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May 18, 2013 - Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux
16:00
2384 Expatriation Made Easy: An Interview with Macarena Rose

Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio, discusses expatriation with Macarena Rose at Global Escape Hatch 2013.

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Time Text
I'm not even going to make a Macarena joke.
I'm like, because there's nothing I could come up with that you've not heard before.
Hey, Macarena.
Yes, I get that.
I'm here with Macarena.
She runs Expatriate Radio.
And what's the name of the radio show?
The radio show is International Real Estate Talk, where we're helping people look for property abroad and know what they need to know before they go.
Okay.
And the other one is Belize Talk Radio, which is obviously belief-specific.
Right.
Now, because I know when I travel with my wife, everywhere we go, We are drawn like, you know, flies to bug zappers.
It's not the best metaphor, but we want to go and see, you know, for sale.
Oh, maybe we could live here.
Maybe we could stay here.
And I think a lot of people have that experience, especially in February, March, if you come from a colder climate.
Very true.
And, of course, most people think, you know, well, Florida.
I know Florida.
Certainly, Canada, that's the destination that's kind of typical.
And the real estate is there is good, but it gets kind of complicated to own property in the U.S. these days.
You know, my accountant says, eh, IRS is getting kind of aggressive.
And it's, you know, not that we wouldn't want to do anything illegal, but it does seem to be quite complicated.
And my feeling is there's got to be easier ways to own property other than just defaulting to warmer climates in the U.S. So, what are your thoughts on that?
I agree with that because even if you're coming from abroad and you're buying property in the United States, there's a certain amount of time that you can live there and you can actually use the property.
Whereas if you go to Central America and there's other islands and places that you can go to, you can be there free.
People don't think of it like the Philippines and there's lots of areas like Greece that are good buying markets right now.
They are, it's a fact.
And you get the lovely smoke of the austerity protests to lighten up your sunset.
I hear it makes them quite beautiful and bright and shiny.
That would make it very entertaining, directly, right?
But there are some certain places that you can actually buy very well right now.
And those are the places that are trying to attract people that are looking to retire, the baby boomers, and people that need to do something different.
And quite frankly, we deal with people every day that are coming from the North Americas that cannot afford to retire where they live.
And that's a pity.
That's horrific for people to have worked their whole life and not have enough money to retire where they live.
Or they're just terrified of the healthcare system.
I mean, there's that aspect as well.
I mean, I come from Canada, so there are times when I would just love to be able to go pay a doctor to take care of me rather than, oh, I'll take a number, I'll wait, you know.
I mean, I don't care.
I'm in my 40s.
It doesn't really matter.
But when I get older, I'm...
But, you know, it does matter.
I have family in Regina, you know, in the Saskatchewan area.
You know, it is difficult because you do want to just...
They will come to the United States.
My father is an internal medicine doctor in Washington, D.C. They'll come to, you know, come and have a drink with him and hang out and have dinner and ask him questions because they can't get into their doctor.
And it shouldn't be that way.
But even in the North Americas or in the United States, people can't afford...
To go to the doctor.
You know, a week-long stay in the hospital is over $100,000.
So if you don't have insurance, how do you pay for that?
Well, you can't.
You can't.
I mean, I think half of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are medically related, right?
That's very true.
So the whole world, let's say your whole world is your oyster, where do you recommend people look and why?
I mean, I know it's a shifting, you know, this is March 2013, so by the end of March it might be different, you know, maybe volcanoes have opened up where you recommend, and I don't know, but...
That's very appropriate.
But where now do you think is interesting to look at and why?
When we counsel people, I actually work with them to find out what their scenario is.
Because many people are looking for somewhere, they don't want to learn a new language.
English is their first language.
Well then obviously a place like Belize or even the Philippines, the third largest country in the world that speaks English.
I'm sorry, what now?
The Philippines is actually the third largest country in the world that speaks English.
Is that right?
Yes.
Is that phenomenal?
I am.
It's just amazing to me.
You know, I love doing interviews where I feel retarded.
So far, we're three for three.
Oh, dear Lorda!
The things that I just had no idea about.
And you are like the philosopher and my hero.
I specialize in everything else.
So that really makes me feel just touched and fascinated.
That's great.
You know, and I speak Spanish fluently.
It's my first language.
Ah, okay.
And then I speak English.
I'm still working on the English, and it's, you know, I'm still working on that.
But anyhow.
Well, let's not switch to Spanish.
So we'll defer to your English.
You don't speak Spanish.
Okay, so the fourth thing.
We won't do Spanish.
Maybe the dance.
But those things are important because it's highly, highly underrated to try and learn a new language if you're in your 40s as I am.
I've been in Belize for nine years, and for me to learn Creole, which is a local language that we have, it's very difficult.
I actually on my radio show teach people how to, the last 15 minutes, how to speak Creole, and I'm still struggling with it.
I have someone teach us.
But anyhow, so places that they don't have to learn a language is very intriguing to people.
Especially if there is a medical emergency or something, or you get in trouble with the authorities, you don't want to be struggling with the second language, of course.
That's very true.
And the other thing is, for quality of life and intimacy of connections, When you speak the same language, you already have a synchronicity.
Friendships are so much easier to develop.
It is.
And you're not then automatically an outsider.
So there are places like Belize that do draw people because of that.
There's many reasons why Panama's a brilliant choice in selection for people.
There's a great retirement program.
There's incentives there.
Okay, what's their retirement program?
Well, their retirement program, they actually can give you residency.
And you don't have to come in with a whole hunk of money, which is very strong for people.
Or jump in and out and...
Yes, you don't have to pop in and out.
Like in Belize, you have to live there for a year.
Many people don't want to go and live, forgive me, in Belize you have a qualified retire plan, which you can do without having to live there, you know, for right away.
But if you're doing residency and citizenship, you have to live in the country for a year and then do the citizenship program, which is three more years.
So there's a lot of hoops to go through.
Not difficult, but Panama's one of the easiest.
Costa Rica's attractive also.
The people that are looking at Costa Rica, though, they are looking for more communities.
They want developments and they want to be in areas with other expatriates.
In Belize, we don't have that because you can live anywhere because everyone speaks the same language.
You're already amongst people that are like you in many ways.
And again, the Philippines was a very interesting one that's been very busy with expatriation, so who would know, right?
And I do find that many people, I spoke about the retirement reason of why they expatriate because they can't afford to live where they are and retire.
Medical tourism is becoming a very large thing now.
And if they can get their same treatment or heart surgery for one-fifth or one-sixth of the money that they would abroad, where they came from, expatriation is looking very good to people.
And I also think, I mean, a lot of the people that I know are younger.
And what they're saying is, especially people who know something about Austrian economics or libertarianism, they're looking at this growing semi-fascistic behemoth of the U.S. and other Western countries and saying, Do I really want to start a career here when I simply know for a fact that services mathematically are going to be reduced, taxes are going to be increased, debt is going to go up, opportunities are going to decline, and just going to be constant social upheaval.
And so they're looking to say, okay, if I'm going to start my life, where do I want to start my life?
And so there's some people who are very interested in doing that who are, I mean, most of the people I know who are looking at expat are in their 20s or 30s, early 30s.
And isn't that a phenomenal figure?
Because even 10 years ago or 9 years ago when I was helping people look to where they were going to expatriate, they were in their 40s to like 60 range.
And it is much younger.
I've been blessed to do four HGTV International House Hunters TV shows as a realtor, which is really fun.
I'm getting ready to do my fifth.
You'll have the breaking news now in two weeks.
So now you know the breaking news.
But the thing is, the last show that I did was a couple from Canada, and they're in their very early 30s, and they expatriated and opened a biological center here.
And not biological, they're doing anything bad.
They're taking students in to teach them the environment and studies and things like that.
And then the other one is the fifth house center that we're going to do is actually a couple that is 28 and 27.
Coming in from North America, from the United States.
So, you know, there is much more of this, that people are wanting to start their life now, not because they can't retire or afford to, but because they want to start, where there's actual opportunity.
And it's very difficult to start, you know, I've started four different companies in the United States, and it takes a lot of chuspa.
It does take, you know, finances, of course, but it takes extreme amount of chuspa.
And when you go out of that box, and you can do it, For less money and not so much regulation and difficulties, it's a lot easier to do.
And a lot of people want to be their own boss.
Well, yeah, and you combine that particularly, you know, north of the 48th parallel with icy fist of winter closing around your brain for four or five months of the year, and it starts to become a little bit more attractive.
I mean, I don't think there's enough security guards at the airport to get me back in that airplane on Monday, but we'll see.
Now, what are the challenges of...
Getting into real estate and getting, I mean, because it's one thing I know in Canada, you can leave for six months of the year and maintain your citizenship.
And Canada's a pretty nice country weather-wise for six months of the year.
It's pretty nice.
That's true.
So do you think people, I mean, obviously most people would like to dip their toe.
Do you think that they should just do a grand tour and figure out which one they like the best?
What's the best way to pick where you want to go and what are the challenges of owning real estate in other countries?
Yeah.
I actually really do stress for people to find an expert that can help them.
And not because I'm a certified international property specialist, but I'm one of only 12 people in the world allowed to teach the course for National Association of Realtors.
So in that I've taught and I've instructed people.
So there's one expert in something in this video?
This is going to be confusing to people because they're used to my amateur opinions.
I'm sorry.
I didn't know somebody knew what they were talking about.
It's just totally breaking the show format.
I'm so sorry.
I know.
But it's important.
It's important to know that someone actually has integrity and cares about your best case scenario.
Well, it's one of the biggest decisions you're ever going to make.
Where are you going to settle?
Where are you going to invest?
I mean, you take advisors on, I don't know, little bits of financial information, taxes and so on, but this is your entire community, your entire life.
Very important.
And I've actually helped people talk themselves out of certain areas because it wasn't the best fit for them.
Financially, the structure wasn't working.
It would not have been a good scenario for them to raise their children there.
They would have a long quarantine for their animals for whatever reason.
And every place you go, you love at first.
Absolutely.
So you go there and you go and rent.
Of course I do international estate.
I help people also find rentals because they may be just absolutely in love with the island of Ambergis Cay where we are, which is fabulous, but I do ask them to also come and see inland where the ruins are and the rivers and see if they're going to live in Belize what the whole scenario is like.
I have clients that I'm working with right now that are in Manila, and I've actually put them in two different rentals in two different areas for them to decide where they're going to be.
Because you really don't know, because I'm like you, you go somewhere, of course you love it, you see the glass is half full, it's beautiful, I can live here, these people are wonderful.
But living there is a different thing.
And when you ask opinions from 30 different people, you get 30 different opinions.
So if you have an expert as someone that's actually compassionate and cares about the best case scenario for you, it matters.
So I ask people to seek them out and find an expert in their field that's going to actually help them.
And an actual sanctioned realtor is always a good choice.
Right, so I mean you need a realtor, obviously you need somebody, a lawyer to help you with immigration questions and issues.
What are the other hidden costs, problems, pitfalls that you see with people escaping their particular tax farm to a new one?
Yes, so they need to know the tax liabilities and tax implications from where they were coming from and where they're coming to.
Right, because in the U.S., of course, you get taxed in your worldwide income, if I remember rightly so.
And if you're going to be earning income outside the United States, you need to know that there's a threshold for that.
But there's a sort of parameter that you must meet of how many days that you live abroad.
And is it a single couple, married couple?
These are all very important questions to ask.
And obviously, we have a team of people, and you know quite a few of them actually yourself, that we actually will source people to go and ask the questions because we know they're vetted.
We know they're going to give the right information.
And that matters because, like you said, it's people's money.
It's their money.
And we deal with a lot of people that if they spend $100,000, that's what they have.
So you can't, you know, I think I did explain it before.
One of my favorite sayings is do not leave your brain at the border.
Don't leave your brain at the border.
You would ask a doctor medical advice and you're going to spend money with whatever they tell you to do or to take care of yourself.
Do the same when you're buying international real estate and do it right the first time.
Right, right.
And so people want to get in touch with you.
How can they best do that?
Well, my name's Macarena.
It's actually my name.
I was born with my name, Macarena Rose.
And they can Google me.
I'm easy to find on the internet.
Or MacarenaRose.com.
MacarenaRose.com.
And you're staying through to the end of Sunday?
I am.
And you live right here?
I actually live in San Ignacio, which is where the ruins are, inland.
Ah, okay.
And for those, yeah, I mean, Belize, I actually was here about 11 years ago.
I just came for a scuba.
Oh, of course.
And loved it.
It's a little different.
I've come here with my daughter now, so it's a little bit of a different experience.
And she's lovely.
She's great.
She's still getting used to snorkeling and all that.
And so for people who are coming to Belize, they can obviously come and have a sit down with you and have a coffee and talk about things.
Mm-hmm.
But of course, your expertise goes all over, right?
Or you have reached to the experts who have expertise all over.
I really do, in many different countries.
And the reason, well, either I've taught them, and they're in the different countries, or I already have resources there, which is very powerful, to just know that you can pick up the phone and meet somebody that, when you land in that country, is going to care about you, not trying to sell you.
Big difference.
Big difference, because they have to be willing to stand up to you and go, this isn't the right choice for you.
And, you know, have you considered this?
So that's very important.
I mean, I think, you know, certainly in my experience, I mean, if you're going to expatriate, it's a big, big choice.
And you really don't want to get it wrong.
It's a lifestyle choice.
Because then you've gone and you've invested and you've got to extricate yourself and move and all that kind of stuff.
And also, you know, it's like, it's a service you're probably only going to use hopefully once in your life.
And because of that, you have to really check the reputation and yours, of course, seems very good.
So...
Go talk to her if you want to jet ski out of some frozen tundra.
And I don't blame you one bit.
Skype is a great way to communicate because I can actually see people.
I do a lot of podcasts that they can actually talk to me.
And that's nice because then you know one-on-one someone's caring for you or they're authentic or not.
Yeah, so don't listen to the condo salesman.
Don't listen to your own.
Dear God, I finally got some vitamin D sunscreen.
Sunburn, you know, that's going to give you some sense of that.
You know, talk to people who've really got the experience with it, get the legal issues nailed down, figure out where you're coming from, because getting out is as important as getting in, in terms of legality.
And, you know, talk to the experts, and if there was, if we can visualize the foreign real estate industry as a giant squid, she would be the brain.
Wow.
Isn't that beautiful?
Where do you come up with these things?
Either heaven or hell.
I'm not sure where they come from.
I think inspiration comes from the word inspiritus, which is in Latin, in spirit.
So seriously, when you come up with those wow, aha moments, you're completely guided.
So good for you.
Well, thank you very much for your time.
I appreciate it.
Absolute honor.
Thank you.
Pleasure to meet you.
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