How to Take Control of Your Finances and Be Your Own Bank

At our latest Sarasota Alternative Investment Club meeting Rebekah Samples spoke on the topic of “How to Become Your Own Bank and Leverage Your Money.” She spoke briefly about the 5Fs: Faith, Family, Fitness, Finances, and Freedom. She said these are five things you need to do for yourself and you shouldn’t outsource them. She pointed out that even though there are financial planners, who can undertake the task of managing your financial well-being, that it really is better to be in charge of this for yourself.

Rebekah said we need to change the way we think about our financial savings and future. We need to think about our money the same way we think about what we use money for. So if you wouldn’t buy a car and not drive it, why would you take your savings and not have it be useful to you now? Why let banks reap the benefits of your savings?

She spoke about how banks lend out the money you deposit, they make a large profit, which goes to their shareholders, and you get a small amount of interest. She says there are better ways to capture the value of your deposited money for yourself. One way she talked about was through dividend paying whole life insurance plans, which allows you to use money deposited into them as your own personal bank. Money earned when the company overseeing the insurance lends this money, goes back to you as a dividend, and not to the shareholders.

Rebekah said there are three financial types of people: the debtor, the saver, and the wealth creator. We have been taught to believe that saving up for something is better than borrowing money to purchase it. She showed a chart that displayed in both instances, we start at zero and arrive at zero, whether we borrowed and slowly repaid the debt or we slowly saved up then used the money for the purchase. She recommended a different plan where you loan your savings to yourself and pay yourself interest, creating more wealth for you. She cited the reward of compound interest; this process allows you to earn interest on both the initial principle and the accumulated interest from previous periods. She said dividend paying whole life insurance plans allow you to act as your own bank with tax-free growth.

These insurance plans allow your money to compound over time, while giving you the freedom to use the principal or the interest when you need it for the things we want or need in life. If set-up and used correctly this money will grow and create a legacy for your future self and maybe even your heirs.

On February 1, Eric Sussman will speak to the Sarasota Alternative Investment Club on “Minimizing the Likelihood of Losing Money in the Real Estate Market.” To RSVP, please click on the: Sarasota Alternative Investment Club . This presentation will take place on Zoom, or join the club at our usual location at One Sarasota Tower.