Secure your financial assets as an expat in Colombia

Worldwide assets could be taxed.

Earlier this week, Expat.com Colombia expert

Osage Archer discussed how the tax agency

in Colombia, La DIAN, may tax the

worldwide income of Expats even if their

income is not derived from Colombia sources.

For this reason, it is advisable for prospective

arrivals in Colombia to talk with Colombia-based

tax experts before becoming tax residents.

If an Expat does not reside in Colombia for

an aggregate total of more than 183 days

out of 365 days, he or she can avoid being

tagged as a tax resident subject to such

taxation.

Some Expats choose to live most of their time

in another country such as Ecuador, which

does not lay claim to income derived beyond

its borders.

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CDT's paying relatively high interest.

On a Colombia forum thread started on

June 15 (2023), I posted about certificates

of deposit offered by Colombia banks

up to and exceeding a return of 14 percent

per year. The title of that thread is

Investment Opportunities in Cartagena,

although the Colombia CD's that are available

are not restricted to Cartagena.  That thread

is clickable from the welcome page of the

Colombia Forum.

In Colombia, such investment certificates

are known as CDT's, which stands for

certificados de depósito a término.

I have invested in CD's in Ecuador recently,

where the maximum that banks and

credit unions or cooperativas have been

offering is in the 8 or 9 percent range.

I have not yet determined whether it is

required of a depositor in CDT's

to have official residency in Colombia in

order to participate in such an investment.

In making such an investment, an Expat

should find out the amount up to which

a CDT is guaranteed by an agency of

the government or which is authorized

by the government for the insurance purpose.

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Property investing in Colombia.

The infamous Pablo Escobar has been

off the playing field for about three decades,

but some of the bad actors of Pablo's day

and their relatives are still active in

rural paramilitaries and as rural guerrillas.

Their presence makes intercity travel

after dark a risky activity in Colombia ..

and IMO results in risk factors that make

investing in real estate a trickier proposition

than in most other South American

countries.

---

If I had to invest in real estate somewhere

in Colombia, I would probably choose

Sotomayor or some other established,

upscale sector in the northern city of

Bucaramanga, Santander.

Buca is known as the City of Parks ,

the Beverly Hills of Colombia and

the most prosperous city in the country.

It has excellent shopping malls and a

climate that is just a touch warmer than

Medellín's year-round spring.

   ---

Definitely avoid investing in pre-consruction

projects in South America.  I bought a condo

in Quito, Ecuador, in 2004 .. and it was nine

years later before the condo project was

built up to the point where my unit was

ready for occupancy.  FYI, not all projects

sold in pre-construction get completed.

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Gold and silver.

I went heavy with precious metal investments

when I saw disaster developing in the

stock markets in January 2022.

However, I avoid owning gold and silver

in physical form such as coins and bars.

Many investors love the physical metals and

consider them a truer and better investment.

Of course, some of those folks make a profit

from the sale of physical gold, silver,

platinum or other such assets.

The value of physical-gold investments is

partly offset by the cost of storing them

somewhere safe, insuring them and some

hidden costs.

Also, when one invests in precious metal

stocks or ETF's instead of the physical stuff,

one avoids the inherent potential of losing

or misplacing the investment .. and the

possibility of four beefy guys showing up

at one's home at 3 a.m., saying

Show Us Your Gold.

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Good stuff CC

@Cheryl One Word DONT