If you have 5-10 million net worth, why do you stay here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fall into the $5-$10 million category, live in the DMV, am early retired, and as we speak vacationing abroad. Why can’t you just that? Why do you have to move away from your family and friends?

+1

My parents, siblings, grown kids, and grandkids are all local, not to mention lifelong friends. Why on earth would I leave?

Totally valid point

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you lived in S America? Or Latin America at all? I have, and went to school with many kids who were sent to US by family for safety. High net worth in many countries is a kidnapping concern. You need extra security and bodyguards. It’s really unsettling…and expensive.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mexico, BR, Arg, etc, but with high net worth they’d be no-go’s for retirement

Sorry my op was a bit all over the place -

I was illustrating that I don’t find the us that different than SA except for better economic opportunities…

…so for people/families that have hit networths of 5-10 million, why aren’t they buying their way into specific European towns with high QoL like the ones I mentioned

Because most of them have never lived abroad. Most of them don't know that the QoL can be better in these countries. Most of them have been fed the narrative that the US is the best country and best place to live in the world. Why would they think of leaving what they consider the best?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you lived in S America? Or Latin America at all? I have, and went to school with many kids who were sent to US by family for safety. High net worth in many countries is a kidnapping concern. You need extra security and bodyguards. It’s really unsettling…and expensive.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mexico, BR, Arg, etc, but with high net worth they’d be no-go’s for retirement

Sorry my op was a bit all over the place -

I was illustrating that I don’t find the us that different than SA except for better economic opportunities…

…so for people/families that have hit networths of 5-10 million, why aren’t they buying their way into specific European towns with high QoL like the ones I mentioned

Because most of them have never lived abroad. Most of them don't know that the QoL can be better in these countries. Most of them have been fed the narrative that the US is the best country and best place to live in the world. Why would they think of leaving what they consider the best?

So, I'm a child of immigrants to the US who has spent a lot of time in my parents' country. It's a mixed bag. Healthcare and education is better, as are worker benefits (mandatory paid leave, pensions, etc.). Opportunities are way more limited. An ambitious person would feel stifled. Government bureaucracy is high and corruption is endemic.

Moving to another country isn't easy. You have to build a new community, learn how to deal with governments and regulations, deal with language barriers, and even if you are fluent, be forever treated as an "outsider". This is why immigrants to the US typically fall into two categories, low-education, poor people with little to lose who are desperate for economic opportunity, or high-education ambitious people who are willing to deal with the discomforts of immigration in order to have access to a career and/or make significantly more money than they would back home.

I think that I will try to spend several months out of the year in early retirement in my parents' home country. I love the people, culture, climate, and LCOL. But I'm not sure I would want to live there full time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you lived in S America? Or Latin America at all? I have, and went to school with many kids who were sent to US by family for safety. High net worth in many countries is a kidnapping concern. You need extra security and bodyguards. It’s really unsettling…and expensive.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mexico, BR, Arg, etc, but with high net worth they’d be no-go’s for retirement

Sorry my op was a bit all over the place -

I was illustrating that I don’t find the us that different than SA except for better economic opportunities…

…so for people/families that have hit networths of 5-10 million, why aren’t they buying their way into specific European towns with high QoL like the ones I mentioned

Because most of them have never lived abroad. Most of them don't know that the QoL can be better in these countries. Most of them have been fed the narrative that the US is the best country and best place to live in the world. Why would they think of leaving what they consider the best?

I've lived abroad in multiple locations--at times for several years. I have no interest in being a permanent expat. I have a good QoL here, but more importantly I have a community and roots here. Expat life to me always feels fake and the shine wears out for me after about 1 year--even if I make some lovely friends.

[Anonymous]

its home. but to be honest, we have property abroad too. nice to sometimes get away.

but i'm ready to be a permanent expat.

[Anonymous]

I have not read all of this thread but virtually all of
my South American high net worth clients have their monies invested in US platforms. They all have condos or houses in Miami.

Many have bodyguards that transport their kids to school in their home countries due to kidnapping threats.

Usain Bolt had his monies (12 million) invested with a Jamaican bank. The theft was most likely an inside job.

Our economy is more stable and your monies are safer in the US than many investment vehicles in Mexico and South America.

[Anonymous]

Unless you want to just hang out with Americans many regions of Europe are clannish and really don't like outsiders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because we are thinking about long term generational wealth and stability for kids and grandkids. Not just peacing out and living in a vacation destination for the rest of our lives. That’s what travel and trips are for.

Long term generational wealth? Nauseating. Your job as a parent is to give the kids a good upbringing, pay for college, steer them in a debt free right direction and that’s it. It’s not to endow them financially for the rest of their lives.

Speak for yourself. I was happy to get 75% of my college education paid for on top of being cared for well until I turned 18. I want much more for my kids - enough money to do something but not so much money they have to do nothing, as Warren Buffett said.

I get it. You want to spoil your kids.

I want them not to work 40 hours a week every summer and winter break from college.

[Anonymous]

Here being DC? I personally think being rich in DC is probably one of the absolute best possible states of being. I love it here and the money insulates you from 99.9% of any issues. We don't have that kind of money, but we still love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being an expat is hard and lonely.

Op here

I have been an expat

It’s not that hard and imo since it’s easier to afford areas with less dysfunction and a more “socially attuned” built-environment (public third spaces, public transport, Walkability) abroad than similarly in the us, I’d argue the us is more lonely (which data seems to back up)

And with the economic resource parameter I mentioned above, it would be even easier as I was an expat with less resources so I couldn’t trade money for time to socialize as easily as I could with more money

Expat is just White people term for immigrant. The vast majority of immigrants in the US were Expats first and they all adapted and thrived. Along the way, most chose to become immigrants and settled here. The common trait among all successful Expats is youth. Kinda hard to find someone in their 70s who'd thrive in a new environment especially if they don't know the language.

I do agree with OP on this.. If you are in your 30s/early 40s, already made some money but not all (say $2-5 mil), have a business that runs on its own, there's absolutely no reason to migrate to other parts of the world. Your kids will be young enough to adapt and will be enriched in the process and you will enjoy a lifestyle that is several times better than your current one in the US.

Op here - I’m not white nor white passing.

The difference between expat and immigrant isn’t race but time horizon intention

My parents were immigrants to the us as their intention from day 1 was permanence to move (if allowed)

I have been an expat before because I lived abroad without the open ended intention to stay in the countries I was in — but now I am seriously considering becoming an immigrant abroad.

Sorry.. assumed you were White. I get the diff. between and Expat vs. immigrant. Most Westerners (predominantly White) refer to themselves as Expats although several are economic immigrants - have to work to support themselves as they 'backpack' across the world, find themselves, etc.

Mind sharing your ethnicity, age and which countries you'd consider immigrating to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you lived in S America? Or Latin America at all? I have, and went to school with many kids who were sent to US by family for safety. High net worth in many countries is a kidnapping concern. You need extra security and bodyguards. It’s really unsettling…and expensive.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mexico, BR, Arg, etc, but with high net worth they’d be no-go’s for retirement

Sorry my op was a bit all over the place -

I was illustrating that I don’t find the us that different than SA except for better economic opportunities…

…so for people/families that have hit networths of 5-10 million, why aren’t they buying their way into specific European towns with high QoL like the ones I mentioned

Because most of them have never lived abroad. Most of them don't know that the QoL can be better in these countries. Most of them have been fed the narrative that the US is the best country and best place to live in the world. Why would they think of leaving what they consider the best?

Wow. You're an ass. You assume that people choose to live in the US because they have been "fed the narrative" and not because they have a preference for the US. People like you are insufferable, and I'd prefer to live in the US than around jackass expats like you.

[Anonymous]

Portugal has just canned the Golden Visa. More countries will follow.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2023/02/17/portugal-ends-golden-visa-program-after-ireland-and-before-spain/?sh=3a0289e366ca

[Anonymous]

Because I have minor children who are established here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Portugal has just canned the Golden Visa. More countries will follow.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2023/02/17/portugal-ends-golden-visa-program-after-ireland-and-before-spain/?sh=3a0289e366ca

D7 still exists tho and they are rolling out a new nomad visa that’s even easier to get

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have not read all of this thread but virtually all of
my South American high net worth clients have their monies invested in US platforms. They all have condos or houses in Miami.

Many have bodyguards that transport their kids to school in their home countries due to kidnapping threats.

Usain Bolt had his monies (12 million) invested with a Jamaican bank. The theft was most likely an inside job.

Our economy is more stable and your monies are safer in the US than many investment vehicles in Mexico and South America.

Same goes for a few countries in Africa too. Expats stay in secure compounds and armed guards escorting them to go shopping, to the airport, etc.

In general, whatever you do, make sure you retain US citizenship and family ties and ensure your kids and future descendants do as well. Live wherever you want.