I was just visiting Belize 2 weeks ago. Pros: 1) They speak English 2) I asked to be shown reasonalbly priced houses and 100,000 buys a nice house there. (You can get a very nice house for 200,000-300,000). I think these are good prices (though I'm from Boston so everything looks good in comparison ) 4) I visited a section that is almost entirely Americans and I have to say I was impressed. The police patrol it better, and it is kept up nicer than the rest. (Its the section along the coast near the "smallest jail in the world" and near the 2 Catholic high schools). Know where i mean? Near the running track that Marion Jones built. Cons: 1) After spending time there and seeing so much poverty, I started to feel depressed. I'd be conserned that the depressing feeling their is hard to shake. There is so much poverty and I sensed a feeling of pervasive helplessness to change the situation. 2) It's a little too hot and humid. 3) No sand beaches except for a man made one (which isn't too bad). It wont look like a tropical paradise to your wife though if that's what she wants. Great diving though! However, I was only in Belize city and I didn't make it to the suburbs or the capital which might be nicer
Uhhu.. I disagree.. One place - Kerela.. Temp is stable, 25-30 degree through out the year. Highest education level. Nothing sort of Shiv sena there (Shiv sena is a joke anyway), trully Secular state (Chirstians, muslims and hindu all live there). Broadband is easily available and indeed cheaper than Pakistan No racism, fasism, religous problem and true natures beauty.. beahes are bonus..
http://www.bsnl.co.in/service/dataone_tariff.htm I suppose that's what you have in Kerala. $200/mo for a 2mbit connection. Other providers like Tata Indicom don't even offer anything better than 512kbps Compare that with roadrunner, 8mbit for $45 & no data transfer limits. I'd like to see you say it to them
$1000 US a week in the US will not buy as good a life as $1000 AUD a week in Australia. And the way the U.S. dollar is going every year for the next 5 years the U.S. average wage will become less and less when you compare it to Australia's.
What would a 4,100 sq. ft. house cost me there? What percentage of your income does the government suck away in taxes?
Well since housing markets are collapsing in virtually every state - along with the dollar I'm sure you'll be able to buy a 4100 sq ft house cheaper than anywhere in Australia soon. Seriously though it depends on what state you're living in Australia just like it depends on what state you're living in the U.S. Off the top of my head I can't remember the taxes thing except that the US and AUS are both a lot more than New Zealand. High quality fresh food is also a lot cheaper in New Zealand than Australia. I was talking to this guy from Australia in an Auckland supermarket and he was almost orgasmic over the NZ fruit and the lamb chops. Australia always beats the US in quality of life indexes. http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index
Recently relocated to Malta from the Virgin Islands...cost of living is very very low in comparison. Its is cold and damp in the winter. Daytime nice and mostly sunny....night is miserable. Food is good...diving etc is supposed to be good. Beaches =not here. Weather should be good 8 months/year.
Opportunity to work w. this company www.rpmnautical.org ---Best friend is one of the captains. They need some IT help with the possibility of a permenant job. Virgin Islands are IMHO the best place in the world...but only for 6 months at a time. If you dont get away frequently, you become too complacent, apathetic etc. Its fairly expensive as well, since you are constantly doing fun things. I dont know Europe that well and have spent more than my fair share of time en el Caribe. Eventually I'll settle there. But it will be either Venezuela, Puerto Rico or Cuba and not a "West Indian" island. Too much racial tension.
LMAO Rio, yeah that's a safe place. Brazil is a warzone, unless you're up north. If anyone must live in South America, Uruguay or Argentina is the best countries to live in. Safe, cheap, and and not 3rd world.
NZLand includes ALL OF THE ABOVE. Check immigration website www.immigration.govt.nz/ Though real estate prices have hiked up in recent years in cities like Auckland, many other areas are still reasonable.
Residents of New Zealand are taxed on their worldwide income. Non-residents are taxed on New Zealand-sourced income. Residents of Australia are taxed on their worldwide income. Non-residents are taxed on Australian sourced income. I wonder how you could live in NZ or AU and avoid becoming a resident? NZ has a 39% income tax and AU has a 47% income tax. Ah... here it is: You’re a New Zealand tax resident if: • you’re in New Zealand for more than 183 days in any 12-month period, or • you have an “enduring relationship†with New Zealand, or • you’re away from New Zealand in the service of the New Zealand Government. Well that's a bummer.
Easy spend 182 days in New Zealand and 182 days in Australia. Many people do this. It makes you a permanent non-resident. The "enduring relationship" thing can be a problem if you own a house in NZ, but thats easy to get around by just having a trust owns the house and you as a beneficiary.
In New Zealand internet is expensive and terrible... for a 512kb connection (which is about the max you get, often less on international websites) You'd be paying 100USD And whats worse is with that you have a 50GB data cap and you get disconnected pretty regularly. In New Zealand cellphone usage is also pretty expensive and texting/smsing is more popular then calling (by far).
Belize seems closest, to my mind, at the moment. Wikipedia has an interesting page on Tax Havens with more good suggestions.