For me it's Portugal but think the best way is to have several places you can call home (i.e. Have a toothbrush waiting for you) and it's called the flag planting strategy.

One of the main purposes of Flag Theory is to weaken the grip that any one country has on you, your money, and your freedom.

Dividing your loyalties, so to speak, between two countries is one of the best ways to do this.

That is why the second citizenship or residency flag is the first one on the list of things to claim your freedom.

Every citizenship comes with rights and responsibilities. The key is to find the country that offers you the rights you’re looking for with the responsibilities you’re willing to shoulder.

You didn’t choose the responsibility of paying 40% or more in taxes to your home country. It’s likely that decision was made for you the moment you were born. But maybe you’re okay with paying 10% or 20% instead.

With Flag Theory, you can decide where to plant your citizenship flag and choose to accept the obligations that come with it. Having dual citizenship or residencies means that you’re never a slave to one country.

But let’s be clear: Is dual citizenship a get-out-of-jail-free card for paying taxes?

No.

This is especially true for US citizens. If you are a US citizen, you have to pay taxes no matter where you live and no matter how many other citizenships you acquire.

Can you keep more of your own money and lower your taxes with a second citizenship?

Yes.

But you’re always going to be a US citizen (unless you renounce, of course) and that means that you will always have US citizen reporting and tax-paying requirements.

In short, if you're a US citizen, the flag planting theory won't work as well for you as for those with other nationalities but there are still options.

Hey man, curious why portugal is the obvious choice for you? I feel the exact same way, just curious to learn your point of view as well :)

Você fala português?

Reply to this note

Please Login to reply.

Discussion

My flag 🚩 planting strategy is 🇵🇹 and 🇳🇱. Portugal is my jurisdiction of choice because of the mild winter climate and generally relaxed way of life. I live in the south, the Algarve region, and people are, for the most part, very friendly, compared to Amsterdam, where I'm originally from.

The internet is fast, much faster than in Amsterdam so ideal for the digital Nomad lifestyle and up until recently they had a very relaxed attitude towards bitcoin. In addition, the cost of living is reasonable compared to life up north although prices went up everywhere.

Food is good, much better than what we're used to in the Netherlands and for example, you can't pick a supermarket wine that doesn't taste great. In Amsterdam, most supermarket wines cost twice as much and taste like vinegar.

The coastal line here is beautiful and quite dramatic with all the cliffs, walking outside in nature is really relaxing as opposed to the stress I'm used to in Amsterdam. I really enjoy walking the dog on the beach in winter and be the only one there.

There are many more reasons but these are a few of the things that come to mind.

I don't speak Portugese yet but considering that my Portugese neighbor in Amsterdam hardly speaks any Dutch after living there for over 25 years, I figured I have plenty of time to learn, besides almost everyone speaks English too, unlike in France or Spain. 😉

I do like Amsterdam too and still spend my holidays there but my main residence is Portugal but I would not be able to live in Portugal full-time, I prefer the balance between Portugal, Amsterdam and about a month of travel every year. (the flag 🚩 planting strategy)

In the Netherlands we have a saying, that if it's good for Louis van Gaal, it's good for you too. Hard to translate and you won't get it unless you're from the Netherlands.