Know the two types of value

When it comes to the value of movable assets, a lot of people are relatively apathetic. Nowadays attention is only given to big matters and big things. You even see it in the game reserve, where people will drive over a rare dung beetle to get a better view of a buffalo. Why? Because the dung beetle isn’t one of the Big Five!

Some people have the same attitude with possessions as well. They are only concerned with the high-value properties, paintings, gold bars, and so on. The crockery, furniture and appliances are not considered important. This fact is regularly confirmed to me when I bump into Treocians.

Last month Vanessa and I were eating in a restaurant in Oudtshoorn one night when someone came up to us and introduced himself as a Treocian. He had attended my seminar in 2007. As people usually do, he told me about the properties that he had bought since then, and as I usually do as well, I asked him whether he had his trust structures in place. He answered in the affirmative and told me how happy he was with Treasury Trust’s services. I asked him whether he had already transferred his household contents to his asset trust. He then said that Treasury also asks him this regularly, but as he had told them, he hadn’t yet had time for this. I then also asked him whether he had at least insured his household contents. “Nah,’ he said, “it’s just a bunch of old stuff!”

It really worries me when people have an attitude like this. Do you have any idea how inconvenient it is to be without this “bunch of old stuff”? Do you have any idea how much it will cost to replace this “bunch of old stuff” if it gets repossessed, burnt up or stolen? If you don’t take precautions, you will one day suffer massive losses. Believe me; I’ve seen people lose everything time and again. And emotionally it’s far worse to lose a “bunch of old stuff” than, for example, a house that you’re renting out, because the “bunch of old stuff” doesn’t just have an unexpectedly high monetary value; it also has enormous sentimental value. Losing that dining-room suite that you got as a wedding present twenty years ago is not nice. Having to now go and buy another one at a high price with your hard-earned savings is not going to make you feel any better either.

Make sure your double protection is in place

Firstly, make sure today still that this “bunch of old stuff” all belongs to your family trust. If you don’t have a trust yet, set one up immediately. Treasury Trust will help you.

If you do have a trust, but have not yet transferred your belongings, start making arrangements to do so today.

Tweet This Post