Edit: Put in a Consolidation effort based on comments and side research
Jewelery is good getting through customs as some countries have limits on what you can take over borders. Canada for example has 10k limit before you have to delcare and it is not clear if per person.
1.a) Always buy jewelry you plan to wear anyway because you will not get full value back.
1.b) Buy from reputable locations. Looks like Mene was a popular one.
Gold coins are good but get normal ones like Eagles, Buffalo, or Maple as it's easier to sell. Fancy ones are cool as collector item but will require more haggling.
2a) Bars are cheaper over spot but can be harder to sell overall
2b) Seems like libertycoin had consistent reviews.
Cash is light but if your origin country currency dips then it's worthless.
Crypto requires you to have your wallet seed and importantly access to a pc and electricity.
Make sure to have a backup skil/trade to live off of.
Transferring money between banks can have legal issues.
Currency. Paper money that has high acceptance internationally, like US Dollars or Euros, both can be easily traded by local currency pretty much anywhere in the world.
Idk how long the US dollar will have high acceptance internationally. I mean it may not change much or it may change a lot, depending on what happens the next few years.
My buddy grandpa left murica to go to his home country but traded all his dollars to local currency. When he got off the boat local currently collapsed hard. Huge fear of mine.
If you can't get a good stable currency or you have legitimate fears that the currency you can get is in danger of some kind of collapse, gold or silver coins would be your best second bet. In this case you'll want well known coins minted by an actual government such as an American gold eagle or the Canadian silver maple leaf rather than the coin shaped "rounds" that a lot of places sell. The rounds will have the same issue as jewelry, you'll have to haggle over weight and quality every time you sell one. Actual coins issued by a government mint will have pretty well established values so they will be easier to sell at a fair price.
If you’re planning to leave with enough time, register a business or trust or something, transfer your money to a shell company, repeat as necessary then transfer it to the place you’re trying to go.
Use the tools of the people with money not the tools of people who get patted down for loose change by the tsa.
Besides the utility of a go bag.. having portable wealth can get you into trouble with the police or border crossing agents.
Civil asset forfeiture is a very real thing at border crossings. If you must take portable wealth have documentation about where it came from a available
If you're crossing a border they'll try to customs you about gold coins/bars, jewelry you can claim is like, a precious family heirloom or your wedding ring or whatever.
Probably a good amount to start over. Grandma wad a refugee and came over with way less. Granted she had to work like uncle ruckus but she also couldn't read either.
I'm fairly sure these days most refugees at least go through some manner of process in the country they claim asylum in. You can't really exist off grid anymore
One of them stupidly expensive watches, that is worth more than a house, might be the best way to move value across borders. But you gotta find a sucker to buy it.
Bitcoin is best. Can theoretically keep your wallet seed in your head instead of paper or on phone. Anything physical is subject to border guards or other transporation/exgress/ingress assisters.
close to that at low, but ended up down less than 10%. If you are short term, you had opportunity to make 10% in a day. Long term, it is best performing assets, and should still outperform stock indexes in future. Don't depend on it for your rent money for the month or year, but longer term you can probably turn it into a significant portion of a house or EV.
Good advice. Same with real estate. There are all sorts of laws in target nations you'd never expect. For instance, some nations will tax your money hard if you try to leave them.
Not a topic I'm super familiar with, but I feel I've heard people often are either robbed or have their items confiscated by authorities. Same with unhoused people not wanting to have stuff that would make them a target.
If it was something you had a little bit of prep time for, ziplocking USD or EU and seeing it into a grubby jacket where the repairs would blend in and not garner attention would be the most portable and effective thing to do while minimizing theft potential, other than having all eggs in one basket unless you split it between different garments. Also make sure it is pretty weatherproof to prevent mold damage.
It also has the benefit of being immediately usable, should you need to pay for transport or food. If it was seen in a puffy coat, one could discreetly remove one pack of bills while leaving the rest secure. The immediacy that cash can be used may make up for having something potentially more valuable that you would have to barter or fence, as pretty much any human has a need for cash.
To add that secret compartments in your accessoirs.
My sling bag for example has 2 velcro pouches on each side of the band. You would think they are sewn shut but on closer expections they are actually vecroed.
Using it as a emergency storage for some coins. Helped me once already.
Not putting in a link until requested. No need to advertise :)
I think I actually had a coat once with a hidden pocket like this that I didn't know about until I had it for quite some time! It wasn't big enough to hold a lot, but it was a very secret stash. Even some coats I have with inside pockets blend in very well, but those probably wouldn't pass someone searching me at a checkpoint of any kind.
Y'all don't got that magic suitcase Leon S. Kennedy has? Ya know, the one that can disappear into thing air and re-appear, whenever you want, and can fit 2 rocket launchers, an automatic gun, a sidearm, boxes of ammo, a bunch of grenades, and vials of colorful herbs.
US: The way to effectively do thos is to open a series of accounts, in a tree structure, in countries that aren't CRS compliant. Disperse the money into the structure. This will buy time, mitigating losses in the event of an asset freeze, likely not being caught until FACTA reporting to the IRS. Get the money out ASAP. There's better methods if laws don't matter.
It only angers your intelligence officials if it is advice. "Not advice" means begging to stay friends. I advise staying friends, overtly, with NSA, to make sure that first they come for others.
It's a UK company but it says Money can only be delivered to a bank account. Unless I can just load it up like a prepaid card? Which is also a other idea I was considering.