Time Heals Everything, Give Time “Time”

By John Dietz, CWPP™, CAPP™- Senior Advisor - Email Editor

Date : November 10, 2009

No doubt we are in challenging times. While recovery is imminent, your capital may not make the distance between you and your creditors. Daily I am hearing stories of banks reneging on credit lines for no discernible reason other than policy changes. Lending criterion has trickled down to real estate deal makers causing them to dramatically slash prices only to have no buyers show up. Getting traditional loans for the well-heeled and high credit score clients seems to be the holy grail of real estate. If there is an ebb and flow to housing the tide still seems to be way out for the conventional and long standing, traditional, tried and true methods.

One of my mentors in life always said, “If you want to make winter go by quickly just have a balloon payment due in March!”

Thinking outside the box.

The best time to move assets is when their value is low. Many clients may still be able to contain a possible global asset meltdown if they act. Lately I have spoken to many people who just did not realize what could be done. They are currently in the “do nothing” category. Even the harshest creditor environment may still afford you planning opportunities that result in real money being protected in your estate. The idea is to go outside the box with your thinking, while still maintaining a legal affordable solution. Remember, the best time to move assets is when their value is low.

The basic rules have not changed.

• What you do not own cannot be taken from you!
• No country in the world automatically recognizes U.S. judgments.

Here is the plan:

Start out with a large kitchen table, then throw all the asset protection tools on the table: estate planning, succession planning, insurance, college planning, 401k planning, trusts, generation skipping trusts, asset protection trusts, jurisdiction selections, and captive insurance, just to name a few. Sure, the list is daunting but there is no better time to plan and start to take action with these tools.

The idea is to walk through your specific facts and circumstances while having all these tools at our disposal. As we move along, we will eliminate the tools that may not fit your situation. Once we have the tools that are usable we will have a structure and a foundation to build you a rock solid plan.

The next step is the most essential: implementation. Studies show that the difference between the winners and losers is implementation. Remember that old adage about the better mousetrap? Chances are hundreds of people have thought of how to make the better mousetrap, but it is only the person who actually implements, and builds it, who gets the rewards.

Also, with the current viewpoint of the IRS, we need to make sure the structure is rock solid from both an asset protection, as well as tax compliance structure. Unfortunately too many people have taken tax shortcuts, shortcuts that are coming back to haunting them. You want to build a structure that will last not just your lifetime, but the lives of your children and grandchildren as well. Lastly, do it in a timely manner. Using this formula will give you the best possible solution with the best outcome.

If you have problems now, the question that is always asked is, is it too late? And the answer is maybe yes. There are situations where doing nothing is better, but it is worth noting that a good professional who knows their way around the store of asset protection may find an imperfect solution or, at the very least, a small step that may help you live to fight another day.

It may take out of the box thinking and nontraditional lending to spark the next round of real estate deals, but no doubt it will happen. And, perhaps some new industries will blossom because of it, but if you are in an area where your banker looks at you with disdain then you may need to rethink your investment direction and above all, look at asset protection solutions.

"Remember… hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

--Andy Dufresne’s letter to Red from the movie The Shawshank Redemption

If you have questions, please email us at [email protected].

If you would like to discuss the use of trust for you, your family, or even as a marketing tool for your business, give us a call we would love to talk with you about it. Please contact us at [email protected]

By John Dietz, CWPP™, CAPP™- Senior Advisor
TrustMakers.com

 

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