CHAPTER 1
Opportunities Away from the Land of Opportunity
We have long been fans of investing one’s money, in part, outside of the United States. There are many reasons into which we delve that help to further justify forays into foreign markets, but it has always struck us as being just plain common sense to at least consider other economies as places from which to make money. Complicating the issue of looking elsewhere has long been the 800-pound gorilla sitting squarely in the middle of the room: we are Americans who live in the United States. That simple fact has, in the last several decades, afforded us the best reason to simply disregard the consideration of other markets. The reality is that we have everything we need right here. The truth is that we still do. Certainly, recent events have made even the most U.S.-centered investor wonder what better opportunities might await him or her in the other corners of Planet Earth, but in the end, most people like keeping everything here, thank you very much. It is just simpler, cleaner, easier.
Historically, when it comes to our money, we just feel better when our money is here in the United States (or so we perceive it to be). After all, are there not thousands upon thousands of publicly traded U.S. companies from which to choose, to say nothing of the thousands of stock mutual funds, bond mutual funds, and real estate opportunities that exist here in the United States? Indeed. We do not have to learn a new language to invest ...