A bank draft reminder record is a great way to make sure that all charges being taken out of our account(s) are legitimate and accounted for.  On several occasions, I have ran into charges that continued for several months after they should have been discontinued.  It is either impossible or, at the very least, a terrible hassle to attempt to retrieve money that has been withdrawn from your account dating back several months or more.  A bank draft reminder record will help you to spot illegitimate drafts immediately and take care of them before the situation is out of control! 

A bank draft reminder record also helps you to keep track of HOW MUCH money should be taken out each month for various expenses.  This allows you to IMMEDIATELY detect a draft amount that is extremely high and get that taken care of immediately.  A few years ago we had a cell phone bill that was extremely high for a few months in a row.  Little did we know that we were being charged for overage text messages when we thought that our plan was unlimited.  To make a long story short, we wasted several hundred dollars simply by losing track of our account.  We could have upgraded our plan to unlimited at any time for $10 a month!!

For business owners with significant income and cash flow that are looking to SAVE ON TAX and also CONTRIBUTE HEAVILY TO A RETIREMENT PLAN, there are some wonderful options.  

The main obstacle is simply a lack of knowledge about what those options are.  Many simply set up 401k's or similar plans to keep employees happy but these plans only allow the employer to contribute very small amounts for himself that will do very little to produce the type of retirement plan that he or she desires. 

However, there are now plans available that allow business owners to benefit from the following features:

• allows business owner to remove funds from his company for his personal benefit.
• the company DEDUCTS the cost of the program as an ordinary business expense.
• there is no regulatory limit on the funding for the business owner.
• pension based plans rarely provide tax mitigation and have funding caps.
• the program removes plan assets from the reach of company creditors.
• the money in the program grows on a tax-free/tax deferred basis.
• the business owner can later take income tax-free without income limitation requirements.
• the program passes a death benefit onto the heirs income tax free.
• the program is based upon tax code section 79 that allows for all of these benefits.

401k Alternatives

The most common retirement options available to employees are through 401k's.  While these certainly have their place, many are not aware of alternatives that have significant advantages over the 401k.  For example, if an individual has a 401k option through their employer that matches up to 4%, but wishes to contribute more, let's say 10%, they should be aware of some options that will likely yield better returns in the long run and protect their money better as well. 

They can simply contribute the 4% that the employer will match, and take the other 6% and contribute that to a retirement vehicle that will protect the investment from any losses, and allow them to take the money TAX-FREE when they need it in retirement.  A 401k is a tax-deferred retirement vehicle, but if you are of the belief like I am that taxes are VERY LIKELY to increase in the future, the end result will be paying more taxes in the future than you would in the present.

This may seem a bit confusing, but a trusted advisor can help you to make sense of it all.  For now, suffice it to say that there are excellent alternatives to the 401k that protect your money better, allow for excellent growth potential, and have great tax advantages.  Please contact us for more details or a free consultation at [email protected].

One of the most effective ways to fund a retirement plan for people in their 30's, 40's, or even 50's, is through indexed universal life insurance.  The concept is to simply overfund a life insurance policy to accumulate significant cash value.  The main advantages to using this vehicle to fund a retirement plan are the following:

1) Downside protection - Some IUL's guarantee a 3% return every year even if the market goes down and allow for returns up to 14% cap.  This concept has allowed for historical average returns with many carriers of around 8% and guarantees that the portion of your premium allocated to your retirement fund will gain over time! 

2) Tax free income-At retirement - You will have the option to take out annual tax free income!  This is a huge benefit as most of us believe that taxes are very likely going to increase in the future.  Let's assume that you are in a 30% tax bracket at retirement and your cash value accumulation allows you to take out a $70,000 tax free annual income.  This would be the equivalent of $100,000 that you have to pay taxes on!!

3) Death benefit protection - All along the way, you will have permanent death benefit protection to take great care of your family in the event that something were to happen to you prematurely or later in life!!

Most of us have a natural tendency to think of retirement planning as something that we don't need to really worry about until we are in our 50's.  Even though most of us realize that we should be preparing for it NOW, we are usually very passive about it and allow retirement planning to take a backseat to our other priorities.

However, allow me to point out a few staggering numbers that might ignite your urgency if you are in your 30's or 40's, or even younger.  

If a 45 year old female starts a life insurance policy funded as a retirement plan at $300 monthly, she would be projected to have $125,711 in her retirement account after paying in $75,600 at age 66, along with a death benefit all along the way of $250,000.  This would allow her to take out $14,464 annually in tax free income beginning at age 66.  

In contrast, another female at age 35, with the same contributions and death benefit, would be projected to have $266,726 in her account at age 66 after paying in $80,511, allowing for a tax free annual income of $31,283!!

As you can see, timing is everything in retirement planning!  The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, but the second best time is today!  Please contact us today for a free consultation at [email protected] or call 855-876-5252

What is it?

A pre-need plan is a dedicated funeral fund used to pay the predetermined expenses of a funeral, cremation or burial. Many people have chosen to make funeral or cremation arrangements prior to their death due to costs. These arrangements are commonly referred to as funeral preplanning, prearranging, pre-need, or a dedicated funeral fund.

Funeral preplanning can offer peace of mind - knowing that your wishes will be respected and that the family has fewer burdens during a time of grief.

Others find that by pre-funding their funeral and burial expenses, any additional life insurance they already have purchased may be used for its original purpose and not for funeral expenses.

Why should I get it or think about getting it?

No one likes to think about death, let alone plan for it. In many families, discussing one's mortality is an extremely uncomfortable topic. But it is a topic that should be discussed and planned for well in advance of your death.

By pre-planning your funeral, you relieve your family of having to make important financial decisions during a period of great stress and grief-a time when people aren't thinking very clearly and may not know what to do because you never made your wishes known.

It's easy to say, "Don't make a fuss. I don't want a ceremony. Just bury me and be done with it." But it is important to realize that the ritual of a funeral and/or memorial service isn't for the deceased but for the living. It is a time when friends and family can gather together to grieve openly and to provide support for one another.

Pre-planning your funeral can be very informal, and as simple as following a pre-planning checklist (Below) and sharing your wishes with a family member. More Formal arrangements in the form of a preneed contract can be set up with a funeral director and pre-funded through life insurance, bank trust agreement, or another method.

Pre-planning, when done properly, can give you peace of mind because you know that your arrangements are ready and pre-funded.

Life insurance is not only for Adults.  Several individuals have chosen to insure their children for a number of reasons.  Here are a few of the benefits providing Life Insurance for your children will create.

Death Benefit

None of us want to believe that we could possibly burry our children.  As sad of a thought that is, it does happen.  Funeral costs are expensive, and if the death of a child is not hard enough, the expenses could ruin your family financially.  Sometimes knowing that in case something does happen to your little ones, you will be able to provide them with the services they deserve and be able to mourn their loss without the worry of suffering financially.  Life insurance on a child pays for funeral expenses plus the cost of any medical treatments, particularly if the illness was extended.  Parents often require professional help after a loss that devastating and some funds can pay for bereavement counseling or in cases of severe depression, to replace their income until they come to grips with the loss. 

Rate & Insurability

Purchasing life insurance on a child guarantees that he will have insurance at a lower cost and the policy will remain in place, regardless of later health issues. Even if the child does not suffer any change in health, early purchase of life insurance locks in the cost and policy before he develops bad habits such as smoking, dangerous occupations or risky avocations such as racecar driving. The younger you are when you purchase insurance, the lower the annual cost of the policy. Parents often like to help their children get a good start in life by purchasing policies early for them in order to keep their children’s cost lower later in life.  Level premium whole life policies do this.  Also, term riders for children can be added to a parent’s policy.

Cash Value

Some parents like the idea of a tax-deferred savings in the insurance they purchase for their child. Whole life policies and universal life policies offer a cash reserve for later use. The parents may use the money to supplement college costs or turn the policy over to the child as a gift. If the child receives the life insurance as a gift, she can cash it in, borrow from it for a major purchase, take it as a paid up policy or continue to make payments on it.  Now, who wouldn’t want that for their child! 


For more information please contact us at [email protected].

One of the reasons we want to make a household inventory is in case of a death. We will already have all of our items listed and a price for our loved ones to know what we have. This also protects against creditors for us to know what we own and what we owe on.

One of the first steps in the sale of an estate or dividing property is an itemized household form. If you have already filled one of these out you are ahead one step. We want to make it as easy as possible for our loved ones after we have passed on.

As you do your inventory it is best to determine things of worth and things of special meaning. To determine things of worth make sure you look it up on a website like Ebay. You can compare an item that you have to one on there to determine what it is worth. Take a picture and add the value at the bottom. If it is of special meaning be sure to add a story or your memory to the picture for your loved ones.

We don't like to dwell on the future like this too much but it is always better to be prepared.

I graduated in finance from BYU’s Marriott School of Business Management.  One of the best, most useful courses I took down there is Provo was a personal finance course.  Some of the accounting courses didn’t stick until I worked at Zion’s Bank and had to relearn accounting basics.  Personal Finance, however, stuck well.

One of the best tools I found for managing household finances is a tool that investors use to analyze large corporations, banks use for deciding whether or not to lend to companies as well as individuals.  In face, you most likely filled out one of these when you obtained your home mortgage.   It’s called a balance sheet.

Let’s take a minute and pretend you are CFO of a corporation… oh wait, you are!  Your family.  Whether you’re a household of one or ten, you have to look at finances like you’re a CFO.  The best place to do this is through the balance sheet. 

The balance sheet is the tool used to determine your net worth.  In a nutshell, your personal balance sheet adds up the value of all the things you own; house, cars, gun collections, sports memorabilia, antique pianos, retirement and savings accounts, etc, and subtracts the debts or liabilities you have outstanding; you mortgage, car loans, credit cards, student loans, etc.  The difference between these two numbers is what we call your “Net Worth”.  The end goal in the money game is to have enough of a net worth at retirement to be able to retire and live comfortably.  If you do a really good job, you may even leave some assets for your beneficiaries to inherit. 

Now, a couple of examples may be useful here.  Let look at a home purchase first.  If you purchase a $250,000 home, but you have a mortgage of $200,000, you have a positive affect on your net worth of $50,000.  Once you pay off the mortgage, you’ll have a positive value of $250,000 towards your net worth.  If you buy a car for $15,000 and finance the whole purchase, chances are you’ll owe more on your car than you could sell it for, and thus, you have created a negative effect on your net worth.  Again, the end goal is to improve net worth enough so you can eventually retire.  Credit cards can be detrimental to net worth, as they usually have no real asset tied to the debt. 

In our free 52 week program, we offer a simple and easy to use worksheet to quickly determine your “Net Worth”, a snapshot of your personal finances.  We hope that it helps guide you in making wise financial decisions and gives you a better shot at the retirement you’re hoping to enjoy.

One common obstacle for retirement is a poor performing 401K or 403B.  Many of our clients have 401K options from their employment that they are participating in or contributing heavily to.  They face significant penalties for withdrawing money prior to age 59 1/2.  Well what is one to do if the market drops heavily and you see a large chunk of your retirement nest egg suddenly flushed down the toilet? 

Recently I spoke with a man about 12 years from retirement who just lost over $50,000 of his $300,000 retirement account.  He was devastated by the loss and frustrated that he could do nothing with the account for about 6 to 7 more years.  However, he was contributing about $500 more monthly than what his company was matching.

So the good news is that he can open a new retirement policy with the extra money, get protection from market losses while still allowing for market gains, and continue to get his company match through the 401K!!  And even better, he can set himself up for tax-free income from the 2nd account in retirement.  Sound too good to be true?  Once you find out the details you will discover that it is true, and the numbers are staggering!!