The last few years have both been chaotic and challenging. There have been numerous changes in the world and travel has been more restricted than ever.
Having spent more time with our families is one of the highlights of the past year. But there’s something mind-boggling about realizing that you can live anywhere in the world. The pandemic made people understand what living in a place that’s worth your while was really like.
We always say that you should go where you’re treated best. This is something that we highly believe in. Although, it’s only in the last few years that more people actually understood what it meant.
Most companies have sent their employees to work from home, and these employees have realized that they didn’t want to go back to their offices. Frankly, why would they when they could accomplish the same deliverables while living somewhere else?
This pandemic has hit our world and our economy in the most double-sided way.
We have seen a lot of negativity with most people getting sick and businesses shutting down. However, more people have realized a lot of other significant things that are normally either dismissed or taken for granted. We surely are living in the digital age, and you can simply go where you’re treated best.
We’ve had a few realizations ourselves, and in this article, we’re going to discuss the five flags that we’re planting in the next year.
Obtaining a Tax-Free Caribbean Citizenship
Trying to obtain tax-free citizenship in a region like the Caribbean isn’t for reasons that you might be thinking about. This is why this is the first flag that we want to plant next year. Sure, the tax-free lifestyle is an appealing factor, but there’s more beneath the surface.
For a seven to eight-figure entrepreneur or investor, this might be a confusing process. It can even be challenging to apply for citizenship by investment programs that the Caribbean offers.
However, this is where our team comes in because they can help ensure that you’ve got the proper documents. Not only that but there are various due diligence processes that should be followed which our team facilitates and handles.
Naturally, obtaining a second citizenship in a tax-free country isn’t a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s a great move. Not only will you be diversifying your taxes or your investment portfolio, but you’ll also be able to save more money.
But there’s more to obtaining citizenship in the Caribbean.
We’ve obtained a few citizenships in countries like St. Lucia in the last few years, but is it enough?
This pandemic has shown us that it’s always best to diversify your passport portfolio. It’s always best to know that you have various passports that you can use. This is better than relying upon limited-term visas that you’re unsure whether you can extend or not.
We highly recommend diversifying your passport portfolio, especially if you are an entrepreneur. You should consider investing in this because it’s such an important step to enable you to go where you’re treated best.
Agricultural Land Investing in South America
Land or real estate properties are some of the best investments that an investor can make, particularly if it’s in a hotspot.
For us, we’ve had a couple of agricultural land investments around South America, but we haven’t decided on what to do with it. This is a flag that we think more people should be planting. Not only is this a great investment, but it also provides great security in the long run.
Generally, you can invest in a chain of apartments or even an Airbnb. Still, it’s all up to you as an investor to decide what you want to do with it.
This is more of a personal approach because we’re looking for a place to settle down once we get a bit older; a quiet place to relax if needed in the future.
We want to have a place to farm and grow our food, raise some animals, and create a community that helps other people.
South America is great for agricultural land investments. Countries in the region like Ecuador and Bolivia require you to purchase land or a real estate property in return for a residence permit. Now, most of these residence permits often lead to second citizenship, but only if you end up staying there for an amount of time that’s allowed by the government.
These counties have a great tax environment, and with these lands, you’ll have self-sufficiency, and you’ll never run out of options.
Latin American Residencies
Another flag that we’re trying to plant in Latin America is looking into obtaining more residencies.
If you’ve got an ample amount of money (you don’t necessarily have to be a millionaire), you can go for a residence permit in Latin America.
If you’re earning around $800 per month, do you think you can do anything with that? The good news is that countries in the region grant residence permits if you can prove you’re earning that amount.
Going after a couple of residence permits in the region will surely diversify your investment portfolios.
Now, these residencies will not lead to second or third citizenships if you’re not planning to stay in the country for an extended period. Latin America is a region that has imposed a physical presence requirement for those who aim to obtain their citizenship.
However, this could be a great option if you aim to base yourself and incorporate your company in Latin America. Looking into more residencies in the region will surely benefit you whether it’s for business or for the citizenship route.
Buying Bigger Personal Residences
When you think about what a Nomad Capitalist’s lifestyle is, what comes to mind?
You’re probably thinking about someone who’s always on the go. This is true to some extent. We’ve had our fair share of hotel stays and stays in countless apartments around the world.
As fun as these things might sound, they can be a bit tiring or even “boring.”
When you’re staying in a four or five-star hotel, and they can’t indulge you with a kettle, that can be frustrating. Then once they charge you extra for hot water, isn’t that a bit annoying?
Getting the most basic necessities can be quite frustrating if you’re staying in hotels where you don’t have any kind of freedom or flexibility. We’ve had our fair share of these experiences, and we’ve simply grown out of it, to put it simply.
In the end, we’ve opted to buy various real estate properties in Montenegro and Georgia, because these are countries that we’ve been basing ourselves in for the last few years.
Now, we’re not going to tell you to rush into buying land or real estate properties. It’s still an investment that’s worth thinking about. When buying real estate anywhere in the world, you should also consider reaching out to people who have the right background for real estate investment advice.
There are factors that you’ve got to consider, like where you’ll be in the near future. Another factor is if you’re planning to expand your family and your business or not.
For us, we’ve opted to buy bigger personal residences. There are a few reasons we did so, mainly because we wanted a place where we could live comfortably while running our business in a convenient and professional environment.
This is also a great flag to plant if you want to diversify your business or investment portfolio. Then again, you’ll have to think about various other factors depending on your situation and goals, and you have to decide where you’ll be buying these residences.
Achieving Business Expansion
Lastly, we’re always aiming to expand our business in achievable ways.
We’ve looked into hiring people from overseas in the last few years. We’re not restricting ourselves to hiring in a particular country or jurisdiction since we don’t want to do this. Instead, we go where the talent is and where we can get better value for our money.
We’ve gathered quite a great team based in Dubai. This led to some of our employees based in Hong Kong moving to Dubai as well. This is something that we’re planning to look more into in the future, which will be beneficial for our business moving forward.
Not only will this be great for business, but expanding your business in a new jurisdiction or “offshore” will give you better opportunities and better asset protection. Sometimes the path will even lead to residencies and citizenships.
In Bulgaria, if you hire ten people as part of your company, you may have a claim to citizenship. This is also something that you can do under Portugal’s Golden Visa Fund. You will find that there are quite a few countries that offer schemes like this. So it’s always best to look at these places.
The End Goal in the Next Year
These are some things that we’re planning on doing in the next year, and these are five flags that we’re planting.
Surely, everything is different for every entrepreneur or investor, and that’s normal. However, it’s always great to look at what will make your business flourish.
There are countless countries in the world where you can go where you’re treated best and where you can go to have better asset protection for your businesses.
These countries are not restricted to the Caribbean or Latin America because various countries in Asia and Europe offer these. It always pays to look and do your research because, in the long run, going where you’re treated best is the end goal.
So, what are the flags you’re planting in the next year?
