| I
have to be honest with you. When the editor of The Sovereign Society asked
me to write another comment about what happens when you don't protect your
retirement plan, my first thought was "what's the point?" After all, I've
been harping on readers for years to protect their retirement plans. And
still some readers simply don't listen.
In fact, just
last week I met one of those individuals. I sat down with him for an initial
consultation. This gentleman had managed to accumulate US$1 million in
his IRA rollover account and he was living off the income it generated.
Not a bad position to be in. He wanted to know if I could help him take
his IRA offshore.
Long story,
short: I couldn't help him. This gentleman had followed some very bad tax
advice a few years back, and now the IRS was at his door demanding payment.
The whole debacle was basically going to wipe him out.
Like all potential
clients, I told this gentleman "once you have a problem it's too late."
We couldn't help him do anything that might be perceived as an effort to
protect his assets. It would be considered a fraudulent conveyance. Instead,
all I could do was suggest an attorney who might be able to help him get
the problem resolved much more favorably.
Now you might
think his situation is pretty unique, but trust me, it's not. Even highly
educated and experienced individuals make this same mistake.
Last year,
I was approached by a former state senator and attorney who I know has
personally heard me speak about protecting retirement plans at least a
dozen times over the years.
Same story:
he never did anything to protect his retirement plan because he never dreamed
he needed protection. (No one ever does.) Then he called me out of the
blue because he was being sued over an investment that went sour. In his
case, this whole lawsuit was completely unrelated to his profession. It's
always those lawsuits you "couldn't possibly have planned for" that get
you.
There are
other problems that could lead to the seizure of your IRA or retirement
plan that you would never expect either.
For example,
I heard about a small business owner who lost a huge chunk of his retirement
plan when the IRS paid him a visit. This business owner had a one-person
Keogh plan until he was audited by the IRS.
At first, the
business owner appeared to have perfect records. Unfortunately, the auditor
asked for two documents this business owner didn't have: endorsements mandated
by the Economic Recovery Tax Relief Act of 1981 and the Economic Growth
and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. The business owner even contacted
the mutual fund company where he invested. The company told him they weren't
the administrators. So of course, they had not kept those records either. |
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 The
Sovereign Society, headquartered in Waterford, Ireland, was founded in
1998 to provide proven legal strategies for individuals to protect their
wealth and privacy, lower their taxes and to help improve their personal
freedom and liberty. |
| The
Society's highly qualified contacts recommend only carefully chosen banks
and investment advisors as well as financial and legal professionals located
in select tax and asset haven jurisdictions around the world. The Society
provides advice concerning the establishement and operation of offshore
bank accounts, asset protection trusts, international business corporations
(IBCs), private foundations, second citizenships and foreign residency,
as well as practical safeguards for financial, Internet and personal privacy. |
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