Let's talk taxes (I'm not kidding). I'm not an expert on the subject. As I may have mentioned in past blogs (if I didn't, I will tell you now) one of my dreams of entrepreneurship is in the arena of being a nomad entrepreneur. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it is essentially an internet-based business endeavor that can be run from anywhere with an internet connection. Now, this is a simplistic description; there must be much more to it. But I discovered tonight through the Nomad Capitalist (http://nomadcapitalist.com/, one of my LinkedIn connections) that there are many benefits to being a nomad businessperson. For starters (and for the sake of this blog, in conclusion) there are many tax benefits, depending upon where you decide to base your business. Like I said, I am no tax expert. My tax return should take me 15 minutes to do on Turbotax, but last year it took me 3 hours (this may have been because I was about to shut down the plant I was running in Connecticut, to move to upstate NY-aka, Canada-and the wine was flowing as my attention span deteriorated). This year I went to H&R Block, paid the $275, and hit a pothole, blew a tire, wrecked my bearings, and did $800 damage to my car. Anyway, my point is that my forte is not in the tax arena. But some recent events got me thinking, and drew me to this subject.
As I stated, I want to be a nomad entrepreneur. Very romantic idea. In one of my earlier blogs (https://theperpetualwantrapreneur.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=saLx90cBAAA.3lYHRxF_CvooyeGa3FvcCA.tiiCqnwLSFzOrF9SfECGUw&postId=6319805919763263002&type=POST), I've decided to stay put for the time being here in upstate NY. I want to continue to generate a good income from my present position as I continue to pursue the dream of entrepreneurship. When I'm ready, I will jump in. But where to? The world is our oyster; but is it? Where would you want to live, if you made the choice?
We started looking for home this past weekend. With a 7 month old baby who continues to eat, crawl, and grow, it was time to dip our toes into the real estate market. And it was sobering. We are in sub-arctic Canada (it's really cold up here). You would hope that real estate is cheaper, relative to say, the tri-state area of NYC, New Jersey, and Connecticut. And it is. But taxes are outrageous! How much do we really have to pay in property tax to justify a child's education? It's ludicrous. Regardless of your mortgage amount and how long it takes to pay it off (many of us take on 30 year mortgages), you will continue to pay PROPERTY TAXES. And in our area, we are looking at 9-10K/per year, minimum. Surrounding suburbia around here is even higher, in the 12K range/year. And property taxes don't usually fall; they continue to climb, year after year. So essentially, you may eventually own your home (when your 60+, provided you bought your home at 30), but think about those taxes! Over that period, you may end up paying 200-300K in property taxes! So, you may own your home, but you are paying rent to the local authorities FOR ETERNITY. You might as well keep renting until you can buy a house in say, Fiji, where there are no property taxes. Or Croatia. Or Malta. Or Liechtenstein. Or Israel. Not to mention the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, where there is no income tax. Now, stating all of this may be controversial. This is a hot button topic, politically. But the rich have known about these havens for a very long time. Do you want to think like the rich, in the knowledge that you will soon be one of them with a successful business, or do you want to whine about how the rich aren't taxed enough? I'm not financially rich, but I plan to be. Don't you? Isn't that possibly one of the reasons why you are reading this and so many other blogs, geared at ramping you up for success? I'll be damned if I piss my money away. I've done enough of that. So, in my dream scenario, I launch while still employed by my employer, ramp up, and jump in, leaving my employer for good. Then get out of Dodge. And save MY money for MY own personal use. I don't want to rent a house, or the land that it sits on (Hungary fits this bill very nicely). Just to reel it back in a bit, this is my vision. Not everyone wants to live the nomadic life (most of us probably don't). But regardless of what opinion you hold, this is valuable information. There are choices, if you dream a little bigger, outside of your little box (I live in this box, and sometimes it is very comfy). We all work hard for our money. Whatever you decide, don't piss it away.
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