John Turley
other
The first thing that comes to mind when the topic of offshore investing comes up is someone sneaking around a small Caribbean island wearing sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt, and Bermuda shorts while holding a briefcase stuffed full of money. This beach attired person’s intention is, of course, to hide assets from the IRS.
Well, that’s not offshore investing, that’s criminal tax evasion. One reaps robust returns, and the other lands you in jail. The IRS today is making a concerted effort to uncover hidden overseas accounts held by Americans and they leave no rock unturned in their quest.
Offshore investing, however, is entirely different and legal.
Moving assets offshore is often a smart financial thing to do. In many instances, it’s also the right thing to do because it helps desperately poor people avoid the curse of poverty and deprivation.
In fact, offshore investing provides compelling financial benefits. The “Who’s Who” of American multi-national corporations – Apple, Microsoft, Nike, American Express, Oracle, to name just a few – invest funds offshore. And we are not talking chump-change either. Over $2.4 trillion (yes, that’s trillion!) is held offshore by American companies.
It’s all perfectly legal, and they do it – as you should too – for the financial benefits it provides.
Before we examine the benefits of offshore investing – and there are many – let’s get another thing straight. Offshore investing isn’t the modern equivalent to colonial exploitation of old, where nasty imperialist companies sucked the wealth out of poor countries, leaving native peoples in worse shape than they found them.
Thanks to foreign direct investment (a.k.a. offshore investing), Ireland, for example, went from one of Europe’s poorest countries to one of the richest. The same is true in Asia, where growth, often fueled by offshore funds, is helping to stamp out poverty at amazing rates. In fact, many Asian countries, China in particular, provide most of the developing countries of Africa with foreign funding that is taking people by the millions and moving them out of tin shacks and into the middle class.
Altruism aside, offshore investing is a great way of delivering enhanced returns and capital preservation over the long term. It also provides diversification to your portfolio. Investing assets offshore in alternative asset classes protects you from the volatility of Wall Street’s stock and bond markets. With the stock market’s recent run-up in prices – over 9% since the beginning of 2017 – offshore investing in land, buildings and other tangible assets is a much better bet right now.
Here are a few reasons my partners and investors choose to invest offshore:
Out of Reach: Investing offshore moves your wealth and assets out of the reach of many seeking deep pockets. Some trial lawyers only pursue cases where they can establish the defendant has a considerable insurance policy limits and/or significant assets. Anyone can buy an online asset search which will reveal your ownership in entities, real estate, personal property and even bank accounts. Even though their methods may be questionable, those searches are available. Ownership in offshore assets is not readily available like in the U.S. or Canada.
Citizenship: In some cases, owning assets in a foreign country will ease the path to citizenship and opening financial accounts. Should you ever choose to have citizenship in a foreign country, owning or investing in assets there can be beneficial.
Privacy and Tax Benefits: In the past I wrote to you about financial privacy. In these times, there is little to no privacy in the U.S. Owning or investing in assets offshore is one way to achieve financial privacy.
Most economists believe that growth in emerging markets will, over time, far out pace growth in developed economies of the U.S., Japan and Europe, where populations are getting older and growing slowly. Latin America, Asia and Africa all have young, fast growing populations who are under served, lacking the consumer goods we take for granted. That’s where the action will be in the coming years. Offshore investing in those areas promises to deliver higher growth while acting as a hedge against volatility elsewhere.
Developing countries, especially those adjacent to North America have seen a surge in foreign direct investment over the last decade. As returns become harder to achieve in the slower growing economies like the U.S., you should look for opportunities to invest offshore.
Find your paradise location and invest there!
We will be revealing some new opportunities in the coming months. Based on your requests and feedback from current investors, these investments were carefully chosen to fit your current investment objectives. More importantly, these investments will fill a void many have been seeking but are unable to find.
Don’t ask for early-access because we can’t share our new ventures just yet. We are finalizing the details in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can get added to the Private Investor List here and you’ll be the first to know!
Enjoy this beautiful weather!
