in risk-bearing instruments
Set aside 30% of gross income, then budget your lifestyle around the remaining 70%. Ideally, keeping spending to only 50%, or even 40%, of gross income
Put 20% of gross income into short-term and mid-term instruments, including whole life policies, certificates of deposit, money market funds and savings accounts. Save 10% of gross income for retirement in multiple whole life policies, added strategically over time, and designed for income replacement
Avoid all bank, credit card and installment credit. When possible, buy cars, major appliances and even pay for your mortgage with cash, or by self-financing through a Bank on Yourself-compliant whole life insurance policy

[Request a free Analysis and find out the bottom line numbers and results you could have if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan]

Teach your children, even at an early age, about the wisdom of saving, spending and investing with a 1940s and 1950s sensibility

When you buy a car, hold onto it as long as it remains mechanically sound. Only purchase a new car when you are left with no choice. The same approach should apply to other major capital expenses

Stop thinking of a home as an asset. Moreover, stay longer in fewer homes – or even a single home, thereby greatly reducing total interest spent on mortgages
Teach your children, even at an early age, about the wisdom of saving, spending and investing with a 1940s and 1950s sensibility

When opportunity knocks, will you be ready?

November 9th, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 5 Comments

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

joni-schulz-and-dave — “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.

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.

Opportunity knocks…

Small Business Owners Turn to Whole Life Insurance and Other Alternative Financing Options to Overcome Tight Credit

November 1st, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 3 Comments

Now is the Best Time to Prepare for the Next Economic Downturn

By Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart

Executive Summary: Among the best non-conventional or alternative financing options for small businesses are loans taken against the owners’ or business’s whole life insurance policies. Correctly structured, policies such as those that conform with the Bank On Yourself strategy, are tax-advantaged and readily accessible sources of the cash that every small business owner requires to survive harsh economic times.

DENVER – Small business owner Terry Hauschulz recently needed a $15,000 loan so that he could pay the tab on his October 15^th federal tax return.

Clients of Hauschulz’s 10-year-old medical equipment repair business have been dallying when it comes to paying him. “Great receivables, no cash,” Hauschulz laments.

The 55-year-old proprietor mulled asking his commercial bank to help tide him over. “You know what that would be,” he says of the iffy and laborious process of winning a loan approval these days even for those borrowers with good credit.

rejected credit Instead, Hauschulz, like tens of thousands of other self-reliant entrepreneurs, professionals and small business operators, looked to non-conventional finance options.

The solution he selected – borrowing against his individual whole life insurance plan – allowed him to promptly receive the necessary funds without a credit check, without having to submit financial statements, without needing the approval of a loan committee and without any bureaucratic hassles.

Introducing the Bank On Yourself Nation

October 26th, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 18 Comments

What started in 2002 as a quest to educate Americans and help them achieve financial security and peace of mind using the Bank On Yourself method came to uncover an all-American treasure more exquisite than I ever imagined.

The revelation was gradual.

At first, my concentration was tightly focused on helping people reach their savings and retirement planning goals and objectives using a seldom-trumpeted, but proven variety of whole life insurance. After laborious and extensive research, a system was created that would permit almost anyone – rich and poor, young and old – to wean themselves from dependence on banks, credit cards, auto leases, mortgage companies and the risks and volatility of the stock and real estate markets and traditional retirement plans.

People could sleep well at night knowing that their savings were growing – safely and predictably – even when the markets tumbled.

Soon, the American public began to come around to my way of thinking – or at least that’s what I believed at the time. People from all walks of life made initial inquiries, read up on Bank On Yourself materials, met with the specially trained financial representatives and then made the choice to bank on themselves.

Clients became our most potent marketing tool, as they began sharing the Bank On Yourself concept with their family, friends, neighbors and colleagues, as well as increasing their own commitment to this proven savings and money management philosophy.

I’ll admit I was pretty pleased with myself…

To be honest, I was pretty self-satisfied both by the consistent growth in the number of folks who were using the concept, and by what we professed to be our innovation. There was no question that our Bank On Yourself precepts were changing how people viewed investing and financial planning.

Little did we know…

More than 15 Million ‘Zombie Investors’ Unwittingly Allow Others to Feed Off Their Retirement Savings

October 1st, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 23 Comments

By Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart

SANTA FE, NM – Officially, neither the U.S. government nor the retirement planning industry keeps count of how many American employees entrust others to decide for them how and where to invest their hard-earned retirement savings.

Nonetheless, there is evidence that the number of these so-called ‘zombie investors’ – those who shuffle forward without using their brains – may already exceed 15 million individuals and is on a sharp upward trajectory.

The march has been fueled by a Greek chorus of government regulators, Wall Street executives, financial planners and media commentators who regularly opine that only by delegating the task of retirement investment to others can individuals assure the optimal long-term preservation and appreciation of their nest eggs.

“Effective management of a retirement portfolio can be a challenging task, requiring significant knowledge and commitment of time,” cautions the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Thus the SEC and the Department of Labor have instructed employers to offer their workers a variety of defined contribution retirement plans, most commonly 401(k)s, “designed to make it easier for investors” to avoid the headaches and inherent risks of managing their own retirement monies.

Easier, indeed! But wiser and less risky? Often not

Such full-faith reliance on administrators and funds managers is propagating gargantuan portfolio losses that could billow to hundreds of billions of dollars during the lifetimes of the current generation of U.S. workers.

Already many Americans believe that by the time they retire the Social Security system will be bankrupt.

But what wage-earners have yet to comprehend is that many of the personal retirement accounts they are paying into annually at work will – regardless of how the markets perform over the
coming decades – stealthfully bleed each employee of tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars that could remain theirs

[Read more…] “More than 15 Million ‘Zombie Investors’ Unwittingly Allow Others to Feed Off Their Retirement Savings”

Bank On Yourself under the microscope

August 10th, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 1 Comment

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.

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 hours investigating 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…

You can also download a transcript of the interview here.

In this fascinating interview, you’ll discover…

Why Dan has cut back his 401(k) contribution to what his employer matches… and why he’s considering stopping funding it altogether
What he discovered were the problems with traditional college savings plans, and why he believes Bank On Yourself is a better option

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 and bad
Why Dan has seven different policies – and is getting ready to start more
Where Dan found the money to fund his policies
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 only regret 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…

You can also download a transcript of the interview here.

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 knowing your 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…

Hold your financial course or change your course?

June 15th, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 5 Comments

“Those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana
The Dow has dropped below 10,000 several times recently – a level it first reached more than eleven years ago and has since bounced over and back an astonishing 63 times!

Millions of people who were counting on their homes to help fund their retirement now have no equity to count on, because they owe more than their homes are worth.

Credit is still extremely tight for both businesses and consumers, underscoring just how little control we have when we have to rely on other people’s money.

As we face continuing economic challenges, many people are wondering… what does the future hold?

Ever hear the old saying, “Change is the only constant?” Today that is clearly true more than ever! Stephen Covey, author of the run-away best seller, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, tells the following story: