Dear brother Ray,
At this end of year, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and the Lord's continuous blessings in 2010.
I also so want to give you an update on the results of your efforts to educate me financially. You will recall that it took you 12 years (1994-2006) of persistence and prayers to make me understand and apply the IBC. I am very happy to report that in the 3 years since I understood and and started applying the concept, your efforts have yielded big dividends:
We have paid off the house, owe no credit card debt, and currently owe a manageable amount in an equity line of credit. Our plan is to finish paying off the equity line in the next 10 months and then start paying back the money we owe to our personal banks. If my calculations are correct, in 5 years we would have bought out the house simply by capturing the interest payments that used to go the mortgage company! Thank you and Nelson Nash for the IBC.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2010.
__________________________________________
Jeremiah (Last Name Deleted for Privacy)
Director & Professor
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
An Open Letter to President Obama
Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.
Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett
U.S. Department of Commerce
Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.
TRUE - CHECK: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/youscareme.asp
This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it. Big surprise. Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over 500,000 hits.
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.
Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett
U.S. Department of Commerce
Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.
TRUE - CHECK: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/youscareme.asp
This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it. Big surprise. Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over 500,000 hits.
You Cannot Multiply Wealth by Dividing It
"You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
Adrian Pierce Rogers (1931–2005)
Dr. Rogers was an American pastor, conservative, author, and a three-term president of the Southern Baptist Convention (1979-1980 and 1986-1988).
Adrian Pierce Rogers (1931–2005)
Dr. Rogers was an American pastor, conservative, author, and a three-term president of the Southern Baptist Convention (1979-1980 and 1986-1988).
The Foolishness of Joining a Robber Band
In-Depth by: Paul A. Cleveland | September 14, 2009
Today we are living in trying times and our leaders are telling us that if we would depend upon them our futures would be secure. However, Scripture warns us in Proverbs 1:10-19 against joining any group that aims to make its living by robbing others and sharing a common purse. This proverb suggests that every scheme aimed at eliminating human hardship by creating a common pool of sacrifices among people is foolish. The reason that it is foolish is that sinful people are motivated to contribute as little as possible to the pool while taking as much as possible from it. In addition, the members of the group are constantly looking for outsiders whom they might rob of their economic wherewithal.
In the case of using government force to extract tax revenues from the general populace in order to establish special benefit programs, a determination must be made regarding who will pay the taxes and how will the resulting funds be used. The process of determining these two issues will actually prove detrimental to the vast majority of the people, especially the poor. In the long-run, even those who initially benefit will be harmed as well. An examination of the history of current state of U.S. tax laws and spending programs should show why this is true.
The federal income tax code was established in 1913. Although the initial tax was small, it increased steadily throughout the twentieth century. The increase in federal income taxation has been used to fund benefit programs for numerous special interests. It also created a sort of political battleground over who will ultimately pay for these benefits and who will receive them. Over the years the political battles have resulted in a tax code that is incomprehensible even for the most astute. Each successive reform of the tax code has resulted in the imposition of tax penalties on some individuals while establishing privileges for others. Increasingly, the tax code discriminates between citizens and is used to steal private property from some people for the benefit of others.
It should not surprise anyone that the people who have been the most adept at gaining and using political power have been the biggest beneficiaries of the programs the government has created. Moreover, the rising tide of redistribution has not benefited the poor in our society even though many in Washington falsely claim to care about these people. Instead, the escalation in taxes has resulted in the destruction of marginal business activities which are the ones most likely engaged in by the poorest segments of populace. What has been happening is that our government has been punishing the poor and the middle class by restricting their economic opportunities in order to enhance the well-being of the politically connected people of our land. As a result, these politically connected people are living like leaches off the backs of others. However, such parasites themselves must die if they kill their host.
On the spending side, numerous government programs such as corporate and agricultural subsidies, the funding of the arts, the erection of trade barriers, and a whole host of other expenditures provide benefits for special interests many of whom are people of considerable means. In addition to spending programs, the government has set up a vast array of regulations which limit an individual's ability to participate in certain business enterprises. The combination of these factors causes the prices of products of every kind to be higher than they would be otherwise. And finally, of course, this has resulted in a reduction in opportunities for the poorest segments of society. The end result is the actual oppression of the poor. The worst part of this state of affairs is that such legal plunder is often perpetuated without troubling anyone's conscience. Indeed, in this latest environment of the Obama administration, and their gross lust after power and money, one is left to wonder how much longer the nation's economy can survive.
Paul A. Cleveland is a professor of economics at Birmingham-Southernn College where he has taught since 1990. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Texas A&M University. His principal academic research is focused on the study of political economy with a special emphasis on understanding the importance of free enterprise and entrepreneurial human action.
His articles have appeared in numerous places including the Mises Institute, the Journal of Private Enterprise, The Freeman, The Independent Review, and Religion and Liberty. As a book writer he has published Understanding the Culture Wars: The Essentials of Western Civilization and Unmasking the Sacred Lies. Contact him at www.Boundarystone.net.
Today we are living in trying times and our leaders are telling us that if we would depend upon them our futures would be secure. However, Scripture warns us in Proverbs 1:10-19 against joining any group that aims to make its living by robbing others and sharing a common purse. This proverb suggests that every scheme aimed at eliminating human hardship by creating a common pool of sacrifices among people is foolish. The reason that it is foolish is that sinful people are motivated to contribute as little as possible to the pool while taking as much as possible from it. In addition, the members of the group are constantly looking for outsiders whom they might rob of their economic wherewithal.
In the case of using government force to extract tax revenues from the general populace in order to establish special benefit programs, a determination must be made regarding who will pay the taxes and how will the resulting funds be used. The process of determining these two issues will actually prove detrimental to the vast majority of the people, especially the poor. In the long-run, even those who initially benefit will be harmed as well. An examination of the history of current state of U.S. tax laws and spending programs should show why this is true.
The federal income tax code was established in 1913. Although the initial tax was small, it increased steadily throughout the twentieth century. The increase in federal income taxation has been used to fund benefit programs for numerous special interests. It also created a sort of political battleground over who will ultimately pay for these benefits and who will receive them. Over the years the political battles have resulted in a tax code that is incomprehensible even for the most astute. Each successive reform of the tax code has resulted in the imposition of tax penalties on some individuals while establishing privileges for others. Increasingly, the tax code discriminates between citizens and is used to steal private property from some people for the benefit of others.
It should not surprise anyone that the people who have been the most adept at gaining and using political power have been the biggest beneficiaries of the programs the government has created. Moreover, the rising tide of redistribution has not benefited the poor in our society even though many in Washington falsely claim to care about these people. Instead, the escalation in taxes has resulted in the destruction of marginal business activities which are the ones most likely engaged in by the poorest segments of populace. What has been happening is that our government has been punishing the poor and the middle class by restricting their economic opportunities in order to enhance the well-being of the politically connected people of our land. As a result, these politically connected people are living like leaches off the backs of others. However, such parasites themselves must die if they kill their host.
On the spending side, numerous government programs such as corporate and agricultural subsidies, the funding of the arts, the erection of trade barriers, and a whole host of other expenditures provide benefits for special interests many of whom are people of considerable means. In addition to spending programs, the government has set up a vast array of regulations which limit an individual's ability to participate in certain business enterprises. The combination of these factors causes the prices of products of every kind to be higher than they would be otherwise. And finally, of course, this has resulted in a reduction in opportunities for the poorest segments of society. The end result is the actual oppression of the poor. The worst part of this state of affairs is that such legal plunder is often perpetuated without troubling anyone's conscience. Indeed, in this latest environment of the Obama administration, and their gross lust after power and money, one is left to wonder how much longer the nation's economy can survive.
Paul A. Cleveland is a professor of economics at Birmingham-Southernn College where he has taught since 1990. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Texas A&M University. His principal academic research is focused on the study of political economy with a special emphasis on understanding the importance of free enterprise and entrepreneurial human action.
His articles have appeared in numerous places including the Mises Institute, the Journal of Private Enterprise, The Freeman, The Independent Review, and Religion and Liberty. As a book writer he has published Understanding the Culture Wars: The Essentials of Western Civilization and Unmasking the Sacred Lies. Contact him at www.Boundarystone.net.
Monday, March 30, 2009
A Financial Bunker For Scary Times
by J. Girouard
This article appeared in Forbes Magazine 2.10.09- to read the complete article go to www.forbes.com.
Suppose there was a financial intrument with a track record stretching back 1,400 years, that was so solid it could survive the Great Depression intact; that earned untaxed interest at a competitive rate; that could be borrowed against at will regardless of credit conditions; and that could be used by individuals as well as major corporations and banks as a safe harbor during economic turmoil?
You'd call it a financial bunker for scary times, and you'd be talking about mutual whole life insurance.
This is not the life insurance that only pays when you die. Mutual whole life is the kind of insurance our parents and grandparents owned in the good old days before the stock market began to boom in the 1980's and 1990's. Mutual whole life saw our elders through thick and thin, and after several decades of being muscled aside by the allure of the stock market, it's making a big comeback.
Mutual whole life policies have been an essential part of my financial planning practice for many years. But I'm astonished at how few of the many investement advisers I meet understand how mutual whole life policies work, or don't offer them to clients because they aren't sexy or new.
Mutual whole life fell so far out of favor in the 1990's that insurer Swiss Re issued a report in 1999 headlined "Are mutual insurers an endangered species?" Not anymore.
Mutual life insurance is making a comeback now that our speculative economy has blown up and financial disaster is driving people away from risk and back to basics. Forbes magazine reported in December ("Mutual Respect") that two of the larger mutual insurance companies, Guardian Life and New York Life, reported double-digit growth in sales of individual life policies.
Mutual or "participating" whole life insurance is the closest thing to owning your own bank. As New York Life has said in its ads, "We're Main Street not Wall Street" The concept of mutual insurance is rather simple, especially compared with the complex annuity products that were so popular until recently. And the benefits include all those listed in my opening paragraph.
You Own The Bank: Mutual insurance companies are owned by the people who buy the policies...Because mutual companies have no shareholders, they serve one constituency--the policyholders. Mutuals have no need to report good earnings every three months to justify a stock price, so there is no pressure for them to take on extra risk to make a profit.
Your Premium Payments Belong To You: Unlike traditional term insurance, the premiums you pay for your mutual whole life policy belong to you in the form of the accumulated "cash value" of your policy. On top of that, the cash value of the accumulated premiums earns interest at a rate set once each year. In 2008, Guardian Life paid a record of 7.3% dividend interest, and those earnings are untaxed! That's spectacular compared with last year's over 30% decline in the stock markets, bank CDs paying under 2% taxable, or money market rates under 1% taxable.
You Can Borrow Back Your Premium Payment: Because your premiums "belong" to you as a policyholder-owner of the company, you can borrow them back any time you want for any reason you need, regardless of your creditworthiness. The death benefit of the life insurance will be reduced by the amount your borrow, and you will lose the interest you would have earned. But you can choose to pay the interest as you would for any loan, except you are paying yourself instead of the stockholders of a bank, If you pay the loan back as well, the death benefit goes back up.
Mutuals Offer Ironclad Guarantees: Few people realize that the insurance industry, dominated by mutuals, was the one sector that made it through the Great Depression without a disaster and with policyholders financially intact. The cash value and the death benefit are guaranteed and tightly regulated by the states. That means your cash value is there regardless of market conditions, and when you die your heirs will receive the full face value of the policy. While stockholder-owned insurance companies saw their values fall sharply last year (remember when we taxpayers bailed out AIG (nyse:AIG- news people)?), the top mutually-owned insurers saw their book values remain stable or rise.
Even Banks and Corporations Buy Mutual Policies: One of the lessor-known aspects of mutual insurance is that major corporations and banks buy policies on the lives of their employees and use the cash value to fund employee benefits and as a safe harbor for working capital....Instead of doing what banks say--put your money in our CDs at low rates so we can turn around and lend your money out at a profit to us--do what banks do.
Mutual Insurance Is One Leg of The Money Stool: Investing should be approached as a three-legged stool. One leg is the money you need to live on in the near future (cash in the bank), one leg is the money you invest for long-term growth (equities) and one leg is the financial bunker you can retreat to when the rest of the world is falling apart and you can't sleep. Mutual whole life got our grandparents through the Great Depression, and it's going to get a lot of the people through our current calamity.
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