If you look at the worlds largest economies, France in number 7 in between the UK & Italy.

However, thanks to the wealthy using intricate schemes to reduce their tax liability, US trusts would replace France as the worlds 7th largest economy.

Elon Musk was in the news recent after selling $5bn in Tesla stock after he conducted a twitter poll to decide whether he should or not.

Except Elon Musk didn’t strictly sell the stock.

A trust that Elon Musk controls owned and sold the stock.

Musk, in part, sold the stock because he exercised a stock option to buy more Tesla stock.

That may sound strange, but Musk doesn’t have any income.

Musk’s wealth is his stock and in order for him to pay tax on the stock he bought, he needed to sell some for cash in order to actually pay the tax bill because he doesn’t have much fiat currency (and the government don’t yet accept Bitcoin).

The wealthy place assets such as stocks and property into trusts in order to minimise the amount of tax they pay when they realise gains.

That is why US foundations and trusts are the 7th largest economy in the world, larger than a major European power like Italy even, because the wealthy know that foundations and trusts are the best vehicles for their assets to protect their wealth and minimise taxes.

Book a free review with me and find out how a trust could help shield your assets from taxes.