Asset protection is far more than trying to hide your wealth in off shore accounts. All assets need some form of protection but it doesn’t need to be expensive, complicated, or intimidating.

Since we live in a country that is ’sue happy’, anyone can have someone come after them for their assets whether it’s their house, savings, or even their pay checks. Not everything can be protected, but there are ways to keep your assets as safe as possible.

The most common way is to set up a corporation. This works best if you actually have an idea for a business and can run it, even if it’s a part time babysitting service. You can download all the paperwork from your local state website, fill it out, pay a few hundred dollars, and you’re legal.

The only problem with this solution is that your company needs to be sued, not you. So if you aren’t going to actually work your new company, your chances of a client suing you are slim. Therefore, even though it’s the most common way to protect your assets, it’s not for everyone.

The most effective method is to set up trust funds and transfer everything into these trust funds. Even though you will maintain control over the trust funds, you don’t actually own these assets any longer. In other words, you would actually give your home to the trust fund, and the trust fund would be paying real estate taxes, etc.

You will definitely need legal help to get this done, but if anyone does try to take your home ‘ you don’t even own one. Even a review of public records will show that your property is owned by a trust fund. All your assets can be put into trust funds except for annuities. No one can take an annuity from you!