Dear Readers
As a Hemisphere’s Subscriber, you are cordially invited to attend our 14th President’s Week Forum for Asset Protection and Global Investment, March 10 – 14, 2011. This year’s meeting on wonderful Ambergris Caye, Belize will be better than ever before. With speakers and attendees from all over the world we will examine and discuss the best and most cutting edge methods to protect, preserve and grow your wealth.
So often a client walks through my door to discuss trusts, corporations, family limited partnerships and/or other structures designed to protect their wealth. Structures are very important, but structures alone cannot do the job in a one-size-fits-all approach to asset protection. While an international trust may be just what the doctor ordered for protecting a surgeon's life savings, the same structure will do very little to help a commercial real estate developer operating in litigious North America.
The structure is only part of the equation, while the investment class is the other part. You need to put both parts of the puzzle together in a coherent fashion to truly protect and grow your wealth.
If it’s January it must be tax season…. Many U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents of the U.S. (green card holders) move to another country and forget or choose not to file a tax return in the U.S. But be warned: The U.S. requires you to file a tax return accounting for your worldwide taxable income—and the statute of limitations never runs out.
In many cases, you may have few or no U.S. taxes to pay, thanks to exclusions and deductions that you may qualify for as an expatriate. But you definitely are required to file if you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien. Not filing can create major issues. For instance, if you live abroad for 10 years and then return to the United States, the penalties and interest you’ve accrued may be more than the actual tax.
Spending the last several months on Ambergris Caye, Belize there have be many highlights from my morning runs along the beaches and trails along the Caribbean Sea. While staying at my favorite location- The Exotic Caye Resort, my morning consists of the mandatory workout of running and swimming. Just walk out of your room and toward the beach.
Twentytwelvology. You won’t find it in Webster’s dictionary. Not yet. But believe me, before this decade is out, we’ll have that as well as plenty of 2012 -isms and -ographies.
It’s now officially 2012 – the year the Mayan calendar comes to a much anticipated end. There’s worldwide buzz and considerable conjecture… What will really happen on December 21st? Here in Belize, the excitement is growing. This Mayan history and presence is notable in this small country. Unlike TV pundits, Belizeans don’t expect the world to end. What they are planning is a series of unusual events, and initiatives, to celebrate this momentous year.
Cahal Pech in San Ignacio
On Friday, October 21, 2011, I boarded a plane in Waco, Texas. About 26 hours later, after stops in Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Brussels, and Banjul, I arrived in Conakry, Guinea West Africa. I arrived back in Waco on Wednesday evening November 2nd.
Conakry has a population of close to 2 million people, most of whom seemed to be walking, driving, or otherwise occupying the streets whenever my hosts drove me around town. If any of you have taken a cab ride in New York, you can begin to have a small sense of what traffic is like in Guinea. (For additional photos and videos, email me at ssappington@gmail.com, and I will send you a link. You will need VLC or another Media Player to watch the videos.).
