Bank Account for Non-US Residents

One thing that banks have shown us is that they are quite alert for any business opportunity that may arise in the market. So, when you consider the United States, should you consider only the American citizens? What about the millions of people that visit the country each year? Are they a potential market?

The financial sector found that yes, they are. Many of these visitors are persons who, in their country, have a high standard of living; and wish to have some, if not most, of their securities in a country whose economy is more stable.

That’s why the financial industry of the United States decided to point to these non US residents and create a series of financial products designed specifically for them. From all of these, the most common one is the bank account. According to law, any non US resident can have an account in a bank inside the USA, as long as the financial entity has approved his solicitation.

First of all, since you are not a US resident, your account would not be subject to taxes. This may sound kind of incredible since the IRS is known for being quite strict. But, as long as you don’t stay more than six months in the United States, taxes are not an issue.

The second principal advantage is that once you have a financial record in the United States, you may apply for other financial havens that are more difficult to enter, like Luxembourg. This is an important step for any corporation who wishes to transcend its boundaries.

And what are the requirements? If you are an individual, you need to complete the bank application, a copy of your passport translated to English and a W-8 declaration (this form certifies that you are non citizen) is also required.

If you are applying as an organization, you will require the bank application, the W-8 declaration of the organization, a W-8 declaration for each signatory, and passport copies of each one of the signatories.

As you can see, opening an account in the United States isn’t as difficult as it was in the past due to globalization and the widespread use of the Internet. Make a search on the top ten banks in the United States and ask them what kind of services they offer to non US residents.

Bruce Stander is the Director of UK based Worldwide Corporate Services, specialists in offshore company formation and offshore banking.

A Guide to Opening a Bank Account in Tenerife

Opening a bank account in Tenerife is relatively straightforward nowadays and shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.

You may want to consider what your account is for before heading off into the first bank you see. The mortgage rate and hence the savings rates are quite low on the island and so you may need to consider alternative options if you are looking for high interest accounts.

Another obvious consideration may be the fact that you may need to open an account in a branch where you know they can speak English if you haven't yet mastered the Spanish language - so shop around until you can find the right branch.

Other considerations may include internet banking if you want to manage your account via the internet perhaps if you return to the UK/Europe regularly.

The actual opening process is very quick - we opened our first account in less than 10 minutes at our local branch of La Caixa in Las Americas way back in 1994. You will need to take with you your passport and NIE number if you have one. You can still open an account without your NIE but you won't be able to apply for a mortgage without one or at least without having put the application in process. Thats it!

If you intend to open a business account - you will also need to take with you the CIF number, the actual original document and a copy of the Company Simple (company formation contract) if you have a limited company.

Les Calvert runs more than 350 websites on living and working abroad including buying overseas property in more than 46 countries abroad. Check out their main site for more useful info http://www.property-abroad.com

Your Child's Emotional Bank Account

Recently I attended a parenting seminar where the lecturer questioned a room full of parents, “What is the single most difficult aspect of raising children?”

The most memorable response drew a lots of laughter; “It’s the first twenty-five years.”

Indeed, there are numerous challenges we parents face from the toddler times through their teenage years, and beyond!

A parenting tip to gain cooperation and good conduct is to make frequent deposits into our children’s emotional bank account.

What’s an emotional bank account? Think of it this way: When your checking account is overdrawn, it is hard for you to give away money. Similarly, people have emotional bank accounts that must be sufficiently full for them to give away- not money, but time, personal responsibility, and good behavior.

Adding regular “deposits” in your chid's emotional bank account is smart investing in their future, so they will feel secure in “withdrawing” or giving back to you in the form of respect and proper obedience of your rules.

A child who feels that he is running a “negative balance” will gain pleasure from making Mom or Dad get angry. In a backwards psychological way, the power the child yields over his parents in driving them to extreme frustration can fill an otherwise empty emotional bank account. It’s the classic case of the child who would rather get negative attention from their parents than no attention. Being yelled at is better than being ignored, as it fills his emotional account with a “bad currency” rather than leaving it “in the red”.

Here are some suggestions of “deposits” to bump up the balance in your child’s emotional bank account:

1) Give him a gift for no reason.

2) Place a note that says, “I love you” in her lunch bag.

3) Let him choose (from options you provide) the next family vacation. 4) Spend time alone with her at a location of her choice.

5) Truly listen when she speaks to you.

6) Believe in him, and his ideas.

7) Do a surprise favor for her.

8) Give him specific and truthful complements.

Making regular deposits in your children’s emotional bank accounts will yield dividends beyond any those of the highest-performing stock on the market!

Ellen C. Braun is a mother of three and the editor of http://www.RaisingSmallSouls.com Visit her interactive website for more tips regarding children's emotional development.

Should I Open a Business Bank Account?

When you are first starting your business it may seem an unnecessary hindrance to worry about how to manage your business transactions if you are starting off small. After all, it’s sales that matter, right?

However, it will be much simpler in the long run if you separate your personal finances from those of your business.

When you look back over time and need to analyse income and expenditure, it is much easier knowing that you only have to anaylse the transactions in one separate bank account. It certainly makes it less of a chore.

If you don’t separate business and personal items then you give yourself an extra job in that you have to identify and analyse each item into business or personal before you can assess your business cash flow. In short you give yourself an extra job.

Another benefit to separating business transactions comes if you decide to give the bookkeeping to someone else at a later date. That person would have a much harder time recognising which items were relevant business transactions because they are not as familiar with your transactions as you would be.

This would mean they would spend more time investigating transactions instead of carrying out the analysis. This of course would mean higher charges, not to mention a lot more questions to you regarding explanations of uncertain items.

Finally, you should be aware that the tax man takes a dim view when you mix business and personal items. After all, is it a business venture or merely a hobby that you are running?

You risk higher tax assessments if it is not clear what items are legitimate business expenses. It is silly to invite trouble when you can easily prove that you are in control of your business and have the relevant facts to hand. Separate bank accounts and records will achieve this for you.

Business bank account charges can be an issue, but currently in the UK there are a number of banks, particularly those operating online accounts, that will let you bank for free.

There are usually conditions however, namely trying to get as many of your transactions made by direct transfer (BACS, D/D etc.). It is just a matter of shopping around for the best deal.

Please don’t feel that you have to use the same bank as the one that runs your personal account. It is worth investigating if they will let you have a special deal, but don’t feel beholden to take it. Competition is rife in the banking industry and with a little persistence you should be able to secure a favourable deal.

A final word, if you do opt to open a separate bank account, then please make sure you put all business items through it. It is easy to pay for an item out of your personal account and then forget to allocate it to business expenditure.

Don’t forget that the item will more than likely be tax deductible and you want to make sure it is included in the accounts for your business.

Trevor Sadowski has worked in Accountancy for the past 23 years and has been a member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (ACCA) since 1994.

Trevor currently provides contract accountancy support through short-term placements or interim management in the UK. To find out more about his accountancy services, visit his web site at http://www.moveaheadonline.com