5-pillar asset protection for physicians

Roccy DeFrancesco: ©Roccy DeFrancesco

For those who were not in practice or those who were and don’t recall, I used to write articles for Physician Money Digest and Medical Economics “back in the day” as they say.

I’m excited that I’ve been invited to again write articles for these two important publications, and this is the first in a new series of articles on asset protection.

What is asset protection (AP) planning?

It depends on who you ask. You will generally get a different answer depending on whether you are talking with an attorney, CPA, financial planner, insurance agent, etc.

What is my definition of AP planning?

It’s taking steps to protect your valuable assets from all known and unknown creditors. In keeping with the title of this article, when I talk about AP planning, I’m looking at five different creditors who can take your money. They are:

Creditor 1: Negligence lawsuits

Physicians don’t need to be told they need to protect their assets from patients who try to sue them. However, if this is not motivation enough to implement an AP protection plan, think about the following:

Texting and driving is six times more dangerous than drunk driving! Almost every time someone drives somewhere in their car, they will text and drive or play with their phone while driving. Every time you do this you put ALL of your valuable assets at risk.

Creditor 2: The IRS (Internal Revenue Service)

The IRS is your #1 guaranteed creditor every year because every year the IRS takes your money. Therefore, when you are taking proactive steps to reduce your income, capital gains, and estate taxes, you are doing a form of asset protection planning.

Creditor 3: The Stock Market

This sometimes makes people scratch their heads. Most people think of the stock market as a place to build wealth, but you are much more likely to lose money (sometimes significant money) in the stock market than be sued for negligence.When taking steps to mitigate or even eliminate stock market losses you are doing a form of AP planning.

Creditor 4: Long-term care costs

In 20 years, the projected cost of a semi-private nursing home room = $187,884 annually. A private room = $210,948 annually. If you have dementia, you can stay in a facility for 5-10 years or even more. LTC costs can be your largest single expense in retirement, and they should be protected against.

Creditor 5: Estate planning costs

Unfortunately, too many people do not have their estate plans in order. Not having the proper documents (wills, trusts, and durable powers at a minimum) can cost you or your heirs a significant amount of money and cause unneeded headaches.

Probate costs in certain states can be significant (upwards of 5% of the entire estate value).

If you don’t have your legal or medical powers of attorney in place, your loved ones may have to hire an attorney and go to court in order to make legal decisions on your behalf or life-sustaining medical decisions. If your estate is large enough, without a proper estate plan, your estate may have to pay estate taxes.

So, when you get your estate plan in order, you are doing a form of asset protection planning.

In my upcoming articles, I’ll be doing an in-depth article on each of the 5 pillars.

If you can’t wait to read the upcoming articles and want to start educating yourself right now, there are a couple of ways you can do it:

• You can sign up to watch a FREE recorded webinarI did on the 5 pillars to asset protection planning. To sign up for this webinar (instant access), click on the following link:

https://5pillarassetprotection.com/educational-video

• You can get a copy of my new book 5-Pillar Asset Protection. You can buy it on Amazon or you can buy it at a 28% discount(a benefit for Physician Money Digest/Medical Economic Readers) by going to www.5pillarassetprotection.com 

It is my goal with the AP article series to make sure readers can fully understand the dangers to their wealth and the viable and practical solutions to protect their wealth.

Hopefully, this article has piqued your interest, and that you will find time to read the AP articles in the upcoming publications. If you do, you will be armed with the knowledge to start taking practice steps to protect your wealth.

Roccy DeFrancesco, JD, CAPP, CMP, is the author of “The Doctor’s Wealth Preservation Guide” and the Founder of The Wealth Preservation Institute. He can be reached at 269-216-9978 or roccy@5pillarassetprotection.com