Professional Boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. retired from boxing this year. Floyd was clearly the best in the world at what he did as a fighter. As a professional boxer he went undefeated; 49-0. Imagine never losing! He was a five-division world champion. He won twelve world titles and championships in four different weight classes. Like him or not, Floyd was one of the best ever.
Although I’m not a big fan of boxing, I am a big fan of anyone like Floyd, that has that amount of focus and determination to move forward and achieve huge goals; goals that scare most people.
I share this about Floyd, because there are those that just don’t like him, despite his unquestionable accomplishments. As a financial professional, I sell a product that also has unquestionable accomplishments. But, like Floyd, many don’t like it for whatever reason they choose to believe. The product is whole life insurance. I’ve come to learn that many in the financial world don’t like whole life insurance, but have also come to learn that those that don’t like it are naïve to its accomplishments. Or, would rather turn a blind eye to it so that they can continue to earn fees from managing other peoples money. Like those that don’t like Floyd, they only see what’s on the surface and judge whole life as negative rather than delving into its true potential.
There are several talking-heads out there that absolutely hate whole life insurance. They say the returns are horribly low, the costs are excessively high, and given a choice you should always buy term insurance and invest the rest of your money in the stock market…with them. However, they have a hidden agenda. You see, for every dollar that goes into whole life insurance, it’s a dollar that Wall Street and financial planners don’t get. They want your money and they want to hold on to it as long as possible. They state whole life insurance is not good. But, like Floyd Mayweather Jr., whole life insurance is a winner. Like it or not, it is one of the best products ever!
Here’s why. When properly funded and structured correctly, whole life insurance has gone “undefeated” if you will. It is a product that has been around for well over 200 years. How does a product withstand the test of time like that if it’s a loser? Only a winner can do that. The wealthy have used whole life insurance in their planning as a solid source of capital and a foundational tool for decades. And banks, what do they do with their money? They purchase billions and billions of dollars worth of whole life insurance. Go figure…
How about guarantees? Can you find guarantees in stocks, mutual funds, or ETF’s? No. The only guarantee you’ll get with stock market investments is the guarantee that there are no guarantees. Banks have used whole life insurance for decades as tier 1 capital. Why? They know it’s safe, and because it wins, just like Floyd.
The similarities between Floyd and whole life insurance are stellar. Floyd, while engaged as a professional boxer, never lost. Whole life insurance while in force has not lost either. Cash value grows and grows and grows. It wins in any economic condition and wins in any stock market or real estate condition, good or bad.
Other similarities between Floyd’s success and the success of whole life:
Punch. Imagine getting hit in the gut by Floyd Mayweather. The wind knocked out of you, feeling like you might lose your cookies, and probably taking a long time to recover, perhaps days of your stomach or ribs feeling sore. Many felt like that with the stock market crash in 2008. They felt punched in the gut. The wind knocked out of them. Befuddled by the extreme losses they had, wondering what just happened to them. Stunned, they didn’t know what to do. Do not take a hit like that. Why risk future retirement dollars and future income?
Power. One of Floyd’s opponents was quoted as saying that Floyd’s power was “underrated”. It sure was. Floyd had power that gave him an edge. His power was undeniable! Imagine that amazing power of a punch landing on your jaw! If it didn’t knock you out, you’d be stunned at the least. Do you recall the looks and feelings of stunned investors as they saw their portfolios cut in half in 2008? It didn’t seem real. Dazed and confused, what could they do? A properly structured whole life policy has power! Much more power than a typical whole life policy. A properly structured policy has super-charged cash value riders that increase its power. When structured properly from the start, these high cash value policies can add power to your financial life, creating a winning plan, just like Floyd’s power created a winning career.
Endurance. Floyd was fit, and still is. His endurance and ability to perform at a very high level were phenomenal. Whole life insurance and its ability to perform at a high level is phenomenal as well. It has withstood the test of time. It has gone through world wars, depressions, recessions, real estate crashes, stock market crashes, and the like. It still continues to endure the toughest of opponents, just like Floyd did.
Agility. Floyd’s agility was unprecedented. He was able to fluidly shift and reposition himself based on his opponents abilities and the unpredictable situations he might find himself in. Whole life insurance has agility as well. In a properly structured, high cash value policy, the premiums are flexible, allowing you to increase or decrease payments based on your own economy. This agility and flexibility allow you to handle unpredictable situations, just like Floyd.
Confidence. Did Floyd have confidence? This is a rhetorical question because of the obviousness of the answer. Floyd exuded confidence! Many thought he was overly confident. But, when your record is 49-0, how could you not be confident. Unquestionably, it was Floyd’s confidence that allowed him to see what he was capable of. He didn’t listen to the naysayers and the skeptics. He held true to what he knew he could do. Floyd was “confidence” in all its triumph.
If you want confidence in your financial life, whole life insurance is essential. Why? Because, if all of your money is in the market or other risky or volatile investments, you can’t have complete confidence because you don’t know exactly what those investments will do. While on the other hand, whole life insurance gives you confidence because your cash value is guaranteed to grow regardless of the economy or market conditions. Are you listening to the naysayers and skeptics of whole life insurance? Don’t! Rather, imagine the confidence of whole life in your financial plan, just like the confidence Floyd had!
The best way that whole life insurance will be a winner for you is to own it. By allocating a portion of your portfolio to high cash value whole life, you hedge against the volatility and risk of the market and other investments. You gain confidence, peace of mind and certainty.
Do not take a financial hit in your portfolio. There were those in the crash of 2008 that lost over 50% of their portfolio, many are still trying to recover from that blow.
Do not take a hit. Choose high cash value whole life. It’s a winner!
Barry Brooksby