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Category: Residency

05 May
Where To Drive A Tank In The United States

Where To Drive A Tank In The United States

My son Jackson is in the French school in Panama, meaning he’s on the French calendar. He has a shorter summer (just two months, July and August) but four two-week vacations during the school year. It makes for a more manageable summer and allows for extended family trips throughout the year. Last week was Jack’s […]

07 Apr
local politics

The Effects Of Local Politics On Expat Retirees And Investors

People write in often to ask about the political stability of this or that country, wondering what it means when certain candidates or parties are running for or elected to office. I remember back in 2001 when the Sandinista Daniel Ortega announced he was going to run again for president of Nicaragua. Gringo retirees and […]

16 Dec
Lifestyle Overseas

Lifestyle Overseas

My college Social Studies professor, a hyper dude who worked three jobs and lived off a quarter of his income so he could save the rest to build a children’s hospital, broke society down into nine categories. He referenced the typical lower, middle, and upper classes and then separated each of those categories further into […]

05 Dec
Panama’s Gun Regulations

Panama’s Gun Regulations And Gun Permits For Expats

I finally received my permanent residency card for Panama last week through the “Specific Countries” visa program that President Martinelli authorized with an Executive Order issued in May 2012. At the time, I was in Panama on a reforestation investment visa that required five renewals before permanent residency. Five years from temporary to permanent residency […]

29 Jul
Top Three Havens For Privacy, Freedom, And Straightforward Residency

Top Three Havens For Privacy, Freedom, And Straightforward Residency

Goodbye Uncle Sam, Hello Privacy Personal privacy and government spying are hot topics in the United States and Europe these days. Half of the country was shocked when they learned the extent to which the U.S. government is spying on us. Even some members of congress claimed to be stunned (those who apparently didn't read [...]
08 Apr
Relocating Overseas With Your Children

Relocating Overseas With Your Children

Go Offshore And Take Your Kids With You With more and more people looking to move not only their assets but also themselves offshore, the question is coming up more often. That is, readers are writing regularly to ask: Should I move with my kids? Decades ago, a term was coined for children who grow [...]
31 Jan
Self-Sufficiency In Belize

Self-Sufficiency In Belize

Top Choice For Living The Self-Sufficient Life Self-sufficiency. It's what built the American West. Farmers and ranchers pushing toward the Pacific in search of their fortunes, pioneers building new lives on land where they laid claim and where they knew they could take care of themselves and their families themselves, beholden' to no one. That [...]
24 Jan
2013 Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

2013 Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

The most important tool in the U.S. expat’s tax toolbox is the foreign-earned income exclusion (referred to in tax-planning circles as the FEIE or ‘the exclusion’). If you qualify, it allows you to exclude up to US$97,600 in 2013 foreign-earned income from U.S. federal income tax.

17 Jan
The Benefits Of Learning A Foreign Language

The Benefits Of Learning A Foreign Language

Give Your Kids The Gift Of Another "Voice" One benefit of going offshore for my kids that I didn't think about until I watched it happening is to do with language skills. Many Americans still think the entire world should learn English...and much of the world does. In Latin America, families who can afford it [...]
31 Dec
How To Live Well On A Budget Overseas

How To Live Well On A Budget Overseas

I’ve been living overseas so long that my wife tells me I don’t know what things cost in the “real world” anymore, especially, she assures me, as my current frame of reference is Panama. Certainly, our first 24 hours or so in New York City last week, I thought she must be right. I must […]