Is Offshore Banking for You?

You’ve probably heard about people who keep their money offshore. Most likely you assume they’re all wealthy businessmen; millionaires, who have so much money they somehow ‘qualify’ to move it out of the country, right? Wrong! Offshore banking can be a benefit for anybody regardless of income.

There are certain components of offshore banking that you may not have thought of, or perhaps you just need a simple explanation of what they are. Here are the basics you need to know to get started:

Offshore bank accounts – in order to establish a bank account offshore and still have complete confidentiality and privacy, you need to hold the bank account under an IBC (International Business Corporation). There are a number of IBC jurisdictions that allow complete privacy in a tax-free environment. We deal exclusively with these jurisdictions.

IBC – as explained above, IBC stands for International Business Corporation and is similar to an onshore corporate. However, the company is established in a completely tax-free jurisdiction with a very high level of confidentiality and asset protection. For extra security, it is common to have an offshore IBC company in a separate jurisdiction from your offshore bank account. This ensures that any possible future claims against your offshore company would have to be brought to two separate courts in jurisdictions with some of the toughest asset protection laws in the world.

Offshore Jurisdictions – A country that has very strict privacy laws that protect offshore bank accounts and offshore companies. There are several countries that offer this type of protection including Switzerland, Panama, Belize and the BVI.

Offshore Trusts – A Trust allows you to transfer ownership of your assets in a safe and controlled manner while still maintaining ultimate control. The shares of your IBC can be held by a Trust, giving you yet one more layer of protection. Why would you need a Trust? In the US, you stand a one in four chance of being sued if your net wealth exceeds only 100,000 dollars. Offshore Trusts will allow you the security of asset protection.

Offshore Brokerage Account – Holding a brokerage account under an IBC name ensures complete confidentiality and privacy while trading. Your account will be treated as a foreign company as long as you do not open an office or conduct any business in your home country through your IBC. An offshore brokerage account will also allow you tax-free trading.

That’s it in a nutshell. For more information about offshore banking, please visit our website where you’ll find in-depth information and books that specialize in offshore banking: http://www.confidentialbanking.com/

The Benefits of Swiss Banking

Switzerland is the world’s largest offshore financial center; larger than London, New York or even Frankfurt.

The Swiss banking sector as a whole has established this dominant position through a long tradition of political, economic and financial stability and some key principles, one of which is Swiss banking secrecy.

Swiss bankers have also built a solid reputation for managing investment portfolios for their clients and providing a wide array of services such as estate planning, wealth management, trust companies, Gold numismatics, Derivatives and confidential brokerage accounts.

Swiss law is especially strict about any breech of confidentiality, whether in banking or in other commerce. All banking Employees must sign the secrecy portion of the banking act as a condition of employment. The banking act also adds a special section making it a criminal offense, with the possibility of jail, time for any employee or agent who has been deemed to have improperly divulged any confidential information. These portions of the banking law have been interpreted, both in practice and by the courts, to make it a serious offense to divulge any information about a bank customer to a third party, including official requests from foreign governments.

It’s no small wonder that Swiss bankers are very popular in the world of offshore banking.

Budgeting your Savings – Did You Let Your Piggy Bank Get Away?

I think most of us have at some point in our lives. Some how we forget to feed the little piggy. And, like most neglected “pets”, your piggy bank will disappear if you don’t feed it. A personal budget is important to create financial independence and setting goals for feeding that “piggy bank” should be an important part of your budget!

The most successful financial plans allow you to INVEST IN YOURSELF! It just makes good sense. A plan to build financial security should always be considered essential to any budget.

Even if you’re on a plan to reduce debt, you need to include plans to build a foundation for future financial security. A good savings routine and variable expense account are essential to building a strong foundation for financial independence.

A variable expense allowance in the budget is important to save for those expenses that seem to “hit us unexpectedly”. Funny thing is, we know these expenses will occur. They are an inevitable fact of finances for most of us. So, why do we call them unexpected? I can’t explain why, but there are many of us who make this very BIG mistake in our budgeting.

Some expenses don’t occur monthly. Some are paid out every now and then, quarterly, yearly, or bi-monthly, or semi-annually. These are expenses like car insurance and maintenance, home insurance and maintenance, property taxes, income taxes, medical expenses (prescriptions, deductibles, co-pays), pet care, school expenses (supplies, trips, activity fees, books), and clothing. Some of these are huge expenses that can put a ripple in any good budget if not planned for.

Most of us have good intentions, but it’s easy to fall prey to the credit card companies without a plan to cover all of these “unexpected” expenses. The term still makes me chuckle. I mean, don’t we “expect” to wear clothes? It’s even funnier to me knowing that I was guilty of this very thing. Poor Planning! Not expecting what should be expected.

Lesson ……….Don’t forget about this expenses in your budget. They will sabotage the best of intentions!

The other essential ingredient to a successful budget is a savings plan. A good savings plan should have a goal to reach at least the minimum amount necessary for you to survive for a three to four month period. It may take time, but this a strategy that provides a fail safe against a financial crisis. Crisis such as serious illness or job loss.

Trying to save money by cutting your savings budget out will eventually backfire on you. It is essential to build financial security, in order to remain debt free, you must not compromise your savings expense.

Only if there is no way to avoid it should you reduce the amount of your monthly savings commitment.

Start with 2-4% of your monthly income if you have to. A little is better than nothing, and then you can build it up from there to at least 10% of income as funds become available.

Some Important Points:

Applying extra funds to your debt first will not help you gain financial security. Emergency savings and variable expense savings goals should be met before debt is reduced in order to remain debt free.
After all, these sources will be the foundation you will fall back on in order to remain debt free. If you can build a reserve for emergencies you won’t have to use those nasty credit cards. This is an important defense that builds financial security.
If you use a good debt reduction plan, debt will reduce, and in a reasonable amount of time. As long as you stop creating debt. Just be patient.

Paying more on your debt, instead of saving, is not going to help you pay for that major car repair when the car breaks down. It will most likely do the opposite of your intended plan and send you running for the credit card to bail out.

Of course once you have reached your goals for savings and your variable expense account, then you should start applying extra funds to your debt reduction plan.

Using money saving tips reduces expenses in your budget in an effort to help you build that financial security. Through saving money on everyday expenses and living a frugal lifestyle, you free up monies to apply to your savings and variable expense account. These are the defenses that build a strong foundation for your financial independence.

These “defenses” prepare for the inevitable expenses that will arise. Many of us had just forgotten to plan correctly for these types of expenses. That’s how we got in the “big red mess” to begin with. Properly preparing for necessary variable expenses is your defense against feeling the need to use the credit cards.

Once you have balanced your expenses with your income, you have created a Budget for Debt Free Living. Congratulations! You are on your way to financial freedom and security. Enjoy! This concept is simply “living within your means.” Something that many of us in today’s “plastic society” have forgotten to do.

Live Debt Free to Be Free. You Deserve It!