Better Call Joel—How To Make Your Wealth Untouchable
Moving assets offshore isn’t a new idea. But, in the minds of most Americans, it continues to bear the stigma of tax evasion or other shady dealings.
If you’ve been to an Offshore Wealth Summit with us in the past, you know better. You know that, today more than ever, taking assets—and even yourself—offshore is just common sense.
When Joel Nagel—our international asset protection guru—took to the stage at our Offshore Wealth Summit a couple of years back, he shared this anecdote with the audience:
“I was at an event where a lawyer stood up and said that there wasn’t a single structure ever made that he wasn’t able to get at.
“Then came my turn to speak.
“I told the crowd that of all the legal structures I’d formed over the years, not a single one could be touched by a guy like him.
“There was some laughter. But the audience was confused. How could this be? One of us must surely be lying.
“In fact, we were both telling the truth.
“I went on to tell these folks that I’d formed all of these untouchable structures overseas…
“At which point, the other guy admitted he’d never done business outside the United States.”
Joel went on to explain to our audience that your average Stateside lawyer doesn’t want to have to deal with the red tape associated with offshore structures, accounts, and holdings. And the time it would take to investigate and go after your offshore holdings is only going to up that bill to the plaintiff. Who has the time or money?
If you have wealth to protect, moving assets offshore is the best way to build an ironclad defense. Should some vengeful plaintiff take a lawsuit against you, chances are, they won’t be able to touch whatever you’ve moved offshore.
But maybe that’s too dramatic a scenario for you. A lawsuit is the least of your worries. Is there any other reason you should consider taking assets offshore?
If you’re planning on living, investing, or doing business overseas, you may need an offshore entity to:
- Hold property in another country. Many people use a local entity to hold real estate in another country. In some cases, you can be required as a foreigner to hold title to a piece of property in another country to establish residency.
- Minimize probate when you die. Owning property in your own name in another country means that when you pass away your heirs have to deal with probate in that country. In some cases, this can mean navigating inheritance rules that require assets to be distributed based on local law, which may or may not match your wishes. Using an offshore entity can eliminate this problem.
- Provide for investment diversification. Setting up an offshore entity can help you diversify internationally. Most offshore stockbrokers and mutual funds won’t accept U.S. citizens as investors thanks to concerns over associated Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations. However, they will accept offshore entities as clients even if those entities are owned by Americans.
- Operate an active business. Sometimes an offshore corporation can be used to run a business in another country or to separate a main business back home from an offshore subsidiary. You incorporate your business overseas for the same reasons you incorporate in the United States—to limit the liability of the shareholders of the company (which brings us back to asset protection).
We’ll discuss all of these strategies in more detail at our 2017 Offshore Wealth Summit June 19–21 in Panama City—and walk you through everything you need to know to remain legally compliant at all times.
There’s no denying this is all serious subject matter… but we do our best to keep it as entertaining as possible through our interactive workshops and discussion panels. Plus, we want to help you focus on your own plans. To that end, we’ll allow plenty of time for you to ask questions and chat with our experts in an informal setting.
Offshore Wealth Summit emcee Lief Simon, editor of Offshore Living Letter and Simon Letter, says this event is open to beginner and veteran attendees alike and promises to be our most powerful lineup in the event’s five-year history.
Join Lief, Joel, and the rest of our trusted offshore team in Panama City this June 19–21, and finally find out how to:
- Drastically reduce your tax obligations or even live income-tax free…
- Discover the five easiest places to obtain offshore residency, often without having to even live there…
- Get to know the world’s best havens for bank privacy and legal offshore structures…
- Discover three ways to profit from the best international real estate investment opportunities…
- Learn the value of holding physical precious metals offshore—something that can be legally non-reportable to the IRS…
- Learn the many benefits of incorporating and doing business in an offshore location…
- Discover six easy ways to diversify safely outside the U.S. dollar to obtain a truly diversified portfolio (and never worry about a declining U.S. dollar again)…
- Rediscover the true privacy that existed in the United States 50 years ago.
Our Offshore Wealth Summit is always a sellout event… and seats are already disappearing fast. Don’t miss out on your only chance this year to be in the room with our full offshore team… and make your plans for a future that will give you and your loved ones more freedom, safety, and wealth.
Valentine Fouché
Editor, Live and Invest Overseas Confidential
