SovereignLife Freedom Blog

Back in 1999 I opened an Austrian savings account without any ID. In fact, in the “old” days such banking was common – as per the popular Post Office accounts that were readily available in many countries. Such accounts were known as “bearer” accounts – meaning the bearer of the passbook could draw out the funds.

In other words, bearer accounts were anonymous. All that ended with the terror attack of 9/11 and the declaration of “the war on freedom” soon after. And the first anti-freedom shots were fired at offshore banks, using the cover story of stopping money-laundering, in order to bring them into line.

Since then it’s been all downhill. Banking privacy is gone.

Now many will say, “If that’s so, what’s the point of opening an offshore bank account?”. And it’s a good question because it throws into sharp focus some very solid reasons to still bank offshore – even without the financial privacy.

Sure, you can’t hide the fact of such an account any more, but having your money outside your home country makes a lot of sense. No one should trust their own government not to tamper with either their money or the banking system that is holding it. And one of the best ways to avoid future problems is to get your savings out of the country.

In other words, offshore banking is still a form of “asset protection” – or preservation. Funds in a domestic account can easily be withdrawn without your permission in many cases, or frozen, or even confiscated. By having your savings outside your home country you may not be increasing your financial privacy – but you will be increasing your financial security.

And contrary to some people’s opinions, offshore banking is still legal. Yes, you may have to report it – as do US citizens who hold more than $10K in offshore banks have to – but no one can stop you opening such an account. Even so, governments do not like it, especially the US government. And as a result they have been going around the world demanding more and more disclosure from offshore banks, regarding their citizens’ holdings in such banks.

This has resulted in many offshore banks refusing to take on US clients, in order to avoid such overbearing scrutiny by the US government. The end result is that people in the USA – “the land of the free” – are perhaps the most financially restricted people on the planet right now – when it comes to deciding where to park their money.

Moving abroad, leaving your home country and starting up a new life is a big decision – one that should be weighed carefully before jumping into a new life.

How to Retire Abroad: 7 Key Considerations

I opened my first offshore bank account back in 1998. It seems like ages ago, and in terms of lost freedoms, it is!

You see, back then – before 9/11 – there was still a modicum of financial privacy in the world. In fact I can recall opening an Austrian “Sparbuch” savings account – which did not require me to provide any ID whatsoever, or “know your customer” twaddle.

Those old enough to remember will know full well how easy it was to open a bank account back then – and to use what is called a “bearer” account passbook. This was a simple bank account which gave the holder of the passbook access to the funds – without proving ID.

Of course you had to keep your passbook secure – just you do cash – but it afforded a good dose of financial privacy for those who wanted it.

But everything has changed. Once the USA began its bogus “war on terror” rampage, all gloves were off as far as financial privacy was concerned. And not only for Americans. You see, one of the worst features of the “war on terror” was the way this was used to browbeat offshore financial services under the guise of fighting “money laundering”.

That process led to a series of draconian steps to infringe on your right to financial privacy, and all but eradicated it.

Whereas “financial privacy” was a good argument for offshore banking in the past, that is no longer the case. So what good is an offshore bank account these days?

It all comes down to one primary reason – to get your money out of the country you reside in. And why would you want to do that? Because you cannot trust your government to keep its hands off your money. Not only that, you cannot trust the government (via its reserve/central bank) to even maintain the purchasing power of your money.

So offshore banking is still alive and kicking, but with a shortened list of benefits. However, securing your savings away from harm’s way is still a mighty good reason to be opening an offshore bank account, if you haven’t already done so.

And because of this, the USA is still attempting to thwart all attempts by its citizens to open such accounts. So much for living in the world’s freest country!

Nowadays, it is getting increasingly difficult for Americans to open an offshore bank account, due to the US government’s pressure on overseas financial institutions. This pressure is all about “reporting” – the need to report the financial goings-on of US citizens. And as a result, many banks have simply made a policy change – to not accepting US clients at all.

Are there any alternatives to banking offshore, if you’re primarily concerned with keep your money safe? Yes, there most certainly are. And one of the best is to open a precious metals account – either gold or silver, or both – and convert a good portion of your savings into real money, stored in a vault outside your home country.

My two favourite picks for converting government fiat paper money into real money – gold and silver – are GoldMoney and BullionVault. You can open an account instantly and for free – and immediately gain the benefits offered by moving some of your funds into the world’s oldest and most reliable money.

You can then sit back and watch the current experiment with inflation-damned paper money fall into disrepute, as the value of such declines – all the while secure in the knowledge that over time only one type of money holds its value. Gold and Silver – the money most trusted by humans for thousands of years.

You’ve no doubt often heard about the wisdom of diversifying your assets or investments, in order not to be beholden to one class of either – in case the market moves against you.

The same can be said for one’s life. In this context, having one passport and living, working, banking, investing on one country only, represents a potential risk. It’s like putting all your eggs in one basket.

Take just the issue of money. If all your assets are denominated in the US dollar – and the dollar is sinking – then your assets are at risk. So how would you diversify your assets in such a case? You would make sure they are denominated in currencies other than just the dollar. That way, if the dollar moves down, while say the Australian dollar moves up – and you have assets in both currencies, then you have hedged your situation and protected your capital.

The same can be said for the more intangible idea of diversifying your life. Life consists of things like where you live, where you work – as well as where you bank, invest etc. And it is in this area of “life” that diversifying can pay handsome dividends.

Just as it’s possible that if you invest in only one company, that company could fall on hard times and cause your investment to shrink or even disappear, so it’s possible that the country you live in could “fall on hard times” and end up being not such a desirable place to live as it once was.

We are constantly hearing about “globalisation” – and often in a negative way, as in the drive to a “one world government”. But there is another way to look at globalisation – a mindset that you adopt for yourself. If you think globally, then you can take advantage of the benefits available in different countries, for different purposes.

As an example: You may enjoy living in a particular place because of the amenities, or the friendly people – but it may not be the best jurisdiction to place your investments. Or you may enjoy spending time on a tropical island, but that doesn’t mean its the best place to start a business.

Thinking “global” means thinking about your life in the broadest sense – and calculating how you can best live it, given all the different options available to you – in the many different countries of the world.

If starting a company, one of the first things you should consider is whether the country you are now living in is the best place to form it and do business from. Maybe your home country has an excessive rate of corporate tax, and you’d like to be doing business in a more tax-friendly place. So why not? What’s to stop you? Business leaders make these types of choices all the time – in order to maximise the economic benefits.

It’s just as valid for individuals. You can arrange your affairs so you can live in more than one country, build a business somewhere else, register your company in yet another place, and bank your profits somewhere else again. In this way you are spreading your risk over different sovereign jurisdictions.

This makes eminent sense, as you never know what a particular country may “get up to” in the future – in the way of changed policies or living environment – and become a potential threat to your chosen way of life.

Globalisation is a brilliant idea for individuals – a way of organising one’s life in such a way as to “pick and choose” the best of what the world has to offer.

Terry Coxon, co-editor of The Casey Report, is president of Passport Financial, Inc., and for over 30 years has advised clients on legal ways to internationalize their assets to optimize tax, wealth protection and estate planning goals. Read here how you can take advantage of a U.S. tax act and save a lot of money in the process…

The Five-Million-Dollar Reason For Going Offshore

My Offshore Banking Alert report has been updated for 2011 and is available now from HERE.

With the US government’s ever-increasing stranglehold on American’s assets, smart investors are now taking their wealth abroad. Doug Casey tells you how to do it, and why you shouldn’t put it off any longer in: Making The Chicken Run

Offshore banks are cutting American expats adrift – and creating “ghetto” subsidiaries to handle their business.

I’ve just released my two popular offshore banking reports as a combo package – two reports for the price of less than one:

“The 10 Things You Really Must Know Before Opening an Offshore Bank Account” and …

“The Ideal Offshore Bank Account”

For more info click HERE.

Interesting that the buzz surrounding the newly observed phenomenon of Americans wanting to give up their US citizenship is not letting up. Could be a major trend in the making.

More American Expatriates Give Up Citizenship