Wealth Exposed

An indispensable survival guide for high-net-worth individuals and their advisors

If you're like most high-net-worth individuals nowadays, you are underinsured, over-targeted in litigation, and dangerously exposed to risks that can profoundly jeopardize your lifestyle and rob you and your family of what they’ve worked so hard to achieve. Don't risk it all for lack of basic knowledge. Read Wealth Exposed and get the practical guidance and real-world solutions you need to protect your hard-earned assets.

Written by a leading national risk management expert with extensive experience advising high-net-worth individuals, Wealth Exposed alerts you to the full range of risks to which high-net-worth individuals are exposed, while schooling you in your risk management ABCs. Designed for high-net-worth individuals, their CPAs, attorneys, family office managers, and others, Wealth Exposed arms you with the knowledge and tools you need to protect yourself, or your clients, from mayhem.

• Provides a framework for creating a comprehensive personal risk management strategy
• Contains numerous real-life anecdotes and case studies drawn from the author's case files
• Discusses insurance solutions for property, cars, jewelry, aircraft, watercraft, wine, cars, and more

Read Wealth Exposed and find out what you need to know to protect your assets from risk and secure your peace of mind.

Introduction xi

The Challenges of Wealth and the Next Level xii

Why Wealth Exposed Needed to Be Written xiii

How to Use This Book xiv

Chapter 1 Welcome! You Are at the Next Level 1

A Real-World Success Story 1

What Risks Are You Facing? 5

Chapter 2 My-Oh-My, How Far You Have Come! 9

Remember Your First Apartment? 9

Chapter 3 Life Is Too Short to Drink Cheap Wine 23

A Look at Managing Valuables and Collectibles Schedules 24

Now to the Wine Cellar for a Vertical Tasting of Lafite 34

Then There’s the Antiques, Rugs, China, and Other Treasures 36

Chapter 4 The Hired Help—Who’s Watching Whom? 39

The Real Risk of “Nanny Revenge” 39

What Can Go Wrong? Everything 40

Managing the Risks of Household Staff 41

Four Things All Domestic Employers Need to Know about Employee Law 42

Workers Compensation, Employee Benefits, and the Employment Practices Issues Domestic Staff Present 44

Chapter 5 Which Car Will I Drive Today, the Ferrari or the Bentley? 49

It’s Not Your Oldsmobile’s Insurance Coverage 49

Insuring for the Underinsured and Uninsured 52

High-End Cars Need High-End Insurance Coverage 55

Chapter 6 How Big Is Your Umbrella? 57

Standard Umbrella Policies versus Specialized Umbrella Policies 58

How Much Is Enough? 59

Filling the Gaps 60

Not-for-Profit Board Members—Are You at Risk? 61

Summary 62

Chapter 7 Toys, Toys, and More Toys 63

Case-in-Point 64

Managing Your Risks at Sea . . . 65

. . . and in the Air 68

You’d Better Sweat the Small Stuff 74

Chapter 8 Personal and Family Security Risks 77

Whom Are We Really Dealing with Here? 78

We’re All an Open Book 78

Understanding the Threats 82

The World Is Your Liability 84

Preemptive Security Planning 86

Chapter 9 The Dangers of Wealth 89

High Profile Equals High Risk 89

What Exactly Is Defamation? 90

Professional Liability 91

The Higher the Profile, the Bigger the Lawsuits 92

The Wealthy Need to Prepare for the Worst 93

You Are Your Brand, So You’d Better Protect It 94

Protecting Your Intellectual Capital 95

Chapter 10 Personal Risk Management Planning at the Next Level 97

It’s All Downhill from Here 97

The Personal Risk Management Process 99

Generic Solutions Just Don’t Cut It at the Next Level 101

Chapter 11 Would You See an MD Generalist for a Heart Transplant? 103

It Takes Three to Tango 103

What Your Property-Casualty Agent Doesn’t Know Can Hurt You 105

It’s Not Just about Insurance 107

Advantages of Consolidating Your Personal Risk Program 109

Service Fit for Kings and Queens 111

It Takes a Village 112

Chapter 12 Getting Started with Next-Level Planning 115

It’s Not Going to Get Any Easier 116

How Do You Eat an Elephant? 117

Go Ahead and Rip Off that Band-Aid! 118

Chapter 13 Making the Move Abroad 121

It’s All in the Planning 122

What Every Expatriate Should Know About International Insurance Coverage 122

International Property Coverage 125

Valuable Articles versus Regular Property 126

Scheduling Your Valuables 126

Storing Your Property 127

Transit Insurance 127

International Personal Umbrella Liability Coverage 127

Key Takeaway—Don’t Leave Home without It 129

Chapter 14 Weaving It all Together 131

Francesca’s Fabulous Life—A Case Study 131

Francesca’s Directorship 139

Final Strategies for Francesca and John 140

Summary 141

Conclusion 143

It’s Easier than You Think 144

Appendix A Sample Personal Lines Checklist 145

Appendix B Coverage and Service Comparison 149

Appendix C Specialized Flood Insurance versus Standard Flood Insurance 155

Appendix D Ten Items to Include in Family Disaster Plan 157

Appendix E Breakdown of Audio and Video Recording Laws 159

Notes 161

Insurance Glossary 163

Useful Websites for Personal Risk Management and Insurance Information 173

About the Author 175

Index 177

BRIAN G. FLOOD, CPCU, ARM, is highly regarded for developing creative risk management solutions and concepts unique to each individual or organization. As Vice President of the Flood Group, Brian leads a team of both personal and commercial specialists to provide a complete suite of risk management services and products to a clientele that spans the country. As they have found that effective personal risk management begins with knowledge, education is a major thrust of the Flood Group's client outreach. Brian earned a BBA in management from Hofstra University.

Congratulations on becoming a person of means. Not to rain on your parade, but, while your wealth certainly can make life easier for you and your loved ones, it also can make it much more complicated. That's because real wealth brings exposure to a variety of all-too-real personal and professional liabilities, including many about which you may be completely unaware. Any one of those risks could, at any time, seriously undermine or even destroy all that you have created and rob you and your family of the fortune you've worked so hard to create.

You owe it to yourself and your dependents to learn all that you can about those risks and what you can do to insulate yourself against them—before you're struck by a natural or man-made disaster, fall victim to fraud, theft, or other malicious acts, or find yourself at the business end of a lawsuit.

Written by a risk management and insurance expert with many years of experience advising high net worth individuals, this book demystifies the world of risk management. In a series of concise, pithy chapters, author Brian Flood clearly lays out the various categories of risk to which you may be exposed. And he explains the array of insurance solutions created specifically for high net worth individuals.

Your wealth risk management checklist and solutions guide, this book provides you with what you need to know about:

• Property risks, including flood, equipment breakdown, and remodeling/renovations risks
• Household staff risks and liabilities
• Insuring valuables and collectibles, including artwork, wine, jewelry, and more
• Car insurance, including antiques, exotic cars, sports cars, and more
• Boat and maritime insurance
• Personal and family security risks—from cyber attacks to identity theft to kidnapping
• Personal and professional liability, including libel and slander lawsuits
• Insuring against risks to intellectual assets
• Personal risk management for you and all your family members
• Risk management issues for expatriates and those planning to live and work abroad

Mr. Flood also provides expert advice and guidance on creating a comprehensive risk management strategy and on pulling together a risk management team—including your attorney, financial advisor, accountant, and others—with a specialized insurance broker acting as team leader coordinating everyone's efforts.

Read Wealth Exposed and find out what you need to know to protect your assets from risk and secure your peace of mind.

Congratulations on becoming a person of means. Not to rain on your parade, but, while your wealth certainly can make life easier for you and your loved ones, it also can make it much more complicated. That's because real wealth brings exposure to a variety of all-too-real personal and professional liabilities, including many about which you may be completely unaware. Any one of those risks could, at any time, seriously undermine or even destroy all that you have created and rob you and your family of the fortune you've worked so hard to create.

You owe it to yourself and your dependents to learn all that you can about those risks and what you can do to insulate yourself against them—before you're struck by a natural or man-made disaster, fall victim to fraud, theft, or other malicious acts, or find yourself at the business end of a lawsuit.

Written by a risk management and insurance expert with many years of experience advising high net worth individuals, this book demystifies the world of risk management. In a series of concise, pithy chapters, author Brian Flood clearly lays out the various categories of risk to which you may be exposed. And he explains the array of insurance solutions created specifically for high net worth individuals.

Your wealth risk management checklist and solutions guide, this book provides you with what you need to know about:

• Property risks, including flood, equipment breakdown, and remodeling/renovations risks
• Household staff risks and liabilities
• Insuring valuables and collectibles, including artwork, wine, jewelry, and more
• Car insurance, including antiques, exotic cars, sports cars, and more
• Boat and maritime insurance
• Personal and family security risks—from cyber attacks to identity theft to kidnapping
• Personal and professional liability, including libel and slander lawsuits
• Insuring against risks to intellectual assets
• Personal risk management for you and all your family members
• Risk management issues for expatriates and those planning to live and work abroad

Mr. Flood also provides expert advice and guidance on creating a comprehensive risk management strategy and on pulling together a risk management team—including your attorney, financial advisor, accountant, and others—with a specialized insurance broker acting as team leader coordinating everyone's efforts.

Read Wealth Exposed and find out what you need to know to protect your assets from risk and secure your peace of mind.