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Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

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Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#281

Post by 1996 »

josephg wrote: post #259
1996 wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since covid, talking to my friends in the USA about Australia feels like punching down. Funny, talking to my friends in Asia (to which I consider Australia/NZ to be a part of) it feels the exact same way! I can tell them how I go anywhere without wearing a mask, some people make snide remarks but that's it - while they have to declare their address in restaurants, and face all kind of restrictions like not being ab…

> face all kind of restrictions I’m not going to lie, it’s been tough sometimes. Masks are no big deal. It’s the occasional city wide lockdowns have been the worst. But the USA has just shy of 500 000 deaths. (There are 440k men/430k women in SF, if that gives you a sense of the scale of the tragedy). We only had 909 deaths in Australia. Maybe to you those deaths were worth it so you didn’t have to wear masks? That’s…

> Maybe to you those deaths were worth it so you didn’t have to wear masks? That’s horrific, and I don’t know how to respond to that. I suppose we are different

Yes, we are different, because they are fully acceptable to me. Even 2x, 3x or 10x more. Even if I was at risk myself. Freedom is not negotiable.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#282

Post by vecinu »

disabled wrote: post #268
vecinu wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting you say that, I last decided to skip US citizenship due to the fact that the IRS will haunt you for taxes (Double tax treaties, foreign tax credits yeah yeah but it's a hassle) and as mentioned in other replies, being a "US Person" is such a hassle for opening foreign bank or brokerage accounts. I value the point of citizenship and passports but getting the US one seems to be shooting yourself in the…

> It's interesting you say that, I last decided to skip US citizenship due to the fact that the IRS will haunt you for taxes (Double tax treaties, foreign tax credits yeah yeah but it's a hassle) and as mentioned in other replies, being a "US Person" is such a hassle for opening foreign bank or brokerage accounts. Sorry, but this is not true at all. I was being dead serious about suggesting that you might as well nat…

> You are already liable for US taxes for at least the next 10 years abroad, from the date you have been judicially determined to have abandoned your green card.

So I can't find this mentioned anywhere in your link or online. That's the first I hear of it, do you have a source?

There is an expatriation tax if you've been a GC holder for 8 out of 15 years, which I haven't been so I'm fine to leave without any hassles of worrying about taxes.

I don't see the point in US citizenship, I have 2 other strong citizenships that cover all of my needs, unless I decide to stay in the US.

It looks like I don't want to stay in the US long enough to make citizenship worth it, right now.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#283

Post by vecinu »

cko wrote: post #278
vecinu wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In many ways, Romania is like the US This made me chuckle, I often compare California to Romania (since I know both places well) and can contrast the corruption, money waste, terrible infrastructure and inequality in a way that friends / family that moved from Romania can't agree with. They always paint Romania as a third world *hole that's incomparable to the US/Canada or other "civilized" countries. I follow the…

Based on my experience of New Jersey vs Romania, healthcare and consumerism options are the major differences. For healthcare I'd just plan to go to Poland for serious care. As for consumerism, you can't beat the US for Amazon Prime, craigslist, or ebay (my personal favorite). The only thing that's cheaper here in Cluj is housing. Food is slightly cheaper depending on category, but many things are more expensive. Inc…

Yeah you can't beat the US for consumerism. If you love things and have money to burn, it's great. I got into a ton of expensive hobbies and I also use CL/eBay/FB Marketplace to score great deals and pass on good deals to others.

Hard to plan to go to Poland for serious care if you have a life threatening emergency. If Romania figures out its healthcare problem, it could be a serious contender for me to live in, in the future.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#284

Post by blackbear_ »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #256
blackbear_ wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry I wasn't clear, my partner is an IT consultant in a large firm and there you can earn 90k or more in senior positions (say five years in). I get 55k as a PhD student and this is mandated by law, but you can get less if you don't have teaching duties.

What exactly does an IT consultant do, vs let's say, a SW developer?

It's project work with different clients. Each project lasts for 3 to 9 months and you are involved in many stages, from defining requirements and expectations at the beginning, to developing and possibly deploying a solution, to presenting the work done to stakeholders at the client's. After a project is done you either negotiate an extension of the project or leave maintenance to the client and leave to start a new thing.

So there is much more focus on soft skills, such as leaving a good impression, properly selling your work so that the client is happy, securing future collaborations with them, and so on. And, on the flip side, hard technical skills are not that important: as long as you can produce something that works in a reasonable time and sell it well you will be fine.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#285

Post by blackbear_ »

vecinu wrote: post #251
blackbear_ wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you need another data point, my partner and I only pay about 25% of our combined after-tax salary in rent, living in a "major German city" (both employed in STEM). Factor in an additional 10/15% for living costs and we are left with significant disposable income, in my eyes.

Do you foresee being able to purchase a home in the next 10-15 years? I think the problem with renting for a long time (I'm a renter, my wealth is growing in other investments) is assets are inflating in value, housing is becoming more and more expensive. If you can't buy now, with "significant disposable income", will you be able to buy later? That is, if you care for home ownership at all. FAANG/SV engineers could…

As whole houses sell for 1 or 2 million euros that seems a bit of a stretch, maybe possible in a longer time span and a good career in management (we are both early stage). But smaller 60 square meters apartments sell for about 500k and are well within reach with two salaries in my opinion.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#286

Post by Dracophoenix »

samus wrote: post #123
nyokodo wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it doesn’t. Although, the oath does place limits on the exercise of any foreign citizenship. For instance a Brit who is a naturalized US Citizenship can’t run for Parliament because it would require them to give an oath of loyalty to the Queen.

There are fun workarounds around that oath. But the point is true in general: as a Member of Parliament, one must put priority to their duty to the country they represent. One might ask whether MPs with sole citizenship perform well in that regard, but it is quite easier to raise doubts in case of MP with additional citizenships.

How did Boris Johnson get around that, I wonder?

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#287

Post by Dma54rhs »

pii wrote: post #276
Dma54rhs wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just like white/male privilege in America that is made up by people who like to blame others for their failures in life. Tons of victim complex in America.

It does exist, it's just not the shape most people think it is. Older generations had different demographics, and white men are still in power from those generations... in no small part because they were the ones who were in the majority. There remains a bit of blindness to the problems of non-white non-male persons among the 'ruling elites'... But these same cohort of leaders were pursuing a program of diversity, in…

But I'm not even an American? :)

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#288

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

blackbear_ wrote: post #284
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly does an IT consultant do, vs let's say, a SW developer?

It's project work with different clients. Each project lasts for 3 to 9 months and you are involved in many stages, from defining requirements and expectations at the beginning, to developing and possibly deploying a solution, to presenting the work done to stakeholders at the client's. After a project is done you either negotiate an extension of the project or leave maintenance to the client and leave to start a new…

Any idea what credentials or background you need to become such an IT consultant?

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#289

Post by mikhailfranco »

kingosticks wrote: post #185
Scoundreller wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of expats have gotten more US stimulus cheques than they’ve paid in US taxes. But it doesn’t make up for the dozens of hours of paperwork and careful tip-toeing on investments and other garbage. Just an FYI: one hiccup I heard of giving up your US citizenship is that banks didn’t recognize you could be born in USA but not a US citizen.

> Just an FYI: one hiccup I heard of giving up your US citizenship is that banks didn’t recognize you could be born in USA but not a US citizen. I had this issue just last month with a UK financial institution (Raisin). I tried to explain it but they obviously were not interested. I actually still have my citizenship (I'd love to renounce but that's currently impossible) but I felt it was worth pointing out their pol…

Their responsibilities under FINCEN/FATCA are not prove anything, but just have suspicion or some reason to think you might be a "US Person" (not just US citizen, but US resident, or various other special situations).

Of course, the US claims to extra-territorial jurisdiction, and bullying of global financial institutions to enforce their crazy inter-planetary tax system, are totally preposterous.

Elon - renounce before blast-off!

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#290

Post by hospes »

maximente wrote: post #274
blunte wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you get for your US tax money is absolutely not worth having that passport if you have another good passport. I would give that one up (and likely will once I get my second).

like anything in life, there are tradeoffs. the US passport is great because it allows easy employment access to US tech companies, who pay absurd amounts of money; if you live outside the US for at least 330 days, you aren't taxed federally on the first $105K or so. this allows one to, for example, work 20-30 hrs/week while paying zero federal income taxes to take home around $105K. compare that to NYC: you'd need a…

> US passport is great because it allows easy employment access to US tech companies, who pay absurd amounts of money;

US companies don't pay absurd amounts of money, companies in other countries are the once that don't pay enough. Look at how much wealth tech industry has generated (and still is) for the US companies and the US economy, I think they should pay even more.

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