Why The SEC Really Wants To Regulate Indexed Annuities…
September 9, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” Wall Street, 1987
The SEC is a Behemoth that works for other Behemoths, in particular the major Wall Street firms and their minions. The SEC, along with its junior partner FINRA, wear the mantel of a Robin Hood while concurrently robbing everyone in the neighborhood by supporting the self serving aims of the Behemoths. Now they want to get control of another bag of money.
‘Sheryl Moore, chief executive of AnnuitySpecs.com, estimates there were $25.1 billion in indexed annuities sold in 2007, down about $2 billion from their peak in 2005. While sales decreased, last year total indexed annuity assets reached $123 billion according to the SEC.”
Furor builds on SEC indexed annuity oversight plan
By EILEEN AJ CONNELLY, Associated Press http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/09/08/ap5400800.html
The SEC claims that its aim is to protect consumers by further regulating an insurance product on the rather flimsy claim that Indexed Annuities are funded by investments.
DUH!
All insurance products are funded by investments. The simple fact is that the Wall Street wizards, who brought you the current credit and housing crises, now want to ‘fix’ the indexed annuity market.
BUNK!
The Wall Street Behemoths, who will be no more open and clear in their explanation of this product than current state regulations require, want to capture all that annuity money for themselves.
Consumers will actually lose since the Wall Street wonks will dishonestly demonstrate that these products don’t perform as well as the failed mutual fund industry, ETF’s and fee based advisors, thereby recovering the $123 billion that Wall Street’s Behemoths have been unable to get their greedy hands on.
American’s have been duped into believing that the SEC/FINRA are the watchdogs they were originally intended to be. They are not. They have morphed into watchdogs for the Wall Street Behemoths and their aim has become protecting the Behemoths from lawsuits by consumers as opposed to protecting consumers from the subterranean subterfuges of the Wall Street Behemoths.
Having said all that, it is clear also that the Indexed Annuity business is plagued with charlatans and snake oil sales reps that create a problem for the majority. The states have been too slow to effectively regulate these products and the people who sell them. The answer, however, is not to add a layer of bureaucracy that answers to the Behemoths.
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Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Movie Quotes, What Others Say | 
Tags: annuities, annuity, credit, investing, investments, Money | 
4 Comments »
Getting A Grip On The Housing And Mortgage Crises…
September 8, 2008 | Author dragonfly
U.S. Takes Over Mortgage Finance Titans
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration seized control of the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies on Sunday, seeking to shrink drastically their outsize influence on Wall Street and on Capitol Hill while at the same time counting on them to pull the nation out of its worst housing crisis in decades.______________
The plan represents a cease-fire in a decades-long ideological battle over the proper role of the companies. Free-market conservatives see the companies as extensions of “big government,” while Democrats have protected them as the main vehicle to promote affordable housing for middle- and lower-income people.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/08fannie.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
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The Lost Opportunity Cost Of Paying Cash…
September 1, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Preface…
This post is longer than normal. It deals with an issue that does not lend itself to easy explanation. Lost opportunity cost deserves closer scrutiny than most because it is fundamental to understanding, building and maintaining a successful personal economy. In addition, since it’s difficult to address the topic piecemeal, it demands a single post rather than a series of shorter entries.
Jeffrey Reeves
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Part I – The Myth vs. The Reality of Lost Opportunity Cost
There are hundreds of money myths that make bad decisions feel good. Most are propagated by popular pundits on TV and radio whose main credential is that they are smooth talkers or enthusiastic preachers of their unique financial management gospel.
One of the most deceptive and destructive of these money myths is that ‘paying with cash’ is always better than any other alternative. This erroneous belief ignores a basic economic principle: lost opportunity cost.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Lost opportunity cost is the value of what is lost when you choose between mutually exclusive alternatives. This value can be estimated before the fact but is determined more accurately after.
A simple explanation of lost opportunity cost, and a statement of the benefit that you gain from understanding lost opportunity cost comes from R. Nelson Nash, author of Becoming Your Own Banker.
“Any time that you can cut out the payment of interest to others and direct that same market rate of interest to an entity that you own and contol…you have improved your situation.” Third edition, p40
Another way of saying the same thing comes from Charlie Jackson, an experienced advisor who says; ”You always finance what you buy.”
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If you borrow the money to buy something, you repay principal and pay interest to another.
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If you pay cash to buy something, you give up both the principal and the earnings it would have brought you.
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The only way to win is to borrow from yourself so you recover the money you borrowed – your capital – and the interest too.
Part II – Money is Capital Too!
An example…
Understanding the fact that money is ‘capital’ is key to understanding lost opportunity cost. For example, it’s easy to see that a person who owns a 160 acre parcel of arable land, holds that land as capital. The owner might consider these optional uses of that capital; plant one or more cash crops each year, convert the parcel to a tree farm, subdivide the land and sell off the lots, or sell the parcel outright. Each of these four mutually exclusive options would produce a different result both in terms of money and time.
- Cash crops promise an uncertain but probable income each year and preserve the basic value of the capital asset.
- A tree farm might produce a greater income at a much later date and, perhaps, enhance the value of the capital.
- Subdividing the land and selling off the lots would eventually reduce the value of the asset to zero while proportionately increasing the owner’s cash account.
- Selling the parcel outright transfers the asset to a new owner and produces immediate cash.
Money in the form of cash is capital too…
In commercial banking, cash contributes to the tier one capital that determines the stability rating a bank receives from regulators. Corporate balance sheets include cash holdings among their capital assets. Your personal economy runs almost exclusively on its capital holding of cash.
Why, therefore, is there the modern day myth that paying cash for everything is always the best choice? Why the insistence that you deplete one of your most valuable assets on a regular basis? Is it, perhaps the very fact that it’s a myth that serves the interests of those who propagate the myth rather than your interests?
The cash you give away when you pay with cash increases the cash account of the entity that receives your money…
- What do you lose when you pay cash?
- Should you consider just the cash in your decision?
- Is there a benefit you might receive from using your cash differently?
- Where is the cash coming from?
- Is what you give up when you use cash worth more than what you gain by doing so?
- Are there alternatives to cash that you should consider?
Part III – The Role of Debt-to-Others vs. Debt-to-Self
The always-pay-cash mantra is usually chanted with an ‘all debt is bad debt’ chorus. The purveyors of this myth seldom, if ever, consider a third, fourth or other alternatives. I’m not suggesting that debt is good. It’s easy to justify paying cash in lieu of putting your purchases on a credit card that you may take years to repay. It may make sense for some to pay off a mortgage early to save thousands in interest.
But debt may also give you leverage in certain situations. More importantly, debt to yourself can create wealth more readily than other more risky systems and paradigms.
Consider these common strategies used in the retail business. Here are three ways to use cash to pay for a $24,000.00 car.
- Cash, which you take from a $24,000.00 savings instrument. You also earn a $2,000.00 discount off the purchase price. This leaves you with $2,000.00 to put into a CD at 4.15% that yields $2,450.90 during the 60 month finance period. (If you were to leave the money in a five year CD paying 4.75% it would mature to a value of $27,745.52.)
- Borrow $22,000.00 from your credit union at 6.5% (you still get the dealer discount for cash) and withdraw the $430.46 per month payment for 60 months from your $24,000.00 savings instrument. You end up repaying $25,827.37 including interest and have just over $2,400 left in savings.
- 60 months of interest free payments of $400.00 per month to the dealers finance arm taken from your savings plan would reduce the $24,000.00 to about $2,000.00.
Does it surprise you that leaving your CD intact, borrowing from the credit union or taking the zero interest option all produce about the same result? It shouldn’t. In each of these cases, you effectively pay cash. When it’s all over you have depleted you savings, have very little money and a five year old car that is worth virtually nothing.
Imagine instead that you had borrowed the money from your own “bank” and repaid yourself? At the end of the 60 month payoff period you’d have both the principal and interest returned to your account…and you’d still own the five year old car.
Part IV – The Fallacies
Here’s the fallacy in the myth. The myth assumes that the payments you don’t make on the auto are going to be used to either increase savings or to pay off other debt. In this example (using numbers from BankRate.com and in order to be honest and fair in our presentation) we took the cost of the purchase from the same source in each case and did not replenish the savings.
If we factor in a monthly payment of $430.46 being made to replenish the savings plan – or in the case of the credit union loan, leaving the money in the savings account and making the loan payments to the credit union – and calculate the results for each approach, the results in each case are, again, similar. You would replace the money you spent on the car plus a little interest. The auto dealer is still the one that made a profit from the transaction while you lost the earning power of your money for a net two and one half years.
This uncovers the second fallacy in the always-pay-cash myth. The myth assumes that there is only one instance of the transaction type that is discussed or illustrated; one car, one refrigerator, one vacation, one of anything. The reality is that you will have to buy many cars, refrigerators and vacations. The always-pay-cash myth doesn’t address this issue. It relies, like most other shallow financial paradigms, on a snapshot in time that captures a scene that ceases to exist the instant it is taken, and is immediately at odds with your current reality.
This leads us to the third and most compelling failure of the always-pay-cash myth. Since the myth relies on creating support for its proposition, it consistently represents unrealistic results for both its positive effects and the negative results of not following its rigid mandates. It compares apples and elephants as if they were of the same species. It discounts any alternative that does not support its position – or improve the ratings of the pompous pundit that promotes it on radio or TV.
When investments are recommended – and they usually are – an unrealistic rate of return is illustrated. While the “market” has delivered a hypothetical 12% year on year return, investors have averaged only 2.9% gross and less than 1% adjusted for inflation and taxes.
If a savings plan is suggested, little or no consideration is given to the surprisingly unsurprising surprises that life delivers on a daily basis and that create the great sucking sound that decimates your reserves.
One Final Thought and a Conclusion…
What’s a person to do?
First, recognize that the concept of lost opportunity cost is, at best, misunderstood by the celebrities and pundits who promote their personal form of mucked up economics on radio and TV shows. (I am uncertain how I would fare if ever I had my own radio or TV show. I’d hope to emulate Ben Stein, who is fearlessly well informed and honest.)
Second, recognize that the vehicles you choose to consider when making a lost opportunity cost decision will determine the validity and outcome of your decision. If you rely on hyped up hypotheticals with 6% or higher assumptions, your choices will eventually destroy your financial foundation and your house will fall. If, on the other hand, you choose a more conservative and realistic approach that is based on guarantees and high probability returns, your financial foundation will rest on rock solid ground and your framework will strengthen.
Recall the thought early in this discussion that you can estimate lost opportunity cost before the facts are in and determine the actual results later.
· Like the country-western song says, “You gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run.”
· And don’t forget what Will Rogers cautioned; “I’m more concerned about the return of my money than I am about the return on my money.”
Lost opportunity cost is one of the most powerful tools you have to evaluate financial opportunities. EUREKONOMICS Model incorporates this tool into every aspect of its approach to helping you build a successful personal economy that lasts ‘in good times and bad.
Jeffrey Reeves
The 21st Century Way to Wealth…Relax!
August 31, 2008 | Author jr
The Economic Value of Time…
By Benjamin Franklin, Commentary by Jeffrey Reeves
Father Abraham’s recounting of the advice delivered by Poor Richard’s Almanac during its twenty five years of publication continues with some admonitions about chasing a life of leisure. These observations may be even more appropriate today than they were 250 years ago, when they were written.
“Methinks I hear some of you say, `Must a man afford himself no leisure?’ I will tell thee, my friend, what Poor Richard says, Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure; and, since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.”
Right off the bat Father Abraham chastises the questioners. Leisure is the result of work but not its aim. If you want to have leisure time, beware wasting time at work because the hour spent on the internet, or reading the paper, or discussing last night’s game will lengthen your day at work and reduce your time of true relaxation with family and friends.
Self employed folks recognize this relationship more readily perhaps than those employed by others. It’s easy to measure the value of time wasted when it translates directly into lost opportunity, lost sales or extended hours completing a critical project for a revenue producing client.
It’s easy to measure the lost leisure time when the ‘leisure’ time spent at work keeps you from a golf date with friends, your child’s sports event or musical recital; when the long awaited anniversary dinner has to be postponed at the last minute; when the weekend barbecue goes on without the host, who had to go into the office.
There’s more from Father Abraham…
“Leisure is time for doing something useful;
Now there’s a mind bender for the modern American. Who thinks of leisure being ‘useful?’
As a starting point, let’s define ‘work’. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it this way; ‘activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something.’ Hmmm. According to that definition, everything is work. Playing tennis, watching TV, reading, wrestling with the kids, laying in the hammock taking a nap all require you to ‘exert,’ to ‘do.’
Father Abraham got it right again. All of those activities are useful all by themselves and all of them are work. Their leisure value comes from your intention and attitude, not from the activity itself. Their ‘useful’ aspect derives from the benefit you derive from the activity – the work – and perhaps from the control you exercise over the choice of activity.
There’s more…
“this leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never; for A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things.
The option of having a choice about how to spend your time and energy results from being diligent. You’ve seen it a hundred times; the slacker remains a slacker all his or her life; the hard worker grows in stature at work and in the community. The slacker ends up with few choices and the diligent person with many.
Leisure is the reward of work and laziness is trying to gain the reward without doing the work, which – by way of observation – is just as much work as that done by the diligent person.
There’s more from Father Abraham on this topic…
“Many, without labor, would live by their wits only, but they break for want of stock; whereas industry gives comfort, and plenty, and respect.
Following Father Abraham’s thoughts from the last entry, it only makes sense that those who ‘live by their wits only’ and avoid labor eventually come to a bad end. Consider where the petty thieves, drug dealers, con artists, even organized crime bosses end up. ‘They break for want of stock.’ There’s nothing of value in their choices or their ‘work.’
Those who work diligently, on the other hand, and take control of their money, their time and their lives arrive at a different place.
Sometimes my workload writing, helping clients and mentoring other advisors is so heavy that I have to hire out some chores around the house. My favorite chore to hire out is mowing the lawn and trimming around the sidewalks, trees, planters and bushes.
The 72 year old man that does this work for me is a fine example of a person who has diligently made his way through life for the past four decades on his own terms. He is respected and admired by everyone who employs him, works only when he chooses based on his age and energy level, but lacks for neither money nor leisure.
Father Abraham makes one more point…
“Fly pleasures, and they will follow you. The diligent spinner has a large shift; and now I have a sheep and a cow, everybody bids me good morrow.”
I recently attended the 50th reunion of my high school graduating class. I was amazed and surprised that so many of my classmates remembered me for who and what I was 50 years ago. Some of those memories were accurate and others were not. The party girls from ’58 were still seen as party girls. The jocks were still the jocks. The elite still elite.
If you start out as a pleasure seeker you may never recover to be anything better in the eyes of the world. The ‘diligent spinner’ started, I’m thinking, with just one sheep. He worked hard, made wool enough to also buy a cow and now ‘everybody bids [him] good morrow.’
Here’s wishing you Health, Abundance, Love and Light as you work diligently toward fulfilling your mission in this life.
Jeffrey Reeves
Posted in What Others Say | Tags: Abundance, diligence, energy, Health, Life, Love, Money, stocks | 1 Comment »
The 21st Century Way to Wealth…”Do or do not…there is no try.” Yoda
August 30, 2008 | Author jr
The Way to Wealth…
By Benjamin Franklin, Commentary by Jeffrey Reeves
Having laid the groundwork for continuing his verbal treatise, Father Abraham translates the premises he’s postulated into a series of calls to action.
“Let us, then, up and be doing, and doing to the purpose;
These simplest of words carry profound meaning when it comes to you building your wealth. During the last thirty-five years Americans have lost track of the basic truth that working hard and following conventional wisdom – doing what everyone else does with their money just because that’s the way everyone else is doing – just isn’t enough. You need to invest your activity and decisions with meaning. You need to be ‘doing to the purpose.’
What purpose? Every successful personal economy has four essential goals: to be debt free, to develop an income stream that requires neither work nor active management, to have plenty of cash at hand when confronting life’s surprisingly unsurprising surprises, and, perhaps most importantly, to pay forward a legacy of both money and the secret wisdom about the way to wealth so future generations aren’t burdened with property they don’t own and investments they don’t control.
Father Abraham has other admonitions about how to travel the way to wealth.
“so by diligence shall we do more with less perplexity.
Diligence on the way to wealth means persevering with attention and care at building your personal economy. Diligence makes life simpler and less perplexing. That lets you get more done in less time and with less stress. Life is only a struggle for those who struggle with living.
Dr Benjamin Franklin’s Father Abraham has more insights…
“Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy;
Motivational speakers, authors and coaches get paid millions of dollars every year to tell you the simple compelling truths that Americans have embraced for over 250 years and that Dr Benjamin Franklin’s Father Abraham popularized in the final installment of Poor Richard’s Almanac in 1758.
It’s no surprise that Dr Benjamin Franklin has become such an iconic person in history and folklore. He practiced what Father Abraham preached. He worked diligently at a wide range of tasks and became one of the wisest, most accomplished and most beloved men in history because of it…and he made it look easy.
Let’s consider a few more of Father Abraham’s ideas.
“and He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night; while Laziness travels so slowly, that Poverty soon overtakes him. Drive thy business, let not that drive thee;
I know a man that claims to be a ‘night person.’ He stays up late, sleeps late, gets to the office late, then works late. His family suffers, his health suffers, his business suffers, he complains about being overwhelmed on a regular basis. This man reads motivational books, attends seminars, studies Dr Benjamin Franklin’s works, yet he refuses to consider the possibility that his sleeping and work habits have anything to do with his everyday challenges.
Is this laziness? I don’t judge it, but Father Abraham implies as much and predicts the natural consequence – poverty. In America we may measure such a man as a success. He has a nice home in a nice neighborhood, drives a nice car and so on.
The hidden reality, however, is that he could be a better parent, a better spouse, a better provider, and of greater service to his clients. His income, his charitable giving, his health, life and peace of mind could all improve if he would put his business in perspective and give up the failed idea that he is a ‘night person.’
Father Abraham ends this discussion of “Do or do not…there is no try” with perhaps the most commonly quoted aphorism from Poor Richard’s Almanac;
“and Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise, as Poor Richard says.
Bill Newman was one of the founders of the human potential movement and one of my mentors. He taught me by example that this approach to time and life management worked well.
I had hired Bill to conduct his PACE seminar for a group of my employees. I invited him to stay with my family for the two nights he would be in town. When he retired the first evening it was quite early and I asked him when he’d like me to awaken him. He said he would awaken at 5:30 and I need not worry. He did. He did so without the aid of an alarm. Bill had become so accustomed to rising early that doing so was automatic for him. I’m betting the same was true for Dr Benjamin Franklin and for thousands of other successful people for centuries and millennia.
I’ve personally followed this advice and practice for decades. I know that my life, my perception of the world, my peace of mind, my relationships, and every aspect of my life has improved since I adopted this approach to managing my work and my sleep. I also believe that, had I known about and followed this practice earlier in life, I would have avoided many of the mistakes I’ve made before, the many I’ve made since, as well as some I’ve yet to make.
Jeffrey Reeves
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, What Others Say | Tags: ben franklin, benjamin franklin, diligence, poor richards almanac, sleep habits, sloth | 2 Comments »
The 21st Century Way to Wealth…Time Management
August 29, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Posted in What Others Say | Tags: benjamin franklin, Dr Agon Fly, father abraham, Life, Money, Retirement, time management, undefined, wisdom | No Comments »
0% Interest Game…
August 28, 2008 | Author dragonfly
It is rare for me to quote someone else’s blog in full detail. However, Greg Moore is helping many Americans escape from the Debt Paradigm and his emails are always worth reading. I hope this one inspires…
Dr Agon Fly - www.YouBetheBank.com
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Getting Into the 0% Interest Loan Game…
The U.S. Government is getting into the 0% Interest Loan Game. Actually, if you consider income tax refunds are really 0% loans taxpayers make to the government, the government is already in the 0% game.
Only this time, instead of you receiving 0% on money you lend to the government, the government will lend you money at 0%.
I’m referring to the new Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, specifically, the “First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit” portion of this bill.
You can read the “current” details of this provision here:
http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/
I say, “current,” because, as you’ll read, some details are still being worked out.
In a nutshell, the FTHBTC provides a “refundable” tax credit up to $7,500 for first-time home buyers on homes purchased between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009.
Tax credits reduce your tax liability dollar for dollar, so, for example, if you have a $10,000 tax liability and you were eligible for — and took — all $7,500 of this credit, you would only owe $2,500. The “refundable”
part means you will receive this credit even if you have no tax liability. If you owe nothing, you will receive a check up to $7,500. If you expect a refund, your refund check will be increased by the amount of the credit.
Now, before you begin scheming on all of the ways you can put this credit to work in your debt-elimination, wealth-building, or flat screen TV plans… wait!
The amount of your credit must be PAID BACK over a period of 15 years. “Tax-credit” in this case means you have an IRS loan at 0% for 15 years.
This is just a wee bit different than a traditional tax-credit…
Michelle Singletary, personal finance columnist for the Washington Post had a few questions for an IRS spokesperson…
Michelle: Since this is a loan from the IRS, will the IRS be sending an annual loan statement to taxpayers?
IRS: The details of how the IRS will collect this money or inform people have not been worked out. A line would probably be added to the standard 1040 tax form to indicate that the credit should be paid as part of your tax liability.
Michelle: Can I pay off the loan early?
IRS: The IRS hasn’t yet come up with a system to accommodate an early payoff.
Michelle: What happens if someone does not pay back the debt on time or at all?
IRS: The unpaid loan will be treated like any delinquent tax obligation, meaning standard IRS interest and penalties apply.
Yep. Just like any 0% loan you default on, the 0% rate disappears, which places it in the same category as 0% credit cards, with one exception…
Do you really want to have the IRS as a creditor?
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Greg Moore is the Architect of the Debt Freedom System, ‘DebtIntoWealth — Lessons from My Journey to Debt Freedom.”
http://www.debtintowealth.com/debttrap.html
DEBTINTOWEALTH.COM
The 21st Century Way to Wealth…Industriousness
August 16, 2008 | Author dragonfly
By Benjamin Franklin and Dr Agon Fly
I. Industriousness
It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their time, to be employed in its service;
Benjamin Franklin and the other Founding Fathers didn’t have to deal with the IRS, state, county, township, city and district income taxes, taxes on gas, electricity, telephone service, internet access, cable and satellite service, water, sewer, gasoline, heating fuel, beer, wine, whiskey, tobacco, and sales tax on almost everything else thrown in just for good measure. Add to that the taxes on corporations, which are rolled into the price of their goods. Those taxes then get taxed again when you buy those goods.
Today’s governments in America take a lot more than ten percent of your time. They don’t require actual time. They take so much of the typical American’s work product – money for short – in the form of taxes that you really work for the government up to 50% of the time.
It can get even worse when you add in estate and inheritance taxes and probate fees and costs if you are financially successful and don’t have well informed and qualified advisors.
but idleness taxes many of us much more; sloth, by bringing on diseases, absolutely shortens life. Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears; while the used key is always bright, as Poor Richard says.
One thing hasn’t changed. No matter how much of your money the government takes, you are still responsible for your health and your own financial success or failure. That means you have to rely on your own work to produce enough income to care for yourself and your family if you have one.
Benjamin Franklin obviously refers to manual labor when he talks about ‘sloth brining on disease’, rust consuming faster than wear and tear, and saying the ‘used key is always bright.’ Many Americans don’t do manual labor. Finding a way to keep your key always bright is intrinsically your job, too.
A corollary to what Father Abraham teaches is that relying on government for health care or financial support is not a good idea. The more a government gives you personally the more it can take away.
A Different Kind Of Credit Card Fraud – Credit Card Issuers…
August 9, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Here’s a story that should make you madder than h… and wake you up to the reality that is the credit card business.
A businessperson applied for and received an Advanta credit card with a low permanent rate of 7.99% – not an introductory rate, a low permanent rate.
- The card was used to pay all of the businesses expenses and was paid in full periodically as cash flow allowed; ususally each month or so.
- All payments were made on time and the credit limit was never exceeded.
- There were no cash advances taken and the “courtesy checks” that came with almost every bill, and which carry usurious rates, were summarily shredded as they were received.
- The businesspersons’s credit score was in the high 700′s and the business itself had never had any kind of negative report from any credit reporting agency or vendor.
So, what did Advanta do? They raised the rate to over 20% with a two week notice and with no justification other than “We adjust rates based on a variety of factors.”
Here’s the reality.
- You have NO CONTROL of the money that is tied up by credit card companies or of the rates they can charge you for the use of that money.
- Credit card issuers can raise your rate for NO REASON AT ALL and with minimal notice.
- Unlike the fixed or variable rate mortgage on your home, the terms of the mortgage on your paycheck that credit card companies hold can be changed by them without cause or limit – that’s right, they can charge you 100% if they wish.
Credit is a trap. You cannot win the credit game and you cannot escape unless you learn to be your own credit grantor; to be your own bank. It’s not as hard as it sounds or appears. You have to change your mind about money and adopt The Money for Life Plan thatl lets You Be The Bank. I know this is a commercial of sorts, but I also know that those who follow this approach are rocking comfortably on the front porch while others are sneaking out the back door to avoid the bill collectors.
By the way, the businessperson cancelled the credit card, paid off the balance and now relies entirely on her own bank.
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Posted in Debt, Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Personal Financial Management | Tags: advanta, bank, banking, banks, credit, credit card, credit card rates, credit cards, Money | No Comments »
The Pickens Plan and The Money For Life Plan
August 7, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
The Money for Life Plan
America is addicted to investments they can’t control and debt they may never repay.
As you will see shortly, T. Boone Pickens has committed $58,000,000.00 to promote a plan to wean America from foreign oil in ten years.
The Money for Life Plan weans individual Americans from the Debt Paradigm almost immediately. [It's not as expensive.]
In both cases the process begins when a person – or in the case of the Pickens’ Plan – when a country changes its mind.
The Money for Life Plan lets YouBeTheBank and gain control of the money that flows through your life. It relies on the individual family re-thinking what works and what doesn’t regardless of the “conventional wisdom” that the Behemoths – large government, unions and business – want you to believe.
The Pickens Plan flies in the face of the “conventional wisdom” of Washington DC. The Pickens Plan aims to keep American money in America by converting electric power generation from natural gas to power generated by wind and solar, then converting petroleum driven vehicles to natural gas.
Both plans rely on the same principle.
The Pickens Plan believes that it’s essential for our nation to regain control of its energy and stop sending $700,000,000,000.00 of our wealth oversees every year.
The Money for Life Plan believes that it’s essential for individual American families to stop putting their money into investments they don’t control and debt they may never repay.
Below is a detailed description of the Pickens Plan. I encourage you to read it, recognize the wisdom it contains, and sign on to support it. It is worth your time and attention.
I also encourage you to visit www.YouBeTheBank.com and learn about The Money for Life Model. I don’t have $58,000,000.00 to promote this idea and the book that describes it Money Now, Money Later, Money for Life! How to thrive in good times and bad so I’m hoping you’ll discover some value there and tell a friend.
The Pickens Plan
America is addicted to foreign oil.
It’s an addiction that threatens our economy, our environment and our national security. It touches every part of our daily lives and ties our hands as a nation and a people.
The addiction has worsened for decades and now it’s reached a point of crisis.
In 1970, we imported 24% of our oil.
Today it’s nearly 70% and growing.As imports grow and world prices rise, the amount of money we send to foreign nations every year is soaring. At current oil prices, we will send $700 billion dollars out of the country this year alone — that’s four times the annual cost of the Iraq war.
Projected over the next 10 years the cost will be $10 trillion — it will be the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind.
America uses a lot of oil. Every day 85 million barrels of oil are produced around the world. And 21 million of those are used here in the United States.
That’s 25% of the world’s oil demand. Used by just 4% of the world’s population.
Can’t we just produce more oil?
World oil production peaked in 2005. Despite growing demand and an unprecedented increase in prices, oil production has fallen over the last three years. Oil is getting more expensive to produce, harder to find and there just isn’t enough of it to keep up with demand.
The simple truth is that cheap and easy oil is gone.
What’s the good news?
The United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind power.
Studies from around the world show that the Great Plains States are home to the greatest wind energy potential in the world — by far.
The Department of Energy reports that 20% of America’s electricity can come from wind. North Dakota alone has the potential to provide power for more than a quarter of the country.
Today’s wind turbines stand up to 410 feet tall, with blades that stretch 148 feet in length. The blades collect the wind’s kinetic energy. In one year, a 3-megawatt wind turbine produces as much energy as 12,000 barrels of imported oil.
Wind power currently accounts for 48 billion kWh of electricity a year in the United States — enough to serve more than 4.5 million households. That is still only about 1% of current demand, but the potential of wind is much greater.
A 2005 Stanford University study found that there is enough wind power worldwide to satisfy global demand 7 times over — even if only 20% of wind power could be captured.
Building wind facilities in the corridor that stretches from the Texas panhandle to North Dakota could produce 20% of the electricity for the United States at a cost of $1 trillion. It would take another $200 billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns.
That’s a lot of money, but it’s a one-time cost. And compared to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil every year, it’s a bargain.
An economic revival for rural America.
Developing wind power is an investment in rural America.
To witness the economic promise of wind energy, look no further than Sweetwater, Texas.
Sweetwater was typical of many small towns in middle-America. With a shortage of good jobs, the youth of Sweetwater were leaving in search of greater opportunities. And the town’s population dropped from 12,000 to under 10,000.
When a large wind power facility was built outside of town, Sweetwater experienced a revival. New economic opportunity brought the town back to life and the population has grown back up to 12,000.
In the Texas panhandle, just north of Sweetwater, is the town of Pampa, where T. Boone Pickens’ Mesa Power is currently building the largest wind farm in the world.
In addition to creating new construction and maintenance jobs, thousands of Americans will be employed to manufacture the turbines and blades. These are high skill jobs that pay on a scale comparable to aerospace jobs.
Plus, wind turbines don’t interfere with farming and grazing, so they don’t threaten food production or existing local economies.
A cheap new replacement for foreign oil.
The Honda Civic GX Natural Gas Vehicle is the cleanest internal-combustion vehicle in the world according to the EPA.
Natural gas and bio-fuels are the only domestic energy sources used for transportation.
Cleaner
Natural gas is the cleanest transportation fuel available today.
According to the California Energy Commission, critical greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas are 23% lower than diesel and 30% lower than gasoline.
Natural gas vehicles (NGV) are already available and combine top performance with low emissions. The natural gas Honda Civic GX is rated as the cleanest production vehicle in the world.
According to NGVAmerica, there are more than 7 million NGVs in use worldwide, but only 150,000 of those are in the United States.
The EPA estimates that vehicles on the road account for 60% of carbon monoxide pollution and around one-third of hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions in the United States. As federal and state emissions laws become more stringent, many requirements will be unattainable with conventionally fueled vehicles.
Since natural gas is significantly cleaner than petroleum, NGVs are increasing in popularity. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach recently announced that 16,800 old diesel trucks will be replaced, and half of the new vehicles will run on alternatives such as natural gas.
Cheaper
Natural gas is significantly less expensive than gasoline or diesel. In places like Utah and Oklahoma, prices are less than $1 a gallon. To see fueling stations and costs in your area, check out cngprices.com.
Domestic
Natural gas is our country’s second largest energy resource and a vital component of our energy supply. 98% of the natural gas used in the United States is from North America. But 70% of our oil is purchased from foreign nations.
Natural gas is one of the cleanest, safest and most useful forms of energy — residentially, commercially and industrially. The natural gas industry has existed in the United States for over 100 years and continues to grow.
Domestic natural gas reserves are twice that of petroleum. And new discoveries of natural gas and ongoing development of renewable biogas are continually adding to existing reserves.
While it is a cheap, effective and versatile fuel, less than 1% of natural gas is currently used for transportation.
The Mechanics
We currently use natural gas to produce 22% of our electricity. Harnessing the power of wind to generate electricity will give us the flexibility to shift natural gas away from electricity generation and put it to use as a transportation fuel — reducing our dependence on foreign oil by more than one-third.
How do we get it done?
The Pickens Plan is a bridge to the future — a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives, and buy us time to develop even greater new technologies.
Building new wind generation facilities and better utilizing our natural gas resources can replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports in 10 years. But it will take leadership.
On January 20th, 2009, a new President will take office.
We’re organizing behind the Pickens Plan now to ensure our voices will be heard by the next administration.
Together we can raise a call for change and set a new course for America’s energy future in the first hundred days of the new presidency — breaking the hammerlock of foreign oil and building a new domestic energy future for America with a focus on sustainability.
You can start changing America’s future today by supporting the Pickens Plan. Join now.
Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, What Others Say | Tags: debt, economics, economy, energy, investing, investments, Life, Money, thrive, undefined | No Comments »
The 21st Century Way to Wealth – A Word To The Wise…
August 5, 2008 | Author dragonfly
By Ben Franklin and Dr Agon Fly
COURTEOUS Reader,
I have heard that nothing gives an author so great pleasure as to find his works respectfully quoted by others.
Dr Agon Fly agrees.
Judge, then, how much I must have been gratified by an incident I am going to relate to you. I stopped my horse lately, where a great number of people were collected at an auction of merchants’ goods.
Today we park our cars in multilevel parking facilities at multilevel malls where a great number of people are collected for “sales.”
The hour of the sale not being come, they were conversing on the badness of the times;
Just like last week, of month or year, times and topics remain consistent. Some see the world as full of shadows and others see it as full of light. Those who live on the dark side tend to engage in negative talk and behavior while those on the side of light focus on more positive thoughts and activities – as you will discover was the case in 1758 as it is today. Read on.
and one of the company called to a plain, clean old man, with white locks,
A picture of wisdom.
“Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Will not these heavy taxes quite ruin the country? How shall we ever be able to pay them? What would you advise us to do?”
Today, as in 1758, people look to those with experience and the wisdom of years for advice and counsel. The difference between 1758 and 2008 is that current America has mistakenly clothed government – including its most incompetent branch; the Congress – corporations, unions and bureaucracies with the mantel of both knowledge and wisdom.
Father Abraham stood, up and replied, “If you would have my advice, I will give it you in short; for ‘A word to the wise is enough,’ as Poor Richard says…”
Ah! The first words of Poor Richard and how profound. There’s much more to come. Read on.
Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, Taxes, What Others Say | Tags: bad times, good times, Money, Taxes, wisdom | No Comments »
The 21st Century Way to Wealth…
August 4, 2008 | Author dragonfly
By Dr Benjamin Franklin and Dr Agon Fly
In 1758 Benjamin Franklin published the final annual installment of Poor Richard’s Almanac. As a preface to this final edition he wrote The Way to Wealth and introduced Father Abraham as the main character in the tale.
Father Abraham embodied the financial wisdom that “Poor” Richard Saunders – Ben Franklin in disguise – incorporated in the 25 years during which the almanac was a staple on the bookshelves and kitchen tables of colonial America.
In 2008, on the sesquicentennial of that event, Dr Agon Fly is bringing this classic book about money back to life. The money wisdom that Dr. Benjamin Franklin captured in The Way to Wealth is timeless; however, the vernacular of 1758 sometimes obscures the meaning for today’s economy and for the personal economies of 21st Century Americans.
Dr Agon Fly offers clarification and corrects archaic words and spellings to help the reader move easily through the story and capture the essence of the messages about money, saving, investing, debt, taxes and a variety of other financial fundamentals.
In addition, Dr Agon Fly provides commentary on Father Abraham’s insights in 21st Century English and invested with the knowledge of financial products and services that were not available to Americans in 1758.
Dr Agon Fly’s comments are indented and italicized to set them apart from the main text.
Read on…
Introduction by Benjamin Franklin – Commentary by Dr Agon Fly
In 1732 I first published my Almanac under the name of Richard Saunders; it was continued by me about twenty-five years, and commonly called Poor Richard’s Almanac. I endeavored to make it both entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that I reaped considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand.
Think about that! That’s about ½ of 1% of the total population as subscribers and about 2% of the total population based on family size. In today’s terms, that would be over 6 million subscribers. Any publisher or writer – even J. K. Rowling – would be pleased with that. Imagine the influence this simple publication had on the thinking and behavior of early America
And observing that it was generally read, (scarce any neighborhood in the province being without it,) I considered it as a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people, who bought scarcely any other books.
In today’s world of mass communication – TV, cell phones that are more powerful than the computers of just ten years ago, print on demand publishing and – more than anything else – the internet, is it any wonder that Americans are going in dozens of different financial directions.
I therefore filled all the little spaces, that occurred between the remarkable days in the Calendar, with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality, as the means of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it being more difficult for a man in want to act always honestly, as (to use here one of those proverbs) “It is hard for an empty sack to stand upright.”
Ben Franklin wrote pithy sayings and motivated early Americans to work hard and save money so they could amass wealth and secure “virtue.” The amazing part of this is that it worked for the founding fathers and for many generations after them. It’s hard to be virtuous – have peace of mind and the freedom to serve our family, church, and country.
www.YouBeTheBank.com
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Financial News From The Week Of July 25th, 2008…
August 4, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
I pay close attention to the financial news. It’s part of my job to know what’s really going on in the general economy so I can properly train other advisors and guide my personal clients with integrity.
Below are six articles from financial news sources from last week I encourage you to skim the first five and read No. 6 carefully.
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Government debt nears record high The Bush administration announced its plans to borrow billions of dollars to deal with the skyrocketing budget deficits, placing the blame for the near record levels of debt on the dismal economy a… |
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President Bush signs housing rescue bill Despite previous threats to veto any proposed housing bill, President Bush today signed a controversial bill that aims to help the limping U.S. housing market as well as provide a financial boost m… |
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Home prices down 15.8% in one year Between May 2007 and May 2008, the cost of homes in the U.S. declined an unprecedented 15.8 percent, indicates the Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller Home Price Index of 20 cities. This figure… |
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Hedge funds to post worst month in five years Hedge funds may post their worst month in at least five years after bets on financial stocks and crude oil backfired. Wagers on a decline in financial stocks and homebuilders soured afte… |
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IMF: Housing recession, credit condition will worsen The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today said there is no visible end to the ongoing housing recession in the U.S., adding that tough credit conditions could contribute to an extended economic s… |
Don’t expect another bull market
Stock returns may never be the same – at least for this generation of investors.
(Fortune) — Although you won’t find it listed on your calendar, we’re approaching the anniversary of an epochal event. No, it has nothing to do with the NCAA basketball tournament. It’s a different kind of March Madness: The end of the bull market that lasted for a generation and changed the way that Americans think about stocks.
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Two Questions About The Money For Life Model…
August 3, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
1. “Why haven’t I heard about the Money for Life Model till now?”
What amazes me most about this question is that the Money for Life Model has been the model preferred by successful savers and investors for thousands of years. More to the point, it is the model that successful Americans followed for the past two centuries while building the most powerful economy in history.
During the past thirty years or so, however, this tried, tested and proven model has been obscured by misinformation from advertising as we have been blinded by guidance, from Behemoths and their minions, that puts our money in their pockets.
· Americans have been bamboozled into thinking that the model that has proven successful for millennia, in all kinds of economies, is no longer valid.
· We have been propagandized into believing that giving control of our money to others is wiser than maintaining control ourselves.
· We’ve been convinced that saving money – getting a guaranteed rate of return, and knowing that we’ll have more money on December 31st than we started with on January 1st – is naïve and unsophisticated.
BUNK!
Large financial institutions, unions, government agencies, manufacturers, retailers – the Behemoths – aim to get control of your money through personal loans, mortgages, credit cards, savings, taxes, assessments, dues, investments, “sales,” and any other mechanism they can devise to move your money into their accounts. As we say elsewhere, they make bad decisions feel good.
There are thousands of Behemoths that have discovered that your money is the pavement for their road to wealth. They are, of course, unwilling to tell you that twelve months same as cash is not really the same, or that the hypothetical return on a mutual fund really is hypothetical, or that the average “rate of return” they advertise excludes years of poor performance, or that the small tax or dues increase becomes burdensome in a few years.
In short, you haven’t heard a lot about the Money for Life Model because it can make you wealthy but doesn’t serve the Behemoths and doesn’t put your money into the pockets of their minions.
2. “If the Money for Life Model works so well, why isn’t everyone following this approach to money?”
The Behemoths indoctrinate us with advertising and other forms of propaganda, but they sell us through their minions. Their minions – or representatives – are frequently our family, friends and neighbors. They know only what the Behemoths allow them to know. They learn the art of communicating the Behemoths’ programs as if they were the best and only approach to the use of your money.
There are tens of thousands of Behemoths and millions of their minions operating credibly to convince you that you should do what they suggest or recommend you do with your money – Conventional Wisdom.
There are few hundred – perhaps thousand – advisors and guides who are committed to re-introduce America to the Money for Life Model and are willingly forego the higher compensation that comes from promoting the plans of the Behemoths.
Do the math.
Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management | Tags: credit, economy, financial, investing, investments, mutual fund, saving | No Comments »
Alarming Stats About Young People and Money…
July 28, 2008 | Author dragonfly
America’s young people are trapped in a dysfunctional paradigm that is robbing them of the oppotunity to succeed.
“The June 2008 Greenberg survey, entitled “Young People: Living on the Edge” illustrates the severe impact of the current economic crisis on 18 to 34 year olds…
“Of the young adult participants, 75 percent say they have gone deeper in debt over the past year. Nearly 19 percent of respondents report having their phone, cable or utilities cut off, and more than 15 percent have faced repossession or have had their credit card cancelled due to non-payment.
“Additionally, about 33 percent of those who owe money on a credit card owe more than $10,000 overall…” – [my emphasis]
If you have children, nieces and nephews, grandkids, or friends with kids, teach them about money and how to handle it. They won’t learn it in grade school, high school and especially not in college, where they learn instead that credit is easy to get and delivers immediate gratification through alcohol, drugs, and sex.
The GAO said recently that financial literacy among Americans is appallingly low. If it’s low in general, its at the bottom of the scale for our young people.
What else could we expect after almost 30 years of misinformation about saving, home equity, mortgages, investing and money in general; misinformation provided in commercials, sound bites, and one hour TV specials that claim to be informative but never scratch the suface of financial issues. Information from the Behemoths whose only goal is to move money from your pockets into their accounts.
TEACH YOUR CHILDREN. And, if you think you know what to teach them, look at your own financial situation. Debt up to your eyeballs? Don’t teach them that. Investments that are going nowhere? Don’t teach them that. Money in all the wrong places at al the wrong times? Don’t teach them that.
First, learn yourself. Discover what the Financial Founding Fathers knew but that the Behemoths and their minions have shrouded in confusion. Discover that saving comes first, home equity is very, very important to you and using it as an ATM machine is not in your best interest. Discover that whole life insurance is a great place to put your foundation money. Discover that every successful personal economy has exactly the same foundation – money that you control, with no strings attached – and the same framework too:
- freedom from debt
- secure income to last your lifetime
- ready cash to deal with life’s surprisingly unsurprising surprises
- a legacy of wisdom and wealth to pay forward to those you care about
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Posted in What Others Say | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, money wisdom, morningstar, morninstar report, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Wall Street, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance, wisdom about money | 1 Comment »
Advice About Saving From Benjamin Franklin…
July 27, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day.” Benjamin Franklin,
John Bigelow, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 1 of 12, pg 254
Ben Franklin penned these words about a topic other than money, but could just as well have been discussing saving.
Einstein referred to the magic of compound interest as the eighth wonder of the world.
Everything I’ve learned about money in the past 50 years supports the idea that slow and steady wins the day when it comes to money.
Modern financial thinking, however, denies the validity of this idea. It focuses on the mountain top and loses sight of the trail. Why are many American’s facing foreclosure? Is it because they lack the discipline or wisdom to manage their money effectively? Or, is it because they were led to believe in the “certainty” that the “market” will always pay off in the “long-term?” Why is America’s savings rate at or less than zero? Because they were told to focus on the top of the mountain and missed the crevasse at their feet.
Surprise! We don’t live in the “long-term”. Here’s a wisdom teaching that appears in every source of advice from the Ancient Bible, to the New Testament, to philosophers and teachers in every culture and every age - except perhaps the late 20th century: Save, secure your future needs, pay off your debt, invest only in that about which you are personally knowledgeable and only with money you can afford to lose.
Ben Franklin calls it ”human felicity.” We call it peace of mind. You cannot hold onto peace of mind if your mind is constantly focused on money issues in a negative way. You cannot enjoy the mountain trail if you are only looking at the pinnacle.
You need to know where you are going. You need to stop along the way and look forward and up to anticipate your next step and remind yourself of the goal. Life is lived in the present moment and money arrives and passes through your life today. If today is lost and today’s money is lost, tomorrow cannot be better and peace of mind cannot be achieved.
Here’s a simple “how to.”
Sally, a 22 year old female, graduates from college, takes a job earning $30,000.00 per year. Sally saves $5,000.00 a year in a cash value whole life insurance policy every year until her normal retirement age of 67. At that time Sally has over $1.2 million dollars cash including dividends. She can convert that saved money into an after tax income stream of more than $50,000.00 that will last her for the rest of her life.
One simple saving strategy yields “human felicity”. Imagine the results if Sally increases her contribution every year as her income rises! This one simple strategy would yield income multiples of two, three, or greater than the $1.2 million. In addition, the cash value could be accessed by loans prior to retirement to pay for vacations, cars and even houses.
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Basic Economics: Save First, Invest Later, Speculate Never…
July 24, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Misinformation & Disinformation…
Americans have been bamboozled into thinking that they can get rich and retire comfortably by putting their money in the hands of people whose only aim is to move money from your pocket into some Behemoth’s accounts; IRA’s, mutual funds, variable annuities, variable insurance policies, ETF’s, and on an on.
BUNK! “Investing” Is Poorly Defined…
Here’s a simple rule to apply to your personal economy: invest from savings, not from income; speculate only with money you expect to lose [if you win add the winnings to your savings.] If you never develop a savings program, you can’t recover by ‘investing’ unless you are just plain lucky. Why? Because most ‘investments’ are actually speculative.
Benjamin Graham, The Dean of Wall Street, and Warren Buffett’s teacher, taught that an investment has two characteristics: safety of principle and a reasonable return. Hmmm! Honestly evaluate what Wall Street calls an investment today.
- Is it really an investment or is it speculation?
- Is your money safe and secure?
- Are you getting a reasonable rate of return?
- Is it enough to be re-assured that all will be well “in the long-term”?
Guess what? The answers are all NO. You don’t live in the long-term. If you are losing money today, hoping that tomorrow will produce better results is foolish at best. Properly saved money guarantees a reasonable rate of return in the short-term and is safe for the long-haul. Once you have money in hand, and enough money in hand to care for your personal needs, then you may–but don’t have to–consider investing.
A Form of Insanity…
Think about this: many Americans take money directly from their pockets [payroll deducted in many cases] and place it in accounts that produce unpredictable returns for them but assured profits for the Behemoths. Not only that, at the same time they borrow from credit cards and mortgage companies at rates that are guaranteed to be higher than their ‘investment’ account returns. Go figure…
Imagine how much better off these Americans would be if they put their money into financial products that fit the definition of Benjamin Graham referenced above.
It’s time to shift paradigms, to change models; save first, invest later, speculate never!
Jeffrey Reeves
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What’s The Difference Between “Soulutions” To Money Problems And Conventional Wisdom…
July 21, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Soylent Green is people!” Soylent Green, 1975
Conventional wisdom…
In the future world of Soylent Green, people looked forward to the occasional serving of a food, called Soylent Green that the Behemoth of that time doled out periodically. What they didn’t know was that the delightful and nutritious foodstuff was actually made from human remains. They followed the conventional wisdom of the time and questioned little if anything that their Behemoth fed them – food, ideas, solutions.
- Conventional wisdom is doing what everyone else is doing and thinking what everyone else is thinking just because that’s what others are doing and thinking.
- Conventional wisdom would have you believe that the Behemoths – governments, bureaucracies, unions, corporations, universities or any other organization that might hold sway over your native intelligence – know more about what’s best for you than you know yourself.
- Conventional wisdom would have you believe that the snippet of information in an oft-run TV commercial or one-hour “special report” is the essence of a truth that Americans should embrace as a guiding principle for their everyday lives.
- Conventional wisdom would have you not think at all and adopt solutions that move your money from your pockets into the accounts of the Behemoths.
- Conventional wisdom makes bad decisions feel good just long enough to fleece you and send you back to pasture to grow more wool.
Soulution
- Soulution was coined by Jeffrey Reeves to describe an approach to solving money problems that is based in awareness of who you are and of what’s really happening in the economic world you live in. It is also a tab on www.EUREKONOMICS.com
- The key element of every soulution to every money problem is found at the core of the person who has a problem and not in the cookie cutter answers that Behemoths dole out like Soylent Green.
- The EUREKONOMICS Model is not a soulution by itself. It is a distillation of the wisdom of the ancient Bible, the New Testament, philosophers, statesmen, economists and other wise people of every era and age.
- The EUREKONOMICS Model shows you how to lay a foundation and build a framework for your personal economy based on your unique situation but leaves the management and control of that economy in your hands.
Don’t settle for Soylent Green!
Jeffrey Reeves
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Money Is Important, But So Are Red Marbles…
July 20, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Generally this blog deals with issues relating to money, saving, investing and the general economy and how that relates to your personal economy. Today’s blog digresses a bit from the norm but not really too far. It recounts a story I’ve heard several times about how one man used some of the money in his personal economy with great results. It inspires me and perhaps it will inspire you too.
RED MARBLES
I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprizing a basket of freshly picked green peas. I paid for my potatoes, but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.
‘Hello Barry, how are you today?’
‘H’lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus’ admirin’ them peas. They sure look good.’
‘They are good, Barry. How’s your Ma?’
‘Fine. Gittin’ stronger alla’ time.’
‘Good. Anything I can help you with?’
‘No, Sir. Jus’ admirin’ them peas.’
‘Would you like take some home?’ asked Mr. Miller.
‘No, Sir. Got nuthin’ to pay for ‘em with.’
‘Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?’
‘All I got’s my prize marble here.’
‘Is that right? Let me see it’ said Miller.
‘Here ’tis. She’s a dandy.’
‘I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?’ the store owner asked.
‘Not zackley but almost.’
‘Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble’, Mr. Miller told the boy.
‘Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.’
Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile said, ‘There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn’t like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.’
I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles. Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one.
Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the Funeral Home we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.
Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts…all very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband’s casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket. Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the Funeral Home awkwardly, wiping his eyes.
Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband’s bartering for marbles.
With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.
‘Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim ‘traded’ them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size….they came to pay their debt.’
‘We’ve never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,’ she confided, ‘but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho’.
With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.
The Moral : We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds.
Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
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Wishing you Health, Abundance, Love and Light…
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Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Personal Financial Management, What Others Say | Tags: Abundance, economics, economy, Health, investing, Life, Love, marbles, Money, saving | No Comments »
It’s Only Money? How You Can Prosper With Small Savings Decisions…
July 18, 2008 | Author dragonfly
It’s only…
How many times have you heard – or said – something like, “Let’s buy it! It’s only fifty bucks. That’s a twenty-five dollar savings!”Guess what. There is no “only” when you are dealing with your money. And, savings are only savings when you put them into your “bank”.
If, instead of spending it, you put your fifty bucks in your “bank”, it would compound to over $400.00 in 30 years at 7.2%. Add to that the 25 bucks you “saved” and you’d have over $600.00. Consider that you make those kinds of decisions frequently – say 12 times a year – and your compounded savings total is over $7,000.00. Do it every year for 30 years and you be a lot closer to fifty grand than fifty bucks.
“Only” fifty bucks? Don’t kid yourself. The old adage “every penny counts” is an old adage because it’s true. We all tend to trick ourselves when it comes to money, and one of the oldest tricks in the world is the “it’s only”. The next time you think you are saving money buying a product on sale, ask yourself if the product you are buying and the money you are “saving” is really worth it.
Remember – only money is money. For everything else, including your “investments”, you have to spend your money. When you’re closer to pushing up daises than doing fifty push-ups, having money instead of the stuff you bought on sale will be a blessing.
“You can be young without money but you can’t be old without it.” Tennessee Williams
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www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com – www.YouBeTheBank.com
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Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, Retirement | Tags: compound interest, compounded savings, fifty bucks, investments, Money, saving, savings | No Comments »
Home Equity Isn’t Money But A Lot Of Families Think It Is…
July 15, 2008 | Author dragonfly
The Measure of Wealth
A recent ad by the national Association of Realtors states that home equity accounts for about 65% of the average American’s wealth.
WOW!
There’s something wrong with that equation. That means that a family with a $500,000 house and a $300,000 mortgage – $200,000.00 in equity - plus a car loan and a few thousand dollars on a credit card has more debt than they have assets when you exclude the home’s equity.
Do the math. If $200,000.00 is 65% of what the family puts on the balance sheet, the total on the bottom line is about $305,000. Add up the mortgage, a $25,000.00 car loan and $5,000.00 in credit card debt and you get $330,000.00.
The Bottom Line on the Family Balance Sheet
Failure to recognize that the bottom line is not really the bottom line leads to the misconception that a positive “net worth” justifies all kinds of unsound economic behavior – like borrowing the equity to support a lifestyle that the family can’t afford in the first place.
A Solution
Here’s a solution that can help almost everyone, but especially those in their 30′s, 40′s and 50′s with children still at home. Begin building your financial foundation today. Buy a properly funded whole life insurance policy [you can make sure a policy is properly funded when the guaranteed cash value equals the initial death benefit at age 95 or 100] that will accumulate enough cash value to allow you to pay of the mortgage in half the original term; e.g., 15 years for a 30 year mortgage, 10 years for a 20 year mortgage, etc.
During the accumulation period [before you pay off the mortgage] you can use the cash values in the policy to finance things like cars and the kids education. As long as you repay the loans you make to yourself to pay for these items [you'd be foolish not to], you’ll still have the money to pay off the mortgage.
Managing your personal economy isn’t all that difficult once you recognize that there are solutions to every financial challenge and every money need and that the Behemoths want not to solve your problem but to pad their pocketbooks.
BY Jeffrey Reeves MA, EUREKONOMIST
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$1.6 Trillion in Losses and Counting…
July 13, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“There’s no crying in baseball!” Part II
If you are truly interested in your financial future – especially over the next year or two – you’ll read John Mauldin’s newsletter on a regular basis. Here’s an excerpt from and a link to his most recent. After a detailed discussion of the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae fiascos, John opines about the near term and long term prospects for the economy and investing…
Posted Jul 11 2008, 11:13 PM
by John Mauldin
“…I am a long-term (and even mid-term) optimist. We have to work through some serious problems, but we will. Valuations are going to be low once again, and it will be time to become bullish. And researching and writing my book on how the world will change in 20 years makes me very optimistic. No one in 20 years will think of today as the “good old days.” The changes that are in front of us will be amazing. So, simply take a deep breath, be conservative today, and get ready for a really wild and fun ride.” Emphasis added…
Being conservative has always been common sense but in 2008 and for the foreseeable future it’s essential. If the Dolts in DC would recognize that and quit spending our money like it’s their own, the People they are sworn to serve would not be facing personal recessions while the fat cats in Washington get fatter. OH well! Vote for the non-incumbant and pray for a better future.
The ‘soulution’ to most Americans’ problems is to get off the credit train and get back to the basics of conservative personal economics. The people have been bamboozled for decades by the now failing financial industry and the incompetents that legislate on its behalf instead of ours. It’s time to ignore their insanity and regain our own.
EARN, SAVE, SPEND ONLY WHAT YOU CAN REPAY TO YOURSELF, LEAVE A LEGACY OF BOTH WISDOM AND WEALTH…
It isn’t as hard as you might think. Americans who adopt the Money for Life Model find that their financial situation improves rapidly and without significant life style changes. It’s really nothing more than controlling the money that flows through your life.
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Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, What Others Say | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, money wisdom, morningstar, morninstar report, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Wall Street, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance, wisdom about money | No Comments »
Short Term – Money, Long Term – Investments, And Never The Twain Shall Meet…
July 12, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“There’s no crying in Baseball!” A League of Their Own, 1992
The baseball season is long and strenuous. Players, coaches and teams have to pace themselves. They recognize that one game in a long season – win or lose – is less important than consistently winning more than they lose. More importantly, a team has to win more than the other teams in their division if they want to get to the playoffs, compete for the league championship and make it to the World Series. We’ll get back to that in a paragraph or two.
The baseball season is like your financial season from the time you wake up to the reality that your financial future is in your own hands, till the time you pass on to the next world and pay forward the wisdom and wealth you accumulated during your earthly existence. So, like baseball, you don’t expect to win every time you make a decision about money and investing. What you aim for is consistently winning more than you lose – right?
Wrong. In many baseball seasons a team that lost its opening game and chanted the mantra, “It’s a long season; you can’t win ‘em all,” ended the season one half game out of first place, missed the playoffs, the league championship and the World Series. Every game counts and every financial decision counts.
Moreover, when a team prospers through the season and gets into the division playoffs, they are subject to defeat in the short term. And so it goes through division play and into the Series; victory or defeat is just the swing of the bat away. There are thirty teams in Major League Baseball but only one winner in the end.
So, also, when you get to the point where you want to live off your money and investments instead of your labor, you can have a great season right up to the end and lose in the short term. So, conclude for yourself that the short term is both more important and more manageable than the long term. Having money that you control in the short term is more important than having “long-term” investments that you don’t control, and that someone else – perhaps with motives that don’t serve you - does.
Every baseball team knows that winning or losing a single game could well leave them in front of their TV instead of in the dugout during the playoffs. Americans need to recognize that managing their money so that they don’t lose it is more important than hoping that some investment over which they have no control will miraculously get them into the playoffs and make them winners in the World Series of wealth building.
America has been duped into believing that is OK to lose money, that waiting out ‘the market’ is a strategy that serves them; that the future is assured if only they ‘stay the course.’
BUNK!
Americans need to wrest control of their money from the Behemoths that have seduced them into believing that bigger is smarter or better than they are, and that the Behemoths should be the custodians of Americans’ money instead of the individual Americans themselves.
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Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, Retirement | Tags: financial decision, future, investing, investments, Money, wealth, wisdom | No Comments »
The Scrooge and Marner Bank vs Whole Life Insurance…
July 11, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Scrooge & Marner Bank…
Consider this conversation with Mr. Silas Marner, the not-so-friendly banker at Scrooge & Marner Bank.
You speak:
“Good day Mr. Marner. Thanks for taking time to speak with me today about the purchase of an asset of real property. Mr. Marner, the property I want to purchase is valued at $1,000,000.00. Here are the terms I would like to have for this purchase…
- First, I want to purchase this property with no down payment.
- I also want to purchase the property without any credit check and based solely on my willingness to commit to level monthly payments that your bank guarantees will never increase.
- I want a guarantee from the bank that the property will never decrease in value.
- I want any growth in equity value to be tax free.
- If I decide later that I no longer wish to own this property, I want the bank to guarantee that the equity I have built up will be paid to me in cash or as a lifetime income that I cannot outlive and that the property will revert to the bank.
- If I decide that I don’t wish to make payments for some period of time I want the bank to automatically make those payments for me as a loan against my equity at a guaranteed rate of interest.
- If I want to borrow against my equity for any reason, I want the bank to make the loan without question or qualification.
- If I do borrow, I want the bank to only charge me a guaranteed rate that we agree upon before signing the purchase application – even if the loan is requested years into the future – and I want the bank to accept any payments I make, even if they are less than enough to repay the loan.
- If I die prematurely, before the property is fully paid for, I want the bank to pay my heirs the entire $1,000,000.00, less any loans I have taken, regardless of how many payments I have made – even if I die in the very first month after purchasing the property.
- I want to be able to make extra payments and I want the bank to keep track of them for me.
- Finally, Mr. Marner, I want to pay the bank a few extra dollars each month so that if I get sick or hurt and can’t work the bank will make my payments for me.
So, what do you think Mr. Marner; do we have a deal?”
Silas Marner speaks:
“NO! No to everything. Such foolishness is wasting my time. My bank doesn’t work that way.”
A Mutual Insurance Company…
Hmmm! A conventional banker finds these terms ludicrous. However, if you were to apply those questions to a whole life insurance contract from a mutual company, the answers would all be ‘Yes!”.
It’s true, you can purchase a $1,000,000.00 asset that
- requires only that you qualify medically,
- guarantees a tax free increase in equity each year,
- has a guaranteed level monthly payment,
- allows you to take a loan against its equity at will, at a guaranteed rate and that you can repay on your own terms,
- assures your heirs full value of the asset,
- promises to pay your premium if you are sick or hurt or just can’t make a payment for whatever reason.
Wouldn’t a “bank” like that be valuable to you?
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Posted in Whole Life Insurance | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, money wisdom, morningstar, morninstar report, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Wall Street, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance, wisdom about money | No Comments »
Geopolitics And Your Pocketbook – Why You Need Cash Money NOW
July 6, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Go ahead, make my day.” Sudden Impact, 1983
It’s the 4th of July weekend and I’m getting pretty darn mad at the 535 Cowards in Congress. We Americans are willing to follow leaders who look out for us and the country but are tired to the bone of the Dolts in DC who spend most of their time and much of our money trying to damage the opposition and get themselves re-elected.
Gas prices are going through the roof. Food from afar – and every other item that arrives in a truck, plane, train, or automobile – is going up because gas prices are going up. Iran is threatening to squeeze the supply routes and put severe economic pressure on the world. Saudi Arabia refuses to increase production. Hugo Chavez is a fruitcake in a bowling shirt and wants nothing more than to prove that socialism is somehow better than democracy, state run everything is better than liberty and watching America suffer is better than TV.
The world – not just America – runs on oil. America currently consumes more oil per-capita – than any other country, but that is rapidly changing. China and India are increasingly demanding more oil and putting serious pressure on the supply and demand equation. Europe wants to become the dominant economic power in the world and needs an ever-increasing supply of oil to do that. Developing countries want and need more oil to build their economies.
So, here are the oil producing countries staring down America and Americans – and the rest of the world too – and threatening us with subtle and not so subtle “Make my day” threats while Congress debates and discusses what the rest of the world has proven;
-
nuclear energy works safely,
-
deep water drilling is economical and safe (Katrina proved that),
-
shale oil is extractable economically and ecologically,
-
ANWAR can be explored and could produce enough oil to take care of America for the decades it needs to develop alternatives that are less invasive – and fund the salvation of the polar bears in the process if that’s truly needed
-
and, finally, if we have leaders with the will, America will rise to the occasion and become the world’s leader in those alternative forms of energy
What does all that mean for us? American’s are going to suffer economic hardship in the short term because of the inaction and ineffectiveness of the Cowards in Congress. This problem’s been with us since the 1970′s and the Dolts in DC could have solved it ten times over if they had the courage to do so.
There’s darn little that individuals can do about it in their personal economies other than adopt a conservative financial strategy that cuts back on
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consumer goods spending for cars, furniture, and luxuries
-
and puts
- saving money
- buying a house
- paying off the mortgage
at the top of the list, while other costly practices like
· investing in maybe-it’ll-grow mutual funds,
· the latest “Whatever 101″ miracle money making scheme,
· can’t-lose annuities that tie up your money for years, if not decades,
move to the dustbin.
Remember, when times get rough you need ready cash money and not the maybe-money from investments that guarantee only that they guarantee nothing.
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by Jeffrey Reeves, MA – www.youBEthebank.com
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Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Movie Quotes | Tags: economics, economy, ethics, Money, saving, savings | No Comments »
Real Estate and Whole Life Insurance: A Financial Marriage Made In America
July 3, 2008 | Author jr
“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” CASABLANCA, 1942
This is going to be a brief but replete post.
Investment Real Estate
This post outlines a strategy that protects you against unforseen loss and guarantees a profit to your estate if you die owning investment real estate.
Every time you buy an investment property you have to establish a fund to assure that the taxes and insurance get paid, the maintenance gets done and that contingencies don’t derail the investment’s potential.
Whole Life Insurance
These expenses get taken care of If you put that money into a savings vehicle and draw it out as needed. If, however, you use a whole life insurance policy as your repository, there are other advantages that accrue. Here are just few:
- You can borrow the money from your policy to pay for these expenses and the policy will continue to earn interst and be credited with dividends as if you had not borrowed a penny.
- A single policy can support multiple properties’ money needs at once.
- With proper ownership and borrowing arrangements the money that flows through the policy will be entirely tax free.
- You can repay the money you borrow and perpetuate the usefullness of the policy for decades.
- At death your named benficiary will receive the face amount of the policy – less any outstanding loans – as a tax free death benefit.
There are, of course, many other benefits that a real estate investor can derive from the proper use of whole life insurance (not universal life insurance at this time) in support of an investment program. Consult a properly informed financial guide before launching such a program.
Posted in Movie Quotes, Whole Life Insurance, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, housing market, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, life insurance, mass mutual, Money, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, universal life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance, wisdom about money | No Comments »
Oxymoron: Wall Street Wisdom About Your Money…
June 27, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Wisdom???
Forbes.com
Liz Moyer, 06.26.08, 3:00 PM ET
Wall Street’s Widening Credibility Gap
The carnage spread across the financial sector. Fortis was down 19%, Lehman down 6%, National City (nyse: NCC – news - people ) down 7%, MBIA (nyse: MBI – news - people ) down 11% and Washington Mutual (nyse: WM – news - people ) down 6%. The Keefe Bruyette & Woods (nyse: KBW – news - people ) index of bank stocks, the BKX, was off 3%. Financials dragged the S&P 500 17% below the record it set back in November. [Emphasis added]
The wizards of Wall Street can’t figure out how to take care of their own money much less yours. It’s time for every American to take back the control of their money, and there’s a simple, age old, tried, and tested formula you can apply that allows you to do that - http://themoneyforlifeblog.com/?page_id=69
The Debt Paradigm Isn’t Working…
I know this may seem blatently self serving and it is to an extent. On the other hand, the paradigm that controls America’s thinking about money management, saving and investing just isn’t working and needs to be changed. Money Now, Money Later, Money for Life…How to thrive in good times and bad offers a simple, sustainable, common sense set of strategies and practices that allow Americans to wrest control of their money from the Behemoths that demonstrate only greed and lusting for your money and neither wisdom nor compassion for you.
Peace of Mind Is the Payoff…
American’s who have read Money for Life, and who are applying the principles it teaches to their personal money management practice, are experiencing peace of mind about money that seemed out of their reach only a short time ago. You owe it to yourself to learn the Money for Life secrets that have been practiced since Biblical times and which were abandoned in the late 20th century.
Avisors with decades of experience who read Money for Life write comments like this:
“I Read your book it was great!! I am a financial advisor and have been doing a lot of research about banking concepts. I like the way you introduced the concepts and I am going to institute them into my practice. It is a shame the home office doesn’t teach these concepts to their agents. The more I read and test the more I like the concepts and the less I like what I’ve been taught by those that aren’t as wise. I would very much enjoy the opportunity to find out more about what else I could be doing for my clients. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.”
Thanks for your patience and understanding. America needs to know what’s in this book, not because I wrote it – I’m simply the voice of the many who preceded me – but because the ideas, principles, and practices it presents are essential to their success with money.
Jeffrey Reeves
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Mutual Fund Misrepresentation…
June 25, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Gone With the Wind, 1939
It appears that the mutual fund industry is very much like the Congress. Proof again that Americans are being bamboozled by Behemoths whose only interest is in moving money from your pockets into their own accounts. This isn’t a personal opinion but the opinion of a mutual fund industry watchdog as Gary Halbert reports in his newsletter this week! Here are a few excerpts and a link to the full text.
A Shocking New Morningstar Study!
June 24, 2008
“…Morningstar released a study last week showing that many mutual fund managers have little or none of their own money in the very funds they manage …
“Yet the new Morningstar study shows that about half of the mutual fund managers they track have NONE of their own money in the funds they manage. ZERO.
“Morningstar found that 47% of US stock funds and 61% of foreign stock funds have no investment of the managers own money. Bond funds fare even worse with 66% of taxable bond funds, 71% of balanced funds and 80% of municipal bond funds having no manager investment…
Perhaps the most interesting part of the study was Morningstar’s analysis of its own Picks and Pans. This is a service provided by Morningstar where they select funds that may be good long-term investments (the Picks) as well as mutual funds to avoid (the Pans). When analyzing management investment in these two groups, Morningstar found that the Picks had a median manager investment of $430,000, whereas the median investment by the fund managers in the Pan category was $0…Get the message?”
Here’s the link to the whole article; http://investorsinsight.com/blogs/forecasts_trends/archive/2008/06/24/a-shocking-new-morningstar-study.aspx
______________________________
There are better ways to handle your money that the Behemoths won’t, don’t, or can’t talk about. www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
______________________________
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American Money, American Oil, American Innovation…Revisited
June 21, 2008 | Author dragonfly
This post from May 9 is becoming more relevant every day…
Friday, May 9th, 2008
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Gone With the Wind, 1939
The Congress doesn’t “give a damn.” It has completely abrogated its sworn responsibility to provide vision, wisdom and leadership. Some in Congress have given their votes and their minds over to the insane claims of fringe groups who really hate America. Others have relinquished their power to the Behemoths; corporations, unions, lobbyists and 527′s that disguise themselves as spokespersons for some group or cause, and government agencies whose only function is self preservation regardless of the cost to the Country and its People – that’s you and me and 300 million other Americans.
America is committing suicide by Congressional Cowardice!
All in Congress have put political party goals above the needs of America.
The presidential candidates are members of Congress, too. Each of them has “caved” to one or more of the caveats of their constituents during the campaign. All of them have failed the “vision, wisdom and leadership” test when it comes to recognizing and dealing with the realities of the 21st century.
Obama naively clings to an exclusive far left agenda while promising to be a uniter. McCain offers only partial insights into his thinking and programs as he tries to convert his image from that of an independent minded conservative to that of a ”sorta” party loyalist.
There are two intimately related issues that should drown out the cacophony of claims by the crazies and the wimps and overshadow every other concern:
- America is at war. Insane Islamic zealots believe that only they possess the truth, and that destroying the western world in the name of Allah is the path to their heaven. It’s war declared on America - not criminal activity.
- America’s – and the world’s – economy is based on oil. If America doesn’t tap into its own oil reserves – as every other country in the world is doing – America will soon become a slave to the OPEC nations like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela – the birthplaces of the Islamic and other crazies. At the same time, America needs to have the vision to commit significant resources to oil alternatives.
If our leaders deal with these two issues, every other concern will resolve itself.
Some will argue that the current economic malaise is driven by failures in both the oil and the financial industry. The financial industry, however, is becoming more and more dependent on oil rich countries to supply it with the fuel for its engine, and that means dependence on oil by proxy.
Your personal economy depends on America being a leading economic power. If America fails to maintain its status as the engine of liberty through its economic strength, you and I will become servants to some foreign power.
We need to elect leaders who recognize and deal with these harsh realities instead of those in Congress today who pander to every Behemoth that promises a contribution to their campaigns to stay in office – translate that as “to stay in power.”
__________________________
In the meantime, find ways to save money that allow you to control the money in your life. At the micro level you can switch to energy efficient light bulbs, drive more slowly and less often, buy more fresh food and less prepared food; that will help you and the rest of us too.
At the macro level you need to gain control of your money, to apply principles and practices that have been tested and proven over centuries and millennia and that apply equally today.
_________________________
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Equity Harvesting Is A Gamble Based On A Gamble…
June 20, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Easy Money Schemes and Dreams
“You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.”
The Gambler, Kenny Rogers
The Original Gamble
Equity harvesting is the practice of acquiring the highest possible mortgage on your personal home so you can “invest” the money derived from the equity that is extracted in another asset.
Don’t do it.
You Have to Lose to Win
It’s true that there is NO return on equity. That’s what the promoters of this scheme use as intellectual leverage. If you were counting on appreciation in 2010 and had to sell a property that was appraised for $500,000 in 2008 - thinking you would see an increase - you were probably surprised to learn that the property is now worth $400,000 - or less. If you had already “harvested” the equity in the property you may feel that you won by losing.
If you had a $300,000 mortgage in 2006 and had “harvested” the $200,000 in “non-working equity” to buy some other asset, you would now be facing a serious shortfall. Worse yet, if the asset you bought relied on a stock index for its growth potential, you may be looking at less than inflation or near zero growth in that asset also.
Does that make you a winner? Maybe if your consider bankruptcy a win.
Tax benefits?
Maybe, but not assured. The IRS doesn’t allow you to deduct the interest on equity lines over $100,000 and some investments disqualify deductions.
Now, we can make the situation worse. Most equity lines have variable rates and the lender has a great deal of leverage in raising and lowering the rate. You could have a loan rate that far exceeds the growth rate of the “investment;” a gamble based on a gamble and neither one paid off.
Retirement Income
Equity harvesting is presented as a safe way to increase retirement income. It isn’t all that safe and the increase is based on aggressive assumptions that are not always realistic.
Reality has to sink into the American consciousness sooner or later. The safe and easy path to prosperity and a secure retirement income lies in paying off the mortgage, getting out of the 401(k)/IRA schemes, putting money into savings and whole life insurance policies, and investing only when a solid financial foundation is in place.
by Jeffrey Reeves MA, EUREKONOMIST
Posted in Movie Quotes, Retirement | Tags: 401(k) plans, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, housing market, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, life insurance, mortgage, mortgage management, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, term life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Reverse Mortgage Money Magic…
June 19, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Retirement Assets…
“Made it Ma! Top of the world! White Heat, 1949
Reverse mortgages are often portrayed as last-resort financial tools; reserved for widows and widowers who have outlived their liquid assets and have to tap the equity in their paid-for homes to survive a few more years.
Not so.
Meet Bob and Sally…
- They live in a $1.2 million home in a stable neighborhood in Denver. The house is paid for.
- They have three children.
- All three of the children are married.
- Each of the children is in a professional practice in a different city; Dalla, L.A. and Chicago.
- Each child has a six figure income.
- Each child has a family and has roots in their new communities.
- Bob and Sally also have a significant estate and estate tax staring them in the face.
The family is close and the children return to Denver for visits on major holidays and during the ski season. None of the children is interested, however, in owning the family home or moving back to the city they grew up in.
Creative Planning and Execution…
Enter the jumbo reverse mortgage. Bob and Sally obtained a reverse mortgage of about $500,000 on their home. They used about $400,000 to buy a condo in Vail, the family’s favorite ski location. They put the property in a trust and began a gifting program that shifts their ownership to the trust and the children over several years. The additional money was used to buy a large life insurance policy on Bob that will be paid to the trust when Bob dies and fund home owner association fees, upkeep, etc. for the condo for decades to come.
The benefits:
- Bob and Sally’s estate, and therefore their estate tax, is reduced because they transformed an illiquid asset into cash and transferred the cash to the condo and the condo to the trust.
- The children will still have an expense free place to get together during ski season and for other family events like graduations and marriages.
- In a few years, when Bob and Sally decide to move from the big house to a smaller place, they intend to sell the Denver house and use the equity retained after the reverse mortgage to buy a condo of their own in Vail. When they do, they will get another reverse mortgage on the condo and use that money to further fund the family condo or, perhaps, buy a bigger one.
Find Out More…
Reverse mortgages are one of the most powerful tools available to seniors today. For additional information go to http://www.nrmla.org/
Jeffrey Reeves
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Teaching Children About Money…
June 17, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Prepare not a path for your children. Prepare your children for a path.”
Dr Agon Fly
The Bike…
Here’s an example of how one man prepared his child for a path and passed on a Legacy.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith started a “bank” for their only son when he was born. They used whole life insurance and funded it in anticipation of the boy’s future needs.
When Junior was 11 years old, he came to Dad very excited about a bike he had seen advertised. (I remember that feeling. For me it was a Schwinn with a chrome headlight prominently displayed in a store window.)
“Dad” he said, “there’s this really cool bike at the ABC Bike Store, and Dad, if I had this bike, it’d be the coolest bike on the street and I really want it Dad.”
“How much does this bike cost, Junior?” Dad asked.
“Welllllll…ummmm…I think it’s kinda ‘spensive, Dad” Junior replied and he handed Dad the newspaper ad.
“Nine hundred dollars is a lot of money for a bike, Junior,” said Dad with a bit of surprise in his voice.
The First Lesson…
Then, after a long pause, Dad said, “I think it’s time for you to learn about money, Junior. When you were born, your Mom and I started a very special savings account for you. We still own the account, but the money in this account is there to help you learn about money. Let’s call this account your personal “bank.” It’s time for your first lesson.”
Dad explained to Junior that he could borrow the money for the bike from his “bank,” and that Junior would have to repay the money borrowed. Then he taught Junior the basics of interest and payments in the life insurance policy.
When Junior objected that he didn’t have any way to make the payments, Dad reminded him that he received an allowance to buy his lunches, to buy birthday gifts, go to the movies and so on. He could decide to use that money differently if he really wanted the bike more than those other things. Dad also offered to pay Junior extra money if he agreed to do some chores on a regular schedule. Junior would have enough income to pay back his “bank” at the rate of $33.00 per month – including interest – in just less than three years and still have some money left over for other things.
The bargain was struck, and Junior got the coolest bike on the street. When the other kids saw the bike they were amazed and wanted one just like it.
“How much did your Dad pay for it?” they wanted to know.
“Dad didn’t buy it for me” Junior replied, “I borrowed the money from my own ‘bank’ and bought it myself for over nine hundred dollars.”
The Real Value of the “Bank”…
Imagine how Junior felt. His bike made him feel proud. His “bank” enhanced his self-esteem. You know which of those is truly important. The bike will rust. Self-esteem turns into gold: not just financial gold but moral, ethical and relationship gold as well. Junior went on to finance his first car at 16 and repay himself. He then used the “bank” to fund a large part of his college costs and repay himself. He’ll soon be buying a new car…and financing it himself…while the money in his “bank” is growing tax-free. In addition, Junior always recovered both the principal and interest in his “bank” that he – or his dad – would otherwise have paid to a commercial lender.
Think about how much tax-free money Junior will control in another 50 years and the kind of financial kick-start his children and grandchildren will have because he learned about Money for Life when he bought the bike at age 11.
“What is important for kids to learn is that no matter how much money they have, earn, win, or inherit, they need to know how to spend it, how to save it, and how to give it to others in need.” Barbara Coloroso
That is legacy.
Jeffrey Reeves
Posted in Debt, Money, Personal Financial Management, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | 1 Comment »
Fraudulent Financial Products And Advertising…
June 11, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Honest Abe Would Be Appalled…
“You can fool some of the people all of the time,
and all of the people some of the time,
but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”
- Abraham Lincoln
President Lincoln didn’t live in the information, advertising and propaganda age we inhabit. Everything from politicians to religious beliefs, hamburgers to health care, infant products to investments are presented to the public every day in one form or another and all are distorted to support the presenters’ aims.
If Abraham Lincoln spoke his famous line today – especially if he worked in the financial markets – it might go like this:
“Advertising and propaganda can fool many of the people all of the time,
and all of the people most of the time,
but it still can’t fool all of the people all of the time;
but don’t worry about it, the fines will be much less than the profits.”
This is especially true of financial products. Americans are bombarded daily with information, advertising and propaganda about new financial products and services. The Behemoths and their minions cleverly disguise sales pitches as planning strategies. The financial press follows the lead of the Wall Street Wonks and supports every ENRON type shibboleth as if it came directly from the Lord.
A Case Study from 2007…
Here’s a case on point. Tom bought a hot new indexed universal life insurance contract. He was told that if he paid $20,000 a year into the contract for five years – $100,000 total – and then let the money grow for another five years he could expect to draw $18,000 per year from the policy for as long as he lived and the beneficiaries of his policy would still receive the full death benefit when he died.
When this product was presented to Tom by a well known insurance and financial “advisor,” Tom bought it on faith. There was also a printed illustration from the insurance company that made the numbers look legitimate. Two years and $40,000 later Tom realized that the “advisor” exaggerated the earnings and possible income and at the same time gave little attention to the probability that the actual results would most likely fall way short those exaggerated claims.
Caveat Emptor?
This is not a case of “caveat emptor.” Sophisticated information, advertising and propaganda presented by a “professional” is readily believable and not so readily debunked by an untrained buyer. Tom was hoodwinked by a dishonest and unethical sales rep who cares more about the sale than the client. (As a note, that salesman was recently indicted.)
“Trusted advisor” is a term that is claimed with about the same weight as “nice tie.” Americans need more than the claims of a well dressed salesman and a compliant illustration from a mutual fund or insurance company. If you want to dodge the “dodgers” then you need a way to measure and manage your money that lets YouBeTheBank and lets you control the money that flows through your life.
Here’s my first recommendation ever on this blog; find an INDEPENDENT advisor that is not bound to one of the Behemoths and who understands that keeping YOU in control of your money is the most important role of an advisor.
Jeffrey Reeves
Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, What Others Say, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
A Legacy Trust Of Money, Wisdom, and Wealth…
June 9, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.” -Hodding Carter
Don and Dawn want to give their children and grandkids both roots and wings. Strong Judeo/Christian values run through their veins and promise their progeny and heirs both roots and wings. There was something missing, however. Don and Dawn knew what they wanted, but were unsure of the “how to” part of the equation. That’s where EUREKONOMICS help.
The Money for Life Guide that Don and Dawn are working with introduced the idea of a Money for Life Legacy to them. It works like this. Don and Dawn purchase whole life insurance contracts on themselves and on each of their children and each of their grandkids as well. The insurance policies will eventually be owned by a special kind of trust called a “dynasty trust.” Don’s brother and sister-in-law are also joining the trust so there will be about 15 insurance policies purchased to fund the trust.
The role of the trust is to act as a family “bank.” As the insurance policies develop cash values – in this case over $120,000.00 during the first five years – the trust beneficiaries will be able to borrow those cash values for education, automobiles, housing, special needs and so on.
Later, when one of the founding family members dies or if – God forbid – one of the children or grandchildren passes on, the death benefit proceeds will be used to pay up existing policies or purchase new policies on family members. This increases the money available for loans to the remaining family members.
In the case of Don’s and Dawn’s family, the trust will hold about $400,000 dollars cash and represent over 1.5 million dollars in death benefits in twenty years if everyone is still alive. In forty years, when you would expect the founders to be deceased and the children to be retired while the grandchildren are producing more progeny, the trust would hold millions of dollars in cash values and guarantee the beneficiaries that they would never have to borrow from a commercial bank.
Don and Dawn’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren as well as future generations could rely on the family “bank” for mortgages, business loans, education loans, and any other loan that the trust allows.
The EUREKONOMICS Model is an extraordinary way to get control of the money that flows through your life. It is just as powerful as a way to pay forward a legacy of wisdom and wealth to those you care about.
Learn more, own more, owe less – all great destinations. Here’s a map that will get you there with certainty –
Jeffrey Reeves
Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
I Have A Dream About Money, And An Investment Nightmare…
June 7, 2008 | Author dragonfly
People’s Dreams…
“As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.” Scarlet O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, 1938
My Personal Observations…
Over the past 40 years I have been an insurance and financial advisor to small businesses, medical, legal, accounting, real estate and other professionals as well as executives, school teachers and brick layers – people from every profession and occupation it seems.
Perspective is What Really Matters…
Occupation, social status, race, religion or economic condition has made little difference in the successes of these clients. One characteristic or difference stands out:
- The Successful deal with their money and savings first and investments only after they control the money that flows through their lives
- The Failures pay attention to the “rate of return” on their investments and treat cash money and savings like an annoying second cousin or the stuff you get from the ATM with your debit or credit card
Investors and Scarlet Miss the Point…
Scarlet O’Hara’s dream became a nightmare because she paid attention to the wrong aspect of life. The dreams of financial failures become nightmares because they are looking at the wrong aspect of financial success. Investing is a way to accelerate the wealth building process; it is not the process and is not even essential to wealth building.
What is Wealth?
Wealth building begins and ends with accumulating money. Once you have some money, you can consider investing a small portion of it to accelerate your personal wealth creation. But, if you never invested a penny, if all you did was save money in conservative accounts, you would end up with a solid financial foundation; you’d be free from debt, have a secure lifetime income, have enough money to deal with life’s surprises and be able to pay wisdom and wealth forward to those you care most about.
There Are No Secrets…
The strategies and tactics that allow the Successful to wear the mantle of peace of mind about money are not new or revolutionary.
- In fact, the economic principles and financial management practices that lead to true wealth have been around for millennia and have been employed by astute Americans since before the founding of our country.
- In fact, again, the application of these economic principles and financial management practices contributed greatly to the founding itself. Were it not for the money saved by the founders, you might still be pledging allegiance to the Queen of England or the President of France.
There’s a serious–but easy to read–discussion about the failed Scarlet O’Haralike financial thinking that has led America and Americans to the brink of bankruptcy in Money, Now, Money Later, Money for Life. You’ll also find financial strategies and tactics there that have been tested and proven in America by Americans for over two hundred years. Strategies and tactics that you can start using the day you learn them.
Jeffrey Reeves
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management | Tags: 401(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
How To Buy A Car And Make Money Doing It…
June 4, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“I’m king of the world!” Titanic, 1997
Americans have had a love affair with automobiles for over a century. We buy them with abandon; new, used, wrecked and restored. A car inflates our ego, provides useful transport and crystallizes our status. For many reasons it makes us feel like we are royalty; in charge of our world.
Unfortunately the opposite is true. Spending thousands of dollars on a product that is worth less than we paid for it as soon as we take possession deflates our bank accounts and our balance sheets at the same time.
There is a way, however, to profit from your car purchases. Here’s a thumbnail sketch of how it works.
My wife and I just bought our first car since 1993. We borrowed the $24,000 from two of our “banks” - we use participating whole life insurance policies for our banking – to buy the car and will pay ourselves back the same as if we had borrowed from Guido the Loan Shark or the local bank (both having about the same level of interest in our well being.)
If we had borrowed from the bank our payments would have been about $565 for 48 months and the total we repaid would have been just over $27,000. Once the car was paid for we would be free from debt and would own a virtually valueless vehicle.
Instead, we are going to repay our “banks” $600 each month for 48 months – a rate of return of about 9.25%. (Why not higher, since all of the money returns to us?). When those 48 months have passed we will have $28,800 in our “banks” and still have the virtually valueless vehicle. In other words, we will have captured, in our accounts, all of the money that otherwise would have gone to the bank as principal and interest.
Not only that, but our “banks” would have been earning interest on the money that we repaid so the actual internal rate of return would be even higher - approaching 13%. In addition, the earnings would be tax free and virtually guaranteed. Find that in the “markets!”
Granted, there’s a start up period where you have to accumulate money in your “banks”. That is not as hard as it may seem and you can start at any level you choose. Some have started with a few dollars a month and others with ten thousand dollars a month once they discovered how this process works to serve their interests and not those of banks and the other Behemoths.
Learn how The Money for Life Model lets YouBeTheBank and control the money that flows through your life. — www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
__________________________
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, Whole Life Insurance, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
“Soulutions” To Financial Problems Or Difficulties…
June 1, 2008 | Author jr
The EUREKONOMICS™ “Soulution“…
The Oxford dictionary defines the word solution this way: “the act or a means of solving a problem or difficulty.”
The EUREKONOMICS™ Model for dealing with financial issues modifies both the spelling and the meaning of this word:“Soulutions” adds, ”with awareness of the personal aspects of both the problem or difficulty and the act or means employed in solving the problem or difficulty.”
The Operating Manual for EUREKONOMICS™…
Money Now, Money Later, Money for Life…How to thrive in good times and bad deals with practical, workable, easy to understand solutions to money and financial problems. In addition, one of the main goals of this blog and of the book Money Now, Money Later, Money for Life…How to thrive in good times and bad is to guide you to a greater awareness of the non-material and personal issues relating to money, finances and your personal economy. One of the soulutions that can make you more aware is reflected in this quote:
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” Joseph Campbell
Conventional wisdom – which is no wisdom at all – guides us on paths that are contrived by Behemoths – large corporations, unions and government. When you follow this path, you are heading toward a destination that makes Behemoths wealthy but weakens your personal economy; a path that makes bad decisions feel good.
It’s scary to follow a path other than the one that you, your peers, co-workers, family and friends recognize from TV, radio, print, employer sponsored programs and so on. It’s uncomfortable to embrace your fear of being different and following your own path. But, that is the cave you must enter because that is where you will discover your treasure.
Shams of Tabriz, mentor and companion of the Sufi mystic Rumi, expressed the same idea another way: “If you’re not building rooms where wisdom can be openly spoken, you’re building a prison.”
If you don’t allow yourself to explore alternatives to conventional wisdom you are simply creating your own financial prison and your architects are the Behemoths whose only goal is to transfer your money from your pockets into their accounts.
There is a better way.
You can cut a clearer path for your self than any Behemoth can contrive.
Money Now, Money Later, Money for Life…How to thrive in good times and bad does not define a path and ask you to follow.
Money Now, Money Later, Money for Life…How to thrive in good times and bad provides the insight, wisdom, tools, and guidance that lets you to create your own path; lets you control the money that flows through your life; lets YouBeTheBank.
The few dollars you spend to buy Money Now, Money Later, Money for Life…How to thrive in good times and bad is less than the cost of pizza and beer or a night at the movies. A night out at the pizza parlor or the multi-plex promises neither a solution nor a soulution to money problems or a malfunctioning personal economy.
This book promises both.
Jeffrey Reeves MA, EUREKONOMIST™
Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, What Others Say, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Skinny Models And Skinny Money…
May 30, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?” The Graduate, 1967
Major consumer product retailers (one in particular), make-up and perfume makers, and every other advertiser to one extent or another, employs skinny models to sell their products. I was watching one of those ads on TV yesterday evening and it dawned on me that most advertising for financial services and products employ skinny money to seduce you into buying what they have to sell.
I’ve made the point before that whenever you buy something that’s called an investment – stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, annuities, gold, Euros – the company that sells it to you keeps some of your money to cover their costs and pay their sales force. Nothing wrong with that unless you allow yourself to be seduced into thinking that what you buy can make you rich.
Wealth is the result of saved money. Investements are skinny money; they offer no guarantees, can disappear in a flash (Enron, MCI, 1929, 2001,etc.), are not under your control and, if investments are all you have when it’s money you need, your losses could easily lead to starvation.
America has been led – or misled – to believe that investing from income is wise and proper. American”s are encouraged by mindless pundits that call themselves financial gurus to invest lots of money into their 401(k)s. IRAs or equivalents. These unwise advisors don’t tell them that the money they are stashing is nothing more than a loan from the IRS that will be collected when they retire.
Several popular – not necessarily bright – TV and radio talking heads tell Americans to be sure to have an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months expenses. They don’t tell them that many – if not most – who experience one of life’s surprisingly unsurprising surprises like job loss, disability, medical emergencies, family crises and so on, need enough ready cash to support themselves for 3 to 5 years.
Skinny money like skinny models may be seductive to some, but for me and my clients it’s foolish and downright scary to face the future with debt, unsesured income, limited liquidity and no assured legacy. It’s a heck of a lot better to face the future with the confidence that comes with control of the money in your life than to look back with regret because you relied on information from TV pundits and the advertising of the Behemoths to build your personal economy.
Remember, like Mrs. Robinson, they are trying to seduce you. Avoid the seduction and the pain that it leads to and build a solid foundation and framework for your personal economy BEFORE embarking on an investment program. Discover how –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
____________________________
Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Personal Financial Management, The Four Pillars | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Family Money For Life…
May 25, 2008 | Author dragonfly
This week my wife and I have been visiting her out of town children and grandchildren. With her permission I’ve been blessed to have been adopted by these wonderful people and her other kids and grandkids who live just a block or two away from us in Denver.
I want to leave the grandchildren a legacy of wisdom and wealth. Since I am not sure I have any wisdom to pay forward, I plan at least to leave them with some money and an intelligent way to handle money – some may call that a form of wisdom.
I’ve set up a perpetual life insurance fund for each of them individually and all of them collectively. It isn’t simple but it’s easy. It works in a way that insures that the grandkids will have money for college, cars, and houses for themselves and for their children and their grandchildren and, if they maintain the trust that funds the legacy, for many generations to come.
This is just one of dozens – perhaps hundreds – of strategies that can only be structured with participating cash value life insurance. We also use life insurance to fund our vacations and our car purchases in a way that allows us to borrow from our life insurance cash value, repay ourselves and return all of the principal and interest to our policies that we would otherwise have paid to some banker.
We call this the Money for Life Model…
Learn more; buy the book –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Whole Life Insurance | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
In Memoriam To Debt, “Rate of Return” And The Tax Deductible Trap…
May 23, 2008 | Author dragonfly
If the price of gasoline doesn’t wake up America to the foolishness of its reliance on debt for lifestyle and “rate of return” and tax deferral for wealth creation, then we may all be speaking Arabic or Chinese within a few decades.
This blog and the book Money for Life…(thrive) in good times and bad are dedicated to helping Americans – and perhaps some in foreign lands too – escape the dungeon of debt where they are imprisoned and recapture the money that they are literally giving away to credit grantors, investment companies and the government.
Think about it. It’s as simple as 1,2,3…
- Debt will never make you rich.
- Bear-Stearns, one of the largest investment banks in the world, went broke chasing “rate of return”
- Every time you take a tax deduction from the government for a retirement contribution you are effectively taking out a loan that you’ll have to repay when you “retire.”
There is today, and has been for millennia, a better way to handle your money. You need to control the money that flows through your life, become your own banker and recover, in your own “bank,” the interest and principal that you currently pay to others, reduce or eliminate your dependence on the Pirates of Manhattan and the government’s hold on your future and declare yourself independent, just as the Founding Fathers did over 200 years ago.
Start today. Start here–> www.youBEthebank.com
___________________________
Posted in Debt, Money, Personal Financial Management, Retirement, Taxes, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | 1 Comment »
The True Cost Of Gasoline…
May 20, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“E.T. phone home.” E.T. The Extraterrestrial, 1982
How many American’s are going to “phone home” instead of going home this holiday weekend because they don’t want or can’t afford to spend the money it would take to fill up their gas tank three or seven times? Even for my high mileage compact it costs nearly $40 for a fill up.
The hesitation or inability to buy all the gas we need and want is a symptom. It’s not the disease. The disease is much more complex and affects manifold aspects of the lives of the typical American family. Let’s take a circuitous route to understanding the problem.
A plumber reported that the cost to replace about 15 feet of corroded galvanized pipe with copper and install a new sill-cock would cost about $300.00. That would include all the materials and repairing some damaged drywall.
If the homeowner took the position that he or she could do the job him or her self because he or she had read an article or two about this kind of repair and could buy all of the materials at the local home improvement store for about $75.00, you would think that person presumptuous and perhaps even foolish.
There’s a TV commercial that shows a surgeon on the phone to a patient suggesting that the patient could do his own appendectomy. Some home improvement stores suggest you can do anything around the house by taking one hour classes.
Several investment brokers run ads suggesting that you can invest successfully by occasionally getting information from a web site. Dozens of businesses offer “no interest and no payments” for 6, 12, 18, 24 months or longer.
When it comes to money, the Behemoths will say anything to get yours and make it theirs. Now, what the heck does that have to do with the price of gasoline and the trip you can’t afford to make to grandma’s house over the holiday?
Simply this; people who know how to handle their money are taking the trip. They are just as unhappy as you are about the price of gasoline and the cost of the trip, but they are in control because they have developed or discovered a way to deal with money that allows them to have what they need and want without regret or recrimination. They look forward with confidence and never look back with regret.
They have a guide that leads them through the jungle of claims and enticements and out of the swamp of misinformation and misleading advertising that traps so many Americans. You can join the informed minority that is in control of the money that flows through their lives, escape the swamp and build a personal economy on a solid foundation with a strong framework.
A great place to start –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | 2 Comments »
Learn More, Own More, Owe Less…
May 19, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Carpe diem. Seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” Dead Poets Society, 1989
America! We have been bamboozled by BS from Behemoths (the name given to large corporations, unions and government.) As long as we adhere to their paradigm and wander like zombies through our financial lives, we are doomed to be, as Benjamin Franklin warned 200+ years ago, their servants.
Russ Wiles, a writer for the Arizona Republic, wrote this just a day or so ago:
May 18, 2008
Financial issues still baffling AmericansAre doctors and auto mechanics really easier to understand than financial professionals? One recent survey says so – the latest indication there’s a literacy gap out there when it comes to money issues.
Most Americans have a lot of financial burdens to carry, whether it’s simply paying the monthly bills or investing for retirement, drafting an estate plan or borrowing prudently. Yet many signs suggest millions of people aren’t up to the task.
The article goes on to discuss our lack of literacy, excess credit, failure to educate our youth and a variety of other observations. It’s time Americans take back their personal economies from the Behemoths and their minions. It’s time to “seize the day”; learn more about personal economies, own more of what we use every day instead of just using things that we finance; relying on debt for our well being instead of building wealth.
Carpe diem! –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
(Read the entire article here http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080518/BIZ/805180347/1005)
Posted in Debt, Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, What Others Say | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Tom And Jerry And Money…
May 15, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, Whole Life Insurance, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
American Money, American Oil, American Innovation…
May 9, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Gone With the Wind, 1939
America is committing suicide by Congressional Cowardice!
The Congress doesn’t “give a damn.” It has completely abrogated its sworn responsibility to provide vision, wisdom and leadership. Some in Congress have given their votes and their minds over to the insane claims of fringe groups who really hate America. Others have relinquished their power to the Behemoths; corporations, unions, lobbyists that disguise themselves as spokespersons for some group or cause, and government agencies whose only function is self preservation regardless of the cost to the Country and its People – that’s you and me and 300 million other Americans.
All in Congress have put political party goals above the needs of America.
The presidential candidates are members of Congress, too. Each of them has “caved” to one or more of the caveats of their constituents during the campaign. All of them have failed the “vision, wisdom and leadership” test when it comes to recognizing and dealing with the realities of the 21st century.
Obama naively clings to an exclusive far left agenda while promising to be a uniter. Clinton is strident as she proposes specific, liberal, tax-increase based solutions to every imaginable challenge masked in so much detail that even an advanced degree in economics wouldn’t help one understand – or believe; just like HillaryCare of 1993. McCain offers only partial insights into his thinking and programs as he tries to convert his image from that of an independent minded conservative to that of a ”sorta” party loyalist.
There are two intimately related issues that should drown out the cacophony of claims by the crazies and the wimps and overshadow every other concern:
- America is at war. Insane Islamic zealots believe that only they possess the truth, and that destroying the western world in the name of Allah is the path to their heaven. It’s war declared on America - not criminal activity.
- America’s – and the world’s – economy is based on oil. If America doesn’t tap into its own oil reserves – as every other country in the world is doing – America will soon become a slave to the OPEC nations like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela – the birthplaces of the Islamic and other crazies. At the same time, America needs to have the vision to commit significant resources to oil alternatives.
If our leaders deal with these two issues, every other concern will resolve itself.
Some will argue that the current economic malaise is driven by failures in both the oil and the financial industry. The financial industry, however, is becoming more and more dependent on oil rich countries to supply it with the fuel for its engine, and that means dependence on oil by proxy.
Your personal economy depends on America being a leading economic power. If America fails to maintain its status as the engine of liberty through its economic strength, you and I will become servants to some foriegn power.
We need to elect leaders who recognize and deal with these harsh realities instead of those in Congress today who pander to every Behemoth that promises a contribution to their campaigns to stay in office – translate that as “to stay in power.”
In the meantime, you need to find ways to save money that allows you to control the money in your life. At the micro level you can switch to energy efficient light bulbs, drive more slowly and less often, buy more fresh food and less prepared food; that will help you and the rest of us too.
At the macro level you need to gain control of your money, to apply principles and practices that have been tested and proven over centuries and millenia and that apply equally today. This blog attempts to shed light on them. For a fuller understanding –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
_________________________
Posted in Debt, Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Personal Financial Management, Retirement, Taxes, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Timely Re-post…The US Congress’s Money…
May 7, 2008 | Author dragonfly
While those in the US Congress – three running for president – are proposing a meaningless gasoline tax relief program, it’s important to remember that it won’t effect them at all and won’t really help the average American.
http://themoneyforlifeblog.com/?p=119#comment-29
Gain control of your money before the Behemoths do –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
_______________________________
Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Taxes | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Gold Ain’t Money Either…
May 7, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Snap out of it!” Moonstruck, 1987
You can’t go shopping at WalMart and pay with gold. Gas stations don’t accept Krugerrands. The gold coins minted by the US government are for investors – not for circulation.
Wake up America!
You can’t buy wealth. If you buy gold in any form the person who sells it to you gets paid in cash not in gold – and it’s your cash. So does the stock broker, the real estate sales rep, the financial advisor or planner, the annuity sales rep and anyone else that sells investments of any kind. They work to sell you investments but they earn cash for doing so. HMMM!
Wealth is first and foremost the result of saving. You have to have cash to invest in anything. You have to save in order to have cash for investing. If you invest wisely your wealth will grow. If you invest all of your savings or invest out of income (think 401(k)) instead of from your saved money, you are taking a dangerous, imprudent and usually foolish risk. If your investments fail and you used all of your savings to invest, you have to start all over again.
There is a way to manage and measure your money that keeps you on a path to wealth – no matter what happens in the “market” – stock, gold, real estate, annuity, etc.
Conserving Capital Is A Capital Idea…
May 6, 2008 | Author dragonfly
The Role of Government
“Badges? We ain’t got no badges! We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinkin badges!” The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948
The people in the Capital of the United States of America and in the capitals of the states and territories are elected to conserve the American capital that supports the government that serves the people.
Civil servants manage that capital based on the guidance provided by the executive and legislative branches of government, but they can only conserve what the law allows. Many of our elected officials in Washington and in the 50 states are not even trying to conserve America’s capital.
Civil servants occasionally fall to their own greed and ego. Elected officials and their appointees do it on a regular basis. They feel that they don’t have to justify their greed and their egos. They hide bribery dollars in their freezers and complain when the FBI finds them. They carry on affairs with their lovers and appoint them to sensitive posts and feel fully justified. They support prostitutes in criminal enterprises that they are sworn to destroy. They coerce legislation for bridges to nowhere.
The list goes on. They “don’t need no badges!”
The Role of “We the People…”
Meanwhile the American people are struggling to pay their mortgages, buy groceries and gasoline, and create enough capital of their own so they don’t have to rely on the government.
Kevin and Cindy
Take Kevin and Cindy. At he young age of 60, Kevin fell to a disabling disease. Cindy, who was semi-retired, had to return to full time work to maintain a health insurance plan to cover Kevin’s substantial medical and medication costs.
Fortunately Kevin was granted Social Security disability benefits after 18 months and became eligible for Medicare. That saved Cindy the almost $300.00 she had to pay each month to have Kevin on her health plan. But their future isn’t all that rosey. Cindy will have to work for at least another five years before she can claim her retirement benefits at a level that will support the couple. If Kevin’s condition worsens, as it likely will, then the family may have to liquidate most of their meager assets and move him to a Medicaid long term care facility.
America is the richest country in the world and Americans, even those at the lower income levels, live better than folks in other parts of the world. Our elected officials, however, willingly waste the capital of the country on
- foolish projects,
- their own re-election campaigns,
- prostitutes
- their personal aggrandizement and securing their own futures,
- kowtowing to business lobbies (like the oil interests) and rabid America haters in fringe groups (like those funded by George Soros) and, perhaps worst of all,
- they use all of thier left over energy - and our financial resources - trying to defeat and embarrass those they do not agree with in other branches of government.
“We the People…” Deserve Better
Kevin, Cindy and the rest of us deserve better. If America’s legislators were honest in their dealings, they could allocate America’s capital to assure that every American is able to care for themselves and their loved ones when life delivers a surprise at their front door. They could allow us to control of the money that flows through our lives and care for ourselves without government intervention.
The Safe and Easy Path to Prosperity
You can do this for yourself today by following the principles and practices of EUREKONOMICS™ found in Money for Life…how to Thrive in Good Times and Bad
by Jeffrey Reeves MA, EUREKONOMIST
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Now accepting orders for Money for Life…(Thrive) in good times and bad –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Saving Money Is In America’s DNA…
May 5, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“You talking to me?” Taxi Driver, 1976
Yes. Even if you haven’t a penny in the bank, I’m talking to you.
Pat was divorced early in life. He never fully recovered from the trauma and never remarried. Over the next 24 years, however, he became quite a successful salesman for an industrial supply company. He took what he considered to be good advice and maxed out his 401(k), contributed to an IRA when possible and bought into the companies stock purchase plan; he amassed quite a corral of assets. Pat chose not to create a “bank” of money aside from that.
Then reality struck.
Pat had remained close to his children over the years. In 1999 his oldest daughter suffered a stroke. His former wife and his other children had moved out of state. The care of his daughter fell on his shoulders. Since Pat was earning a significant income the financial pressure was bearable.
Then reality struck again.
Shortly after that in late 2000 the company he worked for was acquired by a major competitor and Pat was terminated. His company stock was automatically cashed in as a part of the buyout so Pat incurred a large tax liability and reduction in value as a result. He rolled his 401(k) into his IRA account on the advice of his broker. Also on the advice of his broker, he invested his “retirement” accounts in what was considered safe but still fairly aggressive mutual funds. (Hindsight tells you where this is headed, but it sounded like a good idea at the time.)
And, again!
By the summer of 2001, at the young age of 55, Pat had given up on finding work. His daughter’s care and his own monthly expenses had drained the money he received from the stock sale. Pat decided to start his own business. He no longer had a no-compete limitation and he still had his old customer relationships so he cashed in some of his IRA investments, paid penalties and taxes, bought some inventory and went to work.
And again on 9/11…
Pat’s infant business took an immediate hit as devastating to him as the hit to the Twin Towers was to the rest of us. Not only that, but the value of his investments fell over 62%. Pat was suddenly struggling to make ends meet, care for his daughter and salvage a business he had started on a shoestring.
Your Personal Economy
Pat’s story is not yet ended but it has served its purpose for this post. Pat’s American DNA motivated him to “save.” His advisors – and most of the pundits, publicists and prognosticators who rely on the Behemoths for their information and advice – led him down a path that led him and millions of other Americans into a dungeon of debt.
In Pat’s case the debt was mostly to his company and to the government. His stock had strings attached so he really didn’t entirely own it and the price he received was not based on value but on the whim and greed of his employer. His “savings” in tax qualified plans were really nothing more than loans from the government at an unspecified interest rate to be repaid later disguised as a current deduction and a future liability.
Every successful personal economy has four clearly defined characteristics and achievable goals:
- Freedom from debt to others – including debt to the government disguised as a future tax liability
- Income you don’t have to work for but you won’t outlive that is protected from inflationary pressures
- Ready cash to deal with the surprisingly unsurprising surprises that we all experience
- A legacy of wisdom and wealth to pay forward to those we care about
Does your personal economy measure up? It can –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, Retirement, The Four Pillars | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Save, Invest, Gamble or Become Your Own Banker…
May 2, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Is it safe?” Marathon Man, 1976
SAVE…
When you save money, you’re guaranteed – insofar as that’s possible – to have more money at the end of each year than you had at the beginning. Interest increases the value of your savings and inflation and taxes gnaw at the growth that interest provides. This condition makes choosing a tax advantaged savings product an important part of your decision.
Cash value life insurance and deferred annuities have provided the perfect reservoir for savings for almost 200 years in America. Cash value life insurance – especially dividend paying life policies from mutual companies – have proven more effective than annuities because these policies allow you to access the cash values without penalty or taxes whenever you need to; a benefit not available with annuities.
INVEST…
Investing involves a much greater risk. When you invest in stocks, real estate, precious metals, commodities, etc. you are buying an ownership position. The future value of your investment is contingent upon the performance of your equity in a market over which you have no control. When your investment is debt – bonds, loans, etc. – your investment is safer but still relies on the success or failure of the entity to which the loan is granted.
Investors have to believe that they can see “across the valley;” that the future is reliably predictable by the past; that the ups and downs of the market in which they are investing will repeat themselves in a way that allows the investor to profit. This belief is the initial motivation but is challenged and becomes untenable when the investor needs money and the investment is in the valley.
GAMBLE…
Both saving and investing involve a gamble. The saver is gambling that inflation and taxes will allow some growth. The investor is gambling that the invested money will eventually grow beyond what could be expected in a savings program and will not be in a trough when money is needed and the investment has to be sold.
BECOME YOUR OWN BANKER…
There is a better way. If saving and investing are managed properly, the risk can be diminished and even removed when savings are used to fund purchases of both the things you need and want and the investments you wish to make. The business of becoming your own bank involves radically changing your mind about money, debt, saving and investing.
Americans have been lured into the Debt Paradigm and trapped in a dungeon of debt. The Money for Life Model teaches you how to handle your money in a way that serves both your short and long term financial goals without forcing you into a beans and rice lifestyle.
You owe it to your self to level out the valleys, to learn more and to own more –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Whole Life Insurance, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
SOLD! 4,000 Copies of “Money for Life”
April 30, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“They’re here!” Poltergeist, 1982
Writing a book is a daunting task, but publishing a book and getting it to market makes writing feel like a walk in the park on a warm, sunny spring day – like today in Colorado.
Money for Life
In April of 2008 I wrote…
2,000 copies of Money for Life…How to Thrive in Good Times and Bad will arrive at my front door within hours and will get carried to the processing stations we have built in our basement. Our first task will be to inform those who bought the e-book how they can get their promised paperback copy.
We’ll then be sitting on $60,000.00 of inventory, a reasonably well defined and practiced fulfillment process and only a glimmer of intelligence about how to sell those 2,000 books and realize the profit they hold. Not that we haven’t studied the “how to” of selling; we have. It’s just that the process is so convoluted and complex that implementing it becomes a frog-in-the-well exercise – move forward two hops and slide back one; and, the well is very deep.
We hope the thousands of visitors to this blog have found benefit from what’s written here almost daily and recognize that the content of the Money for Life Book addresses the same topics in greater depth and offers more guidance than is possible in a few hundred daily (almost) words.
Special Discount Offer
We encourage you to take advantage of a SPECIAL OFFER –>
The paperback version of Money for Life…How to Thrive in Good Times and Bad is now available on this site for $19.95 – 33% off the Amazon price of $29.99
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, life insurance, mass mutual, money book, money books, money for life, nelson nash, personal financial books, r nelson nash, The Four Pillars, Whole Life Insurance, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Risk Management Must Read…
April 29, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Elementary, my dear Watson.” The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1939
Nothing is more elementary than risk management when it comes to saving, investing and financial planning. If you, or your advisors, allow the focus to shift to the ever fickle “rate of return” you will soon find yourself out of money or in bankruptcy.
Gary Halbert is insightful. His perspective reflects the common sense that is often wanting in less mature pundits and advisors. I encourage you to read the excerpt from his recent newsletter. It is loaded with wisdom. Better still, take some time and link to the entire article and soak up some of the ideas and information that makes a successful saver and investor, and creates a successful personal economy.
The Stock Market’s Decade-Long Drought
by Gary D. Halbert
April 22, 2008
IN THIS ISSUE:
- The Stock Market’s “Lost Decade”
- The Importance Of Risk Management
- Lesser-Known Investment Risks
- How To Determine Your Own Risk Tolerance
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The Importance Of Risk Management
Stock market volatility during the recovery phase of a sideways market is often significant, and the last couple of years have been no exception. This volatility is like riding a roller coaster for many investors. New interim highs make them feel that a market rally has taken hold, only to then experience yet another downhill run. Some who can’t stand the fluctuations in value get out of the market and sit on the sidelines, often without any plan for how to get back into the market later on.
No matter what the cause, the market’s recent action underscores the inherent risk of investing in the stock market. It also shows the danger of the buy-and-hold strategy, especially one that recommends investing in unmanaged “index” mutual funds. Sure, the markets will likely rebound eventually, but that will be of little consolation to investors who need their money now for retirement, or who may have bailed out of the markets at or near the bottom.
In past E-Letters, I have illustrated the relationship between losses and the amount of return you have to earn just to get back to where you started. Whenever I reprint this “break-even” table, I receive quite a response from readers indicating how this information opened their eyes to the risks they were taking. Because evaluating risks and avoiding large losses is so important, I have reproduced that break-even table below:
Amount of Loss
IncurredReturn Required
To Break Even10%
11.1%
15%
17.7%
20%
25.0%
25%
33.3%
30%
42.9%
35%
53.9%
40%
66.7%
45%
81.8%
50%
100.0%
60%
150.0%
70%
233.3%
To demonstrate the point of this table, the S&P 500 Index plunged apprx. 45% from its high of 1527.46 during the bear market of 2000-2002. Buy-and-hold index fund investors who suffered that 45% decline had to earn a total cumulative return of over 81%, just to get back to where they were in March of 2000, and it took them over seven years to do so.
However, even though the S&P 500 Index hit a “new record” in May of 2007 (and eventually climbed as high as 1565.15 on October 9th), the subprime debacle and potential recession have taken buy-and-hold investors back under water again! The S&P 500 Index closed at 1390.33 last Friday, down 175 points from its 2007 record territory.
For Nasdaq investors, the situation is much worse. Those who rode the market all the way down, over 70%, will require a return of over 233% just to get back to even, and the Nasdaq Index is nowhere near that point now, some eight years later.
This further illustrates that it is critical to avoid incurring large losses in the first place. If you can keep losses to a minimum, then you spend less time having to make up for lost ground.
Read the entire article here –> http://www.investorsinsight.com/blogs/forecasts_trends/archive/2008/04/22/the-stock-market-s-decade-long-drought.aspx
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SPECIAL OFFER –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also recieve an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Thanks for making the purchase befor April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, What Others Say | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
The Velocity of Money…
April 28, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” The Jazz Singer, 1927
In our family lives, money moves pretty quickly. First, the government takes a large chunk before we even receive our spendable pay. Next, health care costs and “retirement” deductions reduce our take home pay even further. That money moves at electronic speed.
When we do get money into our checking accounts or our pockets, it flies out almost immediately to pay the rent or the mortgage, utilities, cable, groceries, clothing, education, other necessities of living, and – most damaging – interest; on credit cards, car payments, store charge cards, payday loans, and on and on…
If you would like to get a handle on the velocity of your money, I encourage you to visit the Money for Life site below and order your FREE copy of Why Budgets Don’t Work. This brief white paper was written to benefit the regular subscribers to the Money for Life Newsletter and is the starting point for many who have gained control of the money that flows through their lives.
You will find the information and practices useful and reliable in every kind of economy – but especially in your personal economy.
Best wishes for success.
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SPECIAL OFFER –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Thanks for making the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
A Money Limerick and A Money Lesson…
April 24, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Originally posted on February 17th, 2008
-
Comedians know about funny,
-
And beekeepers know about honey.
-
And chances are good
-
That both wish they could
-
Know more than they know about money.
Everything you do in life is affected by money and money affects everything you do.
Like the comedian and the beekeeper, you are an expert at what you do. You spend most of your time and energy knowing what you know so you can pursue the practice or career that you have chosen and increase the money that flows through your life. You , however, are not necessarily an expert with money. Like the comedian and the beekeeper, you’d probably like to know more about how to benefit from the money that enters your life when you do what you do.
Here’s a little exercise that might help. Make a list of the items you have purchased for about $30 during the past month: a couple of bottles of wine for dinner, lunch at an average restaurant, a shirt or blouse on sale, dry cleaning, a movie with a friend or spouse, music, a nosebleed seat at a ball game, a subscription to a magazine or newspaper, and on and on. Now, of all the items and events you have spent $30 on in the last 30 days, how many of them made some Behemoth wealthier instead of making you wealthier?
Well, here’s one more item that you can spend about $30 on that lets you know more about money than you know now; that promises to make you wealthier; that reveals secrets that have been buried for decades by merchants of misinformation and financial snake oil sales reps; that lets YouBeTheBank…
follow this link –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
You’ll never be sorry that you know more or own more and Money for Life…in good times and bad will help you with both.
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Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Putting Money Into Your Home…
April 20, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Oh, Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon. We have the stars.” Now, Voyager 1942
This weekend my financial planner son-in-law and I are completing the renovation of a room addition that was made by former owners several decades ago. We are installing all new windows, doors, electric, lighting, plumbing, insulation, drywall, flooring and cabinets…whew! In other words, we are building a new room addition using only the basic framing from the old.
The cost of the project, including the cost of subcontractors, will be about 2% of the value of the house but will be creating about 8% more usable space, and that space will be fully updated 2008 space in a 1946 vintage house.
We Americans often overlook value in housing and opt for square footage or prestige. We sink lots of money into a residence that is more appearance than substance. We make improvements that satisfy personal wants and needs but don’t add true value. If you’re considering a home improvement, use a formula like the one above to determine the value the improvement will create.
A two dollar improvement that adds an eight dollar room is worth doing. An eight dollar improvement that adds a two dollar space is not.
Don’t ask for the moon when you already have the stars.
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SPECIAL OFFER –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes | Tags: agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Tags: 801(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Borrowing The Government’s Money…
April 19, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” Wall Street, 1987
Wes thought himself a pretty well informed financial advisor and planner. For years he’s told his clients to max out their 401(k) plans and put as much as possible into IRA’s and other tax sheltered programs. His premise is that taxes saved today are better than taxes paid later; that tax rates in retirement will be less than tax rates during one’s working career; that using the government’s money is always better than using one’s own money.
He followed his own advice in this regard and was now about to retire. To test the theory behind his 40+ year practice, Wes looked back over the strategies he used during his working life. He was shocked when he realized that the taxes he saved were nothing more than loans that the government was granting him and millions of other Americans. He finally sees that the taxes - also known as ”interest” – he would pay during retirement greatly exceeded the benefit he gained from the deductions – also known as “loans” – the government granted him earlier in life.
Wes had charts and graphs and hypothetical illustrations that “proved” his theories – theories promoted by the vast majority of financial advisors and planners. But, now Wes is faced with the reality that his successes are going to cost him much more in post retirement taxes than the taxes he saved.
But wait! The issue isn’t really about taxes. Isn’t the real issue net income after taxes?
Yes and no. Wes saw that his sophisticated planning and disciplined investing created a significant pool of money over the years and his retirement income would be more than adequate to his needs. He also saw, however, that had he followed a less sophisticated and less government dependent approach he could have had an equivalent or even better retirement income and pay few if any taxes, and he would be able to pay forward his money-wisdom and a much greater portion of his wealth to those he cared about.
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is blind.” Dr Agon Fly, 2008
Using other people’s money – even if it’s the government’s – is never ever a wise financial move. Learning to control the money that flows through your life in a way that let’s You Be The Bank is safer, steadier and more secure.
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SPECIAL OFFER –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also recieve an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase befor April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Luck And Money…
April 16, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” The Pride of the Yankees, 1942
The final proof of Money for Life,,,in good times and bad was sent to the printer today. Now the work of getting this amazing document that recalls the teachings of the world’s wisest financial minds from millennia past into the hands, minds and hearts of Americans begins in earnest
Thanks to all who read this blog for your support and encouragement.
I am exhausted today from the emotional and intellectual effort of proofing so I am ending this blog post early.
______________________________
Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Debt, Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Personal Financial Management, Retirement, Taxes, The Four Pillars, Whole Life Insurance, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 801(k) plans, Add new tag, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Tags: 401(k) plans, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Easy Money – Or Not…
April 15, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“If you build it, he will come.” Field of Dreams, 1989
Bernice and Morrie were born poor. They want to escape the demands of a personal economy based on systematically acquiring wealth through saving, debt elimination and building equity in investments that are fully paid for. They are always looking for easy ways to get more money and more of the stuff that money can buy.
Bernice and Morrie are the perfect candidates for every scam that comes down the road. The scammers – even the ones with high visibility and having great reputations like Bear-Stearn – know that any product or investment that promises easy money attracts people who are looking for easy money.
Whether it’s a dishonest sales rep selling a product, a shady advisor selling an investment, one of the financial pundits on television or radio, an infomercial promising easy wealth in real estate investing, a book or seminar guaranteeing profit without risk or even the US Government promising a comfortable retirement based on current tax deductions (think about that for a minute) - the con artists know that if they build it, some will come.
Bernice and Morrie are trapped in a dysfunctional financial model that incessantly chants its mantra: “You can have everything you need and anything you want as long as you have enough credit!” You can have the sixty inch flat panel TV from the big box store, the new SUV, the dream vacation, the lavish “it-only-happens-once-in-a-lifetime” wedding, the upscale home in the hottest new neighborhood, a perfect retirement based on current tax deductions – a disguised form of credit.
To this way of thinking “I can afford it” really means you have enough income to make the payments – including huge amounts of interest and future taxes. It whispers that you only get to use the things you “buy”; that you really don’t own them. But, it shouts that just “having” them proves your wealth and worth. This model is called the Debt Paradigm.
The corollary of the debt paradigm mantra that glorifies credit is the one that says it’s easy to become wealthy; just follow the advice of the TV pundits, the financial media and the advertising of the Behemoths and you too can be a Donald or an Oprah.
BUNK!
This model is designed to make others wealthy at your expense. It makes bad decisions feel good.
Bernice and Morrie discovered the fallacy of this approach in 2001 and 2002 when the lost most of their wealth to the completely unpredictable stock market and then lost most of their home equity in 2006 by following the advice to mortgage their home to the max and “invest” – aka gamble – their equity.
Fortunately Bernice and Morrie are still relatively young; in their mid forties. They have restructured their personal economy;
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they bought a smaller home
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they are using an equity acceleration program to pay off the mortgage in 10 years or less
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they are contributing to cash value life insurance policies on themselves to build their personal “banks”
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they are committed to use only those banks to borrow for future consumer purchases so they can recapture all of the principal and interest that they would otherwise pay to credit grantors
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they are adding money to their children’s “banks” and teaching them how to borrow and repay that money when they need it for education, auto-purchases and even their homes
Bernice and Morrie have abandoned the Debt Paradigm and adopted the Money for Life Model.
_____________________________________________
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, Add new tag, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Financial Plan – Or Not…
April 14, 2008 | Author dragonfly
Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.”
The 50 page leather bound financial plan that you receive from the well known company with the large advertising budget is at best a snapshot of a fantasy; it represents the “level of thinking” that has America in debt up to its eyeballs with a negative savings rate for the past three years. It is out of date when you receive it and out of touch with the reality of your life’s daily challenges.
The typical financial plan wants for wisdom.
Think about it. Do you rush to the bookshelf to pull out your neatly bound financial plan when your family faces a crisis and you need money?
Ask yourself how you’d feel if, instead of unfounded fantasies in a fancy leather binder…
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You were free from debt-to-others; no mortgage, no car payments, no credit card bills or store charge card balances, no home improvement balances at the home improvement center…no debt of any kind
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You had an income you didn’t have to work for, you couldn’t outlive, was protected from inflationary pressures, and wasn’t decimated by interest payments and taxes every month
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You had ready money to take care of yourself and your family when some planned or unplanned life event required it – job loss, college for the kids, illness or disability, a long awaited second honeymoon, long term nursing home expense
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You had a secure tax free legacy of your wisdom and your wealth that you could pay forward on your terms to those you care about.
These are the Four Pillars that are the framework of all stable financial structures because they rest on a foundation of money that you – and you alone – control.
_______________________________________
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, The Four Pillars, What Others Say | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, Add new tag, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Clarity About Money – Revisited, Again…
April 12, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Love Story, 1970
The second question that came up about Flo, Many Jane and Vern was, “What happens to the relationship with the kids if Mom uses a Money for Life Guide instead of Vern, who is in a competitive position?”
Vern worked for a Behemoth – a large publicly held corporation or government agency. He was bound to a set of practices designed by his employer. The Behemoths and their minions generally have three goals built into whatever they do.
- Get as much of the customer’s money as possible into the Behemoth’s coffers
- Sell investment and insurance products that produce the highest income for the Behemoth
- Restrict the activity of its brokers to avoid law suits by disgruntled customers
The Money for Life Guide might have been able to explain the principles and practices that s/he used to create the foundation and framework for Flo to Mary Jane and Vern. It’s more likely that the peace of mind and security that accrued to Flo by following the Money for Life Guide’s advice would have been evident to the kids and caused them to learn more.
In any event, it is seldom wise and never the responsibility of parents to conduct business with children – especially when the future security of the parent is at stake, as it was with Flo. If Mary Jane and Vern were honestly concerned about Flo and her future they would recognize this themselves and accept Flo’s decision.
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”
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SPECIAL OFFER! -> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. If you buy the e-book version before May 1st, you’ll also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is released. No special codes are needed. Make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. -> http://www.themoneyforlifebook.com/
Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Movie Quotes | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, Add new tag, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Clarity About Money – Revisited…
April 11, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.” To Have and Have Not, 1944
Yesterday I talked about Jerry’s widow Flo. I described how her daughter Mary Jane and her son in law Vern failed her and left her in a state of near poverty. The blog got a couple of questions that motivate a follow-up.
The first question was, ”What would a Money for Life Guide have done for Flo?” Knowing how to deal with money and knowing how to whistle do not come naturally and Flo wouldn’t have a great deal of time to learn.
Jerry died at age 63. He left Flo, age 62, with $250,000.00 in life insurance, almost $200,000.00 in IRA money, a $190,000.00 home that was paid for and $90,000.00 in savings and bank CDs.
A Money for Life Guide would have diversified Flo’s investments. S/he would have placed the life insurance proceeds and IRA money into a variety of secure, guaranteed income annuities. These would deliver initial cash flow of about $2,250.00 per month without using any principal. Flo’s income could increase if the underlying investments performed well, but would never decrease.
Flo also qualified for $1,800.00 per month in Social Security benefits. This benefit also has an inflation hedge built in. In other words, Flo would be debt free – remember that her home was paid for – and have an income of over $4,000.00 per month that she didn’t have to work for but that she wouldn’t outlive.
Flo’s Money for Life Guide would also move much of the $90,000.00 that was in the bank into a cash value life insurance policy over a period of four or five years. This creates a death benefit legacy for her daughter and for her possible grandchildren.
The cash values in her life insurance policies are still accessible by Flo if she needed them for any reason. In addition, the principal amount in her annuities, along with the equity in her home serve as Flo’s hedge against future medical and long term care expenses.
To summarize: Flo has set the four pillars of a successful personal economy. She is
- debt free,
- has an income she doesn’t have to work for and she won’t outlive,
- have money to deal with life’s surprises and
- leaves a legacy of wisdom and wealth for those she cares about
Finally, Flo continues to work part time at her passion but does not earn enough to reduce her social security. This money is being deposited into another cash value life insurance policy – another “bank” – that Flo can access if and when she ever needs it and add to her legacy if she doesn’t.
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SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. If you buy the e-book version before May 1st, you’ll also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is released. No special codes are needed. Make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, Retirement, The Four Pillars | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, Add new tag, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Clarity About Money…
April 11, 2008 | Author dragonfly
“We rob banks.” Bonnie and Clyde, 1967
Florence was a teen during WWII and one of a dozen children. She and her husband, Jerry, had only one child and lived a very comfortable life in one of the nicer neighborhoods of a medium sized mid-western town.
Flo, as she was known to her friends and family, was widowed a few years ago. Jerry had always managed their money, so Flo was not really ready when it came to taking charge of the families finances. In desperation but with confidence she turned to her daughter Mary Jane, an accountant, and her husband Vern, a broker for one of the Behemoths.
As it turns out, Mary Jane and Vern could have been named Bonnie and Clyde. What Vern didn’t lose of Flo’s money in the market, Mary Jane spent.
Today Flo is living on Social Security, income from a reverse mortgage, and a small pension; her credit card balances are also creeping upward. The six figure life insurance policy proceeds and substantial savings that Jerry left her are gone. Her daughter and not-too-bright-or-honest son in law Vern are promoting a program that has families taking all of the equity out of their homes and putting it into financial products that promise amazing returns but guarantee nothing.
Bonnie and Clyde, as reprehensible as they were, were at least honest about what they did; “We rob banks.” They didn’t want the peoples money. They wanted the banks’ money.
Money for Life…in good times and bad is a book that teaches you how to handle your money in a way that lets YouBeTheBank, and also teaches you how to keep your money safe from modern day Bonnies and Clydes.
If Flo had been advised by a Money for Life Guide, she would still have all of her money, no debt, a significant income she wouldn’t outlive, and a legacy to leave to her grandchildren – and perhaps to Mary Jane and Vern if they chose to follow and teach Money for Life instead of using every scheme that came along to put other people’s money into their pockets.
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also recieve an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase befor April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
The Investments You Need…
April 10, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too.” The Wizard of Oz, 1939
A commercial that is currently running on TV explains how easy it is for you to move your money from wherever it is now into “the investments you need” and the coffers of the company running the ad. It’s their way of saying “I’ll get you my pretty…”
The problem with this ad and so many others like it is that most Americans don’t need investments. Most Americans NEED:
- ~ to get out of debt
- ~ to save money so they can turn it into income they don’t have to work for and that they can’t outlive
- ~ to insure that they can pay the bills when the unexpected happens – and it always does
- ~ to teach those they care about how to stay out of debt, how to avoid the BS of the Behemoths about “needing” investments, and how to be their own bankers
I once asked a group of small business owners what they would call a person who accomplished these four goals. I got several answers but the one that garnered the most attention – and laughs - was made by a woman that owned a drapery company: “I’d call that person” she said, “a figment of your imagination.”
She was and is wrong. Many Americans have discovered that being one’s own banker is a safe and sure way to achieve these goals – a way that is possible for everyone who chooses it. You can do this and Money for Life…in good times and bad gives you the road-map, the tools and the guidance to do it.
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, The Four Pillars, What Others Say | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
More Money For Them, Less Money for You…
April 9, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Network, 1976
The economy is in a slump. The housing market is in a mess. The money markets are in confusion. The typical American family has been led into a dungeon of debt.
Not so with the members of the US Congress. They are getting richer and now they want to raise your taxes. They say it’s a tax increase for the richest Americans.
The truth is, increasing the current tax burden on Americans will not affect the richest in a significant way. If you are earning a million or two or more a year – and there are many earning more than that - your lifestyle will not be dramatically affected by a tax increase. Yeah, you’d be mad as hell but you wouldn’t end up at the soup kitchen.
But, if you are a typical American family, you could be driven to the poor house by the irresponsible tax and spend US Congress. Here’s what you can expect if the unconcerned and politically motivated Washington elite get their way:
“Why this large tax increase? The tax code changes enacted in 2001 and 2003 are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. If they do, statutory marginal tax rates will rise across the board; ranging from a 13% increase for the highest income households to a 50% increase in tax rates faced by lower-income households. The marriage penalty will be reimposed and the child credit cut by $500 per child. The long-term capital gains tax rate will rise by one-third (to 20% from 15%) and the top tax rate on dividends will nearly triple (to 39.6% from 15%). The estate tax will roar back from extinction at the same time, with a top rate of 55% and an exempt amount of only $600,000. Finally, the Alternative Minimum Tax will reach far deeper into the middle class, ensnaring 25 million tax filers in its web.” The Coming Tax Bomb, The Wall Street Journal, 4/8/2008 (emphasis added by the blog)
We do not have much to say about the workings of the US Government other than our vote. As powerful as that is, when you have an entrenched aristocracy like the one in DC, even the right to vote does not allow for dramatic changes.
It is incumbent upon each American to develop individual financial programs and practices to protect him or her self from the wild and unpredictable misadventures of the Behemoths – the Federal Government being one of them. There is a way.
You can handle your money and your personal economy so that you can be your own banker and exercise much greater control of the money that flows through your life. This way is clearly defined in Money for Life…in good times and bad.
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also recieve an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase befor April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, Taxes | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt management, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, millionaire, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mortgage, mortgage management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life, new york life insurance company, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, stocks, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Investments Are Not Money…
April 8, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Jaws, 1975
I read and/or review dozens of articles dealing with economics, saving, investing, and other money related topics every day. The article below illustrates that many financial writers are blind to the fact that the Behemoths they rely on for information create complexity where simplicity is warranted in order to sell more of their investment products.
I could write a dozen blogs just from the brief excerpt below, but I want to focus on just one clause; “…determining types of investments to make and knowing how much they will need to retire…” First, make note that the author addresses two different topics in just a few words; “investments” and “how much they will need to retire” – that could be savings, income, or just plain money.
You can’t spend investments. They will not pay your post-retirement medical bills (estimated at over $200,000), nor your probable long term care expenses (estimate to be over $350,000). Investments are based on a risk-reward algorithm not on your need for money to pay your bills. The Behemoths sell investments for money; investments are not money.
Investments may or may not deliver dividend income to pay monthly expenses. Investments in companies like Enron, Global Crossing, Qwest, MCI and other “highly recommended” stocks produced poverty instead of wealth. Mutual funds rise and fall with the tides of the markets and, if you need money at low tide, you’re just out of luck.
Investment “returns” are a function of assumed appreciation in value and dividends paid. Returns may or may not occur and may not translate into money or income when you retire. Retirement planning is a shibboleth perpetuated by the Behemoths so they can sell you more investments.
What you really need is a system for managing the money that flows through your life; a system that works all the time instead of the robotic thinking that goes into “retirement planning” and assumes that the process is complete when you reach the magic moment of retirement.
The retirement planning model doesn’t work. You need “a bigger boat.” Money for Life as a better alternative to the myth that there is such a thing as retirement planning.
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also recieve an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase befor April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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“Affluent and Non-Affluent Find Similar Roadblocks in Retirement Planning
April 7, 2008
A quarter of Americans have not yet started planning for retirement, according to a new survey released by Bank of America.The study of 1,000 interviews surveyed 750 nationally representative Americans and 250 affluent Americans (with $100,000 to $3 million in investable assets). Both groups identified two key areas of confusion about retirement planning: determining types of investments to make and knowing how much they will need to retire. However, non-affluent Americans also cited when to retire and how to start planning as difficulties.”
Read the rest here –> http://www.financial-planning.com/asset/article/563421/affluent-and-non-affluent-find-similar-roadblocks.html?pg
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Money Smarts and Mortgages…
April 7, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“You’ve got to ask your self one question: ’Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya punk?” Dirty Harry, 1971
Jim and Janet have no children and they still struggle at age 40-something to save and invest enough to secure their financial future. They were presented with the opportunity to buy their first home three years ago by one of Jim’s friends who was in the mortgage business.
They were convinced that it was a deal that could not lose;
- no money down
- low monthly payments for two years
- extra cash at closing to pay off some credit card debt and, most of all,
- the assurance by the mortgage seller that the worst that could happen if the payments got too burdensome would be that the house would have appreciated in value and could be sold for a profit.
Jim and Janet were feeling lucky. They took the deal. Today the house is worth less than they paid for it, the payments are unaffordable, the credit cards are maxed out again and selling the house in a neighborhood where over 40% of the homes are already in foreclosure is nearly impossible.
Jim and Janet have an alternative that most don’t have. They have no children. Because of that Jim and Janet are both seeking part time work to supplement their income and to avoid foreclosure and probable bankruptcy. Not a pleasant situation.
The Behemoths and their minions have convinced millions of Americans that owning a home at any cost is worthwhile.
BUNK!
Had Jim and Janet adopted the principles and practices of Money for Life, they would not have prematurely bought the house. They would have started a “bank,” paid off their debt and saved money for a down payment. Had they done that, they could today buy a home in a solid neighborhood for a good price, with a low interest conventional mortgage, for payments they could afford now and into the future. Jim and Janet are not alone, however. The excerpt from US News and World Report below demonstrates this.
If you would like to avoid situations that can create financial difficulty for you and your family, I encourage you to take a look at www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com and take advantage of the FREE white paper. Or better still the SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008.
Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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“Buyers are well-informed and rational. Investment vehicles might be remarkably innovative, but consumers seem to be as gullible as ever. It’s obvious now that some home buyers over the past few years took out loans far beyond what they could afford, with foreclosure probably inevitable even if house prices had continued to rise. But even people who consider themselves financially literate aren’t so shrewd. A 2007 study by the Federal Trade Commission, for instance, found that:
– 20 percent of borrowers looking at mortgage disclosure forms couldn’t identify the interest rate amount
– 24 percent couldn’t tell which loan was less expensive, when looking at two different applications
– 30 percent couldn’t tell if the loan included an expanded “balloon payment” at some point
– 44 percent couldn’t tell if there was a prepayment penalty for refinancing within two years.”
Excerpted from U.S.News & World Report
4 Sub-prime Myths That Could Derail Reform
Friday April 4, 1:56 pm ET
By Rick Newman
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Make Money On E-Bay – Or Not…
April 6, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“The stuff that dreams are made of.” The Maltese Falcon, 1941
Jonathan and Stacey have an unconventional family. Stacey is a highly compensated executive and is rising rapidly in her profession. Jonathan is an innovative and creative artist. Jonathan stays at home with the couples two children, works on his art when he can and dabbles on eBay as a way of making a few extra dollars to feed his passion.
His eBay adventure didn’t start out as an avocation, however. Like many other easy money schemes such as multi-level-marketing programs, foriegn exchange trading, precious metals deals, or day trading on the stock exchanges, it began as a fantasy about a fortune. It wasn’t long, though, before Jonathan and Stacey both recognized that success was unlikely. When Stacey became pregnant with their second child – well, that sealed the deal on the role of eBay in their financial future.
Reality and common sense tell us that there is no such thing as “easy money.” There are ways of making money – like those mentioned above – that are particularly suited to certain individuals; that are fulfilling, fun and rewarding if you and that way of making money are compatible. If your personality, skills and psyche are not in synch with a particular profession or business opportunity, failure is assured.
You might make a lot of money, but it won’t be easy, you’ll not be happy, and eventually you’ll find a way out of that situation – drugs, infidelity, alcohol, eBay, fishing, golf or some other distraction. The same holds true for financial practices. We all have two professions; one is the career of our choosing; the second is being our own banker and managing the money that flows through our lives.
Many individuals and families ignore their second profession or see it as a nuisance. That’s because their personality, skills and psyche are out of synch with the way they deal with their money. Americans have been led to believe that their personal economies are best served by “plans” devised by Behemoths – large, publicly owned financial institutions. Those “plans” are the counterparts of the quick and easy money schemes.
It is no more valid to expect to succeed using the standardized robotic thinking that goes into such plans, than it would be to expect every American to succeed on eBay.
There is a better way for you to take control of the money that flows through your life, a much better way; one that is adaptable to every American and to every situation; one that is based on principles and practices that have been known to the money-wise for millennia and practiced by financially successful Americans from the days of the Founding Fathers until today.
You can learn about this amazingly simple and effective approach by following this blog for a year or two or you can spend $29.95 and buy a book that will tell you most of what you need to know to debunk the bull of the Behemoths and escape the Dungeon of Debt they have built for you.
The Book? Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Weekend Hiatus for Blog Maintenance…
April 5, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
The WordPress blog system that we use to publish this blog has been revised. The revisions are dramatic and extensive so it will take some time to figure out how to take advantage of all the new stuff.
In the meantime, if you’ve just found The Money for Life blog we encourage you to read some of the previous posts and the separate pages listed on the right to familiarize yourself with the wealth of information and insights about money, saving, spending, investing and other topics that can help you manage your personal economy.
You may also want to take a look at this SPECIAL OFFER! –>
The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
_____________________________
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The Pending Recession and Personal Financial Armor…
April 4, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” All About Eve, 1950
John and Marion’s business is just beginning to pay off after two years of struggling to get started. Unfortunately, their business is not recession proof so making sure their personal economy is prepared for the negative effect a major slump might have on it – and them – is critical.
When the economy gets bumpy, there are two of the Four Pillars to which you need to pay close attention; freedom from debt and having ready cash to deal with the surprisingly unsurprising surprises that life sends your way. This is especially true for small business owners who rely on cash flow more than the employed worker.
John and Marion have decided to re-organize a few things to assure liquidity if a down-turn affects their personal economy to a greater extent than they anticipated.
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~ First, they refinanced their home at a significantly lower interest rate, so their monthly payments remained about the same.
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~ They also “harvested” an extra $20,000.00 of equity from the refinancing and used that money to eliminate all of their other debt – mostly credit card debt – freeing up several hundred dollars each month.
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~ That leaves them with just one other debt to repay; a loan they made to themselves from the cash values of their life insurance policies. This loan will be eliminated quickly using the extra cash flow. This will restore the cash values in their policies. These values are guaranteed to grow every year regardless of what happens in the general economy and become the family’s and the business’s first line of defense against life’s surprises.
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~ Their mortgage then becomes their only debt.
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~ They also obtained a $100,000 equity line of credit today that they may not be able to get later. Should the business encounter “a bumpy night,” and their business or their personal economy requires it, John and Marion can tap into their HELOC.
There is one aspect of John’s and Marion’s personal economy that would be troublesome in a severe recession; their investments. Most of the money they have invested is in mutual funds that could lose significant value in a recession. The couple has decided to watch their mutual funds and the market more carefully in the months ahead and to move the money into cash or cash equivalents if the values begin dropping a lot.
Their mutual fund sales rep suggests that they should ride out the “bumpy night” and that the market will rebound – eventually. John and Marion believe that they would rather lose the potential for an eventual gain in return for a smaller guaranteed one today.
Money for Life…in good times and bad taught John and Marion the strategy that armors them against recessions, depressions, inflation, deflation or stagflation. Ask yourself whether or not that strategy makes as much sense for you as it does for them. If so, then take advantage of this…
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
______________________
Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, Whole Life Insurance, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Announcement and A Request For Help…
April 3, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
This blog has been operational for about three months. It has welcomed almost 3,000 visitors who have read one or more of the 160+ posts that have appeared on the screen during that period.
Thanks to all that have come to visit. Thanks to the many who have bought the amazingly groundbreaking e-book.
On May 1st the paperback Money for Life…in good times and bad (sorry about the fuzzy cover image) will be available on the blog and from the author at www.YouBeTheBank.com
If you have found value and perhaps a little entertainment here, tell a friend or two; ask them to visit and take advantage of the special offer made on April the 1st…see below.
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Holding Tight to Money Myths…
April 2, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
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Here lies the body of William Jay
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He died maintaining his right of way –
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He was right, dead right as he sped along,
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But he’s just as dead as if he were wrong. Boston Transcript, date unknown
Kate and Ernie followed all of the financial rules that the media and their advisors gave them; max out the 401(k)’s, keep a large mortgage on the house and invest the equity elsewhere, three to six months emergency money is enough, the “market” is reliable, buy term insurance. Then, life delivered a knock out blow. First Ernie lost his job to a plant relocation and a month later Kate got laid off after a merger. OK, they had 6 months of expenses saved up and their severance and 401(k)’s were there if they needed them.
After a couple of months of no work and no income Kate was diagnosed with teminal cancer. Over the next year most of the assets that the couple had acquired went to treatments that were not covered by their insurance. They cashed in the investments that they bought with the equity in their home, got behind on the mortgage, lost the cars, spent the emergency money, dipped into the 401(k)’s and ran the credit cards to the limit. Kate died at the age of 29 and Ernie was broke and filed bankruptcy at the age of 30 – the term insurance was the first thing they dropped to control their spending when they first got laid off.
Blindly following rules about money is just as foolish as following the “rules of the road” when doing so puts you at risk. What if Kate and Ernie had chosen to think through their decisions about money instead of just doing what conventional wisdom dictated. What if they focused their energy on building a foundation of money that was entirely under their control and that supported the Four Pillars that are the framework of every successful personal economy.
I can’t give all the details in a blog post, but in summary, if they had paid their mortgage down over the seven years that they had it and even reduced it with the few bonuses and gifts they received, they would have had access to almost three years of living expenses with an equity line of credit. If they had put some of the money that they were contributing to their 401(k)’s into cash value life insurance they would have had an additional two years of living expenses and, more importantly, when Kate was diagnosed with cancer the policy’s waiver of premium benefit would have taken over her payments; when she died Ernie would have recieve a large tax free death benefit and repaid all of the money he had borrowed and recovered most of what he liquidated.
Money for Life can change the story of your life…in good times and bad. See yesterdays post for a great offer and go to www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com to take advantage.
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Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, The Four Pillars, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
April Fools and Their Money…
April 1, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“After all, tomorrow is another day!” Gone With the Wind, 1939
For some folks, every day is April Fools Day.
Don and Mary went to the auto show intending to learn about hybrid cars and SUV’s. They planned to buy a vehicle when the new 2009 model year created the opportunity to buy a low mileage 2008. They hoped that would help them keep their budget for both payments and fuel under control.
They left the auto show with a gas guzzling 2008 luxury SUV that they bought on a whim because it was being sold for less than the dealer’s cost. They thought that they could figure it all out in the days ahead; after all, tomorrow…
Every day American’s are overwhelmed with “opportunities” to buy the latest and greatest products – everything from the miracle sponge being hawked in the 60 second infomercial to the house with the price reduced to $1,000,000. Every day some American’s are fooled by the cacophony of claims in consumer products advertising and the oft repeated but rarely accurate promises of financial success chanted by Wall Street’s merchants of misinformation.
Over 250 years ago- almost 100,000 tomorrows - Benjamin Franklin said “Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.” Every day creates new April fools of people who believe they can buy their way to wealth and well being.
Don’t let it happen to you. Learn how to manage the money that flows through your life. Don and Mary woke up the tomorrow after their folly, exercised their right of recision on the purchase of the SUV and breathed a sigh of relief. “After all, tomorrow is another day!” doesn’t have to be a fatalistic mantra. It can also mean that you can change your mind about money matters and change your behavior in positive ways.
SPECIAL OFFER! –> The paperback version of Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century will be released on May 1st, 2008. Everyone who buys the e-book version before May 1st will also receive an autographed copy of the paperback when it is release. No special codes are needed. Don’t be an April fool; make the purchase before April 30th. Shipping and handling charges will still apply. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
_____________________________
Posted in Debt, Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Cobbled Together Financial Plans…
March 31, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Houston, we have a problem.” Apollo 13, 1995
Marion and John are faced with dire conditions;
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~ the stock market is in turmoil and their portfolio is losing value
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~ the housing market is roiling like a turbulent sea during a hurricane just when they are planning to move to a smaller place
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~ the dollar is depreciating and their income is not increasing – at least not as rapidly
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~ fuel prices are rising – the $15 fill-up of three years ago is now $45
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~ the cost of almost everything they buy that depends on fuel for manufacture and delivery is rising too – food, clothing, automobiles, electricity for lighting and air conditioning, and gas for heat, and more.
Those who have wealth great enough to make them celebrities can weather the financial storms that are raging just because they have so much. The pundits that pander to every fashionable financial fad can talk to no end about how their latest strategy will solve your problem, and perhaps that’s what some folks need. Those who follow the practices of Money for Life…in good times and bad are also secure during financial upheavals such as these.
But we Americans have a problem that is systemic. Our financial Apollo 13 has been hit by some economic debris that was engineered by Wall Street’s merchants of misinformation and their financial snake oil sales reps who chant the shibboleths they rely on to keep America dazed and confused. We can, of course, keep on keepin’ on, cobble together a solution to today’s problem, await the next disaster and continue to rely on a personal economy that is engineered by others for others.
The Apollo 13 crew and the NASA engineers had no choice and performed astonishingly well when the Apollo space vehicle was damaged. They also dealt with the issues surrounding the problem to assure it didn’t happen again. Wall Street won’t do that for you. Individuals do not have a NASA to look into the future on their behalf. While NASA is committed to the safety and success of its astronauts, Wall Street is committed to its own success and no other. No one on Wall Street is going to devise a solution for you.
At the cost of being boringly repetitive, if you manage just four aspects of your finances properly, you will be able to handle almost any money challenge the you face. The foundation of every successful personal economy is money that you control – money that is in your “banks” not Wall Street’s. That means the money cannot be in an investment that Wall Street wants you to buy; and remember, when you buy anything – they call it investing - someone else gets some of the money you spend. They are not paid in kind.
With your “banks” as a foundation, you have to pay attention to only four goals – I call them the Four Pillars of your personal economy:
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Freedom from debt-to-others
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Income you don’t have to work for and you can’t outlive
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Ready money to deal with the surprisingly unsurprising surprises life deals out every day
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A legacy of your wisdom and wealth to pay forward to those you care about
Wouldn’t you feel better if those four goals were in reach? They are and you can learn how to achieve them with the guidance found in Money for Life –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, The Four Pillars | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
The Most Versatile Tool In Your Money Tool-Belt……
March 30, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Insuring Against Recession
Check your life insurance policy to ensure it’s right for today’s troubled economy.
“A whole life insurance policy is the Swiss Army knife of the insurance world.”
Beth PiskoraManaging Editor, U.S. Editorial
The Outlook, Copyright © 2008, The McGraw-Hill Companies.
“Unemployment currently stands at 5%, but David Wyss, the chief economist for Standard & Poor’s, sees it creepingup to 5.5% by the end of this year. That means up to 750,000 Americans could potentially lose their jobs in 2008.
“Are you prepared — financially, if not emotionally — if you lose your job? If not, you might, with a financial advisor, consider buying more insurance. Even if you are retired, or feel very strongly that your income stream is safe, there are some stable long-term savings options in many insurance plans that you might want to consider in these volatile times in the stock and bond markets.
“While term life insurance is overall a more popular product, whole life insurance is enjoying a resurgence of demand. To understand if whole life is right for you, it’s best to know a lot about the product.
“A whole life policy can act as a buffer against estate taxes and probate costs, and provides a death benefit along with a living cash benefit, a feature unique to whole life. In addition, a whole life policy allows someone at the time of retirement to remain insured while spending the other assets they’ve accumulated or pursuing a more aggressive investment strategy for those assets.
“A whole life insurance policy is the Swiss Army knife of the insurance world,”… read the rest here –> http://themoneyforlifebook.wordpress.com/why-whole-life-insurance-works-in-tough-times/
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Money For Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century addresses the issues raised in this article in detail.
buy it today at –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
_________________________________________________
Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, Retirement, Taxes, Whole Life Insurance, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Retirement Money-Shrinking Investments…
March 29, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” Auntie Mame, 1958
Ed and Jean worked hard for almost fifty years, lived a frugal but fulfilling life, and raise eight good children. They didn’t sacrifice their financial life to the Debt Paradigm. They owned their home, had pensions from their work, both received social security and they kept a “rainy day” account that added up to over $100,000.
As they enter what should be the easy and relaxed life of the comfortably retired, a financial snake oil sales rep from one of the merchants of misinformation suggested that the equity in their home was not producing anything for them and that they should “harvest” that equity and invest it – and, of course, invest it with the sales rep making the pitch.
“It just makes sense.” the rep said, repeating the mantra of the Behemoths, “You can get an interest only mortgage on your home at 6% (I can get that for you and get paid to do so), invest the money (with me, and I’ll get paid again) at 8% (not guaranteed but, hey, the “market” always rises), get a tax deduction (if the dolts in Congress don’t remove it and/or raise taxes on your gain) and you’ll be doing what the really rich people do all the time.”
BUNK!
Rich people pay their debts and use the cash flow to save more money. When they invest they invest only small amounts of their savings. They do not invest from income – not even into a 401(k) or equivalent. If tax laws change or the market tanks or the real estate bubble bursts (as it just has and still is – the worst is yet to come) their money is safe, their income is safe, their homes are safe, their investments are protected with prudence and they are living the banquet.
The “poor suckers” who are “starving to death” are the ones who believed the sales rep and followed his or her advice. Here’s a rule of thumb that has proven accurate for as long as people have been investing and saving; if a sales rep shows you a plan that requires you to reorganize a successful personal economy because by doing so you would be doing what the truly wealthy do, run to the door without looking back. You are about to be scammed.
What the truly successful do – and have done for millennia – is save first. They create their own security in four specific areas:
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they are free from debt-to-others
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they have income they don’t have to work for and can’t outlive
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they have money readily available to deal with life’s surprisingly unsurprising surprises
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they have created a legacy of wisdom and wealth to pass on to those they care about
The process they use to achieve these very achievable goals is clearly described in Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century. The products and information that are available today, combined with the wisdom derived from the past, flow together in proper measure in this book. You can easily apply them to your situation.
Don’t be one of the “poor suckers.” Your life can be a banquet –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, Retirement | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Twins, Taxes, Money and “Banks”…
March 28, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Forrest Gump, 1994
Jeff and Beth are 40 and have a plan. They manage their money wisely, could be the poster kids for prudent mortgage management, steer clear of credit card and consumer debt, promptly pay off any debt they incur out of necessity, put about $21,000 each year into their individual and their children’s “banks” and now, suddenly, are about to become the proud parents of twins.
“You never know what you’re gonna get.” and twins are going to force some changes to the “plan.” The first change is a significant reduction of income because Beth plans to semi-retire from her well paid corporate position to care for the newborns, and Jeff’s burgeoning university teaching career is just burgeoning but not yet in full bloom. This change creates others; funding for the “banks” has to be reduced, relocation is assured, the family home has to be sold in a down market, and, on the up side, two more tax deductions.
Since the “banks” are an essential piece of Jeff’s and Beth’s plan for the future, that’s the piece of chocolate we’ll address in this post. Jeff’s whole life policy is just entering its third year. Almost all of the premium that is paid into the policy this year is credited to the cash value account. This allows Jeff and Beth to pay the annual premium of $13,200 using a loan from Beth’s 401(k).
Once the premium has been paid using the 401(k) loan and credited to the cash value account in the policy, Jeff and Beth can immediately borrow it back from the policy and pay off the 401(k) loan. This leaves them with a debt to themselves that they can repay on their own schedule and with the money they have available.
In fact, they could borrow the premium from the policy every year for the next ten years and not make any payments out of their income and the policy would remain in force and retain some cash value. Jeff and Beth could, of course, pay the interest to themselves and assure that the policy would remain in force for decades and grow in value.
That won’t happen. Jeff and Beth will bite into another piece of chocolate and discover another surprisingly unsurprising surprise that will change their lives and their plans; they could win the lotto or lose an investment. The constant financial fact that allows them to go forward with confidence is the power and flexibility inherent in their personal economy because of their “banking” system.
“You never know what you’re gonna get.” but you can make sure you can handle it. Discover how –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Taxes, Whole Life Insurance, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Money Soulutions…
March 27, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“May the force be with you.” Yoda, Star Wars, 1977
NO! soul-utions is not a misspelling.
Soulutions is a word I’ve created. It describes the act or means of solving a problem (solution) based on individual awareness of personal needs and values, and the concurrent recognition of universally recognized principles (soul).
Money for Life…in good times and bad is a book that addresses money related issues and gives you tools to help you find your unique soulutions.
Yoda also said, “Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
The Future of Money is the Past…
March 26, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Elementary, my dear Watson.” The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1939
Peter Bernstein is one of the elder statesmen in the world of economic thought. At age 87, his expectations and thoughts about the future have been accurate for decades. It is rewarding to find someone of his stature and experience indirectly endorsing the strategies and practices that are presented in Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century. Here’s a brief excerpt form his recent letter to John Mauldin, another analytic economist that hits the nail on the head more often than not. I encourage you to read all of this letter and consider how you are going to manage your money in the future based on the thinking of these informed and insightful comments.
The Shape Of The Future
By Peter L. Bernstein
“The root of today’s problems in the financial markets and in the economy as a whole is the household sector. The point needs no elaboration, but its significance cannot be minimized. As we have argued on more than one occasion, the shrinkage in the personal savings rate is not the result of consumer profligacy, as other commentators persist in describing it. Rather, the savings rate has been suppressed by a slowdown in the growth of household incomes. The shortfall between income and outlay has been met by borrowing, and in particular by borrowing against the family real estate. Now the opportunity to borrow has shrunk dramatically, an outcome that will profoundly change the household’s spending power and spending patterns. But the impact is not just on the household. A slowdown in the growth of consumer spending has ominous implications for the entire global economy – and, along the way, the U. S. federal deficit, soon to be overburdened by spiraling benefit obligations. This predicament is not a short-run matter, unless home prices abruptly reverse themselves and head back into the stratosphere – which is hardly likely.”
Read – and re-read – the entire letter here –> http://www.investorsinsight.com/otb_va_print.aspx?EditionID=670
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www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com addresses this issue at its core. It shows you how to thrive while others just survive or worse, descend into the dungeon of debt that never releases its prisoners without first inflicting great pain and leaving deep scars.
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Posted in Debt, Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, What Others Say | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Money and Conventional Wisdom…
March 24, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“I’ll have what she’s having.” When Harry Met Sally, 1989
Bill and Kate are both successful executives. They are actively involved in the social life of their community, their children’s school, their church and several professional organizations. They each earn a healthy six figure income but still don’t have a substantial amount of money set aside to deal with the surprisingly unsurprising surprises of life, to pay for college for the children, to pay themselves when they retire or to leave any kind of legacy beyond debt.
Bill and Kate do, however, have what everyone else in their social circle has; a house that is far larger than they and their two children need and that requires a housekeeper to keep the many rooms they never use clean and a gardener to keep the grounds that they seldom walk manicured; two SUV’s and a luxury sedan – all leased to assure that the family will always have a new vehicle; private schools for the children, tutors to make sure they can keep up, and a nanny to watch over the tutors due to the parents busy schedule; membership in a country club that they are rarely able to use; annual vacations that cost more than most people earn; and on, and on, and on…
Bill and Kate have an investment program too. Like their possessions, however, it is cobbled together based on casual conversations with their co-workers, friends and family, the unabashedly self interested advice of their broker and their own insights based on the casual and occasional reading of the Wall Street Journal or spending an hour watching a TV shill touting his or her flavor-of-the-day investment strategy. Their ”I’ll have what she’s having.” portfolio is not performing well – as you might guess.
Many Americans in all walks of life and at all income levels make the mistake of following the advice of people they know; people who themselves know nothing more than they do - the blind leading the blind. This is what I call following conventional wisdom – doing what others are doing and repeating what others have said as if it were the gospel just because that’s what they are doing and saying.
There are strategies and tactics that work. If you embrace them, you will create a bright financial future for yourself that promises you an income you don’t have to work for and you cannot outlive, freedom from debt-to-others, ready money to deal with life’s surprises and a legacy of both wisdom and wealth to pass on to those you care about.
Bill and Kate gave up their foolishness, and within two years they were able to achieve all four of these goals.
You can too! –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Movie Quotes | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | 1 Comment »
Financial Advisor or Money Monger…
March 23, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“You can’t handle the truth!” A Few Good Men, 1992
Peter has spent the past 20 years as an insurance agent, annuity salesman, investment advisor, college planner, real estate investor, mortgage planner, advisor to seniors, and all around financial planner. Every hot new product or marketing strategy that comes down the road catches his interest and attention. He learns about it, jumps in with both feet, makes a lot of sales and money, then moves on to the next thing – whatever that might be.
Peter doesn’t have 20 years experience. He has 18 months experience 6 or 7 times. He’s not been in one business for 20 years, he’s been a serial salesman dabbling in half a dozen businesses for brief periods.
Peter, like thousands of other financial “professionals” can’t handle the truth. The money business requires dedication, persistence and consistency. It demands that the advice and guidance that an advisor gives to his or her clients is well informed and well founded. The business of the financial guide is to know a great deal more than the people being guided; not just more about one product or program, but more about everything that has to do with money and its place in the personal economies of clients.
Money for Life…in good times and bad – How to Thrive in the 21st Century contains money wisdom gleaned from the practices, writings, teachings and mentoring of truly professional financial advisors and guides dating from Benjamin Franklin and the earliest days of America through today’s wealth of information and experience in print, on the radio, on television and on the internet.
The strength of this wisdom is its consistency. There are always new financial strategies and tactics aimed at generating income for others. The merchants of misinformation and their minions, the financial snake oil sales reps, use their energy to create programs designed to put your money in their pockets under the guise of a “plan.”
Some of these plans have merit, but, like Peter’s forays into various markets, they are often shallow and short lived. However, the remnants of these plans often find their way into the mainstream. Advisors who study them as one of many tools and take a holistic approach to this process might incorporate them into the unique personal economies of the few folks that can truly benefit from them.
Discover the secrets that the money mongers never do and find an advisor that understands and follows the practices that the wise have followed for centuries and millennia –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Mortgage Myths and Money…
March 23, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“There’s no place like home.” The Wizard of Oz, 1939
Gino and Bernice managed their money carefully, saved a down payment and bought their home after a few years of marriage and the birth of their son. Gino’s income as a unionized cement worker depended on the weather and the good will of his employers but, because he was skilled and reliable, he was able to work regularly.
Within fifteen years Gino and Bernice paid off the mortgage – early. The money that they spent on mortgage payments was then redirected into their “banks”. When, many years later at age 63 , Bernice was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the family was able to cover her out of pocket medical costs and provide Gino with support services as Bernice languished for 18 months and died peacefully in her home on her 65th birthday.
A few years after Bernice died, Gino’s 65+ years of heavy smoking and drinking wore out his heart and lungs. While he was on oxygen for emphyzema he had a heart attack and survived open heart surgery. He lived for several more years as a semi-invalid and his son and daughter-in-law provided him with support around the house and in the yard.
When Gino finally died, his son inherited the house free and clear, plus thousands of dollars from Gino’s “banks” and savings accounts. The son, Pat, still rents the house. Within a few years Pat was able to use the inheritance and rental money to help pay off his own mortgage well before its final payment due date. The rent from the family home and the monthly mortgage payment, which he no longer has to pay, go into “banks” for himself, his wife, and his three children.
When Pat is 67 and ready to retire, he will have two properties, both paid for; one producing income and the other costing only taxes, insurance and maintenance. His three children will have college educations with no college loans. He will have a stable retirement income from his and his wife’s retirement plans from work, social security, income from the rental, and substantial income from his savings plans, with much of it tax free from his “banks”. Their retirement income, by the way, will exceed their working career income.
There is no such thing as “good debt” for an individual or family. There are occasions and situations where debt is useful or necessary. That doesn’t make the debt good. A mortgage is a debt; sometimes useful and often necessary, but still a debt.
Those who would have you believe that mortgaging your home to the hilt so you can “invest” the equity with them are selling a dream that that will put money in their pockets and could easily become a nightmare for you and your family. They want to convince you that this strategy is followed by the “wealthy” and if you just do the tricks they teach, you too will be wealthy.
BUNK!
Measure such “plans” against this template before you buy into them:
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Does their plan have guarantees?
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Are the guarantees strong enough to support the end result that is being illustrated?
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Could you get results that were substantially better than the guarantees without buying into the plan being sold?
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Are the non-guaranteed elements of the plan based on both back-testing and actual performance of the companies and products you are being asked to purchase?
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If non-guaranteed results are based only on back-testing because the products and/or companies have only been around for a few years, does the back-testing cover at least 100 years to include the depressions of 1907 and 1929 and the doldrums of the late 1940′s and early 1950′s or does it go back only far enough to incorporate the longest and strongest bull market in the history of markets?
Your financial life can be like that of Gino, Bernice and Pat. They did not have to take great risks or buy into esoteric schemes to succeed with the money that passed through their lives. They employed simple, treid, tested and proven strategies that allowed them to live comfortabley without relying on debt. You can too. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Debt, Money, Movie Quotes, Retirement | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Take Control of the Money That Flows Through Your Life…
March 22, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“They call me Mister Tibbs.” In the Heat of the Night, 1967
Jack and Theresa relied on the same financial advisor for over ten years. When Jack got a new job in a new city on the other side of the country that relationship became untenable so the couple went looking for a new advisor. After several interviews Jack and Teresa concluded that the advisors they met in their new city did not recognize or understand what their friend and advisor “back home” had taught them. In fact, every one of the advisors they interviewed told them that building their financial foundation using cash value whole life insurance was not just wrong but went against everything the advisor had been taught.
One advisor suggested that Jack and Theresa should replace their cash value policies with term insurance and invest the money they had accumulated in the stocks he recommended; ENRON, Qwest and MCI.
Another advisor wanted Jack and Theresa to exchange their whole life insurance policies for variable universal life insurance policies because she could illustrate greater future value with that type of insurance plan. She did not, of course, make it entirely clear that these policies had no guarantees and that they could lose all of their money with this approach.
A third advisor encouraged Jack and Theresa to refinance their home at 95% and “harvest” the equity from their home and the cash from their whole life insurance policies and put all of that money into a new kind of product called equity indexed life insurance. The premise was that the new product would earn more than the interest charged in the mortgage and the lost guarantees and dividends from their whole life contract. Again, there was no discussion of the fact that taking such action put their real property at greater risk and did not replace the guarantees that were present in their whole life policies.
When Police Chief Gillespie challenged Virgil Tibbs’ self image and deeply held beliefs, the detective defended himself and his beliefs with a simple emphatic statement. Every day we face the same kind of challenge to our common sense about how we handle our money. An onslaught of advertising and misinformation tells us that our conservative financial values are foolish or simplistic or contrary to the conventional wisdom – which is no wisdom at all.
There are many reasonable and sensible ways to handle your money. Universal life insurance, indexed life insurance, investments and home equity can be important pieces of the puzzle that is unique to your situation.
Any approach that suggests, however, that you can build wealth without establishing a foundation of money that you control, is misleading at best and illegal at worst. Suggesting that you can behave the same as people who have already accumulated great wealth, denies the reality that those who have great wealth behaved differently while accumulating their wealth than they do after they have it.
Every reasonable financial “plan” should aim at
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eliminating debt-to-others
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guaranteeing you a secure income
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making sure you have ready money to deal with the ordinary and the extraordinary events that make up your life, and
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creating a legacy of your wisdom and wealth.
Once these goals have been met you can consider the schemes of the merchants of misinformation and the financial snake oil sales reps who want your money in their pockets.
by Jeffrey Reeves MA, www.youBEthebank.com
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Money Talkers Talking Down to You…
March 21, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” Cool Hand Luke, 1967
Reba is an attorney; a very brilliant, busy and successful attorney. Her practice keeps her busy 60 to 80 hours a week and her long term commitment to her favorite charity devours additional hours each month. Reba, single and childless herself, also finds time to volunteer as a tutor at the high school that is just around the corner from her home.
Busy executives, sales reps, attorneys, accountants, consultants and others in professional practices, including Reba, earn a great deal of money. They rely on the adviced and guidance of financial and investment professionals (and there is a great deal of difference between these two vocations) if for no other reason than the lack of time available to study how best to handle the money that flows into and through their lives. But, Reba, like many others in her position find the advice they are receiving is lacking in both effectiveness and wisdom.
Reba’s advisor presented himself as an investment professional with financial planning credentials. Credentials did not, however, convert into performance. The advisor’s suggestions were perfunctory and superficial; they had no apparent research behind them, other than the recommendation of the Behemoth for which he worked; they were presented hastily and Reba’s questions and concerns were treated with impatience – almost disdain. In addition, the results that the advisor’s recommendations produced were no better than Reba would have expected from a good savings program. Add poor results to the impersonal and arrogant character of the advisor’s behavior, and it is understandable that Reba wants a change.
The “failure to communicate” lies with the advisor. Like the “boss” in Cool Hand Luke, the advisor’s idea of communicating is that his clients should listen to him and do as he says; no questions, comments or concerns are permitted to enter the conversation unless they support his position. “Yes, Boss.” is the only legitimate response. This problem arises frequently. Most advisors do not take an holistic approach to their profession. They rely on templates and formulas that the Behemoths they represent force feed them.
The only way you can guarantee yourself competent advice is to have your own financial house in order before engaging an advisor. That means you need to adopt tested and proven practices that are objective in form and subject to your wants and needs. Then, you can rely on these practices to manage and measure the money that flows through your life .
Money for Life provides a model based on building a solid money foundation – a “bank” – that supports the Four Pillars that are essential to any successful financial strategy. You owe it to yourself to consider this approach. Those who have done so have more money and greater peace of mind than those who put every penny at risk in an investment program designed by a Behemoth for the benefit of the Behemoth.
www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com describes the problems we all face as we navigate the 21st century. Money for Life articulates a solution that allows you to have everything you need and anything you want without incurring debt or risking your money in schemes disguised as “your plan” but devised by and for the benefit of others. Your financial future will benefit immensely from the few dollars you invest to buy Money for Life and the few hours you’ll spend reading it.
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A Break From Serious Money Issues?
March 20, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
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I frequently blog about money;
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A topic that’s not very funny.
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So, try as I might,
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I can not make light
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Of dollar, of dime, or of penny.
One of the rules about money that will keep you in synch with your financial goals is this:
“There is no such thing as ‘only’ when it comes to money.” Dr Agon Fly
It’s only five dollars (or ten, or ten thousand)…is nothing more than a rationalization. Better to admit that you want what you want, then find a reasonable way to afford it. And remember, affording a purchase does not mean you can manipulate your cash flow to squeeze out the monthly payments; it means you have the cash to make the purchase, and that you are willing to part with that cash to have what it will buy. Even if you have the cash, recall what Ben Franklin wrote in 1733, “Beware of little expenses; ‘A small leak will sink a great ship.’” Stop and think about it and you may decide to fore go the new coat, new car, new furniture or chocolate malt.
The same holds true for what you save. How many folks have rationalized away the opportunity to save a dollar or two because “it’s only a dollar.” Put your pocket change in a jar at the end of every day and you’ll find hundreds of dollars in your jar at the end of a year. Put that money into a simple savings account every year and your surprise will be thousands of tax free dollars when you retire. One client couple of mine decided to brew their own coffee in lieu of a daily trip to Starbucks and are putting over $4000 a year into their cash value whole life insurance “bank” as a result.
There are secrets – simple practices that America has lost sight of in the last 30 years – that can make you financially comfortable today and into your 30 or 40 year retirement. You can learn these secrets and take control of the money that flows through your life –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, Retirement | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Do You Have a Money Problem?
March 19, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Steve Goodier writes an almost daily newsletter that has inspired and motivated me for several years. You can find it and sign up your self at www.LifeSupportSystem.com
Steve wrote an item today that goes to the heart of Money for Life…
GOT A PROBLEM?
Do you have a problem? Does it seem like it just won’t go away? Perhaps a little more creativity is all that is needed. Let me explain.Thomas Edison has been credited with inventing the first half of the twentieth century. And certainly one of his greatest inventions was the incandescent electric light bulb. But Edison takes no credit for making the light bulb available to the world. He was simply an inventor. Edison’s bulb did not burn for long; it gave off little light and it was too expensive.
A man named William David Coolidge spent seven years improving the light bulb to make it more practical. Largely because of his work, electric light eventually came into common use.When Coolidge finally succeeded in his efforts, he was questioned about how he was able to make tungsten work. He said, “It was because I was not a metallurgist. Had I been a metallurgist, I would have known that the task was impossible.”
Henry Ford, too, built his success largely on his ability to “think outside the box.” He used to say that he was looking to employ a lot of people “who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done.” Sometimes, unconventional thinking and a belief that anything is possible are required to solve problems.
You may not be setting out to build a huge company or market a new invention, but you still face difficult problems that beg for creativity. Perhaps you are worried about financing an education. Or you are caring for a loved one with a long-term illness. Or maybe you simply cannot seem to get along with that difficult person you work alongside everyday. These problems, and countless others, just don’t seem to go away.
Most of us struggle with similar “impossible” situations. If your problem seems impossible, then your usual thinking is probably not working. How can you look at your situation differently? Who can help you consider other solutions and will never tell you that it can’t be done? And most important, what would you do if you believed that anything were possible?
Anything! You may not have succeeded yet because you have become discouraged searching for a solution to your problem. Or perhaps you are not convinced that an answer can be found, somehow…somewhere. But a creative and wonderful solution might be just ahead. Look in a different direction. Find it! You can.if you believe it is there and if you believe it can be found.
Today, what would happen if you approached your problem in a new way?
Do you want to find out?
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If it’s a money problem remember that the solution might just be $29.95 away –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Roadmap to Financial Failure or Path to Success…Epilogue
March 19, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” - The Wizard of Oz”, 1939
George and “Fitzie” were financial failures at age 53. They, like the millions of other Americans who struggle unsuccessfully to gain control of their financial lives, followed the practices of Wizards like Suz Orman and Dave Ramsey – pundits, who make their money by regurgitating the BS of the Behemoths, by mouthing the mantras of the merchants of misinformation and chanting the siren songs of their snake oil sales reps. How’s America doing following this advice?
What if George and “Fitzie” had followed a different path? Consider this:
George and “Fitzie” were high school sweethearts and married the summer after their 1973 graduation. They both were working full time; George at the steel service center where he works today and “Fitzie” at a local mall in a major department store. They both earned about $10 an hour, had benefits and lived frugally – as they had seen their parents live. They saved 10% of their income for a down payment on a home and had plenty of money left for their needs and wants.
Had George and “Fitzie” followed the Money for Life practices and saved that 10% of their original base income of about $40,000 per year – $344.00 per month – in a cash value whole life insurance policy, and kept their savings rate at $344 per month even as their incomes increased;
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~ they could have used the policy as a “bank” and borrowed from the cash values to pay for the things they needed and wanted
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~ repaid themselves, instead of giving their money away to credit cards, banks and big box stores.
Had they done that;
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~ at age 53 their home would have been paid for
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~ at age 53 they would be debt free
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~ at age 53 they would have $436,000 in cash value in their policies
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~ at age 53 they would have over $1,200,000 of death benefit
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~ at age 67 they would have an after tax retirement income of over $50,000 each year
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~ at age 67 their retirement income would grow year after year
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~ at age 67 their retirement death benefit – their legacy – would be over $2,500,000 and growing.
Compare that to their actual ”in debt up to their eyeballs” situation described in yesterday’s blog that is the fate of so many Americans. The fantasy land of financial advice that is served up by pundits during infomercials and in books made popular by celebrity instead of substance have brought America to the dangerous precipice where it stands today.
Don’t blame the media that supports the merchants of misinformation and their minions. These are the folks who buy the commercial air time and pay the media’s bills. Don’t blame the publishers who make millions selling books with the faces of the famous financial fops on the cover. It’s how they make a buck. The problem lies in the failure of those of us who know that there is a better way. It’s not your fault that we haven’t been effective telling the truth we know, and debunking the lies we recognize.
Money for Life…in good times and bad shows you How to Thrive in the 21st Century using practices that have been tried, tested and proven for over 150 years. If you aren’t making the kind of financial progress you had expected or if you find yourself giving too much of your money away to banks, credit card companies, auto finance companies, the big box stores, etc. you owe it to yourself to find a better way. Spend the $29.95 to buy Money for Life and your financial life – present and future – will improve. –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Footnote: The financial projections used above are based partly on dividends being paid by the insurance company issuing the policy. In this case, the insurance company has paid dividends every year since its inception over 150 years ago – even during the Great Depression .
Posted in Money, Movie Quotes | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | 1 Comment »
Roadmap to Financial Failure or Path to Success…
March 18, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” On the Waterfront, 1954
George is 53 years old. His home is mortgaged to the hilt with first and second mortgages. The homes in his neighborhood are losing value because of the high number of foreclosures. Two of the family’s three cars are financed. The new kitchen appliances came from a big box store “Same as cash. No payments or interest for six months.” His True Net Worth is in the tank because he is upside down on everything.
George has an active 401(k) account at work into which he contributes 3% of his $43,000 salary in order to get the employer match. The 401(k) is worth about $47,000 – down from a high of $62,000. His wife, “Fitzie,” has just over $13,000 in two inactive IRA accounts – down from $16,500. She is currently unemployed so she can stay home with the four children who attend attend public school. They have $7,500 in savings. The children are looking forward to college but they will have to rely on loans, grants and scholarships to pay their way.
Add up the value of this family’s 35 years of work and you have an all too common snapshot of an American family. George and “Fitzie” followed the raodmap drawn by the Behemoths and ended up in the swamp of financial failure. They own very little. Everything they have is covered in debt. What they do own is of little value; a used car, furniture, retirement accounts that are inaccessible without significant loss to penalties and taxes, a modicum of savings that would disappear in a New York minute if George lost his job or “Fitzie” was diagnosed with cancer or one of the children got into trouble with drugs, alcohol or worse.
It’s not too late, however, for George and “Fitzie” to escape the Financial Swamp and teach their children how to avoid it too. Money for Life describes a path that leads to freedom from debt-to-others, passive income for retirement, ready money for emergencies and the opportunity to pass on a legacy of wisdom and wealth to those you care about – regardless of where you start from or how old you are. It is not a get rich quick scheme or a multi-level marketing program. It is 150 year old a tried, tested and proven approach to handling money.
Start by learning your True Net Worth with the FREE report Why Budgets Don’t Work. You can get the report at www.TheMoneyforLifeBook.com
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Posted in Debt, Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
A Money Offer You Can’t Refuse…
March 17, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” The Godfather, 1972
Edward held an MBA in finance and was a very successful analyst for a major utility. His wife, Sally, held an MA in education and planned to return to her teaching career when all three of the children reached school age. Ed’s success in business and the family’s frugal lifestyle allowed Edward and Sally to invest liberally with their discretionary income. Their advisor suggested a very aggressive growth path for them in 2000 on the premise that the market conditions would allow them to profit from its volatility. (Gee, that almost sounds feasible – although I’m not at all sure that it means anything.)
Since the advisor’s advice in the ’90s had served them well they bought into his aggressive program. (Of course all but the unluckiest advisors looked good in the ’90s.) By March of 2002 Ed and Sally’s portfolio had shrunk from just over $200,000 to $79,000 due to the “market.” Worse, Ed had been laid off and the family was without a steady income. Thankfully, Sally was able to find a substitute teaching job to tide them over until Ed finally found a position comparable to the one he’d lost. They still lost over 60% of the value they had created in their portfolio.
The merchants of misinformation and their financial snake oil sales reps don’t use the same tactics as Don Corleone. They do, however, use illustrations and “hypothetical” to project a picture of the future on the screen of your consciousness. The picture they project is bright and very positive. It is presented in a professional format. It gives you confidence that the advisor who is weaving the tale of your future security actually knows what’s going to happen – and when. They are making you an offer you can’t refuse.
Reality is otherwise. Financial product sales reps do not have the capability – as Don Corleone did - to back up the offers they make. In fact, once you’ve accepted the offer they present to you, they are off the hook relative to future performance. Their offers are more akin to some of the propaganda that has slimed out of Hollywood disguised as entertainment or documentaries in recent years – looks good but is slanted to support a position and omits significant facts and possibilities.
Most investment economists and serious market analysts (folks who do not sell anything but study the “hypothetical” in great detail) suggest that the projection of future growth that exceeds 4% for any investment is misleading and overly aggressive. Even 1% cannot be guaranteed in the exchange markets, in real estate, in equity indexed products or in any other risk based investment. The problem is that the “markets” never progress in a straight line – nor does your life – just ask Edward and Sally.
You can control the money that flows through your life in a way that allows you to save and invest more securely – where you are in charge of every aspect of your personal economy. Get started with the FREE report Why Budgets Don’t Work –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | 1 Comment »
Money and Divorce…
March 16, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Gone With The Wind , 1939
Life is full of upheavals resulting from relationships.
When Steve’s and Beth’s marriage broke up, their two young children created a major financial concern for both parents. Beth has defacto custody and has to find new ways to balance her finances, her work schedule, the children’s school and activity schedules as well as coordinating visitation schedules with Steve. Beth and Steve both have to find ways to establish and maintain relationships with old family friends and make new ones as well.
Steve, as the non-custodial parent, encounters similar problems and, in addition, must adjust his budget to accommodate court ordered child support payments. Both Steve and Beth have to individually address their food, housing, transportation, and entertainment expenses that were formerly a family affair. The demands of out of town in-laws for visitation of the children has become a financial drain also.
A powerful tool in Steve’s and Beth’s financial arsenals is cash value whole life insurance. Their family practice attorneys asked the court to order both Steve and Beth to purchase cash value whole life policies on themselves and on their children as part of the child support package.
The advantage of this approach is that these policies protect the children if Beth or Steve dies prematurely and, more importantly, provide ready money for unpredicted family needs and the future educational and support needs of the children. Because the cash values in their whole life policies can be repeatedly borrowed and repaid, the policies become “banks” that grow consistently. They allow Steve and Beth to finance education, unplanned large purchases and emergency needs for the children much more economically than is possible with credit cards, home equity loans or other commercial loans.
There are, of course, technical issues that must be managed with policies used for this application. These require the ongoing advice and guidance of a Money for Life Guide.
Learn more and own more –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Whole Life Insurance | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Famous Movie Quotes and Money…
March 16, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
“Show me the money!” Jerry McGuire, 1996
Much of the advertising and promotion of financial products and services by the Behemoths focuses on non-money issues: dreams, plans, transaction costs, tracking tools, advisor relationships – everything except money. The reality of your financial life, however, is affected by money, first and foremost. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, and any other investments are not money; you can’t spend them and you can lose some or all of the money you tie up in them.
You might wonder why the Behemoths spend millions of dollars on advertising what they want and don’t focus their advertising and promotions on your money. Well, it’s because they want you to give your money to them. They want you to focus on what’s in their best interest not on what is in your best interest. That’s free enterprise and there is nothing wrong with it. Problems arise only when we, as individuals and families, fail to recognize that all those millions are spent to lift your money from your wallet and deposit it into the coffers of the Behemoths.
What if there was a way to beat that system? What if you could gain control of all of the money that flows through your life? There is. Over the next several posts I will be using famous movie quotes to highlight situations that Americans of all economic and social backgrounds experience and to give specific guidance to those who find themselves in those situations.
I’m not suggesting that you can’t succeed financially by investing. Many already have. What you’ll learn from these posts is that there is a way to invest that manages the risk inherent in giving your money over to the Behemoths. The aim of each of the scenarios we present is to demonstrate how you can keep control of more of your money and build a foundation and framework for your personal economy that will last…in good times and bad.
If your demand is “Show me the money!”, then www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com satisfies your quest.
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Posted in Money, Movie Quotes, Personal Financial Management, The Four Pillars | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
If You Plan to Retire…
March 15, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
If you plan to retire you’ll need money for life…in good times and bad. You’ll need to be free from debt, have an income you don’t have to work for and you cannot outlive, have ready cash to take care of the surprisingly unsurprising surprises that afflict us all and – for some – you’ll want to leave a legacy of your wisdom and wealth for those you care about.
I am not as eloquent or as learned as John Mauldin who wrote the following. But my book Money for Life…in good times and bad shows you a strategy that lets you YouBeTheBank so you can set the Four Pillars, upon which every successful personal economy rests, on a solid foundation. John’s newsletter is lengthy but I encourage you to read it through, and pay special attention to the The Boomers Break the Deal segment.
Thoughts From The Frontline
John Mauldin’s Weekly E-Letter
Muddle Through and Your Long Term Returns
by John Mauldin
3/14/2008
Muddle Through and Your Long Term Returns
Muddle Through and Your Long Term Returns
Muddle Through Gets A Boost
Honey, I Vaporized My Customers
Consumer Spending is Going, Going…South
The Boomers Break the Deal
Today we drop back to take a look at the economy and its long term effect on our portfolio returns. I am in Orlando this week, speaking at the Newport Advisor Conference sponsored by the Newport Group. The attendees are primarily investment advisors focused on larger retirement accounts and pensions. This week’s letter is the gist of my speech I gave yesterday, as the entire speech would be way too long for a weekly letter. I want to thank the Newport Group for letting me do this, and thanks for the very kind way they have hosted me. Note: this week’s letter will print a little longer as there are a lot of graphs. And next week I will address the housing market, as was my intention this week.
Read the rest here –> http://www.investorsinsight.com/thoughts_va_print.aspx?EditionID=666
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Learn how to protect yourself and your lifestyle from the surprisingly unsurprising surprises of living in the 21st century –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Get elected to Congress and get rich
March 14, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The personal wealth of members of the U.S. Congress has soared in recent years, leaving lawmakers on average far more well-to-do than most Americans as of 2006, said a study on Thursday.
The median net worth of senators was estimated at $1.7 million and House of Representatives members at $675,000, said the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington watchdog group that monitors the influence of money on government…”They have millions of dollars invested in politically influential industries that they also regulate,” such as real estate, banking, pharmaceuticals and energy, the center said.
http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN1330776120080313
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Gain control of the money that flows through your life before your Congress Person does –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Taxes | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | 1 Comment »
The Taxing Business of Paying Money for Taxes…
March 14, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
I am grateful that I live in America where I can complain without recrimination about paying money to the government in taxes .
I am also grateful that the government to which I pay those taxes protects me from crime, foreign invasions, charlatans of all kinds and – at times – from myself.
The taxing business of paying money for taxes results from our always-self-interested elected fools – especially those in DC – who are spending our tax money to get re-elected. I wish the dim-wits in the US Congress…
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~ would eliminate the IRS,
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~ enact a flat tax of some sort,
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~ enact a balanced budget amendment,
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~ give the President the line item veto,
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~ fix Social Security (including placing themselves and all other federal workers in the system),
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~ commit to energy independence,
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~ solve the illegal immigration problem,
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~ figure out a free enterprise solution to the health insurance mess…
In other words, our legislators should solve our country’s problems instead of spending their time trying to demean and impeach each other for the sake of their own perceived political gain.
The US Congress has become an impediment to solving the problems of the people they are sworn to serve. It is they who have divided the country. It is they who have thrown the gauntlet and created the duel between the branches of government. It is they and their political agendas that have stymied progress in so many areas. It is they who are wasting our money and making the business of paying taxes – taxing.
The behavior of the US Congress is unethical and immoral. I’m not talking about the few who stashed money in their freezers or took lobbyist money and got caught or behaved badly in some airport. I’m talking about the entire US Congress that is stealing from America and putting America at risk by ignoring the people’s business in favor of partisan infighting and personal aggrandizement.
We can rant about the Collective of Clods on Capitol Hill and hope our words sting some enough to create the substantive change America needs. We can’t create that change.
We can individually create the changes in our personal money practices that allow us to maintain peace of mind about our money regardless of the shenanigans of the Weak-Backed Wimps in Washington. I encourage you to discover how –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Personal Financial Management, Taxes | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Living, Dying and Dollars…
March 13, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
There’s a movement afoot in the financial planning business called “life planning” or “holistic planning.” The basic premise of this approach is that the planner focuses on issues that encompass your money issues instead of just paying attention to investments and - peripherally – risk management questions.
Planners who adopt this approach ask questions about your financial and investment goals and risk tolerance, as do all investment advisors. An holistic planner also asks how you feel about your future, your family and the other facets of your life that embrace your money issues but are not numeric; questions of living and dying.
Although this approach is touted as “new”, it is actually a return to the practices that were prevalent for over a century prior to the 1980′s. Beginning in this decade the investment community moved – perhaps unconsciously – to eradicate ”holistic” planning. The dawn of computers as tools to model and manipulate one’s perception of the future created an environment dominated by projections and hypothetical performance. The Behemoths developed pre-packaged programs that let the planner plug in numbers and generate 50 page reports that promised the incredible, but guaranteed nothing. This model replaced concerns about living and dying with discussions of rates of return, long term market performance, and all star fund managers. In other words, the focus changed from what’s important to you to what’s important to the planner and the Behemoth s/he represents.
One Behemoth has an advertising campaign that mocks this approach with cartoon-like characters that complain about the insensitivity of their current advisors. Another suggests that you don’t need to pay someone to just run the numbers for you since you can personally use online resources to solve the investment equation. Neither of these companies is concerned with your living and dying – they have simply disguised their focus on acquiring your assets.
A planner that focuses on you, your family, your feelings and your future is invaluable. Many planners today are re-learning the practices that prevailed from the days of our Founding Fathers through most of the 20th century. The Certified Financial Planning (CFP), the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) programs pay a lot of attention to teaching them. These designations do not, however, guarantee that the planner who puts them on her/his business card uses an holistic approach. Planners that work for the Behemoths are still bound to sink their hooks into your assets. They concern themselves with other issues only peripherally and only if it serves their main goal of getting your money into the Behemoth’s account. They have the designations for the sake of the designation. They do not truly follow those practices.
If you would like to learn how these practices are put to work for typical Americans, read Money for Life…in good times and bad –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | 2 Comments »
A Ray of Economic Hope…
March 12, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
What happened to the mortgage industry is a mirror image of what’s happening to American families. The mortgage industry’s lust for “more,” regardless of the risk, led it over the precipice of failure. The American families that continue to incur debt in their lust for “more” are connected by an umbilical to the lending industry that is failing.
The Federal Reserve Bank – which, by the way is not a part of the federal government, has no reserves and is not really a bank – is acting to rescue the banking industry from demise in order to rescue American families from theirs. It won’t work unless the American family is willing to fore go additional debt and begin to resolve the debt they currently have.
The article below outlines what the Fed is doing for the banking industry. Money for Life…in good times and bad describes in detail what American families can do for themselves. You can have everything you need and almost anything you want without using credit. Check it out —> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Investor’s Business Daily
Bernanke Steps Up
Tuesday March 11, 6:55 pm ET
Ibd
Read the entire article here –> http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/080311/issues.html?.v=1&printer=1
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Posted in Money | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Spitzer, Moralizing and Money…
March 12, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Eliot Spitzer, soon-to-be former governor of New York, spent most of his recent professional career tilting against windmills on Wall Street and chasing the operatives of organized crime. He won a few battles and gained power in the process. Money wasn’t an issue for this privileged man who is heir to a $500 million estate. The money allowed the public man to erect a facade of rectitude while the private man supported criminal institutions - his real crime – by spending tens of thousands of dollars – perhaps even some of the people’s dollars – on high priced prostitutes.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” The historian and moralist, John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902), who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887. Eliot Spitzer could be the poster child for Lord Acton’s assertion.
There is a lesson we can learn about our own money from Spitzer’s downfall. I don’t buy the claim that this is “a personal matter”, which implies that it affects only the person who abused. When money is misapplied – as was the case here – it demonstrates disrespect for spouse, children, co-workers, the law and lawmakers, bureaucrats and enforcement personnel, and the people – that’s you. That’s far from “personal.”
It is important to respect money just as we respect other property and persons. When we misapply our money we adversely affect others. We create dependency on others, which deprives them of resources. We create a downward financial spiral. Following the Debt Paradigm is a form of disrespect of money. It creates a facade of concern about self and family but is really self indulgence, fired by basic human tendencies and desires. But, just as Spitzer deluded himself into believing that he could evade reality, that his behavior was just a “personal matter,” so we delude ourselves about spending practices that incur debt and that serve the aims of Behemoths instead of ours and those of our families.
Money for Life…in good times and bad is a book about money and – tangentially – about morality. It deals with ways to respect yourself, your family, your life and your money with the certitude that such respect requires and reinforces ethical behavior. Take a look at the Table of Contents for the book at www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com and see if there isn’t the glimmer of and idea there that might be of interest to you.
See http://themoneyforlifebook.wordpress.com/about-money-for-lifein-good-times-and-bad/
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PS – Pointing at the ethical and moral failures of others is risky business since no one – excepting a few saints – is free of failure or perfect in execution. I have made my share of mistakes in life as have most. I use Eliot Spitzer’s failures as the example instead of my own because his high office and visibility add drama and credibility to the point being made that an obscure financial writer and guide cannot equal.
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PPS – I believe passionately that people who follow the practices described in Money for Life…in good times and bad will reap benefits that diffuse throughout their lives and will create abundance for them, their families and their heirs. — www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Legal, Ethical, Moral, Money, Taxes | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
I Hate Spending Money…
March 10, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
A recent study found that spending cash - tens and twenties and fifties - was emotionally painful while flipping out the credit or debit card was not only not painful but created a sense of well being – unless, perhaps, you were entertaining at a high class restaurant and shivering in fear because you were unsure if there was enough credit left on your card to pay the bill.
I can relate to the pain of spending cash. I hate spending money. Taking actual cash out of my pocket and giving it to someone else galls me. I recently had the opportunity to buy a 2004 Mercedes Benz ML350 (a small suv) with only 29,000 miles on it for a great price. I have the money to finance it myself, but I just couldn’t bring myself to part with thousands of dollars even knowing that I would repay every penny of principal and interest into my own “bank.” It was too painful. Plus, my 1993 Geo is still running strong and getting 30+ miles per gallon so spending money on the Mercedes wouldn’t be the end of giving my money away. I’d have to spend more on gas, and service would be more expensive too - more money out of my pocket.
Borrowing the money from a bank to buy the Mercedes was tempting. That way I’d give my money away in smaller chunks and it might not hurt as much. It would cost a lot more, but I could rationalize and say I was using the bank’s money. The bank would smile at me, but giggle in the back room because the bank would know how much money they were going to make off of me over the finance period, and the bank would also know that the car was really theirs until the last payment arrived in 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 months – the longer the better - for the bank.
The Debt Paradigm has America convinced that individual citizens can apply the same rules to their personal economies that governments and major corporations apply to their much larger and more robust economies. American’s are subjected to seminars and other training programs that portray the behavior of the “wealthy” as the ideal and insist that the average American can live like Donald or Oprah if only they follow the magic path to riches that the other wealthy folks are traveling.
BUNK!
There is a way that any American, who wants to, can build a personal economy that lasts starting from wherever he or she is today and without mastering some esoteric system that was perfected by the “wealthy.” —> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com and you owe it to yourself to give it a look.
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Posted in Debt, Money, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Money, Income, Wealth and Happiness…
March 10, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
The New York Times ran an item today entitled Income and Happiness: An Imperfect Link by Robert H. Frank, an economist at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University.
You can read the entire article here –> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09view.html?_r=1&ref=business&pagewanted=print
I wrote an email to Dr. Frank in response to his article. Here is the email:
“Robert,
Thanks for raising this question. There’s one key component of happiness that you touched on – peace of mind – that is missing from most discussions about people, their personal economies and government’s role in our lives.
If our never-too-bright congress is holding hearings on the relationship between income and happiness, the first thing they need to consider is that income derived from work is just one function within a complex equation, and it is by no means the most important.
There are four specific measures of wealth and well being that I’ve discovered while helping people with their money for over 35 years. I call them the Four Pillars of Financial Security and discuss them in great detail in my book “Money for Life…in good times and bad:
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You are free from debt and own what you own without credit strings attached
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You have income you don’t have to work for and you won’t outlive
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You have enough ready cash to deal with the ups and downs of life without having to pull out the credit card or dip into the retirement account or access the equity in your home
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You leave a legacy of your wisdom and wealth behind when you pass to the other side.”
I’d like your thoughts and comments. You can read more on the blog or in the e-book (the paperback will be out soon – cover design is holding up the presses.)
Thanks for your time and attention.”
You can learn about this approach to money, income wealth and happiness at –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Another Financial Forecast for 2008 – and Beyond…
March 9, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Would You Buy Stock In U.S.A., Inc.?
by Gary D. Halbert
March 4, 2008
Introduction Several years ago, I wrote an E-Letter that compared the United States to a giant corporation – USA, Inc. In that 2003 E-Letter, I predicted that USA, Inc.’s economy would surprise on the upside in the coming years, and it certainly did. I also recommended that investors move back to a fully invested position in stocks at that time, if they had not already done so.
When I wrote a second E-Letter on USA, Inc. in 2004, most in the media were pessimistic on the outlook for the economy. Unemployment was considered to be chronic, even though it was only slightly above 6%. Others moaned about the growing federal deficit, blaming both the Bush tax cuts and the ongoing war in Iraq. Yet, the US economy continued to grow robustly, and the stock markets set new high after new high.
With many economists expecting the current sub prime and housing woes to result in an economic recession, as well as a sure “CEO” change for USA, Inc. in November, I thought that it was high time that I revisit this topic for my E-Letter audience. We currently have the usual dichotomy of those who believe things will get better, those who think things will get worse, and of course, we can’t leave out the gloom-and-doom crowd for whom the sky is always falling. However, this time around, we seem to have more experts lining up on the negative side than on the positive, possibly including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the “CFO” of USA, Inc.
This week, I will attempt to give some perspective by analyzing the current situation as if the United States of America was a stock – USA, Inc. - and whether or not we would want to buy shares in it. Would we want it as a long-term holding in our investment portfolio or our retirement fund? Let’s play like stock analysts and take a closer look.
Read the entire article here —> http://www.investorsinsight.com/forecasts.aspx _________________________________________________
To insulate your personal economy from possible future financial failures in the general economy go here –> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, What Others Say | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Money…
March 9, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Money is important. We all need it to survive and thrive. “Money” is a word that has many slang and recognized synonyms. Since I’m feeling particularly tired today – loss of an hour due to DST – here’s some of them for your consideration.
Almighty Dollar, banknote, bankroll, beans, bill, boodle, bread*, bucks*, cabbage, capital, cash, check, chicamin, chips, coin, coinage, dinero, dough*, ducats, filthy lucre, finances, fund, funds, gold, gravy*, green, green stuff, greenback*, hard cash*, jack, kitty, legal tender, long green, loot*, lucre, mazuma, moolah, pay, payment, pesos*, property, resources, riches, roll, salary, scratch, silver, skin, specie, sugar, treasure, wad*, wage, wampum, wealth, wherewithal* 4>From Thesaurus.com |
Text: something (as pieces of stamped metal or printed paper) customarily and legally used as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment <are you sure you have enough money to buy all that?> Synonyms: bread [slang], cash, chips, currency, dough, gold, jack [slang], legal tender, lucre, pelf, tender, wampum [slang] Related Words: change, coinage, specie; paper money, scrip; banknote, cashier’s check, check, draft, money order, note; bill, buck, dollar, greenback; bankroll, capital, finances, funds; mite, pittance; bundle, fortune, king’s ransom, mint, wad; abundance, means, opulence, riches, treasure, wealth; resources, wherewithal; pin money, pocket money, spending money
From Merriam-Webster
A word this frequently referenced must have powerful meaning in everyday life. Knowing how to deal effectively with the powerful “Almighty dollars” that flow through your life is essential to your personal success.
Visit www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com and order the FREE report Why Budgets Don’t Work - you’ll gain insight into your money management practices and – maybe – find a way to get more money and keep more of what you get.
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Posted in Money | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
“The Secret” and “The Science of Getting Rich”…
March 8, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
In 1910 an amazing man named Wallace D. Wattles wrote an amazing little book – The Science of Getting Rich. The ideas in this brief tome have been resurrected and reinterpreted today in videos and books under the banner of The Secret.
The basic premise in both works is that there’s enough wealth in the world to allow everyone to fully participate, but most folks just don’t know how to go about it. Rereading the original text this morning it dawned on me that what we call The Debt Paradigm in Money for Life…in good times and bad is a 21st century perversion of Wattle’s and The Secret’s basic tenets.
The Debt Paradigm intones the mantra that you can have everything you need and anything you want as long as you have enough credit. This perversion substitutes “having” for “owning.” It traps you in a circular process of acquiring things that you do not own and paying someone else for the privilege of going broke. The Debt Paradigm denies the possibility that you can have what you need and want without credit. It denies you the possibility of getting rich.
Money for Life…in good times and bad is the antidote to this kind of non-productive and destructive thinking. You can have what you need and want and you can get rich. The Science of Getting Rich and The Secret describe the construct or the process that allows you to succeed financially. Money for Life…in good times and bad gives you practical, usable tools to help you realize those possibilities. Money for Life…in good times and bad isn’t a get rich quick scheme or a theoretical discussion of how to invest. Money for Life…in good times and bad guides your use of the money that flows through your life to make sure…
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~ You are free from debt and own what you own without credit strings attached
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~ You have income you don’t have to work for and you won’t outlive
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~ You have enough ready cash to deal with the ups and downs of life without having to pull out the credit card or dip into the retirement account or access the equity in your home
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~ You leave a legacy of your wisdom and wealth behind when you pass to the other side.
There is no other book exactly like it on any bookshelf in America today. You owe it to yourself to buy this book —> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money, Personal Financial Management, The Four Pillars, What Others Say | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Bank Owned Life Insurance…
March 7, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Banks are among the biggest buyers of permanent cash value life insurance. They buy so much cash value life insurance that the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States of America regulates how much they can buy and keeps track of how much they own. The cash value of the policies that the banks buy and hold is considered a part of their Tier 1 Capital – the money that regulators consider the safest and that regulators require banks to maintain to protect the bank’s depositors.
“Interesting,” you think, “but what’s that got to do with me?”
First, recognize that banking is at the core of the general economy. Keeping banks solvent is essential to that economy since banks control the flow of money. Many banks rely on cash value life insurance to support their solvency and their role in the general economy. Banks do not rely on equity investing for their Tier 1 Capital, they rely on cash, cash equivalents, government securities and cash value life insurance.
Why don’t the Behemoths, who want you to give them control of your money, recommend that you behave the way the banks behave? Why don’t they recommend that you first establish a foundation of secure Tier 1 Capital for your personal economy, including substantial amounts of cash value life insurance?
You can ask them, but they probably won’t give you a straight answer. They’ll tell you that cash value life insurance doesn’t give you a great “rate of return” or that it’s a bad investment. They’ll suggest that you only need enough money in your Tier 1 Capital account to cover your financial needs for six months. They’ll show you performance data on the “market” and subtlety suggest that you will achieve similar results…but. But, there are no guarantees and, if the “investment” path they suggest for you leads to a financial swamp and you lose all of your money, they are truly sorry but it’s not their problem.
Now, here’s a caveat. I am not referring to independent financial advisors who are properly schooled in the way economies work. A Behemoth is a larger organization that makes its profits from “money under management” and that has no financial incentive to sell you any product that does not deliver your money into their account. Some of the Behemoths refer to you – their “client” – as a “wallet.” Most mutual funds are Behemoths.
There are advisors all over America, however, who will show you a path that leads to the top of the mountain instead of into the swamp. They know how to make sure that your Tier 1 Capital is safe and supports your personal economy – food, shelter, health care, education, financial security, family, community, growth, retirement, legacy…advisors who are concerned about you as a person – not as a “wallet.”
If you’d like to know more about how these advisors deal with money issues, read Money for Life…in good times and bad. Discover an entirely unique and holistic approach that helps you get to the top of the mountain. Then, give us a call and we’ll direct you to such an advisor. www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Posted in Money | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Money Limerick…
March 6, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
Comedians know about funny
And beekeepers know about honey.
But, chances are good
That both wish they could
Know more about managing money.
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They can —-> www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
Posted in Money | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »
Money and the Media…
March 5, 2008 | Author Dr Agon Fly
If you rely on the media for guidance about money and investing you will soon find yourself lost in a forest of financial misinformation. Both the financial media and the mass media develop their information from sources within the financial community – lobbyists for a specific point of view that serves the bottom line of Behemoths, not your best interests.
Even worse, the well known “advisors” who appear on television and the radio are performers and pundits, not trained financial guides. Their goal is to sell advertising to support their “show” and books and tapes and seminars and speaking engagements to sell their next book, tape, seminar and speaking engagement. I have no problem with that; it’s free enterprise and it makes us all stronger. I do it myself, but in addition, I put my 35+ years of experience helping individuals, families and businesses small and large with money issues into the equation.
That’s not the point of this post, however. Watching the news this morning to catch up on the primary results I realized that over 60% of the commercials on three different cable networks – CNN, FOX and MSN – were focused on negotiating tax relief with the IRS, negotiating debt reduction with credit card companies, acquiring new credit cards, borrowing to buy things and “interest free” purchases. Another 20% focused on capturing your money in 401(k) rollover accounts, planning for your “dreams” (interesting choice of words), on-line stock trading or other investment schemes, health insurance or mortgage rates. (I guess the politicians are wisely watching the commercials instead of the “shows.”)
The commercials do not address the same topics as the pundits and performers. They do address the issues my clients talk about every day, “How can I have the things I need and want without the risk of debt overtaking my personal economy?” or ”How do I run my business so the profits come to me and not the IRS?” or any of dozens of other questions about current concerns; paying for college, or health care, or retirement, or housing, or vacations, or cars, or…you get the picture.
My point is this: American’s are trapped in an outmoded pattern of thinking I call The Debt Paradigm, which recites its mantra non-stop: “You can have everything you need and anything you want as long as you have enough credit.” We are even using credit to pay for our retirement when we finance the things we need and want and, at the same time, put money aside in an IRA, a 401(k) or its equivalent instead of paying for what we buy with money from our own “bank”.
The Point! The media and the pundit performers always operate in their own best interest not yours. They continue to tell the story of The Debt Paradigm as if it were the gospel. Even when they decry debt, they still promote the corrolary to the main mantra, which is that investing is better than saving. They are wrong. Americans have lost thier way. The past offers wisdom and the 21st century offers powerful financial products that serve you and not the Behemoths.
You owe it to yourself, your family and your future to discover the secrets to Money for Life…in good times and bad. If you don’t want to spend the $29.95 to buy the book, at least get a head start on your future and get the FREE white paper Why Budgets Don’t Work at www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com
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Financial Satisfaction Survey Results posted on a separate page –>
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Posted in Debt, Money, Personal Financial Management, What Others Say, You BE the "Bank" | Tags: 401(k) plans, 801(k) plans, agon fly, annuities, annuity, bank, banker, banking, banks, be the bank, become your own bank, becoming your own banker, bonds, book on money, books on money, books on personal finance, circle of wealth, debt, debt elimination, debt reduction, debt to others, disability income insurance, Dr Agon Fly, Dr_Agon_Fly, financial, financial advice, financial advisor, financial planner, financial planning, health insurance, housing market. stocks, how to thrive, infinite banking, insurance dividends, investing, jeff reeves, jeffrey reeves, leap system, life insurance, long term care insurance, mass mutual, mass mutual insurance, massachusetts mutual life insurance, Money, money book, money books, money for life, money under management, mutual funds, mutual insurance, mutual insurance company, nash, nelson nash, new york life insurance company, new your life, northwestern mutual life, passive income, personal financial books, pirates of manhattan, r nelson nash, Retirement, retirement income, retirement planning, saving, stock dividends, stock market, Taxes, term life insurance, The Four Pillars, the guardian life insurance company, thrive, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Who’s helping you, why buy whole life insurance, why whole life insurance | No Comments »