Anyone who has financial success can understand the difficulties associated with managing this nest egg. Having a large income requires larger tax payments which in turn creates more attention from the IRS. If you keep all of your assets in your local jurisdiction your transactions come under the scrutiny of the post 9 /11 anti money laundering system aimed at keeping criminals from integrating illegal revenues into the legitimate banking system.

There are a few places left in the world that cater to offshore banking clients by providing solid privacy and protection laws. Offshore banking is a bank located outside the country of residence of the depositor.

Generally offshore banking provides legal, financial and tax advantages to the depositor. The Bahamas used to be a haven for offshore banking but since they introduced stricter banking laws that give the banks the discretion to provide 45% of their collected information about their clients to authorities who ask.

Panama, on the other hand, has total banking secrecy laws in spite of the International Monetary Fund policing each country to report suspicion of illegal activity to local authorities. Bank secrecy laws prohibit bank officials from disclosing information about their clients lest they face fines, termination from employment or worst of all, imprisonment.

Panama also offers clients uninhibited asset growth by providing services which require little or no capital gains or income tax. Putting your money in a Panamanian bank is a great way to grow a nest egg tax free.

Bank accounts in Panama come with all of the standard services one can expect to find from institutions in their own country such as online banking, ATM cards and checks. Setting up an account in a bank in Panama can be done for as little as $695 USD with the applicant not required to visit Panama.

Another offshore banking haven is the Cayman Islands, which had a reputation for near perfection banking secrecy. Bank officials who report client information to the CIA, Treasury department and even the International Monetary Fund are supposed to face imprisonment.

In recent financial news a bank owner from the Cayman Islands named John Masterson allegedly reported over 1 year worth of his bank's records to the United States government that got a lot of US taxpayers into hot water. If the banking secrecy laws of the Cayman Islands were strictly enforced in this case, Mr. Masterson would be serving a long sentence in jail. Mr. Masterson currently lives free so anyone considering offshore banking beware, no offshore setup is perfect.