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Imagineering an Asset Protection Plan.

By John Dietz - Email Editor

Date : 20-Feb-2007

Dear Subscriber:

Let’s talk about the engineering faction of a asset protection plan before we talk about the specifics of a “plan.” I like to think of a well-crafted plan as one that serves the person and the property, but the person first; this is “Imagineering.”

Wikepedia on Imagineering–-a word that combines "imagination" and "engineering." The term was coined by Richard F. Sailer in an in-house article written for the National Carbon Company Management Magazine, and reprinted by the Union Carbide Company. The article "BRAINSTORMING IS IMAGINation enginEERING" was published and copyrighted in 1957, and gravitated to Disney by unknown means. WED Enterprises applied for a trademark for the term in 1967, claiming first use in 1962.

Quote from the Disney online website:

Walt Disney Imagineering is the master planning, creative development, design, engineering, production, project management, and research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company and its affiliates. Representing more than 150 disciplines, its talented corps of Imagineers is responsible for the creation of Disney resorts, theme parks and attractions, hotels, water parks, real estate developments, regional entertainment venues, cruise ships and new media technology projects.

By blending creativity and innovative technological advancements, Walt Disney Imagineering has produced some of the world's most distinctive experiential storytelling…

Some issues that you must consider before your Plan is constructed and after your Plan is finished!

Engineering a good Asset Protection Plan is a blend of creativity and innovative technological advancements. When you achieve a final engineered and effective result for which the concept is logical both forwards and backwards, this requires Imagineering, brainstorming and vision. Engineering an Asset Protection Plan is similar to engineering a building, an airport, or moving people around an airport.

Unfortunately, the goals of many engineering projects fall short of the big picture. Engineers plan every logical aspect, but when outside opinions and consultations enter the picture, sometimes the inventive logic and foundation becomes convoluted. Have you ever seen a project where the mall is beautiful, the parking lot holds just enough cars, but the committee overlooked one small detail, like an extra traffic light or an extra passing lane? The organization, the beauty of the construction, falls short of the plan; the plan still functions on some level, but nonetheless, short of the goal.

An Asset Protection Plan also requires transport; transport from one phase to the next. Have you ever flown into a beautiful airport and needed transportation to the next city? It seems logical that an airport would be a transportation “hub,” but then you find out that the next leg of your transportation is around the bend over the hill and dale. Good planning foresees the future, but the prediction is only as good as the visionary. What if the engineer who constructed the airport had never traveled to any other places or airports? In these days, smart professionals get second opinions or use a team approach to prevent one-sided insight.

Engineering any project is enormously complex, and the minutia can be daunting. Fixing one problem always has the potential of creating other unforeseen problems.

Asset Protection Planning has the same characteristics of engineering. The key to a successful Plan is to be able to stand back from it and look at the big picture. It must be user friendly, like the airport. Grab a couple pieces of luggage, a computer, a couple of children and try to get from home to your destination, and you will certainly appreciate a well constructed and designed airport that meets the challenges created by all of the situations from the simple to the complex.

Engineers successfully integrate many things within their plans, and TrustMakers not only engineers your Plan, but “imagineers” it as well. Our goal is to have a Plan that serves the person and protects the property.

A philosophy like this is pertinent to the construction of your Plan. The engineering portion of the puzzle is just as important as the human side. We do not want to build a structure that is incomplete, or worse yet, one that YOU think is complete when it really is not. We engineer and then build a structure that is unusable within the framework of your life.

In other words, what good is a living trust with nothing in it? What good is having an LLC for each investment property if the courts do not respect the entity? What a person thinks is a total solution can result in nightmares. Nothing is perfect, and nothing is certain, except for the idiom of death and taxes. It is as if you were to consider TrustMakers the doctor; we must be the men of medicine not the medicine men. Imagineer a Plan from the root; an Asset Protection Plan is not an engineered band-aid to cover your wounds.

We pride ourselves in an approach flexible enough to look at the small as well as the big! Getting to know you is as important as getting to know you business plan!!!!

Until next time,

John

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