Starting out soon - primary residence is almost paid off

[Heath M.]

Plan to start with first rental property soon with a business partner.  Will have my primary residence paid off before we buy our first rental property and will also have the 20% down payment covered on first purchase.  How is the best way to protect my current residence?  My wife is more risk adverse than I am, and I'm pretty risk adverse myself and don't want to leverage my home (valued around 275k).  

I'm not too concerned with the first property but plan to add to it over the coming years, just want to protect my current assets and handle the business side separate.   

[Chris Jensen]

@Heath M. it doesn't appear your question got much coverage, so I thought I'd add my perspective. First off, my wife and I tend to share your risk-averse attitudes. But as we've progressed down our REI path, we've become more knowledgeable about, and thus comfortable with, managing risk. There are many forum discussions debating how to protect your personal assets. Most explore the pros and cons of using an LLC for your RE properties as a way to shield your main home against law suits stemming from your investments. LLCs get mixed reviews. Many people swear by them, but just as many if not more decry the challenge of making the LLC shield bullet-proof and question their efficacy and focus instead on having a good umbrella policy. We personally have a very good umbrella policy and have opted against LLCs for now. We would certainly consider them if we had partners, or if our business were much larger and more complex. For now, a good insurance policy is sufficient for our needs. Best of luck to you on your REI journey.