Offshore Gold Is NOT Just For The Rich & Famous
Offshore Gold storage is normally ascribed to the wealthy who travel the globe on their yacht or in a private jet; yet that’s not the case at all. Storing Gold & Silver in another country is easily and affordably within the reach of the common individual of most any nation.
So why am I telling you this? Because it makes a lot of sense to store precious metals overseas:
1) Like it or not, gold confiscation is a risk. The higher the gold price becomes, the more it ends up on the radar for creditors, bureaucrats, or anyone who’s just plain litigious. Banks and storage facilities in your home country fall within the same jurisdiction as you do, so if you get dragged into court or onto some bureaucrat’s list, the risk of asset seizure is very high. We call it jurisdictional diversification.
2) For US taxpayers, gold stored overseas in your own lock box in a secure vault is currently not a reportable asset, as long as you hold the only key(s), so it’s an effective, legitimate means of storing wealth privately. I’ll get into the new FACTA reporting requirements another time. (Consult your own tax professional)
3) If you move gold overseas to a stronger economy with a gold-oriented culture, it will be much easier for you to sell and exchange for something of value. Think about it– in the US, what would you get if you sold your gold? US dollars. And only in certain designated places. In Hong Kong, I could trade for any number of currencies, goods, services, etc. In the U.S. and Canada, most everyone would have no idea how to value a gold coin or bar (this video demonstrates the sad state of financial education in the U.S.) yet in Asia folks would be more than willing to trade for goods or cash.
4) Transporting gold out of the country is getting harder and more onerous. If you can possibly envision yourself ever leaving your home country if/when things get rough, you’re going to want it prepositioned overseas already in a place where you can actually use it, not stuck at home buried in the backyard, or at a bank that’s been taken over by the government.
Imagine walking onto an airplane with nothing more than your passport and a little cash for incidentals and landing in a far away land and taking delivery of gold you previously stored there. With that gold you can either barter for goods and services with people who know its value as REAL money or even trade it for local currency and continue to live indefinitely as allowed by your visa. In short, offshore gold store can give you more OPTIONS.
None of this is to suggest that the world is coming to an end… but we shouldn’t kid ourselves that we still live in the good old days. Internationalization is a smart strategy to reduce your sovereign risks and help you prepare for whatever lies ahead.
One way to internationalize with offshore gold storage is to use Hard Assets Alliance; they are a US company but will store your precious metals offshore or on-shore – your choice. And no IRS Form 8938 or Treasury Form TDF 90-22.1 as a result (consult your own tax advisor, as always).
