Asset Protection Tip: Protect Your Ohio Business from "Black Swans" with a Little-Known Investment Tool

April 13th, 2015

You never know what sort of amazing serendipity or unexpected catastrophe will befall your business. That’s part of the fun and part of the challenge. You might get sued. You might get a surprising surge of new business. You might find your business in trouble with the IRS and your assets seized to pay the debt. A natural disaster could destroy all you've worked to build. Unforeseen, drastic events actually have a name: they are called Black Swans, a term coined by statistician and best-selling author, Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Here’s how Taleb defines these events:

  • The event is a surprise (to the observer).
  • The event has a major effect.
  • After the first recorded instance of the event, it is rationalized by hindsight, as if it could have been expected; that is, the relevant data were available but unaccounted for in risk mitigation programs.

Taleb asserts that these events naturally occur all the time, although they are relatively rare and outside the scope of the everyday. When a Black Swan event happens to your business, you may look for a simple explanation and a simple solution, but it isn't always that easy. Looking for the easy explanation can cause your business to crumble or, even more frustratingly, cause root problems to recur.

The solution? Plan ahead by bounding risk in advance.

One excellent way to protect against Black Swan events foundering your business is to set up an instrument known as an Ohio Legacy Trust. Established properly, this Trust can protect your assets from future creditors and other unforeseen negative events. You can fund the trust with your own assets and simultaneously be its beneficiary while you are alive. If the trust is set up properly, “creditors and predators” cannot (easily) touch your business assets.

If you have significant wealth, and you want to protect what you’ve built and accumulated from destructive Black Swans using an Ohio Legacy Trust, work with a professional who is experienced to make sure your trust is iron-clad. Attorney Ted Gudorf is one of just a few lawyers in Ohio who work regularly with high net worth individuals to establish these trusts. Protect your business and assets. Call him and his team immediately at 1-877-483-6730 for a free consultation.