infinite banking Tag

Jim Harbaugh’s Contract with Michigan Includes a Life Insurance Loan

The University of Michigan and its football coach, Jim Harbaugh, recently agreed to an updated contract that will increase payments from the school, as well as loan Harbaugh $4 million in 2016 and $2 million for the following five years to pay life insurance premiums. According to information from a Freedom of Information Act request, the first $2 million loan payout was made on June 3, and each additional payout will be made each December.

According to reports, Harbaugh does not need to repay the loan until he dies, as long as that insurance policy remains active. Upon his death, the university can recoup the investment it made, and the rest of the insurance payout leftover after the loan is settled will go to Harbaugh’s beneficiaries. If the policy is stopped, Michigan will still be able to get its money back from the insurer.

It is a tremendous savings vehicle for Harbaugh, to be sure. As a result of this deal, if Harbaugh dies while Michigan is paying for the policy, his heirs will get at least 150 percent of the premium that has been paid. This clause also protects Michigan — Harbaugh is allowed to borrow against the policy while alive, but must keep at least 150 percent of the value of the premium untouched, ensuring the school will be able to get back its investment if needed.

There are other contingencies in place as well. If, for example, Harbaugh is fired from his position or decides to leave the school, the university will no longer provide the loans for paying these premiums. If the policy is canceled afterward for any reason, Harbaugh must pay back the money loaned to him by Michigan.

This arrangement between Harbaugh and the University of Michigan is similar to the Infinite Banking principle we use as a vehicle to accumulate wealth at Living Wealth.

It allows Harbaugh to avoid traditional banks, getting access to money that can then grow significantly larger. While he does have to pay back the loan eventually, by the time he pays it off the money he has will dwarf the amount he needs to return to Michigan.

The University of Michigan, from an asset accumulation (endowment) perspective, is one of the top ten universities in the United States. Seems like smart people making smart business decisions.

For more information about Infinite Banking and our services at Living Wealth, contact us today.

Nate Scott, Client Development Coach

Nate Scott joined Living Wealth, Inc. with a desire to help families and small businesses become financially free. It was there, under the wise leadership of Ray Poteet, that he learned the power of “Becoming Your Own Banker” through Private Family Financing (PFF) and has made it his mission to tell others so that they can feel the same sense of freedom and control that he enjoys today.

Nate loves to teach people the benefits of becoming their own banker and to coach them on how to successfully implement the system in their constantly changing lives. He longs for everyone to hear the truth about how money really works and to understand the power and freedom that Private Family Financing can bring to their families.

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Why So Many Americans Distrust the Federal Reserve

One of the few topics on which most Americans can agree seems to be a distrust in the nation’s banking system. A 2015 Gallup poll revealed that the only federal agency in the United States with a consistently lower approval rating than the Federal Reserve was the Internal Revenue Service. That’s a shockingly low level of trust and approval.

Even big-time politicians on both sides of the political spectrum take turns in blasting the Federal Reserve. Presidential candidate Donald Trump has accused the Federal Reserve of keeping interest rates low to protect the image of the current Democratic administration. Numerous Democrats have gone on record to criticize Republican attempts to raise interest rates.

The average American has a much simpler reason to dislike and distrust the Federal Reserve. Simply put, they’ve been burned before, and the memory is still fresh in their minds.

The 2008 bank bailouts left a bad taste in the mouths of Americans across the country. The majority opinion in the general public seemed to be that the government had no business bailing out banks that got themselves into a mess with terrible mortgage loans and lending practices. Politicians on both sides of the spectrum have said the bailout helped banks, but at the expense of the average taxpayer.

Many people lost a lot of money in the 2008 economic recession, especially people who had mortgage loans. Much of this is due to a lack of care by the big banks, who flouted the responsibility they have with the money of their constituents.

Don’t rely on the big banks

If you are among those who have a distaste for the big banks as a result of the bailout and their reckless practices, there are still plenty of options you have to save money without relying on traditional savings practices that only serve to line the bankers’ pockets.

Living Wealth helps you to operate on a principle known as Infinite Banking. Rather than stocking money away in a savings account, you use dividend paying whole life insurance as the vehicle for your savings, allowing your savings to grow tax free while participating in the insurance company’s profits.

For more information about how Infinite Banking works and about how you can take control of your savings rather than relying on the big banks, contact us today at Living Wealth.

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The Most Common Reasons People Lose Big in the Stock Market

There are so many people who believe that the stock market is their key to getting rich quick and building up their retirement savings easily. The reality is the stock market, while it can be a good way to make your money grow and work for itself, can also be a good way to lose big really quickly, especially if you are inexperienced with it.

Keep in mind that you have your money and your future to worry about: this isn’t a game. With that in mind, here are a few of the biggest reasons people lose big time in the stock market:

They have unreasonable expectations.

As a general rule of thumb, you should prepare yourself to never see or spend the money you initially put into the stock market. The money will not necessarily be available as soon as you need it. For most people, if they make money in the stock market, it’s because they let it sit there for a very long time.

You don’t just put your money into the market and hope it does well. There are other fees being charged to take into account. You must also factor in the taxes that you will owe on the entire growth, not just what you get to keep once you pull your money out. Many people simply do not understand these responsibilities and the way that money grows in the stock market, which leads to them making poor decisions.

Any money you put into the market absolutely must be money you are not relying on. If you can see yourself needing it at any time in the near future, DO NOT put it into the market. You will want to let it mature for many years.

They put all their eggs in one basket.

Have you heard about “diversifying your portfolio?” That’s what you need to do in the stock market. Too many people pick just one stock, but if that stock fails you have nothing else to fall back on. It’s a simple element of the stock market: you need to hedge your bets, especially if you are placing money in riskier stocks.

They give their money to the wrong people.

It’s understandable to not want to have to deal with the responsibility of your money and stocks yourself. But you are always going to care more about your own money than another person will. If you give up control of your money, be prepared for your hired help to give up caring about it, as they are going to get paid no matter what.

For more information about sustainable means of saving and growing your wealth, contact us today at Living Wealth.

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What is Infinite Banking and why is it an Important Concept?

The way the average person saves in America is fundamentally broken. Even your typical person who could be classified as fiscally responsible spends approximately 30 percent of their income on interest on loans and debt, and saves approximately 10 percent of what they make.

What is important about infinite banking is the process and not the product. Your mind must break itself from the bondage of the banker using your money.

You must take control of the process. At Living Wealth, much of what we do is based on a principle known as infinite banking. It is an extremely effective and efficient way of using your money in your lifetime while also being able to pass down your wealth to your loved ones and charities of your choice. Anyone is able to implement this strategy in their own lives.

In this process, you use dividend paying whole life insurance as the primary means of banking your money. In this way, you are growing your savings while shielding them from tax liability while benefitting from the profits of the insurance company through a dividend. So not only are you able to let your money grow tax-free, but you also have access to much of it at any time, which cannot be said for many other types of savings vehicles like trusts, CD’s and annuities.

This is the real power of infinite banking. The power of good financial habits. Be a great steward of your money. Learning to use your money and not the banker’s money. You are essentially taking loans from yourself, against the monetary value accumulated by your life insurance policy. This maximizes the effectiveness of your money, as every time you take out a loan, the cash value grows and you continue to receive dividends.

This is a more sustainable and financially savvy choice than using traditional vehicles like CD’s and annuities, which take a lot of the control of your finances away from you. As you continue to pay back your policy (instead of a bank), you are recapturing that interest.

Remember: 30 percent of the average person’s income goes toward paying interest. When you’re able to pay that interest to yourself over the course of time, this gives you a significant amount of money that you can redirect for your own purposes. Instead of giving money to bank shareholders, you’re giving money back to yourself.

We would love to provide you with more information about how you can take the concept of infinite banking and use it in your own life. Contact us today at Living Wealth for more information about how you can get started.

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Nearly Half of All Americans Don’t Trust the Banks

For years, especially since the recession, Americans have been growing increasingly distrusting of the country’s banking system. People realize banks are getting rich off of their money, and that they’re paying loans back with alarming interest rates, essentially wasting thousands of dollars over the course of many years.

It comes as no surprise, then, that people have been slowly starting to take money out of their savings accounts and have begun using new means to invest in their future. Americans don’t trust banks!

A 2015 report by American Express highlighted just how much distrust there is among Americans of large banks. While a majority of people still keep their savings at a local bank, more than half of those people (53 percent) of all people who save in cash are planning on simply hiding bills at home. Additionally, 43 percent of Americans who are saving money do not plan to do so in a bank account at all.

This was a surprising revelation for many of the nation’s largest banks, and one that certainly does not bode well for their futures. Many of these banks depend on deposits and savings accounts to be able to give out loans and charge those same high interest rates that have started to turn off their customers.

This is especially interesting in that most Americans are taught from a very young age that a bank is the safest, most reasonable place to build one’s savings. The reality, however, is that putting one’s hard-earned money in a savings account is no longer a good way to build savings, especially considering deposit accounts do not have legal protections, and that the Federal Reserve allows accounts to be frozen to protect the banks if necessary.

Another way

If you are one of the many Americans who no longer trusts the banks to build your savings, there is another way to protect yourself and build your future.

At Living Wealth, we use the concept of Infinite Banking to build wealth and save for the future. With this concept, you act as your own banker, paying yourself back in loan installments and avoiding giving the banks free money through interest.

For more information about this process, contact us today.

Nate Scott, Client Development Coach

Nate Scott joined Living Wealth, Inc. with a desire to help families and small businesses become financially free. It was there, under the wise leadership of Ray Poteet, that he learned the power of “Becoming Your Own Banker” through Private Family Financing (PFF) and has made it his mission to tell others so that they can feel the same sense of freedom and control that he enjoys today.

Nate loves to teach people the benefits of becoming their own banker and to coach them on how to successfully implement the system in their constantly changing lives. He longs for everyone to hear the truth about how money really works and to understand the power and freedom that Private Family Financing can bring to their families.

Read More