Bank on Yourself: The Life-Changing Secret to Growing and Protecting Your Financial Future

by Pamela Yellen

Bank On Yourself: The Life-Changing Secret to Growing and Protecting Your Financial Future reveals the secrets to taking back control of your financial future that Wall Street, banks, and credit card companies don't want you to know. You'll discover how to:
Can you imagine what it would be like to look forward to opening your account statements because they always have good news and never any ugly surprises?

More than 500,000 Americans of all ages, incomes, and backgrounds are already using the Bank On Yourself safe wealth-building strategy to grow a nest-egg they can predict and count on, even when stocks, real estate, and other investments tumble. You'll meet some of them and hear their stories of how this proven strategy has helped them reach a wide variety of short-term and long-term personal and financial goals and dreams in this book.

Genres: Finance, Business, Self Help

235 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 2009

Reviews

[Candy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a big advertisement. If you can get past that, it is a good introduction to a subject I had never heard of before. I am doing more research though.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book seems to have been written for an audience with a fifth grade education (from a less than stellar elementary school, no less). Generally it suggests opening a complicated whole-life life insurance policy that you can overfund and then use the overfunded amount to finance expensive purchases like cars and college tuition for your kids. It's not a bad concept and one that takes advantage of some interesting tax loopholes. Still, the book could have been 5 pages long and filled you in on everything you needed to know. Or just type "infinite banking" into Goodsearch or google and read some more.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a book, I can't give this a good review because it drove me crazy reading it. I could have understood the concept in about half the amount of pages. That said, I like the idea and we are doing more research on this interesting way of dealing with your money.

[Tony Bradshaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chapters and chapters to lead up and explain through characterization one simple principle:

Get dividend-paying whole life insurance that offers flexible paid-up additional riders allowing borrowing against your cash value.

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skip it.

[Brent Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pamela Yellen is not an insurance agent, she's a marketer that sold sales systems to insurance agents going back several decades. She stumbled upon the concept of using cash value life insurance as a personal bank late in life. This topic is what R. Nelson Nash had already written about, and this is her version of a very old idea. If you're a life insurance agent, you should probably read it, although I recommend Nash's work over this.

[Clay Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall not a bad book, but it was long on narrative and short on substance. Much of the meat of the book could have been covered in half the material. It was also pretty promotional of the author's web sites throughout the book.

[Alex Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting idea. This book is one long advertisement, short on content despite its length.

[Cory Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is over 15 years old yet the details and principles still hold true today. Great read for anyone interested in recycling the money they are going to use.

[C.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the idea that the author presents is an intriguing, much unknown alternative for most Americans, this book, I believe, is very poorly written. Not from the standpoint that it doesn't convey the idea well, but it does so in such a long, drawn out manner, in which the author feels as though it is necessary to show many other's personal successes with this strategy. Perhaps I am being too hard on the author, but I really could have read this book as a 20-page pamphlet and made up my own mind as to whether it is a good strategy or not.

One significant downside to the author's strategy that is not noted in the book is that it is my understanding that one is "locked in" to the U.S. Dollar, which will most likely depreciate significantly in value in the coming years.

If you decide to read the book, and I would suggest that you give it a chance, only read the chapters pertinent to her strategy and how it is set up, how one earns income, etc and skip the rest.

[Lawrence M Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have come to endorse the Family Banking Plan as described by Pamala Yellen. I recommend going here to learn more through short video's that explain how it works in detail. www.FamilyBankingWorks.com

Pam's book takes every day people and shows how Family Banking works for them to capture interest, insurance and taxes normally paid to others and instead pay it back to themselves.

Typical Financial Planning doesn't work as proved by tens of thousands of retirees having to go back to work or stay at work because they lost so much in their retirement plans. Family Banking does not use the stock market and anyone can do it... Risk Free...

Larence

[Matthew Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many financial planning books over the years, and this is one that surprised me with it's originality. Bank On Yourself shows you how to utilize a financial instrument - which is well known but little understood - as your own personal bank. Author Pamela Yellen tells several stories of some students who learned this program, and how it changed their lives.

You have to buy the book to read what financial instrument she is talking about. If I reveal it here, you might not read it since there are many preconceptions about this financial vehicle that have blinded many gurus to what it can do if set up correctly.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure if the information about insurance policy riders is true. However, this book just sounded like a fancy way to say: save your money, use your saved money to make purchase, figure out interest rate, repay yourself with interest as if it were a real loan, and viola you will have more money than when you started. This part if it's done, is accurate. Fancy way to perhaps manipulate people into thinking they have a great investment when actually they are just saving and spending their own money and making it grow by paying themselves interest. I'm sure for some people this will be the "Holy Grail" and work for them.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sounded like an infomercial from one end to the other. The anecdotes and examples did not convince me to immediately rush out and talk to a financial advisor who specializes in this investment, but the concept is interesting. I just wish there had been more concrete data for analysis in the book. Terrible book structure, intriguing concept. Rather than read this book, I recommend just googling for "Infinite Banking".

[Christine Lussier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Are you kidding me? Wall Street & Business Week bestsellers my foot! An infomercial in book form. Waste of publishing paper & time. Buy into a life ins. policy & use the $$? Umm, try good old fashioned no debt, save, spend & live below your means. Use a budget & plan. Will be returning to the library at my next stop! SO glad to not have spent a dime on it!

[Mr. V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. I was aware of a lot of the techniques she discussed and have used many of them. Had not thought about the paying bills idea with non-direct recognition life insurance. Very interesting. I can see how in theory could work but also how people could get themselves in trouble by not following through. Which people have a tendency to do when real life interferes.

[Lamstah · Rating 1 out of 5]

She spent half of the book hyping about the product, which was life insurance. It can seriously be condensed in twenty pages. She is advertising her product (life insurance) so please question the information as you read it. She spent too much time hyping the book to try to make readers curious, which was a time-waster.
Worse purchase.

[Susanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I distrust and remain skeptical about the idea of using one whole life insurance policy to fund all your major purchases in life. I personally prefer to have full control of my money at all times.

I do not find this financial-advise book interesting.

[Zacaro Caro · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the information in this book, I think the story telling method used in this book isn't necessarily bad.

The problem is the way the information is delivered and how the stories are told. The information could be great, but it's done in such a way it makes the reader suspicious.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does a good job scratching the surface of how money works in circulation and what everyone should become aware of when considering debt, banking and taxation in relation to themselves and their businesses.

[Michelle Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was really informational. Who knew you could fund your own car purchase, or home renovations just by purchasing a little known insurance rider. Of course there's more to it than that - however, more people, especially women need to read this book and put it into action.

[Jesse]

This is horrible advice. I read the book, and had one of the author's reps come to my house to talk me through it. For several hours. The numbers just don't compute. And I'm right in their target market. It still just doesn't work.

[Jill Ato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nylic wl is the way to go

[Jessica Garlick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Educational, but about 150 pages too long.........

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reviewed for Library Journal. Review appeared in May 1 issue.