Best Entrepreneur-Friendly Places in the World for an Outdoorsy Lifestyle

[MTF]

@FreeMan, thanks for sharing your experience. If you're getting a good deal for such high taxes then I guess it's not that bad when compared to a much less developed and stable country with bleak future prospects charging the same taxes but not offering much in benefits. I could probably feel okay paying higher taxes in exchange for great infrastructure, good healthcare system, safety, etc., though 45% is still extremely high. One can probably get almost the same things for half the price (or less) in other places in the world. The question is if one can get the same lifestyle, though.

As for Malaysia, I think I could possibly live in the tropics (in a more developed country like Malaysia, though, not Ecuador) as long as there's a long dry season and a short wet season (I could simply leave the country during this period). If humidity is high the entire year, then not really.

One more place on my list (but only to spend winters there) is Morocco (around Agadir). Anyone has experience with it?

 

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[Frosting]

They call it the 'tall poppy syndrome' here. But I find living here not sad at all. I live in Sydney and there's a fair bit of wealth around here (expensive properties, high income earners) and I haven't heard of people in convertibles being spat on. I don't have a flash car so I don't first hand experience about this.


Yeah, taxes are very high compared to other parts of the world. Though there are some pretty good accountants and lawyers who can help you set things up to keep as much as possible.


Affordability of property is a big issue here. I know many people who commute 1.5 hours to live in a more affordable location. Some of them work remotely so its not such a big deal making the trip into the city once or twice a week. The beaches are usually nicer and less crowded further out from the city centre, so its probably preferable since you can work from anywhere.

I don't want this to sound like an ad, but after coming back from some overseas trips (recently to Asian countries), I feel pretty lucky living here. It's safe, clean, politically stable (little corruption, free speech), spacious. You can have a pretty good lifestyle especially if you like being outdoors. That is probably why most people are pretty comfortable and don't have huge entrepreneurial aspirations as there is also social support like unemployment benefits, aged pension and medical. And if you don't live in a major city (with its high property prices), I think you can live relatively affordably.


Yeah, I lived there for a couple of years and the crowds aren't for me. Fun place to live if you have loads of cash.


Malaysia is pretty humid year round (tropical). It used to be difficult to get money out of there (cap on amounts transferred out of the country), but not sure about now. And some locals we spoke to on our travels complained about the political corruption.

I just wanted to agree with pretty much everything @FreeMan said here. I don't want to jinx it, but I feel lucky to live here despite the high taxes and property prices. And, I second the idea of a good tax accountant

Here in Melbourne, flash cars can lead to issues, but I'm not one for cars. And while expensive, "nice" neighborhoods can be seriously nice

 

[Leigh Farrell]

They call it the 'tall poppy syndrome' here. But I find living here not sad at all. I live in Sydney and there's a fair bit of wealth around here (expensive properties, high income earners) and I haven't heard of people in convertibles being spat on. I don't have a flash car so I don't first hand experience about this.


Yeah, taxes are very high compared to other parts of the world. Though there are some pretty good accountants and lawyers who can help you set things up to keep as much as possible.


Affordability of property is a big issue here. I know many people who commute 1.5 hours to live in a more affordable location. Some of them work remotely so its not such a big deal making the trip into the city once or twice a week. The beaches are usually nicer and less crowded further out from the city centre, so its probably preferable since you can work from anywhere.

I don't want this to sound like an ad, but after coming back from some overseas trips (recently to Asian countries), I feel pretty lucky living here. It's safe, clean, politically stable (little corruption, free speech), spacious. You can have a pretty good lifestyle especially if you like being outdoors. That is probably why most people are pretty comfortable and don't have huge entrepreneurial aspirations as there is also social support like unemployment benefits, aged pension and medical. And if you don't live in a major city (with its high property prices), I think you can live relatively affordably.


Yeah, I lived there for a couple of years and the crowds aren't for me. Fun place to live if you have loads of cash.


Malaysia is pretty humid year round (tropical). It used to be difficult to get money out of there (cap on amounts transferred out of the country), but not sure about now. And some locals we spoke to on our travels complained about the political corruption.

I live in Adelaide. Sydney and Queensland seem to have a lot more money (more wealthy people) than anywhere else in Australia so they're probably more entrepreneur friendly.

 

[Azure]

Are you opposed to Georgia, or any of the Balkan(Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Croatia) countries? I know Georgia has an attractive tax package(very entrepreneurial friendly), decent internet and close to outdoorsy stuff.

 

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[MTF]

Are you opposed to Georgia, or any of the Balkan(Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Croatia) countries? I know Georgia has an attractive tax package(very entrepreneurial friendly), decent internet and close to outdoorsy stuff.

The problem is that all of those places can get cold in the winter (or there can even be snow which I hate with a passion).

 

[Azure]

God damn you are picky lol.

Tbilsi avg 7-11 in January. Not sure if it frequently snows though.

To expand on CapeTown, its not *as* dangerous as the statistics make it out to be. Much of the crime occurs in the poorer suburbs around Cape Flats, but the two cities are merged for statistical purposes, which drives the crime rate of Cape Town way up. The disparity in crime between the two areas I have seen listed as high as 95% of crime originating in the Flats, making Cape Town proper relatively safe, even compared to much of Europe. Obviously, precautions still need to be taken. Be vigilant, don't walk around decked in gold chains at 3 am, etc.

 

[MTF]

God damn you are picky lol.

Tbilsi avg 7-11 in January. Not sure if it frequently snows though.

Haha I'm picky because it's not a huge improvement for me to move from a place with averages in winter around zero degrees Celsius to a place with 7 degrees in winter. It's still too cold to do anything fun outside so I might as well stay where I live.

It has to be a big improvement to make up for all the sacrifices. I've learned a lot from the responses so far and hope that others interested in the topic did too.I'm aware that no place is perfect. Ultimately it's possible that the best choice will be to split my time between two places as few places in the world are perfect year-round.

To expand on CapeTown, its not *as* dangerous as the statistics make it out to be. Much of the crime occurs in the poorer suburbs around Cape Flats, but the two cities are merged for statistical purposes, which drives the crime rate of Cape Town way up. The disparity in crime between the two areas I have seen listed as high as 95% of crime originating in the Flats, making Cape Town proper relatively safe, even compared to much of Europe. Obviously, precautions still need to be taken. Be vigilant, don't walk around decked in gold chains at 3 am, etc.

Interesting, that's good to know.

 

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[Dan_Fastlane]

ok i really think i got something for you, what about URUGUAY? Nicknamed the Suisse of south america

• Firstly, those who decide to spend more than 183 days per year in Uruguay (thus, becoming tax residents) will have a five-year window during which they will not pay income tax on any type of foreign income.
  
  The five-year window starts running the year after one became a tax resident in Uruguay.
  
  So, for example, if you become a tax resident in January 2013, you will not pay any income tax in Uruguay, on any type of foreign income, until 2019.
  
  
• After the five years are up, if you are still a tax resident of Uruguay, then you would pay a 12% income tax on two types of foreign income: interest and dividends. Any other type of income is untaxed: capital gains, pensions or retirement income, lease income, etc.

Weather: anual average of temperature = 17°

HIGH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: 5 ranking spot from the the very high category in Human Development Index.

Infrastructure:
Infrastructure in Uruguay is First World and first rate across the nation. In Uruguay you’ll enjoy fast, modern highways, reliable phone, cell, and broadband Internet service, well-maintained beaches and good public facilities, a public radio system, and drinkable water from every tap. You won’t find a town in which this isn’t true. You’ll even enjoy the use of free Wi-Fi on buses and in town squares in cities. And it looks its a safe country with moderate crime rates.

 

[MTF]

@Vanderbilt, thank you. Actually I have Uruguay on my list but I forgot to mention it. It might be a pretty nice place. The only thing that's missing are high mountains but that's not a must-have. I'll probably visit it within the next year or so.

I was also thinking about Argentine when it gets its shit together which might finally happen with the new government.

 

[Dan_Fastlane]

@Vanderbilt, thank you. Actually I have Uruguay on my list but I forgot to mention it. It might be a pretty nice place. The only thing that's missing are high mountains but that's not a must-have. I'll probably visit it within the next year or so.

I was also thinking about Argentine when it gets its shit together which might finally happen with the new government.

Argentine, i know people who lived there for over 10 years and they came back because the crime rates got worser than ever... they told me really bad storys but maybe they just had no luck...

 

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[Dan_Fastlane]

did you find something now @MTF ?

 

[MTF]

Thanks for asking, @Vanderbilt. I visited a lot of places since my last post in this thread (including some I mentioned in my original post) and covered them in another thread, in this post: OFF-TOPIC - What Countries and Places Offer the Best Life Quality?

The thing with the "entrepreneur-friendly" part is that usually if a country is nice lifestyle-wise, it has high taxes. For example, I enjoyed Australia a lot, but taxes there (and costs of living as well) are extremely high. Same with Spain (though as far as I know there are currently some possible options to reduce taxes) and even with the US. Maybe I'm spoiled because I only pay 19% in taxes so most countries will have higher taxes.

I'm yet to visit a few other places on my list, including:

• New Zealand - it's too cold for me in winter but in addition to Australia, it could be a great place to spend northern hemisphere winters.
• Portugal - there are some incentives for entrepreneurs moving there, but I don't think it would be such a good place for year-round living (relatively cold and damp winters).
• (perhaps) certain Caribbean countries/territories like Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Aruba - but this would be another part-time option, not a place to live year-round. Some of them are very, very entrepreneur-friendly (no taxes), but I wouldn't be able to live on a small island year-round.
  
• other Canary Islands - Canary Islands currently seem like my best option because they're close to mainland Europe, have pretty good weather, and a lot of outdoorsy stuff to do. I primarily want to visit Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura.

Do you have any other suggestions or experiences to share, @Vanderbilt?

 

[Dan_Fastlane]

Hey @MTF if you want to avoid high Taxes, then maybe you can find a high tax country that has no CFC(Controlled Foreign Corporation) rules? That means they dont tax your foreign company? Do you know what i mean?

I was researching a bit about this topic lately, I live in Germany so there is no chance of having a foreign company to minimize Tax. But the neighbour country Austria has easy CFC Rules and in Combination, with a Cyprus Organisation/LLC you dont pay any taxes while living in Austria. Well you have running costs of the Cyprus setup like 10k a year, but thats nothing compared to high tax.

Iam not yet at the income lvl from online business to go abroad but looking forward, i literally hoped you found a great place i can follow one day

 

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[MTF]

Even in a country with easy CFC rules it's not that easy to have your business incorporated in one country and live in another country, particularly if it's a one-man operation. It's hard to optimize your taxes safely and legally unless you want to live in a tax haven or be semi-nomadic.

 

[RazorCut]

Haha I'm picky because it's not a huge improvement for me to move from a place with averages in winter around zero degrees Celsius to a place with 7 degrees in winter. It's still too cold to do anything fun outside so I might as well stay where I live.

Where are you living now?

How about Mercury? Hot all year round and no taxes. I've heard that flights are expensive and infrequent however.

it's not that easy to have your business incorporated in one country and live in another country, particularly if it's a one-man operation

Nothing stopping you being a limited company as a one man operation. It is also not that difficult to incorporate overseas if you have an expert on hand to guide or do it for you.

You could of course split your time between 2-3 destinations and pay no tax at all. That way you also get the benefits of each location during the season you prefer to stay there. As you are picky and nothing seems to be perfect 365 days a year it seems a sensible solution.

Obviously this doesn't seem to appeal. What are you reasons for discounting it?

 

[MTF]

@RazorCut, because I mostly make money from royalties from the US I have a complex tax situation.

If I were to incorporate in a zero-tax country, I'd still have to pay 30% tax to the IRS because of tax withholding on royalties. When I'm incorporated in a country that has a treaty with the US, there's a reduced tax rate, but then I still have to pay local taxes (but at least I can deduct from the local taxes the amount that the IRS took from me).

In both cases, I end up paying taxes on my income from royalties, but in the second case I can actually optimize it more. Also, my current set-up is extremely simple and I value it a lot.

All in all, I'd rather pay higher taxes and live in a wealthier, more developed country, so in the end that's probably what will happen. For now, I'm still searching and learning - each trip helps me better clarify my vision.

 

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