As any international investor can tell you, there are plenty of options for offshore banking institutions these days. Some nations, like Belize, are intentionally positioning themselves as favorable environments for people who want to use offshore investing as a means of building assets for retirement. Part of being a favorable environment means offering banking services that are relevant and easy to use on an as needed basis.
In order to decide where to base your international banking efforts, it helps to spend some time identifying your reasons for establishing offshore accounts. You will also want to define what you want to accomplish with those accounts in the short term and the long term. Here are some ideas that will help with the process.
Do You Need an Offshore Banking Account?
Before you spend a lot of time looking at different offshore banks, it helps to decide if you really need anything other than domestic bank accounts. For more casual investors who are interested in holding a minimum amount of international investments, establishing anything other than domestic accounts may not be all that important. If you are serious about offshore investments and want to manage a multiplicity of holdings ranging from stocks to real estate, then it is in your best interests to find the best offshore bank to aid in those plans.
One of the best reasons for establishing an offshore bank account is that it will make it much easier to engage in various types of investment activities. For example, you will find that financing international real estate deals is a little easier if you have accounts with the bank. In addition, you can also claim the tax advantages of international banking when all those investment transactions are routed through your offshore banking account. From this perspective, the best offshore bank can end up saving you a lot of money and also making it easier to expedite those investment transactions.
What Features Do I Want?
The best offshore bank will offer a full range of banking services. These will include the ability to establish multiple accounts ranging from checking to savings to money market accounts. The idea is to provide a solid base for all your investment activity. Those bank accounts will also serve as the repository for any earnings that are generated by your foreign investments.
You also want easy access to those bank accounts. Along with the ability to work with an agent who can represent your interests locally, there is also the need for a reliable and secure online access to those accounts. As you consider the merits of different offshore banks, pay close attention to the security process that helps to protect your proprietary information. You also want to think in terms of how you can obtain customer service and support when you are physically located somewhere else in the world.
Don’t overlook the importance of being able to use your accounts to manage your assets. The best offshore bank will offer the ability to set up recurring payments for mortgages or contributions to specific types of investment funds. You also want the ability to check on the status of all those transactions when and as needed. Access to the account data will come in very handy when tax time rolls around and you need to report your earnings to a domestic tax agency.
Your ultimate goal is to find the best offshore bank for your purposes. By defining what you want to get from the relationship, it will be much easier to identify a bank that is based in a nation that is right for your investment efforts. Assuming the bank makes it easy to manage your assets, there is a good chance that the relationship will be a fruitful one for both parties and help you move closer to your goal of achieving a high level of financial security.
