Offshore Accounts
A robust online offshore account can give you access to numerous financial services crafted to keep you financial matters private while helping you keep for the money you earn.
Some of the features you should look for in an offshore account:
Multiple currency accounts.
You want to be able to adjust your holdings against the ebb and flow of currency movements. Having one account that can accomodate holding mulitple different currencies is a great way to accomplish this without doing any forex trading/hedging.
Interest on savings.
Accounts which offer options for collecting interest while your money is sitting idle is a great way to help reduce the fees that often come part and parcel with offshore banking services and an offshore account. In conjunction with the last item, look for accounts that will pay interest in the major currencies you plan on holding or trading in.
Stock brokerage.
While not all offshore accounts offer this directly, having an account that has setup a partnership with an offshore brokerage house can make your life much simpler in regards to earning a return on your money while it sits offshore. There are a number of account options which will give you access to stocks, bonds, forex, commodities, options and futures trading.
Credit Cards, Bank Cards, and ATM Cards.
These are great to have for accessing your money quickly back home. Some offshore accounts will come with an option for Visa, Mastercard, or other well-known international cards. These work the same as "domestic" cards, however, these are usually either debit or secured credit cards. The offshore bank has really no way of assessing your credit risk, or collecting in the case of default. However, from the bank machine's or merchant's standpoint there is no difference between processing a request from an offshore bank card and a domestic bank's card. Instant access to your money.
Precious Metals Investments.
Some banks can arrange other investments for you to hold offshore, including precious metals and/or real estate. These hard assets are frequently in favor during times of accentuated turbulence in world wide political or economic times and can come in "handy" as a way to protect your assets from the ravages of inflation, when market forces dictate it prudent.
Bank Secrecy. T
he most important feature or product I saved for last. And that, is bank privacy or secrecy. In this respect, not all offshore accounts can be considered "equal". Some jurisdictions have incredibly strong bank secrecy laws, while others have none, or have let pressures from high tax regimes erode once proud bank secrecy traditions.
Setting up your Offshore Account
In this respect not all offshore accounts are created equally.
While recent know your customer (KYC) laws have made it more difficult for people to open accounts without physically visiting the bank, it is still possible.
In cases where you prefer, or it is more convenient, to open your non-resident account without visiting the bank, you will in most all cases need to establish your identity and your residency. This will usually involve notarized or apostilled copies of your government issued identification (passport, driver's license, etc) and one or two proofs of residence...e.g. a power bill or bank statement from your domestic bank with your address on it.
The offshore accounts that I recommend provide the greatest number of private and anonymous financial services anywhere -- with the easiest online account application process available that I'm aware of.
