Abundant Michael

FEAR = Feeling Excited And Ready

What if I look at FEAR = Feeling Excited And Ready (from Neale Donald Walsh short movie Living in Light)

Fear is usually about either not getting what I think I need , or loosing what I have (that I think I need). Often fear turns up in relationships (romantic, friendship or business). Fear of what others might think of us. In other words scarity mental vs abundance thinking.

 

When I am living in the light/love I know I always have what I need internally and I can feel excited about external events and relationships when they change. (And external things and relationships are really always changing everyday, even when on the surface it seems the same for years underneath...)

Is wealth freedom to chose? Expanding beyond false choices

Does Wealth = freedom to chose?

 

Yes and I would add consciousness to this to be truly abundant in life. Consciousness = choice + awareness. So to be abundant I need not only the ability to chose, I also need the awareness of what choices I have.

 

A lot of advertizing, politics and social control in government, education and large corporations is around presenting false choices so that the consumers are not fully aware of all that they can do. Often this has reached a subconscious level of ingrained beliefs and assumptions so that the consumer doesn't even realize that their choices are restricted. That is poverty of mind!

 

"Much of our faith is based on the belief that because we live in a market economy, the efficiencies intrinsic to a market economy -- such as customers gravitating toward the goods and services that offer the lowest costs and highest benefits -- are being effectively captured by the US economy.

 

"But this is mostly wishful thinking, the net result of ceaseless self-promotion by the Status Quo that benefits from the enormous friction that is, in fact, grinding down the US economy. In actuality, market forces influence very little of the US economy, and what they do influence is a series of carefully limited false choices constructed by non-market forces and the immense powers of marketing.

 

quote from http://www.oftwominds.com/blognov11/global-friction11-11.html

How soveign collapse cascades down the supply chain to you

A skydiving student asked his instructor, "How long do I have to open my parachute?" The instructor replied, "The rest of your life." Preparing for collapse you have just as long!

 

This article The Joy of National Default by collapsologist Dmitry Orlov explain why sovereign debt may appear impossible for years then happen overnight, and the business, political and social collapses that may follow a financial one.

 

Sovereign debt default is not some sort of spring shower that passes and then the sun comes out again. If Korowicz is right (Trade-Off: Financial System Supply-Chain Cross-Contagion )—and he appears to have done his homework—then at some point what is now still a gradual process will lead to a sudden, irreversible, catastrophic disruption of daily life. (And looking at the reports coming out of Greece and Spain, imagining such a scenario no longer requires much of an imagination.) Korowicz does not have a lot to offer when it comes to practical adaptations to survive such a systemic breakdown, beyond stating the obvious, which I will repeat: “Initially the most exposed would be those with little cash at hand, low home inventories, mobility restrictions and weak family and community ties.” In other words, be prepared, and do your best to give yourself a chance.

 

Korowicz carefully goes through the process by which financial failure causes an instant breakdown in commerce. Cargos have to be financed. This is done by banks on opposite sides of the planet that are willing to grant and to honor letters of credit, which are paid once the cargo is landed. If letters of credit cannot be obtained, cargo does not move. In a crisis, banks mistrust each other, and denying letters of credit is one of the easiest ways for them to decrease their exposure to counterparty risk (the chance that the buyer's bank, which drew up the letter of credit, won't be able to make the payment). In turn, missing shipments mean empty supermarket shelves within days, idled production at factories due to missing components, standstills at construction sites and maintenance operations, hospitals running out of drugs and supplies and so on.

 

Within a week, local fuel inventories are depleted and transportation is disrupted. Modern manufacturing and distribution networks rely on a global supply chain and very thin, just-in-time inventories. High-tech manufacturing is most easily disrupted, because key components have just one or two suppliers, and little or no possibility for substitution. Experience of various disruptions (Japanese tsunami in 2011, Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in 2010) shows that the impact of a disruption does not scale linearly with its length but accelerates—and recovery takes disproportionately longer. Within a month or so the electric grid collapses due to lack of supplies and maintenance; it is probably at this point that recovery becomes impossible.

 

But even before that point the contagion will start to feed on itself. The region of negative feedback where homeostasis is maintained is surrounded by regions of positive feedback where the system is driven further and further from equilibrium. For example, “The financial system... would not just be collapsing because of unsustainable levels of debt-to-income, but because that income would be collapsing as production halted and its future prospects turned dire.” (p. 69) Nor would the economy of goods and services be spared similar degenerative processes: “One would expect a massive reorientation away from discretionary consumption towards primary needs—food, essential energy, medicine and communication.” (p. 62) As a result, many businesses would fail, further depressing demand, while maintenance would be deferred to the point where much of the infrastructure becomes non-functional.

 

[you only have to visit or read about Argentina's current situation to see where we are headed]

 

Much of that infrastructure is designed for a growing economy as well, and will become a millstone around our necks: in a shrinking economy, the fixed costs of existing critical infrastructure give rise to negative economies of scale, making extensive infrastructure unaffordable at any level. The global aspect of the global economy would be perhaps the fastest to disappear: citing the evolutionary economist Paul Seabright, Korowicz writes: “Trust between unrelated strangers outside their own tribal grouping cannot be taken for granted.” (p. 23) Trust between strangers builds up slowly but is lost rapidly. In a shrinking economy, “taking care of one's own” becomes more important than maintaining a trust relationship with strangers across the world.

 

The opposite viewpoint can be, and is expounded by Korowicz and others, but has the drawback of being rather highly intellectual and abstract, offering little that is experiential or intuitive. This makes the exposition less than optimally effective for many people. Most people look out the window and see cars driving around and people going in and out of banks and shops and offices. But to really understand what underpins the stability of this scheme we have to be able to see, with our mind's eye, a dynamic system that can maintain homeostatic equilibrium and recover from shocks when all of its parameters remain within a certain range.

 

Let's try a simple metaphor. Suppose you are sitting in the kitchen. On a saucer in the middle of the kitchen table is a pretty blue marble. You are in an earthquake zone. As tremors hit, the marble rolls around the saucer, but it never rolls out of the saucer. This is a dynamic system within its stability range. But then a bigger shock hits, a chunk falls out of the ceiling and smashes the saucer, the marble skitters off the table, rolls through the gap under the door, down the stairs, down the street, and falls into a storm drain. In other words, the system takes small shocks in stride, but big shocks destroy it completely. Where the dividing line between small and big shocks runs—nobody really knows, but that doesn't matter provided we know that the shocks are only going to get bigger. And we do know that.

 
Now let's tackle a bigger dynamic system: global finance. At this point in time, all of the highly developed economies are 1. very highly indebted and 2. are either shrinking or not growing. This is not a stable situation: “Because credit is charged at interest, credit expansion is required to service previously issued credit. In order for the issued credit-money to retain its value relative to goods and services in the economy, GDP must increase commensurate with credit-money expansion.” (p. 33) The end result of this process is national default. At this time, the fact that Greece is in some stage of national default is no longer controversial. Nor does it appear likely that the problems of Spain, Italy or Ireland can be sorted out.
 

Nor is it likely that growth will resume. First, there is the problem with natural resources, oil foremost among them. It is too expensive to allow growth, and it can't get any cheaper because the remaining marginal resources are, well, marginal—deep water, tar sands, shale oil and other dregs—and are expensive to produce. Second, there is a problem with levels of debt: too high a level of debt chokes off economic growth. Third, we are at a point now where it is not possible to stimulate growth: the latest figures are that it takes a 2.3-fold increase in debt to produce one unit of GDP growth. We have achieved diminishing returns with regard to growth: we need to dig a bigger hole in which to put all this debt, and are willing to go deeper into debt to do it, but no matter how fast we dig, the debt just keeps piling up next to the hole. The politicians still talk about growth, but it's a race to nowhere.

 

At 78 pages of scholarly, somewhat jargon-laden prose, Trade-Off: Financial System Supply-Chain Cross-Contagion by David Korowicz is not quick reading, nor is it light reading, but it is important reading. It puts a lot of definition to the concept of cascaded failure, in which financial collapse inexorably leads to political and economic collapse with no possibilities for arresting this process or even altering its course. This may seem like a terribly pessimistic message, and, indeed, it is hard to imagine that it would provoke a cheerful reaction in any sane person. But for those who feel that it is important to understand what is unfolding, Korowicz offers a large dose of realism. Still, a fair warning is called for: “Abandon all optimism all ye who enter here!”

Total citizen facial video tracking for total citizen control

Facial recognition video cameras in China, NYC and Disneyworld track your every move and can record years of movements and interactions for total control - now in 2012, not in the future 2050. This article on The new totalitarianism of surveillance technology in the UK Guardian newspaper

If you think that 24/7 tracking of citizens by biometric recognition systems is paranoid fantasy, just read the industry newsletters. After the Occupy crackdowns, I noted that odd-looking CCTVs had started to appear, attached to lampposts, in public venues in Manhattan where the small but unbowed remnants of Occupy congregated: there was one in Union Square, right in front of their encampment. I reported here on my experience of witnessing a white van marked "Indiana Energy" that was lifting workers up to the lampposts all around Union Square, and installing a type of camera. When I asked the workers what was happening – and why an Indiana company was dealing with New York City civic infrastructure, which would certainly raise questions – I was told: "I'm a contractor. Talk to ConEd."

 

I then noticed, some months later, that these bizarre camera/lights had been installed not only all around Union Square but also around Washington Square Park. I posted a photo I took of them, and asked: "What is this?" Commentators who had lived in China said that they were the same camera/streetlight combinations that are mounted around public places in China. These are enabled for facial recognition technology, which allows police to watch video that is tagged to individuals, in real time. When too many people congregate, they can be dispersed and intimidated simply by the risk of being identified – before dissent can coalesce...

 

Finally, last week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly to unveil a major new police surveillance infrastructure, developed by Microsoft. The Domain Awareness System links existing police databases with live video feeds, including cameras using vehicle license plate recognition software. No mention was made of whether the system plans to use – or already uses – facial recognition software. But, at present, there is no law to prevent US government and law enforcement agencies from building facial recognition databases.

 

And we know from industry newsletters that the US military, law enforcement, and the department of homeland security are betting heavily on facial recognition technology. As PC World notes, Facebook itself is a market leader in the technology – but military and security agencies are close behind.

 

According to Homeland Security Newswire, billions of dollars are being invested in the development and manufacture of various biometric technologies capable of detecting and identifying anyone, anywhere in the world – via iris-scanning systems, already in use; foot-scanning technology (really); voice pattern ID software, and so on.

 

What is very obvious is that this technology will not be applied merely to people under arrest, or to people under surveillance in accordance with the fourth amendment (suspects in possible terrorist plots or other potential crimes, after law enforcement agents have already obtained a warrant from a magistrate). No, the "targets" here are me and you: everyone, all of the time. In the name of "national security", the capacity is being built to identify, track and document any citizen constantly and continuously.

Details of US martial law 3-day take down plans "Rex 84"

How long would it take after a financial collapse or other disaster for the US government to implement full martial law with internment FEMA camps for dissidents? Only 3 days. Details in this report:

The US government has been scheming on how to provide for continuity of government for many decades now. According to Peter Santilli, an informant who is an ex-marine and worked on portions of the contingency plans known as Rex 84, civil unrest will come after a financial collapse.

 

The Readiness Exercise 1984, a.k.a. Rex 84, outlines continuity of government wherein the US Constitution is suspended, martial law is declared and the US military command take over state and local governments in order to ensure stabilization of our nation at any cost. Any American who is deemed a “national security threat” would be detained in an internment or FEMA camp.

 

The author of Rex 84 was Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, National Security Council (NSC) White House aids and NSC liaison to FEMA. Rex 84 is the plan; the triggers are a series of executive orders . It is the continuity of government under specific contingency strategies that are laid out in various operations guide manuals. Operation Garden Plot is a subprogram of Rex 84.

 

Twice before, Rex 84 was implemented – during the LA riots and on 9/11. In these scenarios, only small portions of the entire set of documents were used. Within the series of contingency plans, implementation of them depends on the severity of the situation.

 

Some of the plans include internment camps where all or portions of the active or inactive military bases would be transformed into work camps where all considered to be dissonant would be held. The NORTHCOM army manuals clearly state that NATO forces will be used in every phase of the operation.

 

According to Santilli, procedures to move conventional, chemical and nuclear bombs across the nation without detection have been facilitated without notice by the US military. Back in 1986, during his military service where he was involved with weapons transportation, Santilli describes how an unmarked refrigerated trailer driven by a civilian driver was used to transport chemical or conventional weapons to various strategic bases both above and underground.

 

Santilli was a specialist in aviation deployed weapons, which made him the perfect candidate to the assignment of weapons transportation. The refrigerated truck, allocated by the administration department on base, was directed to the commissary, where the unsuspecting driver believed that he was transporting food. The weapon was placed at the head of the trailer, and covered up with either food stores (like cans of soup) or body bags. In the event that the truck is stopped en route, the weapon would be well hidden and go undetected by inspectors on the public highways.

 

A US Marine Corp bill of lading was the paperwork necessary to move the commercial refrigerated truck through weigh stations on public highways without any question. Santilli remembers that there was not one incident where he had to enact any security measures to ensure the delivery was made.

 

Santilli, who was assigned to ride in the cab of the truck with the driver, says that his orders were to make sure the truck arrived at its destination. He was informed by his superiors that if there were problems concerning potential civil unrest, he was to radio into his superiors for aid by either air or ground support. Should the situation warrant serious attention; crowd control methods would be implemented.

 

One possible scenario was the use of cluster bomb units (CBUs) that will emit upon detonation, a “sleep and kill” chemical weapon that will not disturb infrastructure, but is lethal to all living things within the effected zone. Santilli describes these particular 3 unit CBUs as shaped like water-heaters with a coned top and plunger-like device. Once deployed in the air, a parachute assists these CBUs to the targeted area. And when detonated, a deadly chemical gas will kill every human and animal in the specified cordoned area.

 

This is just one example, says Santilli, as to the lengths the US armed forces are trained to make sure continuity of government is preserved.

 

Santilli explained that the use of foreign troops on US soil, as described in Rex 84 and other subsequent manuals, would have a two-fold purpose. Firstly, to provide extra security in designated areas, cities or highways; and secondly, as scapegoats were violent action used against American citizens should the US military be directed to attack civilians.

 

The refrigerated truck, carrying the chemical or conventional weapon with Santilli riding shotgun travelled to underground bases like the one at Yuma Proving Ground which is a ammunitions testing range for pilots. Nestled underneath the ground is a secret military base.

 

Santilli explains that his knowledge of Rex 84 provides that within the document, one of the scenarios that would cause a complete suspension of the US Constitution, Bill of Rights and implement martial law would be a financial collapse. He says once the collapse occurs, the US government and defense agencies estimate they have a 72 hour window to activate all procedures to ensure continuity of government as well as a lockdown of the general population as civilian unrest, riots and outbreaks of violence are anticipated.

 

A source in the Deutsche Bank claims that in 2008 our financial and monetary system completely collapsed and since that time the banking cartels have been “propping up the system” to make it appear as if everything was fine. In reality our stock market and monetary systems are fake; meaning that there is nothing holding them in place except the illusion that they have stabilized since the Stock Market Crash nearly 5 years ago.

 

Since this time, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in conjunction with FEMA and other federal agencies have been quickly working to set in place their directives of control under a silent martial law.

 

The Deutsche Bank informant says that the cause for the bailout of the banks was a large sum of cash needed quickly to repay China who had purchased large quantities of mortgage-backed securities that went belly-up when the global scam was realized. When China realized that they had been duped into buying worthless securitized loans which would never be repaid, they demanded the actual property instead. The Chinese were prepared to send their “people” to American shores to seize property as allocated to them through the securitized loan contracts.

 

To stave this off, the American taxpayers were coerced by former President Bush and former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. During that incident, the US Senate was told emphatically that they had to approve a $700 million bailout or else martial law would be implemented immediately. That money was funneled through the Federal Reserve Bank and wired to China, as well as other countries that were demanding repayment for the fraudulent securitizations.

 

To further avert financial catastrophe, as well as more debt or property seizure threats by the Chinese, the Euro was imploded there by plunging most of the European countries into an insurmountable free-fall for which they were never intended to recover.

 

All the money that those banks claimed they needed to avert collapse was also sent to the Chinese to add to the trillions of dollars lost during the burst of the housing bubble on the global market.

 

The only saving grace has been the US dollar being the global reserve currency. However, now this prop is showing signs of wear as foreign nations like China, Russia, India and Iran are dealing in gold as currency and purchasing gold on the market at an exponential rate.

 

In 1970, Henry Kissinger made a deal with the Saudi Arabian government that American debt would be purchased in exchange for cheap oil. Since then Iran has taken control over the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) by their use of gold as currency which has threatened the direct value of the US dollar as the global reserve currency.

 

This scenario with Iran coupled with the massive leaps forward in US military presence on American streets and the emergence of FEMA camps across the nation pose an obvious turn of events and explains exactly why we are witnessing the silent implementation of martial law.

 

The war with Iran has to do with gold, its use as currency and its exposure of the central banking cartel’s lack of gold which defines a fiat currency’s worth. And right now, the US dollar is absolutely worthless.

 

The Deutsche Bank informant says that the financial collapse that happened in 2008 will be realized here in America very soon. Once that happens, there must be full implementation of marital law to control the potential riots and control over citizens that will be desperate to feed their families.

 

The attacks of recent on the 2nd Amendment play a significant role in attempting “amicably” to remove the possibility of civilian retaliation against the US military’s presence throughout the nation. However, if they cannot remove the guns from our hands in time, they will continue on with the guidelines set out in Rex 84 with directives to kill any dissenters that refuse to obey.


from http://www.globalresearch.ca/rex-84-government-silently-positions-for-martial-law-as-financial-collapse-arrives-in-america/32153

Why the war on drugs is a failure

The perpetual war on drugs not only is not being won, it is not designed to be won. The police, private prisons and the whole prison-industrial-drug complex benefit too much from it continuing. The drug war is "Our Children's Children's War" because unless we chose differently it will still be raging far in the future.

  • War Is Peace
  • Freedom Is Slavery
  • Ignorance Is Strength

(Newspeak slogans from George Orwell's 1984)

 

Appearing  on The Daily Show, filmmaker Eugene Jarecki explained how the “failed” war on drugs was fueled by corporate-interests. “It has to do with business,” he told Jon Stewart. “This country is finding, everywhere we look, we are seeing places where the extraordinary power of corporations in this country, and the unholy alliance they have with those in Congress, is destroying everything… There are private prisons all over this country that rely for their own survival on the incarceration of our fellow human beings.”

But Jarecki said even public detention facilities were part of the commercialization of prisons. “I went to prison-industrial trade shows where I saw people who literally make their entire life’s work out of selling you the better stun gun,” he explained. Jarecki’s latest documentary, The House I Live In, explores America’s war on drugs and the resulting mass incarceration. The United States imprisons more of its citizens than any country in the world, he noted.

 

“This has been such a disaster,” he said. “Forty-years, a trillion dollars spent, 45 million arrests, and yet drugs are cheaper, purer, more available today than ever before.”

Watch video, courtesy of Comedy Central, below:

 
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-october-16-2012/exclusive---eugene-jarecki-extended-interview-pt--2  (7 min.)  - towards the end gives example of Portugal that very successfully decriminalized drugs 10 yrs. ago and put money into treatment which is far cheaper than the criminal system approach

How to get pass resistance to meditiating?

Sometimes meditating is about feeling fear or pain and mediating anyway.

 

Actually experiencing "what is" instead of hiding from it is a great way to pass through that state to the other side. Which is usually feeling peace, love, joy and gratitude. Many people want to meditate to get this "good stuff" but don't like passing through experiencing body pain, worry, anxiety or any of the other things we spend all day avoiding. Or passing through self-thoughts such as "Am I doing it right?", "I am bored", "I don't like myself". I am not my thoughts. I am not my emotions. I am "I am".

 

I invite you to take just a moment and true be with what you are experiencing now. Then read the short article "so you say you want to live “in the moment,” do ya?" by Kate "Courageous" Swoboda if it calls to you.

 

Sometimes, fear is what comes up “in the moment,” you know?

If what you want is acceptance in your life, especially of yourself and the people you live with, examine your fears. Be with them. Get curious about fear. Dialogue with it.

But don’t shut it away.

Breathing with and being with fear as it arises could be one of the most powerful meditations you could ever practice.

More at so you say you want to live “in the moment,” do ya?

 

I find that when I meditate each day that my life flows better - less drama, more abundance. How is it for you?

Why People are acting crazy - magnetic field shifts

I have noticed some people acting weird and crazy this year. I read that the change in magnetic field that is occurring this year can affect peoples mental state. Apparently the Sun is very active right now and that affects the Earth's magnetic field which in turn affects people's mental state. A recent study published in New Scientist indicates a direct connection between the Sun’s solar storms and human biological effect. 

This article below is from the Arlington Institutes's Future edition April newsletter, which I recommend as a way to keep up with the increasingly rapid pace of change in earth shifts, technology, politics, societies and human development.

Unusual Sun and Earth Events

Some interesting things have been happening lately relative to both the sun and our planet. There seems to be a convergence of unusual energy from the sun and changes in the earth’s gravitational field that are spawning a series of unprecedented earth changes.

The sun has been doing some unusual things in the recent weeks. Big solar storms and phenomena never before seen (like tornadoes – see video here) are being seen. See videos here and here of flares of the last few days.

Physical and Emotional Implications

This recent intensive amount of solar activity is affecting both the Earth and Humans. Solar flares can affect the central nervous system, all brain activity, along with human behavior and all psycho-physiological (mental-emotional-physical) response.   An article on PreventDisease.com discusses How Solar Activity Is Influencing Human Consciousness

According to Mitch Battros – Earth Changes Media, “One of the best known prophecies/ predictions of our Mayan elders is the message of a changing paradigm of our era.  In the words of the Maya, it is said that we are now in a time of “change and conflict”.  The change is coming from the ‘outside’ in the way of weather, natural phenomena, celestial disturbance (sun flares) and manmade self-inflicted trauma.  The conflict comes from the ‘inside’ in the way of personal challenge, grief, bewilderment, depression, anxiety, and fear.  It is said we are “at the cross roads”: a time of choosing a new path, deciding on a new self and community direction, venturing into the unknown, finding our true identity of being.  Others will choose to stay on the same road, stay with the familiar, and place great effort to maintain “predictability.”

A recent study published in New Scientist, indicates a direct connection between the Sun’s solar storms and human biological effect.  The conduit which facilitates the charged particles from the Sun to human disturbance is the very same conduit which steers Earth’s weather through the Magnetic Field on Earth, and also through the magnetic fields around humans. 

“Solar flares can cause us to be nervous, anxiousness, worrisome, jittery, dizzy, shaky, irritable, lethargic, exhausted, have short term memory problems and heart palpitations, feel nauseous, queasy, and to have prolonged head pressure and headaches. Do you have any of the above lately?”

Heather Carlini from the Carlini Institute for Therapy, Research and Transpersonal Education also thinks that these energy bursts from the sun are causing significant physical and emotional changes in humans.

“Let’s look at the symptoms that are being reported.  I have to say that many who wrote me felt they couldn’t tell others around them about the symptoms they were experiencing for fear of others thinking they were crazy. Little do they know that people all over the world were experiencing the same symptoms at the same time.  Many wrote of going to doctors for a battery of tests only to have them come back negative.  I am included in this as I also had the same thing happen to me twice.

“I am hearing about people experiencing head pressure, headaches, migraines, the inability to think straight, losing words in the middle of a thought (that’s me) ?, and ringing in the ears.  Our hypothalamus and pituitary glands tune into this new frequency coming in from the solar flares, and within each of our cells there are receptors in the protein channels that pick up vibrations from the outside.

“Many of my readers reported feeling exhausted, which is the body’s way saying it needs rest to process all this incoming energy.  We are intimately connected to this change in frequency and more and more people are becoming intuitively aware of this as well.  It feels as if time is speeding up. Many people have new intuitive abilities waking up, which I also discuss in detail in my new book.”

The massive expulsions of material and magnetic energy from the sun distorts the earth’s magnetosphere which, in turn, “pressures” the earth such that there appears to be a direct relationship between significant storms on the sun and earthquakes and volcanoes which show up here 12-36 hours later. For example, there were a number of these big solar storms the day before the big earthquake off of the coast of Japan a year ago which generated the extraordinary tsunami that caused so much damage and pain. See this rather amazing summary of the more than 12,000 earthquakes that attended that event.

It’s not just earthquakes and volcanoes; scientists believe that all of this energy is generating the unusual sounds that are being heard at various places around the world.

Why entrepreneurs who are permanent travelers should start an offshore company

You have decided to be a permanent traveller, moving around the world, not resident in the countries that you work and play in (Five Flags approach). You are entrepreneurial - perhaps a freelance writer, programmer, photographer or marketer. Or any job that you can do remotely via Skype, gotomeeting and email. You decide to create a company in your home country to present a professional image to clients and to limit your liablity. Stop!

 

Creating a company - good idea

Doing in in your home country, where you were born and have (one of your) passports from - bad idea

Why? Because the chances are if you are from a Western country (USA, CAN, AU, UK, EUR, JAP) that there are

  • lots of company taxes
  • lots of forms to fill out and delays to start your company
  • lots of forms each year at tax time
  • lots of regulations about how you chose to run your business (eg around hiring and firing workers in France and Germany)

If you were living and working in your home country then perhaps it would make sense to open your company there. (And if your company will pay you a salary in your home country expect it to be taxed there!) But you are permanent traveling and you have more options! You can live and play in one or more countries, have clients in a second (or with internet marketing in many other countries), incorporate your business in a third country and have your company bank account in a forth.

 

The advantages are:

  • many fewer forms to fill out to start and often one day incorporation
  • low or zero company taxes
  • few or no annual reporting forms
  • few or no regulations about how you run your business

If you use an incorporation service firm you do not have to travel to the country in question to incorporate - you fill out forms online, scan passport and any other supporting documents (and mail notorized copies). In many cases the firm will help you open bank and brokerage accounts for your company remotely too.

 

Costs: figure on USD $1000-2000 to incorporate and around $1000 per year in renewal fees. If you pick a country that requires accounting and other annual reports allow for those expenses too. You can pay by credit card or wire transfer.

 

My favorite offshore company locations. My personal current pick is the Marshall Islands due to low annual paperwork, privacy and reliablity.

  • Hong Kong
    • Pros
      • enterpreneurial country, business orientented government
      • low tax regime (16.5% for HK income, zero for non-HK income)
      • absence of foreign exchange controls
      • political and economic stability
      • fast and easy offshore company setup 5-7 days
      • not viewed as a tax haven by OECD
      • Directors can be Hong Kong residents or non-residents
      • English is used for business lanaguage
    • Cons
      • Company secretary must be a local individual or corporate resident.
      • A HK physical address that is not a PO Box is required as the registered address.
      • No bearer shares allowed
      • Ongoing Compliance including annual audit of company accounts; intimating the Companies Registry of any changes to the company or its members; filing annual returns with the Companies Registry; filing tax returns with the Inland Revenue Department; holding timely AGMs; maintaining company records, accounting records and other business documents; renewing business registration certificate;
    • More info on process and a service firm to help
  • Singapore
    • Pros
      • enterpreneurial country, business orientented government
      • low tax regime (8.5%-17% for SG income, zero for non-SG income, 3 year tax holiday on startups)
      • absence of foreign exchange controls
      • political and economic stability, transparent, corruption free
      • English common law system
      • fast and easy computerized offshore company setup 1-2 days
      • not viewed as a tax haven by OECD
      • English is used for business lanaguage
    • Cons
      • One of the Directors must be Singapore residents
      • Company secretary must be a local individual or corporate resident.
      • A SG physical address that is not a PO Box is required as the registered address.
      • You must engage a professional incorporation firm to register a Singapore offshore company.
      • No bearer shares allowed
      • Ongoing Compliance including annual audit of company accounts; intimating the Companies Registry of any changes to the company or its members; filing annual returns with the Companies Registry; filing tax returns with the Inland Revenue Department; holding timely AGMs; maintaining company records, accounting records and other business documents; renewing business registration certificate;
    • More info on process and a service firm to help
  • Marshall Islands
    • Pros
      • enterpreneurial country, business orientented government
      • low tax regime (8.5%-17% for SG income, zero for non-SG income, 3 year tax holiday on startups)
      • absence of foreign exchange controls
      • political and economic stability
      • English common law system
      • fast and easy offshore company setup 1-2 days
      • No corporate taxation or reporting required
      • not viewed as a tax haven by OECD
      • No local requirements for shareholders, directors or secretary. Can all be one (foreign) person - you!
      • bearer shares allowed
      • Directors and owners are confidential and information does not have to be provided to either the Government or the Public.
      • Legal system simlar to SG and SG banks are used to working with MI companies
      • English is used for business lanaguage
    • Cons
      • A MI physical address and registered agent is required as the registered address.
      • Annual corporate renewal fee
      • Grey area on tax haven status
      • Few people have heard of it
    • More info on process and a service firm to help
  • Panama
    • Pros
      • enterpreneurial country, business orientented government
      • low tax regime, zero for non Panama income
      • absence of foreign exchange controls
      • political and economic stability
      • fairly fast and easy offshore company setup 4-5 days
      • No corporate taxation or reporting required for offshore income
      • not viewed as a tax haven by OECD
      • No local requirements for shareholders, directors or secretary. Can all be one (foreign) person - you!
      • bearer shares allowed
      • nominee directors allowed if you want extra privacy
      • low annual fee $500
    • Cons
      • Under the influence of the USA and potenially the IRS
      • Spanish is used for business language
      • Napoleonic legal system
    • More info on process and a service firm to help

 

Note: if you are a US citizen or resident you are required to file and pay the IRS where ever in the world you live based on your worldwide income. Addionally the IRS and US Treasury have lots of paperwork requirements for offshore companies and businesses owed by US citizens. This makes offshore company much more attractive to non US-citizens passport holders.

 

Your ideas as hand grenades - ready to explode into the world

1. Ready

2. Fire

3. Aim

Let your ideas explode into inspired action in the world, infographic from Dustin Lee on Paid to Exist blog which is about being paid doing thing you love.

 
I recently did this with my idea for a website to find Kundalini Yoga kriyas and meditations that solve a particular problem from among the 1000s that are available. I wanted a reverse index so that if I am looking for a meditation to help with being focused on work or coming up with new ideas I could find it. I created a wiki using the free Mediawiki http://www.kundaliniyogapedia.org/ and am in process of seeding it with all the kriyas I know. But the action thing is I emailed yoga friends and businesses I know before it is ready for generate public for ideas and feedback. And I delegated entering the seed data to one of VAs before I have totally figured out how the site will work. I found I got more energy from doing this compared to all the months I had spent thinking about the idea with no action!

 

PS I am also a fan of Marie Forleo who is mentioned in the graphic . She is super passionate business coach who will often sign or dance in her video blog entries just for the fun of it!

Ideas as grenades

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