Asset Diversification the Right Way
Asset diversification is one of those topics that three people can look at and come up with three different answers.
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.
One of the best things about spending time outside your borders is the opportunity to see things differently. You not only get the value of shaking up your routine, you also get exposed to new ideas and different perspectives.
For decades, our firm has provided the international planning piece for groups that sell precious metals to clients. A big part of that planning is helping clients identify the best countries for offshore gold storage... at least, what's best for their situation.
AI is changing many parts of our lives, from customer service chatbots to health care to finance, and even retirement planning. In our own practice, we've noticed an uptick in the number of people who ask us to confirm whether planning related answers generated by AI are accurate. (It often isn't, either partly or completely.)
Italian citizenship by descent allows you to claim Italian citizenship through your ancestry. Over the years, we've helped a number of clients through this process. It's very popular because it lets you get one of the world's best travel documents virtually for free.
When I was first introduced to Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) back in 2010, I didn't think it possible. It promised extremely strong asset protection, estate and legacy planning benefits, and a legal way to grow millions of dollars in a tax-deferred (and sometimes even tax-free) way?
Last week, I had a call with a successful entrepreneurial client who was deeply worried about capital controls. She had worked for many years to build up an eight-figure nest egg and didn't want to lose it to a predatory government through outrageously higher taxes or being forced to convert some of her investments into bonds from a bankrupt federal government. She certainly didn't want to run the risk of outright confiscation.
When I was first introduced to Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) back in 2010, I didn't think it possible. It promised extremely strong asset protection, estate and legacy planning benefits, and a legal way to grow millions of dollars in a tax-deferred (and sometimes even tax-free) way?
We've been helping Americans diversify their assets internationally since 1984. Over the years, we've developed a few favorite places for certain things. Switzerland has long been a favorite for offshore banking, simply because they keep adapting to be able to serve US clients.
What if your investments never lost any value? That they kept growing no matter whether the economy was going gangbusters or in the middle of a crash? That could withstand inflation and catastrophe? Such a portfolio doesn't exist in real life, but the Permanent Portfolio comes pretty darn close.
We've long considered Switzerland a good place to bank for the right sort of client. That's because the best Swiss banks offer a service that is geared towards Americans looking for a conservative wealth preservation strategy.
I was on a Discovery Conference with a client a few days ago who had recently signed up for our elite Private Wealth service. For most clients, the Discovery is a chance to be really clear what they are hoping to get from the planning.