Lake Growth Financial Services

07/16/2026

This week's takeaway: time and effort, applied with discipline, compounds. If you would like to talk through your next step, visit lakegrowth.com and click the scheduling button. What are you committing to this month?

07/15/2026

Yin and yang: a little soft even when you are hard. Your money can carry that same balance, security and opportunity at the same time. Where could yours use more balance?

07/14/2026

Ninja Masters never stop practicing the basics. “The more we push ourselves, the better we are at those basic building blocks.” Which money basic are you recommitting to?

07/13/2026

This week we explored a surprising overlap between kung fu mastery and the Bank On Yourself philosophy. One idea reframed the whole conversation: “Most people think black belt is where you end. But we say black belt is where you start.” The same is true of a funded policy or a first real savings habit. It is a beginning, not a trophy. Where in your financial life have you mistaken a finish line for a starting line?
https://youtu.be/9yRnq7j3Nj0?si=TS7I_95Ykwd0WO8O

Phil Smith—long‑time Lake Growth client, seasoned banker, and now i...

07/09/2026

This week's episode made the Black Belt concrete. Three real clients — a $180,000-a-year professional, a $92,000 business owner, and a $420,000 consultant — all running their entire income through the same fundamental system.

The math is extraordinary.

But so is the warning.

"Without a clear repayment plan, don't do the black belt." Phantom income from a lapsed policy can undo everything you built. This is a strategy that requires monthly attention, a certified professional, and a specific repayment plan tied to a real event. If you want to see what this looks like with your numbers, the conversation starts at notyouraveragefinancialpodcast.com. Request a Meeting. Write "Black Belt" in the notes.

07/08/2026

Rachel earns $420,000/year net. Every dollar into her policies first. Borrows back for mortgage. Private school. Commercial real estate.

Repayment tied to a specific planned business exit.

Cash value: growing every day. Untouched by all the spending.

"Every transaction can become a financial flywheel." — Mark Willis, CFP®

Two tracks. Running simultaneously.

07/07/2026

Were you aware before this episode that a lapsed whole life policy could trigger a tax bill on gains you never received in cash?

07/06/2026

What does the black belt look like for someone earning ninety-two thousand dollars a year after taxes?

Mike is a mid-forties business owner with a local service company. Not an unusual income. Not a dramatic backstory.

But three years ago, he flipped his entire financial system upside down.

Every paycheck goes into his policies first. He borrows back for groceries, utilities, the Costco run, the kids' activities. He financed both family cars this way — paid cash at the dealership, repaid the loan to himself. When his HVAC business needed repairs, he borrowed from the policy, paid the vendor immediately, then repaid on schedule.

Every December, when his bonus hits, he makes a lump-sum repayment. Capital recycled. System recharged.

Three years in: "His policies are now generating more annual growth than his total annual contributions."

That is the crossover moment. And at $92,000 a year, it happened in three years.

What would need to change for you to reach that crossover?

07/04/2026

Time to declare our independence!

07/04/2026

Freedom isn't just a holiday.
It's a banking strategy.

Happy Independence Day!
-- Lake Growth Financial Services