The Best Countries for Wealth Protection

Summary

Summary of "The Best Countries for Wealth Protection" – Real Estate Without Borders

Podcast Information:

• Title: Real Estate Without Borders
• Host: Real Estate Without Borders
• Episode: The Best Countries for Wealth Protection
• Release Date: May 22, 2025

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of "Real Estate Without Borders," host Dan Fosh welcomes special guest Nick Hill to discuss optimal international destinations for wealth protection. The conversation delves into countries with favorable tax regimes, robust real estate markets, and attractive lifestyles, offering American investors insights into diversifying their portfolios globally.

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1. Cayman Islands

Overview: The Cayman Islands top the list as a premier location for wealth protection, primarily due to their zero-tax policy.

Key Points:

• Tax Benefits: No income tax, capital gains tax, or inheritance tax.
• Revenue Model: The government sustains its economy through import duties and fees from financial companies.
• Residency Requirements: Investors must own real estate worth at least $1.2 million or $2.4 million, accompanied by proof of resources for residency. (03:22)
• Real Estate Considerations: Closing costs range between 7-9%, including a one-time stamp duty of 7.5%.

Notable Quotes:

• Dan Fosh: "Which brings us to number one, the Cayman Islands." (03:20)
• Nick Hill: "Zero income tax, zero capital gains tax, and zero inheritance tax." (03:22)

Lifestyle Insights: While the Cayman Islands offer significant tax advantages, the presence of numerous shell companies indicates a bustling offshore financial scene.

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2. Monaco

Overview: Monaco, renowned for its glamour and affluence, offers substantial tax benefits for the ultra-wealthy.

Key Points:

• Tax Benefits: No income tax since 1869, no capital gains tax, and no wealth tax.
• Residency Requirements: A bank deposit of approximately €500 is required, along with property ownership that can be rented or bought.
• Market Dynamics: Monaco is a small city-state with a rich European heritage and is home to the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix.

Notable Quotes:

• Dave: "It's outrageous expensive, but once you've built serious wealth, Monaco is where you protect it." (05:50)
• Nick Hill: "Monaco is literally like a tiny, tiny country. I believe it's one of the smallest countries out there still have a king." (05:40)

Lifestyle Insights: Monaco boasts a luxurious lifestyle with world-class amenities, making it an attractive haven for those seeking both wealth protection and an upscale living environment.

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3. Singapore

Overview: Singapore stands out as a financial powerhouse with a favorable tax environment and exceptional infrastructure.

Key Points:

• Tax Benefits: No capital gains tax or inheritance tax. Personal income tax is progressive, up to 24% for income above SGD 320,000. Foreign-sourced income remains untaxed unless remitted locally.
• Residency Requirements: Eligibility for the Digital Nomad Visa, allowing remote work for up to five years with proof of sufficient income (~€2,500 per month).
• Real Estate Considerations: High property costs with additional buyer stamp duties of around 20% for foreigners. Renting is prevalent among expatriates due to the expensive property market.

Notable Quotes:

• Dan Fosh: "It's one of the safest, most efficient countries on earth. Strong banking, privacy, strategic location, and world-class infrastructure." (16:00)
• Nick Hill: "Most expats rent because they can allocate their capital better." (23:56)

Lifestyle Insights: Singapore is celebrated for its cleanliness, efficient public transportation, and modern skyline. However, stringent regulations, such as the ban on chewing gum, reflect its disciplined societal norms.

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4. Puerto Rico

Overview: Puerto Rico offers unique tax incentives for U.S. citizens, making it a compelling choice for wealth protection.

Key Points:

• Tax Benefits: Zero capital gains tax for U.S. citizens under Act 60, with a 4% tax on business income.
• Residency Requirements: Must reside in Puerto Rico for at least 183 days annually and establish stronger local ties than to the mainland U.S.
• Investment Conditions: Purchase property within two years and donate $10,000 annually to local charities.
• Real Estate Considerations: Beachfront condos are available around $300,000, but prices can be steep based on location.

Notable Quotes:

• Dave: "Puerto Rico sounds like a pretty good." (25:00)
• Nick Hill: "0% tax on crypto capital gains under part of the U.S. but with tax rules that favor early crypto investors." (28:24)

Lifestyle Insights: Puerto Rico combines the allure of Caribbean living with practical financial benefits, attracting entrepreneurs and crypto investors looking to minimize their tax liabilities while enjoying a vibrant island lifestyle.

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5. Panama

Overview: Panama emerges as an attractive destination with favorable tax policies and a stable economic environment.

Key Points:

• Tax Benefits: Zero foreign income tax, making it ideal for expatriates with international income streams.
• Residency Requirements: Relatively straightforward, with the use of the U.S. dollar simplifying financial transactions.
• Real Estate Considerations: Growing investment opportunities with emerging communities and infrastructure developments.

Notable Quotes:

• Nick Hill: "Zero foreign income tax, though there's no guarantee on that so far." (30:33)
• Dan Fosh: "Puerto Rico would be the crypto Rico. Good times. Unreal." (33:56)

Lifestyle Insights: Panama offers a blend of metropolitan amenities and natural beauty, positioning itself as a practical alternative to more saturated markets like Florida. The absence of natural disasters adds to its appeal, despite concerns about man-made disruptions like the Panama Canal operations.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with a light-hearted wrap-up, emphasizing the importance of thorough research and strategic planning when selecting a country for wealth protection. The hosts encourage listeners to consider tax benefits, residency requirements, and lifestyle preferences to make informed investment decisions.

Notable Quotes:

• Nick Hill: "If you hate natural disasters, this episode's for you." (34:19)
• Dave: "Leave before the 10-year mark and you may owe an exit tax." (27:32)

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Final Thoughts

"The Best Countries for Wealth Protection" offers valuable insights for investors seeking to diversify their assets internationally. By examining the tax structures, residency requirements, and lifestyle offerings of the Cayman Islands, Monaco, Singapore, Puerto Rico, and Panama, the episode equips listeners with the knowledge to make informed decisions about where to safeguard and grow their wealth.

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Disclaimer: The information provided in this summary is based on the podcast transcript and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial or legal advice. Listeners should consult with professional advisors before making investment decisions.

Transcript

[Dan Fosh]

All right, welcome back to Real Estate Without Borders. Today is a special day. Today we have a special guest on the show. I'm joined not only by the one and only Dan Fosh, but one of the best mustaches and podcast hosts I've ever seen in the game. We got Nick Hill here, so thanks for joining us, man.

[Nick Hill]

You might know him from the TV show Farmer John looking for a Wife.

[Dave]

Come on, we said we wouldn't do that. It took you literally 10 seconds to betray me.

[Nick Hill]

So people actually, like, we're out at a bar and people come up to him and they're like, you look so much like Farmer John looking for a wife. Like, I don't even haven't seen the show yet, but it's on my list of stuff to watch now because of this.

[Dan Fosh]

I've never heard of it, but I'm going to toss it on somebody.

[Dave]

You don't need to. You don't need to.

[Nick Hill]

Just Google it. You'll like. You'll have so much more respect for.

[Dan Fosh]

Nick after Unreal Today. Today, most people pay way too much in taxes, but what if you could live better and pay less tax legally? And today we're going to cover the seven countries where smart people go to protect their money and upgrade their lives. But, yeah, I want to get back to Nick. Thanks for coming on the show, man. You maybe give some background info up to who you are. People already know who you are, but maybe just.

[Dave]

Yeah, yeah, no, appreciate it, fellas. Thanks for having me. I. I love podcasting. I love talking about real estate. I have a podcast where I talk about real estate. So this was. This felt pretty, pretty fitting. Seems everywhere I travel, I love to travel, and seems everywhere I go, I can't help but meet real estate people, whether it's Europe, Central or South America or kind of all over the US I'm looking forward to today's subject matter. Obviously, I hail from a place where taxes are too high. Let's just leave it at that.

[Nick Hill]

Resident, expert, payer of taxes.

[Dave]

Yes, yes, I do pay them. I do pay them. Anyone from the CRA is listening. But yeah, no, just excited to be here. I've really, really enjoyed just real estate. Talking about the built environment and taking a global perspective, I think is kind of cool. So. And also, I mean, we're talking about some really beautiful, phenomenal places in today's episode. So, yeah, I appreciate you guys having me.

[Dan Fosh]

Let's take the meet up to. To. To Monaco or the Cayman Islands, but it's the Monaco.

[Dave]

It's the Monaco. Grand Prix right now. So is it okay? Yeah, I'm going to be watching that this weekend.

[Dan Fosh]

I. I remember my first two years in real estate. When it comes to taxes, I didn't know that you had to pay. Your HST account was. I thought write offs just meant it was free.

[Nick Hill]

HST isn't just free money.

[Dan Fosh]

I was super confused.

[Nick Hill]

So much respect for you being honest about that though. Like, I think, I think a lot of agents, I did that like straight up. First four years too. I didn't. I was like, oh, damn. Like. And then I, after that I realized I was okay. I'm just never gonna see my HST again because I didn't learn. I just had my brokerage take it.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah, I went, that's the best. I went to. I went to buy my second property and my lawyer was on closing was like, oh, you got to pay that 60k. And I was like, what's 60k, man? I already gave you enough money. He's like, you haven't paid taxes in three years. I am moving to the Cayman Islands as of right now.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, great segue, actually.

[Dan Fosh]

Which brings us to number one, the Cayman Islands. So that's number. This is number one here that we're starting off at the best or the worst.

[Nick Hill]

I think it's just seven. I don't even know. It's a ranking system. I don't know. Let's figure it out and then we'll. Well, that's. So what is good about Cayman? We got zero income tax, zero capital gains tax and zero inheritance tax. The country makes enough money through import duties and fees from financial companies because they have that basically, like, you know that everybody does offshoring of their accounts. Right. So all those folks who are hiding their money in the Cayman Islands are paying your taxes. If you live there, you'll need 2.4 million in real estate or 1.2 million in real estate. Plus proof of resources for residency, according to this thread from Dan and Elad on. On X, formerly known as Twitter.

[Dave]

Yeah, not just a beautiful place full of seashells, but a lot of shell companies, I would assume as well.

[Nick Hill]

Companies.

[Dave]

There we go. This, I would assume. I assume this would be in order because as I go down the list, it looks like you do need a little bit more in some of these other places, like, and more Singapore. Singapore and Puerto Rico and stuff. But I don't want to ruin the list here, so we can keep going. Do you mind if I do the second one here? This is just one of my favorite places that I've never been. I have not been favorite places I've never been. But as a, as a longtime enjoyer of Formula One, the form the Monaco Grand Prix has like the most historical significance. So the second on the list is Monaco. Zero income tax since 1869. No capital gains tax, no wealth tax. Sure it's outrageously expensive, but once you've built serious wealth, Monaco is where you protect it. Entry price, basically €500 as a bank deposit, plus accommodations of a property that you're either going to have to prove that you'll be able to rent or buy. Monaco is literally like a tiny, tiny country. I believe it's one of the smallest countries out there still have a king. Still very kind of old school European old money. I just think it's probably one of the coolest, most ridiculous places in the world.

[Dan Fosh]

This is very nominal to me. But the euro sign is so much cooler than the dollar sign. It's just a Flex the 500k Euro, no big deal. Interesting.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah. I'm going to pull it up on a map here. It's a pretty small spot. It's basically a city state. Right. Like Singapore. We've talked about Singapore a couple times on the show here.

[Dave]

So I can see if anyone's ever been to like the Amalfi Coast. Picture, like picture basically Positano as its own country. That's almost what it's like. It's just like a little.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah, you know, the, the real roads were throwing me off. I'm just trying to figure out, get my bearing straight on which part of the world this is in.

[Nick Hill]

Oh, it's like, it's like not shadow France. Yeah, like not shadow France.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah.

[Nick Hill]

You want to go eat? Dave's getting like the global context here.

[Dan Fosh]

See it there for me? Let me see. Is that just due south here? Yeah, there it is.

[Nick Hill]

And there's, there's con right now as well going on film festival. Lots of stuff going on. Right. So, I mean, well, the Grand Prix, right?

[Dan Fosh]

You said Nick.

[Dave]

Yeah, yeah, right next to Nietzsche right there. That's how you say it, right?

[Nick Hill]

I think it's a Grand Prix. I think it's, I think it's pronounced different than Nick's. Nick's got more culture. I think he's from over there. So.

[Dave]

Okay, number three, let's keep going here.

[Nick Hill]

Lay it on me.

[Dan Fosh]

Where's number three? Here.

[Dave]

Go ahead, Dave.

[Dan Fosh]

That's a big one. Is that. We need to, we still need to get a Dubai agent on here because I feel like it's either those are.

[Dave]

Going to be the easiest agents to find in the world right now. Isn't everyone an agent in Dubai or like a part time agent in Dubai, Something like that?

[Dan Fosh]

It's. That's exactly. I think they have more agents than Toronto, which is incredible.

[Dave]

It's because half the Toronto agents went over there.

[Dan Fosh]

That's right. But they got zero personal income tax, no capital gains tax, 9% corporate tax only on profits over UK. And getting your residency is easier with our Golden Visa program. I'm curious, okay, one thing we. I want to go back and touch on. What's a wealth tax? No wealth tax. Again, Monaco, there's no wealth tax. And then in the Cayman there's no.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah. So a lot of countries that are more like lefty, they put a tax on people who are too rich. Right. So they're like if you have assets over whatever. Canada's even been talking about this. Australia just talked about doing tax on unrealized capital gains. Basically the idea is that if you have too much wealth, they'll try and tax you for being too rich. So they'll have some threshold. So a million bucks or whatever, if you have, you know, if your net worth's over a million or 10 million or whatever, then they'll tax you on any, anything above that. The challenge is like all it does is forces people to just move their like that portion of their wealth elsewhere. So it scares away, it makes capital flee your country.

[Dan Fosh]

Right, right. And then. Okay, so I'm looking, I'm sorry to go back all over the place here. I'm just trying to do some research. But the zero direct, okay, so for Cayman Islands, the zero direct tax, which means how the country makes their money off of what, import duties.

[Nick Hill]

Import duties and fees from financial companies. Yeah.

[Dan Fosh]

So there's no income tax, no capital gain tax and no property tax. The government revenue is strictly from.

[Nick Hill]

Or is that, I don't see no property tax. But there might not be, I don't know.

[Dan Fosh]

According to this be like the same.

[Dave]

Thing as like, like that the.

[Nick Hill]

Delaware is like for, we're just like a good corporate tax. And, and also laws for, for corpse like for privacy protection. Like so that's why this is a corpse in Delaware.

[Dave]

This would be a bit of that but more on the personal side of things as well.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Dan Fosh]

I can confirm there is no property tax in the Cayman Islands. However, closing costs are about 7 to 9%. So buyers pay a one time stamp duty of 7.5% on most real estate deals plus legal and registration fees. And after that, annual carrying costs are mainly like insurance or HOA fees. But that's super helpful for. For cash flow. For projections for rental units, for sure. And they're also saying the Cayman. The Cayman dollar. Did you know this? The Cayman island has their own. The Kyd. I did not know that. One Kyd is about $1.20, which eliminates the swings for Americans collecting rent or earning fees in US Dollars. Interesting. Kyd. The Cayman dollar. Pull up a pic of the Cayman dollar. Dude, I gotta see this.

[Nick Hill]

Kyd, no. Ky.

[Dan Fosh]

Unreal. I love it. And the lifestyle.

[Dave]

They've got pictures like the queen on there and stuff as well.

[Nick Hill]

By the looks of it, they're a British colony, right?

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah. Colorful money. I'm a big fan of the colorful money. Man. I like that look.

[Nick Hill]

Are you a big monopoly? I like the US Dollars. It's just like. Yeah, look at this comparison.

[Dan Fosh]

No comparison here is gangster.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Greenback.

[Nick Hill]

Such a sexy. It's like paper, you know, Some of those are printing the stuff on plastic.

[Dan Fosh]

It melts in your pocket when you go in the water.

[Nick Hill]

US was printing their currency on renewables since the beginning.

[Dan Fosh]

Is that real? It's actually a print. No, it's not, is it?

[Nick Hill]

I don't know. Paper trees. Our money's plastic in Canada.

[Dave]

So you guys, you guys must have. When I. When I. The first time I was ever in. In Italy, they. Before they. Everyone went over to the euro, they had the lira, which. Which literally may as well. Like, they. Honestly, they were like eight and a half by 11 sheets of paper. At some of them, like, you'd get like a million. Like a million, dude, you get like a million lira and like you'd be walking around and have to like unfold a piece of paper like this and like, it like was like, whose wallet is this fitting in?

[Nick Hill]

Got to bring a backpack. You go to the grocery store. I gotta bring in such good shape there.

[Dave]

Yeah. Okay, well, since we're on the topic of European countries, quick jump over from Italy is Espana. This one. This one seems like the most realistic one. I mean, you don't need to be like a multi millionaire to. To move to Spain. And I know this has been super for a lot of people recently. I've got a trip planned there later this year. I've. I've been to Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona. Incredible place. Incredible people. Beautiful.

[Nick Hill]

We say it.

[Dave]

Bartholomew Bartha. Sorry.

[Nick Hill]

Isn't that the right way?

[Dan Fosh]

Get it right.

[Nick Hill]

That only work for Ibiza.

[Dave]

Well, Athena, Barcelona, Ibiza, I love it.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, it's got some culture.

[Dave]

Mike. Mike Tyson, Really? That's where he benefits from pronouncing these countries cities, places. Tell me about what's happening in Spain and why it's so attractive to move.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, we've talked about Spain a couple times on the show, so. And it's actually going to come up in the next episode, the Airbnb episode that we're going to be talking about. Top 10 best and worst countries to buy Airbnbs, because they just banned their Airbnbs, which is becoming popular in a lot of places in the Western world as well. Like the US A lot of cities are doing this, but Spain and Portugal have been both kind of like. They both opened the floodgates during COVID to a lot of these digital nomads, and now they're kind of walking it back because it's had a lot of negative externalities on their local economies. But Spain, 24% flat tax from foreign workers on up to 600 a year, up to six years. Potential tax exemptions on foreign income and wealth. Tax exempt under 700k. The Madrid region specifically is fully exempt. So they actually have, like, a geographical thing. I guess they're trying to force rich people to move to that specific area. And they have a digital nomad visa and perks like universal healthcare and vibrant cities like the one that Nick was pronouncing correctly.

[Dan Fosh]

I got. I got some easy. Some facts here about easy entry visas with tax perks. It's like the digital nomad visa is live and work remote for up to five years. All you got to do is prove it. Says roughly €2,500 per month of income. And they have the Beckham law regime. So as a new resident employee, you can elect a flat 24% tax on Spanish income up to 600k for six years. And most foreign income stays untaxed.

[Nick Hill]

So. Named after David Beckham.

[Dan Fosh]

Like, it's gotta be, dude.

[Dave]

Yeah. There's no other backham Spanish soccer player, right? David Beckham. Davido Beckham. I don't know.

[Nick Hill]

I knew we'd buy on the show for a reason. This guy's got jokes. Like, real jokes, too. Not like. Not like ours.

[Dave]

Dav.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah. No, no, no. Just your puns. Real says real estate prices vary wildly by region. Central Madrid apartment averages about 5,800 meters square, while coastal. I can't even say this word, dude. Lucia can be half that.

[Dave]

Give it to you.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah. Thank you. And there's a couple apostrophes on some of the words, so I know I'm saying it wrong, but it's all right. Closing costs.

[Nick Hill]

You're supposed to like, know this stuff because of Mexico.

[Dan Fosh]

Dude.

[Dave]

I, I honestly know Mexico and Spain are the exact same, right? Dan.

[Dan Fosh]

I, I gave up learning Spanish because I can't. There's too many learning like present and past and future in Spanish. Just. They lost me and I, I gave up. I quit.

[Nick Hill]

You're just too Zen for that because you only live in the present.

[Dan Fosh]

All right, I got. Yeah, they have, they have what? Lower cost of living if you skip the tourist zones. I gotta go to Spain too. This year, to be honest.

[Dave]

It's saying it's awesome. I wouldn't even say that. Like the local, the lower cost of living is just everywhere. Like you, it's, it's just different as far as like, like a solid European city goes. I mean, Paris and London, super expensive. Like I spent a lot of time in Rome and it's very reminiscent of, of Rome, right? You've just got like kind of missing middle. Four to six, seven story beautiful buildings. Anywhere from like 100 to several hundred years old. Kind of big squares and piazzas everywhere. There always seems to be something going on. People are always drinking and smoking and, and sitting around and whatnot. It's just like the lifestyle is just, is just awesome there. They do eat a lot of. I feel like they eat a lot of like bread and cheese, but like deep fried bread and cheese there. I did gain a couple pounds when, when I was there.

[Dan Fosh]

All I can think of is paella for some. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really. Spain Isolant.

[Dave]

No kidding.

[Nick Hill]

Extra gluten, extra lactose on everything.

[Dave]

Oh, right. That's it. Yeah, Extra gluten.

[Dan Fosh]

What's. All right. Oh, what's this?

[Nick Hill]

Got Turkey, 30th on the world Happiness index. I wanted to see where they are, where all these guys ranked on the World Happiness Index.

[Dave]

Well, let's do this one.

[Nick Hill]

This was an old one.

[Dave]

It's the digital nomads. They're bringing it down. It must be because I tell you, people in Spain are happier than that.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, for sure. Well, this one, this is an old one because Canada is a nine. I think we're 60.

[Dan Fosh]

I was going to say.

[Nick Hill]

I'll find it. I'll find an updated one for you guys. Sorry.

[Dan Fosh]

It's okay. You let us down for a second there.

[Nick Hill]

But who's next year? We talked, we mentioned this. We were talking about Monaco being a city state. Singapore, no capital gains tax and foreign sourced income, progressive income tax is zero up to 24%. One of the safest, most most efficient countries on earth. Strong banking, privacy, strategic location and world class infrastructure equals what they are calling here the Switzerland of Asia.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah, yeah. It's okay. The most efficient. I'm living in the least efficient country in the world. Mexico is least efficient. Singapore is the most efficient. That's incredible.

[Dave]

Italy would rank up there for pretty least efficient as well. It takes like six months to get like a bathroom renovation done. So my uncle did quite well. There is actually a chart that lives in Singapore now. What on bathroom renovations around the world.

[Nick Hill]

Not bathrooms, but just slowest places to get building permits. I'm going to find it. Canada is the slowest, second slowest.

[Dave]

Slovak is the Slovak Republic was the. Yeah. So interesting fact about Singapore. One of the cleanest cities in the world and there is actually a ban. Dave, I know that jawline is strictly from chewing gum. So you wouldn't be there because chewing gum in public is illegal and if you chew and spit gum you can get arrested for that.

[Dan Fosh]

Oh, I wouldn't do well in Singapore jail. It's not for the. I just.

[Dave]

You'd probably be the biggest guy by far.

[Dan Fosh]

He'd be the guy.

[Nick Hill]

He's literally like the tatted up like villain in Singapore. In Prison Break.

[Dave]

Here's another. I just pulled up funny facts about Singapore. This is just a random weird one. So again, city of man made waterfalls. More man made waterfalls than anywhere else in the world. Including in the airport. They have the fastest pedestrian walkers in the world. More lines.

[Nick Hill]

Thanks for that man.

[Dave]

That's even New York.

[Nick Hill]

I'm not going to lie.

[Dave]

New York, that's crazy.

[Nick Hill]

That is a selling feature, man. Toronto folks just walk so slow. Like I feel like I'm always like, you know when you just like somebody's ahead of you is walking and you're just in a mood and you're like maybe you guys don't get in moods but I just. I get in a mood.

[Dave]

I had no.

[Nick Hill]

And you're just like. And you're like, you know and you just hurry up, sprint around them.

[Dave]

Yeah. And just little like little like look back like come on, come on.

[Dan Fosh]

What's the. What's the three wide?

[Nick Hill]

Four wide right?

[Dan Fosh]

Four. What's the.

[Dave]

We saved pedestrian too much for bike lanes over in Toronto. One last, one last random fact. You guys will never get this. Surprisingly, Singapore also founded the World Toilet Organization. So do do that with what you.

[Nick Hill]

Will not less of a selling feature than the walking thing.

[Dave]

Weird. Yeah, weird one there Singapore. But regardless, what is a World tour toilet.

[Dan Fosh]

What are they in charge of? Just all toilets globally?

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, they regulate the whole industry.

[Dave]

They are not doing a good job looking at some of the. He's got a lot of work to do. Singapore. But regardless, I mean, stunningly beautiful place. Some incredible skyscrapers there. They've really been like, on the leading edge just with money and infrastructure. They've been on the leading edge of. Of. Of kind of futuristic building stuff there. So I've always loved. I used to, like, look up all, like the most famous towers in the world. There was always a couple of great ones coming out of Singapore.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, of course. What do you mean city?

[Dan Fosh]

When you announced this one, you said it's a city state.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah. Like, it's like here. We'll look at it up on the map here, please. See, it's like, it's like very, very much just like it's like Monaco in that regard. Right. Like, it's literally just that, that area, that red area is just the whole country. Right?

[Dave]

Yeah. There's basically only three. It's Monaco, Singapore and Vatican City, which we're probably not going to talk about.

[Nick Hill]

I think Liechtenstein's the same too.

[Dan Fosh]

Lichtenstein. Yeah. Yeah. You guys don't know.

[Dave]

Says there's only three. Yeah.

[Dan Fosh]

What the. What is there?

[Nick Hill]

A banking. It's like a city state, I think, embedded within Switzerland.

[Dan Fosh]

Interesting. I want to put a poll out. I wish this was live so we could see how many people here know of Lichtenstein, because I think it'd be two. We're talking to him.

[Dave]

I only know. I only know it because of that movie, like the Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger. Way back they dropped Lichtenstein a bunch, but yeah, it's Monaco, Singapore and Vatican. And then the other ones are like Hong Kong, Macau and Dubai would. Would count as autonomous cities, but not independent city states.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, I guess there's some rural stuff going on there in Liechtenstein. It's bigger than I thought. It's not. The whole. The whole city is not a state.

[Dan Fosh]

Oh, yeah. What do they got? Look at that.

[Nick Hill]

Mountains count, though, right?

[Dan Fosh]

Anyway, why wouldn't. Why wouldn't mountains.

[Nick Hill]

Who's next? Well, that doesn't count as rural. Right. You know what I mean?

[Dan Fosh]

I guess. Yeah, you're right.

[Nick Hill]

Like, you can't. You can't build there. It's like. It's not. You can't. It's not like a farm area. Right. They just couldn't build there because they were mountains.

[Dan Fosh]

Like.

[Nick Hill]

Like Hong Kong.

[Dan Fosh]

Touche.

[Nick Hill]

Okay, who's next here? We should be talking about where how much is going to cost me to buy a house in these places too. Because Singapore is a really interesting one. Right, Because Singapore. Doesn't Singapore have like. Remember we talked about this, Dave, they have like that like socialism thing where like the government built all these houses for people.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah, I got, I got a few things here. Okay, so Singapore, no capital gain tax, inheritance tax and foreign sourced income is untaxed unless you remit it to Singapore or use it for local expenses. Personal income tax is progressive, topping out at 22% on the first million and 24% above that, which is still lower than like the top US brackets. A housing sticker. Okay, so private condo rents rival like New York City. It'd be like 4 to 8k US a month for a 2 bed. But buying is even more expensive. So foreigners paying additional buyer stamp of like 20% on residential purchases.

[Nick Hill]

Geez.

[Dan Fosh]

So most expats, it seems like they rent and then kind of like reassess it. But the, the living costs balance it out apparently.

[Nick Hill]

I think it's like one of those, it's one of those countries where like it, you know, it's kind of like New York where it's very like transient, right? People come there, they, they move there for like a while, for a career, 10 years or whatever, and then they go somewhere else or settle down or like I think, you know, it's like really one of those big financial. So what you see, I think this phenomenon in New York, like Manhattan especially, where you've got a lot of people who like work in banking or finance and they can, they're skilled capital allocators, right? So they don't really need to buy real estate like most people buy real estate. No offense to all the people who want to invest on the show here, but most people buy real estate because they suck at saving money and they suck at investing. And real estate forces them to do that honestly. Right. I mean, that's why I did it. And it's good. I wouldn't, I'd be broke if I didn't buy, buy real estate. So you get guys who are really good at investing and they rent because they can allocate their capital better. Most of these New York bankers, finance guys, they don't own their houses. A lot of them, Singapore would be the same thing because it is a big financial hub comparable to New York, but for the East.

[Dave]

Actually they say it's the Switzerland of Asia.

[Nick Hill]

That's what I heard in that thread. I've never heard that before. But Dan and elat just sending it on this. I like the comparison.

[Dave]

Yeah, my uncle, who's the only exposure I've ever had to Singapore. He's been there for a few years. He rents. The guy's probably worth, I don't know, 20, 30 million bucks and owns a bunch of property kind of in multiple places all over the world and has decided to just rent there.

[Nick Hill]

Does he want to sponsor a show?

[Dave]

I wish.

[Nick Hill]

Okay, what's next here?

[Dave]

Puerto Rico.

[Dan Fosh]

Oh, there it is. What up? Yeah. No, I'll beat you to it. Say it again. Say it again.

[Dave]

You do it this time. I want to hear it.

[Dan Fosh]

Puerto Rico. Did I do it?

[Dave]

Oh, that's good.

[Dan Fosh]

You got to get the R rolling though, and I can't do that. Oh, there it is.

[Nick Hill]

Does take practice.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah, it's not for me.

[Dave]

Zero.

[Nick Hill]

You gotta do it in the mirror in the morning with your affirmations.

[Dave]

Practice your R's daily morning routine. Cold plunge, rolling ours. 0% tax on capital gains for US citizens, 4% tax on business income. The secret loophole and ultimate hack for Americans thanks to Act 60, which hopefully someone's going to look that up. Stay 183 plus days a year. Buy property, donate 10k annually. You keep your US password, but dramatically your lower your tax bill. I've seen a ton of like very successful people that I follow. Like, I don't know, guys with drop shipping companies or TikTok brands or, you know, even whether you hate them or love them, whatever, that doesn't matter. Even like the Paul brothers and a ton of just kind of like younger, famous wealthy people in the states move to Puerto Rico and just sing its praises nonstop. I mean, you know, what else could you want? You're living in a beautiful island and you get to keep way more of your money. It sounds like a pretty good.

[Nick Hill]

It's interesting. Like, it's almost like they're trying to compete with the Caymans of the world because it says here, Puerto Rico. The tax incentive code known as Act 60 provides tax exemptions to businesses and investors that relocate to or are established in Puerto Rico. I always thought, by the way, like that you guys were doing the pronunciation thing. I thought it was like Port Porto. Like port like, you know, like in. Dude.

[Dave]

Cultured. Oh my God.

[Nick Hill]

Oh yeah, dude. I'm bad. I'm bad for this. I'm no farmer John wants a way like. Or Rico's port. Port of Rico. You know, like I made sense to me.

[Dave]

Dane, that's a third country you've pissed off in this one. Episode. I think I'm so.

[Nick Hill]

I'm just, just saying I'm, I'm, I'm not, I'm not the smart guy on the show when it comes to dog. Nick's very cultured here.

[Dave]

So we're good.

[Dan Fosh]

It's the mustache. Well, okay, wait, so we got Act 60, which is what? Zero capital gain tax plus. So I have, I have it here. Maybe you got it there. Fosh plus 4% business tax. If you become a bonafide. If you become a bonafide resident, which is 183 days a year plus stronger local ties than mainland. The gains that occur after you move are taxed at zero export service income. So consulting accrue. What a cool word thing. Software marketing can be locked in at 4% corporate tax for 15 years. You keep your US passport, but there's strings. So you must buy a Puerto rico home within two years and donate 10,000 each year to local charities. That seems like a scam, but I love it. Leave before the 10 year mark and you may owe an exit tax. And like the prices are crazy. You can get like beachfront condos for it says you're like 300k. And you can get like a whole.

[Nick Hill]

Episode on, on exit taxes actually because there's like Canada's got one. A bunch of places have exit taxes.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Before we move on from Puerto Rico though, I want someone else to read that, that second little piece on the thread that we're going here because I think this, this is a very recent obviously and a very intelligent move I think too, who want someone want to.

[Nick Hill]

Take that day 183 days a year by property.

[Dave]

No, no, no. Not, not that one.

[Nick Hill]

Dan.

[Dave]

Go, go, go. One below. Go. One below.

[Dan Fosh]

Yeah, yeah.

[Nick Hill]

A few notes about Puerto Rico. US citizens only.0% tax on crypto capital gains under part of the US but with tax rules that favor early crypto investors. Perfect. If you're American and made a lot of money in crypto. I mean, I know. And fortunately not that far from Miami. Right. Because that's where all those guys are, the bros. You must move before you sell.

[Dan Fosh]

You must.

[Dave]

Don't they all like Diamond Hand anyways? No one knowing. Does anyone even sell crypto? Unless it's like shit coins and you're just like selling immediately and buying immediate pump and dump stuff, but crazy. Actually, here's a very quick story. I actually once liquidated 5k worth of Bitcoin in a Spanish casino in Mallorca years ago, only to lose it five hands later and then realized that. That probably would have been worth 150 plus grand right now. So hold on to that crypto and don't gamble, kids.

[Dan Fosh]

Dude, how much fun did you have?

[Nick Hill]

Not financial advice.

[Dave]

Not much. Not much. I gave it to my buddy. I went out for a cigarette and came back and he. I was like, how's it going? He's like, ah, not good. I was like, what do you mean? He's like, we got one hand left. This is it. And I was like, oh, okay, whatever. It's just bitcoin. I don't even know what this shit is.

[Dan Fosh]

Turns out you wouldn't be on this pod. You'd be in Puerto Rico right now.

[Dave]

You guys would be talking, you'd be like, oh, and here's this guy who moved there.

[Nick Hill]

Actually, here's a case study on our friend Nick, who didn't gamble his bitcoin away in a casino and now is living the dream in Puerto Rico.

[Dan Fosh]

Logan, Paul beside you. Good stuff. All right, all right.

[Dave]

Rounding out the list. I'm. I'm really hesitating to. To do this, but I'm going to do Panama. Come on.

[Nick Hill]

Dave didn't even know that song existed. Dude, are you serious? Tell him about. I know.

[Dave]

Are you serious, Dave?

[Nick Hill]

It was cool, though. Imagine hearing that song for the first time. Like, that's special.

[Dan Fosh]

I didn't know it was called Panama. All right, I knew the song, okay.

[Dave]

Thank God I knew the one. Maybe I should probably just go. This is. Maybe I don't fit in here.

[Dan Fosh]

We had a girl from Panama on the show and I was like, where is Panama? What is me Googling? What?

[Dave]

What is Panama?

[Dan Fosh]

I've heard of a Panama Canal, but.

[Dave]

I know the canal. They like a river going through it or something. Whatever.

[Nick Hill]

A couple rivers, some boats got stuck. Donald Trump's mad about it. He's trying to take it back from China.

[Dave]

Yeah, it's very confusing time globally for Panama. Zero foreign income tax, though. That's a good one. No natural disasters. Could you just claim that? I don't know if you can.

[Nick Hill]

There's no guarantee on that so far.

[Dave]

That's a little bit.

[Nick Hill]

I mean, I guess they're trying to give it like a one up on Florida. Like, this is like, you know, like all the Toronto guys right now are like, toronto sucks. Condo's gonna crash Florida. Now. These guys are like, hey, Florida sucks. Natural. Every time a hurricane hits, they're like, no natural disasters in Panama, guys. Come on over.

[Dave]

What about like the ships getting stuck in the Panama Canal and stuff? Wouldn't that be. I guess that's a man made disaster.

[Nick Hill]

But I, you know, you watch like 90 Day Fiance that, you know, you're.

[Dave]

Watching that and not my show, dude.

[Nick Hill]

The, the guy, he has the, the wife that from Panama. And, and so there's a lot of stuff shot in Panama City and it looks like a cool, like normal metropolitan, like place, right? It'd be like, you know, like New York or not. That's a bad comparison. But like Miami, something like that, right? It's big. It's big. It's like, it's got a lot of tall buildings, pretty dense, walkable, et cetera.

[Dan Fosh]

So we had this girl on here, she's a, she's a Toronto girl and she's an agent in Toronto and in Panama. And she was saying she like lives there full time, I think. Full time, right? I forget. So they get this. I think they were running out of ideas at the last. Panama, no natural disasters and uses the US dollar and that's all we got.

[Nick Hill]

So these guys are building a village here though, in Panama. That's kind of cool at the end of the thread there. That's, that's why we're building, Building a village here in Panama. Boom. Good thread.

[Dan Fosh]

Smart plug for his own thing. Yeah, good.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah. No, it looks like a cool little village though, right? Nice. Some nice hand drawn maps. A golf course there, maybe not. I don't know.

[Dan Fosh]

Is there a golf course? Let's go.

[Nick Hill]

I'm still trying to decide if I like golf.

[Dan Fosh]

Really? You know, the only problem with golf is that it just takes so long. That's why I've been, I've been playing paddle nine.

[Nick Hill]

Nine and dying, buddy.

[Dan Fosh]

I know golf should be like 14, 13 holes. I think the total sport. 12.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, 12's a good number.

[Dave]

So just, just an FYI, Monaco has a very low risk of natural disasters. Well, I think everything on the list has a low risk of natural disasters. I'm looking it up here. It's just too.

[Nick Hill]

No competitive advantage there. That is funny, like, because that's like a pretty. That's like a pretty fair. Like if you're trying to sell it to somebody who's like living in Miami and they're like, this place sucks because I have to leave every year for two weeks and then come back and rebuild everything. Like, I feel like that's like, that's a decent value prop to be fair. If you're trying to try and pull capital from Florida.

[Dave]

Well, not even just Florida, dude. Like, think Florida, California, Texas. Right? Like you can, you can't even get house insurance in some of these places. Like the house insurance industry has just gotten so insane there and. And yeah, we were talking like the state. Yeah. You can even get like some. Some of the state insurers to. To insure.

[Nick Hill]

Well, a lot of these.

[Dave]

Funny but real. Yeah.

[Nick Hill]

These condos as well. Like the condos in. In some of these markets, they're blacklisted. Lenders won't lend on them. There's outstanding special assessments, which means capital that you have to give to the condo corp. To fix the building that are worth more than the unit is worth. I think see the value in a lot of these guys trying to pull a lot of that capital. That's probably just fed up with south Florida right now. Right?

[Dave]

Not me.

[Dan Fosh]

I honestly think crypto, bro. Where's the place that you're going again? You're going to Puerto Rico. That's right. I think like this. Honestly. The crypto Rico. Good times. Unreal.

[Nick Hill]

We good. You want to wrap that up?

[Dan Fosh]

Let's wrap it up. I think we hit all seven. We are tied.

[Nick Hill]

Thanks for listening. Appreciate you share this with your mom. Share it with. I don't know.

[Dave]

I mean share with your favorite crypto, bro.

[Dan Fosh]

I was gonna say.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Dan Fosh]

Toss it to Logan Paul bro.

[Nick Hill]

Send it to I don't know who. Replaced with no. Natural disasters would help too.

[Dave]

Yeah. If you hate natural disasters. This episode's for you.

[Dan Fosh]

That's the hook. Reword it. Yeah, yeah.

[Nick Hill]

And hit the subscribe button. Leave us a nice review or like leave us a five star review with like honest good feedback. We've had some good like good feedback reviews so far. Like fix the pauses. Like Dave's Internet in Mexico sucks. So we did. Dave came backst today.

[Dave]

Wait for me to. For me to have a rush of negative reviews after my. My one time on the pod.

[Nick Hill]

Yeah, there's other one. You guys don't know what you're talking about. That was true. We're. We're researching as we're going. That's the point of the show. We're trying to learn it too.

[Dave]

Did someone actually write. You guys don't know what you're talking about?

[Dan Fosh]

It's like to summarize.

[Dave]

My God. That's incredible. I might just go write a couple mean reviews just so you guys can talk about them next time. That new guy Nick has no idea what he's talking about. Horrible investment.

[Nick Hill]

Is he looking for a wife?

[Dave]

Thanks for having me on, guys.

[Dan Fosh]

Thanks for coming.