Gyroscopic Investing

I was just reading over Craig's blog post from 5/1/14 on geographical diversification and have linked it here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160324133 ... -doomsday/

Just curious if any of you on this forum have done this and how. If you have done it, do you have a feasible plan for how to access your overseas assets?

I know that Harry Browne advocated this as part of his PP philosophy but that was in the days when Americans could legally have an account in Switzerland, correct? Any suggestions for today's world? Does Canada count for those of us who are within driving distance, or is there too big of a risk that our neighbors to the north will get swept up in whatever might befall the US?

To be clear, I don't really spend time worrying about this but I have this feeling that a lot of folks on here just kind of ignore it.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

barrett wrote: I was just reading over Craig's blog post from 5/1/14 on geographical diversification and have linked it here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160324133 ... -doomsday/

Just curious if any of you on this forum have done this and how. If you have done it, do you have a feasible plan for how to access your overseas assets?

I know that Harry Browne advocated this as part of his PP philosophy but that was in the days when Americans could legally have an account in Switzerland, correct? Any suggestions for today's world? Does Canada count for those of us who are within driving distance, or is there too big of a risk that our neighbors to the north will get swept up in whatever might befall the US?

To be clear, I don't really spend time worrying about this but I have this feeling that a lot of folks on here just kind of ignore it.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

One of the recommendations for geographic diversification is to hold physical gold in a country that you generally trust and enjoy.  I think that should be a big part of it.  No sense having your assets in a place that you wouldn't want to spend some time at.

Given that, I would assume it shouldn't be too onerous to visit that place every year or two.

If you are okay making a trip to visit your coins once in a while, then storage is the way to go.  No need for an account.  Craigr and MediumTex discuss several options for safe deposit boxes overseas.  Relatively easy to obtain in many countries.  Good details in their book.  Vienna, New Zealand and Australia are all great options.  A safe deposit box is not a foreign account and gold can be purchased locally in all of those of places.

Yeah, I asked about Canada as an option because it's easy for me to get to and I have friends there. Austria is not a big draw for me. I was last there in 2010 or so. I went to New Zealand & Australia in 1982. Both are nice places but are way the hell away from the east coast where I am located. Just looking for a more practical solution, I guess. I don't want to have to pay 5-10K to visit a safe deposit box somewhere.

I read the book but am not really satisfied that the trade off in time and money spent in order to diversify this way is worthwhile.

From here in Texas, Canada is awfully far geographically, and awfully close politically and economically.  Mexico doesn't fit into the "generally trust" category; neither does the rest of Central America.  I guess some of the Caribbean islands are within reach (barely)...  Grand Cayman or the Bahamas might work.  Definitely some hurricane risk though.

I think it's a great idea that I will probably never implement. There was a thread here featuring a lot of members who were close to the Canadian border, and I think setting up an account there made sense for them. I don't travel overseas as much as I used to.

Mainly, I think there is a better chance of my gold not being recovered by heirs overseas than there is of me needing to flee the U.S. to recover my gold overseas. So, the most I will do is to set up accounts in towns where I have immediate family. They're also in the States, but at least there's a bit of bank & state diversification.

When I am old and demented, maybe I'll design a treasure map with a pirate theme.

Yeah, I used to travel like a madman and could easily have imagined that an overseas safe deposit box would be a viable option. Maybe geographical diversification is a young person's game. Interesting point, Dualstow, about balancing your heirs' need to get at your assets versus a scenario where you have to flee the country.

Yeah, I remember that Canada thread. Sorry if I am going over old ground. Just glancing over that chapter in The PP book and Canada would seem to fall into the category of "stable neighboring country that could provide some protection from events at home."

The other thought I had is that it might just be a good idea to have a stash of stable foreign currencies as Mitt Romney supposedly had in his Swiss account prior to 2010 (my stash would be smaller than his was).

I do agree with Craig and MT that options to diversify geographically are quickly being closed. Something else I wonder about much closer to home... I am still a bit surprised that I am able to walk into my bank and cash a check. I wonder if I will be able to do that in ten years or if that will be considered a suspicious thing to do.

Is it legal to walk into a Canadian bank and just open up a safe deposit box without having to declare it back in the states and then purchase gold there?

Just remember too that there is no perfect solution. You want to just make it harder for a government action to take everything you own. Think of an Argentina situation, or Greece/Cyprus happening. You don't want to wake up Monday morning and find out an emergency executive action signed at midnight froze all your US based assets.

So even if it were in Canada that is better than being 100% in the U.S. It doesn't even really need to be a safe deposit box as that is a logistical nightmare. It just needs to be in a place that might not cooperate immediately with any U.S. order, or at least delay long enough that you could take action to stop it. Monetary problems happen very fast, and normally resolve quickly in the market after the initial shock. You just want to miss the first X days/weeks of a problem if you can. If the problem drags out for months then at least you have asset options that other people wouldn't.

So while I don't think Canada is perfect as a U.S. resident (it's far too pliable to U.S. political pressure being so close), it would be a lot better than doing nothing at all. Again the name of the game is stalling and keeping options open if something very bad were going on in the U.S.

I might do the Perth Mint thing online someday. Seems like less of a hassle.