Life Success & Legacy Triagle

Is Infinite Banking Sustainable

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This weeks #tbt podcast was originally released January 4th, 2018. The sustainability of Infinite Banking has very little to do with the concept itself, but is a question about the insurance industry itself. I believe this question is rooted in the uncertainty of the federal reserve and our monetary system, and as a result, we feel like the insurance companies must be as unstable as those entities. However, if you take a listen (or read) to this podcast, you’ll quickly realize that the two are not equal. A lot has changed since the original release of this podcast, but the constant is that there is not a more reliable and sustainable vehicle than whole life insurance.

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Is Infinite Banking Sustainable transcript

Chris Bay:

Welcome to the Life Success Legacy Podcast. My name is Chris Bay and I’m joined today with the founder of Life Success & Legacy, Mike Everett. Hey Mike, one of the other questions that we run into amongst the variety of questions that are out there has to do with, okay, once people get to the idea where they’re like, this really makes sense, why would everyone not be doing this? Right? Then they start thinking, well, what if everyone started doing it? Could the life insurance companies handle that? Is it financially sustainable if everyone started doing this? So what I’d like for you to do is talk a little bit about how insurance companies, how they design this, the work that they do, the actuaries do, the engineers of the life insurance companies, and how it truly is sustainable.

Mike Everett:

Well, first of all, life insurance actuaries work with 10 million selected lives. That means that they know how many people are going to die every year, regardless of what’s going on. And they can do this very, very accurately, number one. Number two, I guess I start to think about whole life insurance in the term of IBC, because most people, when they go to buy life insurance, what do they buy? They buy term insurance. So it’s really just a little tiny premium to get a great big death benefit. And that’s the way 90% of the people out there are buying life insurance. So you have 10ish percent that are out there buying whole life insurance, but they don’t understand how the policy can be re-engineered so they can start utilizing their cash. So you think about it from a life insurance company’s standpoint, they’re normally used to getting 300, 500, 1,000, or $2,000 for premium for term life insurance.

And Oh, by the way, term life insurance is one of their most profitable centers. So you think about it from a life insurance company’s standpoint, and you said, is this sustainable if everybody starts doing it? Well, most of the people that we work with, at least a great percentage, their premium amounts aren’t two or three or $4,000 a year. They’re five and 10 and 15 and $20,000 a year. So from a life insurance company’s standpoint, do they want a little money sent to them? Or do they want a lot of money sent to them? The more, the better. So part of the thing is we have to get people to understand that the whole life insurance company knows what they’re doing when they’re designing the policy.

Chris Bay:

So in our culture though, we always hear people talk about high risk investments. You want to get your money into higher risks because you have higher returns, greater returns, those kinds of things. Can you talk about the risk involved in kind of the investment thing? Because life insurance companies are doing something with that money. Right?

Mike Everett:

They are.

Chris Bay:

And isn’t that putting my money at risk?

Mike Everett:

Well, here’s the nice thing. When you work with a hundred year old companies, and all the companies that we work with are more than a hundred years old. That means that they’ve been doing the same thing day in, day out, day in, day out for more than a hundred years. In fact, one of the insurance companies that we work with has paid dividends for more than a hundred years. So they’re not putting any of the money at risk. So what they’re doing is they are taking those premium dollars and they are taking those out and investing them in very, very conservative ways so it’s not putting any of the money at risk.

Chris Bay:

Bonds, things like that.

Mike Everett:

Yeah. Very simple investments. [crosstalk 00:04:15].

Chris Bay:

Things that are [crosstalk 00:04:16].

Mike Everett:

Guaranteed.

Chris Bay:

Yeah. Guaranteed. That’s right. And that’s one of the surprising things to people. It actually was really attractive to me because, back in my days when I was a principal, I remember a teacher came in, would have been in 2008 and she was ready to retire. And then come the spring when the market crashed, she couldn’t retire.

Mike Everett:

The 2008 meltdown.

Chris Bay:

That’s right. And I didn’t know about IBC at that time, but when I heard that story, I filed that away in my head. And I thought, I don’t want my money at risk. I wonder if there’s a way to do, a place to put my money where I can benefit from it. And it’s not at risk like her money was.

Mike Everett:

Yeah.

Chris Bay:

Yeah. So there’s also some regulations with life insurance. Right? That kind of guarantees that they’ve got to have a certain number of reserves and those kinds of things. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Mike Everett:

Well, in the banking industry, I’m going to start with the banking industry. The banking industry, when you put a dollar on deposit at the bank, so you’re saving a dollar, they have the ability to loan out $10. That’s called fractional reserve banking. So here’s the deal. You and I put a dollar in and they’re able to loan out 10. So the question that we always ask is where did they get the $9 to loan out? Well, they got it from thin air because the federal government, the federal reserve, said that you guys can do this. If you get a dollar in, you can loan out 10. Now you think about that from a customer’s or a client’s standpoint. Is their money at risk. Yes, it is. There is so much stress on that money. That’s why you hear about banks going down all the time. A life insurance company, on the other hand is when you put a dollar in, they have to have a dollar set aside for death claims and the life and death claims, dividends, et cetera, et cetera. So there is absolutely zero stress on that money at all.

Chris Bay:

So when a person, let’s say that Joe, we’ll just take Joe as a name. Let’s say that Joe is issued a policy. At that point, day one, if he were to pass away, that company has to have the ability to pay that death claim. Right?

Mike Everett:

Yes, they do.

Chris Bay:

Okay. And they’ve got to have, by law, they’ve got to have reserves.

Mike Everett:

That’s correct.

Chris Bay:

Can you talk a little bit about that number? The amount of reserves and then also really the companies that we work with and how safe they are.

Mike Everett:

The average life insurance company is required by law to have at least a hundred percent in reserves, a hundred percent. So that means that you have to have a hundred percent of the money set aside so if everybody dies on the same day, guess what? We can pay a hundred percent of the death claims.

Chris Bay:

Even in a catastrophic event.

Mike Everett:

Even in a catastrophic event.

Chris Bay:

They have to be prepared for that.

Mike Everett:

That is correct.

Chris Bay:

Yeah.

Mike Everett:

But the companies that we work with have 600 plus percent in reserves. They have six times more than anybody else out there in order to make sure that there is absolutely zero stress on your money plus the fact that they can actually guarantee that they will honor the contract that they have made with you through whole life insurance.

Chris Bay:

Yeah. It just came to mind, a lot of times and what’s out there in terms of financial conversations and stuff, the term diversification comes up, and people will ask from time to time, they’ll say, well, Chris, don’t you diversify? And my way of thinking is, well, the reason that we diversify a lot of times is because there’s risk.

Mike Everett:

That’s correct.

Chris Bay:

But if there’s no risk involved, is there a need to diversify?

Mike Everett:

None.

Chris Bay:

None.

Mike Everett:

Zero. Nada.

Chris Bay:

Now, if I have cash value, I can use that for a lot of different reasons. Right?

Mike Everett:

Absolutely.

Chris Bay:

What are some of the ways that people utilize their cash value?

Mike Everett:

Well, we show them how to take policy loans against their policy to pay off credit card debt, to pay off student loan debt, to pay off auto loans, and even mortgages. So imagine if we were able to actually utilize a policy loan to get somebody debt-free how simple would their life be?

Chris Bay:

Okay. So one is turning the wind current that we’ve talked about in previous podcasts.

Mike Everett:

That’s correct.

Chris Bay:

That’s one. What are some other ways that people use their cash values?

Mike Everett:

Well, some of the, sometimes what they do is they use them to go on vacation. They use them to pay for their kids’ college.

Chris Bay:

So living expenses.

Mike Everett:

That’s exactly right.

Chris Bay:

So once you’ve paid off debt, you can then utilize it for what we talk about the second pillar. And that is financing your life. Right?

Mike Everett:

That’s correct.

Chris Bay:

What about businesses? Business opportunities?

Mike Everett:

Well, it’s amazing when you have a pool of cash available business opportunities find you, so you’d have the freedom to be able to invest so to speak in another business, whether it be real estate or whatever you choose.

Chris Bay:

Nelson talks about the golden rule in his book. What’s that golden rule mean?

Mike Everett:

Those who have the gold, make the rules.

Chris Bay:

That’s right. So there’s opportunities for people. And we have clients like this that they have started business opportunities, utilizing their cash value and their policies. They’ve taken loans to start businesses. They’ve used it for real estate. And let’s just say, somebody loves the stock market.

Mike Everett:

They can go do that too.

Chris Bay:

Couldn’t they borrow from their policy, against their policy…

Mike Everett:

Yeah. That’s correct.

Chris Bay:

… take a loan against their policy and go invested in this great stock that they heard about, they got a tip about? They’ve got the guaranteed growth from their policy, plus the death benefit. Right? And yet they can still take a loan against their policy and go and invest it in this great tip that they got.

Mike Everett:

Absolutely.

Chris Bay:

So there’s all kinds of ways that they can do it and limit their risk factor and actually be safe with their money as well. And have lots of flexibility with it. Well, Mike, thanks for talking through that. A lot of people wonder if it is sustainable, if everyone started doing it. And clearly as you’ve explained, it’s very safe. Life insurance companies are built for this kind of thing. Please join us in future podcasts. I’m Chris Bay joined today by Mike Everett, the founder of Life Success & Legacy. Check out our website by the same name, Live Success, and Legacy. If you have not read Nelson Nash’s book, Becoming Your Own Banker, you can get a copy of that on our website. We highly recommend that you educate yourself in reading that book and utilizing some of the other resources we have on our website.

Life Success & Legacy Triagle

The Arrival Syndrome – BYOB #18

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Nelson states, “This phenomenon probable limited the achievements of mankind more than anything else. When this ‘thing’ infects us, we stop growing, stop learning. We turn off or tune out the ability to receive inspiration — because we ‘already know all there is to know.'” If that doesn’t make you stop and ponder for a moment…

Nelson was right, though. Our ability to learn and grow is almost always hindered by our human nature, or the arrival syndrome. Watch and listen as Mike and Chris go deeper into this incredibly short, but packed chapter about that ‘thing’ that is infecting us. You will certainly walk away glad you did!

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Life Success & Legacy Triagle

Is IBC Too Good To Be True?

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In this #tbt post, Mike and Chris talk through a question we get all the time. Is Infinite Banking too good to be true? Honestly it’s a question most of us have asked too! Take a listen to this podcast, and we feel you will be pleasantly surprised that our goal is not to ‘prove’ someone right or wrong, but it is to educate and re-educate. Skepticism is expected, and even welcomed! Enjoy this gem of a show!

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Is IBC too good to be true transcript

Chris Bay:

Welcome to the Life Success & Legacy podcast. My name is Chris Bay and I’m joined today with the founder of Life Success & Legacy, Mike Everett.

Hey, Mike. In all the conversations that we have with people, there’s several questions that continually come up. We talked about another one in a different podcast earlier. The one I want to tackle right now is pretty common. And it is once people start to learn about this, especially after they’ve come to one of our boot camps, they say, “This sounds too good to be true.” Right?

Mike Everett:

We hear that all the time.

Chris Bay:

All the time, yeah. So when you first learned about IBC, you read the book and everything. Did you have the same feeling?

Mike Everett:

Well, being an entrepreneur, I didn’t have the same feeling because I always look a little bit on the super positive side of everything. So after I got done with the book, the second time, I literally thought I’m leaving a career and I’m doing this full time because it did sound too good to be true. But I thought, okay, I was 50 years old. I’d been doing what everybody else was doing. I was putting money into my 401K, my IRAs and mutual funds. I even had a stock account, but yet wasn’t getting ahead. So there was a part of me that said, “Yeah, it sounds too good to be true.” But there was a part of me that goes, “Wow, if this thing works…”

Chris Bay:

Well, let’s be real. Knowing different personalities and such, your personality is going to be a quick start. I mean, you’re going to see something and you’re going to process it in the snap of fingers. You’re like, “This works. I want to get into this. Let’s go.”

Mike Everett:

Yeah, let’s go.

Chris Bay:

But not everybody’s like that.

Mike Everett:

That’s right.

Chris Bay:

Present company included.

Mike Everett:

That’s right.

Chris Bay:

So for some people it’s not this, “Wow, I’ve tried all this.” Not everybody was at the stage of life where you are when you were introduced and not everybody’s had a chance to try all those things. And so, all they’ve heard out in the media and in the financial thinking is different ways to manage money. Then they get introduced to IBC and the common question is, “It sounds too good to be true.” Right?

Mike Everett:

That is true.

Chris Bay:

So talk to us a little bit about those kinds of things. When people come to us and they say, “It sounds too good to be true.” How do you talk to them about it?

Mike Everett:

Well, I get back to some pretty basic stuff. Is number one, you got to think long term. You hear that thing, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Well, we take a different approach and we think you ought to do some more research and spend some time with us and let us educate you. Because if we can somehow educate you, you’re going to be able to see IBC in a different light. And one of the things that Nelson has said that is IBC is caught not taught. There’s a certain portion of us that can learn that, but there’s a certain portion of you that says, “Golly, this just sounds right.”

Chris Bay:

That’s how it was for me. But it took me a long time to get to that point. And part of my, I mean, just being honest, part of my stumbling block was that it used whole life insurance. And from my previous exposure to financial information, whole life insurance was the worst place in the world to put money.

Mike Everett:

We hear that all the time.

Chris Bay:

Absolutely, right? So we tell people to research it. We tell people to educate themselves. We tell people to come to our boot camps, go to our websites, all those kinds of things. Right?

Mike Everett:

That’s right.

Chris Bay:

Now, do you push people to make a decision?

Mike Everett:

No, absolutely not. We want people, we want husbands and wives, we want partners to be fully on board with each other.

Chris Bay:

Talk about that husband and wives thing.

Mike Everett:

Well, I’ll tell you what I learned. I learned the hard way. Me, being an entrepreneur type, one of the things I want to do is just get out and talk to people. I want to talk to anybody and everybody about IBC. That’s how excited I am about this. But learning that the hard way was tough for me because sometimes I would just go and see just the husband or I would just talk to the wife and I can tell you exactly what’s going to happen. Is if I talk to one without the other, I’m going to have to tell the other one the same exact thing and spend the same exact amount of time with them again. So we really believe that husbands and wives are going to do this together. They are going to share in the experience before they proceed. We will not talk to one spouse or the other without the other one.

Chris Bay:

I just had a conversation with somebody recently and it was the husband and we were talking about IBC and he was wanting to meet. And he’s like, “Yeah, my wife trusts me and all that.” And I said, “Let me give you an example. Let’s say that your wife and you have talked about doing some counseling, okay? And your wife goes to a counselor and they’ve had maybe three, four sessions. So they’ve developed some rapport. They’ve gone a little deep. They’ve had those conversations and then they invite you to the next session. How effective is that going to be? How comfortable are you going to feel? Right? Is there going to have to be some going back and covering some groundwork with that?” And this is the same thing.

Mike Everett:

Yeah. That’s why we don’t push the sale.

Chris Bay:

We don’t. And we really are pushing for mutual purpose, mutual understanding with the couple. And it doesn’t mean that both parties have to know every cell of every spreadsheet and all that, but we want to help them get on the same page because we talk about this all the time, this is so much bigger than just numbers.

Mike Everett:

It is.

Chris Bay:

And what is one of the top stressors to a marriage?

Mike Everett:

Money.

Chris Bay:

Absolutely. So if we can take away, or at least reduce one of those key stressors in a marriage, how much power does that give to a couple?

Mike Everett:

It is truly unbelievable. My wife and I have experienced it ourselves. And I know that you guys have as well.

Chris Bay:

Absolutely. Yeah, that’s good.

It’s interesting when, we do our boot camps, this is almost a quote from your mouth. You say, “We want you to be skeptical.”

Mike Everett:

Absolutely.

Chris Bay:

Why do you say that?

Mike Everett:

Well, part of it is, if somebody comes in a little bit skeptical, what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to educate and then we’ve got to educate again. And then we’ve got to educate again, because we believe that education is the key piece to why somebody would think that Infinite Banking would even work. Because we were taught to be skeptical about everything with our money.

Well, what we’re doing is, in this education piece and this, we are teaching people. We are empowering people in a way that no other financial group is doing throughout the entire U.S.

Chris Bay:

Yeah, when people come to our boot camps and they see us wearing shorts and tennis shoes and we’re goofing around and having fun, talking about money and things, they’re always a little surprised, but it’s refreshing. People laugh. They leave having… They’ve had a good time. They haven’t felt pressured. And they feel like they walked away with a new perspective on money and really with hope.

Mike Everett:

Well, this is why we offer every other Tuesday, a webinar free of charge, regardless of what state or where you’re at in life. We offer those every other Tuesday, you ought to go to lifesuccesslegacy.com and check out, under bootcamps, and find out when our… Tuesday evening from 6:45 to 8:00 PM Central. It’s unbelievable.

But when we aren’t doing our Tuesday evenings, we do these boot camps. We do a boot camp one, which is really just a gigantic book review. And then we do a boot camp two, but this is where we offer people a live version of exactly what we do. But we do it in a fun, no pressure atmosphere, where you can ask questions. You can be skeptical. You can throw things at us if you want to. We want people to be skeptical. We want them to think, “Golly, this just does sound too good to be true.” But once they get in and they find out that they can control things in their own way, it’s unbelievable what happens.

Chris Bay:

Yeah, so it really is too good to be true, isn’t it? It actually is true and it is good.

Mike Everett:

That’s right.

Chris Bay:

That’s right.

Well, thanks for listening. Again, we point you to our website, lifesuccesslegacy.com and check out some of our other resources that we have there. I’ve got some other podcasts for you to check out as well. Thanks again for joining us.