All Life Insurance Tips

“Bank On Yourself” Whole Life Insurance strategy Info Request:?

I have been researching the Bank on Yourself (BOY) whole life (WL) strategy and I have so far found the perceived potential to be very intriguing. The easily available BOY material is very infomercial-like or lacking in detail. The Lafayette WL insurance illustration I received from a BOY representative was informative and appears to summarize a legitimate wealth appreciation strategy. To assist me in my decision, I would like to request information of two types: 1.Any information or comments from individuals who have and use a Bank on Yourself WL policy. 2.Comments from individuals who know of and investigated the BOY strategy but decided NOT to implement a policy. I would greatly appreciate some of your reasons. While this strategy uses WL, it appears to be a specific type of policy written by a “mutual” insurance company designed to minimize the death benefit and maximize the “Cash Value”. This maximization is achieved by using Paid-Up-Addition-Riders (PUARs). This WL policy type provides several flexible features that are different from my 401K and Roth IRA. I understand the conventional wisdom that states stay away from WL; buy term and invest the rest. So, I understand this statement but I am interested on BOY information. Thanks, I appreciate your responses.

Public Comments

1. I do not know anything about BOY. However, I am an agent and based off of what you stated, I can tell exactly what you are referring to. Many people fail to see a WL or UL as an investment. If done properly, it is a great investment and can provide a very nice income. There is a book called Tax-Free Retirement by I believe Patrick Henry. You can find it on Amazon. He is not promoting any particular program. It is not a long book and is an easy read. I highly suggest reading that book as it discusses different retirement options and shows how a life insurance policy can be used as an investment. Again there is no endorsements in there for any company whatsoever.
2. I have no idea what BOY is, but I do understand the value of Whole Life insurance, if you can afford it. Whole life is written at any age, and the premiums for the insurance are the same for life. The policy can build substantial cash value, and it is possible (at least today it is) to "borrow" money from the policy to use as tax-free income each year. Many Whole Life policies are written to maximize a retirement income use, as opposed to just insurance upon death. Term life is much cheaper insurance that is for a specific length of time-- 10, 20, even 30 years. After that time period, you have no insurance, no cash value, nothing. Term is often used by young families who can't afford whole life, as it does protect the children from catastrophe should a parent die. Your individual circumstances will dictate which is best for you. I will say that unless you have a professional investment advisor, "investing the rest" is not as simple as you might think. Many people over the last 10 years or so would have been far better off with a whole life policy than investing in the market. At least they would have guaranteed values that they could not lose. In that same vein I'd also recommend staying away from Variable Life. That is too tied to the whims of the stock market for my taste. Insurance above all should be a guaranteed protection for you and your family that will kick in when they need it most.