Post: #1

http://www.sovereignman.com

This guy, Simon Black, posts some interesting content. While I have admittedly gained a lot of value from his free content, the internet marketing aspect of his operation makes it seem a bit less high-value, IMO.

Has anyone subscribed to his premium service and/or membership site? Can you comment on how specifically you have benefited from it?

I strongly doubt that the "network" he has to offer can rival the networks I already have in place through my global alumni network and strategic networking through travels.

I'd like to see if his services and community are really worth the hype.

Any comments? Please be as specific as possible.

Example of poor feedback: "Simon is the man! He's so international!"

Example of good feedback: "Module 3 of his program enabled me to secure an EU passport and save 150,000 dollars in the process."

Thank you in advance.

Post: #2

YMG - Fantastic site dude, I read two paragraphs and added to my favourites list.

Not to get personal, where you based now?

Post: #3

while, i'm only familiar with his posts on zerohedge.....but my guess is his stuff is just recycled 5 flag theory which if freely available via google or from visiting pretty an active expat forum.

and to provide 'good feedback'.. his/her guy in paraguay(currently THE best value in world for 2nd passport) isn't actually an attorney there yet charges a gringo fee(2-3x the reasonable attorney fee) for something most on this website could do on their own.

just an opinion..

Post: #4

A friend of mine has sent me some of the information and most of it is irrelevant for my situation or stuff I knew already.

I'm sure he's raking in dough on ignorant and scared Americans, though.

Post: #5

I am familiar with Simon's stuff. IMO, it is mostly useful for people who are managing wealth rather than those creating it. The crowd is part people who have already made their money and are looking for offshore diversification strategies or expatriation, and part paranoid "I don't like the government" types who dream of moving to Guatemala after they are done with their career. His stuff/community won't help much when determining where to incorporate a business, or set up a start-up overseas, but would be much more useful if you want to determine how to drop US citizenship and stack your gold in AUS/SGN bank accounts. I read his blog because that shit is badass, but I find 99% of the information useless and I own 4 offshore corporations.

Post: #6

The community that Simon Black has built is invaluable for anybody who is interested in obtaining an additional citizenship/passport.

For example, in the forum there are Boots on the Ground reports from people who have gone through the process to get permanent residency in Ecuador and Paraguay. I consider this report a must for anyone who is thinking about getting citizenship in either of these countries because it lets you know exactly what you will have to go through to obtain it.

This month's Sovereign Man Confidential report details the process for obtaining citizenship in Chile, written by a person who helps facilitate this process. Of course he does so at a fee, but after doing some research I believe that his method is a lot easier than going through other providers.

Every now and then the newsletter has an investment recommendation, and so far anybody who has followed that advice has made money.

Quite often in the reports there is information about how to open a bank account in some European or Asian country without having to go there. There is a lot of information about how to move your gold abroad and which countries are best for storing it safely and anonymously.

Usually a new country is covered every month in Simon's report, and Simon talks about how to get permanent residency/citizenship in that country for cheap. Some examples include Latvia, Singapore, Ecuador, Paraguay, Chile.

It's also great to network with like minded people. When I was in Colombia I met up with a dude I met on the SMC forum who also happened to be a member of this forum. He's turned out to be one of the coolest guys I've met in my life, and since we share a lot of the same beliefs we had a ton to talk about.

Anyway, if you want to know anything else about SMC and what's inside just ask.

Post: #7

Sardino,
That's a great insight into the Simon Black community. However, correct me if I'm wrong, but the majority of his information is geared towards US citizens and few of it can be applicable to non US citizens. Since you're a member of his community, is there some concrete benefits/recommendations (specially on obtaining residency/citizenship) for say a Canadian citizen? If yes, i'd be interested in becoming a member as well.

Thanks man.

Post: #8

VP
The people who make up the SMC community come from all over the place. A lot of the information is written by Americans for Americans, but a Canadian can still get benefit as well. Procedurally there isn't much difference between a Canadian applying for Paraguayan residency and an American doing the same thing. An American would have to get a background check done by the FBI whereas the Canadian would have to get that background check done by whichever alphabet soup agency keeps records of its citizens in Canada.

Most countries don't go out of their way to make the citizenship process specific depending on the country of origin of the applicant, so you should be able to get value out of most of the information on the site.

Post: #9

I had a look through the site and it seems to be quite interesting. Its basically information on how to manage your money through trusts and detailed information on what is called arbitrage. The info they provide would also be handy in "hiding" money from your future ex wife.

Good find YMG. When things get a bit quieter, Ill subscribe and see what the deal is.

Post: #10

(11-05-2011 11:56 PM)bobdole Wrote:  while, i'm only familiar with his posts on zerohedge.....but my guess is his stuff is just recycled 5 flag theory which if freely available via google or from visiting pretty an active expat forum.

and to provide 'good feedback'.. his/her guy in paraguay(currently THE best value in world for 2nd passport) isn't actually an attorney there yet charges a gringo fee(2-3x the reasonable attorney fee) for something most on this website could do on their own.

just an opinion..

This is something that several established expats I know have said already.

People who seem to be a bit further behind on the curve or just getting started and familiarized with the entire concept of internationalization seem to gush at the value of his site and products.

I will be the first to admit that his posts are interesting, although it's nothing I couldn't have found out myself through government/embassy websites, watching financial news, or tapping into my own network.

A well established expatriate I know who is based in Estonia read Simon Black's content about Estonia and scoffed at it, saying that the so-called high value information was easily available on the country's immigration portal website.

Again, this is all anecdotal evidence. I can't make a sound opinion in either direction since I am not a subscriber and the spectrum of feedback is so varied.

Post: #11

To be fair, having it in a centralised place is value. People assume because the information is freely available that its easy to find.

Post: #12

Oh yeah - Hooligan Harry, I was not trying to rag on Sovereign Man.

Like I mentioned in my first post, his stuff is very interesting and I've gotten value out of it.

I'm just reflecting on the negative comments I've heard from established expats.

I agree with you - the centralization is a plus.

Post: #13

I subscribed.

Without a doubt, a fantastic resource and I cant thank you enough for pointing it out. Most of this information would be publicly available, but the difficulty comes in knowing where to look or how to put it together. Simon Black ties loose ends together in a way I have not seen before.

This is not some blueprint though, so if anyone thinks its an instruction manual they are mistaken. Its basically an "executive summary" of concepts, opportunities, loopholes, etc. Its up to you to decide how to do things, he just tells you whats on the table. Basically moving money around and as I pointed out earlier, personal arbitrage so to speak.

Post: #14

Harry,
how much is the fee to get going? Is it monthy? quarterly or annually?

Post: #15

Here is a great article on Honduras Residency Tax benefits for US citizens who become Honduras residents.

http://www.tradewindproperties.com/info/resident.html

I'm actually looking into this as a goal for 2012, get a foreign residency/passport on addition to my US one.

Mixx

Post: #16

(11-21-2011 08:40 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Harry,
how much is the fee to get going? Is it monthy? quarterly or annually?

$350 a year

Post: #17

I like this dude a lot as well as sovereignsociety.com which talks about the stuff Simon does.

I gotta be honest I was turned off by the barrage of sensationalistic emails I got - I think he's launching something but I didn't even read because it came off too market-y.

He's right tho - America is about to be like a Latin American country - a small number of super rich, a huge majority of poor, no middle class, and a ton of people looking to get the fuck out.

Maybe the OWS thing will help, but I don't think so. this place is built on greed, religious fanaticism, slavery, and war. (well I guess so is every other country too)

Post: #18

Iceinthewater - my sentiments exactly. He is clearly an internet marketer, which adds a level of shoddy salesmanship that makes it difficult for me to take him seriously. A lot of the content that I've seen publicly on his site or private material that's been leaked to me is nothing I couldn't have figured out myself by going to the ministry websites of Estonia, Paraguay, or other countries.

The "high powered attorneys" he has in his rolodex don't impress me. I'm entirely sure I can find similar or signficantly better links through my own network without paying the fees.

I admire his operation because I'm sure he is raking in cash from ignorant Americans. I'm also sure he is adding value to the lives of Americans who have no clue where to even begin as far as internationalization goes.

For people who have spent a singnificant percent of their adult lives abroad, a lot of the stuff is elementary.

Again, it helps that it's all organized and compiled into one source, as Hooligan Harry mentioned.

Post: #19

Its $350. To be fair, if 350 bucks is enough to send you to do this yourself, he probably wont have much value for you just yet. There is no shame in that and not having a go, you are probably not at that stage just yet.

$350 a year is a pittance when just one tip or suggestion could save you a small fortune in tax. As someone who already uses multiple trusts and is investing in property both at home and abroad, it is impossible to keep on top of everything. All it will do is help you ask the right questions, thats it.

If you are hoping its going to provide you with business ideas or something, look elsewhere. In fact, stop looking. That comes from you, no one is going to give a thing. You are on your own.

Post: #20

The problem with these pay-communities (in general, I can't speak for this one in particular) is that info inside is very closely guarded. You rarely know if you're getting the full story or wonder if someone is holding out.

In comparison, a free community like this one has better info than 99% of the communities I've bumped into on the net despite being completely free. It's funny how this work. You can think of it as a Roosh doing a Steve Jobs. Giving away the core product cheap but making a killing on the peripherals.

Post: #21

There are no communities anywhere where you are going to be given anything of real value. The only real value that will come to you will come to you through your own effort, experience, ingenuity, skills and network. All any online community can do for you is provide basic information from people who share similar sorts of mindsets and/or goals, but it will NEVER be beyond rudimentary. The rest is up to you and you are on your own. Its not that easy and its never going to be that easy.

If you think you are going to get valuable investment advice, online mentoring, business ideas, genuine partnership opportunities, etc from an online community of any sort, I have a bridge I would like to sell you.

Get over this small time mentality thinking or suffer the small businessman's curse. Countless shitty little projects that help you eek out an average existence with no real long term stability. The sheer level of complexity associated with business in general needs to be appreciated and you are not going to get anything from keyboard warriors on the web. Most are offering sustaining self employment schemes, but these are not to be considered genuine business opportunities. A 60 year old woman running a coffee shop is more of a businessman than some dude trading forex online or running affiliate marketing websites.

All due respect to the people on this forum, but the vast majority are not business people. They are 4 hour work week lifestyle jockeys. There is nothing wrong with that at all and it suits them, but dont confuse the two. Unless you have built something that you can sell as an asset to someone, you are not in business. You are at best a consultant/contractor. Dont get me wrong, I have more respect for that than I do some cubicle jockey who struggles to pay the mortgage every month and has not been laid for months, but this shit needs to be put into perspective.

The website being discussed will offer ZERO value for that sort of person. It is not aimed at them. If you are sitting on a bit of money and tax is a problem for you, its gold. If you own assets in more than one country, its gold. If you have to shift company money around to avoid taxes and costs, its gold. If you have trusts not to manage money, but to trade with, this is not for you. If you are running online stores, have multiple businesses you operate or worry about web stats, this resource is a waste of time.

Save your 350 bucks and spend it elsewhere.

Post: #22

(11-23-2011 04:25 AM)Hooligan Harry Wrote:  There are no communities anywhere where you are going to be given anything of real value. The only real value that will come to you will come to you through your own effort, experience, ingenuity, skills and network. All any online community can do for you is provide basic information from people who share similar sorts of mindsets and/or goals, but it will NEVER be beyond rudimentary. The rest is up to you and you are on your own. Its not that easy and its never going to be that easy.

Not sure if this was directed at me since my post was sandwiched between yours.

In the event that it is you'll see no argument from me with what you're writing above. I am merely reflecting that a pay-community is by no means a guarantee that you can't get the same info for free elsewhere. From what I understand Simon Black has just made it all more accessible.

Personally I'm on the fence on what to do with my wealth (and I'm an educated professional that mostly think the 4-hour work week is a scam). My reluctance about going the Simon Black way is that it means I am relinquishing citizenship in a nation with one of the world's most solid welfare/social security systems. I am taxed to the neck but I recognize that I and my presumptive next of kin is getting my money's worth.

Post: #23

You sound like a huge prick. I think it's funny that you're poking fun at this Simon Black guy and his "dumb, ignorant" customers while you actively try to weasel your way into getting a peek at his paid content with someone else's money.

And I know you think you're really clever and business-oriented by spelling out the difference between good and bad feedback as if we were all mentally handicapped toddlers, but you're not. You just come off as a tool that will turn away most people from providing any valuable info.

Good luck with your 20th business venture this year that you're too good to tell anyone about. I'm sure it'll be a huge success like your blog that managed to churn out one whole entry over the last year.

Post: #24

Thanks! After all, fail 19 times, succeed on 20th

Yeah, youngmobileglobal wasnt going to go anywhere in the first place, stopped working on that a long time ago.

Thanks to everyone else too, for the feedback on SMC.

Post: #25

Hi,

Anyone knows more sites/blogs with the same kind of PT business lifestyle content as sovereignman.com?