Where to live in the post-AI world?

Get out of the EU and your life will improve considerably, irrespective of where you go.
Live in a country where you can have some freedom and do business where the money is (USA and China).
Keep your money in crypto and don’t invest where you live.
Keep it simple.

Your thread is an interesting one to me. I'm exactly in the same boat in every single way you mentioned. I'm in the EU and although I'm ok with my tax situation I want to get out for (geo)political reasons. I have been postponing this because I'm too comfortable with my banking situation and I will need to ability to receive EUR with SEPA/IBAN, and I'm somewhat afraid of using EMIs.

I don't know what would be the ideal setup. You could maybe get residency in Paraguay or Dubai and live somewhere else as you please.

Then you could buy some land in various places, like I did. It’s a money pit, but I’m not into sports cars, and you have to spend your money on something after all. When circumstances require it, you always have a place to go.

Not here to hijack your thread, just adding to say good options would be welcome.

jesuschrist said:

Which country can offer long-term stability, reasonable taxes, and enough resources to remain self-sufficient?

This is a very hard combination, but I'll bite.

Long-term stability is difficult because predicting the future is hard AF. 🤦:banghead::banghead: But at the moment, USA, China, and Russia, so technically superpowers with extreme force and non-existing (capable) predators. The USA, especially can pretty much invade anyone, except those two mentioned above and Iran, of course, and get zero resistance. They can take Greenland tomorrow, or even Macron and the EU, in their unmasked weakness and shame, will respond by taking their anger out on their autochthonous citizens 🤣:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Reasonable taxes....What is reasonable? Personally, I think the taxes in Monaco are reasonable, but other than that, I don't know. The USA can be reasonable depending on how you earn your money. Here in China, believe it or not, I have a different opinion vis-à-vis taxes. China invests so much locally that I don't mind the taxes...strangely...🙄 Of course, in Monaco I was earning X and paying zero, so I was OK with that. Here I am earning (because of export and manufacturing) 60X and paying 12X, so I see it as if I swapped X for 48X. I couldn't do this on my own or any other country due to prices...I'm 100% aware of this.

Enough resources...definitely Russia, but the USA, China, Argentina , and Brazil are definitely in the race. Argentina does NOT have #1 or #2...to this day, I can't figure out why. Brazil has natural resources, but they ALSO have Brazilians. Won't get into this, but if you plan to go to Brazil or Argentina, the best thing to do is to study and become a lawyer there. It will save you so many headaches and maybe earn you a few dollars.

In places like Latin America, it is mandatory that you speak the local language, otherwise everyone will see you as a walking ATM. They STILL will do it even if you speak the language, but you can laugh at them in their local language 🤣

I can only share with you what worked for me. Working, being non-confrontational, being near manufacturing factories, having easy access to banking, receiving money freely, and expanding my academic education are very important to me, so I chose China. The USA would have been good, but it is too confrontational (think of their cops) and they lost their manufacturing edge they once had.

Also, Bulgaria sounds lovely. If it works, stick to it. Only you can know and determine what works for you.

Cheers,

Jafo!

I'd look into Panama - it's not perfect but worth consideration
depending on how close you need/want to be to "civilization" you can find many opportunities for a very good price with plenty of water and fertile land

jafo said:

Also, Bulgaria sounds lovely. If it works, stick to it. Only you can know and determine what works for you.

Any place can seem lovely if you want it to look like that, and if you suffer from the boiling frog syndrome. Unfortunately, eventually you will find yourself boiled.
Bulgaria is no better than any other EUSSR territory.
If you need to do business there, set up your affairs so that your money remains safe and you can escape without notice.

void said:

I'd look into Panama - it's not perfect but worth consideration
depending on how close you need/want to be to "civilization" you can find many opportunities for a very good price with plenty of water and fertile land

It’s not bad advice, but a bit random. What can be good for you can be not as good for me for a number of reasons. There’s no heaven on earth, just places that are less hell than others.
Someone is setting up a tool for guiding residence choices. There are so many factors to be considered, and nobody thought about such tool so far. Soon to come on this forum!

JohnnyDoe said:

What can be good for you can be not as good for me for a number of reasons. There’s no heaven on earth, just places that are less hell than others.

100% correct! Priorities and values. If, e.g., owning a gun is very important to someone, please don't consider China.
I like places where NOBODY, including the cops, have a gun so for me China (for example) fits that criteria.

I prefer a place where I am guaranteed housing, healthcare, and food. 😇

jafo said:

This is a very hard combination, but I'll bite.

Long-term stability is difficult because predicting the future is hard AF. 🤦:banghead::banghead: But at the moment, USA, China, and Russia, so technically superpowers with extreme force and non-existing (capable) predators. The USA, especially can pretty much invade anyone, except those two mentioned above and Iran, of course, and get zero resistance. They can take Greenland tomorrow, or even Macron and the EU, in their unmasked weakness and shame, will respond by taking their anger out on their autochthonous citizens 🤣:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Reasonable taxes....What is reasonable? Personally, I think the taxes in Monaco are reasonable, but other than that, I don't know. The USA can be reasonable depending on how you earn your money. Here in China, believe it or not, I have a different opinion vis-à-vis taxes. China invests so much locally that I don't mind the taxes...strangely...🙄 Of course, in Monaco I was earning X and paying zero, so I was OK with that. Here I am earning (because of export and manufacturing) 60X and paying 12X, so I see it as if I swapped X for 48X. I couldn't do this on my own or any other country due to prices...I'm 100% aware of this.

Enough resources...definitely Russia, but the USA, China, Argentina , and Brazil are definitely in the race. Argentina does NOT have #1 or #2...to this day, I can't figure out why. Brazil has natural resources, but they ALSO have Brazilians. Won't get into this, but if you plan to go to Brazil or Argentina, the best thing to do is to study and become a lawyer there. It will save you so many headaches and maybe earn you a few dollars.

In places like Latin America, it is mandatory that you speak the local language, otherwise everyone will see you as a walking ATM. They STILL will do it even if you speak the language, but you can laugh at them in their local language 🤣

I can only share with you what worked for me. Working, being non-confrontational, being near manufacturing factories, having easy access to banking, receiving money freely, and expanding my academic education are very important to me, so I chose China. The USA would have been good, but it is too confrontational (think of their cops) and they lost their manufacturing edge they once had.

Also, Bulgaria sounds lovely. If it works, stick to it. Only you can know and determine what works for you.

Cheers,

Jafo!

I think that if you weren’t born in Russia or didn’t spend many years of your life since childhood there getting to know the country, it would be almost impossible to move there as an adult, even if you speak Russian fluently. Russia is an extremely difficult country to understand, live and work. Yes, on paper, it offers many advantages, but real life is a completely different story.

Justit said:

I think that if you weren’t born in Russia or didn’t spend many years of your life since childhood there getting to know the country, it would be almost impossible to move there as an adult, even if you speak Russian fluently. Russia is an extremely difficult country to understand, live and work. Yes, on paper, it offers many advantages, but real life is a completely different story.

I have lived in Russia for 7 years being West-European. It's certainly not easy but not as hard as others like to portray it. I wouldn't call it impossible. Alas, if you live in Moscow. A provincial city will add some difficulty points. Russians seem cold and distant but once they get to know you a bit they will do everything for you and it will make life in Russia 2x easier as they can help you navigate through things. I found Russia to be much easier than certain countries. In my opinion it's a bit of a Western cliche to call it an impossible nut to crack. Most of the times it's: What you see is what you get.

Did you also work in Russia, or did you work abroad and just lived there? If you did work in Russia, were you employed by a company or did you run your own business, if you don’t mind me asking?

I’m not saying that living in Moscow is difficult: you really have everything you need there. What I was referring to is developing your own business in Russia as a foreigner, without being married to or in a relationship with a Russian partner who is really there to help and assist you.

I meant a foreigner with absolutely no previous experience in Russia, no local connections, and no existing network, who moves there and tries to build a business from scratch.

From my point of view, that is close to impossible in Russia, whereas doing the same in many other countries would be much easier.

Justit said:

I think that if you weren’t born in Russia or didn’t spend many years of your life since childhood there getting to know the country, it would be almost impossible to move there as an adult, even if you speak Russian fluently. Russia is an extremely difficult country to understand, live and work. Yes, on paper, it offers many advantages, but real life is a completely different story.

True! I have some clients in Russia and since @JohnnyDoe introduced us to Putin's residency program I've been interested. I'm NEVER EVER planning to get a job anywhere. Just NEVER going to happen, so working in Russia is NOT on my bingo list. But in case tomorrow I get indicted and China tells me I have to leave so they can save face, I'm hopping to Russia. I've been in the Feds waiting for my trial...trust me...Russia is PARADISE compared to the SHU or ANY prison anywhere! Don't romanticize prisons! The worst problem in prison are the guards and other workers. They are the bottom of the sewer of society!

Russia would be my go-to-safe place in case of Armageddon against me (personally)...if China kicks me out and I'm wanted.

Justit said:

I meant a foreigner with absolutely no previous experience in Russia, no local connections, and no existing network, who moves there and tries to build a business from scratch.

From my point of view, that is close to impossible in Russia, whereas doing the same in many other countries would be much easier.

Exactly. As a Westerner, you're not going to do any business in any Eastern European country without a "plug".

If you try without one, you'll either:

With all of the West's problems, it's certainly more mercantile and less tribal. In other words, when starting out a business relationship, the conversation starts with "can you deliver", without diving into "where the fuck did you come from, and what's your family tree?".

While @jafo says he has Russian clients, I find them the hardest to deal with. Simply because they have little to no deliberative talent. It's all about "I want you to jump now, and you should have done it yesterday".

In the 90s up till the 2000s, they would literally buy offshore companies by the dozen and dump on the table wads and wads of cash.... upfront. What receipts haha? Nooo, if you're a local, they know where to find you if you don't deliver. Westerners should do the same - 100% upfront, saves me from time-wasters. (fantastic advice from @JohnnyDoe )

Unfortunately, the Ukrainian/Russian aggressive short-term mindset leads to them getting burned, usually by buying shit that doesn't even work for their situation. But we dumb "Westerners" want to help them avoid touching the hot stove ahahaha.

I guess Russians are more tolerant of short-term discomfort, so that mindset won't change.... but once they get burned, they pay handsomely for the fireman to blow out the smoke.
That's when your "plug" calls you up and asks if you can help out with "a friend of his".

chicharito said:

Exactly. As a Westerner, you're not going to do any business in any Eastern European country without a "plug".

If you try without one, you'll either:

a) get nowhere from the start by having no success... because the locals won't trust you or

b) you'll get screwed over when you start getting bigger for not having a "krysha" (today you get your roof from the government mafia.... used to be with gangs)

With all of the West's problems, it's certainly more mercantile and less tribal. In other words, when starting out a business relationship, the conversation starts with "can you deliver", without diving into "where the fuck did you come from, and what's your family tree?".

While @jafo says he has Russian clients, I find them the hardest to deal with. Simply because they have little to no deliberative talent. It's all about "I want you to jump now, and you should have done it yesterday".

So here's a tip - don't be courteous with Western payment terms like "50% upfront and 50% after delivery". For Eastern Europeans, they see it as "cool, that's a 50% discount".

If you can actually back up your talk and deliver the service, ask for 100% upfront (even for large contracts), and yes, they will pay.

In the 90s up till the 2000s, they would literally buy offshore companies by the dozen and dump on the table wads and wads of cash.... upfront. What receipts haha? Nooo, if you're a local, they know where to find you if you don't deliver. Westerners should do the same - 100% upfront, saves me from time-wasters. (fantastic advice from @JohnnyDoe )

Unfortunately, the Ukrainian/Russian aggressive short-term mindset leads to them getting burned, usually by buying shit that doesn't even work for their situation. But we dumb "Westerners" want to help them avoid touching the hot stove ahahaha.

I guess Russians are more tolerant of short-term discomfort, so that mindset won't change.... but once they get burned, they pay handsomely for the fireman to blow out the smoke.
That's when your "plug" calls you up and asks if you can help out with "a friend of his".

100% agree! They pay upfront! The difference is that I DO deliver exactly what they want and I question them to make sure they are purchasing what they truly need...UNLIKE the Chinese who tell the Russians: "Give me money now!" 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

I can sell products from Chinese factories cheaper to the Russians than the Russians can get it directly and still make a HUGE profit and NOT scam them or bait-and-switch them (some Chinese are notorious for this). So, I've gained their trust!

Reliability, accountability, responsibility are very rare traits so I literally have NO competition in China. My Russian clients prefer to buy from me in China than from their OWN brethren in their own city.

One thing, though...I've experienced when a Russian or even Eastern European becomes your friend and knows he can 100% trust and depend on you, they are truly the best people/friend in the world. I also, heard if you cross them, they are the nastiest, but I'm NEVER planning to find that sh1t out! 🤬

Imagine what happens when Russian 'payment upfront' meets Italian 'pagamento a 90 giorni’ 😂