Wealth Migration

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Funny how we have economic migrants trying to get into places to improve their lives financially and we have the rich fleeing finding places to preserve their wealth. Two opposite ends of the scale.

I find this quite fascinating to see where the millionaires are moving to and the possible reasons behind this. I know I have been working on an exit plan for a few years now on where I am going to settle next and why I am travelling to Portugal (Algarve) next month for 5 days of reconnaissance.

People are now looking for safe havens which will protect their wealth long term whether it is via property, shares, crypto or just money in the bank. Finding a stable country with tax incentives benefitting those who have money are hard to find and there are less than a handful that stand out. All the countries highlighted in green offer an incentive to move or otherwise they would not be in such demand.

It is of no surprise to see Dubai heading the list with I guess most of the selected countries offering some sort of tax benefits. If you have the money and want to hold onto it then Dubai is the place where you would choose to do your banking. Tax free and more importantly protected through their guaranteed confidentiality banking laws.

A country like Singapore offers no capital gains tax and is business friendly and is becoming known as a hub for families setting up businesses. This I did not know besides the no capital gains tax which is important if you have the funds and want to hold onto whatever investments you have.

Italy was the odd one out and I was struggling to understand what the big attraction was and the experts reckon it is the 4% duty on properties. Italy has started a residence by investment program which allows you to obtain a permanent residence permit depending on your investment. There is also a flat rate for taxes being €100K per year and by paying this fee any other external income generated outside of Italy is tax free.

Portugal I will go in ore detail once I have completed my trip as they offer a Golden Visa for property owners. This basically opens up the entire Schengen area for just buying a property. Again they have favorable tax rates and have scrapped tax on holiday property rentals so if one rented out property they would make 100% of the profit.

I saw an article on Span and ex pats the other day and how they are going to be paying more taxes in the future. I would like to possibly buy in Portugal before the prices rise even more than they already have because I do see this happening.

The countries highlighted in red like the UK (-9500), China (-15 200), Brazil (-800) and South Africa (-600) would all be for tax reasons. I know in SA there are other factors at play like crime and safety as no one likes to live like the way we have to. The economy is not looking great with the unemployment rate rising towards 60% so the wealthy are funding the masses via heavier taxation. Businesses are under more scrutiny and it is not favorable for investment with the currency depreciating steadily.

I do not think we will see vast changes to what is shown here in this wealth movement map and expect more of the same over the coming years. Places like Dubai will only expand and the property prices will sky rocket due to demand.

Posted Using INLEO