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Getting To Know Asset Protection

By John Dietz - Email Editor

Date: 30-Aug-2005

Our goal at Trustmakers is not to give you a bunch of papers, and then send you on your merry way. We want you to become familiar with your plan and integrate it into your life.

Asset Protection is not the same as estate planning or financial planning; it is an integral part of both. Asset Protection might best be understood as the living side of estate planning, and may be defined as the method of organizing your assets and affairs before any threats to those assets surface.

The reality is that you need to guard yourself by switching unprotected ownership of assets into a protected Asset Protection strategy. The goal of Asset Protection Planning is two fold. At best, it is to completely insulate you from losing any of your wealth, at worst, it is for you to withstand a legal storm significantly better than you would have if you had not done anything at all.

In virtually every case, proper Asset Protection will do more that help “just a little.” Rather it will produce significantly better results than if you had done nothing at all. I believe it is worth the time to review some basics.

Here are some of Rob's idioms from the Lesson #2 of the 10 Session Seminar, which you can learn more about by going to our homepage, and clicking on Products.

1. IT’S CHEAPER TO BE MISTAKEN THAN TAKEN.

It’s better to do Asset Protection and never need it.

2. IF YOU CAN ACCESS YOUR WEALTH, SO CAN THE “TAKERS.”

Remember John D. Rockefeller was famous for saying, “I want to own nothing and control everything.”

3. PICK THE BATTLE YOU CAN WIN BEFORE THE WAR BEGINS.

If you come under attack by creditors without Asset Protection planning in place, you have lost your ability to pick your battle. In essence, you must fight on the opposing turf.

4. PLAN FOR THE WORST, HOPE FOR THE BEST—OPTIMISM AT IT’S FINEST.

My worst fears are for people that call, and for some reason, do not follow through with forming a solid Asset Protection Plan. Many times I have gotten a call a year later from these same people who have money in hand, only to find that a creditor attack was imminent and there was nothing we could do. It's not paranoia to expect the worst; in this case, it’s prudent and responsible thinking.

5. ASSET PROTECTION PLANNING SHOULD BE RELAXING…NOT STRESSFUL.

Through experience and sometimes pain, we learn how to avoid putting ourselves in precarious situations. If you are in business, you have undoubtedly learned how to limit your exposure in a variety of situations. You learn to utilize methods to safeguard yourself or your business from trouble. It’s like breathing: Your body doesn’t need to think about it or figure it out, it just does it. With a proper Asset Protection Plan in place, you will instinctively do what is necessary to safeguard your assets instead of finding yourself in crisis management mode trying to figure out how to save your life.

6. THE BEST PLAN IS ONE THAT IS NEVER USED.

Imagine setting up a plan 20 or more years ago and never needing it. I doubt many of us will ever really know if the plan was ever used. The whole story will never be told. You may have been in the professional takers crosshairs. Upon investigation into how easy it would be to access your wealth, they decided to pass. Remember: A properly designed plan makes you very ugly to a creditor. In this case, the plan was the reason you were never challenged.

Proper planning will ensure that your lifestyle is preserved, and with estate integration, your wealth can be passed on (after your death) as you see fit. That truly is financial security!

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