| 03 June 2008
This being my first entry on a new blog, I thought
it would be a good idea to set the scene. Why I am motivated to write about
Freedom, Wealth, and Privacy? And perhaps more importantly, how can this benefit
you the reader?
The offshore and wealth management business has
changed completely since I first became involved in this sector. The reasons
for going offshore back then were basically tax mitigation and asset protection.
It was taken for granted that Wealth had to be created onshore, then stored
and protected offshore. Certainly these motivations are still major factors
in sophisticated offshore planning, but that’s not what I’m going
to be writing about here. Others have already covered that more than adequately.
Today there is a real potential to generate wealth
completely offshore: to name a few examples, through e-commerce, writing and
consulting, investing, real estate and so on. More and more people are physically
leaving countries like the UK and the US, sometimes on a part-time basis, sometimes
permanently. These smart individuals, the new brain drain, are taking their
earning power directly offshore. (Taking the broad definition of offshore: any
country other than your own!)
They have discovered how they and their families
can live a better quality and healthier life internationally – for a lot
less money than back home. It just makes good sense.
Freedom is something we all crave, and the more
entrepreneurial characters in our ranks feel stifled and restricted by big onshore
government these days. Certainly taxes have something to do with it, but there’s
a lot more to it than just taxes. I’m going to blog about how we can find
the freedom to live our lives the way we want, and create wealth in the process.
How we can escape stress to release our maximum potential for productivity and
creativity.
Because wealth is something we can create, nurture
and grow, anywhere in the world. It’s interesting to look up wealth in
a dictionary. The word wealth stems from the Anglo-Saxon “weal”.
It has three definitions:
- Wealth, riches, possessions
- Welfare, well-being, happiness
- The welfare of a country or community: the
general good
So, wealth is all those things that we normally
think of: riches and possessions. But it’s also a lot more than that.
It includes a sense of well-being. Obvious if you stop to think about it…
no point having money if you do not have health and happiness to go with it.
I’ll be writing more on this matter in future blog entries.
Finally, privacy. Privacy is, to my mind, an essential
element of freedom and security. It’s about the freedom to choose what
you want other people to know about yourself. It’s about data security
and protecting access to your wealth. Privacy is another reason more and more
people are choosing to move business offshore, even if there is no tax advantage.
You may have nothing to hide, but that’s still no reason to publish your
financial and personal information on the internet. When I’m talking about
this subject at seminars, and I feel the audience needs shaking up a bit, I
refer them to Henry Porter’s Channel 4 documentary Suspect
Nation about surveillance of individuals in the UK and USA. If you
haven’t seen it yet, you should.
So, look forward to more blog entries about Freedom,
Wealth and Privacy. I hope you enjoy them and that you can use the information
here to benefit your business and your life. In turn I would much appreciate
your feedback, comments and questions. I can be contacted via info@petermacfarlane.net
Peter Macfarlane is joint editor of The Q Wealth
Report an established newsletter dedicated to informing readers about creating,
protecting and growing wealth in a secure offshore environment. It also covers
international living, banking, retiring and investing. Visit www.QWealthReport.com
to see more.
You have been reading an entry on the following blog:
The Q Wealth Report
Peter Macfarlane of The Q Wealth Report blogs on Freedom, Wealth and Privacy
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