The United Corporate Statism of America

In today’s asset protection newsletter:

• Discussion about 2013 federal budget proposal and its implication for your wealth
• Reminder about today’s webinar discussing real estate asset protection strategies
• Travel plans for those interested in meeting face-to-face
• Early notification about our offshore conference “Global Escape Hatch – Panama 2012”
• New product for Real Estate investors seeking asset protection and offshore diversification

This week the Obamessiah signed off on the federal budget for fiscal year 2013.  Take a minute to read the following excerpt from White House website;

We now face a make-or-break moment for the middle class and those trying to reach it. After decades of eroding middle-class security as those at the very top saw their incomes rise as never before and after a historic recession that plunged our economy into a crisis from which we are still fighting to recover, it is time to construct an economy that is built to last.

The President’s 2013 Budget is built around the idea that our country does best when everyone gets a fair shot, does their fair share, and plays by the same rules. We must transform our economy from one focused on speculating, spending, and borrowing to one constructed on the solid foundation of educating, innovating, and building. That begins with putting the Nation on a path to living within our means – by cutting wasteful spending, asking all Americans to shoulder their fair share, and making tough choices on some things we cannot afford, while keeping the investments we need to grow the economy and create jobs. The Budget targets scarce federal resources to the areas critical to growing the economy and restoring middle-class security: education and skills for American workers, innovation and research and development, clean energy, and infrastructure.

The Budget is a blueprint for how we can rebuild an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded.

I want you to take notice of a few of the lines above, “…and plays by the same rules”, or, “…begins with putting the Nation on a path of living within our means”, or “asking all Americans to shoulder their fair share”.

I suppose I should have said, attempt to read this excerpt without breaking out into hysterical laughter.  Does anyone really believe this rhetoric anymore?

How can any rational person read these statements and think the 2013 fiscal budget achieves these directives?

Let’s take a look at a few key features of the budget;

• $3.8T – an INCREASE over 2012 budget
• Adds over $6T to the national debt over 10 years
• Increase marginal tax rate for those earning over $250k to 39.6%
• Eliminate dividend tax rate of 15% for those earning over $250k increasing to 39.6%
• Replace current AMT with minimum 30% tax for those earning over $1M
• Reverts to old estate tax of 55% for assets over $1M

Also in the budget there are both increases and decreases for various projects, but the net effect is an increase in the size of government and a focus on raising the burden on the producers.

Raise your hand if you have ever been offered or given a job by someone in the 10-15% tax bracket.  The reality is that the wealthy are the ones creating jobs.

There is certainly an argument to be made that the super wealthy are typically those that work in the big corporations.  With that, I would tend to agree.  The reasoning is that the United States of America has become a nation of Corporate Statism.

There clearly needs to be some changes made here.  But these changes need to be made at the political level to eliminate the incentive for big corporate collaboration with political parties.  Relatively simple measure like term limits for congress and elimination of lobbying would greatly reduce the corporate influence over political agendas.

From a tax standpoint though, the vast majority of people in the higher income brackets are entrepreneurs and investors.  Like all rational people we respond to incentives, and believe it or not, taxes reduce incentives.

If you want more capital investment in the country, does it really make sense to dramatically increase the tax rates for investment income and capital gains?  By raising these rates on the people who are most able to invest, you effectively reduce their incentive.

Is that the desired outcome we are looking for?  Nearly 50% of the population in the US pays no net federal taxes.  This means the wealthy are already bearing the financial burden of the nation and paying the bills for the parasites in Washington.  How much more can the beast of burden carry?

In my viewpoint, this spells trouble in the coming years.

We will see a massive increase in litigation as this will have an negative economic impact and ‘force’ the parasites to seek wealth through litigation instead of actually producing something of value.

We will see currency controls like Argentina’s recent restriction on daily cash transactions.  (For reference, Argentina just announced a limitation of $230 per day for financial transaction as a measure to limit flight of capital).

We already have the new FATCA rules taking effect (see “The Noose Tightens”) in 2013 which will restrict your ability to diversify your assets with an offshore company and offshore bank account.

There has also been talk over the past year about subtle ways to nationalize retirement accounts through mandatory government bond purchases.

None of these things bode well for growth in the (now) largest economy in the world.  These things will have a ripple effect worldwide.  Now is the time to act.  Take precautionary measures before it’s too late and develop your own asset protection plan.

As mentioned earlier, I want to remind you of my webinar today at 6pm EST where I will be discussing the use of land trusts for your real estate asset protection.  You can register for the webinar here.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be traveling.  On Tuesday February 21^st, I will be in London for the evening if anyone wants to meet.  On February 22^nd-27^th, I will be in Phoenix, AZ for a conference.  I will have time to meet during this event.  On February 28^th-March 9^th, I will be in NC and can schedule meetings as well.

In September 2012, we will be hosting our first ever offshore conference in Panama.  Over the next 1-2 weeks we will be finalizing dates, location and speakers as well as get the website up with details.  We already have commitments from some excellent speakers who will be discussing various topics including; offshore banking, 2^nd passports and citizenship, internet privacy, cloud computing, global macro investment opportunities, internet marketing, and more.

The venue is truly something special.  It is on a private island only accessible by water taxi.  The speakers will provide exceptional value with immediate take-away actionable information.  You will have the ability to take action on your strategic plans at the event.  No fluffy conference speeches that leave you with no concrete answers.

We have three primary objectives for the event:

1. Direct actionable information to educate you on offshore issues
2. Interaction with other like-minded individuals in an intimate setting
3. Fun as hell

We will only sell a very limited number of tickets to this event so if you are interested in being on the early notification list, please send me an email here, and put Offshore Conference in the subject line.

Last but not least, we are launching a new product designed specifically for US investors who want to protect their real estate assets and simultaneously implement offshore asset protection into their planning process.  If you are a real estate investor and looking for a way to diversify internationally without giving up any control over your assets, contact me to schedule a phone consultation to determine if this strategy is right for you.

Until next week, live well.