Essential Steps to Protect Your Business Assets

Posted by J. J. Childers on 6/15/2007 at 8:39 AM
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Success

Vital information from the new book Trump University Wealth Building 101: Your First 90 Days on the Path to Prosperity

You spend years building a company and then one day a visitor falls in your parking lot, breaks her hip and sues you. Is it a problem you can settle out of court, a problem that your insurance policy will cover - or a problem that will cost you your business?

The answer to that question is really up to you. Protecting your assets depends upon the strength of the “asset security system” you design and install. Recognize this, and take these five steps to insure that any lawsuit you face won’t wipe out your personal and business assets:

Formulate a strategy. Realize that no matter how carefully and ethically you conduct yourself and your business, it is highly likely that you may be sued.
Recruit and organize professionals who can help you accomplish this goal. Most likely, you’ll need an attorney and an accountant who are both skilled at asset protection structures and methods.
Prioritize your objectives. Evaluate your overall financial situation, but in a way that doesn’t negatively affect your other financial planning objectives. Consider how a transfer of assets from one entity to another may affect your tax and/or estate planning. If you put your personal residence into a limited partnership, you’ll gain asset protection - but lose the tax exemption.
Measure your wealth. What assets do you have at risk, and how do you expect your wealth to change in the future?
Be proactive in your planning. You can’t put an asset protection system in place after you’ve been sued. Unfortunately, people often think about how to protect their assets when it’s too late.

And one last word . . .

A secure asset protection system in place is a lifelong process. Regular review of your assets and their vulnerabilities can ensure that you have the protection you need.

J.J. Childers is an attorney dealing primarily with the topics of asset protection, estate planning, and tax reduction. He travels the country extensively working with individuals and companies to help them with their small business wealth structuring. He is one of the authors of the new book Trump University Wealth Building 101: Your First 90 Days on the Path to Prosperity.

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3 Comments Post a comment

Posted by member1600131 on 06/15/2007 2:04 PM

Very useful suggestions on protecting business assets.
Never before this issue should be taken care by all businesses today. Don't know why but people are always trying to find the loop hole and take benefit out of it. To be assured of your business assets, you must act today.

Rajesh SHAKYA
http://www.rajeshshakya.com
Helping Technopreneurs to excel and lead their life!

Posted by The Haberdasher on 06/19/2007 5:47 PM

Something I would like to have seen from your article, Mr. Childers, is a little more specific advice and a little less in the way of vague generalizations. It seems to me that I could have written basically the same information with one sentence; "continually quantify your assets and develop strategies with your CPA and attorney about protecting your assets from obvious and unforeseen circumstances."

What did I leave out that you covered? Oh yes, you also said, "it is highly likely that you may be sued." Are you an Attorney or a Politician? How can you have 'highly likely' and 'may' in the same sentence about the same eventuality? To back this statement up I hope you have statistics showing that 'more or less' than 50% of businesses 'may or may not' be sued.

Here's a little tidbit for a few small business owners out there: Sole-proprietors and other small business owners must realize their biggest asset is themselves. Considering this, it is imperative to have disability insurance in the event your ability to work is taken away from you. The third professional you should consult with is an insurance specialist.

Jeff Collins, Professional Haberdasher
http://www.MyHaberdasher.com

Posted by member1240227 on 06/21/2007 10:25 PM

Reading all the blogs on this website makes me want to write a book... I'd probably call it "The Oh S**t Plan"

I hate the fact that people sue daily just to make money.

Oskar
NY Mobile Ads
www.nymobileads.com

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