June 3, 2025 • 21 mins
Are you following retirement advice designed for employees when you're an entrepreneur?
Most business owners feel trapped between two impossible choices: lock away money for retirement or keep capital available for business opportunities. But what if this dilemma is based on a false assumption?
In this episode, we explore why traditional retirement planning can actually sabotage business owners in their prime earning years, and reveal a strategy that lets you build wealth for the future while maintaining the flexibility to grow your business today.
Key Quote: "The biggest risk isn't breaking the rules. It's following the wrong rules."
What You'll Discover:
- Why maxing out retirement accounts can leave you asset-rich but opportunity-poor
- The real story behind Zack's $450,000 missed opportunity (and how it could have been avoided)
- How Maya turned a client crisis into a competitive advantage using accessible capital
- The tax trap that catches many business owners in retirement
- A financial strategy that works WITH your business instead of against it
Perfect for: Business owners who feel torn between securing their financial future and maintaining the flexibility to seize opportunities in their business.
Listen now to discover how retirement planning for entrepreneurs should actually work in the real world.
Ready to evaluate your current retirement strategy? Check out this week's Wealthy Wednesday for the Business Owner's Retirement Readiness Checklist mentioned in the episode.
Interested in our Freedom Retreat? Text Freedom to 513-447-6501 to start the application process.
00:00 Introduction: The Dilemma of Business Growth vs. Future Security
00:48 Welcome to Wealth Wisdom Financial Podcast
01:32 Zach's Story: A Missed Opportunity
03:12 The Flaws of Traditional Retirement Planning for Entrepreneurs
05:58 Introducing the Bank on Yourself Strategy
06:20 Maya's Story: Flexibility in Crisis
11:55 Elijah's Story: Seizing Opportunities
13:44 The Mindset Shift for Business Owners
19:47 Special Announcement: Freedom Retreat
21:09 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dTqnmefHNzw
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
I feel like I'm being forced to choose
between growing my business and
securing my future. That's what
Zach told me right before he discovered a
strategy that changed everything.
Today, we're breaking down the retirement
planning rules that maybe
are secretly sabotaging business owners
(00:23):
in their prime years. And again, there's
a challenge between planning for the
future and growing a business.
In a world where chaos seems to reign
supreme, where uncertainty lurks around
every corner and financial markets are
now more unpredictable than ever. There's
(00:44):
one place you can turn to to find clarity
and control. Welcome to the Wealth Wisdom
Financial Podcast. Hey, I'm Brandon.
And I'm Amanda. Join us as we dive deep
in the world of personal and business
finance to assist you in navigating
through the chaos and building the
financial future you deserve. We believe
(01:04):
when conventional financial thinking
doesn't get you where you want to go, you
need wealth wisdom. So if you're ready to
take control of your financial destiny.
Tune into the Wealth Wisdom Financial
Podcast because in a chaotic world,
your money shouldn't be. Subscribe
now and never miss an episode.
(01:26):
OK, stay to the end of this episode for a
very special announcement. Yes, we're
going to make you wait for it. For now,
we want to start today's episode with a
story that might sound familiar to many
of you. And it's Zach's story. Brandon's
going to tell us about it. So Zach
launched his digital marketing agency
about six years ago, and at 32,
(01:47):
he had already built it into a
seven-figure business with 12
employees. That's pretty amazing, right?
Especially for our marketing business.
Right. And he was doing everything right.
Quote, unquote, right. Yeah, according to
the conventional wisdom, and you know how
we like conventional wisdom. Um,
and he was maxing out his SEP IRA,
(02:08):
contributing to a 401k, and
diligently saving for that
distant retirement day. Then an
unexpected opportunity landed in his lap.
A competitor with complimentary services
and an established client base was
looking to sell. The asking price, more
than 50,000, a steal for the
(02:30):
value it would bring to Zach's business.
There's just one problem. Most of Zach's
liquid capital was locked inside
retirement accounts. He could see the
opportunity just slipping away. Taking
an early withdrawal would trigger taxes
and penalties, getting a bank loan
would take too long,
(02:51):
and came with strings attached.
He said, I realized that I had been
saving for a future at the expense of my
present. What good is a
well-funded retirement if I miss the
chances to grow my business now?
Yeah, so this is a dilemma so many of us
face as business owners. The traditional
(03:13):
retirement advice we hear everywhere
is designed for employees, not
entrepreneurs. Let me say that again. If
you're hearing retirement advice,
traditional retirement advice, you have
to know the design of it. The 401k
designed for employees, the IRA
designed for employees, the Roth IRA
designed for employees, not
(03:34):
entrepreneurs. That traditional
retirement advice assumes you will want
to work until a certain age, then
suddenly stop. It assumes your income
will follow a predictable pattern. It
assumes you want to lock your money away
where you can't touch it for decades,
because most people don't have the
discipline to do that, right? Yep. But
those assumptions just don't fit in the
(03:56):
reality of owning a business, do they?
I know it hasn't for me.
So, Zach's story illuminates a
fundamental truth. Business owners need a
different approach to retirement
planning. Again, I don't know if I like
that word retirement planning, but let's
say future planning. The
conventional rules were created for the
(04:18):
conventional path, which isn't the path
you've chosen if you're probably
listening to this podcast and if you're a
business owner, you're trying to track
your own path. Yeah, so think about it.
Traditional retirement planning pushes
three core ideas. One, max
out tax advantage retirement accounts.
(04:38):
Two, keep contributing consistently
until target retirement age. And three,
then, and only then, withdraw gradually
to replace your former income. This works
great. Maybe.
But in theory, works for if you're an
employee with predictable income who
wants to stop working at, say, 65. But as
(04:59):
business owners, we have so many
different needs and opportunities. So
what happened to Zach? He ended up
passing on that acquisition because his
money was trapped. Six months later, a
larger agency swooped in, bought his
competitor, and now he's facing
much stiffer competition in his
(05:20):
market. His responsible retirement
planning actually made his business
more vulnerable. And a more
vulnerable business means a more
vulnerable future, no matter how much is
sitting in that SEP IRA or a 401k.
Yeah, and Zack's not alone. We meet
business owners all the time who feel
this tension. They're building successful
(05:42):
companies while simultaneously being told
that they need to lock away their capital
where they can't access it without
penalties. It's like being forced to
drive with one foot on the gas and one on
the brake. Who, who drives that way? Not
me. Yeah. But what if there was a way to
save for the future that actually
strengthened your business rather than
(06:03):
competing with it? This is where, what
we love, the Bank On Yourself infinite
banking strategy comes in. Before I
explain what it is, let me tell you what
it did for Maya, who runs a
thriving event planning business. I, I
should tell them Maya's story. Is that
okay? Oh yeah, sure. Okay. So when Maya
learned about Bank On Herself, she was
skeptical. She already had a 401K. She'd
(06:24):
been told by numerous financial advisors
it was the quote UN quote right way to
save for retirement. But she was
frustrated by how her retirement strategy
limited her flexibility as a business
owner. So she decided to redirect
part of her retirement contributions into
a properly structured Bank on Yourself
type policy. And within three years,
(06:45):
she'd build up some pretty significant
cash value. She's feeling really good
about it. Then the unexpected
happened. her biggest client, a hotel
chain, experienced a serious cash
flow problem and couldn't pay her $78,000
invoice for three major
events she'd already executed. I've
I've heard that so many times from
(07:07):
clients. Yeah. So rather than taking
on high interest debt or raiding her
emergency fund,Maya
borrowed against her policies cash value.
She paid her vendors on time. She kept
her employed. She maintained her
company's sterling reputation while her
client were worked through their issues.
And then finally, when the client repaid
(07:28):
three months later, Maya repaid her
policy loan, essentially paying herself
back with interest instead of a bank.
This, you know, part of her retirement
chart actually helped her navigate a
business crisis rather than sitting
untouchable on the sidelines, forcing her
to use other funds that were for other
purposes or from a bank where she'd pay
high interest, right? This is a the
(07:49):
fundamental shift in thinking that
successful business owners are making
more and more. They're moving from.
Siloed retirement accounts that compete
with your business to financial strategy
that complement it and actually help you
do business better. We're going to talk
more about that after the break.
(08:15):
Ready to take the next step towards
securing your financial future? Whether
you're planning for retirement, saving
for your dream home, or you just want to
make your money work harder for you. The
team at Wealth Wisdom Financial are ready
to assist you, and now it's easier than
ever to see how we might give you a boost
on your financial journey. Schedule a 15
minute discovery call with one of us
(08:37):
today and let's discuss your questions
and your financial goals together. Don't
wait any longer. Your financial freedom
awaits. Schedule your discovery call at
www.wealthwisdomfp.com/call.
(08:57):
Now I can already hear some objections
for me. Isn't Banking Yourself just whole
life insurance? I've heard that's a
terrible investment. The
misunderstanding stems from comparing
apples to oranges.
Who does? Who can? I don't even know who
writes this stuff. Many think they know
that what Banking Yourself is, or maybe
(09:20):
what they think infinite banking is, but
they don't know what they don't know. If
we come across another person who says
they can do banking with IUL,
Indexed Universal Life, we may just flip
because it's all over the internet. And
actually, according to Nelson
Nash's book, Become Your Own Banker, we
(09:40):
don't do that. That just doesn't work.
The Bank Yourself strategy uses a
specific type of dividend-paying whole
life insurance that's structured very
differently from the policies most
financial gurus criticize. But it's
not universal life, and it's not what
Dave Ramsey will harp on. We're going to
talk about that in a minute. A properly
(10:00):
designed Bank Yourself policy minimizes
the insurance component and maximizes the
cash value component. It's engineered to
build cash value quickly that you can
access when you need it. And you could
do it within 30 days of funding the
policy. Yeah. So critics often say just
buy term and invest the difference. That
(10:20):
might make sense for someone with a
steady paycheck and no business
opportunities to fund. Maybe, possibly,
we could argue that one too. We think
they could use Bank On Yourself too,
right? But for business owners, or
through our focus today, having capital
accessible without penalties or
permissions can be the difference between
seizing an opportunity or watching it
(10:41):
pass by. For business owners, Bank On
Yourself has a power that someone with a
steady payment and a paycheck might
not ever experience. because they might
not get that opportunity. They might not
have that chance to grow their business
in in that kind of way. And if you have
your money in an investment, sometimes we
all know, I think we know, that the
(11:03):
biggest opportunities often
happen when there's some kind of bubble
burst or some kind of
downturn in some kind of market
somewhere, and often it has ripple
effects that impact the rest of the
market. And when you have that
opportunity to now buy someone else's
business, make a big purchase equipment
(11:23):
because somebody else is going out of
business, things like that. If your money
is in a brokerage account because you
bought term and invested the difference,
it may or may not be there to do that
opportunity. Whereas if you have it in a
safe place that's growing predictably
and with some guarantees backed by an
insurance company that's been in business
and not only been in business but been
profitable for over 100 years. That
(11:45):
becomes a totally different story. When
the next downturn in the next recession
hits, you still have the money to take
advantage of that opportunity. We got one
more story that kind of helps illustrate
this. So we have Elijah. He runs a
commercial cleaning service that he
started right out of college. I mean,
this guy was smart. Yep. He's now in his
late 30s with 50-plus employees
(12:08):
and several major corporate contracts.
For years, he followed conventional
advice and maxed out his retirement
account. I said he was smart, but maybe,
I don't know. Quote like traditional
smart. Yeah, but then he learned about
banking yourself and he became smarter.
And redirected some of his
retirement savings into a properly
(12:29):
structured policy. Last year, when one of
the major competitors was struggling due
to high inflation and difficulty hiring,
Elijah saw an opportunity. Anybody
experience that inflation thing?Or
difficulty hiring. Yeah. Using the cash
value he had built up, he was able to
make a quick acquisition offer
(12:52):
without going through banks or investors.
He acquired valuable contracts and
equipment at a fraction of their worth
and hired several experienced staff
members. His business grew by 40%
in six months, and because he
borrowed against his policy rather than
withdrawing from retirement accounts,He
(13:12):
avoided taxes and penalties while keeping
his long-term financial plan intact.
The most important part, Elijah told me,
I used to see my retirement planning as
saving for some distant future
when I'd stopped working. Now I see it as
building a financial foundation that
makes my business stronger today while we
(13:33):
still are securing my
future now. I don't, I
don't know how to say that. I'm not
future. Security tomorrow. Yeah.
So this is the mindset shift that can
transform how business owners approach
retirement planning. And here's something
most business owners don't consider until
it's too late. If you have,
(13:57):
you know, ventured off into checking your
e-mail or staring at the road or seeing
all the people in the gym around you,
come back to us. This is something
that is very different for business
owners than it is for our employees.
When you eventually sell your business or
step back from day-to-day operations,
(14:17):
even if you maintain ownership, right,
pass it on to your kids, sell it to an
employee, something like that, you'll
lose many of the tax deductions you
currently enjoy. We all know as as
business owners, the tax code is in our
favor. We get lots of tax deductions.
Whether you're investing in real estate,
you have a marketing company, a cleaning
company, whatever it is, you know
(14:37):
those. Hopefully you're using those in
coordination with your tax professional.
And if you aren't using them, come talk
to us. We might have some ideas for you.
Yeah, but you can imagine
if you're now not running your business
or you don't own your business, all those
that you lose, just think like make a
mental list right now. You could probably
think of three like snippity snap.
(14:58):
This ought and when you lose those
deductions, this often pushes business
owners into a higher effective tax
bracket in retirement than they had
during their working years. So now, if
you've taken all those tax deductions
during your working years to fund a
traditional retirement account that you
pay taxes on later, you're now in a
higher tax bracket later and you're
(15:19):
paying higher taxes. So all that money
you thought you were saving, you're now
paying even more than you would than you
saved. However, with Bank on Yourself
under current law, your retirement income
can be structured to be tax-free.
That's pretty cool. Give it. That gives
you so much more control over your tax
situation when you need it most.
(15:40):
So just have that. You know, you don't
want to just be thinking each year how to
save the most in taxes, but how do you
save the most in taxes over your
lifetime? And often having a bank in
yourself as part of that portfolio, part
of that strategy makes a lot of sense.
OK, I'll get off my soapbox there. I
mean, I do think that's important. Not
just saving taxes now, but for your whole
life is a big thing that a lot of times.
(16:03):
Um, CPAs just wanna, they, we just talk
about now. Right. They wanna look good by
having you cut a lower check right now.
And so I think it's a. And where are they
gonna be in 30 years? It's a both and,
not a either or. Yep. So the stories of
Zach, Maya, and Elijah
highlighted a crucial truth. As business
owners, we need financial strategies that
(16:24):
match our entrepreneurial
realities. Traditional retirement
planning asks us to separate our business
growth from our personal financial
security. It forces us to choose between
opportunity today and security,
whatever that means for tomorrow. But the
Bank In Yourself approach recognizes that
for entrepreneurs, business success and
(16:46):
personal financial security are
deeply interconnected. It gives you
that flexibility and strength your
businesses need when
opportunities arise while still building
a secure financial foundation for the
future. Now, we're not saying reject
traditional retirement vehicles entirely.
(17:06):
It's about creating balance options in
your financial strategy, just as you do
in your business. We're told to
diversify. This is a way to diversify,
right? And for business owners, in a way
that helps build your business, not
detract from it. The business owners we
work with who've embraced this approach
share this common sentiment for the first
(17:27):
time in their entire business life.
They feel like their retirement strategy
and their business growth are working
together, not competing with each other
for their time, their attention, and
their dollars. And isn't that how it
should be? After all, building a
successful business is one of the most
powerful wealth creation tools available.
(17:48):
Also, it's, I would say, one of the
hardest, right? Right, right. One of the
hardest, but also one of the most
powerful wealth creation tools available.
Your retirement strategy should enhance
that power. maybe even make it
easier, not harder, and definitely not
restrict the power of building wealth
through business creation and growth.
(18:09):
So if you're wondering how Banking
Yourself strategy might work for your
specific situation, we've
created a special for you. This
Wednesday, I'm sharing my Business Owners
Retirement Readiness Checklist that will
help you evaluate your current
plan and identify potential
gaps and opportunities. It includes
(18:30):
7 critical questions every business owner
needs to answer about their retirement
strategy, plus a simple calculator to
determine if you're on track to your
desired lifestyle. Just head to the
Wealth Wisdom Financial community to
access this resource as a premium member.
You also get our full library of
resources and monthly group coaching as
(18:50):
part of that. And if you want a
personalized analysis, you can schedule a
15 minute call to see if we might be a
good fit to work together. You schedule
that at
wealthwisdomfp.com/call
and actually bonus tip,
if you've never scheduled a 15 minute
call with us, go to that
wealthwisdomfp.com/call. Schedule that
(19:12):
15 minute call and you'll receive a
couple of gifts by e-mail before the
call. One of them includes
some free access to the Wealth Wisdom
Financial community so that you can make
this an amazing summer for you and for
your business. Now, because retirement
planning for business owners shouldn't
(19:32):
mean sacrificing growth today for
security tomorrow, you can have both if
you have the right strategy. And
we'd love to help you build that
strategy. Schedule that call,
wealthwisdomfp.com/call. The link's also
in the show notes. Now we're ready for
that special announcement. Yeah, there's
something big that we've been cooking up.
And we would love to see you at it. So
(19:55):
yeah, so here we go. Drum roll, please.
We're hosting a freedom retreat for
business owners in August of
2025. If you're catching this and you're
serious about using your business to
create financial, relational,
emotional, mental and spiritual freedom,
then we want you to be there. You can
(20:16):
text the word freedom. to
513-447-6501,
and we'd love to share more. Again, text
FREEDOM to
513-447-6501.
This is an intimate retreat. It's
designed to set the stage for finishing
2025 well and having your
freedom trajectory for at least 12
(20:38):
months. Space is limited. I think
when we're recording this, there's only a
few spots left. So please reach out
today. Again, text to the word FREEDOM to
513-447-6501.
Yeah, we'd love it. I know it's gonna be
a lot of fun, uh, at that event. And
again, interconnecting all of these
(21:00):
things, uh, because you wanna have
financial freedom, business freedom, time
freedom, all those kind of things
together. Thanks for joining us. Don't
forget, hit that subscribe button and
live long and profit. Write a comment.
Love to hear from you. Remember, the
stories in today's episodes are fictional
and do not depict any actual person or
(21:22):
event. The topics presented in this
podcast are for general information only
and not for the purpose of providing
legal, accounting or investment advice.
On such matters, please consult a
professional who knows your specific
situation.
I feel like I'm being forced to choose
between growing my business and
securing my future. That's what
Zach told me right before he discovered a
strategy that changed everything.
Today, we're breaking down the retirement
planning rules that maybe
are secretly sabotaging business owners
(00:23):
in their prime years. And again, there's
a challenge between planning for the
future and growing a business.
In a world where chaos seems to reign
supreme, where uncertainty lurks around
every corner and financial markets are
now more unpredictable than ever. There's
(00:44):
one place you can turn to to find clarity
and control. Welcome to the Wealth Wisdom
Financial Podcast. Hey, I'm Brandon.
And I'm Amanda. Join us as we dive deep
in the world of personal and business
finance to assist you in navigating
through the chaos and building the
financial future you deserve. We believe
(01:04):
when conventional financial thinking
doesn't get you where you want to go, you
need wealth wisdom. So if you're ready to
take control of your financial destiny.
Tune into the Wealth Wisdom Financial
Podcast because in a chaotic world,
your money shouldn't be. Subscribe
now and never miss an episode.
(01:26):
OK, stay to the end of this episode for a
very special announcement. Yes, we're
going to make you wait for it. For now,
we want to start today's episode with a
story that might sound familiar to many
of you. And it's Zach's story. Brandon's
going to tell us about it. So Zach
launched his digital marketing agency
about six years ago, and at 32,
(01:47):
he had already built it into a
seven-figure business with 12
employees. That's pretty amazing, right?
Especially for our marketing business.
Right. And he was doing everything right.
Quote, unquote, right. Yeah, according to
the conventional wisdom, and you know how
we like conventional wisdom. Um,
and he was maxing out his SEP IRA,
(02:08):
contributing to a 401k, and
diligently saving for that
distant retirement day. Then an
unexpected opportunity landed in his lap.
A competitor with complimentary services
and an established client base was
looking to sell. The asking price, more
than 50,000, a steal for the
(02:30):
value it would bring to Zach's business.
There's just one problem. Most of Zach's
liquid capital was locked inside
retirement accounts. He could see the
opportunity just slipping away. Taking
an early withdrawal would trigger taxes
and penalties, getting a bank loan
would take too long,
(02:51):
and came with strings attached.
He said, I realized that I had been
saving for a future at the expense of my
present. What good is a
well-funded retirement if I miss the
chances to grow my business now?
Yeah, so this is a dilemma so many of us
face as business owners. The traditional
(03:13):
retirement advice we hear everywhere
is designed for employees, not
entrepreneurs. Let me say that again. If
you're hearing retirement advice,
traditional retirement advice, you have
to know the design of it. The 401k
designed for employees, the IRA
designed for employees, the Roth IRA
designed for employees, not
(03:34):
entrepreneurs. That traditional
retirement advice assumes you will want
to work until a certain age, then
suddenly stop. It assumes your income
will follow a predictable pattern. It
assumes you want to lock your money away
where you can't touch it for decades,
because most people don't have the
discipline to do that, right? Yep. But
those assumptions just don't fit in the
(03:56):
reality of owning a business, do they?
I know it hasn't for me.
So, Zach's story illuminates a
fundamental truth. Business owners need a
different approach to retirement
planning. Again, I don't know if I like
that word retirement planning, but let's
say future planning. The
conventional rules were created for the
(04:18):
conventional path, which isn't the path
you've chosen if you're probably
listening to this podcast and if you're a
business owner, you're trying to track
your own path. Yeah, so think about it.
Traditional retirement planning pushes
three core ideas. One, max
out tax advantage retirement accounts.
(04:38):
Two, keep contributing consistently
until target retirement age. And three,
then, and only then, withdraw gradually
to replace your former income. This works
great. Maybe.
But in theory, works for if you're an
employee with predictable income who
wants to stop working at, say, 65. But as
(04:59):
business owners, we have so many
different needs and opportunities. So
what happened to Zach? He ended up
passing on that acquisition because his
money was trapped. Six months later, a
larger agency swooped in, bought his
competitor, and now he's facing
much stiffer competition in his
(05:20):
market. His responsible retirement
planning actually made his business
more vulnerable. And a more
vulnerable business means a more
vulnerable future, no matter how much is
sitting in that SEP IRA or a 401k.
Yeah, and Zack's not alone. We meet
business owners all the time who feel
this tension. They're building successful
(05:42):
companies while simultaneously being told
that they need to lock away their capital
where they can't access it without
penalties. It's like being forced to
drive with one foot on the gas and one on
the brake. Who, who drives that way? Not
me. Yeah. But what if there was a way to
save for the future that actually
strengthened your business rather than
(06:03):
competing with it? This is where, what
we love, the Bank On Yourself infinite
banking strategy comes in. Before I
explain what it is, let me tell you what
it did for Maya, who runs a
thriving event planning business. I, I
should tell them Maya's story. Is that
okay? Oh yeah, sure. Okay. So when Maya
learned about Bank On Herself, she was
skeptical. She already had a 401K. She'd
(06:24):
been told by numerous financial advisors
it was the quote UN quote right way to
save for retirement. But she was
frustrated by how her retirement strategy
limited her flexibility as a business
owner. So she decided to redirect
part of her retirement contributions into
a properly structured Bank on Yourself
type policy. And within three years,
(06:45):
she'd build up some pretty significant
cash value. She's feeling really good
about it. Then the unexpected
happened. her biggest client, a hotel
chain, experienced a serious cash
flow problem and couldn't pay her $78,000
invoice for three major
events she'd already executed. I've
I've heard that so many times from
(07:07):
clients. Yeah. So rather than taking
on high interest debt or raiding her
emergency fund,Maya
borrowed against her policies cash value.
She paid her vendors on time. She kept
her employed. She maintained her
company's sterling reputation while her
client were worked through their issues.
And then finally, when the client repaid
(07:28):
three months later, Maya repaid her
policy loan, essentially paying herself
back with interest instead of a bank.
This, you know, part of her retirement
chart actually helped her navigate a
business crisis rather than sitting
untouchable on the sidelines, forcing her
to use other funds that were for other
purposes or from a bank where she'd pay
high interest, right? This is a the
(07:49):
fundamental shift in thinking that
successful business owners are making
more and more. They're moving from.
Siloed retirement accounts that compete
with your business to financial strategy
that complement it and actually help you
do business better. We're going to talk
more about that after the break.
(08:15):
Ready to take the next step towards
securing your financial future? Whether
you're planning for retirement, saving
for your dream home, or you just want to
make your money work harder for you. The
team at Wealth Wisdom Financial are ready
to assist you, and now it's easier than
ever to see how we might give you a boost
on your financial journey. Schedule a 15
minute discovery call with one of us
(08:37):
today and let's discuss your questions
and your financial goals together. Don't
wait any longer. Your financial freedom
awaits. Schedule your discovery call at
www.wealthwisdomfp.com/call.
(08:57):
Now I can already hear some objections
for me. Isn't Banking Yourself just whole
life insurance? I've heard that's a
terrible investment. The
misunderstanding stems from comparing
apples to oranges.
Who does? Who can? I don't even know who
writes this stuff. Many think they know
that what Banking Yourself is, or maybe
(09:20):
what they think infinite banking is, but
they don't know what they don't know. If
we come across another person who says
they can do banking with IUL,
Indexed Universal Life, we may just flip
because it's all over the internet. And
actually, according to Nelson
Nash's book, Become Your Own Banker, we
(09:40):
don't do that. That just doesn't work.
The Bank Yourself strategy uses a
specific type of dividend-paying whole
life insurance that's structured very
differently from the policies most
financial gurus criticize. But it's
not universal life, and it's not what
Dave Ramsey will harp on. We're going to
talk about that in a minute. A properly
(10:00):
designed Bank Yourself policy minimizes
the insurance component and maximizes the
cash value component. It's engineered to
build cash value quickly that you can
access when you need it. And you could
do it within 30 days of funding the
policy. Yeah. So critics often say just
buy term and invest the difference. That
(10:20):
might make sense for someone with a
steady paycheck and no business
opportunities to fund. Maybe, possibly,
we could argue that one too. We think
they could use Bank On Yourself too,
right? But for business owners, or
through our focus today, having capital
accessible without penalties or
permissions can be the difference between
seizing an opportunity or watching it
(10:41):
pass by. For business owners, Bank On
Yourself has a power that someone with a
steady payment and a paycheck might
not ever experience. because they might
not get that opportunity. They might not
have that chance to grow their business
in in that kind of way. And if you have
your money in an investment, sometimes we
all know, I think we know, that the
(11:03):
biggest opportunities often
happen when there's some kind of bubble
burst or some kind of
downturn in some kind of market
somewhere, and often it has ripple
effects that impact the rest of the
market. And when you have that
opportunity to now buy someone else's
business, make a big purchase equipment
(11:23):
because somebody else is going out of
business, things like that. If your money
is in a brokerage account because you
bought term and invested the difference,
it may or may not be there to do that
opportunity. Whereas if you have it in a
safe place that's growing predictably
and with some guarantees backed by an
insurance company that's been in business
and not only been in business but been
profitable for over 100 years. That
(11:45):
becomes a totally different story. When
the next downturn in the next recession
hits, you still have the money to take
advantage of that opportunity. We got one
more story that kind of helps illustrate
this. So we have Elijah. He runs a
commercial cleaning service that he
started right out of college. I mean,
this guy was smart. Yep. He's now in his
late 30s with 50-plus employees
(12:08):
and several major corporate contracts.
For years, he followed conventional
advice and maxed out his retirement
account. I said he was smart, but maybe,
I don't know. Quote like traditional
smart. Yeah, but then he learned about
banking yourself and he became smarter.
And redirected some of his
retirement savings into a properly
(12:29):
structured policy. Last year, when one of
the major competitors was struggling due
to high inflation and difficulty hiring,
Elijah saw an opportunity. Anybody
experience that inflation thing?Or
difficulty hiring. Yeah. Using the cash
value he had built up, he was able to
make a quick acquisition offer
(12:52):
without going through banks or investors.
He acquired valuable contracts and
equipment at a fraction of their worth
and hired several experienced staff
members. His business grew by 40%
in six months, and because he
borrowed against his policy rather than
withdrawing from retirement accounts,He
(13:12):
avoided taxes and penalties while keeping
his long-term financial plan intact.
The most important part, Elijah told me,
I used to see my retirement planning as
saving for some distant future
when I'd stopped working. Now I see it as
building a financial foundation that
makes my business stronger today while we
(13:33):
still are securing my
future now. I don't, I
don't know how to say that. I'm not
future. Security tomorrow. Yeah.
So this is the mindset shift that can
transform how business owners approach
retirement planning. And here's something
most business owners don't consider until
it's too late. If you have,
(13:57):
you know, ventured off into checking your
e-mail or staring at the road or seeing
all the people in the gym around you,
come back to us. This is something
that is very different for business
owners than it is for our employees.
When you eventually sell your business or
step back from day-to-day operations,
(14:17):
even if you maintain ownership, right,
pass it on to your kids, sell it to an
employee, something like that, you'll
lose many of the tax deductions you
currently enjoy. We all know as as
business owners, the tax code is in our
favor. We get lots of tax deductions.
Whether you're investing in real estate,
you have a marketing company, a cleaning
company, whatever it is, you know
(14:37):
those. Hopefully you're using those in
coordination with your tax professional.
And if you aren't using them, come talk
to us. We might have some ideas for you.
Yeah, but you can imagine
if you're now not running your business
or you don't own your business, all those
that you lose, just think like make a
mental list right now. You could probably
think of three like snippity snap.
(14:58):
This ought and when you lose those
deductions, this often pushes business
owners into a higher effective tax
bracket in retirement than they had
during their working years. So now, if
you've taken all those tax deductions
during your working years to fund a
traditional retirement account that you
pay taxes on later, you're now in a
higher tax bracket later and you're
(15:19):
paying higher taxes. So all that money
you thought you were saving, you're now
paying even more than you would than you
saved. However, with Bank on Yourself
under current law, your retirement income
can be structured to be tax-free.
That's pretty cool. Give it. That gives
you so much more control over your tax
situation when you need it most.
(15:40):
So just have that. You know, you don't
want to just be thinking each year how to
save the most in taxes, but how do you
save the most in taxes over your
lifetime? And often having a bank in
yourself as part of that portfolio, part
of that strategy makes a lot of sense.
OK, I'll get off my soapbox there. I
mean, I do think that's important. Not
just saving taxes now, but for your whole
life is a big thing that a lot of times.
(16:03):
Um, CPAs just wanna, they, we just talk
about now. Right. They wanna look good by
having you cut a lower check right now.
And so I think it's a. And where are they
gonna be in 30 years? It's a both and,
not a either or. Yep. So the stories of
Zach, Maya, and Elijah
highlighted a crucial truth. As business
owners, we need financial strategies that
(16:24):
match our entrepreneurial
realities. Traditional retirement
planning asks us to separate our business
growth from our personal financial
security. It forces us to choose between
opportunity today and security,
whatever that means for tomorrow. But the
Bank In Yourself approach recognizes that
for entrepreneurs, business success and
(16:46):
personal financial security are
deeply interconnected. It gives you
that flexibility and strength your
businesses need when
opportunities arise while still building
a secure financial foundation for the
future. Now, we're not saying reject
traditional retirement vehicles entirely.
(17:06):
It's about creating balance options in
your financial strategy, just as you do
in your business. We're told to
diversify. This is a way to diversify,
right? And for business owners, in a way
that helps build your business, not
detract from it. The business owners we
work with who've embraced this approach
share this common sentiment for the first
(17:27):
time in their entire business life.
They feel like their retirement strategy
and their business growth are working
together, not competing with each other
for their time, their attention, and
their dollars. And isn't that how it
should be? After all, building a
successful business is one of the most
powerful wealth creation tools available.
(17:48):
Also, it's, I would say, one of the
hardest, right? Right, right. One of the
hardest, but also one of the most
powerful wealth creation tools available.
Your retirement strategy should enhance
that power. maybe even make it
easier, not harder, and definitely not
restrict the power of building wealth
through business creation and growth.
(18:09):
So if you're wondering how Banking
Yourself strategy might work for your
specific situation, we've
created a special for you. This
Wednesday, I'm sharing my Business Owners
Retirement Readiness Checklist that will
help you evaluate your current
plan and identify potential
gaps and opportunities. It includes
(18:30):
7 critical questions every business owner
needs to answer about their retirement
strategy, plus a simple calculator to
determine if you're on track to your
desired lifestyle. Just head to the
Wealth Wisdom Financial community to
access this resource as a premium member.
You also get our full library of
resources and monthly group coaching as
(18:50):
part of that. And if you want a
personalized analysis, you can schedule a
15 minute call to see if we might be a
good fit to work together. You schedule
that at
wealthwisdomfp.com/call
and actually bonus tip,
if you've never scheduled a 15 minute
call with us, go to that
wealthwisdomfp.com/call. Schedule that
(19:12):
15 minute call and you'll receive a
couple of gifts by e-mail before the
call. One of them includes
some free access to the Wealth Wisdom
Financial community so that you can make
this an amazing summer for you and for
your business. Now, because retirement
planning for business owners shouldn't
(19:32):
mean sacrificing growth today for
security tomorrow, you can have both if
you have the right strategy. And
we'd love to help you build that
strategy. Schedule that call,
wealthwisdomfp.com/call. The link's also
in the show notes. Now we're ready for
that special announcement. Yeah, there's
something big that we've been cooking up.
And we would love to see you at it. So
(19:55):
yeah, so here we go. Drum roll, please.
We're hosting a freedom retreat for
business owners in August of
2025. If you're catching this and you're
serious about using your business to
create financial, relational,
emotional, mental and spiritual freedom,
then we want you to be there. You can
(20:16):
text the word freedom. to
513-447-6501,
and we'd love to share more. Again, text
FREEDOM to
513-447-6501.
This is an intimate retreat. It's
designed to set the stage for finishing
2025 well and having your
freedom trajectory for at least 12
(20:38):
months. Space is limited. I think
when we're recording this, there's only a
few spots left. So please reach out
today. Again, text to the word FREEDOM to
513-447-6501.
Yeah, we'd love it. I know it's gonna be
a lot of fun, uh, at that event. And
again, interconnecting all of these
(21:00):
things, uh, because you wanna have
financial freedom, business freedom, time
freedom, all those kind of things
together. Thanks for joining us. Don't
forget, hit that subscribe button and
live long and profit. Write a comment.
Love to hear from you. Remember, the
stories in today's episodes are fictional
and do not depict any actual person or
(21:22):
event. The topics presented in this
podcast are for general information only
and not for the purpose of providing
legal, accounting or investment advice.
On such matters, please consult a
professional who knows your specific
situation.
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