Friday, June 30, 2006

With Regard to What You Own - Use Asset Protection to Safeguard yourself from these Two Groups in Particular!

Do you Fall into one or More of these Susceptible Categories?

Who should be concerned when it comes to protecting your assets? In particular wealthy individuals and families, corporate executives, private investors, and professionals.If you fall into one or more of those categories then you should do something about protecting your assets.


Group One - Frivilious Litigation Lawyers:
Be aware that in this litigious society you are practically a standing target for aggressive lawyers who will use any excuse in an attempt to drag you in to the courts. They are banking on the fact you would rather settle out of court and avoid a lengthy and costly court battle.


Group Two - Government May be Your Biggest Concern:
What you may not realize is that governments are another threat as they are systematically attacking your right to financial privacy even if you are not braking the law. The war against drugs and as of late against terrorism may
seem to be justified considering the news reports but the results are that ordinary peoples' privacy that is being attacked. Now UK, Japan, Britain, Germany and now over 100 countries passing legislation against money laundering. Protecting your assets is not a luxury its a necessity,

Decent hardworking middle to upper class people who own large and visible assets are displaying on the table highly tempting morsels and if laws change to allow seizure government is in for the gravy.

The "Asset Forfeiture" Program introduced in 1994 under the Asset Forfeiture Act which allows random seizure of property - without the need for any proof. This is strictly against the US Constitution and Human Rights. All that is required is an allegation that property was used for illegal activity. If you are not putting steps in place for protecting your assets your government may be your biggest concern.

Here is a quote from Amy Rudick director of the Office of Financial enforcement at the Treasury Dept in 1991 where the intent of the program was described as follows:

"The more assets you can identify and seize, the more money you've got, either going into the general treasury or into asset forfeiture funds. That money can be used to help law enforcement in criminal prosecutions. I see this as a money making enterprise for the government, and anything that's going to make money is not going to die too quickly."


Steps towards Asset Protection:
What steps can you take in protecting your assets? One thing you don't want to do is to lump all them all together. This is a common mistake made by many financial advisors and lawyers where they use one financial structure to protect both high risk and low risk investments. You may wish to set up seperate trusts putting the low risk assets together and creating seperat trusts for your high risk assets.

Offshore trusts or an offshore life insurance policy are some strategies you should seriously consider. The benefits are that they shield you from currency controls, possible confiscation of assets by government political instability and other threats.

Technorati tags: Asset Portection

The Need for Asset Protection Information

Sadly the first question usually asked when a lawsuit is being considered is the extent of the other parties net worth. And in Canada as long been the practice in the States, lawyers are now allowed to be take cases on an agreed percentage of the awards if they win. Asset protection strategies are definitely something every one needs to put in place.

Problem #1- Predatory Lawsuits:
This is the primary reason people need asset protection information, this practice has been alleged to be the main reason judgment settlements in the are much higher and lawsuits more frequent than in any other country. It is also the reason a lot of frivolous lawsuits are started knowing full well the other party would prefer to settle out of court rather than go through a lengthy and disruptive court proceedings. To counter do asset protection planning and implement asset protection strategies.

Problem #2- Probate:

Another reason for asset protection information is that it is difficult to transfer assets to your heirs without excessive loss due to probate and taxation. Not only is probate a lengthy process – it encourages family infighting - it can severely erode your families assets. When Elvis Presley died all that was left of his 10 million dollar estate was 2 million dollars. Definitely a case where no asset protection planning was taken to implement asset protection strategies.

The Solution Asset Protection and Wealth Management:
Why leave yourself, your family and.or your business at such a risk as to put no asset protection strategies in place.. Consider the option of wealth management and its many advantages not only in regard to asset protection but also in regard to freedom of movement, privacy and wealth accumulation without excessive taxation.

If you have a family business and wealth that you have built through your lifetime, you can easily avoid wealth lost through due to lack of proper estate planning. You can ensure bulletproof asset protection. Your best asset protection is to implement asset protection planning putting various asset protection strategies in place along with getting proper estate planning information.


Technorati tags: Asset Protection Strategies Asset Protection