Many people have reasonably asked why Switzerland has not been targeted by terrorists – seeing as they certainly have freedoms worth “hating”. In fact, on closer inspection, they have many freedoms the rest of us don’t have – as this interesting essay reveals: Why The Failing US And EU Should Follow The Swiss Government Model
Here’s a very interesting essay by Peter Schiff on possible future scenarios that could arise from the current debt situation facing Greece – and how the way that situation is handled could impact on both the euro and the dollar.
Sometimes it’s necessary for one’s sanity to stand back from the idiocy of war, the pain of economic recession, the systemic bureaucratic corruption, and all other government-generated mayhem – and to take look at the bigger and more optimistic picture. Watch this video – an innovative mix of original music and words of the great scientist/communicator Carl Sagan and others – for some inspiring relief!
I don’t really like commenting on politicians, as I see them as liars, opportunists and worse. But sometimes you read something and it just makes your hair stand on end.
Mrs Clinton’s recent Middle East jaunt has brought plenty of airtime and online publicity, as she played her role in ramping up the rhetoric against Iran (remember the lead up to the Iraq war anybody?).
Today she was accusing Iran of becoming a military dictatorship. Oh my! To think of it!
No mention of the military dictatorship that was Pakistan, which the USA happily supported, nor any mention of Egypt, another dictatorship. Both US allies.
Then she was fulminating from her sojourn in Saudi Arabia – a wonderful democracy if ever there was one! Apparently, the Saudi Morality Police were out in full force on Valentines Day – trying to stop the sale of Valentine’s cards! And let’s not talk about the chopping off of hands for a robbery conviction.
I’m afraid all this Iran phobia doesn’t wash at all. America is deep up to its armpits in unsavoury connections with less than democratic regimes. And ranting about a country that has not started an aggressive war for as long as I can remember, while cuddling up to notoriously nasty regimes, smells of hypocrisy to me.
Is offshore banking legal? This is a question often asked these days, as various nations seek to clamp down on offshore tax havens and offshore banking. And while such banking may raise eyebrows in certain quarters, or invite disapproving comments from politicians seeking to balance budgets and maximise tax revenue, the fact is banking offshore is perfectly legal.
However, it helps if one first clarifies the situation by defining the words “offshore” and “tax havens”.
Offshore simply means some place other than your home country. So if you’re in the USA, then having a bank account in the UK would be considered offshore. Or if you live in Australia and have a bank account in Singapore then that would be an offshore bank account. Neither of these places are known tax havens of course, but never-the-less they would be considered “offshore” if you banked there but didn’t live there.
So while an offshore account may very well be in a tax haven, it doesn’t have to be.
There are various negative associations with the term “tax haven”, as such countries are widely perceived to be places where unsavoury characters do shady business dealings or worse, engage in money laundering. But the truth is, a tax haven is simply a country where either no income tax is paid, or less tax compared with other countries.
The motivation for a country to become a low tax or no tax haven is usually to gain some competitive advantage. They do this by offering financial and incorporation services designed to attract foreign business – and boost the local economy. And this is usually the essence of the hostility towards such places. Most developed Western countries have a large socialist component to their economies, where high taxes are used to fund various social welfare programmes. So when some countries lower or eliminate their income tax it naturally attracts those who seek to pay less tax – both companies and individuals.
The fact is, any sovereign nation has the right to determine its own tax rules and the rate of tax they seek to impose. And it’s perfectly natural for there to be tax competition in the world. Without it, nations would find no barrier to raising taxes and would no doubt exploit all of us in the process. Low tax and no tax nations provide an important counterbalance to the high tax countries and the existence of such tax competition is healthy and should not be discouraged.
So if you see the advantage of banking in another country – offshore – then you are certainly free to do so. And provided you live in a country without currency exchange controls – which is most of the developed world – then transferring your funds to an overseas bank account is a simple matter, and like I said 100% legal. However, there can be complications – if you don’t know your own country’s rules and regulations.
Give you one example. If you’re a US citizen or resident, then you are obliged to report the existence of any offshore bank account with a balance of $10,000 or more – the existence of accounts where the aggregate balance is over $10,000. You’re allowed to have as much money as you like in the account – but are required to report it. Most other countries do not have this requirement.
Another example would be the existence of various funds transfer reporting requirements. These vary from country to country, but let’s say you wanted to transfer $50,000 from you domestic bank account to an offshore one – then it’s highly likely the transaction would be reportable by your bank, meaning they would have to notify the relevant authorities that it has been done.
Given these potential reporting requirements another obvious question would be, “So what are the advantages of banking offshore?”. And the potential answers are many. It could be to seek more security, more financial privacy, to diversify currencies, or that overseas business dealings make having such a bank account necessary.
Having access to foreign currencies is becoming increasingly useful, given the wild fluctuations between the value of such currencies. Right now, for example, the USD is on a long term downward trend, due to the negative economic fundamentals affecting the country. This means that anyone inside the USA, whose funds are exclusively in US dollars, is likely to see the value of their savings erode over time. Holding such savings in another, stronger currency would be a rational decision, and using an offshore bank to achieve this would be a sane financial strategy.
At the end of the day, given the increasing global nature of living and business, it’s perfectly natural for people to consider opening bank accounts in other countries if they can see any personal gain to be had from it. And as long as that demand exists there will always be ways to bank offshore.
One of the primary benefits of being a member of SovereignLife is that it puts into your hands ready-made solutions.
Today I just want to look at one such solution – the answer to the question: “In today’s economic environment how can I invest for a good, reliable monthly return?”
Let me introduce the Black Label Freedom Action Pack. This is an all-in-one solution to investing offshore which includes the following:
1. An offshore corporation and bank account
2. A corporate brokerage account
3. A corporate passive income
The passive income is generated by reliable, long term managed forex accounts – showing monthly average returns in the region of 5% to 10% … and more.
What does it cost to get started?
To get your offshore structure fully set up it will cost you in the region of $1,600 to $1,950 – depending on the jurisdiction the company is registered in (Seychelles, BVI, Panama, Belize, St Kitts or Dominica). Add a further $300 for a full nominee package and a Swiss corporate bank account.
You will also need investment capital – a minimum of $20,000.
As a SovereignLife member you are also entitled to a free ‘hand-holding” mentorship valued at $799 – to get you through the entire process.
This complete package is now available to our Gold and Platinum members.
If you’re already a member, simply login and click on the Freedom Action Packs link to download the complete PDF overview.
And if you want to become a member in order to access this package, then you need to join at the Gold or Platinum level from this link.
Butler Shaffer identifies institutionalism as the root cause of social, civil, political and economic decay. You can get an overview of his thesis in his essay: Resisting The Deadly Virus.
As an anarchist, I naturally see taxation as theft and support zero income tax. However, as a pragmatist I also endorse any idea that will reduce tax in a meaningful way.
One US Congressman – Paul Ryan – has put forth a Roadmap For America’s Future, and I think it would certainly make a difference, if only Obama would look at it!
Reading and watching accounts of the recent “Tea Party” convention, in particular the appearance and speech by Sarah Palin, gives grave cause for concern.
Palin mouths off well-rehearsed sound-bites (for hefty speaking fees) regarding returning to “old” American values – with lower taxes and more respect for the Constitution. Then in her next breath suggested the US should fight a war with Iran and get “serious” with its war on terror.
What her and her ilk refuse to face up to is that the waging of wars by the US is a very expensive endeavour and that the perennial “war on terror” precludes any form of reduction in government spending – and as a result, taxation.
I find it outrageous that a nascent movement like the Tea Party is already being co-opted by the political establishment with a view to furtherance of their own nefarious warmongering ends.
As a result, I propose this litmus test. Any person standing up for freedom cannot, at the same time, stand as a warmonger. The two are mutually exclusive. War increases the power of the state – so any form of ignorant warmongering is a sure sign of an “enemy of freedom” – and certainly proof that such a person is wedded to state power.
As I have said many times, this so-called “war on terror” is a ruse, and fraud. Terrorism is not, and cannot be, an existential threat to any nation state. Terrorism cannot bring a nation to its knees. It is random acts of violence – similar to what the Brits had to put up with from the Irish when they were bombing London.
But the British government did not declare a “war on terror” as a result, and they did not bomb Ireland to smithereens. Nor did the British order their military to attack the USA, as a source of “terrorist funding”.
The war on terror is a crock. It is intended solely as a way of increasing government power and intimidating citizens to accept it.
It’s time to wake up and put a stop to this nonsense!
