How to Invest in Dollars from Latin America

Investing in dollars means putting part of your wealth into assets that earn a return in dollars. Holding the bills is only the beginning. For a Latin American family, the first step is usually protecting savings from the local currency; the second, and far more important, is putting those dollars to work.

The difference looks small and it isn't. A dollar under the mattress or in an account that pays nothing protects you from devaluation, but it loses to dollar inflation year after year. A dollar invested in a well-structured asset protects you and also grows.

This guide orders the options from simplest to most complex, explains the risks almost nobody mentions, and shows when it makes sense to take the step into the United States.

Saving in dollars is not the same as investing in dollars

Dollarizing is a defensive decision: you take your money out of your currency's risk. Investing in dollars is a building decision: you choose assets that generate income or growth in that currency.

Many families stay on the first rung for years. Their wealth is in dollars, but concentrated in deposits or cash, often inside the same banking system of the country they wanted protection from. The currency risk went down; the country risk is still there.

Dollarizing protects. Investing in dollars builds.

The options, from simplest to most complex

There is no single best option for everyone. Each rung adds potential return, and it also adds complexity, time horizon and risk.

• Dollar deposits and accounts. The starting point. They protect against devaluation, but returns are usually low, and if the account is in your home country you are still exposed to the local banking system.
• U.S. Treasuries and fixed income. Loans to the government or to companies in exchange for interest. They are among the most liquid assets in the world; their main risk is movement in interest rates.
• Dollar stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Ownership in companies, with long-term growth and volatility along the way. This is where a tax risk appears that many people don't know about, and we explain it below.
• U.S. real estate. Real assets that produce income in dollars, held directly or through funds. Less liquidity, a longer horizon, and a legal structure that needs to be set up correctly.
• Private investments. Private credit and preferred equity in real estate projects, generally for accredited investors. They can offer attractive cash flow, but they require understanding the structure, the operator and the timeline.

A family doesn't have to pick just one. The usual approach is to combine liquidity on the first rungs with a long-term portion on the last ones, depending on when the money will be needed.

The risks to understand first

Before talking about returns, it pays to map what can go wrong. These are the risks we see overlooked most often.

• Where the dollar is held. A dollar in a bank in your home country does not carry the same risk as a dollar with a U.S. custodian. The currency is the same; the jurisdiction is not.
• U.S. estate tax. For someone who is neither a U.S. citizen nor a U.S. resident, only the first US$60,000 of assets located in the U.S. is exempt, and the rest can be taxed at 18% to 40%. Shares of U.S. companies and U.S.-domiciled ETFs count as U.S. assets. Bank deposits not tied to a U.S. business and certain bonds generally do not.
• Liquidity. The assets that pay the most are usually the slowest to turn into cash. Investing for five years the money you need in one is the most expensive and most common mistake.
• Taxes and reporting at home. Almost every country in the region taxes investments held abroad and exchanges financial information with other countries. Investing abroad is not hiding money; it is reporting it properly.
• Disguised concentration. Having everything in dollars, but in a single asset or with a single operator, moves the risk without reducing it.

Each of these risks has a solution with the right structure, defined with your lawyers and accountants before capital moves. We cover this in more detail in our guide for investors outside the U.S.

The Argentine case: from getting dollars to what to do with them

Since April 14, 2025, individuals in Argentina can buy dollars on the official market without the US$200 monthly cap that had been in place since 2019. For millions of savers, the question changed from how to get dollars to what to do with them.

That shift is exactly the move from the first rung to the second. A family that spent years accumulating dollars for protection can now think about structure: how much to keep liquid, how much to put in fixed income, how much in real assets, and in which jurisdiction.

The same applies, with nuances, to a family in Mexico, Colombia or Chile. The local currency can have good years, but wealth that lives in a single currency and a single country depends on a single scenario.

When the United States makes sense

The U.S. is not the only option for investing in dollars, but it offers three things that are hard to find together: legal certainty, deep capital markets, and real assets that produce income in the same currency they are valued in.

It usually makes sense when three conditions are met:

• The family has already taken care of its short-term liquidity.
• It is looking for income or growth over a horizon of five years or more.
• It is willing to define the structure before investing, not after.

For larger estates, that decision is usually made inside a broader family structure, such as a family office, where dollar investments, succession and tax planning are looked at together.

What we have learned

I was born in Ecuador, a country that adopted the dollar as its currency in 2000. I grew up seeing what it means to have dollars, and also what it means not to know what to do with them.

In 2008, at twenty, I sold everything at the worst moment of the market, convinced I was being prudent. I missed the entire recovery. I thought I was analyzing; in reality I was running. That lesson stays with me today: fear protects, but it also charges a price.

On our investment committee we have a rule Nason taught us: if it's sexy, we don't do it. The dollar investments that work best for a family tend to be the most boring ones: predictable income, clear structures, operators with a track record. That is why every opportunity goes through the same method, the Diamond: Product, Market, Finance and People, evaluated together before a single dollar moves.

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to hold dollars in cash or invest them?

Cash protects against devaluation of the local currency, but it loses purchasing power to dollar inflation. Investing them, once short-term liquidity is covered, lets wealth grow instead of simply being preserved.

Should I buy dollars today?

Nobody can reliably predict the exchange rate. For a family, the useful question is not when to buy, but what percentage of its wealth should live permanently in dollars, and in which assets.

Will I pay taxes in the U.S. if I invest from Latin America?

It depends on the asset. Some income is subject to U.S. withholding, and assets located there may be subject to estate tax, with an exemption of only US$60,000 for nonresidents. You also need to report at home. The structure is defined with advisors before investing.

How much money do I need to invest in U.S. real estate?

Buying a property directly usually takes several hundred thousand dollars. Through funds or private investments the minimums can be lower, although they are normally reserved for accredited investors.

What should I do first?

Separate the money you will need over the next two years from the money that can be invested for the long term. Only with that split clear does it make sense to choose assets and jurisdictions.

This content is educational and does not constitute legal, tax or investment advice, or an offer of securities. Each family should consult its own advisors.