The video continues to play in silence and the word FINANCING moves to the upper left corner and the words “We’ll CHANGE the way you look at financing!” appear.  The crowd breaks their silence with clapping.  The clapping increases and is joined by wild cheering. 

Our brand appears.

It lasts 21 seconds.

In 21 seconds we define a process where people go from a BACKWARDS understanding of FINANCING, to learning how FINANCING really works so they, without working any harder or changing their cash flow, can TAKE BACK CONTROL of their financial lives.

In the beginning of this video people go about their days financing their lives away.  No matter how hard they work they end up giving away much of their hard earned dollars every pay day to lenders in the form of interest...lots of interest.

It seems like the normal way to live.  It’s what everyone else is doing.  In the video, you hear people going about their lives this way.  You hear talking.  You hear laughing.  

Then someone comes along and teaches how FINANCING really works.  It seems confusing.  It rocks their understanding...not because it’s wrong, but because this new understanding is BACKWARDS to what they have been taught by financial advisors, bankers, lenders and even their closest friends and family.  They become silent.  

After more teaching, it becomes clear.  They ask some questions.  They get answers. 

Then they get it!  

And they learn that they don’t have to work any harder.  They don’t even have to change their cash flow.  They simply need to CHANGE THEIR MIND about how FINANCING really works and apply this new understanding.

By understanding how FINANCING really works, they can stop paying, and begin recapturing, the interest they were giving away..lots of interest!  They can actually TAKE BACK CONTROL of their financial lives. 

They HOPE again.  They start to DREAM again.   The financial pressures they put themselves under begins to melt away.  They see LIGHT at the end of their tunnel.

And they learn that they are NOT ALONE in this...Life is a BANK will be there to help them along the way.

They see it.  They clap.  They clap louder.  They start cheering.

Life is a BANK.

As I walked back into my office I grabbed my iPhone so I could video this strange event.  I open the back door and began videoing the storm.  As I was videoing, the hail got bigger and bigger and bigger...to the size of large golf balls.  As the storm pounded away, you could here sirens in the distance.

The storm went on for about 15 minutes and anything not under cover was pummeled by chunks of ice.  This was not a chicken little experience...the sky was truly falling.

As Joe and I talked later, Joe said "If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed that hail could be as big as golfballs."  He then thanked me for warning him in time so he could do something about it.  That simple warning potentially saved him hundreds if not thousands of dollars in repair and increased insurance costs.

The next day I heard people share how their cars were dented or had broken windshields.  There are some beautiful cars in Scottsdale but no matter how expensive they were, if they were out in the open they got pelted.

I realized a couple of things from my "hail storm" experience that apply to the world of finance.  

First, the hail storm fell on everyone and everything.  It didn't pick on only a select few.  If your vehicle was out in the open it got pelted and pelted a lot.  If you were under a covering you were safe.  If you weren’t under cover but had a place to go to, by listening and taking quick action, you would have been able to take cover like Joe and Scott did.  

However, there were many people caught in the storm with nowhere to go.  Some of the  people who were driving panicked and got in bigger accidents.  Some feeling helpless just watched their cars get trashed.  They had nowhere safe to move their cars to.  And then there were those who were even blissfully ignorant of the storm...until they walked up to a dented, damaged car sitting in an uncovered parking lot.  Imagine their shock.

Yet I was not feeling helpless.  I was actually a little excited to witness and video this powerful display by mother nature.  Why?  Because my car was under cover.  It was protected. Instead of being stressed out, I was able to help others and then video the event with my iPhone so that I would be able to teach others about the damaging affects of falling ice. It's on YOUTube.

So how does this apply to finance?

Remember, the financial storm that started in 2008.  A lot of people got pelted. And I say started because, like the hailstorm that went on for awhile and then stopped and then started again, this financial storm is still going on.  People helplessly watched their investment portfolio and their home values drop to half their value.  Jobs were lost. Credit lines were frozen or eliminated.  Businesses ran out of capital and closed their doors for good.  Many who are still in business are running with less revenue but with with the same or higher overhead.

Yet there are others that feel like I did during the hailstorm.  They had their finances covered.  Many of them are thriving in these times because they could take advantage of the opportunities available that others couldn't. Some felt like Joe and Scott, relieved to have been able to hear the warning and take action so they too could be safe.  And there were others who did take a pelting in one area but had the resources to recover quickly and keep moving.

At Life is a BANK we know what it was like going through the storm.  We felt it's wrath.  We talked with those who went through it unprotected.  We learned from those who made sure they were under cover.  

At Life is a BANK we discovered ways to move in the midst of a storm to safe guard finances. 

At Life is a BANK we sought out safe, proven financial strategies that help others recover: rapid and permanent debt elimination; wealth building strategies regardless of the market, wealth that grows tax deferred with tax free us and no age restrictions or penalties; recapturing of interest once given to other financial institutions; and how to spend money on the things you enjoy while still building wealth.

Think about it.  You’re either paying interest, making interest, or losing the opportunity to make interest on your money.

Let’s use a car for our example.  Most of us have bought at least one car in our lifetime.  So let’s look at the three ways to purchase the car: 1. finance or lease the car; 2. pay cash for the car; and 3. self-finance the car.

We all know, when you finance or lease a car, you are paying interest.  That’s pretty clear, right?

We also know that when you pay cash for a car you are not paying interest.  However, you are losing the opportunity of making interest on the money you spent for the car.

Here’s something you may not know.  When you self-finance a car, you make interest on the money you borrowed from yourself to buy the car.

Leasing or financing a car are the most expensive ways to buy the car.  But hey, you can lease or finance with little or no money down.  The banks love this.  CHA-CHING!

Paying cash is the next most expensive way.  With cash you first had to save for a period of time before you could use the money to buy the car.  And when you took the money you saved out of the bank or CD to buy your car, you GAVE UP THE OPPORTUNITY to earn any interest on that money.  

Now we all have been taught that paying cash is the best way to buy things, right?  Well, before we all shout out in agreement let’s consider self-financing this same car, okay?

Let’s also consider that after you pay cash for the car, how much money do you have left in your bank?  Let’s say you saved up $40,000 dollars to buy a $40,000 Lexus SUV.  After you bought it how much money did you have left over to keep earning interest in the bank?  $40,000 minus $40,000 equals NADA!  ZIP!  ZERO!  And how much interest can you make on ZERO?  ZERO!  

So let’s say you saved at least $40,000 in your own banking system and loaned it to yourself to buy the $40,000 Lexus SUV.  Now you have to figure, just like the banker does, the terms of your own loan.

Let’s say you decide you want to finance the car for five years at an interest rate of 10%.  This means you would be paying around $850 per month.  After the last payment is made, you paid back approximately $52,000 in payments.  You consider trading in the Lexus SUV and you find out its trade-in value is about $19,000.    

Now before we look at the results one client received from self-financing a Lexus SUV after driving it for five years, let’s look at the cost if it was financed by the bank.  Using the same terms, financing it through the local banker would have cost $33,000.  

Also before we look at self-financing, let’s also look at paying cash for the Lexus.  

Paying cash would cost $21,000 plus the lost opportunity of earning interest.  

So how did the client who self-financed the Lexus SUV with their banking system do?  Well, after driving the Lexus for five years and then trading it back in, they discovered they had.... (drum roll please!) ...around $23,000 more than when they had first purchased the Lexus SUV.

Huh?  Let’s look at those numbers again!

• If you finance with a bank: -$33,000
• If you paid cash: -$21,000
• If you self-financed with your own banking system: $23,000

So paying cash is NOT the BEST way to purchase things.  

Now here is an interesting tidbit to remember.  If I don’t spend the $21,000 paying cash or $33,000 using bank financing but instead, I make $23,000 self-financing my purchase, how much money did I actually have in my wallet?  Between $44,000 to $56,000!  Now that’s a FAT wallet!

Take a few minutes to let that sink in because when clients get this, they get VERY EXCITED!!!

Did you notice also that the one self-financing the car didn’t work any harder than the one who financed the car with the banker or paid cash?  

I know some of you are thinking the one who paid cash doesn’t make any payments!  Sure they do.  They have to start saving up money to build up the cash for the next car, don’t they? 

The last thing I want you to notice is that they didn’t have to make any more money to do this.

Even after I show people this, they usually shake their heads in unbelief and say, “it sounds too good to be true!”  

It’s not.  

It’s just math...and an understanding of how Life is a BANK strategies work.  

Financially savvy people understand and apply these strategies to build up a large net worth.  Consider this...if it works for something as simple as a car, what else could you apply these concepts to?

Want to know more?  Contact a Life is a BANK educator and learn how you can turn your next car, or anything else, you finance from a liability into a money making experience.

TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE!
LEARN * APPLY * GROW

And speaking of the door prizes we want to thank those who gave so you could receive.

• Lisa Dahl’s newly released The Elixir of Life cookbook will be given away.  It is signed by Lisa herself and is as much a piece of art as it is a cookbook.  Lisa is the owner of two outstanding restaurants in Sedona: “Dahl and Di Luca” and “Cucina Rustica.”  For more information check out www.livingdahl.com.
• Drs. Kyle and Angela Palmer (www.paradisechiro.com) have donated an initial consult, examination, and first office visit for free.  Get great results while feeling like you’re on a tropical getaway!
• Sue Craig gave a complete array of healthy chocolates...yep, healthy chocolates!  Check out her products at www.susanschocolate4life.com.  Very tasty!
• Launey Dang, the owner of Launey’s Club Beauty Salon (www.launeysclubsalon.com) and Hair Attractions, provided an assortment of various hair services.  Launey is highly skilled and a pleasure to visit with.  
• Scott Yates of www.scottomedia.com has generously donated a video production service that you can use to promote your business.  Scott will video you and craft a value added video you can use on your website, YOUTube, and other places.  Scott does all of our video and web development at Life is a BANK...so you know he does excellent work!
• Joe Turturica of www.actioncoach.com is giving a gift certificate for a complimentary coaching session and two seminars.  Joe is a coach for the largest business coaching companies in the world.  He will be one of three presenters at Life is a BANK’s “Boost Your Business, Boost Your Life” workshop on October 9, 2010 at the Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.  For more information go to www.LifeisaBANK.com/next-workshop. 
• And because this is a women’s workshop and expo, Life is a BANK (www.lifeisaBANK.com) is giving away some body pampering Laura Mercier skin care products.

Thanks again to all those who gave these incredible products and services.  

And by the way, don’t forget to learn more about LIfe is a BANK and how we can show you how to TAKE BACK CONTROL of your financial life!

She was right.  She is usually right.

And I was allowing pride and shame to hinder the thing I needed to do.  Seek help.

So I swallowed my pride and shame and sought help.  I reached out.  To my surprise, the person I asked help from (an expert in what I needed to learn and also a very busy person) was more than willing to take the time to share his wisdom...but with a catch.  

Was I willing to learn and then do the things he would share with me?  Would I be accountable?  

If yes, then let’s begin.  If not, then “have a nice day.”

I said yes.  He taught.  I learned.  I applied.  Problem solved.

That was simple.

At Life is a BANK we see people bound up in pride and shame about their financial situation.  It’s funny too how many of those bound up by their pride and shame make a lot of money.  

It is pride and shame that convince them that only when things are going better should they reach out for help.  Sure that would be helpful but it’s when things aren’t going so well that people need help the most.

And many times it doesn’t get better until they reach out and get the right help so they can get out of their financial matter.

So when you decide to reach out, Life is a BANK will be there for you.  When you are willing to learn and do the things necessary, a Life is a BANK educator will work with you.   

So reach out, say yes and learn how to take back control of your financial life!

BTW, My wife ended her conversation with me that morning with “I believe in you.”  You know, she really did.

At Life is a BANK, we “believe in you.”  Yep, we really do.

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.  ~Alvin Toffler

When a person goes through the process of learning many times it begins in unlearning.  

In unlearning there are three distinct stages in the process: 1. the pain of unlearning; 2. the freedom in unlearning; and 3. the reward from unlearning.  By understanding the stages of the unlearning process, we have hope knowing that every growth-full experience has its challenging times before the end result happens.

So I thought I would explore each stage to let others know where they are in their journey of unlearning.

Augh...the pain of unlearning!  To acknowledge that I was wrong and that what I believed to be true I have to erase, or even unwind, from the deepest recesses of my mind...my subconscious.  It is hard.  It cuts across my pride.  I might even lose face with people I interact with.  I don’t want people to know I acted like an idiot...even though I was in this area.

Yet to continue to believe what is wrong is like beating my head against the wall and wondering why I have a headache.  Anyone got an aspirin?

Ahhh...the freedom in unlearning!  To create a space in my mind that I can now fill with the correct information.  To learn the right things that work when applied.  Things become easy.  I have no pride; only a humility that says teach me.  People respect the fact that I “own up” to my acting like an idiot and that I am endeavoring to learn from my mistakes.

I no longer have a headache because I no longer beat my head against the wall.  You know, all the aspirin in the world won’t stop my headache if I continued pounding my head into the wall.

Ah-ha...the reward from unlearning!  I am learning.  I am applying.  I am growing.  I look to the successful and watch what they do.  I ask for help in learning the how so I can apply it in my life and get the very same results.   Because I learn and apply, I want to learn and apply more, which ends up in growing more of the results I want in my life.

I never have a headache now.  I recognize the walls of life.  Instead of running head-first  into the wall, I simply use my head to learn how to get around it and get the results I desired.

At Life is a BANK, we help you in the process of unlearning.  At Life is a BANK, we help you recognize that you are pounding your head.  At Life is a BANK, we expose the walls that you are pounding your head against.  At Life is a BANK, we don’t give you an aspirin, but teach you strategies to avoid the walls and achieve the results you want in your life.

TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE!
LEARN * APPLY * GROW

This question was asked to get people to look at choices they had, and could, have made.  If they had chosen differently then their lives would have been much different, and better, overall.  

It reminded me of a book titled The Travelers Gift written by Andy Andrews.  In one chapter, the traveler ends up in a place that was full of lost dreams and desires that people wanted in their lives but because of the choices they made, their dreams and desires never came to pass.

In both movies and the book, the “WHAT IF...?” question was asked because the main character was going to be given the opportunity to make a choice again and that hopefully, because of this new awareness, would make the right choice.  Making this right choice would lead to a life full of purpose, significance and love.

However, if the right choice was not made, the opportunity to make that choice may never come around again.

So many times people today are given the opportunity to make right choices but because of financial pressures that they have put themselves in, they make the wrong choice.  Some make right choices but because of financial stress, they are pressured from following their choices.

“WHAT IF...” you could change all that by making the choice to LEARN how to get out from under your financial pressures?  “WHAT IF...” you could APPLY strategies that would allow you to have the resources you need to walk in that right choice you finally made?  “WHAT IF...” the funds you used to follow your right choice continued to GROW as if you hadn’t used them?  “WHAT IF...?”

At Life is a BANK, we believe that people should do two things in life: 1. Do what they love; and 2. Have a banking fund that will support them in doing what they love.  At Life is a BANK, we teach you proven financial strategies that you can LEARN and APPLY to do just that.

Ask yourself your “WHAT IF...?” questions and then contact us at Life is a BANK to learn how to build a banking system that will support you in following your right choices.

We talk about the day-to-day volatility of the market.  We discuss  how businesses are drowning in debt and how the banks and credit card companies (who got bailed out by the government) have eliminated both business and personal credit lines.  With high debt and no credit lines to help in time of a down period, business capital has been depleted.  When you have no credit line or capital, business owners are reaching into retirement accounts.  We talk about strategies to help minimize the penalties that are placed on those who dip into their retirement.

And many of those affected are the financial “gurus” themselves.

Sounds hopeless, doesn’t it?  I mean if the financial “gurus” are suffering how could anyone else stand a chance?

But it’s not!

There are people right now thriving in these recessionary times, living debt free, continuing to build their net worth regardless of the market, taking advantage of these times using their business capital, while continuing to do the things they love. 

These folks are in control of their financial lives.  They apply strategies that work regardless of the market.

At Life is a BANK we teach others to apply these same strategies so that others too can take back control of their financial lives.

At Life is a BANK we also teach you how to build what we call FUN funds; money you can use for doing the things you love and while having FUN you continue to build your personal net worth.

We all could use a little FUN in these times, right?

If you would like to learn more about these simple, proven techniques, contact Life is a BANK and let us show you how to take back control of your financial life!

A tame version of the first was "How do you know someone is going to take advantage of you?  They say 'trust me.' " 

The second is "How do you know that politicians are lying to you? Their lips move."

Hmmmm...maybe they're not really jokes.

Of course, I am sure there are honest politicians and not everyone who says trust me is trying to get one over on others.  However, the way some people act you might think I wasn’t joking.

So why did these jokes comes to mind?  A financial debate on TV I got caught up in.  The debate made the point of how pensions have run, or are running, out of money.   Pensions which the federal, state, and local governments, the unions and corporations promised would be there.  Pensions that people gave the prime years of their lives working hard for.  

However, this is not a surprise.  A small, little book called The Pension Idea by Paul L. Poirot, written in 1950, tells about the dangers of pensions.

A promise made is not a promise if one can't keep it.  No amount of wishing will change that.  And if the promise is based on future hopes, well, we all know the likelihood of that promise.  

Kids sing a song about a foolish man who built his house on sand and a wise man who build his house on rock.  When the rain came, the house on the rock stood firm.  The house on the sand?  It collapsed.

At Life is a BANK we teach you ROCK SOLID strategies that one can use to BUILD or REBUILD the funds you will need later in life.  Surprisingly, you can USE those same funds NOW while building for your future.  And there are NO age restrictions or penalties.

If you already have the funds, then Life is a BANK teaches you the same ROCK SOLID strategies to PRESERVE your money while it continues to GROW regardless of the market.

Now don't get me wrong, I like sandy things -- walking on a beautiful sandy beach in an exotic place or building sand castles with my grandkids -- but for BUILDING and PRESERVING my money I need to stay SAND FREE!