Plan B: Backup Strategies for Expat Living Abroad

A couple relax on a balcony above whitewashed houses and the sea, the life the Spain non-lucrative visa is built for

Plan B

The Spanish Retirement Visa Asks for Income, Not Savings

I have filed more than a thousand Spanish residence applications a year, and almost all of them are for Americans, Britons, Canadians and Australians. That volume is not a boast.…

Sun loungers beside a villa infinity pool above the sea: the life the retirement savings gap seems to rule out, and living abroad can put back in reach

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Investment

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Saving is great. But if we start now, can we really save enough to live well in our old age? The numbers below argue that for most people, the honest…

Stacks of gold coins under a percent sign against a rising market chart: the financial footing banking diversification protects

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Plan B

The Hidden Weakness in Most Plan B Strategies: Banking Concentration

In recent years, the idea of having a “Plan B” has moved decisively into the mainstream. What was once viewed as the preserve of the exceptionally wealthy is now discussed…

A turquoise mountain reservoir under a bright blue sky, ringed by autumn hillsides.

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Second Citizenship

Why Some of the Best Second Residencies Are in Countries You Would Never Retire To

Here is a question that quietly separates the people who understand second residencies from the people who are still shopping for a holiday. If someone offered you legal residency in…

Aerial view of Kendwa beach on Zanzibar’s northwest coast, with dhow boats moored in shallow turquoise water

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Zanzibar

Why Kendwa Is Becoming Zanzibar’s Most Desirable Address

Kendwa has spent years being known primarily for its beach, which is understandable when the beach in question is one of the best in Zanzibar. The sand is extraordinarily soft,…

Modern residential homes beside a canal in a quiet property market

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Plan B

The Property Markets That Are Still Early and Why the Window Is Closing

The pattern has repeated itself across enough European markets over the past twenty years that it now has a recognisable shape. A country sits at the edge of the EU’s…

Stacked one kilogram fine gold bullion bars

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Investment

Gold Is on Sale. The World Needs It More Than Ever

Gold’s recent fall looks dramatic in isolation, but against a century of monetary expansion and currency debasement, it tells a very different story. …and needed more than ever. That is…

New York City skyline representing US financial and lifestyle ties

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Plan B

What Renouncing Your Citizenship Actually Costs and Why Most People Who Understand It Choose a Different Path

Renunciation of US citizenship is the subject of more online discussion and less precise information than almost any other topic in the Plan B conversation. It is simultaneously overhyped as…

An empty Caribbean shoreline, the region where most citizenship by investment programs operate.

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Citizenship by Investment

What a Second Passport Actually Buys You

Most people who eventually look into citizenship by investment are not trying to leave anywhere. They are trying to stop being entirely dependent on one government’s decisions about their taxes,…

A mature teak plantation of the kind sold under the Panama reforestation visa and similar forestry residency programs

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Investment

Can a Grove of Trees Secure a Plan-B Second Residency?

There’s a particular kind of investor who has stopped asking “where should I put my money” and started asking “where should I be allowed to live.” For that person, a…