If your someone who owns assets, whether it be big or small, you know the importance of keeping it safe and also, just how hard you worked to obtain it. Wealth, in most cases, does not come easy and you should always ensure that it is protected and taken care of as it can not only be of benefit to you but also your future family.
Asset protection will offer you peace of mind, as well as a stable financial platform that will help you plan your retirement and even allow you to retire earlier than planned. Let’s be real. You don’t want to retire at the age of 60. Probably much less at the age of 65, which is the average age people tend to still work before they retire. While there are few and far between that choose to work until the age of 65, there are many that prefer to retire as early as their early 50’s. Asset protection also plays a vital role in the planning of your estate and will guide you to choose the right strategy going forward.
Asset Protection Explained
First of all, why do you need asset protection? Is it a similar method of insurance and just why is it so important to have?
Well, there are many different reasons why and these reasons will definitely not make you regret it.
It starts with optimising the protection of your assets and includes support that covers your financial difficulties or shortcomings, as well as insolvency of your business. It also includes protection from creditors, divorce cases, any circumstances that involves breakdowns between shareholders, joint ventures and business partners, the promise that your assets will be passed to your wife or children when you pass away, as well as future protection in case of a legal action that is taken against your business by clients, consumers and employees.
Strategies for Asset Protection
If you’ve made the decision to protect your assets, the first thing to do would be to hire a solicitor with a good background so you know you’re getting your money’s worth of legal advice. Solicitors usually offer a wide range of services when it comes to legal processes, as well as strategies to optimise the protection of your assets.
Internal Arrangements – One strategy offered by solicitors are internal arrangements between all parties involved. These include partners, shareholders, unitholders and joint ventures. Such an agreement will specify the outcome if the structure of your business and its different entities changes.
Business Restructuring – Solicitors will see to your business needs and provide you with a structure to optimise your asset protection.
The Binding of Financial Agreements – These are set up by solicitors to explain the division of property and assets between different parties. This could either be in business, dividing assets between families and when two people get divorced.
Superannuation – A strategy present in the case of bankruptcy.