Top 5 Offshore Storage Locations for your Gold IRA

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Last Updated on: 10th February 2023, 07:21 pm

Photo Courtesy of the Sovereign Investor

Since the United States' Internal Revenue Service at last began offering its citizens the right to store their Gold IRA physical precious metals assets internationally, it seems like every nation has jumped head first into the offshore precious metals storage business lately. It is simply staggering the numbers of countries that are promoting themselves as safe haven locations for your greatest treasures nowadays.

Yet you should be clear, all offshore gold storage countries are not created equal by a long shot. In this article we consider the top five best offshore precious metals storage locales for your Gold IRA. Here they are (with all of their many reasons why) in no particular order.

Austria

The land of the Alps, castles, wine valleys, world leading culture, and a fantastic strong economy is also one of the best places in the world in which to store your expatriated gold. The reasons for this are many. Austria has been a stable state for over a thousand years now. Its mint has been striking coins for 800 years. The government does not meddle in its citizens' private affairs and respects gold ownership.

Photo Courtesy of Nomad Capitalist

The economy is strong and stable, and the jurisdiction has no history of gold search and seizure as with the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.

What really sets Austria above its many offshore storage safe haven peers though is the presence of best in the world Das Safe vault. Pictured above, this old-school European precious metals vault is so big on anonymity that if you were to lose your numbered account or die unexpectedly, it would be next to impossible for your valuables to be retrieved.

You're not just talking about gold and precious metals either, as Das Safe does not care nor even want to know what other art treasures, diamonds, jewelry, bearer bonds, stock certificates, or even piles of cash in various currencies you choose to store in your box.

This kind of vanishing anonymity and reliability for confidentiality has died out in most rival safe haven countries like Switzerland over the last decade, so plan on paying a pretty penny for the privilege to store valuables there. In fact the high cost is the only negative we can see with offshore gold storage in Das Safe in (the best in the world to live in city) Vienna, Austria.

The Cayman Islands

The Caribbean-located Cayman Islands are more than just a renowned international party spot and home to wealthy expats. They are also the best place in the whole of the Western Hemisphere in which to store your gold and other physical precious metals.

This starts with their world-leading legal traditions and British-based laws that do not allow for confiscation or interference in the finances of their residents here. Unknown to many people, the Caymans are also the fifth largest financial center in the world today.

Photo Courtesy of Phase.com

What’s more, the islands are home to SWP (Strategic Wealth Preservation) Cayman which offers very competitive storage of precious metals right in the heart of the main island. Their SWP vault is a state of the art, new, purpose -built precious metals storage vaulting facility that is world class.

The distance to the Cayman’s by regular international airline flights from the United States, Canada, and even Great Britain (not to mention the world-class weather year round) only adds to the appeal of a terrific offshore precious metals storage safe haven here.

Singapore

The world's tiniest city state that is actually a major financial center is found on the tip of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It has quickly become the second most important offshore gold storage center in Asia, just behind long-time leader Hong Kong. There may not be as many precious metals dealers based in Singapore as in Hong Kong, and the independent city state may lack the numbers of precious metals vaults, but it has something Hong Kong lacks.

Photo Courtesy of Changi Airport

This is autonomy and independence. No one tells Singapore what to do. They have a long-standing tradition of British-based law and respect for private financial ownership which makes it a very appealing and safe jurisdiction indeed in which to store your physical valuables.

Infrastructure is world leading here too, with their vaults conveniently located right next door to the international airport. Flight to and from Singapore are so easy to book if you want to come over and inspect your gold holdings or assume physical possession of them at any time.

Hong Kong

For decades, Hong Kong suffered no precious metals storage rivals in Asia, but thanks to the British handover of the tiny territory to the meddling Chinese, this has all change in recent years as the place has lost more and more independence of its various affairs since 1997. This means that like Switzerland, Hong Kong is no longer as perfect a choice for safe offshore precious metals storage as it once was.

Yet it is still the largest gold bullion dealer in Asia where you have such a liquid and deep market that you can buy precious metals below world market prices and also sell for higher than them in many cases. The choices for secure vaulting here are many and varied, with lower storage prices accordingly.

Photo Courtesy of www.loebsmith.com

As a world-renowned financial center, Hong Kong is still among the strongest, largest, and best-known and most-respected as well. So long as that imperious Red Army does not march into the enclave one day and declare martial law, you should be fine (but in any case, the Chinese have a cultural affinity for private gold ownership and a general respect for rule of law if you keep your eyes lowered and your head down).

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Dubai is a newer addition to the family of five best offshore precious metals storage centers in the globe. It has risen so rapidly to prominence that no one could have realistically foreseen it coming. The tiny, mostly independent United Arab Emirates' constituent member is ruled by an emir who is more like an independent sovereign within the confines of his own principality.

He wisely wields this authority to ensure that in the DMCC free trade zone area, there are no import or export tariffs on precious metals holdings, nor any sales tax levied on them either for investors either foreign or domestic. The emir has been so successful in his endeavors over the last decade that Dubai has earned the nickname as “the city of gold.” They now handle over 20 percent of all the world’s gold production in any given year here.

Photo Courtesy of Kuoni

Thanks to refining brands such as locally based Kaloti Precious Metals, you can even buy locally minted gold bullion bars and ingots entirely within the emirate and then quietly store them at their decade-old DMCC vault. This top five in the world vaults member is conveniently located near the international airport, which features impressive and regular connections to hundreds of global destinations via Emirates Airlines.

David Crowder
David Crowder

W.D. Crowder is an American published author. His background and areas of expertise include history, economics, expatriate living, international relations, investments and personal finance. A widely read and top of his class graduate of Stetson University, he obtained his bachelor of arts degree in History with minors in Latin American Studies and International Relations and a special emphasis in Economics. He was President of his Phi Alpha Theta (National History Honors Fraternity) Stetson University chapter and a Phi Beta Kappa (National Honors Fraternity) member.

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