Clients often ask what are the principal differences between Offshore Bank Accounts and Offshore Brokerage Accounts?

Offshore bank accounts (corporate or personal) are held by banks. They offer traditional banking services which make it more convenient to utilize the assets held in the accounts for purposes like everyday spending, receipt and distribution of funds. They usually offer online internet banking and debit/credit card facilities.

Offshore brokerage or trading accounts on the other hand are administered by private investment firms. The main advantage of offshore trading accounts when compared to bank accounts is that besides being able to hold cash in multiple currencies, they can also hold and transact in stocks, instantly and online. You can also buy any number of other types of investments including bonds, mutual funds, derivatives and commodities. They do as such offer greater flexibility in terms of providing access to a wider range of investments.

Like an offshore bank account, the brokerage account will typically offer services to allow investors to access their money such as wire transfers and/or issuing of bank drafts. They may also pay interest on cash balances and/or offer access to money market funds in several currencies, which usually offer better yields than holding plain cash.

However, trading accounts are not intended to be used for day-to-day banking transactions. Funds received in such accounts are expected to be used for investment purposes within the account. There may be restrictions on the frequency of funds transfers, particularly when it comes to third party payments.

If you would like more information we recommend you download Peter Macgarlane’s Practical Offshore Banking Guide 2008 – more info here:http://www.qwealthreport.com/offshore_banking_guide_2008.php

Syndicated courtesy of www.petermacfarlane.net

(C) 2008 Peter Macfarlane & Associates S.A.

By John L. Herman Jr.

Some business owners are like ostriches. They bury their heads in the sand. I have talked with owners who owed millions in debt, were 120 days late on their accounts payable, and couldn’t price and order correctly – and they still looked at me like I was crazy when I said they should sell and get out.

What was I talking about? They had no problem. Hell, the company had lived on this precarious edge for years. This time was no different from any of the other bad spells. It would all be over soon. After all, they had always recovered before.

If you own a business, ask yourself these questions:

· Do I have enough money in the bank to pay one month’s worth of bills?

· Are my sales going up or down?

· How are my margins?

· Is my bank considering pulling my line of credit?

If you don’t own a business – and we all do, really, because we are all a “business” of a sort – then check your bank balance against your credit card debt. Are you living over your head?

The most successful businesses recognize when they have a problem and do something about it, quickly. Whether it’s to a new strategy or to a completely new venture, they move on.

Author and businessman John L. Herman Jr. (“Herman”), who has owned more than 20 companies, has become an expert on why businesses fail. The above article was excerpted with permission from Hermanisms: Axioms for Business and Life. For more information about Herman and his business writing, please visit Hermanisms.com.] This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

by Peter Macfarlane for The Q Wealth Report

Shortly after Friday’s announcement that the US Mint had stopped selling bullion coins, an Irish Sunday newspaper has broken the story of a major retail gold shortage worldwide. This bears out my own experiences of the last few days, when a few emails to my regular banking contacts in Europe seeking to buy physical gold bullion on behalf of clients were met with responses like “it will be very expensive” or “our compliance department will go ballistic.”

According to the story, wholesalers reported that government mints and refiners, the primary suppliers of the metals, had stopped offering new supplies, suggesting that the restrictions on the market come from Central Bankers working in unison, rather than simply the US Mint as we believed at first.

It seems investors are running scared of gold ETFs as reported on my personal blog overnight, and with good reason. The only real gold is physical gold, and it seems now we cannot buy it at spot price or anywhere near. We are now seeing TWO Market prices for gold: a theoretical spot price set by the bankers and the ETFs, and another, premium price for real gold you can physically hold in your hands.

‘‘It’s absolutely unprecedented,” said Irish gold dealer O’Byrne, reported in the Sunday Business Post article. He went on to say that  shortages were likely to drive up the costs of gold and silver in the secondary market. ‘‘This did not happen even in the 1930s and the 1970s, and will result in markedly higher prices in the coming months.”

Mark my words – things will get a lot worse yet. If you can still buy physical gold now in your local bank or casa de cambio, run there first thing in the morning!

“These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people, and now that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon
to appropriate the people’s money to settle the quarrel.”

- Abraham Lincoln, speech to Illinois legislature, January 1837

No comment – enough said!

by Peter Macfarlane for The Q Wealth Report

I must admit I find what’s going on rather exciting, and I’m sure there are numerous ways not just to protect your assets but also to profit from the crisis sweeping the entire US financial system! I’m already preparing a last-minute article for the next QWR (issue 51) on this theme.

But you’re probably tired of reading endless commentary and platitudes. So in this brief blog entry I’m just going to write some updates about the bailout plan being debated in the US, some possibly shocking news about the US Federal government restricting entry into the gold market, and my recent thoughts and experiences on safe havens and second passports – all rolled up into one!

I’ve been predicting this collapse for a long time now, and what people thought were my crazy ideas just a few weeks ago, are now being talked about on Fox News. It’s not that I like to gloat, but it certainly gives me a feeling of satisfaction to know that people who have read and followed my advice are well prepared for the tough time ahead. Because one thing is for sure in my mind – “you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

The thing I find most bizarre is that the experts are talking about the need for a bailout to “avert” a crisis. Then I just saw some self-professed expert on CNN arguing that if the bailout does not go ahead, then the US government will end up owning nearly all the banks and insurance companies.

My view is that even the fact that pouring in $700 billion in is being seriously talked about would suggest that we are, erm, a little late in seeking to “avert” a financial crisis. Throwing hundreds of billions at the system is broadly equivalent to nationalizing the entire credit system anyway. (After all, the latest spin being put out, which was repeated by that very same expert on CNN, is that the Treasury might actually make a profit on this bailout deal.)

What Americans just can’t do, though, is get out of that dollar mindset. Yes of course the Treasury might very well make a profit in US dollar terms. All they have to do is have the Fed create more dollars. These days it can all be done online – printing presses are not necessary.

The point is that the fundamentals of the dollar suck. This so-called bailout can only make the dollar even weaker. Another word for this is devaluation. is just about devaluing the dollar still further. That’s what I wrote about way back when I first set up my personal blog – on the page “Peter Macfarlane: Protecting You Against the Falling Greenback.” Then, back in May this year in The Q Wealth Report number 50, I wrote about The Creep and The Jerks. We’ve been watching the creeping decline of the dollar for years – and now we are seeing the jerks.

Here at Q Wealth we always try to focus on positive solutions for wealth preservation and building. Right now we see very powerful vested interests on both sides fighting it out in the USA. My advice is that when there is fighting going on, you shouldn’t be around.

I just spent the week in Panama, with a great group at the Secrets of the Super Rich seminar run by the Property Investment Club. For the weekend I’ve flown up to the Dominican Republic. I spent Friday in Santo Domingo overseeing the case files of a few clients with naturalization requirements, with the assistance of our friends at Invest-DR before taking the four hour luxury bus ride up to the north coast. As I write this on the balcony of a condo overlooking the ocean, the sun having cleared away yesterday’s heavy rain and a cooling breeze and an even cooler “Presidente” beer refreshing my mind, I am very thankful to be in a peaceful place where I can sit and watch the world going by.

Here in the Dominican Republic, there never was any easy credit. People here somehow get on with their lives without borrowing money. If a Dominican wants to buy a house or a car, chances are he has to pay cash. Likewise with foreigners buying here – mortgages are available, but with nothing like the gearing we saw in the major markets. The result is that the economy here today is in pretty good shape, much better than it was five years ago. The good thing about tourism here is that it is not reliant on the US market. Dominican Republic has something like twelve international airports, with many direct flights from Europe and Latin America.

Dominican Republic would probably not be my idea of a safe haven. Not because it’s not safe, but just because when I’m here I miss certain little things. Personal preferences, you know. It’s perfectly liveable here, and it might be your safe haven in troubled times. It’s certainly one of the better places today for those looking to diversify into a second citizenship.

But all of us should have a safe haven. You should invest the necessary time and money to establish a “second life” for yourself, in a place where you could happily live if you had to leave where you are now. You also need to have enough money to live on for at least six months to a year stashed in a Last Plane Account somewhere. (If you’re wondering what a Last Plane Account is, check out James Turk’s article here and mine here)

Finally, if you’re a regular reader, you won’t be surprised to hear that the US Federal Government has begun putting obstacles in the way of private gold ownership. I’ve just published an article over on my personal blog about how the US Mint suddenly stopped the sale of gold bullion coins, ostensibly because they couldn’t keep up with the demand.

I said it above, but it bears repeating: you ain’t seen nothing yet. Watch this space! If you’d like to gain access to the members area and to deeper insight on all the matters discussed here, sign up now by clicking on the Join Now link above. If you would just like to stay in touch but are not ready to subscribe yet, sign up instead for our free email newsletter Q Bytes.

By Bill Conde for The Q Wealth Report

In my last blog entry I wrote about some of the cliches we have all heard, which taught us to be poor from a young age. Now here’s the cliche of cliches:

“Money doesn’t buy you happiness.”

A friend of mine says, “Yeah, but I’d rather cry in the back of a Rolls Royce than the back of a mini!”

Then there’s all the guff about materialism and spiritualism being opposed, which is nonsense. Being wealthy does not make you a charlatan just as being poor does not make you spiritual.

This one often comes down to a religious edict of some kind. Religion is the other great stifler of financial success (unless you happen to be part of the religion’s administration, in which case it is just fine for you to accept as much money as possible!). Perhaps the best known challenge to wealth from the Bible is

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven”.

No kidding! Gee, shucks I better stay poor then, otherwise we’re doomed to a life of roasting on eternal barbeques.

Yet I ask you this: who can give more to charities, local schools, any good cause? Is it the poor who are too terrified of making money, or the rich, who can donate in large amounts? Who has done more to help the poor, you or Bill Gates?

You see how serious that gets? How deeply entrenched are the mechanisms whereby we spurn or reject opportunities that could bring us untold riches?

Then there is the classic:

“The love of money is the root of all evil”,

which normally gets shortened to “Money is the root of all evil”. So, the mind is thinking, “Yuk, if I get rich, I’m going to be evil.” Not only that, but if I make lots of money, I’ll be one of the

“Stinking Rich, the Filthy Rich”

That money stuff sure is bad news. Makes me filthy, stinking, dirty. Don’t want that.

So people stay poor. Supposedly safe inside the cosy hologram that is their day to day job, until the economy collapses, or they get made redundant, or they die.

What about:

“Never a borrower or a lender be!”

Shucks, that cuts out buying a house, or an apartment, or even a hotel, or how about a chain of hotels – if you’re thinking of taking out a dreaded mortgage! Forget the leverage such an investment tactic gives you. No, no, stay inside, watch a reality show and don’t take any risks!!

OK, that’s enough ranting from me. But I hope you see where I’m coming from. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why all these blocks have been put in place. Rulers do not really want all their subjects to become financially independent. When that happens, there is a potential threat to the ruler (whether that is a king, a pope, a priest, a government or a military junta).

Governments worldwide cottoned on to what religions had been doing for centuries: teach the people to be poor, and give the rulers all their wealth! Simple, but very effective.

Now of course, information can travel around the world with the click of a mouse, so things are opening up for everybody. People are challenging preconceptions they have long held to be “truths”. This is great, because the big myth spouted by government and the media is that there is a finite amount of wealth, that we cannot all be rich at the same time (materially rich that it). This is just as stupid as saying the earth is flat. But then, remember what happened to Galileo when he suggested otherwise!

Poverty consciousness is the phrase used by many wealth-gurus to encapsulate the state of mind people are educated into by parents, teachers and media. I prefer the term “keeping us in the matrix.”

In fact, I would go further than that, for what happens is that people lose any sense of their own power, their innate value, their ability to achieve success overnight – and we all have these things. Poverty consciousness is actually denial of self. It is “unreality dependence”, a state where the individual has accepted the mainstream views and will fight to support them even to his or her own expense.

Changing our own reality is the key to changing our wealth, whether material, spiritual or physical.

It is as easy as waking up in the morning and saying “I am rich”.

Note: The Q Wealth Report is offering blog readers a free 12-part course on Offshore Wealth Creation. Easy, bite-size instalments will be delivered to your inbox every few days. To learn more, click here.

by Scott Schamber for The Q Wealth Report

With large financial institutions falling like bowling pins and the US Congress on the verge of the largest US bailout since the Great Depression of the 30s, the array of bad news flowing from financial world on a daily basis is dizzying.

In the context of current economic and financial market conditions, we expect the potential for a number of surprises coming out of left field that you need to beware of. With consideration to the importance of fully understanding the underlying issues at play and their implications, we have decided to EXTEND the number of registrations admitted for our upcoming briefing in Victoria, BC, Canada for October 3, 2008. We had already reached our set limit of 30 registered attendees in Victoria, but we feel the conditions warrant the extension for a few more.

Thus, the registration deadline will be extended to next Monday, September 29th. Ultimately, the number of open spaces is still limited, as we don’t want to lose the intimate atmosphere and the possibility of enlightening discussions provided by a smaller group.

And, don’t forget that our special guest, David McAlvany, will be on hand to discuss the bull market on commodities and precious metals, as well as to give the lowdown on safe and convenient global metals ownership.

You may find it interesting that the Briefing held in Zurich on September 16th was a smash success, despite being at the mercy of tremendous last-minute changes. As we woke up that morning in Zurich, we were reading about the Dow’s largest one-day drop since September 11th, 2001, and the rest of the Asian markets following suit. With a few last minute revisions, we went on to have a busy Briefing that culminated in an interesting discussion with conflicting opinions. We expect more of the same in Victoria, with focus on the core issues at hand in the US.

So, don’t hesitate to register today! We’ve seen how quickly things can change day-to-day, and one dares not think what may happen from now until Victoria on October 3rd. As one of our US clients aptly put it in a recent email, “things are getting bleaker on this part of the planet by the minute!”

Editor’s note: Scott Scamber works for BFI Consulting AG, one of our recommended consultants and Q Wealth experts, who specialize in Swiss annuities. They can be contacted via www.bfi-consulting.com

According to a recent Reuters report, Panama City aims to become the new center of the exclusive Diamond trade in Latin America, competing head on with traditional diamond businesses in Antwerp, New York and Israel.

As Q Wealth readers will know, Latin America is rich in minerals, and Panama has a steadfast reputation for offshore banking – but the diamond trade is something new for Panama. Panama is building Latin America’s first diamond bourse – destined to become one of the main players in the wholesale diamond market.

“Latin America is the last frontier,” said Erez Akerman, who heads the Panama Diamond Exchange, the group behind the project. “We are looking at four main markets: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile,” he told Reuters in the exchange’s temporary offices in one of Panama City’s upscale districts.

The $200-million project, due to be up and running by 2010, will – according to Reuters –  include a purpose-built 50-story skyscraper in the city’s banking district with safes, a gemmological institute, laboratories, polishing and cutting facilities.

Panama will make the exchange a tax-free zone and has applied to join the “Kimberly Process”, a due diligence accord designed to stop the spread of so-called conflict or blood diamonds. This will mean, for example, that Brazilian rough diamonds can be traded in the city.

This is certainly one to watch. With world financial markets collapsing all around us, business-friendly Panama is looking more at the hard assets we have long been recommending, like gemstones and gold.

by Peter Macfarlane for The Q Wealth Report

Well I’m not normally big on watching TV, but these last couple of days have certainly been exciting, watching the “financial crisis” unfold.

Last night I caught the end of an interview with my favourite US Congressman, Ron Paul, on Headline News. Forgive me if I don’t quote his words exactly, but when asked about this difficult week he said something like “this is just the preliminaries.” Then he went on to say the system is in for a huge shakeup, and that if things don’t turn around fast it looks like we are headed for an even more totalitarian regime, headed by big government and big corporations.

A lot of people, quite reasonably, are blaming banks – and now insurance companies – for the mess. Surprisingly (or perhaps not) not so many people are blaming the governments and the central banks. The Congressman pointed out that a debate over spending a million dollars might be bandied about in Congress for hours, while this trillion dollar support package was prepared in a matter of hours without oversight from Congress. He further pointed out that it is easier for Congress to get information from the CIA than from the Federal Reserve. Maybe that’s because the Federal Reserve is a private company.

Anyway, what is my point? The US dollar must be the biggest sub-prime debt out there. It is backed by nothing but the full faith and credit of the US Government, something that is fast going down the tubes. I’ve already pointed out months ago on my personal blog that the US has far the biggest debts and the lowest foreign exchange and gold reserves in the world, in other words it was effectively insolvent but being shored up by China (follow the links from this link)

Why, if the USD is bankrupt, has it been rallying in recent weeks against the Euro? Two reasons:

1. Manipulation of the markets, plain and simple

2. The EUR is also backed by almost nothing, it’s just that these days the financial markets seem to trust even the European Central Bank, which is something of a joke, more than the “full faith and credit” of the US Government.

As Ron Paul pointed out on Headline News, you can’t escape the USD’s problems by moving into another fiat currency like the Euro or the Swiss Franc, though it might give some short term respite. The real solution is to move into real money, for example gold. For further reading on this subject, visit Rayservers and follow my personal blog where I will be adding a more technical analysis shortly. That’s why those of us who keep most of our money in gold are sitting very comfortably, thank you, through this crisis.

As for the Chinese controlling most US debt, the pages linked above show it to be true, and on BBC this morning a China analyst was talking about how China’s Sovereign Wealth Fund is looking to buy up the relatively stable western banks. Apparently they are in talks right now with Morgan Stanley. They are also pumping millions into China’s big three state owned banks, making them stronger than ever. It’s worth noting that Chinese companies are prohibited from making acquisitions abroad due to their currency controls, so it really is the Chinese government that is buying up America.

If you are already “Prepared Thoroughly” you can sit back and relax and watch all this pan out. I remind you that Ron Paul said we are just in the preliminary stages of the crisis at the moment. I firmly believe he is right. My one “panic reaction” right now, is that I am taking action to liquidate some gold holdings I have in ETFs, which depend to a great extent on Wall Street, and am buying real physical gold to bury somewhere offshore like the pirates of old. My kid is already excited about holding on to the treasure map!

I think it is an old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times!”

If you are interested in seeing more and talking more about the unfolding banking crisis from an offshore wealth creation and profit point of view, it’s not too late to book a last minute trip to Panama. I’ll be talking about this – together with practical solutions and safe, secure banking – in a major hotel there next week at the Secrets of the Super Rich conference. If you would like to attend, get to Panama City asap. If you can’t make it next week, then we’ll be meeting again in November the week after the US elections: details at www.qwealthevents.com

by Peter Macfarlane for The Q Wealth Report

Panama City has become a very hot real estate market for international retirement and living in recent years. A lot of it, however, has been fuelled by speculation. For a couple of years I’ve been saying it has to end, much to the chagrin of those who want to hype off-plan apartments, and even though I’ve been offered attractive kickbacks to say otherwise. Now it really looks like a Panama real estate collapse is imminent, if not already upon us.

The irreverent blog about Panama, BanamaRepublic, agrees with me, answering the question as follows:

Of course we will. Many of these dodgy skyscraper projects were financed based on fake pre-construction sales while the banks looked the other way and now of course they’re all getting nervous. And who was it again who was selling these bonds for the McTrump Ocean Club and then bought them all itself? Yes, THAT bank. Add to that that nobody is selling any pre-construction condos and you can take over whole projects now, almost 10% inflation and the picture should become clear to anyone with half a brain. Good luck, speculators!

I agree. But if you buy right and have cash, now might just be the time to pick up a bargain in Panama City. I’m going down there next week for a “Secrets of the Super Rich” event. If anyone will be in the area, let me know and we can get together for a drink! My email is info@petermacfarlane.net