| trends | strategies | American Family | steps | home | STRATEGY 2: Acquire a second citizenship and/or passport through an economic or residence-leading-to-citizenship program. Many large countries offer citizenship to those who acquire residence status and fulfill tax and possibly physical presence requirements over a predetermined naturalization period. Other countries offer citizenship directly by fixing an additional government fee in lieu of a naturalization period. Which option or combination is appropriate depends on your personal goals and circumstances. The proper structuring and implementation of this type of strategy requires the assistance of an experienced advisor. Such an adviser will look at issues such as timing, cost, minimizing the "footprint" of tax and residence obligations through planning structures, escaping US tax regimes, maintaining the ability to travel visa-free to as many countries as possible, and the practical "livability" of such a strategy for all family members. A properly structured and executed residence and/or citizenship plan will greatly impact the lives of your descendants for several generations. STRATEGY 3: Acquire a home and assets outside of your home country. This may involve obtaining a retirement residence permit in a low-profile country or could be in combination with economic citizenship or residence leading to citizenship. This strategy would result in the long-term ability to move to a chosen location on a full or part-time basis. This strategy may become increasingly attractive as privacy and tax strategies fall victim to "anti-terrorist" laws. If as part of this strategy, the proper steps are taken to lose the status of US taxpayer, then a wide range of legal offshore tax avoidance and asset protection strategies also become available. STRATEGY 4: Take proper legal steps to reduce tax and privacy evasion. The days of "off-the-shelf" trusts, bearer share IBCs and anonymous offshore banks accounts with linked credit cards, as the means to reduce your tax burden and regain privacy are gone. The new reality is that if you chose to remain within jurisdictions like the US, you will have to get used to a decreased level of privacy in your financial dealings. Furthermore, if you wish to decrease your tax burden, your only option is to retain sophisticated tax advisors to help you take advantage of a dwindling number of legal tax avoidance strategies. Quick, cheap undetectable tax evasion strategies are now useless and dangerous. Implementing legal tax avoidance plans for those who remain US taxpayers will have its own problems. Constantly changing domestic rules result in long-term uncertainty and "change fatigue" as domestic advisors suggest expensive on-going revisions to your "estate plan". These government actions will become triggering catalysts for increasing numbers of wealthy, ambitious or educated Americans to take the required legal steps to withdraw from the status of being a US taxpayer. The Irish Potato Famine, the Scottish Highland Clearances, the Russian Pogroms, and World War II were major historical events that drove immigration to the US. September 11th 2001 may well be remembered as the time when a group of far-sighted Americans were inspired to review their current lives and implement changes to their residence and citizenship that would greatly enhance the lives of the generations that followed them. Undertaking these changes in an effective, timely, and cost-efficient manner is the immediate and major challenge for these pioneers and their advisors. Recognizing the impact and predictable fallout of current events is the first step. Taking action is the second. Maybe now is the time to get out of Dodge! ...continue American Family Member? | top |