The Secret Life and Journey of an Asset Protection Specialist
Sean Connery as James Bond
Surrounded by Wealth and Living the Life of James Bond, Free Market Capitalism Flows Through His Veins…
Having been raised in an entrepreneurial family, I was a third generation entrepreneur. My grandfather owned a chain of restaurants and my father owned a commercial construction and real estate development company. You could say it is genetic, but when your regular family dinner conversation consists of the ins and outs of S-corps vs. C-corps at age 10, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy that you will become an entrepreneur. While my family was well off, my father was adamant about instilling his work ethic and thus working at a young age was a requirement. By age 14 I had my own stock trading account, a lawn mowing business, and was even cleaning a couple of offices. There were also the jobs the average teen kid has, like working at the go kart track and the grocery store, but aside from that, I have never had a ‘real’ job. At this stage, I am likely unemployable.
My professional career began at age 19 with the first real small business. At age 20 this business was deemed unprofitable and abandoned for business two. This was again repeated one year later, this time with success. Company three provided installation services for retail stores that sold ready-to-assemble products and it grew very rapidly through organic expansion. Over the years, four other companies were bought and merged together into one cohesive entity creating the third largest US company in this industry.
During this time, I also diversified holdings through various investments including a real estate investment company, a restaurant, and a private investment partnership thus becoming an accredited investor. Also during this time period, I became a member of EO (Entrepreneurs Organization), a worldwide organization linking business owners for educational opportunities and networking, and also joined advisory boards of several small companies.
In 2005, I applied for, and was accepted into, the Entrepreneurship Master’s Program at MIT sponsored by EO. This is a three year program that attracts an average of 600 applicants. The program is limited to only 60 participants and attracts entrepreneurs from around the world. These entrepreneurs are some of the top men and women in their field; the largest Australian cotton farm owner, the largest independent magazine publisher in Russia, one of the largest landowners in the western US, the owner of one of the largest staffing agencies in Europe, just to name a few.
Due to the friendships developed in this program, I traveled the world making connections and business deals with various other entrepreneurs, investors, attorneys, bankers and other finance professionals that would benefit both me and my network of friends.
As an entrepreneur and investor, I became very interested in the aspects of legal asset protection strategies for selfish reasons, and soon was informally consulting with friends and associates to help them with their asset protection planning. While continuing to run the retail service organization, I developed the knowledge and base of global connections and continued to informally assist friends and associates. This continued for several years and in 2007 the decision was made to sell the retail service company and pursue new ventures. Also, seeing an irrational real estate market, all holdings were liquidated with the last property closing in September of 2008.
Armed with a global rolodex of entrepreneurs, investors, attorneys, and finance professionals, the decision was made to formally offer asset protection planning for clients. With the fundamental belief in free market capitalism, I found an enormous opportunity to provide asset protection planning for entrepreneurs and investors from around the globe. Many entrepreneurs are so narrowly focused on running their business, they tend to only concentrate on the urgent, not necessarily the important. Since we are all only blessed with 24 hours in a day, we must prioritize this time and for an entrepreneur, that means taking care of their baby (the company).
Asset protection strategies vary widely and you are likely to get as many solutions to your situation as there are solution providers. And while there are certainly a plethora of consultants and attorneys in this field, there are very few who can truly offer a practical, hands-on approach to asset protection planning. To be clear, I am not an attorney and thus do not sit behind a desk all day. But instead, I’m out in the world meeting with business owners, bankers, investors and attorneys from around the world developing strategies for clients to minimize their risks from litigation while maximizing wealth. Just in the past 3 months I have been in Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, and Switzerland.
To Learn More About Global Wealth Protection ===>>>>CLICK HERE
With my experience and connections, you get the best of both worlds. You get an experienced entrepreneur and investor who can guide you to the right strategy based on practical application while utilizing the network of connections to implement your plan. If you are hiring a financial planner, do you want the one that earns $60,000 per year, has a $1000/mo mortgage, drives a Honda Accord to work every day, and has her entire net worth tied up in a 401K? Or do you want the financial planner who has ‘been there, done that’ and offers guidance based on personal experience and has the financial results to prove it? The latter, of course.
While it has been explained how my career path brought me to this business, it has not been explained why. Like many of you, I sought the ultimate solution for personal and financial freedom. Philosophically, I believe in a free market capitalist system where we are free to succeed and fail according to our own efforts. Also, like many of you, the expat life was chosen. I have found the ultimate way to protect my assets is to not only diversify my wealth, but also my geographic location. With the proliferation of technology over the past 5 years, it is becoming increasingly easier to manage an expat lifestyle and a diversified portfolio of global assets.
In my view, there are two main threats to your wealth; litigation and government influence. While litigation is pretty clear, government influence can take on many forms. Currency controls, currency debasement, over burdensome government regulation, and the biggie – taxation. A good asset protection strategy addresses all of our risks and this is our goal with clients.
Our process is quite interactive with the client; they need to be involved along the entire process. At first, we schedule an introductory assessment call to determine the client’s situation and their needs. From here, we offer one or more solutions based on the client’s budget and provide a written, graphical proposal. Some clients only need simple solutions that involve holding assets in LLC’s or LP’s. Some are more complex and can involve such tools as offshore and domestic trusts, offshore corporations and LLC’s, offshore banking or investment options, or offshore private placement life insurance policies. Most importantly though, is a proper structure that minimizes risk, and maximizes gain. And this planning comes from my team of professionals across various fields of expertise.
While we have found that nearly anyone can benefit from a well structured asset protection plan, the following to be the people that benefit the most;
- Entrepreneurs
- Real estate investors
- Stock market investors and day traders
- Expats
- High net worth retirees
- Employees with annual income over $100k per year
- Doctors
We chose a partnership with Escape Artist because its readers fit our client profile. Every year I take a trip in January to reflect on the previous year’s accomplishments and set new goals for the upcoming year. I have been doing this since 18 years of age. In 2007, the decision was made to sell the company and pursue new business ventures where my passions could be ignited and work with clients I want to spend time with. As previously stated, I have a strong philosophical belief in the power of free market capitalism and you are the people that make the world a better place to live. I truly look forward to speaking with you and hearing your story.
To Learn More About Global Wealth Protection ===>>>> CLICK HERE
Escape From America | Global Wealth Protection now has the Global Awareness Media Advantage with Escapeartist! – 1.5 million unique visitors per month and 400,000 subscribers – Become a Strategic Media or Brand Alliance Partner Today CLICK HERE
