Panama: +507 396 9011
Recent Posts
- What Are the Strategic Metals Offered by Swiss Metal Assets
- The Financial Crisis Began Five Years Ago
- China to Cut Rare Earth and Strategic Metal Production
- Strategic Metals that make your Computer Work
- VW Upset Over Chinese Firm Espionage
- Why Do We Buy Metals?
- In a Down Economy Tungsten Continues to Outperform
Today more than ever it is important for a person to diversify the location of their assets. If you are one of my readers there is a good chance that you believe in Precious and Rare Metals as a form of protection against inflation, and governmental shenanigans. Metals give a person piece of mind like very few other investments can.
Some of the benefits of Metals include.
- Paper assets can depreciate to zero, Metals will not.
- Metals are a hard asset that can be handled, free of third party interference.
- Metals are a store of value.
- Metals are both a form of money and used in industry.
- Metals are highly liquid.
Why take your metals offshore? Inflation according to the US government is running close to 3% and banks are paying a paltry 1-2% for interest. People are increasingly worried about government seizure of their paper assets and hard assets. Recently Portugal decided to take over its pension funds until the financial crisis passes. As we know once a government takes over something they rarely give it back. How long do you think until nations like the USA, UK, Germany, Canada and Australia start invading their pension funds? In 1933 the US government under the leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt required US citizens to turn their Gold in for currency. Do you think that the governments of today are any less bold?
The four main benefits of offshore investing include.
- Asset Protection
- Confidentiality
- Tax Sheltering
- Diversification
There are many different ways a person can buy and store metals internationally. A client could buy and store in their personal name. They could store their metals in an offshore IRA. They could purchase their metals through a company that they control. They could use a Trust or an offshore structure that they control. This opens up a wide range of opportunities for the savvy metals buyer.
In the spring of 2012 we are tentatively scheduled to open our latest storage facility in Panama. We have had many clients asking us if we knew of an option for them to store their metals closer to home. Our waiting list of clients looking to take advantage of this opportunity continues to grow. It will be located in the Panama Pacifico Free Zone which is the old Howard Air Force Base in the Canal Zone. Currently we have our facility in Zurich, Switzerland in the Swiss Free Zone. If you would like more information to buy Metals or to be added to our Panama storage wait list please feel free to contact myself or the team at Swiss Metal Assets.
Customers ask, How would I transport the Metals to Panama? Brinks is the logical choice for me. They offer door to door service for the client. You can learn more on their website.
The financial situations are getting more and more complicated for nations throughout the world. Don´t you think it is time that you protected your assets?
By: Randy Hilarski - The Rare Metals Guy
One of the most common questions I hear in the metals business is, “where do I store my metals?”. This question is often posed by a person, foundation or trust that is looking to secure their investments. Usually we hear about buyers of gold, silver, platinum and palladium who want to protect their assets but now there is a growing number of clients who are looking to diversify beyond the core metals we all know so well. How do we best protect our assets today with all the uncertainty? Here I will discuss why a portion of your metals should be stored offshore, and in what form works best.
What kinds of Metals can an Entity Store Offshore?
The metals people most often store outside of the country are gold and silver although experienced metals buyers might also buy platinum and palladium. Recently clients have been able to buy other rare industrial metals like tellurium, cobalt, molybdenum, hafnium, indium and tantalum. A few years ago the average investor would not have had the ability to buy some of these metals unless they owned a company that produced items which needed these rare industrial metals.
Why is it Wise to Store Offshore?
In the 1930′s during the Great Depression the US government confiscated all privately held gold. US citizens were not able to possess their own gold again until the 1970′s. Will we have a similar situation this time around with the world in its current state of transition? How is the US government planning on fixing this situation? Many countries are choosing inflation, currency devaluation, low interest rates and austerity measures. When these techniques fail to rein in the problems will governments turn to gold and their populations’ assets? One thing I know is that indium, cobalt, tantalum, tungsten and many of the other rare industrial metals and rare earth metals are on the critical metals list of the USA, EU, Japan, Korea and China. The question is whether rare earth metals and rare industrial metals will ever be deemed so crucial to economic and industrial applications that a country may decide to control the purchase of these metals. We see what China is doing with these metals and one must ask ones’ self, “Could these control measures spread to my country?”.
The old saying, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, applies here. Clients commonly say, “I want to be able to touch my metals”. This is great, and encouraged but the stress of knowing so much of your assets are under one roof can be too much to handle for the average person. The metals can possibly become a liability and risk to you and your family’s safety.
Why would I not take delivery of Rare Industrial Metals and Rare Earths?
Some clients may wish to take delivery of their metals. This can be done just like gold and silver but the big difference is that these metals are used in industry. When the client takes the metals to the broker they will ask for the metals to be assayed. This is the process of taking a sample and sending it to a lab to verify purity. Also when dealing with rare industrial metals the amounts can be quite large and take up a good deal of space. Some elements like hafnium are controlled because of its use in nuclear technologies and it cannot be transported internationally. The metals trader stores the metals for the client and upon request resells the metals.
How do I Store the Metals Offshore?
When researching where to store your metals make sure to do thorough due diligence. There are many options for the investor. The most common choice is a safety deposit box in a bank. Safety deposit boxes are the most widely recognized. They are great for small allocations of metals. Storing in your second home offshore is also a common choice. This is also good for the client who has a small allocation of metals. Offshore bank vaults are also an option but can be rather expensive. The best option for clients with medium to large amounts of metals is an offshore private vault or depository. The prices are reasonable and they offer unparalleled privacy. A good example would be the Zurcher Freilager AG free zone in Switzerland.
What about Taxes?
This is a complicated issue that needs to be addressed by a tax professional. Every country has its own tax rules which are far beyond my expertise. As far as the Zurcher Freilager AG is concerned, as long as the assets are sold within the free zone it is a tax free event.
What are you doing about securing your future? Every day we hear more and more about an unstable financial market, geo political uncertainty, governments overreaching and bad economies. Wouldn’t it be prudent to have your assets spread out across the world?
What is holding you back?
By: Randy Hilarski - The Rare Metals Guy
Source: http://www.buyrareearthmetalschinaprices.com