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Asset Protection And The Three Legged Barstool

By John Dietz - Email Editor

Date: June 27, 2006

As I see it, Asset Protection is like a three-legged barstool. The seat of the stool being everything you own and everything that’s important to you. The legs of the stool represent three completely separate Asset Protection disciplines. The metaphor is perfect. Each wooden leg of the stool is complete by itself; they’re solid and hard to break. Yet when you attach all three solid legs to a base of wood at the appropriate distance apart, you have just designed something to park yourself on.

Asset Protection is a mirror image of the simple barstool, but needs all three legs properly connected to your family and wealth. This simple, yet poignant metaphor is an easy way to check and see if your house is in order.

The Three Legs.
The first leg is the vehicle leg; meaning the bucket in which you put all that is important to you. This can include, but may not limited be to, a Kinetic Asset Protection Trust, a family limited partnership and possibly multiple LLCs.

The second is the investment and tax planning leg. This leg is probably the place where the most mistakes are made. One of the main reasons for that is because it is difficult to find helpful practitioners who are dedicated and educated on all facets of solid investing in a tax-favorable manner.

The third leg is the estate planning leg. This leg is quite possibly the most difficult and the most confusing. State laws, federal laws and tax codes often change, resulting in an almost infinite amount of possibilities. It takes a lifelong pursuit and a worldly estate planner to make all the right choices.

As with past newsletters, we have devoted our time to bring you the smartest and brightest minds to educate and motivate you on protecting your most valuable asset: “Your three-legged stool.”

Lately, I have been pondering the question, “How do you and I get the best advice without spending all of our free time protecting the money we have made?” One of Rob’s idioms is “spend 10% of your time protecting what you have earned.” The problem is where do you start; who do you believe; and how do you even know the right questions to ask?

The answer may be closer than you think. Trustmakers has been promoting Roccy M. DeFrancssco’s “Wealth Preservation and Asset Protection Course” for some time. These courses are designed to teach and certify professional advisors on a wide array of topics ranging from tax-favorable planning to cutting edge estate planning and Asset Protection.

The fact is that any layperson can buy any course or individual course modules. If you want to learn what the professional advisors are being taught, this is a great place to start; especially since Roccy does not take on clients, he maintains an absolute unbiased viewpoint. His material is truly free from selling anyone’s specific product. He is strictly an educator; “The Real McCoy.”

Special Offer
Educate yourself like the masters; don’t be fooled by incompetent advisors. Know what your advisors should know. Click here to purchase Roccy’s CWPP course material and CAPP course material.

Be on the look out for a new Trustmakers team member, James F. Horrell, Ph.D. He will be using his vast experience in statistical mathematics to give you a rare glimpse into portfolio management. Just another one of those legs on your three legged bar stool. James concepts are designed to reduce unnecessary portfolio risk. We welcome and look forward to his viewpoints.

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