SPECTRE
New member
Moving away from wherever you are has been a hot topic recently. And for many it has been on their mind for years already. So it would be good to share ideas and experiences here. Everyone's circumstances are different though so YMMV.
To start, I would like to point out the basic statistics https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp
The quality of life index is a bit misleading since it does not reflect the fact that you, as immigrant, won't be making the same money as locals. So for some, high QoLI just means expensive country to live in. Hence, I would not pay too much attention to it. But I would look at the safety index first and foremost, since this is one of the main reasons people are thinking about moving these days. If you look at the data, Europe comes out best, followed by/mixed with Australia, Canada and USA(ie. the white countries). But people who live in these know very well that the reality is not as good as it might be presented. These are just numbers after all. Secondly, I would look at cost of living which will impact the day-to-day life the most.
I will be actively travelling next year, once everything opens up(I am not taking the jab nor am willing to take the current test either)... if everything opens up, so my plan is very fluid and virtual at this point. But the idea, for me, was to get rid of my permanent residence and become tax non-resident. Which would require me to spend no more than 180 days in one country a year and to properly ensure my income can be properly optimized. My current situation is that I am transitioning from my IT job into living off of my investments(stock market) only. So I am location independent and have no business, so any country will work out for me just fine. But most people will have businesses(self-employment) so to those people I want to recommend to check out this page. Especially the map that shows you the taxation schemes in various countries. The most important ones are no tax, obviously, and territorial tax. The first one has very few countries and realistically only UAE is a feasible option. Although some people just really shoot for Monaco. Anyway, i think the most potent is the territorial tax where any income sourced outside of the country is not taxed. This mostly includes Malaysia, Georgia and few other countries. If you follow Nomad Capitalist, you know of these two countries already so that's why I have mentioned them. Keep in mind that the income must be sourced from outside. Doing the work locally and being paid from foreign entity will not work. In other words, you cannot do the work locally either. So it would be required for you to set up business outside of said country and make few travels there per year as CEO to prove you have place of control there and not where you live. Keep in mind you'd be paying taxes where incorporated/place of control, hence if you cannot live in no tax country, at least set up a company there so you won't pay any corporate taxes. There are various setups possible, like with Cyprus that does not tax dividends so income earned by Cyprian company would be taxed only once(corporate tax) and your profit would be exempt. But those are technicalities that I don't want to be getting into. I am just saying there are LEGAL options if you look for them.
Another thing one should consider is the weather. People underestimate how much the weather influences our mood. I think Europeans, Canadians, Russians... know very well how depressing winters can be if you are not living in southern regions. On the opposite, you have Asia or SEA where hot and humid weather takes a toll on the body and the mind as well. There are few places on earth with perfect/acceptable weather all year round but usually those are full of people, crime ridden or there's just some problem with it. Hence, I think it is preferable to have 2-3 places to travel between during the year. Which works perfectly with becoming tax non-resident.
To start, I would like to point out the basic statistics https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp
The quality of life index is a bit misleading since it does not reflect the fact that you, as immigrant, won't be making the same money as locals. So for some, high QoLI just means expensive country to live in. Hence, I would not pay too much attention to it. But I would look at the safety index first and foremost, since this is one of the main reasons people are thinking about moving these days. If you look at the data, Europe comes out best, followed by/mixed with Australia, Canada and USA(ie. the white countries). But people who live in these know very well that the reality is not as good as it might be presented. These are just numbers after all. Secondly, I would look at cost of living which will impact the day-to-day life the most.
I will be actively travelling next year, once everything opens up(I am not taking the jab nor am willing to take the current test either)... if everything opens up, so my plan is very fluid and virtual at this point. But the idea, for me, was to get rid of my permanent residence and become tax non-resident. Which would require me to spend no more than 180 days in one country a year and to properly ensure my income can be properly optimized. My current situation is that I am transitioning from my IT job into living off of my investments(stock market) only. So I am location independent and have no business, so any country will work out for me just fine. But most people will have businesses(self-employment) so to those people I want to recommend to check out this page. Especially the map that shows you the taxation schemes in various countries. The most important ones are no tax, obviously, and territorial tax. The first one has very few countries and realistically only UAE is a feasible option. Although some people just really shoot for Monaco. Anyway, i think the most potent is the territorial tax where any income sourced outside of the country is not taxed. This mostly includes Malaysia, Georgia and few other countries. If you follow Nomad Capitalist, you know of these two countries already so that's why I have mentioned them. Keep in mind that the income must be sourced from outside. Doing the work locally and being paid from foreign entity will not work. In other words, you cannot do the work locally either. So it would be required for you to set up business outside of said country and make few travels there per year as CEO to prove you have place of control there and not where you live. Keep in mind you'd be paying taxes where incorporated/place of control, hence if you cannot live in no tax country, at least set up a company there so you won't pay any corporate taxes. There are various setups possible, like with Cyprus that does not tax dividends so income earned by Cyprian company would be taxed only once(corporate tax) and your profit would be exempt. But those are technicalities that I don't want to be getting into. I am just saying there are LEGAL options if you look for them.
Another thing one should consider is the weather. People underestimate how much the weather influences our mood. I think Europeans, Canadians, Russians... know very well how depressing winters can be if you are not living in southern regions. On the opposite, you have Asia or SEA where hot and humid weather takes a toll on the body and the mind as well. There are few places on earth with perfect/acceptable weather all year round but usually those are full of people, crime ridden or there's just some problem with it. Hence, I think it is preferable to have 2-3 places to travel between during the year. Which works perfectly with becoming tax non-resident.
... ymmv.
