Sunday, August 25, 2019

Verdict : Wall Street Journal's Research Not Up to Its Usual Standards :(

https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/your-money-matters/you-plan-to-work-past-age-65-here-why-you-wont/4319575a-384e-4d55-8c24-9c35f853f746 is what got me started..

I absolutely want this thing - but, you know that feeling - if it sounds too good to be true...….

Anyhow, first, a Google search for "high cash value low commission dividend paying whole life insurance" - zilch - you know those Motley Fool banner ads that proclaim the next big stock winner - and you follow that lead and you go nowhere - they just want you to sign up..

Try as hard as I might, I cannot find the name of a single insurance company I need to sign up with to realize these miracle returns.. (Ponzi scheme?)

But, this one mentioned Lafayette Life : https://financialgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Bank-on-Yourself-1.pdf :

Eventually, I was able to run my own numbers in evaluating Bank of Yourself's offer. The bottom line: In repaying the $30,000 I borrowed to finance my purchases, I paid an additional $12,000 to Lafayette Life. But 12 years into the policy I had only an additional $8,759 guaranteed, which, depending on Lafayette Life's returns, could be as high as $9,832. In other words, I would've forked out an additional $12,000 to the insurance company, only to have less money years later around the time I expected to draw on the policy for my retirement. In other words, I would be out even more than 30 grand.

To ensure my analysis was correct, I sent my numbers to the Bank on Yourself agent. Unfortunately, I could get no confirmation of my findings, and he eventually stopped responding to my questions. Next, I approached Pamela Yellen herself, and she disagreed with my numbers. In an email exchange, Yellen said I was taking her "get every penny back" pledge -- which is sprinkled throughout the book's early chapters -- too literally, suggesting that it is used chiefly to contrast her financial planning method with other approaches. She also pointed to the book's repeated acknowledgement that Bank on Yourself is not a magic bullet.

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