Assistance on crucial decisions before FIRE

I don’t think he monetizes on the channel. There are no ads or sponsors. The channel is mostly a teaser, a marketing tool.

I guess I should rename the thread. I’m not so much interested in opinions about the guy. I would like to know if any of you have been in a similar situation and how you approached it. Go with someone with a lower profile? Sure, which one? I’m not looking for guesses but concrete life experience.

  1. Use YouTube channels and blogs as a source for brainstorming and inspiration
  2. Do a bit of research on your own.
  3. Reach out to a qualified professional for any detail questions that might arise and are like to have a meaningful impact on your finances.

So… do you believe “skilled specialists” or entrepreneur will (or should!?) consult unqualified non-specialists for their international relocation and taxation matters?

I’m experienced in an IT niche, I’m not experienced in international tax law and I do not know many rich people. Why do you say he’s unskilled? It looks like he can talk for hours about it. Himself coming from US, he got out and renounced citizenship. So maybe his advice would be more suited to Americans.

Anyway, like I said, I’m interested in the experience of people who have done it and lived through it. I cannot really judge if I should settle down here and buy a house/flat, or are there better options? Switzerland is great: fantastic salary, diverse nature, good climate, cleanliness. But it comes at a cost. Once you stop working, maybe the equation does not look so attractive anymore?

I’d like to know from a person who deal with these kind of questions on a daily basis.

So here’s my sample of 5 minutes of due diligence on Nomad Capitalist.

Why don’t we take a cursory look at their “Team Leadership" on their website? Oh, there’s a fairly young “Strategy Manager” in a leadership role. Well, I have long been interested strategies, haven’t I? Since they haven’t listed her credentials on nomadcapitalist, let’s see if we can find out more elsewhere…

Self-described as an “Experienced Strategy Associate with a demonstrated history of working in the management consulting industry” and having “A Strong business development professional with a Master’s degree” on her LinkedIn profile, we can see her credentials and previous work experience listed:

  • 4 months summer job as a store clerk working for a large US grocery store chain (2017)
  • 6 months at Microsoft as Data Collection and Labeling Associate - a job requiring literally "no previous experience apart from general computer literacy" (2018)
  • …while, concurrently, having a side gig working as a tour guide for tourists to a Serbian castle over the summer (also 2018)

Since 2019 she’s been working for Nomad Capitalist as part of the leadership team of (quote) “the world’s most sought-after boutique consulting firm”, serving (quote) “the needs of real world High Net Worth Individuals” as a “Strategy Manager” on matters of international residence and taxation

Make of that what you will.

Once you’ve crossed that 1’000’000 entry level, I will be keen to hear your feedback on costs and take-aways from your consulting sessions.

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i wouldn’t say he’s unskilled, but I’d be extremely cautious, the company is so focused on marketing and so much tilted towards Serbia I wouldn’t be surprised if their business model is to sell overpriced Serbian real estate to relatively wealthy foreigners.

I think what really rich people use for tax optimization on company and personal level is private banking services, you might try to ask to some banks, but I fear the mustachian wealth is orders of magnitude below their target customer.

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I really appreciate that you take your time to help, but would you consider being more oriented in finding a solution, and less about criticism and sarcastic remarks?

Like I said, I’m not fixed on Nomad Capitalist. I just don’t know any better (and as I’ve said, I can be naive when I’m looking for an easy solution). I don’t want to do all the research myself. I want to get a second opinion if what I’m doing is the best possible path. Sadly, this forum mostly has FIRE beginners, the people who could talk from experience, mostly stay quiet. (and I’m aware that they are a minority)

You guys have no reasons to get angry at @San_Francisco. He did the minimal due diligence on this firm that you should have frankly done yourselves. By the look of it it looks extremely bombastic and rather shady.

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I know I’m not answering the original question but beside the swiss way of not talking about their wealth, I guess people dealing in tax optimization from a client’s perspective don’t go about talking about it on forums openly as to not to attract unwanted attention to it (be it by fiscal entities or the general public which could weigh in to have the laws changed to restrict the activity).

My best bet would be to try networking with high net worth individuals. I’d start in my own company: if I’m paid a good salary, therefore being considered a valuable asset, and the higher ups are known to have the kind of wealth we are talking about, there is a non-zero chance that I could get to know them better and have a few constructive conversations on the topic (though, depending on our circumstances and social skills, the chance may be low).

Otherwise, I’d try to meet with these people in places they’re likely to frequent. That’s part of why I like big corporations General Assemblies. The chance to get to have a meaningful discussion with someone who can actually move the needle in the company’s behavior are very slim, but they’re non-zero. The more non-zero chances to reach my goal I pile up, the more global chances I have.

ETA: for all the negative talk we can see about mandatory military service, this is also a situation where recruits have a non-zero chance to bond with high net worth individuals.

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I have already tried to concisely state it above.
Coming back to the question in your original post…

…since you subsequently almost answered that yourself…

…I believe my comments imply a way towards “finding a solution”:

I think you really need to work out makes what makes for good advice and what doesn’t.
And who makes for a good advisor and who doesn’t (whom you can and will trust).
You would need to sort out the wheat from the chaff there.

It might even be Andrew Henderson, possibly. At least he seems to have done quite a bit of first-hand research into choices jurisdiction himself. His consulting business though should be taken with a grain of salt though, I believe.

Otherwise, you are free to pay good dollars for one of the large financial consultancy firms.

Once again coming back to questions in your original post:

I don’t think you should your desired lifestyle be dictated by questions of taxations - unless you make it a hobby or living in itself, i.e. you are actually interested solving these issues yourself.

  1. Whether you would want to in Switzerland or abroad (and where) is probably a question best answered “from the heart”, rather than from professional wealth and tax advice. Where you (and/or your significant other?) would feel comfortable and happy living.
  2. Since you, if I remember, do have a EU passport, it makes very little practical difference. Especially if you don’t intend to work in a government position and have the financial means to support yourself in Switzerland. Your passport should is unlikely to much difference in travel ability either. And you’re not exactly from a micro state or have a particularly “sensitive” citizenship.
  3. It depends on whether you want to stay in Switzerland, I’d say. It makes little sense to buy one, if you intend to be gone in a couple of years.
  4. …in terms of countries to live in?
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You’re right. I am grateful. I just don’t like to feel stupid after being given advice. By the way, here’s a funny review that kind of fits in to what you guys mentioned already:

Nomad Capitalist is a FRAUD, plain and simple. I paid thousands of bucks for a piece of useless paper. He presented nothing new. In fact, I know more about the offshore world than this joker. If you want to live in Georgia (no thanks), bank in Armenia (no thanks), buy some cheapo apartments in Montenegro/ Colombia (no thanks), then this is your guy. If you’re a real 8 figure entrepreneur like me, you require a professional offshore company to handle your affairs, which i’ve eventually found. Andrew is interesting enough to sit and watch a few Youtube videos, but DO NOT make the mistake of hiring this guy. He’s a full time CON ARTIST. I wish i’d done some proper research on him before paying up.

To which he responded:

We have never specifically recommended any client to relocate to Georgia, and we have would not recommend a bank in Armenia to an eight-figure individual.

So, well, due diligence. You will always find frustrated individuals or trolls on the Internet, the question is who do you believe. Like I said, I’d like to shy away from this particular service, and I’m looking forward to better tips, if there are any. Private banking is probably only viable if you are an 8-figure individual, which I probably never will become. Plus, I’m not just interested in the tax side of things. I want a recommendation of a stable place that is safe and great to live, not simply a tax haven. (or the affirmation that Switzerland is my best bet)

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Taxation is not my only concern. It’s about getting the biggest bang for my buck. High quality of life for a possibly low total cost of life (which includes, real estate, food, services & taxes).

I know that personal desires play a big role. I just don’t trust my own judgement, or, to put it in other words, I’m open to suggestions and would like to see the options. It is always a trade-off. Switzerland for sure offers top quality of life, but I cannot realistically look to retire early and own a house here without mortgage. Early retirement in Switzerland would be a modest one.

If I were to stay in Switzerland for the rest of my life, I’d like to become a citizen, so that nobody can kick me out even if public opinion totally changes on the matter of C permits. Also, as long as I am only a Polish citizen, I need to keep an eye on the matters in Poland. Maybe one day they would like to introduce a wealth/income tax of Polish nationals regardless of their domicile? It sounds absurd, but the government may come up with weird ideas once money starts running out.

Of course I mean it when I stay. So far it looks like I’m gonna stay, but I to second-guess my plans. I theoretically have the option to come back to Poland. My quality of life would suffer in some areas (it’s not so picturesque there, it’s not so close to many different countries, the cities are ugly outside the old town), but I would be able to afford a house and life would be cheaper in general. However, I would probably pay a higher tax and the cost of life can change in the long term. Already now the inflation rate in Poland is quite high.

Plus private banking provides some good service, but it’s not really a fee-only advice, personally I’d be afraid they think more about their interests than mine.

That said, I wonder if a good way to learn about those things is to get to know people who work on those things, it’s Switzerland after all there must be a quite a few people whose day job is giving out that kind of advice.

Or there should be a handful of people who retired in Switzerland or Swiss professionals who retired abroad. I know many of them will not care to share, but people in general like to exchange ideas or even to brag. They are not just sitting on the beach and drinking pinacoladas all day long. I know that on englishforum.ch there was this guy, fatmanfilms, an avid proponent of Fundsmith, who I guess retired in Malta. But that’s just one guy.

I just spent 30 minutes looking for a book that might help you @Bojack, but I can’t find it. Does anyone know the book where an investigative journalist takes the courses to become a wealth advisor for the ultra-wealthy? I read it a few years ago and I think it could give some advice on how to find a solid advisor.

Also, here’s a podcast on the topic of choosing where to live but with the view of financial security. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

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This one?

Here’s a link to an article with an exerpt from the book: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/sep/21/how-to-hide-it-inside-secret-world-of-wealth-managers

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High quality of life can be really different between two persons. You should first decide in which region you would like to live, then decide a country.

If you would like to stay not too far from Switzerland, I would look to the following countries with high quality of life and low taxation:

  • Portugal
  • Malta
  • Cyprus

Countries with low tax, but a high cost of living

  • Bahamas
  • Bermudas

Countries with low tax, but a not really democratic

  • UAE
  • BAHRAIN
  • ect

Country with low cost of living and medium tax:
South-Est Asia
Latin/south America

Taxes are different for each person. Some retiree will receive money from their own company, other from stocks, some of them from pension. In a same country, two incomes could be taxed completely differently. From where is the income? Is it income or capital gain, ect ?

I’ll read the book :slight_smile:

These website although give some comparison between country:

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High qualitity of life, what’s your source? It must depend on the area (North is probably not that good). Algarve and Madeira sure are incredible.

Like I said quality of life is not a standard, it is different for each person.
Yes, it also different between regions.

I can’t vouch for it, as I haven’t read the book, I was just trying to find the book @CryingSofa mentioned.

Fun fact: Portugal ranks among the very bottom of OECD countries for life satisfaction.