Not Your Average Financial Podcast™

Episode 475: Don’t Be the Product. Don’t Be the Consumer. Be the Owner! with Phil Smith

October 9, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

In this episode, we ask:

What is Phil’s history in financial services?
What’s happening with Lake Growth Financial Services?
How is Phil enjoying the Bank On Yourself® strategies?
Inside the credit union, how did the member-owned structure show up?
How does the publicly-traded bank ownership show up?
What about stock-owned life insurance companies?
What about mutually-owned life insurance companies?
What concrete behaviors show up each quarter?
What did banks pull back from in 2020?
What did credit unions continue to offer in 2020?
How is this like a mutually-owned life insurance company?
Where do the models diverge?
What do I want?
What about dividends?
How much money do I want in somebody else’s bank?
What about 175 years?
What about the best of both worlds?
What is guaranteed to grow, uninterrupted?
What about buying a car?
What about paying off the mortgage?
What can grow every single year, guaranteed?
What about working with kids?
What other tool can offer guarantees?
What other tool can offer uninterrupted compounding?
What happened to the rates that caused many companies to de-mutualized?
Why are credit unions always under threat?
What’s nice about the mutual life insurance companies?
What about the contracts that get grandfathered in?
What happens when legislation strikes a credit union?
When is the time to lock in the contract?
What are the most important takeaways?
How can I take more control over my financial future?
How many strings are attached to the money?
Do you have the control, the access and the liquidity?
Would you like to meet with Phil?

Phil Smith is a Financial Planning Associate at Lake Growth Financial Services, bringing more than 17 years of banking and credit‑union experience to the firm. A Bank On Yourself® client since 2013, Phil has personally used the strategy to navigate major life transitions, eliminate debt, fund investments, and build long‑term financial resilience—giving him a rare dual perspective as both a seasoned practitioner and a long‑term policyholder.

Known for his disciplined, thoughtful approach, Phil draws inspiration from his journey in traditional kung fu, where he is a fourth‑degree black belt soon testing for master level. He applies the art’s core principle—time and effort—to helping clients build stable, flexible, and future‑focused financial strategies.

Phil serves clients nationwide and can be reached at philsmith@lakegrowth.com.

Episode 474: [Mailbag] Practical Questions to Ask Before You Bank On Yourself® with Evan Greathouse

October 2, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

How many questions do you have?
Am I making a money mistake?
What were Evan’s first questions?
What happens if the dollar fails?
What is the contract?
What about inconsistent and fluctuating income?
What sort of flexibility is there when there is a delay in a windfall?
Is this a subscription?
Are you forced to make a payment every month?
What is a regular savings strategy?
How do you plow more money into your assets?
What is optional?
What happens in tough times?
Will I lose my policy if I can’t pay premiums?
Can I just pay the base?
How is the rider “fee” calculated?
Where are the fees in life insurance?
What are you buying?
Are you purchasing a death benefit?
What insurance costs coming out on an annual basis?
What is the load cost of the paid-up additions rider?
How does this compare to a stock account?
How are the fees charged annually in a stock market account?
What compounds and grows?
What happens to a market based dollar?
Has a life insurance company ever failed?
What are the chances of the life insurance company going out of business?
What are the characteristics of the kind of companies we work with?
Who has crazy resilience and skill?
Who thrives in downturns?
What happens to the cash value when I die?
How does that work?
What is one pile of money?
What happens when you’re alive?
What happens when you’re dead?
Why doesn’t the stock market consistently produce a 10% return, on average?
What makes Evan’s stomach turn?
What about the DALBAR QAIB study showing the real returns?
What is the 30-year real return?
Are you all in on stocks?
Do you have a blend of stocks and bonds?
How are they able to write higher numbers on the statements?
What is the real dollar amount in the account?
How does volatility destroy compounding?
Can you compound money when volatility is present?
What can truly compound?
What tools can grow on a guaranteed and predictable basis?
What vehicles in the financial universe facilitate compound growth?
What protects against potential loss?
Is there a better place?
Where will your cash stay safe and liquid?
Do you have control over your finances?
Would you like to schedule a 15-minute introductory call with Evan?

Evan Greathouse is a trusted Bank On Yourself® Professional who empowers individuals nationwide to achieve lasting financial independence. He specializes in the Bank On Yourself® strategy, helping clients build wealth with uninterrupted growth, liquidity, and tax-free, penalty-free access to cash whenever they need it. With a strong foundation in business management and real estate, Evan combines practical experience with a passion for financial wisdom. He is dedicated to guiding clients through their financial journeys with clarity, purpose, and integrity. Rooted in faith, Evan believes that a strong ‘why’ can conquer any ‘how’ and strives to help others align their financial decisions with their greater purpose. Above all, he values his relationship with God, his wife, and their three children. www.greathousefs.com

Episode 473: Nice vs. Kind Advisors – Why One is Dangerous for Your Money with Amanda Neely, CFP®

September 25, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Would you like to listen in on two Certified Financial Planners®?
What is the difference between kind and nice?
Did you love Mary Poppins?
What kind of feedback would you like for improvement?
What is best for the person I’m talking with?
What can help the person in the long run?
What about speaking truth with love?
What did Amanda’s attorney say?
How does this apply to financial advisors?
What about Profit First?
Would you like to hear the ninja belt series?
How does one ask their financial advisor for kindness instead of niceness?
What about retirement readiness?
Should you give “nice deposits” or a compliment sandwich?
What is the vision of a better future?
How about an example?
How do you ask permission to be kind?
What happens if…?
What is phantom income?
How is the kind thing to check in?
What is the most expensive phrase in financial planning?
Is there a cliff on the other side of this?
What is the exit?
What will come back to bite you?
What is more important than growth?
Would you like to read Amanda’s Substack?

Amanda Neely is a CFP® (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®) professional and CEO of Wealth Wisdom Financial. She makes financial planning more accessible through podcasting and through developing personalized financial strategies for individuals and couples, as well as profitability strategies for small businesses. She works virtually to help everyday Americans all over the United States to create smart, stable financial futures.

Episode 472: No Loose Ends – The Estate Planning System You Can Actually Use with Adam Zuckerman

September 18, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Who is in the silver tsunami?
What do we do with the bills, accounts, passwords, life insurance policies, heirlooms, etc.?
Who is Adam Zuckerman?
What is Buried in Work?
Have you read No Loose Ends?
What about Adam’s new digital platform, Heirloom and Tell?
How do you start the conversation before it’s too late?
…and more!

Adam Zuckerman (JD/MBA) is the founder of Buried in Work, a leading resource that helps individuals, families, and businesses simplify estate planning and end-of-life tasks.

Buried in Work’s resources include more than 150+ information hubs, 2,000+ articles, 100+ checklists and guides, service provider directories, a podcast, and innovative tools like the Executor’s Summary Report, CLEAR Kits, and card games that facilitate meaningful conversations about legacy and preparation.

Adam’s mission is simple yet powerful: to make life’s hardest moments a little easier by helping families get organized, communicate openly, and prepare comprehensively for the unexpected.

Episode 471: The F in TGIF – Financing – Unlimited Compound Growth while Buying the Stuff of Life

September 11, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Does buying stuff feel like a rigged game?
What about leverage?
What changes the game entirely?
Have you heard the previous three episodes?
What does TGIF stand for?
Why is your need for financing greater than any other financial need?
What are you handling?
Are you in the driver’s seat?
How do you buy everything?
What about opportunity cost?
Do you pay cash?
Do you pay interest to a third party?
Who benefits from the compound interest?
Are these line items or wealth transfers?
Does how you buy stuff matter?
What happens to compounding growth when you spend?
What about collateral?
What about uninterrupted compound growth?
What about paying debt service?
What does all of this mean?
What about liquidity?
What about lifetime costs?
How about examples?
What does true leverage mean?
What’s the good news here?
How about case studies?
What about liquidity, growth and access?
What about efficiency, control and safety?
What about having your money multitask for you?
Would you like to hear Episode 32 on policy loans?
Would you like to listen to Episode 206 on mechanics on how this really works?
Would you like to focus on Episode 41 on real estate?
Would you like to see the episodes in a list?
Would you like to view the playlists?
What are the key takeaways?
Would you like to meet with Mark or one of Mark’s associates?

Episode 470: The I in TGIF is Insurance; It is The Asset that Changes Your Family Tree

September 4, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Can you picture it?
What about term life insurance?
What about a 401(k)?
Who fears running out of money?
Is it too morbid?
Is it impolite?
What happens when the term ends on term life insurance?
What about rising internal costs?
What doesn’t pay a death benefit at all?
What about real estate?
What about property fights?
What is the result?
What will happen in the end?
Are you protecting the people that matter the most?
What has happened with the “buy term, invest the rest” story?
Who gets the lion’s share of your life’s work?
What about the death of a spouse or parent?
What are the implications of the death of business owners?
What patterns play out in real families and businesses?
Is the death benefit a secondary feature?
What is the contrast between temporary and permanent protection?
Will it actually deliver?
Would you like to hear Episode 187 on Term to Whole Life Conversions?
Would you like to listen to Episode 297 on giving out over 500 Death Benefits?
Would you like go through Episode 313 on taxes and fees?
Would you like to play Episode 392 on “Buy Term and Invest the Rest”?
Would you like to take in Episode 465 about a creative professional who build a Bank on Yourself style system that protected her work and her family?
Would you like to dig into Episode 395 and Episode 396 on Buy-Sell agreements for business owners?
What are the takeaways?
If I were gone, what would create the most financial stress for you?
Will you listen carefully to the answers?
What is on your documents?
Would you like to meet with Mark or one of Mark’s associates?
Would you like to leave us a review?

Episode 469: The G in TGIF – Guarantees – The Ironclad Foundation Bank On Yourself® Delivers When Everything Else Wobbles

August 28, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Have you noticed something?
Do you know what won’t disappear?
Will the rules quietly change mid-game?
What about the guarantees?
Where are the guarantees in the financial universe?
What about the stock market?
What about guaranteed fees?
Who gets the guarantee?
What about the government’s guaranteed cut?
What about conservative allocations?
What about property taxes and insurance costs?
Is real estate property guaranteed?
What about temporary or partial guarantees?
What happens with CDs?
What about maintaining real purchasing power?
Is hope a plan?
What about savings accounts?
What about money market funds?
How fast do interest rates change?
Did you factor in inflation and taxes?
What about bonds?
When do bond prices fall?
What happened in 2022?
Do I need to risk more?
What about individual stocks?
What about cryptocurrency?
What about regulatory trouble?
What about spectacular runs?
What about spectacular crashes?
Who gets the guarantees in these transactions?
What about insurance and annuity products?
What about indexed universal life policies?
What about caps and participation rates?
What happens later in your retirement years?
Is that data helpful?
What about the average return?
What is guaranteed to you?
What happens when needs arise?
Do you want to be forced to keep earning?
What happens to cash value?
Are dividends guaranteed?
Have you seen the rings on the tree?
How does guaranteed growth work in a Bank on Yourself® type whole life insurance policy?
What about the guarantee that the premiums will never rise as you age?
How are these guarantees delivered?
How have these companies held up over 160 years of history?
Have you felt that quiet frustration while others rack up their own guarantees?
What is your posture?
What will the market do next?
What about the kids?
How long are you going to live?
What is theoretical?
What is the conventional playbook?
Where are the actual guarantees?
What is a contractual guarantee?
What are some tools and products that can structure guarantees for you?
What are the mechanics of how these guarantees work?
Do you have a contract?
What are the takeaways?
Who needs to hear this?
Would you like to meet with Mark or one of Mark’s associates?

Episode 468: The T in TGIF: Tax Advantages of Bank On Yourself® – Taking Control Back from the Tax Trap

August 21, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

What about stability and sanity?
What about an insane question?
Is there someone at the I.R.S. that you’re particularly in love with?
Who is the largest beneficiary on your IRA upon death?
Are you going to leave your IRA this way, now that you know the truth?
How about an example?
How do you get tax free access?
What about a tax free legacy?
How does this directly solve the problems?
When will you pay taxes?
How about an example of two retired brothers?
What happens to a 401(k) upon death?
Why is deferring taxes a good idea?
Who benefits from this?
What did Ed Slott say?
What did Pamela Yellen say?
What are the takeaways?
What are the action items?
What will your beneficiaries actually receive?
Do you have the eyes of a Bank on Yourself® Professional?
Would you like to meet with Mark or one of Mark’s associates?

Episode 467: Real, Recession-Proof Freedom: Fusing Utilitarian Short-Term Rentals with Bank On Yourself®, with Kirby Atwell

August 14, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

What is the 1% net rule?
Would you like to listen to Episode 316?
Why does layering on Bank on Yourself® strategies to real estate make a whole lot of sense?
What is Kirby’s story?
What is over looked in the short term rental space?
What is counterintuitive?
Where can one buy properties for a fraction of the cost of what you can buy in the city centers?
What can one charge for short-term rental income?
Why does Kirby help other investors?
What is the purpose of financial freedom?
Do you own your day?
What happened in 2021?
How does Kirby have a positive impact on others?
What systems are in place?
What has been the biggest challenge?
Do the higher end areas yield the best income?
What is the backup plan?
Is the property upside down?
Does the property cash flow?
Does it cash flow 1% net?
What about the banks?
What about private credit?
What about DSCR lenders? What ratio are they looking for?
What is the underlying asset that we are lending against?
Can banks change their mind at any given point?
Why does layering on the Bank on Yourself® strategy with a short term rental business work so well?
When is the best time to buy?
Is real estate going to crash?
Where do you put your money when everything is uncertain?
What about inflation?
What about the stock market?
Do we need shelter?
What has intrinsic value?
What about the underlying value of the property?
What about the cash flow?
What about buying solid assets?
If your current plan fails, what will you do then?
What about liquidity?
What is a dynamic duo?
What about recency bias?
When you stress test it, does it still work?
Are you standing on the X?
Is not making decision still making a decision?
What about catastrophe thinking?
What can I expect in terms of a good short term rental?
What strategies are outside of the box?
What is the rule of thumb?
What are the parameters?
What are the results so far?
What are they doing?
What is the safest thing you could do?
Would you like to reach out to Kirby at livingoffrentals.com/start?
What are the takeaways?
Would you like to meet with Mark or one of Mark’s associates?

Kirby Atwell served six years as an officer in the U.S. Army, after graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point. During his service, he developed a strong interest in real estate and purchased his first rental property in 2006.In 2011, Kirby left the military to pursue real estate full time. He launched a Chicago‑based investment company and went on to flip roughly 70 properties over five years. Although the business generated significant revenue, the highly transactional model left him with no passive income and a growing treadmill of stress, overhead, and marketing costs. That realization pushed him to pivot toward building assets that produced reliable monthly cash flow.Kirby eventually discovered the power of utilitarian short‑term rentals—affordable, practical properties near major population centers that serve everyday travelers such as workers, families, and medical guests. This strategy transformed his financial life. By 2021, after acquiring eight units producing about $1,000 per unit in net monthly cash flow, he was able to leave his corporate job. Today, he owns and operates 39 short‑term rental listings, supported by systems that keep his time commitment low while delivering high, stable returns.In addition to running his portfolio, Kirby teaches other investors how to replicate this model. Through his coaching program, he has helped hundreds of people select the right markets, secure financing, set up their rentals, and manage them efficiently without expensive property managers. Kirby is the host of the Living Off Rentals podcast and YouTube channel, where he shares strategies, interviews, and insights for building recession‑resistant rental income and achieving true financial freedom. Set up a call with Kirby Atwell at livingoffrentals.com/call.

Episode 466: The Real Wins and Losses of Bank on Yourself® Over 13 Years with Phil Smith

August 7, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Have you heard Episode 462?
Who is Phil Smith?
What is a super awesome privilege?
Why was Mark cautious?
What helped Phil?
How did Phil find the right balance with his Bank On Yourself® type whole life insurance policies?
What is so cool about having friends as clients?
What were some of Phil’s early concerns about taking policy loans?
What about paying off debt?
What about real estate?
What about investments?
How did Phil pivot, as life happened?
What is the new financial normal?
How can I route some of my major life purchases through this policy?
How might I keep my money growing at the same time?
What did Nelson Nash say?
What about arrival syndrome?
What about the beginner’s mindset?
What did C.S. Lewis say?
Would you like to meet Phil?

Phil Smith is an Associate at Lake Growth Financial Services, bringing more than 17 years of banking and credit‑union experience to the firm. A Bank On Yourself® client since 2013, Phil has personally used the strategy to navigate major life transitions, eliminate debt, fund investments, and build long‑term financial resilience—giving him a rare dual perspective as both a seasoned practitioner and a long‑term policyholder.

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