Wealth International, Limited

© Copyright 2000 Wealth International, Ltd.

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Preface

Liberty in crosshairsUnfortunately keeping this report totally current is akin trying to hit a target moving at the speed of sound with a single-shot rifle. Any illusions that the offshore-related legal and regulatory environment has stabilized are soon disabused. Since September 11, 2001 governments have relentless pursued an intensive multi-front legislative, enforcement, and judicial assault on political and financial freedom, seemingly with an eye towards ending both as we have known them within our lifetimes (or sooner). Respect for government may be well off its peak, but the public accepts their losses in those domains with resignation, rather than counterattacking. Our attempts below to summarize this situation cannot replicate the impression obtained from watching the accumulating stream of repressive measures introduced and perpetrated.

After reading this report, one option is to proceed to the W.I.L. Offshore News Digest pages and start updating yourself. (In most cases the headline and brief summary are sufficient to give you the idea behind the item.) This will provide an antidote to any feelings of complacency and thoughts that we are exagerating the gravity of the situation. But we would add that neither doing nothing nor worrying too much about the destructive forces at work in the world are prescriptions for enjoying life. Inform yourself, act appropriately, and then move on. In this philosophy we write.

Even were we all residents of a fantasy world where the rules were not constantly changing, this report would still be a perpetual work-in-process. Nobody in this arena has the final word. People and community standards evolve. Changes in the interpretations of the relevant laws and principles occur routinely. Our abilities to articulate certain points improve, as do our strategies and tactics. All of this will be reflected in ongoing updates to this report and elsewhere on the site.

Introduction

Your assets in crosshairsThe purpose of this report is to introduce you to concepts and tools useful for protecting and increasing your wealth, and to persuade you that they are relevant to you. We believe that investing a moderate amount of time on the subject will provide large returns. If our language ever sounds overly paranoid, cynical, or conspiratorial, it only reflects our assessment of the dangers threatening unprotected assets in today’s legal, political, and economic world (reread the preface above). Perhaps we even underestimate the dangers. We hope not. Fortunately protection that is significantly better than doing nothing can be had for relatively modest expenditures of time and money.

Be clear that going international is not risk-free. But neither is doing nothing. We view the lack of urgency that most people with enough wealth to warrant protecting exhibit as analogous the man who jumps off the roof of a highrise, and as he falls past the second floor he yells to a watcher: “So far, so good!” Others may understand the dangers in principle but fail to act due to a sense of despair or detachment. In contrast, in certain “push your limits” personal growth workshops one is invited to participate in exercises, such as scaling a high wall, that feel quite dangerous even though there is a failsafe net in case you slip or lose your grip. There, your emotions and intuition supply a false readout on the dangers to life and limb. The typical fears which influence people away from financially moving abroad are equally unjustified.

Also please note that this report is an introduction only. More comprehensive and legally exact coverage of the subject matter exists. This treatment is designed to impart some basic knowledge to those with little or no backround in using legal means to protect and enhance one’s wealth.