SANTIAGO — Once again, Chilean students have taken to the streets to protest the…
My Two Cents: FBAR
Writing about business is usually interesting especially when something really brilliant happens or something really stupid goes down. We get to talk about it and have some fun. Writing about taxes is not one of my favorite things to do. However, I’m getting inundated with panic-stricken people who are afraid of the FBAR requirements. Who [...]
My 2 Cents: Argentina Goofs!
Argentina has really messed up the works in the financial world. You may remember a column I did a few weeks ago about the skittish nature of capital. Well, one sure way to chase it offshore is to start nationalizing private investments. Cristina, you really have the world’s attention… in a bad way. Who, in [...]
My 2 Cents: Tax Time Again
Oh, no! Tax time again! U.S. citizens are required to report ALL their income world-wide and file tax returns. It’s that time again…or is it? I’ve heard some pretty amazing things concerning taxes and nearly all of them wrong. Did someone tell you that you don’t have to file while you are overseas? Wrong. Somebody [...]
My 2 Cents: Customer Service?
Today I got a chance to ride the Metro during rush hour for the first time in a while. To put it bluntly, it was a nightmare. The cars arrived at the station jammed full of people. Some were trying to get off while other were smashing themselves in. Somebody is going to get seriously [...]
My 2 Cents: We’ve Been Warned…
Yesterday, the Financial Times published an article about Latin America’s vulnerability to an economic downturn. The author states that our region is less prepared to withstand problems than before. That means that Chile is less prepared to weather an economic downturn (by their estimates) than ever. I want to focus on what can be done in [...]
My 2 Cents: Chile’s minimum wage
It seems that some in the Chilean government want to raise the minimum wage from CLP 182,000 per month to CLP 250,000. Sounds good, huh? This presents interesting angles (to say the least) as to the effects of such a move. What does this accomplish? Well, obviously, the first thing it does is put more [...]
My 2 Cents: Financial storm on the horizon…
Harry Dent, Robert Prechter and Gerald Celente are three of the biggest names in economic analysis and forecasting. I really don’t know much about Prechter and Celente, but Harry Dent has a lot of credibility with me. I bought his book “The Roaring 2000s” and read it. He advised people in the USA to move [...]
My 2 Cents: Capital May Come To Chile
News from Europe is dismal…for European investors at least. The bailout for Greece will mean the investors in Greek bonds will have to settle for less than face value of their bonds. Needless to say, investors are outraged. The discounts could be very steep, which means big losses, regardless of the interest rates on those [...]
My 2 Cents: Coming to Chile?
Recently a Zogby International poll discovered that more than 3 million US citizens relocate abroad every year…” and “…record numbers of rich American citizens renounce their citizenship to escape punishing levels of taxation.” Really? People are leaving the “land of the free”? Why would they do that? Well, to paraphrase Rudyard Kipling, “…if you can [...]
My 2 Cents: Capital is skittish
Regulators in the USA are taking the unusual step of taxing municipal bonds held by the rich. Currently, interest paid by municipalities is tax-free to the recipient. Now in the Obama “jobs” bill, that is about to change. On top of that, it appears that rating agencies are changing their methodologies and will be doing [...]