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By John Thompson
In business and accounting an asset is anything owned, whether
in possession or by right to take possession, by a person or a
group acting together, e.g. a company, the measurement of
which
can be expressed in monetary terms. Assets are listed on the
balance sheet.
Since assets represent every material possession that a person
or a company has, some steps should be taken in order to
protect them.
Not everybody can afford a sophisticated asset protection
plan:
however, everybody can take some commonsensical steps to
better-protect their hard-earned wealth.
1 – GOOD ADVICE
Good advice may save you of many headaches. Ask a lawyer to
assist you every time you make a critical legal decision. If
you have a friend who can help, that is great! If not, paying
a
lawyer a small amount of money now is a lot better than
loosing
a lawsuit that could cost you a 100 times more.
2 – INSURANCE
Insurance is always something to be considered. Your asset
protection plan does offer a lot of safety, especially if an
expert devises it, but the value of a good policy is higher
when you also have some adequate insurance.
3 – CAUTION
Trust your asset protection issues to someone reputable, who
has been in the business for a while and has had success with
their actions. Check out your business partner before you jump
in - better to be cautious than be fooled by a scam.
4 – KNOW THE LAW
Make sure to use the laws of the state you live in to the
maximum. Each state has a few differences in asset related
laws
- when you are having serious credit problems, try to find the
laws that favor your part.
5 – MORE THAN ONE OWNER
When liability-generating assets are mixed together, chaos
strikes. Each of these assets should be kept on a separate
plan
and under different ownership for larger items. If you own a
house and you own a business location, it is better if either
of them is owned by a different name - someone you can trust,
of course.
6 – PARTNERSHIP
General partners might seem like a quick fix idea, but they
are
jointly liable. This means that any of the partners can commit
the partnership to a legal contract - avoid this potentially
troublesome action if possible.
7 – SHOWING OFF
Showing off our wealth is common - but it is also dangerous.
If
people know you are rich, they may sue you. However, do not
think that the best asset protection plan is to hide your
riches completely. Make sure to have enough coverage from your
plan and try not to center all of your belongings on your own
name.
8 – PUT THE CASH TO “GOOD” USE
Many people are often afraid that future creditors will
garnish
their bank accounts without notice. In order to avoid this
kind
of danger, withdraw cash from the bank accounts and use the
cash to purchase a variety of store gift cards or gift checks.
Major chains such as Walmart and Target will sell unlimited
number of prepaid store cards in $2,500 denominations. Then
use
these cards to buy all the food and other living necessities.
The stores do not require identification when purchasing or
using the cards. American Express gift checks are available
for
purchase in larger denominations. Rather the buy your own gift
checks, give your cash to friends, have them buy the Amex gift
checks, and then give you the gift checks which can be used as
cash to purchase items and are protected against loss.
About The Author: John Thompson is editor of
assetguardian.net, a website dedicated to providing
asset protection tips and resources.
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