LIFE INSURANCE

[yos9694]

Like any other "self made" success story, it's a matter of survivor bias

[ushdadude]

In 1987 I met s successful life insurance broker, he has since retired.

he asked me, Do you want to be successful of course I said, wishing and waiting to hear the magic words, and this what he said.

Buy yourself a house!! (I was married with 2 kids) I looked at him, A House? In Boro Park?? it's $175k minimum...... (total purchase price)

You buy a house , get a mortgage , you will have to pay it, or else the bank will take it away. that responsibility will motivate you to work hard and earn good money, u "will" have the ability to pay it.

and he continues

when you feel comfortable with that mortgage payment, Buy another house/real estate, and you will feel even more motivated to work harder to cover that new additional monthly mortgage payment and so on........ take on responsibility, work, earn, pay, rewards will be waiting for you LATER

That man was right, because it worked.

always start with term Life Insurance, Yes GET WHOLE LIFE when you are young if you understand the benefits/guarantees

Yes, its a higher premium payment, motivate your self to make the $$$ now, for the benefits you will receive later   

BTW, do you want Lifetime term? try Guaranteed UL

I'm not a FA but this sounds like David Ramsey in reverse and is terrible. Being debt adverse is much healthier.

The frum market really needs a flat-fee FA that can help give solid customized advice.

Was thinking and changed my mind, a frum flat-fee FA (not AUM and not someone who sells insurance) would be a good asset for the community.

[aygart]

I doubt there's a financial coach out there that would say to first raise your expenses and then figure out how to pay them off. That's a recipe for disaster.

Wait, what town do you live in?

[gozalim]

Ratcheting up expenses/debt to increase motivation in order to be successful doesn't sound like good advice IMO. Especially for young people.

not all debt is identical to this (buy a home) strategy. both the debt and the motivation are different. (though with the 2nd property that starts to fray...)

[ckmk47]

Cash value in a whole life policy can be loaned out tax free, but you will owe interest on the loan.

The interest rate might only be a little bit higher than the rate used to calculate dividends, so net interest costs could be very low (relative to ordinary loans). The spread might be as low as 1%-1.5% in some contracts. With universal life policies this is a little bit more transparent, since the loan account grows at an interest rate that can be directly compared to the account value crediting rate.

Buying WL or Universal because of the ability to borrow back your own money might make sense in some situations, but it's certainly not something that applies to all people and situations.

I don't remember why my universal life policy is good for me, I bought it 30 years ago.  I still have the same broker, so I can ask him at the next yearly review. At this point I'm invested in it. (pun intended)

Again, I'm not an advisor, but I scratch my head trying to understand how it would make sense for a low income family.

Exactly.  Whole life/ universal life is not for a low income family, but may benefit someone with more income.

[Yosel]

Ratcheting up expenses/debt.

its not expenses/debt, its paying yourself now, for future equity

Question; what a re you willing to do now (starting at age 20-25) to $3-10 million at age 65 guaranteed ?

[aygart]

its not expenses/debt, its paying yourself now, for future equity

Of course it is debt. It is at least being used in a manner that should benefit you in the future.

[Yosel]

I'm not a FA but this sounds like David Ramsey in reverse and is terrible.

NO! NO! Dave Ramsey want you to BUY a house, and more then 1.  He want you to pay off quicker the bank wants you to.

 

[Yosel]

The frum market really needs a flat-fee FA that can help give solid customized advice.

Like a retired insurance broker, i am sure you can find one in your area

[aygart]

NO! NO! Dave Ramsey want you to BUY a house, and more then 1.  He want you to pay off quicker the bank wants you to.

 

This is the opposite of that. This guy is considering the debt itself to be the advantage.

[ushdadude]

its not expenses/debt, its paying yourself now, for future equity

Question; what a re you willing to do now (starting at age 20-25) to $3-10 million at age 65 guaranteed ?

Why is this guaranteed?

Obviously the market isn't guaranteed either, but a diversified low-cost passive index fund portfolio is more than enough for most people's needs. The savings rate is much more important than the actual investment.

NO! NO! Dave Ramsey want you to BUY a house, and more then 1.  He want you to pay off quicker the bank wants you to.

 

I may have misspoken. I just meant in terms of taking on debt you can't necessarily afford, hoping that it motivates you.

[ushdadude]

Like a retired insurance broker, i am sure you can find one in your area

insurance broker is not a FA. He should be part of the team, but not the quarterback.

[gozalim]

insurance broker is not a FA. He should be part of the team, but not the quarterback.

in theory you're right.
in practice there aren't worthwhile FAs wiling to take on low-value cases (for a flat fee) they all want large accounts on commision

[ushdadude]

in theory you're right.
in practice there aren't worthwhile FAs wiling to take on low-value cases (for a flat fee) they all want large accounts on commision

Maybe. But I think there is a large enough market for someone to charge a few thousand dollars to draft a written financial plan for someone and then maintain it for a few hundred dollars a year if the client needs it.


ETA:
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/financial-advisors/
an entire list of fee-only FAs

[Yosel]

I may have misspoken. I just meant in terms of taking on debt you can't necessarily afford, hoping that it motivates you.

Can you really afford your phone device?  if its important enough (in your mind) you find the money to pay for it.

[Euclid]

Maybe. But I think there is a large enough market for someone to charge a few thousand dollars to draft a written financial plan for someone and then maintain it for a few hundred dollars a year if the client needs it.


ETA:
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/financial-advisors/
an entire list of fee-only FAs

Eli Fried (https://www.linkedin.com/in/elifriedprofile/) is working on putting this together (flat fee advisors for the frum community)

[ushdadude]

Can you really afford your phone device?   if its important enough (in your mind) you find the money to pay for it.

I don't even understand your argument here. If someone doesn't have money to afford a new phone, they shouldn't buy it. If someone takes on more debt than they can afford, they still have to pay for it.

[ushdadude]

Eli Fried (https://www.linkedin.com/in/elifriedprofile/) is working on putting this together (flat fee advisors for the frum community)

that's amazing!

[Yosel]

If someone doesn't have money to afford a new phone, they shouldn't buy it.

NO! and NO! keep your old one, but then again the PEER pressure

[Yosel]

One last toughed for the day:

Albert Einstein — 'Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.'