The Nestmann Group keeps you up to date on important trends, developments and risks that may affect you. Here’s what’s new…
Bitcoin's Revolutionary Impact The 2008 invention of bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, revolutionized not only the concept of money, but how it can be exchanged. Bitcoin is a form of peer-to-peer…
This Is What Can Happen When You Screw Up Your Estate Plan Who can forget the soaring voice of Aretha Franklin? Whether singing a gospel standard like “Amazing Grace” or…
Gold has long been a trusted store of value. For proof, we need look no further than a trip to the Egyptian pyramids or many other ancient sacred sites. But…
The Debut of FedNow: Central Bank's New Digital Payment System On July 20, 2023, the Federal Reserve, America’s central bank, announced that FedNow, its new system for instant payments, was…
Erosion of Privacy: Understanding the Expectation of Privacy Here at the Nestmann Group, we regularly bemoan the erosion of our "right to privacy." The root of the problem is a legal…
The Importance of a Second Citizenship and Passport In an age of increasing passport confiscations, stricter border enforcement, and compulsory denaturalization, obtaining a second citizenship and passport has become more…
Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs): The Next Evolution in National Currency One concern some of our clients have is that the government will forcibly convert their assets into a central…
We don’t read much about it on this side of the “Pond” – the slang term some Europeans use for the Atlantic Ocean – but the United Kingdom could be…
In the last two weeks, all hell has broken loose in the financial markets. On March 8, Silvergate Capital, a major lender to the cryptocurrency industry, announced that it would…
It’s been a long time coming. After nearly a decade of vilifying the citizenship by investment (CBI) programs of five Caribbean countries, the US government has made a remarkable admission:…
What if you didn’t need to worry about the timing of a crash, or indeed any economic scenario, and could assemble an investment mix that would withstand whatever economic conditions…
We’ve long suggested that one of the key strategies you can use to gain resilience over your financial future is international diversification. Thanks to laws like the Foreign Account Tax…
Privacy is one of the few topics that Democrats and Republicans largely agree on. Their conclusion is that you shouldn’t have any. That’s especially true when it comes to searches…
The first nationwide pension program arrived in the United States in 1935, when the Social Security Act came into effect. Full benefits started at age 65. The act was later…
Globalization – the interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide – ensures that countries can use whatever strengths they possess to their fullest advantage. Countries that are rich…
In 1991, a dozen European countries signed the Treaty on European Union, also known as the Maastricht Treaty. Among other provisions, the treaty called for a single European currency; the…
The Equifax Breach In May 2017, credit bureau giant Equifax had virtually its entire database of consumer credit reports stolen by hackers – more than 148 million in all. The attack…
We periodically read missives to the effect that “the dollar is doomed.” And we’ve been reading them for many years. Consider this newsletter promotion from 1985. The headline was a…
The demand for investment migration services –residency by investment (RBI) and citizenship by investment (CBI) – has soared in recent years. Industry insiders now estimate it to be a $25…
Last week, we learned that West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin had signed on to a slimmed-down version of President Biden’s “Build Back Better” Plan (BBBP). The BBBP, with its $2…
Back in 2019, we poked fun at the Department of Defense (DOD) for as we put it, “losing $21 trillion.” That sum represented what the Pentagon’s inspector general called “unsupported…
Last week, on a day the Dow Jones index fell more than 700 points, I ran into an old friend at a monthly dinner meeting I regularly attend. “I’m screwed,”…
Last week, we welcomed the news that the Brennan Center for Justice had published a batch of formerly secret government documents dating back to the 1950s. The files relate to…
We would not have guessed that in 2022, parents of the youngest Americans would need to cope with a predictable and completely unnecessary shortage – baby formula shortage. Shortages began…
Last week, to almost no one’s surprise, the Labor Department announced yet another month of inflation worse than at any time since the 1980s. The March Consumer Price Index (CPI)…
Electronic Surveillance and the Loss of Privacy Electronic surveillance has matured to the point where a camera the size of a pinhead and an equally miniaturized microphone can provide both…
Want to earn some extra cash? It's easy…just participate in one of the many "paid informant" programs run by various US government agencies. Think your neighbor…or that brother-in-law you don't…
A few months ago, I received an invitation to attend a lecture with the mind-numbing title, “The Transformation of Tax & Customs Law into the Digital World of Processes, Automation…
In the early 1990s, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan reportedly said something to the effect that when inflation rises, “you’ll switch to something cheaper—more hamburger will show up in…
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked the world when he invaded Ukraine. While the situation remains very fluid, there are some important lessons to be learned from Putin’s…