The Infinite Banking Questions Most People Never Get Clear Answers To

Let's just have a really good conversation around frequently asked questions about the infinite banking concept. Where should we begin?

Okay, that sounds good. Well, I've, uh, I've scoured the interwebs, as you would say, and these are some of the frequently asked questions that have come up. In popularity. I think it's in no particular order, but we'll just start at number 1.

Sounds good.

So what exactly is the Infinite Banking Concept?

What exactly is the Infinite Banking Concept? The entire essence of the Infinite Banking Concept is to control how you finance the things that you need throughout the course of your lifetime. And so if you just stop for a moment and think, what are all the things that I've already or will likely be financing throughout the course of my lifetime? Property, investments, vehicles, weddings, education, appliances— the list goes on. All of those items that you finance, all of that financing flows through the books of someone else's bank. Through the device of this concept, you get to gradually and incrementally gain control over how you finance those things while also recapturing the interest that you would otherwise pay to someone else's bank or someone else's finance company. The concept itself is ridiculously that simple. And as it was pioneered and engineered by my late mentor, the late R. Nelson Nash, who I was just blessed beyond the definition of good fortune to be mentored by for so many years, he reminded us of that so often. He said the infinite banking concept is ridiculously simple. It does not need to be sensationalized. And more importantly, it's meant to be caught, not taught. And so for people watching, get your hands on this book because it really will change your life. And the title of the book is Becoming Your Own Banker. This book has sold more than 580,000 copies for a reason. It works. Isn't that good?

Absolutely. And, uh, it is ridiculously simple. We are the ones that overcomplicate it.

That's exactly it. People tend to either not think or tip the scale and overthink. You are going to have a need for financing throughout the course of your lifetime that is very extensive. And if you picture how much money has flowed through your hands up to this point in your lifetime for all those things that you've financed. That number is remarkably high. For some, it's in the millions. For most, it's in the hundreds of thousands. That is a permanent transfer of money away from you. Every debt servicing payment that you make to a credit card company, to a conventional bank, to your mortgage, to your car loan— every payment that you make is someone or some other institution's passive income. Let that sink in for a moment. Where do you want that money flowing to? You want it flowing back to the family where it belongs, or do you want to continue transferring that money away from you and your family permanently? Not just for you, but for every generation that comes after you. The Infinite Banking Concept puts you in a position of total and absolute control, but it doesn't happen overnight. It's not an overnight light switch event. It is meant to be achieved over a period of several years, several years, not several minutes or several days, several years. And that is something that we're continually emphasizing and getting across in the education that we deliver because of the instant gratification, that world that we live in— instant noodles, instant lunch, instant food delivery. You've got drones flying over your head dropping boxes all over the place from companies like Amazon. People want it now. But you're gonna— yet you're going to need the use of money through for the rest of your lifetime. So of course it's not meant to be an instant gratifying event. The infinite banking concept is meant to be a lifestyle, not a financial plan.

Well, and just like you said, you know, from your family banking meetings, the kids get the concept. So they do.

Well, and there's a reason that kids pick up on the infinite banking concept so quickly, and it's partly due to the fact that they have a higher degree of neuroplasticity and something that we teach, right? It's— you can teach a child a new language at a very early age and they grasp it and they, they pick up on it very quickly. Whereas if you're dealing with an adult and you're introducing a new train of thought, the operative word being introducing, you're not forcing a new train of thought, you're not trying to convince your way to a new train of thought, you're introducing it. And people either catch it or they don't. And it may not be that they don't ever catch it, they may just not be ready now to think about their thinking. And Nelson, again, credit to him, he would begin literally every conversation, every talk that he would deliver— and he spoke across North America for decades— and he would begin every talk with one remark: Everything begins 'With the way that you think.' Pregnant pause. And then he would say it again, 'Everything begins with the way that you think.' And then he would get into introducing the concept. So he was opening that pathway to say, today is an opportunity for you to think about your thinking, not his, not mine, not yours, Ash, but to think about your thinking. And that, uh, is something that most people would rather die than do.

Yeah. And for some people, it takes a lot longer to unlearn or undo bad habits that have been learned over decades, you know, whether more of an institutional kind of thing. But I'm glad you held up a picture of Nelson because I think you'll appreciate this next question. So who created IBC and what's the origin story behind it?

This gentleman that you see The late R. Nelson Nash is the pioneer, the developer of the infinite banking concept. And what gave rise to the concept was that in the early 1980s, when interest rates skyrocketed, if you were a prime customer of the bank, you were paying 21.5%. I'm not a prime customer of the bank, and I've never met anybody who's a prime customer of the bank, and neither did Nelson. And so he found himself in a position where he owed a half a million dollars on real estate. He was very active in the real estate space. So at that time, he was already paying tens of thousands a year in interest. And you can imagine when the interest rates skyrocketed from 8% to 21.5% plus, he found himself owing a heck of a lot more interest than he had planned to pay., and people would say to him, just sell the real estate. And he thought, what fool is going to buy this real estate in the current interest rate environment? He had the solution to the problem right in front of him, and he didn't even realize it because he didn't understand the problem. And so when he thought about his thinking and said, wait a second, I can get access to money from life insurance companies at 8%. Pay off the snakes and dragons at 21.5% plus, control how I finance everything that I'll need for the rest of my lifetime. He realized that the solution to the problem was paying more premium into dividend-paying life insurance contracts that accumulate cash value right from the get-go. He paid no tax on the daily buildup of cash value. He paid no tax on the annual dividends, which once declared can never be repossessed, can't lose value. He took 13 years, the next 13 years, to get rid of the snakes and dragons. He could have taken the comfort route and filed an assignment in bankruptcy because his real estate partner did that. So Nelson wasn't only on the hook for his portion of the liability, he took care of the other portion as well. He didn't file that assignment in bankruptcy, although it was his right to do And when he dug his way out of that financial mess, he thought to himself, this is something that I believe needs to be shared. And that's what gave rise to the phrase, unless you understand the problem, the solution just won't matter to you. He had already been paying large premiums into his dividend-paying whole life insurance contracts, but he saw them as dividend-paying whole life insurance contracts. He failed to recognize the financing characteristics, which there are far more financing characteristics than there are death benefit characteristics. And so once Nelson understood the problem, which was he was not in a position of total and absolute control as it related to how he financed that real estate, the solution to the problem was right there. And once he saw it, there was no turning back. And that's why he would often say Once you see the Infinite Banking Concept, there's no unseeing it. And he would also say, the more you see the Infinite Banking Concept, the more you'll see you didn't see. And all of that is outlined in this book that will absolutely change your life. This book is titled Becoming Your Own Banker. There will be a link on the YouTube, still be a link in the snackable content. Get your hands on a copy of this book because it will truly change your life.

I just think about what you said, the massive problem that Nelson came up against that he had to come up with a solution for instead of taking the easy road. Yeah. And so he had to go through and endure all of that to figure out what we know now as far from our, you know, as far as IBC goes. And I just think that If people understood that, then they would understand what we are trying to accomplish by coaching them and explaining and trying to let them in on IBC ahead of time so that they don't have to go through and suffer the same conditions or the same thing that Nelson had to go through, right? So it's like, you know, people come up against hardship and it's like success leaves clues. So, you know, don't— you don't need to take the hard road to make the same mistakes. There is a solution out there. And, you know, that's what we're trying to communicate to people, that if you just understand this and you start implementing it, you will be better off from day one, no matter what.

I agree with you completely. And to add to that, the fundamental truths that Nelson shared were so simple but so revealing when people really took a moment to say, wow, yeah, that, that is absolutely true. Someone must perform the banking function as it relates to your needs. There are no exceptions, and your money must reside somewhere. And so if you— if that's revealing to you where you think through, okay, wait, how have I been arranging my financial affairs up to this point in my lifetime? I earn an income from some source, an employer, an investment, and that income, 100% of it, flows onto the books of someone else's bank. Okay, that addresses the fundamental truth that someone must perform the banking function as it relates to your needs. In that scenario, it's not you. It can be, but presently it isn't. And the, the truth that your money must reside somewhere— isn't it true that 100% of your income flows onto the books of someone else's bank? Presently, of course that's true. And then from that place, you systematically begin transferring all that money away from you with every debit card transaction, with every auto debit from your account for your loan servicing, for your mortgage, for your groceries, your cable bill, your cell phone bill. All of those transactions are a permanent transfer of money away. And then you have financial geniuses out there that say, while you're at it, could you transfer the rest of that money to Wall Street, transfer the rest of that money to Bay Street, transfer the rest of that money into a basket of mutual funds? Everyone else is getting all of your money. If you recognize that to be a problem, then the solution, the Infinite Banking Concept, will actually matter to you. And that's one of the things that just, I was so impressed by the way Nelson would help someone to think about their thinking. He would introduce fundamental truths, and he would invite you to think about it. He would introduce the problem and invite you to think through whether or not that is a problem. And if we can agree that it's a problem, that is when he would introduce the solution to the problem, because it would actually matter to the person he was speaking with. And so that was just one small glimpse into the essence of how incredible and brilliant Nelson was. And having been blessed to be mentored by him for so many years, I share with people every day, and I'm 19 years into my journey with this concept, and I share with people without exception every day just how much I miss him and how I owe him a debt of gratitude that no calculator could give me a number would ever be reasonable enough, um, in terms of repayment. And so get your hands on a copy of the book Becoming Your Own Banker. That is the book that changed my life. We now have just shy of 6,500 clients across North America who are implementing this process in their families and their businesses every single day. 6,500 families that are eventually going to receive a windfall a death benefit, and the only loser in that transaction is the government. And so I can tell you all day long how great the infinite banking concept is. I can shout it from the rooftops, but unless you understand the problem, the solution just won't matter to you.

Yeah, I, I love that quote. And my advice to the people watching would be, if everyone else is taking so much interest in controlling your money Maybe you want to put the same amount of effort into it as well.

Oh, that's— yeah, that's really well put and very true. It's—

there might be something there, 100%.

And, you know, if we just look at what conventional banks actually do, conventional banks being deposit-taking institutions, money flows in, loans, new money is created where no money existed before. But repayment comes in the form of real money and new loans get created, new money that never existed before. And that cycle just continues. And bankers and bank owners are doing pretty darn good. They're making a pretty darn good living by controlling the banking function as it relates to your needs. So if we just put ourselves in a position to do what banks do, we'll do okay.

Yeah.

Isn't that good?

Absolutely.

I gotta remember that. I gotta remember that statement. I gotta— I gotta write that down or something there.

But yeah, well, just, just think snakes and dragons, and that'll probably trigger something.

That'll trigger it, guaranteed. And, uh, you know, I wanted to add to that, Ash, because after the 13 years that it took Nelson to dig himself out of that financial mess that he found himself in, him and his wife Mary never saw a conventional bank again. For anything other than the convenience of debit. And so I'd like for anybody watching this just to stop and think about your thinking. How would your life be differently in terms of stress, in terms of peace of mind, if you didn't have to rely on a conventional bank for anything other than the convenience of debit? Myself and my family are now in that position. And when I first got going, Nelson told me It's going to take the average person 20 years to get there. 20 years. Well, I'm a high achiever. It took us 13, and I like to get— I like to get stuff done quick. And 13 years in anyone's book today would be an eternity. But Nelson would remind us, he would say, listen, time's going to go by anyhow.

Oh yeah, that's like that. That's just like that question. Well, well, how long did it take you to get into debt?

Yeah, that's a really good point.

And accumulate all that, right?

Yeah.

Well, it's probably going to take a similar amount of time to get out of it.

You're going to spend a lifetime on one of two tracks. You'll be on one track covering 99% of the general population where someone else is controlling the banking function as it relates to their needs, because you will need the use of money for an entire lifetime and it has to come from somewhere, a supply source. You're either on the track where you're in a position of control, or you're on the track where you're not. There are no exceptions. And so logically, if you think about your thinking, which lifetime do you want to align with? Do you feel most aligned with the one where you're not in a position of control, or the one where you are, as it relates to how you finance the things that you need so the money flows back to the family? Not permanently away from it. Well, any logical person would say, I'm leaning toward being in a position of total control. And once I understand the problem, that solution is going to matter even more.

And hopefully it's not too long before it's caught.

Yeah, 100%.

Uh, so, okay, so speaking about the tool that we use— yes, what type of life insurance policy is typically used for IBC?

Uh, that's a really good question. The type of policy that's typically used to implement the Infinite Banking Concept, or ideally a system of policies, would be dividend-paying whole life insurance contracts, ideally with a mutual life insurance company, meaning the company is owned by its policy owners. There are no external shareholders that have an expectation of participating in the surplus that the life insurance company generates year after year, decade after decade, century after century in some cases. When Nelson said that he recommended that it be ideally a system of policies, I'll share with you, uh, something that you may have heard me talk about before, but it's so funny. He's standing at an event, he's on stage, and he's delivering his talk on the Infinite Banking Concept, and Somebody asked him a question, Nelson, how do you address diversification? Because we've all been conditioned, if you're going to invest in the stock market, you should invest in multiple companies across multiple industries and categories so that you are diversified. Nelson said, well, let me address that for you. I've got 48 dividend-paying whole life insurance policies in my system, 22 individual lives insured. Sooner or later, all of them are going to die. I'd say I'm pretty well diversified. I'm diversified in lives insured. And the whole, the whole crowd just burst out in laughter. And the person who asked the question was a really good sport about it. And it was just one of those events and moments that it was, again, just a glimpse into the essence of, you know, Nelson could be quite funny. He could be pretty witty when he needed to, but he was always trying to get across something that was a coachable moment.

Right.

And everyone in the room went, wow, yeah, like he's got a really good point. If you're diversified in lives insured and you know that everyone has a best before date, nobody has a lease on life. And when that date comes, and it will come, there will be a windfall of tax-free money that's far more than you ever paid into the policy and far more that you ever borrowed against the policy. And the family gets the money exactly when the family needs the money the most. Isn't that good? Like, we've had to fulfill that duty of care in delivering death benefit to grieving families, and we honor that duty of care. Every life insured is now a hero to that family, every single one. And so for us, every time we have an opportunity to put that in place, it's not just for all of the advantages and benefits of controlling how you finance the things that you need. There's a death benefit thrown in for good measure. Isn't that good?

Yeah. Personal monetary system with a death benefit thrown in for good measure.

That's exactly what he said he would have renamed it.

And it's fantastic when he— that, I, I love that. Uh, and, and that example that you gave of Nelson's diversification, I mean, that right there in regards to IBC is like the definition of risk mitigation.

Oh, 100%. And doesn't that align? Like, if you think of— think of a mutual life insurance company, no stockholders. The dividend-paying life insurance policyholders own the company. Every single one of those policy owners means that there's a life insured. That person cared enough to insure either their own life or someone that they have a beneficial interest in. That's who you are in business with, a very large pool of people who cared enough to do that. What a wonderful group of people to be in business with, huh?

Yep. Large pool of like-minded individuals.

100%. Ash, this was fun.

Yeah.

This is a good time. Anybody watching on the YouTubes, I hope you enjoyed it. See you soon, Ash.

All right. Take care.