Category: Financial Planning

Flat Earthers and Blind Faith Stock Market Bulls – What Do They Have in Common?

October 16th, 2018 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

They are the ultimate conspiracy theories – the beliefs that the earth is flat and that economies are not cyclical.

The Flat Earth Society (a movement that is active and growing today) finds the notion of a horizontal earth far more plausible than a round planet perched on an axis. To their members, gravity is an illusion and objects are not pulled down, but rather continually accelerate upward.

Adopting this notion requires one to reject all prevailing scientific wisdom and research. And despite centuries of empirical evidence, some Flat Earthers believe that one could literally walk off the end of the world.

Those who think the current bull market will continue to rise without a crash or major correction are equally illogical. Despite generations of economic theory, Blind Faith Bulls have sunk most of their net worth into equities on the unquestioning belief that stocks will climb unabated.

Flat Earthers and Blind Faith Bulls Share a Common Suspension of Disbelief…

Will Household Debt Lead to the Next Financial Crisis?

October 10th, 2018 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Those of us who remember the 1960’s TV action series, Batman, recall how the caped crusaders defended Gotham City from super villains. At the very instant our heroes had their backs to the wall, the announcer would urge us to “Tune in next week. Same Bat Time – Same Bat Channel” for the continuation of the episode.

As we sit ten years out from the financial crisis, it feels like we’re at a similar juncture in the story of the U.S. economy. It has literally picked up where it left off – with the usual suspects and the same, unsuspecting victims.

If history is any guide, we’re on track to experience another economic downturn, triggered by similar conditions – with a similar outcome.

On a visit to Fortune magazine back in July of 2007, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson declared, “This is far and away the strongest global economy I’ve seen in my business lifetime.”

A Year Later, We Were in a Global Financial Crisis Many Consider to Have Been the Worst Since the Great Depression

Inside Mayer Rothschild’s Secret Counting House: How to Live Like the Rich Do

September 27th, 2018 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Ah, to be of the privileged and cultured class – butlers, trust funds, planes, yachts, and race cars. What’s it like to have all that money? Dudley Moore, in the 1981 film Arthur, a comedic flick about a cavorting socialite and heir to a massive fortune put it most succinctly – “It doesn’t suck.”

Wealth Doesn’t Just Happen

While it certainly helps to inherit millions, according to Forbes, an astonishing 67% of the world’s billionaires, made it on their own. And the majority started out as either middle class or downright poor.

Likewise, most of America’s wealthy didn’t win the lottery or inherit their money. Many current millionaires have earned their fortunes in tech, finance, fashion, and media, while prior affluent generations took advantage of the rapid advancements of the industrial revolution by investing in railroads, oil, steel and land.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the founder of one of the world’s most storied banking dynasties, was an orphan from a Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt. He went to work at 13 with little formal instruction in money or finance and taught himself the intricacies of collectible coins.

John D. Rockefeller, the oil tycoon and America’s first billionaire, grew up middle class. His father was a traveling salesman who sold a tonic and elixir called “Rock Oil” that he claimed cured cancer. The younger Rockefeller went to work at 16 as a bookkeeper earning 50 cents a day.

The forefathers of these influential families shared common traits of hard work, discipline, and principled investing.

Their rise to power and prosperity was neither haphazard nor accidental. Rather, it was part of a careful plan that involved the strategic growth and preservation of wealth

When Will the Next Market Crash Occur… and What Will Cause It?

September 12th, 2018 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

I recently promised to answer two questions we’ve been getting…

When will the next market crash happen? And what will cause it

As the physicist Niels Bohr noted,

Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.”

But here are five things we do know…

Last month we entered the longest-running bull market in history, at 9½ years
No bull market has ever made it to its 10th birthday
The second-longest bull market was the dot-com-fueled rally of the 1990s which caused investors losses of nearly 80% when it flamed out
While there’s no guarantee this bull market will crash before it hits its 10th birthday in early 2019, we do know that, historically, the longest-running bull markets go out “with a bang, not a whimper”
As the experts who study behavioral finance note again and again, we humans have an enormous capacity for forgetting the lessons and pain of past crashes, and most people will be as woefully unprepared for the next crash as they were for the previous ones

Let’s Look at What Will Cause the Crash…

There are a number of things brewing that might trigger the next collapse. Take your pick: [Read more…] “When Will the Next Market Crash Occur… and What Will Cause It?”

3 Key Ways You’re Underestimating Your Retirement Costs

August 1st, 2018 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Take a moment and think about how much savings you’ll need in retirement.

Write that number down.

Now here’s a reality check: That number is probably low.

Not because of your math skills, but because most people underestimate what their costs will be in three critical ways.

A new study found that 37% of retirees say their overall retirement cost estimates turned out to be low.

And when it comes to healthcare, 44% of retirees said they’re facing higherx costs than they expected. (Source: 2018 Retirement Confidence Survey by Employee Benefit Research Institute)

Three Ways You’re Probably Underestimating Your Retirement Expenses…

#1. Assuming you’ll spend less in retirement than when working

Is There A Good Alternative for Retirement Savings? See What These Bank On Yourself Reviews Say

July 25th, 2018 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Navy Commander … physician … salesman … retired NFL record-holder … what do they all have in common?

They are all happily using the Bank On Yourself safe wealth-building method to either beef up or even serve as the foundation of their retirement savings plans. And these are just four of the hundreds of thousands of satisfied Bank On Yourselfers.

The Bank On Yourself strategy uses specially-designed dividend-paying whole life insurance to create a secure savings plan. The policies grow by a guaranteed and pre-set amount every year. The growth is exponential, meaning it gets more efficient every year the policy is held, providing peak growth at the time many people need it most – retirement.

And what’s not to like about Bank On Yourself? Guaranteed growth … accounts that never go down in value … incomparable tax benefits … and no government restrictions on putting money in or taking money out. Read on for the straight truth from actual Bank On Yourself clients …

Bank On Yourself Reviews, in Their Own Words

Here are the stories of Bob Chambers (Navy commander), Dr. Bryan Kuns (physician), Lowell Warner (sales professional), and Glyn Milburn (retired football star) …

Bank On Yourself Retirement Planning Is About More Than Money … It’s About Financial Independence … Lifestyle … and Legacy

Have You Seen This Amazing Amazon.com Review of The Bank On Yourself Revolution Book?

July 12th, 2018 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

I’ve seen hundreds of reviews of my latest book, The Bank On Yourself Revolution, since its publication in 2014. And they’re fascinating to read because they’re all over the map. Most readers praise the strategy, although a few have damned it. (I could be mistaken, but I don’t believe anyone who has actually used the strategy for themselves has written a review saying they are unhappy.)

In any case, you can see some of the Bank On Yourself reviews here.

As you can imagine, the Amazon reviews for The Bank On Yourself Revolution are highly opinionated!

On the day I wrote this post, there were 138 reviews of The Bank On Yourself Revolution on Amazon.com. I’m thrilled that Amazon customers are giving us their two cents’ worth about the book.

A Very Unusual Review of The Bank On Yourself Revolution on Amazon.com

How Your Credit Score Affects Your Life – Another Reason to Fire Your Banker

June 11th, 2018 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

I just got something in the mail that made me madder than a mosquito in a mannequin factory.

It ought to tick you off, too, and give you some really good reasons to fire your banker. Here’s the scoop…

I just got a bill from our auto insurance company – one of the biggies which shall remain nameless, for now.

They informed us that our premium was jacked up because of information they got from consumer reports.

Specifically, they cited information they obtained on li’l ole me (gasp!) about my “percent balance to high credit for bank revolving accounts reported in the last 6 months.”

Yeah, I know it sounds like gibberish, but here’s what really ticked me off…

I show people how to fire banks and finance companies and become their own banker! [Read more…] “How Your Credit Score Affects Your Life – Another Reason to Fire Your Banker”

The Financial Shock that Can KILL You

April 25th, 2018 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Middle-aged Americans who experience a major economic blow are more likely to die during the years that follow than those who don’t.

That’s according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Shockingly, those who experienced a devastating financial loss – called a “wealth shock” – have a 50% greater risk of dying early. And it doesn’t matter how much money you had to start.

How likely are you to experience a wealth shock?

About 1 in 4 people in the study have had a wealth shock, averaging a loss of about $100,000. Often it was a result of a drop in the value of retirement investments or a home foreclosure.

Some shocks happened during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Some happened before or after that.

But it didn’t matter if the economy was good or bad – a wealth shock still increased the chance of dying early.

The findings suggest a wealth shock is as dangerous as a new diagnosis of heart disease, says Dr. Alan Garber of Harvard University. Another expert noted that,

We should be doing everything we can to prevent people from experiencing wealth shocks.”