Many philosophers have contemplated the inevitability of death and taxes. But despite knowing both are coming, most people avoid planning for either until it's too late. What happens when you die without a proper estate plan? What's the difference between a will and a trust? And why does the government already have an estate plan for you—whether you like it or not?

This episode tackles estate planning head-on. Hans walks through the foundational concepts from his CLU coursework while Brian shares the painful reality of navigating Pennsylvania's probate system after losing his mother. The contrast is striking: life insurance proceeds arrived within a week, tax-free and hassle-free. Everything else? A year-long nightmare involving shyster attorneys, arbitrary timelines, and a state government eager to collect its pound of flesh.

The episode also addresses a critical oversight many families make: naming minor children as contingent beneficiaries on life insurance policies. Insurance companies cannot pay minors directly, which reintroduces the exact inefficiencies you were trying to avoid. One possible solution? Establish a trust and name it as your contingent beneficiary.

Chapters:

• 00:00 – Opening segment

• 02:00 – Why estate planning matters for everyone

• 03:30 – Brian's probate experience in Pennsylvania

• 07:30 – The one-year waiting period and attorney fees

• 11:45 – Life insurance: the easiest transfer by far

• 15:00 – Definition of estate planning: accumulate, manage, conserve, transfer

• 17:30 – Effective vs. efficient transfers explained

• 19:45 – The three places your assets can go

• 24:00 – Federal estate tax: 40% above the exemption

• 29:00 – The five-year thought exercise

• 37:00 – Minor children as beneficiaries: the hidden problem

• 43:30 – What would change if you had five years left?

• 54:00 – Heritage over inheritance: passing down more than money

• 59:05 - Closing Segment
  

Key Takeaways:

• You Already Have an Estate Plan: If you haven't created one, the government has a default plan for you—and it prioritizes creditors and bureaucratic process over your family's needs.

• A Will Is Not Enough: Wills direct the probate court on asset distribution, but assets still go through a lengthy, costly, public legal process. Trusts bypass probate entirely.

• Life Insurance Skips the Mess: Death benefits transfer directly to beneficiaries, tax-free, within days—no court involvement, no waiting periods, no attorney fees.

• Don't Name Minors as Beneficiaries: Insurance companies cannot pay children directly. Name a trust as your contingent beneficiary to maintain efficiency and control.

• The Five-Year Exercise Changes Everything: If you knew your exact death date, your priorities would shift immediately. Use that clarity now—maximize protection, spend time with family, stop deferring what matters.

• Estate Planning Is for the Living: Half of estate planning—accumulation and management—happens while you're alive. This isn't just about death; it's about building and protecting wealth today.

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Joe Withrow, Brian Moody, and Hans Toohey deliver a joint strategy session on building a financial foundation that survives contact with reality. Why does traditional financial planning put growth before protection? What happens when your plan gets punched in the face? And why is Infinite Banking the only savings vehicle that accomplishes two critical goals simultaneously?

Most people have been trained to think their 401(k) is savings and their term life insurance is "just in case." They're told to focus on growth—index funds, average rates of return, retirement projections—while protection and actual savings become afterthoughts. But when job loss hits, disability strikes, or markets crater, the whole plan collapses. This episode reveals the proper order of operations: protect first, save second, grow third. Hans breaks down why "average rate of return" is a meaningless data point. Brian illustrates the parallel paths of protection and wealth accumulation with the diagram that makes it all click. And Joe explains why buying insurance isn't an expense if you do it correctly—it's saving money that immediately becomes accessible capital.

The conversation covers IBC mechanics, policy loans that don't disrupt compounding, real estate purchases funded with cash value, the power of dinner table time for passing down values, and why building generational wealth starts with one decision: get the foundation right, then everything else becomes possible.

Chapters:

• 00:00 - Opening segment

• 01:25 - New Year's resolutions: tangible goals vs. vague aspirations

• 08:50 - The invention of "Retirement Inc." in the 1970s

• 11:05 - Protect, Save, Grow: the proper order of operations

• 13:10 - What traditional CFPs get wrong about protection

• 14:35 - Why "average rate of return" is a useless metric

• 16:40 - Brian's parallel paths diagram begins

• 19:30 - The two parallel paths: protection and wealth accumulation

• 22:30 - What can disrupt the wealth curve? (audience participation)

• 25:50 - Poor investment decisions: the most common sabotage

• 27:05 - Infinite money printing: Congress is the real villain

• 30:05 - Low Stress Options trading: the 1% per week framework

• 32:25 - Why people abandon the framework (and regret it)

• 33:00 - Systematizing savings: DCA into gold and Bitcoin every week

• 36:25 - UPMA for fractional gold ownership

• 37:45 - IBC: not an expense, it's saving money

• 39:15 - The kids' policies: $3,000 payment = $3,500 cash value

• 40:10 - Legal protection: equity in life insurance vs. bank accounts

• 41:15 - Brian: IBC's rate isn't big compared to investments, but...

• 42:50 - Whole life matches a guaranteed event (death) with guaranteed outcome

• 44:30 - Joe's real estate purchases funded by policy loans

• 45:30 - Hans breaks down policy loan mechanics (not simple interest)

• 47:40 - Annual compounding with principal-only repayments

• 48:15 - Hans's approach: keep loans levered for LSO trading

• 49:45 - Cash doesn't find opportunities, opportunities find cash

• 51:00 - Brian's land purchase: opportunity requires capital

• 53:10 - Making purchases for freedom and security, not money itself

• 59:30 - Actionable next steps

• 1:08:40 - Heritage over inheritance: building bloodline strength

• 1:09:30 - The Five Pillars: financial is just one piece

• 1:10:10 - Passing down American values and family culture

• 1:12:25 - Dinner table time: 90 minutes in the '70s vs. 11 minutes today

• 1:14:30 - Start at your locus of control and expand outward

• 1:15:20 - Multi-generational thinking: buying IBC for grandkids

• 1:27:00 - Closing segment

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Brian breaks down the most misunderstood aspect of Infinite Banking: loan repayments. Why do we pay ourselves back at market rates? What does EVA actually mean? And what happens when you pay yourself more than the insurance company charges?

Most people think being their own banker means they can be loose with repayment—skip payments, pay whenever, charge themselves whatever rate feels right. You can, per the contract. But should you? This episode reveals why maintaining market-rate discipline for the full loan duration is what separates wealth builders from people who just talk about IBC. Brian explains where that "extra interest" actually goes, how to decide how much to pay against your loan, and how Parkinson's Law can destroy generational wealth before it ever gets started.

Discipline is what builds legacy wealth. Without it, you're just the worst kind of bank: one with no standards, no discipline, and ultimately no capital.

• 00:00 - Opening segment

• 00:40 - Introduction: Why loan repayments trip people up

• 01:30 - Policy loan mechanics: you're not withdrawing, you're borrowing

• 02:10 - Economic Value Added (EVA): the fundamental principle

• 03:05 - Why people go sideways: thinking interest doesn't matter

• 03:30 - Nelson Nash's recommendation: pay market rates for full duration

• 04:40 - What "market rates" actually means

• 05:20 - Maintaining discipline that creates wealth

• 06:30 - The $30K car loan example at 5% over 5 years

• 07:25 - Where does the extra interest go when you pay yourself more?

• 08:30 - The insurance company doesn't care what rate you calculate

• 09:30 - Should you keep paying after the loan is satisfied early?

• 11:00 - Where most people sabotage themselves: the early payoff trap

• 11:30 - Parkinson's Law: expenses rise to meet income

• 12:50 - What to do when your PUAs are maxed out

• 14:00 - Capital deployment vs. consumption: know the difference

• 14:20 - Parkinson's Law destroys generational wealth

• 16:00 - The temptation to "save on interest" (you're paying yourself)

• 17:00 - "But I can make more investing elsewhere" - the speculation trap

• 18:10 - IBC isn't about loopholes, it's about discipline

• 19:10 - Practical implementation: set up auto-pay, treat it like any loan

• 19:40 - The $40K truck example: paying 7% when insurance charges 5%

• 22:30 - Decision tree when your policy is truly maxed

• 26:15 - Income doesn't equal wealth: the $500K pilot who's broke

• 27:00 - The $80K family building dynastic wealth

• 28:40 - Final recap: market rates, full duration, have a plan

• 30:00 - EVA: every loan should create value, every payment should build

• 30:45 - If your practitioner says rates don't matter, run

• 31:20 - The Moody Family Creed and how it applies here

• 31:50 - Closing thoughts

Economic Value Added (EVA): The fundamental question: did the thing you financed produce more value than the loan cost you? Borrow at 5%, asset returns 8% = positive EVA. Borrow at 5%, thing depreciates = negative EVA.

Pay Yourself Market Rates: Nelson Nash recommended paying loans back at market rates or higher— at least what you'd pay elsewhere for similar financing. This maintains the discipline that creates wealth.

The Full Duration Principle: Even if you pay a loan off early by using higher interest rates, keep making those payments for the full original term. A 5-year loan means 5 years of payments to your system.

The Early Payoff Trap: This is where most people sabotage themselves.

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Chapters:Key Takeaways:Got Questions? Reach out to us at info@remnantfinance.com or book a call at https://remnantfinance.com/calendar !