Wealth Secrets of the Affluent: Keys to Fortune Building and Asset Protection »

Christopher R. Jarvis, MBA, is a financial planner with experience as an actuary and entrepreneur. He is cofounder, with Mr. Mandell and Jason M. O'Dell, of O'Dell Jarvis Mandell, LLC, which is based in the cities of Austin, New York, Cincinnati, and Ft. Lauderdale, and has affiliate offices nationwide (www.ojmgroup.com).

David B. Mandell, JD, MBA, is an attorney and financial advisor to high-net-worth clientele. He is the shareholder of the Law Offices of David B. Mandell, PC(www.mandellpc.com). Along with Mr. Jarvis, Mandell is coauthor of the Wiley title Wealth Protection: Build and Preserve Your Financial Fortress.

www.secretsoftheaffluent.com

www.ojmgroup.com

Most financial magazines and Web sites speak to the planning needs of the average American—an audience of over 200 million people and the target of most advertising revenue. Simultaneously, the majority of investment advisory, law, and accounting firms focus on this large market because it is more profitable to provide "cookie-cutter" financial planning to the masses than highly specialized planning to the elite. As a result, over twenty million affluent families and millions of hard-working Americans who strive to be wealthy struggle to find financial and legal information that speaks to their unique needs and goals. These people need more than "off-the-rack" planning advice, which is why financial expert Christopher Jarvis and asset protection attorney David Mandell—authors of the well-received personal planning guide Wealth Protection: Build and Preserve Your Financial Fortress—have created Wealth Secrets of the Affluent.

Written in a straightforward and accessible style, Wealth Secrets of the Affluent reveals the ten "keys" to financial success that super-affluent families have used for decades. This is a must read for anyone who earns over $150,000 per year or any family that is worth over $2,000,000, as well as any advisor who makes a living assisting wealthy clients or would like to attract wealthy clients with more appropriate—and more effective—advice. Wealth Secrets of the Affluent teaches readers the only way to effectively achieve affluence, and provides a variety of practical strategies for protecting assets, investing wisely, maximizing family wealth, and reducing unnecessary income, capital gains, and estate taxes. This book examines the essential lessons to building a fortune and protecting assets, explains the many pitfalls associated with this endeavor, and outlines the strategies and techniques that can be used to overcome these challenges. Along the way, you'll also discover why conventional financial solutions just don't make sense for the affluent individual or wealthy family.

Throughout the book, industry experts Jarvis and Mandell share their extensive experiences in this field as they address issues such as: why the Nobel Prize-winning asset allocation model used by most firms will fail for affluent clients, which underused financial vehicles should be integral parts of affluent family planning, why taxes can't be left out of the planning equation, and how to determine if your present advisors are failing you—and what to do about it if they are.

If you feel like you've never been armed with the right information to help you become wealthy, if you're concerned about the many potential threats to your wealth, or if—as an advisor—you'd like to enhance your understanding of what it takes to help affluent clients build wealth and protect assets, then this is the book for you.

Acknowledgments     xiii
About the Authors     xv
Introduction     xvii
Understanding and Embracing Affluence     1
Who Are the Affluent?     3
Understanding the Average American     8
Unique Advice for the Affluent     16
The Affluent Don't Want to Fit In     21
Use Leverage to Achieve Affluence     27
The Basics of Leverage     29
Financial Leverage     32
Leveraging Effort     34
Leveraging Assets     37
Leveraging People     42
Build the Right Team of Advisors     49
The Value of Advisors     51
Types of Advisors     56
Seven Mistakes to Avoid     68
Protect Assets     77
The Importance of Asset Protection     79
The Sliding Scale of Asset Protection     83
Asset Protection Myths     87
The Mixed Blessing of Property and Casualty Insurance     91
Business Protection Often Ignored     96
Maximizing Exempt Assets     101
Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies     107
Using Trusts to Shield Wealth     117
InternationalPlanning     125
Protecting Your Home     134
Divorce Protection     140
Using Captive Insurance Companies to Protect Businesses     148
Always Consider Taxes     155
Uncle Sam's Pieces of Your Pie     157
Use Retirement Plans     165
Borrowing Lower Tax Rates     168
Long-Term Care Insurance     171
Charitable Planning     174
Educational Planning     181
Is Your Tax Advisor Helping or Hurting You?     191
Preserve Your Estate     195
The Truth about the Estate Tax Repeal     197
Wills and Living Trusts     203
The A-B Living Trust     209
Joint Ownership and Disinheritance Risk     213
Estate Planning Life Insurance Policies     216
Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies     220
Avoiding the 70 Percent Tax Trap of Pensions and IRAs     225
Protection from Rising Medical Costs     238
Charitable Estate Planning     242
Avoid Financial Disasters     247
Premature Death of a Family Member     249
Premature Death of a Business Partner     253
Disability of a Breadwinner or Business Partner     260
Long-Term Care Needs for Families     268
Running Out of Money in Retirement     274
Invest Wisely     279
A Nobel Prize Is Not Enough     281
Taxes, Inflation, and Your Investments     288
Outgrowing Mutual Funds     292
Alternative Investment Strategies     300
Use the Secret Investments of the Affluent     307
Investment Efficiency     309
Real Estate Basics     312
Real Estate Leverage     316
Flexibility and Efficiency of Real Estate     319
Life Insurance Basics     325
Life Insurance Leverage     332
Flexibility and Efficiency of Life Insurance     337
Proof that Life Insurance Outperforms Mutual Funds     340
Creative Applications of Insurance     349
Leveraging the Ultimate Leverage Tool     352
Plan for Success     357
Index     365