Right on the Money: Doug Casey on Economics, Investing, and the Ways of the Real World with Louis James

Chapter 26

Doug Casey on Second Passports

January 26, 2011

Louis: Doug, a lot of our readers have asked about getting a second passport. I realize this is a large and complex issue—several issues, actually—but would you care to go over the basics of where to go and what to do? And for those not already thinking about this, why?

Doug: Sure. We’ve talked quite a bit about the increasing urgency of getting some of your assets out of your home country, especially if it’s the United States. We’ve talked about having stores of precious metals in safe places abroad, and setting up bank and brokerage accounts abroad as well. I’ve said that the safest way to store wealth abroad is to buy property, which can’t be seized by your home country without an act of war. The purchase of real estate solves several issues all at once.

But that’s all about protecting assets; to protect yourself, getting a second passport is unfortunately very important.

L: Why unfortunately?

D: Because you shouldn’t have to need government papers to live as you please. It used to be that a passport was a document that a ruler of one country would give to a traveler to ask the rulers of other countries to assist him in his travels. Now, instead of a convenience, it’s become a required permit for travel. It’s degrading and actually runs counter to the whole idea of the thing. The original purpose of a passport has been turned upside down.

L: Passports are becoming a world ID card—and they will be, once the governments ...