From the category archives:

Financial Education

Setting Intentions for a Better Financial Future

January 29, 2012

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, January 31st at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Setting Intentions for a Better Financial Future

One of the great benefits a new year brings is the opportunity to improve our individual situation from the previous year.

Some people choose to seize that opportunity by setting goals pertaining to weight loss, stopping smoking, or accomplishing new ambitions. The key to realizing a brighter future always hinges upon doing certain things different than they were done previously. If we persist in doing things as they’ve always been done, we cannot expect to get a different result.

A good example of this can be found in how a person goes about taking ownership of their financial future.

Too many people have persisted in habits like following the crowd and continuing to put their retirement money into 401(k)s and IRAs where taxes are deferred. They do this with some perceived future tax benefit in mind such as being in a lower tax bracket when they reach retirement.

They stubbornly keep their money in the market where it is most vulnerable to economic volatility and they ride out the ups and downs waiting for the market grow enough to regain their losses.

But the future reality they’re more likely to encounter will include higher taxes rates at the precise time that they have the fewest deductions to offset their liabilities. It’s entirely possible that they’ll end up paying higher taxes than they did when they were earning more.

The past decade has been especially tough on those whose retirement nest egg lost, on average, nearly 40% of its value.

On the other hand, those people who are willing to make necessary changes in the way they do things will get different results than they did before. For instance, thousands of Missed Fortune clients have learned how to use a strategic rollout to safely move their money from their 401(k) or IRA.

By doing this, they pay the applicable taxes today and then move those funds into a vehicle where their money accumulates tax-free from that day forward.

They learn to use indexing strategies that indirectly link their money to market performance in such a way that they don’t lose a dime when the market goes down yet they benefit from any upside immediately. People who’ve implemented our indexing strategies sleep soundly at night with zero stress over what the market may be doing.

They’ve taken the time to learn and apply proven principles and they get very different results from when they were simply following the crowd. This brings confidence in the future and peace of mind.

Three Things Investors Must Know

There are three critical components to a prudent investment. When potential investments are lacking any one or more of them, you’d be wise to reconsider.

The three essential ingredients of a prudent investment, in order of importance, include:

Liquidity. This is a primary concern whether it involves your serious cash that you’re earmarking for retirement. In simple terms, liquidity means your money is accessible when you need it and isn’t tied up in your real estate, your IRA or anywhere else that you cannot get to it.
Safety. The safety we’re looking for is not just of an institution, but also safety of principal. It’s not enough to simply protect the principal that you invested initially. In addition, any year that you make money, your gain should also become newly protected principal that also continues to grow tax-free.
Rate of Return. A predictable, safe rate of return that is tax-free is the ideal.

These three ingredients combine to form the acronym LSRR (Laser) that is familiar to Missed Fortune clients everywhere. In order to choose the best investments that pass the Laser test with flying colors, you need to understand how the various investments stack up.

The sad truth is that most of the popular investment strategies advocated by many advisors fail the Laser test miserably. Liquidity, safety, and rate of return–in that order–are the hallmarks of a prudent investment. If you have them, chances are that you’re watching your money grow safely year after year.

If you don’t yet have them, it’s time to visit with a Missed Fortune advisor and learn how to put them to work for you.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Eliminating Roadblocks To Get Your Money Back On Track

January 22, 2012

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, January 24th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Eliminating Roadblocks to Financial Peace of Mind

The last time a 401(k) or IRA statement arrived in your mailbox, how did you feel when you opened it?

Were you giddy, optimistic and excited?

Or did you feel frustrated, anxious and disappointed?

If your response is best described by the latter emotions, you’re not alone. For the past 4 years or so, record low rates of returns and the prospect of paying higher taxes have left many people feeling isolated and hopeless. They feel as though they’re not gaining any ground.

Wouldn’t it be preferable to have a definite game plan that allowed you to avoid the roadblocks that are frustrating so many today?

The roadblock of volatility has stood in the way of those who’ve been taught to expect average rates of return of 12%. They’ve been taught to “buy and hold” and that the market will always go up.

These are myths promoted by Wall Street that simply don’t reflect reality.

If a prospectus shows that your return will be up 50% the first year and down 50% the second year and then back up again 50% the third year and down 50% the fourth year, most people assume that they’d break even.

But the actual result looks much different.

If your $100,000 increased 50% up to $150,000 and then you lose 50%, you’re now down by $75,000. Let’s say you gain another 50% that takes you back up to $112,500 and then you lose another 50% that now takes you down to $56,250.

Far from breaking even, you’re actually down 43.75% from where you started thanks to market volatility.

This shouldn’t be surprising considering that the average rate of return for investors in the S&P 500 over the past 20 years has only been 3.83% according to DALBAR.

You can do much better. But you’ll have to do something different than what others have been doing.

Using an indexing strategy, you can protect your principal from loss when the economy declines and when the economy grows; your money grows as well. Any year your money grows, your gain becomes newly protected principal.

People who used indexing during the past four years found themselves up by 45-50% at time when others were taking a very unpleasant rollercoaster ride.

The Volatility of the Lost Decade

From January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009 we saw a lot of changes in the market. $100,000 at the beginning of that time period was only worth around $79,000.

If you had used indexing during that same period, you could have locked in gains during 5 of those years that saw positive market growth. The market declined the other 5 years, but with indexing, your gains during the up years would have become newly protected principal and you wouldn’t have lost any money during those down years.

The reason your money was protected during the down years is that it was indirectly linked to the market’s performance rather than being directly at risk in the market.

Under this strategy, that $100,000 you started out with in 2000 would have been worth over $200,000 at the end of 2010.

Whose shoes would you rather be in?

Another roadblock is found in the record low rates of return.

How can you expect to row upstream at a low rate of 1.6 miles per hour when the current is moving downstream at 8 or 9 miles per hour? In this case the upstream rate represents your rate of return while the speed of the current represents inflation.

You have to have a strategy that automatically earns a rate of return 5-6% greater than the rate of inflation. Indexing makes that possible by linking your returns to the things that inflate when we experience inflation. This way inflation helps you rather than hurts you.

It’s shocking how many financial advisors don’t understand how to do this.

Missed Fortune strategies work. They remove the major roadblocks that have been preventing people from taking ownership of their future.

Learn more by contacting a Missed Fortune advisor today.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Making Money Or Making Up Lost Ground?

January 8, 2012

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, January 10th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Making Money Safely

From October to January, Doug Andrews applied a formula he’d been given in order to not gain weight during the holiday season.

At the first of the year, Doug was happy to see that his weight had been maintained.

By understanding the ratios and portions and the effect of personal activity on his body’s ability to utilize the carbohydrates and fats, Doug followed the formula and got the desired results.

Moreover, he did this at a time when most people were justifying eating things that are fattening and unhealthy.

This can be likened to how many of us can either follow formulas or follow the crowd when it comes to setting aside money for our future.

When we follow the crowd, we put our money into 401(k)s or IRAs. We tell ourselves we’ll be in a lower tax bracket in the future. We tell ourselves to keep hanging in there with our money in the market, waiting for the average 12% rate of return we were promised.

The reality is that 401(k)s and IRAs deny us liquidity. Our tax liabilities can still increase due to rising taxes and disappearing deductions. And according to DELBAR, most people who put their money in the market have averaged just 3.83% rate of return over the past 2 decades.

But there are proven formulas that allows you to successfully and safely earn a conservative, predictable rate of return averaging 8% net cash on cash. Even during the worst 10-year period since the Great depression—2001 to 2011–this formula has allowed people to double their money, safely and tax-free.

By following a predictable system, they got the results they desired.

Of all the resolutions to make this year, choosing not to follow the crowd any longer, may be the most significant.

This means you don’t continue to put your money into investments that are vulnerable to taxes, inflation or economic uncertainty.

Instead, choose to take charge of your financial future by learning the formulas that allow your money to grow tax-free, to outpace inflation and to remain safe when the market declines.

Two Steps Forward-One Step Back

Many of us remember the childhood game of red-light/green-light. You’d take nine steps forward and then have to take 4 steps back. Your net gain was never as much as you’d have liked it to be.

That stopping and starting sensation is a familiar one to anyone who lost a third or more of their retirement nest egg over the past 10 years. Some years they’d make great gains only to lose spectacularly the next year.

After 10 years of market uncertainty, very few investors have even managed to break even with the amount of money they started out with. Once they were accustomed to earning 6-8%, but now they’re earning just 1-2%.

They’re struggling to make up lost ground and feeling frustrated and hopeless.

Whether you have $150,000 or $1.5 million in an IRA or 401(k), that money isn’t really all yours. Uncle Sam and the state in which you reside will likely claim about one third of that money through taxes when you retire.

When you consider the cost of taxes, fees and the effects of inflation, you’ve taken plenty of steps backwards financially.

Getting different results in the coming year is going to require doing something different than they’ve been doing up to this point.

This is a prime opportunity to get your financial house in order so that you can create predictability in your life and in your financial future. This is how to gain the confidence that you will not outlive your money.

The Missed Fortune strategies can teach you how to accumulate your nest egg, tax-free. That money will distribute tax-free at retirement or any other time you need to access it. And best of all, it transfers to your spouse or children tax-free when you pass.

The only step backward you’ll be taking is the actual cost of the vehicle in which you’re putting your serious money. But you’re still moving nine steps forward for a net of eight steps ahead of where you started.

This is only possible when you counter the three major threats of the next decade:

Higher taxes
Inflation
Market volatility

Learn how to eliminate these dangers and safely and predictably grow your money without having to make up lost ground.

Learn how to make these principles work for you by contacting a Missed Fortune advisor today.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Making the Changes That Make All the Difference

January 1, 2012

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, January 3rd at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Change Can Be a Reason To Cheer

We each have a choice regarding whether or not this is the year we’ll do things differently.

This is particularly true with respect to our financial futures.

It’s a perfect time for more of us to start taking ownership of our future instead of making Social Security the basis of our future retirement or waiting for government to take care of us.

Even among those who’ve been saving for retirement, too many people have simply kept following the crowd hoping to regain what market losses have cost them.

A perfect example of this is those who keep putting their money at risk in the market and “hang in there” waiting to realize the average 12% returns they were promised.

They don’t understand that if, over a decade, their return goes up 10% for half of those years and goes down 10% for the other half, they won’t break even. Instead they’ll end up with only 95% of the amount they started with. No one can afford to lose money on a regular basis.

This common error is compounded when many of these same people continue to sock money away in tax-deferred savings vehicles thinking they’ll be in a lower tax bracket when they retire. But with taxes on the rise combined with the loss of critical deductions, they may well end up paying higher taxes even though their income is less.

If your answer is to keep doing what you’ve always done, you can expect to keep getting what you’ve always gotten.

If those folks had used the Missed Fortune indexing strategies instead, they could see their money safely grow as the market goes up, but enjoy safety of principal and not lose a dime when the market declines. Over the past decade, these indexing strategies have enabled many people to earn 7.23% actual return—and that’s tax-free!

This may be the time to make a resolution to start rerouting some of the money you’ve been sinking into 401(k)s or IRAs and start taking distributions before the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of next year. This is known as a strategic rollout and it will make a world of difference when we see taxes go up again.

If you do want to learn how to do things differently, now is the time to empower yourself. Thousands of people have found a better way to take ownership of their future through learning and implementing the Missed Fortune strategies.

With these strategies, you’ll clearly understand the three key elements of a good investment:

Liquidity- The ability to get to your money when you need it.
Safety- The practice of protecting your principal by making turning the money you make in any given year into newly protected principal.
Rate of Return- This means that you are earning a predictable, tax-free rate of return that allows you to outpace inflation.

An investment that has all 3 of these qualities is far more likely to prove a good investment.

This is the kind of knowledge that promotes confidence and certainty at a time when so many are struggling with confusion and a sense of isolation.

Three Marvels of Wealth Accumulation

Motivational superstar Zig Ziegler loved to quiz his audience about the difference between a $10,000 racehorse and a $1 million racehorse. He’d ask them if the million dollar racehorse was worth 100 times more than the other one because it was 100 times faster than the $10,000 one.

After careful consideration, the answer was usually “no.”

Ziegler would point out that sometimes the only measurable difference between these two horses often came down to a few thousandths of a second out there on the racetrack.

His point was that the horses actually started out on a more level playing field than most people might suspect. What made the real difference was the way they were trained and how they applied their training.

When it comes to those who accumulate great wealth, the same principle applies. Many of the world’s wealthiest individuals didn’t merely inherit their wealth; they earned it.

More importantly, they earned that wealth because they learned to recognize opportunities that others around them did not. They didn’t possess superhuman capabilities or powers of discernment; they simply learned the principles of wealth accumulation and applied them.

These principles are not widely practiced, but they’re not secret, nor are they shrouded in mystery. The reason everyone isn’t practicing these principles of wealth accumulation is that they are simply not widely understood. They will work for anyone who is willing to learn them and apply them.

To better illustrate the kind of principles we’re dealing with, let’s look at three of the main ones relating to the accumulation of wealth.

The three marvels of wealth accumulation are:

Compound Interest. Einstein called it the most misunderstood phenomenon on the planet. One way to visualize how compound interest works is to imagine that you could fold over a piece of copy paper 50 times so that it doubled in thickness each time. By the 50^th time that paper had been doubled, it would be over 93 million miles in thickness.

Money can likewise accumulate at an astounding rate thanks to compound interest, but this is only true when that money is able to grow tax-free. Tax-advantaged vehicles are grandfathered into the IRS code, but they must be set up correctly.

Tax-Free Accumulation. The second marvel of wealth accumulation is one of the most important especially when considering the likelihood of taxes going up in the future. Taxes can quickly deplete even a sizeable nest egg within a matter of just a few years. Outliving your retirement money is a definite possibility.

Consider that your million dollar tax-deferred nest egg will only be worth around $666,000 after Uncle Sam claims his share. Get those taxes out of the way up front and your money will grow, distribute and eventually transfer tax-free to your spouse or children. There are specific sections of the IRS code that make this possible.

It’s in your interest to learn what they are and how to apply them.

Safe Positive Leverage. This describes the ability to own and control assets with very little or none of your money actually tied up or at risk of being lost in the asset.

If you’re borrowing money at 4% and are able to leverage that money where you’re earning an 8% rate of return, you’re now getting infinite return. The main reason most people don’t avail themselves of safe positive leverage is that they don’t know what they don’t know.

These three marvels are just a few of the principles that can make all the difference for those who wish to accumulate wealth in any economy; including our current struggling one.

Learn how to make these principles work for you by contacting a Missed Fortune advisor today.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Different Results Require Different Action

December 25, 2011

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, December 27th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Resolving to Make the Right Changes

As we make our New Year’s resolutions, a question to consider is whether this is the year you’ll do things differently.

This is especially true with respect to your financial future.

More people need to start taking ownership of their future instead of waiting for the government to take care of them or making Social Security the basis of their future retirement.

Too many folks have simply kept following the crowd hoping to recoup their losses. They’ve continued to sock money away in tax-deferred savings vehicles thinking they’ll be in a lower tax bracket when they retire.

A perfect example of this is those who keep putting their money at risk in the market and “hang in there” waiting to realize the average 12% returns they were promised.

They don’t understand that if, over a decade, their return goes up 10% for half of those years and goes down 10% for the other half, they won’t break even. Instead they’ll end up with only 95% of the amount they started with. No one can afford to lose money on a regular basis.

If your answer is to keep doing what you’ve always done, you can expect to keep getting what you’ve always gotten.

If those folks had used the Missed Fortune indexing strategies instead, they could see their money safely grow as the market goes up, but enjoy safety of principal and not lose a dime when the market declines. Over the past decade, these indexing strategies have enabled many people to earn 7.23% actual return—and that’s tax-free!

This may be the time to make a resolution to start rerouting some of the money you’ve been sinking into 401(k)s or IRAs and start taking distributions before the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of next year. This is known as a strategic rollout and it will make a world of difference when we see taxes go up again.

If you do want to learn how to do things differently, now is the time to empower yourself. Thousands of people have found a better way to take ownership of their future through learning and implementing the Missed Fortune strategies.

With these strategies, you’ll clearly understand the three key elements of a good investment:

Liquidity- The ability to get to your money when you need it.
Safety- The practice of protecting your principal by making turning the money you make in any given year into newly protected principal.
Rate of Return- This means that you are earning a predictable, tax-free rate of return that allows you to outpace inflation.

An investment that has all 3 of these qualities will be a good investment.

This is the kind of knowledge that promotes confidence and certainty at a time when so many are struggling with confusion and a sense of isolation

The 3 Big Secrets

Zig Ziegler used to talk about the difference between a $10,000 racehorse and a $1 million racehorse. He’d ask if the million dollar racehorse was worth 100 times more than the other one because it was 100 times faster than the $10,000 one.

The answer was “no.”

Sometimes the only measurable difference between these two horses was a few thousandths of a second.

His point was that the horses started out on a much more level playing field than you might suspect.

When it comes to those who accumulate great wealth, the same principle applies. Many didn’t inherit their wealth; they simply saw opportunities that others around them did not.

The three marvels of wealth accumulation are:

Compound Interest. Einstein called it the most misunderstood phenomenon on the planet. If you could fold over a piece of copy paper 50 times so that it doubled in thickness each time, it would be over 93 million miles in thickness.

Money can likewise accumulate at an astounding rate thanks to compound interest, but only when it grows tax-free.

Tax-Free Accumulation. The second marvel of wealth accumulation is one of the most important especially when considering the likelihood of taxes going up in the future.

A million dollar tax-deferred nest egg will only be worth around $666,000 after Uncle Sam claims his share.

Safe Positive Leverage. This is the ability to own and control assets with very little or none of your money actually tied up or at risk in the asset.

If you’re borrowing money at 4% and are able to leverage that money where you’re earning an 8% rate of return, you’re now getting infinite return.

These three marvels are just a few of the principles that make all the difference for those who accumulate wealth in any economy.

Learn how to make them work for you by meeting with a Missed Fortune advisor today.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Predictability Is a Good Thing

December 18, 2011

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, December 20th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Outliving Your Money Isn’t An Option

We’ve all seen or heard of the parlor trick where members of the audience are asked to pick a number, take it through various mathematical manipulations, then to pick a corresponding letter, animal, country and fruit.

After walking through the many steps of this exercise, roughly 80% of the audience will find themselves envisioning the same animal, country and fruit. This exercise is not so much a mind-reading demonstration as it’s a great example of creating predictability.

Predictability is extremely important. A good example of this would that of Dr. Edwards Deming who, in the 1970s, correctly predicted that the Japanese automakers Honda, Toyota and Nissan would one day dominate the American automobile market.

The Big Three U.S. automakers laughed at him.

They’re not laughing now.

Deming was hired as a quality management engineer for in Japan and he created the predictable quality that defines Japanese automobiles today. Good management creates predictable results and this is true regarding how we manage our money.

When you’re getting predictable liquidity, safety and rates of return on your serious retirement cash, your financial planning success is almost certain.

On the other hand, so many Americans tend to simply follow the crowd and continue to put their retirement money into IRAs, 401(k)s or directly into the market where it’s at risk. Their advisors have told them to “hang in there” with the promise of an average rate of return of 12%, but when taxes and inflation or market volatility strike, the returns are much more modest.

Using Doug Andrew’s Missed Fortune strategies, a person can see their serious cash safely accumulate tax-free with a predictable rate of return averaging 8%, even in the worst of economies. These strategies have worked for the past 30 years, including the dizzying ups and downs of the Lost Decade we’ve just been through.

Since 1998, Doug’s strategies have included indexing as a means to prosper even during a down economy.

Many financial advisors simply can’t fathom why anyone would consider capping their rate of return at 14, 15 or 16% when the economy could go up 30%. But when you consider that the past decade saw the market make two major drops of 40% that will take years to make up, the reason for indexing becomes clear.

Those who were using the indexing strategy didn’t lose a dime during those precipitous down years. By not losing money, they didn’t have lost ground to make up and the second the market began to recover; they got to enjoy the upside potential.

Every year they made money, these investors using indexing got to lock in the gain.

Predictably.

By contrast, for those putting their money in the market in growth mutual funds, the average investor rate of return according to DALBAR was only 3.83%.

Following the Crowd Is a Losing Game

There are 3 kinds of people in the world:

Those who make things happen
Those who watch things happen
Those who wonder what just happened because they missed the boat

This is especially true when it comes to understanding how money works.

For many it’s so easy to follow the crowd, to save for the future in IRAs and 401(k)s, to “hang in there” waiting for a 12% return on their money.

If you averaged 12% on every $100,000 that you had back in 1990-1991, you’d have $1,100,000 today. But people just aren’t averaging 12% returns.

Even if you had $1 million dollars in your nest egg, by the time you figure in the taxes you’ll have to pay when you start accessing it, you’ll really only have about $666,000 left to work with. If you pull out $72,000 annually, you’re only going to net $48,000 in a 33% tax bracket.

More and more people are realizing that they’re not going to be in a lower tax bracket when they retire because they’ve done away with all of their deductions and exemptions by the time they reach retirement. Also Congress keeps raising taxes.

Taxes keep going up. Inflation is around the corner.

Plus market uncertainty is expected to continue.

These three factors constitute the triple whammy that will threaten most people’s retirement nest egg throughout the coming decade.

This is why it’s so critically important to have the proper strategies in place to address each of these threats.

Your money must be able to accumulate, distribute and transfer tax-free. Your savings vehicle should be tied to those things that inflate so your money grows at a rate that’s greater than inflation. And it should be able to participate in any market upsides without being placed at risk in the market.

Learn how to put each of these strategies to work by meeting with a Missed Fortune advisor today.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Converting Fear & Frustration Into Confidence

December 4, 2011

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, December 6th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Economic Uncertainty Fuels Anger and Frustration

A recent article by Catherine New in Business Finance talks about how Americans are growing increasingly distrustful of their financial institutions.

The article states:

“The latest figures from the quarterly Chicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index showed that only 23% of those surveyed said they trust the country’s financial systems, down from 25% in June. The index measures trust in four areas: banks, the stock market, mutual funds and large corporations.

“The findings in this issue reflect what’s been reported in the news and demonstrate the fragility of trust many Americans still have in the institutions where they invest their money,” said Luigi Zingales, a finance professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and co-author of the Index.

Trust in banks has experienced an even steeper decline, falling from 39% in June to 33% in October. Notably, people were much more inclined to trust local banks and credit unions: More than half of those surveyed said they still had faith in those institutions.

The survey also revealed that nearly 60% of respondents were either angry or very angry about the current economic situation — the highest level of anger measured since the earliest months of the financial crisis.”

These findings tend to confirm what an earlier CNN article that claimed nearly 90% of Americans regard our current economic conditions as poor or as the worst that they’ve ever been.

The solution for this growing sense of frustration and anger is found in empowerment.

This is especially true in light of the losses experienced during the so-called “lost decade” in which many people’s retirement nest eggs lost 30-40% or more of their value. Few people have made it back to the point where they’ll break even.

The seriousness of this type of loss can be illustrated by imagining a $100,000 account losing 33% of its value and dropping to $66,000 in value. To make up that amount of lost ground, you’d need to experience a 50% gain just in order to break even.

This is why so many Americans feel as though they’ve lost their future twice in just the last decade.

Congress has attempted to intervene, but so far their actions have essentially amounted to re-arranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic by adding additional spending.

As famed economist Milton Friedman once predicted in the 1970s, Congress constantly tries to spend its way out of a recession by increasing spending and passing legislation that doesn’t really have any effect. In this latest crisis, Congress has spent an additional $3.6 trillion in 5 years and raised the national debt from $9 trillion to nearly $15 trillion.

Despite all this economic stimulus spending, unemployment has increased from 7.2% to 9.2%.

When the president suggests taxing corporations at ever-higher rates, this creates a strong disincentive for companies to grow and to hire new employees. This uncertainty allows the economy to continue to stagnate. A better approach would be the one followed by Wisconsin, which saw unemployment drop and business increase when the state lowered taxes and regulation.

What to Expect In the Coming Decade

With the difficulties of the Lost Decade still fresh in our minds, it’s essential that we consider the likely challenges of the coming decade.

High on the list of probable economic dangers is the prospect of higher taxes. Couples who make over $200,000 per year and single filers who make over $100,00 could see their tax rates soar as high as 62.5%.

Even if Congress simply allows the Bush tax cuts enacted after 9/11 to expire, it would constitute the biggest tax increase in American history. Few things will drain your nest egg quicker than the burden of being taxed upon withdrawing your money.

Taxes will be going up and your economic strategy should take this into consideration.

The second big danger we face in the next 10 years is inflation. For the last two decades, inflation has averaged less than 3%, but in the days ahead, we’re likely to see inflation increase to 5% on the low end all the way up to 10% on the high end.

Your retirement planning must take this into consideration since even a modest 5% rate of inflation doubles the cost of living every 15 years. When your dollars only purchase half as much 15 years from now as they do today, you’d better have a way of growing your money that outpaces inflation.

The third big danger is that of continued market uncertainty. This, combined with economic uncertainty is what prevents employers from hiring new people and growing their businesses.

These three dangers combine to create a triple whammy that can wreak havoc on a person’s retirement nest egg. Fortunately, there are proven Missed Fortune strategies that can be put to work to counter these dangers.

When your money can accumulate tax-free, when your rate of return is linked to those things that inflate during periods of inflation, and when you can benefit from market growth without risking your money during market downturns, the danger is dramatically reduced.

That’s when confidence replaces fear and frustration.

The first step to learning what you must know is to meet with a Missed Fortune advisor.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Taking Ownership Distinguishes the Adults from the Crying Infants

November 27, 2011

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, November 29th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

A Political Puff Piece or a Metaphor for Modern America?

A recent feel-good article in the San Francisco Chronicle illustrates the mindset of dependency held by many Americans.

“President Obama spent only a few hours in San Francisco, but he spent only a few seconds to prove why he is the baby-whisperer. Moments after landing at San Francisco International Airport on Air Force One, Obama spotted 6-month-old Josie Knight, who was crying while being held by her mother, Gina Odom, 37, of Oakland.

“It’s OK,” the president said repeatedly, taking the squalling infant into his arms. Obama bounced gently and held her for about 10 seconds before flashing a smile and returning her to Odom.”

This incident isn’t just a harmless human-interest story about a baby-kissing politician; it’s actually a metaphor.

ABC News, reporting on the speech said:

“At a million-dollar San Francisco fundraiser today, President Obama warned his recession-battered supporters that if he loses the 2012 election it could herald a new, painful era of self-reliance in America.”

Did you catch that? The only thing standing between us and having to rely on ourselves is the President.

Self-reliance used to be one of the distinguishing characteristics of an adult. You can’t be truly self-reliant until you are willing to take charge of your own future. This is especially true in financial matters.

If the objective of the president is to have the government provide everything for us, we’re setting ourselves up for failure on a grand scale. Government hasn’t paid off our mortgages, our kids college educations, or helped us get better jobs despite spending nearly $3.6 trillion in economic stimulus money.

If just 20% of that amount had been given to employers instead and they were allowed to hire the employees they chose to, it would have provided a $50,000 per year salary for two years for every single unemployed person in America.

Instead, we’ve seen the unemployment rate swell from 7.2% to 9/2%.

We need to get out of this mentality that big government needs to step in and take care of us. We need to take ownership in our future. Ownership has traditionally been the American way, but it appears to be falling from favor.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Ownership Equals Power Over Your Financial Future

Even the IRS recognizes and incentivizes the value of taking ownership of your financial future. For instance, in section 163 of the Internal Revenue Code, you’ll find that the cheapest money you can borrow is that used for the purchase of a primary or secondary residence.

Right now you can borrow money at less than 4.5% interest for such a purchase and deduct interest up to $1,000,000 of acquisition indebtedness and $100,000 over and above that in equity indebtedness.

So if you borrow money at 4.5% and it’s deductible, in most people’s tax brackets, it’s only a net cost of about 3%. The government does this to incentivize people in order to make it easier to own a home. This is why the deduction has been in the tax code for decades.

Should Congress decide to do away with the tax deductibility of mortgage interest, it would be a huge discouragement to potential home-buyers.

Now consider what taking ownership means in terms of your retirement.

Our government is obligated to pay out nearly $115 trillion in unfunded liabilities over the next few decades. If you’re expecting government to be able to take care of you in your retirement, you’re likely in for a big disappointment.

The good news is that you can choose to take ownership of your financial future rather than expecting the federal government to pick you up and comfort you.

You can learn to re-direct, legally, otherwise payable taxes to causes you support by learning and applying the Missed Fortune strategies. By taking ownership, you become self reliant and you’ll do far better than you would by depending upon the government to meet all of your needs.

You’ll learn how to protect your retirement nest egg from the devastating triple whammy of rising taxes, growing inflation and continuing market volatility. Your serious money will enjoy liquidity, safety and a guaranteed rate of return all while accumulating and eventually transferring tax-free.

Are you ready to enjoy a greater sense of confidence and self-reliance in your financial future?

The first step to taking ownership is to meet with a Missed Fortune advisor.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Why Your Your Money Should Outlive You

November 20, 2011

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, November 22nd at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

The Question that Keeps the Boomers Awake at Night

One of the biggest questions on the minds of those who are saving for retirement is whether they will outlive the money they’ve saved for retirement.

Where once they were earning rates of return around 8-9%, lately they’ve seen returns of more like 1-3%. The losses of the last decade have proven difficult to overcome and many soon-to-be retirees are looking at the very real possibility of outliving their money.

You need growth on your money in order to have income for your retirement.

For your money to grow, you must have liquidity, safety and a solid rate of return. These are the three key elements of any successful retirement savings plan.

In a nutshell, you need to be able to get your money back when you need it back. Your money must be safe and either insured or guaranteed to protect you against loss of principal. Finally, you must have a rate of return that allows your nest egg to grow faster than the rate of inflation or rising taxes.

These are essential strategic considerations for anyone who recognizes the effects of inflation and taxes and the corresponding need to protect and grow their serious cash for the future.

Those who have their nest eggs tied up in a tax-deferred environment like a 401(k) or an IRA are especially at risk to the tax and inflation power curve. Even with a $1 million nest egg, you’re at significant risk.

Federal and state taxes are likely to take at least a third of your money in taxes the moment you begin to access it. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, with increasing federal spending, many Americans will be paying nearly 40-50% taxes in order to cover federal deficit spending as well as government debt.

Many investments are not liquid, safe, or earn a predictable rate of return. They fail what is referred to as the LSRR (laser) test that measures how well an investment satisfies these qualities.

Tax-deferred vehicles leave your money vulnerable to higher tax rates because most people, at retirement, no longer have children living at home and their homes are paid off. This lack of deductions, coupled with the prospect of Congress hiking tax rates means that many retirees find themselves in their highest tax bracket yet.

Add to this the effect of rising inflation and its relentless decrease in the purchasing power of each dollar, and it’s easy to understand how even a $1 million dollar nest egg can be drained within a remarkably short time.

Shielding Your Nest Egg Against Taxes, Inflation & Market Volatility

These effects can be successfully countered with Missed Fortune strategies that place your serious cash in a tax-free environment where it can grow, be accessed and ultimately transferred tax-free. This is a perfectly legal maneuver under certain grandfathered sections of the IRS code.

Linking your returns to those things that inflate will allow your money to grow safely ahead of the rate of inflation.

And Indexing strategies provide all the benefit of linking your return to the performance of certain market indexes without the risk of putting your money directly into the market.

Those who know and implement these Missed Fortune strategies can effectively protect their serious retirement money and avoid the fear of outliving their nest eggs.

To learn more, visit with a Missed Fortune advisor today.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Protecting Your Nest Egg By Sticking To the Recipe

November 13, 2011

Podcast: Download (22.9MB)

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, November 15th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Following the Recipe For Financial Success

The last few years have been frustrating for those who have been searching for the right recipe of how to best protect their retirement nest eggs.

This has been tricky of late thanks to the prospect of rising taxes, inflation and continuing market volatility. The key to success is following a recipe that works.

If you set out to make cinnamon rolls but you either don’t know the recipe, or received a faulty recipe or chose to wing it on certain ingredients and preparation steps, your result will most likely be disappointing.

Failing to follow the proven recipe sets you up for failure. Now, apply that standard to securing your financial future.

Keeping your serious retirement money liquid, safe and tax-free requires first knowing and then strictly following the right recipe in order to be successful.

Here’s an example:

The LSRR (laser) test is an acronym for Liquidity, Safety, and Rate of Return.

Liquidity refers to how easy it is to access your money or to get your money back when you want. Safety deals with how secure your money is and whether or not it is guaranteed or insured. Rate of return is what makes our money grow in spite of the effects of inflation or taxes.

Investment vehicles that can pass the LSRR test are a much safer way to accumulate money tax-free rather than tax-deferred like IRAs and 401(k)s. Not only should your money accumulate tax-free, but also you should be able to access it and eventually transfer it tax-free to your heirs.

The painful reality that will dawn upon those with tax-deferred retirement vehicles is that, upon withdrawing their funds, they’ll be paying nearly a third of their money in income taxes. Their tax liabilities and tax rates will likely have increased, while their deductions will have disappeared. If inflation goes up, the purchasing power of their savings will have diminished.

This means that even a million dollar nest egg will be whittled down to size much quicker than most people can imagine. Between the bite of taxation and even a modest 5% rate of inflation, a million dollar nest egg will be completely depleted in just 11 years.

There’s simply no substitute for learning and following the right recipe.

The Five Toughest Questions Most Financial Advisors Will Face

What has been the actual (cash on cash) rate of return that your clients have realized during the last 10 years?

Take whatever percent they tell you, and divide that into 72. For instance if they tell you their client’s rate of return was 12%, divide 8 into 72 and you’ll get 6.

You’re using the “Rule of 72” to determine how quickly their clients’ money is doubling. So if the rate of return was 12% you’ll ask them if their clients’ money doubled every six years.

Remember, if their clients are subject to taxes on the back end of their investment, that 12% really equals only 8% after taxes. There are better ways to get an 8% rate of return that’s tax-free.

Can you give me a guarantee of no loss of principal or at least a guaranteed return of 1-3% even when the economy is tanking with upside potential when the economy is doing well and can you make it tax-free?

The answer to this question will tell you if your advisor understands how to use indexing so that their clients don’t lose money even in a down economy and start making money the second the economy grows.

During good years they can make up to 14-15% and during bad years they’ll still make 1-3% guaranteed, and it will accumulate tax-free. Again, not that many advisors know how this is done.

Can you protect my money automatically from the effect of inflation if we start experiencing higher inflation rates?

Financial advisors who’ve received Missed Fortune training will understand how to link your returns to those things that inflate. This means that your money grows at a rate that outpaces that of inflation.

Advisors who don’t have this knowledge will likely just shrug their shoulders.

Can you protect my nest egg from the effects of taxes going up in the future?

Again, most advisors will squirm when faced with this question because many of them still advise their clients to save their money in tax-deferred vehicles like IRAs and 401(k)s that subject them to further taxes when they begin accessing their money.

There are better vehicles that allow a client’s money to accumulate tax-free, and remain tax-free when at distribution and again at transfer when they pass away.

Can you help me get my money out of my IRAs and 401(k)s with reduced tax or maybe no tax impact?

Most advisors, most CPAs and tax attorneys will be dumbfounded when asked to do this, but an advisor who knows how can help you withdraw 50, 60 or 70,000 dollars a year without getting hammered for taxes.

It’s called a strategic rollover and its another of the Missed Fortune strategies that have been helping people grow their money safely, predictably and tax-free for decades.

Simply knowing to ask the right questions can get you headed in the right direction.

The next step is meeting with a Missed Fortune advisor to learn what to do next.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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