Any American Ex-Pats here? We are heavily considering...

[htwoopup]

For Martin and his OP question, the above comments by @j44ke and @Chik are not to be taken lightly even if you do not come across « taking » of assets. As an example, I bought my house in Quebec before I was married to a Canadian. Now that we are married, there were various things that we « should » do from an estate planning basis and one of those things was changing the ownership of the house and land from just me to my wife and I together. However, the mechanics of an American owning property in Quebec and then transferring it to a Canadian and then also keeping an ownership interest in it were just far more complex (and notaire/lawyer cost) than they « should » have been to my American way of thinking...even if I was just selling it to her outright for money. Again, its not like Canada/US is so esoteric so makes sure that you check all kinds of financial interest regulations not only in buying but then what will happen when you sell or transfer those interests. I would suggest, when you are doing a trial visit, you spend some time and some money on a local lawyer or whatever is used in that locality for financial matters just to run through all of the what if’s.

[72gmc]

After my post earlier about the positives I've found living in the States over abroad, one HUGE negative is TERRIBLE media: sensationalist, tabloidal, fear-mongering, and irresponsible.

You have to consider the source at all times, including the Seattle Times--which has been owned by one family for multiple generations and comes in for its share of criticism for mixing business with news, and letting its owners' politics seep into the content. At the risk of sounding like a liberal news hound, some protection of the use of the word "news" would help in this country.

OP: Good on ya. I've got a lot of things tying me to where I live, but living abroad is a persistent dream of mine.

[ides1056]

Read Bruce Chatwin. Start to finish.

I left California in 1979 to go to college in New England. I still feel like an ex-pat.

[Chik]

Yes. My wife's work involved privatization of one of the major banks, tunneling of assets by a major investment house, and illegal sale of a famous Czech brewery through lightning fast transactions that involved multiple shell companies etc. etc. etc. Plus friends & their families had buildings stolen in 1938, 1949, etc. etc. etc. So we're familiar with the irregularities of the irregularities. Ever read Utz by Bruce Chatwin?

No, but the protagonist's predicament does remind me of one or two people. :)

[Chik]

For Martin and his OP question, the above comments by @j44ke and @Chik are not to be taken lightly even if you do not come across « taking » of assets. As an example, I bought my house in Quebec before I was married to a Canadian. Now that we are married, there were various things that we « should » do from an estate planning basis and one of those things was changing the ownership of the house and land from just me to my wife and I together. However, the mechanics of an American owning property in Quebec and then transferring it to a Canadian and then also keeping an ownership interest in it were just far more complex (and notaire/lawyer cost) than they « should » have been to my American way of thinking...even if I was just selling it to her outright for money. Again, its not like Canada/US is so esoteric so makes sure that you check all kinds of financial interest regulations not only in buying but then what will happen when you sell or transfer those interests. I would suggest, when you are doing a trial visit, you spend some time and some money on a local lawyer or whatever is used in that locality for financial matters just to run through all of the what if’s.

Interesting. Would it be different if you transfer the ownership to a company, which in turn is owned by you and your wife?

[vertical_doug]

Interesting. Would it be different if you transfer the ownership to a company, which in turn is owned by you and your wife?

I think it would be a taxable event

[htwoopup]

I think it would be a taxable event

This. And the weird part is, since we got married in Quebec there are all kinds of Quebec laws about how property gets divided if you get divorced. So, from a tax standpoint, the solution would be to get divorced and then remarry which was not only absurd but illogical to me. The discussion with the lawyer and accountant was like a scene from a movie which is why I was suggesting it is the type of mundane/arcane thing to check out upfront.

[sine]

I experienced the same thing during my year in Prague and year and a half in Berlin. Everyone was shocked I'd never read Karl May (they assumed he was American). And I was always perplexed by their 100% negative and hostile feelings toward cowboys.

Karl May. Brings back an old memory. My grandparents in Mainz gave me one of his books to read during one of my summer visits to Germany, Austria & Hungary.

[vertical_doug]

This. And the weird part is, since we got married in Quebec there are all kinds of Quebec laws about how property gets divided if you get divorced. So, from a tax standpoint, the solution would be to get divorced and then remarry which was not only absurd but illogical to me. The discussion with the lawyer and accountant was like a scene from a movie which is why I was suggesting it is the type of mundane/arcane thing to check out upfront.

I think you still get hung on the divorce. The USGOV does not like assets that leave its taxable jurisdiction so someone (you or your wife) probably get hit with an exit tax on the asset.
I'd be surprised if there is a divorce allowance on taxable assets.

[Chik]

This. And the weird part is, since we got married in Quebec there are all kinds of Quebec laws about how property gets divided if you get divorced. So, from a tax standpoint, the solution would be to get divorced and then remarry which was not only absurd but illogical to me. The discussion with the lawyer and accountant was like a scene from a movie which is why I was suggesting it is the type of mundane/arcane thing to check out upfront.

Yep, that qualifies as weird.

[steve garro]

IMG_8448.JPG


I'd be gone if not for healthcare.

I've got friends who have done it, and it goes one of two ways:

You isolate yourself with other ex-pats and never fit in or figure it out and it's frustrating as hell and why is there not a home depot or costco when you need one?

or

Go with the flow, ask questions, help, be gracious, the people there actually like it the way it is.

These people usually end up with a lot of dogs and cats, too.


My take on it is that there are many places to visit, don't tie yourself down to one as rent is so cheap and then you also side step the ownership laws which are nothing like ours and if the shit hits the fan you pack it up and split

- Garro.

[j44ke]

Karl May. Brings back an old memory. My grandparents in Mainz gave me one of his books to read during one of my summer visits to Germany, Austria & Hungary.

What began as fantasy books became a fascinating and disquieting obsession, particularly when you meet a German person who will argue with you that Native Americans are ruining the purity of Native American culture and that German hobbyists are actually preserving something that Native Americans cannot do themselves.

https://www.dw.com/en/why-germany-ca...lem/a-52546068

When I lived in Arizona, the Hopi and Navajo had to keep dealing with these people spying on private rituals and recording them and buying sacred objects from financially desperate members of the tribe so they could go back to Germany and perform the rituals there. Which the tribes saw as incredibly dangerous spiritually and made them incredibly angry.

[ides1056]

Never mind the bozo with the buffalo headdress on storming the Capital.

[EBH]

I experienced the same thing during my year in Prague and year and a half in Berlin. Everyone was shocked I'd never read Karl May (they assumed he was American). And I was always perplexed by their 100% negative and hostile feelings toward cowboys.

As a Scandinavian I can tell you, that it ain't like that all over Europe.

[j44ke]

As a Scandinavian I can tell you, that it ain't like that all over Europe.

Swedish Cowboys and German Indians?

[TMB]

This. And the weird part is, since we got married in Quebec there are all kinds of Quebec laws about how property gets divided if you get divorced. So, from a tax standpoint, the solution would be to get divorced and then remarry which was not only absurd but illogical to me. The discussion with the lawyer and accountant was like a scene from a movie which is why I was suggesting it is the type of mundane/arcane thing to check out upfront.

All the difference in the world when Quebec is involved. The civil code in Quebec is closer to the Napoleonic code than any relation it may bear to common law as practiced in the rest of Canada and the US.

[Dave Thompson]

All the difference in the world when Quebec is involved. The civil code in Quebec is closer to the Napoleonic code than any relation it may bear to common law as practiced in the rest of Canada and the US.

I dunno. 50 or so years ago when my dad died, I inherited some acreage in British Columbia. Shortly afterwards I received a letter grom the Canadian government telling me I had to sell the land to a Canadian or they would take it from me. Expropriation was the term used.

[GrantM]

I dunno. 50 or so years ago when my dad died, I inherited some acreage in British Columbia. Shortly afterwards I received a letter grom the Canadian government telling me I had to sell the land to a Canadian or they would take it from me. Expropriation was the term used.

A lot must have changed since then. There is so much foreign owned real estate, now it's practically illegal for Canadians to own property in BC.

Joking aside, until last year, you simply put the ownership of the land into a corporation, or trust, and there was no way
for the government to know who owned it.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real...y-real-estate/


-g

[efuentes]

Just come down to Mexico for a while, we don't even ask for a Covid test, you can find about any kind of expat experience you want here, and as long as you can tolerate corruption and inequality (And our own brand of looney president) you'll be golden. Need safe and tranquilo, go to La Paz, Loreto or Merida. Need organic wellness, go to Oaxaca or Chiapas and help on some co-op, Need work and a pseudo-manhattan vibe, go to Monterrey. Just stay away from the usual ex-pat traps. Bring a gravel bike, the back roads are not good.

Saludos

[JSL]

Having lived outside the US most of my adult life, and now keeping one foot in the US and one foot out of the US, I will add to what Ras72 offered.

Panama City is considered a "world," city with an apparently vibrant ex-pat community + amenities.

Don't read the brochure, this is not how it is. This is how it is:

1. The Honeymoon- everything is new, and life is kind of wonderful. (this period can be very short like when you find yourself in Kinshasa.)
2. Frustration- yeap, it hits you, you are not in Kansas anymore. It sucks. This can last for a while.
3. Adaption - you may get here, but that's not guaranteed. I know people who never make it here
4. Acceptance - yeap, you figured the new home and yourself out. You may get here, you may not, but when you least expect it, you find yourself back at #2 .


Now here is the best part- your significant other gets to experience this independentedly from you. You may live together, you may be married for a long time, but that does not guarantee they will experience it like you. More importantly, if you are an american woman, many places suck a lot more.

The concept of amenities is very American.

This is so right. I've lived overseas for nearly 14 years now and have been through the whole range of emotions. That said, I think the world would be a better place if we were all required to live in a foreign country at some point in our lives. It opens your eyes to so much more - you come to appreciate the good/bad in both where you came from and end up.

Wherever you go, get a good grasp of the language before you move. That will make the transition 10x easier and more likely to succeed.