Growing up as a native Texan in a five-generation cattle ranching family in West Texas, I was modeled the basic principles of IBC from a young age, long before I ever discovered the concept itself.
The idea of Think Long Range was foundational to my family’s migration to Texas in the first place. Like many immigrants pursuing the opportunities birthed by Manifest Destiny, my great-great-grandfather packed up his Scottish family from their temporary dwelling in Wisconsin and moved to West Texas in search of a place to put down permanent roots.
The year they arrived was 1886, and the journey was likely far from peaceful. Much of the land was still inhabited by the infamous Comanche natives, and I’m sure uncertainty lingered every step of the way. Yet I have to imagine the vision of creating a better future for not only his children, but generations beyond them, made the risks and inconveniences worth it.
What made James Currie abandon the life he knew, load his family into covered wagons, and brave hostile conditions and uncertainty to settle in West Texas?
Simply put, the potential future reward outweighed the temporary risk.
What he knew life to be could not overcome the vision he carried for his family’s future. He was willing to temporarily lay aside fear, doubt, comfort, and even what he could presently see in order to pursue a greater opportunity, not only for the family he knew, but for generations he would never meet.
He was pursuing days he could not yet see.
The seeds James Currie planted in the 1880s have become a 7,500-acre family-owned cattle ranching operation spanning more than 140 years. His intentional decisions produced fruit five generations into the future.
I share that not to boast about my family, but to demonstrate what small habits and disciplined decisions today can become over time.
James did not begin with massive resources. In fact, he didn’t even start with cattle. He began as a humble sheep herder, sharing unclaimed range land with migrants just like himself. Slowly, through discipline, consistency, and hard work over long periods of time, he expanded his herd, built capital, and purchased land little by little for one dollar an acre.
Decades later, during the Great Depression, local banks became desperate and sought out his children. Why? Because they had assets to leverage and capital reserves in place.
The banks came to them for capital. When those banks couldn’t repay the debt, repayment came in the form of land, and the operation expanded even further.
Nelson Nash famously conveyed this principle on page 31 of Becoming Your Own Banker:
“Those who have the gold, make the rules!”
He goes on to explain:
“When you have a large amount of cash on hand all sorts of good opportunities will appear, and you also can negotiate very favorable purchase prices.”
There is tremendous value in having access to capital because opportunities tend to find those who are prepared.
Humble beginnings can create generational impact when we build systems that accommodate growth and maintain the discipline to carry them out. But none of that matters without vision, especially long-range vision.
The Bible says it this way:
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” — Proverbs 29:18
When we relate this to privatized banking, we must remember that Think Long Range was Nelson’s number one rule. It is the very foundation the concept is built upon.
Those who cannot think beyond themselves are not fit for the Infinite Banking Concept.
Nelson also writes in the introduction of Becoming Your Own Banker:
“It (Infinite Banking) is not a procedure to ‘get rich quickly.’ To the contrary, it requires long-range planning. I’m trained as a forester, having worked in that field for ten years; I tend to think seventy years into the future. I won’t be here and neither will you, but there is no reason not to behave in this manner. ‘Plan as if you are going to live forever and live as if you are going to die today’ appears to me to be a good thought.”
Nelson, along with my great-great-grandfather James, understood the value of planting trees they themselves would never sit under so future generations could benefit from them.
In my opinion, there is no better example of this in Becoming Your Own Banker than Nelson’s discussion on page 71 regarding an even distribution of age classes. The idea that each generation should focus not only on the next generation, but also two generations beyond themselves, requires true long-range thinking.
This has tremendous implications for passing down tax-favored capital and creating perpetual control and financial advantages for generations to come.
James never utilized the benefits of max-funded cash value life insurance. Had he done so, the results may have been even greater. However, the principles were already there.
The reality is, the windfalls we celebrate today did not come from easy circumstances. He still had to sacrifice, show up every day, and endure years of hard work and uncertainty. But it was worth it to place his family in a better position than the generation before him.
He was not thinking only about tomorrow. He was thinking about decades ahead.
I believe if he were here today, he would be amazed at what God multiplied through his choices and efforts.
That is what we are doing with privatized banking.
We are thinking long range.
We are choosing not to fear capitalization for future generations, even when times are difficult and resources feel stretched.
At the end of the day, as Don Blanton says, “Life insurance is a love product.”
Who do you love today that you may never meet?
Ask yourself:
“What do I want for my family four generations from now?”
That question is worth pondering.
That is long-range thinking.
