Unfortunately for Americans, we have limitations on foreign accounts. If your paranoid, you can believe that regulations were enacted to keep dollars at home under the guise of Anti-terrorism.
these are the things that really annoy me. those buggers do nothing more than promoting vanguard ETF's for a provision and get 2.5 billion in AUM. I'm sorry for you. but you can always form an enterprise or take a lawyer as a nominee
There aren't any limitations on a U.S. citizen opening an overseas bank account, just a bunch of reporting requirements. There are limitations if its a forex or other trading account, but not a CD style bank account we seem to be talking about here.
Trador. In my margin accounts, I normally usually use High Interest savings accounts or MMFs that I can swing into or out of as need be as I wait for better opportunities. Because I am fearing a Bond Market crash appearing soon (since early June), I have put half in cash in my account and half in MMFs, however I have been advising my friends to have a little ready cash at home and get out of all mutual funds and MMFs. MMFs have a 3 day clearing and that can be extended under problem conditions. As a test yesterday I moved 100K online to my Line of Credit in minutes as I tried to take advantage of a special offer. Interestingly enough, I couldn't move it in one day to the offering virtual bank and now I have changed my mind. Something really odd - at the virtual and 2 "big 6" banks, none of them would turn over 100K without holding periods including if I got a bank draft to them. Some of them I have been with over 35 years. Something is wrong since I use to flip money anywhere by my contacts before. I sense nervousness although they all tell me I am wrong. Given the memory of 2008 so close, the mutual fund holders should be quicker on the button this time and the liquidity is very suspect in my opinion. Ted spread is rising and the market seems to be waiting for something. Many people don't seem to realize that some mutuals and etfs don't hold stocks but derivatives and promises. Some potential counterparty risks there. My mattress savings account pays zero so since bail-in is in effect in most G7, that seems to compare favorably - LOL. One idea is a bank draft or GIC in a savings account. At one major bank they was a huge sign for seniors to put 100000 into BLAH BLAH bank mutual fund which would earn them 685 a month. That same bank at a private wealth meeting for retirees last fall told them to buy more High Yield bonds (amid warnings of junk bond liquidity issues behind the scenes). I think that they are talking funds in to cover their exposures since they can't get out quickly due to liquidity issues.
Sometimes it is best to just kickback, relax, and let the markets settle out a bit. One suggestion is to grab some popcorn and catch the new summer release "Jade Helm - Hostile States". (LOL)
Why would any bank borrow money At 10percent. Even mezzanine debt in highly levered micro cap companies trades less than that on 5 year terms.
Guys, I don't want to play hide and seek with you. You are interested in how to get 10% a year on safe bank deposits, so I give you the details. I'm still in search of a way to take up a loan and to deposit it in those high interest bank accounts. Let us discuss ways of leveraging our money.... that would be a great help for us all. OK, here's how to do: You know, there are many different countries on this beautiful earth. Some have a growing economy, some not. Some have inflation, some high inflation and some deflation. It's a lot of variety here. Usually those different countries also have their own currencies. And they are pretty free to set their own interest rates - based on their political and economic situation. And the banks operating in these countries take different rates for deposits and loans than in another country. Let's take an example. In Russia the rates for loans and deposits are pretty high at the moment. If you take your USD and travel to Russia, exchange it into Rubel and deposit it with one of the big banks there, you will get an interest rate of around 15% a year (I believe, checked long time ago). Same in India. Same in a dozen other countries in this world. There is just one problem: Usually there's a reason for such high interest rates! Based on either a strong economy or a dwindling one, there's almost always high inflation in that country. Otherwise the interest rates wouldn't be high. And this does affect the currency value compared to other currencies, like the USD. With one exception (china), they are always falling. So if you deposited money in Russian or Indian banks over the last year in their local currency, you would have gotten a high interest rate. But also did RUB and INR lose a lot of its value compared to the USD. Based on USD, you would end up losing money. But also if you lived in that country - consumer price inflation would have been higher. So it's not as easy as taking up a loan in USD and buying RUB to get 15% interest. This is called a carry trade and being done every day. Sometimes it works well (AUD/USD), but it is not risk-free. The goal is to fix the currency risk. So that you can get the high interest rate of RUB but are still holding USD. This can be done in two ways: a) Some banks take direct deposits in foreign currencies. I know some banks in Russia take EUR deposits for 7%. It might be similar throughout the world in not-developed countries. b) You find a country with a high interest rate that has their currency pegged to the USD. Best solution is of course B. Check out wikipedia for a list of countries that have their currency fixed to EUR or USD. Last year I made a holiday in the bautiful country of Cambodia in Asia. Gorgeous beaches, friendly people and cute ladies. Cambodia is a very poor country and everything's really cheap there. For example, if you need a lady for the night, you're in for just 10 USD. On the other hand, they are politically stable and have a fantastic GDP growth, because of foreign investment. Also a high inflation. Therefore also deposit/lending rates are high. Banks give you 10% on your deposit, to be exact Best of all is that their currency KHR is tied to the USD. So it never really fluctuates. Basically you can take your USD, change it to KHR ande deposit to a bank - and receive a 10% interest yearly. If you like, you can also make deposits in "foreign currency", that is you hand them USD and receive USD back and still get 7% - but that's not necessary, since the KHR is fixed and pegged. There are many reputable banks in Cambodia, being in business since decades and with high ratings by Moody's. 100% Legit. Cambodia however is just an example, there are many other countries in the world where you can do the same. I hope this info is of some help for you. It definietly works, though you must fly there to open your bank account. Good luck
LOL The fact that you would tie up valuable capital in an index ETF (plus other flaws with ETFs) compared to its equivalent futures, shows that you are not sophisticated nor smart Do the math
You aren't good at math. Index etfs are insanely tax efficient. Over the long term that can be worth several turns. Not to mention futures are generally short dividends while index etfs are not and dividend payouts generally go up.