Gotcha; I read it as you had enough to live on without working.
We probably would have enough, but it would be tight. We are still young, so why not work a bit and then actually retire in our 60s. Especially if we are doing our own business as our own boss.
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Maybe off topic but you did considered Malaysia. @Andrew0409 will roll his eyes.
News about MM2H seems like it is going to be unattainable for most people. They upped most requirements by 4 timesā¦ fees cost 10 times moreā¦ and requirement for money parked in the bank is ridiculous.
I was really considering Malaysia at one point.
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We did look at Malaysia years ago, but after visiting Penang (which wasnāt for us), and taking a closer look at the MM2H, we decided against it.
(After looking at the recent new rules )Wow, income of almost $10K US a month, and nearly $300K US parked in a Malaysian bank account in addition to almost $500K in investments outside of Malaysia???
I think they may have just killed the program.
Even if I had that sort of money, I would not even consider doing it. Why not just open a business and employ myself for a visa then? Why in earth would I park $300K US in a Malaysian bank savings account !!! That is insane.
If we do go to Malaysia during our travels, it will likely only be for 3 months at a time, so whatever. I do think these regulations are very short sighted and likely will make this program unsustainable.
Or theyāre at their quota for the program so figured they might as well up the requirements since people want inā¦
Looks like you can withdraw half for real estate or education, so if youāre looking to stay longer term, it might really be only half that. ;D
Based on surface level knowledge on my part, but have you ever thought of a place like Portugal? Going off memory, it seems easy enough to establish residency, cost of living is fairly low, great weather, people, food.
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One of the reasons for our interest in checking out Europe next year is to figure this out. We plan on visiting quite a few different countries in Europe and the Balkans, and seeing if any of them really strike us as home. Taiwan really feels like itās home to us, so it would take somewhere pretty amazing to charm us away from Taiwan!
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Portuguese people, from my experience, are some of the most lovely people on Earth (Iām not Portuguese 
). And then thereās just what Iāve read in basics about cost of living on top of weather and food. Iāve never even been there, this is a recommendation based on 75% people experience, 25% knowledge of cost of living and residency.
At least you have the opportunity to shop around quite a bit, in the end something will be an obvious choice.
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We are really, really, looking forward to the Europe component of our trip. Hopefully Covid cools off a bit and it is still possible in a year.
I think that they donāt want the program to be sustainable, hence the regulations.
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Yup, I agree with you there.
Have you though about how to keep your son socialized while travelling? Especially in countries where the local kids canāt speak English.
Most families I see doing the digital nomad thing have multiple kids who can play with each other.
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He will talk/interact with other humans. The whole age specific interaction thing I donāt really buy into, he has many friends of different ages already.
He also chats with his friends online already, Covid has taught us much about socializing online.
Personally, I think the big concerns with āsocializingā in relation to homeschooling (and in our case while travelling) are massively overblown, and he will be just fine. One thing Covid has taught me is that humans are resilient, and we can cope with pretty much anything. A year travelling is not going to harm his āsocializationā; whatever that means.
@Darkesontr This is a bit of a push button topic for me; my apologies - this isnāt aimed at you at all. I just think that much of the āsocializationā that we learn in school is how to deal (or not) with bullies, how to cope with negative peer pressure (as a child), and often unreasonable, cookie cutter demands of teachers. Although many say, āwell they need to learn to deal with these thingsā, that is true, but with many of these things you often learn very poor coping mechanisms in grade school (that often become trauma based patterns later). They can wait until later (when the child is older and more mature) to learn these things, in my opinion.
Peer groups are important, but become a lot more important in the teenage years, which for him donāt hit for a few more years yet. It will only be a year and change, and I think he will do fine.
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Yeah itās quite insane, although many were speculating this is exactly what would happen when they revamped the program. What remains to be seen is what will happen with the Sarawak MM2H program. If you werenāt aware of it before, you may want to check it outā¦before the federal govt forces them to change their terms. (Sarawak MM2H is a workaround to the federal MM2H with slightly relaxed terms, but now the disparity in requirements is a enormous and likely to undermine the federal govtās program if they allow it to continue)
There wasnāt a quota before, but theyāve established one now with the revamp. It is capped at 1% of the total country population or a bit over 300k. Iām not sure theyāre likely to hit the cap with the new terms.
I am also curious what happens to the SSRV in the Philippines. It was similar to the MM2H and it also was suspended during Covid, with the expectation that it would return with a bit more stringent requirements.
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I wasnāt talking about long term social skills - I was just thinking he might get bored without other kids to interact with. But sounds like heāll be fine.
I agree with this.
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Cities. Itās popular now with younger people. Cheap cost of living, improving economy and standards of living, favorable tax rates, lots of opportunities. One guy I used to work with in Taiwan started a successful coffee business there.
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Id rather stay in Canada to chill than go to Mexico.
Suggestions such as Portugal are great, very safe place (unlike Mexico) with comfortable weather. Bali, Thailand good too (Thailand not as safe though). But in both places, being seen as rich just because you are white is annoying.
Are these numbers for each of you and your wife or for both?
Both of us. Like I have said before, we live on this already. In Canada.
I will be the first to admit, our lifestyle is definitely not for everyone. We live simply, for the most part. Here in Canada we have a 800 square foot house, and the main living space is about 400 square feet. We donāt care for āfancyā or even new really, as long as it functions well. We can easily live in very modest places, as long as they have functioning air conditioning (for Asia).
Our daily activities have a very low financial impact. We like walking, running, biking (for exercise and for transport), and HIIT type workouts at home. We love exploring trails in the mountains, etc., and lazy days at the beach.
Other activities I do are classical guitar (1-2 hours a day), yoga and meditation (1-2 hours a day), board games, and video games with our son.
My wife greatly enjoys crafting, but that is cash positive; it is her business that we hope to set up in Taiwan. As well, we all spend time on our YouTube channel.
We only eat out for smaller local meals a few times a week. We rarely (once every month or so) go out for dinner at nicer restaurants - we think it is generally a waste because our cooking is just as good most of the time. Neither of us drink much alcohol- maybe a couple of drinks a week.
And we drive very little (no car in Asia). We focus on biking, walking, and local transportation (think MRT) for our transport most of the time. We are time rich, so we donāt have to rush to get somewhere (at least right now).
I know it sounds like a boring life to many. But for us, having more time to spend with our son, and to spend on things that are big time sinks, but very rewarding (classical guitar and meditation), are a huge plus. As well, not dealing with the soul crushing job that I was in before (3 more weeks only!!) is liberating, really.
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I am curious, how much time have you spent in Mexico?
On a side note, bait not taken: I will not turn this into a Canada is crap thread, I will not turn this into a Canada is crap thread,I will not turn this into a Canada is crap thread, I will not turn this into a Canada is crap thread,I will not turn this into a Canada is crap thread, I will not turn this into a Canada is crap thread !!!
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