If you want to scare the bejesus out of home dwellers this Halloween, trying dressing up as an IRS auditor or a foreclosure process server.
In fact, an exclusive nationwide online survey conducted this month by my company, Bank On Yourself, finds that by a margin of almost four-to-one, many Americans would rather die than outlive their money.
The results are neither trick nor treat: They’re a sad commentary on the financial condition and current state of mind of so many of our family members, friends, neighbors and colleagues.
More than 500 adults took part in our Bank On Yourself Fear Factors Challenge: Personal Finance Edition. Like the popular television contest that inspired us, we presented players with some icky, gross, terrifying or truly embarrassing scenarios. We then quizzed them on what makes their flesh crawl more: Our scares or the frights associated with personal finance failures?
How do your worst money fears compare with the financial phobias of your friends, colleagues and neighbors?
Just how far would you go to avoid a full IRS audit or having to tell your loved ones that you’ve lost your home to foreclosure?
Faced with the choice of death or living out your senior years penniless, which would you select?
Already, more than 500 readers across the country have played our fun and very revealing online personal finance game: The Bank On Yourself Fear Factors Challenge. It takes only a couple minutes to complete.
In the true spirit of Halloween, some of our questions might make you squirm. We ask you to compare your money fears to other scares involving live snakes, pockets full of worms and even cow’s blood.
What’s so surprising are the responses we’re receiving!
Hint: So far, more than one out of every five game players say they’d rather walk naked down a fashion runway while being photographed than see their dumbest financial decisions published for everyone to view in their local newspaper.
How about you? Naked or exposed?
There are ten total questions and each is both fun and thought-provoking. We’ve extended the deadline for playing the Bank On Yourself Fear Factors Challenge until Monday night, October 31, at midnight.
But don’t put it off until the witching hour. Do it now and ask your family and friends to record their choices as well. That way you can compare and discuss your financial phobias.
Bank On Yourself is based on an asset that has increased in value EVERY single year for more than 160 years. It’s never had a losing year… or even a single losing day.
So if you’re tired of relying on the “hope and pray” financial planning method, and are ready to grow your wealth every year – safely, predictably AND guaranteed – get the nitty-gritty details here.
Were you surprised by your responses to any of these questions? Tell us in the comments box below…
We received dozens of insightful entries for our “Bank On Yourself vs. savings account” contest. They confirmed – once again – that we have a whole bunch of very smart subscribers!
The contest even inspired one reader to write a poem!
I’ve been studying these topics full time for nearly a decade now, and even I learned some new things. So, whether you use the Bank On Yourself method or not, or you consider yourself to be an expert or a novice at understanding money and finances, you should read this!
You will undoubtedly learn some things you didn’t already know!
There were so many great contest entries, it was really tough for our team to single out only the five best entries, and the winners of the iPod Touch, Amazon.com gift certificate and more are listed below.
We received several hundred correct entries to last week’s blog contest and the five randomly picked winners are listed below, along with the details of a NEW contest I’m holding.
Enter below to win these prizes!
You could win an iPod Touch, $100 Amazon.com gift certificate, a $25 dining Certificate and more!
In case you missed last week’s contest, I had posted a podcast discussing some of the internet forums where people anonymously debate the merits of Bank On Yourself and discuss whether or not it’s a scam.
Enter below to win these prizes!
On one of those threads that comes up very high in the search results, one of my toughest, potty-mouthed critics has slowly come around and admitted I’m right about many of the points I’ve been making.
When challenged by another poster about the actual returns people get in the stock market, he dragged out 29 years of records of his own investing accounts, and was shocked to discover what his returns had actually been.
The contest was simple to enter – just listen to the podcast where I revealed what my critic discovered was his actual annual rate of return BEFORE accounting for inflation and taxes… and then tell us what the percentage was.
Since the contest has ended, I can reveal the answer now. My critic averaged a 4.5% annual return over the past nearly three decades of investing in the stock market.
That’s BEFORE accounting for inflation, which averaged more than 3% per year, bringing his real return down closer to 1% per year.
And since much of his investing has been in tax-deferred accounts, he has yet to pay taxes on that money. Of course, he doesn’t know what the tax rates will be during his retirement, when he’s taking income from those accounts.
But what direction do you think tax rates will be going over the long term? (If you said “down,” I’ve got a Rolex watch I’ll sell you for $20.)
When you account for inflation and taxes, the question that ought to hit you over the head is…
Was it worth it?!?
Was it worth all the roller-coaster ups and downs and the sleepless nights to get 4.5% per year before taxes and inflation?
Keep in mind that no two Bank On Yourself plans are alike…
Each is custom tailored to your unique situation, goals and dreams. To find out what your bottom-line, guaranteed numbers and results would be if you added Bank On Yourself to your financial plan, request a free, no-obligation Analysis now, if you haven’t already done so.
If you’re wondering where you’ll find the money to fund your plan, keep in mind the Bank On Yourself Professionals are masters at helping people restructure their finances to free up seed money to fund a plan. Here are the eight most common places they look.
My critic’s experience wasn’t unique, although I’ll commend him for actually looking at his statements and then being willing to admit publicly – if anonymously – his disappointing results.
One subscriber to the Bank On Yourself blog made a similar discovery and posted this comment on last week’s blog:
Wow. I had the exact same experience when investigating Bank On Yourself before starting my own plans (have multiple policies and am LOVING the results – exactly as predicted or better, no surprises and I sleep well at night). I made the same Google search and spent hours poring over the posts. What struck me was that nobody ever presented any evidence of any kind of scam. Some folks disagreed with the assumptions or touted their wildly inaccurate assumptions about equities as a more attractive alternative, but never did anyone have anything remotely scam-ish to report.”
This comment came from Dan Proskauer, a very analytical man who has spent literally hundreds of hours researching Bank On Yourself, running spreadsheets and crunching the numbers.
And this concise comment made last week by a subscriber named John really summed up what a lot of people are (finally) figuring out…
I LOVE my Bank On Yourself plan, it does everything I was promised and more. I’ve not borrowed a penny from a bank or credit card in over a year. Why should I? I lend it to myself! And if you want a scam, I have two words for you … Wall Street”
Now for the details of our NEW contest…
A comment was made on the same thread that debates the merits of Bank On Yourself that it essentially works the same as a savings account, but with the added advantage of having a death benefit. This statement really got me thinking.
While there certainly are some ways in which Bank On Yourself-type policies function like a savings account, I can think of a lot of major, critical differences.
But rather than me telling you what those differences are, I’d rather hear what you believe they are. And some of our subscribers are a whole bunch smarter than I am.
So, I’m holding another contest, and our team will pick the five best answers and award a top prize of an iPod Touch (a $229.00 value), a second prize of a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate, and three runner-up prizes that will give you a choice of a $25 dining gift certificate or a personally autographed copy of my best-selling book for you or to give to someone you care about.
Just answer the following question in the comments box below no later than midnight, Monday, October 3:
The contest question is: How is dividend-paying whole life insurance different from a savings account (besides the death benefit)?
You can address one or more differences, or comment on someone else’s response to qualify.
And if you think I’m “full of it,” feel free to tell us that, too. (Some of our subscribers don’t seem to need any encouragement to do that…)
We’ll circle back here next week to report on the contest results and winners.
To qualify, just type in your response in the comments box at the end of this post no later than midnight, Monday, October 3rd. Please note that all comments are moderated, so there will be some delay before it appears. (Sorry – open to U.S. residents only.)
And now for the winners of last week’s contest. As I mentioned, we received hundreds of entries with the correct answer by both email and via the blog comments. These five randomly chosen winners have all been notified by email:
$100 Amazon.com gift certificate – Sheri Browning
The four winners of the $25 dining gift certificate or autographed book – Jeannie Fisher, Kevin Caldwell, Lynne, and Rich Rhoads
Okay! Scroll down to the comments box and enter the contest…
If you’ve ever searched for Bank On Yourself on Google, you’ve probably come across a couple of websites containing threads where posters debate the merits of Bank On Yourself.
One such thread that comes up high in the search results has nearly 200 posts spanning the last year and a half.
On this lively audio podcast, Bank On Yourself founder Pamela Yellen discusses how her toughest anonymous critic on that thread has slowly been coming around.
He now (grudgingly) admits that Pamela is right about many of the points he has been contesting. And, when challenged by another poster about the actual returns people get in the stock market, he even dragged out 29 years of records of his own investing accounts, only to conclude that he is “just an average investor.”
To listen to this fast-paced, surprising interview, click on the play button below, or you can download the recording as an mp3 and listen to it on your own player or iPod now at:
Near the end of this 15-minute interview, you’ll also discover a fast and simple experiment you can try to determine if Bank On Yourself really is a scam… or if it’s the ultimate financial security blanket in both good times and bad.
Wondering where you’ll find the funds to start a plan? Don’t worry! You’ll receive a referral to one of only 200 advisors in the country who have met the rigorous requirements to be a Bank On Yourself Professional and can show you ways to restructure your finances to free up seed money to fund your plan.
We really want to hear your comments and feedback! Tell us what you think in the comments box below. Please note that any comments containing the answer to the question of what was Pamela’s critics rate of return will be posted after September 24th, so as not to give away the answer…
Scroll down to the second paragraph below the “50/50, if you’re 50” subhead to read the advice Pamela gave for investors age 50-65 who are fed up with watching their hard-earned nest-eggs shrink yet again.
What about investors over age 65?
Pamela also gave advice for investors between the ages of 66 and 85 who want to add more guarantees and predictability to their financial plan and bump up their returns without the risk of stocks and other investments.
Although there wasn’t space to include that advice in the AARP article, this is an increasingly popular option for Americans up through the age of 85.
This little-known option provides many advantages that annuities and CD’s do not have, including…
Provides guaranteed growth and a higher return
Exceptional flexibility and liquidity
Protection from estate taxes
Automatic long-term care coverage at no additional costs (in states where it’s available)
If you’re not sure where you’ll find the funds to start a plan, don’t worry. The Bank On Yourself Professionals are masters at helping their clients of any age restructure their finances to free up seed money to fund a plan that will help you reach as many of your long-term and short-term goals as possible – in the shortest time possible.
Remember – Wall Street already lost more than 45% of the typical investor’s savings TWICE in the last decade. How would it affect you if this latest stock market rout is just the beginning of another look-out-below crash?
To find out how you can add predictability and guarantees to your financial plan and have the financial security and peace of mind that you want and deserve, request your FREE Analysis now. You’ll be connected with one of only 200 financial advisors in the country who have met the rigorous training and requirements to be a Bank On Yourself Professional.
Check out these other articles that may be of interest to you…
Teleconference replay reveals the steps you must take immediately to protect yourself from Wall Street’s bloodbath
I just held an urgent Teleconference on what you should do right now to protect your family’s financial security.
A number of people told us they weren’t able to attend and asked if it was recorded so they – and the people they care about – could still listen to it.
You can listen to a replay of it below, or you can download the recording as an MP3 and listen to it on your own player or iPod now at:
I urge you to shut the door and put out a “do not disturb” sign while you listen to this critically important information which includes answers to timely questions such as:
Should you stay in the market despite the turbulence and wait for the market to rebound?
Is now the time to shift into gold?
Where else can you find shelter from the storm?
What can we do to encourage Washington to get its act together?
Find out what you need to do right now to protect your hard-earned savings and take back control of your financial future here:
Are you ready to do something different?
And if you’re ready to find out how the Bank On Yourself method can give you the financial security and predictability you want and deserve, take the first step right now by requesting a free Bank On Yourself Analysis.
You’ll also get a referral to one of only 200 advisors in the country who have met the rigorous requirements to be a Bank On Yourself Professional, who can answer your questions and show you how much your financial picture could improve when you add Bank On Yourself to your financial plan.
Nobody is going to twist your arm, and you won’t even be asked to buy anything at your first meeting with your Professional.
But at least you’ll know whether Bank On Yourself makes sense for you and your family. So please request your free Analysis today.
Keeping that in mind, you might want to print this column and save it at the ready. It is timely reading this week and without any doubt will be again — sooner than any of us want to admit.
Along with death and taxes, one certainty in life is that the stock market will gyrate wildly, each time robbing investors of any remaining sense of financial well being.
When a stock market quake hits, stunned shareholders always get airborne, seeking a flight path to safety. In the immediate aftermath, my in-box overflows with queries from shell-shocked individuals searching for quality alternatives to the Wall Street temblors.
My answers are pretty much the same each and every time, although I must admit I remain puzzled why so many people who cry “foul” when Wall Street shakes, soon behave like “fowl” and — despite their badly damaged nest eggs — wing their way back to their 401(k)s and other Wall Street roosts, often within weeks or months.
So, fully aware that I will likely be pressed into writing some variation of this column again in the not-too-distant future, I present three of the questions I’m asked most frequently and my replies:
There have been a spate of articles in the financial media recently encouraging retirees to catch up on savings shortfalls by investing as much as 40-60% of their nest egg in the stock market.
These “experts” promote the concept as if it makes perfect sense to make up for your gambling losses by doubling your bets.
To me, it’s appalling that anyone would advise those who are already retired to gamble their life’s savings on the volatile, risk-filled world of Wall Street.
But my message – that Wall Street is unstable and potentially as explosive as nitroglycerin – is really not age specific. The stock market can (and will) blow up in your face at any age.
For most Americans – and Wall Street goes to great lengths to hide this truth – the stock market is a promise unmet.
The success myth hyped by the financial services industry is like a casino showcasing its big winners, without mentioning that the prize pool derives from the much larger pool of losers who generate huge profits for the operators, but who themselves walk away worse off than if they had stayed at home.
Money isn’t the only price that the Wall Street casino extracts from most investors
Why this concept is not included on insurance licensing exams
Pamela & her husband Larry
Bank On Yourself “Inc.” doesn’t sell insurance or charge consumers anything…so how does it make money?
Introducing the Bank On Yourself Nation…soon to be the center of the universe when it comes to financial literacy education and learning to be self-reliant
So checkout this fast-paced interview now by pressing the play button below, or you can download the interview as an Mp3 and listen on your own player or iPod…
And if you still have any unanswered questions about Bank On Yourself or Pamela Yellen, please tell us in the comments box below…
Grow your money safely and predictability even when the markets crash…
Wondering how the Bank On Yourself method can help you reach your financial goals and dreams in the shortest time possible… without the stomach-churning ups and downs of traditional investments?
ner than any of us want to admit.
