The left-wing parties are out of the running in France. The choice is down to Emmanuel Macron, a non-politician centrist, and Marine Le Pen, a legacy politician from the extreme right. Should Marine Le Pen win, she’s vowed to pull France out of the EU and shut the borders for immigration. Macron promises to reduce […]
Over the weekend I read one of those Q&A articles in a mainstream financial publication. A reader had written in to ask how he should invest a windfall of US$250,000. The answer was typical mainstream financial advice that boiled down to: Determine your level of risk tolerance based on your age and then allocate some […]
When I bought an apartment in Portugal last year, my standard offshore holding structure ran into a snag. Portugal has a black list of tax-advantaged countries that includes Nevis, where my LLC holding structure is set up. Using that Nevis entity to hold title to the apartment would have cost me unnecessary taxes in Portugal. […]
I’m reviewing and clarifying my ideas related to the Five Flags theory of diversification in preparation for my opening remarks at the Wealth Summit I’m hosting in Panama in October. If you’re new to the idea, the Five Flags are to do with residency, citizenship, banking, assets, and business. Not everyone needs all five flags […]
The first viewing was a one-bedroom, two-bath apartment with a den on Avenida Balboa. The den could be converted into a small bedroom to make the unit a two-bedroom. Why did the developer not package the property this way in the first place? Probably due to concerns over zoning density. Other apartments along Avenida Balboa […]
A California couple recently found 1,400 US$20 gold coins from the mid-1800s buried on their property. The store is estimated to be worth as much as US$10 million due to the rarity and quality of some of the coins. The value of the gold alone is about US$2 million at today’s prices. What was the […]
I had lunch with a local businessman here in Panama on Friday who informed me that the euro was down as of Friday morning to US$1.26. He was excited because he had shorted the currency at US$1.55 and was planning to cover at US$1.20, even though he thinks the euro will continue down below US$1.20. […]