71: Finding Your "Why." 9 Reasons You Should Practice IBC

[00:00:00] Hello everyone. This is John Montoya, and this is John Perrings. We are Infinite Banking authorized practitioners and hosts of The Fifth Edition.

[00:00:12] John Perrings: Episode 71, your Why for IBC. In this episode, we're going to talk about cementing why you have or should, or could get started with IBC, and we're gonna talk about. We'll talk about the why, but also why you should stick with it.

[00:00:31] Not only just start, why you should stick with it, and not only stick with it, but why you should build upon it, right? This isn't about IBC isn't about just buying a whole life and policy, and now I'm doing IBC. It's about creating your own financial system, or in other words, how to "become your own banker."

[00:00:50] And John Montoya is gonna take the lead on this one. And we're gonna talk about your why for IBC. So let me turn it over to you, Montoya, and let's let's kick it off. [00:01:00]

[00:01:00] John Montoya: All right, let's do this. So I have a quote in our notes, and it's from the movie Inception and it goes like this. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain, it's almost impossible to eradicate and that really resonated with me.

[00:01:17] 16 years ago now back in 2007 when I came across Nelson's book, becoming Your Own Banker, I read it and the seed was planted. And I haven't been able to part with it, nor do I ever wanna part with it. And I think for me, my why is why I'm so ingrained into this. Concept in into this philosophy of ownership and control that.

[00:01:50] My entire bedrock, the foundation of what I do is based off of Nelson's thinking. And it's rooted in a portfolio [00:02:00] of whole life policies. And I think really to that quote, it's impossible for me to eradicate myself from it because it, it's so permanently ingrained and. What I wanna convey to the listeners is that once you have this idea you've visited IBC or the, you're researching it you're doing your own diligence and that's great.

[00:02:26] I. The next step is to get started and really start thinking long term, but you've gotta build your why. What are the reasons that you're doing this? Because if you don't know why you're doing this, It's not really gonna stick with you, and you're not going to build upon it like you just mentioned and you're gonna lose sight of your, what you're trying to accomplish long term.

[00:02:49] And I think one of the most important things that you can do, maybe you're already taking notes while you listen to our podcast, but you should really write down your reasons [00:03:00] why. You wanna get started with becoming your own banker, because if you write it down, if you write down your goals, you're like 85% more likely to accomplish them.

[00:03:12] And so here are some examples of my whys. Now they don't have to be yours, but this is really why becoming your own banker resonated with me. Back in 2007, that was really the start of the great financial crisis as it's now being called it really hit home to me that our financial system is broken.

[00:03:33] The Fiat fractional reserve Banking system that creates all this inflation. It it's designed that way for a purpose and it. It really bothered me that, we live in this system and I was looking for a way to, to just get out ahead of it, or at the very least not, be part of the problem, as Nelson would say.

[00:03:58] And the [00:04:00] concept of IBC, it really resonated with me because I had read the Creature from Jekyll Island and I'd learned about how the the Federal Reserve was created and come to learn that hey we've got these full reserve life insurance companies that can operate. They aren't a true Banking system.

[00:04:20] But with Nelson's teaching, I learned that you can basically take back the Banking function and you can do really in, in the safest way possible through a full reserve system, which is what the life insurance industry offers. And when you have a whole life policy structured anyway, it's automatically going to build cash value.

[00:04:40] You start to take back that Banking function and that, that really hit home with me. I, I realized, That, and I really intuitively known something was wrong, but I never really had a crystal clear answer what was wrong with the system? Nelson helped me put it all together, and that became [00:05:00] really my first, why the financial system is broken and I've gotta do something different.

[00:05:05] And then from there it bridged off into moral reasons. If you believe that theft is wrong, Then you want something you wanna be a part of a financial system that is doing something positive for society, positive for yourself and your, for your family. You don't want to contribute to that moral decay.

[00:05:26] Here you have a financial system through whole life policies that. You're taking care of yourself and your family. You're establishing ownership, control and responsibility. You're not relying on the government for any handouts. I. And I thought that was really powerful too.

[00:05:46] And I think about, how I've been brought up and, with a work ethic, I think of my dad. My dad was a butcher for 35 years, and the struggles that he went through to put food on the [00:06:00] table for his family I mean he, he really instilled a work ethic that it makes me proud and it.

[00:06:07] Bothered me that, I learned that the Federal Reserve through a push of a button can basically create money from nothing. And, you take 35 years of my dad's hard work and what he earned over those 35 years and at a push of a button, the Federal Reserve can basically create all that money and more through no work and.

[00:06:32] That really bothered me and that's really what inflation is. And it's a theft of our time and of our savings. And it just really hit home for me that, I want something else. I want to do something else that morally is takes the higher road and it's going to allow me to.

[00:06:52] Create a system that through my own responsibility, I'm gonna take care of myself and for my family and not rely on the government so [00:07:00] that That cemented another reason for me. Yeah.

[00:07:02] John Perrings: I was gonna say real quick, John, if I could jump in. Sure. A lot of this is resonating with me as well, and it's making me think of, you're talking about how your father, just super hard worker and still a good work ethic worked, for 35 years.

[00:07:16] And, as a, I guess would you call that a blue collar type of job, and just worked and. The, when you talk about how the system is broken of course we have, the manipulation of the money, but then we also have, these, retirement systems that are set up that really incentivize people to Take a lot of risk where it's like the, there it's not about hard work anymore.

[00:07:44] It's not about hard work and saving and I'm not saying, we shouldn't be as efficient as possible, we've got these systems that incentivize people to it's The unicorn mentality out here in Silicon Valley everyone thinks they're gonna hit a home run. I did in my twenties, I started working for a startup and I was like, [00:08:00] man, this is gonna be awesome.

[00:08:01] And the news is for most people it doesn't work out that way. And you got these people who are al, they think that they should be swinging for the fences when they're young and take on a bunch of risks. I just had a conversation with a family friend earlier this week who, she told me like I'm.

[00:08:16] I'm okay taking some risk, and I was like, I don't think you should be like, just because you're young, that doesn't mean you should take risk. Like why? Or at least with a substantial portion of your financial system. Like why are you, why are we taught to start with risk?

[00:08:32] You know what I mean? And so it's these I. You, like the hard work and the ethic and taking ownership of things. Meanwhile, people are just, the first thing they do when they get their paycheck is a good percentage of it is just sent away to their 401K plan where they lose all control.

[00:08:49] They can take no responsibility on anything because they're not, they don't have control of their money anymore. And so all that stuff really resonates with me. [00:09:00] With, because that, as you did too, I think John that's all, that's what I did in my early days. I followed that advice and, two popped bubbles later, maybe a third one looming.

[00:09:10] It was like I was starting over every 10 years, anyway, I just wanted to chime in with that and share my view on it.

[00:09:18] John Montoya: Yeah. No, and I appreciate that because the, what you're talking about I did the exact same thing because that's what we're all conditioned to do, go out on the risk spectrum and never build a foundation that we own and control.

[00:09:32] And, we're not taught that. So it, it really leads into my third why, which, For my parents they instilled in a very early age the value of saving for the future. They were always thinking, long-term and they really instilled that discipline of saving money. I had a past book savings account from the earliest.

[00:09:54] My earliest memory and my mom was always so proud to take me to the bank when I had birthday money [00:10:00] or Christmas money and, deposit in the bank and she'd show me how my money was earning, 8%. 7%. And I don't know, I thought that was pretty cool. And there's probably some millennial millennials that are asking, what the heck is a passport savings account?

[00:10:15] That would be

[00:10:15] John Perrings: cool to earn 8% in a savings account, man.

[00:10:18] John Montoya: Yeah. But that's, my, my parents weren't risk takers. They just they were led to believe that, you put away money and you put it in. Someone else's bank, they didn't think of it in those terms. And so naturally growing up, I didn't think of it in those terms either.

[00:10:36] But yeah I would put that money in a traditional bank account and, that would be for my future. And one of the things that my mom my mom and dad, by the way their first language was Spanish grew up. They grew up in New Mexico and Colorado before coming out to California. And so that was their first language.

[00:10:53] And they didn't of course teach me any Spanish. But I picked up some phrases here and there. And my mom, [00:11:00] she used to always say, "ahorrar para gastar." And I can repeat that ad nauseum. And it. Essentially translate to "save to spend" is what my mom would say. Save to spend, save money for the future.

[00:11:12] That way you have money to spend. And so that really is a big part of my why with IBC, because I'm thinking as Nelson, taught, long term. And what does IBC do? It allows you to save so that you're gonna spend but you have this economic base where the foundation is set up and that money's always working for you.

[00:11:38] Even when you take a loan against it's the best place where you can build a foundation. That, that's another reason why that not only did I start with these whole life policies, but I've continued to add to them as my cashflow has increased over the years. So getting back to not only just starting, but [00:12:00] you gotta really be thinking how do I maximize these policies?

[00:12:03] And, why? If you're not thinking about adding more policy in the features, why not? You really gotta be thinking long term and how best to create this warehouse of wealth. And Nelson, if you read Nelson's book, which you should, he mentions it's gonna take a portfolio of policies.

[00:12:20] And on average I think he, he said it's gonna take something like 22, 23 years to really create a full. Running system of policies that will allow you to incorporate your wealth into the system. So it's something where, you know you come into IBC and you're learning about it now, phenomenal.

[00:12:44] But you've gotta stick with it. You can't lose focus. And you have to continue to capitalize. And then expand your business. We've talked about it in previous episodes about, starting additional policies and thinking about it as, starting up a, opening up a new [00:13:00] franchise, a new location for your finance business.

[00:13:03] That's exactly what you're doing when you're adding more policies to your overall portfolio. You gotta think, you gotta think long term. You gotta have the discipline to save. Another part of my reason why with IBC and with whole life is that I'm married. I've got three kids. And I, for me, establishing a guaranteed legacy for them that guarantees what I want to have happen will happen even if I'm not around to see it.

[00:13:34] It is crucial for me. I, again, this is just the way I was brought up, I, I look at my kids and they've got so much time ahead of them and I wanna make sure that, I. I know I've had my bumps in life and we all do, if something happens to me, I wanna make sure that their college is paid for that.

[00:13:53] I've set up policies for them so that, when they get into their twenties, thirties, and way [00:14:00] beyond, they have the capital. If they wanna start a business, they can do that. And it goes into multi-generational planning where, ideally they're gonna have kids of their own and this process is gonna repeat.

[00:14:12] And as they have kids guess what? We talked about it in the last episode. I think, as soon as a child is born into this world, not as soon as, but two weeks into their life, you can start a policy for them and that's gonna be part of the plan for the multi-generational transfer of wealth.

[00:14:33] I am growing it, but I'm using IBC to protect that wealth. And ultimately it's gonna transfer. And the way that I'm setting it up I call it long sleeve to long sleeve versus a short sleeve to short sleeve. And I use the the example of my dad as a blue collar worker butcher for 35 years.

[00:14:51] He actually wore these white short sleeve shirts. To go into work. I don't know how he did it working in a freezer or refrigerator, eight hours a day.[00:15:00] But because he was actually working. He did it. Yeah. Yeah. He was working his butt off. But he'd wear these short sleeve shirts and, that's how he put food on the table for us.

[00:15:10] But I've been able to, go to college and build a successful practice. And really it's a white collar profession that we're in John. And when you, as a professional, when you're using your brain more than your hands you're gonna have a higher income potential.

[00:15:26] And that's really a long sleeve type of occupation. And so the idea for me is I wanna perpetuate that, if possible, not to say that there's there's more value in it. It just, as far as income and being able to create wealth and transfer that on. It's just the mindset of, I want it to be long sleeve, to long sleeve, that's what I want for my kids and their kids, and to have that opportunity and have a greater opportunity to pursue that.

[00:15:55] Yeah, it's like back

[00:15:56] John Perrings: to my wis, able to pursue being able to pursue what they want, [00:16:00] not having to worry about making decisions solely based on money, like I was thinking, what if they, what if they wanted to pursue a quote unquote short sleeve type of occupation, that's okay, but they don't have to do it based on monetary decisions, and then, you talked about protecting a legacy and being able to, if anything happens, right? And it's shocking to me how many people really don't realize that if anything happens to them prematurely in the form of death or disability.

[00:16:31] The significant change in their plans that will have to take place if they don't have the protection side of their financial life shored up. Like people will be like if I die, I've got this much money in all my investments or whatever. And it's okay, guess what?

[00:16:45] You're gonna, your family's gonna have to spend that today instead of tomorrow. Like all that money earmarked for tomorrow. Maybe not all of it, but at least some of it will have to be consumed today or their lifestyle will have to change. And it's like, [00:17:00] why? How could it ever make sense when it's possible that you can not do that?

[00:17:05] Why would it make sense? Why would it make sense to, to have that risk and have that change of lifestyle or consume those assets today when you don't have to, when your family doesn't have to. Love that point.

[00:17:18] John Montoya: Yeah. And it it's really about building that foundation. That way you can smooth out all the curves and bumps in the road.

[00:17:26] And that, that's another reason why I went with IBC, to establish the bedrock in my financial foundation. And it's been, it's held up ever since because if you listen to episode 55 with my wife and her struggle, once she was diagnosed with cancer and I've been through a divorce previously and, all the bumps in the road that I've experienced, the one constant in my life has been my whole life policies because I capitalize them and I had the cushion.

[00:17:59] And your control. [00:18:00] And your control over those. Yeah. And the control. I didn't have any of that with my 4 0 1 K. None of it. And the money that I was putting into a brokerage account to in invest in, the mutual funds that were, the recommended ones to go with back in the day, none of the control, none of the peace of mind.

[00:18:21] And, it's really hard to articulate. The value of that unless you, you have this in place and you can use it to really calm the waters, and it's and that, that's something I would say that, you get started with IBC and you have to stick with it because if you don't stick with it maybe you just end up with one policy, but also two you lose sight of your why.

[00:18:50] And you get hit with these bumps in the road where maybe you don't have enough capital to really get through it. And then what happens? What's gonna [00:19:00] be one of the first things to go? Something that we've talked about before where, people who get started with IBC and maybe they don't have a enough of a reserve elsewhere.

[00:19:10] And they look at their policy and they forget the long-term value and what's the first thing to typically go Yeah. It's their whole life policies because they don't have the conviction or the foresight to really see it to value. Yep. And. I, unfortunately I've been on the receiving end as an advisor where clients reach out to me in their, in dire straits and, they, for whatever reason the most common I would say is a divorce.

[00:19:42] And, there, there's unfortunately, not a whole lot of, a whole lot you can do if you've got a spouse who's not really willing to work with you and the policies have to be surrendered, but, Man it's painful to me as the advisor to, to see, to have. [00:20:00] Experienced some of my clients lose their whole life policies simply because, life happens and in the case of a divorce, it's not something that they want, but they can't get their spouse to agree on, what's really important and work out a, a solution that really works for all parties.

[00:20:20] But it's. It's, I'd say conviction, i is so important. And if you're holding onto your why's in that situation, if you ever happen to, get divorced and you have whole life policies that are gonna have to be negotiated, whether you keep 'em or you lose them you have the conviction to come back and restart.

[00:20:46] Because yeah we're gonna, if you get approved for a policy the life insurance company's basically saying, yeah, you're in good health. You're gonna live to, your eighties and maybe potentially longer. And one of the common concerns [00:21:00] that people will have, even in their fifties, it's oh, I'm only, 10, 15 years away from retirement.

[00:21:04] And one of the points that you and I like to bring up is that how long are you gonna have a need? For That's right.

[00:21:10] John Perrings: Cash. How much longer after that capital go? How long are you planning on living? Yeah. It

[00:21:14] John Montoya: goes exactly. You just because you retire at age 65 or whatever doesn't mean that you have a, you stop having a need for capital.

[00:21:25] So again it. It's long-term thinking.

[00:21:30] John Perrings: And your whole thing you mentioned about the spouse and the divorce, just, it rings true to me that, it's so important to communicate amongst your family, like what is happening and what you're doing. Because if that were done a little more effectively and often some of those things may not happen or wouldn't have to happen where you have to surrender a policy or something like that in the case of a divorce.

[00:21:52] Yeah.

[00:21:54] John Montoya: My next why, when I learned about IBC, [00:22:00] I was really blown away by the ability to have my money working for me and compounding uninterrupted without market risk. Even if I took a loan against it, and this is now getting way down on my list of whys, but that was really profound to me. But I think what's interesting to me is that this is perhaps my sixth.

[00:22:28] Why? As far as my priorities taking out policy loans it's further down the list now for you, maybe you prioritize this as a higher why for you, but for me, this is just part of this is like an additional benefit. It's just one of them, like a, almost like a cherry on top.

[00:22:51] But it's not the main reason why I started with IBC. It's just an incredible. Additional [00:23:00] benefit that we get by having these policies. So I do wanna make that point. As powerful as it is it, it's further down my reason, for being part of IBC and for making it a part of my life.

[00:23:15] And e everyone's gonna be. Different and have a different why. I just know that there, there's so many people that reach out to us and the priority for them is taking loans and even doing so right away and they're so anxious to get started and take those policy loans and, I almost have to, I.

[00:23:31] Say, time out. Let's look at this from another lens, because the, this is a life insurance contract, so you know, what are you trying to accomp accomplish more so than this? Is there anyone that you have to protect in your life? Because there, there's far greater value that I want you to realize that these policies have.

[00:23:52] Other than just taking policy loans, it's a great benefit, don't get me wrong, but I don't think it should [00:24:00] be the sole reason why you pursue IBC. And if it is, then, I, as an advisor I've gotten a little bit more picky the longer I've been. Doing this where, I make a choice whether or not I wanna work with someone, and if the values aren't in line with my own values, then you know, that's potentially a decision that I will make.

[00:24:22] Where, I will say, I. I wish you the best. Because I for my values, I wanna work with people that are like-minded and think the same way that I do and see this as taking policy loans as just an additional benefit not the sole benefit. So for me it's further down my list of whys and, maybe for you.

[00:24:44] It's different, to, to each their own. Yeah. It's

[00:24:47] John Perrings: an important, I love that you brought that distinction up, that it's further down the list. Especially in today's day and age with some of the sensational TikTok, YouTube stuff where, they talk about buying Lamborghinis and all [00:25:00] that stuff and it.

[00:25:01] You can tell when people come in with that mindset and you got, you really have to bring them back to some of the, principles of what's happening, why they, should be looking at this. Because if all you care about is policy loans, you're gonna forget your why within.

[00:25:19] Six months of starting this because you're, there's the capitalization period of a whole life policy. You're not gonna be able to go back to episode 51, IBC Amnesia. And we talk about, why, how people forget what they're actually trying to do with IBC and whole life. And if all you're caring about is policy loans, You're done fast.

[00:25:40] You're done within a year. I guarantee it you'll forget what you're doing. You'll see the next shiny object go out, put your money towards something like an investment, probably, maybe lose some money and then not be able to pay a premium. And you're gonna, you're gonna have to surrender your policy.

[00:25:54] It. It definitely happens. Just realize there's no free lunch. It's like there's no [00:26:00] magic in what we're doing here. There's just strategy and if you get caught up in the magic of the, sensationalized version of, these fake IBC people it's gonna be a problem for you.

[00:26:11] It's gonna be a problem.

[00:26:14] John Montoya: Yeah. Thank you for crystallizing that. Two more whys, and I'm gonna try to be brief with these. So the next one is I endeavor to own more assets as I get up in age and using my policies as a wealth building asset multiplier. Is another reason why I continue to capitalize and add to my policies because it allows that money to continue to work.

[00:26:44] Even as I take policy loans safely, leverage the cash value, which is backed up ultimately by my life, with that death benefit, it's gonna, something happens to me. All the policy loans are gonna be paid from that death benefit. I've got total peace [00:27:00] of mind there, but I'm, while I'm living, I'm adding to my asset base.

[00:27:04] And so IBC does that wonderfully. The last why is money must reside someplace. And thi this maybe should go a little bit higher, but it's just where I put it. Once you realize that all the money that you make it it's gotta go someplace, why wouldn't you wanna park it in the best place you can possibly find?

[00:27:31] And if you go through a list of all the key criteria, Where you know all the benefits and features that you're looking for in order to really compare, where can I get the most bang for my buck by parking my wealth someplace? You compare it, anything to a whole life policy, a whole life is gonna check off pretty much all the boxes.

[00:27:59] It's not one [00:28:00] size fits all. But it is, I. A Swiss Army knife, and it does so many things very well that you can't duplicate it anywhere else. And if you just stick to the principle that money must reside someplace and you wanna park that wealth that you're creating and the best place possible, it's gonna find a home in a whole life policy.

[00:28:25] And ultimately, when you really get it, and your conviction is so high, it's going to be. A group of whole life policies, not only on you, but your spouse, your kids, and from there, life is it's, it really is smooth sailing. Once you get this set up, And you get it and you expand it.

[00:28:51] John Perrings: That's it. The, it, another thing that baffles me over the years is that how so many like financial people, we call 'em financial [00:29:00] entertainers and all that, how they can't get their head around that whole life is an asset.

[00:29:04] All the, all people. The mainstream people, all they can do is look at whole life insurance premiums as a cost. A cost for this amount of death benefit. If there's a per, if there's a guaranteed cash flow in the future, in the form of a death benefit, guess what? I. There's a present value to that.

[00:29:21] It's an asset. Just like when you buy a house, like everybody loves real estate. Regardless of, the status of where we are in a potential bubble and past bubbles and all that stuff, but it's like real estate's an asset. If you like real estate, you should love whole life. 'cause there it. It's all the benefits of real estate without any of the risk or and without any of the loss of control.

[00:29:40] When you buy real estate, your money's tied up in the walls of the structure. With whole life, it's not, you have access to it. People want to go out there and get a high return. What's the holy grail these days? 10 or 12% When you put your money in a whatever vanguard or a whatever e t F you're talking about, people say you're gonna get a 10%.

[00:29:59] Guess what? That [00:30:00] comes with a bunch of risk. If you can use whole life with the capability to leverage the cash value, and you can get. Two 5% returns with guarantees and no risk. Guess that's a lot better than a 10% return with all the ups and downs in the market. So it's you just gotta, you gotta really look at, what you're doing with all of your assets out there.

[00:30:22] John Montoya: Yeah, we definitely come from a different viewpoint and for listeners that are learning about IBC for the first time I would encourage you to reach out and just have a conversation with us because I think just growing as a person it, it requires taking a look at things from a different perspective and.

[00:30:50] It's not to say that your way of thinking is wrong by any means. If you're investing, look you're saving for the future. That's a [00:31:00] phenomenal thing. Yeah. But you, you do want to, take a look at what you're doing. And be a philosopher, what do philosophers do? They're studying truth.

[00:31:11] Trying to figure out, how the world works and, what is the highest truth? And I would say, you know be the type of person who is seeking out the highest form of truth for what your future. What you want your future to look like and what you're gonna learn from asking more questions is that maybe what you're doing does have some holes in it.

[00:31:37] And if you talk to an IBC practitioner, we're certainly gonna give you a different perspective. That perspective, maybe it's gonna resonate with you, maybe not, but I believe chances are it's gonna resonate with you because you're gonna start to see things that you didn't see before. It's a

[00:31:56] John Perrings: great point.

[00:31:57] And it shouldn't be discounted that people that who are [00:32:00] actually, putting money away and investing it, even though you and I might think that they're potentially suboptimal financial products they're still doing it. So their mindset is correct. The good news is having whole life insurance, no matter what you wanna do, it'll make what you're already doing.

[00:32:18] If you don't wanna make any changes to that, if you just add whole life insurance and that permanent death benefit, it'll make what you're already doing even better.

[00:32:28] John Montoya: Yeah, and I would say to that, start asking why are you doing this? And if you can't get five levels deep, you haven't cemented your conviction.

[00:32:40] And right. You don't really have much conviction. I would say at that point. So one of the most important things you can do for yourself is ask why and get your whys written down. 'cause if you do that you're gonna get to a place that you really want to be and you're gonna realize what [00:33:00] is your truth.

[00:33:01] I, I've shared with you some of my whys and my truths for IBC, but. It's up to you to make it your own. And I think it's probably a very healthy exercise for you and your family.

[00:33:16] John Perrings: Awesome. Great talk today, John, Montoya. If if any of this has resonated with you and you'd like to learn how it could work for you and your life specifically, you can head over to TheFifthEdition.com and you can schedule a free, no obligation 30 minute call with us and we can talk about you and what you're doing and talk about your why and see if the principles that we talk about are a fit for what you wanna do.

[00:33:42] Or if you're one of those people that just likes to do all the research they can with before talking to somebody. We've got an online course just for you. You can get a 50% discount to it at TheFifthEedition.com right there at the top. And looking forward to talking with you again soon, John.

[00:33:58] John Montoya: Alright, thank you everyone. Take care.[00:34:00]