3 Events That Will Leave You Penniless

I’m no Nostradamus.

I usually stay out of the business of making predictions.

But I know, just by looking at what’s happening in America right now, that certain things are inevitable…

I fear Americans are sitting on a ticking time bomb…

This has nothing to do with trillion-dollar debt or immigration or careless money printing or even terrorism…

Yes, these are all threats to your wealth in both the short- and long-term…

And, yes, the right offshore strategies can protect you from each of them…

But what I’m talking about is much more likely to affect you personally… and much sooner than anything else.

Here are three events that I believe could leave you penniless.

1. The Next Market Crash Is Coming

If you’re like the vast majority of Americans, you are heavily invested in Wall Street. You have a 401k, an IRA, or a simple investment brokerage account. You might even have a pension plan tied to stock.

We all know the stock market is a fickle beast, but time has proven it’s relatively easy to make money over the long run… that is, as long as you can avoid a major crisis.

Get caught in a Wall Street market crash or correction, and you can lose several years or even decades of savings. It’s estimated that the average retirement account lost 25% of its wealth in the Great Recession.

Unfortunately, the frequency of these crises is increasing…

What used to be decades of time between financial crises is now becoming frighteningly more common. Just take a look at the last 100 years or so…

· Great Crash of 1929… sparking the Great Depression…

· Flash Crash of 1962… 33 years later…

· Black Monday of 1987… 25 years later…

· Dotcom Crash of 2000… 13 years later…

· Financial Crisis in 2008… 8 years later…

In 2020, we had COVID, and we all know how that caused the market to drop like a lead balloon…

You don’t even have to get caught in a market crisis like this to see your retirement accounts take a hit… in 2022, the market was down almost 20% for the year.

Imagine retiring last year, and your portfolio has lost nearly a fifth of its value—and that’s all just down to bad luck. Poor timing for your retirement date.

My point is: This year the market is up, so far… but next year? And the year after that?

If you’re not properly diversified beyond stocks and beyond the United States, you’re always at risk.

2. You’re Going To Get Sued

If you remain in the United States, you have a high chance of getting sued.

Every American adult is a potential target for a lawsuit today.

More than 40 million lawsuits are filed in the United States each year. We have less than 5% of the world’s population and 80% of the world’s lawyers.

As an American, you have a 1 in 10 chance of being sued within the next 365 days. It’s worse if you own your own business: your odds skyrocket to a 1 in 3 chance.

It’s likely you own a car or a property. Both of these assets put you at risk… heck, even if you only own a dog, you could lose it all.

Dog bites usually cost owners US$10,000 in settlement losses… and up to US$5,000,000 if the cases go to court.

And make no mistake, even if you’re not at fault and even if you think you have a good chance, your lawyer will likely suggest settling out of court to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.

You know the truth, as I do: you don’t have to be negligent to lose everything you own to a lawsuit. You just need to have assets worth targeting.

Sadly, even if you don’t own property or a car or a dog, and your biggest or sole asset is your retirement savings, you’re still not safe.

If you’re part of an employer-sponsored retirement plan or 401k, you are protected by federal law. But, if your funds are in an IRA or Solo 401k, then you’re at the mercy of state regulations.

It’s a dangerous lottery…

And, when it comes to an ex-employee or an ex-spouse, all bets are off …

3. American Socialism

The American middle-class is dying.

A report last year from Pew Research Center says the middle-class is now around only 50% of the total U.S. population. That number has steadily ticked down every decade since 1971, when it was 61%.

It’s more expensive to go to the doctor… to buy groceries… to pay rent… even a simple cup of coffee can have an outrageous price.

The average American is working harder for less results… and they’re not happy about it.

It’s the sad truth, but the days when the American middle-class were the envy of the world are long over.

The signs are there if you care to look… ominous times are ahead, no matter your situation.

The shrinking middle-class and reduced opportunities for folks might have something to do with the fact that the next generation has turned firmly away from the spirit of free enterprise that made America great…

Hopefully you’re sitting down, because this statistic is a doozy:

51% of young American adults (aged 18-29) prefer socialism to capitalism.

What’s more, only 45% of those Americans see capitalism in a positive light… and that number is steadily falling.

Millennials and “Generation Z” gave more presidential primary votes to socialist candidate Bernie Sanders than to Clinton and Trump combined in the 2016 presidential election.

Combine these political trends with the dying American middle-class, and you can bet the future will be very different than the America we thought we all knew…

What’s the solution?

How do you protect yourself?

Well, if you haven’t done so already, it’s time to start looking beyond the United States for your investments and your lifestyle.

Pick any country in the world except Germany, Sweden, Israel, and Australia and you reduce your chances of getting sued just by moving there.

These are the only five countries in the world that have more lawsuits per person than the United States…

Even if you do move to one of the five countries that are more litigious per capita than America…

If you get sued and you lose your case in any of these jurisdictions, the payouts awarded are likely to be far lower than you would face in the States.

Market crashes and economic downturns hit every country differently… Panama, for example, where I’ve based my business and spend much of my time, had no banking crisis in 2008, the way America did.

The “international diversification” strategies I’ve put in place protected my wealth in 2008… just as they did during the dotcom crash…

As for the “death of the middle-class,” the entrepreneurial spirit in many countries around the world is helping grow their middle-class… just as it once did in America…

I’ll use Panama as an example again: The middle-class here is now around 60% of the population… just as it was in the States in the 1970s… and it’s continuing to grow another 1.5% every year…

It’s not unpatriotic to consider your options. Including for living and investing beyond America.

Indeed, you can bring that American spirit of adventure with you to a place where you’re far more likely to be able to live the kind of lifestyle you could enjoy in America’s past…

You may not know it, but there are countries out there actually competing for Americans to come join their ranks.

You can get more details right here.

Stay diversified,

Lief Simon

Editor, Offshore Living Letter