There Is A Trend to Expatriate America - A Word From an Expat.
More and More Leave America
and they are not looking back.
Moving to a Free Country
The number of expats, like myself, has been on the rise since 1998 based on IRS data. The chart below shows data going back to 1998 with a sharp increase since Obama took office in 2008. Record number of Americans are renouncing their US citizenship but for what reason?
I moved away back in 2000 when the U.S. government was spending over 70% of their total tax revenue on interest. Soon the interest on the national debt would eat up every tax dollar. The future did not look very good for the United States when I left, but five years later, the interest rates started to drop causing solvency to set in. Now interest rates have been at near zero percent for well over ten years.
I run into many people who are moving from the U.S. here in the capital of Argentina. At first, it was mostly retirees who came down to save on daily expenses, with ridiculously cheap groceries, free health care, awesome public transportation, and other benefits, they are able to live well within their means despite being on a fixed income, and even have money left at the end of the month.
my kids
Today I am meeting younger, working age people, and they are here to work remotely, start businesses or buy property. But, I am not getting a homogeneous reason for leaving when talking to them. Without a clear motivation, still the number of published expatriates has risen dramatically, setting a new all-time quarterly and annual record by comparison. The number of expatriates for 2016 reflects a 26% increase over 2015 and a 58% increase over 2014 . There are now 5,411 new tax payers on the books, or should I say "off the books" - again, this was all before Trump took office.
That said, not everyone is burning their passports. I have kept mine thus far and have paid taxes in both countries over the last seventeen years. I came here to see if Buenos Aires would be livable for me, and as you can see, my kids are proof positive that it is. I am here, thriving and happy. What do you say? Why are people giving up their citizenship, and what would it take for you to sacrifice yours? Think about it!
I invite you to upvote and comment :)
Interestingly enough, I'm a Danish citizen, living in the USA... still on my Danish passport. I have been here for a couple of decades and feel pretty "established," but we might move again... the political and social climate is making me feel somewhat anxious, these days.
I had been renting out my apartment for about eight years and most who rented were Danish, Dutch, German, and American. Twenty percent of the renters who came to Argentina to vacation ended up staying. The most difficult part is leaning the language.
Argentina and Chile have both looked interesting to me, for some years... since I lived in Spain from ages 13 to 20 the language doesn't scare me so much; I can't imagine "Castilian" Spanish is that different from South American Spanish.
Most here will tell you they speak "Castillano" rather than Spanish. The same is true for nearby Uruguay. The main differences are:
I attend Portuguese classes with an American who moved to Portugal recently.
It seems Portugal is also quite high on US expats lists when the look to move out of the US
True! Many Americans that moved here gained work giving English conversation classes. All you need is a starbucks and an English book for beginners. I made pretty good money doing that for a few years.