Fly First Class or Your Kids Will: Shootin' It Straight With Stan®

Today's topic's a good one; it hits close to home but might also hit close to home with you. It's called Fly First Class or Your Kids Will. I want you to think about that. I'm notorious for saying, "There are no U- Hauls behind hearses." I had a person the other day say, "Stan, you're wearing me out with this. You keep doing and saying it." And my comment to him was, "Well, we have thousands and thousands and thousands of people that watch the videos, and some of them are brand new, and they never heard, 'There are no U-Hauls behind hearses.'" He goes, "Well, do me a favor and just work in the phrase 'Fly first class, or your kid's will.'" And I'm like, "I will. I'll do it, and I'll make content on that."

I like this topic because you might have the kids I have. I have great kids, two daughters, but they like the good things in life. I've provided for them. And my comment is always, "When I die, they'll helicopter into my funeral, and then they'll drive away in a Lamborghini or a Ferrari or a Bentley." My only hope is that they're making payments on them. I've put restrictions on the payouts of the annuities that they're going to get, where they're not going to get a lump sum. They'll get it in payment form. That's the only hope, and you might also have those kids. My kids are good kids and pragmatic and rational, but that's the statement I make because I'd rather you spend it than them. I always tell them, "My check's going to bounce, so you'll have to cover it. And there's a lot of life insurance to cover it, so don't complain. You'll be okay."

My good friend Jim, down in Melbourne, Florida, yelled at me for years and years, "Listen, Stan. Your 6'6", almost 6'7." Why are you flying coach? Fly first class." And he didn't say, "Because your kids will." He said, "Fly first class because you can write it off." But if he'd have said, "Fly first class because your kids will if you don't," I probably would've taken him up on it sooner than when I did. One of the reasons I took it up is if you've flown coach anytime in the past few years, those seats are getting very small. But the point is this, I need you to live for the day. I need you to start spending money. I was on a phone call the other day, and a gentleman was talking about his money market, which was paying a good percentage. I don't want to date myself on it, but it was a good percentage. And he's saying, "Stan, should I lock it into a MYGA and get an extra two percentage points on that money?" And so, I said, "Well, right now, you have it in something that's completely liquid, and you're getting a high percentage, and that's great. Would the extra two percentage points we're going to get on that Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity, is that going to change your life? Is that going to make you spend more money? Is that going to make you travel more, eat out better, and buy the house in Hawaii?" He said, "Well, I don't know. It seems like a lot." How long are you going to say that? Up until your deathbed? I mean, seriously. Think about it.

Most of you can change your lifestyle for the better and not miss a beat. We talk about inflation. I just did a controversial video called Stop Complaining About Inflation because most of us can afford inflation. 60% of the public can't and don't have $400 in their checking account. But that's not you. That's not who's reading this. If you are, then my heart goes out to you. But isn't it time to start doing things for yourself? How hard is it? Or is it a disease and an affliction that you can't come off of and that you might need counseling? I'm not kidding. To help you out of the doldrums of just not spending and watching, just looking at your statements. To give you a personal example, my wife and I have lived in the same house in Florida for 20-plus years. Never painted it, inside or outside, and never really done any upgrades. We're very blessed to live in the house we live in, but we were always suffering from that, "Well, it would be expensive, and it'd be kind of a pain in the butt to do it." But finally, here, recently, and I tell you what, COVID has set a fire underneath me to get that bucket list out and check it off. I'm checking it off. I'm checking it with a Sharpie, a big, felt tip, permanent Sharpie.

I'm going to live my life. I told my wife, "Let's do it. Let's redo the house. I want you to get exactly what you wanted." God bless her. She's a martyr for living with me for 35 years of marriage. If anyone deserves it, it's her. Is it going to cost us some money? Yes. Can we afford it? Yes. Can you do the same thing? Probably. Should you? Maybe. Why not? Why wouldn't you?

There are so many of you that I talk to, and we're so fortunate to work with thousands of clients in all 50 states. And when I told someone the other day when I open up my schedule, it's like a Taylor Swift ticket event. It fills up. If you've ever tried to schedule a call with me, it's pretty tough. People want to have that brutal conversation, and the word's gotten out that it's going to be fun when you talk to me. It's going to be lively, and it's going to be brutally factual. And we're both going to tell the truth, and we're going to laugh, and we're going to get down to it. A lot of times, I'm going to ask you, "What you're doing, is it going to change your life? And if it is, will it change it for the better? If you make more money, are you going to spend more? Because if you don't, your kids will fly first class. Why don't you fly first class? Think about it for a second."

For those of you without kids, this is a no-brainer. Spend it. Leave whatever's left to charity, if any. For those of you with legacy goals and family members you want to leave the money to, you can still do that, but don't do that to the detriment of your lifestyle. You know what I'm talking about. You are rational and pragmatic, and you're not going to make huge mistakes with your money. You're not going to do something crazy where you're going to run out of it. All I'm asking you to do is upgrade your life because you've earned and deserved it. I'm asking you to upgrade the house, buy a new car, lease a new car, go on that vacation, eat out at the restaurant you've driven by 50,000 times, and you say, "Man, that must be expensive." Find out if it's worth it. Find out if that steakhouse is worth it that you drive past, and you say, "Well, we'll buy on steaks and cook it." Why not try it?

I want my clients, my people like you that are giving me this time, and I want to encourage you to do things that you could never have dreamed of doing. You've earned it, and you've worked forever. There's a book out there called The Millionaire Next Door. I think it's one of the best books ever written. And The Millionaire Next Door, if you want to read it, talks about how most millionaires are not trust- fund babies, inheritance babies, and they're not people who won the lottery. They're not people who have just walked in and won a genetic lottery of wealth. They are people that work normal jobs, and they scrimp, save, and work for decades, and put the money away. That's the millionaire next door. The millionaire next door is not the person driving the Ferrari. It's the person driving the Honda Accord. Nothing against Honda Accords. That's who the millionaire next door is. The millionaire next door is you. And I said to a person the other day, "It's time to start maybe acting a little rich. Act rich. You don't have to be arrogant and walk around flaunting it, but act confident that you can do things."

Think about where you're at. With 60% of the public having less than $400 in their checking account, where does that put you? Top 10%, maybe? Act like it. Do things like that's the case. We can structure it, so you'll never run out of money. As long as you're breathing and/or on a ventilator, we can structure it, so you'll get payments. We can also structure it if you go to that assisted living center and are not thinking very well. Remember "Go go, slow go, and no go," the three stages of retirement? If you're in slow go and no go, we can structure it so that the income's coming in, and you don't have to be a burden to anybody. It's funny, I find myself doing these Shooting It Straight With Stan content, and initially, it's talking about annuities. And when we're talking about strategies, I'm finding myself doing more and more of these, which is talking to you, one-on-one, and saying, "What's chapter two like? What have you got planned?" It's not the same old, same old. Right?

Great story. In St. Augustine, Florida, my mom used to get these things in the mail. It's a $10 coupon, and they'll give you a $10 bill if you drive to the Honda dealership or go to the local outlet mall. She didn't understand why they were doing that. Eventually, they want to sell you something, but she just wanted to get the $10. My comment to her was, "You don't need the $10. If you stop doing that, I'll give you a stack of $10 bills." But she's in the mindset. "Well, it's $10 and free money." No. Nothing's free. You got to get in your car. You got to put yourself at risk. You got to drive the car and put gas in the car. No. Are you that person? That coupon person? Do you still need to be a coupon person? There was a time in my life we had to be coupon people. We needed coupons. Do you still need coupons? Do you still do that? Why do you still do that? Do you need to do that? Probably not.

I'm turning into a financial therapist. Stan The Annuity Man®, your financial therapist, walking you through life's stages so you can live life to the fullest. If that's my job here, then that's my job. I sell Contractual Guarantees, and there's nothing fancy to that, thank goodness. But I want you to think about it, and think about the phrase and walk around with it, "Fly first class, or your kid's will." And you know I'm right. Right about that with my kids, and I love my kids to death and would do anything for them. And they probably will fly first class if I don't. By the way, if my kids are reading this, Dad's flying first class from here on in. Dad's going to live his life. Dad's going to check all the boxes. Dad's going to do the bucket list. And if there's anything left over for you, and there will be, then have fun with it.

Never forget to live in reality, not the dream, with annuities and contractual guarantees! You can use our calculators, get all six of my books for free, and most importantly book a call with me so we can discuss what works best for your specific situation.