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Intro to Becoming Your Own Banker MERCER ISLAND May 2025 F.I.R.E. Group
Saturday, May 17, 2025, 11:00 AM PDT
Category: Events

 

Where: In Person at Mercer Island Library
4400 88th Ave SEMercer Island, WA 98040
Location: Mercer Island Library Meeting Room
Date: Saturday, May 17
Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (Max)
REAPS new FIRE Group!! on MERCER ISLAND this month at the LIBRARY
Saturday at 11 AM

REAPS Members Free 
Guests: FREE to this meeting

 Registration - Please Click Here 

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Valerie LaRoque

of  Alpha Omega Wealth Northwest

Infinite Banking Concept (IBC) Practitioner & Financial Advisor

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Introduction to

Becoming Your Own Banker

Come learn how to Become Your Own Banker and build wealth on a safe, guaranteed, and tax invisible basis. 

You will learn how to:

-        Build a pool of cash that grows tax deferred and that you can access income tax free without penalty

-        Grow wealth without risking it in the market

-        Take control of your money

Did you know that the average American willingly gives away about 34.5%  of their after-tax dollars in interest payments every year? 

The infinite banking concept will enable you to collect the interest on the things you finance rather than give it away to banks and finance companies. We are passionate about the infinite banking concept because we have seen how it changes lives (including ours) and we’re confident it will change yours too. 

As a client, we will show you how to take control of your financial life and keep cash flowing towards youinstead of away from you, by teaching you a financial technique that the generationally wealthy have been using for more than 200 years. 

You don’t have to entrust your hard-earned savings dollars to the will of the market. Get started today to build a wealth-producing avenue for your savings by utilizing a specially designed dividend-paying whole life insurance. 

 Valerie's website:  www.infinitebankingnorthwest.com

 

Valerie has a podcast called, Infinite Banking Mastery. 
There is a link to my podcast on my website (https://infinitebankingnorthwest.com/podcast/) or it can be found on just about every podcast platform.

  

Join us at the Mercer Island Library  

About Valerie LaRoque

As the Regional Director of the Alpha Omega Wealth Northwest team, I help clients plan for their financial future and have been doing so for nearly 20 years. For people who want to be financially prepared for every possibility — reaching a ripe old age, leaving the world too soon, or having to deal with a disability in between — I help them get into a position of freedom and control over their finances. I serve my clients as a certified IBC practitioner, life insurance specialist, and full financial professional.

My holistic approach to helping clients assures that no aspect of your financial needs, goals, or concerns will be overlooked.  Education is a big part of our process at Alpha Omega Wealth Northwest so that our clients understand and are fully on board with the best solutions for them.

Since being introduced to the Infinite Banking Concept (IBC), it has become my true passion without a doubt! IBC is the primary method we use for helping clients and their families build stable, long-lasting and successful financial legacies. Your financial situations will be analyzed through a variety of lenses to ensure that the financial future of your family, your growing wealth, and your ability to an earn income is maintained and protected regardless of market fluctuations, economic instability, etc.

Some of my best clients are doctors, entrepreneurs, and professionals. I have enjoyed helping them prepare and plan for independence through the uncertain stages of life and towards the ultimate goal of financial success for themselves, and a lasting legacy for their children, and for generations to come.

 

Growing three businesses from the ground up in the restaurant industry and the financial services industry, I understand the challenges that come with owning a business and know firsthand what the privatized banking strategy can do for you.

 

Being a business owner for over 20 years has given me a deep-rooted belief in impeccable service, energetic support of small businesses and a real drive to see people thrive financially. Giving back to the community is an essential part of those beliefs and I enjoy doing so both professionally and philanthropically through volunteer work and fundraising for nonprofits directed at caring for foster children in our community, serving in my local church and volunteering as a member of the church finance team.

I hold memberships with the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), Women Business Owners, the Tacoma Executives Association and am a Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), Court of the Table qualifier and member.

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Better Lifestyle thru smart investing, applying yourself, discipline, knowledge and savings.~

--- Bringing the FIRE Movement the Eastside!! ---

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The F.I.R.E. Movement is about being thrifty strong saver, strategic with smart investing, and maybe entrepreneurial, so that you can retire early!

F.I.R.E. = Financial Independence, Retire Early

More details below...

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~Two local investors have volunteered to co-lead the FIRE group

 

Hamed Dadgour  & Alex Kaplan

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About Our Moderators....   

Hamed Dadgour - AI Tech innovator and Real Estate Investor 

&  Alex Kaplan - 10 years ex-Googler turned full time RE investor and entrepreneur

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REAPS Members Free 

Guests: FREE to this meeting

 Registration required for all events CLICK HERE 

From Wikipedia: The FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Earlymovement is a lifestyle movement with the goal of gaining financial independence and retiring early. The model became particularly popular among millennials in the 2010s, gaining traction through online communities via information shared in blogs, podcasts, and online discussion forums.

Those seeking to attain FIRE intentionally maximize their savings rate by growing the gap between their living expenses and their income, and investing the difference. JL Collins, an author who has been called the "godfather" of financial independence, has advocated:

"Spend less than you earn—invest the surplus—avoid debt. Do simply this and you'll wind up rich."

The objective is to accumulate assets until the passive income from these assets provide enough money to cover living expenses. Some proponents of the FIRE movement suggest the 4% rule as a rough withdrawal guideline, thus setting a goal of at least 25 times one's estimated annual living expenses. Others, such as economist Karsten Jeske, suggest planning for a more conservative withdrawal rate such as 3.25% or 3.5% (accumulating around 28 to 30 times one's estimated annual living expenses) when planning to retire very early.

When a person reaches financial independence, paid work becomes optional, allowing them to pursue new activities or retire before reaching a typical retirement age.

Background

FIRE is achieved through aggressive saving, far more than the standard 10–15% typically recommended by financial planners. Assuming expenses are equal to income minus savings, and neglecting investment returns, observe that:

  • At a savings rate of 10%, it takes (1-0.1)/0.1 = 9 years of work to save for 1 year of living expenses.
  • At a savings rate of 25%, it takes (1-0.25)/0.25 = 3 years of work to save for 1 year of living expenses.
  • At a savings rate of 50%, it takes (1-0.5)/0.5 = 1 year of work to save for 1 year of living expenses

From this example, it can be concluded that the time to retirement decreases significantly as savings rate is increased. For this reason, those pursuing FIRE attempt to save 50% or more of their income.  At a 75% savings rate, it would take less than 10 years of work to accumulate 25 times the average annual living expenses suggested by 'the 4% safe withdrawal' rule.

There are several ways to pursue FIRE. Some of the best-known are:

LeanFIRE is about achieving financial independence earlier by living exceedingly frugally. With very low expenses, a smaller investment portfolio is needed to achieve financial independence.

FatFIRE is a strategy for achieving financial freedom and early retirement with a larger budget than traditional retirement planning. Unlike other FIRE methods that may focus on minimalism and reducing expenses, Fat FIRE allows for a more luxurious lifestyle in retirement. This approach requires saving and investing a significant portion of income to build a substantial nest egg, enabling individuals to retire earlier than conventional retirement age while maintaining a higher standard of living.

CoastFIRE has at least two stages. In the first, an investor aggressively saves and builds their investment portfolio. This continues until the investor is satisfied that their portfolio will grow sufficiently through the power of compound interest alone. In the second stage, the investor can stop or reduce their investing, and enjoy a measure of freedom without being fully financially independent.

BaristaFIRE allows people to partially retire before they are fully financially independent. It involves switching to a less-demanding (usually part-time) job that provides some income, and perhaps benefits such as health insurance. (The term is a reference to part-time jobs at Starbucks, which provide health insurance.) With this approach, a person covers their living expenses with income as well as modest withdrawals from an investment portfolio. During this period, the investment portfolio should continue to grow.

FIRE is viewed as a lifestyle, not simply an investment strategy. A common thread that challenges individuals that subscribe to the FIRE lifestyle is finding partners that share the same fiscal goals. Availability of online resources helps the movement to expand among Millennial high-net-worth individuals.

The emergence of social media has brought more attention to workers discussing their dissatisfaction. "Social media has made lives appear more glorious and expensive, but also allows others to broadly share about their financial freedom." said Zachary A. Bachner, CFP of Summit Financial.

Registration for event  CLICK HERE