Imagine this–
A successful 45 years old
A couple of children about to go off to college
The stay-at-home spouse is about to re-enter the work force even though the family doesn’t need the income
The mortgage-paid off
No auto loans, credit card debt, or home improvement loans
Several years of living expenses set aside [...]
This past weekend my wife and I attended a presentation of the musical South Pacific at the Temple Buehl Theater in Denver. The character Bloody Mary sings a song about Bali Ha’i early in the play and the words struck me as being apropos to the ongoing theme of this blog: helping Americans are find a better way to deal with their personal economies.
As I have said on many other occasions, Behemoths—big government agencies like the IRS, Fannie and Freddie, big investment firms, mutual funds, and stock insurance companies, big insurance agencies like AARP posing as advocates, big unions, big community organizations like ACORN—have misled Americans about the how-to of creating wealth and managing personal finances. This is [...]
Someone recently asked about FDIC insurance for the money in the “banks” suggested by the EUREKONOMICS’ Money for Life Modelfor creating wealth and managing personal finances, which recommends that each American should act as his/her own banker. (Some advisors refer to these as “family banks,” “infinite banks,” or “personal banks.” The use of the term “banks,” “banking,” and [...]
Preamble…
There are hundreds - perhaps thousands - of legitimate uses for participating (par) whole life insurance.
Thoughtful and creative insurance and financial guides recognize par whole life as the most powerful, flexible, and versatile financial tool in the US economy. These enlightened guides use par whole life for applications as simple as fulfilling basic family needs, [...]
The Seven Mysteries - aka Wealth Builders
Moving from Bad Habits to Good Practices
Prologue
The difference between a habit and a practice is awareness.
If a habit relies on thoughtless performance, a practice relies on thoughtful performance. The behavior can be the same, e.g., locking the doors at night. Awareness makes the difference.
Conventional wisdom means that [...]
In 1974 the US Congress passed ERISA and began convincing Americans that saving money was a bad idea. The law they passed convinced us that investing [aka gambling] in an IRA or 401(k) was better than putting our money into guaranteed return savings vehicles. Americans listened. Wall Street and the IRS rejoiced.
In 1977 a high school coach [...]
