The Family Onion

Date : June 22, 2006

I am often blessed with truly extraordinary clients. Most are self-made people; and many are on their second fortune having made the mistake of going it alone and trusting the judicial system the first time around. Wounds make people interesting and strong. Fortunately, once you know how to make money, it is usually a pretty straight forward process to make it again. (Note, I didn’t say easy!) There is universal agreement that the hard part is keeping your money, particularly if you want to live and thrive in the good old USA. This is good for me because if there weren’t jaded entrepreneurs, I would be out of a job!

Last week I was speaking with one of my favorite clients about his unique approach to life. I thought I would share some of the tidbits here. He is a self-made man who runs a major investment house. At the same time, he is fastidious about caring for his family. He is “Johnny-on-the-Spot” when there is a doctor’s appointment, soccer game or parent/teacher conference. He also takes good care of himself, exercising several hours each day. The hardest job in the world is being a housewife or househusband; he seems to do it all.

I asked him how he did all of this? His answer was short and to the point: “I am the CEO of my family. My job is to nurture and protect my family. I do it with the same focus and energy which I devote to my investment business.”

I thought about his simple response. It is valuable and important wisdom.

Many, and perhaps most, family problems might be avoided if we spent the same energies on the family front as we spend in our businesses. He acknowledges that he is RESPONSIBLE for the health of BOTH his family and money businesses. Unfortunately, most of us think we only have room to be CEO of one business, the money making one. I know it is possible to make room for at least two, the money making one and the family one. Remember my oft-repeated mantra: “Spend 10% of the time you spend making money protecting it.” Well, maybe a second mantra should be: “Devote yourself to your family just as you devote yourself to your job.”

We next moved on to his “onion theory.” He said he looked at his family like an onion. He and his wife and kids were the core. Above the core were many levels of protection. In his mind, each level represented a different type of insulation for the core. One level might be his old-and-cold Kinetic Asset Protection Trust. Another might be cash flow from a certain category of investments. Another might be his and his family’s personal health.

My client, who has endured LOTS of hard times, said that each year he likes to add one or two layers of protection to his family onion. His reason, again, was simple. Each time problems come, he counts on losing or at least having several layers of his onion compromised. With enough layers, he hopes that the core (his family) will remain relatively unscathed when the problems arise.

His analogy hit me, and I thought I would share it. Remember, Asset Protection isn’t just some expensive plan.

ABOUT THIS EDITOR:

Rob Lambert, Founder and former law professor is considered to be foremost expert on tax compliant asset protection structures. A contributing editor to Lexus Nexus debtor creditors series of law books Rob's passion is implement client wealth plans that stand the test of time and hold up under duress.

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