I am often asked questions regarding whether I own something or not. These days, I own very little.

That wasn’t always the case. I remember when I bought my first ranch using cash and had absolutely no mortgage. I also remember the first brand new car I bought with cash. Those were accomplishments that I needed to remember and so I did own those things for a time.

But as the years went buy, I discovered the little secret that most wealthy people shun ownership, especially in the United States. But this is also true anywhere in the world.

The advantages of NOT owning any particular item often far outweigh the advantages of owning that particular item.

Let’s take that ranch as an example. When I owned it, I was responsible for injuries that vacationers who were trespassing on my land incurred while doing crazy things like driving a four wheeler ATV in the snow along our stream. Once I no longer owned it, I could no longer be sued as the owner of that property. I could still live there. I could still fish in the stream. I could still go snow boarding with the kids. I had every advantage that existed when I owned the ranch as I did when I no longer owned it. But many of the disadvantages disappeared.

Another disadvantage that disappeared was the ability of lawyers to see that I owned the ranch in an asset search. There are lawyers who actually specialize in finding the owners of property by doing asset searches and then they file a frivolous lawsuit. They know that most people hate wasting time with the legal system so they will be more than willing to “settle” out of court for a few hundred dollars in order to avoid the massive cost of an attorney and the massive amount of time it would take to fight the frivolous law suit. That is how they make their money.

But when they do an asset search and find that “Nevada Holdings, Inc.” owns the ranch, they stop right there. They know that Nevada Holdings, Inc. is probably owned by another holding company (probably outside the country) and that it is nearly impossible to sue them even with a frivolous lawsuit because that company doesn’t even do anything. I just owns a company that manages another company that owns a part interest in another offshore company that owns a trust that owns the ranch. When a sleazebag attorney sees “Nevada” along with “holdings” and “Inc.”, they know that they picked the wrong property for a frivolous law suit.

The same goes for a car. A doctor friend of mine was recently hit in his parked car by a bicyclist who was apparently unconcious from a stroke as he hit the car. The bicyclist is in a coma and the doctor isn’t making any moves financially for the next couple of years because he knows there will eventually be a law suit.

If that happened to me… no big deal. Most of the time, I’m not even behind the wheel of a car. I let professional drivers take me where I want to go. I wouldn’t worry about finances at all. That would be the worry of the driver and the owner of the car I am in. It’s not my worry at all.

I don’t even have any bank accounts. Sure; I have several ATM cards in my wallet just like you do. But they are corporate cards, not my cards. I don’t have any ownership interest in the corporations who own those cards. But they let me use them and allow me to get money out of the ATM any time I wish. That way if someone decided that I was the cause of them falling off their skateboard and breaking their collar bone, they might go to an attorney to sue me… but that attorney would very quickly do an asset search and assure them that I simply don’t have any significant assets… because I don’t.

I am known to sail a yacht that many people identify as my own. I invite people to sail with me. I sail whenever I want. I have workmen do work on the yacht just as I would if it was my yacht. I upgrade interior options as I please without asking the “owner.”

But an evil person who wanted to try to take my yacht away via law suit, seizure or other action would quickly find that I am not the owner of the yacht at all. They would have to find that owner and make up some cause of action against them. Once they start down that path, they quickly find that it is a very long path indeed and lose interest.

Consider whether you really want to own an Internet business or whether you would simply prefer controlling it and benefiting from it’s profits. Consider even more carefully if home, car or boat ownership does anything positive for your life or if simply controlling a home, car and boat are much more advantageous.

You might be surprised at what an awesome lifestyle you can lead without owning anything at all. I know that everything I own fits into a single suitcase and I know that I wouldn’t be extremely broken up if that was taken away from me and I had to replace it’s contents.

I really like the freedom that non-ownership brings to my life. Consider whether it might work for your life as well.

Author Bio: James D. Brausch blogs daily about finances here: http://JamesBrausch.com

Category: Finances
Keywords: finances,business,internet,money,entrepreneur,ownership,control,asset protection