Category: Financial Planning

How bloodthirsty bank vampires drained me of 1,693% interest

Yep – I got charged an annual interest rate of 1,693% on a card I don’t even run a balance on! This will spook the living daylights out of you, so keep reading and find out how to make sure this doesn’t happen to you!

The Bank On Yourself Method Lets You Bypass Banks Altogether

The Bank On Yourself method lets you have access to the money you need, when and for whatever you need it. There are no applications to fill out and no qualifying.

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Watch the video to the right to learn how it works.

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Watch the video to the right to learn how it works.

You can pay your loans back on your own terms and you don’t have to worry about late fees, collections calls if you’re late or you miss some payments.

Check out our helpful Consumers’ Guide to Policy Loans here.

Did you know the typical family can potentially increase their lifetime wealth by hundreds of thousands of dollars by financing their major purchases through a Bank On Yourself plan? Find out how much bigger your nest egg could grow (without the risk or volatility of traditional investments) when you add the Bank On Yourself method to your financial plan. Just request your free Analysis here now (if you haven’t already).

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FREE ANALYSIS!

Financing things through a Bank On Yourself plan even beats directly paying cash for things for several reasons.

You may not realize it, but you finance everything you buy, because you either pay interest when you finance or lease things… or you lose interest and investment income you could have had if you’d kept your money invested. Saving money in a Bank On Yourself policy first – and then using it to make major purchases – allows your money to continue growing as though you had never touched a dime of it.

growth of your money

I know of no other financial vehicle that gives you that same advantage, do you?

And not only do you get that advantage when you Bank On Yourself, it also lets you beat the banks at their own game, while providing you with a guaranteed, safe, predictable way to grow your nest egg.

Tale of a Savvy Consumer

Scissors cutting a credit cardFormer teacher Ed Ingle and his wife decided to take a policy loan to do some home improvements soon after starting a Bank On Yourself policy, “Just to see how this whole loan thing worked. It was so easy that now we laugh at the idea of trying to understand the process. There is no process. It’s our money!”

In the first two years, Ed and his wife put the policy to work in several ways. They are putting their son through a private college through the plan. “No money goes to the bank,” Ed notes.

He purchased a car using the policy… and “no money goes to the bank!”

He also financed his wife’s graduate school through the plan. (“And no money goes to the bank!”)

Ed says he no longer worries when the stock market rises and falls. He no longer worries about the interest rates banks are charging. He’s in charge of his own finances from here on out. (And no money goes to the bank!)

An Interest Rate of Almost 1,700% Per Year?

My husband Larry and I haven’t run a balance on a card in years. We have a handful of cards we use for convenience and to get points and airline miles. We get our statements emailed to us, then pay them off in full online each month.

vampire

Last month, Larry realized we didn’t get the statement for the card we use for personal expenses. When he checked the account, he realized it was one day past the due date, so he immediately paid it. We discovered there would be a late fee and some interest due. The balance was around $3,500, so we figured the interest would be maybe a few bucks, right? Wrong!

A week later we got an email that floored us. It notified us of a $15 late fee, PLUS a $162.30 interest charge for being one day late with our payment! That’s 4.64% interest per day – 1,693% interest per year! 

A whole page of fine print on the statement tried to explain all the “gotchas.” But it’s a fact that banks and finance companies are gonna get you one way or another. Why? Because they can. 

Isn’t it time we used banks for our convenience, and not for theirs?

Of course, we now have this credit card set up for automatic payment in full each month. And if you have cards you pay in full each month, I suggest you do the same (if you haven’t already), to make sure this never happens to you.

You can fire your banker when you join the Bank On Yourself Revolution

It’s fast and easy to get started. Just request a free Analysis here, if you haven’t already, and find out how much more lifetime wealth you could have when you tell banks to go take a hike and become your own source of financing. But please do it today while it’s fresh on your mind!
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FREE ANALYSIS!

Are you putting your retirement savings in prison?

Ted Benna, "Father of the 401(k)"

Ted Benna is known as the “Father of the 401(k).” In the late ‘70’s, he worked as a consultant to business owners whose main agenda was “How can I get the biggest tax break, and give the least to my employees, legally?”

Ted Benna, "Father of the 401(k)"

Tax nerd that he was, Benna discovered an obscure part of the tax code – section 401(k). Voila! By 2012, nearly 75% of all company pension plans had disappeared!

What does Mr. Benna say about his beautiful 401(k) baby today?

If I were starting over from scratch today with what we know, I’d blow up the existing structure and start over!”1

Uh oh.

Per the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions: “After a lifetime of hard work, many seniors will find themselves forced to choose between putting food on the table and buying their medication.” The U.S. Census Bureau says the average value of 401(k) accounts of pre-retirees between 55 and 64 is only $170,645; the average value of their IRAs is only $147,345. And half of all those close to retirement age have less than $50,000 in these plans.

Something went horribly wrong. Actually, several things went horribly wrong, not only with 401(k)’s but also their kissing cousins: IRA’s, Roth Plans, 403(b)’s, SEP-IRA’s and so on.

And the problems with these government-controlled plans are in these five key areas:
[Read more…] “Are you putting your retirement savings in prison?”

Wall Street Wall of Shame: A Month of Scams, Scandals and Shenanigans

Seems like every time I turn around there’s yet another scam artist on Wall Street ripping us off! Everywhere I look, some financial whiz kid is making a buck for himself out of the hard-earned dollars of everybody else!

But I dunno – is it really that bad? Maybe I’m exaggerating?”

investment scams

So I decided to check it out and track the scandals of banks and Wall Street for just one month. I picked August (August, 2013), because, heck, it’s summertime and things should be pretty slow on the scams, scandals and shenanigans front, right?  I mean, aren’t all those guys off in their multi-zillion dollar summer homes in the Hamptons or the Caribbean during August? Kinda like Congress where nothing at all happens when they go on recess?

investment scams

Turns out the answer is yes and no. Yes, they were off vacationing, but no, that didn’t slow them down. In this should-be-sleepy month of August, I found dozens of reports and articles that made me cringe, cry, gnash my teeth and spit!

Here are some of the month’s lowlights:

#1: When It Sounds Too Good to Be True, It Is!

SAC Capital Advisors is accused of running a corrupt hedge fund. Evidence of insider trading is substantive, though SAC claims that it was “hard work and know-how” that created the firm’s 30% annual returns over the past couple of decades. The indictments against the firm say otherwise.

But oddly, Steven Cohen, hands-on manager and founder of the firm, isn’t named in the indictments. Gosh and golly, it turns out he “doesn’t read his emails” so isn’t responsible.  In fact, this month Cohen threw a lavish party at his ten-bedroom, 9,000-square-foot home in the East Hamptons while those of us without insider information fired up burgers on the grill.
[Read more…] “Wall Street Wall of Shame: A Month of Scams, Scandals and Shenanigans”

Top Five Recent Stories from Bank On Yourself

Judging by the questions we’ve been getting from subscribers, there’s a good chance you may have missed some of these 5 important recent stories…

1. New Wealth-Killing Revelations About Your 401(k) and IRA

I'm going to retire and live off my savings...

While doing research for my new book (The Bank On Yourself Revolution, due out on February 11), I came across four stunning new revelations about 401(k)s and IRAs. If you have money in one of these plans, I urge you to read this exposé to find out how to protect yourself from making costly mistakes.

I'm going to retire and live off my savings...

 2. Is Bank On Yourself “Snake Oil”?

[Read more…] “Top Five Recent Stories from Bank On Yourself”

3 Steps to a Financially Stress-Free Life

Has financial stress become the new normal for most of us?

If you’re feeling financial stress and worry, you’re not alone. But it’s not inevitable. You don’t have to panic about your present or agonize about the what-ifs in the future. In this blog post, I’ll share three time-tested keys to achieving financial peace of mind, so you can weather whatever curve balls life throws at you…

Step 1: Have a Sizeable Liquid Rainy Day Fund

Life happens, and we should all expect the unexpected. Without safe and liquid cash reserves, how will you cope with:

  • A medical emergency?
  • Disability?
  • A broken major appliance or leaky roof?
  • Loss of a job?
  • A family member needing assistance?

Without a sizeable liquid rainy day fund, you may be forced into selling or liquidating your nest egg assets prematurely—the investments you planned on keeping over the long haul. When this happens, the timing is often terrible. You’re at the mercy of current market conditions and forced to sell at the worst possible time.

Honestly? That’s how the majority of people live. Their fortunes depend on Wall Street, the Dow Jones, the next paycheck coming in. (Great Grandma at least had that old jelly jar filled with cash!)

But what if your financial pyramid looked like this?

[Read more…] “3 Steps to a Financially Stress-Free Life”

Why I swore I’d never write another book

I absolutely did not want to write another book… but I wanted to share with you what changed my mind.

Yup, after months of brain-numbing work and putting in hours that could kill a horse, I just sent the manuscript of my second book off to the publisher. The title is, The Bank On Yourself Revolution: Fire Your Banker, Bypass Wall Street and Take Control of Your Own Financial Future.

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It will be published early next year, and there is no doubt in my mind it will hit all the best-seller lists, just like my first book. (Of course, I’ll let you know how you can get an autographed copy.)

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This book is incredibly well documented and will blow the lid off the “conventional financial wisdom” and expose it for what it really is – a way for Wall Street and the banks to continue to line their pockets at our expense.

Writing my first book in 2008 was one of the most painful experiences of my life. It was all-consuming of my time and energy for nearly a year. I swore to my husband Larry that I would never, ever again set myself up for the stress of looming deadlines, the agony of the editor’s red pen, and the loss of so many weekends and so much sleep. Nope. Never again.

Then the book hit the best-seller lists. (That was nice and softened the pain a bit.) And we got tremendous response from folks who were thrilled to have discovered Bank On Yourself. (That was even better.)

Are you ready to have the peace of mind of knowing at least a chunk of your nest-egg is in a plan that goes in only one direction…

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And has never had a losing year in over 160 years? You can know the guaranteed value of your Bank On Yourself plan at any point in time before you decide to move forward. To find out what your numbers would be, request your FREE Analysis, if you haven’t already.
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But then the backlash started. (Not fun at all.)

[Read more…] “Why I swore I’d never write another book”

Is risk a four letter-word?

Have you ever filled out one of those “what’s your risk tolerance” questionnaires to determine how much money you can accept or tolerate losing in the market?

Risk, a four-letter word?

Brokers are now required to have you do this. Or you may have filled out a self-scoring one online. You know, ones that ask questions like what would you do if the market dropped 10% or 20%?

Risk, a four-letter word?

Well… it turns out these questionnaires are “unhelpful at best and harmful at worst,” according to experts on investing and the psychology of risk.1

Here’s why…

These questionnaires assume your risk tolerance is an integral part of who you are and no more changeable than your IQ or shoe size. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Researchers have shown that your tolerance for risk varies constantly, depending on literally thousands of factors. Studies show how much risk you’re really able to tolerate is associated with many factors such as: [Read more…] “Is risk a four letter-word?”

Why you need Dow 32,000 today

I have an important question to ask you, and taking a moment now to answer it may rattle you…

When do you think the Dow will go to 32,000?”

Does that seem like a crazy or dumb question?  It’s not.  I’ll explain why in a moment, but I have another question for you first:

What would you consider to be a minimum acceptable annual return on your money for taking on the nerve-wracking risk and volatility of the stock market?

5%?  7%?  Maybe even 10%?

Over the past two years, we surveyed tens of thousands of people about this, and most responded that they wouldn’t consider risking their money in the market unless they could get a 7% or more annual return.

But let’s say you only insisted on a 5% per year return…

[Read more…] “Why you need Dow 32,000 today”

How will these 3 financial surprises affect you?

There have been three recent surprising revelations I urge you to pay close attention to, if you have any money invested in the stock market and/or you have an IRA, 401(k) or other government qualified retirement plan…

1. The ugly truth about the stock market’s new record highs

Take a look at the chart below which reveals how, when measured in real purchasing-power terms, the S&P 500 Index is nowhere near its March 2000 high. In fact, the index would have to increase by another 32% today, just to get you even (in real dollars) with where you were more than 13 years ago:
Your Retirement Plan Powered by Wall Street-Fast Graph
Even if you look at the total return of the S&P 500 (including reinvested dividends), the real (inflation-adjusted) purchasing power of your investment remains negative after 13 years. And this assumes you have no fees, commissions or taxes, which, of course, will take another big bite out of your savings.

2. Long-term investors received only HALF the return of the S&P 500 [Read more…] “How will these 3 financial surprises affect you?”

Retirement confidence hits record low

Here’s what to do…

Americans’confidence in being able to retire comfortably is at a record low, despite the economy showing signs of improvement and the stock market hitting record highs.

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To compensate for their lack of retirement funds, more people are planning to postpone retirement.

That’s according to the just-released annual study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The statistics are bleak:

  • 57% of those surveyed report having less than $25,000 in total household savings and investments. Only 24% reported savings of $100,000 or more
  • Only 24% are very confident they’ll be able to live comfortably in retirement
  • Only half said they could definitely come up with $2,000 to cover unexpected expenses within the next month

How long do you think $25,000… or even $100,000 in savings will last a person in retirement? On average, a man turning 65 this year will live another 20 years, and a woman that age will live another 23 years.

To compensate for their lack of retirement funds, more people are planning to postpone retirement. That strategy may not work very well, since more than 47% of current retirees were forced into retirement sooner than planned.
[Read more…] “Retirement confidence hits record low”