You will own nothing and you will be happy
Hardly anyone embodies the dream of a technocratic, centrally steered new world order like Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
For Schwab and Thierry Malleret, the Covid-19 pandemic was the trigger for a reordering of the world, a restart. The Great Reset. And he admits it fairly openly. But what does the Great Reset mean?
According to Schwab's bold claims, an unholy alliance of governments, media groups and tech giants is to create, as part of this "reordering", a stakeholder value economy that is meant to be diametrically different from the shareholder value economy.
Last year Mr Schwab had a few promotional clips produced on the subject. The best known of them promoted the vision of Mr Schwab and his friends in politics and business with the slogan "You will own nothing and you will be happy". It was all a misunderstanding, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said, playing it down. Or are the conspiracy theorists who believe in a Great Reset conspiracy right after all?
Terms that Schwab likes to put about, such as "The Great Reset" itself (also the title of his book), the Big Reset or stakeholder capitalism, do little to convince the sceptic that nothing is afoot: an upheaval that is likely to have serious consequences for ordinary citizens and for the world's entire population.
Expropriation and devaluation
Bans on certain thoughts and the loss of civil liberties are further symptoms of this worrying development. Are we on the way to a new feudal system? Are we heading for complete loss of control over our own lives? And when will the Great Reset finally arrive?
This fear of some form of creeping expropriation or devaluation of private wealth, however irrational and conspiracy-minded it may sound, explains the great interest in investing in lasting stores of value such as gold and silver. Gold remains in strong demand, and anyone following the course of inflation should not be surprised. This development has little to do with conspiracy myths or conspiracy theories.
Speaking of lasting value: for many, a further sign that a shift of wealth from citizens to corporations, as described by Schwab, is already under way in the background is what is happening on the property market. In the US, BlackRock, Blackstone and their peers have for some time been buying up single-family homes on a large scale (the favourite investment of the middle class). In some cases these giants offer 20 to 40% more than other bidders, pricing ordinary buyers out of the market. Those buyers are increasingly left without assets, paying the investment funds' returns through inflated rents. You will own nothing and you will be happy.
That leaves gold, and precious metals in general, as an asset class of lasting value.
Of course, here too there is widespread concern that governments could further restrict the purchase of gold or even ban it outright (it has all happened before).
What does all this have to do with a zero-tax LLC?
Precious metals have the advantage that you can put them in a safe or store them securely in some other way.
But what about other assets, such as titles, securities, real estate, contracts, cash and patents?
These are held in the name of an individual or of a legal entity.
And anyone who wants to protect themselves and their wealth from the bitter ex-wife, arbitrary authorities or Mr Schwab's hordes should not hold assets in their own name, but in the name of a company.
The first thing that springs to mind is the foundation, although its costs and inflexibility should not be underestimated.
In general, companies in Europe are not suitable for asset protection because of their transparency and disclosure obligations: the "transparent entrepreneur" is becoming more and more of a reality.
The LLC is a completely different story: it offers a high degree of confidentiality and anonymity.
And those are far from all the advantages of the US LLC when it comes to protecting your wealth.
Advantages of the LLC for asset protection
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The owners' details are not reported to the company register. Your name appears nowhere.
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The owners' details are not published in the company register.
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The LLC does not have to file or publish a balance sheet.
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There is no public transparency register in the US.
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The US does not take part in the OECD CRS exchange of information.
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In quite a few states, asset protection is anchored and reinforced in company law.
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In Wyoming, the LLC can set up and administer trusts (the US equivalent of the foundation) without separate licensing or permission, and in confidence. So you can set up and run your own "US foundation" without involving an external foundation board or trustee.
Why the US is a safe haven for you
One thing is clear: the global elites (think of Bill Gates) are just as present in the US as in Europe and the rest of the world. But compared with Europe, the US, and with it the LLC, has a number of advantages that are particularly interesting when it comes to asset protection:
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The "transparent entrepreneur" is much less of a reality in the US than in Europe. As we said, when it comes to transparency and disclosure obligations, the US is at least 50 years behind Europe.
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As a foreigner who is not taxable in the US, you are of no interest to the US authorities.
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The US is politically highly fragmented. The states, Delaware and the others, have a great many rights. 50 states, 50 opinions. This prevents the US federal government from overstepping the mark.
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The US Supreme Court is very conservative. It regularly torpedoes measures taken by the federal government.
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Property has a completely different standing in the US than in parts of Europe, where many people dream of communism. In the US, property is an expression of personal freedom and initiative, and it enjoys special protection under the Constitution. That makes the US a good country for you if you want to protect your wealth.
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As a legal entity, your LLC is effectively a "US citizen" and is treated in law exactly like every other US company.