My story is not unlike many who experienced huge financial losses in 2003 and 2008. In 1982, my wife, Sharee, and I had a defining moment that changed our lives forever. We went from a six-figure income and owning our dream home, to financially losing our house and having to start over again to accumulate money.
This “defining moment” permanently changed the way I view finances, wealth, and retirement. I no longer take advice for fact, but look through the lens of my experience to see if that advice could have saved me financially. Some of the advice I hear is good—but not necessarily the best—because it isn’t complete and won’t save you in rough financial seas.
For almost 30 years now, I’m not shy to admit that I haven’t followed the crowd with my money, and my advice to you is to stop following the crowd too. It’s not always the most popular thing to do—follow a less-traveled path. The “crowd” laughed when I taught my readers, radio listeners, and live audiences about how to use max-funded insurance to protect themselves against stock market and real estate loss. But they gasped when they personally LOST MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF WEALTH in the 2008 market meltdown and real estate crash—and looked on as people following my advice didn’t lose money due to the market decline.
It seems that when we gain influence, the naysayers come out of the woodwork. They simply hadn’t walked in my shoes and learned the hard lessons I had. Because they didn’t understand, my critics ranted and doubted insurance as a repository for serious cash. But during the market crashes of the lost decade, these critics lost years of income, discipline, and savings.
When I worked closer with clients in the past, none of them lost their retirement nest eggs, in fact, they didn’t lose any principal whatsoever due to market volatility.
They watched the markets go down and the economy become sluggish but slept well at night, despite the financial turmoil all around them. Then when the markets turned around, they enjoyed the benefits of market growth and great rates of return. These strategies helped many people safely double their money tax-free during 2000-2010.