Asset protection is like a fire extinguisher. You have one in case there is a fire, but you hope you never have to use it. When you use asset protection as your fire extinguisher, you’re protecting yourself and your family from potential loss. John D. Rockefeller said, “Own nothing but control everything.” That is the key to asset protection, because you can lose all that you own.

Assets that are held in your name are always susceptible to loss or seizure. However, the trick is to keep your assets under the aegis of a legal entity who is not you but is only kept there to serve the purpose of attribution. However, inspite of being held by a legal entity, the assets are actually under your control without you seeming to own them.

It is much better to own nothing and control everything. You can even create an entity in such a manner as to retain the tax benefits and other beneficial aspects of ownership, without the burdens of ownership.

There are four plans within a master plan in asset protection:

Financial and business plans Retirement plan Estate plan Lawsuit protection plan

The master plan also looks at three basic concepts and builds the individual plans based on one or more of these concepts:

Ownership versus control Tax efficiency Financial privacy

Ownership versus Control:You must remember within the scope of the law anyone can file a case against you at any time they want to. Therefore you are not lawsuit-proof or so to speak. But what you can do is change the way your assets are named. If you modify the titles to your assets then remember, the probability of you losing them legally goes down by a great deal.

Tax Efficiency - If you owe taxes, you should pay your fair share based upon your lifestyle choices. However, it’s perfectly legal to minimize your taxes, even if that number is zero. IRS code 419(e)/83(b) gives you the tax planning methods you can take advantage of as a business owner. These tax planning advantages are phenomenal.

For example, if you are a business, you can adopt a “welfare benefit plan”. The Welfare Benefit Plan currently under IRS regulations doesn’t have a cap. That means you can put as much money as you can into it and then deduct it as a business expense.

The Welfare benefit plan gives you a fully funded insurance policy that can support your family incase of an untimely death. You get a deduction for every dollar and is the best way to increase value on a tax-free basis.

FINANCIAL PRIVACY: With the advancement of the cyber world, cyber crime through financial privacy and identity theft on the Internet has grown phenomenally as well. With more and more cutting edge technology, you have to stay one step ahead and take advanced steps to avoid the aforementioned issues. So be aware and updated about the latest developments in the cyber world.

When trial attorneys get ready to file lawsuits, one of the first things they do is search to see if you’re a good candidate. One of the primary things they search for is property and assets held in your name, as well as what kind of car you drive, what your bank account balances are, etc. If you can enhance your personal privacy, it’s going to lower your profile in terms of being at risk for a lawsuit.

Types of Assets - There are four kinds of assets that need to be protected from any litigation whatsoever and they are:

Business entities Real estate Investment holdings such as mutual funds, stocks and bonds, option trading accounts, etc. Retirement accounts and Insurance policies (casualty and liability)

Many entrepreneurs insist that hustle is all that is required in the marketing of their business. But, energy alone is not enough; it must be directed by intelligence. An excellent marketing plan Is an integral part of a good, solid business plan.

Marketing should be based on the brand being marketed, and one should always make all strategies keeping this basic idea in mind.

A marketing plan can be broken down into the following three sections: Marketing Plan: Used to understand the market and build appropriate strategy Creative Plan: It is quite similar to a marketing plan, but actually deals more with the materials being marketed Media Plan: This plan deals with the media weapons being used and the corresponding media calendar

The marketing plan that you build should help you in not only getting an idea about the market, but also understand your position in it. The targeted audience who would be using your plan and your organizational culture are deciding factors for the length of your marketing plan.

You should start with a one-paragraph statement. A simple marketing plan may include the following points: Strategy purpose Techniques to achieve this purpose Target market Marketing weapons Positioning - What are your competitors up to? Business identity Budget - Express these figures as a percentage of projected gross revenues.

A creative plan is necessary as a marketing plan cannot help a business. Although you must your creativity you should keep in mind that it should only be used for marketing your product and should never defer from this idea. The plan can be simply put as: The purpose of the creative message The steps to achieve the purpose Advertising the tone, mood or personality

Plan and select the Media and weapon that best suit your product or service. Then you’re ready to schedule your marketing calendar. This will tell you whether you can use your selected marketing methods properly. It forces you to come to terms with the costs and realities of the media you selected.

In some cases, you may need a more in-depth marketing plan.

It may happen so that at times a marketing plan more detailed might be required, and in such cases a marketing plan with the following structure can prove to be of great use. Executive Summary: A summary highlighting the main points of the marketing plan. Challenges: A part that includes a brief description of the product that is being marketed and goals, which are associated with it. Situation Analysis: An analysis of the goals, culture, strengths, and weaknesses of your company. Market Segmentation: A description of the market segments that are being targeted and a detailed of all the objectives. Selected Marketing Strategy: A strategy that involves product, price, place, and promotion decisions that you make. Short and Long-Term Projections: Forecasts ROI, productions and risks, and strategies that you make to deal with trying situations in business. Conclusion: A brief summary of all the major points and proving its importance to the readers. Appendix: That includes a well maintained bibliography along with relevant documentation.

A well developed and thought of marketing plan is the step-stone towards building a good business and attract potential investors and lenders for the success of your business.

Deferring taxes is the kind of investment strategy that can be carried out on your income, by which your income tax is paid later in exchange for money invested currently. The advantage of tax deferral is that you get to make more money which you can in turn invest immediately.

For example, you are able to deduct $1000 from your taxable income in the present year and then you invest that exact amount into an account that pays you an interest, therefore you will be able to pay around $200 less in income tax for that year. As a result of this, you are gaining $200 extra as compared to if you had not invested the $1000. Therefore if you add the invested amount with the deferred amount, you are making around $1200 more which is growing as an investment for you. There is also another tax deferral strategy that investors often go for; they defer the tax they have to pay for the interest they are earning. The invested amount thus becomes taxable, but the interest becomes tax free.

Another type of tax deferral used by investors is the deferment of taxes paid on interest earned. The dollars invested have already been taxed, but any interest earned is tax free.

The tax deferred accounts that you may create will protect your money from being taxed until you start withdrawing money at a time when you are entitled to pay less tax. The Investment vehicle that suits you therefore depends on your current situation.

You could opt for the plan 401(k). This vehicle is open for you only if your employer offers it. This will allow you to make contributions that are deductible by tax but grow as deferred tax until you start withdrawing the money. Depending on your employer, your 401(k) might come with a bonus, when your employers add to your contributions, doubling it. You could make anywhere between 25%-100% on your contributions, if your employer adds to it.

A 401 (k) allows you to contribute much more per year than many of the other retirement plans. You can contribute up to $9,500 to your 401 (k) per year and your employer can contribute up to $30,000 per year. You can also have your bonuses issued as 401 (k) contributions to build your retirement wealth even faster. If you ever leave your employer or wish to have more freedom with your 401 (k) investments, you can always rollover the assets in your account into an IRA.

A 401 (K) may work for a beginner at investing, someone who does not know how to invest in stocks or which are the best stocks to invest in.

Another type of plan offered by an employer is the 403 (b). This plan is for public school and non-profit organization employees and it is tax deductible and tax deferred. You can contribute up to $9,500 of your annual gross income each year to this plan.

However, with the 403(b) plan, you need to beware of some risks. The money you contribute is usually invested in an annuity that is sheltered from tax, but this will have high sale charges and their rates will not have much guarantee.

Anybody who earns an income or the spouse of somebody who earns any kind of income can have their own IRA and contribute to that yearly to a maximum of $2000. The earnings that you make are not subjected to tax till you start withdrawing from it, however a penalty will be charged if you are less than 59 and a half years of age. Even though the money might not be tax deductible, the investment will be tax deferred.

The type of investments you can make with your IRA dollars depends on the custodian, but you generally have many more investment options with an IRA than you do with any of the employer sponsored investment plans.

The Keough Plan is another such plan that is available for people who are self employed or who work for businesses that are unincorporated. Under this plan, you get to contribute up to 25% of your income every year with a maximum of up to $30,000. You can contribute most with this plan than any other IRA plan, and all your earnings become tax deductible and tax deferred. There are options to choose from in this plan, that is, you could choose to pay according to a fixed percentage every year or a variable percentage or a fixed amount. A lawyer should be best able to guide you in what suits you the best.

The Simplified Employee Plan or the SEP is the other type of investment vehicle available. However, this scheme is open only to those business companies that employ les than twenty five people and at least half of them have to be a part of this plan. Under this plan, you can contribute up to $7,000 and the employee ca pay the rest with a maximum of $30,000.

All the above described investment vehicles fall under one of these two categories: Qualified or Non - Qualified plans.

The 401 (k) and 403 (b) plans are qualified plans. Qualified plans are employer-sponsored plans that provide good benefits but that are restricted to the types of investment options offered by the employer. As we already mentioned, 403 (b) plans often require you to invest your money in tax sheltered annuities. 401 (k) plans generally offer a broader range of conventional investment options, but still seem very limited when compared to non-qualified plans. You usually get to select from a preset choice of investment options such as fixed interest annuities, money market funds, stock in your company, and other traditional investments.

The second category of retirement plans is nonqualified plans. Nonqualified plans generally allow more freedom as to when, or if, a contribution has to be made, and they also offer more latitude in the type of investments that can be made. All IRAs fall into this category. Generally, investors have more control over their investments in a nonqualified plan than with a qualified one. Usually they are easier to work with, have less regulation, and require less reporting. Often, contributions to these plans can be deducted as a business expense.

Most investments made with the vehicles we have been discussing fall into one of two asset categories: The first is debt and the second is equity. As an investor, you are either an owner or a creditor. Equity owners are entitled to all free cash flows that exceed the debt payment obligations of the underlying economic entity. Creditors receive priority in agreed-upon future interest and principal payments.

When you opt for a certain retirement plan, you ought to be sure of the investments that are permissible with it. Try to not open an account that will not give you the freedom to select the kind of investment plan that you want, whether they are debt or equity investment plans.