Offshore Living Letter is a publication of Live and Invest Overseas. Our goal is to provide timely, actionable information on all things offshore, including: how to go offshore, diversifying your portfolio, wealth creation, protecting your assets, and much more.
Author: Lief Simon
12
Jul
FATCA Is Closing In.. The level of concern among Americans seems to be growing as the FATCA implementation deadline draws closer and more people are becoming more aware of the implications and possible consequences of this absurd legislation. The first consequence has to do with the 30% withholding when wiring funds to a non-U.S. bank [...]
09
Jul
Implications Of The Affordable Health Care Act For Americans Overseas
"Minimum Essential Coverage"--And How To Avoid it The U.S. government is on a mission to keep Americans and their money from leaving the country. By now, you've heard about FATCA. This Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, signed in 2010, has yet to take full effect but is already starting to make it more difficult for Americans [...]
05
Jul
Unibank No Longer Accepts Foreign Accounts
I remind you often that you should take action to set up a flag offshore as soon as an opportunity that interests you to do so presents itself. Wait…and the rules can change, meaning the opportunity can disappear. In today’s offshore arena, the only constant is that everything–policies, requirements, restrictions, etc., to do with banking, […]
02
Jul
Why And How To Invest In Foreign Property
Foreign Real Estate Is A More Appealing Strategy Than Ever Putting your money into foreign real estate is becoming a more appealing strategy all the time. Real estate has always made sense to me as an asset allocation, but I'm more persuaded today than ever that foreign property should be part of every investment portfolio. [...]
28
Jun
Transferring Funds Across International Borders
Banks Are Making Me Crazy! Moving money around the world should be easy in this electronic age, but, with all the banking and government rules, requirements, restrictions, and peculiarities, sometimes it isn't. This week a wire to a business I work with was rejected because the receiving bank didn't like how the sending bank had [...]
25
Jun
How To File The Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) Form
How To File Your FBAR (It's Due Friday) Form TD F 90-22.1, or, as it's more commonly referred to, the FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report) form, is due this week. Every U.S. person is required to file this form if you have a financial interest in and/or signatory authority over any non-U.S. financial account(s) that [...]
14
Jun
Junk Markets in Spain and Greece Present Opportunities For Bargain Property Hunters
One Person's Junk... Greece's credit rating with Moody's is already in "junk" territory, and, yesterday, Spain was downgraded to just above junk quality. Things are getting interesting in Europe. A few weeks ago, I recommended that, given the current and trending status of the euro versus the U.S. dollar, as well as the disastrous local [...]
11
Jun
QRP Residency In Belize
A back-up plan. That’s what many people are looking for right now. They don’t want to diversify globally altogether, but they do want to put a plan in place in case something happens and they feel like they have to get out of their home country in a hurry.
04
Jun
Safety Concerns In Mexico, Belize, And Elsewhere
Report From The No-Go Zones I spent last week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and am this week in Belize City, Belize. Two places that the U.S. State Department thinks no American should visit. Way too dangerous. I'm not going to try to tell you that nothing bad has ever happened in Mexico or Belize. Parts [...]
31
May
Euro Is Down 6% Against The U.S. Dollar In May
Euro's Fall Creates Opportunity For Property Investors In Search Of Diversification The euro has lost 6% against the U.S. dollar in the month of May and is rapidly approaching its most recent low (June 2010) of US$1.20. Make no mistake. It's the euro losing value against the dollar, not the dollar gaining value. The financial [...]