Why I’m Moving Out of the Country – Update

This is an update of an old article I wrote way back in 2012. In this article I’m going to summarize the specific reasons why I am moving out of the USA in early 2021 sorted by order of importance. I will also give an overview of exactly where I’m going and how I’m going to structure my typical year starting in 2021, as well as my long-term plan.  

I first started thinking about moving out of the USA back in 2003, but I was a young, dumb beta male back then and didn’t have the logistical or emotional wherewithal. I made specific plans to move out of the country in 2011, waiting patiently until both my kids were grown up and out of the house. That has happened, so now I’m ready to rock. 

Some people seem to think that I’m leaving the USA because I think it’s going to collapse soon. This is incorrect.  

As you’re about to see, the main reasons I’m leaving the USA are purely financial as related to my business income, taxes, investing and banking opportunities. The fact that the USA is collapsing (and it is) has nothing to do with these reasons. I would still move out of the USA because of these reasons even if the USA or the West wasn’t collapsing (all other things remaining equal).  

Secondly, I don’t think the USA will collapse “soon.” It might take ten, twenty, or even thirty more years for that to happen. It’s not like I’m in some kind of panic and that I need to “get out now” before the world comes to an end. Uh, no. (Granted, if I lived in Europe I might think that, since Europe is much closer to collapse than the USA, but I’m an American in the USA.) 

Some people also think that I’m recommending to everyone in my audience that they also need to move out of the USA or else they’re fucked. This is also incorrect. If you follow Alpha Male 2.0 business and financial structures, you’ll probably be okay even if you live in a collapsing Western nation (depending on the country).  

If you’ve got 2-4 international, diversified, location-independent businesses with multiple streams of income, with zero or near zero debt, a decent income, a decent amount of savings and safe investments, you’re not traditionally married and you’re non-monogamous, you’ll probably be fine when the USA collapses. It’s everyone else who will be fucked. Alpha Male 2.0 is not just a path to freedom and long-term happiness, it’s also a layer of protection against the economic chaos that is coming. 

I’m moving out of the country for my own reasons. You can make plans to move yourself or stay here and build your Alpha 2.0 structures as fast as you can. Either is cool with me. What you don’t want to do is keep living the standard beta male lifestyle of having a corporate job with a ton of debt, a traditional marriage, and a 401K in the stock market. That lifestyle was fine back in the 1950s. Today it’s suicide on multiple levels. 

All that being said, here are the reasons I’m moving out of the country soon, in order of importance.

1. Financial opportunity. The West is dying, but Asia is rising. One of my long-term financial goals is to take advantage of the trillions of dollars that are going to be made over the next several decades in Asia due to numerous factors and reasons (some of which I listed here and here). 

I will be much better poised to take advantage of these business and investing opportunities if I live over there instead of sitting here in the Collapsing USA listening to the insane left and the irrational right scream at each other about things like NFL players kneeling and transgender bathrooms. I prefer to be right in the middle of the action (or very close to it) instead of on the other side of the ocean a painful 15hour flight away. Call me crazy, but I prefer to be around organized and super motivated Asians than a bunch of hypersensitive white socialists (and I include modern-day right-wingers when I say that). The former is conducive for fast track business success, the latter is not.  

Man, I can’t wait to get over there! I’m so excited!

2. Five flags. I’ve overviewed this here. I want to minimize my legal tax burden, maximize my ability to travel, maximize my ability to invest and bank all over the world, and most importantly, reduce my reliance on any one nation. I want to be as independent as possible from any economic or political upheaval in any one country, including my country of origin, the USA. This means five flags, and this means I need to live abroad.

Being rooted logistically, financially and emotionally to one place is not freedom, at least in my opinion. Double that if that place has a rapidly expanding government like the USA does.

3. I love international travel. I love visiting other countries; it’s one of my greatest joys in life. What better way to do this than to live abroad, rotating my home as I see fit? My heart beats with excitement every time I visit places like Shanghai, Paraguay, Hong Kong or Dubai far more than with any other city in the Collapsing West. I’m not saying there aren’t fun cities in the West: San Diego, London, Las Vegas, Vancouver and Paris are all enjoyable cities too. But they don’t get my blood pumping the way many non-Western cities do.

I like to be happy. And I’m fully location-independent due to my Alpha Male 2.0 lifestyle. That means I need to go where I’m happiest. And that’s not here.

4. The West is collapsing economically and culturally. Finally, here it is, at number four on my list. Yes, the West is collapsing, and I’d prefer to get out while the getting is still good. You could argue I don’t need to get out and will be fine in a collapse and you’d be more or less correct. Regardless, I would like to be in a part of the world on the rise rather than on the decline. And there are those other reasons on this list.

I also don’t want to mess around with the collapse when it actually happens. I’d prefer to be across the ocean and smile at it from afar rather than be in midst of it here. Maybe the collapse will be really horrible and maybe it will just be a mild inconvenience. (I lay out exactly what I think will happen here.) It doesn’t matter.  

Perhaps if I was single and a very young man, living in a collapsing society and trying to exploit that for my personal gain would be interesting. But I’m a married man (OLTR Marriage of course) and I’m almost 50 years old. That means that when the collapse happens, I’ll be well into my fifties, sixties, or even older. The last thing I’ll want to do at that age is fuck around with that. I’d rather focus on my Mission.

5. The cultural collapse has become irritating. As entertaining as this stuff often is, I’m at the point where if I hear one more Democrat scream about how Hillary would have made a great President, or one more Republican try to defend being in eight different wars, or one more SJW scream about the how racist we all are, or one more Trump worshiper scream about how Trump is going to magically fix everything, then I’m probably going to jump off a cliff.

Yeah, I’m exaggerating. This stuff doesn’t bother me as much as it used to. I mostly just laugh at it today. But I’d be lying if it didn’t annoy me sometimes. I can only see so many left-wing commercials, so many bad movies, hear so many stupid songs on the radio. People in New Zealand might be socialists, but they aren’t the ranting, incompetent madmen my fellow Americans, Canadians and Europeans have become. 

And look, I’ll say what I’ve said before: I love the people in the USA. I really do. American culture is a deeply rooted part of who I am; I love all of those aspects of myself that I’ve drawn from my country and culture. I just don’t like what the culture has become. It’s one of the times I actually agree with the right. It’s just that unlike the right, I know there is no cure… other than for me to leave. 

I know that if I just visit the USA a lot instead of living here most of this stupid shit won’t annoy nearly as much, since it won’t be “attached” to my life anymore. Other men who have already left the USA have reported that this is exactly what has happened to them. It makes sense.

6. Government is becoming too intrusive. As conservatives enact more intrusive, anti-privacy measures to fight the ridiculous war on terror (flown on an airplane lately?), and as left-wingers create more nanny state programs and shove more politically correct BS down my throat (have you heard those oh-so-important tax-payer-funded radio ads nagging you to wear your seat belt?) the tentacles of government weave themselves more and more into our lives as Americans.

If I was a convicted felon or other such security risk, that would make sense, but I’m not. I’m not a criminal, I work very hard, I am ethical and truthful, I pay my taxes (a lot), I donate money to charity every month without fail, and my work really does help people in a meaningful way. Although I’m definitely a flawed man, I am a good father, good citizen and generally a good person. 

Regardless, Big Brother still wants to treat me like a suspicious criminal, a small child, or a greedy asshole. It still wants to constantly be in my face, wag its finger at me like I’m always doing something wrong, make me spy on my neighbors, make me fill out forms, run my life, tax the fuck out of me, scold me like I’m a five year-old and tell me what to do in even the most minute of areas. And every year it gets worse. Yes, even postTrump. 

As always, I seek long-term happiness. This means I seek maximum personal freedom. This means I can’t live in the USA anymore. We now live in an era where you can literally live in a socialist country like Australia or New Zealand, or a second-world country like Paraguay and as long as you’re following Alpha 2.0 lifestyle models you’ll experience more personal freedom on the overall there than living in the Land of the Free, the USA.

Isn’t that weird? It’s kinda funny. 

My Current Plan as of October 2019 

Just a quick update on my plan because it’s been a while since I’ve written about it. 

In exactly one year, October of 2020, Pink Firefly and I are going to move away from the Portland area and get a house in Phoenix, Arizona. I’m required to spend some time in the USA every year, at least for a while, for various complicated tax reasons, so this will be our winter home for the next few years and we’ll spend several months a year there. 

Just a few months after that, once we’re settled in Phoenix, in February or March of 2021, we’re going to go to Auckland, New Zealand to get our second home there.  

Once that’s locked down, I will spend about 4-5 months a year in New Zealand (during the spring/summer), 4-5 months a year in Phoenix (during the fall/winter), and 2-4 months a year traveling abroad planting my other flags, primarily in Hong Kong, Paraguay, Panama, Singapore, China, and Italy, in about that order. Every year I will spend less and less time in the USA and more time abroad until that 4-5 months per year drops down to about one month per year.

I plan on living that pattern for about 5-10 years or so before I modify it again, but that’s down the road. I’m location-independent so if I change my mind, I’m free to do so at any time. For now, that’s the plan.

I know I keep saying it, but I can’t wait to get started… 

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46 Comments
  • Andrew Wood
    Posted at 05:18 am, 31st October 2019

    For the last few years, I have split my time 50% USA 40% Europe 10% Thailand. This year the USA will fall to about 40%  and I will increase my Asia time. In fact, I get on a plane in less than 24 hours to go speak in India.

  • CW
    Posted at 07:32 am, 31st October 2019

    Isn’t New Zealand starting to show some of the same tendencies? They just banned house sales to foreign non-residents:

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45199034

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 08:35 am, 31st October 2019

    Isn’t New Zealand starting to show some of the same tendencies?

    1. The USA’s debt to GDP is 104%. New Zealand’s is 19%. So no. It’s night and day.

    2. It doesn’t matter what New Zealand does since I will not be a citizen there, not live full-time there, and have zero assets there. Read this.

    They just banned house sales to foreign non-residents

    Completely irrelevant to me. I can’t own any assets in NZ nor ever want to. Just going to rent.

  • Redbaron
    Posted at 10:02 am, 31st October 2019

    organized and super motivated Asians

    They make for some excellent slave labor that I can pay pennies to while I reap the majority of the profits >:)

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 10:15 am, 31st October 2019

    They make for some excellent slave labor that I can pay pennies to while I reap the majority of the profits >:)

    Geoarbitrage, yes. Have your expenses (staff, vendors, infrastructure) in low-cost countries and have your revenue (customers, clients) from high-cost countries, and profit.

  • Neil
    Posted at 10:40 am, 31st October 2019

    Hi Caleb.

    In terms of business opportunities, China obviously is the big market that many people, yourself included, say people should look to do business in, as there are massive opportunities.
    Apart from China, what other Asian countries should guys be looking at targeting in terms of a location independent business or even non Asian (Brazil? South Africa?..)

    I presume Japan & S Korea are seen as having reached ‘economic growth potential’ or do you think there are good opportunities still to be found?!

     

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 10:46 am, 31st October 2019

    Apart from China, what other Asian countries should guys be looking at targeting in terms of a location independent business

    SE Asia! Cambodia and Thailand in particular but Vietnam, Laos , etc are also fantastic. I’m patently waiting for Myanmar to open up. Malaysia is pretty good too.

    Brazil?

    Yes, but you need to really know what you’re doing. Brazil is psycho, but lots of money can be made with pyschos.

    South Africa?

    Can’t comment; not sure. Probably.

    I presume Japan & S Korea are seen as having reached ‘economic growth potential’ or do you think there are good opportunities still to be found?!

    Both are true; they’ve reached potential but you could still have a profitable Alpha 2.0 business in either, especially if you’re a Western foreigner.

  • Neil
    Posted at 12:54 pm, 31st October 2019

    SE Asia! Cambodia and Thailand in particular but Vietnam, Laos , etc are also fantastic. I’m patently waiting for Myanmar to open up. Malaysia is pretty good too.

    Would you say Malaysia & Singapore are on a par, as a LIB choice?

  • Neil
    Posted at 12:56 pm, 31st October 2019

    SE Asia! Cambodia and Thailand in particular but Vietnam, Laos , etc are also fantastic. I’m patently waiting for Myanmar to open up. Malaysia is pretty good too.

    Would you say Singapore is up there with the above places?

  • Tom Lecometros
    Posted at 01:13 pm, 31st October 2019

    Hi Caleb,

    I have been reading about 5 flags for at least 10 years. Have a 2nd passport, home on the Med, and stacking metal for 15 years.

    I came across an affiliate marketing gold e-commerce company called Karatbars. This company fills several of the flag items for as little or as much as you put into it.

    Yes this is a bit of a sales call, but is also informational. You may find it intriguing and it will fit your lifestyle in several ways. Please contact me at your convenience.

    Sincerely,

    Tom Lecometros, Tempe, AZ

     

     

  • Eric C Smith
    Posted at 01:17 pm, 31st October 2019

    cool this calmed me a little but still decoupling from typical consumerism and getting my life right.

    lots of work to do.

  • johnnybegood
    Posted at 01:44 pm, 31st October 2019

    Technically you will be spending Fall/ Winter in Phoenix, and then Fall/ Winter in New Zealand, as it’s within the Southern Hemisphere. But yes obviously most of the world considers April/ May to be the spring months.

    I was reading some more of your Asian Tiger articles, as I happen to agree with a lot of it.

    You do own a bit of gold you say in one of the articles — I’m just curious — do you own indexes tied to the price of gold, or some kind of digital store of gold, or do you physically own some?

    It’s more of a burden to physically have it, but — a lot of people have it specifically in case of ‘doomsday’ scenarios, so in that case, it would only make sense to physically have it. But I’m just curious. I would have no problem buying digital indexes of it, if I thought the prices were going up. Same with silver. But I’m not exactly sure how that stuff works.

  • Saipan
    Posted at 02:44 pm, 31st October 2019

    Look into the CNMI. It is a US territory in Asia Pacific (within five hours from Taipei, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Manila) with significant autonomy. It’s the only place in the USA that Chinese citizens can go to visa free, it has its own tax system (IRS has no jurisdiction) that is much lower than the US mainland, it has its own customs regime which is exempt from most trade war and other tariffs, it has a special CNMI only worker visa, it has an exemption from the H1B/H2B visa caps, it legalized weed, and much much more.

    I have visited multiple times and am in the process of moving myself and my businesses there. Before I discovered the CNMI I was also working towards expatriation. However, it seems like the CNMI is the perfect solution for us Americans to significantly reduce our taxes, create an Asian home base, and increase our freedom and happiness.

     

  • Joe
    Posted at 03:52 pm, 31st October 2019

    Why not vegas?  It has good flights, cheap houses, a lot of tier one city amenities, no state income tax, and is pretty normal outside of the strip.

  • American
    Posted at 04:29 pm, 31st October 2019

    Regardless, Big Brother still wants to treat me like a suspicious criminal, a small child, or a greedy asshole. It still wants to constantly be in my face, wag its finger at me like I’m always doing something wrong, make me spy on my neighbors, make me fill out forms, run my life, tax the fuck out of me, scold me like I’m a five year-old and tell me what to do in even the most minute of areas.

    Amen to that.  We used to enjoy freedom in the USA.  That is long gone.

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 06:30 pm, 31st October 2019

    Would you say Singapore is up there with the above places?

    No. Singapore isn’t an emerging market. It’s a mature market like S. Korea and Hong Kong.

    do you own indexes tied to the price of gold, or some kind of digital store of gold, or do you physically own some?

    Physical gold. I generally do not recommend owning gold indexes or paper gold. I have some digital gold but so little it barely counts.

    It’s more of a burden to physically have it, but — a lot of people have it specifically in case of ‘doomsday’ scenarios, so in that case, it would only make sense to physically have it.

    Correct. In a normal recession, paper gold might be fine, but in a depression paper gold would be very risky and physical gold would skyrocket.

    I would have no problem buying digital indexes of it, if I thought the prices were going up.

    The problem is the price could crash right after going up. And paper gold/silver is very, very easy to manipulate. And it’s often modified by formulas.

    But I’m not exactly sure how that stuff works.

    Read this.

    Look into the CNMI.

    I have, in addition to many other island nations. I don’t really want to live in a small island in the middle of nowhere. But that’s just me; other guys might think that’s pretty cool.

    Why not vegas?

    I love Vegas but I would much rather live in Scottsdale. The Vegas strip is fun but Vegas is pretty shitty outside of that, plus the people in Vegas are really rough around the edges and Scottsdale folks are very pleasant. I agree with the no state income tax angle though.

    Amen to that. We used to enjoy freedom in the USA. That is long gone.

    And never coming back.

  • Saipan
    Posted at 08:27 pm, 31st October 2019

    New Zealand, is also a small island and is in the middle of nowhere– though admittedly it is much bigger than the CNMI. However, the CNMI’s location is far better because it is only a few hours from major Asian cities. Plus as US citizen, your tax obligations will be more than 2x higher under your current plan than if you were to be a CNMI resident.

    But I understand everyone has different preferences and the CNMI is not for everyone. Best of luck!

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 10:58 pm, 31st October 2019

    Plus as US citizen, your tax obligations will be more than 2x higher under your current plan than if you were to be a CNMI resident.

    Incorrect. I still pay worldwide taxes as a US citizen regardless of where I live. I’m not except from those just because I move to CNMI.

  • Mark
    Posted at 06:44 am, 1st November 2019

    Re: Renting in New Zealand.

    Are you planning to rent short term for the 4-5 months you are there and then have to find a new place every time you return? Or will you keep one place on a long term lease and then have to pay the rent even for the 7-8 months you’re not there?

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 10:56 am, 1st November 2019

    Are you planning to rent short term for the 4-5 months you are there and then have to find a new place every time you return? Or will you keep one place on a long term lease and then have to pay the rent even for the 7-8 months you’re not there?

    The second option, sort of. If I have to constantly put all of my shit in a storage unit every six months for the rest of my life, I’ll probably go insane.

    However, PF will be in NZ about 8 months a year, so there will only be about 4 months a year we’re paying rent for an empty house, not 7-8. PF can stay in NZ for as long as she wants, only I need to be out of NZ 6 months per year to not get dinged with NZ taxes. (PF and I have separate finances so she is free to pay any taxes she likes.)

    The current plan is to purchase a house in Scottsdale (which I really don’t want to do but I’m required to do it for various international tax reasons) and AirBnB it out when we are not there to help recoup rental and ownership costs.

    I’ve done extensive spreadsheets on this; the amount of money I’ll save and make by doing all of my international / five flags stuff exceeds the few months of wasted rent per year.

  • Saipan
    Posted at 11:06 am, 1st November 2019

    Incorrect. I still pay worldwide taxes as a US citizen regardless of where I live. I’m not except from those just because I move to CNMI.

    That is not necessarily true.  As the IRS explains on its website.

    American Samoa, Guam, the CNMI, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico has their own independent tax departments. If you have income from one of these U.S. territories, you may have to file a U.S. tax return only, a territory tax return only, or both returns. This generally depends on whether you are considered a resident of one of the U.S. territories. In some cases, you may have to file a U.S. return, but be able to exclude income earned in a territory from U.S. tax.

    If you are a CNMI resident and your income is CNMI sourced you benefit from their tax rates. For simplicity their tax system mirror the federal code but provide special rebates. For 100k+ incomes the rebate is 50%. Thus, if you a CNMI resident instead of a AZ resident your taxes would be at least 2x lower. Dividends and Capital Gains are also included in the 50% rebate so if you structure things efficiently your tax rate can be even lower.

    In terms of worldwide income, CNMI’s residents worldwide income are taxed at the CNMI rates. It is also possible for the CNMI to increase its rebate structure for worldwide income. My colleagues and I are currently working on this. Given the fact that CNMI senators get elected with as few as 600 votes, significant tax reform is well within the realm of possibility.

     

  • August
    Posted at 11:53 am, 1st November 2019

    Good decision on Scottsdale. Not only is Las Vegas rough around the edges the dating options are hard to come by.

    What I have noticed lately in terms of ALPHA  2.0 lifestyle:

    In the U.S. we are getting pinched as prices on everything continues to increase. Everything. Taxes are rising. Utilities. Groceries. Forget college unless you are pursuing engineering, medicine, or law.

    The pool of attractive, datable women in the United States decreases every year, especially if you are over forty, due to:
    OBESITY
    ATTITUDE
    SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT
    ADDICTION
    THREE OR MORE CHILDREN
    BITTERNESS TOWARD MEN
    LACK OF CLASS

     

  • Ken
    Posted at 02:08 pm, 1st November 2019

    I see some potential issues here.

    You can get a nine month visa for New Zealand, yes.  But you can’t be there more than 9 months in an 18 month period, calculated backwards from the last day you intend to be there.  If you intend to stay there for 4 months at a time, and go at the same time each year, that can work.  But if you lay it out on a calendar, you’ll see that it stops working once you go to 5 months … you’d have to start moving your visit further to the right each year.

    PF won’t be able to stay there 8 months out of the year, year after year … that just won’t work unless she’s a resident of NZ or something that you haven’t told us.

    Another thing:  The conditions of the nine month visitor visa are that you don’t work.  That would include working on your international businesses from your laptop.  Now, of course you can get away with that for a time, and lots of people do work from their computers there when they’re on vacation or whatever (I did), but at some point you’re probably going to have to lie to an immigration officer about your intentions.  Especially if you apply for that extended visa over and over … they may start asking questions at some point. Or even ask to search your phone/laptop or whatever.

    Which brings me to the point about your needing to stay less than 6 months to avoid owing tax.  Really, that wouldn’t be an issue.  Because to assess tax, they’d have to know that you’re working or conducting business from there.  But if they find out that you’re doing that, you’ll be kicked out anyway or denied your next visa.

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 02:55 pm, 1st November 2019

    If you are a CNMI resident and your income is CNMI sourced you benefit from their tax rates.

    Right. That’s not relevant to me since I wouldn’t have any CNMI income.

    In terms of worldwide income, CNMI’s residents worldwide income are taxed at the CNMI rates.

    1. That is not what your excerpt said.

    2. Even if you’re right, we’d have to examine how easy or difficult it would be for a US citizen paying tax on worldwide income to become a CNMI resident and instantly chuck the USA worldwide tax with the USA’s blessing. I find it extremely hard to believe the USA would allow such a thing and/or that such a process would be a straightforward one that I would qualify for.

    If you weren’t a US citizen, sure, CNMI is a good deal. But I’m a US citizen (unfortunately).

    You can get a nine month visa for New Zealand, yes. But you can’t be there more than 9 months in an 18 month period, calculated backwards from the last day you intend to be there.

    1. This is the first I’m hearing this and none of my immigration attorneys have said this. If you have an official NZ government link that says this, let me know and I’ll take a look.

    2. PF isn’t going to get a 9 month visa. She and I are going to get a 6 month visa that will be renewed whenever she spends a few weeks abroad with me (which she will do on a regular basis). She won’t travel as much as I will (few people do), but she’s never going sit in NZ for a straight contiguous 8 months like you’re suggesting. Which means, now that I think about it, she really won’t be there for 8 months a year; she’ll be there less since that 8 months doesn’t account for her international travel time.

    The conditions of the nine month visitor visa are that you don’t work. That would include working on your international businesses from your laptop.

    Incorrect. My understanding from the attorneys and the government staff there is that this refers to having a job in NZ or having a business in NZ. If you have zero assets in NZ, zero customers or clients in NZ, zero checking accounts in NZ, and work on your laptop on 100% foreign to NZ, this is something they don’t give a shit about and/or don’t enforce.

    I have been told that I need to be really careful about that zero assets / zero customers in NZ thing. That means that, starting around early 2021, I’m going to have to be really careful about not having any local clients in NZ, can’t do any seminars in NZ, have no in-person business meetings in NZ, and so on.

    Which brings me to the point about your needing to stay less than 6 months to avoid owing tax. Really, that wouldn’t be an issue. Because to assess tax, they’d have to know that you’re working or conducting business from there. But if they find out that you’re doing that, you’ll be kicked out anyway or denied your next visa.

    Incorrect. It doesn’t work that way. I have vast government documentation on exactly how the six month tax aspects works and I’ve been through it all with fine-toothed comb with my attorneys. (I had to after the debacle I had with Australia.) The precise nature of the international work is not a factor in whether or not you incur NZ tax (what they call “transitional residency”) on less than 183 days per year there. Instead it’s based on what they call a “permanent place of abode” and various “residence tests” they use to determine this. It gets complicated, but I’ve made very sure I’ll be okay on the tax side of things.

    One issue that does have merit, that a few others have pointed out, is that if I keep publicly talking about this stuff I may incur auditing or other interest / problems from the US government and/or the NZ government regarding my taxes and residency. That may be accurate. It’s entirely possible that as of 2021 (or sooner) I may have to completely stop blogging about this particular topic, which would be a shame, but I’ll do it if I have to.

  • Ken
    Posted at 03:18 pm, 1st November 2019

    . This is the first I’m hearing this and none of my immigration attorneys have said this. If you have an official NZ government link that says this, let me know and I’ll take a look.

    I don’t know if I can post links here, but go to the immigration dot govt dot nz site and look at the conditions for the visitor visa.

    Duration – Visitors and tourists

    You can visit New Zealand as a genuine tourist for up to 9 months in an 18-month period.

    The 18-month period is calculated backwards from the last day you intend to be in New Zealand.
    If the last day you’ll be here is 1 December, then your 18-month period will begin on 1 June of the year before.

    You can apply for another 3 months’ stay and extend your stay to 12 months in a 24-month period, if:

    you need more time to complete your tourist itinerary
    you can’t leave New Zealand for reasons beyond your control
    you’ve applied for residence for the first time.

    To apply for another 3 months’ stay, you must have financially supported yourself and not worked, studied or been sponsored during your stay.

    If you’ve recently visited New Zealand for a total of 12 months, you have to remain outside New Zealand for 12 months before you can apply for another Visitor Visa.

    As for what is or what is not work on that visa, seems pretty clear from reading that what you’re doing would be classified as working.  Now, if your attorney is telling you that they don’t actually enforce that provision against guys like you, I suppose that’s possible.  I wouldn’t know.

    Also, doesn’t matter how long your visa is for …. if you intend to stay longer than 3 months, you’ll need to apply in advance for a visitor’s visa, and the 18 month lookback agreement would apply regardless of whether you state you’ll be staying for six months, or eight, or nine … it’s the same visa, same conditions.

    I think if you lay it out on the calendar you’re going to find challenges if you plan to spend more than 4 months a year there.

    I’ve thought about spending time there myself and this is the kind of thing that I’ve run into …. of course, I didn’t consult an attorney.  Just going by what their website states.

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 08:13 pm, 1st November 2019

    I’ll submit this to my attorneys and see what they say. None of them have brought any of this up. They know exactly what I’m planning so if my plan wasn’t compatible with NZ visa law I’d be really shocked if they just forgot to tell me.

    I seem to remember that the visa they said I”m going to get was not the typical tourist or visitor’s visa; maybe that explains it. Not sure.

  • Saipan
    Posted at 08:20 pm, 1st November 2019

    If you weren’t a US citizen, sure, CNMI is a good deal. But I’m a US citizen (unfortunately).

    I think there is a misunderstanding. The CNMI is only good for US citizens. The CNMI is US soil (so getting residency is similar to switching states) but has the advantage of a separate tax system. If you were a non-US citizen you couldn’t easily become a CNMI resident and there are much better tax havens.

    Right. That’s not relevant to me since I wouldn’t have any CNMI income.

    In America, income is sourced where the work was performed. However because of worldwide taxation, overseas income is usually treated as US sourced by default for tax purpose (Although some deductions/credits for FEIE and tax treaties exist). If you are a CNMI resident that spent 31 days in the CNMI, 10 months overseas, and 30 days in AZ, any earned income you didn’t earn during your 30 days in AZ would be CNMI sourced.

    As for residency requirements the IRS explains these on form 8898.

    You are a bona fide resident of a U.S. possession if you:

    -Do not have a tax home outside the possession,
    -Do not have a closer connection to the United States or to a foreign country than to the possession, and
    -Meet the presence test (defined later)

    Form 8898 also explains the presence test and I’ve quoted it for you below. *Note: this presence test assumes you are already a resident. To initially become a resident you should spend 6 months there, register to vote, switch your drivers license ect. (just like switching states) After that the Presence Test will determine if you are still resident there.

    Presence Test

    You meet the presence test for the tax year if you meet one of the following conditions.

    -You were present in the possession for at least 183 days during the tax year.
    -You were present in the possession for at least 549 days during the 3-year period that includes the current tax year and the 2 immediately preceding tax years. During each year of the 3-year period, you also must be present in the possession for at least 60 days.
    -You were present in the United States for no more than 90 days during the tax year.
    -You had $3,000 or less of earned income from U.S. sources and were present for more days in the possession than in the United States during the tax year. See the instructions for Line 8 under Specific Instructions, later, for the definition of earned income from U.S. sources.
    -You had no significant connection (defined later) to the United States during the tax year.

    Given your situation (I doubt you or PF want to spend too much time there) I would move there for the initial 6 months to gain initial residency and spend as little time in the mainland US as possible. To be safe you should also spend more time in the CNMI than in the mainland US. The less time you spend in the mainland the less time you would need to spend in the CNMI. If you want to spend most of your time in NZ and/or traveling around East Asia the CNMI could be a great option to more than half your taxes while you remain a US citizen.

  • Ken
    Posted at 08:27 pm, 1st November 2019

    I’ve done extensive spreadsheets on this; the amount of money I’ll save and make by doing all of my international / five flags stuff exceeds the few months of wasted rent per year.

    Where are the savings exactly?  By your own admission you’re still fully liable for US income taxes.  You already live in a state with no state income tax.  Plus you’ll have to pay the expensive goods and services (GST) tax for your day to day necessities in NZ.  And rent for a place that you won’t be able to access for a large portion of the year.  And all of that jetting around ….

  • joelsuf
    Posted at 08:34 pm, 1st November 2019

    We now live in an era where you can literally live in a socialist country like Australia or New Zealand, or a second-world country like Paraguay and as long as you’re following Alpha 2.0 lifestyle models you’ll experience more personal freedom on the overall there than living in the Land of the Free, the USA.

    That’s crazy but so true.

    I blame a lot of the fading personal freedom that people enjoy in the US on the culture’s obsession with activism and external solutions. Those two things are going to make the US burn to the ground in the decades to come and like Caleb, I want to watch it from afar and laugh instead of needing to deal with it.

  • Ken
    Posted at 08:51 pm, 1st November 2019

    You have to be careful with attorneys.  Of the few times I’ve had to hire one in my life, I’ve seen some real slipshod work.  In one case downright dishonest.  In that case it was with the guy we trusted to handle my (now ex) wife’s immigration into the US.  He made her case seem 10x more complicated than it really was, and outright lied, in order to extract more fees.  And this guy was well advertised and had a large suite in a landmark downtown office building.  He threatened to have security physically remove me from the building when I confronted him with the evidence that what he was telling me was wrong.

    The attorney that handled my ex-wife’s divorce case was sloppy and incompetent.  Again, from a major firm with offices in a landmark building.

    The attorney who I recently contacted about a non-compete agreement that I was reluctant to sign misread the agreement and gave me advice based on the laws of the wrong state.

    I’d say always do your own due diligence and ask hard questions. Probably the only good one I’ve ever hired charged a fair and fixed rate fee, worked out of a hobbit hole, and he was the one who helped me fight the first immigration lawyer that I mentioned who ripped us off, and also got the immigration matter handled with no fuss at all.

  • Chris
    Posted at 08:51 pm, 1st November 2019

    Is Hong Kong still a go or given the recent uprisings would you reconsider if the mainland decides to move in and force an early mainland rule? I know it’s your shining city on a hill.

  • Neil
    Posted at 09:17 am, 2nd November 2019

    Sort of off-topic, Caleb but you’ve mentioned that you love travelling & don’t check in luggage & only have carry-on.

    Any chance of a post in the near future about how much you pack, for how long a stay & other tips?!..

    I always overpack & Ive seen a few articles on it but they’re always designed for women.

  • Félix
    Posted at 10:51 am, 2nd November 2019

    Sort of off-topic, Caleb but you’ve mentioned that you love travelling & don’t check in luggage & only have carry-on.

    Any chance of a post in the near future about how much you pack, for how long a stay & other tips?!..

    I always overpack & Ive seen a few articles on it but they’re always designed for women.

    Here you go:

    https://calebjonesblog.com/living-abroad-part-time-packing-for-super-long-trips/

    https://calebjonesblog.com/living-abroad-part-time-part-1/

    Also, check out his other “Living abroad part-time” articles

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 08:05 pm, 2nd November 2019

    In America, income is sourced where the work was performed. However because of worldwide taxation, overseas income is usually treated as US sourced by default for tax purpose (Although some deductions/credits for FEIE and tax treaties exist). If you are a CNMI resident that spent 31 days in the CNMI, 10 months overseas, and 30 days in AZ, any earned income you didn’t earn during your 30 days in AZ would be CNMI sourced.

    Show me a link that states this. (I understand the rest of your comment.)

    Sounds too good to be true, but I’m interested.

    You have to be careful with attorneys.

    Oh, I agree.

    Is Hong Kong still a go or given the recent uprisings

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=von08-Eg65A

    would you reconsider if the mainland decides to move in and force an early mainland rule?

    That won’t happen for several more decades. Everyone on both sides is blowing this thing out of proportion.

  • Stephen
    Posted at 08:28 pm, 2nd November 2019

    Yeah, I’m exaggerating. This stuff doesn’t bother me as much as it used to. I mostly just laugh at it today. But I’d be lying if it didn’t annoy me sometimes. I can only see so many left-wing commercials, so many bad movies, hear so many stupid songs on the radio.

    For those of you not ready to make such a complex lifestyle change –> NEWS BLACKOUT.

    I got the idea from one of those public television doctors.  He said to try it for a few days and see if it lowers your stress levels.  I liked it so much I made it permanent.  What I did was:

    For TV/radio:  cut cable, never watch news shows, mute the sound when commercials come on

    Internet:  uBlock origin, privacy badger

    Relationships:  when ever someone starts blathering about politics I say, I respect your opinion but please don’t try to convert me.  Or  simply “no politics, please”.

  • Neil
    Posted at 03:45 am, 3rd November 2019

    Here you go:

    Cheers Félix! 👍🏻

  • Alex Jones
    Posted at 11:46 am, 3rd November 2019

    Something you don’t mention, and I am curious about… are you and PF going to quit your US citizenship, and where would that fit in your plans? As you know, if you don’t you will be haunted by the IRS, but as you also probably know you can’t technically give up your US Citizenship “for tax reasons” without also getting a lifetime ban on entry into the US. Also, the tax implications are MASSIVE. Specifically they basically treat you as if you had died and apply all estate taxes on your assets.

    Also FWIW, I think your assessment of when the US is going to collapse needs to factor in political reality. I know you aren’t a Trump fan, and you have plenty of valid reasons for not being so. However, the left has gone full on psycho. There is a fairly decent chance that Elizabeth Warren will get the nomination and a decent chance of becoming president. If she manages to do that with a democrat house and senate (51 votes only since the senate will overthrow the super majority requirement as soon as they can) and if she then enacts some of her truly insane ideas it is quite possible that the USA could collapse before the end of 2021. But who knows? Maybe Trump will introduce something equally insane.

     

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 12:53 pm, 4th November 2019

    are you and PF going to quit your US citizenship, and where would that fit in your plans?

    I am no longer discussing that topic publicly.

    it is quite possible that the USA could collapse before the end of 2021

    No and you’re being hysterical. The odds of the USA actually collapsing in the next 2 years is well within the 2% Rule regardless of who the president is.

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 04:30 pm, 4th November 2019

    Where are the savings exactly?

    Can’t disclose that since it would include details about my income which I can’t talk about publicly because of this.

  • Dude
    Posted at 03:55 pm, 6th November 2019

    I’s everyone else who will be fucked. Mhm, everyone else are your costumers, thought about that?

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 07:49 pm, 6th November 2019

    I’s everyone else who will be fucked. Mhm, everyone else are your costumers, thought about that?

    Yep, already built into the plan. That’s why my goal is to have at least 60% of my total income to not come from the USA, Canada, or Europe in within the next 6 years.

  • marcus@gitarrlektionerboras.se
    Posted at 02:15 am, 7th November 2019

    This is very exciting stuff, thank you Caleb.

     

    May I ask:

    how do you plan with the language barrier? How good english does these Asian countries have?

    Are you gonna “copy paste (sort of)” your on location offline marketing business to for example hong kong?

    Are you gonna translate all the Caleb Jones / Black dragons stuff into Asian languages?

    how do you plan doing advertising without knowing any asian language?

    For me the language barrier seems huge.

  • Carolus Zed
    Posted at 02:16 am, 7th November 2019

    This is very exciting stuff, thank you Caleb.

     

    May I ask:

    how do you plan with the language barrier? How good english does these Asian countries have?

    Are you gonna “copy paste (sort of)” your on location offline marketing business to for example hong kong?

    Are you gonna translate all the Caleb Jones / Black dragons stuff into Asian languages?

    how do you plan doing advertising without knowing any asian language?

    For me the language barrier seems huge.

  • Caleb Jones
    Posted at 09:01 am, 7th November 2019

    how do you plan with the language barrier?

    I’ve traveled all over the world and literally never had a problem. People either speak broken English, or someone can translate for me, or I use Google Translate on my phone. Works fine.

    How good english does these Asian countries have?

    Depends on the country, but the general answer is “good enough to “get around.”

    Are you gonna “copy paste (sort of)” your on location offline marketing business to for example hong kong?

    Yep, exactly.

    Are you gonna translate all the Caleb Jones / Black dragons stuff into Asian languages?

    All of it, no. A lot of it will be translated to Chinese though, yes. (Other Asian languages, probably not.)

    how do you plan doing advertising without knowing any asian language?

    1. Translation

    2. Hiring guys fluent in Chinese to handle this.

    For me the language barrier seems huge.

    It’s not at all. Don’t worry about it.

  • Carolus Zed
    Posted at 07:16 am, 8th November 2019

    Pure gold Caleb, thank you so much for your answers!

  • Agencja Nieruchomości Warszawa
    Posted at 05:04 pm, 12th May 2024

    You have a gift for explaining things in a way that’s easy to understand. Thanks for another great post!

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