Listening to a Jim Rogers interview from just last Sunday I learned a lot – as usual. In this particular discussion, Mr. Rogers stated that he expects exchange controls everywhere; but also in the United States!
Some form of exchange controls already exist in the United States as the US has prohibited foreigners from buying some US companies.
Because of this belief, Jim says he has moved as many of his assets outside the United States as possible (WHAT!? Some would say this is un-American. No, taking steps to protect your liberty is VERY American). While he was not specific, he has said he is invested in Gold and you can bet that he owns offshore Gold.
“Everyone should have assets outside of his or her own country. Look at it as insurance, if nothing else.”
While not everyone finds it easy to buy commodities like cotton, wheat, and rice, buying gold and storing it offshore has never been easier or probably even safer. Yes there are reporting issues, but they are not difficult, or even costly. You just need to do it (or maybe not – see our review of The Hard Assets Alliance).
Owning Offshore Gold Not Just For The Rich
It was once thought, here in the United States, that having an offshore bank account or owning gold (domestic gold ownership illegal from FDR to 1971) was only in the realm of the rich.
But it is not that way anymore. Part of this is thanks to the internet and the effect of technology. Actually there are MANY opportunities that are affordable now to almost anyone that once were only for the rich. How about travel or moving abroad?
In fact, Mr. Rogers advice to young people with no assets is to:
- Move to Asia – that would really turn heads just a few decades ago, but not anymore
- Learn Mandarin
- Study something you love and become expert (and he always recommends farming these days)
For anyone with assets:
- Move at least some of your assets outside your home country (jurisdictional diversification)
- Invest in commodities, but do your homework first
- Beware the coming collapse of fiat currencies, escape to real money (Gold)
Anyone can get started buying Gold and storing it offshore with companies like GoldMoney and BullionVault. There are no hurdles like minimums, though storage fees do make ownership of less than 1 ounce of Gold a bit pricey.
What they do allow a person to do is to buy Gold, Silver (even Platinum and Palladium) on a scheduled, dollar (or whatever your home currency) cost average basis (UPDATE: The MetalStream service now available at The Hard Assets Alliance is an incredible opportunity to buy precious metals using dollar cost averaging – learn more here).
We personally have accounts at all of these institutions.
If you have just a little to invest, then BullionVault does seem a bit easier to get started than GoldMoney, will give you a free gram of gold (now it’s some Silver) once you fund your account, and allows you to buy Gold with limit orders.
The Hard Assets Alliance is fantastic if you have $10,000 or more to invest.
