Obtaining an Offshore Bank Account

Have you ever thought about getting an offshore bank account? If not, allow me to give you some reasons why they are an important financial tool for your portfolio. I also want to provide some insight into how you go about obtaining an offshore online banking account.

Diversification is typically thought of as having a mix of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds within an investment portfolio. However, diversification can be a lot more than that. Having part of your wealth outside of your home country allows you to avoid the risk of a government freezing all of your assets, or the effects of currency fluctuation throughout the year.  Also, there are jurisdictions with low taxes that may be available to you. Next, you have to consider that some countries have more stable, or even thriving, economies than others.

It used to be that you need to show up in person to apply for an out-of-state bank account, let alone an international bank account, but these days you can visit a local branch of an international bank and get it done from there. While there are quite a few documentation requirements, it’s virtually pain free, and the account can be fully managed online from the comfort of your own home.

The globalization of large corporations has actually contributed quite a bit to the popularity of offshore bank accounts. Expats that are transferred to foreign countries for work like the ability of having a bank account in both their home country as well as the one they reside in for work. The assignments are usually temporary but the bank accounts stay open long past their departure from the foreign country.

Beware that the minimum balances for these types of accounts tends to be higher than that of domestic accounts. Also, there can tend to be varying fees depending on the services utilized with these accounts.

Hopefully you can see the benefits of holding an offshore bank account, and give some thought to diversifying and obtaining one of your own.