Retirement Plans

Episode 443: Don’t Diversify! Put All Your E.C.S. in one basket!

February 27, 2026 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Is there a nagging worry?
Will the nest egg actually last?
What about efficiency?
What about control?
What about safety?
Do you need to spread your money thin across a lot of baskets?
What is Mark’s core philosophy on planning?
What is the E.C.S. factor?
What can eat through savings like a wildfire?
How prepared are you, really?
What has the average U.S. family saved?
How many years has the typical boomer pushed back retirement?
How much time do you take to plan your vacation?
How much time do you take to plan your retirement?
Who is your coauthor?
When does Mark walk away?
What dilutes your returns in TDFs?
When will you need the money the most?
Is your money locked up?
What does the government force?
What about safety?
What did Grant Thompson say?
What was supposed to be safe?
What about taxes, fees and regulations?
Would you like to listen to Episode 206?
Are there investment fees or other fees on whole life insurance?
Who owns it?
What questions are asked?
What about the growth in the contract?
What about tax?
What about required RMDs?
What about market timing?
What is locked in?
What about dividends and PUAs?
What about creditors?
What about bankruptcy proceedings?
What beats inflation?
What is private?
What is predictable?
What is proven?
How can many families increase their retirement income?
How can you get more upside and less downside?
Are you in the driver’s seat of your financial life?
Is diversification gambling?
What about social proof?
What did Pamela Yellen say in the Bank on Yourself Revolution?
What did Nelson Nash say in Becoming Your Own Banker?
What did the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College find?
What did Ray Dalio say?
What happened in 2008? 2022?
What is uncorrelated?
What did Suze Orman say about whole life insurance?
What does Warren Buffet say in his letters?
Wouldn’t it be nice to reclaim those years?
What about cash value and dividends?
What can you dream?
What can you buy?
What about age?
What about losses?
What about the illusion of safety?
What holding led to 20% greater net worth?
What basket doesn’t crack?
What if taxes went up 10%?
What if taxes doubled?
What about peace of mind?
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 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 430: Guest Host Episode with Frank Herbik | Why Whole Life Insurance Is the Ultimate with Marvin Bulas

November 28, 2025 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Who is Frank Herbik?
How did Marvin Bulas get started with Tim Austin?
What does the concept of Bank on Yourself® focus upon?
Do you rely on other outside financial sources?
What requires self-discipline?
How can you achieve your financial milestones without taking unnecessary risks?
What about discipline and freedom?
Have you read Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink?
How about a lifetime of tax-advantaged income?
What is hard?
How does the Bank on Yourself® strategy differ from a typical market-driven approach like a mutual fund, an ETF, an IRA, etc.?
How about some examples?
Are we completely against the market?
What is the barbell strategy?
What about a better “desk drawer”?
How can you harness compound growth?
What about cash, that’s available to you, whenever you need it?
Could everyone benefit from this?
How does the insurance carrier manage and carry the risk?
What is the non-guaranteed component?
Are the companies in the insurance industry well regulated?
What are the living benefits?
What’s the difference between a typical life insurance agent and an active Bank on Yourself® Professional?
What’s the CFP® designation?
Does a typical CFP® (or CLU®) understand how to correctly structure and design a Bank on Yourself® type whole-life insurance policy?
What does Marvin enjoy?
What can smooth out a lot of things?
How about a case study?
What is the approval process to get a loan from an insurance carrier?
How much do you want, and when do you want it?
Who sets the terms of the loan?
What resonates with Frank?
Do carriers have apps?
Who would these concepts benefit?
How does age affect the growth of a whole life insurance policy?
What is a “sprinter” policy?
What is a “marathon” policy?
How many ways could an advisor design a policy?
Would you like to search on bankonyourself.com?
Would you like to talk with Frank at 630-330-1799 about your specific situation?

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 420: The Hidden Power of Protection: How Avoiding Market Losses Can Supercharge Your Retirement

September 19, 2025 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Have you ever been on a roller coaster that dropped so steeply that your stomach flipped, and just when you think it’s over…?
What if there was a way to enjoy the upward momentum of the market without all of the terrifying drops?
Are market events and crashes black swan events?
If someone was stealing 20% of your cash out of your bank every couple of years, what would you do?
Who would move the money to another bank?
When are you ever not going to need money?
Is your strategy vital, over the long term?
Do you have a sense of the major events in recent market history?
Who is losing money?
How often is the market really dropping? What are the implications of this?
What about the sequence of returns risk?
How might one tame volatility?
What about loss aversion?
Is your retirement vaporizing because of someone’s whims on Wall St.?
What about panic during market downturns?
How does one live on reduced retirement income?
If you lose 50%, do you need 50% or 100% to rebound just to get back to even?
What are the major market crashes of recent history?
Could anybody hold on throughout all of that madness?
What about beginners? What about the advanced?
What is the key insight to all of this?
What about preserving your principal?
What about compound growth?
What about having a financial fortress?
What are some one things to try?
What do these insights mean for you and for your long-term financial life?
Are you confident in having a guarantee in your portfolio?
What is the shield against the storm?
What is the ease of a fixed indexed annuity?
Am I doing what I need to do with my money?
Would you like to read and review our new book, The Business Fortress: How to Grow, Protect and Exit Your Business?
What are some next steps and takeaways?

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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.

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