@phil...Unless politics will be totally screwy, I am planning to stay put no matter the bitcoin price.
GDP per capita in US is higher than in UK and Germany, albeit lower than in Switzerland and, interestingly, Ireland, which means that salaries are typically higher in US as well.
The long term cap gains are manageable, too, at 20-23.8% (with no taxes on the first 89K for a couple and 15% on the first $553K).
Take 89K per year with no taxes, use it on whatever (regular salary covers everything else): real estate, investment in private companies, etc, etc.
89k is very roughly $1mil house mortgage plus RE taxes in lower RE tax places like California.
In TX, a higher RE tax (was about 1.6%/year, effectively; now prop 4 just passed, so it would be lower by about 15%, so maybe about 1.4%) but you get "more house".
Phil, Biodom,
I have often thought of leaving the USA should I get rich (not quite there yet). The problem is finding a nice "Plan B" country, which over the years I have given a lot of thought to. My first inclinations were to look at South & Central America, as I speak the language and have some familiarity with some of those countries. One country in particular I looked at in detail, as I have nice in-laws there, the food is good, etc. But the politics of
ALL those countries is very volatile, can
drastically change on a dime...
Europe sort of looks good, but most is expensive. And the cultures just different enough so that I would feel like, well, a foreigner. Europe is pretty diverse, and I have not visited all of the many countries there. Weather (cold) is an issue that I do take into account as well. I do understand why many Americans would be happy to look at somewhere in Europe.
I've even visited and looked at Dubai, which has some strong plusses and minuses. Rest of Asia? No thanks.
Even with our chaos, the USA still looks relatively good to me vs. all the other countries I have visited and/or examined.
Things can change though, and probably will. I'm leaving my options open.