How to Protect Your Number One Asset

You are your number one asset. Think about it—you are the reason for your own success. Each decision you make, and the skills you bring to the table, allow you to accumulate all your other assets. Every asset on your books exists only because you do. 

You are a powerhouse. So how do you protect yourself, if you’re an asset? 

Certainty and Uncertainty

I’ve talked extensively on the difference between an abundance mindset and one of scarcity. These mindsets are determined by our worldviews, and one reason that people operate from a mindset of scarcity is because of uncertainty.

As humans, we’re programmed to become defensive when faced with unknowns or uncertainties. Think about how many people are afraid of the dark, or were at some point—darkness is the unknown. We’re afraid of what’s lurking just beyond what we can see. In the light, that fear dissipates, because we know exactly what’s around us. Uncertainty is also why we look before we leap.

The first step in protecting your number one asset is to regain control of your mindset. If you don’t operate from a place of abundance, you’ll have a hard time finding abundance. And so you have to address your personal uncertainties.

Protect You Future Earnings

One of the initial ways you can create certainty in such an uncertain world is to protect your future earnings. Because one thing all Cashflow Ninjas do is produce and create, and each of us has a unique way of doing so. 

So if you could protect the money that you’re going to make, way into the future, you’d want to, right? Protecting a lifetime’s potential earnings creates certainty, and allows you to pursue your own unique channels for creating and producing. 

It’s almost like buying your net worth—and there are way to do that through life insurance. I’m a huge fan of the infinite banking concept as a method to reclaim the banking function and warehouse cash. So in combination with future wealth protection, you can create a private banking system for yourself. You dollars are doing multiple jobs. 

Understanding Why

Protecting your future wealth goes beyond simply creating a cushion for your future endeavors. It also ensures that your family will be provided for financially, should you die. Let’s just say you’re a 30-year-old male with a spouse and two children, and you’re making $100,000 per year. Up until age 65 or 70, that’s about 3.5 to 4 million dollars’ worth of potential earnings that you will have contributed to your household. If you were to suddenly die, that money would be missing, right? It’s not fun to think about, but these things happen. 

This is the unknown, the uncertainty. So if you protect your future earnings, you’re protecting you and your family from the unknown. 

Additional Insurance

Furthermore, life insurance can be improved with a disability insurance rider, which provides income should you become unable to work. That’s yet another unknown or uncertainty. You could purchase that insurance separately, but it’s more cost effective to bundle it into your life insurance.

The other crucial insurance I recommend is property and casualty insurance—that could be homeowner’s insurance, renter’s insurance, auto insurance, and more. There are so many types of property and casualty insurance, and they’re almost always a good idea. The thing about unknowns is that they’re unknown. You don’t want to be in a position where you need insurance and don’t have it. 

Strategies for asset protection are also encouraged. Strategies that can protect you for being sued, for example. 

Estate Planning

The next step in protecting yourself is having an estate plan. As a business owner, even if you’re young, it’s important to have a will and testament in place. Other considerations are medical directors, power of attorney, and trusts. And let’s say you have a family trust; do you have a family constitution with it? This ensures that those who have access to the trust are also upholding your legacy and philosophy. 

Liquidity

How much liquidity do you have? I would recommend 6-12 months of liquidity to cover your personal economy and expenses, and 12 months of business expenses. Having reserves in place is crucial, because if we can expect anything, it is the unexpected. 

And because that liquidity has to be parked somewhere, the infinite banking concept works especially well. Because not only can you warehouse your cash there, but it provides liquidity and leverage, while also acting as multiple types of insurance. Many of the folks that work with Producers Wealth have this insurance in place. 

Emergency Food

This is something I get laughed at for advocating for—but you should have 6 months of emergency food accessible. You never know when you’re going to need it. And hopefully you never do. Yet it’s a practical way to ensure that you are always taken care of and can continue to live the life you love. 

I thought I might never need it, but when I moved from Chicago to the East Coast, I was caught in Hurricane Sandy. Emergency food didn’t seem silly then. 

Wealth Insurance

Beyond the above precautions, I recommend having physical assets that can act as “wealth insurance.” Silver and gold, for example, are important to have as an overall portion of your portfolio. Beyond just strategy, they act as a hedge against a currency event. So you’d want somewhere around 5-10% available depending on your comfort level, just in case the dollar ever goes south. 

It’s possible to hold such assets online, but I highly suggest having at least a portion of it physically. Additionally, having actual, physical cash is a good idea in the event of a banking crisis. I’m talking the kind of cash you stuff in your mattress or a tin can, though I recommend putting it somewhere less obvious. 

Combatting Uncertainty

I consider these strategies to be foundational, because I guarantee that having them in place will eliminate fear of the unknowns in life. That way, you can continue to focus your energy on your number one asset—yourself. 

You can’t eliminate uncertainty completely, but you can ensure that your life is never uprooted by uncertainty. And once you do so, you can operate from a worldview of abundance. So start today to turn unknowns into knowns and watch how you flourish. 

You can listen to my new podcast, Cashflow Investing Secrets here.

Live your Freedom, Live Your Legacy, On Your Own Terms,

M.C.

M.C. Laubscher is a husband, dad, podcaster & Cashflow Specialist. He helps business owners and investors create, recover, warehouse & multiply cashflow. You can learn more about exclusive cash flow strategies in M.C.’s new video series at https://www.yourownbankingsystem.com/