The Economics of Life Research Project is a privately funded research project that was initiated in 1971 to study the economics of productive individuals’ lives. Early findings indicated deficiencies in education regarding personal and business financial structures. Lack of time available in high school, college and graduate school curricula prevented effective communication of principles of business management and personal financial management. These deficiencies in economic education prevented productive individuals from controlling their careers and their personal financial structures. This lack of control, in turn, contributed to stress related to uncertainties regarding basic business practices, personnel management, business cash flow, and allocations of capital and time. In addition, a lack of understanding of catastrophic loss and asset protection plans, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, leverage, investment selection and investment objectives contributed to significant inefficiencies in the conversion of productive individuals’ surplus earnings to savings.
As a result of this demonstrated need the research project initially asked one fundamental question of productive individuals: What do you need to KNOW to succeed financially? Answers to this question led to the development of graphic planning models depicting the economic life cycle of productive individuals and the priority allocation of their earnings during their careers. These models provided the basis for the development of a unique economic education program for busy and productive individuals. A second line of inquiry was developed based upon a frequent question from individuals who attended the economic education programs. The second question was: Would it be possible to quantify the planning models, planning principles, and planning rules of the economic education program in my personal financial circumstances?
A planning program was developed that quantified the economic education program’s planning models, planning principles, and planning rules in productive individuals’ circumstances. A pilot project was initiated to develop a personalized capital accumulation plan that defined and quantified financial independence in a productive individual’s circumstances, identified current lifestyle costs, assets and liabilities, retirement savings objectives, risk investment allocation percentages, losses to unnecessary income taxes, and progress toward financial independence. The capital accumulation planning program was then made available to productive individuals who participated in the economic education program. Consultants were trained to implement the planning recommended by capital accumulation plans that were provided to thousands of productive individuals. A very high percentage of the individuals who implemented the planning recommendations achieved financial independence. The success of the accumulation planning program led to the development of personalized capital distribution plans and endowment creation plans. A post-Great Recession iteration of the planning program, the New Economic Order Planning Program, began development in 2008 to meet the capital accumulation, capital distribution, and endowment creation requirements of a new economic environment of uncertainty and volatility. Pilot projects were initiated in 2012. After successful completion of the pilot projects the New Economic Order Planning Program became available for use by corporate executives, business owners, and other highly productive individuals in 2019.