This Issue: Iron-clad Protection Strategies for Your Home, Wealth, Family and More

The week before The Apprentice aired for the first time in January 2004, I remember wondering if that would be the last week of my well-respected life.

I couldn't help but think that, considering all the negative advice I'd been given. All my advisors thought it was a risk, that it would bomb, that my credibility as a businessman would be jeopardized, that my focus would be lost, and that I was making a huge and ultimately very public mistake.

I was afraid. Was it really going to be good? What if it was a disaster? How long would it take to recover? There was a huge amount of media attention already. Having a show bomb in that environment wouldn't be easy to handle. These thoughts were the low point for me because they were justified concerns, not just nerves or negativity. What got me through was remembering my gut instinct that said, "This is a great idea - go for it!"

Fortunately, the show was a sensation. It became the number one show very quickly. Everyone was excited about it and so was I - but I was also relieved. It was a big chance to take. It's one thing if you're not well known and your show tanks, but if you're already famous, the sting is worse. If I hadn't decided to take the risk, go against my advisors, and do the show, none of this would have happened. One side effect is that my brand became far better known around the whole world, and there was an amazing media interest in everything I did. That's another form of free advertising. It worked to my benefit as a businessman as well. So when I advise you to take risks, there's a reason for it.

I often tell people that I listen to everyone, but the decision will ultimately be mine. That's a good way to be in life and in business. Listen to others, but never negate your own instincts. If I'd listened to everyone, The Apprentice would have never happened. It continues to be a tremendous experience for me and for everyone involved. Not bad for a big mistake! However, when you do take risks, since they won't always work out, you better make sure the upside is big.

Over the last few months, I’ve felt the impact of inflation more strongly than I ever have before. And lots of my friends tell me that they’re feeling the crunch too.

Suddenly, I find that I am paying about $45 for every bag of groceries that I buy. That is not a scientific measure, but it feels like an increase of $10 per bag in just the last few months. Now that warm weather is here and I can add up what it cost me to heat my home last winter, I am in shock. Even when I average out my heating costs across 12 months, I see that it is costing me about $400 a month just to keep my family warm. And when I go to the gas station to fill my car? Well, I don’t need to tell you what that feels like. It really seems as though the cost per gallon of gasoline is increasing at the rate of about 10¢a week. Can you recall another time when we have seen inflation like that? I can’t.

Worse yet, I have discovered something troubling about the way I handle inflation. I am failing to save and invest as much as I did just a year ago.  After all, I have to heat my house, feed my family and drive my car. So in the crunch of daily life, I am not doing enough to protect my financial future. Like a lot of my friends, I find myself thinking, “Well, I’ll just cut back, tighten my belt a notch, spend less on unnecessary items, and get through this period.” That might keep me a step or two ahead of my monthly cash flow. But meanwhile, dollars are disappearing like sand through my fingers - dollars that I should be investing.

That is not wise.

My friends, unless we find a way to catch some of those dollars and hold onto them, inflation has the potential to do great financial damage to us. We could all retire with a lot less accumulated wealth than we had planned for. 

I don’t have all the solutions to this problem. None of us does. Yet I do know one strategy that can really help. Very wealthy people use this approach it to keep their wealth growing, even in the current inflationary climate, and this strategy can work for you too:

Put your money in income-producing, not static, investments.

Instead of simply putting all your investment money into your 40l(k), IRA, or other vehicles that earn income that you can’t access for years, put your money into investments that offer both cash income and long-term appreciation.

I am talking about buying a business, investing in foreclosed properties and engaging in other forms of active investing that provide both long-term growth and immediate cash income.

This two-pronged solution, which underlies a lot of our thinking here at Trump University, is something you can learn from us.

Make no mistake about it. These are difficult inflationary times. Yet a calm mind and wise advice can keep you and me ahead of the trends. We owe it to ourselves, and to our families, to make sure that happens.

Because I am a professional journalist, I review an awful lot of new books. Publishers mail at least a dozen of them to me every month, hoping to get a review or a mention somewhere on the Trump University Website or Blogs.

To tell you the truth, most new books are pretty much the same. The books about investing offer pretty much the same advice. The books about success all contain the same kind of motivational talk. Very few of the books on marketing or selling break any new ground.

But every now and again, about once a year, something comes along that breaks the mold - something that is truly different. And I am here to tell you, one such book is Trump University Asset Protection 101 by J. J. Childers. And I am not saying that just because I am part of Trump University. I am saying it because it is true.

I have never seen a book that delivers such cutting-edge strategies about protecting personal wealth. And to convince you that I am not just saying that to get you to run out and buy a copy of your own, let me explain one of the most powerful strategies from the book - a wealth-protecting strategy that I have never seen explained so clearly anywhere else.

It is what J. J. Childers calls the Legal Multiple Entity Structuring Strategy, or Legal MESS.  

The idea behind the Legal MESS strategy is to blend your ownership of your most important assets strategically, in ways that protect them from catastrophic loss from lawsuits and other disasters. You should own certain assets - such as your personal residence - outright, but put ownership into a revocable living trust. But ownership of many of your other assets should be divided among different entities.

The businesses you own, for example, should be held by separate corporations. That will protect you from personal ruin if they fail or if they are sued.  Ditto for real estate investing, which should be owned by separate entities. Ditto for the intellectual property that you own, such as patents, trademarks and logos.

You can think of it as refusing to “put all your eggs in one basket," because if you have your assets divided among different "baskets," your risk is minimized. And then there is the fact that you can insure each egg separately, or sell an egg or two when the time comes without affecting any other holdings. 

When you divide up what you own in this way, you enjoy the peace of mind that comes only from knowing that your financial future is as secure as it can be.

So stop and think about it. If someone gets injured in one of the properties you own and sues you, could you lose your own home? If someone sues your business for copyright infringement, could you lose a personal fortune? If so, you owe it to yourself to learn more about the Legal MESS strategy.

You’ll sleep much more soundly at night knowing that your personal fortune is defended from catastrophic loss.