#431 – The Expat Files: Life, Gold, and Uncertainty in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wander Hello there all you expat wannabes I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America the show that tells you just what it's like to live Work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started now You know, I just got finished with my latest expat wisdom seminar and guess what amongst other things Everybody was talking about gold and silver and if you don't think gold is gonna be important in the coming years when the next blowout

[00:45] Comes listen to this one of the guys that my recent seminar happens to have been in the oil business for something like 30 years And he's mostly been a contract setup and management person Responsible for the infrastructure needed before crews come in to do pipelines and refineries and oil rigs, etc And he's almost exclusively been based in third and fourth world countries like the Middle East and Africa and in fact for the last Eight years or so. He's been doing infrastructure pipeline stuff in Africa I mean now here's a guy that's really been around the kind of guy the average man in Cleveland would probably Never run into in his whole life. So he's worth listening to believe me So now listen to what he told us at the seminar about current season gold When he gets a contract from a big oil company like shell or chevron

[01:33] his part in it is to go down to the country and the location where the new setups gonna be and rent bungalows and arrange transportation and clean water and food and basic Services for a group of skilled oil men who are gonna come down and set up some kind of infrastructure project So all the basic amenities have to be in place before these guys arrive Which is what our new seminar friend guy does you could say he's the infrastructure projects advance, man Now he says that things in his end of the oil business have been changing rapidly in the last year or so Seems that lately he's been finding himself in direct competition head-to-head with the Chinese Who also are running around the world grabbing up mineral rights so they can drill in mine, etc Now at the seminar he told me in the group a particular incident that's been repeating itself lately

[02:23] He said he'll come into a place in Africa somewhere For example, and he'll do the groundwork and make the deals with the local suppliers for the housing in the water and the transportation Etc before his crew comes in and when he sits down with the local movers and shakers the guys He's supposed to sign the contracts with and pass the check to when finalizing the deal many times He says after all that work's been done when he gets there to hand over the check suddenly He finds that the Chinese have beat him to it He says they can be very sneaky and sometimes they'll slip in a day or two before he's supposed to finalize the deal And they make the locals a deal. They just can't refuse. How do they do that? Well, he says traditionally as they sit down and sign the contract the oil company then cuts a check in good old u.s

[03:11] Green however, the Chinese reps who walked in a day earlier Dropped a bag of gold on the table not dollars not euros not you on but gold so folks know this That's what's happening on the other side of the planet where big deals are being struck day in and day out of which we have No knowledge except for those occasional amazing little stories We hear from people who are right in the middle of that kind of action So if that little bellwether doesn't disturb you a bit, then I guess it's time to flick on the tube Oh, I guess it's not a tube anymore. Is it anyway grab the remote and a big bag of Cheetos and settle in for a nice Night of the walking dead or breaking bad or the big butt theory otherwise known as the Kardashians So the warning shot here should be clear by now

[03:58] Get some of your money into gold or silver and get it the hell out of the country because You and I know that the US government is broken bankrupt, which means whatever kind of spin they put on it There's desperation and panic within the corrupt halls of the US executive branch Which means you and your money whatever you got in the bank up in the first world etc And your IRAs and retirement plans are at risk So when you hear that news that Obama is officially switching your IRAs to t-bills and Treasury notes And of course the government will tell you it has to be done for your own good and safety in such a volatile market And of course when that happens 98% of the population of the US will drink that Kool-Aid They'll have to and if you think what I'm proposing here is fantasy just remember eight countries have done that already

[04:47] Look it up eight sovereign countries have already rolled their citizens private retirement funds Into government securities by edict by law whatever you want to call it when that happens And you don't have some of your assets outside the country. You'll be stuck with that eventuality, too The question is are you okay with that now sure you know short term? We might have deflation and that's certainly evident with huge drop in oil prices But you know how long you really think that's gonna last that said if you don't get at least some of your assets out of the Country very shortly. You're gonna be a very sorry out of luck sucker so you can continue to drink the Kool-Aid which 99% of people do when faced with a huge economic blowout and their government who caused the blowout in the first place comes in and

[05:37] Says just hold on a bit. We'll save you Meanwhile jacking up plans to bleed you even more or you can be one of the smart safe 1% who has some of their assets already out of the country when that happens now on that note Let me read another email from someone who's very savvy about gold medals and moving them around Oh, yeah, and as usual paraphrase this a little bit to cut out the boring parts so as to avoid any snoozers out there Here goes dear Johnny these days of global uncertainty Gold is absolutely the way to go for portable densely packed wealth For example, you can hold 50 one ounce maple leaves or kurigurans in your hand in a small makeshift One and a half inch wide PVC pipe tube like the ones they use in plumbing

[06:26] Which is only about as big as two shot glasses taped end-to-end and just as wide so picture How really small and compact that is and you know what that little stack is worth about? $60,000 or more and like you always say Johnny With that kind of transportable wealth you could go down to latin america and live a regular first world life If you're single that is for at least five or six years Talk about an economic life raft Imagine all that wealth in the space of two shot glasses stacked upon each other Now once you've put your gold in a plastic tube like that You can hold it in your hand or keep it in your pants pockets And when it going through airport metal detectors and such or borders

[07:13] I just hold it right out and say that it's part of my recently deceased dad's coin collection Now, of course, you can play it extra safe Like you mentioned one of your past shows by just saying you're a coin collector going to a coin show in whatever latin country you end up in or are heading to and make sure that you bring some kind of proof like a paper backup copy of a coin show convention that you Picked off from a real coin show event advertised on the internet or a real ad picked out of an online latin newspaper on the internet Because you know coin shows like that happen in every big city every weekend in every country I know that because well i've been to a few of those and i'm a coin collector But you know a lot of people aren't very good fibers

[07:58] And you don't want to look like you're trying to pull something off when you're going through a border So if you want to skip all that just make it simple and say it's part of your recently deceased fill in the blank Family members coin collection, so i'm always ready to use that line That's why I only have real country issued gold coins like canadian maple leafs South african cougarands american eagles austrian philharmonic coins and chinese pandas Now note those country issued coins all have dates and nominal values stamped on them That way they're actually legal currency and not bullion which border officials especially in the u.s Might try to tax or take even if you fill out the proper currency forms and even though canadian maple leaps for example only have

[08:47] 50 stamped on them Which is very much in your favor if you get in an argument with the customs guys Which I never have yet and i've brought coins through at least a dozen times So at least for now if you do things that way you'll be in like flinn However, who knows how long that's gonna last so you better act soon And by the way johnny you're right You never want to let a bank or a safety deposit company hold your stuff. You always want to take possession Okay, i'll stop this email for a second. It's me now I do have something very important to say on that point for all you guys who get doug casey's information You'll notice that once in a while you get an email from a company that's affiliated with him called hard asset alliance

[09:34] And they're a gold storage company etc That will also allow you to buy sell and move your gold for you. And here's my take on that I always approve of everything that doug casey sells That is as far as being on the up and up and being legitimate Now i'm not talking about his stock picks or anything like that I'm talking about things like this hard assets alliance thing Now for those of you who always ask me where should you buy your gold? Well, the big kicker is not where to buy your gold because you can buy it at any neighborhood corner pawn shop or coin dealer That is of course if you're living up in the states and you could buy it from a number of places on the internet, too However, the owner of that business is going to report that transaction to the irs Whether you know it or not. It's a big brother requirement now

[10:20] What a bunch of nosy ass wipes, huh? But only certain gold and silver items are reportable. Did you know that? Some of them aren't legally non-reportable And if you guys and girls out there want to know all about that Just send me an email and i'll send you a special report on that So obviously if you want to stay anonymous you buy the type of gold and silver products that are not reportable, right? Duh But back to that company called hard asset alliance Now what I really like about that outfit is that you can buy gold from them and they'll ship it Anywhere in the world totally insured at a hundred percent value So though i'm adamantly opposed to anyone holding your gold in some kind of bonded warehouse somewhere in the world And believe me that's their main service to get you to buy gold and store it at one of their facilities

[11:09] Then they get a monthly rate or whatever Well, just know I trust that company completely in the buying and shipping of gold But I wouldn't trust anyone storing it for me in the long term So by all means if you want to get your gold or silver out of the country Without walking it through borders yourself or taking a chance on some other company shipping it This is by far one of your best options In fact, I know people who've used this service and it works a hundred percent as advertised And note I don't get a dime for promoting this service and i'm not actually promoting it I'm just saying it works and it's reliable And I really think if I lived in the states and I was the timid sort and didn't feel good about walking my gold through Foreign borders i'd use that service myself and if you haven't noticed by now, I am the timid sort

[11:55] So then you might ask well if you haven't moved down to latin america Or you haven't got a piece of property down there where you can bury your gold in a tube What about buying gold through a company like that and having them store it somewhere outside the country for you? Well, I think maybe in the short term. Let's say for a year or two. That would be a very good idea You just buy your gold through a company like that have them store it outside the country With the idea in mind that you're going to move down to latin america or wherever outside the us Then by all means have your gold shipped from that storage place to your new residence But better yet have that storage company ship your gold to your lawyer's office Remember he's your key partner in all this So then you're breaking the chain and you can be anonymous because once it's there

[12:43] Then you pick it up and take it anywhere and do anything you want with it But then of course that means you have to have a lot of trust in your lawyer, right? Well, in case you haven't heard that's what my latin american seminars are all about Introducing you personally to people like that people that are absolutely trustworthy that said maybe I will have another seminar someday And you'll be able to take advantage of that But I repeat I don't make a dime if you utilize that company. I just mentioned Anyway, I don't believe they'd give me a dime if they found out that I tell you not to use their storage facility And it's not just them. I don't think you should use anyone's Especially not a safety deposit at a bank. Oh, and by the way, if you want to store your gold or silver at your house I think one of the best things you could do is put in a little safe hidden in a closet somewhere or

[13:28] Cemented into the basement floor and don't put anything of value in it Oh, maybe you can load it up with mexican pesos or costa rican colognes They always look nice and they are in large denominations though not worth much more than the paper They're printed on which is surely what the dollar is going to look like pretty soon, but I digress as usual Anyway, that little safe or lock up will be your decoy And instead you put your gold or silver in a standard pvc plastic pipe tube Bury it in your backyard somewhere or bury it in the kibble in the dog food bin Or you could try expat eddie's favorite place He says and he swears by this you should wedge it under the mat in the cage of your 125 pound rottweiler

[14:14] Because like expat eddie says even if a crook knows it's in there. He ain't gonna go for it Oh and by the way If you do that make sure that you have a way to fasten that tube down to the cage because like eddie says If it gets loose your dog just might take it out in the backyard and bury it like a bone and then Your gold will be in a safe place a very very safe place because you won't be able to find it either So the trick is to actually have a safe or a strong box around the house That's the obvious place for criminals like regular crooks and your government to focus on right? Oh, and if you don't believe me a family member of mine who's a law enforcement officer in chicago told me that Police departments in big cities like chicago Routinely get the purchasing records of people and businesses who buy safes

[15:04] So if you've bought a safe in the last few years in the states, your government knows about it, too I assume you're all right with that, correct? Reason three thousand four hundred and twenty six why you have to get the hell out So anyway, now that you've got your gold packed in a little pvc tube There are other options like the rottweiler cage But normally people bury it in the backyard And for those of you who've brought up the point that someday when the government does want to come after all your stuff Including your gold they'll come out with metal detectors and try to find it Well, first of all, that's only going to happen if you open your mouth and people know you've got gold Or if you buy it from one of those pawn shops or gold coin dealers And they've reported it to the government and now the government has you on a list How do you handle that situation if they actually come for your gold?

[15:52] Well, that probably won't happen for a few years anyway, and you should have gotten it out of the country by then Bury it deep like at least three foot underground And don't bury it lengthwise bury it end to end make sure the tube is perpendicular to the ground surface So the top of the tube is facing up providing the smallest surface area with that small profile Someone would have to have some very expensive equipment to locate it and not just your standard beach comb or metal detector That's for sure. So then you might ask what about gold in latin america buying and selling etc Well, every medium to large latin city has coin shops because there are small contingents of coin collectors even in latin america Note that coin collectors here generally do not collect us coins

[16:40] They collect versions of latin coins because in the old days just like in the us Before governments figured out they could turn on the printing presses and debase the monetary system Latin countries also had gold and silver in their coins which makes for a ready coin collecting market Do know this it's not like in the us where there's a pawn shop or a coin dealer in every middle class and lower middle class neighborhood In fact down here. They really don't have pawn shops as we know them now in latin america As i've mentioned so many times before no matter who you talk to a guy on the street a shoeshine boy Even a phd in economics. They have absolutely no clue about the coming great economic storm And there is one coming whether you want to face the facts or not and about gold

[17:26] Well, no one down here in latin america holds gold for investments or safety purposes They only pile it on their necks and their hands to prove how important they are and 99 Don't even know that most likely what they're wearing is fake and not even worth melting down In fact at parties i've sat across from dozens of latins displaying their bling And after tossing out a few complementary lies about their great taste in jewelry I will sometimes for my own entertainment purposes ask them what percentage of that bling is gold and almost all of them say Why it's solid gold don't you know 100 percent which would be 24 carat, right? Now you probably know this but jewelry is never made of 100 or 24 carat gold

[18:13] It's just too damn soft and you'd be able to bend and mutilate it with your fingernail or your bare hands So just know if you quiz anybody up north about their jewelry and they say it's 100 gold or 24 carat They're either lying totally uninformed or just ignorant now funny enough. I can't tell you how many latins i've spoken to down here Who've said to me? I wouldn't wear anything but pure gold. Well, guess what? No one wears pure gold and that answer in itself says how under educated they are about the stuff But where was I? Oh, yeah back to that email now our emailer says johnny I'm thinking that latins likely have that same backward mentality I've seen firsthand in places like thailand where there's a gold shop in every town with more than two stoplights But where do you keep this stuff when you're down there?

[19:00] Sure, if you got a quarter ounce coin, you can sew it into your hat or something But what do you do with 51 ounce coins if you can't trust safety deposits in the states It's absolutely a folly to consider doing it in the third world private depositories. Don't inspire much confidence either You know that I guess as you've mentioned before midnight gardening in your own backyard is probably the best answer And then what about silver? I've heard you can buy silver direct from the mines in equator at least and I guess maybe gold as well Let me stop that email for a second and confirm that yes, you can buy silver all over the place down here In fact some cities like tasco mexico specialize it and there's silver on every street corner But you better know what you're doing before you buy and have an analysis kit with you because even if it's stamped

[19:49] 0.999 Yeah, just can't trust it. So anyway, the email continues I know gold and silver confiscation just might come up in the united states But i'm sure it'll never happen in latin america They might try to adopt first world draconian laws like that, but they're so short on cash and enforcement It's just never going to happen. I know that Anyway, I know you'd be doing a show on gold and this general topic in the near future And I just wanted to add a few additional issues that might be relevant for your consideration And naturally it's signed anonymous, you know That's exactly how you should play this gold and silver card when you're buying and storing and burying this stuff Be anonymous. That's rule number one Now when our emailer mentioned lack of government enforcement of laws down here in latin america, man

[20:36] He wasn't kidding and to just give a little more credence to that concept All you have to do is open up any of the big daily latin newspapers and read articles like this This one comes from today's prensa libre, which is quite a mala's largest newspaper It says right here on the front page that the president has declared the year 2015 to be the year of no violence What an idiot, huh? But because he is a politician which makes him a lying sack of corruptible theses Turns out in the very first month in the year of no violence as he proclaimed it there were 488 homicides higher than last year's january number of 484 So then why am I bringing this up?

[21:22] Well because it says right here in an interview On the second page with the minister of governation That would be the principal government spokesperson He says that the reason for the increase in violence and homicides this year is because the police Have no gasoline And he adds with great statistical brilliance That means without gasoline Our police cars cannot patrol the neighborhoods and you know i've mentioned this before but down here in latin. America Except in the petroleum producing countries like venezuela and mexico on average each police car receives Two gallons of gasoline a day now note that most cop patrol cars are actually toyota highlux pickups

[22:10] That seems to be the standard model down here for police departments donated by clueless do-gooder first world countries like the u.s Singapore and hong kong now the toyota people themselves will tell you a pickup like that could run Continuously in a city for about an hour on one gallon of gas So the best guess is one gallon an hour Which means of course that cop cars down in latin america can operate for about two hours a day And with that we're not even figuring some cops will routinely siphon a bit of gas out And clandestinely sell it to their friends and family or maybe use it themselves in another vehicle They might have at home usually a motorcycle. So anyway, that little story just reinforces the fact that governments in latin america

[22:56] Can never really hope to enforce new laws that they adopt when they are so spectacularly bad at enforcing the existing ones Now at first glance you guys sitting up in cleveland might be thinking oh god, that's terrible Why would you ever want to move to a country where laws are minimally or spotty enforced? Well, I can tell you this most expats when they first get down here have that same attitude until they've been down here for a while And in the end they really start believing that it's a good thing Because you see down here in latin america where governments feel everything that comes out of the first world is golden Political scumbags down here have such an inferiority complex about not being first world They are noted for rubber stamping and passing all kinds of first world legislation Just for the media coverage and the photo ops even though they know good and well

[23:45] They have no infrastructure money or manpower to enforce Which is a very good thing to most of us long-term expats anyway So we say let them pass all those idiotic stupid ass first world laws Because us long-term expats anyway know that it really will be business as usual and we still When all is said and done have a thousand percent more freedom than you guys in boston and cleveland will ever have So when people ask me about big brother down here, I say nope. I don't have one I'm the oldest boy in my family to which they usually answer. No. No, I mean big brother, you know big brother To which I say sorry that concept doesn't exist in the spanish language Oh, and by the way before you guys freak out at the thought of

[24:31] 488 murders in guatemala in january It does help if you can read spanish because of course these papers are always in spanish As it turns out because this is a big article They list the places in guatemala the zones and departments and cities, etc Where 98 percent of all these murders took place and as it turns out like it always does down here in latin america These are murders that take place in the worst most decrepit Follow-list dirtiest most crowded neighborhoods in the poorest most neglected areas of the big cities places I recommend no gringos ever step foot in I never go in those places. Oh, they're okay to drive through. That's not a problem Doors locked windows up, of course So what you've got is extensive crime in the lowest class poorest segments of society naturally

[25:21] That's where all these murders take place That's why when you go to any latin american country or any latin american big city The first thing you do is you get yourself a map and you have a taxi driver or someone at the airport information desk Or even a hertz or an avis guy have them mark on your map the safe and unsafe Areas of the city now you'd be surprised how many clueless gringos and expats come down and never do that I mean it would be as if a non-english speaker was dropped off in the center of chicago or the center of new york Atlanta or detroit and without any prior warning was told to just start walking I mean, come on How long do you think that guy or gal would last before he or she got mugged or worse? And you know what my expat with some seminars we walk and we drive maybe 200 miles total

[26:10] And my attendees will tell you that yes They see some areas that are pretty nasty But we always end up hanging out in some of the many rather nice middle and upper middle class areas And you know in any medium or large latin american city about a third of that area is completely safe to walk around it In fact, most people are duly surprised at how much it reminds them of middle class america Except of course everything's in spanish If you choose not to believe that because well you've never been down here and to see it for yourself You know what I say good because i'd really hate to see latin america crowded with ugly americans It's already happened in mexico panama costa rica parts of ecuador and urugui and now

[26:55] It's happening in a big way in nikaragua Since retirement rags and companies like international living are touting nikaragua now as the next costa rica Well, believe me i'm talking from a lot of experience here more than 20 years If you're one of those people who's looking to get in on the ground floor of the next costa rica You better just click off this show and switch to the international living website because Obviously you'll never be happy unless you're living in and around a bunch of gringos Who are clueless enough to believe that the people in the country they're piling into Look at them as anything more than a big fat dollar sign You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border

[27:42] Email me the expat files at gmail.com And don't forget to check out expat wisdom.com to sign up for your free reports on latin america See you next time nos vemos