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At some point in our lives, things become real. In fact, sometimes things become ‘really’ real. Years ago, Mark Bertrang had a client who worked in the silk-screening industry. This specialization creates the display printing on the front of your kitchen appliances and the imprinted dials and wood grain dashboard finishes of your automobile. Mark had always been impressed with some of the beautiful finishes on the dashboard detailing of premium automobiles. He was disappointed to learn that the ‘wood’ finishing was barely wood at all. Instead, it was simply a sheet of paper (so, it was kind of wood) encased inside epoxy or plastic. So, was it real or was it not real? The discussion of life insurance can be the same, as Mark shares the story of how this young design engineer’s life ended abruptly. How might term insurance play out as compared to permanent whole life insurance? Is one real and the other not real?

There are three questions you need to ask yourself. Mark Bertrang read these questions from Joe Polish's new book, What's in it for them?, this morning with his team, as he does each day at 9:00am sharp! The questions are: #1. Where are you? #2. Where do you want to go? and #3. How are you going to get there? These three questions might be the only ones you need to ask yourself in determining your present, your future and your journey. During this video Mark Bertrang also explores the additional three roadblocks that might be preventing you from succeeding in your personal goals.

When winter arrives, we begin to downshift into a brand-new driving mode.  We become much more cautious; at least if you’re an experienced driver.  While having my morning coffee at breakfast this morning, I received a text from a team member notifying me that they would be arriving late into the office due to his young and still somewhat inexperienced teenage driver sliding into the ditch on the way to school.  He was waiting for a tow truck along the side of the road.  This incident only caused damage to the driver’s feelings, but it provided important future wisdom,that can only be learn through experience.  We can’t all know all everything. That’s when we look toward the wisdom of others, who have gained that wisdom through their own years' worth of experience.

What do Halls cough drops have to do with life insurance contracts? We’ll discuss the importance of security and guarantees found within whole life insurance policies.

Mark Bertrang discusses best strategies for utilizing your Required Minimum Distributions. 

How do you rent your money?  That quick question answers the definition of borrowing.  Taking a loan out, whether it's from a bank or a credit union or any number of financial institutions, simply means that you’re renting money.  The real question is, at what cost?  What is the cost to you to rent someone else’s money to get what you want?  What is the amount you can borrow?  What are the terms – the interest charged or the length of the loan?  What is the collateral you have to put up to obtain the loan; your house, your business?  What happens if you want to delay or skip a payment?  Is there another way? 

When you travel down the road and break at a stop sign with a "T" in the road, you have to make a decision to either go left or right.  A roundabout, on the other hand, may have multiple options which are either left, right, forward or back from where you began your journey.  As with politics, as we just witnessed with our recent national and state elections, many folks believe there is only a left or right decision; but when determining a future decision for yourself it may not necessarily be one or another.  Sometimes, whether the decision may be right or wrong, we simply need to get ourselves out of the roundabout, where we tend to find ourselves stuck going around and around. 

We have a Ginkgo tree outside of our office.  This is a species of tree native to China. Fossils show that they’ve been around since the dinosaurs.  A unique characteristic of the Ginkgo tree, unlike all other trees, is that once the temperature drops below freezing; the very next day, a Ginkgo drops all if its leaves in just one day.  Whereas, most trees may drop their leaves over days or even weeks. Term Life Insurance works very much the same way.  You might enjoy the original purchase you’ve made. Yet, all-at-once, the foliage drops and its’ season of life is over. Unlike an Evergreen, which remains green no matter the season of life.  Do you own “Ginkgo” like Term Life Insurance?  Is that your best ‘forever’ choice?

People simply wish to barrel their way through  without taking the time to come to a complete stop and to protect themselves from the dangers and liabilities of life.  During the YouTube version of this podcast, Mark Bertrang is literally standing at a parking lot exit with a Stop sign to his right and one to his left. As he is speaking, you can literally count one vehicle after another simply sliding through into the street without stopping.  That is how most people behave in building their wealth too.  They’re concerned about building wealth, yet give little or no consideration to the protection of their wealth.  Mark Bertrang suggests coming to a complete stop to protect your assets for the expected and for the unexpected that life may throw your way.

If you're like Mark Bertrang, you might spend more time watching professional golf than playing anything that looks like 'professional' golf.  Mark is lucky if he hits a few buckets of balls annually at a local driving range in his community.  Unfortunately, he feels the pressure when he actually plays golf, which leaves him frustrated with his swing...and his score.  During this video Mark describes the importance of 'the swing' as opposed to 'the clubs' when playing golf.  This example could also be used in describing baseball - The 'bat' verses the 'swing'.  Are you in a constant search for the best, the cheapest, the newest life insurance product?  Mark Bertrang has been swinging the 'life insurance club' for over thirty-five years.  He knows how to drive, chip and putt expertly.  Get ready for an explanation of using the life insurance asset when you tee-up on the greens of life.