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Even though the book is now clearly out of date, the need for information on internalization is more relevant than ever, as governments the world over become more desperate.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:
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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.
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Yourself: Obtaining a second passport from another country and establishing legal residency in foreign countries.
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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.
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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.
