SDB Finance Information

Finance information for you

Posts Tagged asset protection

How To Protect Your Assets And Live The American Dream By Moving Abroad

Feb 3

Posted by admin in Personal Finance

Taxes are a drag for every US citizen who is forced to give away part of their earnings on a yearly basis. While most Americans simply complain over taxes, others are taking a more proactive approach: retirement abroad.

For folks who have spent a lifetime trying to build an estate and set aside hard earned assets, paying taxes on said assets becomes a huge burden. Not so much because they cannot afford it, they just do not feel as though they should be required to pay.

Many people, not just retirees, feel that their quality of life is not up to par. In fact, 25% of the college educated say that they have thought about leaving the country to pursue more suitable locations. Whether it is a cultural or a financial chasm, there are many citizens who have considered relocation. It’s not to say that they despise the United States government or the way of life that the US promotes, they are simply fed up with taxes and other financial issues that can be appeased elsewhere.

Some may think that the capitalist society and other freedoms that America offers is the ticket to financial freedom and happiness. The term ?American dream? stems from this notion. However when delved into further than face value, the American dream may not seem so dreamy after all. It is a semi truth in America that if you work hard you will be successful. All things being equal this statement has merit, however, all things are not often equal. Once income deductions begin, they tend to pile up until income feels more like “outgo”, so to speak. In order to bounce this phenomenon off of themselves, many people are picking up and leaving the home soil.

Retirees often dream of relaxation and a subdued life after completing their working stint. However, in the US, they are often met with undue stress relating to taxes, healthcare cost, and the like. This forces the thought of something or somewhere better, and this is where moving abroad enters the picture. Obviously it is not an option for all retirees considering health issues and the necessity to be close to extended family and familiar medical care.

For others, however, there are no strings to connect them to America, and they are free to go and enjoy the tax freedom. This notion may hit home to retirees who have been basking in the dread of American taxes their entire lives, but it may also hit those far from retirement who are making long term plans for the future. If the working class decides they are fed up with income taxes in America, they may actually consider the option of moving abroad, and if they are in the prime of their careers, they may even do it sooner that expected.

Tags: , , ,

No Comments

The Contingency Lawyer Wants Your Assets!

Nov 1

Posted by admin in Bankruptcy, Finance

Imagine a city in the US with a population of one million people. Now imagine that each of those one million people is a lawyer. The mind boggles!

For the city to prosper, its residents need to be gainfully employed and so to achieve that, this horde of lawyers launches a reported ninety million lawsuits each and every year against the citizenry of other US cities.

Staggering in its scope isn’t it!

It is said that the US has by far the largest number of lawyers of any nation and it follows that the US also has by far the greatest volume of litigation activity compared to any other nation on earth.

In fact the US is litigation heaven for lawyers, hordes of whom are churned out of US universities each year, each with a license to sue.

One million lawyers!

Now I am sure that many of these good folk justify their existence admirably by deciphering legalese that was probably produced in jargon just to defeat the average person and to provide employment for said good folk but there is another class of lawyer that prowls the land that you need to take special note of.

You especially need to take heed if you have accumulated any serious assets because this class of lawyers specialises in relieving people like you of part or all of your assets for the benefit of anyone who would like to take a run at you.

The ingredients needed for a litigant are these: the sum of $150 in registration fees and a lawyer who will take the case on a contingency basis.

The contingency arrangement with the lawyer is simply that the opportunist does not need to pay the lawyer up front as he agrees that the lawyer can keep a third of whatever they together can get out of you.

So all an opportunist needs to invest in shaking you down is the princely sum of $150 and that’s it!

As this article is being written there are thousands of lawyers taking on cases that are nothing short of a shakedown of innocent people who have done nothing except fail to take the necessary steps to protect their assets. These lawyers know that there is a good chance that they will settle out of court just to be rid of the hassle and if they don’t'–well there is a good chance the courts will award damages against them anyway.

The stories of fanciful and peculiar damages awards by US courts are legion.

Consider the woman who was awarded damages against a fast food outlet because the coffee she spilled on herself was too hot etc!

Yes. It is a fact that if you have been successful in accumulating serious assets you have become a target. The more you make your wealth obvious, the sooner some opportunist will try to relieve you of some or all of it.

So it becomes imperative that you with assets to protect start creating privacy and protection around those assets if you intend to keep them.

Ignoring or procrastinating around this issue produces only one loser and that is you.

Forget all the offers of Nevada Corporations and ?bullet proof? trusts that purport to protect your assets because they will not.

Forget thinking that there is any privacy attached to your onshore banking because there is not.

The solution lies offshore in a competently designed asset protection structure and it is on this upon which many eyes are now focussing.

For generations the wealthy of Europe have viewed asset protection as vital and out of that need grew the offshore financial centers like Liechtenstein and structures such as the Anstalt which while very expensive proved virtually impregnable against attack and therefore worth every penny of the cost.

These offshore centres still provide this valuable service to those who have the forethought to protect their assets.

The key here is to arrange matters so that you pass ownership of assets to an offshore entity but continue to enjoy their benefits.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

No Comments

Who Will Look After Me Once I Am Old

Feb 24

Posted by admin in Personal Finance

Everybody is aging in today’s society, many countries are approaching a point where people over the age of sixty will outnumber the younger generations. This is because better health care is helping people live longer, more productive lives. Getting the right kind of aging care is important if you want to keep enjoying a good quality of life.

Keep in mind if you’re selecting a health care facility or care method for a loved one, you need to be realistic. It is normally hard to accurately view the health needs of a parent or relative since you want to think they are capable and in good health. But ignoring the needs of certain medical conditions, whether the wandering tendencies of an Alzheimer’s patient or the tremors of a person with Parkinson’s can actually do them harm.

Do you like the idea of staying in your own home? Consider a care provider who will come in and help look after your needs. Think about the specific needs you will want met, and the home itself. If mobility is a problem, someone may need to move to a home with no stairs. If you cannot lift, consider having help with your housework and yard work. You should think carefully about the different things you need to do around the house and make sure that these are taken care of in order to make living at home as successful as possible.

You may look at a retirement residence as a good transition from your home. You want to make sure that the facility you choose has activities you will enjoy and enough privacy and independence that you will feel at home there. Look at this place as somewhere you will want to live for a long time. Health care methods and advances in medical care can keep you around for many years to come.

Nursing care facilities may be the next step that you will consider. Normally, a person is admitted into a nursing home when they have significant physical or mental impairments that make any level of self-care impossible. They usually have less segregated living arrangements and activities which are less varied or active. People who are suffering from altered mental states due to disease or the after effects of a stroke may require a room in a nursing facility.

Once aging has reached a very advanced stage, you may need to use palliative care to provide you with personal care until you pass on. This can be a hard decision to make especially since it is normally being made on behalf of a loved one, instead of by the loved one themselves.

Senior care is quickly turning out to be a growth industry. Everyone is requiring more care for longer periods of time and the different levels of physical needs has caused people to need specialized aging care. Knowing what stage you or a family member has reached is the key to getting the care you, or they, need.

Before you decide to go and get a policy get more long-term care ins info and request a long term care insurance quote visit us today. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This provides you with tremendous options.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No Comments

Long Term Care And Things Everyone Should Know

Feb 5

Posted by admin in Personal Finance

No one intends to get hurt, and everyone expects to get old. But with the growing number of elderly people, and with the relevance of long term care changing constantly, it is very important to know what might be in your future. How prepared are you? And what do you need to know before the worst case scenario happens?

It’s a terrible thing to one day be a self sufficient adult and the next find yourself relying on the kindnesses and help of others to do very simple things. Long term care is about just that, helping people who are no longer able to help themselves in some of the smallest ways possible. It includes a variety of services for those who are disabled and those who are elderly, and these services can be of a medical nature or not. Dressing, bathing and using the bathroom are things many people take for granted.

Many people try not to think about the worst case scenario or what will happen to them when they get old. However, these people also wrongly think that the government will take care of them and cover all of their costs. Even in the most progressive European countries, this simply isn’t the case, and care for the elderly or permanently disabled falls on volunteers or if someone is fortunate, relatives willing to take the time to help.

In the United States, Medicaid eligibility is dependent on a person’s resources and income. Medicare does not cover custodial or unskilled care provided by family or friends. Many Nordic countries now have programs in place to provide some sort of financial compensation to those who tend to the elderly or disabled, even if they are relatives. Some of these programs even include pensions. However, North American countries don’t have this luxury just yet.

Twelve million Americans require long term care. Five million of these people are of an adult age that is typically a part of the workforce. It’s not something people typically plan for, though they have no challenge insuring their homes, their cars, their lives. It isn’t hard to prepare for the future and ensure that should long term care become important, it’s available.

One of the first things to know is that the sooner a person begins to provide for future long term care insurance, the better. In their fifties, most people are still fit enough to pass a medical if one is necessary. Premium costs are also lower and this is pretty important, as a typical stay in a long term facility is $150 a day. Another thing to know is that once you are locked in on a plan, should your health change, your premiums won’t. A third thing to bear in mind when planning future long term care is that there is typically an elimination period. For the first sixty or ninety days of care, the policy will not be there. It doesn’t kick in until after this period. Be prepared financially to bear that burden until the policy comes into play.

The population of the elderly is growing substantially. But with this growth comes a larger amount of information available to help people prepare for the worst case scenario. No one wants to get sick or become so aged that they can’t take care of simple daily tasks themselves. However, it is a possibility, and one that can be planned for appropriately if you know what to expect if it happens to you.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No Comments

Shortage Of Nurses Is A Big Issue For Long Term Care

Feb 4

Posted by admin in Personal Finance

Baby boomers have reached the age when they will soon be retiring and this is a major reason why they have begun to worry about getting proper long term care. Unfortunately for them healthcare in the case of baby boomers does not seem to be easy to obtain which means that these people are going to face a difficult time in the foreseeable future.

Baby boomers fall into a category of those who were born in a period ranging from 1946 to 1964 at which time there was a boom in the American population that was not seen before this time and which has also not been since that time. In these present times, about one third of all Americans happen to be baby boomers and these are the category of people that are most in need of proper long term care.

Since they form a pretty large chunk of the American population there no doubts the fact that taking care of them is a major worry that the healthcare people in the US have to address because these people are going to reach retirement age pretty soon.

It is however interesting to note that many among them are actually working as nurses and in addition there is the worrying news that in the times to come there is going to be a real dearth of nurses to take care of the baby boomers; and, this dearth is not going to disappear in the near term.

When the baby boomers actually do retire it means that a new set of circumstances are going to arise and with a shortfall in the number of nurses available to take care of the soon to retire Americans it would mean that the healthcare industry is going to be squeezed for resources.

This of course will mean that providing suitable care to these people will become a real big headache which is making the custodians of healthcare feel very uncomfortable. Even in spite of doing their best to solve this problem the future does not look too rosy.

In a bid to woo greater number of people to become nurses the healthcare industry has offered higher salaries but this has not had the desired effect. The trouble obviously is that the workload is too heavy and this is deterring people from joining up as nurses.

As for providing the right kind of long term care goes it now rests in the hands of those who can think up more innovative medical solutions and who can come up with newer technologies that can substitute for actual physical care of those who are going to retire in the very near term.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No Comments

Preparing For Long Term Care Must Start Now

Feb 2

Posted by admin in Loans, Personal Finance

Long term care is used by both the elderly and those who are disabled in some way that prevents them from taking care of themselves. It’s not an eventuality people expect and ever so many don’t include it in their existing insurance policies. But knowing that you could relieve the burden on friends and family, wouldn’t you take that opportunity if you could?

Becoming dependent on others can happen suddenly or gradually. Many healthy people take for granted the simple ability to dress one’s self, to bathe alone, to go to the bathroom on their own. However, these are the sorts of things that one relies on long term care for, along with medical procedures and other forms of care.

Even in the best countries, the government is not prepared to handle the growing population of people who require long-term care. Even in areas of the world considered more progressive when it comes to health care, like Europe, the burden of caring for the elderly or disabled is shouldered by younger family members or dear friends.

Different medical programs in the United States cover long-term care in different ways. Medicaid requires eligibility, meaning that a person’s finances and other resources are taken into consideration before their long term care will be covered. Medicare itself does not cover what is called custodial care, nor does it cover care provided by non-medical skilled personnel. However, at least in this respect several Nordic countries are ahead of the U. S. By providing long-term care givers with some sort of financial recompense as well as pension plans where appropriate. Family and friends in these countries can expect compensation for their noble efforts in caring for others.

Of the twelve million Americans who are in the long term care system, five million are work-aged adults no longer able to care for themselves. Not everyone experiencing long-term care is elderly, though that is obviously the vast majority. Most people are caught unprepared by a worst case scenario, and long term care is the furthest thing from their minds. But while insuring your house, your car, your life, why not consider insurance to cover future long term care, should it become relevant?

Three things should be kept in mind when considering long term care insurance. One is that the sooner you start planning for it, the better. Older adults are healthy enough to pass any required medical exams, and yearly premiums will be lower than if they start planning later. A second thing to consider is that the annual premiums will not rise should a later health condition arise. They will be locked in. The third thing to keep in mind when considering this type of insurance is that there is an elimination period just before your policy starts to cover your long term care. For sixty to ninety days, depending on the policy, you will not be covered and someone will need to pay for the stay, which can be up to or more than $150 a day.

The number of elderly people is growing. This is natural, given how many different ways there are of prolonging someone’s life. However, the population of people in long term care is also growing. Consider planning for the future, for both the best possibilities and the worst. Putting the right amount of money into the right type of insurance will not bring about the worst case scenario any sooner, and it’s so much better to be safe than sorry.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No Comments

Top 10 Misconceptions On Asset Protection Planning

Jan 28

Posted by admin in Finance

After many years of answering asset protection questions from the public, I’ve come across a number of common misconceptions on the subject. I’ve compiled a Top 10 List of these common misconceptions and I?d like to share them with you.

I?ll wait until someone threatens me with a lawsuit – This is probably the most common mistake. When a lawsuit has been filed or is expected, it is too late. No asset protection plan will work. The judge will most likely rule that any structures created or assets transferred after the fact as fraudulent. An asset protection plan has to be put in place long before the threat of a lawsuit to be effective. It?s like life insurance. When you are lying in the intensive care unit in the hospital, you can?t buy a life insurance policy. You have to plan ahead.

No one will sue me ? You better think twice on your exposure. With over 19 million lawsuits filed each year in the U.S., just about everyone with assets is at risk of a lawsuit. According to the American Bar Association, there are close to 700,000 lawyers in practice in America. That?s one lawyer for every 400 men, women and children! Many of these lawyers make a living solely on suing others for part of the winnings. So, if you own a business or practice a profession you have a one in three chance of being named in a lawsuit THIS YEAR! Do you want to win or lose in this lawsuit lottery?

I don?t have much to protect so I am not worried ? Unless the equity you have in your home is lower than the homestead exemption provided in your state, a creditor can come after the equity in your house. Collection attorneys know that the best way to get you to pony up money is to threaten a foreclosure on your home. If you have a sizeable equity in your home, you are vulnerable. Just because your net worth is not in the millions doesn?t mean that you don?t need protection. Someone with a $3 million net worth can probably absorb $250,000 of loss from a lawsuit but someone with a $200,000 net worth can ill afford the same loss.
Only a lawyer can help me do this ? Lawyers are knowledgeable on a number of subjects but asset protection is not usually one of them. Asset protection is not taught in law schools and most lawyers have not even traveled overseas. Therefore, unless a lawyer has a great deal of experience in collection or offshore planning, he/she is almost as clueless as the general public on this subject. As a matter of fact, many attorneys, knowing their lack of experience in asset protection, actually refer clients to Asset Protection Consulting Group to take advantage of our expertise.

A trust is what I need for asset protection ? Many people have been told that trusts can provide all the asset protection necessary. Well, they are wrong. trusts are primarily estate planning tools. They do not provide asset protection in most cases. There have been too many cases where trusts were busted by lawsuits and assets were lost. So they are unreliable as asset protection tools.

I will just transfer my assets to my spouse or relatives ? This is probably the worst thing you can do. Any competent collection attorney will sue you as well as your family members to collect the debt. In addition, your relatives or friends could refuse to return your assets when you want them back. Worst yet, they can be sued for their own liabilities such as a car accident and your assets are therefore exposed to their lawsuits as well as yours. Transferring assets to relatives is no protection at all and increases your risks of losing them.
It costs a lot of money to set up an asset protection plan ? This is true when you talk to a high priced attorney and he recommends forming very complicated entity structures and asks for upwards of $25,000 to $50,0000. Affordable asset protection planning can be done with very experienced asset protection experts using simple but battle-tested strategies and entities that cost only a few thousand dollars.

With an offshore corporation, I can avoid paying taxes on my income ? Anyone thinking about evading taxes with an offshore corporation is in for a big surprise when the IRS knocks on the door. So many law-abiding people are sucked in by illegal tax schemes that they end up losing much more than they try to save. If there was any legal way of avoiding taxes, every one would be doing it! Therefore, if anyone tells you that you can avoid paying taxes with an offshore corporation or trust, etc. run the other way!

Offshore planning is too risky ? Offshore planning is not risky if you do it properly. Now there are many illegal schemes out there so you need to do your due diligence before you entrust your money to someone. Not everyone needs offshore planning. However, for those with high net worth, taking your assets out of the jurisdiction of the United States provides you with maximum protection from judgments handed down by U.S. courts. Most asset protection firms have no offshore planning experience, so using one that does is paramount to an effective asset protection plan.

This can?t be legal. The government will go after me if I do this ? The U.S. Constitution guarantees every citizen the rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Setting up an asset protection plan is perfectly within these rights. We have never heard of anyone getting into trouble with the government for setting up an asset protection plan as long as it is not used to illegally evade taxes. Hiding gold bars in the ground is a form of asset protection even tough it might be a bit primitive. It is perfectly legal, isn?t it? So why wouldn?t an asset protection plan using Nevada or offshore corporations to make your assets invisible be legal?

Whatever you do to protect your assets, it must be done long before any legal problems surface. So get moving before your hard-earned assets are threatened.

Tags: , , , , , ,

No Comments