Retirement Costs

Episode 478: Zombie Myths of Whole Life Insurance and Their Antidotes

October 30, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

What gets repeated so often that it starts sounding like settled truths?
What is there to fear?
What is “flexible” early on that leaves you more exposed later on?
What is Zombie Myth #1?
What is the return?
Why so slow?
What about a policy from 1963?
Can you do better?
Did you account for taxes and fees?
What is the equivalent “return”?
What about the liquidity?
What is Zombie Myth #2?
What about growth mutual funds?
What about term insurance?
What’s the difference?
What drops when the market does?
What about the stable part?
What about the bonds part?
Does the term buyer get a higher rate of return, just because one bought term?
What about the marginal tax rate?
What is in the taxable bucket?
What happens when you bake all of those assumptions in?
Where are the massive increases?
What just works?
What just grows?
What starts to disappear?
What is Zombie Myth #3?
Does the cash value disappear at death?
How can you get the dividends?
What builds up the cash value and the death benefit?
What happens when you pass away?
How much did you start with?
How much did your family get?
How much was the cash value?
How much is the death benefit?
Who understands risk levels?
What looks cheaper in year 1?
What looks shaky?
What delivers uninterrupted compounding and liquidity?
What is Zombie Myth #4?
What can’t you do with “buy term and invest the difference” and a Roth IRA?
What are the income limits?
What are the distribution limits?
What money can go into a policy?
Does whole life insurance compete with a Roth?
What is Zombie Myth #5?
Do insurance companies charge you interest to borrow your own money?
What is positive arbitrage?
Is the interest a pure cost?
What is Zombie Myth #6?
Do whole life policies perform as projected?
What are the guaranteed values?
What is contractual?
What is the dividend scale?
What are the non-guaranteed values?
What does better than the original projection?
What cannot be changed?
What will an asset manager do?
What are the actual results?
What about the 1963 policy?
What is Zombie Myth #7?
What about big juicy commissions?
What about designations like the CLU® , ChFC® , CFP® ?
Who wants uninterrupted growth?
What about accessible growth?
What about uninterrupted coverage?
What about putting the clients interest first?
What about Zombie Myth #8?
What is the worst of the products available?
What would have happened to the 1963 policy if it had been invested in the market?
What delivers, by a landslide?
What is the claim?
What are the decades of actual results?
What are the criticism?
What will win in the end?
What is the truth?
What about the ECS factor of efficiency, control and safety?
What happens with a properly structured Bank on Yourself® type whole life insurance policy?
What about contractual guarantees?
What are three action items?
What are the guaranteed values vs. the actual dividend scales?
What is the difference between…?
Would you like to meet with Mark or one of Mark’s associates?

Episode 442: The READY Strategy for Retirement Income

February 20, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

What will your retirement party feel like?
Will you run out of paychecks?
How can you boost your income growth?
What about the 4% rule?
What about the Trinity study?
What does this assume?
What about sequence of returns risk?
What did the WSJ say?
What do you really need?
Do you really need reliable cash flow?
What do annuity companies do?
How long will you live?
What about roll up bonuses?
What is the main strategy for retirement income?
Who is READY for retirement?
What about reliable income sources?
What do people hate annuities?
What about pensions and social security income?
What about expense management?
What about adjusting for inflation?
What about dynamic planning?
What about yearly reviews and assessments?
What is this designed to achieve?
Is this supposed to just be a big pile of money?
Who will be there for you?
What is Mark’s goal?
Who will sustain their lifestyle or even get a raise in retirement?
Would you like to access the resource and go to the community page?
What about an example?
What about the 4% rule?
What did Vanguard’s 2023 outlook say?
What is probably the most efficient way of taking retirement income?
What about a case study?
Will your results be different?
Can you buy an income?
What about asset accumulation?
What prioritizes guaranteed income efficiency?
What did Morning Star find in 2021?
What locks in income?
What is retirement all about?
What about a hybrid?
What about distributions?
What is your strategy?
What are the several types of income?
What happens if the market crashes?
What can you keep for life?
Why does efficiency beat accumulation?
What provides an income floor?
Who created the 4% rule?
What does the society of actuaries agree with?
What does this mean for you?
What about the best of both worlds?
How about another case study?
What is the average family retirement?
What are the key takeaways?
What do you think about this? Leave us a comment on YouTube or on the NYAFC community page!

Would you like to read and review our new book, The Business Fortress: How to Grow, Protect and Exit Your Business?

Episode 439: Permission to Spend DOUBLE in Retirement!

January 30, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Why do people refuse to treat a dollar of income the same as a dollar of wealth?
What is the weird glitch in human psychology?
What does the latest research say?
What about married couples?
What does guaranteed income do to the retirement income puzzle?
Why are many retirees living in voluntary poverty?
What if you wouldn’t run out of money?
What is a 4:1 ratio?
Is a dollar a dollar?
How does the retirement vehicle affect how retirees spend?
What can give you a pay raise in retirement?
What happens to your lifestyle?
What is the rational side?
What is longevity risk?
Will you live to age 97 or beyond?
What causes people to run out of money?
What about locking in guaranteed income?
Who is funding survival?
How could one make longevity risk disappear?
What does “protect principal at all cost!” do to spending?
What about the behavioral side?
Do people treat all money as fungible?
What about loss aversion?
Why do retirees hate to draw down their IRA balances?
What about the required minimum distributions (RMDs)?
What does the law say about turning 73 and holding qualified accounts?
What does the data say?
How about some examples?
What form is your money sitting in, right now?
Who wants to flip the script?
What happens when you delay social security payments?
What is the closest thing to a spending superpower that exists?
What are some practical moves you can take?
What are the takeaways?
Would you like to visit ssa.gov?
Would you like to meet with Mark or one of Mark’s associates?

Episode 434: NEW BOOK! Part 2 – Bank On Yourself®: Liquidity, Compounding and Lifetime Income

December 26, 2025 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Would you like to hear Part 1?
Why does uninterrupted compounding beat every mutual fund?
Would you like to go to bankonyourselfbook.com to get the new book?
What do Brian Kay, Tim Austin and Pamela Yellen know that other financial gurus have failed to tell us?
How far does the influence of Bank On Yourself® reach?
What is persistency?
What can (and will likely) change in a government sponsored program?
What is the power of uninterrupted compounding joined with liquidity?
What asset can you leverage to take advantage of an opportunity?
What about meeting life’s financial milestones without taking unnecessary risks?
What about taking advantage of unexpected opportunities?
What did Warren Buffet say?
How long will you live?
What is a fail-safe way to protect against running out of money?
How might you secure guaranteed income in retirement?
How is Bank On Yourself® a concept and philosophy that transcends product?
How are these insurers built differently?
Why does Warren Buffett love insurance companies as an asset?
What is built to last?
How do I replace my income?
How might I do it passively?
Would you like to go to bankonyourselfbook.com to get the new book?
What are the action items?

Episode 433: NEW BOOK! Part 1 – Bank On Yourself® Origins and Why Now? with Pamela Yellen, Brian Kay and Tim Austin

December 19, 2025 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

How can you build wealth safely and predictably?
Who is Pamela Yellen?
Who is Brian Kay?
Who is Tim Austin?
Would you like to go to bankonyourselfbook.com to get the new book?
What’s Pamela’s story?
How did Pamela meet Brian and Tim?
What’s Brian’s story?
Should you turn over your financial independence to other parties?
Should you become your own source of financing?
Should you recapture the interest you have paid to other sources?
Should you be careful with borrowing and debt?
How did Brian meet Tim?
Can paying for college be an affordable reality without taking unnecessary risks?
What’s Tim’s story?
What was happening in the 1980s?
What are the strategies that worked in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s?
How is risk finicky?
Do you have to have debt to get where you want to go?
Do you have to be in the market to be successful?
What about uncertainty?
What about anticipation and preparation?
How might we crisis-proof our finances?
What is the average household debt?
How many people are behind on paying their debt?
What percent of retirees, age 66-71 have debt?
What about medical emergencies?
How many would be able to cover their expenses if they had a one-week delay on their paycheck?
Why is this book necessary?
What are the action items?
Will you join us next week for Part 2?

Episode 432: Why Does the SEC Chair Paul Atkins Have 54 Life Insurance Policies?

December 12, 2025 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

What does he know, that we don’t?
What is his net worth?
What does the SEC chair do?
What is the cornerstone of his wealth?
Is this a quiet vote of confidence in life insurance over volatile securities?
What protections does life insurance offer that stocks don’t?
What is a state insurance department?
What are consumer protections?
What reserves are the insurance companies required to hold?
What about reinsurance companies?
What is a state guarantee association?
Why 54 policies? Is this overkill?
Is he diversifying?
What is a life settlement?
What’s the importance of having multiple policies?
What are the benefits?
What gives you tax-free access to cash?
Did you know you are forced to take money out of qualified government accounts by a certain age?
Do required minimum distributions (RMDs) exist in life insurance?
What do retirement researchers like Roger Ibbotson, David Blanchett, and Wade Pfau say about life insurance?
What is the efficient market frontier?
What about the volatility buffer?
What about taking distributions from the life insurance cash value during crashing stock values?
How can a policy be “overfunded”?
How many policies will be enough to buffer volatility?
How about an example?
If one policy is good, are 54 policies better?
What is a modern tool for building resilience?
What is the purpose of each policy?
What about policies with various carriers?
What about different terms on paid up additions (PUAs)?
What about guarantees?
Do you want to meet one-on-one?
What about policy loan rates?
How do the rates vary by company?
What is a 1035 exchange?
Would you like to subscribe to this podcast?
Who needs to hear this?
Would you like to meet with Mark or one of Mark’s associates?

Episode 428: Choose Wisely! A Chance to Be Rich or the Guarantee You’ll Never Be Poor

November 14, 2025 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

How does one grow, protect and exit a business with confidence?
Would you like to read and review our new book, The Business Fortress: How to Grow, Protect and Exit Your Business?
What about a higher rate of return?
Can you get a higher rate of return in the stock market?
Why doesn’t my whole life insurance cash value equal what I’ve put into the policy until year 7 or 10?
If your cash value life insurance made zero gains for 10–15 years, would it still be worth adding to your portfolio?
Are tools like whole life insurance and fixed index annuities just backups, or are they essential drivers of your financial plan?
What are the three pillars of financial and retirement success Americans need?
What about guaranteed lifetime income?
What about the magic of mortality credits?
What about smart leverage?
Are these get-rich-quick schemes?
Are these get-rich-for-sure strategies?
So what would you prefer?
What is a contract with your future?
Why do strategies, like Bank on Yourself® type whole life insurance policies, really shine?
Who has paid dividends for over a century, without fail?
What about pairing a Bank on Yourself® type whole life insurance policy with fixed indexed annuities (FIAs)?
What can outperform bonds?
What about protection and yield?
How do fixed index annuities provide lifetime income?
Can annuities outperform bonds in retirement planning?
Why are retirees with guaranteed income happier and less anxious?
What does the 4% rule (or 3% rule) require?
What are mortality credits?
What amplifies growth, safely?
Why do these policies thrive, regardless of market conditions?
What about leverage?
How does cash value life insurance offer leverage?
Can you borrow against your policy and still earn uninterrupted growth?
What is a non-direct recognition loan?
How about an example?
Is there any other asset that can bundle all these benefits together?
What about privacy?
What about structured payouts?
Is there anything else that can do all of this?
How might you outpace most people with a Bank on Yourself® type whole life insurance policy and fixed indexed annuities?
What are the challenges of low rates?
What are the takeaways?
Who should you share this episode with?
Would you like to meet with Mark or an associate to discuss your specific situation?

Episode 423: Save on Taxes through Strategic MYGA Laddering with Evan Greathouse

October 10, 2025 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Would you like to hear from Evan Greathouse on how to work with the ticking tax time bomb?
Would you like to read and review our new book, The Business Fortress: How to Grow, Protect and Exit Your Business?
What about avoiding MEC status (modified endowment contract status)?
Who is Evan Greathouse?
What happened to Evan’s client who lives in a high tax state?
What is qualified money?
Who has a tax problem?
What are the options?
What about the required minimum distribution?
What is the age 59 1/2 rule?
What is the tax plus penalty zone?
What happens if you wait too long?
Who gets penalized 50%?
What happens if you pass away with a 401(k) or IRA?
What are the non-spousal beneficiaries forced to do?
How do inheriting adult children pay the tax on the inherited qualified account benefit?
Why does the lion share of the inheritance go to I.R.S.?
What would be more tax efficient?
What would offer more accessibility?
What is MYGA laddering?
What is a multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA)?
What is laddering?
What continues earning interest?
How does a MYGA compare to a CD?
Would you like to hear Episode 280?
Did the MYGA kill the CD?
What’s the structural idea?
What are the logistics?
Is this overly complicated?
Why ladder? Why not do one big solution?
How does this ease the tax burden?
What is a modified endowment contract (MEC)?
Would you like to hear Episode 121?
Who is a good fit for this strategy?
Who is NOT a good fit for this strategy?
Is the plan contractually guaranteed to work?
What about the importance of liquidity?
How did Evan come up with this genius move?
What is Evan’s process with clients?
Would you like to reach out to Evan? Email at evan@greathousefs.com
Would you like to schedule a 15-minute introductory call with Evan?
What are the takeaways?

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.

Episode 414: The 10-Year Retirement Danger Window with Grant Thompson

August 8, 2025 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Would you like to read Mark’s new book, co-authored with David Barnett, The Business Fortress: How to Grow, Protect and Exit Your Business with Confidence?
What is this 10-year window?
Who is Grant Thompson?
Would you like to hear Episode 357?
How does the Bank on Yourself® type whole life insurance policy actually work in retirement?
What are the passive income years?
What about the one trick ponies?
What about social security?
What could cause that to reduce in the future?
Where should one draw money from for income and/or a buffer?
What do you need to have in retirement?
What about multiple streams?
What is the foundation of the house?
What is the Swiss army knife?
What about peace?
What does it take to have a true plan?
What are some examples of how clients use the policies?
What about taking money with tax efficiency?
What about the five years before retirement?
What about the five years after retirement?
Am I going to run out of my income?
What about leaving a legacy for the family?
What about inflation?
What needs to be on the guaranteed level?
What happens for those who have everything in the market?
How can one reduce pressure in retirement?
What about purpose?
What is a buffer asset?
Would you like to hear Episode 194?
What about borrowing against the policy?
What about long term care?
Do you have to die to win?
What about the 1035 exchange?
What about moving money from a life insurance policy to an annuity?
What about costs increasing?
What do you want your money to do for you?
What if you don’t need more income?
What about setting up something for the kids?
What about pensions?
Can you give yourself social security benefits?
What about your estate?
Is there someone you love so much at the IRS that you want to send them a bunch of money?
Is there someone you love so much at the assisted living facility that you want to send them all of your money?
What will check off many of the boxes?
What assets will you have left upon death?
What are the takeaways and action items?

Grant Thompson works with families and their businesses nationwide. The Thompson & Thurman Agency works with families who share in their vision and want to become financially set for life without taking unnecessary risks. With so much misinformation in our financial world today, families really need guidance and direction to find the true path to financial freedom. Grant, Chris and their team of trusted advisers nationwide have are leading the way to meet that challenge. Grant is married to his wife Kathy and they have 2 sons Blair and Blane along with his wife Brittany. Grant enjoys spending his spare time with his family at reining and cow horse competitions plus trying to squeeze in a shooting competition every now and then with his sons. Reach out to Grant at grant@thompsonthurman.com or call Grant at (806) 352-3480.

Episode 400: How to Never Run Out of Money – Even if You Live to 120!

May 2, 2025 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Would you like to join us live for the Bank on Yourself® Rescue Your Retirement Bootcamp on May 6th, 2025, 1PM-5PM ET?
Will you run out of money if you live to 120?
What are we going to do make sure your money doesn’t run out before you do?
What about market volatility? Do you remember 2008?
What replaced the pension plans?
What about inflation risk?
Is the answer investing in the market?
What does the economist William Sharpe say?
What percentage can one take out of a 401(k) without running out of money?
What percentage of 65 year-olds will live beyond age 90?
Who is underspending?
What about annuities?
What about inflation-protected payouts?
What is the only true form of retirement security?
What are endowments?
What is the history of the annuity?
What happened to Babe Ruth?
What about Ben Bernanke?
What is a fixed indexed annuity?
What about immediate pay annuities?
What about letting your money grow before turning on income in an annuity?
Why do so many financial infotainers bash annuities?
Are there quality annuities?
What about special benefits?
What about increasing income?
How about some case studies?
What about guaranteed lifetime income?

JOIN US LIVE
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WHO: The Top Bank on Yourself® Professionals
WHAT: An afternoon-long bootcamp
– a deep dive into the workings of Bank on Yourself® –
(lifetime access to the recording available!)
WHEN: May 6th, 2025, 1PM-5PM ET
COST: $47
WHERE: ONLINE
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