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I first went to Europe more than 20 years ago. I've lived there, worked there, and invested there. I can tell you from personal experience that it's a lot easier to do with a passport. But how do you actually get EU citizenship?
LLCs are almost perfect. They’re easy to form and administer, making them a great way to hold a business or investments. But they’re also an amazing asset protection tool. Why?
An offshore bank account is one of the most traditional ways to start your overseas journey. It's a very useful tool if you plan to invest in another country, buy foreign real estate, or want to move some of your assets out of harm's way here in the US.
Think of offshore banking and you might think of an offshore numbered account. You know, the anonymous place to stash some cash when the bad guys are after you. Ultimate privacy and discretion.
For quite some years, we've worked with American clients buying, holding, and selling real estate in Panama—especially in the hot spots of Panama City, Boquete, David, and more recently, Coronado.
I had dinner with a globe-trotting executive last weekend. He's about to retire but for decades he's travelled the world and done business in dozens of countries.
When many of our clients think about residency in Europe, they often think about "Golden Visa" programs. That's especially true of programs in Greece, Spain, and the most famous of all, Portugal.
For our business at least, Italy has been a popular place for Americans looking to settle in Europe. A wonderful laidback lifestyle that appeals to people wanting out of the rat race.
Perhaps the most aggressive tax strategy I’ve ever come across was the person who declared themselves a church in order to lower their tax bill. (Spoiler alert: The IRS did not agree.)
I grew up in a small town full of dairy and crop farmers. I was a farm boy. So when I first told my parents I wanted to start traveling, they didn't get it. Neither did my friends.
No one likes to think about death. But if you have a family, friends, or charities that you care about and want to leave things to when you pass, it's important to plan.
Asset diversification is one of those topics that three people can look at and come up with three different answers.
Just a few decades ago, dual citizenship—being a citizen of more than one country—wasn't that common. It wasn’t yet legal in many countries. And its benefits weren’t that well-known.
Every election year, there's an increase in the number of people who want to move out of the US permanently.
A client told me someone recently tried to sell him a Cook Islands offshore trust. He wanted my feedback.
No one enjoys paying taxes. Especially when the money supports things that we don't believe in.
Paraguay wasn't on too many people's radars when I first entered this business in 2009. (Uruguay, Argentina, and Ecuador were more popular among my mostly American clients.)
Italy has always been quite a draw for our clients. Beautiful landscapes, friendly people, excellent food, and a nice pace of life. The only major turnoff was the high taxes -- at least until a new tax regime we're calling the "Italy flat tax" came about.
We recently put together a Wyoming LLC for a married couple who had just completed our Private Wealth planning service. They have been buying properties in a popular expat jurisdiction and are looking for a way to protect these assets from domestic claims.
We work with a lot of independent business owners and entrepreneurs across the spectrum. Many of their plans are very different from each other. But when it comes to "foundational" tax planning, a solo 401(k) retirement account often plays a part.
One reason more than 12,000 high-net-worth individuals have chosen this program is that they could qualify for a Golden Visa with an investment as small as 250,000 euros (roughly USD $277,000).
To our customers and clients, the Kamala Harris tax plan has received a lot of attention recently. After all, taxes tend to go up more often during Democratic administrations than Republican ones. That includes the Biden administration.
There are many tax opportunities for the ultra-wealthy. There are also some good options for people with smaller nest eggs. But what if you're in the middle -- you earn a good living or have at least $500,000 in savings and want to save on tax?
Over the years, I've heard some "great in theory, not in practice" planning ideas. Many are taken from a proven tool and warped into something that just doesn't work well anymore. Captive Insurance is one of those things.
Last week, one of our Private Wealth planning clients asked about a dynasty trust. She'd read that it let people pass their wealth onto their children, grandchildren and generations beyond tax-free. Virtually forever.
Funds can be a great way to benefit from the rise of a market without trying to pick the winners -- a hard game even for professionals. But what about offshore funds -- those based outside the US (usually) that may give you access to investments not available stateside?
A client called me a few weeks ago. He wanted to know the best way to avoid the new Corporate Transparency Act, which makes Anonymous LLCs in the US a thing of the past.
When it comes to retirement planning, self-directed Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) offer a flexible and potentially lucrative option for savvy investors.
Regular readers will know I've been traveling around central Europe for the last month. A few weeks ago, I was on the hunt for investment opportunities in Vienna for our private clients and to catch up with our preferred banking partners.
A few themes come up over and over -- asset protection, privacy concerns, and a desire for lower taxes. A Nevis trust is one of the few planning tools that offers all of them in one package.