New Zealand: A Great Place to Ride Out A Storm
New Zealand – waiting for the storm to pass
New Zealand: A Great Place to Ride Out A Storm
Without Borders readers know that we think everyone should have a place they can go if things in their home country become intolerable. We are investors and speculators so we are always looking for a place that makes economic sense and is a great place to spend time. We have mentioned some of our favorite places like Argentina, Slovakia and Uruguay. Another viable location to consider is New Zealand.
While it isn’t for everyone, it should be a consideration for those looking for a beautiful, sparsely populated, English speaking country with modern amenities, the rule of law and a relatively benign tax system.
As much as it pains me to say it, the world is changing. Places previously seen as ‘tax havens’, like the Cayman’s, Switzerland and Uruguay (the most recent painful and personal example) are seemingly falling like dominos to the global ‘tax vampires’. Immigration to a foreign country based solely on tax advantages is looking to be a fool’s game, since governments can (and seemingly will) change the rules at any time. As more and more of the once rich nations go bankrupt they will use draconian measures to extract their proverbial (we hope) pound of flesh. The bottom line is that at the end of the day you need to feel safe, happy and secure where you live. This should be your PRIMARY goal when choosing a place to hang your hat for a while or forever.
I have many friends who make New Zealand their part-time residence. Most are my age or closer to retirement. Some, like me are polo fanatics, others just like walking in the country. Some others enjoy NZ because it gives them the feeling of moving back in time to the 1960s of their youth. Another younger hipper friend has just decided to make New Zealand home so I peppered him with questions. We talked about the advantages and disadvantages, and it’s clear that this should be a place you consider, seriously, when deciding where you want to plant your next flag. My friend Mark and his wife both yearned for a place where they could find a piece of nice farm land, raise some animals, grow organic fruits and vegetables and not be too bothered by ‘society’ at large. They were looking for a bit of sanity in an insane world. “New Zealand fit the bill, Fitz”, Mark said. “The only thing that can kill you in New Zealand is another person, or your own stupidity!” New Zealand, due to its geographical remoteness, is one of the only places on the planet where there are no indigenous predators and the government and populace at large will also generally leave you alone.
What makes New Zealand a place worth considering for an American or European expat? Let’s start by looking at what was important to my friend Mark and his wife, since his values and priorities are probably not much different than most peoples’. Here are his top 10 ‘criteria’, in no particular order.
Geo-politically and physically ‘Remote’
Abundant and reasonably priced properties
Plenty of water. Ocean, lakes, rivers…
Reasonable annual sunshine hours
Clean environment
Educated, English speaking population
Safe, clean and readily available organic food
Physical safety and the rule of law
Fair taxation
Accessible, high-quality health care
His criteria may not be the same as yours or mine and he didn´t even know how much good cigars and Scotch run at the local shop but I think you would agree his list is attractive. New Zealand fulfills all of these, with the exception of number 9 ‘fair taxation’. We think ¨fair taxation¨ is an oxymoron so let´s look at the details.
New Zealand is NOT, and never has been, a tax haven. Residents are taxed on their incomes, both domestically and worldwide. However, the tax system is undergoing reform, and the top rates for individuals were just lowered from 38% to 33%. Corporate taxes will be lowered from 30% to 28% and the VAT will be pegged at 15%. New Zealand has some interesting tax advantages for new residents, including a 4-year hiatus on reporting worldwide assets, some interesting trust options and other ways to structure your affairs. So, as far as taxation, at least they seem to be moving in the right direction. New Zealand is an attractive citizenship to acquire as nobody has ever uttered the words ¨If our demands are not met we are going to start executing the Kiwis¨. So if tax considerations are top of your list it may make sense to live in New Zealand only long enough to gain citizenship before moving on to the next place as Kiwi´s are only taxed on their world wide income if they are resident in New Zealand. Unlike Americans if they are resident in a no or low tax jurisdiction they owe nothing to their home country.
Is New Zealand perfect… absolutely not! Look, there is no perfection, and you will never find a place that has everything you want or desire, please realize that. But according to Mark and some of my other friends if it’s wide open spaces, beautiful beaches, majestic mountains, mirror perfect lakes, roaring rivers, quaint towns, empty roads, great food, excellent property values (if you know where to look) and an educated, English speaking population that you seek… look no further.
Fortunately for us, Mark recently co-wrote an eBook on the subject of immigrating and living in New Zealand with a South African born associate who has made it his home for over 6 years. Both of the authors are successful entrepreneurs in their own rights, and are living the expat life.
If you’re interested in their eBook, ‘The New Zealand Retirement, Immigration and Lifestyle Guidebook’, click here to read more and order a copy. I’ve read it, and I think it’s definitely the best source of information out there and worth a look if your search for a life Without Borders continues.
Unfortunately I’m still of working age and, yes, I still need a job. Something tells me most of your readers don’t. I doubt they’d let me in to work at my age.
I am a New Zealander, born and bred, who lives in NZ and who would love to go and live elsewhere, maybe Mexico, or The Caribbean. Our cost of living here is huge, and everything is increasing in price all the time. Our government is always finding ingenous ways of getting more money out of us, and they may have recently decided to drop tax rates but they are also increasing GST on all products, including groceries, so the lower tax rate virtually gets cancelled out. The cost of Real Estate is huge, and is only viable if you are buying with overseas currency as you get more NZ dollars when you exhcange it. Whereas with us wanting to buy or move overseas we lose huge amounts of $ when we convert NZ dollars into other currencies. And seroius crime is getting worse all the time too. I do have to admit NZ is a beautiful country, but there are a lot of things wrong here as well. I have visited a couple of islands in The Caribbean, and was informed before I went that it was expensive as everything had to be imported, but it was still cheaper than NZ!
Yes, the key is to make large amounts of money in the USA, Canada, Europe and then spend one’s savigns in other countries. Much of Central America is beomig a suburb to No. Americans.
If one has social security payment of $1000-1500/month they can live well in many areas there. I have friends who live quite well on the money form their rental in Ca. They rent a home for $400/mo in a desirable area of Costa Rica, they bank the rental money and live well. But for people who make $40k year, its a tough move.
well, my husband and I would really love to get a resident permit with permanency in mind for NZ but to get one is almost if not totally impossible for retirees who don’t want to work. We’ve been there 3 times for extended stays and the answer has always been come and see us but be sure to go back home. Does anyone have any ideas to how to really do this?
Well I am New Zealand resident/citizen, they say best climate (Hastings), next is climate of Nelson, but better views. To your problem a solution, as I do think is: Write a letter to Minister of Immigration, Address to House of Representatives, Wellington, New Zealand. (Look up address on internet), send registered, lay out what you intend, financialy how you think to arrange, and see what will be the reply. As I think, they will pass it to appropriate channels, and have anwer. Not to forget any questions what you wish to add to an eventual enquiry. Good luck.
(Compared to US probably excellent, as I have heared who came back visiting US she was better off here than in US where economic difficulties may last long as some experts suggest, whereas here even fragile, downturn ended, but dicy).
I thought NZ would be a great place to go since they too have a teacher shortage. However, the placement agencies tell me jobs have dried up as they were worese off economically than the USA. They may need teachers, but could not hire them. Now that is what is happening in the US.
I am actually in the process of emigrating from the US to NZ. I fell in love with it for all the wonderful reasons named above. A few things to note: You can’t become a permanent resident if you are older than 56. Because it is a socialistic society and government benefits are good, NZ is very careful not to create a situation where they are paying for healthcare for those who haven’t really contributed. Second, while acute healthcare is excellent, affordable and available to residents, you don’t want to get cancer or a chronic illness, as the government does not cover a lot of treatments that are standard of care in other countries. The other issue that I am struggling with is that after 3 years my tax-exempt retirement accounts in the US become taxable in NZ. But I’m not old enough to take the money out without incurring a penalty, so I don’t yet know how best to handle that. Lastly, it can be a very expensive place to live – but ‘entertainment’ is widely available and cheap – if you like the outdoors. Hiking (tramping), picnics in the parks, beaches 10 min away, street festivals, coffee houses, pubs. It is very easy to enjoy life without spending a lot of money. I was never this active in the US. Another expat and I were wondering why we were so much more active in NZ and we decided it was because it was so easy here and because everyone else was doing it. As the article said, no place is perfect, but the Kiwis are wonderful people and NZ is a beautiful land.