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How to Build a Solid “Escape from America” Plan
It’s the financial hurricane season in America. Look around and everywhere you can see the storm clouds gathering.
Today, the U.S. government faces the largest sum of unfunded debt world history has ever recorded. Ignoring this danger, American politicians are polarized and incapable of addressing this horrendous debt.
Meanwhile, official U.S. fiscal and monetary policy breeds economic moral hazard that global investors recognize as a crippling problem, not only for America but for the world.
One result: the U.S. dollar since 1985 has lost 50% of its value against a basket of major currencies, severely eroding the purchasing power of dollar earners.
What does this massive financial mess mean for you?
The only way to conserve your wealth is to move some of it offshore and out of the dollar.
To survive Hurricane America as it gathers strength, you need to activate your Plan B now – before the whirlwind picks up and carries away your assets.
The easiest and fastest way to do this: open an offshore bank account – the cornerstone of any truly solid, “Escape from America” plan.
How to Escape the Sinking Dollar
One of the first benefits of having an offshore bank account is protection against the declining dollar. Through currency diversification it allows you to convert dying collars into stronger currencies like the soaring Swiss franc.
Since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, the value of the U.S. currency has collapsed. What was worth $1 back then is worth less than 4.8 cents today. That is to say, our dollar has devalued by more than 95%.
This trend continues almost daily and that means that having an offshore account is becoming a matter of acute urgency.
In addition to protecting your cash against the dollar’s collapse, an offshore account has the power to help build your wealth as well … using currency diversification.
After President Richard Nixon ended gold backing for the dollar, from 1976 to 2009 the U.S. dollar lost an average of 73% of its purchasing power against most major currencies. $100,000 then is worth only $27,000 today. Yet, if you had held your “cash” portfolio in Swiss francs or Japanese yen during that time, your portfolio would be worth $157,000 to $187,000 today.
Opening an offshore bank account makes it easy for you to access that power of currency appreciation. It also gives you a place to safely store your gold, silver or other valuable investment items or documents offshore.
How to Choose a Home for Your Offshore Bank Account in Five Steps
The quick answer is, do your due diligence. Here are the first five steps to take:
Step #1: Carefully examine and research established financial institutions in your country of choice. This allows you to gauge banking standards and it gives you a frame of reference with which to judge individual banks and their services. In selected countries we can recommend banking contacts we know and trust.
Step #2: Check Google News and local newspapers and publications for any negative mentions about a specific bank. It’s important to examine closely the bank’s reputation and financial condition. Are the fees reasonable and not hidden? What services does the bank provide? Check Google for the website of the country’s official bank supervisory agency; it lists facts about each bank, its license and its current standing.
Step #3: Beware of “banks” that have only an Internet presence. Most countries have outlawed “brass plate” banks that were little more than a name on a building or lawyer’s office door. Absence of bank officials’ names, a physical address and phone numbers almost always indicates fraud.
Step #4: Be very wary of Internet banks that offer unreasonably high returns and interest rates. If it appears too good to be true, it usually is just that.
Step #5: Find out which offshore private banks abide by, or exceed, the minimum cash on hand standards set by the international Basle Accords. These rules limit risk and require minimum capital, shareholder equity, disclosed reserves, and holdings in debt and equity instruments.
Offshore banking can be expensive so it is important that you fully understand a bank’s fee structure. Crunch the numbers to find what your net profit (or loss) might be. And once you choose your offshore bank, get these questions answered before you transfer the first penny.
All that due diligence cannot take the place of a personal visit. I recommend a face-to-face meeting at the bank when you open the account, which almost all offshore banks now require, plus an annual meeting to visit your money and its keepers.
With offshore banking, there is one critical extra step…
Pick a bank that welcomes foreigners – especially those with U.S. passports. Since the UBS tax evasion scandal and the IRS offshore crack down, many offshore banks no longer want the bother, cost and hazard of American customers.
And when you find your bank, make certain the staff knows, understands and will assist you with fulfilling the cumbersome U.S. tax-reporting requirements.
Stay Tax-Compliant
You and your bank must know and comply with all these U.S. reporting requirements…
- All offshore banks now require you to fill out an IRS Form W-9. This form simply allows the bank to share your information with the IRS.
- You must acknowledge the fact that you have a foreign account(s) annually on Schedule B of your federal income tax return IRS Form 1040 (due April 15 of each year or June 15 if you reside outside the United States).
- If you hold a total of US$10,000 or more in one or more offshore accounts, you must report these accounts by filing Form TD F 90-22.1 or “FBAR” by June 30th each year.
Many jurisdictions have tax treaties with the U.S. that give you credit against your U.S. taxes for foreign taxes paid in another country, thus avoiding double taxation. Hire an attorney who specializes in international taxes for guidance in handling your offshore account.
For protection in the current unstable environment here in America, we strongly believe that having an account with a top private bank overseas is critical for financial survival.
An offshore account serves you as a simple yet effective tool that protects your wealth against both a meddling government – and its declining currency. If nothing else, that account will give you options you’re going to need, now and in the future.
Bob Bauman JD
Chairman, Freedom Alliance
P.S. America’s financial hurricane caught too many people off guard. But we’ve been preparing for this day for years – building a “nerve center” for concerned Americans – a place where you can choose from the most-effective and timeless wealth-protection strategies to create an easy-to-implement “Escape from America Plan.” If you want help “getting off the grid,” we’ll show you how… without costing you a fortune.
Other Posts from the Author
- Are You Among the 23% Entitled to a Second Passport? - May 14th, 2012
- The Real Problem With the French Elections - May 4th, 2012
- The Life of a “Sovereign Individual” - April 24th, 2012
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I was about to sign up with you for the Sovereign Individual when I clicked on a checked box which had a phrase with an ! next to it that I didn’t understand. This took me to a weird website with a lot of companies on it, and I couldn’t get back to your site from there. Anyhow, I am ready to sign up, but don’t know how to get back to where I was on your site. I would appreciate your help.
Nicole Toadvine, Member Services Manager, replies:
Hi Peter, I’m not exactly sure what page you were on when you clicked the checked box on the order form. It looks to be up and running now – if you would like to place an order, I’d be happy to take an order for you over the phone. You can reach us at 1-888-358-8125 or 1-866-584-4096. Or you’d prefer, we can also contact you as well if you can just provide me with a number and best time to call you.
Wouldn’t I be much better off to just buy Swiss francs and Norwegian Krone and store them in a safe deposit box?
BOB SAYS: Yes, that is a possibility, but it would require you to visit the box whenever you wanted access to the currency, or appointing an attorney with the power to access on your behalf, a rather cumbersome procedure.
Quit wasting my time with this kind of BS – how about some specific info – Bank recommendations, country recommendations and how to advice.
BOB REPLIES: Thank you for being a valued member of the Sovereign Society and for your acerbic comment about my article entitled How to Build a Solid “Escape from America” Plan.
If you will take time to review carefully that article you will find very “specific info” and “how to advice” about what to do in order to open an offshore bank account and comply with U.S. reporting laws once that is done. Indeed, perhaps on re-reading you might admit I did everything but hold my readers’ hands when it came to giving specifics.
I do disagree with your use of “BS” since nothing I wrote qualifies as misleading, disingenuous, or false.
As to bank and country recommendations:
1) I suggest you go to our Sovereign Society website and use the search engine. I just did that and entered “offshore bank account” and found 140 articles on that topic.
2) If you do have specific banking questions that remain unanswered after that, or questions about specific countries in which you may wish to open an account, Member Services is available by email at http://sovereign-investor.com/contact-us/ or phone them at 888-358-8125 toll free.
Is it safe to trust Canada as a place to live? How much co-operation will they give to US. Would the paperwork requirements be the same as say Panama. Need to do some financial paperwork here and not able to fly to Panama. I waited too long for husband to change mind and come with me, darn.
BOB REPLIES: If you will read my blog post at http://sovereign-investor.com/2011/07/28/the-great-white-tax-haven-canada-eh/
which is all about Canada your questions will be answered. We recommend Canada for both bank accounts and possible residence and citizenship. Also see http://sovereign-investor.com/2010/12/16/banking-in-the-worlds-safest-financial-system-its-not-where-you-think/
On a regular and automatic basis the governments of Canada and the U.S. do exchange tax and other information about their citizens who live and/or do business in each others country when such exchange is justified.