Confession: I didn’t set out to be a writer. But in 2008, it became increasingly clear that – when it came to financial and retirement planning – following the crowd just wasn’t working. Both our financial system and the entire economy were falling off a cliff.
Home foreclosures were at record highs. And 16 million homeowners had no equity to count on because they owed more than their homes were worth.
The idea of having a comfortable, worry-free retirement had become a distant dream for many – even for those who did “all the right things” that Wall Street and the financial gurus had told them to do.
While every expert who thought they knew anything about growing wealth was complaining that there was nothing that could be done to save your nest egg during the financial crisis, the truth is that every single person using the Bank On Yourself wealth-building strategy (and there were hundreds of thousands of them) did just fine. They didn’t lose a penny. In fact, they continued to receive the same predictable and guaranteed growth they had been promised – even when the real estate market and the stock market were crashing down around them.
The Bank On Yourself strategy relies on a turbocharged variation of a financial asset that has increased in value during every single market crash and in every bull market – and every bear market – for more than 100 years. See why Bank On Yourself is the one strategy that works in any economy.
Somebody needed to tell hard-working Americans there is a better way. Somebody needed to write a book! And I found myself saying, “If not me, then who? If not now, when?”
Pamela Yellen’s Introduction to the Bank On Yourself Strategy That Brings Guarantees and Safe Wealth-Building to Families Across America
As a long-time consultant to tens of thousands of financial advisors, I had been exposed over the years to literally hundreds of financial products, strategies, and concepts, many of which made bold promises for growing wealth. After careful investigation, most proved to be worthless.
I came to the conclusion that an appropriate financial product or method had to meet three basic criteria:
- It had to be brain-dead simple – simple to implement, and pretty much able to operate on autopilot
- It had to be so close to foolproof that virtually anyone could use it with confidence – even if they didn’t have prior experience growing wealth
- Finally, it had to actually work – so we’d have confidence that our nest egg would grow safely every year and not go backward
I found this combination of requirements – and so much more – when, in 2001, one of my financial advisor clients introduced me to the strategy I call Bank On Yourself. The surprise was that the financial tool used for it had been right under my nose all along.
Americans needed help … and I knew I had the financial solutions they needed
So I decided to write a book about this unique and little-known twist on a financial vehicle that’s existed for more than one hundred years that, when combined with a mind-bending financial principle, lets you fire your banker and take control of your own financial future.
Much to my surprise and delight, my first book, Bank On Yourself: The Life-Changing Secret to Growing and Protecting Your Financial Future soared to the lofty ranks of the New York Times Bestseller list.
And the book got rave reviews. For example, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Mark Victor Hansen, wrote …
This book reveals a unique, powerful and time-tested method that can guarantee your financial security and peace of mind now and in the years to come.”
The book sparked a movement, as members of the general public and many of their financial advisors realized the power of the Bank On Yourself strategy. A special training program ensured that financial advisors offering the solution to their clients knew what they were doing. Graduates of the training program became known as Bank On Yourself Professionals, and today they number about 200 in the United States and Canada.
Bank On Yourself Incites a Riot in the Financial World
Only another writer could possibly know what goes into writing a non-fiction book. It’s not an easy task at all. It takes months of focused concentration, and a slew of assistants to do research, check and double-check statistics, and then polish the writing to make it easy to read.
By the time I finished writing my first book about Bank On Yourself, I’d had enough. I told my husband, Larry, that I never wanted that much stress again.
Then the book hit the bestseller lists, and we got a tremendous response from folks who were thrilled to have discovered Bank On Yourself. (Nice!) …
Ah, but then I found myself in the sights of people who felt threatened that I was rocking their boat. (Not so nice!) I’m referring to your media financial gurus and Wall Street types, financial advisors, money managers, and even members of the banking industry.
I got hateful letters and spiteful emails that were unbelievably nasty and hurtful.
Bloggers came after me, many with a poison-pen attitude. Columnists and talking heads took me on, while outrageously misrepresenting the simple Bank On Yourself strategy that had saved the bacon of so many hundreds of thousands of people during the financial crisis.
It got so I dreaded opening my email. Even those who were thrilled with the results of their Bank On Yourself plans were asking me to explain why so many “famous advisors” seemed to be on the warpath against Bank On Yourself.
It seemed like many … if not most … of those attacking me hadn’t bothered to do even the simplest of research. But I still had to face my accusers and answer their mindless misconceptions and attacks on the Bank On Yourself concept.
I did not take those attacks lightly. They hurt.
So I told Larry, “That’s it. I’m done. No more books.”
That was in 2009.
But then …
Bank On Yourself and the 2007 financial crisis
By the end of 2010, the world was digging out of financial disaster.
The recession had demolished the nest eggs of so many Americans. Typical folks in the middle class – the class that suffered the most damage – actually lost all the gains they had accumulated over nearly two decades. Those Americans who kept their money in savings accounts and CDs had yields of approximately zilch because the Feds kept interest rates down.
And soon the self-proclaimed experts on Wall Street – the very experts whose advice had caused the crisis! – told us we needed to jump back into the market and gamble what we had left, to make up for what we had lost. Since when do you recoup your gambling losses by gambling more?
I couldn’t just stand by and let people suffer when they didn’t have to.
There was a way out, and I’d seen so many people benefit from it. I knew about the safe way to grow your wealth and have access to the cash you need while guaranteeing a comfortable retirement and setting up a legacy to be left to those you love.
But people seemed to have forgotten my blockbuster bestseller of a few short years before. I realized people needed a fresh, updated look at the Bank On Yourself concept.
So I said to Larry, “Okay, … maybe just one more book.”
And this time I was hell-bent on inciting a revolution.
The Bank On Yourself Revolution Book Rocks the Personal Finance World
The Bank On Yourself Revolution hit the bookstores in 2014, and once again I found I had created a New York Times Bestseller.
The Bank On Yourself Revolution really debunks the myths of conventional financial wisdom, and it explains the nuts and bolts of the Bank On Yourself strategy and how and why it works. It shows you how this strategy can provide you with everything from the liquidity you need to finance major purchases or a college education … to a safe and predictable way to grow your retirement fund … to how to leave a significant legacy while still having access to money when you need it.
In The Bank On Yourself Revolution, I address virtually all the top concerns about money expressed by people today – for example …
- Worried about having enough money to retire? Afraid that you’ve started too late? See Chapters 2, 5, and 10
- Anxious about how you’ll pay for your children’s college education? See Chapter 8
- Nervous about having too much of your nest egg on the roller coaster we call Wall Street? Disgusted with the poor results your investments are producing? See Chapter 2
- Uneasy about the economic landscape your children will be entering? Concerned about how they’ll ever be able to make it financially? See Chapters 6 and 11
- Stressed about finding the capital you need to start your own business or keep your business going? See Chapter 9
- Feeling strangled by credit card debt? Or trying to avoid piling up debt in the first place? See Chapter 7
- Feeling strapped because you’ve retired but your nest egg isn’t earning enough income for you, and you’d rather not take more risk with your money? See Chapter 10
- Fed up with feeling stressed about money in general? See Chapter 6 – then read the whole darn book!
Great Praise for the Book, The Bank On Yourself Revolution
And several of the hundreds of thousands of individuals who’ve fallen in love with the Bank On Yourself strategy have chosen to become licensed advisors, in order to enroll their family members and friends in the strategy. One of those is retired Navy Commander Robert Chambers, who has become a fervent “evangelist” for the Bank On Yourself strategy.
Pamela Yellen and 30 Top Financial Advisors Publish a Book on Building Lifetime Financial Security with Bank On Yourself
In 2013, during the “lull” between my two New York Times bestsellers on Bank On Yourself, I enlisted 30 Bank On Yourself Professionals to co-author another book with me: The Secret to Lifetime Financial Security: The Nation’s Leading Financial Advisors Reveal How to Turn Your Back on Banks and Wall Street and Take Control of Your Financial Future Today. The book became a #1 Amazon.com Bestseller!
In this book, these 30 financial advisors and I discuss our individual personal journeys that led us to embrace this safe wealth-building strategy. And the advisors explain how their clients use it to turn their backs on conventional wisdom and say goodbye to the volatility and restrictions of traditional financial vehicles.
Get Your Own Copy of The Bank On Yourself Revolution – The Book That Incited a Revolution!
Of everything I’ve written, what am I most proud of? That’s easy. The Bank On Yourself Revolution – the book that has helped so many Americans safely grow their wealth by firing their banker, bypassing Wall Street, and taking control of their own financial future.
One enthusiastic reader explains why The Bank On Yourself Revolution means so much to her:
As a baby boomer, when I first read about the Bank On Yourself plan, I was literally speechless.
“How could this have been around for as long as it has, and yet people still don’t know about it? Then it occurred to me that there are those that would prefer as few people know about it as possible.
“Think of the effect it could have if average Americans really start to use this kind of plan that allows them to borrow from themselves to finance major items – cars, college, dream vacations, even businesses…and pay themselves back.
“That’s why you need to educate yourself. Read this book and do what Pamela recommends.”
– Michelle Price, Co-Founder, National Association of Women Solopreneurs
