At this week’s Offshore Wealth Summit, we looked at the best current options for planting your Five Flags, including your best choices today for alternative residency and for opening a bank account overseas. Why might you want a bank account in another country? Maybe because you’re planning to move to that country and need an […]
“What bank do you recommend in Panama?” That’s one of the most frequently asked questions I receive. I get it at least a couple of times a week… The honest answer? None. Panama currently has 78 banks. Of those, 29 have international licenses; 49, including the 2 government banks, have general licenses. I’ve dealt personally […]
Banking overseas is more challenging today than it’s ever been and more challenging all the time thanks to the constantly changing landscape. One week, one bank will open an account for Americans. The next week it won’t. Another bank that required a US$100,000 minimum bank balance increases that requirement to US$500,000… and then reduces it […]
A banker friend in Belize who speaks at many of our live events likes to ask the following question as part of his presentation: “What happens to your bank account (in Belize) if you and your banker—and only you and your banker—know about its existence… and then you die?” If you’re an American, that shouldn’t […]
A friend I caught up with last week in Medellin, an American, told me with a grin that he’d already completed and filed his FBAR for this year. He was pleased with himself for getting it in early…until I reminded him that, starting this year, the FBAR must be filed electronically. My friend had filled […]
One of the benefits of hosting conferences around the world is the chance they give me to spend focused time with key contacts in key markets. It’s at our conferences that I find out about ear-to-the-ground kinds of opportunities that usually don’t make it beyond a small circle of investor-friends. This week in Medellin, for […]
You should have an account with an offshore bank. That’s a fundamental step in any plan for diversifying offshore. How do you choose where to open your first (or subsequent) offshore bank account? Don’t try to base the decision on customer service, because, the sad truth is, finding a financial institution with consistently good customer […]
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 […]
I usually ignore foreign exchange rates. You can’t predict them and trying to time them when making a real estate investment is a crap shoot. If you wait too long for an exchange rate to get where you want it to be before sending your money for a real estate purchase, the opportunity can disappear. […]
“’Knock three times and ask for Roscoe.’ “That’s what offshore banking used to be,” Peter Zipper, an offshore banker with more than three decades of experience, explained this morning to the crowd attending this week’s Offshore Summit. “But those days are over,” Peter continued.