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swisscash · Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 2 Location: malaysia

anyone here can explain this kind of investment and its benefits compared to the other kind of investment?.I heard that this kind of investment is very good.But need certain amount of big money to start..

Ahchoo · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 606 Location: Earth

Why ask that here and not in an investment related forum attached to an investment related website?
Are you a troll? A scammer?

tedkarma · Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:54 am Post subject:

I took the question as being sincere.

Lower income expatriates, such as TEFL teachers - do have a special need for investment vehicles. Most "off shore" stuff does seem to require quite large initial deposits.

As with any kind of investment it is probably better to stay with what you are familiar with. And - if you are not familiar with "off shore" stuff - it's probably best to stay with stuff from your home country.

There was a time in my TEFL career - particularly during my years in Saudi Arabia that I looked into the various options offered by off shore investment firms. Frankly, I found that my credit union back home and my regular investment accounts with Fidelity offered better and safer options. And I didn't have to mess with lots of international transfers and special reporting for my taxes back home.

Here's a few pages with a little advice/info on the topic:

http://tefldaddy.com/Brokerage_Account.htm

http://tefldaddy.com/Bank_and_ATM.htm

http://tefldaddy.com/Invest_old_new_country.htm

http://tefldaddy.com/Real_Estate_or_Stocks.htm

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I don't think the OP is a native English speaker....but maybe could still be a TEFLer somewhere. I agree, this isn't probably the best forum for the question.

11:59 · Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:08 pm Post subject:

tedkarma · Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:55 pm Post subject:

swisscash · Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 2 Location: malaysia

thank you very much for your explaination.Actually,privously for my first
experience.I join Swiss cash which is a mutual fund lead to off-shore investment.This mean that new investor nowadays can engage on this kind of benificial field of investment without having a big initial deposit.For example,my first investment is 1000USD..But,i do not really know about the difference between this kind of investment compared to local investment..

sidjameson · Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Posts: 629 Location: osaka

Swisscash, I have looked into this far more than most. Don't trust anybody when it comes to YOUR money. You have to make your own mind up. But believe me Smile

when I say, don't be hoodwinked (fooled) and confused by all the jargon and nonesense out there.

Offshore just means that for some (usually rich) people there are tax benefits to investing money outside the country where you live. BUT the downside is that the competition for your money is not a great so often the investment companies dont offer as good a deal offshore as you can get onshore.

For example, I buy a shares. The offshore companies I looked at charged $40 for commision and on top of that there were yearly fees that would have added up to $500 on the money that I had to invest.
I chose a regular share dealing account in the end because quite simply the fees were so much lower; $25 a trade with no yearly fees.

With your $1000 I doubt it is worth the trouble of looking offshore.

Now, as to where to invest, thats another thing. Basically for the typical investor there is shares and property. (bank deposits are savings not investments) The key to good investing is to spread the risk. So I invest in both. Another key to good investing is to keep the costs as low as possible. I wouldn't pay large fees to a fund manager. In the same way I would only invest in property if I culd get a very low interest rate loan.

These are challenging times as houses and shares are quite expensive now. It's up to you to decide, but I think of investing as a long term thing.
Therefore I own a house in England and shares in the UK stock market. Both could easily lose 20% of their value in a few weeks. BUT I am ok with this as I aim to hold both for the next 30 years.

Good luck with your investing.