Give Your Dollars a Lifetime Guarantee

It's been said that only two things in life are guaranteed, and neither is all that enjoyable.

With the exception of death and taxes, very few things in life are certain to happen. You can never be absolutely sure about the weather, what your children are going to do next or even if the New England Patriots will win on Sunday.

Even the "guarantees" offered by companies come with enough fine print and exceptions to disqualify them from being categorized as one of life's "sure things." Most of the time when a company "guarantees" satisfaction, it's only for a limited amount of time and requires you to jump through hoops to prove you actually purchased the product and didn't use it in any manner that invalidates the warranty.

Too often, guarantees are nothing more than hollow promises that never truly deliver what the buyer expects.

The problem with hollow promises

Yes, most guarantees are little more than hollow promises designed to give you a false sense of security; most are simply marketing gimmicks.

All of these falsely earnest (read: weaselly) assurances have created a serious problem: Most people ignore guarantees altogether and don't even bother trying to protect themselves, even when they are making important purchases and decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. This is especially true when it comes to where people put their money.

People too often take for granted that their money will be safe—guaranteed, even—when they invest and save.

Mortgage bonds are widely considered to be bastions of financial security. But even mortgage bonds, as seemingly reliable and boring as they are, fell to pieces during the last financial crisis. So did the real estate market, which was decimated when the housing bubble went down in flames, taking trillions of dollars worth of equity with it.

And then there was the stock market, which largely drives the economy. When stalwarts and seemingly "safe investments" such as Enron and WorldCom collapsed, so too did the stock market.

If investors learned anything from the Great Recession, it's that there are few, if any, financial guarantees. And even those that do come with guarantees aren't all they're cut out to be.

Consider banks, with their well-publicized FDIC insurance and guaranteed rates on CDs. Right now the only thing banks guarantee you is that the money you save will earn interest rates that don't come anywhere near keeping up with inflation.

Then there's term life insurance policies, which provide "guaranteed" death benefit term, but those policies almost always expire long before the insured does.

All of these hollow promises pose serious problems for people who don't pay close attention to where they're putting their money.

Death, taxes and whole life insurance

It is believed that Benjamin Franklin was the first to write about the certainties of death and taxes. It's quite possible that he would have included whole life insurance had the financial tool been around way back in 1789.

Much like death and taxes, whole life insurance produces results that are guaranteed. But unlike the other two, you are in control of the benefits reaped from whole life insurance:

• Guaranteed death benefits. Death is a question of "when," not "if," and that's what makes whole life insurance so valuable. Unlike term life insurance policies, which are designed to be temporary, whole life insurance policies provide you and your loved ones with guaranteed death benefits. As long as your premiums are paid, you and your family are guaranteed to receive the benefits.
• Guaranteed premium level. Unlike term life insurance, the premium you pay for whole life insurance will never change—even as you grow older and closer to the inevitable. In addition, the cash value of your policy is guaranteed to increase each year, so your gains are absolutely locked in and will never decrease (unless you make a withdrawal).
• Guaranteed mortality rate. One of the many nice things about whole life insurance is that your cost of insurance inside the policy is pre-determined, so you won't get any unfortunate surprises or "imploding" policies. In addition, your policy's expenses are guaranteed to never go above the amount determined in your contract.
• Guaranteed growth. Unlike the stock markets, which can be like riding a roller coaster, whole life insurance policies guarantee minimum interest rates (usually around 4 percent, minus your fixed internal costs). Your ability to grow your money will not depend on the whims of politicians, CEOs, real estate bubbles or market crashes. In short, your money is guaranteed to grow even when the country goes into a recession.
• Guaranteed access. Imagine being able to borrow against your cash. Novel concept, isn't it? And it is exactly what you are guaranteed when you invest in a whole life insurance policy. You can typically borrow an amount equal to 90 or 95 percent of your cash value—and you won't have to prove your "creditworthiness" in order to do so. This guaranteed access to your money is one of the chief benefits of whole life insurance.
• Guaranteed options. All of the guarantees listed above are pretty much standard for whole life insurance. But there are other guarantee options which you control:
  • The ability to purchase more insurance in the future, regardless of your overall health
  • The ability to choose programs that pay your premiums for you if you become disabled or ill
  • The option to access a portion of your death benefit for long-term care
  • The ability to accelerate your death benefit should you develop a terminal illness

As you can see, the guarantees associated with whole life insurance are vast and varied. So if you're the type of person who likes guarantees that don't involve death and taxes, you might be the type of person who would benefit from investing in whole life insurance.

Is whole life insurance guaranteed to work for you?

After reading about the guarantees that come with whole life insurance, you might be thinking it sounds too good to be true—like it's just another slick marketing gimmick and hollow promise.

It's not, but just to make sure, take this little five-question quiz to determine if whole life insurance is guaranteed to work for you or not.

1. True or False: You want a safe, accessible place to keep your money.
2. True or False: You want to earn more interest on your money than what banks currently offer.
3. True or False: You would like access to more cash to capitalize on financial opportunities.
4. True or False: You do not want to leave your financial future to chance.
5. True or False: You would like to leave a financial legacy for your loved ones.

If you answered "True" to four or more of these questions, it is likely you will benefit from the guarantees afforded by whole life insurance.

Now, if you are like many people, you long ago tuned out advertisers, financial advisers and others who made hollow promises. And that's entirely understandable—after all, only two things in life have consistently been proven to be certain.

But it's a new world, one that Benjamin Franklin could have never imagined. That's why you owe it to yourself to learn more about whole life insurance policies and the benefits they guarantee to you and your family.

Please take the time to read Live your Life Insurance by Kim D. H. Butler. It's a book that explains exactly how you can use whole life insurance to live a more prosperous life.

You can also contact us today to discuss your options. You'll receive an honest assessment about whether or not whole life insurance policy is right for you. And you'll receive it with no obligations—guaranteed!

Sent from the Land of Possibilities!