Imagine if you were to buy a local small business – like a car repair shop. This shop earns about $100k per year. If you were to pay a Facebook-like valuation, the business would cost you $10M!

Using 100% of your profits, it would take 100 years to pay for itself. Does that sound like a good business decision? Companies like Google trade at less than 20x earnings and Apple at less than 15x earnings. Which of those 3 companies has more earning capacity?

These Facebook related articles are flooding the financial news, but what isn’t so widely distributed is the news of Facebook founder Eduardo Saverin renouncing his US citizenship to presumably save 10′s of millions of dollars in taxes. With a 4% stake in the company, Saverin stands to make about $4B with his shares so the savings would clearly be tremendous.

Saverin was born in 1982 in Sao Paulo, Brazil and grew up mostly in Miami, Florida. Being born in Brazil he holds Brazilian citizenship and a passport. Once his family came to the US, they naturalized as US citizens making Saverin a dual American/Brazilian citizen.

Since 2009 however, Saverin has been living in Singapore. In 2011 Saverin renounced his US citizenship and is now a Brazilian citizen and permanent Singapore resident. Sounds like Saverin really understands the meaning of Geo-arbitrage.

While the press on this is relatively light, what is out there is attempting to eat him alive. He is being labeled as un-patriotic, a tax cheat (he stands to save 10′s of millions of dollars in taxes since Singapore has no tax on capital gains), and generally an immoral human being for robbing the US of taxes due.

I could likely write a book about this topic (maybe I will…), but for sake of time and space let’s leave out the concept of immorality with regards to income taxation.

The US is the only developed nation in the world that still taxes its citizens and permanent residents based on their citizenship, not residency. Every other country in the world only taxes its people when they live in the country while the US taxes its people no matter where they live in the world.

This is an absurd concept. If a German citizen moves to Australia he no longer files a German tax return or pay German tax. He would only be subject to Australian tax since that is where he lives.

As an American, if you move to Australia, you would still file a US tax return and pay taxes in both the US and Australia.

Of course there are some complicated tax treaties and the US earned income exclusion, but if you have investment income or are a high earner, you will owe tax in both places even though you are only consuming the public resources in your country of residence.

From my perspective, Saverin should not have been paying any US taxes since he moved to Singapore in 2009. Why would he? He isn’t using the public services in the US. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Like any smart businessperson, he made an intelligent business decision – he renounced his US citizenship and gave up the most expensive passport in the world.

In the business world there is a profit motive and the free trade of goods and services for money. Businesses compete with other businesses for quality people to employ in their work force. It is only rational. They provide competitive salaries, benefits and perks to attract the smartest and most productive employees.

If their competitor offers higher salaries, bigger bonuses or better benefits, the company must adjust in order to be competitive in the global marketplace.

Countries are no different in this regard. They must offer the best deal to attract the most productive citizens and residents. They compete on a multitude of factors like infrastructure, safety, education, economic activity and taxes.

Many countries around the world are taking advantage of the larger western countries’ unwillingness to change with the times by offering very low tax rates. Singapore has no capital gains tax. Estonia has a flat 21% with no tax on interest or dividend income. Bulgaria has a flat 10% tax. Even Russia has a flat 13% tax with no capital gains.

The US is strangely going the other direction attempting to grab more tax revenue with higher income taxes for the most productive, increases in capital gains, increased taxes on expats, revoking your passport if you have tax debt (see article “Senate Amendment Allows IRS to Revoke Passports”), and generally discouraging entrepreneurship and investment with every new piece of legislation.

This is arrogance at its finest. American politicians think they can continue to remove your incentive to be productive but you will continue to slave away to support their idiotic policies with your tax dollars.

In 2011 there were about 1700 people who renounced US citizenship (according to the State Department). That is about 8x the number of people who renounced in 2007.

While you may think that is a small number, my guess is those 1700 people were not your average earners. They were entrepreneurs and investors with above average incomes and net worth. They were highly educated business people who have voted with their feet like Saverin. They have moved on to greener pastures.

And just when I thought politicians couldn’t get any dumber…

Senator Chuck Schumer, D-NY, put his Facebook status update as, “Eduardo Saverin: Stop attempting to dodge your taxes by renouncing your US citizenship or never come back to the US again.”

Really? So instead of thinking of ways to attract people like Severin, this moron berates him publicly then threatens him for making a smart business decision. Does anyone believe that Schumer doesn’t take every possible tax break possible to minimize his own tax burden? Or maybe it’s ok since Schumer is a politician or maybe it is only immoral over a certainly dollar amount.

To retaliate, Senators Schumer and Bob Casey (yes, we have the same name but no we are not related), D-PA, are unveiling the “Ex-Patriot” Act, or Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy.

The idea is to re-impose taxes on expatriates like Severin even after they leave the US and take up residency in another country. The proposal would impose a mandatory 30% tax on capital gains of anyone who renounces their US citizenship. It would also bar people like Severin from ever re-entering the US.

Reading this stuff is hard for my mind to process. How could these politicians be so damn arrogant and stupid. Do they really think they are creating incentives for people to come to America? Do they really think in this global economy these protectionist barriers actually increase economic productivity?

In reality, this just pushes the productive people out. People like you just say, “Forget this, I will find a country that wants me there and is willing to provide competitive advantages for citizenship and residency.”

Just like when you change jobs because the other company has higher pay or better benefits, citizens will flock to where they are treated best. It is really a dark time and shameful to see America fall so far so fast.

Contact us today to schedule your free 30 minute asset protection consultation. Until next time, live well.

Offshore Conference. Today is your last chance to get on the early bird list before we launch ticket sales for “Global Escape Hatch – Panama 2012”. Starting tomorrow, Friday May 11, if you are on the early bird list, you will receive a special email from us with the discount code giving you a $400 discount. This discount will only be available for 7 days, after that, tickets will be sold at regular price.

This conference promises to be one you will never forget. We have speakers from all around the world to share with you on topics like;

• Offshore banking
• Offshore companies
• Second passports
• International investments
• Privacy
• Expat and PT lifestyle
• and more…

The dates for the event are September 19-23 and is being held in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Come enjoy the beautiful beaches, horseback riding, surfing, sailing, and mingling with other like-minded individuals. I look forward to meeting you there.

Offshore banking. As you may recall from last week’s newsletter, “Americans – The Global Black Sheep”, new FATCA legislation (foreign account tax compliance act) has made it considerably less attractive for offshore banks to do business with American citizens.

Over the 2 weeks I have spoken to over 50 banks around the world and more than 2/3 of them no longer accept American clients. Just yesterday DBS Bank in Singapore issued a press release saying they will no longer accept Americans.

There are only a handful of places left where Americans can set up offshore bank accounts and the list seems to be dwindling by the day. However if you also hold a non-US passport, your options open up significantly. (hint – come learn how to get a 2nd passport at “Global Escape Hatch – Panama 2012”).

We are finalizing some details this week and early next week with a few offshore banks. Once complete we will be able to open accounts for clients in TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), Cyprus, Latvia (very limited), Lichtenstein ($2M minimum), and Singapore.

St. Vincent offshore banking is available now as we just finalized details. I am very excited about this one. The bank is very unique in an ‘old school’ way. This offshore bank does not make loans. They only make money on transactional fees, which means the bank is exceptionally safe (no loans = no loan risk). The downside is the fees are slightly higher than your average offshore bank, but if you are looking for complete privacy and safety, this is an excellent option.

Travel plans. Starting this Saturday, May 12, I will be in Miami for about 10 days. I will be there attending a conference with some of the most brilliant entrepreneurs from around the globe. This is truly my annual mecca.

I will be staying a few days after my conference and if anyone is in the area I would be happy to schedule a face-to-face meeting, even if just to share a beer sitting by the pool. Send me an email and we can set up a time to meet.

While it is true, I do think offshore companies, offshore banking, offshore trusts and other options have an enormous amount of value for effective asset protection planning, there are several very good reasons to implement US domestic structures in your asset protection planning process.

Real Estate Investors. One of my most common categories of clients are real estate investors. More specifically, US real estate investors. In my experience, most real estate investors begin their asset portfolio one property at a time. They buy their first rental house, then another, then another.

Some begin in multifamily or commercial real estate investments, but regardless most start small and strategically add properties as budget and funding sources allow. During this process more real estate investors are narrowly focused on growing their business and less concerned with asset protection.

Unfortunately for real estate investors, asset protection should be one of their primary concerns because as your asset portfolio grows, so does the size of the bulls-eye on your back. Even more importantly than the size of the target is the ease with which future potential creditors can seize or lien your assets in the event of a judgment.

For me to recommend offshore structures for owning US domestic real estate assets would be ignorant and irresponsible. I am sure many people use offshore companies like LLC’s and IBC’s to own their US real estate, but it is just not the best way to go about proper structuring.

As this article is not meant to be a tax planning guide, suffice to say there are some negative tax consequences using offshore companies to hold title to US real estate.

There are a variety of ways to properly structure your real estate holdings for effective asset protection planning. Each investor’s situation is different so there is no ‘blanket’ approach, but the following is a list of tools we use for real estate asset protection planning:

• Wyoming or Nevada LLC’s
• Land trusts
• Friendly liens or equity stripping arrangements
• Asset protection trusts

For an investor with a portfolio of single family homes, utilizing land trusts for holding property title with one LLC as trustee and another LLC as beneficiary is an excellent option. This provides a cost effective asset protection structure that is easily scalable as you add properties to your asset portfolio.

Another option would be to use a Nevada Series LLC. With a properly structured operating agreement, you can have one LLC with each property held in a different series allowing you to segregate you risk.

For those of you that have more significant holdings like high value commercial property or several residential properties, it is an excellent idea to have a completely separate LLC as your property management company so that you can segregate the operational side of your business from your asset holdings.

I won’t go into too much depth here, but equity stripping is an excellent option for real estate investors to protect the asset value in your property and lower your profile risk. A property with little or no equity is not very attractive to a creditor since there is effectively no equity to attach.

Of course for those interested in making their asset protection plan bulletproof (or as close to that as possible), wrapping your LLC’s inside an asset protection trust may be the ultimate tool for your specific needs.

US Equity Traders and Investors. You may consider this to be counter-intuitive in the sense that moving liquid assets offshore is your one of the most effective ways to protect your wealth. With this, I still agree.

Regardless of what you think about the direction of the US from a political and economic perspective, some of the most efficient and effective trading markets and platforms are still US based. Sure, you can have your Interactive Brokers trading account in the name of your Seychelles Offshore IBC, but remember the assets themselves are still in the US.

For many traders and investors the best option is to do your trading through a properly structured Wyoming or Nevada LLC. These two states by far have the best asset protection laws giving you the utmost privacy and legal protections available from a US based entity.

I would still recommend keeping a portion of your liquid assets offshore, but for active traders based in the US or primarily trading the US markets, a Wyoming or Nevada LLC may make the most sense for your business.

US Based Internet Entrepreneurs. As before, I am a firm believer in utilizing offshore companies like a Seychelles Offshore IBC for online business, but if you are living and working in the US with a domestic customer base, this type of planning for your operating business is generally pointless.

For many internet entrepreneurs, a properly structured Delaware LLC provides you with the best asset protection, privacy and simplicity for operating your business.

Delaware has no sales tax and thus if your LLC is registered in Delaware you can get a sales tax exemption form from the state which will satisfy your vendors who require a identification number in order to be sales tax exempt. This minimizes your paperwork and reporting requirements allowing you to focus on the productive activities of your business.

Additionally, Delaware has notoriously excellent asset protection laws that have for decades protected the rights of LLC members from overly litigious claimants seeking to gain their wealth through legal action.

Non-US Nationals. The news outlets report daily on the current administration’s attack on offshore banking, offshore investments, and worldwide income. From reading these reports you would think privacy is dead in the US and taxation is overbearing making US entities less attractive than their offshore company counterparts.

For Americans, you would be 100% correct. But for non-US nationals, the US remains the largest and best offshore privacy and tax haven in the world.

This may come as shock to many of you reading this, but ironically there are a completely different set of privacy guidelines for non-US nationals than for American citizens and residents. For example, it is easy for a Russian to open a Delaware LLC in complete privacy and use that LLC to open a US bank account.

From this Delaware LLC, the Russian investor can open a trading account at any of the larger brokerages and trade just like you and I. The big difference is that the Russian has the ability to avoid all US taxation if done properly (**disclaimer – I am not a tax planner, nor do I play one on TV. See your professional tax planner for details**).

Also from this Delaware LLC, a French internet entrepreneur can operate his global operation tax free as long as he has no US customer base (**see above disclaimer**).

The point is for non-US nationals, utilizing a US based LLC may be your best, and often overlooked, option for safe and private offshore company and offshore banking operations.

However, one subscriber had a very different perspective. Actually he went so far as to threaten me and then insinuate my promotion of illegal and immoral acts. Below you can read his initial response to the above mentioned article:

“What you seem to be proposing is illegal and is likely to generate an irs audit. Does the irs know what you are up to?”

Maybe you think I took his response the wrong way, but when I did a little homework on the reader (pretty easy to do since his reply included his website), I realized ‘Stan’ is a Federal Tax Attorney. He works with clients that hold offshore assets helping them reach and/or maintain full compliance with the draconian US laws regarding offshore investments, financial accounts, etc.

My response to ‘Stan’ was;

“I’m not really sure how to take this email.  I don’t propose anything illegal.  Actually I work with a couple of firms like yours where I recommend them to my clients for tax planning for their offshore businesses and assets.  However I don’t appreciate your subtle IRS threats – it’s really quite unprofessional.  I wonder if your clients are aware of your business practices.”

‘Stan’s’ abbreviated response was;

“…I must say when you talk about two passports,  offshore banking, asset protection and data privacy the uneducated reads, “here’s how you can hide your money from the IRS.”  …“Two passports”?  What purpose would that serve but to hide the fact that someone is an American?  Also, criminalizing cash is a ridiculous statement.  It is not illegal to use cash, it is only illegal to use cash when it is part of a money laundering scheme, attempt to circumvent the FBAR rules, avoid CTR’s etc…”

My initial thoughts when I read this were, “There are Idiots Among Us”. Upon further reflection and research into ‘Stan’, I realized the reality; he is just a money-grubbing bureaucrat. When trolling around on his website, I found the following statement;

“He began his career in 1970 as a tax law specialist with the IRS Office of the Chief Counsel in Washington, D.C. He was an IRS trial attorney and then a special assistant to the IRS deputy chief counsel, where he helped administer an office with 5,000 counsel and appeals staff.

After 15 years as chief legal counsel for the IRS Sacramento District, ‘Stan’ entered private practice. He is not licensed to practice law in California; his practice focuses exclusively on federal tax law.

Helping offshore investors voluntarily comply with IRS rules is central to the practice — and it’s lucrative. “With clients like this, there’s not an issue of getting paid,” ‘Stan’ said. The IRS is not going after people without money.”

I have several issues with this parasite.

Issue number 1 – He threatened me.Like any other red-blooded testosterone filled male, I don’t take too kindly to being threatened. I’m really not sure why he would even subscribe to my asset protection newsletter unless he is just a spook looking for someone to go after so he can justify his miserable existence.

It goes a bit deeper though. He threatened me because he knows putting knowledge about asset protection, 2^nd passports, offshore banking, and offshore companies into the hands of intelligent, productive people like you is dangerous – at least dangerous to him. He is like the engineer who designs with intentional flaws to ensure his job security. This type of person is dangerous to your liberty.

Issue number 2 – Narrowly-focused statist mindset. His comment that having a 2^nd passport is either stupid, or just ignorant. Either way, the lack of intelligent thought is dangerous. There are numerous reasons an American would want to have an 2^nd passport.

For example;

• The wife of one of my best friend’s holds both an American and an Irish passport. Her parents were born there and wanted her to retain their heritage.
• A Russian client of mine has a St. Kitts passport. Russians have difficulty getting travel visas and with his business he frequently needs to take short notice trips. This is very difficult with only a Russian passport.
• A friend of mine was born in Denmark, but has lived most of his life in the US. He holds both passports. The Danish passport allows him freedom to travel to many South American countries visa-free as well as work, own property, and bank in the EU uninhibited.
• An American client of mine is a commercial real estate investor in South America and Europe. His Italian passport allows him much more freedom of travel as well as ability to transact business in the EU.

Honestly the list can go on and on. The list of reasons for wanting a 2^nd passport are innumerable. But this parasite of the people believes the only reason you would want one is to defraud the US government and deprive people like him of his wealth.

Issue number 3 – He is stupid and lazy. I have no tolerance for either of those traits. Maybe I’m just not a nice person, but life is short and I prefer to spend time with intelligent and productive people. ‘Stan’ is neither.

He makes the comment, “criminalizing cash is a ridiculous statement.” In this case he is exhibiting stupidity or laziness, or maybe both. The article in question discusses 3 countries that have recently criminalized cash transactions over a certain threshold. It doesn’t take a genius to do a quick Google search and confirm the facts in my article are true.

Italy, Argentina and Spain have all recently made cash transactions over a certain amount illegal. Maybe the US is next. Maybe not. Who knows, but the reality is this guy claims to be an expert on offshore compliance matters and he couldn’t be bothered with the facts. He only wants to refute them.

Lastly, the statement found from his website shows me he is just the money-grubbing bureaucrat I perceived him to be. He clearly states his mission is to go after wealthy offshore investors and charge them fees to get compliant with big brother’s statist agenda. Keep in mind this guy was on big brother’s payroll; now he is one of the anointed ones tasked with bringing your hard-earned dollars back into the coffers of the ruling class.

Just to be clear, I highly recommend that each one of you that have offshore investments, offshore companies, andoffshore trusts comply with all reporting requirements. The penalties for non-compliance are too high and can make your life quite hellish. But ‘Stan’ has devoted his entire life to ensuring the longevity of the empire, and frankly – he disgusts me.

For those of you interested in learning from the world’s top experts in asset protection, 2^nd passports, offshore banking, offshore investments, data privacy and more; visit our website, “Global Escape Hatch” to get on the early notification list.  This is the official site for our offshore conference in Panama coming this fall – September 19-23.

This event will be like nothing else you have ever experienced. You will have the ability to listen to the world’s top experts on these topics as well as meet them and ask your questions face-to-face in a unique, tropical island setting. Hopefully parasites like ‘Stan’ will be too busy leeching off his wealthy American clients to attend.

I look forward to meeting many of you there.

We also made you aware of an opportunity to get in on the inaugural edition of ‘World Money Analyst‘, where you can get access to boots-on-the ground research for unique investment opportunities from all around the globe.

Today I want to discuss recent events that involve governments of the world turning up the heat on the kettle full of frogs like you and I.

On December 4^th, Italian prime minister, Mario Monti announced a daily cash restriction of 1,000 euros ($1,310) per person. Any transaction beyond this amount must be handled by an approved Italian credit institution.

On February 8^th, Argentina’s president, Christina Fernandez announced an immediate daily cash restriction of 1,000 pesos ($231) per person. The measure basically means that any transaction beyond that amount must be involve use of an Argentine bank account authorized by the central bank.

On April 4^th, Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy announced his plan for combating tax evasion which was approved by the cabinet 2 days later on April 6^th. The plan prohibits any cash transactions over 2,500 euros and like Italy and Argentina, any transaction beyond this amount must be handled by an approved credit institution.

Please don’t let this news just fade into oblivion. This has a very real impact on you and your wealth. If these countries are severely limiting cash transactions, who’s to say your country isn’t next?

This is Orwellian reality at its finest. The big brother governments around the world have no capacity to stop their free-spending ways. In your household and mine, when income declines so do our expenses, but that’s not how governments work.

They want to continue to rob you of your wealth in every way they see fit – currency controls, increases in taxation, loose monetary policies, expansion of government programs…

This is nothing more than a ploy to control you and limit the movement of capital. Big brother is scared. He can’t stop spending, but he can make laws that restrict your ability to conduct business as usual.

Imagine a Russian tourist on vacation in Rome. He is there with his family for two weeks on holiday spending money at hotels, restaurants, bars and shops. Many Russians are accustomed to all-cash transactions. It would be very common for him to pay for his hotel bill after two weeks in cash. Unless he is treating his family to a student hostel holiday, he can easily have a hotel bill after two weeks that exceeds 1,000 euros.

Now, the hotel is in a position where they must only accept payment via credit card or wire transfer. My guess is the smaller hotels will continue to accept cash and will not report a cent to the government for income received.

Maybe they didn’t report before when paid in cash, but now you can guarantee they will never report – they don’t want to be held criminally responsible for accepting cash payments above the limits.

Each one of these countries has now criminalized cash transactions above their respective limits. They are grabbing at pennies now because they are completely broke and struggling to find new ways to steal from the sheeple.

History books will tell the story, but right now we are living through the unraveling of the paper money experiment known as ‘fiat’ money. It is doomed to fail and if you are paying attention you can see it happening every day. These recent news reports are clear evidence of this.

You need to seriously consider the consequences of what is happening around you and how it affects your wealth and your future. What are you doing to protect your assets and you financial future? Do you have an asset protection plan to ensure you and your family’s future?

We have known each other now for just a few years, but he is one of the brightest, most energetic guys I know. If you have seen or heard any motivational speakers, Steve is basically a younger version of Tony Robbins.

Steve is in process of closing a big transaction with his other business and once this deal is complete it will free up a lot of his time for other pursuits. He is heavily involved in martial arts with black belts in a couple of styles and very passionate about the pursuit of his art.

He told me his dream was to travel throughout China and Japan and study with some of the legends in the martial arts world. I am 100% convinced Steve will accomplish his dream.

Steve is a smart guy. He built a business that affords him the income to do many of the things he loves and is at the cusp of breaking the geographical chains that bind him. He has a couple of other business interests, including our partnership, that gives him the freedom of mobility to live, work and travel wherever he chooses.

What is your dream? Are you digging an asphalt trench between your house and your office every day? Are you stuck in a rut? Are you living the life to the fullest? Do you sit on the couch watching sports all weekend drinking beer with the same buddies?

I’ve had a few mentors in business and in life over the years and without fail each of them told me in order to succeed, you need to spend time with people who have accomplished the personal and professional success you aspire to achieve.

Take a look around you. Who do you spend time with? A wise man once told me, “You are the average product of your 5 closest friends.”

This can be construed in a variety of ways. Your income is likely the average of your 5 closest friends. Your net worth is likely the average of your 5 closest friends. You most likely have the same hobbies, eat at the same restaurants, go to the same parks, etc. You get the drift.

Are you truly passionate about the life you live? If so, stop reading now. Actually go directly to the bottom of this email and unsubscribe because you clearly are in the wrong place. My readers are actively pursuing more in their lives; more experiences, more income, more wealth, more meaningful relationships, and more adventure.

Consider this our official launch of ‘Global Escape Hatch – Panama 2012‘. If you want to learn how to experience more out of life, this is the event for you.

Our speakers will be discussing various topics like:

• Second Passports and Geo-political diversification
• How to secure your privacy and data on the internet
• International real estate investments
• Trading futures and options using global macro strategies
• Private offshore banking
• Risk management
• Offshore asset protection
• Digital currencies
• and more…

Even more importantly, you will have the opportunity to get one-on-one personal time with the speakers and other offshore specialists in attendance. This event will not be like others you may have attended with a parade of speakers delivering 15 minute sales pitches.

Each speaker is there to provide you with real and immediately actionable information about how you can protect your assets, diversify your life, and make money living anywhere in the world.

These speakers are my personal Rolodex of go-to guys in their field of expertise. You will have the opportunity to pull them aside, buy them a beer and sit around the pool learning from their experiences.

Of at least equal importance you will have the chance to spend time and network with a group of like-minded individuals from around the world. Free-thinking, liberty-minded people who aren’t afraid to step out of their comfort zone to live an adventurous life. I hope you are one of those who live your passion every day, and I hope you will join us and share your experiences.

You can visit the site at ‘Global Escape Hatch – Panama 2012‘. On the site you can register for the Early Bird Notification. We will be offering a deeply discounted price only to those who are on this list. We will have a maximum of 150 attendees at the event so we do expect this to sell out very quickly.

We will only make the deeply discounted ticket available once and only for a short period of time so if you are interested in attending I would suggest you get on this notification list.

The post began as a picture that stated, “American troops come home…we need you to protect us from the government”. Of course there is a bit of irony in there as the US has essentially colonized the planet with military bases in 137 different countries and naval forces in nearly every ocean. Considering this constitutes nearly 25% of the US federal budget, military spending is one of our biggest fiscal and moral issues in the country.

(Before I get overburdened with hate mail, I have no problem with military personnel or even defense in general as they are doing their job, but if it weren’t for stupid politicians and their hidden agendas the military would be significantly smaller than it is today.)

In response to my leading statement Cliff said, “Protect us from what? The government is not perfect, but I can’t complain about the job that Obama has done especially given the circumstances, namely, the economic crisis he inherited and endless opposition from the Right even on such things as requiring health insurance companies NOT deny children the right to health-care due to pre-existing conditions.”

I will paraphrase a bit with my responses as this conversation went quite long, but my response was something along the lines of, “Cliff, you cannot be serious about Obama’s job performance. He has done more fiscal damage to the American people than all previous presidents combined. He has robbed people of their freedoms, criminalized activities like conducting international business, and made it very difficult in general for entrepreneurs. And don’t be so naïve to think insurance companies got so large and powerful without government intervention. They were, along with drug companies, the largest lobbyists supporting Obamacare – there’s nothing like an extra 20-30 million new customers to boost profits.”

Of course I went on in my futile attempt to berate and/or educate Cliff on the ways of the world beyond CNN and his local newspaper, but I think he has already drowned himself in the kool-aid at this point.

Cliff actually went on to argue that FDR was the greatest president in the history of the US and if it weren’t for his policies, the country would never have recovered from the Great Depression and he was a savior and a hero for taking such decisive action.

Ironically Cliff goes on to suggest that FDR’s ‘New Deal’ were all just temporary policies meant to fix an immediate situation and they were all designed to be ended. Folks, how many policies and agendas have the people been sold as temporary only to see them continue forever? Maybe a better question is, how many of them have actually been ended as planned?

I don’t think Cliff is aware of executive order 6102 signed by FDR on April 5, 1933 forbidding the hoarding of gold coins, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental US. The order criminalized the possession of gold or gold equivalents by any person, company, trust, association or partnership. The irony is that it was rationalized by saying the people were responsible for the hoarding of gold which was making the depression worse. The order was under penalty of a $10,000 fine or 10 years in prison, or both.

The order required all citizens to deliver all gold (except a very small amount – up to 5 ounces) on or before May 1, 1933 in exchange for $20.67 per ounce. A few months later the Treasury revalued gold to $35 per ounce effectively robbing its people of approximately 70% of their net worth in gold.

Hey Cliff, is FDR still the greatest US President in the country’s history?

At this point, I mentioned FDR was only the 2^nd worst president in history followed by the Obamessiah. I am still laughing at Cliff’s reply;

***

1) Kept our country from reaching financial Armageddon… check
2) Brought our nation’s #1 enemy to justice… check
3) Defended the rights of brave soldiers who could not openly serve their country… check
4) Saved GM and the American Automotive Industry… check
5) Prevented greedy health insurance companies from denying children health benefits… check

I’m sorry, does he need to do an exorcism, turn coal into diamonds and perform David Blaine’s levitation trick to make you happy?

***

Folks, this was a direct copy/paste from my FB wall. No editing needed. The real problem here is not just that Cliff is delusional, it’s that his ideas are running rampant throughout the country. People are weak-minded non-thinking sheep who will follow anyone who sounds nice or has been granted a position of authority.

Did Obama keep our country from reaching financial Armageddon, or did he just pass the buck on to future generations so that he could look like a hero for the nearest election? Did he really take down OBL? I thought it was a brave Navy Seal Team who completed that task.

Ideas are the seeds that can either create or destroy a nation. There are many organizations out there like the Ayn Rand Institute and the Cato Institute that are trying to plant the seeds of individualism, hard work, self reliance and productivity.

Unfortunately they don’t control mass media which is where people like Cliff are fed their ideas through a daily fire-hose of political propaganda subtly reminding the world of how we cannot survive without government.

One friend of mine has written a few books on this subject and does an excellent job of discussing these ideas in an entertaining and easily readable format. I just finished his book, “Production vs. Plunder” – which discusses the rise and fall of civilizations throughout history and the implications for us today and in the future. Many will find this book eye-opening and others will find it a bit offensive. Regardless it is excellent and thought provoking read. I recommended it to Cliff, but I highly doubt he will stoop to such a level in an attempt to enlighten himself.

The point I want to make with this article is these ideas are very strong within the US. As long as they tend to remain the dominant ideas in the hearts and minds of the people, the country will continue to degrade both from an economic and moral standpoint. This means your quality of life will deteriorate as will that of your children unless you do something to stop the trend to protect yourself.

This is done through reading books like the one I recommended above as well as teaching these principles to your children. Turning the tides however may take decades which means you need to take precautions to ensure you are not slowly robbed of your wealth over the coming years.

Each day we lose more and more of our fundamental rights. Many of these rights were given up in the name of “national security.” It’s a very slippery slope. Scholars have debated the erosion of civil rights caused by the passage of the Patriot Act. A recent unanimous amendment to a Senate transportation bill may have just cost us the right to travel.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada was successful in amending a Senate highway funding bill to now allow the IRS to revoke or limit the passports of U.S. taxpayers who are seriously delinquent in their tax obligations.

Under the measure, if one owes more than $50,000 and the debt is at the levy or lien stage, the IRS can request the State Department revoke the taxpayer’s passport. America abolished debtor’s prisons in 1833 but the new measure is pretty similar – your freedom and liberty can be curtailed until the taxman is paid.

With final passage of the Senate amendment, the U.S. will join the United Arab Emirates and China in allowing such punishment for civil debts. That’s not very good company, until 2010, China tax protesters faced the death penalty.

Willful failure to pay one’s taxes has long been a crime in the U.S. but that requires a finding by the court that the taxpayer has the ability to pay yet simply refuses. The new law doesn’t require willfulness – if you don’t pay, you can’t leave.

We see many taxpayers with tax problems caused by illness, injury and often layoffs. It’s one thing to punish intentional tax cheats but Reid’s amendment could hurt tens of thousands of honest Americans who simply can’t find work.

The popular Eagles song Hotel California released in 1977 has a line that says, “You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave.” Thirty-five years later that song is becoming a reality.

Tax collection is no laughing matter. Ignore the IRS and you could find yourself with no bank account, no house and bad credit. Procrastinate too long and you might even find yourself with criminal charges. There are things you can do, however.

As paralyzing as an audit or levy notice can be, there are offers in compromise, penalty abatements, taxpayer due process hearings and other tools to fight back. Because penalties can escalate and compound quickly, don’t wait before seeking professional help.

About the author. Brian Mahany is a tax and fraud lawyer concentrating in offshore tax reporting. In addition to his law practice, he has written for numerous accounting publications and publishes a blog, Due Diligence. His firm is the CPAmerica organization’s preferred legal services provider for foreign tax compliance. Brian welcomes comments and questions and can be reached at (414) 704-6731 (direct) or by email at brian@mahanyertl.com. All communications are kept in strict confidence.

Entrepreneurs are one of my biggest client groups. The reasoning is that while entrepreneurs are very focused individuals and highly driven towards success, they rarely, if ever, take the necessary precautions to protect their assets. As the focus is on the next contract, the next sale and the next deal, focusing on tedious details like proper business structure and asset protection always seem to take a back seat.

As a fellow entrepreneur, I certainly understand the drive to focus on the money making endeavors. I started my first “real” business at age 21 and grew it to over $7M in annual revenue. The focus was perpetual sales and profits. In my mind, the details would work themselves out. Is this you?

The reality is only you are responsible for the details and if you don’t take the time to attend to them, you are risking your financial future by becoming a target. The global economic environment has deteriorated over the past few years and there are financial predators everywhere. You need to take the necessary steps to protect you business and financial assets before someone targets the bulls-eye on your back.

Let’s discuss some common mistakes entrepreneurs make in business structuring and asset protection planning. For the sake of this exercise we will deal with experienced entrepreneurs who have generated some level of wealth through their business and investment activities. However, even if you are just starting out you should read on and attempt to learn from the experience of others.

Wrong entity for business. I have seen many entrepreneurs work for years with the wrong entity for their business interests. For example, I have seen many real estate entrepreneurs use an S corporation or C corporation to own the real estate assets.

This is a huge mistake. As a child growing up, my father owned a construction company and real estate development company. He also preached the need to have your assets out of your own name – which is good – however he held all of his real estate holdings in an S corporation.

The problem here is that as a shareholder of your own S corporation, you shares are at risk from outside creditor litigation – or litigation that can arise from activities unrelated to your business. This presents a very real threat to your financial well-being as outside creditors can come from anywhere; unrelated personal injury claims, personal guarantees from unrelated holdings, divorce, etc.

Using a C corporation is even worse because you have the same liability risk from outside creditors plus you lose the pass through tax benefits from using an S corporation.

There are a multitude of business entities to chose from; C corporation, S corporation, Limited Liability Company (LLC), Limited Partnership (LP), Partnership, Sole Proprietor, and a few others. There are even offshore entities to consider depending on your own personal or business situation; Seychelles IBC, Nevis LLC, Belize IBC, etc.

Ultimately, the entrepreneur is typically focused on his day-to-day business activity and not the proper planning of the business structure.

DIY business and tax planning. As a fellow entrepreneur who started on a shoestring budget, the idea of saving as much money as possible certainly has its appeal, but at some point you need to seriously consider hiring professionals to handle certain aspects of your business.

A wise man years ago told me, “Don’t get so busy doing the $10/hour jobs that you cannot find time to do the $1000/hour jobs.” This isn’t to say the professionals you hire are only worth $10 per hour, but the point is that you need to focus on what makes your business successful.

Are you a software developer? If so, why are you spending so much time on business and tax planning when you can outsource that to professionals who are much more competent than you in this field. Do you also change your own oil in you car and mow your own yard?

Every successful entrepreneur needs to have small team of professionals who can provide expert and non-biased advice on various aspects of your business and asset portfolio. At a minimum you need a competent lawyer and accountant. As you wealth grows, you should look into adding a financial planner, asset protection consultant, mentor, advisory board, and possibly board of directors.

Owning personal and business assets in own name. Realistically I should put this item first as this is one of the biggest mistakes I see entrepreneurs make. With my personal clients, I help them develop their own asset protection plan. The first step in this plan is to create a veil of privacy around your assets.

This is accomplished in a variety of ways using many different tools. As each person has a different situation, there is no way to offer generalized advice here, but the idea is best summed up in the well known John D Rockefeller quote, “Own nothing but control everything”.

The purpose for asset protection planning and creating a veil of privacy around your assets is to lower your profile risk. If you are the guy with the big house on the hill, driving the Ferrari around town, eating at expensive restaurants and picking up the bar tab for your friends, you aren’t very low profile and you are very susceptible as a litigation target.

As previously noted, the more wealth you have, the larger the bulls-eye on you back. If you chose the more extravagant lifestyle, it is even more important for you to create a veil of privacy around your assets.

Assuming you don’t need asset protection planning. In dealings with my clients over the years, the vast majority of them came to me AFTER they had a major issue to deal with. These issues come in a variety of forms; personal injury lawsuits, business lawsuit, mortgage loan default with personal guarantee, divorce, state or federal tax lien, erroneous criminal prosecution, liability associated with teenage driving children, and the list goes on and on.

In December I had 2 clients who were facing a $1.5M judgment against each of them for a mortgage default related to some unforeseen environmental issue they were completely unaware of prior to purchasing the property in question. Both of them separately told me they never imagined 6 months ago they would be in a position of potential financial ruin. Both of these guys were in their upper 50′s and this could wipe them out financially forcing them to work well into their retirement years.

Asset protection planning can be equated to health insurance. You don’t buy health insurance hoping to get a brain tumor in order to get your money’s worth. However, you also don’t call your insurance agent on your way home from your MRI appointment where you were delivered the bad news. At that point it’s too late. Financial ruin is upon you.

Lack of financial education. At the risk of generalizing the entrepreneurial mindset, many of the business owners I know are not very financially astute. Most entrepreneurs are salespeople. Sure, there are many different types of people out there; some inventors, mathematicians, engineers, and medical professionals, but most of them are salespeople at heart. It seems to be a common thread among entrepreneurs that gives them the drive to push for growth and improvement.

What most of them lack though is the desire to deal with the details of the business. And the most important details of the business is the financial aspect. A basic understanding of accounting principles and financial management should be required for all entrepreneurs, but especially once you have reached a point where you are starting to acquire money and assets.

I would highly recommend you to pick up some books on economics, accounting and investing to gain a better understanding of finance and the world investment markets. This will benefit you as you grow your cash horde and learn how to diversify your asset holdings.

Lack of asset diversification. This is extremely common among entrepreneurs. We focus all of our energy on creating, building and growing our own companies and we become laser focused on our own enterprise. As well we should too. This is our bread maker.

Keep in mind though, while you have direct control over the management and operating of your own company, there are still many outside factors that can have a very serious negative impact on your revenue and your profit, and thus your asset portfolio.

I have seen this time and time again, both with clients and my own business ventures, where there is a sudden drop in revenue that was completely outside of your control. From a personal example, I owned a company (sold it a few years ago) that had relatively large contracts with some of the US’ largest retail operations.

Several years ago, one of our larger clients came to us at renewal time and said they were not going to extend our contract. The service we performed for them was vital, but the new management of the company (theirs) has decided to take the service program ‘in-house’ which meant our contract would be eliminated – immediately. This meant a sudden loss of several million dollars of revenue and a large part of our profits.

This happens in many small companies every day. In the same way financial planners would not recommend you keep your entire stock portfolio tied up in one stock, I would recommend that you take some of your ‘chips’ off the table and diversify into different asset classes.

I am not here to go into macro economic discussions and portfolio theory, but there are many different categories of assets you can invest in, each with its own pros and cons; publicly traded stocks, corporate bonds, sovereign bonds, foreign currency, commodities, real estate, private debt arrangements, and private company investments. If you don’t know where or how to find and make these investments or you don’t have time to properly vet them, you need to see one of the points mentioned above and hire a professional to manage your non-core investments.