At Bankonomics™, we believe money should serve your life, not control it. Our mission is simple but radical: to build systems that protect, grow, and multiply wealth—without Wall Street’s strings or the banks’ fine print. We start with a foundational strategy that unlocks true monetary freedom, transforming the environment of your money while keeping you in charge of every financial decision that matters.
This isn’t theory. It’s born from a battle-tested personal journey.
From Underdog to Entrepreneur
My name is Derek Murrell. I’m not a Wall Street insider or a financial “guru.” I’m a Marine Corps veteran, former law enforcement officer, and Special Agent who learned wealth the hard way—through trial, error, and setbacks that could have crushed me. I’ve lost money. I’ve made money. I’ve been defrauded by partners. But through it all, I gained something far more valuable—wisdom forged in the fire, the kind that only adversity can teach.
I know what it’s like to walk through trauma and the invisible battles that follow. Like many veterans, I’ve wrestled with the weight of those experiences. But I’ve also seen redemption, restoration, and renewal. If my story can spark hope for anyone walking that same road, I’ll share it—through future posts, podcasts, or personal conversations.
In 2014, I made one of the hardest decision of my life: I walked away from the government career, pension, benefits, and “stability” I had built—because my family mattered more. My job kept me on the road 65% of the time, and the cost was too high.
Discovering the Strategy of the Wealthy
As an investor, I became obsessed with studying the quiet strategies of the wealthy — the tools hidden in plain sight. I dug deep into self-directed retirement accounts, real estate tax advantages, and legal structures designed to preserve and multiply capital.
The truth is, there aren’t really “secret” strategies. What exists are levels of access and understanding.
For example, accredited investors often gain entry to opportunities the general public can’t — private placements, preferred real estate syndications, and alternative funds. And while returns in those arenas can be higher, so are the risks. Access helps, but it isn’t the magic.
The real difference is mindset. Wealthy people think differently about money. They focus on control, liquidity, and positioning — not just chasing returns. They use tools to shape the environment of their money, not just to store it.
And that’s what ultimately led me to the strategy that changed everything — one that can take an ordinary family and build a rock-solid financial foundation capable of compounding results for decades to come:
Using properly structured life insurance contracts to become your own bank.
Did you gasp? If so, watch my free Masterclass where I break it all down and share why I wouldn't put my money in 99% of the options sold today.
And no, not a chartered bank with tellers and glass doors — but a personal banking system built on the same principles that make traditional banks so powerful. It’s about applying the laws of banking to your own household, so your money finally works as hard for you as you worked to earn it.
At first I thought what many of you reading this might think: "Life insurnace, yuck!" "Sounds scammy!" "Agents say whatever to get the sale and the results suck!" "18 year olds on tiktok are selling this stuff! No way!!"
Keep these ideas in mind, because I want them to protect you from the insurance matrix I'm about to share with you.
That discovery launched a two-year search. What I found was shocking:
Most life insurnace agents are trained to maximize commissions, not optimize policies.
Many don’t understand what they sell; others knowingly mislead.
Clients only hear what an agent chooses to reveal—leaving them exposed.
So much of the information online and in books about this topic are wrong.
The fears are sold hard, while the "solutions" are sold lacking substance.
My first permanent life insurance policy, purchased around 2015, was what I would now call a “mediocre” design—one that cost me thousands of dollars in short term losses. I eventually restructured into a stronger plan that was a massive net win after just a few years, but the lesson stuck.
To be fair, that policy looked great compared to the dozens of other illustrations I’d sifted through at the time. It seemed like the best available option—and compared to most designs, it was. But that’s exactly what opened my eyes: “good” isn’t always optimal. And this was after my journey though many agents as I was learning how this strategy worked from the ground up, and I still got hosed. That drove me even harder to fix the system, at least for those around me in my sphere of influence.
A “bad” policy doesn’t necessarily implode or fail; it just doesn’t move the needle. A “great” policy meets a much higher standard—one designed for liquidity, control, and long-term efficiency. If you want the best you need high standards. That's what Bankonomics is all about.
That realization changed everything. This wasn’t just business anymore.
It became personal.
Standing Up Against Financial Bullying
I’ve always been an underdog. I’ve always hated bullies. And finance is full of them:
Advisors confidently pushing bad advice.
Agents selling broken products for a bigger paycheck.
“Experts” on social media peddling crypto, day-trading, or gold hype without accountability.
We can come up with many more examples of this, but you get the point.
When I think of the most basic foundational layer of financial strategy, here is my weapon of choice: a properly designed Whole Life insurance policy that sources, enhances, and compounds every other area of your life.
Think of it as a medieval fortress. Thick walls. Guard towers. A drawbridge you control. When times are good, you ride out with your knights and expand the kingdom. When times are tough, you retreat inside, drop the bridge, and defend.
Protection first. Then growth.
With our design—what we call the Cashflow Accelerator—you build an asset that:
Grows tax-advantaged, compounding every year
Provides liquidity through tax-free, high loan-to-value access
Lets your money work in two places at once
Offers liability protection and living benefits for medical crises
Expands into a multi-policy family banking system that can fund cars, mortgages, businesses, investments, and more
Protects high level business operators in the even of an unseen disaster with partners pr highly paid employees
Provides massive amounts of legacy planning and continuity flexibility once you pass away
And here’s the hard truth:
The worse a policy is for you, the more an agent makes.
The better it is for you, the less they earn.
A mentor once told me:
“Make your own cheeseburger. It may not look like anyone else’s,
but it’s yours. People will either like it or not.”
Here’s our cheesburger:
Keep commissions as low as possible
Optimize policies for maximum client leverage
Stand on transparency
Build a network of people using this strategy
Share the exact policies we own ourselves
Because we don’t just want to sell you one policy. We want to help you build a system—5, 10, 20, 50 policies deep—that becomes your private banking ecosystem and legacy.
Too many business owners, investors, and families are stuck:
Working harder every year
Saving in accounts that don’t grow
Investing in markets they can’t control
Meanwhile, Wall Street and the banks get stronger while business owners are kept up at night by liquidity issues, cash flow uncertainty, continuity planning deficiencies, bank uncertainty, and more.
Bankonomics exists to give you a better way. A system that provides:
Liability protection
Tax advantages
Privacy and control
Guaranteed compound growth
Liquidity and emergency reserves
Pension-style lifetime income
Velocity of money for new opportunities
And we don’t stop at the policies. We teach how to put them to work—funding real estate, reinvesting in businesses, and even positioning for emerging opportunities in crypto, AI, and robotics.
We track the bigger picture, too—how the Federal Reserve, fiat currency, and inflation eat away at your wealth while the S&P 500 barely keeps pace with real inflation. You deserve to know the truth.The Bankonomics Process
We keep it simple:
Watch the Masterclass – See the strategy in action, no obligation.
Book Your Strategy Call – A one-on-one conversation to fit your unique goals.
Launch Your System – We build your customized wealth engine from the ground up.
Final Word
This isn’t theory. This isn’t hype. And it’s not recycled advice.
This is Bankonomics.
Your money. Your rules. Your system.
