The necessity of an asset protection plan

The beauty of the U.S. legal system is that it allows everyday Americans an opportunity to seek justice. The ugly truth is that the legal system is routinely abused.

If there is money to be won, there are no shortage of lawyers willing to take frivolous cases on a contingency basis. This turns the thousands of ordinary people working to build financial security for themselves and their families into targets of predatory lawyers and lawsuit-obsessed citizens.

Don’t be the low-hanging fruit without an asset protection plan

One lawsuit could destroy everything. Even if you’re innocent, you could rack up a bill in the tens of thousands of dollars to defend a suit. In the U.S. alone, hundreds of millions of dollars is spent fighting frivolous lawsuits every year.

The good news: Asset protection provides a legal, ethical way to safeguard your wealth. With a proper asset protection plan, your assets can become protected to the point where a creditor can’t recover assets as a matter of law, and won’t as a matter of practicality.

How it works: Start small, and add firewalls as needed

Asset protection plans should start off very simple and relatively inexpensive. It is always better to do less and follow the structure than do a poor job in your attempt to do everything.

Inventory your wealth. Consider everything valuable you have: liquid assets, properties, businesses and the like. There are several others, and once you begin listing them you will realize you are far more unprotected assets than you realized.

Select your most important asset. That is what an asset protection plan should be designed to protect first and foremost. You can always add on to your plan to protect your other assets. Start small and add firewalls and layers as your understanding, and assets, grow.

Anticipate trouble and plan accordingly

Asset protection can be viewed as a form of insurance. Just as we have insurance on our houses and cars; asset protection is the insurance to protect the rest of our assets.

This is why planning in advance is critical. Just as you don’t buy car insurance after an accident, asset protection works at its best when implemented before the need arises.

A carefully crafted strategy of titling your savings, property, business, and other assets can shield you from lawsuits and provide you and your family with peace of mind before trouble ever strikes.

While many people can make money, few know how to protect it

Having an asset protection plan won’t guarantee that you won’t get sued. It also doesn’t mean you won’t lose should you face a lawsuit.

What is does mean is that, rather than lose everything in a wealth-threatening lawsuit, you can settle for pennies on the dollar. In this way, asset protection is a safety net; a legal, ethical way to protect your vulnerable assets and create impediments for your lawsuit-obsessed adversaries.

Protecting yourself will take time, effort and money. But protecting your assets is your best possible investment.

Related articles:

Disaster relief loans from the SBA can help businesses rebuild

Keep hackers out of your business

5108 views