by Jake ClaverThe weeks before a liquidity event, a business sale, an IPO, a large token unlock, are the most consequential window you’ll have to protect what you’ve built. Once the wire hits your account, most of your planning options disappear.
Why timing is everything
Trusts, gifting strategies, and valuation discounts generally need to be in place before an asset appreciates or before a sale is finalized. Move too late and you’re simply reorganizing money that’s already taxed and already exposed. Move early, sometimes a year or more ahead, and you preserve options that don’t exist after the fact.
Separate the business risk from the personal balance sheet
Operating a business or holding a concentrated position exposes your personal assets to risks that have nothing to do with your investment thesis: lawsuits, creditor claims, disputes with partners. An LLC or trust structure that separates personal wealth from operating risk is one of the most basic and most skipped steps in wealth protection.
Think about who inherits the complexity, not just the assets
A liquidity event often creates sudden, concentrated wealth that didn’t exist the year before. Without a plan, that wealth passes to heirs the same way it arrived: as a lump sum, with no structure, no guardrails, and often a large tax bill attached. Trusts can stagger distributions, protect assets from a beneficiary’s future creditors or divorce, and reduce estate tax exposure.
Get the right people in the room early
An estate attorney, a tax advisor, and whoever manages your investments should be talking to each other before the event, not after. The most expensive mistakes in wealth protection are rarely bad investments. They’re structural decisions made too late, or not made at all.
Educational only, not tax, legal, or investment advice. Check primary sources and speak with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
