Since March of 2020, it’s shocking to think about how much different life is just a year later. A Pandemic filled with misinformation and lockdowns, Big Tech companies silencing people and deleting profiles aiming to silence certain peoples’ freedom of speech and expression, cryptocurrency meme coins rising in value thousands of percent in a year, Twitter mobs cancelling people and ruining lives and careers over personal beliefs or politics, countless police shootings of innocent civilians, riots, violence. It’s all there.
These are all very good reasons to be preparing for the years ahead of us, because we’ve seen that there are a lot of uncertainties surrounding the financial system, the US dollar, and the political situation in many countries around the world. Taxes are rising, and so is government debt. So much that it’s ringing the alarm bells, and the number of wealthy people leaving high-tax Western countries is setting new records every passing year. More and more wealthy Americans are renouncing their citizenships and relocating their tax residence than ever… and if we pay attention to the things going on around us then it makes a lot of sense why.
Over-indebted Western nations have reached a point where many have become overextended and are now deteriorating. It’s unfortunate that many who live in developed countries don’t recognize the situation for what it is and are so tied to their homeland that they would never consider immigrating to a beautiful new place where they can be multitudes more prosperous and live in peace. The United States is embroiled in racial and political division, with left-leaning politicians pushing hard for gun-controls and the introduction of wealth taxes. They even plan to vote on legislation to implement retroactive taxes where the government will go back in time and levy additional tax from your earnings from previous years. It’s unfair and it’s all possible, which is a big reason why I’ve began helping people to escape the potential dangers to come. I don’t believe that anyone is supposed to work 3 or 4 out of every 5 days to pay the government. Ultimately majority of the tax revenue collected by the United States gets squandered anyway. Politicians give staggering amounts of tax dollars away to foreign countries, or in State bailout spending bills, and everyone is aware of how much gets spent building and maintaining the military industrial complex in the US. When a government in your home country does not represent you, and does not care about you, why stay and pay them 40+% of your income each year when there are better options abroad?
Not all governments and countries of the world are bad. Some actually foster innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. There are many countries right now working hard to attract capital and foreign direct investment by making their country more appealing through low tax rates and laws that protect businesses and property. Wildcard places like Georgia (the country) or Malaysia are some of the most up and coming jurisdictions for entrepreneurs to set up their business and open bank accounts out of anywhere in the world. Places that a majority of Americans would never even think about living or visiting, are suddenly becoming some of the most popular, low cost, desirable hotspots attracting talent and businesses from all over. I expect this trend to continue, and that’s why my job with J.Braswell Consulting is to help educate people about other options in the world. Places I’ve personally visited, spent time in, and can truly say from experience are great places to be in. After traveling extensively through Europe and Latin America, I realized that there is much more to the world and to the global economy than just ‘The Land of the Free’, my homeland.
I’ve spent years since I was in university studying the idea of designing your own ‘Plan B’. This is your backup plan for where you’ll strategically place residences, investments, cash holdings, bank accounts and business operations around the world for your own health and safety. Your tax base is tied to where you physically reside, ie your tax residence, and your business is taxed based on which jurisdiction it’s incorporated in. And although Americans are taxed on their worldwide income, it’s still possible to implement a strategy that can legally reduce your taxes you owe close to 0%, even if you are American, and without ever renouncing your American citizenship. This is done through proper tax planning and optimization, which are strategies that have been used by wealthy families for generations, but have only become known and accessible to small-business, 6-figure entrepreneurs and average people in the past 50 or 60 years or so. It is important as early on as possible to begin building location-independent streams of income and be able to support yourself in order to break away from the working life and branch out on your own. Moving abroad leads to greater freedom, more opportunities to build wealth, and generally a much more interesting lifestyle. Anyone who has lived ‘offshore’ that I talk to, in my experience most people generally agree that their new life abroad is both more fun, and filled with more opportunities than they found back home. Think about how if you are an entrepreneur, what kind of stimulating ideas and partnerships may be available from other entrepreneurs in many of these low-tax offshore centers attracting new businesses. It’s a huge opportunity.
It’s best to never need your Plan B, but during times of political upheaval and wars, it is an absolute essential thing to have for any person with the foresight and the resources to begin planning for the future. It may even save your life someday if you’re faced with a potential life or death situation at home. Look at history for an extreme example and consider researching how during World War 2, there were Jewish people who managed to escape Nazi Germany in the years leading up to the Holocaust. Out of the lucky few who managed to escape, it was all only made possible by arranging transport to a non-occupied country ahead of time before it was too late. Those immigrating needed a home to live in and to get established in the new country, and a passport or other travel documents were needed in order to gain entrance into the destination country. If everyone had planned ahead, perhaps many more lives wouldn’t have fallen victim to the atrocities of the Nazis. The point is that things can change and they can change quickly, as we’ve all seen in the last year. Sometimes the case is extreme, and the new political regime in power imposes restrictions that you would never have expected could be possible in your home country. The nature of politics and growing wealth inequalities in Western countries allows the possibility for fanatic politicians to begin dividing the population and seizing wealth and property from the rich to redistribute to the poor through high taxes and asset confiscations. When there is a massive disparity between wealth and poverty, politicians can use that as a great campaigning platform to generate votes. We are seeing this kind of sentiment in the United States.
The purpose of this article is not to scare anyone, only to point out that there is absolutely ZERO downside risk in having a plan in place in case things worsen and you no longer feel comfortable at home. High taxes and riots in your hometown are definitely something that would be a good reason to start thinking about the possibility of moving, or at least booking a flight to a place you’ve wanted to visit. It never hurts to go explore and see what life is like in a different place. Begin planning, study the benefits and the tax incentives of any offshore country with pro-business policies and determine which one suits you. I’ve found myself here in Puerto Rico for the time being, I specialize in helping people who want to move here and get connected or buy real estate. Although still part of the US, Puerto Rico is a great low-tax option and a lovely place to spend time in. Puerto Rico’s physical location and culture make it unique, and unlike any other place in the US. However, professionally I recommend not to give all of your business to any one place. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, diversify as much as possible. Places like Panama, St. Kitts & Nevis, Colombia, Argentina, Portugal, and countless others offer a great opportunity to set up and pay lower taxes while being around other productive entrepreneurs and investors. These trends are set to continue, globalization is only accelerating, taxes are rising in the West, and if you can work from anywhere then why not try out something new? Maybe you will be surprised.
Jonathan Braswell,
Founder, jbraswellconsulting.com
Recent Comments