Lief Simon’s Single Secret To Success I grew up as the only child of a single mother. From a sociologist’s perspective, we probably would have been classified as lower-middle class. That’s using the nine-class category system that my college sociology professor taught—lower, middle, and upper, each having lower, middle, and upper subsets. I remember feeling [...]
The Recession-Proof Portfolio Secret You Need To Know At my annual Global Property Summit last month, we fielded lots of good questions from seasoned real estate investors whose experience was limited to their home countries. Many attendees were Americans with portfolios in a single market where they’ve focused their attention and have done well since the 2008 [...]
To buy property overseas, you need to transfer money across international borders. Before you do, you want to be sure you understand the administrative practicalities, including the associated fees, and, more important, any relevant compliance and capital controls.
You Need A Backup Plan—Right Now More Than Ever Before In this month's issue of my Simon Letter advisory service, I continue my "Residency Through Real Estate" conversation. Last month, I detailed the current best opportunities for this in Europe. This issue I look at your best choices in the Americas. As you consider options for diversifying [...]
A Simple Explanation Of Blockchain Though often mentioned in the news, most people don’t know what blockchain is thanks to the misinformation surrounding it. That’s hardly surprising… blockchain is new technology. First misconception: Blockchain is Bitcoin. They’re two separate things. Bitcoin is a digital currency that uses blockchain. A good analogy is a shared work [...]
Remember When America Was Proud Of Its Entrepreneurs? Did you know that, in 2014, the U.S. government officially became the country's biggest thief? To the tune of more than US$5 billion dollars. Take a look... Maybe the police are simply doing a better job. Nah, that's not it... The Department of Justice recently released an [...]
My Newest Ag Recommendation Earns You 16% Per Year One sunny summer afternoon in 2012 I had the most expensive lunch of my life. Kathleen, the kids, and I were taking a driving tour through Italy, Austria, and Croatia. The Croatia leg was to check on the old stone house we own in Istria. We [...]
Agricultural production using aquaponics technology is on the rise… and so is the cost of investing in the opportunity that this fast-growing trend represents. Three years ago, in the course of my ongoing search for cash-flowing real estate opportunities, I identified a specific aquaponics project offering a turnkey option for individual investors projecting returns up […]
Worried About Health Care And Insurance Costs? Don’t Be. This Is Why… Two things Americans obsess over when thinking about traveling and even more so when considering moving outside the United States are health care and health insurance. These are two important considerations, of course, but in the United States right now they’re also political [...]
5 Places To See In 2019 If I’m able to go to one new place in the New Year it will be the city that was once the center of the world, Jerusalem. I like cities with long pasts, and this city has one of the longest. Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of “Jerusalem: The Biography,” articulates [...]
