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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mabouya
Chances are, if you leave the US you're going to be going to someplace significantly worse, unless you're really going far.
It depends if you take into accounts the odds of getting shot. I happily trade a bit of corruption with not having hyper paranoïd law enforcement and a whole part of the population ready to shoot me for whichever stupid reason (or because they are drunk or stoned).
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sk_tle
It depends if you take into accounts the odds of getting shot. I happily trade a bit of corruption with not having hyper paranoïd law enforcement and a whole part of the population ready to shoot me for whichever stupid reason (or because they are drunk or stoned).
The odds of getting shot in the States is actually extremely low if you know the places, times of day, and activities to avoid. Not sure who's "ready to shoot" you.
Anecdotally, I've lived in the States about 95% of my life and I've witnessed gun violence twice: The first time was a Russian shooting at a wall sconce in a bar in Prague, Czech Republic; the second was a murder outside a nightclub in Malmo, Sweden.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sk_tle
It depends if you take into accounts the odds of getting shot. I happily trade a bit of corruption with not having hyper paranoïd law enforcement and a whole part of the population ready to shoot me for whichever stupid reason (or because they are drunk or stoned).
Which part of the population is ready to shoot you? I've been here my whole life (40 years) and have never personally seen any gun violence. It clearly happens, but I'm not sure you've spent any considerable time in the states.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
I've seen a lot. A real lot. Enough to make me want to leave.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
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Originally Posted by
rec head
I've seen a lot. A real lot. Enough to make me want to leave.
The kind of ugliness we have seen in recent years is neither unprecedented nor unique to the US. Are there places without these issues? Yes. But they have other issues. And often more or less the same issues just disguised as something else.
There is no perfect place.
Which is not to say that the OP or anyone else shouldn’t try someplace else. There’s much to be gained by walking in different shoes and seeing the world through a different lens.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Part of the joy and frustration of living somewhere else is the difference, not the better or worse.
So nice to do things like take a vacation 3 or 4 times a year! Maybe 6! For example...
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
I was lucky in that I got to see the world when I was young. My experiences had a profound effect on my life.
I think you have a different set of expectations when you are older and traveling.
I lived and worked in France, Italy and the Netherlands before and after EU.
You are lucky in that you have a companion to share your experiences with. I was alone and dealing with the bureaucracy and customs of a country on your own is a rough ride.
I learned a few things;
First, the natives have a hard enough time navigating the bureaucracy. It's going to be twice as hard for you.
You have to be really outgoing in your personality. I was quite shy at first and found it hard to make friends.
No matter how well you speak the language you will always be an outsider.
There is a point in time where you change from being an American into something else. It takes a long time and along the way you may experience depression, loneliness and confusion.
I remember once in Rotterdam on a very cold winter night at the height of my business difficulties sitting along a frozen canal on a park bench crying. I came back to New York.
That was my first attempt at European life. I had several successful ones after that.
My advice to you is to throw out everything you thought you knew about the world and let the world come to you.
Humans are the same wherever you go. Help your neighbor out and you'll probably get an invitation to the best meal you ever had.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
johnmdesigner
I was lucky in that I got to see the world when I was young. My experiences had a profound effect on my life.
I think you have a different set of expectations when you are older and traveling.
I lived and worked in France, Italy and the Netherlands before and after EU.
You are lucky in that you have a companion to share your experiences with. I was alone and dealing with the bureaucracy and customs of a country on your own is a rough ride.
I learned a few things;
First, the natives have a hard enough time navigating the bureaucracy. It's going to be twice as hard for you.
You have to be really outgoing in your personality. I was quite shy at first and found it hard to make friends.
No matter how well you speak the language you will always be an outsider.
There is a point in time where you change from being an American into something else. It takes a long time and along the way you may experience depression, loneliness and confusion.
I remember once in Rotterdam on a very cold winter night at the height of my business difficulties sitting along a frozen canal on a park bench crying. I came back to New York.
That was my first attempt at European life. I had several successful ones after that.
My advice to you is to throw out everything you thought you knew about the world and let the world come to you.
Humans are the same wherever you go. Help your neighbor out and you'll probably get an invitation to the best meal you ever had.
Best damn advice, ever!
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rec head
I've seen a lot. A real lot. Enough to make me want to leave.
Sadly Thomas’ comment isn’t too far off...from a 2018 archived piece in the Seattle Times.
Just six countries that make up less than 10 percent of the world’s population — Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala — accounted for just over half of the world’s gun-related deaths. The United States had about 1,060 gun-related deaths per 1 million people...this includes gun-related suicides as well.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
The first time I visited the US was when I got to Philadelphia to spend the summer at U Penn. We were housed in a dorm at the edge of campus. Across the lawn and the road, on the corner of Walnut and S40th, there was a Burger King (or was it McD?). The first weekend, there was a fatal shooting at the joint.
That was stuff I've seen only in films.
Talk about adjustment.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Martin? Are you intending to become a citizen of your new country? I didn't google ex-pat. Are there countries that are offering you citizenship? Is there a country that has need of your skill set or saving$? My wife is coming around to my way of thinking but she is too proud of her credit score to totally abandon this place. If the rightward shift here is driving you out, which leftist countries would you feel comfortable defending.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rwsaunders
Sadly Thomas’ comment isn’t too far off...from a 2018 archived piece in the Seattle Times.
Just six countries that make up less than 10 percent of the world’s population — Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala — accounted for just over half of the world’s gun-related deaths. The United States had about 1,060 gun-related deaths per 1 million people...this includes gun-related suicides as well.
So why not just compare homicide rates? Would the statistic have less punch?
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
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Originally Posted by
ElvisMerckx
So why not just compare homicide rates? Would the statistic have less punch?
1/2 are murders and 1/2 are suicides....appx 40,000 total. I didn’t look up plain old shootings.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
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Originally Posted by
Chik
The first time I visited the US was when I got to Philadelphia to spend the summer at U Penn. We were housed in a dorm at the edge of campus. Across the lawn and the road, on the corner of Walnut and S40th, there was a Burger King (or was it McD?). The first weekend, there was a fatal shooting at the joint.
That was stuff I've seen only in films.
Talk about adjustment.
Apologies about going off tangent here.
That whole area was quite dangerous up til the late 1990's, and there were quite a few (as in more than five) Penn students who were murdered in the fifteen years spanning 1985 to 2000. Penn finally realized that such a reputation was detrimental to its own self interest and decided to clean things up a bit. These days, the area south of Spruce and west of 38th has gentrified quite a bit (to the point that I probably wouldn't mind being out walking at night), but I'd still be careful venturing west past the 3800 block of Walnut Street at night.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Let's see if we can bring this thread back around to the OP's query.
One of my favorite ambassadorial moments in Prague was explaining what the United States was like by showing photos of all the places I have lived in the US, including Arizona, during which I learned that the people at the table, educated, well-traveled in Europe, had all formed most of their impressions of the US from the books of Karl May.
Another was watching a US reporter on CNN in an armored personnel carrier heading up a wide boulevard into Baghdad saying "Not experiencing any gunfire, the streets are deserted" and then turning over to France5 and seeing their reporter retreating down a wide boulevard with a group of Iraqi "irregulars" who were firing a machine gun from the back of a truck saying "We can see the tanks at the end of the road."
And one of the best is meeting people who became dear friends, whose kids grew up, traveled to the US and stayed with us, who then became friends as well, and then became parents and now have visited with their kids who treat us like family and who we miss seeing like they were our own grandkids.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
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Originally Posted by
rwsaunders
According to that source, 62.4% are suicides and 37.6% are murders. Not going to say there isn't a gun problem in the US, but the Seattle Times is gaming the stats for more dramatic numbers.
After my post earlier about the positives I've found living in the States over abroad, one HUGE negative is TERRIBLE media: sensationalist, tabloidal, fear-mongering, and irresponsible.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
j44ke
... I learned that the people at the table, educated, well-traveled in Europe, had all formed most of their impressions of the US from the books of
Karl May.
.
I experienced the same thing during my year in Prague and year and a half in Berlin. Everyone was shocked I'd never read Karl May (they assumed he was American). And I was always perplexed by their 100% negative and hostile feelings toward cowboys.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
i was doing business in Paris at the beginning of the first Iraq war.
The French were pretty hostile towards anyone from the US at the time.
I tried to diffuse the situation by describing my visit to the Louvre the day before.
I had a delicious meal that night and shared my thoughts about the meal and the wine. I think they were a little shocked.
Lots of people form opinions about you from the media. Many of them are shocked to find out you are not as bad as they were led to believe.
Years ago I met an Israeli couple on the subway. We all left enlightened about our different lives and what we thought they were like.
I was in Istanbul just after Ergodan was elected. The people were so excited and happy at the direction the country was taking.
Look what happened...
All the Turks I met were such wonderful people. I feel so bad for them. I want to go back and find out how they are doing.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
If owning your residence is important to you, then check to see if that country allows foreigners to own real properties. Of course, you probably can buy a place through a proxy, but it entails having all the obvious risks down the road. Thailand jumps to mind although the laws may have changed in recent years.
Speaking of properties and Czechia, I know a non-Czech company that owned a building in Prague, rented it out to commercial tenants, paid taxes arising from the ownership and rental of the property, and when it came to selling the building, they were found to be lacking a minor document that the original seller, who no longer exists, neglected to provide. They were in court for nearly a decade to establish their rightful ownership. Fun stuff.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Chik
If owning your residence is important to you, then check to see if that country allows foreigners to own real properties. Of course, you probably can buy a place through a proxy, but it entails having all the obvious risks down the road. Thailand jumps to mind although the laws may have changed in recent years.
Speaking of properties and Czechia, I know a non-Czech company that owned a building in Prague, rented it out to commercial tenants, paid taxes arising from the ownership and rental of the property, and when it came to selling the building, they were found to be lacking a minor document that the original seller, who no longer exists, neglected to provide. They were in court for nearly a decade to establish their rightful ownership. Fun stuff.
Yes. My wife's work involved privatization of one of the major banks, tunneling of assets by a major investment house, and illegal sale of a famous Czech brewery through lightning fast transactions that involved multiple shell companies etc. etc. etc. Plus friends & their families had buildings stolen in 1938, 1949, etc. etc. etc. So we're familiar with the irregularities of the irregularities. Ever read Utz by Bruce Chatwin?
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
For Martin and his OP question, the above comments by @j44ke and @Chik are not to be taken lightly even if you do not come across « taking » of assets. As an example, I bought my house in Quebec before I was married to a Canadian. Now that we are married, there were various things that we « should » do from an estate planning basis and one of those things was changing the ownership of the house and land from just me to my wife and I together. However, the mechanics of an American owning property in Quebec and then transferring it to a Canadian and then also keeping an ownership interest in it were just far more complex (and notaire/lawyer cost) than they « should » have been to my American way of thinking...even if I was just selling it to her outright for money. Again, its not like Canada/US is so esoteric so makes sure that you check all kinds of financial interest regulations not only in buying but then what will happen when you sell or transfer those interests. I would suggest, when you are doing a trial visit, you spend some time and some money on a local lawyer or whatever is used in that locality for financial matters just to run through all of the what if’s.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ElvisMerckx
After my post earlier about the positives I've found living in the States over abroad, one HUGE negative is TERRIBLE media: sensationalist, tabloidal, fear-mongering, and irresponsible.
You have to consider the source at all times, including the Seattle Times--which has been owned by one family for multiple generations and comes in for its share of criticism for mixing business with news, and letting its owners' politics seep into the content. At the risk of sounding like a liberal news hound, some protection of the use of the word "news" would help in this country.
OP: Good on ya. I've got a lot of things tying me to where I live, but living abroad is a persistent dream of mine.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Read Bruce Chatwin. Start to finish.
I left California in 1979 to go to college in New England. I still feel like an ex-pat.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
j44ke
Yes. My wife's work involved privatization of one of the major banks, tunneling of assets by a major investment house, and illegal sale of a famous Czech brewery through lightning fast transactions that involved multiple shell companies etc. etc. etc. Plus friends & their families had buildings stolen in 1938, 1949, etc. etc. etc. So we're familiar with the irregularities of the irregularities. Ever read Utz by Bruce Chatwin?
No, but the protagonist's predicament does remind me of one or two people. :)
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
htwoopup
For Martin and his OP question, the above comments by @
j44ke and @
Chik are not to be taken lightly even if you do not come across « taking » of assets. As an example, I bought my house in Quebec before I was married to a Canadian. Now that we are married, there were various things that we « should » do from an estate planning basis and one of those things was changing the ownership of the house and land from just me to my wife and I together. However, the mechanics of an American owning property in Quebec and then transferring it to a Canadian and then also keeping an ownership interest in it were just far more complex (and notaire/lawyer cost) than they « should » have been to my American way of thinking...even if I was just selling it to her outright for money. Again, its not like Canada/US is so esoteric so makes sure that you check all kinds of financial interest regulations not only in buying but then what will happen when you sell or transfer those interests. I would suggest, when you are doing a trial visit, you spend some time and some money on a local lawyer or whatever is used in that locality for financial matters just to run through all of the what if’s.
Interesting. Would it be different if you transfer the ownership to a company, which in turn is owned by you and your wife?
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Chik
Interesting. Would it be different if you transfer the ownership to a company, which in turn is owned by you and your wife?
I think it would be a taxable event
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
vertical_doug
I think it would be a taxable event
This. And the weird part is, since we got married in Quebec there are all kinds of Quebec laws about how property gets divided if you get divorced. So, from a tax standpoint, the solution would be to get divorced and then remarry which was not only absurd but illogical to me. The discussion with the lawyer and accountant was like a scene from a movie which is why I was suggesting it is the type of mundane/arcane thing to check out upfront.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ElvisMerckx
I experienced the same thing during my year in Prague and year and a half in Berlin. Everyone was shocked I'd never read Karl May (they assumed he was American). And I was always perplexed by their 100% negative and hostile feelings toward cowboys.
Karl May. Brings back an old memory. My grandparents in Mainz gave me one of his books to read during one of my summer visits to Germany, Austria & Hungary.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
htwoopup
This. And the weird part is, since we got married in Quebec there are all kinds of Quebec laws about how property gets divided if you get divorced. So, from a tax standpoint, the solution would be to get divorced and then remarry which was not only absurd but illogical to me. The discussion with the lawyer and accountant was like a scene from a movie which is why I was suggesting it is the type of mundane/arcane thing to check out upfront.
I think you still get hung on the divorce. The USGOV does not like assets that leave its taxable jurisdiction so someone (you or your wife) probably get hit with an exit tax on the asset.
I'd be surprised if there is a divorce allowance on taxable assets.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
htwoopup
This. And the weird part is, since we got married in Quebec there are all kinds of Quebec laws about how property gets divided if you get divorced. So, from a tax standpoint, the solution would be to get divorced and then remarry which was not only absurd but illogical to me. The discussion with the lawyer and accountant was like a scene from a movie which is why I was suggesting it is the type of mundane/arcane thing to check out upfront.
Yep, that qualifies as weird.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Attachment 117878
I'd be gone if not for healthcare.
I've got friends who have done it, and it goes one of two ways:
You isolate yourself with other ex-pats and never fit in or figure it out and it's frustrating as hell and why is there not a home depot or costco when you need one?
or
Go with the flow, ask questions, help, be gracious, the people there actually like it the way it is.
These people usually end up with a lot of dogs and cats, too.
My take on it is that there are many places to visit, don't tie yourself down to one as rent is so cheap and then you also side step the ownership laws which are nothing like ours and if the shit hits the fan you pack it up and split
- Garro.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sine
Karl May. Brings back an old memory. My grandparents in Mainz gave me one of his books to read during one of my summer visits to Germany, Austria & Hungary.
What began as fantasy books became a fascinating and disquieting obsession, particularly when you meet a German person who will argue with you that Native Americans are ruining the purity of Native American culture and that German hobbyists are actually preserving something that Native Americans cannot do themselves.
https://www.dw.com/en/why-germany-ca...lem/a-52546068
When I lived in Arizona, the Hopi and Navajo had to keep dealing with these people spying on private rituals and recording them and buying sacred objects from financially desperate members of the tribe so they could go back to Germany and perform the rituals there. Which the tribes saw as incredibly dangerous spiritually and made them incredibly angry.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Never mind the bozo with the buffalo headdress on storming the Capital.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ElvisMerckx
I experienced the same thing during my year in Prague and year and a half in Berlin. Everyone was shocked I'd never read Karl May (they assumed he was American). And I was always perplexed by their 100% negative and hostile feelings toward cowboys.
As a Scandinavian I can tell you, that it ain't like that all over Europe.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
EBH
As a Scandinavian I can tell you, that it ain't like that all over Europe.
Swedish Cowboys and German Indians?
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
htwoopup
This. And the weird part is, since we got married in Quebec there are all kinds of Quebec laws about how property gets divided if you get divorced. So, from a tax standpoint, the solution would be to get divorced and then remarry which was not only absurd but illogical to me. The discussion with the lawyer and accountant was like a scene from a movie which is why I was suggesting it is the type of mundane/arcane thing to check out upfront.
All the difference in the world when Quebec is involved. The civil code in Quebec is closer to the Napoleonic code than any relation it may bear to common law as practiced in the rest of Canada and the US.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TMB
All the difference in the world when Quebec is involved. The civil code in Quebec is closer to the Napoleonic code than any relation it may bear to common law as practiced in the rest of Canada and the US.
I dunno. 50 or so years ago when my dad died, I inherited some acreage in British Columbia. Shortly afterwards I received a letter grom the Canadian government telling me I had to sell the land to a Canadian or they would take it from me. Expropriation was the term used.
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dave Thompson
I dunno. 50 or so years ago when my dad died, I inherited some acreage in British Columbia. Shortly afterwards I received a letter grom the Canadian government telling me I had to sell the land to a Canadian or they would take it from me. Expropriation was the term used.
A lot must have changed since then. There is so much foreign owned real estate, now it's practically illegal for Canadians to own property in BC.
Joking aside, until last year, you simply put the ownership of the land into a corporation, or trust, and there was no way
for the government to know who owned it.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real...y-real-estate/
-g
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Just come down to Mexico for a while, we don't even ask for a Covid test, you can find about any kind of expat experience you want here, and as long as you can tolerate corruption and inequality (And our own brand of looney president) you'll be golden. Need safe and tranquilo, go to La Paz, Loreto or Merida. Need organic wellness, go to Oaxaca or Chiapas and help on some co-op, Need work and a pseudo-manhattan vibe, go to Monterrey. Just stay away from the usual ex-pat traps. Bring a gravel bike, the back roads are not good.
Saludos
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Re: Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
vertical_doug
Having lived outside the US most of my adult life, and now keeping one foot in the US and one foot out of the US, I will add to what Ras72 offered.
Panama City is considered a "world," city with an apparently vibrant ex-pat community + amenities.
Don't read the brochure, this is not how it is. This is how it is:
1. The Honeymoon- everything is new, and life is kind of wonderful. (this period can be very short like when you find yourself in Kinshasa.)
2. Frustration- yeap, it hits you, you are not in Kansas anymore. It sucks. This can last for a while.
3. Adaption - you may get here, but that's not guaranteed. I know people who never make it here
4. Acceptance - yeap, you figured the new home and
yourself out. You may get here, you may not, but when you least expect it, you find yourself back at
#2 .
Now here is the best part- your significant other gets to experience this independentedly from you. You may live together, you may be married for a long time, but that does not guarantee they will experience it like you. More importantly, if you are an american woman, many places suck a lot more.
The concept of amenities is very American.
This is so right. I've lived overseas for nearly 14 years now and have been through the whole range of emotions. That said, I think the world would be a better place if we were all required to live in a foreign country at some point in our lives. It opens your eyes to so much more - you come to appreciate the good/bad in both where you came from and end up.
Wherever you go, get a good grasp of the language before you move. That will make the transition 10x easier and more likely to succeed.