IL Magazine: Discover the World's Best Retirement Haven for 2021 + 24 more
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I remember walking into Credit Suisse in downtown Chicago back in 1986 to open my first international account. It was as simple as filling in a one-page form, showing my driver’s license, and giving my opening deposit.
To apply for residence in Uruguay you must be in the country, this is perfect for those that try out the country and decide to stay. Uruguay’s Dirección Nacional de Migración (DNM, or Immigration) is the government office that deals with residence matters. The complete process for obtaining permanent residence takes 12 and 24 months in addition to the time it takes to obtain the necessary documents.
Panama has numerous different options that provide great benefits when it comes to securing residence in this tropical paradise. When it comes to the “Special Benefits of Retirees,” Panama does more for both its local and foreign retirees than any other country on the IL radar.
Your great-great-great-grandparents (may they rest in peace) could be about to hand you citizenship in Europe…and, with it, the legal freedom to live and do business in any of the 28 countries of the European Union. Your family tree could hold the key to opening a path to second citizenship for you and your family, especially in Europe. There, several countries will grant citizenship to you based on ancestry.
Benjamin Franklin—one of the most astute and beloved of America's Founding Fathers—once observed: "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." Whether the people of the United States have remained true to the intent of America's Founding Fathers is certainly open to question. Since the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, Americans have been subjected to the questionable Patriot Act, massive government NSA surveillance, and a flood of restrictive and questionable laws that curb liberties.
We recently asked Nick a series of questions that IL readers have wondered about, including "Can I own real estate overseas in my IRA?" and "What else can I own in my IRA? Costa Rican farms? Boat slips?" and "Can I hold a mortgage in my IRA?"
Until about 100 years ago, you didn’t need a passport for international travel. If you were traveling for some official purpose, or needed a way to identify yourself, you often had the option of carrying one. But you didn’t need permission from anyone to cross international borders. For better or worse, that’s not how things are today. Your passport doesn't belong to you. It belongs to whatever government issues you a passport and it can be taken away, for any reason.
An international bank account is always a good idea, particularly if you live, work, invest, or own property abroad. It allows you to control your money wherever you are on the globe, and it is your key to international investment opportunities. Even if you put a few thousand dollars in a non-U.S. bank, you still have the opportunity to take advantage of several key benefits of offshore banking.
If you’ve been keeping up with the stories about the Panama Papers in the mainstream media recently, you’d be forgiven for equating the word “offshore” with tax evasion, money laundering, and other criminal behavior. But there’s one small detail the media isn’t disclosing: The vast majority of the individuals whose confidential financial data was stolen weren’t doing anything illegal. According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which coordinated the review of the documents, more than 320,000 offshore entities appear in the leak.
Despite all the rhetoric out of Washington these days, you can bet we will see tax hikes this year. They might not be overt. Instead, we could see stealth taxes go up first…parking fees, garbage collection, vehicle registrations and the like.