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Looking Back 15 Years at Asset Protection

By Rob Lambert - Email Editor

Date : 15-March-2007

Dear Subscriber:

I thought it would be helpful to put a bit of perspective on this rapidly developing Asset Protection industry.

Fifteen years ago when I started my Asset Protection business, there was literally no place to go. I had just come out of a horrible financial collapse. During my downward spiral, I searched for experts in Asset Protection and found not one person. The common wisdom was to trust the legal system to be fair, and let the judges and juries work everything else. At the time I needed Asset Protection help, I did a search for “Asset Protection” experts in Lexis/Nexis and there were none. Now there are tens of thousands of Asset Protection experts, each with something to sell.

In the old days, Asset Protection was completely new. When I wrote my first book on the subject there was nothing else published, and I literally sat for 18 months in the basement of the New York University School of Law and did original research trying to figure out what might work. Most of the things in my first book were just my best guesses based on technology I thought had a good chance of working. I had some guidance from the techniques used by some of the Jews seeking to protect themselves from the Nazis, and I also had some good international lawyers to bounce ideas off, but little else. Fortunately, most of my guesses ended up being right.

Fifteen years ago, when there was no such thing as an Asset Protection industry, I suspected that the business would grow very slowly. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

In the short period from the time I wrote the first book on the subject till now, the business has exploded. Unfortunately, most of this explosion has had disastrous side effects. Now this industry, which is both necessary and important, is polluted with every sort of scammer and crook. The hardest part of Asset Protection Planning is finding somebody who won’t cheat you. That is the ugly truth. It is still true that over 9 out of 10 sites on the internet offering some sort of Asset Protection are also proposing something which is either illegal or at best shady.

There are now an astounding number of people all claiming to be the “father’ of Asset Protection. I was never any good at parenting, so I don’t make that claim. When you call for a consultation, you are more than likely to get to somebody with something predetermined to sell to you. His (or her) niche might be insurance, annuities, Nevada corporations, LLC’s, IBC’s, secret offshore accounts, offshore pension planning, private placement life insurance, etc etc etc. On and on. Everybody has something to peddle, and few have a world view broad enough to really advise you on what you can and should have. Most advisors simply want to fit you into the box which makes them the most money.

Please, stay away from this type of person. A few simple ways to keep yourself safe are to involve your local lawyer and CPA. Neither will know much about Asset Protection; however, they will have a good B.S. meter. Second, always check references, and if they haven’t been through the wars, go somewhere else. Get somebody with serious tax and international training. Don’t go to somebody with one product. Go with somebody who has a broad world view and gets along with your personal attorney and CPA. Anything else is just asking for trouble.

So, the bad news is that this industry has become polluted with crooks and every sort of parasite. It is driven by an out of control legal system putting out hundreds of thousands of underemployed new lawyers each year. Asset Protection is a clear necessity to anybody with any assets. The good news is that there are good practitioners out there who will be pleased to work with your local team. The industry is really maturing and in a positive light we now have some history. Results are becoming more and more predictable. Now, using good reliable technology it is normally possible to protect assets with a high degree of safety and reliability. We are not making it up in the basement of NYU anymore!!!!

I wish you a happy and protected week.

Rob Lambert

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