There’s a Good Chance You May Be Forced to Retire Sooner Than You Expect

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Perhaps you’ve heard that the best way to make God laugh is to tell him your plans. … Particularly your plans for retirement!

And you’ve probably heard that with the unpredictability of the markets – stocks, bonds, real estate, whatever – you’re going to need to work longer than you had planned, in order to have enough to live on in retirement.

But that doesn’t mean the universe will cooperate.

Research from the Center for Retirement Research reveals that on average 21 percent of workers intend to work to age 66 or later. But more than half of them fail to reach this target.

The share of workers who say they expect to work past age 65 rose from 16% in 1991 to 48% in 2018. But the study shows that 37 percent of all workers end up retiring earlier than they had planned.

How can this be?

Why Are Hard-Working Americans Retiring Earlier Than Planned?

[Read more…] “There’s a Good Chance You May Be Forced to Retire Sooner Than You Expect”

Record-High Credit Card Debt Promises Problems for Many

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According to the Federal Reserve, credit card debt in the U.S. is at its highest level ever. In December 2018, credit card debt was $26 billion higher than it was just three months earlier.

Americans over age 60 hold nearly one-third of all credit card debt in the country – and they’re seeing their accounts go delinquent at an increasing pace.

We’re not surprised. Eighteen months ago, we at Bank On Yourself bemoaned the fact that household debt at the end of 2017 was at a then all-time high of more than $13 trillion. Now credit card debt is poised to overtake auto debt as one of the “big three” consumer debt millstones (after mortgages and student loans).

Carrying significant credit card debt can cause serious problems

Living with a large balance on your card(s) can be like trying to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope: You hope and pray nothing goes wrong.

What could go wrong while your cards are maxed out? [Read more…] “Record-High Credit Card Debt Promises Problems for Many”

How Complex Is Dividend-Paying Whole Life Insurance?

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Some financial advisors say whole life insurance is complicated, and that “you should never invest in something you don’t understand.” … Then they try to sell you stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and EFTs that most laypeople can only begin to truly grasp!

Dividend-paying whole life insurance is so simple an average 10-year-old can understand the concept in 10 minutes. We’ll prove it to you now …

The Simplicity of Dividend-Paying Whole Life Insurance

The concept behind a dividend-paying whole life insurance policy is extremely simple. It’s based on five easy-to-understand ideas:

1. Your Risk Is Minimized by the “Pooled Risk” Approach of Insurance

This timeless concept is at the foundation of all forms of insurance. In its simplest form, policy owners pay an insurance company a relatively small sum of money in advance. This is called a “premium.” In exchange, they are covered for a potentially much large expense later. In this case, they receive an agreed-upon amount to cover the costs and loss of income related to the death of the insured, which is called the “death benefit.”

2. You’re Guaranteed to Have “Level-for-Life” Premiums with a Whole Life Insurance Policy

[Read more…] “How Complex Is Dividend-Paying Whole Life Insurance?”

President Reagan’s Secret 702(j) Retirement Plan – What it Is and How it Works

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President Reagan’s Secret 702(j) Retirement Plan is yet one more name that the Palm Beach Group has given to the Bank On Yourself method, which relies on a super-charged variation of an asset that’s never had a losing year in it’s 160+ year history.

Here’s a spoiler alert: The 702 J Retirement Plan is not an investment and not technically a retirement plan. It’s a specialized type of high cash value dividend-paying whole life insurance that enjoys tax advantages spelled out in IRS Section 7702 of the US tax code.

It’s a wonderful retirement plan alternative that has none of the volatility and unpredictability of traditional investing strategies.

So why didn’t The Palm Beach Group call it a “7702 J plan” instead of a “702 J plan”?

[Read more…] “President Reagan’s Secret 702(j) Retirement Plan – What it Is and How it Works”

Small Business Owners Turn to Whole Life Insurance and Other Alternative Financing Options to Overcome Tight Credit

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Now is the Best Time to Prepare for the Next Economic Downturn

By Pamela Yellen and Dean Rotbart

Executive Summary: Among the best non-conventional or alternative financing options for small businesses are loans taken against the owners’ or business’s whole life insurance policies.  Correctly structured, policies such as those that conform with the Bank On Yourself strategy, are tax-advantaged and readily accessible sources of the cash that every small business owner requires to survive harsh economic times.

DENVER – Small business owner Terry Hauschulz recently needed a $15,000 loan so that he could pay the tab on his October 15th federal tax return.

Clients of Hauschulz’s 10-year-old medical equipment repair business have been dallying when it comes to paying him.  “Great receivables, no cash,” Hauschulz laments.

The 55-year-old proprietor mulled asking his commercial bank to help tide him over.  “You know what that would be,” he says of the iffy and laborious process of winning a loan approval these days even for those borrowers with good credit.

rejected creditInstead, Hauschulz, like tens of thousands of other self-reliant entrepreneurs, professionals and small business operators, looked to non-conventional finance options.

The solution he selected – borrowing against his individual whole life insurance plan – allowed him to promptly receive the necessary funds without a credit check, without having to submit financial statements, without needing the approval of a loan committee and without any bureaucratic hassles.

[Read more…] “Small Business Owners Turn to Whole Life Insurance and Other Alternative Financing Options to Overcome Tight Credit”