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As many of you may know, International
Man has its roots in the book of the same name. It was first
published in 1978 by best-selling author, speculator, and renowned world-traveler
Doug Casey.
The original intent of that
book was to give readers a general sense of the exciting and opportunity-rich
world that lay outside of their national borders, with a review of over 100
countries, valuable "opportunity intelligence," and the resources
that anyone could follow to realize these opportunities.
Even though the book is now
clearly out of date, the need for information on internalization is more
relevant than ever, as governments the world over become more desperate. The
purpose of this website is to preserve the mission of that book and be the
premier location for up-to-date, highly actionable, and practical information
on the topic.
So why is
internationalization prudent?
Doug Casey has said over and
over that spreading your political risk beyond one single jurisdiction is the
single most important thing he can recommend today.
Political risk is minimized
when you don't depend absolutely on any one particular country. Having all
your eggs in one basket only makes it easier for someone to grab them all.
Being internationalized makes it much harder for any particular government to
control you.
We will no doubt see the
major underlying trend of increasing political risk (especially for
Westerners) get worse as governments sink deeper into fiscal and moral
bankruptcy.
It is only prudent and
logical to assume that you will, somehow and someway, continue to be squeezed
harder in the pocketbook and subjected to escalating arbitrary and burdensome
regulations and restrictions. In short, expect more government and less
freedom all around.
The window to protect yourself from these risks by diversifying internationally
gets verifiably smaller with each passing week. There are many ways to
internationalize that do not require you to leave your home country. It is
not necessary (at least, at the moment) that you immediately leave and become
an expat.
However, it is
necessary that you develop the options to internationalize
before the government closes the window of opportunity to do so. If history
is any guide, it won't be open forever.
In that sense, it is much
better to have developed and implemented many parts of your
internationalization game plan a year early rather than a minute
late.
There are four broad areas
of internationalization:
1.
Savings: This covers how to setup offshore
bank, brokerage, and financial accounts, foreign real estate and "bolt-holes"
in case of trouble, moving and owning gold overseas, and structures like
foreign trusts that help to legally reduce taxes. Placing your savings
outside the immediate reach of your local government ensures that they cannot
be trapped in the case of capital controls or outright seized at the drop of
a hat, such as what happened when the government became sufficiently
desperate in Cyprus.
2.
Yourself: Obtaining
a second
passport from
another country and establishing legal residency in foreign countries.
3.
Income: The structuring of your cash flows
to reduce dependence on any one source in any one jurisdiction. Establishing
additional sources of revenue, international investment opportunities and
trends, and setting up an offshore company.
4.
Digital Presence: This commonly includes your IP address (which can often pinpoint you
to a precise physical address), email account, online file storage, and the
components of personal/business websites.
Last, I will leave you with
a primer on internationalization with Doug Casey.
To navigate all the possibilities and
options available, it is imperative to have the most accurate and current
information possible. Casey Research has recently updated and expanded its
popular Going Global report to give its readers exactly that. Going
Global 2013 explores in detail the choices investors have for
moving investments offshore, including insurance and trusts; it discusses
many stock markets and currencies; and it covers internationalizing yourself,
starting with getting a second passport and including choosing a new country
(or countries) in which to create homes. If you want to start
internationalizing, you'll find no better resource on the subject. Click
here to learn more and get started today.
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