Juicy Words

Offshore Private Banking - when it Pays to Go Abroad!

While you might presume anyone with ‘money in offshore accounts’ is involved in some scurrilous business affairs, the truth is that anyone can use this form of investment as a totally legitimate way to defer or reduce your tax payments.

Locations for offshore accounts can be held in banks in British waters - the Channel Islands or Isle of Man for example, or you could look further afield to the Republic of Ireland or Luxembourg. As with other investments, there are different ways to send your money abroad, with different levels of risk attached.

Some of the benefits include current accounts with higher levels of interest - check out the high street banks, many of which offer offshore instant access accounts. These are a relatively safe way to invest. There are also ‘notice’ savings accounts which can yield exceptionally high rates of interest.

You may choose to put money into an offshore investment fund, which is similar to the normal onshore type, only you usually find that you pay a performance related fee to your fund manager. This could mean that they have more incentive to make sure your money is working hard for you. Check investment companies like Schroders and Gartmore for this type of fund.

Money funds are a high risk form of investing - your funds will be pooled with those of other investors’ and used to buy international currency at wholesale rates. Your shares will be exposed to the vagaries of international exchange rates, and this can be a nerve-wrackingly unpredictable way to invest abroad.

More and more people are choosing to buy property abroad - whether as future dream retirement home or as profit making venture. In Eastern Europe and the Middle East you can pick up property for remarkably low prices - developments and agencies advertise in the property sections of newspapers, and websites abound. While this could prove a sound long-term way of investing, there are numerous things to take into account - the stability of a country’s economy, complicated legal agreements and the cost of travel to and from the property are major factors.

Different countries operate wildly different property law, and you will need to get sound advice on all the implications before buying abroad. Check things like inheritance law - for example, in France, there are obstacles to simply leaving property to named recipients in your will. If you do buy abroad, you will probably find it useful to open a multi-currency account.

Private Offshore Banking

A North Richland Hills Texas lawfirm lost from an advocate in Livermore California

In other words the ADEA permits employers to discriminate based on age considering age is legitimately necessary under the circumstances. At the trial a jury found Knolls had violated the ADEA because its layoff procedure had a disparate impact based on age. Knolls totaled those scores and gave the employees additional points based on their years of service. For example it would not be illegal to consider criteria for a particular role in a movie that has a disparate impact on age if the part calls for someone of a particular age. In that case Meacham versus Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory the Supreme Court interpreted a provision of the ADEA that permits an employer to take an adverse employment action against an employee. The BFOQ defense states that it is not unlawful for an employer to take adverse employment actions otherwise prohibited by the ADEA where age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business. Thirty of the 49 salaried employees the company laid off were at least 57 years old. The company had its supervisors rate their subordinates based on their performance flexibility and critical skills. In Meacham Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory was planning to lay off a number of employees. Specifically the jury found that although the plaintiffs did not prove that Knolls intentionally discriminated against them they did prove that Knolls method of deciding who to lay off disproportionately harmed older workers. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit initially affirmed the jurys findings but after the United States Supreme Court asked it to reconsider the Second Circuit reversed itself and ruled in favor of Knolls. It then used those totals to decide who to lay off. The Supreme Court has previously recognized that the employer has the burden to establish the BFOQ affirmative defense. The Supreme Court then agreed to hear the case and eventually reversed the Second Circuit and reinstated the jurys finding that Knolls policy unlawfully discriminated because of age. The Supreme Court ruled that if an employer seeks to rely on that defense. Even if the employment action is otherwise prohibited by the ADEA. A lawyer from Apeldoorn won from a advocate in Oxnard California It has the burden to prove that its decision was based on a reasonable factor other than age. In reaching its conclusion that the employer has the burden to prove the reasonable factors other than age defense the Supreme Court looked at another provision of the ADEA the bona fide occupational qualification defense. Twenty-eight of those 58 employees sued under the ADEA claiming Knolls illegally fired them because of their age. As long as the adverse action is based on reasonable factors other than age.

Disability Hearings

Disability hearings are fairly informal events. Usually, such hearings are conducted at hearing offices (not a courtroom) where the only people present include the Judge (an ALJ, or administrative law judge), the claimant, the claimant’s representative—if they have chosen to retain one—and medical experts chosen by the Judge.

AlJ hearings, as they are commonly known, usually last no more than an hour and sometimes only take 15 minutes. From any standpoint, this is not an extraordinary amount of time. Nevertheless, the time in which it takes to hold a hearing is of paramount importance to the person trying to win their disability benefits.

As very many claimants for disability benefits discover, winning a claim can make the difference between having a stable monthly income or living a life of uncertainty as to what will happen next. It can even make the difference between having a home and being homeless. It is not at all uncommon to find, when a case has dragged on for too long, that a claimant is being threatened with eviction from their home or foreclosure on their property.

The disability hearing before a judge is typically the single most important event that will occur in the disability process. It is a one hour event that will make or break a case. And for this reason, it should be prepared for properly.

Unfortunately, 99% of all claimants will not have the skills or knowledge necessary to properly prepare—AND WIN—a case. Therefore, even though it may not be absolutely necessary to have a representative before the hearing level (for example, at the initial claim and reconsideration levels) it is vital to have representation at the time of the hearing.

Here are some things to keep in mind if it looks as though you will have to go to a hearing:

1. go to the hearing. Believe it or not, some people don’t attend their own hearings. Obviously,
this is a huge mistake and you should not expect a judge to give you full consideration if you don’t show up at your own hearing.

2. Don’t be late for your ssd or ssi hearing. This is something that most judges have little tolerance for. And the same reasoning applies: if you can’t be on time for your own disability hearing, the judge can only conclude that it is not
that important to you.

3. Be prepared. That is, be sure either you or your disability advocate has gotten and submitted to the judge copies of all your recent medical records. In most cases,
you can’t win disability benefits without all the records, especially the most recent records being submitted.

Follow these tips and you can maximize your chance of being successful on a disability benefits claims.

The author of this article is Timothy Moore, who, in addition to being a former food stamp caseworker, medicaid caseworker and AFDC caseworker, is a former disability claims examiner. He
publishes a helpful FAQ on the disability process at
http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/questions.html