The Way The Infinite Banking Concept Is Taught Is Holding People Back

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Reload. This is the only series where Ash and I, we don't speculate, we don't theorize, we don't repeat half truths. We bring you straight line guidance. When you're early in the process, you may not see that right away. It's something to think about, it's something to ruminate on. As Nelson would say, it's more caught than it is taught. And today we're, we're going to get to the root of it. Grab a pen and tune out the noise and let's get underway. Operation successful. Welcome back to the Command post. And today we're, we're going to get to the root of it. Not the my buddy told me version or I'm on LinkedIn and don't do much other than demonstrate to the world.

How stupid I am.

We're talking about what the infinite banking concept really is and we'll share a few things in terms of why people who do it properly, who implement the process properly, they end up building a, a financial system that is more stable than the economy around them. And it just leads me to something. So Ash and I were having a conversation before we started this episode and what I've been thinking about this morning is what Nelson Nash, the developer, the pioneer of the process, what he often said, which was, everything begins with the way that you think. And so our mission, pun intended, today with the command post is to, is to help you to think about your thinking and to give you operational truth about the concept. And so grab a pen and tune out the noise and let's get underway. Ash, happy Friday. How are you?

I'm doing fantastic. Jason, how are you?

I'm doing awesome. I'm doing awesome, thank you. I wanted to start with sort of breaking down one thing that I hear it, I think less now online, which is a good thing. But when you hear people, you know, say something like, you can buy an infinite banking policy, what comes up for you when you hear that?

Well, for me specifically, it would be, can you point me to where you can find one? Because I haven't come across one yet. I mean, it might sound interesting, but yeah, I haven't been able to locate one of those yet.

Yeah, same here. And I think that when it's shared, it shared with, I think it shared with good intention. But Nelson also said often that words have meaning and it's important to correctly classify things so that people have an accurate understanding. And we say on one hand the truth, which is that the infinite banking concept is a process. It's Not a product. And then on the other hand we hear things like co mingling the process with the product and saying, hey, you can buy an infinite banking policy. That is absolutely an entirely. Just factually incorrect. You can't. You can buy a dividend paying whole life insurance policy ideally from a reputable life insurance company and you can implement a process named the infinite banking concept. And so maintaining that distinction I think is super important. You know, when the general public is being introduced to this so that, yeah, you know, the life insurance company's phone isn't ringing with somebody saying hey, I saw this great TikTok video and I'd like to buy an infinite banking policy. This sounds really interesting to me. They just don't exist. When, when you ash. When you think about all the interactions that you have with the general public and both you and I, we speak to folks from the general public on a daily basis, what are some of the misunderstandings that have surfaced in those conversations that have presented as a bit of a pattern over the time that you've been doing this?

I think that part of it comes up as you can get two for one so you can, you can do this and make money. So they constantly look at it as an investment when we know, right on page three of Nelson's book becoming your own Banker, it's not an investment. You know, once you put it in place, you can certainly use it for investments. That's one of the things you can absolutely do. But because we know it's not an either or, right. We know it's an and asset. But I believe a lot of the noise comes from the misunderstanding. And part of that comes from something that is not normal that people are used to hearing. And because it seems like there's a lot of complexity to it, that's where a lot of the confusion comes together. When we know that it is ridiculously simple. You just have to communicate with the correct people in order for them to explain it to you.

Yeah, that really good point. And I think in addition to what you just said, this notion of cash value like money in a savings account and I was speaking to a colleague in the industry and I was sharing something that Nelson again, it's all in the book. It's all in the book titled Becoming youg Own Banker. And Nelson described this as. Yeah, you go. It's a 92 page read. If you have not yet added this book to your wealth building library, you definitely have an opportunity and it's a great read. What Nelson shared in the book is he said you know, this is very similar to basically a trust arrangement. So you have a trust, you have a trustee, and you have a grantor, and you have a beneficiary. So the grantor would be for, for this comparison, the individual paying the premium. So you're, you're paying premium. The moment that you do that, the moment that you put property into a trust, it's not your property anymore. So when you pay a premium, it's not your money anymore. And cash value is not money. It's the net present value of the future payment of a death benefit. Benefit. That's what it is. It's a ledger entry. And the trustee, which, in this example, the comparison, the life insurance company is responsible to put the property of the trust to work for the benefit of the beneficiary or beneficiaries, plural of the trust. And so words have meaning when language is being used. Like you can borrow against your cash value, which is 100% accurate. You can go and finance whatever it is that you're wanting to finance, and all of your money is still growing inside the policy. Factually incorrect. There is no money of yours growing inside the policy. What's growing is the net present value of the future payment of a death benefit. It's equity in the contract. And that's all that it is. And so I think it's just really important to clarify that because it sounds really good, what I just said. If I was to go to the marketplace and say, look, all of your money is still growing inside the policy, and it's uninterrupted. And I've said those things especially early in my journey. And so it's super important just to speak the truth and to share with people what's actually going on when they pay a premium and they own one of these incredible contracts.

Well, that's definitely part of the confusion. And when we say, when you constantly say, you know, words matter, communication is paramount. But the right kind of communication, just like in a command post, if you get it wrong, things can go very bad.

Yeah.

And that correct terminology, I think it can be a lot of the stuff that's out there right now, a lot of the noise, can definitely be misleading.

Yeah, yeah, very true.

And I think some people are doing it unintentionally, but that's only because they're not, they don't quite understand what the infinite banking concept is.

Right.

So it's very easy for them to misconstrued or to get lost in the complexity because they are focusing on the tool. Right where the first thing you got to focus on is the person because we know that the tool, the life insurance company, they're going to do what they do because they're contractually obligated. And you can look at ones and zeros and numbers all day and you can look at illustrations, but at the end of the day that's not going to change. You can put the amounts up, you can put the amounts down. What's really important is the behavior of the individual that owns the contract 100% accurate.

And that policy owner's behavior in the implementation of this process is far more critical than the behavior of the life insurance company. And that is why it's very important to have an experienced guide, a coach that you can lean on as a sounding board that you can learn from and model some of the best practices in the implementation of this process. And what I really look back on now, 17 years into my journey, is a few things that I think we're quite proud of. We haven't had a single client contact us in 17 years. Not one that I'm personally aware of. Who's been disappointed that the equity, the cash value in the policy, the net present value of a future payment of a death benefit has risen every single day without interruption, hasn't gone backward, that the amount of capital that they have access to through the device of a policy loan has grown daily without interruption, has not gone backward, that they've shared in the divisible surplus generated by the life insurance company every single year without interruption. These dividends that get paid cannot be repossessed, they cannot lose value. These policy owners are paying no tax on the buildup, they're paying no tax on the death benefit proceeds. They're able to take advantage of high caliber opportunities and to do so with ease and simplicity. And so that I think has been one of many things that has earned us these thousands of five star Google reviews of people sharing their, their real experiences in working with us. And we're quite proud of that, understandably.

So I'm glad you bring up opportunities because our, we had a fantastic webinar last night hosted by Dan Allen and.

Oh good, good, good.

So it went really well. I believe they got good value the people that attended. And one of the things that Dan brought up was opportunities. And he asked, you know, who has missed out on opportunities in life for not having ready access to capital? Put a Y in the chat box or an N and the amount of Y's, you know, I mean, I mean I even, I put in a Y and that just shows you that you know the power in having that ready access to capital. Because opportunities will track you down all.

Day long, literally all day long. And that again was something that Nelson often said. When you have ready access to capital, opportunities of high caliber will find you and you can capitalize on those opportunities because you're not experiencing the delay, the delay involved with lengthy nosy credit applications, loan applications, credit checks, income verification, supplying collateral, providing personal guarantees, all of those things that are associated with the delay. Whereas we can tap into policy loans on demand, on our terms, with no repayment schedule and take advantage of those high caliber opportunities without delay. And that not only, I think adds to the motivation of wanting to take advantage of a high caliber opportunity, but it also, it creates a very peaceful, stress free existence financially. And when Nelson said in his book that it would take the average person to 20 years to truly control the banking function in its entirety in their lifetime, he is describing the essence of thinking. Long range thinking, three generations past your own now. I was a Negro beaver and wanted to get it done a little bit quicker. And so it took my family 13 years to achieve that outcome. And everything that Nelson said, God rest his soul, I miss him, I think about him every day and I'm grateful for him every day. All the things that he said are spot on. And when you're early in the process, you may not see that right away. It's something to think about, it's something to ruminate on, but you may not see that right away because the time hasn't yet gone by that he describes in the book. And wow, what an incredible journey it's been with this process. My goodness.

One thing that I will say I've been noticing with and having conversations with, you know, prospects that have been coming in and contacting us is they're realizing more and more, you know, you can call it kind of like an awakening. They're realizing more and more that that something is wrong and they're trying to figure out what is the best course of action to move forward. And you know, and it's, it's great. I love having conversations with people and just figure and just seeing where their thinking is at, you know, and what their thoughts are on the current economy and what they're financially doing already. Because we know what can already financially enhance what they're doing. We have the solution. But it's interesting to get their take on what they believe they should be doing. I really do, I really do enjoy that education piece about what we do.

Yeah, it's I agree with you, you know, regarding the conversations that are happening because I think personally, and I just shared this recently, I think the concept is equally, if not even more relevant today than when Nelson first created it. If you look at everything that's happening in the way of economic volatility, especially with, you know, trading partners around the world, globally, and the uncertainty that, that presents, increasing reliance on outside lenders and credit tightening and inflation and all these things, the process of becoming your own banker is even more relevant because when people share, you know, I really feel like there's something fundamentally wrong with the financial system. I know what I'm experiencing firsthand, so I'm referring to the general public when they say, look, you know, like we're, we're just being literally strangled with taxation and there feels like there's a complete absence of control. Like they're, they're expressing their anger. They're, you know, people are even discussing this with their politicians that represent their constituencies, but they feel like consistently like they're getting nowhere, like their voices aren't being heard, that they're not in a position of control. And what emotions manifest themselves when you're not feeling like you're in control? It's typically anger and fear. So you don't have to go very far on social media to find a lot of fear and a lot of anger. And when people embrace this process and they're taking control of how they finance the things that they need throughout their lifetime, they're experiencing all the advantages of being in that position of control. The fear and the anger subsides. And then that shows up in the reviews that people leave for us and they say, like, I feel like I'm in control. I feel like there's hope. I feel like this is the right way, the best way forward. For me, that's addressing the emotional side of it. But everything that's foundational is irrefutably good for the policy owner, even if they never access the policy loan, if they never took control of how they finance the things that they need. And so it just creates this. When Nelson said again what a peaceful, stress free way of life it is when you get the bankers out of your life. And he should have added the politicians.

Because they certainly don't resolve the issues. They definitely have a flair for adding to the complexity and drama.

Two certainties, death and taxes. And the only thing that doesn't get worse whenever politicians meet is death.

And how convenient that the tax is always lined up right after the death.

Unbelievable. Unbelievable. We, you know, we just, because we get asked often, you know, how, how are you utilizing, you know, your system of policies? Like we have 77 policies in our family banking system. And just most recently my wife Rebecca replaced a vehicle. So she had been driving a Sienna for many years and she replaced the vehicle. And the, the ridiculous simplicity. Once she selected the vehicle, getting in touch with the life insurance company requesting a policy loan, the only question which again has been repeated year after year and for us longer than a decade, we're 17 years into our journey, would you like us to directly deposit the loan proceeds or mail you a check? That's it. There's no questions regarding income, there's no questions regarding repayment, there's no questions regarding the use of the loan proceeds. And so we received the life insurance company's money paid for the vehicle. The loan, the policy loan was not reported to TransUnion or to Equifax. So the transaction in and of itself private, the repayment schedule is ours, not the life insurance companies. So we control that entirely. So every single day that my wife Rebecca is driving that vehicle, the cash values of the policy that the loan was requested and attached to the cash value of that policy, which again is not money, continues growing every day that my wife drives that vehicle. The lien for the loan balance is on the death benefit of that insurance contract, not the vehicle. What a peaceful, stress free way of life that is. Financially isn't that good?

Fantastic.

And if you can do that for a car, Ash, can you think of anything that you couldn't do this for?

No. It would almost be as if it was infinite.

Wouldn't you know it? All the credit to this gentleman right here, the developer of the process, the late R. Nelson Nash.

I think as things change in society and in the economy, people are starting to put different focus on things they may have kind of left to the side as far as what they value. And I think now, I think people are definitely returning to more of a, a value on privacy.

Yeah, good point.

Yeah, especially you know, like you can't help, you can't help but have it, you know, thought of, because you think about social media, you think about all these platforms, you know, and what does that privacy mean to you? And you mentioned the fact that these are private loans between, you know, you and the life carrier, they're not reported to anywhere else. And I think people appreciate that, especially when families, you know, responsible people are building out a portfolio to look after their family and make sure that their families are set up in a good position. I Think they really, they really appreciate the privacy aspect of that because the last thing they want is prying eyes, especially from big brother.

Oh, definitely, yeah. I have you, have you had anybody sit down with you and say, you know what, Ash, if I'm being honest with you, I really don't feel like I'm taxed enough. And I, I really, I'm, you know, quite disappointed that there's not even more reach by government into my day to day life. Like, it's really upsetting me. I've never personally had anybody say that to me.

Yeah, I believe that's when we send them the, the link to the complimentary psychological evaluation referral. Right.

And you know, Ash and I, we, we say things like this in good humor because over the years, again, we've never had anybody say things like that. There, there are three stages in my view. There, there are three stages of IBC mastery. IBC being the infinite banking concept. I think, I think stage one is, is understanding the tool that's used to implement the process. You can't skip that, but it's not the goal, that's not the primary objective. And then stage two would be understanding the process which in ridiculous simplicity, the essence of the infinite banking concept is to control how you finance the things that you need throughout your lifetime and to recapture the interest that you would have otherwise paid to someone else's bank or finance company. And then stage three would be implementing the process. In other words, operating the system, understanding policy loan structure and how that becomes very strategic within your family banking system. Understanding, expanding your system of policies and how that becomes strategic within your family banking system because you end up insuring the lives of everyone that you have a beneficial interest in and in some cases several times over. And so each stage, so understanding the tool, understanding the implementation of the process, operating your family banking system, each stage feels like, feels like you're unlocking a level. And that is what, you know, clients that we're very blessed to, to guide and to coach in terms of what they, they go through. And it's wow. To see people go through those, those three different stages is just, it's very humbling and I, I love it. This, this isn't work to me. Never has been from, from day one.

Yeah. I think when you're, when you're truly making a difference in people's lives, how can it be work? Right? So when you try to think through, you know, what's my purpose, what do I want to do in life, what kind of contribution do I want to bestow on the people that I meet and surround around me. I think that, you know, that's, that's that introspection that people have to do to really figure out, you know, what kind of reputation or legacy do they want to leave in life. And when you say we talk about conversations and how much we enjoy the conversations with people that we get to work with, but it's just as important for them to have the conversations with the people that they surround in their own life so that they can also look after them and pass on the same message. Because unfortunately, there's not enough of us to pass on Nelson's message about the Infinite Banking concept. And if there's one thing that they could do to help someone in life, it would be to understand the infinite banking concept.

Oh, a hundred percent, 100%. And in today's day and age, especially with technology, what we've done with our client portal, all of the archived resources that have been recorded and, and stored there, people have in perpetuity a resource that they can tap into, a resource that they can share with family to tap into. And that, that's one of the reasons why we spent several days in Birmingham, Alabama, recording the late R. Nelson Nash, asking him a catalog of questions so that he could expand on what he wrote in the book titled Becoming youg Own Banker. And we were literally on site with a camera crew and we recorded for four days consecutively. And that footage is gradually and incrementally being released on the Nelson Nash Institute YouTube channel. And what gave rise to that was not only to have this archive so that people who will never know what a true joy it was to know Nelson and to spend time with him, that they can get a deeper glimpse into the essence of who he was and his passion for helping people to see the truth and to understand and to become very problem awareness. Been saying that a lot this week in exactly that way, helping people become problem aware so that the solution actually matters to them. And so for anybody listening to this or watching this, if you haven't had occasion to watch the documentary film, it's a one hour film that I commissioned on my late mentor. It's a labor of gratitude and, and, and love for an incredible human being. Then you have an opportunity. You can simply head on over to Nelson Nash film.com that's Nelson Nash film.com and when you get there, you can view the documentary. It's ungated, you just hit play and enjoy. And I get so much great feedback. And you can imagine when this first came out so this has now had hundreds of thousands of review of views. And when it first came out and we were watching the view ticker sort of rise and we literally, Richard and I, we were checking in on this, this view counter and it just like, it just took off like a rocket and it hasn't landed since. And so watch that documentary. In fact, I, I've just reminded myself to go back and watch it again. It's going to bring back a lot of great memories. And if, if Nelson were here today, I think that he would agree that this concept is even more relevant today than when he created it.

There's a lot to be said for someone that's genuine, and you can't help but see that when you listen and watch him.

Yeah.

And you can see that he was just here trying to do nothing but good. And I, I think those two, those two points that he brings up, if you don't understand the problem, the solution just won't matter. And if you understand the problem, you'll know exactly what to do. And that's why he says, you know, this is ridiculously simple, but we just got to get past the human condition that puts up the blockade and prevents us from doing something that is so simple.

Yeah. So true. And we look for, I think part of the human condition is that we sometimes look for complexity where it doesn't exist. Can this really be so ridiculously simple? Certainly there must be some complexity here. And the fact of the matter is, there isn't. It is truly ridiculously simple. Especially colleagues in the industry. Why hasn't anybody told me this?

Or why haven't I heard about this?

Yeah. And how, how is it that, how is it that there could be anything better on the planet than the hammer that I have and the nail that I have? How is it that there could be anything better than that? And it's like, I think, I think we're missing the point. It's not about what's better or what's not better. It's about the fundamental truths. Your money must reside somewhere, regardless of what opinion you develop about that. That's a fundamental truth. Your money must reside somewhere. And someone must perform the function of banking as it relates to your needs, regardless of what one's opinion is about that. It's a fundamental truth. And when people who reach out to us who have consumed a lot of content, they've either read a lot on the subject, they've watched or listened to a lot on the subject, there are always such good clarifying questions that come up and That I think is probably one for me personally, one of my favorite elements of the process is educating and helping people get to clarity. Not by telling, just by teaching. And when that clarity arrives, it's like, oh my goodness, this is, this is incredible. Because you. Nelson said to me very, very early in my journey, he said the best way, the best way to develop expertise in any particular topic is to teach it. It's like again, so simple. But it just clicked, right? It was like, okay, yeah, we, we need to teach this. And it's not from a place of, it's never ever from a place of convincing. It's always from a place of helping the other person to think about their thinking. Not Nelson's, not mine, not yours. Their own thinking. And that is not something that many people desire to do. And it's not, that's not a slant on anybody. It's just the human condition. Most people would rather die than think. Also a fundamental truth.

Yes, I believe the response is true story. And I think one thing that definitely gets in the way with people in the financial industry and other professionals, whether you know, whether it's intentional or not, is ego. Unfortunately, ego wears many faces and that ego will prevent people from swallowing their pride just to learn something different when they believe that they already know everything.

Very. Yeah, very true. And for people who are, who are in, in implementation mode, I was thinking about this, I was thinking about this before the episode because I always try to tie things into the command post. And so this, this would be. If you think of a command post checklist, if you just sort of think, think about it like that for a second. And anybody who's implementing this process, so you can actually, you can self assess to this checklist. Are you capitalizing your policy or your system of policies consistently? Because the only thing that grows your policy or your system of policies is capital premium. That's it. Do you have policy loan repayment discipline? Nelson often said, don't access a policy loan without a plan in advance to repay it. Do you track the activity of controlling how you finance the things that you need throughout your lifetime so that you can celebrate all size victories? If you, if you controlled how you financed Rebecca and I, our very first policy loan, when you could get a policy loan for less than 500 bucks. Our very first policy loan was for my newborn son's car seat. It was a three hundred dollar purchase. Anybody would say why would you want to access a policy loan for that? Like that seems to be such a small purchase. You finance everything that you buy. And Nelson didn't say at above or below a certain amount of money. You finance everything that you buy. And do you recognize that the infinite banking concept is a lifestyle, it's not a financial plan. And I would say I would probably add to the checklist, are you expanding your system over time? So are you ensuring the lives of everybody that you have a beneficial interest in and are you working with an authorized infinite banking practitioner? I think that I would add the word experienced because you need a good coach, you need a good guide to help you along in your journey as you become proficient in implementing this process. So that, that's what I would say is the command post checklist.

Absolutely. I have set up command posts before and there's definitely a checklist. There's just no doubt about it, there's a checklist for basically everything because you put the planning and the thought up front and then you put it into a checklist. If you have to adjust, great, but it's there. You don't got to put thought into it, you just got to execute it. People, other people are able to execute it if you're not there. So it creates depth as well. So it just, it just makes sense. You know, there's, there's a, like, if you think about certain things, like there's a reason pilots have checklists, would you, even if the pilot was experienced, would you prefer he didn't use the checklist?

Just gonna wing this. Pun intended. Yeah, I'd rather you use it. Oh yeah. And you know, when you think of the repetition, right. If you use that pilot analogy and you hear, you know, you know, Captain, Captain Smith has 42000 hours of flying experience. Well, you can imagine how many times that captain executed to a checklist flying the same model of aircraft and could literally be shaken awake at three in the morning and rhyme off every step of that checklist from start to finish. But when you put in the reps and it becomes second nature, right, that's where complacency can kick in. Which is the whole fundamental reason why the checklist exists to begin with. So that complacency, if it shows up, the requirement of having to execute to that checklist is going to make sure that complacency doesn't put lives in jeopardy. And when you think of the financial well being of, of you as an individual, of your family, if you're implementing this as a family banking system, then you should absolutely institute a checklist so that you don't put the financial well being of yourself, of your family. In jeopardy. And the more reps that you put in, in the implementation of this process, complacency can show up. Oh, you don't need to repay that policy loan. And oh yeah, we'll get to that later. And you know, I'm in control, so I call the shots. And yeah, we're just not going to, we're not going to follow that, that checklist. We're just going to wing it. And then you wake up one morning and you've got a ballooned policy loan balance and you've, you haven't been paying premium and you know, you've created a lot of unnecessary stress and you're the author of your own misfortune that is completely and absolutely avoidable with the checklist.

Even the most experienced pilot without a checklist could break the aircraft.

Very true.

And I just wanted to add something onto this because it, this just popped in my head as we were talking about checklists and you were. The stuff you were saying. I find it interesting that Nelson himself being a pilot for many, many years. Yeah, isn't it interesting that he actually left us a checklist?

Yeah, totally.

Yeah, I just thought about that. Like, here's his checklist. Yeah, he left us a checklist.

Yeah, that's so true. Wow, that is ash. That is a really, really great way of, of, of referencing the book.

And again, aviators, I tell you.

Oh yeah, he, he was a plane driver for many years and, and again, the book that we're referring to is titled Becoming youg Own banker. It's a 92 page read. Take you an afternoon to get through it. And that is the book that completely changed my life. And isn't it interesting how that happens where it's just a domino that tipped over and when people grasp the concept, when they catch it, as Nelson would say, it's more caught than it is taught. The common question is always the same. I wish I would have known about this. Insert whatever time frame five years ago, 10 years ago. Well, you can't say that five or 10 years from now and the time's going to go by anyway. And so the, the infinite banking concept, it isn't magic, it isn't complicated. It's, it's really and simply it's, it's the disciplined act of controlling how you finance the things that you need throughout your lifetime. Recapturing the interest that you would have otherwise paid to someone else's bank or finance company. And when you do that, everything changes. And the more you do it, the more you stop reacting to the world around you. You start taking command of your financial future. Your family deserves that. You.

Your.

Your. Your business deserves that. Your. Your legacy deserves that. And so if these episodes, command post episodes that Ash and I do, if they opened your eyes, don't leave that clarity on the table. Do something with it. Rewatch this episode. Study the concept, get into a conversation with the right person on our team and. And take that next step. Nelson, again, he. He taught us that everything begins with the way that you think. And so here at the command post, we help you think differently so that you can live differently. Isn't that good?

It is. And when you say the time's gonna go by anyways, and I think a lot of people don't realize that because they're living in the now.

Yeah.

So that they're not necessarily looking forward or thinking long range or thinking generationally or looking in that direction. And Dan, from his webinar last night brought up a good example. It's like he laid that out into the future when, you know, would you be willing to spend $5 a day, $150 a month, $1800 a year for the next 35 years to create a bigger, better future?

Love that. Well, Ash, this is always fun. And to all our viewers and listeners out there on the YouTubes and the spotifications or whatever platform you're listening to this on, until next time, stay intentional and stay in command.