Welcome to my Paragon Theory, a Gateway to a New World of Personal & Financial Freedom.

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    The 7 Steps to Freedom Step 4: Set Up An Offshore Trust or Company to Protect Your Assets

                    Wealth is the product of man’s capacity to think. Ayn Rand

     I’m sure you know that making money is one thing, but holding on to it is quite another! And nothing acts as a magnet for various unsavoury people like the wealth you may have accumulated. This is why protecting what you have is so important. 

    Consider the following:

    • The US tort system is the most expensive in the industrialised world. Currently US tort costs consume 2.2% of the gross domestic product of the United States. This is significantly higher than that of any other developed country in the world.

    • The US legal system costs are growing four times faster than economic growth in the United States.

    • The number of class action lawsuits have increased 50% in the last 10 years in the United States.

    • Over the past five years asbestos claims have doubled and lawsuits are currently threatening virtually every industry in the US.

    • The US currently has over 1 million attorneys, which is the highest per capita in the world. China, which has five times the population of the United States, has only 110,000 attorneys in the entire country.

    • Currently the United States has 70% of the world’s lawyers and it has over 90% of all the world’s litigation.

    • There is a one-in-five chance that you could be sued next year, and this chance increases to one in three if you are a business owner or a doctor.
    As you can see, even though the facts quoted above are specific to the USA, the very existence of wealth can attract unwanted attention no matter where you live. The basic goal of asset protection is to make you, as an individual, untouchable. How do you do this? By placing your assets under the ownership of another entity. If you don’t legally own your assets, then no one can sue you or come after you. 

    Depending on the jurisdiction chosen for such asset protection, you may decide to form a trust, a foundation, or even an offshore company. There are a number of variables involved and each asset protection plan should be tailored to the particular needs of the individual.

    The 10 key points to a good asset protection plan are:
    1. Protect everything: You need to protect absolutely everything that you own, not just portions.

    2. Start with a flexible plan: Your plan should be flexible so that it may be changed at any time. If it is written in stone it will not protect you.

    3. Your plan must be 100% legal: Your plan must be legal, if you use illegal portions in your asset protection strategy you may find you will have issues in the future.

    4. Simple is better: Complex plans don’t always mean that they are better and you’re getting more protection. Often very simple plans, which may include a basic offshore entity as well as a trust, provide much higher levels of protection when compared to foundations and companies and trusts all mixed together.

    5. Keep your plan cost effective: Overspending does not mean you have a high-level of protection.

    6. Retain complete control: Don’t give total control over to others or at least have proof you control the structure by means of a Power of Attorney or other official document.

    7. Enhance your other financial goals and needs: An asset protection structure can actually assist you in planning for future assets as well as managing and getting more from your current assets.

    8. You need to be comfortable with your plan: If it does not feel right then rethink it. Asset protection plans are created to protect and provide you with peace of mind and not to cause more worry and strife.

    9. Always limit your liability: Limit liabilities by conducting business as well as living in a low risk environment.

    10. Make sure you are protected: You need to be properly protected and some plans do not offer what you really need, but are only a smokescreen.
    And one final bit of advice: The right time to put in place an asset protection plan is before you need it. I’m often contaced by people who want to act after a threat has been identified, and unfortunately this is usually too late.

    Don’t be caught with your “pants down”. Get yourself set up with an effective offshore asset protection plan real soon!