“We are moving rapidly to a corporatist/fascist model” says Vera Verba for The Q Wealth Report

Things have begun declining rapidly in the US!

Obama’s health care takeover has a lot of normal Americans very angry. I now see and hear angry comments about this plan from non-political types at stores, on the street, etc. But, once these people show up at a meeting and complain, the elites slander them as carrying swastikas (Pelosi), being “funded by billionaires,” and having hidden racism and anger because there is now a black President.

These political elites evidently can’t handle dissent, and so, whoever opposes them is not only incorrect, they must be evil. Hence, we see things like this clip from the vile MSNBC:

We are moving rapidly to a corporatist/fascist model. Not only do we hear an abundance of “those who disagree with us are evil” comments, but the large institutions are lining up with Obama – even groups like the pharma lobby and AARP, whom you would expect to oppose such a system; one that controls pharma companies and will withhold treatment from old folks.

You may now expect the elites to get serious about undermining Talk Radio in the US.

The financial situation (currently in a Bailout Bubble) appears ready to fall apart again, and what happens this time is anyone’s guess.

In Production Versus Plunder, I was forced to conclude (against my initial inclinations) that Western Civilization is doomed. I said that there was a chance to avoid mass systemic collapse, but that it would be difficult. The hard thing (which I did not try to do in the book) is to predict when this happens. This week, it has begun to look more like years rather than decades. Was this just one bad week? I dunno.

So, it’s getting scary. (And there is an overflow of bad news from the EU as well.) I don’t have any specific predictions to throw at you, but the past week has not made me more optimistic.

Further reading: The writer is a member of the Q Wealth Panel of Experts as well as being author and publisher of many interesting books. If you are interested in more predictions about the Doom of Western Civilization, along with practical solutions to prosper from it, you might enjoy Dr Richard Cawte’s piece How to Prosper from the Coming Shift in Power that makes up the last part of our free five part course covering Offshore Banking, Asset Protection and Wealth Creation matters. You can obtain the free course by entering your e-mail address in the signup box above, or at this link: The Secrets of the Super Rich

A lot of readers have been asking me lately about offshore banking and wealth management opportunities in Singapore. Unquestionably, Singapore has some very sophisticated banks and bankers, and it has developed a well-earned reputation for discretion and confidentiality.

However I found the following observation on an internet discussion group, that I found interesting:

“Switzerland said it would seize UBS AG data to prevent the U.S. Justice Department from pursuing a U.S. court order seeking the identities of 52,000 American account holders in a crackdown on tax evaders.”

“The Swiss government “will use its legal authority to ensure that the bank cannot be pressured to transmit the information illegally, including if necessary by issuing an order taking effective control of the data at UBS that is the subject of the summons,” according to the filing.”

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“The Singapore government is proposing changes to its tax laws to meet demands from the U.S. and Europe to clamp down on bank secrecy.

“Singapore will seek to amend its domestic laws to allow it to extend further cooperation on information exchange” via double-taxation agreements with other countries, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.  It is seeking public comments through July 28 on the amendments.”

So, how can we interpret these two news items?

First of all, they both have to be taken in context. While it’s good to see Switzerland sticking up for its sovereignty, we have always recommended clients against doing business with big, international banks like UBS or Credit Suisse. Iwas hardly surprising that UBS were targeted, given their large US presence that makes them something of a sitting duck. We have numerous articles about the Right Way to do Swiss bank accounts (Cantonal Banks, for example), and our Practical Offshore Banking Guide includes contact details of other recommended sources for private banking in Europe (not necessarily Switzerland).

Singapore is a place we’ve never done a lot of banking business with, and the quotation above goes some way toward explaining our reticence. But we full admit that our geographic bias when it comes to banking is more towards Europe and Latin America. Singapore is certainly convenient for Asians and Australasians, due to time zones, languages and culture. On the other hand, it would have to be up there with Hong Kong at the top of the hit list for say the Aussie tax authorities, who are getting more and more agressive these days.

But is banking in Singapore and Hong Kong such a good idea for Europeans and North Americans? In my view, probably not. Both the EU (particularly the UK) and the USA have quite strong influences there, and neither of these entities are friends of offshore banking. Canadians might be OK in Singapore. If you are interested in banking in Asia, then World Offshore Banks has some intriguing services worth exploring.

Generally, the rule is that convenience is a threat to privacy. If you are looking for the most private, best offshore bank for you, you want to be as far away as possible – both geographically and culturally – from your home country and the places where your fellow countrymen do their offshore banking. Europeans might do well in Latin American havens like Panama and Uruguay. North Americans might do well still in obscure corners of Europe.

Whatever you decide, remember that nothing is for ever. You need to monitor the situation and changes taking place in the world of offshore finance. It pays to work with banks that are nimble enough to help you with this. We can recommend a few. And The Q Wealth Report is here to help you with offshore banking advice and recommendations. If you haven’t yet signed up for our Free Offshore Banking and Asset Protection course, I would recommend you do so!

by Peter Macfarlane for The Q Wealth Report

When you decide to open an offshore bank or brokerage account, whether in Switzerland, Cayman, Belize, Panama or anywhere else… one of the most typical requirements is for a bank reference letter. Offshore bankers are generally required to ask for such letters in order to complete their due diligence file on you as a new account holder. This applies equally whether you are opening a personal or corporate account.

Yet, bank reference letters can be a big threat to your privacy. You are opening an offshore account mainly for privacy reasons, I would assume. You believe that your finances are your business and nobody else’s. You are concerned about threats to your banking privacy onshore, in the form of tax information exchange agreements, credit reference bureaux and the like. So in this blog posting, I am going to look at what you can do to ensure your privacy, and whether it is possible to open offshore bank accounts without reference letters?

It has been reported recently in the offshore media that requests for “Bank Reference Letters” are now subject to “Suspicious Transaction” reporting in the USA. The story goes that banks are refusing to issue reference letters because they would then have to file a suspicious transaction report.

Frankly, we have seen no evidence to support this claim. It’s worth noting that more and more entities are requesting bank reference letters. For example, these days buying a high value property quite often entails providing a bank reference to prove clean funds, clear of criminal origin. So requests for bank references are really on the increase and most requests probably have nothing whatsoever to do with offshore accounts. On the contrary, one would think the powers that be would like to encourage more use of bank references because they create a paper trail. But therein, of course, lies the problem!

One of my clients in the UK did tell me today that she had been asked to justify to the bank’s head office her request for an open reference letter addressed “To Whom it May Concern.” Most UK banks now blankly refuse to write references like this, though some still do.

Anyway, whatever the truth of the matter, I understand that many clients are reluctant to tell their bank at home about the business they are doing offshore, and a bank reference request might entail this. So many clients ask how they can open an offshore bank account, whether corporate or personal, without a bank reference.

The answer is that it is difficult, but certainly not impossible. Over the years I have built up excellent relationships with a number of top flight European, Latin American and Caribbean banks, and I do understand how they work. By dealing at a higher level, I get to talk to intelligent bankers who are prepared to get to know clients as individuals not as numbers (though they might still offer numbered accounts!) The benefits of these referrals and relationships I am happy to pass on to my readers.

Let’s make it clear, I am not saying that I deal with banks that will cut corners on due diligence. We only want to deal with honest individuals. I have plenty of experience of sniffing out scammers or crooks and they will not get in the door at any bank, at least not with my endorsement.

But if you are a true, honest, freedom-loving and privacy seeking individual with good intentions and clean funds, who is sick of government intrusion in your life, then I am prepared to help you to open accounts without bank references. We can do it properly and legally in reputable banks. I do know which banks have more flexible policies, especially where higher level personnel are involved in the account opening.

You will have to provide some kind of reference letters, but not necessarily from a bank. Commercial reference letters might be acceptable, or references from a lawyer or accountant. Other banks might accept copies of the last 3-6 months of your bank statements, in place of a reference. Or sometimes you are permitted to open a personal account without a reference, and then use that as the basis to open a corporate account if you wish soon after.

I am certainly not going to name specific banks here in public, only to have them deluged with scammers trying to open accounts and picked on in public by the anti-tax-haven people. Suffice to say that if you are holding off opening an offshore bank account because of worries about providing a reference, don’t wait any longer. Take a look at my Practical Offshore Banking Guide 2009. If you are already a Q Wealth Member, it is available free of charge for download instantly in pdf format. If you’re not yet a member you can sign up right now and get instant access.

Within the Guide, I would refer you specifically to the section about “What Can You Do if Not All the Documents Are Available.” You’ll find some guidance there. You’ll also find a list of various different offshore banks and brokerage houses all around the world we have successfully worked with, done due diligence on, and recommend. If you need additional help with bank referrals, remember that as a paid Q Wealth member you are entitled to a free e-mail consultation with Peter Macfarlane in order to get your structure up and running smoothly.

Full membership brings a host of other benefits too… including information on Secure, Non-Reportable Gold Investments for example. You will also be invited to exclusive Q Wealth Events… designed for present and future millionaires!

If however you would prefer just to try our services first of all without any cost, commitment or obligation, sign up now for our free five-part introductory course on Offshore Banking and Asset Protection.

by Peter Macfarlane, Offshore Banking expert for The Q Wealth Report

“Obama Plan Aims to Limit Use of Offshore Havens by Multinationals and the Wealthy” is the subheading of a Wall Street Journal article entitled Firms Face New Tax Curbs.

Hot on the heels of the crackdown on tax havens announced in the UK budget, President Obama today reveals what White House press officers are hyping as “a far-reaching crackdown on offshore tax avoidance and evasion, targeting many U.S.-based multinational corporations and wealthy individuals.”

Ironically this new attack does draw attention to the fact that there is a great benefit for American companies and wealthy individuals to going offshore completely legally. If you’ve been wondering whether all this “offshore stuff” is completely legal, here you have your answer!

The proposed changes, if they happen, will take place between 2011 and 2019. So how much money can you save by going offshore legally right now, starting with your 2009 tax bill, even if you have to make some changes over the coming decade?

As the article points out, however, the current tax system is actually very beneficial to American companies running business internationally. The pharmaceutical and technology industries are cited as particular beneficiaries, as are high net worth (HNW) individuals. Treasury and IRS officials acknowledge it has become much more commonplace in recent years for both businesses and  individuals to take advantage of low taxes as well as lack of transparency in many offshore tax havens.

So going offshore may not be politically correct, but it certainly is legal and beneficial… and morally the right thing to do as well, if you don’t approve of what the government does with taxpayers’ billions. In this situation I’m reminded of the famous tax case judged by Judge Learned Hand that I quoted in the Practical Offshore Banking Guide 2009:

This decision became one of the bases of the US tax system at the IRS code.

Of course, it’s not an accident that the current tax system is very beneficial to American companies doing business overseas. The aim of previous governments that originally introduced this policy was to encourage American companies to do business overseas. Exports of goods and services were the mainstay of the American economy… until somewhere along the road the Chinese took over this role and the American economy became bloated by more and more money created out of thin air through dodgy banking transactions.

American technology firms like Microsoft or Google lead the world. Very likely if benefits like this had not been in place, they would not have decided to base themselves in the USA.

Obama, of course, knows this too… but he’s on the bandwagon at the moment trying to benefit from publicly cracking down against perceived abusers of the tax system.

Making it more difficult for these major pharmaceutical and technology firms to do business could be yet another disaster for the US economy. Microsoft alone has an economy bigger than many countries, and they are actually very well diversified geographically already. It would not take much to move their home base outside the USA, and I believe they would consider doing so in a flash if circumstances warranted it. Obama also doesn’t want to lose the likes of Microsoft and Google over a little publicity stunt, so he will have to take care.

Likewise, the High Net Worth investors who are sophisticated enough to be doing offshore are likely the ones who are actually creating wealth for the American economy. They are to be encouraged. If they leave the USA, the USA will be the loser, not the individuals.

So what will come of this? Frankly not much I believe. It is hype, designed to appeal to the masses, circulated by the mass media. To scare people off unsophisticated tax evasion tactics like having unreported personal offshore bank accounts … puehhlease!!!

People who read The Q Wealth Report know better than to believe the hype or break the law. We explain exactly how you can benefit from going offshore legally. We even offer a free five part course so if you are not yet amongst the super wealthy HNWs, you can become one. Module 1 of our free Secrets of the Super Rich course is about Offshore Banking. This one and the other four modules will allow you, in about ten minutes a day, to gain a new perspective of the world we live in – and the way you can prosper within it. We will show you ways you can legally create wealth offshore because of the recession – not in spite of it.

As I said at the beginning, this new attack does draw attention in no uncertain terms to the fact that there is a great benefit for American companies and wealthy individuals to going offshore completely legally. How much money can you save by going offshore legally right now, even if you have to make some changes over the coming decade? Start today with the Secrets of the Super Rich and The Q Wealth Report

After all the hype about tax havens and offshore banking secrecy, the blacklist is no more. A BBC News Report announces that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has removed all four countries (Costa Rica, Malaysia, the Philippines and Uruguay) from its blacklist of tax havens.

“I’m pleased to say that those four jurisdictions have now made a full commitment to exchange information to the OECD standards,” said OECD chief Angel Gurria said speaking in Paris, as reported by the BBC. All four targeted countries have now agreed to adopt OECD standards.

Last week, the G20 leaders agreed in London to take sanctions against tax havens, using the OECD list as its basis. In their communique, they agreed “to take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions, including tax havens“.

It appears that they now have no-one left to take action against, an apparent public relations victory against offshore bank secrecy and the international wealth management advice industry. However, as in most matters of international co-operation and the world of offshore banking and asset protection, there is a little more to this story than meets the eye!

With all the banking secrecy jurisdictions having in theory agreed to change their laws to co-operate on international fiscal matters, why bank offshore? It might appear that there is no future for those of us who believe that we should not be treated as criminals and that wealth we have earned through our own hard work should be allowed to grow unfettered by unnecessary and intrusive government regulations.

Peter Macfarlane’s article about the OECD, G20 and Much Ado About Nothing in the Offshore Banking World explains why this whole show is really nothing more than a publicity stunt by Messrs Brown, Obama and Sarkozy, and why the advice in the Practical Offshore Banking Guide 2009 is still very much valid…

With that, we wish a very happy and peaceful weekend spent relaxing with loved ones to all our Q Wealth readers, wherever in the world they are. We too will be signing off and continuing to do business internationally to help the world’s entrepreneurs generate and create wealth.

by Peter Macfarlane, Offshore Banking expert for The Q Wealth Report

Strange as it may seem, given all the hype in the news recently, when I started to search on Google for the blacklist of non-co-operative tax havens and bank secrecy countries published recently by the OECD at the behest of the London G20 meeting, it was mighty hard to find the complete list! Even on the OECD site after visiting multiple pages, I found only a pdf file that by no means makes the blacklist clear.

I suppose I should not be surprised, however – for, as I wrote in my article G20 and OECD: Much Ado About Nothing this whole campaign is more about publicity, distractions and scare tactics than real action against tax havens. The list on the OECD site is obviously the result of a lot of political horsetrading – would you believe for example, after all the recent hype, that the OECD does not list Luxembourg and Switzerland as tax havens? And how on earth did Chile get on the list – did you ever hear anything about offshore banking in Chile? While Hong Kong, a major offshore financial hub,  escaped listing altogether, for fears of upsetting the Chinese.

Here, then, for the record is a complete list of non-cooperative tax havens as published by the OECD, for which I would like to thank the print edition of the Spanish newspaper El Pais dated April 4th, 2009. In fact, there are three lists: the blacklist (countries that ignore foreign fiscal authorities) a grey list (countries that supposedly lack fiscal transparency but have commited to change) and a third list, neither grey nor black, of countries that are “non-co-operative financial centres.”

THE BLACKLIST

Costa Rica, Philippines, Malaysia

THE GREY LIST (COUNTRIES THAT HAVE COMMITTED TO CHANGE)

Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrein, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey,  Isle of Man, Jersey, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Monaco, Monserrat, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, Niue, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Seychelles, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu (Uruguay was oficially added to this list a few days later)

NON-COOPERATIVE FINANCIAL CENTRES

Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Singapore, Switzerland

By Peter Macfarlane, Offshore Banking Expert for The Q Wealth Report. Part of the mini series on Secrets of Offshore Banking and Asset Protection.

Clients often ask me “what is the best offshore bank?” However, there is no correct answer to that. The best answer I can give is to respond to the question with a question. Best offshore bank for what? For privacy? For wealth management advice? For corporate accounts? For e-commerce? All these require different types of banks and services, which is why there is no single “best offshore bank.”

Below are just a few factors you should consider when looking for the best offshore bank for you. Let’s talk first about privacy or bank secrecy, because that’s what is on most people’s minds at the moment.

Your Country of Citizenship and Residence as beneficial owner of the account is a major factor, even if technically you are opening an account for a corporation or foundation from the other side of the world. In order to enhance your banking privacy, you should be looking to bank in a jurisdiction where you home country does not have undue influence. Europeans, for example, should look to other continents, to countries that are not covered by the European Union Savings Tax Directive. That means avoid all European countries, including Switzerland, Liechtenstein etc. Avoid also territories of European countries – like the Cayman Islands, which are British, or Curacao which is Dutch. Panama might be a good option, or Uruguay, or a wilder card country.

For Americans, however, Panama is to be avoided. Even the best offshore banks in Panama cannot be regarded as private for Americans, because of the US influence in Panama going back nearly a century. Switzerland no longer offers good banking privacy to Americans – since long before the current UBS fiasco. The Caribbean is also too much within the US sphere of influence. Americans looking for the best offshore bank for privacy should look to some lower-profile European countries, or maybe to the Middle East or Africa.

Another important factor to consider is what do you want out of your bank? For some people, the best offshore bank may be one where you have a great relationship with a private banker who knows you, advises and supports you, and takes you to lunch in a nice restaurant when you visit. Others couldn’t care less about that, but prefer great technology – online access to markets 24/7, without the hassle of trying to get hold of a private banker by telephone to execute buy or sell instructions.

Some people know exactly what they want – while others don’t have a clue and therefore need good, impartial wealth management advice.

Also important – how strong is the bank? Very important these days as most offshore centres do not have deposit protection or guarantee programs like the FDIC. That said, reputable offshore jurisdictions really don’t need such programs. The banks being bailed out are in the USA and Western Europe. Small, private offshore banks generally have a much more conservative profile and are not exposed to so much risk. We haven’t heard of any tax haven banks going under during the crisis, have we?

Next question o your mind – does Peter have specific recommendations for banks? The answer is yes I do. I deal with a number of the best offshore banks, right from small ones through to the biggest, physically located in many different jurisdictions around the world. I can put you in contact with them so you can open your account directly, with no need to deal through intermediaries. This information, however, is reserved for paying subscribers of The Q Wealth Report. Specifically, you will find my recommendations for the best offshore banks in the Practical Offshore Banking Guide 2009 that you can download right now in the Members’ Area, as soon as you have signed up. If, after reading this guide, you need more help making a decision, members are welcome to contact me for a personal one-on-one consultation. If you are considering membership of The Q Wealth Report, then the Practical Offshore Banking Guide 2009 is just one excellent reason why you should sign up now!

Coming Next: Wealth Management Advice – Whom Can You Trust?

by Peter Macfarlane, Offshore Banking Expert at The Q Wealth Report

I’m writing today with a pint of Guinness in front of me from a pub in County Cork, Ireland, where I have just arrived to prepare for the Q Wealth event with Richard Cawte and Thomas Bolther this weekend. Over the next few days here on the Q Wealth blog I’ll be giving you very brief sneak insider preview of something I’ll be talking about this Saturday to a select group of readers who have chosen to join us here in Ireland.

In essence, I’ll be talking about the changes being brought about in offshore banking by the UBS case, and the pressure from the USA, France, Germany and elsewhere by means of the forthcoming G20 summit in London. Is it hot air and hype? Or will the offshore banking business as we know it be irreperably damaged? Which are the best private banks for wealth management long term? Are Swis banks still good? These are just a few of the questions I plan to answer.

I’ll also be talking about the strengths, weaknesses and contingency plans of the various private banks and offshore brokerages featured in our 2009 Practical Offshore Banking Guide, and of course I’ll be talking about my new Gold Report – both of which are available right now for download in the Members’ Section here on site.

Check back here over the next three or four days for this series of mini-postings that I’m going to call “The Truth About Offshore Banking and Asset Protection.” This information is absolutely free, as is our Secrets of the Super Rich email course. If you haven’t signed up for the free course yet, please do go ahead and do so! For further information you might enjoy learning about our opinions on the best offshore banks.

Some of the large banks in the United States are like “dead men walking” and most are “insolvent”. That is the conclusion of an article by Steve Lohr in today’s International Herald Tribune.

Nouriel Roubini,  professor of economics at the New York University, has to date been both pessimistic and prescient about the crisis. In his latest report, Roubini estimates that total losses on loans by American financial firms and the fall in the market value of the assets they hold will reach $3.6 trillion, up from his earlier estimate of $2 trillion.

Of the total, he calculates that American banks face half that risk, or $1.8 trillion, with the rest borne by US non-bank financial institutions (such as insurance companies) and banks based outside the USA.

“The United States banking system is effectively insolvent,” Roubini said.

Roubini’s numbers might be the highest, but he’s certainly not alone in his dire predictions. Simon Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, estimates that the United States banks have a capital shortage of $500 billion. “In a more severe recession, it will take $1 trillion or so to properly capitalize the banks,” said Johnson, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, quoted in the IHT article.

At the end of January, the IMF raised its estimate of the potential losses from loans and other credit securities originated in the United States to $2.2 trillion, up from $1.4 trillion last October. The IMF says that US and European banks would need at least $500 billion in new capital, a figure more conservative than those of many economists.

Still, these numbers are all based on estimates of the value of complex mortgage-backed securities in a very uncertain economy. “At this moment, the liabilities they have far exceed their assets,” said Posen of the Peterson institute. “They are insolvent.”

Yet, as Posen and other economists are at pains to point out, there are crucial issues of timing and market psychology that surround the discussion of bank solvency. If one takes the somewhat optimistic view that current conditions simply reflect a temporary panic, then the value of the banks’ toxic assets could well recover over time. If not, then we can guess what will happen.

“If they had to sell these securities today, the losses would be far beyond their capital at this point,” says another expert, Raghuram Rajan, a professor of finance and an economist at the University of Chicago graduate business school “But if the prices of these assets will recover over the next year or so, if they don’t have to sell at distress prices, the banks could have a new lease on life by giving them some time.” That sort of breathing room is known as regulatory forbearance – essentially a bet by regulators that time will help heal banking wounds.

Note: If you are worried about your exposure to the financial collapse and the falling dollar, the answer might be right here. Q Wealth Offshore Banking Expert Peter Macfarlane will be giving a presentation on offshore banking in Ireland next month at Q Wealth’s “Meet the Men Who Made Their Clients Millions” event along with Dr Richard Cawte, It’s not too late to book your place, by clicking on the link above. Otherwise, sign up for Q Wealth’s Q Bytes newsletter today so you can receive our free missives approximately once a month.

by Peter Macfarlane for The Q Wealth Report

I’m pretty attuned to financial and economic news, being a writer on offshore banking and asset protection matters. I’m well aware of the declining dollar. So I’m probably not as easy as most people to shock. But something showed up in my inbox today that really made my jaw drop. Today I received a guest article from Olivier Garret of The Casey Report, that he sent over to be posted on my offshore banking blog. It showed some startling statistics, based on a new report out from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The 2008 Bailout has cost the US government so far $8.5 trillion. At the rate we are going, says Olivier, this will be in double digits – double digits in trillions that is – before the end of this year.

Of course, figures like this are way beyond most people’s comprehension… which is no doubt the reason the US government got away with this in the first place. So, it might be interesting to put this in context. That is where my jaw really dropped, when I read the said article.

If we add up in today’s inflation adjusted dollars, the total cumulative cost of all of the major wars and government initiatives since the American Revolution, they come to $8.1 billion. That’s right, less than the total cost of this year’s bailout.

We are talking here about (in descending order of cost):

• The Second World War
• The all-time budget of NASA
• The Vietnam War
• The Iraq War
• The New Deal
• The Korean War
• The Korean War
• The First World War
• The Savings and Loan Crisis
• Afghanistan/GWT
• The Marshall Plan
• The Gulf War
• The US Civil War
• The American Revolution
• The War of 1812
• The Louisiana Purchase

Yes that’s right folks, you add together the cost of everything on the above list and the total is still less than the money the US government has spent on this year’s bailout.

Wow, is all I can say. I knew things were pretty bad, but doesn’t that just put it in context? (As an aside, it’s interesting too to see how much the Iraq war is costing in comparison to other wars) If you want to read this all in more depth, take a look at the original article at the link above.

If this doesn’t make you feel any too comfortable about your investments in US dollars, I’m not surprised. If this doesn’t demonstrate we are in for very hard times ahead, then what does? The time for preparation is now. It’s time to build security and wealth offshore for your family, and for many the time has come to ditch the US, the UK and other economies that are so dependent on the current financial system… instead, it’s time to do something new, something that really creates value, something that will not just protect you but will make you prosper in the coming years, living the international lifestyle of your dreams.

We live in a world of information overload. You need a reliable guide, that won’t feed you the mass media hype. That is what we do here at The Q Wealth Report, the leading private newsletter on offshore banking and wealth creation. Join us now and don’t miss out on this essential information just for the minimal price of a subscription!