PREFACE

It’s been said that if you do what everyone else is doing, you will achieve only average results.

As I write this in late 2008, it’s become increasingly clear that, when it comes to financial and retirement planning, following the crowd simply isn’t working. You needn’t look very far for proof of that.

As a consultant to tens of thousands of financial advisors, I have been exposed to literally hundreds of financial products, strategies, and concepts, many of which were touted as sure bets for growing wealth. After careful investigation, most proved to be worthless, or even hazardous to my financial health.

However, I continued searching for a way to grow wealth predictably, without losing sleep, and without having to worry that our investments might tank just when my husband and I were ready to retire. Or worse, discovering after we’d already retired that the interest and investment income we were counting on had been drastically reduced.

I came to the conclusion that an appropriate financial product or method had to meet three basic criteria: it had to be brain-dead simple —simple to implement, and pretty much able to operate on autopilot. After all, I already have a more-than-full-time job I love; I have no interest in spending my leisure time analyzing stock charts or pounding the pavement searching for the perfect real estate investment.

My second requirement was that it had to be virtually foolproof and require no luck, skill, or guesswork—something almost anyone can do.

My third and final criterion was that it must actually work—so we’d have confidence that our nest egg would grow safely every year and wouldn’t go backward.

I found this combination of requirements—and so much more—when I finally learned about Bank On Yourself ^®. The surprise was that the financial tool used for it had been right under my nose all along. This book is about a unique and little-known twist on a financial vehicle that’s existed for more than one hundred years that, when combined with a mind-bending financial principle, lets you get back the money you spend on big-ticket items, plus the interest you pay to financial institutions. All those dollars you recapture can create a richer lifestyle for you now and, at the same time, fund a retirement you can truly count on.

I believe Bank On Yourself is the most powerful money secret of all. But I’ll let you be the judge of that.