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| Index
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| Expat Living
- How One Physician-Entrepreneur “Retired” Offshore and Built a Second
Career |
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| (Dr. William Campbell
Douglass has led a colorful, rebellious, and crusading life. Not many physicians
would dare put their professional reputations on the line as many times
as this courageous healer has. He may be considered radical in some of
his thinking but he has been called “the conscience of modern medicine,”
a ‘medical maverick,’ and has been voted “Doctor of the Year” by the National
Health Federation. His medical experiences are far reaching—battling malaria
in Central America, fighting deadly epidemics at his own health clinic
in Africa, flying with U.S. Navy crews as a flight surgeon and working
for 10 years in emergency medicine in the U.S. |
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| These learning experiences,
not to mention his keen storytelling ability and wit, make Dr. Douglass’
newsletters and books uniquely interesting and fun to read. And they’ve
led to great success—for instance, Dr. Douglass’ Real Health Breakthroughs
newsletter, now with more than 100,000 subscribers, is one of the largest
circulation “alternative medicine” publications in the world. |
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| Yet, there is another
side to Bill Douglass—a globetrotting expatriate who has lived in nearly
a dozen countries and, after a decade outside the United States, decided
to settle in Panama, one of The Sovereign Society’s top-rated jurisdictions
for tax-advantaged residency. We caught up with Bill on June 14th and interviewed
him from his spacious ocean-view Panama City penthouse.) |
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| TSI: One of the
questions our readers ask us most is what could motivate someone to leave
the United States and live in another country. What led to your decision
to leave the United States? |
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| Douglass: I retired from
practicing medicine 10 years ago, and left the United States, because I
was fed up with the government. I couldn’t practice the “unconventional”
medicine I espouse without risking penalties, jail and confiscation of
everything I owned. It was a good decision, too—it’s gotten so bad now
that a U.S. doctor can be jailed if he prescribes too many painkillers
to a patient in agonizing pain suffering from terminal cancer. I’m now
devoting myself full-time to medical research and writing. |
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| Not long after I retired, I decided
to see if there were other places to live that offered more freedom, and
less “big brother,” than the United States. I spent a year in St. Petersburg,
Russia, doing research on “light therapy,” a cheap and effective technology
for treating infections that’s been brutally suppressed in the United States.
I also lived in Finland, Spain and Turkey before arriving two years ago
in Panama. |
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| TSI: What made you decide
to live in Panama? |
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| Douglass: With the Internet
and e-mail, given the fact that I’m a full-time writer, I can live just
about anywhere. And Panama is the nicest offshore destination I’ve seen
so far. |
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| I was here many years ago when the
United States still controlled the Panama Canal and was impressed enough
that I decided to give it a second look. When I did, I decided to apply
for pensionado status, which is a program the Panamanian government has
in place to attract self-supporting retirees. You only need to demonstrate
an income of US$500/month, which is enough to live on here. You can import
your household goods free of tax and even bring in a new car every two
years, tax-free. If you have income of $2,000/month or more, you can live
like a king. |
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The
Sovereign Society, headquartered in Waterford, Ireland, was founded in
1998 to provide proven legal strategies for individuals to protect their
wealth and privacy, lower their taxes and to help improve their personal
freedom and liberty.
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The
Society's highly qualified contacts recommend only carefully chosen banks
and investment advisors as well as financial and legal professionals located
in select tax and asset haven jurisdictions around the world. The Society
provides advice concerning the establishement and operation of offshore
bank accounts, asset protection trusts, international business corporations
(IBCs), private foundations, second citizenships and foreign residency,
as well as practical safeguards for financial, Internet and personal privacy.
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The
Sovereign Society stands alone in fulfilling this singular, international
offshore service role for its members. To learn more about our organization
and how you too can become a member, Click the link below:
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Yes,
learn what it is that the Sovereign Society can do for you. The Sovereign
Society's highly qualified Council of Experts, consist of carefully chosen
professionals located in select tax and asset havens around the world.
Their experts have spent their careers discovering the best global investments,
the safest tax havens and the most secure devices in which to protect your
assets.
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Access
to The Sovereign Society’s Council of Experts is one of the most-cherished
benefits of Sovereign Society members. Their global network of banks, investment
specialists, financial consultants, and legal professionals have proven
themselves, over many years, and to thousands of Sovereign Society members,
as being the best in the business.
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Earning
money requires effort. Protecting
it after
you've earned it requires finding those
who have
the right knowledge & experience
in the
field of asset protection. If you're not
an expert at
it you need someone who is. |
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| TSI: Where in Panama do you
live? |
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| Douglass: I live
with my wife in a fifth-floor penthouse in Panama City, the capital and
largest city. It’s about 4,000 square feet of living space, more than 100
years old, and costs me US$400/month. |
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| TSI: That’s a real bargain.
Did you use a real estate agent to find it? |
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| Douglass: No,
I found it on my own. I tried to use agents to find a property, but unlike
the United States, there is no “multiple listing service” here. Each agent
only can show you the properties that he or she has on contract. |
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| You can look at a lot
more properties by just driving around the neighborhoods you’re interested
in living in and making inquiries if you see a para alquileror (for rent)
or para venta (for sale) sign. I also learned that sometimes places are
available where there isn’t even a sign posted, and that’s how I found
my penthouse. |
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| TSI: Without
using an agent, were you able to speak enough Spanish to make contact with
property owners? |
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| Douglass: Unfortunately,
I don’t speak Spanish very well—although since I’m living here now, I’m
trying to learn more. Instead, I hired a local Panamanian man to drive
me around Panama City to look for property. This wasn’t expensive—I paid
him US$2/hour, which is the standard wage here. Every time I saw a property
that looked interesting, we would stop and I’d ask him to contact whoever
was offering it to make inquiries. |
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| One day we drove by a beautiful
old Spanish colonial villa, five stories high, nestled in between some
of the highest skyscrapers in Panama City. It was hard to believe this
architectural gem hadn’t been torn down, but it wasn’t, and for me, it
was love at first sight. There weren’t any signs indicating that there
were any apartments available, though, so I asked my driver to find out
if there might be an unpublicized vacancy. In typical Panamanian fashion,
he argued against it, but I insisted, and when he returned, he told me
there was one apartment available on the first floor. |
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| After making contact with the owner,
I found out that there was also a vacancy for a huge penthouse apartment
on the fifth floor. While it’s very old, it didn’t need any major renovations,
and at only US$400, it was a real bargain. It’s really spacious, centrally
located and (very important in hot and humid Panama City), it’s air-conditioned. |
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| TSI: How do you like living
in Panama City? |
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| Douglass: I like it more
than anywhere else I’ve lived outside the United States. Like anywhere
else, it’s not perfect and you have the same deterioration of legal and
social morality that you have almost everywhere else in the world (but
particularly in the United States). There’s crime here, but I’ve never
felt threatened. There are just certain parts of the city that you should
avoid, especially at night. |
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| One of the best aspects of Panama,
at least for me, is that you can obtain a high-speed Internet connection
for about what you would pay in the United States. I pay US$155/month for
two 1024 kbps connections, which are absolutely essential for my work.
Also, I use e-mail in place of postal mail even for local correspondence.
The local mail service isn’t reliable and you have to wait for hours in
line to do things as routine as paying your electric bill, or hire someone
to wait for you. Fortunately, this is beginning to improve. |
| Another aspect I like is that you
don’t feel that you’re continually being snooped on. The only exception
is if you’re politically active locally—which I’m not. People mind their
own business and the government doesn’t have enough money to spy on everyone
all the time, like in the United States. And you can fly just about anywhere
in the world without having to even enter the United States. This is important
for people who, for whatever reason, would prefer to not have all their
travel details, credit card information, and God-knows-what-else entering
into the U.S. government’s “homeland security” computer system. |
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| One thing that is different, though,
is that cash transactions are carefully monitored—but not because of the
war on drugs or terrorism. It’s because counterfeit U.S. currency of very
high quality, apparently produced by the drug mafias in neighboring Colombia,
is common. If you pay for anything with a $100 bill, for instance, you’ll
have to present identification and the serial number of the bill, along
with your contact details, which will be recorded in a logbook. |
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| TSI: Do you have any employees
in your publishing business? |
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Douglass: No,
and that’s the way I like it. My publisher takes care of marketing, fulfillment,
etc., so all I need to do is write.
From what I’ve seen, setting up
in business here is difficult, especially for a foreigner. There’s a fairly
antagonistic attitude between labor and management. And local workers can
be lazy, childish and often dishonest. There are exceptions, of course,
but you have to fire a lot of people to find the right employee. |
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| Another problem is that once you
hire someone, you’re responsible for that person, in some cases, for life.
For instance, if you hire a woman who becomes pregnant, who is then injured
on-the-job, you (the employer) are responsible for paying all the expenses
relating to her giving birth. If she is permanently disabled, you may even
have to pay for the child’s upbringing until he or she is an adult. |
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| There’s also constant
government interference in business here, which I had enough of when I
was practicing medicine in the United States. So, I try to avoid as much
of that as possible. |
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| TSI: Are you a Panamanian
citizen? Why or why not? |
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| Douglass: No,
it’s difficult for a foreigner to obtain Panamanian citizenship. While
I think the United States is a lost cause, both politically and morally,
I’m still a U.S. citizen. |
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| TSI: Looking back, what do
you think were your best—and worst—experiences as an expat? |
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| Douglass: Most
of my experiences offshore have been positive, with the best ones in Panama.
I’ve had a tremendous increase in my quality of life and personal freedom
here, particularly in comparison to the United States. The one experience
that wasn’t that much fun was living in Instanbul, Turkey. It wasn’t the
Turks’ fault that I didn’t like their country; it was just that the culture
and the environment were so different that I just didn’t enjoy anything
except the view from my apartment, which was beautiful. |
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| TSI: Is there
anything else you’d like to mention? |
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| Douglass: Panama is a mixed
bag but, overall, I think I made a wise choice by coming here. It’s a beautiful
country that can offer any type of world you want. If you want city life,
bustling Panama City offers excellent amenities, including wonderful restaurants.
If you like the ocean, you can live on the Caribbean or Pacific beaches,
both beautiful. And the mountains are only 40 minutes away by car—I have
a vacation home on property overlooking Panama City that looks like Hawaii.
Adding the pluses and the minuses, Panama is a definite plus. |
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| TSI: How can Sovereign Society
members learn more about your work? |
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| Douglass: They can learn
about my newsletter, Real Health Breakthroughs at http://www.realhealthnews.com. |
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| Index
of Sovereign Society Articles |
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