DoChenRollingBearing
Yellow Jacket
The time has come for me to bring up this subject that I often comment on with some of my "virtual (email) friends" and even real friends in a case or two.
I would be interested to hear from our community here their thoughts about which country or countries would be good candidates to go to before TSHTF. Obviously, timing would be tricky, of course it would, I'll stipulate that! I also realize that this would unrealistic for many, including for financial reasons.
Since I am laying down the marker, I'll go first. I would NOT leave the USA unless it looked like things were about to get VERY BAD (timing again). There are LOTS of things about the USA I really like. The two scenarios (that would make me bail) that I have thought about the most are:
1) a disaster say three times the scale of a Fukushima that would put the USA in actual peril. Or a really scary war that might develop, say after Israel were to attack Iran and China & Russia step in. So, this type of scenario would be one that perhaps could be "timed" so as not to leave permanently too soon...
2) a looming massive tax hike that would affect me very badly. Or looming capital controls. Organized class warfare (yeah, buddy Owebama, I'm thinking of you). This type of scenario would push me out if it looked like there was a high probability that our family's wealth and liberty would be in peril. This might include hyperinflation.
OK, so let's say the time has come to act. Where would WE (my wife and I, perhaps our young adult kid) go? In my case there is one obvious candidate, even with the political risks (very real, keep reading). And that would be PERU.
My case is different than almost all of yours. We have an "infrastructure" already there (a bearing import company that we own, friendly in-laws, I speak Spanish, we have been there many times, assets already there (all legal, hey, any .gov spies want to come by and chat about it, that's OK with me, our friendly IRS knows it all) and so on). I do recognize Peru does have its BIG RISKS, including a brand new Lefty President who looks to be a Chavez clone.
Were it not for our Peruvian connections, I would be looking at (and might anyway):
-- Costa Rica
-- Panama
-- Uruguay
-- Chile
-- Singapore
I now list some countries NOT on my list:
-- European countries (I'll discuss why in a moment)
-- East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Russia, etc.
-- Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, etc. (dangerous or irresponsible LatAm countries)
I would not choose Europe as it is likely to be in even worse shape than the USA when things get bad. I don't like the weather there. We have Mexican immigrants here, Europe has MUSLIM immigrants. Europe also seems to have a higher risk of dictatorial governments. And higher taxes (deal breaker, sorry Europe).
The rest of the world (ex. Singapore) is out because of ethnic considerations, I do not speak the language, too poor and alien, etc.
I hope that I have stirred something up here! I am interested in your views on this topic!
I would be interested to hear from our community here their thoughts about which country or countries would be good candidates to go to before TSHTF. Obviously, timing would be tricky, of course it would, I'll stipulate that! I also realize that this would unrealistic for many, including for financial reasons.
Since I am laying down the marker, I'll go first. I would NOT leave the USA unless it looked like things were about to get VERY BAD (timing again). There are LOTS of things about the USA I really like. The two scenarios (that would make me bail) that I have thought about the most are:
1) a disaster say three times the scale of a Fukushima that would put the USA in actual peril. Or a really scary war that might develop, say after Israel were to attack Iran and China & Russia step in. So, this type of scenario would be one that perhaps could be "timed" so as not to leave permanently too soon...
2) a looming massive tax hike that would affect me very badly. Or looming capital controls. Organized class warfare (yeah, buddy Owebama, I'm thinking of you). This type of scenario would push me out if it looked like there was a high probability that our family's wealth and liberty would be in peril. This might include hyperinflation.
OK, so let's say the time has come to act. Where would WE (my wife and I, perhaps our young adult kid) go? In my case there is one obvious candidate, even with the political risks (very real, keep reading). And that would be PERU.
My case is different than almost all of yours. We have an "infrastructure" already there (a bearing import company that we own, friendly in-laws, I speak Spanish, we have been there many times, assets already there (all legal, hey, any .gov spies want to come by and chat about it, that's OK with me, our friendly IRS knows it all) and so on). I do recognize Peru does have its BIG RISKS, including a brand new Lefty President who looks to be a Chavez clone.
Were it not for our Peruvian connections, I would be looking at (and might anyway):
-- Costa Rica
-- Panama
-- Uruguay
-- Chile
-- Singapore
I now list some countries NOT on my list:
-- European countries (I'll discuss why in a moment)
-- East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Russia, etc.
-- Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, etc. (dangerous or irresponsible LatAm countries)
I would not choose Europe as it is likely to be in even worse shape than the USA when things get bad. I don't like the weather there. We have Mexican immigrants here, Europe has MUSLIM immigrants. Europe also seems to have a higher risk of dictatorial governments. And higher taxes (deal breaker, sorry Europe).
The rest of the world (ex. Singapore) is out because of ethnic considerations, I do not speak the language, too poor and alien, etc.
I hope that I have stirred something up here! I am interested in your views on this topic!