The Morality of Asset Protection

Back in May I went on a 12 day trip to Amsterdam and New York, then back to Estonia.  The purpose was to attend an annual entrepreneurship conference in New York that I have been a part of for 6 years now.  And what an amazing trip.  Each year we gather in a different US city to listen to speakers about various topics and interact with each other.  And for 6 years, I can honestly say my value takeaway always comes from the peer interaction.

This is a group of some of the most intelligent and successful entrepreneurs from around the world and I look forward to this event each year more than any other ‘field trip’ I take.  These guys run businesses ranging from magazine publisher, hot tub manufacturer, trucking company, staffing agency, healthcare products, virtual office, software, and many others.  And the philosophical conversations are always quite interesting amongst this group. 

As one of my friend’s from this group likes to say “let’s keep it to the basics; politics, sex and religion”.  While there were many conversations on these topics, one that seemed to keep coming up was the morality of asset protection.  If you are looking for a specific bit of info this week, you may want to sign off now as this is where I wax and wane philosophically for a few paragraphs.

Repeatedly I am asked if asset protection is not only legal, but moral.  And to that, my emphatic answer is always yes.  Actually, my belief is that it is immoral not to protect your wealth from the parasites that abound in society.  Unfortunately we must take action steps to protect our wealth.

There are many, many predators out there more than willing to strip you of your wealth and thus, you must take the necessary steps to keep your money out of the hands of these parasites.  True wealth is created by production, and production comes from productive people.  Just so we have no miscommunication here, government workers are not productive people, they are the highest form of parasite.  And since taxes and government policies like the printing of money are huge destroyers of wealth, this is a parasite to keep in mind when structuring your asset protection plan.

Of course the other parasites to consider are what Ayn Rand would call ‘looters’.  These are the lazy people in society who believe they are owed something.  And considering the huge growth of government entitlement programs, there are a lot of these looters around.  It is sad state of affairs for a country when most people believe their path to riches comes from the lottery or litigation.  And guess who is at risk from litigation?

That’s right, the producers.  The entrepreneurs and investors.  You!

My belief is that in order for the world to continue to prosper and grow, wealth needs to stay in the hands of the producers, not the looters and government parasites.  Entrepreneurs create businesses that hire workers and create ‘stuff’ that we like to buy and/or do.  Investors risk their capital in exchange for a return when they invest in the businesses entrepreneurs create.  And this creation of wealth is like the rising tide, it lifts all ships.  It increases the welfare of the entire society by increasing the size of the ‘pie’.

But what do governments do?  They want to take a piece of your pie.  They consume resources.  They don’t create.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not a complete anarchist.  I haven’t figured out a way for most hard infrastructure to exist without government, but there is an enormous amount of inefficiency in the world due to political power grabs.

Government agencies don’t have the profit motive that entrepreneurs and investors have so therefore they never really know when their agency is successful.  All they know is they are using their budget for the year.  Entrepreneurs want to operate in the most efficient manner in order to maximize profits for both himself and his investors.  In essence, the entrepreneur wants to make a bigger pie.

What do the looters do?  They expect something for nothing.  They expect free education and free healthcare.  They want welfare payments, unemployment benefits, food stamps, and anything else they can get at the expense of the producers.  They believe that as entrepreneurs and investors, it is your responsibility to educate and take care of them.  And heaven forbid if you are in a car accident, it may even be your responsibility to make them wealthy.

For me, this means you have a moral obligation to protect your wealth from these parasites.  As a producer in this world, it is your job to not only create, but to protect your wealth in order to make sure it stays in the hands of those best capable of utilizing productive resources.  It is my job to help you best structure a plan that works within your budget that minimizes your risk and maximizes your wealth.

We use many tools like LLC’s, LP’s, offshore IBC’s and LLC’s, PPLI (private placement life insurance), offshore trusts, family office, offshore banking and several other planning tools.  By using the proper tools and strategic planning, we can help you protect your wealth from the predators that exist in this world.  To schedule your free 30 minute consultation, contact us today.