As part of quest for Portuguese (EU) citizenship and because public school ended last week here in Florida, we’re all headed to Lisbon tomorrow and should be there through June 13 (after that we head to the north for a couple of weeks of exploration). Would anyone like to meet? If so, please email philg@mit.edu.
What are we escaping? Here’s life this morning at the Juno Beach Pier (adjacent to Jupiter):
Air and water temp both about 80 degrees (reaches what the New York Times says is a lethal heat index in the afternoon, though, at 91 degrees).
Related:
In that case you should mentally vote in the EU election this weekend and the question becomes…who do you vote for?
And you don’t have your usual excuse as, unlike US, there are no firmly entrenched parties in any of the EU countries making your vote somewhat relevant. Lets ignore the usual political fuckery and collossal bureaucratic goings on, the votes do steer the direction somewhat and it seems the far right is up for substantial gains.
Enjoy your trip!
Let me know if you plan to come anywhere near Southern Germany or Switzerland!
Becareful with any EU citizenship – make sure you look carefully into wealth taxes, tax residency laws, overseas investment laws, inheritance laws, and also be aware trust funds are usually not recognized by european states.
Even without becoming a citizen living abroad is a royal pain in the ass, and since 9/11 it’s been much worse. Know Your Customer regulations make you a hassle for financial institutions. I’ve had three accounts closed on me. I probably couldn’t open any new accounts. Moving money is scary: any transaction could be construed to fall into one of two categories: money laundering or structuring. Your main contact with the U.S. is with FINCEN, who can empty your foreign bank accounts at will if your annual filings are inadequate. You need to stay far away from crypto. You have to file annual tax returns with the IRS whether or not you have any money or income stateside. And let’s say you have resale estate: depreciation and everything else differs by country. Even though you have a foreign tax domicile, you may end up owing tax to the IRS because of differences. Tax advisors who really know both systems are few and u expensive, and there are a suppor couple of treaty categories that need to be investigated. The alternative minimum tax computation is baroque and constantly changing. You get letters from the IRS for years after a return. If you renounce your citizenship like Tina Turner you still have to file US returns for decade.
Is this post today symbolic to celebrate 80th anniversary of D day?
Juno beach, storming beaches of Europe (Portugal, not France, but close enough).
Stayed near the Baixa-Chiado metro.
Dined at Restaurante Duque.
Best meal we had in Lisbon.
From Coimbra we visited the Roman outpost of Coimbraga.
Found the hidden swastika in the well-preserved terrazo floors.
Bon voyage!
It’s a Roman swastika, though. Not Salazar’s.
dang, even the beach use is regulated here. they have to remind you to drink the water, tell you that the sand is hot, can’t swim more then 50 yards away… Escape the regulation and government babysitting by moving to EU 🙂
But how is the quest, did you get it?
Nice start of vacation. In Seattle public schools pretend to teach children for couple more weeks…
SK: My initial investment in Portugal’s stock market was in the fall of 2021, so the earliest that I could expect a passport is late 2026. I have paid for a golden visa (piece of plastic), but it hasn’t arrived at the lawyer’s office. The Portuguese immigration agency has 400,000 pending cases. https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2024-06-05/new-responsibilities-for-immigrant-bosses/89520
Separately, there wasn’t any restriction on hedging. Give how Europe is stagnating economically it might have been smarter to make use of the swap market to hedge against the risk of the Portuguese market doing worse than the US market (which it has, maybe because Europe lacks leaders who are as keen-minded as Joe Biden).
Update: I just got email from the lawyers. They received the golden visa! I will have it in my hands tomorrow.
> As part of quest for Portuguese (EU) citizenship
Please report on the state of DIE and alphabet-rights in Portugal, as these are obviously the top concerns for anyone considering immigrating or visiting there?