dividend-paying whole life

From “Bank On Yourself is a Scam” to “This Can Work for Everyone!”

June 30th, 2020 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Dan Proskauer is a technology executive for a major health care company who heard a radio ad for Bank On Yourself in 2009 that caught his attention. At that time, the economy was in a deep recession, and the stock market was plunging.

For several years, Dan had felt frustrated because he’d been doing all the “right things” he’d been taught to do with his finances… but those “right things” were failing him – and most other Americans – miserably.

Having been burned numerous times by following the conventional financial “wisdom,” Dan was understandably very skeptical of Bank On Yourself. It sounded “too good to be true.” In fact, it sounded like it must be a scam!

(I recently interviewed Dan about his 11-year journey with Bank On Yourself, and you can click here to skip to hear the interview and/or read a transcript of it.) [Read more…] “From “Bank On Yourself is a Scam” to “This Can Work for Everyone!””

Fire Your Banker Video Contest Results

August 10th, 2012 by Pamela Yellen | 3 Comments

Wow! We received more than 150 terrific entries when we invited readers to tell us what you think about our unusual new video on “How to Fire Your Banker and Become Your Own Source of Financing”.

We want to thank everyone who took the time to give us such detailed and honest feedback, which is exactly what we need to be able to communicate the benefits of Bank On Yourself more effectively.

Five people on the Bank On Yourself team – myself included – poured through every single response, not just to pick the contest winners, but to also learn what questions and concerns you have about the Bank On Yourself concept.

At $1,000 per finished minute to film this kind of video, I was really glad no one said what they liked most about it was when it ended! Most people really liked the unusual video style and felt that it helped them better understand one of the most intriguing advantages of the Bank On Yourself method: How it lets you bypass banks, credit cards and finance companies and become your own source of financing.

If you haven’t watched the video yet, I encourage you to do that now…

There were many terrific insights and questions in the contest entries. It was tough to pick just five winning entries (we actually picked six), but you’ll find the winners listed below.
[Read more…] “Fire Your Banker Video Contest Results”

Video: How to fire your banker!

August 1st, 2012 by Pamela Yellen | 164 Comments

We’re always looking for entertaining, easy-to-understand ways to explain key concepts of the Bank On Yourself method. So we just completed a new – and very unusual – video that explains one of the most powerful features of Bank On Yourself – how it lets you bypass banks, finance and credit card companies altogether and become your own source of financing.

This video also addresses how purchasing things like cars, vacations, business equipment, or a college education through a Bank On Yourself plan beats financing, leasing and even directly paying cash for them.

Click the play button on the video below, then scroll down to the comments box and give us your feedback…

HOW MUCH MONEY COULD YOU HAVE BY BECOMING YOUR OWN FINANCING SOURCE?

To find out how much more money you could have when you fire your banker and become your own financing source, request a FREE, no-obligation Analysis.

We’d really love to get your feedback on this new video and video “style”. (You’ve probably never seen a video like this before.)

Here are questions we’d love to get your feedback on in the comments box below…

1. Do you currently use Bank On Yourself?

2. What was the best part of the video?

3. What is still unclear about the Bank On Yourself concept?

4. What topics could we address that you think would give people more confidence to consider Bank On Yourself?

5. If you do not currently use Bank On Yourself, did this video make you more likely or less likely to request a free Analysis and get a referral to one of the Bank On Yourself Professionals?

6. If you are currently using Bank On Yourself, do you feel that this type of video is something you could share with family, friends and colleagues to help them understand this method of managing your finances? Why or why not?

7. Is there any other feedback you’d like to give us?

7 Recession Recovery Tips

June 7th, 2012 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Most financial analysts claim our country’s economy is on the mend, but many people haven’t felt that yet. Maybe you’re one of these folks. If so, there are a few basic steps you can take to speed up your personal recovery.

1. Make (and stick to) a budget

A budget isn’t a straight jacket for your wallet. It’s a plan for your mind, to help you be sure the things you spend your money on are the things you want or need most. Small amounts pile up. A daily coffee shop visit adds up to $100+ a month. Then there’s eating out, movies, alcohol, cigarettes, lotto tickets – you get the idea. When you spend money, write it down. Review your spending weekly, so you know where your money is going. Look for things you can cut.

For example, buy your meals the old fashioned way – at the grocery store, not the drive-thru. And do most of your shopping around the perimeter of the market – near the outside walls. This is where you’ll find the fresh produce, dairy, and meats/poultry. Cut your food bill in half by avoiding pre-cooked or ready-to-eat stuff.

2. Consider ways to downsize

Best retirement plan alternative?

February 10th, 2012 by Pamela Yellen | 6 Comments

I can’t afford to be a risk taker any more”

…says 75-year-old Margie Alford of Austin, Texas. Yet, Margie’s financial planner is moving her CD money into stocks instead, after fruitlessly waiting for three years for interest rates to rise.

Low interest rates of the past several years have taken a toll on U.S. savers. “The Fed has removed the last shred of possibility that interest rates will revert to normal in the near future,” according to Christopher Carroll, profession at Johns Hopkins University.¹

As a result, retirees are taking on more risk… at a time they can least afford to.

With interest rates on CD’s, saving and money market accounts not even keeping up with inflation, what other options do you have?

The Bank On Yourself solution…

Physician heals his financial ills with Bank On Yourself

March 2nd, 2011 by Pamela Yellen | 6 Comments

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.”

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.

A little over one year ago, he heard about Bank On Yourself. Intrigued, he began reading everything he could get his hands on about the concept. Then he requested a referral to a Bank On Yourself Professional and a Free Analysis.

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…

You can also download a transcript of the interview here.

In this interview, you’ll discover…

[Read more…] “Physician heals his financial ills with Bank On Yourself”

Mission Not Impossible: You Can Teach Teens Financial Responsibility

February 9th, 2011 by Pamela Yellen | 7 Comments

Executive Summary: While teens can be hard to reach, the teenage years are the perfect time to teach kids the saving, spending, earning and investing habits they’ll require to enjoy a lifetime free of financial strain and worry.

These days, money in and money out is mostly electronic, meaning the speed at which our children must make the right or wrong financial decisions has accelerated. Launch your teens’ money management education by explaining to them why most adults fail.

Let children know that the solution can be found in the proven strategies of fiscal self-reliance that are embodied in the Bank on Yourself system and help your teens create their own vision of a secure and rewarding financial future.

There are plenty of practical steps you can take to make the entire subject matter more interesting to teens. By Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart

Russ Bragg has a higher financial IQ than most parents. He started out as a credit analyst for an international bank and began offering comprehensive financial planning services in 2000. He is an expert at helping clients define and then achieve financial independence.

For Bragg, you might imagine, educating his teenage son and daughter about proper money management would be a no-brainer.

If, on the other hand, you have teens of your own, you already know better

Enticed by credit card solicitations with low interest rate come-ons, Bragg’s independent-minded son was in credit counseling by the time he was 18. Bragg’s daughter, on the other hand, while still a student, applied for and received a prestige credit line that even some of Bragg’s agency clients are unable to qualify for.

“Same mother, same father, same food, same air” and two very different outcomes, observes Bragg wryly of his children’s money management styles.

Many otherwise more-than-adequate moms and dads – those who’ve mastered subject matter as sensitive as teenage smoking, drinking, and drugs – have found their skill sets sorely lacking when it comes to the topic of money.

Welcome to Survivor: Teen Money…

A sprawling multi-year marathon and obstacle course that pits a tribe of well-intentioned parents, grandparents and other adults against the strong-willed, often perplexing sensibilities of the untamed adolescent mind. The challenge? One of modern family life’s most difficult: teaching teens to handle money responsibly.

I remember writing once that as a society we are more comfortable talking about sex and those other issues than we are about money”

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…

Dust off your Dow 10,000 cap again

August 25th, 2010 by Pamela Yellen | 6 Comments

As I write this, the Dow is flirting yet again with the 10,000 level – something it has done dozens of times since it first closed above that threshold more than 11 years ago!

People are understandably nervous, as evidence abounds that the economic recovery is faltering.

An astonishing fact was revealed in a cover story in “The Hulbert Financial Digest” July issue, titled, “Slow and steady wins the race.” The digest is an independent rating service that has tracked investment newsletters for the past 30 years.