America has been the face of benevolence for years. Has this benevolence contributed to the deterioration of America today?
It is good to be compassionate and sharing, but we need to make sure we are not giving away what we need to take care of our own responsibilities.

Listen in as Tom and John address the problem of benevolence and possible side-effects in your personal finances as well as at a cultural level.

Resources
Link to Seminar recording: https://www.life-benefits.com/store-detail/#sw-seminar

Link to Policy Class: https://www.life-benefits.com/store-detail/#policy-class

Tom and John are joined on Wealth Talks by Dr. Steve Hryszczuk.

Dr. Hryszczuk, a Life Benefits client for many years, has carefully managed his policies to successfully invest in real estate as well as financing other things in his life. Today, he shares the different ways he has been able to use his policies, as well as sharing some sound thinking for investing in real estate.

He sends 2 pictures of the foundations for the new Hryszczuk family home and writes...

Here’s a metaphor of how I view my WLI [whole life insurance]

It’s stable, predictable and always available.

Maybe not the most sexy part of my house, but without it the whole edifice will collapse.

Today’s episode is all about answering questions from you and others who listen to WealthTalks.

From questions about serving clients in different geographical locations, to strategy and policy design concepts – you all have some great questions. And we’re not done yet…more coming in a few weeks.

Do you have a question for Tom and John? Submit your question to: john@wealthtalks.com

10 years ago, Prescription for Wealth made its debut. This small book has stood the test of time, challenging the complex financial schemes of our day with simple truth.

Later books, Winning Your Financial Game, Retirement Curveball and Building Sustainable Wealth expound on the principles explained, in a nutshell, in Prescription for Wealth.

As simple as these principles are, they have drastically changed the financial well-being and lives of many who have put them into action.

Prescription for Wealth is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Prescription-Wealth-Why-Should-Rich/dp/0983475768/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=prescription+for+wealth&qid=1623703890&sr=8-1 and on the Life Benefits Store: https://www.life-benefits.com/store/

Order before Wednesday June 16, 2021 to receive in time for Father’s Day!

Resources:

Prescription for Wealth pdf download: https://www.life-benefits.com/prescription-for-wealth-book/

Poverty has always existed and always will. Despite the “War on Poverty” (the most monetarily expensive war), poverty rates in America have been steadily on the rise.

This should, perhaps, come as no surprise. Jesus Christ told us we would always have the poor among us, but that doesn’t mean we have to be one of them.

In today’s show, Tom and John discuss poverty and why it has become an obstacle to building sustainable wealth in America. 

Resources:

5hr Financial Class – Get the Recording

Queen was almost prophetic with their song… many Americans are biting the dust financially because they depended on financial planners who didn’t know the future. Of course the responsibility to take care of these people doesn’t fall on the financial planner, but rather on the client’s own children.

This leads to the sandwich generation, people who are taking care of both their parents and their children. This should not be happening in America… but it is. What can we do to keep our children from having to take care of us?

Today on WealthTalks, Tom and John talk about what we need to do to take care of our future. Listen Now

Resources: Order Tom's book - How to Build Sustainable Wealth

The Life Benefits Formula is this: (Work + Mutual Respect + Education) x Faith = Sustainable Wealth   

In this week’s episode, Tom and John discuss each component of The Life Benefits Formula, what it consists of, and how it works.

Listen Now

Its been an exciting few days! The new book How to Build Sustainable Wealth has finally premiered as a softcover.

Many people are struggling financially. They are doing all they know how to do, but their money keeps slipping through their fingers like sand. Frustrated and upset, they turn towards a Financial Planner for help. Sadly, this is often the worst thing they could do.

On this show we discuss the new book How to Build Sustainable Wealth, and how it can help you keep more of the money you make.

Order the new book How to Build Sustainable Wealth by Dr. Tomas McFie: https://www.life-benefits.com/store/

What are you really worth? Americans used to save over 14% of what they made, but now Americans are hardly saving at all. Many people don’t feel they are worth anything, and hence they don’t save anything. This is tragic!

How much should you save? Some say you should have enough saved to live on for 6 months, some say enough for 3 years. Both those options beat having just $500 like 50% of Americans, but are they right for you?

Also on this show: If guaranteed policy values are based on a 4% return, and I you are paying 5% interest on a policy loan, are you only paying a net 1%? As you may suspect, there is more to the actual results of this example than what appears on the surface.

Join Tom and John on Wealth Talks, as they discuss the answers to these questions.

Resources:

10-20-70 Budgeting System & Worksheet: https://www.life-benefits.com/10-20-70-budget-system/

Order Winning Your Financial GAME & Workbook: https://ao160.infusionsoft.com/app/manageCart/addProduct?productId=208

Annuities can be good if you know how to use them. But what are some good strategies for using annuities?

Today Tom and John explore different ways you can use annuities, and which ways make the most sense.

Also on this episode, SBA loans. How long will it take to get one? What if I need the money before I can get the loan?

Resources: Types of Life Insurance:

https://www.life-benefits.com/podcasts/what-type-of-life-insurance-do-you-really-want/

YouTube LIVE with Campbell Jones Cohen CPAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA-GlC44kXk

The market is a mess. Stocks are down, the Dow is down, the S&P 500 is down. Are you happy with your strategy for financial planning? Or does it feel more like gambling in Las Vegas?

People are being failed by their financial planning strategy, leaving them dependent on Social Security. This is a problem.

You need a foundation that isn’t affected by the latest plunge in the market.

Listen now to find out why it is so critical to have this foundation, and how to get it.

Risk tolerance is a big term in typical financial planning. Basically, risk tolerance is the amount of nerve you have to watch your investment portfolio lose money without flinching. According to typical financial planning, the higher your “risk tolerance” the more money you should risk losing to try and get big returns.

But typical financial planning isn’t working out so good for most Americans. People are running out of money in retirement and the median savings for someone age 65 or older is only $63,000.

If you are allergic to risk and you hate losing money, if you believe that when you’re 65 you should have more than $63,000 in savings then you probably shouldn’t follow typical financial planning.

Doing nothing is not enough though, you must do something better, that’s what we talk about on episode 248 of Wealth Talks. Listen Now.

Wealth Seminar on February 20th. Register Here»

he SECURE Act was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019. Here are some key changes you should know as you plan for retirement:

Generally, the SECURE Act:

• Removed Maximum Age limit for IRA Contributions
• Increased the age for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from age 70.5 to 72
• Enforces a 10yr distribution window for most inherited retirement accounts - no more stretch IRAs

The SECURE Act is likely to increase age tax-qualified account balances because people will be encouraged to save more in these accounts. It will also increase government tax revenues because of the 10yr distribution rule on inherited accounts.

Also under the Secure Act, employers get a tax credit by automatically enrolling employees in the company sponsored retirement plan (Small-Employer Automatic Enrollment Credit). If you don’t want to be automatically enrolled into contributions to your company retirement plan you may need to take action to opt-out.

Now is a good time to consider how much of your money you wish to invest in tax-qualified accounts compared to paying the tax and building wealth in other types of accounts where you have more control, lower fees and less market risk.

For example: Target-date mutual funds are a default option for most retirement plans with an automatic enrollment. Target-date funds are sold as a “set it and forget it management strategy” and they are also notorious for high fees. Fees are a killer whenever you try to grow your money.

Compare target-date funds with the guaranteed values that build in participating whole life insurance policy over a similar time period. It could make sense to keep the control of your money and lock in guaranteed growth through life insurance + leave any legacy to your heirs income tax-free, instead of putting them into a higher tax-bracket with required distributions on an inherited tax-qualified account.

Wealth Workshop in Las Vegas Jan 18th - Register now

Most people are losing money with typical financial planning. Learn to use Life Insurance as a Financial tool while you’re living so you can keep more of the money you make and have financial peace of mind.

Can you really eliminate the control of Banks and Financial institutions in your life by using Life Insurance? Or should you own Life Insurance for different reasons? Discover the best reasons to own and use Life Insurance as a financial tool in 2020.

With the New Year just around the corner it’s a great time to reflect on the history of Life Insurance and how to achieve your goals in 2020. New Year’s resolutions are infamous for lasting only a few weeks. What does it take to get the follow through you deserve and achieve the results you really want?

Consistent Action is one key. And so is Consistent Motivation. One way to stay motivated in 2020 = Subscribe to Your Monday Motivation a 2-minute weekly motivational message from Ben McFie.

Subscribe to Your Monday Motivation on Apple Podcasts

OR Subscribe by text message by texting: MMM to 77222

Today is #InternationalPodcastDay! And we have a winner for the Beats Solo3 Wireless headphones - announced during this show.

Thank you for participating in the WealthTalks celebration sharing your favorite podcast shows!

And some of you went above and beyond sharing more on how you use your policies + asking questions for the WealthTalks show and leaving reviews on iTunes & Stitcher. We appreciate you!

Hear an answer to 4 of the many great questions you asked through the celebration entries:

1. How do you decide when to take a policy loan or when to use outside money?

2. At what point do you become maxed out on your life insurance coverage?

3. How can this concept be integrated with real estate and business cash flow strategies?

4. What is the fastest way to pay down debt?

Resources:

How Life Insurance Works - Human Life Value Calculation

Compounding is wonderful when it’s working continuously for you - and not so wonderful when large losses interrupt the process. But you don’t have to lose money if you don’t gamble with risk. ♠️

You can’t always trust what people tell you to do with your money, but you can watch what wise people are doing with their OWN money. Warren Buffet says to be “Fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” Stock-piling cash when other people are greedily chasing the market, can be a great strategy; then instead of gambling with risk you can take more calculated risk (if & when you wish) and you can secure a compounding foundation of guarantees.

Start with guarantees and you can build a financial portfolio with both guarantees and results from calculated risk. Start by gambling with risk and you will never see the full potential of guarantees in your portfolio.

Disclaimer: Life Benefits its agents, and representatives are not authorized to give investment, legal or tax advice.

Life Insurance, Index Funds, Mutual Funds, Low Fees, Lower Fees, - hey even Negative Fees now! 💫 Risk, Risk Management, Risk tolerance... how in the world do you know what to do, let alone know how the results will turn out?

Only by building on a foundation of Guarantees can you navigate the financial world with any sort of confidence. No mortal can tell you exactly how the future will turn out. Accept this truth and protect yourself from volatility, then take a cue from 🍔 Burger King and 🍟 McDonalds, and you’ll be able to bypass most financial advice (and shenanigans) no problem.

Truth can be tricky to search out; it is very simple and logical when you find it. Manage your own money and this can mean lots of extra $ that stay in your pocket rather than subsidizing superfluous money managers.

Happy Independence Day! 🇺🇸 It's a great time to consider how you exercise your Financial FREEDOM.

Financial planning used to be simple. Today there are infinite possibilities - some good - some bad.

You want sustainable Passive Income in your Golden Years? Now is the best time to optimize your money - create stability and better options for the future.

This is not as hard as you might think. Traditional tools with solid guarantees are still the best way to build your foundation.

Also a follow up to last week’s show… people say “you won’t need a Life Insurance Death Benefit” in the future - discover why this is probably not true. Of course a life insurance death benefit can be income tax free, but that’s not all. Listen and discover another role where a permanent death benefit can become a unique planning tool for your future and passive income.

Resources:

How Much Will You Need for Retirement - Podcast

Retirement Remastered - Smart Strategy for Passive Income in Your Golden Years - Article

Wealth Cruise October 2019 - Info Link

Coming soon - a video bringing unique perspective to how you want to manage your finances. Subscribe here for updates

Some gurus say you can “make money” by taking a vacation financed by a policy loan, but is this really true? 🤨

Taking a vacation is an obvious expense - there is a cost - at some point you have to make the money to pay for your vacation.

Here’s how to tell the Facts apart from Fluff. Yes, you can “Recover/Offset” money on your next vacation… and it also takes TIME.

Checkout How to Recover Thousands on Your Next Vacation - Article for further info with a numeric example.

When it comes to your Homeowner’s insurance 🏠…

• How many times have your filed a claim in the last 7-10 years?
• Do you usually file small claims (say under $5,000) or take care of them out-of-pocket?
• What is your deductible?

Your answers to these 3 questions could help you save on your premiums in the future.

Resources:

Get Your LexisNexis Personal Report

To Claim or Not To Claim - Article

More About Umbrella Insurance (including Average cost) - Article

Did you know, that successfully avoiding risk can be more important to your wealth than finding great returns? ⚠️ But most people (including financial planners) think they can “manage risk” when they’re simply hiding the risk instead. Don’t let this bite you.🦈

Learn from a real-life story of Steve Wynn’s Mirage Hotel & Casino + the fact that “In the last fifty years, the ten most extreme days in the financial markets represent half the returns. Ten days in fifty years!”

In 1911 the Supreme Court ruled Life Insurance was a Transferable Asset, and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the court opinion saying life insurance is one of the “…best recognized forms of investment and self-compelled saving.”

Discover how you can manage risk through whole life insurance in a way that’s impossible through the Stock Market alone.

Resources:

Supreme Court Ruling Grigsby v. Russell (1911) - On Life Insurance as Transferable Property

How to Read a Life Insurance Illustration - Video

The Black Swan - book by Nassim Taleb

When first hearing about The Perpetual Wealth Code™ you might wonder if you need to do something else first. Do you need to SAVE first? Or PAY OFF DEBT first? Or should you INVEST first so you have more money to do the Perpetual Wealth Code™?

Discover what you should do first and what comes next on the best road to financial freedom. It all makes sense when you get the full perspective.

Call us for a private strategy session to gain perspective on your finances and how the Perpetual Wealth Code™ can work for you: 702-660-7000

ALSO IN THIS EPISODE: A recent caller with maxed out credit cards 💳 wants to retire in 5 years by investing in Real Estate. 🏠 Is is it possible? Listen to this episode to hear the details

You may remember the iconic character, Mr. Toad the motorcar fanatic 🚘, from Kenneth Grahame’s classic Wind in the Willows. What you may not know is how to recognize wild Mr. Toad rides in the financial world.

2 new Debt Bubbles have been growing since the subprime lending crisis around 2008. Combined there are over 10 trillion dollars and many Americans directly exposed. Now the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates - could this pop the bubbles? 📌💥

Don’t be caught by surprise. Listen for the details should know and how to protect yourself with a solid financial foundation.

Did you know that 2018 was the worst year in the US stock market since 2008?

Learn from 2018 and build a resilient toughness 💪 into your financial future for 2019 and beyond. Happy New Year!

Read more about the value of a Volatility Buffer in retirement here

Call 702-660-7000 for your personal strategy session.

Mark Dealy will be sharing his Perpetual Wealth Code™ journey at the Wealth Summit this year! Today on Wealth Talks you get a personal insight into 2 key factors that have contributed to Mark’s successful journey.

Come here Mark speak LIVE at the 2018 Wealth Summit - Register here

Mark Dealy owns a landscaping company in Washington state. He is also a Wealth Mentor at Life Benefits and helps people to wisely implement the Perpetual Wealth Code™. You can reach him by phone at: 360-220-6641