Lee will customize an article for your newsletter to help "promote" your event or
just for educational value. Two sample articles follow:
MAKING MONEY WITH THE LAW
Your ability to make money in your business or on your real estate deals is directly related to your knowledge of the law. Whether
it is structuring the deal or trimming the tax burdens, the law can turn a bad deal into a good deal and a good deal
into a great deal. In fact, if you use the law to leverage what you do, you can make money faster than you ever thought
possible. In a professional practice, you don't need to work harder, use the law to leverage what you do to make more
money. No more work - no more time - no more risk, just more money to spend!
Not only can you get ahead financially a lot faster, using the law, when problems strike, you can keep what you have
worked your whole life for. In today's society, if you don't take the opportunity to protect yourself and your assets,
somebody is going to take your assets away from you. It might be the government, the IRS, the lawyers, your tenants,
your partners, your patients, or any one of a dozen other problems you face, but somebody is going to take your hard-earned
money away from you, unless you protect it.
You undoubtedly hope and pray that you won't have a lead paint problem, get sued by a tenant, or have the lawyers
come after you for some insignificant reason. After my seminars, you will be able to do more than just hope and pray that you won't lose your
property. Think about it: you lock your doors, put security lights around your house, and set up alarm systems.
Your financial investments and real estate investments are a lot more valuable than your household property. Have
you done anything to protect those assets from the thieves that could take them away from you through a legal or
financial attack?
The legal system is the most powerful system we have in our nation today. When you get sued, you are going to
spend every dime you've got just defending the lawsuit. Either that or you lose. That is the way the system is
set up. The biggest mistake you're going to make in your financial careers is to say that you don't have enough
to worry about yet. It doesn't matter how much or how little you have, in today's lawsuit happy society, you had
better worry about how to protect your assets, or they will be taken away from you.
If you are going to protect your assets, you need to be able to identify the financial threats you face.
The sad part is, the general public doesn't even know what the threats look like, and they certainly don't
have a clue how to protect themselves from those threats. The first thing I will do is show you how to identify the
threats, and then you can to systematically eliminate them.
The IRS is one of the major threats you face. Your tax payments over your lifetime could dwarf your
mortgage payments, your medical expenses, the retirement money you stoke away, and the cost of sending
your kids to college--all combined. Taxes are by far the biggest constant drain on your financial resources.
If you know the tax laws, can you make money? Certainly! You can cut 10 - 15 - or even 25% off your tax bill
every year. Think about it. How much would a 25% reduction in your taxes be worth to you just this year?
You attend seminars, practice improvement fairs, scour the real estate market, and do everything else
you can think of to find a way so that you can make more money. The irony of it all is, if you learn the
rules of law and to use various legal structures, you can make more money in everything you do. You don't have to
change what you are doing now. All you have to do is change your position in the law. Think about the rich
people you know. It doesn't matter what they are doing, they use the tax laws and all the other laws to
their advantage and they make money. You can do that, just like they do. But, you have to have a legal
foundation to build on.
You can't build a house from the roof down. What do you have to build first? The foundation! You can't
build a financial fortune from the roof down either. You've got to have the foundation first. If you study
the wealthy, you will find that every one of them has a legal foundation that they have built their wealth
upon, and they have legal shields around their property to protect it from attacks.
The reason you don't have a legal foundation and shields around your property is because of the cost,
time and frustration. If you have a lawyer set up such a shield, it will cost many thousands of dollars,
and you probably won't really get the protection you want. The process isn't hard, but the lawyers make it
very complicated to "protect their turf." Most successful people learn that they have to understand what
the opportunities in the law are, and they actually end up doing a lot of the "legal work" for themselves.
Every wealthy person makes use of certain legal tools and principles. If you want to be rich, you have to
learn to use the legal tools that the rich use.
Whatever you are doing today, if you understand the laws, you can make more money. Think about it.
The rich make money at whatever they do. And, the rich just get richer. One of the major reasons they
can do this is their use of legal techniques and structures. Their use of the laws puts them on the fast
track to riches and lets them protect what they already have. Your use of the laws will do the same
things for you.
FOUR TOOLS OF FINANCIAL FOUNDATION
Just like a house, you can't build a financial fortune from the roof down. You need to build a foundation first.
Have you ever noticed that some people seem to have wealth flow to them? Yes, some professions tend to pay more
than others, but in every field, those with the most wealth are the ones that have a legal foundation already in place.
This foundation is set up using an understanding of the legal strategies associated with wealth accumulation.
Unfortunately, many people are "taken to the cleaners" by less-than-competent lawyers who fail to educate their clients.
The basic foundation of wealth consists of four legal tools. If you understand the tools and know how to use them, your chances
for success are much better. If you and/or your parents don't have the four tools already, it is time to get moving. It's worth
every effort you make and every dime you spend getting the foundation in place. Here's a basic overview of the four tools:
Testamentary Will
Everyone needs a will. Even if you have a revocable trust, you need a will. The will names the personal representative
(the executor or executrix). A family member, who is geographically near the bulk of your estate, has good business sense,
and can be fair with your heirs, is the person you are looking for. It is basically malpractice for the attorney to name himself
or herself as the personal representative.
The will names the guardian for your minor children. If you have minor children or grandchildren, you had better see to
it immediately that a guardian is named in the parent's will. The will should put restrictions on the guardians. Most
wills simply state, "John and Mary guardians to my minor children." You can do better than that. Coach the judge in
your will. It should read, "John and Mary; provided they raise the children in our family home where the children
are living at the time of my death." "John and Mary; provided they are still happily married and harmoniously living
together." "Grandma and Grandpa; provided they have the health to take care of the kids." "Grandma and Grandpa; provided
they don't sell the kids." You get the picture.
If you already have a will and don't have a living trust, you will have to get a new will which goes along
with your living trust. It is called a "pour over will," because it "pours" all of your property, not already
in the trust, into the trust for ultimate distribution after your death. The living trust is the next part of the foundation.
Living Revocable Trust
The living trust allows an estate to avoid probate, get twice the estate tax exclusion, and provide for a smooth
transfer of property. It is definitely worth having for most families. Yes, there is a big argument in the legal profession
between the standard will and probate guys and the living trust "hawkers." I come down in favor of the living trust,
but I think it is your decision. In Protecting Your Financial Future, I go through the pros and cons in detail.
Frank Sinatra was called the "Chairman of the Board," and he knew how to handle money. His living trust provided his
estate with total privacy, much to the media's chagrin, even though on a $130+ million estate the financial impact
of the trust was only a few hundred thousand dollars.
The problem with the trusts is not with the trust, but the lawyer and user of the trust. The trust
has to be maintained, and it has to "own" all of your estate. It isn't hard to manage, but the lawyer
never takes the time to teach you how to do the management, and you can't afford to pay the lawyer to do
it for you. As a result, a majority of people who get a living trust don't get the benefits they could from the trust.
The living trust will "overlap" with a durable power of attorney.
Durable Power of Attorney
Durable powers of attorney allow an individual to control the property of a person who is unable to control their
own property. As a physician, you know that people of all ages, not just old people, fall victim and are rendered
unable to control their business life. A good living trust will have a provision that automatically lets a successor
trustee manage trust property if you, acting as trustee, become incompetent. The durable power of attorney lets the
person of your choice manage all of your other business affairs when you can't do it. Power doesn't transfer from you
until the criteria outlined in the document are met, then there is an automatic transfer of power. This prevents messy
court proceedings that are required to name a guardian/conservator for an incompetent individual.
The emotional and financial drain of a court proceeding when a family member has an accident or gets sick is the
last thing the family needs at that time. The durable power of attorney prevents all of the legal problems at a time
of crisis in the family, when a family member becomes incompetent.
Many powers of attorney include a section which addressed an individual's instructions and desires for their health care.
This is a durable power of attorney for health care, which appoints an "agent" and grants them power to interface with the
medical industry. You may not have a hard time getting what you want in a hospital, but it will be very frustrating for
your spouse or children if you are the one who suddenly becomes unable to direct your own medical care. The durable power
of attorney for health care can be part of the document entitled durable power of attorney or it can be a separate document.
It deals only with the medical treatment, not the right to die, which is addressed in a living will.
Living Will
A living will directs the doctors to keep you alive or pull the plug. You need one and so does the rest of your family.
The best place to get one is in your hospital. Hospitals give them away free, and the hospitals like to see their own document
rather than the 30 page beautiful, very expensive document you get from your lawyer.
These four legal documents form the basic foundation for all wealthy people. They are always there.
They are what I call the "basic tools of wealth." Use them, and it will be worth every effort you make and every
dime you spend.
Protecting Your Financial Future
