Are We Saving Efficiently For Retirement?

We were witness of one of the biggest transfers of wealth in many years, especially on individuals planning to retire now.

Are you working for a company that gives you encouragement to put a portion of your income in a 401k? Is your accountant encouraging you to open an IRA (Individual retirement account), to save on your tax payment?

Those two are the most common vehicles to save for our later days (retirement).

Can you tell me what those two have in common?

They defer your taxes and lock the money out of your control; and that means somebody else gets to decide what to do with your money, where to invest it and you pay them for the service. We all have learnt of the poor performance those have had in the recent years and we are also aware that the managers got hefty bonuses in spite of poor performance.

The fact is, with those government qualified vehicles there is little or no chance at all for us to benefit from them. It start from a faulty premise that we are saving taxes because we will be paying the taxes later on when we will be making less money at retirement time and for that reason we will pay less taxes.

Does anybody here know what is going on with the country's economy? Is anybody here keeping track of the growing debt? The trillion after trillion that will be added to the nation's debt! That debt is supposed to be paid with the country's GDP, but since the government does not produce anything, it only collects, then the government will collect taxes to pay for that debt; and the more debt there is the more taxes it needs to collect.

This is the reason why when we have to pay taxes at the time we withdraw our retirement savings we will pay more taxes.

Now, we put money in an account where we do not have access to it, somebody else manage it with no guarantee of performance and we have to pay them for the service. On top of the above named disadvantages, when we get to take our money out, we pay more taxes. It does not look too exciting to invest on those.

Are there other alternatives to save and grow our money? Yes, there are certificate of deposits, bonds and investing in stocks.

Certificate of deposits: they lock the money out of your reach for the period selected and are fully taxable plus their performance is minimal. It does not even cope with inflation.

Bonds, they are sold at one half of face value but also lock your money out of your control, to get a decent rate of return you have to go from 3 to 7 years and taxes are deferred to the time of redemption.

Stocks, do you like gambling? Then this is for you! But with sound economics out of whack (unemployment, budget deficits, high debt and almost certain high taxes) this should be probably a short term alternative.

Is there an alternative we have not looked at? Yes many: real estate, commodities, precious metals, but with all those as well as stocks, you need lots of education so you know what you are doing or you need to find an experienced broker that hopefully will put your interests in front of his/her.

Is there something easier, safer, and predictable that does not require becoming an expert at it?

Yes, you can "Become your own Banker(TM)" and start recapturing wealth transfers. We build two fortunes in our lifetime, a realized fortune and a lost fortune; The realized fortune is comprised of savings and investments and the lost fortune is comprised of interest paid, interest lost, excess taxes and certain insurance costs.

For most individuals the lost fortune exceeds the realized fortune so if we were to reverse the process of wealth transfers, we could add them to the realized fortune and propel ourselves to a better financial security.

We are lifetime consumers, that means we are constantly buying, and when we buy we either pay interest to use somebody else's money or we pay cash and give up the interest we could have earned on that money had we not use it to buy cash. The use of money has a cost, we either pay interest to someone else to use their money or we give up interest we could have earned when we pay cash, so... if we are always paying interest to use money then why not pay that interest to ourselves?

How can we do that? We can do that by practicing banking the right way, as owners of our bank.

What is banking? Let me give you a simple definition: Banking is the capitalization, the creation of a pool of money, to use it to finance projects or our own needs, to develop a profit (payment of interest, charges), to grow and protect that pool of money.

Wikipedia has a definition of banking that involves government approval and capturing deposits from people to loan those deposits, plus more. Conventional banking is very expensive and complicated to get into it.

We can practice banking in many ways: with a savings account, with a shoe box under our bed, with a home equity line, etc. there are many ways we can practice banking, but which is the best platform we can use for that?

We need to select the best platform by using a 4 point criterion: Liquidity, safety, efficiency and tax friendly.

Can you name one that complies with all the four?

If you cannot find one, let me recommend this one: a whole life insurance contract engineered to perform according to the Infinite Banking Concept, a contract with a mutual life insurance company. For those familiar with life insurance, I have to tell you that we, the followers of the IBC, are not focused on the insurance per se; we are focused on banking and financing.

The fact that there is an insurance benefit, it cannot be avoided. It just comes with it. It has been found out that the need for financing for the average individual or family is greater than the need for insurance. If you solve for the need of financing, you end up with a huge death benefit.

It is like the restaurant owner that sells French fries, the potatoes come with skin and the restaurant owner really has no use for it, but he could make an agreement with a farmer to sell him the potato skins as food for his animals. You see, the restaurant owner has no choice; the skin comes with the potatoes and it is just an added benefit he cannot get rid of.

Anybody interested in learning how to reverse his/her wealth transfers through practicing banking, I will be happy to accommodate a consultation.

I am a practitioner and very passionate promoter of the "Infinite Banking Concept". Close to four years ago I opened my eyes and ears to the limited knowledge of money management by the use of Whole Life Insurance and when I realized how powerful and beneficial to the average American it was, I decided to open my mouth to promote it.

I will use all my training and team resources on helping you find the money that is already in your cash flow, to implement your personal banking system.

http://InfiniteBanking.com
http://Bankonyourcashvalue.com

Old Money Saving Niche Making a Comeback - Canning

It is quite common for the American family to have a garden growing in the backyard and up until recently, the produce that the garden produced was used when it was needed or wanted. Due to the recession however, amateur and professional gardeners have jumped on the canning ship in order to save every ounce of produce that their gardens are producing. While it is not known how many people have started canning for their first time or how many people have started canning again, there are a couple of things that stick out.

A website run by the organization Canning Across America has seen a spike in those looking for information on how to can. The organization also holds simultaneous canning festivals at the end of every August and the number of people who showed up also increased recently. Canning jar and equipment suppliers have noted that their sales have increased an average of 30% this year, compared to the same time period in 2008. It has also been noticed that canning equipment and jars have started to fill shelves at grocery stores and supercenters across the nation. A couple of short years ago, it was common to only be able to find canning equipment and jars at yard sales.

As noted, canning is making comeback due to people trying to find new ways to save money. Most people assume that canning fresh grown produce from their garden is cheaper than buying produce in the grocery store because they can grow vast quantities. Canned produce can often last several months to several years, which also makes cost effective since spoiling is not an issue. Other people are canning however, because they have control over the amount of sugar, salt and other additives that go into the food product that they can. In turn, this leads to healthier foods and more people are starting to become more health conscious than they used to be.

To many, canning sounds like the perfect idea to eat healthy foods and save money at the same time, but there are also a few drawbacks. Several types of produce contains a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. If the bacteria is present and placed in a jar, it can actually cause botulism, which is a form of food poisoning that is deadly. Due to this, strict guidelines that are set forth by the U.S. Agriculture department must be followed. The bacteria can normally be killed by using a pressure cooker that heat the produce to a temperature hot enough to kill it.

Aside from the methods that need to be used to kill the potentially fatal bacteria, the produce needs to be cut, the jars need to be washed, stuffed with the produce and then submerged into very hot water in order to create the seal and ensure that all bacteria has been dealt with. If you have a day or two a week that you can devote to this process then it might not seem like such hard work.

Cost is also another big factor in whether or not canning is actually worth all of the hassle. The jars cost money and it also costs money to plant and maintain a garden. After all is said and done, canning does not actually cost that much less to do than going to the local market and picking up the produce that a person needs. Canning is however definitely making a comeback and people seem to be making it their produce niche. For more information on canning and other ways that people are saving money, see http://www.theinternettimemachine.com.

The Energy Saving House - Sun, Wind and Water Can Produce Nearly 100% of Your Home's Energy

No one has to be reminded of the energy situation that embroils the world today. People are more and more concerned about the choice of an energy saving house.

Parents wonder about their children's future or perhaps tomorrow some third world oil producing nation will get angry with our country and cut off our supply of petroleum resources.

The fact of the matter is that these concerns should have been addressed long ago by all free governments so this situation would not have come to fruition. But alas, as is so often the case the populace needs to take matters into their own hands and demonstrate the way to go.

Forward thinking citizens of the world have always tried to figure out ways to be self sufficient. Using natural, renewable energy sources instead of paying someone else for the privilege of eating away precious energy supplies that will in time be depleted.

Housing has long been the obvious choice in striving to employ energy conservation methods as dwellings are the number one energy guzzlers worldwide.

The energy saving house now utilizes a wide variety of techniques that allows the homeowner to become partially, or totally independent of outside sources of combustion type heating and cooling such as oil and coal provide.

Today's energy saving house makes use of sun, wind and water to produce nearly 100% of a home's energy needs. Solar panels collect the inherent energy that the sun's rays offer the world free for the taking.

Windmills and waterwheels drive turbines that produce power in much the same process that your local electric company charges you an arm and a leg for.

The use of these natural resources also reduces air pollution and greenhouse gases. Energy saving techniques can be incorporated into your home whether it is new construction or retrofit and it will take extensive planning and a large initial monetary outlay but the savings you will realize will recoup your initial costs in just a few short years.

Above all, the rewards will be tremendous in your fight against outrageous energy bills and reducing environmental waste.

Get more information on how to save your home thermal energy [http://www.getenergysavingideas.com/how-to-save-your-home-thermal-energy/]. There's a wealth of information on making your home more energy efficient so you can continue to live a comfortable life style whilst cutting your utility bills.

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