BANKRUPTCY!  If you’ve done it, you don’t like to talk about it.  If you’ve never done it, you might with contempt on those who have.  But I’m about to tell you why BANKRUPTCY is more important to those of you who are financially strong than for anyone else… and for a reason you’d never, ever guess.  Get ready for a perspective on Bankruptcy you’ve never heard before.  I’m Bryan Ellis.  This is Episode 129.-------Hello, SDI Nation!  Welcome to the podcast of record for brilliant, discerning self-directed investors like you!Apologies once again for the raspy voice.  This respiratory challenge is really taking it out of me, folks, but I find it impossible to resist the urge to spend this time with you each day, and am so grateful for your time and attention, so let’s get started.I’d like to begin with an interesting formal announcement from the IRS.  Apparently, they will no longer accept checks for tax payments in excess of $99,999,999.00.  That’s right.  So for those of you who might have to write a check for your tax liability of $100,000,000 or more, you’ll need to submit multiple checks.Hehehehehe.  I’m not kidding.  Gee whiz.So… Today we talk about bankruptcy.  You may think this is wholly unrelated to being a self-directed investor, but nothing could be further from the truth.  As you’re about to see, the rules surrounding bankruptcy line up perfectly with Core Value #1 of Self Directed Investors:  That You Must RESPECT YOUR OWN CAPITAL.  Here’s how:Bankruptcy is kind of a dirty word to many, and viewed as something to be avoided at virtually any cost.  And you know what?  I basically agree with that.  I’ve never declared bankruptcy, and never expect to do so.  You probably won’t ever do so, either.But I want you to understand why bankruptcy is a GOLD STANDARD of preparation, where the safety of your assets are concerned, even though you, God willing, will never have to go bankrupt. So here’s how bankruptcy works:  A person – let’s call him Joe – experiences financial trouble.  Let’s just imagine that Joe is NOT a financial deadbeat whatsoever… he’s a reliable guy entirely.  But he was in a car accident and was sued for a huge amount of money, and he lost.  So Joe now has a problem – he has creditors, and those creditors want to take Joe’s stuff, because he owes them money in the form of this judgment.Joe can no longer stand the hounding he’s receiving, and he hires a lawyer to declare bankruptcy on his behalf.  The process works roughly like this:  Joe declares his assets and his liabilities for all the world to see.  Joe’s creditors make their claims about how much of Joe’s assets belong to them.  And here’s the thing:  Joe doesn’t have the right to refuse to cooperate.  In fact, the entire authority of the federal government comes to bear against Joe.  He has to disclose EVERYTHING.  Failure to do so means Joe has broken the law, and in that case, the issue isn’t just debt, its jail time.  So basically, every bit of financial information about Joe is rather easily available to the creditors, and to the court.  Everything is in the open.So Joe’s creditors dig in, ask every question they can, and at some point the judge determine which creditors get which assets, and Joe is basically left without any financial assets at the end.  He might get to keep his home, or maybe he won’t (depending on the state).  But basically all of Joe’s assets MUST be liquidated in order for Joe to gain the one huge BENEFIT available through bankruptcy… and that benefit is massive:  Once the process is complete, Joe no longer has any liability to any creditors.  They’re all gone.  They can no longer hound Joe.  He’s out from under their weight.  No more bills, no more phone calls, no more lawsuits.  The financial nightmare for Joe is over.  Joe is now penniless, but Joe is free.  Joe can start over.But here’s a crazy question:What if it was possible for Joe to structure his assets in such a way that, even though he declared bankruptcy, that he