Posted on 01/29/2006 10:21:03 AM PST by wagglebee
Defying the old saying that you can't take it with you, some of America's richest men are planning to enjoy their fortunes from beyond the grave.
They are preparing not only to have their bodies deep-frozen at the moment of death but also to use a tax loophole to bequeath their wealth to themselves.
Known as personal revival trusts, the schemes invest millions of dollars until future medical technology makes it possible to bring the beneficiaries back to life.
Believers in "cryonics" sign up to private companies which will suspend their remains in liquid nitrogen and store them for what may be hundreds of years.
Most are extremely wealthy - necessarily so, given the $150,000 cost of preserving a body. Now they are seeking to ensure enough future funds to pay for their revival - and for their living expenses in what might be 23rd-century America.
David Pizer, a holiday resort owner in Arizona, has made arrangements to be frozen along with his wife and their favourite dogs. He also plans to preserve the couple's fortune, estimated at about $10 million. Using a personal revival trust, Mr Pizer, 64, who is in good health, hopes that his wealth will have shown spectacular growth when he comes back to life.
The inheritance loophole was originally devised for America's 19th-century industrial dynasties, such as the Rockefeller and Carnegie families. Concerned that their fortunes would be consumed by taxes, they created long-term trusts to preserve their estates. Personal revival trusts simply name the deep-frozen corpses as a beneficiaries, treating them, for legal purposes, as unborn grandchildren.
Don Laughlin, 75, a Nevada casino owner, has decided to leave his preserved remains $5 million, estimating that he has "a better than even chance of coming back". At least a dozen other such trusts are thought to exist.
They are permitted in 20 American states and are attracting interest from financial institutions such as the Wachovia Corporation, which has at least one client.
Another trust in the tax haven of Liechtenstein offers clients a return of $8,677,000 on a $10,000 investment over 100 years. Such growth may look spectacular, but is distorted by inflation and the cost of living. As an example, using the retail price index, an annual income of $10,000 in 1906 would be equal to a salary of more than $200,000 today.
So far 142 people have been placed in cryonic suspension at the Alcor "life extension facility" in Scottsdale, Arizona. Some have opted for "neuropreservation," a cheaper option which preserves only the head.
Among those in the deep freeze is Ted Williams, a legendary baseball player, whose daughter fought a bitter legal battle to prevent his head being preserved after his death in 2002.
Jakob Canady, a Florida investor who died two years ago, left millions in a trust to be paid when his "human remains are revived and restored to life". His daughters have since produced a second will, claiming that the fortune should have been left to them, and are preparing for a court battle.
Because they have chosen this existence over eternity.
Wow, and just think it's all because of their money. What do the rest of us poor do, get put in an ice cube tray with 11 of our best firends?
I was thinking the same thing.
Yeah, there might be a shortage of bizarre pedophiles in a couple hundred years.
This trend is gonna give the shivers to some chirrens of those folks..."What? No inheritance??"
Too creepy to think about!
Calling Dr. Frankenstein and Igor...
Trickle down, er, economics , ah yeah
From sheer curiosity, I suppose. This fundamental impulse is what made us human. Otherwise we'd be still living in the trees and eating bananas. Best of luck to them; hopefully their frosen bodies will be revivable.
"His daughters have since produced a second will"
Heh. I'm sure they did 'produce' it.
How long can a huge fortune without an owner quietly gather interest before someone gets the bright idea of taxing it at 99%? Or before it gets lost, converted into occupation currency, nationalized, redesignated or otherwise plundered? If I wanted to preserve wealth like that I'd put it in dozens of accounts all over the world, as private as possible. I'd seek out countries and families with long histories of good banking practice and take my business there. And if I were really wealthy I'd have part of the interest pay for a permanent staff of lawyers devoted to continually improving the defenses.
Put it in diamonds or something like that.
"Put it in diamonds or something like that."
Diamonds are a bad bet in the long term. Platinum, on the other hand, is a very good bet. Not only is it valuable for jewelry purposes, but for many industrial purposes, as well. It's also in much shorter supply than gold, the other hedge metal of note.
"Hey, everybody, let's have some fun,
"You only live but once
"And when you're dead you're done,
"So let the good times roll,
"Let the good times roll,
"I don't care if you're young or old,
"Get together, let the good times roll...."
To see if the Lions ever win a Super Bowl?
Diamonds are used for a great many high-tech purposes like lasers, although in 200 years those uses may be obsolete.
The big advantage of diamonds is that you can easily carry several millions of dollars worth in your pockets.
This is the ne plus ultra of arrogant self absorbtion.
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