|
|
Last week,
I highlighted the dire warning of Jim Sinclair, one of the world’s most
astute businessman – and altruistic humanitarians – on the
planet. For some time, I have noted his commentaries have been more frequent
and dire than at any time in the ten years I have been reading him,
and NOTHING he has written is as ominous as this…
Dear
CIGAs,
According
to Dean Harry Schultz, the way to live your life involves the following:
- Money in
one country
- Citizenship in a different country
- Body in another country where neither your citizenship nor money resides.
I have
resisted this sage advice from Harry for many years knowing the day might
come when his genius proves true.
That day
has come.
Seriously
consider this advice.
Respectfully,
Jim
Sinclair
…particularly
as he put his 34 acre Connecticut estate up for auction just days
later, with the intention of becoming an expatriate. I’d guess he is
moving to Tanzania to be with his company and daughter, but such information
has not yet been disclosed. Either way, keep in mind that this estate is
nothing short of a self-sufficient fortress, yet he still felt worried
enough to pack up and leave America.
Jim
Sinclair Selling Connecticut Estate: Plans to Expatriate
On Friday
afternoon, my good friend Bill Holter wrote the
following missive about his five years as an expatriate in Costa Rica, which
he moved to circa 2007 to avoid the imminent social, economic, and
political collapse he foresaw in America. Unfortunately, his experience in
Costa Rica convinced him it will be no safer to live in than a post-dollar
America, prompting him to move back to Texas this year. For those considering
leaving America (or other risky places) for “safer environs,”
please read VERY CAREFULLY.
To all; I
have recently had several conversations with people asking my opinion of
Harry Schultz making the suggestion that people live in one country, have
their assets in another and citizenship in a third. This advice by the way
seems to be exactly what Jim Sinclair is preparing to follow with putting his
farm compound up for auction. Those who know me,
know that this is exactly what I did with my family over 5 years ago, we
upped and moved to Costa Rica. It was a great experience, glad we did it
…but, …let me explain.
As usual,
I was early but we did actually catch the exact peak in real estate selling
our home in Jan. 2007 and pre dated the beginning of the GFC by 3-4 months.
We knew zero Spanish and set out to “hide out”, but it really
doesn’t work like this. When you are a “gringo” in a Latin
country you will “stand out” like a sore thumb and whether you
know Spanish or not it doesn’t matter (it just makes life much easier).
The more Spanish we learned (and understood the subtle insults and
hostility), the more we realized that we didn’t belong there and that
“gringos” were actually “targets”. Crime, no matter
where you are has a direct correlation to economic conditions. I assure you
that no matter what anyone says, crime has risen in
Central America as the economies have softened. In the case of Costa Rica,
they are in the process of losing both their public health care and
retirement systems, both of which the common man depends on. My point is
this, when the global banking system goes down, I don’t think that
being a gringo in Latin America will be such a good thing because just the
color of your skin and broken accent will advertise that you have
“stuff”. NOT the neon sign that want on your forehead when people
are going hungry I assure you.
OK, that
said, it is a good idea in my opinion to have your assets spread around
geographically, NOT to hide from taxes but for their safety from any possible
“confiscation”. It is also good to have dual citizenship so that
you may travel on whichever passport you choose. If I am correct in what I
think is coming, borders may be closed so no matter what passport you have,
travel may be restricted. So what to do?
I had
lived in Texas for nearly 20 years before leaving on our “great
adventure” and never in a big city. Texan’s are for the better
part (yes, I know, there are areas where food stamp participation borders on
100%) “self reliant”
and value their liberty. Let me stand on my own and do what I want as long as
it doesn’t infinge on others type of
attitude. As far as I know, there are more guns per capita in South Texas
than anywhere in the world, break ins and home invasions are a rare thing
because “criminals” don’t know what to expect on the other
side of the door (or should I say they DO know what to expect!). This debate
is all about personal choice, we chose to live amongst what we perceive as like minded people that speak the same language and for
the most part have the ability and mindset to “protect themselves”.
Of course,
if you have enough money, you can afford to set up any type of situation
anywhere in the world that you choose. You can even buy and live on your own
mountain or island and let the coming storm pass by. This is not an option
for 99. something % of the population. I would say
however, if you live inside an urban area or big city, you might look outside
to a rural area where you can set up an “escape hatch” because it
will be needed. I am just not sure that being an American in a foreign land
when the system comes down will be such a good thing, especially when (not
if) “fingers” start getting pointed. When this happens, they will
point directly at the U.S. because we DID do it. We went to a fiat currency
and then flooded the world with our paper, we
basically invented and then “pushed” derivatives onto the rest of
the world. These will all blow up (are blowing up) and someone will be
blamed, it will in my opinion be Americans.
There is
no magical answer to this question unless you have massive wealth and no obstacle can’t be overcome with money. For the
rest of us, make a plan, make some preparations, do whatever you can and do
it now. You WILL, no doubt, “forget something”. You cannot cover
all of the bases and you won’t, just don’t beat yourself up
because what is coming was not your doing. Do your
best…that’s all you can do. Maybe I am 100% wrong with my opinion
and we should have stayed where we were, I don’t know and we
won’t know until the smoke clears. Regards, Bill H.
Since Global
Meltdown I in late 2008, I have acted in numerous ways to PROTECT MYSELF
from the same FINANCIAL ARMAGEDDON Bill anticipates. One of those acts was
converting my mining shares to PHYSICAL bullion, but that was just part of my
plan. Given that I have no children – and work remotely – I would
be a good candidate to leave the country. However, I chose not to do so. For
one, I love Colorado, and secondly, I have little interest in the long
process of acclimatizing myself (and my wife) to a new culture, particularly
one like Costa Rica where the primary language is not English. But
that’s just me, and as they say, “different strokes for different
folks.”
In recent
years, I have been asked countless times of the virtues of leaving the
country, a topic that – as noted above – is highly subjective. My
answer is always the same, per below…
There is a
continuum of things one can do to PROTECT THEMSELF, with a “1”
being to move into Manhattan or Los Angeles and put all ones’ assets
into CASH at Citibank or Bank of America, and a “10” to move to a
desert island with all one’s belongings, hold all one’s assets as
gold buried in the sand, and subsist on the land.
In other
words, only YOU know how far you want to go on this “PROTECTION
CONTINUUM,” no matter what your friends, relatives, colleagues, or
RANTING ANDY say. And per Bill Holter’s
commentary above, you had better do your due diligence, as moving to a
foreign nation is an extremely risky action, perhaps as risky as
staying home.
In fact,
his experience brings to mind another topic I have discussed in the past,
that of the growing hatred of Americans across the globe. Throughout
the 20th century, America was seen as the model of democracy,
peace, ingenuity, and culture, but since then essentially ALL those views
have been shattered. America used to be viewed as the “Great
Satan” only by radical Muslims, but each day that passes, more of the
world’s populace is blaming it (rightfully so) for the global economic
meltdown, surging inflation, and loosened morals. Americans are also viewed
as wealthy and gluttonous, and thus will not only be social targets in a
FINANCIAL ARMAGEDDON environment, but for robbers and thieves as well.
Remember,
there are billions of starving people in the world, so consider what
they may be thinking when they learn statistics such as this, depicting
Americans’ appetite for food growing at the same exponential
rate as its appetite for “free lunch”…
This
Is Your Country On Fat: Presenting 14 Years Of Exponential American Obesity
To
conclude, the time to decide how far along the “PROTECTION
CONTINUUM” you want to go is NOW. This decision could mean your
“life or death” in the coming years – FINANCIAL and/or
MORTAL – so please be VERY, VERY careful doing your due diligence.
PROTECT
YOURSELF, and do it NOW!
|
|
