Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask YC: Where's the escape hatch? I'd like to leave the US, but to where?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 105 posts

Re: Ask YC: Where's the escape hatch? I'd like to leave the US, but to where?

#91

Post by dats »

wheels wrote: post #89
anewaccountname wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Middle East: Abu-dhabi and Dubai (most happening place, no tax, you just need to find good geeks or import it from India). If you are from the US, you can never escape paying income tax unless you plan on never returning. You can't legally renounce your citizenship.

There's an allowance for up to $70k or $80k where you avoid double taxation. I'm a US citizen with permanent residence in Germany and since my income has been below that all I have to do is fill out my return and not pay anything.

I think this only works for certain countries. It also applies only if you live outside the US for at least 330 days the first year, but those days don't have to be consecutive.

Re: Ask YC: Where's the escape hatch? I'd like to leave the US, but to where?

#93

Post by menloparkbum »

dan-kruchinin wrote: post #85
isoadventure wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very negative. Curious as to where you get your expertise. From my (admittedly limited) research, immigration for skilled workers is easy if not encouraged. Take for example, NZ, which lists hundreds of "qualified" jobs on their immigration site that will get you fast-tracked toward 2+ year documents.

Note, I didn't say that immigration is impossible. All immigrant needs is to be profitable for the country he wants to move to. If he has really good skills in a priority area and if purposed country has a lack of qualified workers in that area, he has a chance to get a work permit. In this case all depends on his skills. And it's not "pessimistic" point of view, rather it's realistic. Actually I don't know much abou…

NZ immigration policy is points based like Australia. There aren't any tests that I know of except English language tests, which are waived for native english speakers.

Re: Ask YC: Where's the escape hatch? I'd like to leave the US, but to where?

#94

Post by ssanders82 »

gm wrote: post #43

I moved the f*ck out of the US and set up a business in Mexico. I will not say what or exactly where, but my quality of life has shot straight up. Everything's cheaper, the girls are great, no Bush politics, I don't hear stories of police murde^H^H^H^H^Hacting in self-defense against normal people, and i'm a de facto super hero here for helping the economy pick up. Like someone else said: Look at what bothers you, th…

Hey, question for you: can you say approximately where are you in Mexico? I started looking at the Baja, like Cabo, but got very quickly turned off by many stories of violence/robberies against Americans.

Re: Ask YC: Where's the escape hatch? I'd like to leave the US, but to where?

#95

Post by patrocles »

John Walker from AutoCad chose Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_%28programmer%29

Any other famous ex-pats? I figure that if immigration doesn't go up, taxes will (or services go to hell)... and that will lead to more ex-pats.

Re: Ask YC: Where's the escape hatch? I'd like to leave the US, but to where?

#96

Post by delackner »

alaskamiller wrote: post #45
menloparkbum wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing about working in tech in Japan is that whereas Japanese engineers are good at making games and consumer electronics, they are not very good at typical desktop or web software. In my experience, most "software engineers" in Japan were actually Chinese... who could also speak English. Thus, it isn't that hard to get hired, even if you don't know much Japanese. It is hard to find the job in the first place, th…

There's two routes: traditional software development in big corporations where it's all Japanese university graduates or with smaller proto-startups with a bigger mix. They're not clustered in anywhere in particular. If you have contacts, give that a shot.

Living in Japan 4+ years now, I just have to say ignore recruiters unless you have a financial background. All the interesting stuff is under the radar and small companies here are desperate for creative people.

All the action is in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nagoya.

Wherever in the world that you think of moving to, by all means, take a 2-3 week vacation there first. There is no way to know you will be happy on the ground without being there for a while to experience it.

Re: Ask YC: Where's the escape hatch? I'd like to leave the US, but to where?

#97

Post by delackner »

alaskamiller wrote: post #78
isoadventure wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean "unplug from reddit" or "unplug from the news"? Because while I know doing the latter would make me feel a lot better, I wouldn't want to live in a place where I'd have to do that to feel better.

Sometimes you have to realize there are by far worse things out there. Having been in the military and seen what real fucked-up circumstances are like in other countries, I much prefer what we have in the States over anything else. And have you considered that the bickering, the analysis, the corruption, the this and that is part of the evolution of our republic and culture? That the introspection is required and Red…

To avoid broad generalizations, I will just talk about countries I have personally visited, in the last 5 years. If you think the rest of the world is more fucked-up than the US, you are incorrect.

There are much safer and cleaner, less stressful places to live in the world. A few I have seen with my own eyes are Denmark and Japan. I am sure there are others.

Re: Ask YC: Where's the escape hatch? I'd like to leave the US, but to where?

#98

Post by neilk »

isoadventure wrote: post #63
uuilly wrote: post #17

Stop reading reddit. Wait a month. See how you feel.

I don't read reddit, but I do read the news. I shouldn't have mentioned the politics stuff in my post. That confused the issue for some. The top reason for me asking is that I'm just ready for a change. I know every place has its downside, but without ever living anywhere else - how can I know for certain what is important to me?

Well, hang on. The USA is probably the most hospitable environment for business in the known universe. Not only is it harder to start businesses in most other countries, but expats face additional restrictions on business activity in most places. So if you want to start a business, stay in the USA. If you still want a change, the USA is a very diverse country, you can find all sorts of cultures just by moving a couple of states in any direction.

Challenges can also be found by giving yourself some handicaps.I knew a guy who was a moderately successful programmer, who sold all his belongings and hitchhiked across the USA.

If you want some sort of adventure that will test your sense of yourself, try someplace very different. India, Africa, China. Best handled with a buddy traveler, but they are not so hard to find.

Extreme short term, you can try Burning Man, that's on in a month and it will definitely stretch your imagination.

Re: Ask YC: Where's the escape hatch? I'd like to leave the US, but to where?

#100

Post by davidw »

neilk wrote: post #98
isoadventure wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't read reddit, but I do read the news. I shouldn't have mentioned the politics stuff in my post. That confused the issue for some. The top reason for me asking is that I'm just ready for a change. I know every place has its downside, but without ever living anywhere else - how can I know for certain what is important to me?

Well, hang on. The USA is probably the most hospitable environment for business in the known universe. Not only is it harder to start businesses in most other countries, but expats face additional restrictions on business activity in most places. So if you want to start a business, stay in the USA. If you still want a change, the USA is a very diverse country, you can find all sorts of cultures just by moving a coupl…

If he really wants a change, going to Europe might be good: way more diverse than the US in a relatively small space, and relatively "safe" (personal safety, health care, etc...). Agreed, though: "see something new" is a great reason to go abroad, but "start a company" is a great reason not to.
Post reply on HN