Invest Offshore

Special Focus on Retirees Shows High Incidence of Forced Early Retirement Due to Health Reasons and Higher Monthly Expenses than Anticipated

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Fidelity Research Institute today announced the findings of its 2007 Retirement Index, which showed the typical working American household is on track to replace 58 percent of their income in retirement – a slight increase from last year’s Index level of 57 percent.

Continue reading "Fidelity Research Institute Retirement Index" »

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Offshore banking and investing is not littered with money laundering criminals, fraudsters, and tax evaders as many governments will have you believe. In respect to these types of crimes the reality is that there is infinitely more criminal activity onshore within their countries then there is offshore.

There is a huge difference between those who bank and invest offshore for legitimate reasons and those who do so for illicit and criminal reasons.

Continue reading "The Truth About Offshore Investing" »

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... because the 10% on top is glistening and gleaming and looks wonderful, and 90% of it that is hidden is filled with unknown dangers. The history of tax shelters in the United States has at best, been dubious, and at worst disastrous.

The biggest problem with a tax shelter is that it is intrinsically self-destructive. For a tax shelter to work it has to be a reportable item on one's tax return: in the form of a credit, a reduction, a set off, etc. As such, it is easily quantifiable by the IRS. As soon as any tax shelter really become popular, and starts to cut into the revenue collected by the IRS, they act to destroy it. In virtually every case, except for the venerable and sacrosanct home mortgage interest deduction, Congress agrees with the IRS that the tax shelter in question is an abuse and must be wiped out.

Continue reading "Tax shelters are like ice bergs..." »

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Forced heirship rules in many civil law countries are an ongoing source of family problems which have frustrated proper estate planning and divided families into warring camps for generations.

While there are a number of very good solutions for this problem, one of the most popular is the use of a foreign trust structure to hold the assets indefinitely without ever triggering heirship rules since a trust never dies.

Continue reading "Avoiding Forced Heirship" »

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One of the most common motivations for those who venture offshore is the belief that they can avoid or defer U.S. income taxes with a foreign bank account, a foreign trust or a bearer share foreign international business company. Some of that belief is based on very old and outdated information. Some of it is caused by articles and information that is grossly over-simplified or taken out of context and therefore mis-understood. And, then there are the outright sharks and crooks who have no concern about giving blatantly false information to gullible U.S. taxpayers.

Continue reading "Legal Ways to Save Taxes Offshore" »

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The following questions need to be asked when determining which IBC is best for your specific needs. There is no right or wrong answer to any of these questions. But there are some answers that are better for you, and others that are worse.

Q. What specific kind of IBC do you require? (A corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, to name the most common.)

Continue reading "How to choose the right IBC" »

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The trust is the oldest of all of the entities currently used in international financial planning. Some say it dates back to Roman times, but it certainly dates back at least to the time of the Crusades, when it was used to protect the estate of the knight or Lord who went to fight in the holy land at a time when wives were considered legally incompetent to manage such an estate.

Continue reading "Can you trust a trust?" »

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The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has one of the finest bodies of corporate law in the world, having closely modeled their laws after the top corporate haven in the world: the State of Delaware. The RMI is a former U.S. dependency in the Pacific Ocean which is now entirely independent.

One of the most innovative and useful business entities provided for in RMI Law is the Series Limited Liability Company (LLC).

Continue reading "The Incredible Series LLC" »

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A savings account or CD held for a fixed-term with the understanding that the depositor can only withdraw by giving written notice. The term generally is at least 30 days.

Continue reading "Offshore Time Deposits" »

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Jonathan Curshen is a consultant in the area of international asset protection. He is a member of ITPA (International Tax Planners Association) and APOI (Asia Pacific Offshore Institute). He specializes in offshore asset management, global investing, worldwide banking, and investment strategy and counseling. It is his business to know what you need in order to utilize the valuable tools of offshore asset management and protection.

Continue reading "Economic Citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis" »

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QUESTION: I have just left my company and I have $175,000 in my savings and investment account.Is there any way to transfer that money in an offshore account to grow for the next 15 years, to avoid my heavy tax burden when that money is drawn out? I am new to this, and with my low amout I need to capitalize on it to the maximum potential.

Continue reading "Invest Offshore to Avoid Tax" »

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QUESTION: In foreign trusts, it is not unusual to give the trustee the authority to capitalize undistributed income (including capital gains). Does that in effect cause the “undistributed income” to become ”trust corpus/principal” and therefore avoid being treated as ”accumulation distribution”—under U.S. regulations ?

Continue reading "US Tax Law" »

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Throughout history, those with substantial assets have often been faced with outside forces intent on the erosion of those assets. Often, these attacks have come from within one's home country. Unfortunately, the lessons of the past are often not taken into account when planning for the realities of the future.

Continue reading "Offshore Investing Benefits" »

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Annuity IQ a popular destination for both consumers and brokers now offers complete variable annuity information in a easy to use web based format.

Syracuse, NY (PRWEB) June 8, 2006 -- Annuity IQ moves forward to a web-based platform. After the great success of �The Annuity Report,� Annuity IQ wanted future updates to be easier to obtain by their clients.

Continue reading "Variable Annuity Information" »

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Asset protection is a common objective of many families' financial and estate plans, and financial advisors should have a working knowledge of the fundamental concepts. The first key is to understand fraudulent transfers, can result in a court voiding a gratuitous transfer made when a creditor's claim is "threatened, pending, or expected," even though no claim has been filed. Some types of irrevocable trusts can be established for the benefit of one's self and family that will protect the assets in the trust.

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The Ultimate IRA has both an asset protection and a tax component. This is a cost-effective plan designed for those with larger IRAs (over $200,000) who want to:

• Fully protect the assets in the IRA from creditors, including government taxing authorities.
• Minimize the tax impact of the "built-in" ordinary income tax in IRAs
• Maximize the flexibility of investments and withdrawals from IRAs (such as investing an IRA in your own home mortgage).
• Integrate your IRA into your estate plan

Continue reading "The Ultimate IRA" »

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Elimination of Capital-Gains, Tax-Free Growth, Tax-Free Borrowing, Elimination of Estate Tax. This structure offers some of the best tax planning benefits available today.

Investors with appreciated assets of at least $1 million (public or private stock, real estate, etc.) can use the FVUL structure to obtain significant tax savings. The FVUL can eliminate 3 levels of tax:

Continue reading "Foreign Variable Universal Life Insurance - FVUL" »

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Johannesburg - South African investors channelled R2.5bn into offshore collective investments in the March quarter with total assets of these foreign currency denominated funds reaching R70.3bn, the Association of Collective Investments (ACI) said on Tuesday.

Continue reading "Offshore assets rise" »

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It has been reported in the Swiss media that revenues generated by the transitional withholding tax on Swiss savings and investments under the European Savings Directive are far below expectations, suggesting that investors have easily manoeuvred their assets into places where the directive cannot reach.

Roland Reding, a tax expert at accounting firm KPMG, told Swissinfo in an interview published yesterday that he has seen figures suggesting that the amount of tax withheld by Swiss banks since the directive came into force last July is relatively small.

Continue reading "Savvy Investors Outflank Europe's Tax Snoopers" »

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(PRWEB) - San Jose, Costa Rica (PRWEB) March 9, 2006 -- Asset & wealth protection should be top priority in today's litigious society.

With new lawsuits being filed at alarming rates, and jury awards reaching record levels that just a few years ago would seem impossibly high, the time has come for even the average person to seriously consider asset protection strategies.

Continue reading "Asset & Wealth Protection Should be Top Priority in Today's Litigious Society" »

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By Annemarie Franczyk -

Baby boomers need to do more investing, and not just in savings accounts.

Just as a sound pattern of savings will make retirement more comfortable, so will a plan to develop good health habits. Exercise is one of the cheapest and most effective strategies to fight the effects of aging.

Which one of you 77 million baby boomers across American thought it would come to this? 'Used to be that exercise meant looks, not health.

Continue reading "Investing in health also a retirement key" »

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With economic storm clouds gathering, is it time to start thinking defensively? Alan Wood takes a look.

During a period when a terror attack is reported every week and economists are predicting a New Zealand, if not global, economic slowdown, it seems timely to readjust your investment portfolio.

While a slowdown, or worse a recession, would point investment punters toward safe defensive stocks � telecommunications, gas, electricity and infrastructure � it is not quite as simple as that. Such stocks are already fully valued, equity research experts say.

Continue reading "Time to consider using a safe haven" »

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TORONTO (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Over the past few years, the Canadian equity market has been denominated by income trusts, a business structure that eliminates taxes at the corporate level and allows net income to flow to investors, where it is taxed at the personal level.

For the 10-year period ending September 30, 2005, the Scotia Capital Income Trust Index (SCITI) has generated a total return of 18.9%, versus 11.2% for the S&P/TSX Composite equities index. Since the end of 1998, income trusts have posted an annualized total return of 24%.

Continue reading "Government and Income Trusts" »

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Vern Hayden, CFP, President of Hayden Financial Group, to speak on November 15 at 7:30 p.m. at The Westport Library. He will discuss topics from Getting an Investing Game Plan, as well as his work in progress, Who Can You Trust?: Avoiding Financial Scams.

(PRWEB) October 26, 2005 -- You are cordially invited to hear Vern Hayden, CFP, President of Hayden Financial Group, speak on November 15 at 7:30 p.m. at The Westport Library. He will discuss topics from Getting an Investing Game Plan, as well as his work in progress, Who Can You Trust?: Avoiding Financial Scams.

Continue reading "Vern Hayden, CFP, Author of Getting an Investing Game Plan, to Speak at Westport Library, November 15, 2005" »

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By Shawn McCarthy -

NEW YORK � Faced with lawsuits and regulatory pressure, William Parrett, chief executive officer of one of the world's Big Four accounting firms, says the investing public is demanding more from auditors than they possibly can deliver.

Like other auditing firms, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has been on the defensive since Arthur Andersen LLP was forced out of business three years ago, as a result of the failure of its auditors to sound the alarm over financial chicanery at Enron Corp.

Continue reading "Auditor: investors ask too much" »

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Even a humble savings account will net �251m in interest a year

By Mark Atherton and Joe Morgan -

HOW do you invest a windfall of more than �5 billion for a man who is already a billionaire several times over?

The normal concerns of a 38-year-old man � buying a bigger home, keeping up the mortgage payments and saving for a decent pension � hardly apply to Roman Abramovich.

Continue reading "How to invest it?" »

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By Jeffrey McKinney -

The growing use of employer-sponsored retirement plans is prompting more African Americans to invest in stocks, according to the 2005 Ariel/Schwab Black Investors Survey. In addition, 401(k) plans are helping black investors build wealth for the future and a solid nest egg for retirement.

The findings are significant because they come at a time when many Americans, particularly baby boomers, question whether such programs as Social Security and Medicare will still be around and help provide them with sufficient benefits once they retire.

Continue reading "Finding Protection Through Your 401(k)" »

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By Robert Peston and Sylvia Pfeifer -

Investors set to make a colossal profit on their investments in Qinetiq, the former research arm of the Ministry of Defence, have registered their shareholdings in Guernsey, the offshore tax haven.

According to filings by Qinetiq - which is still 56 per cent owned by the MoD - shares controlled by Carlyle, the US private equity firm, are held in Guernsey-domiciled investment vehicles, as are shares in an employee share plan for the benefit of Qinetiq's staff.

Continue reading "Carlyle holds Qinetiq shares in tax haven" »

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By MARY HOLM -

The "invest offshore" message was loud and clear the other day, after news broke that somebody might have released foot-and-mouth disease on Waiheke Island.

By the time you read this, the claim may have been proved a hoax. Here's hoping so. If that's the case, take warning from it.

If it's still not clear whether the threat is real, now is the time to review how much of your savings are in overseas investments. If an outbreak has been confirmed, cross your fingers.

Continue reading "Comfort of offshore investment" »

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by Janet Novack -

You don't want to go to jail. You don't want to pay penalties. But you also don't want to pay more tax than you have to-it's not the American way. And your sister-in-law, your golf buddy or your business partner is touting a "your CPA probably doesn't know this, but" way to pay less. How can you tell a legal tax dodge from an iffy or bad one?

Continue reading "What works?" »

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Jane Hall, Western Mail -

PAYING taxes, like death, is one of life's more unpleasant certainties. No one likes to see their hard-earned cash lining the Treasury's coffers.

But while death is unavoidable, paying too much tax is something we can laugh in the face of.

Nationally, �5.66bn in wasted tax is set to wing its way into the Chancellor's treasure trove. No wonder Gordon Brown looks like the cat who got the cream.

Continue reading "Add up the advantages of not wasting on tax" »

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AccountingWEB.com - The Internal Revenue Service is targeting wealthy executives and entrepreneurs to ferret out would-be tax dodgers.

The IRS has not focused on individual tax returns of the well-to-do for years, the Wall Street Journal reported, but is becoming more aggressive after studying the results of a 2003 pilot program covering 24 big companies, which were not identified.

Continue reading "Wealthy Taxpayers Feeling the Pressure from IRS" »

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By Jonathan Curshen -

Some foreign jurisdictions allow the appointment of a trust protector. As the title indicates, this person is supposed to provide general oversight of trust operations to insure its objectives are met and the law is followed. Usually the grantor has the right to name the protector, and may even assume that position himself but the majority legal view is that a grantor should not also serve as trust protector.

Continue reading "The Trust Protector" »

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By Jonathan Curshen -

People of means living in places where it seems civil war never ends, like the Balkans, home to the shards of the former Yugoslavia, or people facing continued political uncertainty, such as Hong Kong since the 1997 hand-over to Communist Beijing, obviously may need a safe refuge for escape. If besieged people enjoy the legal status afforded by a second nationality, their chance of safety is far more certain. In a time when threats turn into physical menace they simply head to their "other" country.

Continue reading "Do Americans Need a Second Passport?" »

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