Best place in the world to trade from?

Dubai..tax free

hahaha.. I looked in to Dubai for a while. I didn't like the idea of 50deg weather, living indoors, in a compound.... Next to Iran.

Panama looked good from what I saw. I kind of like the idea of living in Nice... In the end though, I'm already in Sydney, close to the CBD, kids in Elite school, living within walking distance of the CBD, surrounded by resteraunts cafe's. Internet acess is generally adsl2+, so24mbit., or 30mbsec on cable. You don't want high speed internet access though mate, you want low latency. Ninjatrader and Currenex together only consume <500bytes a second...

Sorry, I forgot to add, for sydney Crime rates are pretty good, consider the fact that a gun going of makes the state news..., someone getting killed by a gun makes every news station in the country. Most crime is things like car theft (no jacking ). etc.

Cost of education in an elite school, is around $12000-24000 a year AUD.

Cost of living might get you, real estate here flattened in 2003ish and never really dropped, so IMHO it's still inflated (compared to wage increases).

Tax for a forex trader is best handled by company trust structures. 30%. Personal tax is higher, so it's best to get a wealth specialist (not accountant) to structure it for you.

How would you rate the cost of living, taking into account the low to non existent taxes.
Compared to say Europe, Med area.
Anyone have any comparisons?

It might help to compare GDP/person which is slightly correlated to the cost of living.

Italy = 40.000 USD
Bahamas = 20.000 USD

Of course if you look at certain regions of Italy or Southern France the BIP is much higher because all he rich people live their. Cote'd Azur, Lago di Como etc.

I'd rather live in Italy or France than on some Island. Would feel a little bit imprisoned there.

I've looked into Panama and Costa Rica, been to both, and enjoyed them both. They are two distinct different countries to be sure.
There are very beautiful areas in both countries and their geography makes for a very interesting situation.
Mountains or Beach and much more. Get the right elevation and you can have 60F to 80F year round. Very nice.
Two years ago I was in a very nice expat area (Boquete) and met a person who was just about finished building a very nice 3500sf custom home. It was all custom top to bottom and he was paying around 75$ a square foot for it . That is very affordable by American standards. (I would estimate it easily @ $180 sf in the states.)
Still affordable away from the hot spots but services suffer when you are away from main cities.
There is a glut of condos in Panama City and it will get much worse in the near future, probably pick up some properties well under what they have been getting the past few years . (probably have a fire sale in the near future regardless of what the hype says)
Crime is on the rise, especially crime against non Panamanians. Use to they would leave you alone but not any more. Home invasions, and they don't mind if you are there when they come, muggings, and violent crime associated with the former are on a big upswing.
Panama is known world wide for its Banking and Tax Haven status.
Hopefully they will resist the increasing pressure from the U.S. and remain a Banking / Tax haven.
Costa Rica would not be considered a tax haven.
There are many good things about Panama but there are bad that come along as well.
Anyone looking to buy into this area had better do their homework and have their eyes wide open. (and have a good Panamanian or Costa Rican attorney as well) The Potholes are numerous and deep.
There are many expats happily living in Panama & Costa Rica and while prices are climbing they are significantly lower than many other areas. It just depends how you want to live.
I would think mgreen could tell us more about Costa Rica.
I made it to Punta Viejo CR but it is just a simple backpacker surfer community, dirt roads and bars, can't say I made it much father than that, But I did like it there...

I have moved my interest from Central America / Mexico to the Mediterranean / Europe area. Haven't been there for 15 years but the differences in the culture have the Med winning out by a long shot.
The Latin American countries are getting out of hand with regard to personal safety.
I have felt that Europe would be much more expensive however things change and I believe that Europe is the place to look now.
Not to mention a better time frame to trade. Try as I might I just cannot do London from Central time in the U.S.

Some where on the Med preferably.
Not to keen on cold weather being from Texas.

SWITZERLAND

All I can say is I'm impressed...

Looks like where I live (Bavaria).

Most countries are safer than the US, so that opens a lot of possibilities.

How old are your kids? Many countries have good schools but they cost. There is also the issue of seats, many of the best schools have waiting lists and it wouldn't be uncommon to have to wait a year or two to get your kids in. What are you going to do then?

You really don't need a high speed connection to trade forex, but you do need a consistent connection. Thailand's ISPs are pretty fucked up, but relatively consistent. They are certainly not at the same level as a western country though. Also, unless you rent a house already set up with DSL, you'll have to wait months now to get a connection in Thailand.

Any country you would even consider moving to will have enough English speakers to get around. However, no matter where you move to, if you're going to live there, you should learn their language. Americans expect it of immigrants, they should do the same.

Unless you move to Afghanistan or Iraq, it's safe for Americans. People will try to overcharge you because they think you can afford it, but no one is going to target you for anything worse just because you're from the US.

A major issus is getting a visa for you and your family. It's not easy in most places. In Thailand if you're over 50 and have 25k in the bank, you can get a residency visa. Other than that it's not easy. Many expats just make visa runs to Canbodia, but they've clamped down on that in the last few years to the extent that after a certain number of visa renewals you'll have to leave the country for a certain amount of time, which I believe is 6 months. That's a pain in the ass.

Europe is hard for Americans to get visas. If you get a job, then maybe you'll get one. But if your plan is to just trade, it's going to be harder. Visas can be bought in any country, but it's expensive. I looked into Switzerland recently and it costs 400,000 CHF for a visa. You invest it into a local company and you get to live there. The lower the standard of living, the lower the visa cost will be. I know that Cambodia has a very low cost, but it isn't the best place to raise kids.

The other major issue is how you want to live. You can be an expat that only associates with other expats. There are plenty of people doing that all over the world. Or you can integrate. Your kids will find it much easier to do so, but adults struggle with it. If you go to Europe, it will much easier to do so because of the shared culture. But if you go to Asia, it's going to be tough. It can be done, but it's going to take a lot more effort on your part, not theirs. It's their country and you're expected to bend to them, not the other way round. Unless you go to France which is giving their country away at the moment.

I posted it when Leon mentioned Tdion has moved to Germany...

BTW, GDP/person in Brazil is around USD 8,000.... (and we call ourselves an "Emergent Country"....)

Great post, Dopey!

The migration psychology is a very heavy issue to deal with. I've experienced some of this INSIDE my country, when moving to other locations... Brazil is bigger than Europe...

http://lusotopia.no.sapo.pt/brasilEuropa.jpg

And our GDP is similar to NY...

Thanks for the great input everyone! Dopey, I have lived in Korea and Japan so living in another country especially Asia is no big deal I have been looking into some of the issues regarding schooling and internet in Phuket, schooling is not cheap (about $20k per child but looking into a few others as we prefer montessori which surprisingly they have! oh our kids are 4 and 1), as for internet it looks like the fastest which is for business use over there is about 2mb, speed is important for me as I trade a tick chart and get in and out very quickly, 2mb might cut it...My main concern is going to be getting a Visa since I will not be working in the local economy, perhaps I can establish a branch of one of my businesses over there??? Not sure how that works, will have to do some research. Thanks again for the input everyone, as of now I'm still checking out Phuket.....if I were not married I would seriously look into the place that someone mentioned with the pic of the women drinking big mugs of beer

Doesn't matter if it's online, if you are physically in Thailand while making an income, you need a work permit.

I read somewhere that you can start a corporation in Thailand and basically write your own letter to get the work permit. Sounds asinine but here we are.

The folks at sunbeltasia.com might be able to guide you with that.

Hong Kong is another place to research. They have no capital gains tax.

The English is a little off, but the information seams to be valid. Also, check out the link regarding the list of Uncooperative Tax Havens. There appear to be none.


Why We Do Not Use Panama & the Other Offshore Tax Havens Anymore (June 2009)

Introduction - We are no longer opening Panama corporations, foundations or bank accounts. We are also not using any of the tax havens for our clients banking anymore. This is because the offshore banking legal environment is changing rapidly. Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Andorra, Jersey, Gibraltar, Isle of Mann, Cayman Islands, and ALL the other jurisdictions have agreed to enter, or have said they are in the process of entering, into TIEA (Tax Information Exchange Agreements) This concept involves signing cookie cutter treaties with 82 nations in the OECD (Office of Economic Cooperation and Development). This is not just affecting the USA. Even before the treaty was signed, in mid-June 2009, Hong Kong had its police issue a warning declaring that placing money in banks to avoid taxes is a criminal action. This is very serious, unlike anything ever seen during past crackdowns. As a matter of fact the OECD now considers all countries and jurisdictions cooperative. See for yourself:

List of Uncooperative Tax Havens

What Happens When A Country Signs the New Tax Treaty – The banks will then become diligent in watching for newly closed accounts and large sums being removed because these banks have a good chance of becoming insolvent as capital diminishes. Plus, the bank workers do want to keep their jobs for as long as possible. What you can expect to see is what is going on in Hong Kong. Basically, account closures and sudden removals of large amounts of money will be looked upon as suspicious transactions and the accounts will be frozen pending an investigation to see if the person is closing account or removing funds for tax evasion. This means court cases will be piling up in these countries as clients sue to get their money out. These investigations keep the funds in the bank and the process can easily take one or two years to resolve. The idea here is to not wait until the law goes through; by then it’s too late. Move your money out now before it becomes a suspicious transaction. Do not close the bank account. Just leave a very small balance there and wait for the bank to close it for inactivity or low balance. There is no chance for any of the smaller jurisdictions to continue not sharing the information for taxes based only on suspicion. If they do not comply they will be driven out of global banking. They are not talking about the privacy invasion. They are not saying that if some government gets your banking information it can wind up in a court file or in the public domain and then you are exposed to all. The governments do not care about you and your bank secrecy.


Bank Failures in the Tax Havens – This is inevitable. When the treaties are signed there is going to be capital flight. People will mistakenly think other jurisdictions are safer. They will resort to trust account banking. They will buy and hold gold, real estate etc. They will do other thing with their money but out of the banks a lot of the money is going. This can push the offshore tax haven banks into insolvency easily As soon as one depositor demands his money and the bank does not give it to them in a reasonable amount of time (few days maximum) that person has the right to file a complaint with the banking superintendent and push the bank into liquidation. Liquidation is where the banks assets are sold and a proportionate amount of the assets are paid to each depositor. Usually the recovered amount is less than 50%, 30% would be a good liquidation. Worst I remember is nothing, a big Latvia Bank went some years ago and the recovery was 2%. Liquidations are very scary. The lawyers and accountants bilk as much money as they can out of these. People that have loans with the bank settle these loans out for 1/10th or less, because they know the liquidation needs money fast. During the liquidation it becomes apparent that some of the banks loans have no real collateral worth anything. The amount of money spent in legal fees to find this out can be massive. The real estate owned by the bank gets sold for a lot under its fair market value. In a word it is a royal fleecing of the depositors under cover of law. There are liquidation lawyers and accountants who get rich off of these liquidations. Disgusting really when you watch them unfold professionally. __________________

Richard

Have you been to Phuket? Which area are you thinking about living in?

My understanding about businesses there is that you'll need a Thai partner. I do know that the laws are skewed towards the Thais and that you must be very careful. You'll need to contact a lawyer in Bangkok and you'll find some good ones there.

Phuket is very pretty but spread out. Patong is the biggest beach area and I imagine that's where you'll find some schools. Bear in mind though that Thailand is not East Asia, they'll slap names on things, such as Montessori and it won't be the real thing. You should go there for a vacation and check it out if you already haven't.

A better family area is Hua Hin which is about 2 hours south of Bangkok. I went there last summer to check it out for myself. While not as pretty as Phuket, it's better suited for families. Many expats working in Bangkok keep their families there and the upper class Thais also favor this area. There are a number of private schools, great hospitals, lots of beaches (though not as nice as the islands) and a train to Bangkok. If we move to Thailand (which we've been discussing for the past two years) it will be to Hua Hin.

Someone mentioned Penang. Georgetown is very nice. Malaysia seems to have their shit together more than Thailand when it comes to things like education and businesses. In my opinion Thailand is a nicer place to be because they're Buddhists while the Malaysians are predominantly Muslim. But Penang is worth checking out.

Though I am a bit biased towards Australia, have you considered Perth?

It is a bit of an isolated city if you want to travel locally, but it is great for families, offers great time zone for trading London and Europe session, fantastic private schools, good beaches etc.

Cheers,
K.

I was always under the impression that it is a little difficult to immigrate to Australia.
Is there truth to that or can most anyone with some means of support be allowed residence?