Privacy Today – by Michael Malloy CLU TEP RFC

HOW?

A Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) asset structure could have easily prevented life changing invasions of privacy

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Introduction

Privacy has become a hot topic in recent years, with numerous controversies surrounding the collection and use of personal data by tech companies and governments. As technology continues to advance, it is important for individuals to understand their rights to privacy and the steps they can take to protect it. This article will summarize key points from a blog post on the topic of privacy and outline the most important takeaways.

The Importance of Privacy

The blog post begins by emphasizing the importance of privacy in today’s world. With the widespread use of technology, personal information is being collected and shared at an unprecedented rate, and it is essential for individuals to understand the implications of this. Privacy allows individuals to control who has access to their personal information, what that information is used for, and how it is shared. This control is essential for ensuring that personal data is not misused or abused.

Key Privacy Concerns

The blog post goes on to discuss some of the key privacy concerns that individuals should be aware of. These include:

  • Data collection: Tech companies and other organizations collect vast amounts of data on individuals, often without their knowledge or consent. This data can include everything from online searches and location data to purchasing history and social media activity.
  • Data sharing: Once personal data has been collected, it can be shared with other organizations, either for commercial purposes or for government surveillance. This can result in sensitive personal information being disclosed without the individual’s knowledge or consent.
  • Data breaches: Data breaches are a major concern in today’s world, as they can result in sensitive personal information being leaked to unauthorized individuals. This can include everything from financial information and Social Security numbers to personal health records and emails.
  • Government surveillance: Governments around the world are increasing their use of technology to monitor citizens, and this can have serious implications for privacy. For example, many governments collect data on internet activity and use this information for surveillance purposes.

Protecting Privacy

The blog post concludes by offering practical tips for protecting privacy in the digital age. These include:

  • Being aware of privacy policies: When using technology, it is important to be aware of the privacy policies of the companies and organizations involved. This includes understanding what personal data is being collected and how it is being used.
  • Using encryption: Encryption is a powerful tool for protecting personal data, as it ensures that information is only accessible to those with the necessary key. This can be especially important when using public Wi-Fi networks, as these are often unsecured and vulnerable to eavesdropping.
  • Being careful with personal information: Individuals should be careful about the personal information they share online, as this information can be used for malicious purposes. This includes being mindful of the information shared on social media, as well as avoiding responding to phishing scams or giving out personal information in response to unsolicited emails.

Conclusion

In conclusion, privacy is a crucial issue in today’s world, and it is essential for individuals to understand the threats to their personal information and the steps they can take to protect it. By being aware of the key privacy concerns and taking practical steps to protect their data, individuals can ensure that their personal information remains safe and secure. The blog post provides a wealth of information on the topic of privacy and is an excellent resource for anyone looking to learn more about this important issue.

Watch one of our most descriptive EWP Stories about #Privacy to understand more

 

by Michael Malloy, CLU TEP RFC.
CEO, Founder @EWP Financial

~ Your best source for PPLI and EWP

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The True Value of Zero = Privacy

Professor PPLI Explains Zero

Part 1

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Our next few articles will comprise an in-depth look at the five main components of our PPLI Concept Map: Professor PPLI Defines Nothing. We also offer you over the next five Parts, “She Was Good For Nothing,” by Hans Christian Andersen. This charming fairy tale supports our theme of nothing.

Zero is a powerful number. Any number multiplied by zero becomes zero. Yet, zero is also nothing. How does this nothing relate to the topic of our using of Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) to structure the assets of wealthy families? Unless you understand how PPLI works with the six principles of Expanded Worldwide Planning (EWP), you will understand  nothing about PPLI. PPLI makes these six principles come alive like nothing else in the realm of asset structures.

First, we will explore the concept of nothing from a mathematical  perspective, then move on to its relationship to EWP, and conclude with how this all relates to one of the six principles of EWP, privacy.

The Power of Zero

Doctor Ian at the Math Forum demonstrates how multiplying any number by zero equals zero.

“1 * 0 = 0

27 * 0 = 0

1,887,457,234,543,243,113,946 * 0 = 0

When you multiply one number by another, you can think of starting at some point (‘the spot marked X’, or wherever) and moving some distance away from it. To move, you need to know two things:

  1) how many steps you’re going to take

  2) how big each step will be

Now, if each step is of zero size, then you can keep taking them, and you’ll never move anywhere. (Move a step of length zero. You’re still where you started. Do it again. Still there. Keep doing it… how many of those steps will you have to take to actually move somewhere?) So any number times zero is still zero.

Also, if you’re not going to take any steps, it doesn’t matter how large a step you would take, since you’re not going to take it. So zero times any number is still zero.”

For our exploration of zero in the world of PPLI tax structuring, we can think of zero as the actual insurance policy that holds a family’s assets in separate accounts in the name of a custodian such as a trust company, which will be in the name of the beneficial owner of the assets–the insurance company. The assets do not change, but how they are structured changes.

Since you can place almost any asset that can be held by a trust company into a PPLI policy, the insurance policy acts like the empty box that we use to explain the concept of zero. The empty box is an abstraction, yet like the PPLI policy, it is the vehicle that can help achieve the six principles of EWP for wealthy families.

Brian Resnick’s article, “The mind-bendy weirdness of the number zero, explained,” on Vox gives us:

Zero is in the mind, but not in the sensory world,” Robert Kaplan, a Harvard math professor and an author of The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero says. Even in the empty reaches of space, if you can see stars, it means you’re being bathed in their electromagnetic radiation. In the darkest emptiness, there’s always something. Perhaps a true zero — meaning absolute nothingness — may have existed in the time before the Big Bang. But we can never know.

Nevertheless, zero doesn’t have to exist to be useful. In fact, we can use the concept of zero to derive all the other numbers in the universe.

Kaplan walked me through a thought exercise first described by the mathematician John von Neumann. It’s deceptively simple.

Imagine a box with nothing in it. Mathematicians call this empty box “the empty set.” It’s a physical representation of zero. What’s inside the empty box? Nothing.

Now take another empty box, and place it in the first one.

How many things are in the first box now?

There’s one object in it. Then, put another empty box inside the first two. How many objects does it contain now? Two. And that’s how “we derive all the counting numbers from zero … from nothing,” Kaplan says. This is the basis of our number system. Zero is an abstraction and a reality at the same time. “It’s the nothing that is,” as Kaplan said.”

Since  we are exploring zero as an abstract concept, we will put it to another use below when we discuss privacy. In a sense everything can only be defined through its relationships with other elements and factors. Not wishing to be alone in stretching our meanings too far let us hear from Humpty Dumpty and Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

How Zero = Privacy?

Now let us equate privacy with Mr. von Neumann’s first box above. Remember this first box is described as an “abstraction and a reality at the same time.” This can equally be said of a term like privacy. Privacy can be defined in the abstract, but it is how it is interpreted in reality that counts.

In many jurisdictions, privacy is considered a fundamental principle. In the U.S the right to privacy is stated in the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

A right to privacy is explicitly stated under Article 12 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by the United Nations General Assembly:

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”

Caroline Garnham of Garnham Family Office Services in London writes with clarity and understanding about issues affecting wealthy clients. What follows is a telling description of a government’s thirst for tax dollars trampling on its citizens fundamental privacy rights. These are excerpts from her article, “It isn’t fair? Part 3.” How is “tax fairness” playing out in Great Britain today? This article relates recent incidents and key players in the drama.

“Edward Troup, now Sir Edward Troup was appointed Executive Chair and Permanent Secretary to HMRC in April 2016, for which he was knighted in the 2018 new year’s honours list. He was the former head of the firm’s tax department and the most brilliant brain I have ever encountered.

‘Tax law does not codify some Platonic set of tax raising principles. Taxation is legalised extortion and is valid only to the extent of the law’ – a point of with which I concur.

We have tightened our grip on those who deliberately cheat the system and continue to pursue those who refuse to pay what they owe.’

But the question now is, has HMRC gone too far?

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, EAC, published its findings in December 2018, and thinks so!

A ‘careful balance must be struck between clamping down and treating taxpayers’ fairly. Our evidence has convinced us that this balance has tipped too far in favour of HMRC and against the fundamental protections every taxpayer expects.’

In 2000 some employers set up Employee Benefits Trusts for their employees.

This arrangement was considered effective in avoiding tax.

In 2010 HMRC warned that such arrangements were unacceptable, and that those who used such an arrangement had to repay the loan, pay the tax or face fines.

It is clear from what has already been published that the information to be received by HMRC this year from offshore financial institutions under the Common Reporting Standard once analysed will be used to attack settlors of offshore trusts. The first such attacks are expected in about six months.

HMRC has said that it will first go for well-known names with significant assets in trust. It has been advised to attack structures which have Persons of Significant Influence on the basis of sham. It will then look very closely for clauses in the Trust Deed once provided absolving the Trustee from any form of liability and duty to interfere. This it will take as further evidence that the Trust was nothing more than a nominee arrangement and tax the settlor as if no trust had been set up together with 200% penalties.”

Part 1 of “She Was Good For Nothing” by Hans Christian Andersen:

 “The mayor was standing at his open window; he was wearing a dress shirt with a dainty breastpin in its frill. He was very well shaven, self-done, though he had cut himself slightly and had stuck a small bit of newspaper over the cut.

“Listen, youngster!” he boomed.

The youngster was none other than the washerwoman’s son, who respectfully took off his cap as he passed. This cap was broken at the rim, so that he could put it into his pocket. In his poor but clean and very neatly mended clothes, and his heavy wooden shoes, the boy stood as respectfully as if he were before the king.

“You’re a good boy, a well-behaved lad!” said the Mayor. “I suppose your mother is washing down at the river, and no doubt you are going to bring her what you have in your pocket. That’s an awful thing with your mother! How much have you there?”

“A half pint,” said the boy in a low, trembling voice.

“And this morning she had the same?” continued the Mayor.

“No, it was yesterday!” answered the boy.

“Two halves make a whole! She is no good! It is sad there are such people. Tell your mother she ought to be ashamed of herself. Don’t you become a drunkard-but I suppose you will! Poor child! Run along now.”

And the boy went, still holding his cap in his hand, while the wind rippled the waves of his yellow hair. He went down the street and through an alley to the river, where his mother stood at her washing stool in the water, beating the heavy linen with a wooden beater. The current was strong, for the mill’s sluices were open; the bed sheet was dragged along by the stream and nearly swept away her washing stool, and the woman had all she could do to stand up against it.

“I was almost carried away,” she said. “It’s a good thing you’ve come, for I need something to strengthen me. It’s so cold in the water; I’ve been standing here for six hours. Have you brought me anything?”

The boy drew forth a flask, and his mother put it to her lips and drank a little.

“Oh, that does me good! How it warms me! It’s just as good as hot food, and it isn’t as expensive! Drink, my boy! You look so pale, and you’re freezing in your thin clothes. Remember it is autumn. Ooh, the water is cold! If only I don’t get ill! But I won’t. Give me a little more, and drink some yourself, but only a little drop, for you mustn’t get used to it, my poor dear child!”

And she walked out of the water and up onto the bridge where the boy stood. The water dripped from the straw mat that she had tied around her waist and from her petticoat.

“I work and slave till the blood runs out at my fingernails, but I do it gladly if I can bring you up honestly, my sweet child!””

We hoped you enjoyed this article and the beginning of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale. Nothing turns out to be an exciting topic for us, and we will continue our lively topic in the next four articles. Please bring us your PPLI questions and inquiries. We enjoy all opportunities to discuss our favorite topic, and bring you an asset structuring tool that offers so many exceptional benefits. Contact Us!

 

by Michael Malloy, CLU TEP RFC, @ Advanced Financial Solutions, Inc

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The Art of War in Action

Achieve Stealth Victory with PPLI

Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) allows you to achieve levels of legitimate privacy not possible with solely planning with trusts. The PPLI policy works in harmony with a trust to create an environment of enhanced privacy. So what war are we talking about? This war is being played out worldwide almost daily between governments and individuals on what constitutes privacy.

This war is not so simple. California just passed a landmark privacy bill, and after the bill’s passage, one aspect that remains ambiguous is what constitutes the data that can be made private at the individual’s choice. We have an excerpt below, courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, by Marc Vartabedian, Georgia Wells, and Lara O’Reilly.

“One of the points of contention is likely to fall around the legislation’s definition of “personal data,” which includes broad categories such as biometric data, psychometric information, browsing and search history and geolocation data. The act’s current version states that personal information doesn’t include information that is publicly available or general enough to not identify an individual, a broad definition technology companies may lean on heavily to argue their collection of such data is justified.”

Thankfully, things are somewhat simpler in our field of planning for wealthy international families. By combining a trust and a properly structured PPLI policy, we can transfer beneficial ownership to the insurance company which creates a much welcomed benefit for families.

This is particularly true for those that reside in countries where the government is unstable or corrupt, or sometimes unfortunately both.  This issue raises real concern for the personal data of wealthy international families in the massive exchange of data now taking place under CRS.

In a recent letter to The Financial Times, Filippo Noseda, a partner at Mishcon de Reya LLP, gives us a startling example:

“In Argentina seven members of the Argentine tax authorities were arrested on February 2 for allegedly selling taxpayers’ information, showing the risks faced by citizens living in high-risk jurisdictions who for one reason or another have bank accounts abroad (Argentine police also seized $5m in cash, which gives a measure of the scale of data trafficking). Dissidents with foreign accounts will be particularly vulnerable to reprisals from their governments.”

Hiding in Plain Sight

What are the steps that allow an insurance company to become the beneficial owner of the assets inside a PPLI policy, and give clients a level of legitimate privacy not possible with other techniques?  Here they are:

  • The policyholder contributes the assets that he or she wants to protect as a premium payment, in cash or in kind, to a bespoke investment fund created by the life insurer. The life insurer opens a dedicated account at a custodian bank for the underlying assets of the policy.
  • The policyholder selects an investment strategy and nominates an investment manager. The life company formally appoints the investment manager.
  • This internal investment fund is exclusively linked to the policyholder’s life policy. The value of the PPLI policy is equal at all times to that of the underlying internal investment fund.
  • The life insurer has now become the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) of the underlying assets. In return for the premium payment, the policyholder has a “claim” on the life insurer for the value of the underlying investment fund.

This planning technique of using the insurance company as the beneficial owner of the assets in a PPLI policy is akin to what we learn in a 5th century text by Sun Tzu, The Art of War. This famous text teaches ostensibly about war, but its basic message is–avoid open conflict unless it is absolutely necessary.  A few key quotes from the book demonstrate this:

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”

“A good commander is benevolent and unconcerned with fame.”

This is precisely what we do in marrying a trust with a properly structured PPLI policy.  The result is what we call Expanded Worldwide Planning (EWP). By finding the best of what a trust and an a PPLI policy have to offer, we create this legitimate environment of enhanced privacy without a conflict with tax authorities in any jurisdiction worldwide. This is stealth that achieves a victory by study and superior knowledge.

Please bring us your privacy concerns, so we can construct a bespoke structure that fits the aims and goals of your family.

 

  ~ by Michael Malloy CLU TEP RFC, @ Advanced Financial Solutions, Inc

 

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No Separation of Child/Parent

PPLI: United We Stand for Tax Savings

Private Placement Life Insurance, (see PPLI in our blog) makes use of one of the simplest and oldest tax shields that exist–life insurance. Donald Trump’s very unpopular immigration policy of separating children from parents who cross the border with Mexico  reminds us of another separation that has undesired consequences for tax savings.

This separation is summarized in the catchy yet deceptive phrase, “Buy term life insurance and invest the difference.”  By taking this advice one is, to use another common phrase, “Throwing out the baby with the bath water.” We will show you by example that if you keep your investments inside a PPLI policy, you can benefit handsomely.

Before we give you an example of tax structuring using PPLI, let us return to government regulations. We used a very controversial example with Donald Trump and Mexican children, but how does our firm interact with governments worldwide on a regular basis in relation to tax structuring for wealthy international families.

The process works like this:

“The laws, tax codes, and regulations that we study to assist our clients are complex. We study these laws, tax codes, and regulations with an eye to selecting the elements that can best serve our clients.  If the tax authorities of governments think we have gone too far with our use of these laws, tax codes, and regulations, they amend them, and so the process continues.”

Clients are now looking at simple and straightforward solutions to their complex problems. Since a properly structured PPLI policy is at the heart of our planning, and insurance regulations in most countries are more long- lasting and simpler than the tax codes, we have a significant advantage in helping our clients.

PPLI solves or mitigates issues for clients involving:

  • Tax deferral
  • Income tax planning
  • Succession planning
  • Asset protection
  • Compliance
  • Privacy protection
  • Estate planning

PPLI Tax Deferral

Here is an example that involves the PPLI benefit of tax deferral.  In the right circumstances, business income can also benefit from tax deferral.  Since we are using a life insurance policy, all the assets inside the policy will pass tax-free to the beneficiaries named in the PPLI policy.

Eduardo Flores is an investor located in a high tax state in the U.S. with a combined tax rate of 53%. Eduardo is a successful businessman with $50 million of investable assets. Eduardo has been receiving a 8% return on these hedge fund investments, but realizes more than half of his profits will benefit federal and state government. See Figure 1 below.

PPLI generates $4.9 million more than a taxable hedge fund investment after 10 years. After 20 years, PPLI has outperformed by over $18 million. Held for 40 years, the PPLI policy will produce $120 million more than a taxable account.

If you buy term life insurance, and invest the difference, your investments miss out on the substantial benefit of tax deferral. Why separate yourself from this outstanding benefit. Most of us would not wish to step into Donald Trump’s shoes and be subject to worldwide criticism for an unpopular decision. Make the right decision, and investigate how PPLI can best serve many of your structuring and tax planning needs.

We are here to serve you towards this end, and very much wish to hear what you have to say about our firm and ideas. You can place any comments at the bottom of the page, and if you have interacted with us in the past, we would appreciate any testimonials in our blog or Yelp. Thanks in advance.

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 by Michael Malloy CLU TEP RFC, @ Advanced Financial Solutions, Inc

 

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