Are off shore bank accounts worth it? (US citizens)

[clover12]

Would you prefer putting $$$ here in the USA, or elsewhere?  please discuss

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[avikz]

I can give you few reasons to support offshore banking business over onshore one. Let me list out at least two reasons below. I will use the examples of Indian Banking system as I am well aware of it.

1. Higher interest rate:
In Asian countries like India, interest rate on bank deposits varies between 6.9% to 7.8%. It is way higher than any US bank. That helps your money grow faster in offshore.

2. Privileged service:
USD account holders are considered privileged clients. So it offers a lot of additional banking services for such segment of clients. For example, a no brokerage trading account, unlimited free ATM withdrawals, doorstep banking service to name a few.

Usually NRI people are the ones who enjoy such privileges to maintain USD accounts with Indian banks. It is definitely worth to maintain an offshore USD account.

[PlusOne88]

Well that is surely agreeable. Everybody would want to see their money go up in value because of high interest rate. The only problem I could see in this is the idea that you have to probably go offshore to check on the bank personally should you have some trouble about your savings. But anyway this is not much of a problem if the bank has a good customer support. Especially the online support, and most of all, if banks would have to apply or use cryptocurrency for your accounts to be checked and withdrawn easily when needed.

[avikz]

Well that is surely agreeable. Everybody would want to see their money go up in value because of high interest rate. The only problem I could see in this is the idea that you have to probably go offshore to check on the bank personally should you have some trouble about your savings. But anyway this is not much of a problem if the bank has a good customer support. Especially the online support, and most of all, if banks would have to apply or use cryptocurrency for your accounts to be checked and withdrawn easily when needed.

Not really mate! Indian Banking system is technically very advanced compared to many other first world nations. The customer service is also robust so no one would need to visit the bank personally even if they run into any issue with the banking account. I personally maintain two bank accounts and I don't remember when was the last time I had to visit their branch. Everything is done online and over phone nowadays.

[clover12]

Well that is surely agreeable. Everybody would want to see their money go up in value because of high interest rate. The only problem I could see in this is the idea that you have to probably go offshore to check on the bank personally should you have some trouble about your savings. But anyway this is not much of a problem if the bank has a good customer support. Especially the online support, and most of all, if banks would have to apply or use cryptocurrency for your accounts to be checked and withdrawn easily when needed.

Not really mate! Indian Banking system is technically very advanced compared to many other first world nations. The customer service is also robust so no one would need to visit the bank personally even if they run into any issue with the banking account. I personally maintain two bank accounts and I don't remember when was the last time I had to visit their branch. Everything is done online and over phone nowadays.

Don't you need to set up the account in their country?  I'd have to make a trip over there?

[cizatext]

Well it all depends on your purpose of banking the money either offshore or in $$ US because some offshore saving may yield more interest then in the US bank, example some banks in the UK, and Indian pay more interest then most of the banks in the US and also the use of the found to found certain project of choice can force you to bank it offshore.

[Crypdon]

It depends if you want to support your country. Offshore accounts encourages taxes to be avoided and national debt to increase. Although my preference is to go with bitcoin instead and not support any bank in any country

[wuvdoll]

On the topic of high interest, yes you can get higher interest in other countries but its mostly their own currency and not dollars. Which means you are betting against the fiat of that country vs dollar while getting the interest. What if you put your money into a country where their national currency lost more in value than the interest gives you against the dollar ?

In that case you wouldn't be making money at all, hell you would be losing dollars in that case. That is why it doesn't really make sense to put your money in any other country just for the interest.

Nevertheless, if you invest into those countries that is whole another topic, USA companies do make decent amount of return but they are also high entry barrier places whereas an investor could have a ton of stock from some offshore company and could reap the benefits when profiting.

[bitmover]

As far as I know, off shore bank accounts are expensive. You need to pay high bank fees.

Hey are worth if you have a big amount of money, so you can save on taxes.

[clover12]

Well then what bank is offering great interest rates here in the USA??  Mine offers seriously LOW return.

How else can I SAFELY park my fiat with some interest compounding?

[clover12]

Let's say my current bank has funds in it.  Whether it is $500, or $50,000,  Does the government know how much is in there??

Does my bank release info about the value of my account, to the government or some other places??? It's like my money is no secret/?

[cizatext]

Let's say my current bank has funds in it.  Whether it is $500, or $50,000,  Does the government know how much is in there??

Does my bank release info about the value of my account, to the government or some other places??? It's like my money is no secret/?

Well to say the Truth you bank as a centralized financial institution is being controlled by the government and at that the government have the right to know the amount of found you have in your account so there is nothing as secret of account to the government, like in my country there are certain amount of money that will be deposited in you personal account that will flag off a red alart to the government and investigation on the such of the money will be carried out.

[LeGaulois]

The offshore banks are not offshore anymore. It's not the same as it was before with the international information exchanges program. Maybe less than 10% of the banks are still truly offshore, and you can be sure the percentage will reduce with the years coming.

Also when you have nothing to hide you have no use for an offshore bank account

[clover12]

How about Swiss Bank Accounts Are those any good ?

[mrdeposit]

Would you prefer putting $$$ here in the USA, or elsewhere?  please discuss

For third world countries it is understandable to open offshore accounts but for developed countries regulation makes it hard to start new business with offshore bank accounts from my experience. 

[pixie85]

If I had USD and lived in the US I'd be worried. It's not a good idea to keep all your money in one currency even if it's the most popular currency in the world. It's not immune to crashes and inflation so it's a good idea to get an offshore account. It's even a better one to keep some of your money in a different currency like Euros or Pounds.
The point with higher interest rates is also very good.

[clover12]

Would you prefer putting $$$ here in the USA, or elsewhere?  please discuss

For third world countries it is understandable to open offshore accounts but for developed countries regulation makes it hard to start new business with offshore bank accounts from my experience. 

Interesting note. Thanks for the note.

[clover12]

If I had USD and lived in the US I'd be worried. It's not a good idea to keep all your money in one currency even if it's the most popular currency in the world. It's not immune to crashes and inflation so it's a good idea to get an offshore account. It's even a better one to keep some of your money in a different currency like Euros or Pounds.
The point with higher interest rates is also very good.

Well let's just say I am rich and I have $50,000USD in a bank account. --I don't by the way, but theoretically...

How are you going to split that $50 around?  I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Is there a $15,000 limit where the government starts watching??

[breathlessz]

If I had USD and lived in the US I'd be worried. It's not a good idea to keep all your money in one currency even if it's the most popular currency in the world. It's not immune to crashes and inflation so it's a good idea to get an offshore account. It's even a better one to keep some of your money in a different currency like Euros or Pounds.
The point with higher interest rates is also very good.

same as cryptocurrency, where it is better to save our assets to a few coins, so that this can reduce the risk that exists. especially in the crypto world, it has a larger volatile.

[Juggy777]

The offshore banks are not offshore anymore. It's not the same as it was before with the international information exchanges program. Maybe less than 10% of the banks are still truly offshore, and you can be sure the percentage will reduce with the years coming.

Also when you have nothing to hide you have no use for an offshore bank account

Hey gone are the good old days when people used to park their money in offshore bank accounts and avoid paying taxes, back then there was no mechanism to track it. In today’s time however there is a robust mechanism to track it, plus there’re information exchange treaties between countries too. I’ll agree in coming years very few banks will be able to survive, and offer you an offshore account.