WORLD ESCAPE HATCHES

[This is my talk at the Financial Plan B Workshop in St. Louis on December 9^th.] 

With our country under assault from the Fascist Left and a president who hates America, many of you are considering locating an "escape hatch" somewhere in the world until we regain our freedom.  What guidelines are there in determining what places are right for you?

One place to start researching places to live overseas is the Index of Economic Freedom (IEF) compiled by the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation.  The web address is: heritage.org/index.

Although economic freedom and political freedom are most often connected and deeply so, they are not the same.  For example, the IEF lists Hong Kong as the most economically free place on earth, Number One of the list of 179 countries (#179 at the very bottom is North Korea, no surprise).  But as a Special Autonomous Region of the Communist Red China, no one would rank Hong Kong’s political freedom as anywhere commensurate with its economic freedom.

Indexes of political freedom are, however, far less trustworthy than the IEF.  The best is that compiled by Freedom House at freedomhouse.org.  Yet there is no comparative listing or ranking of countries.  Countries are lumped together as either Free, Partly Free, or Not Free and further lumped together in four or five gradations within each category.

So there is no ranking in political freedom for the 192 countries listed, 1 through 192, plus various territories like Puerto Rico or Hong Kong in addition.  Further, placement of countries within Freedom House’s free-to-not free gradations are often absurd.  Colombia barely ranks above Venezuela by one gradation of Partly Free, while Venezuela is listed higher in political freedom than Singapore!

One useful combination of economic and political freedom is the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) compiled by Transparency International at transparency.org.  This ranks 180 countries in terms of how corrupt a country’s government is.  Venezuela, for example ranks 162 on the CPI, one of the most corrupt places on the planet (#180 is Somalia; North Korea is not ranked) – and is 172 on the IEF, one of the least economically free countries as well.

Singapore, on the other hand, is Number 2 behind only Hong Kong on the IEF, and Number 3 on the CPI, the least corrupt country in the world behind New Zealand and Denmark, Number 5 and 8 respectively on the IEF.

Then there are the "Quality of Life" indexes.  Some of you may be familiar with that put out by International Living at internationalliving.com.  It ranks 194 countries around the world "where you could live cheaper, pay less tax, enjoy better weather, take advantage of opportunities in emerging markets…places where you could start a new life, start a business, retire."  Any such index that lists France at the top, Number 1 on its list, is not to be trusted.

Further, the IL list always seems to rank high those countries in which it is pushing investments, like Ecuador and Nicaragua, both run by Communists.  You’d be crazy to live in a country run by Reds.  Yet both are in IL’s Top Ten Retirement Havens.

Even further, the full IL list compiled according to rankings in such categories as Cost of Living, Leisure & Culture, Climate, Risk & Safety, and Freedom awards dozens of countries – including France, the US, Lithuania, and Chavez-allied Dominica – perfect scores of 100% in both Risk & Safety and Freedom.

Yet other such "quality of life" indexes are even goofier.  Who can trust the United Nations Human Development Index, for example, that ranks Turkmenistan (#109), one of the most oppressive dictatorships in the world, higher than Honduras (#112)?  Then again, who could trust the United Nations on anything…

Thus the bottom line is that choosing a place in the world for a second home, a retirement haven, a bolthole until Hurricane Obama passes by and America becomes safe to live in again under a President Palin – this is a personal decision which you have to decide for yourself according to your own priorities.  Compilations of statistics and data can only help you get started as an initial guide.

You can compile your own stats.  For example, create a ranking of countries based on 1) economic freedom from the IEF;  2) freedom from corruption based on the CPI;  3) cost of living based on the IL list (extracted from the Mercer survey which is reliable but requires an expensive subscription); and 4) climate, the climate you prefer (the IL list is not reliable here: it lists France’s climate (86% good) as better than Tahiti’s (57%)!!).

Based on this, let’s take a quick world tour of a number of promising candidates, then you can ask me about anyplace in the world you’d like to know about.  Let’s start with Canada.

Of course, the weather sucks – unless you’re in Vancouver, Vancouver Island, or the Okanagan Valley in British Colombia.  The cost of living is about the same in as in the US, except the Canadian dollar is rapidly appreciating against our ruined currency.  Canada ranks #7 in the world on the IEF and #8 on the CPI, extremely high.

Plus of course, it’s right next door, everyone except the crazy Quebecois speaks English, and it’s one of the safest, most civilized places going.  So Canada, especially British Colombia, might rank high on your list.

How about the Caribbean?  Probably the best place for amenities and quality of life is the Barbados.  But even though its IEF/CPI rankings are very good at 22 & 20, and the weather is fabulous, the cost of living and taxes are crushingly high.  You might pick a place like St. Kitts for getting citizenship easily, but as for living there, you better like scuba diving or turning your skin into leather for there’s not much else to do.

It’s like that for most of the Caribbean.  St. Lucia, however, might be an exception, as it ranks high on the IEF/CPI and is getting better due to its new pro-freedom, pro-business government led by Stephenson King.

With Central America, you know my favorite is Honduras, particularly the island of Roatan.  The new government of Porfiro Lobo is going to make Honduras a very friendly place for business and investment.  Roatan is an amazingly cool place to live, and is a short direct flight to Houston and Atlanta.  Property is getting expensive, though, so the next place ready to take off is currently undeveloped Guanaja just to the east of Roatan.

I’m much less fond of Costa Rica than I was.  Too expensive, too many rules, increasingly unfriendly.

Panama, on the other hand, has a lot going for it if you can handle a climate more steam-bathy than Miami.  The climate is much better in such expat retreats like Boquete up in the mountains, but that’s a six hour drive to the airport.  The new government of self-made billionaire Ricardo Martinelli is going to rocket the economy.

In South America, the two places to consider are Chile and Uruguay.  There’s a climate for everyone in Chile’s 3,000 mile length, and it’s ranked high on IEF/CPI.  But let’s wait to see if Sebastian Piñera is elected president (the election is this Sunday, 12/13, but may require a runoff next month) to see if Chile has a truly pro-business/pro-freedom future.

Last week, Uruguay elected a 74 year-old former Marxist guerrilla, Jose Mujica, as its president.  Yet he campaigned on keeping the pro-business policies of the previous government which had earned IEF/CPI rankings of 38 & 25 in the world.  The cost of living is low and the quality of life is high, with a wonderful climate.  Again, let’s wait to see how Mujica keeps his promise.

In Europe, one main consideration is a country your family may have immigrated from.  If so, you have roots, relatives, and possibly a path to dual citizenship.  I also include Israel in Europe for it is a European country and part of Western Civilization.  If you’re Jewish, then dual citizenship there is a laydown, and it’s a wonderful place to live if you can handle the risk factors.

I’ll mention just three places in Europe for I can answer questions on others.  You read about Malta in TTP last week.  The climate is great, albeit it’s Sahara hot in the summer, when it’s also overflooded with tourist hordes.  It’s middling good on the IEF/CPI scales: 47 & 45.  Property prices are high, other costs of living are not. 

Bulgaria might be a better bet, especially with its new conservative government which should improve its current IEF/CPI rankings of 56 & 71.  The cost of living is really low and the life quality – food, wine, culture, beaches, mountains, friendly people et al – is high. 

An up and coming country is Slovakia.  It’s open for business, investment is coming in, the capital of Bratislava is captivating – and is right across the Danube from Austria, an hour’s drive from Vienna.  You get Austria and Vienna for a fraction of the cost.

All in all, unless you have an ancestral connection that you want to pursue, Europe, especially within the EU, has a cost of living that is so high it may not compensate for the quality of life – particularly when you throw the climate in. 

I’m not sure there is anyplace in Africa worth talking about.  South Africa is the most beautiful and entrancing – but so ridden with crime that it shouldn’t be under consideration.  It’s IEF/CPI rankings are 61 & 55.  Most all other African countries are at the bottom end of both scales.

Asia is the world’s largest continent and the place I think most worth considering is the tiny country of Singapore.  It’s cleaner, safer, and more modern than any city in the US, in Europe, probably in the entire world.  Cost of living is on a par with the US – but inflation won’t happen there like it will here.  All of Asia is a short inexpensive flight away.  The climate is pleasant in the winter, and summers aren’t bad – certainly nicer there than say, Atlanta or New York City in August. And everyone speaks English.

Lastly, if you handle being on the absolute opposite end of the world from the US, there are the lands of Oz and Kiwis.  Australia is #3 on the IEF, #8 on the CPI.  New Zealand is #5 and #1 – yes, #1 – respectively.  Both offer a fabulous quality of life and a decent cost of living. 

I must admit, I love Oz.  If I were to live there, I’d pick either Perth or Brisbane – and visit Adelaide often.  I’d also visit NZ a lot but I’m not quite sure about living there – for although it’s spectacularly beautiful, you can die of boredom in country with 8 times as many sheep as people.

Hopefully, these tidbits can help you get started in your search for a free place in the sun.  The world is a very, very big place and there is a vast smorgasbord of places to choose from.  There are lots of scary places in the world – but the world itself is not a scary place.  Once you get out there, you’ll find it’s pretty easy to move around in it.

The damage being done by Zero and the Democrats to America is massive.  Perhaps not irreparable, but the damage will impact our country for years to come.  Our country is becoming less free by the day.  You owe it to yourself, to your family and loved ones, to consider all your options in getting out of harm’s way.  One of those options should be an escape hatch so you and your family can safely get out of here if the Fascist Left triumphs.

So – let me answer whatever questions you may have about the world’s escape hatches.

[Note:  We had a great discussion, which was followed by a talk by TTPer Carl Sutherland who has been researching residency and dual or second citizenship requirements around the world.  His conclusion:  the quickest, easiest, and least expensive country in which to acquire dual citizenship and a second passport is currently Uruguay. 

How to acquire residency or second citizenship in Uruguay, as well as in 80 other countries, is explained in Bob Bauman’s The Passport Book, which Carl highly recommended.]