Hello again from Brazil. I just got back down here from a whirlwind tour back to my home of Colombia. Amazing flight. The jet droned for at least three hours, at 500+ miles per hour, over nothing but forest. My first view of the Amazonia. There’s not much else between Brazil and Colombia, and at least half of the six hour flight was over the biggest ocean of dark green I’d ever seen, or ever will see.
Then back to my new capital city of Bogotá. As it turns out, I’m one of the first pioneer Gringos to actually obtain Colombian citizenship, a process which took several years. When I started that process in 2004, the laughter of former countrymen was practically deafening. Not so much lately, but lots of inquiries as to how others can follow in my footsteps.
Colombia, Sudden Land of Opportunity?
I visited my old stomping grounds in both Medellín and Bogotá, in addition to an old finca de café in the boonies. Here’s the old farm house in the foreground, with the waterfall in the distance. Taken from a newly constructed little tavern perched up on a hill with an amazing view of the canyon below:
A nice Sunday morning hike up to the falls. It’s farther than it looks, and all uphill. That’s sweat on my T-shirt, not mist from the falls, and it felt great to get some exercise in the fresh country air.
This guy was in the back yard one morning:
I also made a first visit to Bucaramanga, and the spectacular Chicamocha Canyon. I’m not sure if Medellín is benefitting from all of the recent hoopla, or if it’s detrimental to my long-time home from a cultural standpoint. I will say that there are more business opportunities for foreigners nowadays, and on this little return foray I made an agreement, in principal, to start investing with a very talented foreign-born contractor, who I met there a few years ago. The idea is to start buying/renovating/selling the right properties in this suddenly hot, pumped up real estate market. “Right” meaning not in Poblado, in my humble opinion.
It’s funny, but nowadays it’s as easy as sending a quick e-mail to some of my clients to find eager investors in such an opportunity. Ten or fifteen years ago, when such investments could’ve yielded 2-300% in relatively short-term gains, I was just some guy on the lunatic fringe. Now, though, Medellín seems to be mainstream. Therefore, all of the big gains have already been realized by those who bought back when it was just too scary for the majority.
This finca de café for example, is in an area where not many years ago, the guerrilla had more influence than the government did. Men younger than me grew up in fear of forced conscription by the FARC or ELN. At the next town down river is a recently constructed army base, along with the obvious visual reminders of the battalion stationed there, to remind me of that. I may well be the only Gringo who has ever come through this part of the country. Certainly one of only a handful at best. Therefore it was no surprise when I saw a fairly new house for sale, sitting on a tad over three hectares (8-9 acres for you gringos) for the incredible price of COP 100,000,000 (USD 39,000). Negotiable, of course.
An amazing view from the huge porch, peaceful, stress-free lifestyle, year-round average temperature of 21C (70F), super cheap utilities including good internet and Direct TV at a fraction of the prices in over-regulated markets, a wide variety of fresh fruits, vegetables and meat, all 100% natural and practically free, all just two and half hours outside of Bogotá. The ground is so fertile here, and the climate so favorable, that even a black thumb like me could manage to drop a seed on the ground, spit on it, step on it, and raise it to edible stage.
Those are the types of opportunities I continue to uncover on my tour of South America. There are 15 or 20 places down here, in Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, to date, which will go the way of Medellín. Unknown today, but soon-to-be-discovered gems of tomorrow.
However, I’m getting ahead of many of you. Those types of opportunities are primarily for those who have long ago taken the leap offshore, and have the knowledge, and sense of security with international transactions required to make such investments. Today, I want to address those of you who know that you need to get the hell out of Dodge, but are clueless as to how to get the ball rolling.
First Step is to Move Some Assets Offshore
Before taking the much bigger step of liquidating most or all of your hard assets behind the curtain, and moving your physical person(s) offshore, the first obvious step is to take the relatively small, and inexpensive toe-dip of moving at least a portion of your liquid assets to jurisdictions where concepts such as due process of law, and your basic human right to personal privacy, are both still respected. That means away from high tax-and-spend jurisdictions like North America and the EU. Likewise, it is not in Latin America either.
Outside of maybe Uruguay, Latin American banks generally also have very little respect for personal privacy. One mitigating factor, though, is that most countries down here also have neither the resources nor the will to track your every breath like they seem to be so fond of doing behind the curtain. Let’s face it, we haven’t seen such a police state since the SS, or their protégés the Stasi. In general, no matter where you live, you should never keep the lion’s share of your money in the same jurisdiction. That’s just bad policy in the volatile world we find ourselves in today.
Instead, maintain a local account to bring in operating funds from your offshore account(s) for matters which require the local account, and do cash withdrawals from your offshore account with your international ATM card. That same card will also function as a Master Card for POS and internet sales. Smart people have at least two, and probably three such accounts, and in separate countries.
At a bare minimum, you should establish an offshore company as a legal veil for your assets. That should be done in a jurisdiction as noted above. We have the ability to do that for you, in a matter of a few business days, or up to two weeks, maximum. This veil will offer the following jurisdictional benefits:
The names of the actual owners, called Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO’s) are never made public record,
Foreign judgments are not recognized,
Where a foreign governmental authority, by means of expropriation, confiscation, coercion, force or duress or similar action; or by means of any confiscatory tax, assessment or other governmental charge, takes or seizes any shares or interest, the company may apply for a court decision ordering the company to disregard the attempted seizure and continue to respect the rights of the shareholder/member. In particular, the court may appoint a third-party trustee to hold the shares in the disputed company,
Banking or fiscal information under any information-exchange agreements to any foreign parties merely on the grounds of suspected tax evasion is not allowed. A court order must be obtained by showing actual evidence in a local court,
Only one director or shareholder/member is required for company formation,
The shareholder(s)/members, and director(s) can be a natural person or a corporate body for added anonymity,
There is no requirement to appoint a local shareholder, director nor member.
Zero local taxation on revenues earned abroad, nor any financial reporting. Note these requirements pertain to the taxation/reporting requirements in the jurisdiction of formation. The establishment of a foreign corporation may actually increase required reporting in your home country, but not increase taxes due,
Almost all of these jurisdictions are former British colonies, and although now independent and sovereign, are primarily under English Common Law,
Registration in any language,
There is no statutory requirement for meetings nor account filing. Shareholders may hold meetings at their discretion, and anywhere in the world, or elect not to
Furthermore, in order to merely file a lawsuit against a foreign LLC in one such jurisdiction, a bond of $50,000 or 50% of the proposed action, whichever is greater, is required. You can see how that would be advantageous at dissuading a contingency fee attorney when contemplating a nuisance lawsuit. In the event that you are successfully sued, in the jurisdiction of domicile, the court will present the unfortunate creditor with a charging order. A stalemate, if you will, and another huge deterrent to a sleazy lawyer.
Next step, after forming such a company as a veil, is to establish a bank account in a similar, yet separate jurisdiction underneath this layer of legal protection and anonymity. The number of banks available, especially to citizens of the former America, is dwindling. However, we are still aware of such accounts, and have the connections to make it happen with no need for you to make a personal visit. The reasons for having at least a portion of your liquid assets offshore are also numerous
As noted above, the names of beneficial owners is protected under law, and not disclosed to anyone for any reason without a locally obtained court order
In places where due process no longer exists, such as the USSA, a bureaucrat, armed with no more than the mere accusation of a “crime”, need only make a phone call to the local banker, who effectively works for him, and order him to freeze your assets. Innocent until proven guilty? Think again, and good luck proving innocence without the funds to hire an attorney. When a banker in a due process-respecting jurisdiction receives a foreign request to freeze the assets of an account holder, he will rightfully shake his head in disbelief at the arrogance of the sending party, and simply respond that they will need a court order from a judge in their sovereign jurisdiction ordering the freezing of the assets. The judges in these jurisdictions do not work for foreign bureaucrats.
Similarly, in case they go to the trouble to obtain one (i. e. comply with basic Constitutional due process), a foreign judgment will not be recognized either
In addition to protection from the outright theft by bureaucrats or lawyers, in an offshore account you can very easily hold accounts in many major foreign currencies. In the face of probable devaluation of the USD, that alone could save you a significant portion of your holdings from losses
In addition to holding accounts in many major currencies, Forex trading in any other currency is quick and easy
You will have available a private trading account in yet another such jurisdiction, with access to 25+ exchanges around the world
You will be able to buy and store precious metals outside the curtain as well
As noted, you will have easy and immediate access via both wire transfer, and an international M/C or Visa ATM card.
What’s Required?
Making this a reality is much more simple, and inexpensive than most people realize. We will need a scan of your notarized ID and proof of address, in addition to a payment of $2,100. That’s it. Two weeks later you will receive instructions as to how to fund your new, private account. A minimum deposit of $500 by wire transfer will seal the deal.
Another less talked about benefit of moving your cash to an offshore bank includes the safety of being with a properly managed institution. You should immediately get your hands on the balance sheet of your current institution, and find the cash to deposits (reserve) ratio. A typical US or EU bank will maintain this at less than 10%, and often as low as 3%. The remainder of “your” money has been loaned out to others, and/or invested in some type of derivative. What Buffett calls, financial WMD.
So why are US banks so heavily invested in them? They can afford to take risks with “your” money. After all, if they screw up, you’ll be there to bail them out. The banks we recommend, and set up our clients in, have cash to deposits ratios at 70+%, and some at 100%. Forget about FDIC insurance. You’ll pay that out of your pocket too, in the form of taxes raised to cover the bail-out, or worse, by the required bail-in.
Don’t Protect your After-Tax assets, and Leave Your Retirement Account in Danger
Jeff Berwick has recently espoused the risks of holding an IRA or 401(K) in the US, or a similar pension related vehicle in Canada, Australia or the EU. We can also move those assets offshore before the governments essentially confiscates them, in order to pay down their national debts, in order to in turn issue even more debt. This has already happened more than once in the EU, and according to people like Ron Paul and Jim Rogers, is imminent in the US.
This completely legal, and obviously prudent move in the form of a tax-free rollover to an offshore SD IRA requires an additional step to those required to move your after-tax assets. That being the required rollover to an IRS-registered custodian in the US. As soon as the funds are received at the new custodian, again with our assistance at all phases, we will then further assist you with transferring them to your newly established offshore account.
You would then have complete control over your own retirement funds, and have the same access to non-USD investments, and even to foreign real estate, such as the great buys in Colombia mentioned above. Note that IRA and non IRA funds can not legally be commingled. You will have to set up two different structures to move them both to safety. We also offer complete US tax compliance services to our clients if desired. The requirements to move your retirement accounts to safety are the same. Scans of notarized ID, and proof of address. In this case, with the added step of custodian transfer, the fee is $2,900.
Those are the most basic essentials of asset protection, and diversification that you should be taking immediate steps to implement. With these first few steps into your internationalization, you’ll see how easy, and effective it is to obtain those first few breaths of free air. In our experience, you won’t stop there, but rather be encouraged to continue moving forward with possibly an offshore trust or foundation to make your assets completely untouchable to predators. You should also start as soon as possible looking into obtaining citizenship status in a free country. Personally, I’d define “free country” as almost any outside the USSA, North Korea, Somalia, or EU.
Once you become a client of TDV OFFSHORE, you’ll also gain access to many benefits of “club” membership. First, and foremost, you’ll have me available for consultations on topics ranging from living in South America or SE ASIA and the Middle East for that matter, to contacts with our full range of internationalization resources. Concierges in dozens of countries, for example. We’ll even throw in a six month subscription to our premium newsletter.
Contact me now at pseymour@tdvoffshore.com to get started. We look forward to having yet another like-minded and free individual aboard our ever-growing team.
Originally Appeared At The Dollar Vigilante