01 Dec Asset Protection Works Best When You Technically Don’t Need It.
If you need it and don’t have it in place, then it’s too late!
Have you ever heard the old adage “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst”?
That is very sound wisdom when it comes to asset protection. Many people only hope for the best but they fail to plan for the worst. Those who fail to plan, can get wiped out.
Doctor Hope for the Best (actual client – not his real name) thought he had plenty of malpractice coverage in place – 10 million dollars of insurance protection in fact. He had worked all his life and amassed quite a multi-million-dollar estate for himself and his family. His assets valued into the multiple tens of millions. Then, he was found liable for a 60 million-dollar judgment entirely devastating him and his family. Unfortunately, he had to start over in his 60’s.
Many people, like Doctor Hope for the Best, focus on making and growing their wealth but fail to ensure a proper asset protection structure which protects the money they make. And the worst part of all is that Doctor Hope for the Best could have protected his assets very easily and inexpensively.
Asset protection has many forms.
They are not all created equal. From sophisticated offshore trusts and convoluted stacked entity structures to irrevocable trusts, asset protection structures vary greatly in their costs, in their actual ability to protect assets, and in the ease of implementation and maintenance. Basic Offshore trusts can cost you upwards of $25,000 – and many times you must give up control to a third party. There is no way I’m transferring title of my assets to a 3rd party in a foreign country or paying $25,000 for an offshore trust – and you don’t need to!