The dialogue presented in this episode centers around the criticality of long-range financial thinking, a notion that both Jason K. Powers and Joe Pantozzi argue is essential for effective wealth management. They emphasize that many individuals become ensnared in the immediate demands of financial life, often neglecting the broader implications of their choices. By focusing solely on short-term gains, people risk undermining their long-term financial objectives. The hosts advocate for the Infinite Banking Concept, which they argue provides a framework for individuals to regain control over their financial destinies by understanding where their money resides and who governs it.

Throughout their discourse, the hosts introduce the fundamental principles of the Infinite Banking Concept, encouraging listeners to adopt a more holistic view of their financial circumstances. They highlight the necessity of balancing current financial obligations with long-term savings, warning against the pitfalls of a disjointed financial strategy that may lead to borrowing from one account to satisfy another. The speakers also delve into the importance of assessing one's financial choices in light of their long-term consequences, urging listeners to consider not only the immediate rate of return on their investments but also the overall impact on their financial health over time.

Moreover, Joe and Jason touch on the significance of generational wealth, advocating for a shift in cultural attitudes towards financial literacy. They argue that the current generation must take deliberate steps to educate their children about sound financial practices to ensure a prosperous future. By fostering a culture of long-term thinking and financial responsibility, the hosts assert that individuals can create a legacy of wealth that extends beyond their lifetimes.

Schedule a call with Joe or Jason to talk through your own financial plan.

https://www.alphaomegawealth.com/podcast

Jason K Powers: Welcome to Make Your Wealth Work.

I'm Jason K. Powers here with your host, Joe Panzi.

If you have ever saved up spent, it had to start over.

This is the episode for you.

We're talking about thinking long range today and why, where your money

lives and who controls it matters more than chasing the best rate and

how to avoid start, stop cycle that kills growth and so many other things.

Joe, how you doing today?

I'm doing good.

I'm well.

I'm glad to see you and, um, I'm glad we're, we're starting off with, with

something that Nelson talked about all the time and he, he would often

preface his statement by saying, fear not, fear, not, fear not,

don't be afraid to think long term.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

we don't have to focus on the immediate, especially

when it comes to money, because we, we tend to be outta balance.

Most people are outta balance.

They're putting too much money into the current, or they're putting

too much money into long term.

They don't have balance and they wind up having to steal from one

account to cover the other account.

So, uh, thinking long term has, has a lot of pieces, parts to it.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

So this is one of the five rules of IBC, as we say, the five rules

of the infinite banking concept.

And just for reference, those five rules are, take the long view.

It is, don't be afraid to capitalize.

It is don't steal the peas, don't do business with banks.

Rethink your thinking.

And then we'll get into semantics.

There's maybe a sixth one that we could plug in but we'll

save that for another time.

So we're gonna take this first one, take the long view, as

we say, think long range.

What does that mean?

What does Nelson mean by that and what's that mean for you, the listener,

in your daily life of choices?

Financial choices, right?

Think long range.

Who can, when?

When?

When we get into money choices, I think the biggest example is we usually

are thinking about immediate returns.

Thinking about what?

Because we're a. A selfish culture, right?

We're in a, we need it now.

Culture.

We're the fast, fast food, fast lane, convenience store kind of culture.

And so we're used to thinking that way.

We, we are losing, I think our ability to think long range with

each generation if we're not intentional about bringing it back.

I always say, even talking about just generational thinking, there's a need

for generational thinking in our lives.

Those of us who have families and, and legacy and, and I think

each generation we're, we're not thinking generationally as much.

And I would love to see that pivot as a culture of a bit more thinking

about what am I doing now that's gonna affect my children or grandchildren?

Or personally, what am I leaving behind that's gonna benefit

my children or grandchildren?

And so I think in that same light we come back to now we're talking finances

for today in our own life right here and now, you know, think long range.

You know, we, we need to be able to, we need to start making financial

choices where we can take the long view

because lots of problems, which Joe, you and I talked about we

started the show, just lots of.

Let's say choices that we make

that affect this, this long range capability.

Well, here's one.

The, the thing that I keep on harping on and, and, and.

It makes me laugh, but not in a happy way, in a, in an ironic way.

It makes me laugh when people are, are insisting that we

tell them what is your program?

Your program, right?

And your program might in include a properly designed life insurance policy in

the context of a family banking system in the context of an infinite banking system.

What is your program paying?

Currently, well, that's easy.

It's, it's paying nothing 'cause you don't have one.

It's paying nothing 'cause you haven't started one.

And it's also paying nothing because this is a ba, a brand new business.

That has never existed before, and you have to pay startup cost to get it going.

So when you're thinking about asking for what's the rate of return, you know,

my analyst, my accountant, my what?

Whatever has told me I should be looking at what's the internal rate of return?

Well, what's the internal rate of return on that Beamer in your drive?

Did you ever figure out what the internal rate of return on

that was before you bought it?

Have you ever figured out what the internal rate of return is on other

programs that you're funding currently for retirement that that's 40 years away?

Have you looked at the rate of return with a negative rate of return on

that bunch, that basket full of credit cards you've got balances on?

So let's, let's be fair to yourself.

So if you're looking for, pick a number.

If I'm looking for a 5% rate of return on this program, why are we not asking?

How much are you losing in that 28% finance charge credit card that

you've got a balance of $20,000 on?

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

we earn 28%.

By getting rid of that balance that we owe somebody else.

Let, let's put the pieces together.

Let's look at the whole picture.

And it's important to think long range.

Here's, here's another aspect of that.

Let's look at all the payments, all the dollars, all the lost opportunity

that you going incur by maintaining those balances of credit cards

over the next 10, 15, 20 years.

Because if you don't start doing something radically different.

Yeah, that's what's gonna be ex on your, on your balance sheet

20 years from now because those balances are not gonna get better.

'cause what happens?

People tend to spend more, they spend, they tend to go on longer vacations.

They tend to not buy nicer cars.

They tend to buy bigger houses.

We're Americans, we are putting ourselves into more debt.

Then less debt.

So yes, we Abso absolutely would be foolish not to consider rate

of return, but on every financial component of our financial picture.

Jason K Powers: And I like that comment you said about, let's

look at the whole picture.

You know, it's, I, I think we do this, we talk about this a lot, about silo thinking

Yeah.

Jason K Powers: and, and it's really a matter of, let's look at the whole picture

because what am I losing over here on this pile and what am I making here?

'cause I have conversations all the time.

It is just this, it's what's the rate of return on this, that, or the other?

And that's a valid question in and of itself, but let's

look at the whole picture.

Let's figure out collectively, are you losing so much money in one

spot that whatever you are making in this spot is just get eaten alive.

it never, it doesn't stand a chance.

And, and that's why it's such, it is such a, a crucial question.

Listen, I've gotta make money over here 'cause I'm losing

my shirt on this credit card.

Well, okay then we need to fix the problem.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Right.

We, we shouldn't, we shouldn't be focused on finding out what, what

kind of a program you guys have that's gonna give me x amount of return.

We should address the whole person.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Right?

And, and many people don't wanna do that.

And many people don't wanna make hard choices.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Well, my, my kid's in four different sports and it

cost me $1,500 a month for my kid to be in four different sports.

Okay.

That's a choice you make

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

and, and, and you have to accommodate those

choices if those are your choices.

But then, um, don't, don't commit money and finances to things that

you truly can't support and are not supported by your current income stream.

I mean, we have to make realistic choices and I'm talking about people,

you know, maybe, maybe making un under a hundred thousand dollars

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

if you're making $300,000, that's probably not an issue.

You have different issues.

Right.

But, but I'll also say I have.

Plenty of, of acquaintances with clients and prospective clients who

are making 3, 4, 5, $600,000 a year who still are not making wise choices

with their money because they figure, well, I'll, I'll make it up in volume.

I'll, I'll make my more money next year and I'll catch up that

that's not a good tragedy either.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Let's, let's pivot that idea of thinking long range a little bit and talk about

what are some ways that it is good for us to think long range that, that we

maybe don't think about potentially.

So I, one thing that comes to mind is when I talk to real estate investors.

Let's use specifically an example of people who are buying rental properties,

single family rental properties or Condos.

I, I don't care.

I mean, so most people aren't buying

in the hopes that they will have massive cash flow later.

Mo most people, in order to accomplish any kind of passive income that

you can live off of, you gotta keep buying these rental properties.

Well, you don't buy that first one thinking what the income is

tomorrow, you're gonna get a couple bucks, but, but you're usually,

you're like, okay, cool, that helps.

But I need to be able to think long range.

You need to be able to think down the road, what's that look like in the future?

Even if it you just, if I only ever bought one, what does

that look like in the future?

What's it gonna do for me?

the more you buy and the longer you have them, the more benefit it is.

Right.

And that's the key in this type of real estate investing.

The longer you have these properties and the more properties you have

volume, the more beneficial it is.

So one of the things that I think we're, we're kind of

dancing around here is we're talking about the need that very few people.

Are willing to commit to the need to do some kind, uh, some

kind of a cash flow study, cash flow worksheet, cashflow mapping,

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Managing cash flow.

People talk about managing assets and being a money manager, I, I keep on

saying I'm, I'm not your money manager.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

your coach.

It's your job.

To manage your money.

It's your job to make decisions as to which types of assets you

like and which types of assets you don't like, and whether what kind

of business you'd like to be in.

I'm here to coach you on how to be most efficient with every dollar in your life,

and if you could become more efficient with all the different components,

then you could have more money.

If you can keep ahead of inflation, you'll have more money.

If you can, if you could be in a great position, tax free, or

tax invisible at retirement time, then you'll have more money.

You know what?

If you get to retirement and all you have, everything you have is, is in

taxable accounts, then you're gonna be in a higher tax bracket and you're gonna

be kind of regretting the fact that you put all your eggs in one basket,

which is a taxable bucket then so.

You know, deal a, a addressing a cash flow control strategy.

Managing cash flow would be something that I think is, I think

is important for, for every person.

How, however you do it, if you ignore it and you ignore the results of this toxic

debt, for example you are gonna create a drain and you're not gonna understand it.

You're not gonna wanna to deal with it, but it's gonna

destroy your financial success.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I think there's something to be said about.

Oh, who said that quote?

a quote about, if you don't know where you're going, you might not get there.

And

Sounds like Yogi Berra.

Jason K Powers: yes, Yogi Berra said, if you don't know where you're

going, you might not get there.

And I love that quote because it's so true, right before, I mean,

I, I bet before I even heard that quote, it never even occurred

to me to think of it like that.

I'm like, well, that's rather obvious, but true.

It foils a lot of us, you know, and how many times I sit down with a client

and we go through, you mentioned this cashflow worksheet kind of thing.

We go through something like this to figure out where, let's first step one,

let's figure out where the money's at.

Let's just let, let's just figure out where it's at right now.

No, no judgements, no.

No opinions, no.

Let's just look at the facts and where's the money?

And outta 10 times when we get done doing this, the response is, oh wow.

Oh wow.

Because you see it on paper all of a sudden.

And it was a surprising number of us that have zero clue where

all the dollars are going.

And I, and, and I think that's important as step one, right?

Let's just figure out where the money's going.

And it could be that simple.

Once you see it, then you can identify.

You can't identify anything unless you've got it, you know where it is, you know?

Well, I have, I have holes in my financial bucket and I'm leaking like a sieve.

Well, okay, well, where's all your money going?

Well, I don't know.

Well, okay, let's, let's stop and let's figure out where the holes are first.

But you know, if I come in, if I come in, I'm

sorry to step on you there.

If I come in as a financial doctor.

I say, looking at your future, you've got 30 years to to build it, and let's

just take some pie in the sky number and say you wanna have $2 million.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

Right.

You're gonna need to put X amount of dollars given X amount of return.

If you want to, to look at the, the financial planner CFP type formula, where

it's just X number of dollars times rate of return times number of years gives

you X number of dollars, we can do that.

We can do that in three minutes or less.

Okay?

But then what we typically come come up with up against.

Is a client saying, I can't afford that.

I'd like to have $2 million, but I can't afford that.

Well, because you're letting your current lifestyle squeeze all the

life outta your future, right?

So if, if you're looking at not being able to afford to save more

than $500 a month, when you get to the other end, you're gonna complain

about the result that you have.

But if I, if I were to put a gun to your head and say, you need to save $5,000 a

month, and you were able to do it, somehow you would do that kicking and screaming.

Think long term, you get the other end.

You're gonna have the results of having saved $5,000 a month and

you're gonna look back and you're gonna say, you know, it kind of hurt.

It kind of.

Squeezed me.

It kinda, um, surprised me there.

I was actually able to do that for 20 years because you

committed to thinking long term.

And the thing is, once you get to that, to that mato goal, at the other

end, you're gonna look back and you're gonna say, you really wasn't that hard.

Now that it's done, it wasn't that hard.

But when you're standing here looking up at the mountain, you're gonna say,

I don't know how I'll ever be able to go to the top of the mountain.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

Yeah.

you're looking at the monstrosity ahead of you and thinking

that you've gotta take one five mile leap.

You, you don't, you have to think long term.

You have to commit to capitalizing and funding and, and doing

the, the dogged work of.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Of not getting off the track.

You committed to saving the number and, and the numbers are irrelevant.

They're different from every person you committed to saving a number.

Not this week, not this month, not this year, not this decade for

the rest of your working career.

And when you get to the other rain, when you get to that 30, 40 year

point, whatever that number is, you're gonna look back and say, it

was really worth it for me to sweat.

And sacrifice and even cut off some of those frivolous things that I loved

doing, but I couldn't do 'em as much or to the extent that I wanted to

do because look what it did for me.

I got here, I got 2 million bucks my.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

It's just hard work

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

and, and the hard work is gonna, is gonna occur in your brain,

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

right.

Jason K Powers: Well, let's Habit changes, and we've talked about it

on a past episode about Parkinson's law, where you really need to be

careful keep that under control.

In order to even get ahead, right?

If you can't, if the money suck doesn't stop or slow down, you

don't get that under control.

This thinking long range will be kind of irrelevant.

You can think long range, but actions, actions will dictate, you know, and,

and if you've missed that, uh, go back, go back in episode and pull

that up about Parkinson's law, but.

We wanna edit this out 'cause I don't know what I was gonna say.

I might mention an item about Parkinson's law.

Um, I am, I am nothing, if not a creature of repetition, and I probably talk

about Parkinson's law 10 times a day,

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

or I mention it to every single time I, I talk to a client.

Because Parkinson's law deals with the human conditions, and

it's the human conditions that cause us not to meet our goals.

It's not having a bad investment, a bad investment advisor, a bad deal, a bad

turn, a a, a bad, a bad bump in the road.

Um, a, a bad job change.

It has to do with, with failing to capitalize on a long-term basis and,

and never getting off that, that track.

It's boring.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

I'm telling you right now, it's boring.

And I drive my wife crazy because she writes the check, she manages

the checkbooks and, and sends that money to our life insurance.

Every money, every month.

And, and the number would make you choke.

Sometimes it makes her choke.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

But we're we're, we're fighting Parkinson's law every day.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Well, let's talk about that.

I mean, the rules of IBC and that being the first one, take the long View.

Nash talks about that because it is specifically related to utilizing

the infinite banking concept and.

Setting up a properly structured dividend paying whole life insurance policy from a

mutual carrier and that your life to make you money or save you money in effect.

And in order to do that, you need to take the long view.

Because you kind of mentioned it in passing early on, this is almost

just like starting a business.

Very few start a business and they're truly profiting, so to speak, day one,

because you have investment, you have what you put in, you've gotta recapture

your original investment, you know, and then you're, you're actually in the black.

After X amount of time, whatever that is, whatever the timeline is, and taking

the long view when you start up your own

financial system, this privatized family banking system, you

need to think long range.

And for me, that was a motivator when I first learned about infinite banking and

someone showing me, look, this is what it's gonna do for you down the road.

Yes, yes.

Day.

We always say, I'm gonna do this one day I'm gonna do this one

day I'm gonna do this one day.

Whatever it is, I'm gonna get outta debt, I'm gonna, whatever.

I'm gonna get ahead.

I'm gonna save up.

I'm gonna, and make today day one.

And, and for me, that's what happened when I first heard about the infinite

banking concept and someone showed me what it was gonna do for me down the road.

I was like, awesome.

Let's make today day one.

I got a long road ahead.

Dude, I have that mountain to climb, but I better make today day one.

Otherwise, tomorrow I'm gonna be saying the same thing and

the next day the same thing.

And a year from now, the same thing.

One of these days, I'm gonna climb that mountain.

There's a good old song with those lyrics, you know?

But.

We have to think long range and you have to the, just like the real

estate example, the longer you give policies to grow and compound and do

what they do, the more benefits you will see throughout your lifetime.

Yeah.

So there you just, you just touched on one element of thinking long term that winds

up being a negative for you, and that is if you take forever to do research.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

spoken to a lot of people that have been doing their research and

they're doing their quote unquote analysis because they call themselves analytical.

What they really are is they're procrastinators.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

bless you, but you need to choose a road and walk

that road and don't take five years because the information's there.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

you take a few months to get the information and really devote

yourself to educating yourself and absorbing and, and, and owning financial

literacy, you'll make a decision there.

There are good people out there.

I'm sure there are a handful.

I'm being facetious.

There are more than few handfuls of, of diligent, credentialed,

practicing infinite banking, uh, professionals to work with.

You need to choose a road, choose the, the, um, the structure, the design,

the philosophy, the model, the coaches that you feel will work well with you.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

And then you need to, to pick up on that course and commit to it.

And capitalize.

Capitalize, capitalize.

Now look at what insurance companies do.

They're, they're managing, they're stewarding tens of billions of dollars.

And you probably don't know this, you probably have a misunderstanding

about what they're trying to achieve.

They're try, they're not trying to achieve double digit returns on

those tens of billions of dollars.

They've gotta make sure that they achieve a strong, conservative, stable, single

digit, upper, single digit rate, so that they can help you fulfill the promises

to your family, et cetera, et cetera.

They may promises to you, they're gonna meet them.

Jason K Powers: Right.

I like that with the life insurance companies.

I mean, they're thinking long range.

They, they're insuring people today who are gonna live 50, 60, 75 more years.

They're thinking long range.

They're contractually obligated to pay those death benefits, you know?

They're planning on kids

Jason K Powers: yeah,

policies today who will live a hundred years.

Jason K Powers: yeah, yeah.

The thinking long range.

And as a side note for, for those of you who don't know, I mean

insurance companies like this, mutual carriers for sure, like they have

assets equal to their liabilities.

They, because these are life insurance contracts, these are

not like investment products that may or may not be there for you.

The life insurance contract will be there.

For the duration of that contract and it needs to be.

It needs to be right.

Jason K Powers: Yep.

So we have just touched on real quick, you know, the thinking long range.

We've brought up the infinite banking concept

and what it can do for you at a very high level.

Right.

You know, I, I want to go back to for a quick minute how

those of you who are listening.

We're like, you're right.

I don't know where my numbers are.

I, I do believe needs to happen.

I do believe day one needs to be here really soon.

That's where, you know, let, let Joe or myself help you and get these

numbers dialed in for you and show you what setting up your own privatized

family banking system can do for you.

It's, it's a, it's a lifestyle change.

Joe, how many people do you talk to?

What percentage of people do you talk to that have learned about the infinite

banking concept for the very first time?

percentage of people say, gosh, I wish I would've known about this a long time ago,

or, gosh, I wish I would've started this.

do.in the past,

more, more than half, maybe three quarters.

And, and some people say to me, well, maybe, maybe it's too late for me.

And I'll say, I'll ask, how old are you?

And they'll say, oh, I'm 45.

Seriously.

I,

Jason K Powers: Right.

I've been, I've been doing this a long time.

I was doing it, I was, I was in insurance and financial services for 24 years

before Nelson, and 25 years post Nelson.

So I'm in my 50th year and, and all the policies I bought in

my early years were all tiny.

But

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

they're all still in effect.

And so we built a portfolio of policies over the years and now we have literally

dozens of policies because we think long term and those policies that we

bought in the early years are, are building more equity, more cash value

every year than the premiums are.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

But they're added to a basket of, of policies.

So.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

Yeah.

It's, it's.

This approach in your finances, it, it truly is a game changer.

I can't, I can't stress that enough.

I know for the listener you go, well, you're biased about it, obviously 'cause

this is what you do as a profession.

But yes,

Yes.

Jason K Powers: I was practicing it before I was preaching it and I was doing

this before I got into it as a career.

Liked it so much.

I was like, Hey.

I actually wanna teach other people this, you know, and, and seeing the

light bulb come on with people when you're learning about the infinite

banking concept for the very first time, seeing that light bulb come on

and go, oh, oh, well, so that means if, and you see it, you, you see a literal

switch in perspective all of a sudden.

Oh, well that means if, do, do then do, do, do.

If I do this, then that means I can, you know.

And there's those rare instances where, and it breaks my heart when we

get psyched up about the opportunity for themself, and they, and you just,

whatever, they, for some reason they can't, they can't implement it in

their own life for whatever reason.

It's,

It is fear.

Jason K Powers: and,

It's fear.

Jason K Powers: and it's sad, like, but set your, if you, even if you couldn't

do it on yourself and you have children, could you not get your children started?

Could you not get your children educated?

At a younger age and start educating them.

So by the time they're an adult, they are charged and ready to roll.

You can get policies on your kids if you didn't know that.

I've got policies on my kids.

Start, start when they're young and my kids are only at the time

of this recording, nine and 10, my 10-year-old could probably teach a

high schooler about infinite banking

Hmm.

Jason K Powers: he's learned enough, just enough to be dangerous,

Right, right.

Jason K Powers: And, and so it can be done.

You know, and it's, it's that, think about your choices today and what

they're gonna do for you in the future.

Take the long view, even if you don't do infinite banking, just general

financial wisdom says you need to be thinking long range, right?

You need to, you can't just keep looking at what is the maximum rate of

return this is gonna do for me today.

Because that's, that's just looking at right what's in front of your nose,

and that may bite you down the road if you're not also taking the whole

picture like we talked about earlier.

Look at the whole picture.

Well, remember the, the, the program is going to perform

differently for every single person.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

The one person opens up a bunch of policies, fills 'em up with

cash, and lets them grow and grow and grow, and never does anything with them.

They're gonna become, let's say, a millionaire at some point in the

future just by action of the policy.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

no outside influence.

Somebody else uses them more aggressively and uses them to

recapture all that toxic debt.

Somebody else uses them to actually buy cash flowing real estate and somebody else

uses them to create generational wealth.

I just mentioned the four levels and so, so no two people.

Or a, like, everybody's system will be different.

Everybody's system will fund it at a different level.

Everybody will, will, um, will use their system differently in

terms of being aggressive or less aggressive of buying assets outside

in investments, investing in business, expanding business and so forth.

Everybody will get different returns, so the returns will be based on how you

behave and how you communicate with your money and, and with your wealth profile.

Jason K Powers: Yeah, yeah.

Well, we always seem to cook through our time really fast and, um, you

know, maybe we'll start having hour long episodes soon enough.

We'll start having more part twos,

There.

There you go.

Jason K Powers: do this, but, for the listener.

Hey, you know, today we focused on thinking long range, where your

money lives, who controls it, and, and how to keep compounding intact.

While you fund life, if you want help putting this into practice, want

help, you know, this cashflow analysis and, and take a look and see what

this can do for you in your own life.

Head on over to alpha omega wealth.com/podcast book a

call with Joe or myself.

Meanwhile, you're listening to make your wealth work, follow or subscribe.

us a good review.

Share this episode with one person who needs to hear it, and one person who

needs more control over their cash flow.

we will see you guys next time.

Thank you Jason.

Thank you guys.