February 19, 2010
Bangkok, Thailand
I really need to start out today’s letter by expressing how truly humbled I am to be part of such a fantastic community.
Matt and I have spent much of the last few days combing through resumes (200+ so far) for the job openings that I posted on Monday, and the caliber of talent and energy is really impressive.
Applicants vary in age from 17 to 70. They come from all stations of life– corporate executive, successful entrepreneur, student, homemaker; and they hail from at least 18 different countries, from Guyana to China to the Netherlands to South Africa.
I’ve read every email with great interest and have made difficult choices to narrow down the pool of candidates. If you submitted an email, you might just be hearing from me in the next week or two.
Now… on to this week’s questions.
Read More…
Tagged as:
Austria,
bad governments,
foreign real estate,
Gold and Silver,
panama,
Singapore
Yesterday I was on a mission in Vienna to buy and store gold; today I was on another mission that is honestly quite sensitive, but I’m going to share it with you anyways.
Banking.
For years, Austria has been one of Europe’s best destinations for ‘private banking’– professional wealth and asset management by conservative, responsible stewards who ensure that return on savings will beat the rate of inflation.
While Switzerland has closed itself off to many North American customers, particularly those who do not bring tens of millions of dollars to the table, several Austrian banks have remained open to working with Americans, in particular those who reside outside of the United States.
Of course, demonstrating that you reside outside of the United States is easy to do if you own property overseas, have a lease, or a residency permit. These are the sorts of things you should be doing anyways if you intend on taking control of your own freedom.
With Austrian banks, minimum deposits are often just a few thousand dollars for some of the larger banks, and $100,000 for the smaller, more personalized banks.
Austria is currently on the OECD’s ‘grey list,’ the list of countries that this completely worthless and irrelevant organization named several months ago for failing to hand over customer financial information to the international community.
In Austria, banking secrecy has been a long-standing tradition and is protected with the same legal status as the country’s constitution. Unfortunately, this has been coming under fire lately.
Read More…
Tagged as:
Austria,
bank accounts
As much as I love the city, I’m here in Vienna today on a mission– gold storage. After yesterday’s missive about Panamanian safety deposit boxes, I thought it appropriate to follow-up with a couple of strong solutions for offshore gold storage, and Austria certainly fits the bill.
First of all, if you love mountains, you definitely need to check out Austria. The Austrian Alps command some of the most breathtaking views in the world, and the summertime weather is absolutely spectacular.
English language proficiency is prevalent everywhere in the country; everyone from the gas station attendants to street performers speaks English, which is great because my Deutsche is terrible.
Cost-wise, Austria is reasonable, though certainly not cheap. Expect a decent meal for two with wine to run about 50 euro ($70) in Vienna, perhaps even a bit more in Salzburg… and a four star hotel to cost 120 euro per night ($170).
But let’s get back to the gold.
Read More…
Tagged as:
Austria,
bank accounts,
Gold and Silver