
Episode: 326 - Debt-Free Living and Future Investing: Expert Advice from Joseph Lombardi
Subscribe to Simplify My Money:
https://www.debtfreedad.com/newsletters/simplify-my-money
Understanding the Basics of Retirement Planning
As you embark on your journey to financial freedom, you may find yourself questioning when to transition from paying off debt to investing in retirement. Many people are familiar with traditional retirement vehicles like 401ks, but is that truly enough? Joseph Lombardi from Ironhawk Financial presents a compelling case for considering alternative strategies to foster a robust financial future.
A Personal Journey to Financial Wisdom
Joseph's expertise in investments and retirement planning is deeply rooted in personal experiences. Growing up, he witnessed firsthand the devastating impacts of poor financial planning. From observing his father's inability to work after an accident without disability insurance to experiencing the emotional and financial toll of his mother's lack of life insurance, Joseph was determined to avoid these pitfalls for himself and his clients.
Despite encountering significant financial setbacks, including IRS debt and business reversals, Joseph's journey to becoming debt-free teaches valuable lessons about resilience and strategic financial planning. His dedication to overcoming these challenges illustrates the power of living under one's means and the importance of having a solid financial strategy.
From Debt to Financial Independence: The Power of Planning
Joseph emphasizes the importance of planning—a recurring theme throughout his journey. By setting clear financial goals and sticking to a budget, he was able to transform his life. Through disciplined saving tactics, such as the envelope strategy, and living below his means, Joseph built a foundation for long-term financial success.
Building on his experience, Joseph stresses the significance of developing a financial plan to transition from debt to wealth. A well-defined plan, he argues, is essential to achieve financial independence and establish a sustainable foundation for future investments.
Exploring Infinite Banking: A Strategic Alternative
One of the key strategies Joseph advocates for is the concept of infinite banking. Infinite banking allows individuals to act as their own bank by leveraging a specially-designed permanent life insurance policy. This approach offers numerous benefits, such as tax-free growth, protection from creditors, and flexible access to funds without penalties typically associated with traditional retirement accounts.
However, Joseph cautions that infinite banking is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It requires careful planning and execution by knowledgeable financial professionals. Clients must be willing to commit to long-term participation in the program to fully realize its benefits.
Tailoring Financial Strategies to Individual Needs
Understanding that financial planning is not a monolithic process, Joseph emphasizes the importance of tailoring financial strategies to individual goals and circumstances. Whether it's prioritizing debt repayment or exploring investment opportunities, the cornerstone of any financial plan should be aligning strategies with one's unique financial priorities.
From building a diversified portfolio to evaluating the cost-benefit of various financial instruments, Joseph's approach is rooted in personalized guidance and meticulous planning. His experience and insights reveal that the path to financial stability involves more than simply earning a higher income; it requires intentional planning and disciplined execution.
Taking Control of Your Financial Future
Joseph Lombardi's journey and expertise underscore the power of strategic financial planning. By exploring options like infinite banking and emphasizing the importance of a clear financial plan, individuals can take control of their financial futures. As he shares his knowledge with others, Joseph continues to inspire those seeking to break free from debt and build a secure financial legacy for themselves and future generations.
For those ready to embark on their financial journey, reaching out to qualified financial professionals, like those at Ironhawk Financial, can offer valuable guidance and help you tailor a plan suited to your unique financial goals.
Resources Mentioned
Connect with Joseph:  [email protected] or  www.ironhawkfinancial.com
The Totally Awesome Debt Freedom Planner https://www.debtfreedad.com/planner
To learn how to take the stress out of your finances so you can breathe again, follow this link: https://www.debtfreedad.com/lwp-masterclass-opt-in-page-podcast
Connect With Brad
Website- https://www.debtfreedad.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thedebtfreedad
Private Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/debtfreedad
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/debtfreedad/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@debt_free_dad
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@bradnelson-debtfreedad2751/featured
Thanks For Listening
Like what you hear? Please, subscribe on the platform you listen to most: Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Tune-In, Stitcher, YouTube Music, YouTube
We LOVE feedback, and also helps us grow our podcast! Please leave us an honest review in Apple Podcasts, we read every single one.
Is there someone that you think would benefit from the Debt Free Dad podcast? Please, share this episode with them on your favorite social network!
Transcript
Brad Nelson:
Hey. So as you work your way out of debt, you might be wondering like when do you start to invest in your retirement? Now, many people rely on, and are familiar with, things like 401ks for retirement, but is that enough? Now, Joseph Lombardi from Ironhawk Financial joins us on today's episode to break down the basics of retirement and share his thoughts on why a 401k might fall short and some ideas on how to build a stronger financial future.
Announer:
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad Podcast with Brad Nelson. Brad and his co-hosts experienced the anxiety of living paycheck to paycheck before learning the fundamentals of financial success. They are now on a mission to empower regular people to pay off their debt for good and enjoy happier, less stressful lives. Keep listening for inspirational interviews, tips, tricks and practical advice to gain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson:
Hey guys, my name is Brad Nelson, founder of Debt Free Debt. I paid off about $45,000 of debt, have been debt free now for more than 12 years. I've also been fortunate to help thousands of other people save and pay off tens of millions of dollars with the work that we do here at Debt Free Debt. Now, guys, after listening to this episode, if you're ready to take things to the next level, you're ready to break free from living paycheck to paycheck. You wanna reduce free from living paycheck to paycheck? You want to reduce financial stress? You want, to say, build more savings and finally pay off that debt for good? I mean, how amazing would that feel? But, like many, maybe you're not quite sure how to get started. Well, we've created some incredible free resources here at Debt-Free Dad to help you get there, and I'm going to be sharing some details about how you get started with those later on in today's episode. So hey, joseph, welcome to the Debt-Free Dad podcast. So glad that you're joining us here today.
Joseph  Lombardi :
Thanks for having me.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, hey, real quick. Can you just share a little bit? Obviously you're very knowledgeable when it comes to investments and retirement and we're going to talk about that you know broadly here today on today's episode. But can you kind of share how you got there, like what makes you an expert in this area?
Joseph  Lombardi :
Well, when it comes to not just being debt-free, but emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually debt-free is what got me to this point. I was unfortunate enough to see my dad fall three stories off a ladder. It was a $25 million construction company, jb Lombardi Builders. He had no disability. I watched my mother die at 52 years old so she was delivered from alcoholism. She she had no life insurance left me emotionally and financially devastated because I was her closest of kin. She left us when I was four and I watched my grandmother have a stroke, left to dementia and she lost 4.2 million dollars to love the nursing home because she had a long-term care that took my grandfather 40 years to build right.
Joseph  Lombardi :
So I was unlucky enough to go through a bunch of pain, to go through a bunch of seeing what is how not to financially plan, how not to have a financial foundation, what it does to somebody on a deep, deep level of emotional, mental and spiritual pain because you want to be able to heal right, you want to be able to suffer and get through. But when you have bills to pay you got to get your butt back to work on Monday Like there's no grieving. So we just bury it right and then it comes out in different ways. But it's something where I lived it and I wanted to make sure it didn't happen to other people. I've also been in IRS debt of over $150,000.
Joseph  Lombardi :
I've had a bunch of reversals in this business, meaning somebody started a plan and then within a year canceled it. I already spent the money and I paid back the insurance company. So I had to take my money I saved because we're 1099 and I had to pay the insurance company. I couldn't sell anymore. And then the IRS said, well, where's our state fed money and I'm like I ain't got it. So then those penalties and interest and 37 grand turned to 150 grand over three years Ouch so now you mentioned.
Brad Nelson:
You kind of went through your own journey, like you're just talking about. You got out all of that. Can you share? You know, obviously that's what we do here at Debt Free Dad. We really kind of help people and that paycheck to paycheck living to, to get them to the table with you to start looking at things like, hey, retirement and future planning and all that great stuff, can you share just some of the basic things that you did to get yourself back to the point where you can win again with money?
Joseph  Lombardi :
So this was back in 09 when my mom died. That's where I went into deep depression and then worked for a couple of years at the way I was working, before she died, before I got the proper mental health help. But I did envelopes, which I know we don't have cash anymore, so the envelope strategy worked well for me. I knew that my first house mortgage, which was a 997 square foot house with a carport on 0.18 of an acres, on a hill that's always yeah, it was a starter home. I didn't want to rent. I lived in the crappiest house that I owned. I still own it and I actually am up a quarter million dollars when I bought it 15 years ago believe it or not. Wow, in equity. I haven't sold it or anything, I just rented out, which is paying me like 500 bucks a month for life, plus. That's going up in inflation.
Joseph  Lombardi :
I was at that plan. Your plan is to fail, right, it's like saying I want to lose weight but I have no plan and I'm not going to do anything differently and I'm just going to magically lose weight. You think you're going to magically get out of debt when you're doing the same crap that got you in debt? Yeah, you have to have that plan and that structure to say, hey, this is where I am, and if it's in your head, it's a dream, so you have to write it down, to turn it into a goal. And then, once you write it down, you come up with a game plan. Right, if the goal is I want to get out of debt, then there should be bullet points. Right, I'm telling every dollar what's going to happen. Those dollars aren't telling me what's going to happen at 1047 on a Friday night, while I'm drinking a beer, scrolling on TikTok, buying crap I don't need. That's the dollar telling you where it's going.
Brad Nelson:
I couldn't decide it by myself. Oh, that's awesome. You're absolutely correct. I love that you pointed that out because, as you mentioned, you're very successful in what you do, but you started in the same place that a lot of people are listening to this in. I started worse.
Joseph  Lombardi :
I grew up in an attic with no running water. I eat noodles and eggs. We catch up every night. I had hamburger. Help about the hamburger meat. I remember going to special McDonald's days when there were 49 cent cheeseburgers. That's what my dad couldn't afford. I grew up in extreme poverty. I had nothing. I became a self-made millionaire based on all the childhood trauma I went through and the ADHD that it caused me to get. And then I just grind my butt off because I can't lose. I never want to go back there, right? So I almost have like a devil with a pitchfork on my butt saying never stop, never stop, never stop, cause I never want to be back being impoverished Like I was. Yeah Well, it made you hungry. I'm hungry every day to grow like the business you know. I. In one year I went from no Connecticut. Now I'm national. I never made seven figures in my life, ever.
Brad Nelson:
And I made it in 2024. Yeah, that's incredible. Well, congratulations to you, man. It's a heck of a comeback story. And now that you're helping people obviously with this whole idea of retirement and setting them up financially and passing down that knowledge, that's awesome. That's incredible. Let's get into it just a little bit as far as this retirement stuff, because we'll get this question obviously from many of our people like, hey, brad, I'm aggressively paying down my debt, I've got an end goal in mind when I'm done, but like I'm thinking like what's after that? Like I want to start looking at things like retirement or investing or even, like you mentioned, like real estate or you know what are the things that are out there. So can you just, if someone's considering retirement or any of these, can you just kind of outline just the basics of things that they should start considering?
Joseph  Lombardi :
So if you're out of debt, right, because I have clients and prospects that come to me saying, joe, I'm ready to invest in that tax-free thing, averaging 15% rate of returns, liquid, sue-proof, divorce-proof, can't lose could be my own bank and leverage the money. I want that thing and I'm like, okay, I can't just sell it to you. I have to make sure it's suitable for you so I don't get sued or you don't start this thing and then you can't afford it in a year and you lose all your money. So I do fact finders and most half of the time I can't work with the people because they're in high interest debt. Right, if you have a retirement account, right, and you have a 29.99% credit card interest rate, your retirement account is not netting you 29.99% tax-free rate of return on your money. So you have to really take a look at what am I paying versus what am I loaning or investing? Right, what am I borrowing and what am I loaning out to invest for the future? If what I'm spending on my current debt is a high interest rate, stop your retirement account. Do not do it. I don't care how great it is that Bitcoin is going to go to the moon. Diamond hands. Cash that out, pay off your debt.
Joseph  Lombardi :
Debt is cancer to your financial health. Debt takes away the earning potential of you in the future. Debt's going to be robbing you of that Wednesday drive home eight and a half months from now, where you're miserable because you had a fight with your wife and you don't want to be there and that whole experience you went through was to pay for something you did not need, that you put on a credit card eight and a half months before. So you have to make sure to get out of debt is number one. Think of that as like your life, because, if I said, gun to your head, if you don't get out of debt in 12 months, you will die, and or your children you love most will die. I guarantee you'll get out of debt. In 12 months. You will die, and or your children you love most will die. I guarantee you'll be out of debt. So you know what that tells me. It's not a priority to you. So make it a priority.
Brad Nelson:
Right man. We preach that message all the time here, and it is Debt is robbing you of your future and sadly, we just live in a society where debt is just so normal. So for people to even think about like to have no credit card debt, or not pay off my cars, or to be able to spend a good amount of my income towards investing and building my own, how about building my quality of?
Joseph  Lombardi :
life. Right. I just bought a new front door for $16,000, a new back door for $5,000, brand new garage doors for $12,000. I'm getting a sauna, a hot tub. It's cool. Yeah, 12 grand. I'm getting a sauna, a hot tub, it's cool.
Joseph  Lombardi :
All the money I made in the past 10 years went to my gambling debts, went to the IRS, so I'd make $150,000 deal and I have to give it all away. Now the money that comes is mine. My only debt I have is the mortgage on this house. I bought my wife a brand new 2024 Escalade in cash, esb Sport. I still have a debt on my car. I have a Jaguar. It was 600 horsepower SVR, but I kept that because it's 3.3. So I'm like I'd be stupid to pay that off. I'm making 3% on the bank's money with inflation. So I have my car, my mortgage and my solar. That's the only debt. I have. Everything else no credit cards, nothing. No college loans, everything saved for my kids. I got three accounts all set up for my kids tax-free, by the way that they can use for college and having financial peace.
Joseph  Lombardi :
And with my childhood trauma, I gambled why? Because I would blow all the money I earned so I could get back into that trauma focus Cause that was something that I had to work through. Right, we all have our own things we have to deal with Because, if you think about it, if you win the lottery, how many of those people not only lose all their money but go bankrupt? Can you imagine winning $100 million and then, six years later, not only did you lose the $100 million and spend the $100 million, you spent $120 million. You're $20 million in debt and IRS debt, so you have to go bankrupt. So it's not about the money. I have clients. I've been doing this 22 years. I have 2,000 clients, over $2 billion of protection and rollovers. In my career, I won 29 industry awards. Right, I have clients who make $80,000 a year that are millionaires, and I have clients who make $600,000 combined and their net worth is negative.
Joseph  Lombardi :
Wow, I hope all you guys heard that it doesn't matter how much you make. That's the mindset, the trap they want you in. Oh well, I don't make six figures a year, so of course I'm brokey. I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't do this. So of course it's just, it's a BS excuse.
Joseph  Lombardi :
If you had every single thing planned out of what is going on, you can easily get to where you want to be. But if it's too complicated, I want to think about it. Work's stressing me out my girlfriend, my ex, my kids, my baby daddy, my baby mama. There's always going to be something in your life that is hard. And if you don't spend the time to do it and I'm doing it I'm getting my chubby fat butt to the gym three times a week because I realize if I'm rich and unhealthy, all the millions in the bank are going to be nothing.
Joseph  Lombardi :
If I'm in a ventilator or if I'm in a home or I have to stay home, I can't travel when I'm 65 or 70. So it's a balance. But you have to understand that money is, first of all, most talked about in the Bible than any other subject in the Bible. I wonder why? Because when you understand money, what it does is it gives you peace. It gives you freedom, and if you don't have that peace in your life, you will never be financially wealthy because you will find an excuse or a reason to blow it.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, I love that you brought up the amounts like the $80,000 and the $600,000. I want to pick on the $80,000. You mentioned people who make around $80,000 a year and they're millionaires. So they're like how the heck does that happen, joseph? Like I want to do that. So what did those people specifically do? Obviously, you mentioned get out of debt. I'm guessing that they are, and what's the next step then? What have they done all these years to get to that level?
Joseph  Lombardi :
So most of my clients invest in IRS code, right? I don't know if you remember when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were on the political stage fighting for presidency in 2016. And Hillary Clinton goes to Donald Trump shows your tax return, shows your tax return. Donald Trump says I show my tax return, I pay no taxes because I use the same IRS codes that your donors use in your 30 years. To close the loophole and you did it right. You can easily rewatch that. What they were talking about in that moment was IRS code 7702. You can Google it IRS code, section 7702. What the heck is that? That's a code embedded in permanent life insurance, not term life. Embedded in permanent life insurance, it allows my clients to be their own bank. Meaning, if this couple making $80,000 a year took 20% of their income, which would be $16,000 a year, lived under their means. Most important, most of us are living over our means. We spend 102.1% of our GDP as a country, which means for every dollar that comes in, we spend $1.02. So they lived under their means. They took 20% of every dollar that came in and they put it in my strategy right.
Joseph  Lombardi :
In that time it was called a whole life plan, right? Interest rates shot up. I just switched them all to an IUL right Indexed universal life. I know I'm speaking Spanish for a lot of you guys. So by doing that, it built a foundation for their family. What does that mean? Foundation all these generic terms.
Joseph  Lombardi :
What it will do specifically is it will give you the ability to leverage your money. There's no 59.5-year rule or 10% penalty. Like a 401k or an IRA, you cannot lose in either one. One uses option contracts like calls and longs against puts and stops. Now I'm starting to speak German. I get it. They have the ability to leverage the money out to finance vehicles, for they're their own bank. So imagine you not paying ford of america 13.99 on your car for seven years. An 84 month loan where the car you bought was 30 grand but you're paying 53 for it, paying 23 grand in interest over eight years. Imagine, instead of you doing that, you're in your own bank. The strategy has been averaging 15% and they charge you a 5% loan rate and you still earn money on money that's not there. You know what that's called. Viewers can Google this Non-direct recognition.
Joseph  Lombardi :
So if you have IRS code 7702 with non-direct recognition built into your life insurance retirement liquid savings account plan. You can then buy whatever you need for the rest of your life and earn interest on money that's not even there. So I had a client that just sold a house in California. I know these are large numbers, you don't have to do large numbers. I have clients who do $200 a month, $500 a month, Dumped in 1.1 million from the sale of his house in Santa Barbara. Bought a house in Arizona for 680,000, downsizing, divorce, had three kids they were older, so you didn't have to stay for custody or anything. Kids they were older, so he didn't have to stay for custody or anything. Put the 1.1 in my strategy, pulled out 680 the next day, still earned interest on 1.1., Even though 680 paid for his house, which saved him an additional half a million dollars in interest over the next 30 years. So now he was able to earn two streams of income on one US dollar.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, and that's incredible. I mean especially because and I don't know if you mentioned it this is infinite banking right. Is what you're talking about, be?
Joseph  Lombardi :
your own bank. Rich person's Roth. If you want to really learn about this, go to Forbes rich person's Roth on Google, and there's an article from 2018 on Forbes written by a public accountant who doesn't even sell life insurance, and there was one written in 2020 written by a public accountant who doesn't even sell life insurance, and there was one written in 2020 written by a certified financial planner, on this strategy that I've been doing for 22 years.
Brad Nelson:
Gotcha Okay. So now you had mentioned though, so I mean, what are the negative sides to this?
Joseph  Lombardi :
Like you had mentioned, this Yep, there is a negative side For some reason I'm guessing, if you back out, not a good thing?
Joseph  Lombardi :
What's called lapsing the policy. Cancel it, you're going to lose a boatload of money. Short term it sucks. It's not a 12 to 24 month strategy. I had a couple of clients that dumped.
Joseph  Lombardi :
You know, in that case, with the person had 1.1 million, taking out 680 the next day he was able to do that. But if he wanted to take out a million after putting in 1.1, he couldn't. He only had access to about 65%, 70% of his money year one, then it's like 75%, then it's 80%, then 86%, then 88%, then 90% and it's a 10-year surrender. And why would they do that? Well, they do that for number eight, to cover the insurance company's butts, because they pay us commission Right. And then people think, oh commission, oh you're just sell.
Joseph  Lombardi :
Do you know how much you pay in your 401k, in your ira? Do you know your 30th year of fees is more than what you contributed the first two years combined? Instead of a 401k or an ira, half the money while you're accumulating it goes to wall street. And then, when you take distributions out, half the money goes to the federal government. And what do you get when you're paying these? 12b1 fee, class A share fund fee, money manager fee, annual account fee, mutual fund expense fees. What are you getting? I'm getting the satisfaction of knowing I'm paying for some schmucks Lamborghini in Manhattan and I used to be that schmuck. I worked there for seven years in Manhattan Wall Street. I was there.
Joseph  Lombardi :
Or you can go the private route, where there's competition and hundreds of investment and financial and insurance companies fighting for your dollars and they're coming up with cool strategies of adding long-term care for free, adding liquidity features for free, adding option contracts, so you can't lose. Give us your dollar, peter. Give us your dollar, sarah. What's the government doing? They're a monopoly. Oh, pay the penalty, pay the fees. You're locked your money. Do you know how much money you got in 08 when you took out a distribution before you're 59 and a half? 31% of your account value. You're able to take out 31%, yeah, so what people don't do is they don't do that long-term planning. You have a past self, a present self and a future self. If you live in the past, you live in depression. If you live in the future, you live in anxiety. Right, but you have to plan for your future because if you don't do it, nobody will do it. And if you're enriching your present self with debt, debt, debt, debt, debt. All you're doing is screwing your future self.
Brad Nelson:
Right, you had mentioned you can set this up like a certain amount every single month, but how long does that go for? How does, like the whole structure of this whole thing work? The amount, how long is the term? Does it ever mature? What does that look like?
Joseph  Lombardi :
I have clients who dumped in 300 grand year one and paid nothing for the life of the loan. I have clients that do 500 bucks a month. It's very malleable and the cool thing about the IUL that's not in the whole life. Whole life is very rigid. You pay your $500 a month for 30 years and you'll get your million dollars of death benefit guaranteed to pay out whenever Right. Iul, the be your own bank strategy, is flexible. So what if you have a really good year? Right, you can throw in 20 grand. Let's say you have a really bad year, you put in zero. What if you have a really good year? You put in 15 grand. What if a bad year? You put in two grand. Right, so that gives you the flexibility.
Joseph  Lombardi :
I will tell you one thing what is bad about an IUL is if it is built wrong at the wrong carrier, with too much death benefit by a greedy commission hungry insurance agent. This has to be at the right carrier. There's only three of them and there's 200 to choose from. So good luck, there's only three of them. And it has to have the right riders and you have to lower the death benefit, because the death benefit is what has all the fees and where all our commissions come from is the more death benefit you buy, the more money we make, meaning I can make more money on a $500 a month policy than a $3,000 a month policy.
Joseph  Lombardi :
It's all how you build it and a lot of the public is so ignorant to it they're like sure, I'm just getting to be your own bank. Well, they realize they're getting rinsed and the policy is going to lapse and you're going to lose a boatload of money. So you have to make sure I mean half my business is replacing those crappy life insurance policies. You were sold by these network marketing life insurance guys where they're like plumbers nine to five and wife insurance financial planner from six to eight, like good luck. So you have to make sure it's done right.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, and, like you said, one of the benefits to infinite banking at least this model is that there is no penalty when you access that money like, say, like an IRA or a 401k something like that.
Joseph  Lombardi :
Well, not only is there no 10% penalty, there's no federal tax, there's no state tax, there's no FICA, medicare, unemployment or social security tax. There's no loss if the market goes down for any reason. It's sue proof, it's divorce proof in most states, right, it's averaging 15%, documented in writing by 178-year-old, the oldest insurance company in the world that does this strategy. The third oldest in the world behind New. This strategy, the third oldest in the world behind New York Life and Penn Mutual. I worked for both those companies, by the way, and me, being in the business for 22 years, working for six of the top eight insurance companies before I started my own business.
Joseph  Lombardi :
I know everything and I'm not sounding cocky or anything but when I tell you I know everything. I know everything about product, rider structure, whole life, iul, height, weight rate ratios, liquidity returns, and I'm a broker, a master broker. I have access to 200 carriers, so I actually work for my clients. I'm not pigeonholed because when I was working at MetLife, guess what I sold you MetLife auto, home, life, annuities, investment accounts, disability, long-term care. Were they the best in any of those? No, but that's all I could sell you. Now, being able to shop the whole market. I give you the best product on the market, I don't care what it is. That's only 3% of financial advisors, agents, insurance agents, planners in the world can do what I do.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, last question for you, justin. Before we get to, I'm going to give you an opportunity to let us know, like, where can people find out more information about infinite banking and if it's going to be right for them, or information about you. But if someone were in this and they do die, because you did say there is a death benefit, what happens to the money that they put in there to actually use as the investment side? Does that get brought back to the family or the estate, or how does that work?
Joseph  Lombardi :
Great question. So in a contract there's option A, which is level, which means you don't get the cash value. Then there's option B, which is called progressive, where you're able to have the cash value accumulated in the death benefit. So one, the death benefit goes up every single year as your cash value grows up, so you get both tax free. One is to keep the cost down. You could do level, because what if you don't care about the death benefit? What do you have? No kids. I have 18 to 22 year old people. All three of my kids have these policies right when they were born. You have a 15, 12 and nine year old, right. So my 15 year old almost has $100,000 in cash in his account by me putting away $380 a month for the last 15 years. It depends. Which is cool, because you do option A or option B and me having software, I can custom build plans for anybody, sure.
Brad Nelson:
And obviously as someone who's an expert in this. I mean, you have someone who's a and I'm guessing not everyone would be a good client for this product too, right? I mean you have to have a certain situation If you're super aggressive, aggressive, don't.
Joseph  Lombardi :
Do this. You know, like, if you like bitcoin and xrp and you're putting all your money there, good luck, keep it. Yeah, right, this is more of a conservative, no more like a moderate right. Whole life is conservative, right, don't, but the whole life is for grandma, right, the iul. Now I do have 18 to 22 year olds, because 15 tax-free annual compounding and the cost of insurance is still nothing for a 23-year-old, 30-year-old, 38-year-old. It's so cheap, right, if you're 55,. If you're 60, it may not be that strategy for you, unless you want long-term care and you don't want to be thrown into a jail, also known as a nursing home. Right, that's where I sell a boatload of it to the 55 to 70-year-old community. But I don't sell it as a growth play, even though you do get all your money back. I sell it as a long-term care play.
Brad Nelson:
Awesome. Well, Joseph, thanks so much, man. This has been interesting. I hope our listeners got a lot of this. And if they want more information, where can they find more information about you and Infinite Banking?
Joseph  Lombardi :
Right. So I've written three books. Being your Own Bank. There's a Better Way Than a 401k and Long-Term Care Without Long-Term Pain.
Joseph  Lombardi :
If any of your listeners like all three of my books, the articles, all the major news outlets I've been featured in International Business Times, business Insider, market Insider, I will send you everything for free. Just write an email to Joe at Ironhawk Financial Free books. I heard you on Debt Free Dad. I'll send you a Calendly link if you want to book a time on my calendar. If not, you don't go on any type of list or anything. So you can go to joe at ironhawkfinancialcom. Send me an email if you like, meaning you're not ready to meet with me, but you want to learn about this? Right, I'm going to give you everything for free. Number two if you are ready to meet with me, you can go to wwwironhawkfinancialcom iron like the metal hawk, like the bird financialcom and there's a contact us button on the top right. Just fill out your name, your email and your phone number and me or somebody on my team will reach out to you to get you on my calendar. Awesome.
Brad Nelson:
Well, like I said, thanks so much for being here. We appreciate your time.
Joseph  Lombardi :
I appreciate you, and I'm a debt-free dad too, and it feels great Awesome.
Brad Nelson:
I love it, man. Thanks so much. All right, guys, if you're ready to break free from living paycheck to paycheck, you want to reduce financial stress, you want to build savings and finally pay off debt for good, but again, you're not sure exactly where to get started. Don Simplify my Money is sent each Sunday to your email. It's your step-by-step roadmap to better financial control, and you're also going to learn some easy to follow strategies to manage your money effectively Stress-free money decisions that will help you simplify your financial life with proven tips that work, and you're going to gain the tools and the confidence to tackle your financial goals head on. Sign up for Simplify my Money by clicking the link at the top of the show. Notes me. Let's talk about death. Let's talk about death. Tune into Death, free Death. Tune into Death, free.
Joseph  Lombardi :
Death.
Brad Nelson:
All right, guys. You know that sound means it's time for the celebrations of the show, and today we are kicking it off with Daria. Daria says I've been doing my Roots 15 every day and this week I've also tracked all of my spending, which is awesome. She said she set up automatic savings for $100 a month. I was also able to keep groceries and dining out within her budget this week. Daria, amazing wins for you. Congratulations, vanessa.
Brad Nelson:
I had three goals listed in my debt freedom planner. Number one pay off my husband's truck five months early to free up that cash for other debts. Number two add $200 to our emergency fund. And three use points and cash to buy airline tickets. She reports. All three have been accomplished, vanessa. And that car getting paid off. Man, it's got to feel amazing. Congratulations to you.
Brad Nelson:
And last but not least is Misty. Misty says I paid off a credit card this month and paid extra on the next one. I wrote out my budget and it's ugly, admittedly, but it's done. My next budget will be way better. I started my cash envelope system to manage spending better. Misty, number one I'm glad you're taking action and you're getting started. You're right, that first budget can be a little ugly, but, yeah, they're going to get better. So great job in getting going, hey guys. As always, congratulations to all of you guys who are taking a stand for your financial life and are wanting better. Hey, we get that. Getting out of debt isn't easy, but with our help and hopefully with your consistency and discipline, we promise you guys this will be some of the best work that you guys do in your entire life. Thanks for joining us on today's show and we'll see you guys on the next episode.
Announer:
Thanks for listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast. Connect with us on Facebook, tiktok, youtube and Instagram. Just search Debt-Free Dad. If you found value in today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. We so appreciate it. For resources, show notes and links mentioned in today's show visit debtfreedadcom. Catch you next week.