International Living

Why Have So Many Americans Considered Expatriation?

"According to Rasmussen Reports, fully 9% of the U.S. population has considered 'expatriation.' A record number of Americans 'officially' expatriated in the second quarter of 2013—and the real number is probably much higher. The mainstream media says that U.S. citizens give up their citizenship only to avoid paying tax. The fact is, more than 7 million Americans now live abroad. Many of them can no longer hold bank accounts, qualify for a mortgage, or set up a tax-deferred account for retirement or their children's education. They don't leave solely because of taxes—they give up their native son and daughter status because they pretty much have to just to function outside this country." Continue reading →

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Will Migrant Workers Drive Bitcoin’s Mundane Future?

"Several companies have determined that the biggest opportunity to prove their worth is in the decidedly boring race to help emigres handle remittances, a global market expected to total $550 billion this year, according to the World Bank. The average fee on remittances is 9 percent of the transaction cost, and some banks charge additional 'lifting' fees of up to 5 percent when someone wants to turn the remittance into cash. Sitting in the middle of money transmissions is a lucrative business. Western Union(WU) brought in $4.6 billion in transaction fees charged to consumers last year and almost $1 billion further in foreign-exchange revenue from its consumer business." Continue reading →

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Americans Abroad Stranded as US Check Clearance Blocked

"U.S. citizens staying in Israel have discovered this week that they are no longer able to get Israeli shekels in exchange for their checks which are drawn to U.S. banks. Until this week, Israeli foreign exchange places would accept U.S. checks, at least from their regular customers, and would pay them out for a fee of 1 percent of their value. But this is no ,longer the case. 'The problem is with the check clearance process,” a Jerusalem money changer told The Jewish Press. 'No one outside the U.S. is able to do check clearance. It’s an international problem, it’s not a problem only in Israel.' American banks are not processing for clearance any checks coming from outside the U.S." Continue reading →

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The FBAR Fundraiser and the Penalty Jackpot

"This reminds me of the treatment of Ms. Curran – an elderly widow – in Florida. You may remember her as the woman who paid – and may well have been coerced into a 21 million dollar FBAR penalty based on accounts she inherited from her late husband - I repeat accounts owned by her late husband. One blogger referred to this as a 'Penalty Jackpot for the IRS'. Yup, definitely a good return for a small amount of work. The facts in the Curran case are here. But, for those of you who think IRS Penalty Abuse is restricted to rich Homelanders you should take the time to read this submission to the Ways and Means Committee from this disabled 68 year old British born woman." Continue reading →

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The Millionaire Residency Visa

"For foreigners, it used to be that hard work and plenty of patience for bureaucratic red tape would garner access into a coveted country. But, these days, sometimes all it takes to grab that golden ticket is achieving multimillionaire status and promising to make a hefty investment in a new homeland. Countries such as the United States, Australia and New Zealand are all embroiled in a global tug-of-war for the wealthy, and each has either rolled out or reauthorized what are known as millionaire visas in recent years. These programs, which are aimed squarely at wealthy investors, fast-track these individuals' path to permanent residency—and sometimes even citizenship." Continue reading →

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Just Say the Magic Word

"When your government starts arbitrarily seizing skyscrapers, the time to start thinking about and devising an internationalization strategy was yesterday. If you have not already started, I'd suggest that it is high time to get going. This goes double for libertarians and anyone else who could one day become the government's next enemy du jour. All the government has to do is say the magic T-word, and poof: your rights, your assets, and even your life can be taken from you in an instant, without due process, and the vast majority of people will approve of it." Continue reading →

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Around the World with Bitcoin

"We are thrilled to announce a trip around the world on bitcoin as part of our documentary film! Trip dates: October 12th - November 3rd Week #1: We will drive across the United States from our home Provo, Utah to New York City with multiple cities in between. Week #2: We will fly to Europe and specifically visit the glorious cities of Stockholm, Sweden and Berlin, Germany. Week #3: We will fly from Berlin to Singapore and spend a week in Asia. November 3rd: We will arrive back in Salt Lake City having circled the globe and paying for the trip with the world's first decentralized, digital currency, bitcoin!" Continue reading →

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Top 10 Busiest Airports in the World

"In this modern world, airway is the most convent medium of travel in terms of time and safety and its global presence. The number of people travelling by air is constantly rising every day and so is the number of aircraft and airports. There are more than 40,000 thousands airports around the globe used for civilian and cargo transport. This list is gives the top 10 busiest airports in the world in terms of the total annual passenger transition registered. Naturally this kind of list always changes, what we listed below is as per the data of the year 2012." Continue reading →

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10 investing insights from Street Smarts by Jim Rogers

"If you were an investor and become a millionaire or even a billionaire by the age of 37, what would you do? Are you considering kicking your heels up, relaxing in your new mansion while looking ahead to a future of recreation and fun? Maybe you go the other direction. Resting with riches might be as lifeless as a phone booth. Perhaps you could create a lifelong journey, over the course of which making the whole world your backyard. You might be inspired to literally ride a motorcycle around the world, observing and learning about the planet earth while doing so. Maybe you’d be inspired to chronicle the journey, turn it into a benchmark for global investing, and then do it all over again." Continue reading →

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How to Finance a Second Passport, and More…

"Financing is available for this purpose from a few banks, but at less favorable terms than in the USA. You won't find a regular 30-year mortgage, for instance. The best most banks offer is a five-year mortgage on 50% of the purchase price with a balloon payment at the end. Interest rates are higher, too. After five years, you can roll over the mortgage for another five years. But you might not need to... a recent change in the law lets you sell your real estate five years after you qualify for citizenship. You can even sell it to someone else seeking economic citizenship." Continue reading →

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