As I write this Note in mid-December 2009 -- two weeks before a tumultuous decade comes to a close during which our nation suffered through two devastating market crashes -- there are a few tentative signs that a recovery may be at hand. But financial stability is anything but certain, as government spending soars, unemployment remains stubbornly high, tax hikes loom, and the dollar declines.
And while the S&P 500 may have rebounded by a dizzying 64 percent after the worst stock market meltdown since the Great Depression, it is still almost 25 percent below where it was nearly a decade ago. And that doesn't even factor in 28 percent inflation during this period! You could have done better stuffing your money in your mattress and skipped the sleepless nights.
Many people were also counting on the equity in their homes to help fund their retirement. Yet today, the average home price is down almost 30 percent from its peak in 2005, foreclosures are at record highs, and 16 million homeowners have no equity to count on, because they owe more than their homes are worth.
The idea of having a comfortable, worry-free retirement has become a distant dream for many -- even for those who did "all the right things" that Wall Street and the financial gurus told them to do.
In a desperate search for investments that might help them recoup their losses, some people are buying gold, currency, and commodities. Most have no idea that, historically, these assets have jumped up and down like a ten-year-old on a new trampoline.
Case in point: Gold has been hitting record highs, yet most people I've surveyed aren't aware that it would have to rise by another $1,000 an ounce, just to have the same purchasing power that it had 30 years ago.
How quickly we forget that today's hot investment is almost always tomorrow's loser. While the "experts" lamented that there was "no place to hide" during the financial crisis, none of the hundreds of thousands of people who use Bank On Yourself® lost a penny in their plans when the stock and real estate markets crashed.
Their plans never skipped a single beat as both their principal and gains not only remained intact, but also continued growing by a guaranteed and predictable amount.
Credit is still extremely tight for both businesses and consumers, underscoring just how little control we have when we have to rely on other people's money. Yet, for those who are using the Bank On Yourself method -- which has enabled them to become their own source of financing -- the only question they need to answer to gain access to capital is, "How much do I want?"
The $100,000 cash reward I offered to the first person who could show they use a different product or strategy that can match or beat Bank On Yourself still remains unclaimed. If you think you're up to the eye-opening $100,000 Challenge, visit www.BankOnYourself.com.
Bank On Yourself is a turbo-charged variation of a financial asset that has increased in value during every single market crash and in every period of economic boom and bust for more than a century.
For these reasons -- and many more you will discover in these pages -- Bank On Yourself may well be the ultimate financial security blanket in both good times and bad. Read on to discover how this time-tested method is helping folks of all ages, incomes, and backgrounds reach a wide variety of short-term and long-term personal and financial goals and dreams. And find out how you, too, could have a nest-egg you can predict and count on.
The above is an excerpt from the book Bank On Yourself by Pamela Yellen.
Copyright © 2010 Pamela Yellen, author of Bank On Yourself: The Life-Changing Secret to Protecting Your Financial Future