Customer Reviews

Secrets of Swiss Banking: An Owner's Manual to Quietly Building a Fortune

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you want a concise resource about Swiss (and other off shore) banking, then this is a good - no, make that great - resource from a reputable publisher. The author covers not only Swiss banks, but other top countries world wide known for advantageous bank laws for uncertain times.

Though some automatically think of tax evasion when the subject of Swiss banking arises, the perfectly legal possibility of converting your savings into Swiss Francs could be a good hedge against a falling dollar. The book is marketed to US and Canadian audiences, so legally some of the suggestions might mean different things to different people. Therefore, do not act on his word without checking your tax status with a knowledgeable source.

The only negative would be the paranoia in the early part of the book, such as on p26 where the author suggests that the North American Union might be brought about with the aid of a "conveniently timed terrorist attack." This on its face is paranoid, but if it's meant to suggest that the terrorist attacks of 9-11 were somehow planned, then that makes it flat out stupid as well. Therein lies the problem with any book that even approaches this subject: even without such outlandish claims, the mere discussion of fiscal policy as it relates to world events will invariably offend the politics of many readers. At that point, one needs to put aside the political baggage and get past the politics and pay attention to the strategy for preserving wealth.

Even if the author truly believes in conspiracy theories (or if he only wants to cater to the tin foil hat wearing crowd), it doesn't take away from the value throughout the book. It's an uncommonly good find among personal finance books.

EDIT: Much has changed since this book was written and since I wrote this review. The US Government did the biggest shake down ever of all the suspected sanctuaries. Though the Swiss eventually told them to back off, there were substantial changes agreed to. It's embarrassing as an American, but financially we're the point where Uncle Sam is desperately looking for quarters in the sofa cushions to pay for social security, never mind all the idiotic new spending coming down the pike.

I know of no current book with the latest changes incorporated, but I haven't looked lately. In any event, beware - things are getting ugly out there.

This well-written work is the only book on this topic that I have been able to find in years, and, thankfully is a worthy successor to Harry Browne's landmark work, "The Complete Guide to Swiss Banks," which was published in 1976. Of course since then, times have changed, and Hoyt Barber's book is up-to-the-minute. It explores some solid investment options available to North Americans in Switzerland and other venues, including the broader picture of foreign currencies, precious metals, economics, estate planning, asset protection, and secure offshore investments.

This is a solid financial work, but also offers readable and entertaining commentary on the times.

This book should certainly tell you all you need to know about Swiss banking and investments - now if he had only kept his endless political biases to himself I would have added a star. It would also be wise to check online for intermediaries who can help. CAUTION: Some charge a fee, but not all. Choose the latter!

The book is good - but not for US Citizens no matter where you live. As of 2009 this book became very out of date for US citizens. Switzerland has put a hard freeze on US citizens for Investment Banking and even offshore accounts. The pressure from the US litigation with UBS has brought the Swiss Banking Community into a complete and unified anti US citizen banking access program.

The author uses this book to go off on rants about the Iraq War and Gorge W. Bush, topics that have nothing to do with Swiss Banking.