Money for Life...(Thrive) in good times and bad

Wake Up America! Nationalizing Health Insurance Will Cost You A Lot Of Money.

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:18:23 -0500

No matter what President Obama says and regardless of his eloquence saying it, it would be a dire mistake, completely lacking in common sense, wisdom, and - mostly - regard for the US Constitution, for "We the People" to allow or accept any health care or health insurance program created by the US Congress and run by the US Government bureaucracy.

The record of accomplishment for US Government run programs is abysmal.

Congress established The U.S. Post Service in 1775 - they've had 234 years to get it
right.
o It is seven billion dollars in debt again this year and will need another "bailout" (a word that is becoming all too common these days).
Congress established Social Security in 1935 - They've had 74 years to get it right.
o It is broke. It survives only on funds the US Government has borrowed from the next generation of Americans.
Congress established Fannie Mae in 1938 - They've had 71 years to get it right
o It is broke. Moreover, it is taking millions of Americans to bankruptcy court while it survives on (here's that word again) bailout money.
Congress established War on Poverty started in 1964 - They've had 45 years to get it right.
o The IRS confiscates over a trillion dollars of our hard earned income each year to distribute to Washington bureaucracies to help poor Americans escape poverty, but the poor still abound. The US Government is losing that war.
Congress established Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Both are health care and health insurance programs. - They've had 44 years to get it right.
o Both are broke. They survive only on funds the US Government has borrowed from the next generation of Americans.
Congress established Freddie Mac in 1970 - They've had 39 years to get it right.
o It is broke. Moreover, it too is taking millions of Americans to bankruptcy court with it.
In 2009 Congress established a fund of trillions of dollars in the massive political payoff called the TARP Fund.
o It shows NO sign of working the way the Congress and the White House (both Bush and Obama) presented it to "We the People."
In the first weeks of the Obama administration, the US Congress passed an almost one trillion-dollar pork-barrel bill disguised as a stimulus package that would, we were told, moderate the recession and reduce unemployment.
o DUH! Did we really believe that?
And now-a new record: Congress established "Cash for Clunkers" (welfare for the auto industry) in 2009 and it went broke in 2009!
o So much for the ability of the US Congress to think ahead - it simply doesn't exist.

So, with a perfect 100% failure rate, can Americans truly believe the US Government can
be trusted with a government-run health care system that the Congress designed?

"We the People" pay for every one of the failed programs listed above. Add another trillion or so (remember, a trillion is one thousand billions) of our hard earned dollars to the money the US Congress can waste, and it most certainly will be wasted.

The health care system in America is undeniably the best in the world. It became the best because "We the People" are in charge, and because the free enterprise system works. However, "We the People" also know that the system is imperfect and that the delivery system for health care relies on insurance companies whose self-interest is often opposed to the interests of "We the People." It is also plagued by the irresponsible behavior of attornies that sue the medical commuity at the drop of a hat.

The health care and health insurance challenges that face America in 2009 have many more workable and less expensive solutions than the ones the Washington insiders are promoting. None of these alternatives requires giving the US Government another opportunity to fail.

This blog is too short to enumerate them. I encourage you to do some research on the internet where you will discover that the systems being modeled in Washington...

are failing across the globe
are loaded with political payoffs

By Jeffrey Reeves MA, www.youBEthebank.com

Ron Jennings, http://www.moneylearningcenter.com/

Turmoil Spooks 529 Holders says The National Underwriter On Line...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:42:55 -0500

An article, Turmoil Spooks 529 Holders, was published in the National Underwriter on 4/20/2009. (TREVOR THOMAS) The article suggested a flight to safety by parents and grandparents that were "saving" in 529 Plans for their children's and grandchildren's college educations.

Hooray! America is waking up to the reality that Wall Street and the Dolts in DC have been telling us to "save" but they are really encouraging us is to gamble. Investing is, by definition, very risky. When investing that is disguised as saving it becomes a con-game. Basin your children's or your grandchildren's future on a con game that you or they cannot win is beyond risky; it is almost foolish.

However, the con-artists tell you otherwis. They show you 8% gains year after year. They proclaim it to be as certain as death. They pay little of no heed to actual investor performance history. Instead, they substitute generic stock market statistics from a company that wants them to write business and that support the sales proposal. (Sales proposals are OK if they are sales proposals. They create a con-game when they are pesented as personal finance advice.)

A truly sage advior told me today that her college funding proposals always incorporate cash value life insurance, which is not counted in financial aid assessments, and rely on gurantees that are ->

truth based
objective
verifiable

That kind of advice might just lead to reliable wealth creation and wealth preservation, intelligent legacy planning, and the perfect investment.

You might want to evaluate529 Plans that way, too.

Are We Listening To The Wrong Advice About Money?

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:09:16 -0500

In 1974 the US Congress passed ERISA. The aim was to convince Americans that saving money was a bad idea and 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 pretty good high school coach and motivater was able to convince thousands of naive amateurs that they were "financial advisors." He taught them how to strip every penny possible from secure whole life insurance policies and - you guessed it - buy term insurance and invest [aka gamble] everything else in mutual funds. Americans listened. Wall Street and the IRS rejoiced.

A few years later EF Hutton invented universal life insurance. These policies took the money that whole life insurance saved in guaranteed accounts and moved it into accounts that were not guaranteed but that the Wall Streeter could profit from without concern for whether the policy owner did or not. These kinds of policies destroyed successful insurance companies and sucked billions from the savings of American families. Americans listened. Wall Street and the IRS rejoiced.

In the ensuing decades Americans listened to advice to invest [aka gamble] in dotcoms and even to invest [aka gamble] our home equity in risky schemes. Americans became convinced that carrying debt equal to their investments [aka gambles] made some sort of sense. Americans listened. Wall Street, the IRS, and money lenders rejoiced.

BUNK - A THOUSAND TIMES OVER - BUNK!

"THE FACT THAT AN OPINION HAS BEEN WIDELY HELD DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT'S NOT UTTERLY ABSURD." Bertrand Russell.

We have been paying attention to the wrong people for almost 4 decades. The results are that American families and the American economy are bankrupt.

You and I can't stop the folks in DC from telling us that they can handle our money better than we can, or the not-so-smart gurus on Wall Street from trying to sell us investments that make them wealthy and us poor.

We can stop listening. Please, stop listening to the wrong people. Find old ways of creating wealth, preserving assets, and taking care of your families.

By Jeffrey Reeves MA - youBEthebank.com

Lifeboats For Your Money...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:11:59 -0600

March 1st, 2009

In January, 2008 I wrote an entry in my blog about the failure of the White Star Line to add enough lifeboats to the Titianic because they believed it unsinkable. It's worth re-reading today as the Titanic of the US economy is compromised by the arrogance and greed of the financial Behemoths and the gluttonous appetite for power by the Dolts in DC - the US Congress, the US Presidents of the past 16 years and the misguided ambition of the current US President for a "change" to the unknown...at least to you and me it's unknown.

The problem for the typical American is the possible failure of the good ship Economy - especially the financial structure that supports it. The media is not trumpeting the nature and outcome of such a failure, nor is the faltering financial community keeping us honestly informed. Instead they feed us the pabulum advice...

- don't make decisions now,
- stay the course,
- wait for the market to settle,
- buy now when the market is down so you can capture the gain on the upswing
- and on, and on, and on...

BUNK, BUNK, BUNK, BUNK, AND MORE BUNK!

You were told the same thing when the market was at 12,000, 11,000, 10,000, 9,000, 8,000, and today. That advice has created immense losses for Americans - TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF LOSSES.

What if, on the other hand, you had done what common sense, and a few advisors that are not controlled by the Behemoths, recommended as early as July of 2007? What if you had moved your money into a lifeboat when all the signs pointed at the sinking of the good ship Economy? You would have lost nothing. Of course, if the market had surged at that time you might be disappointed that you didn't hang on for the gain. However, that is like folding a losing Texas Hold'em blind only to discover that the next three cards would have made it a winner.

In the current situation, had you opted to move your money from "the market" to the lifeboat of a credit union, money market account, CDs, whole life insurance [my choice], or any other financial product with guarantees, you would not have lost a penny - not one single penny - and would have earned fair market interest rates the entire time. Want proof?

$100,000.00 left in the "market" in July of 2007 is worth less than $50,000.00 today.

$100,000.00 moved into a lifeboat in July of 2007 at 3% is worth over $105,000.00 today.

That difference of over $55,000.00. 3% doesn't look so bad from this perspective.

The advice of the Behemoths and their Minions aims to bolster the balance sheets and income statements of, believe it, the Behemoths and their Minions, not yours. Their advice aims to keep their ship afloat at your expense. It is bad advice for you and me and for 99.9% of Americans.

Hell, Warren Buffett - America's iconic investment guru - lost money last year. So did T. Boone Pickens and many other notable investors. The Wonks on Wall Street [I now call it Dull Street] - the same folks the Behemoths quote to entice you to "invest" [aka gamble] with them - have failed across the board.

It gets worse. The Dolts in DC have spent over a trillion dollars in the last six months in a disorganized and undisciplined attempt to right the good ship Economy. They have committed almost two trillion dollars more of our money since January 20th. They have failed so far. Their failure to actually assist Americans save their homes and afford new mortgages is especially blatant since that's what got the greed up in DC.

We all want success in this regard. However, the plenitude of pork that permeates the spending plans of these failed programs indicates discomfort for "We the people" and contentment for the cronies of the Dolts in DC.

If you haven't taken refuge in a lifeboat yet, it's time. If the market grows dramatically and rapidly you may miss a part of the upsurge. That's very unlikely. If there's hope to repair the massive breach in the hull of the good ship Economy, it will likely have to be put in dry-dock for a period of time. In the short-term it is better to have a small guaranteed gain than the possibility of no gain or significant losses. For all practical purposes there is no long-term until the good ship Economy returns to full functioning capability.

"Relying on the long run for investment decisions is essentially relying on trend lines. But how certain can we be that trends are destiny? Trends bend. Trends break. Today, in fact, we have no idea where any trend lines might begin or end, or even whether any trend lines still exist."

Posted Feb 27 2009, 10:16 PM
by John Mauldin
Investors Insight

If your advisor continues to encourage you to keep bailing while the ship is sinking and sturdy lifeboats are waiting, fire him or her. S/he is obviously not looking out for you.

The common sense approach to creating wealth and managing your personal economy does not depend on the success or failure of other people and self-serving financial institutions. It relies on you and other like-minded Americans taking control of the money that flows into your life to assure your success, not the success of some Behemoth, banker or politician.

Remember, America was built on the foundation of saving money in local banks and credit unions, whole life insurance policies, and home ownership. There is little or no place in the personal economy of American families for speculative investments - including and especially the overhyped and oversold "retirement accounts" such as IRA's, 401(k)s and their clones.

The best economic advice for centuries has been to have a lot of money in ready cash accounts and to pay off the mortgage. We may be a bit more sophisticated today as regards how to manage those processes, but the principles remain the same. People with a stash of cash [I recommend three to five years of gross income], and thity to forty percent equity in their homes are relatively comfortable in today's economy.

by Jeffrey Reeves, www.YouBEthebank.com

Why The SEC Really Wants To Regulate Indexed Annuities...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:51:18 -0500

September 9th, 2008

"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.

___________________________

Getting A Grip On The Housing And Mortgage Crises...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:32:10 -0500

September 8th, 2008 The seemingly never-ending housing and mortgage crises effect each of us every day whether we feel it or not. The fact that the federal government is taking them over in order to rein in their excesses demonstrates that the take-over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac represents something much more than just a government bailout.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are quasi-governmental agencies that were virtually immune to the checks and balances of free enterprise. Their failure is the failure of government intervention in the free market that established these entities in the first place, and allowed them access to the capital markets while concurrently giving them free rein to gain subsidy and support from the pork barrel congress.

This is a watershed moment in American economics and perhaps American politics; a monent when the do-nothing Congress may recognize that federal government's finger in the free enterprise pie creates many more problems than it solves...big problems. Dr Agon Fly _____________

In Rescue to Stabilize Lending,
U.S. Takes Over Mortgage Finance Titans
By STEPHEN LABATON and EDMUND L. ANDREWS

Published: September 7, 2008 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

___________________

www.YouBeTheBank.com

0% Interest Game...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:00:00 -0500

August 28th, 2008

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

_________________________________

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?

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...Self Imposed Taxes

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:48:12 -0500

August 11th, 2008

By Benjamin Franklin and Dr Agon Fly

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.

"[The crowd at the auction] joined in desiring him to speak his mind, and gathering round him he proceeded as follows.

"Friends," said he, "the taxes are indeed very heavy, and, if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us.

Father Abraham's comment reflects one of the most fundamental characteristics of Americans: the indomitable spirit that sees the insanity of governments and their attempts to manipulate the people and the economy with taxes, as a mere pot hole on the road of life. His comment also points to the next topic, which is that we create our own money problems. Read on.

We are taxed twice as much by our idleness,

Dr Franklin's math might be a bit obscure but one thing is certain; individually and collectively we lose both income and assets by failing to act when action is appropriate or required.

Money comes from work. Success comes from handling that money well. That's more work. Americans are the masters when it comes to making money from their work, but we have given in to idleness when it comes to the management of our money. We have allowed the Behemoths to convince us that they know better than we what's best for us. We have relinquished our power, and that is a greater burden than taxes ever could be.

three times as much by our pride,

When Father Abraham talks about ‘pride' as a treble-tax he's reminding America of one of its longest standing foibles: keeping up with the Jonses.

Perhaps it's just human. It's been a recognized human frailty since Cain whacked Able. Regardless, spending our money in an attempt to appear affluent, sophisticated, educated, informed, well-connected, etc. is real money that is being traded for rationalized gains that are nothing more than smoke.

and four times as much by our folly;

"Folly - a lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight; an excessively costly or unprofitable undertaking" Merriam-Webster Online. Have you ever followed a whim and found it to be a folly? Or just entered into a folly, eyes wide open?

Father Abraham identifies the greatest ‘tax' that we impose on ourselves as ‘folly.' The Behemoths have convinced us that folly is wisdom. They want us to believe it's OK to lose real money in investments today in order to make maybe-money at some undetermined future date. That's folly - a lack of good sense, normal prudence and foresight; an excessively costly and unprofitable undertaking for you, but not for the Behemoths - that's how they have become wealthy as we find less and less in our accounts.

and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abatement.

Today a few Americans clamor for the government to take over everything from health care to energy. Father Abraham reminds us that government can't bail us out of our individual and collective idleness, pride and follies.

However, let us hearken to good advice, and something maybe done for us; God helps them that help themselves, as Poor Richard says.

Poor Richard, the Founding Fathers and Mothers, presidents and statesmen and women, and their families recognized that God created a universe where we are personally responsible for our actions and inactions, our decisions about our lifestyles and what we do with the abundance that we have been given to steward. Even those who do not believe in God rank personal responsibility highest on the stewardship scale.

Tags: Benjamin Franklin, investing, Money, Taxes

A Different Kind Of Credit Card Fraud - Credit Card Issuers...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:12:20 -0500

August 9th, 2008

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.

____________________________

www.YouBeTheBank.com

____________________________

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Financial News From The Week Of July 25th, 2008...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:25:00 -0500

August 4th, 2008

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.

____________________

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

No. 6...

March 3 2008: 3:38 AM EST

Don't expect another bull market

Stock returns may never be the same - at least for this generation of investors.

By Allan Sloan, senior editor at large

(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.

Read on... http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/29/magazines/fortune/bull_market.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008030303

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Two Questions About The Money For Life Model...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:47:11 -0500

August 3rd, 2008

•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 31^st than we started with on January 1^st - 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.

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

Alarming Stats About Young People and Money...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:40:10 -0500

July 28th, 2008

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

______________________

www.YouBeTheBank.com

______________________

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

Advice About Saving From Benjamin Franklin...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:27:00 -0500

July 27th, 2008

"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.

________________________________

www.YouBeTheBank.com

________________________________

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Basic Economics: Save First, Invest Later, Speculate Never...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:43:25 -0500

July 24th, 2008

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!

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 can consider investing.

Consider 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.

______________________________

www.YouBeTheBank.com

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Money Is Important, But So Are Red Marbles...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:42:33 -0500

July 20th, 2008

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.

_____________________________

Wishing you Health, Abundance, Love and Light...

_____________________________

Tags: Abundance, economics, economy, Health, investing, Life, Love, marbles, Money, saving

It's Only Money? How You Can Prosper With Small Savings Decisions...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:43:21 -0500

July 18th, 2008

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

___________________________

www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com - www.YouBeTheBank.com

___________________________

Tags:

Home Equity Isn't Money But A Lot Of Families Think It Is...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:50:30 -0500

July 15th, 2008

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 or 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.

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.

Here's a 'soulution' 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 "bank" today. Buy a properly finded cash value 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 enought 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 mortgae, 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 'soulutions' to every financial challenge and every money need and that the Behemoths want not to solve your problem but to pad their pocketbooks.

________________________

www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com - www.YouBeTheBank.com

________________________

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Short Term - Money, Long Term - Investments, And Never The Twain Shall Meet...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:38:20 -0500

July 12th, 2008

"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 investments that you don't and that someone else - perhaps with motives that don't serve you - is in control of your "long-term".

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.

_____________________________

www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com

_____________________________

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The Scrooge and Marner Bank vs Whole Life Insurance...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:52:52 -0500

Email [Edit] | Written by jdragonfly on <script type="text/javascript"></script> Jul-11-08 8:44am

From: themoneyforlifeblog.com

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."

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?

____________________

www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com

____________________

Geopolitics And Your Pocketbook - Why You Need Cash Money NOW

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:26:17 -0500

July 6th, 2008

"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

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.

_______________________________________

www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com

_______________________________________

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

Real Estate and Whole Life Insurance: A Financial Marriage Made In America

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:59:21 -0500

July 3rd, 2008

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." CASABLANCA, 1942

This is going to be a brief but replete post.

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.

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.

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

Oxymoron: Wall Street Wisdom About Your Money...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:55:53 -0500

June 27th, 2008

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]

http://www.forbes.com/2008/06/26/banking-earnings-goldman-biz-wall-cx_lm_0626credibility.html?partner=yahootix

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

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 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.

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.

www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com

American Money, American Oil, American Innovation...Revisited

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:52:38 -0500

This is a post made on May 9, 2008 and it is more relevant now than it was then...
Friday, May 9th, 2008
**"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 caveates 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 niavely 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 signigicant resources to oil altenatives.

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 ecomomic strength, you and I will become servants to some foriegh 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

_________________________

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

"Equity harvesting" is a gamble based on a gamble...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:07:12 -0500

June 20th, 2008

"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

Equity harveting 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 appreciating asset.

Don't do it.

It's true that there is NO return on equity. If you were counting on appreciation in 2008 and had to sell a property that was appraised for $500,000 in 2006 - thinking you would see an increase - you were probably surprised to learn that the property is now worth $450,000 - or less.

If you had a $300,000 mortgage in 2006 and had "harvested" the $200,000 in "non-working equity" to buy some other asset, yo would now be facing a serios 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 growth in that asset also.

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.

Equity harvesting is presented as a safe way to increase retirment income. It isn't all that safe and the increase is based on aggressive assumptions that are not always realistic.

________________________

www.TheMoneyForLifeBook.com

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, 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

Reverse Mortgage Money Magic...

Jeffrey Reeves (YouBeTheBank.com) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:29:49 -0500

June 19th, 2008

"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 intersted, however, in owning the family home or moving back to the city they grew up in.

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 therfore 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.

Reverse mortgages are one of the most powerful tools available to seniors today. For additional information go to http://www.nrmla.org/

______________________________

www.theMoneyForLifeBook.com

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