Product Description

Here is a timely, comprehensive, and invaluable guide to using offshore investing as a method of asset protection. From evaluating places in which to invest to avoiding offshore scams, this easy-to-understand book provides you with all there is to know about keeping the money you earn.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78464 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author

Arnold Cornez, J.D., is president of the Global Group Ltd., a financial consulting company. He has been quoted in Barron's and has appeared on the PBS program "Frontline."

Customer Reviews

Outdated, old-fashioned and Politically biased book
First, the disk is useless. 80% of the references to internetsites are outdated. The other 20% are of questioinable nature (pureself-promoting advertising sites). Second, the author spend 30% of the book trying to convince the reader (which he patronizingly refers to as the Reluctant American) that it is worth-while to look off-shore for asset protection and tax avoidance structures. I expect most people buying this book would already be interested in the actual mechanisms of holding assets offshore, and would not need additional pushing. Third, the book does not offer any simple and structured explanations of the archaic schemes Arnold illustrates. Key issues such as tax planning questions are given with out reference or citation, while the footnotes are littered with irrelevant comments about stock prices and historical events.

This book is only for reader who need to be coerced into into simply travelling abroad, not for those that are looking for guidelines and contacts on how to keep money offshore. Better books (like Tax Havens of the World, or 2000 International Tax Havens Guide : The Professional's Source for Offshore Investment Information). You pay for what you get however, ast this book is inexpensive compared to the books that really add value.

Investing Advice from an Offshore Pro
Of all the offshore investment books that I have reviewed, this is the best for the price, especially for US citizens. I found this book to be full of usable information and a 'must read' for anyone considering an offshore investment or business strategy. The author offers some very worthwhile advice. While most worthwhile offshore books on the market cost in excess of $200, this book provides some good useable information in both the 'do' and 'don't' department and is an excellent and inexpensive way to get started or come up to speed with recent US legislative changes.

The Internet is big factor and one that has had a major impact in offshore planning. However, it is a double-edged sword. It has allowed clients access to new information and providers with the ability to promote themselves worldwide. It takes skill and knowledge, however, to separate fact from fiction and legitimate provider from suspect.

Offshore investing and stock trading have grown exponentially in the last 3 years but the trick again is distinguishing truth from fiction. Arnie is disturbed by the number of US investors who believe that simply setting up an IBC or other offshore entity and trading through an offshore broker removes them from the responsibility of paying taxes on capital gains in the US. While this may be possible for foreigners investing in the US stock markets, US citizens and residents do not escape income taxes at home simply by investing through offshore structures or an offshore broker. With that said however, an offshore strategy does permit deferral of taxes due on capital gains earned offshore if properly set up, similar to strategies for onshore investments but such structures are often complicated and expensive.

If it were easy and inexpensive to set up a legal structure to eliminate taxes, everyone would do it, which is something that the Internal Revenue Service and Congress will not tolerate. Once this is understood, a strategy for the US person who is an offshore trader and investor does offer other significant advantages as well. These include asset protection and greater privacy. One of the greatest benefits is access to broader markets not normally available to individual onshore investors thanks to the raft of stringent Securities and Exchange regulations.

Finally, if you are looking for a magic strategy in a book (or books) you will probably be disappointed. As attorney Jay Adkisson said recently, the author who puts a technique for reducing taxes down in print usually dooms it to attack by bureaucrats at home. I have certainly found this to be true in my years of reviewing offshore texts and one to be remembered when reading The Offshore Money Book. Even if such structures remain viable, offshore books do not offer sufficient enough detail to permit them to be applied without professional assistance. However, only by reading lots of books will one be able to know the difference between a good offshore professional and one who doesn't know his elbow from a hole offshore in which to sink your money!

Matt Blackman goldhaven.com

Best of a weak crop
This book is better than most of the weak efforts in the field. It's written by a lawyer, and it does, helpfully, expose a lot of examples of schemes that WON'T work. But the reviewer from Peru has it right: none of these books seems to have really detailed descriptions of tax saving/asset protection schemes that might actually pass muster with the IRS/courts, so the whole thing comes off like an ad to bait you into buying the inside info from the author directly. All said, though, this book is a good deal better than any of its competitors.