From Ronald Holland's upcoming fourth book, Restoring Our American Legacy. Get ready for a new 21st century reappraisal of how Americans should look at domestic and foreign investing, real estate investments, wealth preservation, American history and our global foreign policy. He asks if it is time to consider an improved political paradigm utilizing successful Swiss style direct democracy and the confederation model along with our existing political structure to return our nation back to the limited Republic form of government established by our Founding Fathers. In this new century of instant communications, 24 hour news, the War on Terror, exploding government and private debt, a falling dollar and America's declining status around the world it is time for a change. Americans must retake control over our government policies at home and abroad by restraining politicians, the bureaucracy and special interests to restore the control of productive American citizens back over our own government. Our wealth, prosperity and ultimate liberty depend on Restoring Our American Legacy before it is too late!
Talking Points: While we are faced with new threats to our wealth in the 21st century, traditional ones like lawsuits and high-pressure risky investments continue to plague all investors. In addition we should add the dangers of some third world tax havens, unethical promoters and the growing political risks to your investments with a reminder that you can expect no reprieve from parasites of all persuasions after your hard earned wealth.
"Familiarity breeds contempt - and children." -- Mark Twain
Greed & Revenge: The Lawsuit and Snitch Risk From Ex-Spouses, Business Partners, Friends and Confidants
An "American legal system that too often turns litigation into a weapon against guilty and innocent alike, erodes individual responsibility, rewards sharp practice, enriches its participants at the public's expense, and resists even modest efforts at reform and accountability."
-- Overlawyered.com
Most Americans will find their wealth threatened and stolen through outrageous lawsuits from ex-spouses, partners, close friends and confidants far more often than all the other traditional risks combined. The difference is that the typical unwarranted lawsuit is just an attack on your assets by a greedy plaintiff and lawyer out for his cut; there is nothing personal in the effort other than greed. With someone close to you, it is necessary to add the human emotions of revenge, hatred, anger and retribution. They don't just want your money; they are often out to destroy you and your life and what better way to do this than to destroy you financially.
The reason your wealth is so threatened has everything to do with human nature. All over the world people have the same problems with personal relationships, close friends, marriages and business associates. In the United States, we are not necessarily more greedy or lawsuit driven by some primitive, defective genetic trait than our European cousins. The problem boils down to two simple and deplorable statistics.
1. The United States has 90% of the lawyers in the world, over one million and far less than 10% of the world population.
2. This special interest group exerts tremendous pressure and influence on our government and as a result we are about the only nation in the world that allows lawyers to work on a contingent fee basis and collect outrageous fees from punitive damage awards.
Due to the extensive lobbying power of the legal profession and a court system favorable to this deplorable activity, I believe every American citizen is at real risk to the litigation disease sweeping the wealth of our nation into the dirty pockets of dishonest plaintiffs and an often prejudiced judicial process. All of your wealth and property is threatened in the United States today! Even if it is in protected, domestic structures, such as annuities, that have some asset protection depending upon your state of residence, as well as home exemptions, real estate, retirement plans and domestic trusts, there is no safe protected wealth in our nation today.
Frankly, the only real protected secure wealth is outside the United States away from a legal system that tends to transfer wealth from those who have earned it to plaintiffs and their lawyers out to take your property.
Case Study: Big Money Divorce
Let me tell you a true story about a friend and client who was very successful and had amassed a substantial net worth. Like most people of high net worth, there were always those out to sue him for one reason or the other. He became somewhat concerned about one particular lawsuit so, against his lawyers advice, he placed a good portion of his wealth in his wife's name for safekeeping and asset protection.
Sometime after the lawsuit threat disappeared, he received a knock at the door. He was being served with divorce papers. He exclaimed, “I haven't seen my wife since breakfast buddy but you must have the wrong house.” He closed the door laughing but soon found out that it wasn't a mistake! She had decided to keep the portion of the assets transferred to her name and then sued him for half of the rest. In addition, she went to the Internal Revenue Service and turned him in for some earlier indiscretions and omissions with the tax authorities. Who knows, she might even have requested the additional 15% IRS reward for ratting on her husband.'
Now in defense of the wife, now ex-wife, who am I to question whether this was just compensation or not for living with him but this is a true story.
"To live on loot appears to be no further removed from evil than to take the loot". -- Leonard Read
Yes, the IRS will even pay snitches a percentage (up to 15%!) of the confiscated assets or money due. See IRS Form 211 Application for Reward for Original Information. Here is some of the small print on Form 211:
"This application is voluntary and the information requested enables us to determine and pay rewards. We use the information to record a claimant's reward as taxable income and to identify any tax outstanding (including taxes on a joint return filed with a spouse) against which the reward would first be applied." The form goes on to state, "I am applying for a reward, in accordance with the law and regulations, for original information furnished, which led to the detection of a violation of the internal revenue laws of the United States and the collection of taxes, penalties, and fines. I was not an employee of the Department of the Treasury at the time I cam into possession of the information nor at the time I divulged it."
Case Study: Successful Entrapment
Here’s another example. . . .
I had a friend and client who married a very nice lady who had several children from an earlier marriage. She was very good to him and he really fell in love with her children. She soon suggested that he adopt the kids as his own. This he did and immediately she left him, demanding half of his net worth and child support for the children. She won on both accounts and he was forced to pay an outrageous amount of child support until the children reached age 18 and yet was almost totally cut off from a relationship with the children he loved. Such is the "justice" of the American court system.
Case Study: A Wife's Surprise
And another . . . .
Consider another investment client for whom I managed the substantial excess funds in his corporation account. One day he requested a check for a few hundred thousand and of course we mailed it out. A few days later he called complaining about the drop in our personal service and attention to detail as he still hadn't received the check. I determined the check had been mailed out and promptly forgot about the matter. About a week later, he called angry about our incompetence, as he still had not received the check and this money was desperately needed to meet some major bills due for his business. I questioned our operational people and later found out that the check was endorsed and cashed by his wife, also an officer for the company. She apparently had deposited the check in her personal account as she had the right to do as a corporate officer. When confronted with the "monkey business" she announced that she was leaving him.
"The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers." -- William Shakespeare; Henry VI
Although all of the above instances involve soon to be ex-spouses, the same kind of thing goes on all the time with business partners, girl and boy friends, mistresses and other friends and associates. The point is that most high-income individuals have more to fear from the above than any other single threat of wealth attack.
Legal advertising and too many lawyers looking to create business for themselves compound this threat. Understand human nature and listen to Mark Twain's advice about familiarity breeding contempt. Visit any courtroom and look at the case docket and you'll see he was right on the money. Wealthy Americans should create a wealth preservation plan that does not require the permanent loyalty of friendship, love, marriage or a business relationship to remain intact in order for you to secure your wealth and property.
firm licensed in 47 states.Ronald Holland - For more information go to http://www.ronaldholland.com
Note, Ronald now lives at Asheville NC's Wolf Laurel Resort, where he markets ski property, homes and real estate in one of the highest elevation 4-season mountain resorts in the eastern United States. He is an internationally known financial & marketing consultant & author of 3 books and over a hundred articles & reports, a leading speaker at financial conferences in the US and abroad and editor of several internet based news sites. He invented several financial products & services including the first gold IRA account and the first Swiss franc denominated variable annuity portfolio in the US and was president of a Swiss owned investment
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Ronald
Holland is editor of this website and a broker/realtor with
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