Best place to Live

Old Apr 20th 2013, 6:10 pm
  #1  
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Default Best place to Live

I am an Australian / British Citizen (Dual citizenship) & looking to move out to the Carribbean from Europe with my small dog.

I have an export business which is successful which enables me to live anywhere - in fact it would be more convenient to live int he Carribbean than in Finland which is where I currently live as my customers are in Nth America so I'd be in their timezone.

So looking for tips on where to move

- Best island to live. How is St Lucia?
- What is the process for staying out there? What type of visa would I need?
- Does anybody live out there with their dog & if so, are there good vets out there?
- I may actually move my company out there also simply because of the tax incentives of running an offshore company etc... out there.

Any experience & insights would be highly appreciated.

Cheers,

Mike
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Old Apr 23rd 2013, 3:57 pm
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Default Re: Best place to Live

Originally Posted by Carribbean Mike
I am an Australian / British Citizen (Dual citizenship) & looking to move out to the Carribbean from Europe with my small dog.

I have an export business which is successful which enables me to live anywhere - in fact it would be more convenient to live int he Carribbean than in Finland which is where I currently live as my customers are in Nth America so I'd be in their timezone.

So looking for tips on where to move

- Best island to live. How is St Lucia?
- What is the process for staying out there? What type of visa would I need?
- Does anybody live out there with their dog & if so, are there good vets out there?
- I may actually move my company out there also simply because of the tax incentives of running an offshore company etc... out there.

Any experience & insights would be highly appreciated.

Cheers,

Mike
You could contact these good people ref a St Lucia offshore company:

http://www.stluciafinance.com/offshore-advantages.html

I'm really not sure whether you would be able to stay in St Lucia as the principal of the company without either a work permit or the need to continually take your passport in to Immigration to have it stamped for an extension of stay - they (above) could probably answer this for you right away.

St Lucia is a decent place to hang in the Caribbean (one R, two Bs) but it has its problems particularly in terms of public finances as it is poor with no growth and no clue how to change this fact. It was over-reliant on the artificial banana market and spent all that money and now that is gone it is over-reliant on tourism like everybody else in this area and there is not enough money for programmes and to pay the bloated civil service and service debt.

The above might have a bearing on whether you want to buy property here as the market is dead and there is potential for a devaluation of the EC dollar down the road, if things don't turn around in the next few years. If you own and live in property here you can get a passport stamp every six months, at no charge, in order to stay here. Other islands in the area, such as Grenada and St Vincent are very near to default on their debt at this point but every island, including Barbados, has serious debt issues and not much else to tax.

I believe that dogs are well-catered for here - god knows there are enough of them, so that should not be a problem.
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Old Apr 23rd 2013, 7:05 pm
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Default Re: Best place to Live

Originally Posted by Pistolpete2
You could contact these good people ref a St Lucia offshore company:

http://www.stluciafinance.com/offshore-advantages.html

I'm really not sure whether you would be able to stay in St Lucia as the principal of the company without either a work permit or the need to continually take your passport in to Immigration to have it stamped for an extension of stay - they (above) could probably answer this for you right away.

St Lucia is a decent place to hang in the Caribbean (one R, two Bs) but it has its problems particularly in terms of public finances as it is poor with no growth and no clue how to change this fact. It was over-reliant on the artificial banana market and spent all that money and now that is gone it is over-reliant on tourism like everybody else in this area and there is not enough money for programmes and to pay the bloated civil service and service debt.

The above might have a bearing on whether you want to buy property here as the market is dead and there is potential for a devaluation of the EC dollar down the road, if things don't turn around in the next few years. If you own and live in property here you can get a passport stamp every six months, at no charge, in order to stay here. Other islands in the area, such as Grenada and St Vincent are very near to default on their debt at this point but every island, including Barbados, has serious debt issues and not much else to tax.

I believe that dogs are well-catered for here - god knows there are enough of them, so that should not be a problem.
You are right there Pete. I think there are more dogs than humans in St Lucia. Property around the world became over inflated with the easy and cheap finance. This finance is not so readily available or cheap anymore and it seems St Lucia has not woken up to this fact. Until the prices drop to a level which reflects the new global situation St Lucia is going to struggle. However this means some bargain bucket properties should come available on one of the most scenically beautiful islands in the world.
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Old Apr 23rd 2013, 7:35 pm
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Default Re: Best place to Live

Originally Posted by pgtips
You are right there Pete. I think there are more dogs than humans in St Lucia. Property around the world became over inflated with the easy and cheap finance. This finance is not so readily available or cheap anymore and it seems St Lucia has not woken up to this fact. Until the prices drop to a level which reflects the new global situation St Lucia is going to struggle. However this means some bargain bucket properties should come available on one of the most scenically beautiful islands in the world.
Be careful what you wish for on that score as a necessary devaluation would cause untold hardship for the resident population on a fixed EC$ income or next to no income unless they can provide for themselves from locally-sourced food items which has become harder to achieve in recent years. Energy costs, already extremely high, would become almost untenable.

However, the existing house stock might maintain most of its value in US dollar terms as next to nobody would be able to afford imported lumber and other material prices to build new ones. I guess they would cut down everything in sight on the island out of desperation in the same way they are stripping church rooves and nicking street railings in the UK for the scrap metal.
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Old Apr 24th 2013, 6:31 am
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Default Re: Best place to Live

Pete the economy in the UK has been stagnant for the last few years. Companies have closed down left right and centre. Apart from London, most other areas have seen drops in property values to reflect the current state. I see no reason why the property values in St Lucia will not also come down. The devaluation of the EC is another matter, and as you mentioned does not look good for the locals. Interesting times.
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Old Apr 24th 2013, 11:35 am
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Default Re: Best place to Live

Originally Posted by pgtips
Pete the economy in the UK has been stagnant for the last few years. Companies have closed down left right and centre. Apart from London, most other areas have seen drops in property values to reflect the current state. I see no reason why the property values in St Lucia will not also come down. The devaluation of the EC is another matter, and as you mentioned does not look good for the locals. Interesting times.
The UK is in the developed world whereas St Lucia has 20% (or more) unemployment (35% youth unemployment) and a very significant level of underemployment plus a bloated civil service to in part keep unemployment down.

The UK borrows at around 2% or less whereas St Lucia has to now borrow at around 7%. The UK has a diverse economy whereas St Lucia has all of its eggs in the tourism basket at a time when the UK is turning the screws on Caribbean air travel by endlessly increasing the APD and St Lucia has to bribe air carriers to enter the market with million dollar load factor guarantees.

So St Lucia has issues which if not attended to could cause a default on its debts which would have a severe impact upon the entire economy. At least the UK is at the top end of global standards of living whereas the average St Lucian lives - has to live - on a pittance. You can see where I'm leading!?

The answer from the Government appears to be to align us with Venezuela .
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Old May 6th 2013, 4:23 pm
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Default Re: Best place to Live

The richest island in the Caribbean is also the most comfortable for residents, naturally enough. It's Grand Cayman, which also levies no income tax. It's not for everybody, but my wife and I have lived here for 35 years, contentedly enough most of the time. It doesn't welcome foreigners, although non-citizens comprise half the population these days. If you can stomach the Immigration b-s, it may be worth your while considering.

You might want to check out the Cayman Islands section of this website.
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