We are working with a bunch of hypotheses here, the first being the hypothesis that you have a rate of return that will grow.  With mutual funds, which are the typical investments for variable life insurance, the increase is contingent upon the performance of that particular area of the market.

Also, you need to be aware of fees, which the insuring agency can manipulate quite a bit.  Thus, even in the best scenario—that in which your stocks do return 10%—you will generate less than 10%.  And the best scenario is highly unlikely, given the recent rates.

And if the insurer talks about the idea of tax sheltering, he is correct; your profits from the policy are not taxed.  There’s another benefit, too, that he will probably dangle in front of you:  the returns on low-interest loans that get paid back once you die.

But what if the policy lapses and you are left with huge loans and a huge tax bill?  The risks seem pretty high.  And the picture that the insurer paints seems to be pretty complex.  The idea of pairing investments and life insurance presents too many unknowns and too many difficulties to unravel.

Stick with 401(k) and IRA options.  If you use these up, you might consider tax-managed mutual funds instead.  If, after all of this, you find yourself still seriously interested, you should talk to a financial adviser, and have him investigate the possibility in detail for you.

We too have battles to fight. We all have great dreams and aspirations for the future. We all want to leave a legacy for our children and our grandchildren. Yet, sometimes we sacrifice what is best for what is easier, or what is merely “enough.” We put our dreams on the “back burner” for someday…then that someday never comes.

Self-defeating thoughts, self-fulfilling prophecies and glass ceilings limit your dreams and your upward progress, and this is especially true in the financial arena. If you don’t have confidence in yourself, no one else will have confidence in you either. You cannot continually allow negative thoughts and attitudes to determine your future and expect to succeed. If you indulge negativity, you will forever limit your potential.

Self-confidence is contagious. Once you start believing in yourself, others will too. If you allow yourself to dream big, then see yourself achieving wealth beyond your dreams, and reaching your goals in life. Catch a vision and don’t let go of it.

Here is the secret: There is a huge difference between wanting to change, and making a change. If you start right now, not procrastinate until tomorrow, but get up right now and start to change little things, eventually you will win. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Your mind is like a tape player, and your memories are the movies on the tape. Determine in yourself right now to start re-recording over that old tape with positive, successful thoughts and attitudes. Begin to unlearn bad habits and replace them with good habits, which will in time become good character, good decisions and positive actions. But you have to take the first step of faith in yourself if you are going to succeed in life, and succeed financially. You have to be the one to burn the ships of the past, and declare that “Financial Failure is NOT an Option!”