Lot's of Really Smart People

In his book 'Becoming your Own Banker,' Nelson Nash speaks to the limitations of personal implementation of The Infinite Banking Concept.  One of those limitations comes prior to employing IBC.  This limitation and commonly known phenomenon is called "the arrival syndrome."  The "arrival syndrome" as Nash describes "probably limits the achievements of mankind more than anything else.  When this 'thing' infects us, we stop growing, stop learning.  We ROT!  We turn off or tune out the ability to receive inspiration - because we already know all there is to know."

As an IBC coach and teacher one of the sad realities of what I do is to meet all kinds of people that are a) pretty much set with "their thing" and unwilling to learn something new, b) really do know everything and nothing you say could possibly shed any new knowledge upon their already huge knowledge base or c) just cannot undo all the "rules of finance" they always known.  The safety of knowing what you know prohibits the possibility of doing anything new or fresh no matter how beneficial the new "thing" really is.

A wise man by the name of Gabe Kotter once said, "Change is good! Without change, there would be a lot of wet babies in the world."

The inability to learn something new because one has arrived at "all knowledge" or something new might upset the apple cart is part of the coin that leads to arrival syndrome.

Now I know that some people have a 'pot load of money' and to even think of putting a portion of that money in a financial vehicle like an IBC plan (using dividend-paying whole life insurance) seems counter intuitive to some when what's been working seems so much better.  I mean, don't fix what ain't broke - right?  But what we are doing with our money is a broken practice in so many ways and to not even be open to hear about another way to use our money is - well - part of the danger of the arrival syndrome.

Over coming being a "know it all" is a huge hurdle to unlocking the truth of IBC.  You should try it - even if you've arrived.

Gungor and My Finances

It's about being made new...

So, I am without question a follower of Jesus Christ and an Infinite Banking Concept Authorized Practitioner and Coach.  I do a lot of teaching about financial freedom (duh) and weave what Jesus taught about money into the time I spend teaching/coaching.

Well, recently I've been thinking about financial chaos.  The Hebrew word for chaos (tohu) pretty much describes a lot of American households.  Financial chaos abounds and financial wandering as well. In the midst of chaos is a voice of hope I've come to discover through IBC.  My financial life was in chaos I needed help.  Reflecting on when I stepped out and began to implement IBC in my life in November 2008 I can only sum up the experience through an old but well versed song sung by Gungor.  It's called "Beautiful Things."  I hope you'll give it a listen and consider what beautiful things God may want to do in your life and even financial life as you allow yourself to let God take control of it all.

Peace ~

Millenials and Retirement

...The Pluses of Using an IBC Plan...

For members of Generation Y (Millenials), people born between 1983 and 2000 retirement is but a gigantic far-off dream and knowledge of how to retire using an IBC plan OR using the cash value of a participating whole life insurance policy as supplemental income may be even more foreign and probably a bit, if not a lot, very old fashioned.  Yet, for this generation there are no gold watches as symbols of long-held employment over a significant time period. There may be no huge lump sum pensions to grab and for all practical purposes (as far as we know) possibly no Social Security funds to access. Indeed Millennials will probably hold 10 or more jobs by the time they are forty (Chicago Tribune, July 8, 2013), and they know that wealth accumulation will probably come about only by maintaining an "entrepreneurial" attitude about where to tuck money for they days of retirement.  A real "do-it-yourself" nature will be the vanguard of this generation for retirement savings/planning.

While most companies will offer some kind of 401(k) alternative as employee benefit, there are plenty of strings attached to tax qualified monies (even though it sounds cool that employers will match contributed dollars).  The glitch on this among several is the job changing.  A trail of 401(k) plans makes it hard to keep track of funds accumulated in some cases.  Job switches, start ups, second careers, promotions and bonuses, underemployment, all add to the idea of retirement funding being hard to track or maintain funding not to mention that funds are not really in your full control.  

However, with an IBC plan, funds are in full control of the contributor, NOT subject to minimum distributions, penalties for early withdrawal, or other restrictions typically associated with formal retirement accounts. An IBC plan is essentially life insurance with a participating whole-life insurance company. It is designed to demonstrate that our need for financing, cash flow, and retirement funding is greater than our need for death benefit which we'll only need once, and, it is implemented so that Gen Y can place funds in a steadily growing financial vehicle that allows for accumulated wealth using non-tax qualified money for funding.

One final thought - using an IBC plan can account for debt reduction for Gen Y WHILE simultaneously allowing for a ever growing retirement plan. If you are someone born between '83 and 2000 and concerned about retirement funding, please contact me.