In 2007 alone over 800,000 millionaires disappeared from the Untied States. This is an alarming number but most people have made the mistake of thinking it was the internet .com bubble bursting along with the real estate mortgage securities fiasco that explains what happened; however, they are wrong.
While the bubbles bursting may have had a partial effect, it is not the whole story. The part of the story that is not being reported is that the number of millionaires overseas has increased by over 3.8 million in the same year! What that means to you and me is that it is not the millionaires that are disappearing but in fact it is the wealth of America that is disappearing. It is not so much that millionaires are disappearing but more close to the truth is that they are leaving.
In just the last five years alone the American Dollar has been decimated and it continues to loose value every day. Add in the rising costs of everything from health care to gasoline and it becomes an even grimmer picture. So much so that it is estimated, according to a 2008 US News & World Report article, that over 6.5 million Americans are leaving or have plans to leave the country each and every year! In the most recent 2010 U.S. Census report the number of Americans who renounced their citizenship has doubled.
When someone decides to leave they take there wealth with them. No longer are they investing in their local communities but are in fact investing overseas. They buy homes overseas, they buy there groceries and their consumables; in effect “transferring” wealth out of America and overseas. If, assuming for arguments sake, that the average amount of wealth that they take with them overseas is $50,000 that means that over $325,000,000,000 dollars leave this country for overseas each and every year!
So what does this all mean? I am oversimplifying but in short; it means that there are fewer and fewer American citizens every year resulting in a higher tax burden for those that are left behind and there is less and less “cash” on hand at the banks. This causes restricted lending, solvency problems for the banks and an number of other myriad of problems. All of which results in a depressed economy or results in the Federal Reserve having to print more money which only leads to a weaker and weaker dollar further exasperating the problem; it is a vicious insanity cycle that must stop.
But, it does not appear that it will happen anytime soon. With a more and more invasive government and more and more talk of raising taxes and with the cost of basic living requirements going higher and higher there is no relief in sight. Protect yourself. Talk to a professional financial advisor and make some sound decisions. For me, I looked at a number of options. But, the number one factor I was looking for was a protection of my assets. I was looking for something that was going to protect my money, notice I did not say Dollars but money, from the devaluation of the dollar and hopefully out pace inflation with either its rate of return or its rise in value or both. I personally like having my “money” in a “basket” of different currencies. Most importantly, I also needed a shelter from those insidious taxes. Look I am not a rich man, far from it. I spent 18 years of my life working for the United States Navy Reserves and owned my own financial services firm till I was recalled to go fight a war. I am just a regular guy but that does not mean I can’t start thinking like a millionaire. Follow their lead because they are millionaires for a reason. For my worst case scenario, I have my exit strategy. Do you?
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http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8097375/first_person_why_and_how_i_chose_to.html?cat=3