The numbers are in. The most affordable places to live as an expat. We're going to cover the top 10
and I'm going to tell you which are actually accessible to entrepreneurs and investors.
We do help seven and eight figure entrepreneurs, investors here at Nomad
Accomplished. One of the challenges of these cheapest places to live,
best places for expats list are often that a lot of expats are employees. They get moved
there by a company. And if you don't have a company to move you there, that country may be tougher
to go to. Qatar is one example that you see in some studies. It is not as easy to go to Qatar
as an entrepreneur or an investor, but very easy if you get a job working with Qatar Airways,
for example. And so if you are someone who is running your own show, where do you go?
So here's the headline. Vietnam is the cheapest place, the most affordable country for expats
in 2024. We're going to cover that in a moment and go through the entire top 10.
Even if you are a multi-millionaire, I'll tell you, I mean, there's something nice about not only
seeing the world transpire right before your very eyes in some of these emerging countries
like in Southeast Asia where Vietnam is. But hey, why not put more money back into your
business? Why not put more money back into your portfolio? Why not live more of the
high life at a lower price by going to a more affordable place? We see a lot of Western
clients who are saying, I can afford the prices in my Western legacy brand country,
but why am I paying them when I can get better service at the restaurant? I can get, you know,
massages in my home. I just get more service. You know, if you go to places like Latin America,
Southeast Asia, the Middle East, people have living maids. They have drivers. They have
things that are luxurious because those countries are more affordable. So this is a report from
the expat insider 2024 in conjunction with Internations. They talked to 12,000 different expats
from pretty much every country on earth. And they compile the report, which talked about
the most affordable countries in the world. Number one was Vietnam. Now, Vietnam is opening up.
It's becoming a bit easier to invest there. I think a lot of the more digital nomad types
who go to Vietnam are using visas and they're just cycling in and out on different visas.
Not as many options yet in Vietnam to live there. I was in Vietnam about a year ago. I think it's a
fascinating place. I think Hanoi is actually more interesting, despite being less of a business
hub than Ho Chi Minh City. But very interesting country. It's a place that I invest in from
afar, but a little bit harder to get into. Number two, a country we've talked about a lot. We have
our own Live Like a King video in Bogota, Colombia, number two most affordable country.
It is becoming more expensive. The world is becoming more expensive and yet very low-based
to start from in Colombia. If you look at some of the cheapest cities to live in,
cheapest cities for real estate, Bogota is pretty affordable. But then you looked at
Medellin and Cali, those are going to be really affordable. And so those secondary cities,
Medellin, obviously very well frequented by digital nomad types, Cali not so much,
the Coast not so much. Those are some of the best value places. And you can get a residence permit
in Colombia. Depending on how much time you actually want to spend living there, there are
still permits for real estate investors that are relatively affordable. If you want to buy
your own home, you can get in. There's other ways to immigrate to Colombia. That's common
in Latin America. It's easier to immigrate to Latin American countries at a lower price
than Asian countries. So that remains an option. Here's the other concern though.
It may be affordable, but Colombia does have relatively high taxes. It's some of the lowest
taxes in the OECD. That's the Western country's high tax lobbying group. So they're pretty low
among their peers. But compared to most of the tax-friendly countries we talk about,
it is a bit more of a pain and it's a lot more expensive. So if you start to earn more
money living full time in Colombia might not be as affordable for you. Because if you're
going to be moving overseas, you might as well at least reduce the amount of tax that you're paying
because we've seen that there's no correlation between how safe you are or the services you get
in that country and the taxes that you pay. Number three in the list is Indonesia. They do
have more immigration options now such as the My Second Home program there where you
make a reasonable six-figure investment. There are plenty of other ways to move there. Now
Indonesia has talked about being more tax favorable. People who have certain residence permits do need
to be aware of taxation in Indonesia. It is not as friendly as some of the other Southeast Asian
countries and I think a lot of people again, the kind of digital nomads living in Bali,
are just saying, hey, they're not going to get me. I am the goody two shoes of the
offshore business. We encourage you to follow all the laws. There's plenty of places to go
if you want to pay zero or low taxes. Indonesia is not one of them. So keep in mind,
in these more emerging countries, there's more favorable tax laws in terms of there's not as
many ways for them to get you into the tax net. So you could theoretically spend one third of your
year in Colombia, one third of your year in Indonesia, one third of your year somewhere else,
basically my trifecta method as I've called it for years, and you may be in a good tax situation
more so than you would be if you did that in three different Western countries. But if you
spend full time in Colombia or Indonesia, it's not going to be as affordable because you should be
sucked into the tax net. And just thinking they're not going to get you isn't the approach that I
would take. Number four, tax-friendly Panama is one of the most affordable places. Now,
Panama uses the dollar. And so even when I first went to Panama a decade or so ago,
I found it to be much more expensive than other places. Colombia to me is cheaper in part.
They have their own currency. The currency, while it's been relatively stable in recent
months, historically has gone down and down and down versus the dollar, the euro, etc. Panama
doesn't have that issue. And so you're not benefiting from a weaker currency. Panama,
I would not think was actually as high ranked as it was in terms of being affordable. But
number four on the list, tax-friendly. And so if you structure yourself properly,
you could live there year round and have a very good tax situation.
Same tax situation in the number five country in the Philippines,
they've rolled out some new residence programs recently. This is one of the more affordable
countries in Asia to get a residence. You can get in for $75,000 under a couple of different programs.
That's an investment in the Philippines. There's other ways you can get in as well,
but for someone who just wants to put some money aside and live there, tax-friendly country,
one of the few countries in Asia where you can work your way towards citizenship,
there's a couple reasons why it may not be advisable. But the Philippines is affordable.
You're seeing as the Asian currencies have strengthened against the dollar recently,
it's become a bit more expensive, but their currency has not been the best performer
over the years as well. Number six, India, to live well in India. It's more expensive than you
might think. This is a misconception people have about these very emerging countries like India
or certain African countries is, oh, how must be super, super duper cheap. And yes, if you
look at some of the smaller Indian cities, they are some of the cheapest places in the world,
actually Pakistan next to where I think has the cheapest cities in the world.
But if you want to live a good expat life in India, it may cost more than other places
because there's such a different levels of life. Number seven, Mexico, the currency is weaker
against the US dollar since the presidential election there. I stocked up on some stuff
in Mexico when that happened and have been reading some articles recently on why did
Mexico get beaten up so badly. This is a buying opportunity. A lot of Americans have
moved to Mexico. Places like Mexico City have become more expensive, San Miguel de Allende,
Cabo, a lot of people have gone there, you know, Playa del Carmen, Talum, obviously, you know,
very developed cities in that country, very affordable. It's a place we can get citizenship
and a very good citizenship of that. So out of all these places, Colombia, you could get
citizenship, but it would be most likely less tax friendly. Mexico has a very unique
tax program where you could be able to live there a good chunk of the year,
have a very tax friendly situation and work towards naturalization. Now, once you're a citizen,
the taxes could change. But great lifestyle, great food, great times. And if you're used to
working with North America, Mexico, the number seventh country on the list. Thailand comes
in at number eight. Their currency got banged up a little bit over the last couple of years.
It's strengthening a bit more now. Asia is a place where they want you to invest money
in general to live there. They do have some of these shorter term visas, but if you want longevity
in a place like Thailand, you're going to be investing a couple hundred thousand dollars.
But putting some money in the bank, I think their banks are relatively well run. That is
number eight. And you've got Bangkok, which is, I think, real estate is kind of topped out there.
I think real estate, the number of places in Thailand is topped out. I'm not sure that's
so affordable, quite frankly, compared to Kuala Lumpur. Real estate is going to be a lot
cheaper there. So if you're buying property, I don't think Thailand is the most affordable place
or one of them in Asia. But for just day-to-day life, they ranked it number eight in the world.
Number nine, Brazil, same issue with the currency, same issue with the tax problems. If you live
there, it's going to be a tax issue. But it's a place where you can get citizenship,
including in, let's call it two years all in. If you have a child there, if you give birth
there, or if you marry a Brazilian. So that's one of the most favorable countries for citizenship.
It's a pretty cheap place. Safety in some areas is not as good. A lot of people go to
the South, like Florianapolis. That's a bit better there. China came in at number 10. That's
pretty much people who are working at companies rather than entrepreneurs and investors going to
China. I was surprised not to see Malaysia on the list. We do talk about Malaysia a lot.
Nomad Capitalist Live, our annual event, is in Malaysia. And one of the reasons why we
have it there is Malaysia is very affordable. Now the currency has done very well in recent
weeks against the dollar. It was at like 28 year lows, and it really surged. And so I'm
glad we paid some of our expenses for Nomad Capitalist Live when the currency was a lot weaker. We
converted in because we were able to get bank accounts that allowed us to hold Malaysia and
ring it because that's what we do here. We diversify ourselves and we have bank accounts
and companies and all that stuff all around the world. You know, I think Malaysia is one
of the more affordable places. River State is some of the cheapest per square foot, per
square meter in Southeast Asia. And so for me, if I'm going to stay somewhere long-term, I can
get long-term residence permits in Thailand, which is a bit less tax friendly, but still
manageable versus what it used to be. Malaysia is still tax friendly. Even if they change
that in the next few years, I think it'll still be manageable. You know, out of all
the places in Southeast Asia, Malaysia has some of the cheapest property. And if you're
going to stay there long-term, I think you want to own a property. It's a form of asset
protection. It's a form of asset diversification. And if you were to buy stuff, you know, when
the currency was at that 28-year low, you've got a nice little paper profit on that right
now. But that's not why you're doing it. You're doing it because you don't just
want the most affordable place. You want to lock in places, you know, like at
Malaysia or some folks would say like at Thailand, friendly people, you know, low
cost of living. Government kind of leaves you alone. You want to lock that in. And
I think renting long-term is not the best reason. You can make up your own mind on
that for sure. But I think that Malaysia should be on here. One place that also I
think should be on here that a lot of people are asking us about recently is
Argentina. It is quite affordable, both for living, for hiring people, for a whole
lot of stuff, especially if you're bringing money in dollars, for example. So
those are two I'm kind of surprised aren't there. The considerations for
where to go. Can I move there? You can go to Vietnam as a tourist. You can go there.
Some of these countries have digital nomad visas, but for longevity, if you decide
you like it, you know, can I get a residence permit? So Colombia, Indonesia,
Panama, Philippines, Mexico, Thailand, Brazil, easier for that. You know, is it
tax friendly? The biggest expense most people have in their life is taxes,
especially in the West. That takes a big chunk. So a Panama, a Philippines,
maybe a Mexico of structure properly. To some extent Thailand, Malaysia, which I
mentioned, those are going to be more tax friendly. Safety, people look at. You know,
some of these countries are more safe than others. Middle East and Asia tend to be
safer. So, you know, affordability is good. What am I getting for my money?
Am I getting a passport? You know, Latin American countries are more likely to
give you the passport. European countries, no European countries that are
affordable here, they're more likely to give you a passport. So, hey,
do I pay a little bit more to live in a place, whether it's in taxes or cost of living,
but, you know, three, five, seven years down the line, I've got a second citizenship.
And if I didn't get that second citizenship by naturalization, I would have to go to a Caribbean
citizenship by investment and donate $200,000, for example. And maybe the passport I'm
getting is better. So these are all the factors that you want to consider when affordability
comes into play, especially if you are a high earner or a high net worth individual.
That's what Nomad Capitalist specializes in. We've helped, I think, at this point,
over 2,000 clients figure out how do you put all these puzzle pieces together?
How do you leave your country and go to one of these countries? How do you handle your taxes?
How do you handle your banking? How do you handle your corporation, your business,
your structure, your employees, all the things you've got to think about,
including lots of things you haven't even thought about, the unknown unknowns.
Go to nomadcapitalist.com slash apply. We'd be happy to work with you and figure out
your holistic plan on where you want to move. And even if you're not ready to move yet,
these places could be a plan B. You can get a residence permit in Mexico or the Philippines
and just kind of keep it in your back pocket. And if one day you're ready for affordability,
for lower taxes, maybe for more safety, for whatever you're looking for, you could always
execute that. So it's a good idea to have some of these places already in your life before you need them.