X-Message-Number: 22299 From: "Clement, James" <> Subject: Taking It With You Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 18:49:42 -0400 This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ------_=_NextPart_001_01C35BA3.DC3036D0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Joseph; Per your suggestion I'm happy to write both to the general Cryonet readership and to you personally (sent separately). To briefly summarize my background, I was a tax lawyer, specializing in international tax planning, for about 20 years. I have had a lot of experience in trust and estate planning, asset protection, and business law. I even lived in the Republic of Panama and practiced law there, for a while. I have had my "Registered Representative" license since early 1999, and am now a financial consultant with A.G. Edwards in Melbourne, Florida (Absolutely NONE of the views expressed here should be considered the views/opinions etc. of A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.). I am signed up with Alcor for a Neurosuspension. I think that there are two basic scenarios that we Cryonauts need to consider which are somewhat unique to our lifestyle choices; 1) what should we do financially to prepare ourselves for enjoying a very long life (assuming we're able to bootstrap ourselves to near-immortality with the ever-increasing medical advances that are being made); and 2) what should we do financially to prepare for an untimely death or disability and our cryonic suspension. Regarding the first scenario, much of what we need to consider will involve the financial challenges that affect the population at large: 1) will we be able to comfortably retire when we would like to; 2) will we be able to afford to send our children (if any) to the colleges of our choice; 3) are we paying too much for our home mortgage; 4) are we allowing the IRS to take too much of our paychecks and income; and 5) are our investments properly balanced for the rate of return and the concomitant risk we'd like. On the other hand, if we knew that we could live for 120, 140 +++ years, might we be more concerned with capital preservation and sustained growth, rather than the "risk it all and try to hit the jackpot" mentality that guides a lot of people looking at a much shorter window of opportunity? Once I started thinking about what I'd personally like to have happen if my efforts at life-extension and moderate CRON paid off, my personal investment timeline started lengthening out and I became much more conservative. My mantra became "IF I'M GOING TO WORK TO PROVIDE FOR MY FUTURE, I'M ONLY GOING TO DO IT ONCE," rather than building up assets and losing them over and over (which happened a lot when I was younger). Regarding the second scenario, I think we Cryonauts have a much more complex situation to deal with than the typical estate-planning individuals. I would divide this scenario into two phases, the long-term care/disability phase, and the suspension phase. Both phases need to be carefully considered and the proper amount of planning with regard to insurance, living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. arranged as quickly as possible. This is the part of our lives that we just can't "schedule," so we need to be prepared for the worst to happen immediately. It is generally not expensive to set up the legal documentation to cover the items just mentioned. Many of you can find sources on the internet and bookstores that will help you draft these for yourselves (I can point you in the direction, if you write to me). If not, you can hire a lawyer to prepare them for you at a reasonable cost. Financially, a number of suitable planning alternatives can be found; many involve insurance, annuities, and trusts. Also, irrevocable life insurance trusts can be very useful. For individuals who have larger estates, charitable remainder trusts, which can be used to name ALCOR or CI as the remainder-beneficiary, might be of interest. I would highly recommend using a professional/corporate trustee for any long-term trust that you were serious about using for your reanimation. I would be happy to work with anyone to suggest ways of structuring a trust so that it meets your needs (esp.. regarding your receiving the funds upon reanimation). I STRONGLY recommend against foreign/offshore trusts or foundations for anyone with less than several Million to invest, as the due-diligence involved with setting it up properly will be cost prohibitive. If you attempt to do this without the best due diligence, I'm willing to bet that the money will not be around for you when you reanimate! I would be glad to consult with anyone considering going offshore, but must warn you that you're probably making a mistake. I would be happy to answer further questions for the group (or personal questions if you want to write me directly), if anyone has any. Best regards, James Clement Tel. (800) 736-2240 <mailto:> -----Original Message----- From: Joseph W. Morgan [mailto:] Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 9:48 AM To: Clement, James Subject: Taking It With You Dear Mr. Clement: I read your post on Cryonet and noted your credentials in law and taxation. Have you given any thought to creating and funding a trust or some type of legal entity that would survive one's death and be there to provide assets upon revival? I suspect this might be quite tricky since someone who is legally dead has no rights. I am sure the Cryonet readership would be interested in your thoughts on this matter. Sincerely, Joseph W. Morgan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A.G. Edwards & Sons' outgoing and incoming e-mails are electronically archived and subject to review and/or disclosure to someone other than the recipient. We cannot accept orders for transactions or other similar instructions through e-mail. 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