Banks are supposed to be the epitome of secure. You can put your money in their vaults, and forget about it. Don’t worry everything will be fine. And even if the bank goes under, the federal government insures deposits of up to $250,000.
But that won’t help if the government is the thief. The United States government can freeze your bank accounts for basically no reason, without due process. Then it is up to you to prove your innocence.
One reason might be that you have a name similar to an alleged terrorist on the list maintained by the U.S. government. The list is comprised of people suspected of involvement in financing terrorism but has remarkably little identifying information, sometimes only a name.
So if you happen to have the same name, or something close, the systems banks use will sometimes put up a false positive. Then you will have to prove your innocence to have your confiscated property returned.
It is not entirely the bank’s fault either, they are just trying to cover themselves from hefty government fines if they allow someone on the list to do business with their institution.
Others recently caught up in bank freezes included reporters for the Russian news company RT living in the United Kingdom (because only western propaganda is allowed to infect citizens’ minds). A Putin aide and other Russian state personnel also recently had their accounts frozen in the United States.
But it isn’t just foreigners and those with middle-eastern sounding names who are at risk.
If you owe the IRS money, or if they say you owe them money, boom, they can freeze your account.
Banks can also simply freeze your accounts on their own accord if they suspect you of doing something illegal or structuring deposits to avoid their reporting requirements to big brother; again, they are usually trying to cover their own behind lest the government blames them.
There have even been cases where private debt collectors have been able to freeze accounts, without notifying the account holder of any legal action.
One horror story involves a woman who had her accounts frozen because of an unpaid doctor bill that she was never informed of and should have been covered by her insurance. It was someone else’s mistake, but that didn’t stop her from being left with no money for months.
The case is still not resolved, and the scariest part is that some of the money confiscated was from Social Security, which is meant to be protected from seizure (except by the IRS).
Put Some Money Out of Reach
Luckily, there is an easy solution. Turns out there are overseas banks which are much more secure than U.S. and European banks. Even if the U.S. authorities freeze your domestic bank account, you will still have access to what you put away in a foreign account.
Sovereign Man, a website dedicated to helping people become financially and physically independent, offers a free definitive guide to offshore banking.
Many banks overseas still follow traditional, conservative banking practices.
They don’t gamble and make crazy loans with their depositors’ hard earned savings.
They hold strong, conservative levels of capital and liquidity, and they’re EXTREMELY careful with their customers’ money.
And unlike Europe and the United States, they’re located in jurisdictions where governments have ZERO debt and their insurance funds are well-capitalized and solvent.
We’re living in the 21st century. Our technology is instant and it spans the globe.
Geography is an irrelevant anachronism, especially in finance.
Don’t choose your bank because of its convenient location to your home or office.
Choose your bank because it’s the BEST, most CONSERVATIVE custodian of your savings…. whether that’s across the street, or across the planet.
An added benefit is that the foreign accounts often have better interest rates. In the United States, it is easy for the 3% inflation rate to outpace the interest your savings account accumulates if it is any lower than 3% yearly.
And, of course, a foreign bank account protects some of your assets from the sue-happy losers running around America trying to make an easy buck.
Keep in mind it is totally legal to have an international bank account. The old stereotype of people laundering money and hiding ill-begotten funds is just that, a stereotype. This is 2017, and it is a global world. Best to take advantage of the protection diversifying your funds across countries can give.
It’s a solution worth giving some thought. Of course, not just any foreign bank account will do. Sovereign Man has some great free resources on how to decide which bank is right for your needs, and how to open the account.
