According to a recent comment on this blog, I’m full of it. Apparently, the author thinks I pulled the following statement out of my butt…
The reality is that the typical mutual fund investor has actually been losing 1 percent per year over the last 20 years, after adjusting for inflation.”
The statistic comes from the respected research firm, Dalbar, Inc., in its 15th annual study of mutual fund investor behavior. The study measures the returns investors actually get, not the returns they wished they got.
According to Lou Harvey, the president of Dalbar, the study once again revealed that
“investor returns lag what performance reports and prospectuses would lead one to believe is achievable. While those returns are theoretically achievable, the reality is that investors are not rational, and make buy and sell decisions at the worst possible moments.”
Let me paint a picture of how this happens: Lets say you do what the author (who calls himself “David K.”) of the rather nasty blog comment suggests and buy “simple index funds” and hold them for twenty years.
One of my most influential mentors (Dan Kennedy) says,
If you don’t offend somebody by noon each day, you’re not doing much.”
So I want to thank Danny Snyder, whose post to this blog you’ll find below (exactly as he submitted it), for confirming that I am indeed doing something:
First of all using the words “money on steroids” immediatly [sic] puts you in the liar and non-trustworthy category. If you put in $5314.44 and your cash value is $2937.18 you need some ritilin, you are A.D.D. Dave Ramsey (who is in a category way above the likes of you and Suze Boreman) knows of what he speaks. Millions of people have changed their lives due to Dave’s advice. You need to tread very lightly, if you want to succeed and prove yourself. Think… before you tear down people you do not know. I do actually Bank on Myself.
Your [sic] a scam!
Danny Snyder
On this website, I have stated that I agree with many of the basic principles taught by the financial “gurus” like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman. And I know they have helped turn around the financial lives of many.
UPDATED April 2020: It’s been nearly a decade since I challenged Suze and Dave to a debate, but they haven’t taken me up on it yet. This post sparked some very lively debate and insightful comments, so be sure to read those, too.
Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey and many other financial advice-givers tell you to avoid whole life insurance. However, the policies used for the Bank On Yourself method are dramatically different in three key ways from the kind of whole life insurance that Suze, Dave and others talk about. Here, I reveal these key differences and prove their validity by showing you examples of my own policy statements.
What’s more, my readers have alerted Suze and Dave. But sadly, both have chosen to ignore the facts I reveal below. I’m sure neither Suze nor Dave relish the idea of having to rewrite all their books and materials. But once YOU learn the critical key differences between Bank On Yourself policies and the ones Suze and Dave mention, I’m confident you’ll be asking the same question we hear Bank On Yourself policyholders mention repeatedly: “How come no one’s ever told me about this before!?”
Here are the three key differences:
Suze Orman & Dave Ramsey
Key Difference #1: These experts say the money you can have access to in the plan (your “cash value”) grows too slowly in a whole life policy, and say you typically won’t have any cash value at all in the first few years.
Suze Orman & Dave Ramsey
A Bank On Yourself-type policy, however, incorporates a special – and little-known – rider or option that turbo-charges the growth of your money in the policy so you have up to 40 times more cash value, especially in the early years of the policy. This allows you to use it as a powerful financial management tool from Day One.
But each plan is different, so to find out how much cash value you’ll have each year – guaranteed – request your FREE Analysis here.
Key Difference #2: Most financial experts, including Suze and Dave, talk about policies where your death benefit stays level for the life of the policy.
Please note that this statement is from a policy I started before I learned about Bank On Yourself, and it has grown much more slowly than a policy designed to maximize the power of the Bank On Yourself concept.
Key Difference #3: The financial experts often rant about how, when the policy owner dies, the insurance company “only” pays you the death benefit and keeps your cash value.
But with a Bank On Yourself policy it’s very different, as you can see on this policy statement. It shows you how, had I died on the date this statement was issued, my family would have received a check for more than the original death benefit AND the cash value in the policy combined!
So I am throwing out the gauntlet to Suze, Dave or any expert who wants to challenge me. Just name the time and place!”
And remember, Bank On Yourself will beat anyone’s best financial strategy or we’ll pay you $100,000!
No two policies are alike, because each one is tailored to the client’s unique situation. So your results will be different. To find out what your bottom-line numbers could be, and how much your financial picture could improve if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, request a free Bank On Yourself Analysis. There’s no obligation.
Update! Our hidden video camera captured Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey discussing Bank On Yourself…
If Bank On Yourself is so good, why isn’t everyone already doing it?
If you browse the personal finance section of any bookstore, turn on the TV or open a magazine on finance, you’ll discover that 99 out of 100 financial “gurus” will insist that whole life insurance is a lousy place to put your money. Most will recommend you buy term life insurance instead and invest the difference in mutual funds.
That’s in spite of the fact that, had you invested in an S&P 500 index fund for the past 13 years, you most likely have little to show for it other than a pile of pocket lint and a lot of sleepless nights. And that doesn’t even factor in 35% inflation during this period!
The major stock market indexes have fallen to levels not seen for 12 years – since 1997.
Of course, inflation during that period has reduced the value of your dollars by at least 36%.
The reality is that most Americans have been digging themselves deeper into a financial hole every year, with no way of knowing how long it will take to crawl out.
My New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Business Week best-selling book, Bank On Yourself, has been receiving some five-star endorsements from top experts in personal finance.
Check out what T. Harv Eker, #1 New York Times best-selling author of “The Millionaire Mind,” said:
If you’re looking for more of the same conventional financial advice, this isn’t the book for you. But if you’re prepared to take back control of your financial life once and for all, Bank on Yourself is a ground-breaking method that can put you on the fast track to reaching your goals and dreams.”
As Harv noted, Bank On Yourself really isn’t the same old financial advice people have been getting everywhere else. And that’s a good thing, don’t you think?
Because look where that’s gotten us – we’re deep in the midst of the greatest destruction of household wealth in history, with no quick fix in sight.
In my book on Bank On Yourself, you’ll meet Bill Liebler, one of the many folks who shared their experiences with Bank On Yourself. Bill gave me this update last week:
As we’ve watched our IRA, 401(k), and stock portfolio dwindle, we are relieved we have a chunk of our net worth in our Bank On Yourself plan. It creates a place where our money is safe, the value didn’t drop, and in fact, has continued to increase every year. We really have been able to achieve peace of mind with this approach, and I strongly encourage everyone to look into it.”
The ultimate financial security blanket in both good times and bad
Did you know that the Bank On Yourself wealth-building method has NEVER had a losing year? Used by Walt Disney and J.C. Penney, it has stood the test of time for more than 160 years.
To find out how you can grow your nest-egg safely and predictably, even when stocks real estate and other investments tumble… and how much money you could have – GUARANTEED – on the day you plan to retire, request your FREE no-obligation Analysis and Recommendations now.
How are folks who use Bank On Yourself faring today, during the greatest destruction of household wealth in history?
I just heard from the Wilder family, who told me how they “stayed sane” during the market crash:
We have had Bank On Yourself plans for about three and a half years. They were what kept us sane during the stock market crash of 2008. Everything that was not in Bank On Yourself policies lost 32%, but all of our Bank On Yourself policies grew. Our goal with it is to be free of all interest payments to lenders and to secure a retirement income stream we can count on. We have used the plans to purchase a new car and pay off our mortgage. It’s a pleasure to know our car cannot be repossessed and our home cannot be foreclosed on.”
Have you noticed that every day it seems we get a new reminder of just how badly Wall Street has failed us? One of the latest reminders is simply astonishing.
Do you know what a “Target Fund” is? This increasingly popular choice for 401(k) plans is a mutual fund billed as a one-stop solution for investors saving for retirement. You put your money in a single fund linked to the year in which you plan to retire, and the fund company does the rest.
The idea is that the company invests your nest-egg more conservatively every year, so that when you’re ready to retire, your money will be there for you.
The statistic comes from the respected research firm, Dalbar, Inc., in its 15th annual study of mutual fund investor behavior. The study measures the returns investors actually get, not the returns they wished they got.
