Have you ever made a big financial mistake? You’re not alone. According to a Consumer Federation of America report, 67% of middle class American consumers (those with annual incomes of $30-100,000) owned up to a “really bad financial decision”, resulting in an average loss of $23,000.
I like to be precise with my terminology, and so for example I draw a distinction between being smart (knowing a lot of facts) versus intelligent (having a powerful mind). In the same vein, I do not throw around the term genius lightly.
Someone could be very smart and very intelligent, but to be a genius you have to be a creative inventor. You have to produce new ideas and frameworks, which others will then argue over and refine.
The recently deceased R. Nelson Nash was smart and intelligent, but he was also a creative genius. He looked at dividend-paying whole life policies, and in particular their standard feature of policy loans, and realized, “That’s not merely an asset that provides a death benefit. It’s also a cashflow-management device that allows you to free yourself from bondage to commercial bankers.”
Where others saw merely protection, Nelson saw a way to become your own banker.
On February 7, 2019, I was invited to speak at this years Nelson Nash Institute’s Annual Think Tank. It was my pleasure and my honor to be given this opportunity. Below is my presentation.
The Long Road To IBC: Sheer Persistence Guarantees Success
HOW TO SECEDE FROM OUR CURRENT MONETARY REGIME ONE HOUSEHOLD AT A TIME: BY L. Carlos Lara Lara’s address to the IBC Think Tank, explaining the 3-fold purpose behind our goal of Building the 10%.
A Closer Look At Businesses Part I: By L. Carlos Lara
[Reprinted from the November 2018 edition of the Lara-Murphy-Report, LMR]
According To The Kauffman Index of Startup Activity1 the share of new entrepreneurs who started businesses to pursue opportunity rather than from necessity is now up more than 12 percentage points higher than in 2009 at the height of the Great Recession. This of course is a very encouraging nationwide trend and I extend my admiration to all those individuals who have ventured out into an endeavor where only about half survives the first five years in operation. Obviously, by any measure, these are certainly not great odds so I also applaud their courage and their desire to start their very own enterprise.
George Washington’s State of the Union Address Holds Lessons for the 21st Century: by Lawrence W.Reed
It was a time when government knew its limits and its proper place, and the people did too.
A few million people will be watching when President Trump delivers his State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress on January 29. I doubt I’ll be one of them. The last State of the Union I watched from start to finish was literally 30 years ago, and I don’t feel the least bit deprived— intellectually, spiritually, or otherwise.
Dr. Robert Murphy builds on last month’s article to make the analysis closer to real-world policies, showing the effect of age and different funding approaches on policy behavior.
The Myth of Intelligent (Government) Design
Why would we think that moving decisions to government will result in more intelligent arrangements? by Gary M. Galles
DOES IBC WORK FOR OLDER PEOPLE? by Robert P. Murphy
After many years of designing Infinite Banking policies, the number one concern of most of our clients is how they can assist their children with their college education without affecting the retirement plans for themselves. As you already know, the advantage of Infinite Banking policies is the fact that you can reuse the cash value … Read more
