Secure your financial assets as an expat in Dominican Republic

Are there investments - yes.  Buyer beware.

Are there programs -  investor residency requires active investment no passive.

No there are no other programs UNLESS you are a huge investor in tourism. Nothing for normal people.

International investment should be part of a sound investment strategy!   Part of, not all of.

Exchange rate  risk is  real here!   You will find better rates investing in Pesos but you also get erosion of capital via exchange rate.

Tax  issues are based on where you are from,  we have our own and you will have additional issues (Maybe)

Banking here is  pesos and dollars. A few banks do other currencies but really its pesos and dollars

Like almost everywhere property market depends WHERE we are talking about.  Know the market.  Real estate here is a free for all. AND yes you can own real estate in your name or corp name!

Saving for the future -  you best have money before you arrive! Its not easy to earn and save here.

Do Not keep your money/investments here....

Any/All income made 'in country' is taxable by the DR gov't

Offshore earnings are tax free....

Cheryl needs to do some homework !

Cheryl is a moderator for expat and just posts discussions.

It's up to us to post information honey.

years ago, i had on spending as much time in DR as i could, so i opened a bank account. but then came covid, and i have not done any traveling  . and really am leary about traveling. so now i have a CD there, and i can not touch it, without travling there. they say only way i can close the acccount, is in person. not fun. my health has changed,  i am not thinking i want to sick in DR, and i will have to, at some point, go through the expense and risk of going there to close the addount...befor putting money there, be sure u will be able to access it. i can access my USA accounts from anywhere in the world, but this DR policy, really sucks.

I am sorry this happened to you. I will message you with an option that could work

@bobk.nyc :

Hey, sounds like you have had some misfortune in planning and the passage of time. We are having a pretty positive experience, and I think most will IF they follow some basic rules.   Here's our read on the DR and general international investment opportunities and risks:

1. TRUE, don't put all of your money into one country or one currency or even one bank.  THAT WOULD BE STUPID!
2. I wish I had saved the article, but about four years ago I read about a couple that had retired, moved to DR and obtained citizenship, moved all their money to a DR bank, and placed all their life's savings & investments into the investment arm of that bank.
3. Their account rep was a woman who befriended them and grew close. Over a long period of time, the couple trusted her to the point that they effectively gave the account rep carte blanch to move and invest their money as she (the account rep) saw fit.  (Pro Tip:  VERY bad idea).
4. And one day...the account rep gal simply disappeared...with a couple million dollars. Nearly all of the couple's life savings/investments!!!!! Investigations of several weeks had yielded zero indications of the whereabouts of either the account rep or the missing millions.
5. I never did see any follow-up articles on the couple or the account rep. 
6. YES, savings rates in pesos are pretty darn attractive, and we have a modest chunk of money in a DR Certificate of Deposit.  TRUE, the DR Peso does present significant currency risks compared to the US Dollar.
7. However, I'm not sure that will be true for much longer.  Increasingly, worldwide, the US Dollar is becoming the risky currency. 
8. In any event, our perspective is this:  We want to have enough money in the DR, earning attractive interest rates in Pesos, such that we could at least partially fund a modest lifestyle in the DR JUST IN CASE.
9. I certainly don't "know" what will happen in the future.  But I judge the risks of a US Dollar collapse within 10-20 years to be at least 25% likely...simply based on current US spending trends and debt growth. 
10. Heck, even a dollar collapse is possible within 3-4 years...though it would also likely require another major world event, such as open Ward with China being lost and Taiwan returned to Communist Chinese control.  Perhaps accompanied by the collapse of NATO. 
11. So, I want a reasonable nest egg in the DR, in Pesos and outside of the US dollar.  Just in Case.
12. BUT, we're going to stay EXTREMELY diversified with our overall savings/investments.
13. Multiple currencies and countries...hopefully in the most stable currencies/countries available.
14. As the Jedi say..."choose wisely, padawan." 
15. Definitely Multiple Banks and/or investment firms.     
16. And each such Bank or investment firm will have to be a cut above in terms of safety and stability. 
17. I spend a lot of time researching this topic -- I think about it at length.
18. And we're consciously building "firewalls" between all of these accounts.  Some will be in-person transactions only, some with tightly restricted online controls.  And, one or two banks that are HIGHLY convenient in terms of online accessibility and ability to move money quickly, IF NEEDED.   (But only about 20% of our net worth held in such high-convenience accounts.) 
19. And, obviously, I'm building all of this to be 1000% legal and complying with all national and international laws and standards. 
20. It wouldn't be wise in today's legal environment to play footsie with bank accounts and such.  GOTTA STAY LEGAL!!
21. Otherwise, that gracious, planned retirement could turn into 20 years in an unpleasant prison cell. 
22. It's just not worth the risks involve to cut any legal corners.  I want to retire happily, not spend the next 25 years waiting for that dreaded knock on the door (if we're lucky). 
23. I will point out that, at least for Americans, competent advice from US tax experts familiar with international tax requirements is an absolute must to achieve any long-term plan of this type. 

• We've already made a couple of bad decision in that regard...hiring tax experts who weren't nearly as expert as they claimed.
• The bad news is we received some bad advice, and paid a cost for it. 
• The good news is that we've learned our lesson, and now take excruciating, detailed steps to find and hire highly competent tax experts in multiple countries.  That's just the cost of doing business in the expat game, folks.

Now, some may ask for my recommendations on particular banks or countries or investments or tax strategies. Sorry, I'm not going to be sharing those.  TMI placed on the Web is not healthy for one's financial account safety.  Just not going there.

I will say that we are already about 20% diversified internationally, and expect that number to reach 50% by 2027. 

I will also say I like these types of generic investments:

• Strong companies that pay solid dividends with inflation-resistant characteristics.
• I also like "real" investments.  That includes real estate, certain commodities, some collectibles and a dash of precious metals.  (NOTE:  Precious metals in bullion form are NOT investments  -- they are simply a "massive financial crisis insurance policy." 
• The details of such investments are up to you.  Your mileage may vary, so choose wisely.

A few words about "risk." 

• There's no such thing as a "sure thing."  No 100% safe investment.  No perfect investment.
• I'm happy if I can achieve 85 - 90% success in my investing, using weighted investment amounts to reduce risks...whether that be in stocks or real estate or bonds or whatever.
• IF ANY repeat ANY firm or person "guarantees" you success in their particular investment...they're lying to you. Immediately cut ties to them, as they are promising something they simply cannot deliver...and they KNOW they cannot deliver it. 

Let me close by pointing out that I am just another guy writing on expat.com.  I AM NOT NOT NOT A FINANCIAL ADVISOR, STOCKBROKER, LAWYER OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF EXPERT.  This is not financial advice...just a sharing of the outlines of our personal investment research and planning.  You'll have to figure out all of the details yourself, and YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.   Plan accordingly, and choose wisely.

Respectfully, and best to all,

Jim

ExpatRusher

Pretty thorough post!

@ExpatRusher yes, this is not the issues i have, and the bank, if it stays in biz, should not be an issue. just things changes really fast with covid, and this became a Loose end.  but ur post does touch on things people should concider with thier $$$, not only in DR, but anywhere. thanks for posting.

@Cheryl

Thanks for kicking this off, I am looking forward to hearing what people think and what their experiences have been. I worked in NYC for CitiGroup, the parent of Citibank for 5 years specifically supporting technology for the brokerage business called Smith Barney. This is NOT a solicitation as I am no longer with the firm, it is a base line of my experience with respect to investing.

@planner Excellent!

We have bank accounts here in DOP and USD, but don’t keep more than a couple of months of expenses on hand. As pensioners, we have to transfer our pension to our DR bank each month, but it’s rare that we ever move more than that. As for investing, our home is enough! We’ll be keeping the bulk of our investments in the US.

@ExpatRusher

Hi Jim

I agree 100% with you. Thanks for taking the time to lay this out.  All of us over time have made mistakes but its good to talk about them even though its not good for our ego, but learning from mistakes prevents future ones.  I dont think the USA currency is going to collapse any time soon but USA has many problems and its out in the open for everyone to see, and this causes more vulnerabilities and opportunities to exploit the situation, as we see every day in news and social media esp.  We have to check the sources of the data and know alot of it is now computer generated and for ulterior motives.

Diversification is key to your investment strategy. Dominican Replublic is not where you will find experienced and trustworthy wealth managers or builders, but they are difficult to find anywhere. 

Even if I had a permanent home here in DR, I look at it as a warm spot for me to visit to take off the chill, and to diversify my daily life, just like my investments and income.

Karin 

@bobk.nyc

At one time I had 3 acounts in DR, at different banks. I tried to see what the differences were in services and fees and how easy it was to do banking there, especially online banking. Then I decided it was time to close one.

I went there and they said my husband has to do it, I cannot do it. Nonsense, this is our money ( a joint account). I left and went online, and over time I simply transferred the money out, except for a few pesos. I entered the bank again to close the account, I said, we are done here. these are our bank cards, we wont need them any longer, close it, thank you very much. They tried to argue with me and I simply said there is no negotiation, we are done, goodbye, and I left.  This seems abit barbaric but that seemed to work. You could mail them your cards if you are not in the country, with your request.

It is easy to close an account when there is no money left in there!

I never tried to send money from DR to USA/Canada (ONLINE) except by wire transfer and I went into the bank in Punta Cana to do that. I am not aware of anyone who does this online other than western union. Have you tried that?

Karin

Actually you need to be very careful with this strategy. NOT closing accounts correctly can mean an accumulation of "service charges" for which you will be held accountable. NOT an issue if you are not staying but it can trip people up who live and or do business here!

This happened to me. An account was opened that I did not ask for where I had other accounts.  Then a credit card was issued on the account! I did not ask for that either. The hassle and attempt to charge me fees was RIDICULOUS!   And it appeared in my credit.   I had quite the fight to get this all removed!

@bobk.nyc outstanding advice even for the seasoned investor to keep their money and to never let your guard down. I’m sure most of us have heard from our mentors many times over the years “if it sounds to good to be true it most likely it is!” I know my reply has little to do with this thread but I feel compelled to thank you for such a thought out post.

@planner

That sounds like a nightmare, having to be responsible for a credit card you never received. 

Ofcourse, if you are concerned about credit in DR, and doing banking (business) with this same bank in the future, then sure, you better do what they say. 

My main points of the post are:

• closing a joint account was not allowed because in DR, "Man is King".  That is another lesson ladies.  In DR, women are for making babies and cleaning the house.  Generally speaking, serving the King.

• take your money out online, then if you cant close it in person, its secondary...I dont think it is illegal. Just send an email to the bank manager and request it to be closed because you are not able to come in person.  They might ask for your passport which you can send to him/her. 

About closing a joint account,  they said my husband was the primary account holder so I did not have authority to close it without his permission and he needed to come in to confirm. 

I  explained this was their error when they opened the account as I requested to be primary. I said, we both have different cards to access the same account, so they can see all the transactions came from my card.  I didnt come in to fix this because I didnt know they made this error.  So now they can fix it first if they wish, they have my permission, and now they can close it.

I absolutely understand your points.  Well made. Yes the man does come first here!   This country definitely is behind the times in many ways!