The MindShift Podcast

Wealth Building without Risk with Sarry Ibrahim

1/19/23 3:07 PM

5 Minutes Read

Episode 78

Sarry Ibrahim is a financial planner and a member of the Bank On Yourself Organization. He helps real estate investors, business owners and full time employees grow safe and predictable wealth regardless of market conditions using a financial strategy that has been around for over 160 years.

After getting his MBA, he decided to start his financial services firm that focuses on one sole concept, the “Bank On Yourself Concept” also known as the “Infinite Banking Concept”.

During our show today, we discuss how product commoditization is hurting the financial services industry, why consumers need to start thinking like a bank, the powerful concept of arbitrage and why following popular financial advice may be risky.

If you are an aspiring high net worth individual, real estate investor, business owner, or someone looking to grow and protect your wealth in a predictable and safe way, then you’re going to want to tune into this episode.

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full Episode:

The “Bank On Yourself Concept”.
How product commoditization is hurting the financial services industry.
Why you should go from thinking like a consumer to thinking like a bank.

Episode Highlights

Who is Sarry Ibrahim

- Sarry is a financial planner and MBA graduate.
- Founder of Financial Asset Protection which is a virtual insurance agency.
- He helps people grow safe and predictable wealth regardless of market conditions.
- His mission is to spread awareness about the “Bank On Yourself Concept”.
- He recently started a podcast called “Thinking Like a Bank’’.

How it all started

- Sarry wasn’t clear on what he wanted to do but knew that he liked solving problems.
- He pursued an MBA to open his mind up to different opportunities.
- His specialization at the time was project management, but he soon discovered that this was not for him. He made the shift to insurance which in turn led him to financial services.

The trigger

- Sarry was a national sales rep and enjoyed his job.
- He traveled a lot, made good money and had great benefits.
- One day at the airport, it occurred to him how unstable his job was. In relation to other jobs, sales reps are the first to go when a company is not doing well.
- He knew he needed to become self employed and start his own business for more stability.

One of the biggest problems out there

- Financial services have become too commodified and too branded.
- It’s very product and price driven, too close to the numbers.
- Financial planning should not be about the best company or the financial advisor with the most credentials.
- Financial planning should be personally driven. About your personal goals and your objectives.

The Bank On Yourself Concept

- Not a new strategy. It’s been around for over 160 years.
- Also known as the infinite banking concept. A dividend paying whole life insurance.
- The concept allows for you to grow and protect your wealth in a predictable and safe manner.
- It’s a long term strategy that allows you to build and protect wealth.
- You won’t be impacted by future market trends, which eliminates risk.

A common misconception

- Relying on banks for more access to capital for scaling your business.
- When you have a line of credit that you’re paying back on time each month, banks will likely increase your limit and you will feel like business is going well.
- The problem is, it’s not the interest rate that you’re paying, it’s the volume of interest you’re paying. How many times you’re paying it to the bank.
- Banks are earning passive income from business owners and this needs to change so that you can recoup that interest back into your own pocket instead of paying it to lenders.

The lack of control

- Lines of credit are not permanent and they’re unsecured a lot of the time.
- Banks are able to reduce or shut down your line of credit should they wish to do so, it’s referred to as a callable loan. Loans are in favour of the banks.
- This happened in 2008 to many people.
- Two problems that exist for real estate investors and business owners are loss of opportunity cost to the interest; and the lack of control.

What banks don’t want you to know

- Banks are the largest purchasers of whole life insurance.
- When a bank needs to loan out money to another bank, they go to their whole life insurance policy and loan that out at a higher interest rate.
- This is where the concept of arbitrage comes in, they buy at a certain rate and sell it at a greater rate.
- Anyone can have whole life insurance and borrow against it. This is where the mind shift comes into play. Going from thinking like a consumer to thinking like a bank.

Defining arbitrage

- Arbitrage shows up everywhere in life.
- In simple terms, it’s the difference between what you bought something for and what you sell it for.
- In a supply chain for example, there is a little arbitrage along each step of the process. Your gross margin is your arbitrage.
- Not commoditized.

There are alternatives

- There are alternative options that you can consider.
- You can have a great credit score today but it can be gone tomorrow.
- An economic event can happen where banks end up freezing your credit lines and it can be devastating. You can’t predict what the stock markets are going to do in years to come.
- Inform yourself about alternative options like whole life insurance so you can make an informed decision on what’s best for you and the generations to come.

How does Sarry want to be remembered?

- Sarry wants to be remembered as the person who helped people solve their problems.

3 Powerful Quotes from this Episode

Your Objectives

8:18 – “You want an expert, and you want somebody competent in financial planning. But more important than that, from the client’s perspective, it’s about identifying your objectives, what you want to accomplish in your life personally, what’s important to you, and then finding an advisor that cares about your objectives and helps you reach your specific goals.”

Surviving

10:50 – “Businesses and banks and people who were able to survive through the Great Depression, where people who had cash value whole life insurance, because cash value whole life insurance, was it impacted by the depression, and future market trends won’t impact it.”

It’s Not Finite

27:43 – “So it gets kind of tricky, because it’s not a finite percentage, it’s not once you allocate the funds to the whole life policy, that’s all you can do is just put it in whole life insurance.”

About Sarry Ibrahim

Sarry Ibrahim is a financial planner who helps real estate investors, business owners, and full time employees grow safe and predictable wealth regardless of market conditions using a financial strategy called the “Bank On Yourself Concept” also known as the “Infinite Banking Concept”.

As a financial consultant, Sarry has cultivated a reputation for putting his clients first. He consults without expectations or preconceived ideas to ensure that he is solving his clients’ problems. That’s the value Sarry offers and what he prides himself in.

Over the years, Sarry has earned the trust and confidence of his clients, bolstering their returns and providing the guidance to safely navigate adverse micro and macroeconomic conditions. While others see hurdles, Sarry identifies places of certainty when explaining financial projections. As a licensed advisor, he has helped business owners protect their assets from various risks and is an advocate of pursuing purposeful investment strategies that minimizes risk and maximizes the value of a clients’ portfolio to meet their evolving financial needs.

If you are a real estate investor, business owner, high-income earner or a retiree looking for financial solutions that protect your assets, Sarry invites you to reach out and connect with him for a free consultation.