Paradigm Life Client Success Stories

Paradigm Life Client Success Stories

We’ve reached the end of our twelve-part welcome series. I hope you have been enjoying the content and learning a bit more about the concepts that help make the Perpetual Wealth Strategy even more of a cornerstone of your personal wealth management. Throughout the series, my team and I have touched on a lot of different topics. Those primary ones including no asset protection strategies, tax benefits, tax strategy and specifically for the Wealth Maximization Account. Also, some best practices, tips, and advice for optimizing the benefits of your policy both now and as your life changes and evolves.

In this episode, it’s not an exception. We’d like to introduce you to more real-life stories from actual clients who have been using this strategy for a while. We get to learn a lot of these testimonials, little notes, cards and feedback. It’s so fulfilling. I know it would be valuable for everyone to see a different perspective other than their own. Join us as we dive into yet another set of stories in ways in which our clients have used their policies as a component of their overall personal wealth management.

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In this upcoming segment, we welcome Charlie Weiss and Nate Butler. Nate has been in the financial services industry for over a decade and a wealth strategist here at Paradigm Life since 2013. He is an instrumental part of our team. Nate had the opportunity to catch up with his longtime client, Charlie Weiss, to discuss how Charlie has found success using the Perpetual Wealth Strategy. Charlie is a veterinarian and business owner who, similar to other business owner clients, has experienced uncertainty, which is a natural part of owning a business. In Charlie’s experience, the economic turmoil of 2008 was challenging. He was concerned about the impact it would have on his investments business and his life. These events led him to reevaluate how he was managing his wealth. It resulted in a complete shift in how he viewed money, investment, business and plans for the future. In this episode, Nate and Charlie dive into the details of this incredible story.

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You’re a veterinarian. How long have you been a veterinarian?

I’ve been a vet for many years.

That’s a long career.

I wanted to do it since I was a kid and it’s been a dream come true. I love what I do. Even though that’s my career, that’s something I’ve always wanted, I look at things very differently. That’s one place that I make my income, but there’s much more I do with that. There are many other passions past that where I can contribute, make a difference, monetize at the same time, save and invest.

You and I have been to different conferences together outside of work and everything. People want to try to separate personal from work. When I feel like with what I’ve learned over time is if you can get your personal life solid, you can focus on that. That’s going to work to your advantage and your business. As your business grows and develops, that’s going to work to the advantage of your personal life as well.

I look at it that way too. I look at it like what is my mission? Some of my mission is my career, but some of my mission in life is I do more personally and some of it is more paid, some of it is less paid. I look at the whole thing as a mission and where I’m headed in life. I wrapped the whole thing together too.

Capital and money have to come into the picture. That follows the value that you provide to other people. Also, to expand your business, expand your wealth and so forth, you’ve got to be a good steward of the capital that’s coming in from the services that you’re providing. Can you give us an idea of maybe what led you to Paradigm Life and the policies that you have?

What led me here is I had a long career of working hard. As a professional, getting the income and having the money but also running through it. At the end of each year, not being purposeful and not being strategic. Going through 10 years, 15 years of not having a lot to show for it. Realizing that I have two boys who are grown and I didn’t have a lot for retirement. I didn’t have a lot to show for all my hard work financially, which is a separate thing. My career is fulfilling how I help people, how I help their pets, but it’s important also to help myself and my family. The only way to do that is to spend less than you make, save the difference and learn how to invest it. I’ve gone on a journey over the last few years where I’ve done a lot of studying to learn how to do that because everybody has a quick fix. I’ve read many different potential ways to do it and tried many different things. I’ve found some good strategies that have helped me a lot.

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I remember talking a few years ago when you first started, you had talked about the traditional path that you had taken, maybe a 401(k), qualified plans. There’s a financial benefit to these different products that we have options to invest in, but then there’s also the emotional benefits or the emotional disadvantages that might come along with that. I remember talking with you a few years ago and hearing your story about what it was like having this 401(k) that was a statement type of plan where you got a statement each month. You chose to either look at it or not and there may be some months where it’s like, “I don’t want to look at it because I’m worried about what’s going on there.”

Back in that day, that was before the Great Recession. I had only 401(k) and that was slowly building. I had a fair chunk of money in that, but looking at the statements month to month, especially when we hit that hard time, it was dropping. I noticed that not only was the money dropping, but it was also unpredictable. I couldn’t control it. I couldn’t touch it until I was 65 or I got penalized. These continued to come out of it, even though it dropped probably 40% during the hardest times. The people managing it were making money, but I continued to lose money. It didn’t feel right and it didn’t feel safe. It didn’t feel predictable. It made my future as hard as I have worked from the time that I’ve been a kid. They’re out of control. I wasn’t in control of my finances. That was part of what made me take control of learning about financial independence, learning about money, learning about creating value, learning about investing. It was many different things I studied and hundreds and hundreds of hours over a couple of years before I started to work some of the strategies.

I believe that because the conversations we have and continue to have are super in-depth. I know that you do your research, but here’s the thing that is super impressive with you. You do all those things. Too many times, we as people may tend to get into an analysis-paralysis type of situation. Where you’re very good at, I’ve tried to implement this in my own life is you do the research because I’m super analytical, I do a ton of research like you do. What I’m not as good as you are at is taking the next step and taking action. One of my favorite quotes is, “The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.”

You choose. You make the choice. You make the commitment. You move forward with those choices once you’ve done the correct analysis to make sure that it’s the right move for you, your family and your business. Talk about as a business owner specifically. You started a policy through Paradigm Life. You had them. I know you’ve used them like we teach, which is the banking concept. How has that helped you, not necessarily from a strict financial standpoint, but how has that helped you emotionally and mentally with being able to focus on your business?

I did do a ton of research on many different strategies and I’m learning to intentionally put away money. Although I ran a business and was successful at it, I didn’t even know much about the numbers. All I knew is my account kept climbing and I’ve done a ton of studying and learning. I’ve taken into my own hands to learn about saving money and potential ways to invest. When I research on these topics, it depends on where the research comes from and who funds it. It’s important to be a little bit aware of that. I try to look at every viewpoint pro and con. I listen to many different sources before I come to a conclusion because the information can be painted if it’s from one source.

Once I know the information and I get enough different views and talk to people that have done it, I do feel comfortable pulling the trigger. I am not risk-averse. Even starting the business, there are a lot of major hurdles that as I look back, would have been daunting with everything I know. I have never been afraid to forge forward when I feel like I have the information. It has been life-changing. This policy, we talked for a while, maybe six months, but I’d done a lot of research. It gave me so much information, but then I was ready to move.

When I finally did make the move, the policies emotionally have changed my financial world unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced. I’ve done a lot of different investing, real estate, oil and gas business, the stock market, a lot of different things that I’ve tried but the policies gave me the foundation to feel emotionally safe for my family, for myself. Even if I get hurt or injured, I have a place to draw money from. The other interesting thing it did is when I made the decision, it sounded so big. It sounded like it was a huge chunk of my surplus money.

Once I made that choice to do it and I started to put the monthly money in, I felt obligated and it changed my mindset to then expect to produce more. It helped me increase my production, my work ethic and to think of things smarter. Once I started to make the payments and realize that it’s doable, I ended up getting a second and a third policy. I’m a few years in and these have performed as well or better than the expectations, as well or better than the projections. There aren’t many investments that do that. Quite frankly, all of them. I’ve done real estate and I’ve done business, but very few pan out the way they’re projected. This has absolutely done that and it’s given me a lot of safety. Knowing that no matter what happens with the economy, even if I lose my business, all my financial obligations and my family will be okay. If I get sick, they will be okay because there’s money saved there waiting to help me if I need it.

You talked about if you get sick, it’s not just the cash value that’s available. You have riders that are included on your policy that gives you the ability to access a portion of your death benefit if you become unable to perform certain activities of daily living. There are ancillary benefits. They weren’t the main reason why you started the policy, but there are ancillary benefits that are there included.

That’s a huge part of the safety because if something were to happen to me or we’re to get injured because I’m the main producer in my business, there is money there. I have it to make sure things are okay, that my business is okay. The main thing I wasn’t looking for necessarily was the death benefit. That has given me an unexpected, amazing feeling to carry on my legacy and help my family when I’m gone. That will last forever because it’s not a term policy that fades out. It’s terrific to know that I have that.

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When you think about the certainty, the predictability that this provides for you. One way that I look at my policy because I have multiple policies as well is you don’t have to worry or wonder what the statement is going to show that your values are at. It’s a contractual account. In other words, you’re contractually guaranteed to have your principal and a certain amount of growth on that principal every single year plus dividends on top of it. You alluded to this. The policies that report as they were projected to perform back then, that includes the guarantee principal, the guaranteed growth, and the excess dividend that you’ve continued to receive every single year, whether you have a loan against it or not.

That’s the incredible part. I’m able to take access to a large amount of money and I’ve been invested in other things that paid me back way more than the amount of interest. At the same time, the policy still grows as if all the money is in there, which is incredible.

We’ve projected a potential day that you stop working in your business and you need to create some passive income. We’ve projected through the policies how much income you’d be able to have, knowing that you’re going to have that income down the road. At the same time, over the next couple of decades, you’re still able to invest alternatively and create passive income like through the real estate, the oil and gas and so forth. It becomes a win-win. You’ve got the death benefit protection for the what-if. Not just the what-if, but when death occurs. Hopefully, it’s long and many decades down the road that whenever you didn’t use as income, that is going to be left as a legacy to your boys and family, whoever you’re going to leave that money to.

Once you start to put the money aside at first, it’s scary to think about, “Am I obligated to spend this money every month or every year?” First of all, it’s not even an obligation, but it’s good to look at it that way because once you build like that, I have so much positive momentum in these few years that there’s no fear at all, no matter what happens to the economy. What happens even to me physically health-wise, I know that everything will be sound and everything will be intact and I’ve never felt so safe financially. This has changed the whole game.

If you were to try to talk to individuals out there, because we know more people that know about this, more people to participate, the better off everybody’s going to be. It’s a law of large numbers. If you were to maybe try to speak to many people as you could about this, what would you say? If you were to go back and say, “What would I have done differently if I were to start over?” What would that be?

I wish I knew about this a long time ago. I wish I knew about this way before I found out about it. It’s worth researching and looking into it, the challenges that so much of the financial services industry is funded by the stock market, funded by other vehicles who talk about the insurance industry as a poor industry. There are many different types of products. The thing that I appreciate so much about Paradigm is there are other products that don’t perform as well that I have learned from many sources that would make you more money to sell. Your integrity is so high that you give and show me the products that perform the best for me. I’m thankful for that. I would research it, look into it, but you’re going to hear a lot of naysayers and still do the research. Looking at positive and negative, but read enough about it because it is real. It doesn’t sound real like it’s possible, but it is.

I started looking at this more than a decade ago and I had the same feeling like, “Is it going to do they say it’s going to do?” I talk to people I trust. I did my own research. I started my own policies and it’s been the same for me as well. I’ve used my policy loans like you, for my business, buying cars or buying real estate and for pretty much anything you can think of. I’ve used my policy loans for it and I’ve paid them back with the proceeds. It’s been great and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our conversations, the relationship. I look forward to many years to come, but any parting thoughts at all?

I encourage people to look at that because I know what that feels like, to be scared and feel bad about the future. To not feel like there’s a promise and in your financial future, no matter how hard you work and worried that you’re dependent on or concerned about what’s happening on the outside. Also, what’s happening with the country, what’s happening financially with the country. This is one way to soundproof your own finances, to take it in your own hands. Everybody should at least look at it, listen and hear what it’s about because it’s been tremendous for me. It’s been life-changing.

I appreciate it. It’s always a pleasure talking with you. I’m sure our fellow clients will be appreciative of the info.

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In this day and age, the financial advice most people get boxes them into a corner where a lot has to go right to end up on top. In this episode, you will learn how the strategies we specialize in enhance the flexibility and control you have as you navigate life. Noah Kelsch and his client, Francisco Gomez, discuss the journey of a successful entrepreneur. Noah has been part of the Paradigm team since 2012 and is the epitome of a peaceful warrior. Francisco has been working with Noah since 2014. In Noah’s words, he’s the most driven person he knows. Francisco is a successful entrepreneur who owns and operates a number of businesses, both in the continental United States and Puerto Rico. When Francisco came to Paradigm Life, he was looking for an alternative way to protect his assets and fund future business opportunities. Let’s learn more about Francisco’s journey and success working toward achieving his business and financial goals using the Perpetual Wealth Strategy.

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You’ve been married for a few years and you’ve got three businesses.

I have a vaccination clinic in Puerto Rico that we do any type of vaccination for adults, children, infants, and teenagers as well. Pretty much any vaccines out there we carry it. That’s all over the island. I also have a consultant firm for electronic medical records. We go into all over the nation and help them implement their software. This is more like a hobby for me, but it is a business I do. I bought a CrossFit gym and that one is the newest. That’s all my three businesses.

Your wife owns her business as well.

She owns it fully. I also help out. As you can tell, we help each other. She does have a periodontics dental office. That’s oral surgery.

Francisco, what got you initially interested in cash value life insurance?

Honestly, I have no idea about it, a friend of mine mentioned it. Once he mentioned it, I started doing some research. I’m trying a lot going to it. I was like, “This is awesome.” For me, I don’t know how to describe it, but it was like, “Yes, this is what I want. This is wealth. This makes sense to me.” It was perfect for me. From there, I started researching. In 2014, at least for a while the research that I did, there were not many options out there for these types of policies, as easy as Paradigm Life made it out for me. Other insurance companies, I have meetings in a conference room. There are five people in there. It was pretty much me trying to explain to them the policy that I wanted.

What was your experience when you came to Paradigm Life?

I didn’t have to explain to them anything. You guys were explaining to me more things that I could do. It was most seamless for me. You specialized in this. In 2014, you have a lot of videos explaining all the things that you can do and all this stuff. I watched all of them. It was a great experience.

Why did you choose your policies over other investment avenues?

These policies have given me flexibility. What I like about the cash value side is I can do anything that I want. I can invest. I can use it for retirement. I can use it to buy a car. I can use it for whatever I like. I like the flexibility of it. That’s what makes sense for me.

What are you trying to achieve specifically with this tool? You spoke to creditor protection as a safety net. Is there anything else like tax advantages or anything like that?

The tax advantage is always a plus. I use these policies for real estate. I use a bank for the mortgage and all that stuff. For the down payment, I use my policy. Technically, there is no cash upfront. My bank account doesn’t hurt. I slowly start paying that out of the rent because I usually do rentals. I don’t do flips. Out of that rent, keep them up, putting that money back into a policy. It keeps growing and all that stuff and paid for itself.

It keeps growing and you keep your cycle in that process. You’ve got a system and you just duplicate it.

Me and my wife have a couple of policies. I use it for real estate investing. My wife uses it for a completely different thing.

How have these policies helped you accomplish or work towards your individual financial goals?

For me, the flexibility of it was key. When I got a policy in 2014, some people say like, “This is an expensive policy.” Technically it’s not half of it or sometimes more is going to a cash value. It’s growing at an amazing percentage higher than I can have it on my savings account. The way I did it, I haven’t been there and trying to keep it as long as I can unless I am using it for growth from an investment standpoint. The cash value keeps growing at the percentage that it does. I don’t even know what the percentage is. I only take that money out unless I use that money to grow. I tried to do my due diligence and I try to do this, so it’s only for an investment that will help me create wealth.

You don’t have any lazy money. You’ve either got money growing inside your policy or you’ve leveraged that to deploy into an asset that’s going to produce a higher rate of return and continue to build it on both sides.

You explained it a lot better easily. I appreciate it.

You had your first policy before you married your wife and you introduced this to her. First of all, how many policies do you have in place and how is Crystal using it?

I personally only have one and my wife has one. I know my son will eventually have one too so I have three. I want to create another one for myself, but that’s another topic. I dragged my wife to it. She had no clue. She’s a dentist, a doctor. They don’t teach any type of business in med school or dental school. I talked to her about it. I told her what this will be. This is what she uses her policy. Her policy is her retirement policy. She was worried about retirement, how much money should I put in my 401(k) and all this stuff. We were young. This is why I introduced a policy, I’m like, “I don’t know if you want to. This is probably a lot better. You get a lot better return. We don’t even know if those types of 401(k)s and all that stuff will be available when we need it because we don’t know.” This one for sure. You can put your money into that and we’ll save it for retirement. She uses this as strictly retirement fund. She doesn’t take much money out of it. It wasn’t invested. She doesn’t deal with any of that.

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Her wealth management strategy and the way she’s using her policy is specifically for retirement. What I’m hearing is she knows it’s something that she can maintain control of and have access to. The two of you know it’s going to be there versus the 401(k) that may or may not be there.

She took some money out of it to help out her mother. Her mom got sick. It’s a decent chunk of money. She doesn’t take out often. I do it more often than she does, but it was there and she needed it. It was growing higher than in a savings account. Instead of having a savings account, she’s using that as her saving accounts. I don’t know if you want to talk to the process, but the process of getting the money is within days, so it’s not hard at all.

She’s able to access the money in a matter of days and help her mom out. She’s accessing her retirement savings to take care of this imminent need. She’s going to put that money back. Francisco, what is the greatest benefit that you’ve seen with the policies?

The benefit is it helped me grow. It’s no lazy money, the flexibility of it. I needed investment or if I get into trouble with anything financially or banker owned. One of my businesses go or something happens, we’re not going to work on that, but if something happens, I have some back end. The same thing as retirement. I’m still young. I’m trying to grow. That’s why I’m making my investment. Eventually, my strategy might change where I’ll buy some more for my wife and use it as a retirement. It’s the flexibility of it that’s the benefit for me. The policy is growing with me as my life changes and all that stuff. It was more than having money in your bank account.

You’re able to use it as your opportunity fund and your reserves while you’re growing your wealth and growing your assets. Later on, you and Crystal will be using it as a retirement fund.

That’s the plan and the goal.

What advice would you give individuals and other families about how to effectively use a policy like this?

The advice for me is each family is different. Each person is different. First of all, be positive for everybody. If you have money in your savings accounts, use the policies, it grows faster even if you don’t touch it. First, make a list of what you’re trying to get out of it. Make sure that you understand it and not only looking at the videos. The Paradigm Life team is amazing. I can text you. I email you any time of the day. I get on a quick call. That always happens. If you don’t answer, basically one of your team members answer. There’s always good communication.

You never say no. Any of the dumb questions that I have, “Can I do this? Can I not do that? Can we do this?” I always shoot you a message and all that stuff. If you have money in your savings accounts and you’re trying to create wealth, this is by far for me the best thing I could think of policy or I don’t know if it’s life insurance or anything. It’s the best way to put your money into. It’s safer. You can access it quickly. It doesn’t matter what your age. You can use it for investing. It’s pretty much you have your own bank. The advice for me is, get your priorities and get started. It doesn’t have to do a super big policy. You can start where you’re comfortable and go from there.

Francisco, it’s always great catching up with you. Thank you for being here and for sharing your story with fellow clients. I sure do appreciate your time.

Thank you for having me. It’s my pleasure.

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I’m pleased to welcome Jennie Steed and her client, Jean Pederson. Jennie brings a tenacity for success to every area of her life, including her business as a wealth strategist. She interviews Jean Pederson, a longtime client who worked with Jennie to implement a strategy to grow her business. Jean has an enthusiasm for assisted living that has brought vibrancy to her life and for wealth strategy. Through establishing several residential assisted living facilities, Jean’s passion is not just an excellent investment but also an invaluable service to her fellowmen. Let’s learn a bit more about how her journey crossed paths with Paradigm Life and how she used the strategies we taught her to grow her business and serve her passion.

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I’m Jennie Steed, a wealth strategist here at Paradigm Life. We have a client of mine and also a friend. She’s a beautiful person and does a lot of wonderful things. We have here Ms. Jean Pederson. She is a mother, a wife, a real estate investor and a business owner. She married her high school sweetheart, Chris, and together they’ve raised two beautiful children, Justin and Samantha. They’re originally from Washington State. They moved to Southern California to Scottsdale, Arizona. She’s been a commercial underwriter in her life, invested in real estate foreclosures. Over the past few years, she’s focused on developing, getting up and operating residential assisted living care homes. She took me to a walkthrough of her most recent one and it’s done. She also manages their family’s wealth accumulation. During their time in Arizona that she began researching ways to be more efficient with their money. Welcome, Jean. Thank you very much for being here with me. I appreciate it.

Jennie, thanks for having me on.

You mentioned over the past few years as I introduced that you develop and operate residential assisted living homes. Can you tell me a little bit more about why that interests you?

My daughter went off to college. I coached her travel team for about ten years. She played college softball. I had a little bit more time having my younger son who was in college. I figure I was going to start my next chapter in life. I wanted to do something that I could use my real estate skills that I developed. Something where I can still leverage our finances to keep the velocity of money moving and growing. I grew up in a senior assisted living environment and that my parents were nineteen years of difference in age. My father being a Filipino Scout US Army. He was 38. He went to Korea and he was arranged to my mother. My mother was only eighteen at the time so she thought she was marrying a wealthy Japanese man.

She later found out he was a Filipino man from the islands and a military man. I’m the fourth and have three older brothers. When it came to caring, my dad conceived me when he was 52. I was twelve when I started caring for him. He was a vet, 100% mental, 100% physically disabled from World War II, Korean War. In my next chapter, at that time, I was in my later 40s. I enjoyed very much growing up and caring for my dad. I knew also the silver tsunami was coming with the care needed for the elderly. I combined that with my real estate skills and I started learning about senior housing.

Do you maximize the loan provision of your cash value life insurance? Share how has that assisted you in your business and real estate endeavors.

These are one of the things that are hidden secret. There was a lot to learn on the front end with the Paradigm Life, the Perpetual Wealth Strategy. I went through that crash course. I went through the online program. I learned all about it and it was a perfect match. If you have the resources and you want to invest, it was that plus. It provided many checkboxes. It was amazing how you could leverage your death benefits, for living benefits. It could provide many different options for me to access cash quickly and for me to build cash because it had a lot of savings that we could build up. A CD savings account, all those other means wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to put it in something that would provide more cash accumulation, but a safer means of doing it. That whole policy loan provision was perfect.

Share with us how these policies have helped you accomplish and work towards your wealth-building goals.

This is my second assisted living location. My first one, I tapped it in 2017 and I utilized it for the purchase and the build of my first residential assisted living care home. It’s 48 hours to get the money. By the time I built the business, I had eight months of seasoning. I did a lender refinance. I got back not only the purchase amount, the billed amount, business income and furniture fixtures. I was able to pay back the policy loans right away. Here comes 2019 and I’m doing the same concept. This time the bank says, “Don’t bother with eight months seasoning time because we know you now.” I was licensed. It was a long build. It was twelve months to work with the city to get up and running. Licensing happened within two weeks. It was very quick. It’s phenomenal. The banks already started the underwriting. I will be paying off the policy loans within the first quarter of 2020. It’s incredible because you’re making cashflow. You’re leveraging your own money from the policy. I’m creating a stream of income where it comes from nowhere and I get to do what I love because I don’t see it as a job.

Maybe if you don’t mind sharing with us, how many policies do you have in place?

I have four in total. It’s on my husband, Chris and myself, Samantha, and Justin, each of our children.

In one of our conversations, you said that your policies are working exactly as you expected. Would you elaborate a little bit on that?

The purpose for us is to enable us to access the cash bank part of it. For us, when our renewals come up, we do pay the annual premiums right away. There’s the paid-up petition part where, instead of putting it in savings to let it sit, we put it in our policies and allow that to compound and grow. I’ve seen the cash value and the compounding because I was maybe two years into the policy and I didn’t realize. It was a pleasant surprise that I was borrowing against the cash value that I originally had put in. It wasn’t growing anymore. You’re borrowing up to the amount that you have your cash value in there. You’re borrowing against the insurance company. They’re fronting you money that they know they’ll get back regardless. If we have a $2 million policy and we borrowed $1.5 million, then we never paid it back. The interest rate is accumulating, but they get their money in return because they negate whatever the policy amount is and the accrued interest. The beneficiaries get the net number. That was a very pleasant add.

I have a client that’s built up enough cash value in their policy to begin investing in real estate, which is their number one goal. What’s a simple piece of advice that you might give to them?

If they had enough money to start investing, I would make a mental note to make sure you’re using the policy with the intention of paying it back. For the doodads, not to use the money to splurge because at the end of the day, you’re borrowing against yourself. Not to use it as a credit card source. It’s great that he or she is considering real estate because it is an asset. It’s something physical. If they can refinance at some time to pull the money back out and to have it leveraged. Hopefully, the money is helping them to get started. They can refinance and pull the money back out so you can pay the policy loans back.

For individuals and families that may be planning on a smaller scale than where you started or maybe with your policies, what advice would you give them about how to most effectively utilize their policies?

I would say don’t let it lapse because it is a long-term investment. I utilize it for wealth building but also for legacy because it is something that we do want to pass on to our children, but to also utilize the paid-up additions. If they use that, it’s something that they’re added to savings and it compounds. If they do have any savings, try to put a little bit more into paid-up additions even if it’s keeping it active and paying into it every year because it is a long-term investment.

Jean, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for being here and talking with me again. It’s always a pleasure and also for sharing with fellow clients. It means the world to them. It means the world to me and it means the world to everyone here.

You’re welcome. To let everyone know, Jennie is great. She educates well. I had a ton of questions before I started. Their business model where they do it all online made it very super convenient because I was raising my children, so I couldn’t physically get up to go to meetings. They’re in Utah and I’m here in Scottsdale, Arizona. That’s an added benefit and a feature. I would say if anyone is on the fence, if you have the resources, this is one you don’t want to pass up. There are many benefits.

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Up next, we welcome Jeremy Kelsch, an entrepreneur who has been a friend and client of Paradigm Life since 2015. Jeremy owns a custom cabinetry business based out of St. George, Utah. Before working with our team, he found himself looking for a financial tool that would provide him with greater control over his wealth. Jeremy wanted a solution that would enable him to pursue his dream of expanding his business and integrate well with his other investment endeavors. He worked closely with his uncle, Noah Kelsch, to establish a Wealth Maximization Account, which has provided him with a level of certainty and liquidity that did not exist previously. After establishing his policy, Jeremy has pursued several opportunities including a home remodel, equipment purchases and additional investment in his business. Enjoy the interview.

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I’ve been in sales for a long time. I’ve worked in multiple different areas in my career, a bunch of different companies, but I always gravitate towards what I was taught. I’m a fourth-generation cabinet guy. I keep always going back to that. That’s what pushed me to become an entrepreneur. I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart. I’ve always had that vision. I pulled the trigger. It’s been an incredible journey.

This isn’t the first business that you started?

It’s not. I’ve had that entrepreneurial spirit. I’ve started multiple companies. I don’t think any that I’ve been so passionate about. I feel like it’s landed home and we can grow from here.

This last enterprise that you’re pursuing. It’s cabinet sales. You started as a cabinet shop, is that correct?

I started out as a cabinet sales because I love designing. I love meeting with the customer and making sure that the kitchen that they get is fit for how they use it. I started looking at manufacturing my own and the differences that I can make with our customers and with the people we serve by manufacturing our own as well as still offering all the design work and customize it towards them. It’s been crazy. I never thought I’d be manufacturing, but here we are.

To be good stewards, learn about setting up some protection. Share on X

Jeremy, how did you come across Paradigm Life and what got you interested in this cash value life insurance?

We didn’t have a ton of money. My dad probably did. I never did. I wasn’t taught about the value of money, budgeting and having your money grow and work for you. It was always getting a good job that pays the bills and increases your bills as you increase your wage. I started seeing some holes in that. I had multiple conversations with you and with other people that are investors. As well as other people involved in Paradigm Life and started thinking, “This makes a lot of sense to have that cash account or cash accumulation on the side and also becoming your own bank, being able to finance your own dreams and not be paying somebody else the interest.” That makes a ton of sense so we started that.

You’re married. You’ve got a young family there. You have three kids. How long have you been married?

I’ve been married for several years.

You introduce your wife to this concept as well. How did that go over?

She didn’t quite comprehend what was going on or was not sure, but we had a sit down with you and went over it. Her eyes were like, “That’s pretty cool.” She was supportive when she learned what we were doing.

Now you’ve got multiple policies. Do you mind sharing how many you’ve got?

I have two whole life cash value policies.

What were you trying to achieve with this tool specifically?

I use the cash value to start funding some investments and some properties that I wanted to start. I’m owning and managing multiunit properties. That shifted when I went into starting my own company. It’s more to fund that. It’s my cash reserve for my company. If we need to buy a CNC or a bander, we can pull from my cash reserve and I can get paid back with interest. It’s still building the same concept. It’s not in real estate. It’s shifted to business.

How are you integrating what you’ve learned with these policies into what you’re teaching your family because you said you didn’t have that message conveyed to you? How were you doing things different with your family and the legacy that you’re providing?

It’s with a lot of fight. Kids don’t like getting $10 and trying to be educated about how to save it and how to conserve as much as you can. We try to make them save 50% and start on this and educate them, “If you have $10 if you buy this toy or whatever, that’s going to get you about an hour’s worth of fun. Your $10 is gone and you’ve got to re-earn that.” If we take it and we invest it, my kids all have bank accounts. Ultimately, they’ll be going into whole life policies, but trying to teach them the value of living within your means, saving the rest and creating that nest egg or that savings account.

You’ve got young kids. They’re like, “Dad, I want candy and toys.”

It’s all about what can I see now? I have implemented a new strategy because I used to put all of their money into a bank where they can’t see. All they’re seeing is numbers. I’ve been putting it in an envelope and I show them, “This is how much you have,” and that has turned the corner for some of them. They’re like, “I’m getting quite a bit of money in there.” I’m like, “Yes. Are you sure you want to spend it?” “No, I want to save it. I want to put more in.” It’s been a cool shift in how they see it.

The concepts, it’s going to be a natural segue into when you are ready to start policies on each of them.

I have family members or friends that they’re not good savers and they’re not good with money. I tell them, “Get a cash value account because it’s a forced savings account. If you’re not good with savings, it will force you to save.” That’s incredible. It’s a bill and you pay it. You’ve got the extra money. You’re spending it on cupcakes and ding-dongs or whatever, to be able to make yourself put money into these accounts that’s accumulating that interest that you can use down the road to fund your investments or your dreams. That’s a very powerful tool.

How are these policies help you accomplish or work towards your financial goals both personally and in your business success?

I relocated. I went to Southern Utah. I’m here in St. George, Utah. That’s where I open up my business. Before that, I lived up in Salt Lake County. To get the home ready to sell, we had to redo the yard. We had to finish the basement. Some of those I was able to pull out of my account, fund those and pay him back with interest rather than going to a bank and getting a conventional loan and making the rich richer off of my money. That’s been a tool that we’ve used there. As far as using it for the business, it’s a cash reserve like I said. Having it on hand to where we have so much in our books, that’s cash value in our books, in our business, but we need that little boost into that next level for the tools. Some of this machine is expensive stuff. Being able to pull from my account to cover the difference and be able to pay back. My business is beneficial to my business and it’s beneficial to me.

You’re not having to get a conventional loan or try to get business loans because you have access to capital.

It helps us mostly debt-free.

What would you say is the greatest benefit you’ve seen with your policies?

The biggest benefit I’ve seen personally is the mental shift because I wasn’t very good at saving. I wasn’t taught very much about financing, but when you start seeing it and I had to force myself to have a savings account. It was a paradigm shift in how I looked at my money. Where it was going, what it was being put towards? It helped me shift personally in that aspect. Also starting to look from a business standpoint, what are your loans? What’s the cost of each loan? What’s the cost of the money you’re going to get from an investor or the cost from a bank? It opens up your eyes, “How can we do this to benefit everybody and not be putting ourselves in a bad way?”

I always maintained in the reserves but also making good financial decisions, saying, “If I leave where it’s at, it’s growing.” If I deploy that, it’d better be making me more money. What made you choose the life insurance policy over other financial safety nets?

It can be combined with other investments. It’s a safe tool that’s growing interest at whatever rate. It can be pulled out from the cash value and used on other investments. You’re doubling up on the amount of interest. To me, a big selling point was that, “If I put $100,000 into a house, I’m getting that return on the house.” If I have $100,000 in cash value and I put that on the house, you’re doubling up. It’s the base for my multipurpose use.

Jeremy, what advice would you give other entrepreneurs about how to most effectively utilize their policies?

Watch your bottom line and put as much into those accounts as you can because when the times are flourishing, when you’re doing well, those are the times to stockpile and get that cash value build-up. I didn’t think I was going to be manufacturing. I didn’t think all of these costs were going to happen. We get a shift and because I have some of these in place that goes, allow you to be able to shift and make those changes.

You’re able to be nimble. You strike when opportunities are available. Jeremy, thanks a lot for joining us and sharing your journey with fellow clients. We sure do appreciate it. It’s been great having you.

Thank you.

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In this final segment, Gary Pinkerton and his client, David Shirkey, are back with another interview speaking on family legacy. If you recall, Gary and David were featured on an earlier episode in our welcome series called Saving and Spending Smarter with the AND Asset. If you haven’t yet had a chance to read the episode around multigenerational wealth, I encourage you to do so. This episode covers the details of David’s journey of personal development and financial education and how he is passing his legacy onto his family in the next generation.

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This is Gary Pinkerton. I’m one of the wealth strategists at Paradigm Life. I’m here with my awesome client and friend, David Shirkey. David hales from Jackson, Michigan. If you haven’t been to Jackson, Michigan, it’s a worker’s town. It’s fairly close to Detroit. They do a lot of supplying for the auto industry and other industries. My big thing and the reason I get giddy because I have a lot of friends there. The first time I went there, I was blown away that they produce things that I can make things. They manufacture things in this town and families get together and they talk about their businesses.

Those of you who know me know that I’m a huge fan of the Republic that we have, an entrepreneurism and this experiment we started 250 years ago with our founding fathers. That is get up in the morning, produce something, get paid for it or get compensated for it and add value to the world. I want to, in my world, help with a little piece of how to enable that to happen. There’s this cashflow banking. There’s this Wealth Maximization Account. There are cash management systems. There’s also something that you need to talk about your family and think about how you pass this to other generations. We have with us the man who is doing that full-time for his family. They have a manufacturing company that his father helped found. They’re on the second generation and they’ve got third-generation family members working there from time to time.

It is truly is a family business that’s grown to several employees and it’s something that is starting to pass down. David worked in the business for many years. He is head of a homemade family office. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the family office, it is an IRS term that relates to families with generally more than $100 million. They will hire a person or a group of people either to handle their finances in-house or perhaps sometimes these companies will handle multiple families’ money. David is a one-man family office for his family. He’s learned a lot tremendously about that. When did that role start and any insights you have about it?

I was the CFO here for several years. In early 2017, I say, “We hired a pro CFO.” I was able to start spending the majority of my time searching out investments for our family to make and learn about estate planning, succession planning, and tax reduction. All of these concepts that my father never learned about and never taught me about. I’m learning and teaching my parents, my siblings, my friends and my family. That’s what it is in a full package.

David is married and has three young girls. I had breakfast with him and some of the best blueberry pancakes I’ve ever had. It was a time work back for me several years ago when my kids were that age. It was wonderful and I appreciate you very much bringing me into your home. It was on a visit when I was out there presenting at Michigan Investor Group that David started and founded. It was to teach and to pass along some of the lessons that he’s learned in this family office role. A lot of times, we think of the family office as the tax side of it. It’s efficiently protecting and growing the family’s wealth. That’s one part. On the dollar side, would you agree with that, David?

Yes.

The other side and the part that impassions me is about communication with the family to make sure that the different generation goals are being met and we’re paying forward our legacy. A lot of times legacy is thought to be financial, but it’s much more than that. It’s experiences. We can remake the money, but if we fail to pass the lesson learned, our experience forward. That’s the deep role that David is in. It’s like, “Dad, tell me your lessons and then pass it to the next generation.” They’re ready to learn. He’s got teenagers in that next generation. If you think about what we talked about, a family office purpose is for families that have $100 million or more. It’s to make sure you protect and grow the family’s wealth in a safe environment and pass on the experiences and education side. My message to you is we should all be doing that. It’s one of our passions at Paradigm Life to help you take this to your family. David, maybe tie a little bit in the life insurance policy side. How are you bringing that to your family size? Your family has been very fortunate. They’re not at $100 million. How have you brought this down and operationalized it for the rest of us?

I’m glad you made that clear that I’m not managing $100 million. A lot of the concepts can apply to much smaller levels. What we’re doing is trying to communicate. We’re trying to establish objectives and establish goals. My parents who are the wealth-creating generation have a long-term mindset. They’re not trying to make the money and spend the money. They want to see it utilized well by my generation and my kid’s generation. Also, for charities and to support different organizations and entrepreneurial pursuits. They want to see it put to use and not spend it. That’s a big part of this. In order to be a good steward, we’ve learned about setting up some protection. Some of that perfection comes from life insurance. Some of it comes from the trust agreements that we’ve put in place, which some people could look at it and say they put some handcuffs on the following generations. You could look at it and say, “You put some protections to help establish some guidelines. You know what to do when their grandparents pass.”

This should not be news to anyone out there that sometimes people are not ready for the gifts that are handed to them and they can be used as weapons. Currency or dollars is a way to accentuate things. It’s power and fuel. If fuel used in the wrong direction, it can mess things up. We’ve recognized in society that maybe alcohol perhaps shouldn’t be considered until they’re 21 and they can make that better decision. It’s the same thing with money. It comes at different ages for different people and maturity, but also different financial intelligence.

Dollars without experience and knowledge don’t stick around for long and they can do a lot of damage. We’ve all seen that on television. David, as a family tree for the audience, we have your father and he has siblings. If we use him as the start then there’s you and your two siblings. There are six in total in that generation. There are eighteen in generation three. We see how this is happening. There’s 2, 6, 18. The next generation is mind-boggling. There are life insurance policies on pretty much everyone. All of these generations and multiple policies on some. Maybe how have you used these to promote the idea of a family office or the investment side?

I have two different mindsets behind our life insurance policies. The policies that I’m funding from my family and then my brother-in-law and brother are funding for theirs personally. Those are for cashflow management in our day-to-day lives. Building an emergency fund and building an opportunity fund. We also have other policies that my parents are funding, which are larger policies, which are more for multigenerational wealth transfer where trusts are the beneficiaries. The directions are that when people pass away that proceeds are used to buy more life insurance owned by the next trust. I don’t want to get too complicated here, but the goal is that we don’t consume the principal. The goal is that we teach our children and our grandchildren about these philosophies and then they access cash via policy loans. As long as they paid the policy loan back, they can come back to the trust for the next investment opportunity, etc.

Patrick Donohoe in Heads I Win, Tails You Lose gets into some of that. Reach out to us if you would like other resources on that same topic. Sometimes you might hear it called like the Rockefeller way, but it is the way in which multigenerational families, families that have been wealthy for multiple generations have figured this out. Otherwise, they’ve lost that wealth to taxes over time. You either figure it out and pass that knowledge onto the future generations or you lose it.

Maybe it’s like living off and spending the income from your assets versus consuming the capital’s principal in the assets. It’s not the same but it’s similar.

You are in an interesting role here because you’re managing a much larger company and family set of assets. You mentioned that you’re in this period where the first generation is starting to pass some assets forward, but personally, you have three little ones and the money that’s coming in flies out of the door. You started with much smaller policies yourself. This works on a couple of thousand dollar a month policies?

I don’t want to act like I’ve been doing it for years, but I’ve been doing it for a couple of years. I truly believe that the money that my wife and I are “saving” in policies for my three daughters is going to be a very valuable asset or them or it’s going to be a gift that we can’t give them down the road. We’re starting policies with a couple of thousand dollars a year premiums for each of our daughters. In several years, they’re probably going to be using them hopefully for car loans, college loans, starting business loans or mortgage loans. If we don’t do it now, we can’t give him those gifts in 10, 20 years.

The money that you are saving right now for your children is going to be a very valuable gift that you can give them down the road. Share on X

That had been growing and compounding for that period of time. What advice would you give the Paradigm Life’s clients and the audience about getting their own families involved in these kinds of conversations and policies?

I would encourage people that however they heard about the concept of using high cash value life insurance as an alternative savings vehicle, don’t assume it as a crazy idea. It might not make sense in the first discussion, but keep learning. I truly believe if you have interests in the future, if you care about the next generation, if you’re living within your means. Meaning you have a little bit of savings above your total expenses. If you are willing to commit to something for a couple of years, you’re going to be happy that you have this more efficient savings vehicle started that overtime is going to go from funding daily emergencies or daily problems to funding opportunities and investments.

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Thanks for joining me for another episode and also my team. It’s been awesome having them participate. It’s been fun. The team here at Paradigm Life is instrumental in pulling off such a valuable initiative, which is this welcome series. Also, we’re incredibly humbled for your support and for the trust you place in us with such an important aspect of your life. Be sure to visit ParadigmLife.net for all additional resources about personal wealth management. There’s a lot of great information on there that you can download, reference and also share with those closest to you about what you’re doing and the difference that the Perpetual Wealth Strategy is making in your life. We’ll talk to you next time.

 Important Links:

• Nate Butler
• Noah Kelsch
• Jennie Steed
• Gary Pinkerton
• Saving and Spending Smarter with the AND Asset – Previous episode
• Heads I Win, Tails You Lose