{"id":256,"date":"2022-03-21T13:23:09","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T13:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/offshorefortress.com\/?p=256"},"modified":"2022-03-21T13:23:11","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T13:23:11","slug":"start-a-new-life-overseas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/offshorefortress.com\/start-a-new-life-overseas\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Reasons to Start a New Life Overseas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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1. More Freedom<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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When I first left my home country more than 20 years ago I left the windy, rainy UK for sunny Monaco. However, the weather wasn\u2019t the best thing about my new home. In the UK I was used to receiving threatening letters from the government on a regular basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letters from HMRC (The UK tax collector), letters about petty things like a TV license, fines for road traffic offences from the thousands of cameras throughout the country. General bullshit and aggravation with the state creeping into every area of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a relief to live in a country with more limited bureaucracy and no tax collectors. It felt amazing to have much more freedom and not to be strangled by petty rules and bureaucracy enforced by the ever growing army of government snoops present in all large, high tax countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More freedom was one of my top personal reasons to start a new life overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Lower Taxes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Wherever you choose to go it will make sense to find a location that taxes you less. Better still a country that doesn\u2019t tax you at all. Even US citizens who are taxed on their worldwide income will be substantially better off as there are generous exemptions and a myriad of techniques that you can use to get your tax rate close to zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t even have to choose a pure tax haven like Monaco. Countries like Panama or Georgia that have only territorial tax may fit the bill too. Provided you fully leave your home country it\u2019s possible to get your tax rate down to almost zero. Lower taxes are a big advantage of a new life overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Less Bureaucracy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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After you\u2019ve completed the initial immigration procedures to gain legal residence in a new country they\u2019re unlikely to be interested in you. If you have no business or income in your new country they\u2019ll have no reason to pay any attention to you. There\u2019ll be no endless bureaucracy, form filling and demands from tax collectors and other regulatory bodies or local governments to deal with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Better Climate<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Many of our readers live in high tax countries. If you\u2019re living in countries like Canada, the northern US or the UK you\u2019ll be able to go almost anywhere and be guaranteed more sunshine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why not move to Medellin, Colombia where there is spring like weather all year around or Lisbon, Portugal with over 300 days of sunshine per year. You could even choose to spend 6 months in 2 different locations depending on the season and guarantee year round sunshine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Lower Cost of Living<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Often the countries with the worst climates and the highest taxes also have the highest costs of living. If you live in Toronto, London or New York you know what I\u2019m talking about. Move from Toronto to Costa Rica or London to Lisbon and you\u2019ll see your cost of living fall by up to 75%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can trade a city centre apartment for a beach-front mansion and still have cash to spare. Lower cost of living is the main reason for some people to start a new life overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. No Keeping up With the Jones\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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When you\u2019re living far away from your home town some things just aren\u2019t important. Nobody cares which car you drive or whether you\u2019re wearing the latest designer brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, you\u2019ll have more money to do all these things if you want to. But the point is there\u2019s no pressure to conform or go one better than the neighbours. Live life to suit you and only you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Politics Not Important<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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When you leave your home country you\u2019ll find that the things that bothered you become irrelevant. You\u2019ll see the impotence of the politicians you used to watch on TV every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have no power over your life when you don\u2019t live in their geographic jurisdiction. When you\u2019re not watching the rolling news cycle from your home country you just won\u2019t get frustrated by all the crazy things that you saw happening around you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting on a beach in Mexico or Costa Rica will feel like being on another planet, far away from the aggravations of normal life. Escape from politics can be one of the reasons to start a new life overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Safety<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Leaving high density cities like London or New York will undoubtedly increase your physical safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, there will be petty crime in your new country but in many places it\u2019ll be extremely rare. You\u2019ll have little chance of being caught up in the latest street protests. You should expect to live a much more peaceful life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest threat to your safety is not being mugged in the street in New York or London. The biggest threat to your security is from increasingly authoritarian governments enforcing ever more ridiculous rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all seen people being arrested for the heinous crime of having the wrong point of view on social media. We\u2019ve heard of people having their bank accounts frozen on the flimsiest of evidence. You\u2019ll be much more secure in your new country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Better Opportunitie<\/strong>s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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You\u2019ll often be able to spot new opportunities when you go to a new country. Being from some of the most developed countries in the world you\u2019ll be used to a whole variety of products and services that may not be available yet in a less developed location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That can be your opportunity to start a new enterprise to provide products and services that don\u2019t yet exist. There will likely be investment opportunities too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re likely to have more access to capital to invest in local ventures. Living abroad will give you a more global outlook which can only help when managing your investments and seeking under exploited opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Cheaper Real Estate<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Real Estate in many major cities is vastly overpriced. The price of real estate in many countries has increase exponentially in recent years as a consequence of low interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely in countries where it\u2019s difficult to obtain property financing prices have remained stable or even fallen. This is particularly true in countries that have suffered from high rates of inflation. Countries like Argentina, Turkey and Brazil offer some of the best real estate bargains on the planet. This is due to lack of financing for individual real estate deals and high rates of inflation in those countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While prices have increased in the local currency, they have plummeted for buyers with access to dollars or euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. Asset Diversification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Living overseas is a great way to diversify your assets. Having a home overseas is not a reportable asset on tax returns and it would be very difficult for your home country\u2019s government to seize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bank accounts and other assets held abroad are also more difficult to seize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can own operating businesses and investment real estate or store precious metals outside your home country making them almost impossible for your home country government to get it\u2019s greedy hands on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. Get a Second or Third Citizenship<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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If you get a residence permit in a foreign country this will normally lead to a passport after a period of being resident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be as short as 2 years in Argentina or Peru or as long as 20 years in Andorra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second passport increases your freedom by ensuring that your home government can never stop you from travelling. It also ensures that you can never be deported from your new country of residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may also open up investment opportunities that citizens of some countries are excluded from and make opening bank accounts around the world easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Particularly for United States citizens who can find it more difficult to open bank accounts due to the extra regulatory burdens the US imposes on banks worldwide who hold accounts of US citizens. Getting a second citizenship can be a key factor when you start a new life overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13. Increased Privacy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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If you live in one of the big English speaking countries like the UK, US, Australia or Canada your government doesn\u2019t have to make much effort to pry into your affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally they won\u2019t even need a warrant to snoop around your bank accounts and other financial affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your financial assets are held outside your home country it makes it much more difficult for them to obtain information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the very least they\u2019ll need a court order from the country where your banks located. They may also face other difficulties such as a foreign language which will make life more challenging for your typical, lazy government bureaucrat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14. Avoid CRS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019re subject to the privacy shattering Common Reporting Standard (CRS) your bank data will be reported to the country of your residence and not the country of your citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your residence is in a country where you\u2019re not obligated to pay tax they\u2019ll have zero interest in the balances of your foreign accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take advantage of the opportunities available by moving overseas. Cut your tax rate and enjoy more freedom. Get in touch with is to find out how we can help:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n