Protecting Your Assets So You Can Live The Costa Rica Dream

In my early 2007 article entitled ‘Protect Your Assets – The ‘Perfect Storm’ may be about to wipe them out…’ rattled a few people, but helped others.

Steve and Eve from Charlotte, NC. USA wrote to me saying: “Scott. Eve and I want to express our gratitude for your bold statements about the US equity markets. We took your advice and sold us equities at the 13,800 Dow level. We are so glad you saved us over $100,000 in losses so far. Enough to make a sizeable down payment on a piece of paradise in Costa Rica. Thanks!”

On Friday 9th November 2007 the Dow closed at 13042.74 so people who did the same thing as Steve and Eve are even happier now but, let me share something even more scary with you today…

Just a few weeks ago, “Citigroup was telling anyone who would listen that it had a mere $70 million in “indirect exposure” to the sub prime mortgage mess. This week, Citi CEO Charles Prince has resigned, Citi is looking at another $8 billion to $11 billion in writeoffs…”

If the fact that Citigroup – the largest financial organizations on the face of planet earth – can lose that much money makes you lose a little more confidence however, ask yourself how do you feel when you read on the last Saturday in October, Gary Crittenden, Citigroup’s chief financial officer who makes a mere US$10,000,000+ per annum stated: “How in the world could we have been so exposed and how could we not have been properly hedged?”.

Well sorry to state the obvious but if someone who is responsible for the financial affairs of the world’s largest financial organization doesn’t know “how” then we have a lot more to worry about than we thought …

One of the most respected fixed income managers in the world who does know “how”: “Bill Gross, the chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management, said US mortgage delinquencies and defaults would rise in 2008. “There are $1 trillion worth of sub-primes, Alt-As [self-certified] and basically garbage loans,” he said, adding that he expects some $250bn in defaults. “We’ve only begun to see the pain from rising mortgage payments,” he added.

If you have not already done so, I would strongly encourage you to consult with you investment advisor and make sure that your financial affairs are as defensive as possible because it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better and we want to make sure that your Costa Rica dream is not shattered by some plonker who doesn’t know “how.”

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore.

Although Scott Oliver does not personally sell real estate, he would be happy to Help-U-Search for your perfect property in Costa Rica.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.