A few days ago, in response to questions about how to get started with offshore asset protection, I mentioned Mark Nestmann’s book The Lifeboat Strategy. Mark is a trained international lawyer and one of the world’s top offshore asset protection experts. I own his book and think it’s a fantastic resource, especially for those looking for initial answers.
The number of questions I received from readers in response to the book was overwhelming, so as a special service to Notes subscribers, I decided that we should pin Mark down for an interview.
I called my partner Matt, one of the savviest, most intellectually curious global entrepreneurs I know, and asked him to conduct the interview… as you will see, Matt didn’t pull any punches.
Personally I think he caught Mark a little off-guard, so you’ll hear a lot of candor.
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Tagged as:
bank accounts,
taxes
Today I confessed my sins to Uncle Sam.
No, I’m not talking about anything sinister. But in a mad dash through a US stopover today, I dropped US Treasury form TDF-90 in the mail: “Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.”
It went something like this:
“Forgive me uncle for I have sinned. May last confession was April 15th. Here is all the information on my foreign bank accounts, including those for which I only have signature authority. I am confessing this intensely private information despite the fact that I have no financial interest whatsoever in said account, and the account holder does not even fall under your jurisdiction. I understand that being party to financial accounts outside of the United States must be inherently evil, and I look forward to giving you more of my money next year.”
This form is required by the US government for all persons that have a financial interest or signature authority in any foreign financial account– banking, brokerage, etc. In my case, I listed all the relevant information for a Panamanian bank account– I am very confident banking there as my research from this trip indicates strong liquidity levels and tight loan standards devoid of significant exposure to US agency debt. I am required to submit this form by June 30th.
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Tagged as:
bank accounts,
panama,
taxes