What is an offshore financial plan?
An offshore financial plan is an investment and business strategy specifically designed to add privacy, protection, flexibility and superior performance to your financial affairs. It involves the relocation of personal or corporate wealth outside one's country, where it is subject to low or no tax and local secrecy regulations. For a growing number of individuals and corporations, an offshore financial plan is the key to building, managing and preserving wealth.

Who can benefit from offshore planning?
Situations that call for the use of an offshore financial structure are very common and will apply to virtually every individual or company. Those who should investigate the benefits of offshore financial planning include:

• Professionals that are subjected to a high degree of legal liability in the course of their profession (lawyers, doctors, dentists);
• individuals looking for additional freedom in planning their succession;
• businesses that market and sell products internationally (i.e. modern Internet e-commerce companies); and any individual or business entity with assets that could benefit from an offshore asset protection plan
• individuals considering marriage as an alternative to prenuptual agreement.
• individuals and business entities looking for an alternative investment vehicle.

Why do I need an offshore financial strategy?
Primarily, offshore strategies can provide protection from lawsuits, creditors, and disputes arising from marital problems. Some other common reasons for going offshore include:

• General asset protection
• Superior flexibility and performance in investing options
• Guaranteed financial privacy
• Increased flexibility and efficiency in organizing the succession of family wealth
• The possibility of future emigration

When is the best time to move offshore?
Whether it be through inheritance, royalties, or the rewards of hard work, the time to set up an offshore financial plan is before you acquire your wealth, not after. Timing is also critical for those looking to establish an asset protection plan. When assets are moved offshore AFTER you become aware of potential claims that might be made against them or imminent bankruptcy, those assets can no longer be said to be fully protected

In truth, any individual or business entity with substantial sums to invest is potentially losing investment income, unnecessarily risking their assets and potentially paying too much tax by keeping their financial affairs completely onshore. Thus, while timing can be a critical element in developing a sound offshore structure, the best time to go offshore is always now.

Where should I take my offshore investments?
A number of considerations will go into deciding what jurisdiction is best for any given particular financial situation. There are 65 tax friendly jurisdictions world-wide. They differ in many ways, including taxation policy, political and economic stability, bank secrecy, investment concessions, security of property rights, geography, infrastructure and a host of other relevant factors. When deciding where to invest your assets, it's imperative to understand which countries will best suit your financial needs and how. For these reasons, the advice of a professional onshore and offshore financial advisor is highly recommended.

Why should I choose IFG Trust?
IFG Trust is a leading independent provider of offshore fiduciary, corporate and trust services. Our group of companies offers an efficient, professional and confidential environment to conduct financial affairs, with a focus on asset protection in the offshore sector. We are a comprehensive financial services provider that can provide you access to all major offshore jurisdictions. Our group administers corporations and trusts in every major offshore region, including Northern Europe, the British Isles, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Central America, South East Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific.

Our experienced staff includes experts in offshore law, accounting, banking, insurance and investments. We provide professional, confidential and personalized service to all our clients, ensuring their individual financial requirements are identified and addressed.