• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Banking

Where You Should Be Opening An Offshore Bank Account

How To Choose Where To Open A Bank Account Overseas (And Why You Need One In The First Place)

Lief Simon by Lief Simon
Jun 15, 2020
in Banking, How to, Offshore
0 0
0
beach at the cayman islands

Image Source: iStock/sorincolac

379
SHARES
5.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

We’ve been reporting lately on your best choices for establishing alternative residency overseas… and why the right to live indefinitely in another country is a more urgent agenda right now than it’s been any time before in our lifetimes.

Backup residency and second citizenship are two key components of any global diversification plan.

A third is a bank account offshore.

Why might you want a bank account in another country?

Maybe because you’re planning to move to that country and need an account from which to pay your local bills…

Maybe because you’re intending to invest in a rental property in that country and need an account into which to receive your tenants’ rent payments and, again, from which to pay related expenses…

Maybe to support the start of a business overseas…

Perhaps because you don’t like the idea of your available cash sitting 100% in U.S. banks… or all in U.S. dollars…

Or perhaps because you’d like to diversify and expand your investment options, again, beyond U.S. markets.

With everything going on in the world right now, more options for where to keep and how to access liquid assets are, like residency in another country, a critical priority.

Your reasons for needing or wanting a bank account offshore help determine where best to open the account.

If you’re intending to live or retire, either full- or part-time, in your chosen Shangri-la overseas, then, to state the obvious, that’s the place where you need a bank account. In this case, you’re talking about a personal operating account.

Same goes if you’re purchasing a rental property in another country. You’ll need a personal operating account to support that investment. If the investment you plan is in a business, then you may need a corporate account.

Things become less cut and dried when your agenda is to do with diversification of cash on hand, of currencies, and of your investment portfolio.

If an offshore bank account is part of your asset protection and diversification plan, here are variables to consider… ways offshore banks compete and distinguish themselves:

Required Minimum Investment

Some Swiss investment banks require minimum deposits of as much as US$1 million or more to open an account. That doesn’t work for everyone.

On the other hand, in Belize, for example, you can open an investment account with as little as US$1,000.

Ability To Move Money Remotely

This is a deal-breaker. What good will it do you to have an account with a bank in a foreign country that requires you to go into the bank in person to initiate a wire transfer?

This is a critical factor to remember not only when choosing where to open your offshore bank account but also with regards to your U.S. bank. You need to be able to move money from your U.S. account to your foreign account and vice versa from anywhere in the world. You don’t want to have to fly back home to Nebraska to initiate a wire of funds to your new bank in Colombia.

One U.S. bank in particular that we know does not allow the long-distance transfer of funds is Wells Fargo.

Increasingly, though, the ability to send a wire remotely is a service supported by banks worldwide. In addition to confirming that you will be able to move money without showing up in person at the bank, ask for details concerning the bank’s remote-wire security systems. Some banks use emailed passwords; others use fobs or security tokens.

Fees

One consequence of FATCA and the U.S.’s current anti-money-laundering crusade has been a steady increase in the cost of banking offshore. Banks worldwide are passing on the cost of compliance and increasingly onerous know-their-client requirements to their customers, meaning, depending on the bank, monthly fees, report fees, and rising wire fees.

Our top recommended offshore banking jurisdictions right now include:

  • Andorra
  • Cayman Islands
  • Cook Islands
  • Panama
  • Singapore

The Cayman Islands are notable for their 500 banks with a collective US$3 to US$4 trillion on deposit.

I’d like to leave you today with a homework assignment.

Likely you’re already set up for online banking with your current U.S. bank. However, if you’re not, log on today to remedy that.

Making sure you can access your current account and move money into or out of it remotely is an important first step toward expanding and diversifying your banking options, and it’s one that you can take from anywhere in the world, including your living room right now.

Once you’re able to manage your current account online, you’re ready to diversify your banking options.

Lief Simon

Share162Tweet91
Lief Simon

Lief Simon

Lief Simon has lived and worked on five continents and traveled to more than 60 countries. In his long career as a global property investor, Lief has also managed multimillion-dollar portfolios of rental properties, for others and for himself. He offers advice on international diversification in his twice-weekly Offshore Living Letter and monthly Simon Letter dispatches.

Related Posts

A farmhouse in Croatia
How to

4 Lessons We Learned Renovating Rental Property Overseas

by Kathleen Peddicord
March 26, 2023
0

In advance of the purchase of the property known as Lahardan House, the 200-year-old Georgian manor home we bought years...

Read more
Senior couple sitting on chairs at summer beach

Your Plan For Retiring Overseas Can It Be Part-Time?

February 28, 2023
Picturesque lane with flowers in an Italian hill town

5 More Things To Check Before You Move Overseas

January 11, 2023
What We’re Planning For The Next Stage Of Life

What We’re Planning For The Next Stage Of Life

January 8, 2023
Beautiful beach with palms and turquoise sea in Jamaica island.

11 Essential Tips To Plan Your Retirement Overseas

October 9, 2022
Plaza De Botero, Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia

Assessing Your Best Overseas Residency Options

September 16, 2022
Famous old Nyhavn port in the center of Copenhagen, Denmark during summer sunny day

The Best Way To Protect Your Assets And Grow Your Wealth

September 14, 2022

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas ...

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2023

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Download your FREE report on

The Best Places To Retire In 2023

New Year, New You, New Life Overseas

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY