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Very wealthy individuals are not relocating to Southeast Asia because the United States offers a superior and more convenient lifestyle, with subsidized services, advanced healthcare, and familiar infrastructure that outweigh the perceived benefits of moving abroad.
The video argues that contrary to popular belief, very wealthy Americans are not moving to Southeast Asia because the United States offers a more advantageous and comfortable lifestyle for them. The US is described as a 'playground' for the ultra-rich, providing subsidized public services like police and roads, which are paid for by taxpayers. Wealthy individuals can also access amenities like private chefs and multiple homes without the need to leave the country, and they benefit from a system that often caters to their needs and preferences.
Key reasons for this trend include the high quality and accessibility of healthcare in the US, which is considered world-class for those who can afford it. Wealthy individuals are also risk-averse and prefer the familiarity of their home country, including established social networks, language, and legal systems, to avoid potential issues like corruption or traffic dangers found in some Southeast Asian countries. Furthermore, the US offers a wide variety of climates and lifestyles within its own borders, negating the need to seek them abroad.
The discussion also touches upon the financial aspects, noting that while Southeast Asia might offer lower taxes, wealthy individuals may not see enough benefit to offset the risks and inconveniences. For those in a slightly lower income bracket, Europe is sometimes considered a more appealing alternative to Southeast Asia due to its cultural familiarity and proximity to the US. Ultimately, the video concludes that for the truly affluent, the US provides a comprehensive and convenient package that makes relocation abroad unnecessary, while also highlighting the importance of visa protocols and tax compliance for those considering international moves.
Rich Americans often choose to stay in the US because it offers a superior and more convenient lifestyle. The country provides taxpayer-subsidized services like police and roads, along with access to world-class healthcare and familiar infrastructure.
The US is attractive to the wealthy as it acts like a 'playground' with services that cater to their needs. They benefit from advanced healthcare, a familiar legal system, and robust infrastructure, which reduces risk aversion compared to relocating.
Contrary to some beliefs, very wealthy Americans are generally not relocating to Southeast Asia. While some moderately wealthy individuals find value there, the truly affluent often prefer the conveniences and familiarities of the US or Europe.
Affluent individuals in the US have access to world-class healthcare, ensuring accessibility and availability of medications. This high standard of care is a significant draw, contributing to their well-being and longevity concerns.
Wealthy individuals are often risk-averse and prefer the familiarity of their home country's social networks, language, and legal systems. They aim to avoid potential issues like corruption or unfamiliar dangers found in some foreign countries.
Yes, the US offers a wide variety of climates and lifestyles within its own borders. This diversity means wealthy individuals can find different experiences without needing to travel halfway around the world.
Rich Americans generally don't move to Southeast Asia because the United States offers a more advantageous and comfortable lifestyle. The US provides subsidized public services, world-class healthcare for those who can afford it, and familiar legal and social systems. Wealthy individuals are often risk-averse and prefer the conveniences and security of their home country.
For individuals with a moderate income and net worth, Southeast Asia can offer a higher quality of life compared to the US. They can live well and potentially grow their assets more effectively in places like Thailand. However, this is balanced against potential risks and inconveniences not typically faced by the ultra-wealthy.
Living in Southeast Asia as an expat can come with hidden costs and potential scrutiny from local governments and authorities, especially if trying to stay off the radar. Wealth can attract unwanted attention, and maintaining a privileged lifestyle may involve private financial arrangements. Issues like pollution and poor infrastructure can also detract from the experience.
The US offers world-class healthcare that is considered more advanced and reliable than what is available in Southeast Asia, even for the wealthy. While US healthcare is expensive, affluent individuals with good insurance and financial resources can access superior treatments and better outcomes, as demonstrated by cases seeking care at US medical institutions.
Wealthy individuals often prefer the US due to its robust infrastructure, familiar legal system, and the availability of taxpayer-subsidized services like police and roads. The country offers diverse climates and lifestyles within its borders, and the established social networks and amenities cater to their needs, reducing the perceived need to relocate abroad.
Yes, there are wealthy expats in Southeast Asia, particularly in cities like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok. These individuals enjoy luxury lifestyles with access to world-class amenities, fine dining, and exclusive clubs. Major hospitals like Bumrungrad in Bangkok also attract international patients seeking high-quality medical treatment.
The video suggests that living abroad is no longer a status symbol for wealthy Americans, and in some cases, the US itself is perceived as having a stigma. For those with substantial wealth, the US offers a comfortable and powerful lifestyle, making relocation abroad unnecessary for maintaining social standing or enjoying privileges.
0:01 Hey YouTube, Alex here. And in today's video, I want to address a question I've received some critiques, mostly along the lines of, if you were a rich person like me, you wouldn't have any complaints about Southeast Asia. You wouldn't get burnt out. And I wanted to address this and do a video talking about why very wealthy people are not moving to Southeast Asia.
0:25 So the idea being that some of these people, to me, there's a metaphor I would use: they're like people riding in first class on an airplane complaining that they are on the same airplane as people in economy class. The argument I would make is that the truly wealthy people in this metaphor are actually flying private. They're sharing a plane with a few other people; they may own their own airplane.
0:50 So let's go ahead and get into it. The reason number one is basically the US is a playground for the very wealthy people. The US is set up for very wealthy individuals to enjoy. You see a lot of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, people with 30 million in assets or more, moving to the United States.
1:09 You see the wealthiest in a number of other countries actually relocate in the United States. Some of that probably happened with this golden visa program where Trump did some kind of special program for people that have money to invest to be able to have a path towards citizenship. But there have been other kinds of similar programs in the past.
1:32 But the United States, if you are very wealthy, it offers everything that you could want. The system actually subsidizes a lot of very wealthy people and allows for them to not have to pay out of pocket like they might in other countries. For example, we have police services that are taxpayer-subsidized. Everybody, regardless of income level, can afford those or basically receive those services.
1:55 We also have roads that are paid for by taxes. You don't have to live in a specific area in the United States to have decent roads. Of course, it does change; some cities are not as good on the roads as others. But overall, if you're very wealthy, you can limit your house hunt to areas that have high-quality roads.
2:13 Another thing that we enjoy, if you're very wealthy and you're concerned about air quality, in the United States, most of it has pretty good air quality. So, you know, another thing would be like if you're looking for a relationship. Well, if you're very well-to-do, you can have a lot of different dating options here in the US.
2:30 So that's one of those things where people say, well, you know, if you had the money, you would live overseas. Actually, quite a few people that are very well-to-do choose to live right here in the United States. Many live in New York, many live in California. Texas is growing really fast, Florida is growing really fast.
2:48 But there's quite a few wealthy enclaves throughout the United States. And many of these people have no need to leave the United States. Why would I leave a system that's set up in my favor where I get tax breaks? I get services provided to me where everybody pays comparable amounts, or basically, even if you live in a wealthy area, it's a smaller portion of your income to pay taxes for those services you receive.
3:11 Anyway, there's not so much incentive if you're very wealthy to leave the United States. If anything, the United States continues to improve for very wealthy people as new services are invented every year. Lately, it's been the AI boom.
3:25 But if you're very wealthy and you live in New York, you don't have to own your own vehicle. You could just hire Ubers to go anywhere you want. You could hire private chefs to cook you food. You don't have to do any cooking. You could have a summer home or multiple summer homes in other parts of the United States based on your preference for weather.
3:44 You don't need to get on a plane and go halfway around the world for different weather. If you are truly very well-to-do, that's probably not even on your radar. I think about Silicon Valley; it's like you're going to trade perfect weather, lots of outdoor activities, being around very highly educated people, world-class healthcare for heat and humidity, and hit-or-miss healthcare.
4:11 And not a clear path to citizenship. In some cases, you may incur resentment from the local population because you're around a lot of people who are not as well-to-do. This idea that only the successful people leave the United States is actually totally untrue.
4:23 Lots of successful people who want to become successful, highly educated, highly motivated people are actually moving to the United States every single year. I've met quite a few immigrants in the tech industry, but also in the healthcare industry, that have specifically come here to perform at the highest level and they're not concerned about trying to save money.
4:45 If they want a relationship, they can find a relationship with other people in their industries. It's not something where they're thinking, 'it's just not good here, I need to go somewhere else.' If they are going somewhere else, they're looking at places like East Asia, Europe. This is something else I'll get into, but primarily, they've got options.
5:05 If you're very well-to-do, you're not really in a position to need to leave the country. Even moderately wealthy people enjoy certain things here in the US that they wouldn't find in other countries at a similar price point. Price is what you pay; value is what you get. And a lot of people find that the United States, even though it is expensive, offers enough variety.
5:25 Like if you don't like California, you can move to the south. If you don't like the south, you can move to the north. You've got different options. Would be risk aversion where if you're a very well-to-do person and you look at the risk that you might incur by moving to Southeast Asia, it's off the table.
5:42 I've known quite a few wealthy people here in the States that would never consider moving to Southeast Asia. For them, it's like, 'okay, I've got quality healthcare here. I know my way around the area. I have friends and family in the area. I'm familiar with the language. I don't have to do any kind of translating to read signs or communicate with employees.'
6:06 I enjoy being able to just get in my car and drive on roads that aren't too crowded. It's not complex. I don't have to worry about corruption, for example. There's of course corruption in every country, including the United States, but it's definitely not the most corrupt by global standards, nowhere near the most corrupt.
6:25 Does it have issues? Sure. But it's unlikely to affect the majority of very wealthy people here in the United States. The system, if anything, the corruption benefits them because they're able to limit their tax burden and they're able to offset some of the costs of the services that they enjoy. It's not working against them, basically.
6:51 And they're also concerned about things like traffic, right? I mean, traffic can be very dangerous in some parts of Southeast Asia compared to here in the US, where it's very rare to see a serious accident where people are gone afterwards.
7:11 In Southeast Asia, in my couple of years, I probably saw at least six or eight incidents where people did not make it through the incident, basically. And if I'm a high-net-worth individual, why do I want to try to go halfway around the world only to risk being in a serious incident like that? It's just not something that's on my mind.
7:33 And if I have, if I'm a wealthy individual and I have some health concerns, the United States, if you've got the money, has some of the best healthcare in the world. A lot of people that complain about it simply can't afford that quality of care, and that's understandable. I can't afford top-shelf healthcare, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
7:52 I knew a very well-to-do guy, and he traveled to another state. He felt like that other state has a better system for his individual issue. He didn't get on a plane and go halfway around the world; he just traveled to a different US state that had a better system for what his needs were.
8:13 So a number of these individuals, when they want to solve some kind of problem, they're first going to look domestically before they would ever consider getting on a plane. And then if they're still risk-averse and you're concerned about that financial, we'll go into the next point here.
8:27 Your first choice is not necessarily Southeast Asia, unless you're talking about Singapore. I've known a number of guys toward the upper band of what I would call the sweet spot as far as income. I think that's probably $2,000 a month to maybe like $10,000 a month.
8:44 I've known guys probably closer to that $10,000 per month range, and several of them have mentioned to me, most of them have mentioned to me, the western ones, the guys from the west, 'Well, you know, now I'm starting to think about after a few years in Southeast Asia, now I'm starting to think about moving to Europe.'
9:01 It actually makes more sense from a quality of life perspective. It's more in line with what I'm used to. I can expect a higher level of English. If I want to go and have certain kinds of western products, they're easier for me to access here. If I want to have western food that's higher quality, if I want to get a second opinion as far as in healthcare, I can go to a different European country.
9:25 Or I'm closer to the United States. If I want to fly back to the US, if I've got, say, somebody has a government-subsidized healthcare plan, okay, well, it's going to be 24 hours from Southeast Asia, or it could be 8-10 hours from Europe to back to the US. They may have investment properties.
9:42 US. They may have investment properties in the US where it's like, okay, if I want to go and monitor my investment property, if I want to drive by and make sure everything is okay, well, I could just get on an airplane from Europe and I'm there in 8 to 10 hours. If I want something different weather, right? If I'm somebody who likes Mediterranean climate or a cooler climate, that's just not going to be found throughout most of Southeast Asia with a few rare exceptions.
10:09 You're just not going to get cold weather and you're not going to get Mediterranean weather. So, if I'm very picky about my weather and I'm very well-to-do, I don't like heat and humidity, which some wealthy people don't like heat and humidity, then they can go to Europe or why not go to Miami?
10:26 This isn't, once again, this video is not to put down people. It's not to say that if you don't have $15,000 a month, you are a brokie. But it's more so this observation of people who, oh well, I'm not like those poor expats on social security. Well, you're probably closer to those poor expats on social security than you are the high roller.
10:47 Like you're not going to see Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates say, "Oh yeah, I'm moving to Southeast Asia because it's just too expensive here in the US." No, you're seeing people in this narrow band of income where their life in Southeast Asia is substantially better than it would be here in the States, but they're still making some sacrifices in terms of quality of life in other areas.
11:11 It's, um, if I, one of the things a friend of mine who's an expat, no brainer, everybody who has the economic fortitude or decision-making choices, they'd be on a plane here without any second thought. It's actually not the case that it's paradise. It's not the case that it's perfect. It's really a series of tradeoffs that a lot of people calculate out and realize, hey, this actually makes sense for me.
11:39 It's not for everybody. If it were for everybody, all retirees would be moving to Southeast Asia. It's really a narrow band of people that they don't have a ton of family ties. What they have would be modest in the US, but is actually quite strong over there. But if you exceed that band, if you go beyond that, then actually you may very well be better off just relocating in the States.
12:02 You want tropical weather, you move to South Florida. If you want Mediterranean, you go to California. If you want island life, you go to Hawaii. If you want big city life, you got New York City. The United States, if you have the money, has everything on offer. If whatever it is you want that can reasonably be sold, like it's available here for often, you know, top dollar, but top dollar isn't out of reach for everybody.
12:31 So, the next point I would talk about would be tax concerns. So in Southeast Asia, a lot of people will say, "Well, I pay less in tax." Well, that's you're there versus my US rate, which is much more modest. Why would I dramatically increase my tax burden just to live over there if I can afford to vacation there three months a year and not trigger a tax situation?
13:01 Well, if you're very, very well-to-do, you can vacation in Southeast Asia. If you're not worried about flying back and forth, you're not worried about the cost of a first-class plane ticket, then you don't have you're not concerned about your tax rate. And some would say, "Oh, they don't pay tax." Well, actually, they do pay taxes. The IRS collects about 75% of the expected tax revenue. It's not 100%, but it's pretty good all things considered.
13:31 And so a lot of these people, they don't want to get into trouble with the tax system. I know it's not perfect. I know people say they don't pay anything, but actually many of them are in compliance. Many of them do follow the rules, and they feel that what they pay here compared to what they get is pretty reasonable all things considered. They know there's not going to be constant power outages. They know the roads aren't going to be totally torn up. They know there's going to be enforcement of law enforcement personnel present.
14:09 It's, um, for what you're paying, it's actually pretty good all things considered. They're not trying to save nickels and dimes. The fifth and final point, this is something I noticed throughout Southeast Asia. You don't see a lot of older people there. I know some people will say, "Oh, I see plenty of older people." But as far as looking around and comparing the percentage of younger people to older people, it's not like the US where the median American is 40 years old.
14:39 There's plenty of people walking around in the US in their 70s, into their 80s. It's probably not the most aged country in the world, that would probably go to like a Japan or a Hong Kong or Korea. But all things considered, people can expect to have pretty long lifespans here in the US, assuming that they exercise, they eat a decent diet, they're able to catch things early.
15:05 Here in the States, if you go to regular medical checkups, where I've heard some real horror stories about healthcare in Southeast Asia, it is hit or miss. I'm not saying it's all bad, I'm not saying it's all good, but I've heard some like real eyebrow-raisers where you're like, and the people I know who are well-to-do here in the United States, they don't want to take chances on their healthcare. They don't want to take the risk of having a situation where whatever issue they have is not caught and addressed or they're misdiagnosed.
15:36 I've heard that can be a common issue in other countries. They don't have the medication that they want immediately accessible. So, let's say they lose their prescription. Well, here in the US, there's failsafes and safeguards. There's probably a way to go and get that medication replenishment if it's lost or misplaced, where depending on where you are in Southeast Asia, maybe you're running around the city hunting it down, maybe you have to buy an emergency flight back home to go try to collect on that.
16:04 This is not an issue in the United States. Most absolute must-have medications are well-stocked and there's excess supply such that if anything happens, people are still able to access that. Additionally, like I said, if you're very wealthy, you can get healthcare in all shapes and forms.
16:23 Where if you're somebody that you want to live in Southeast Asia, and like if you want to live in a rural area, and this kind of goes for the US, but there's rural areas that are very affluent like Aspen, Colorado, by many people's standards, you'd call it rural, but there's an airport there. And so some of the billionaire people that can afford to live there, if they have a health concern, they're getting in a helicopter straight to Denver. That's not out of range for their budget. They're willing to spend whatever it takes to maintain health and well-being.
16:57 Um, but yeah, you know, these are these are just some things that came up to me where people would say, "Well, you'd really enjoy it if you had money." And I think the reverse can be said. You'd probably really enjoy the US if you had more money. I know I would. Certainly everybody in the US, everybody in the world would like to have more money.
17:15 And it's really important to acknowledge this, that are you a failure if you move to Southeast Asia? By no means. I don't think that's the case at all. I think for a lot of people, they're looking for a lower stress lifestyle. I think they're looking for better dating options. I think they're looking for many different things that can be found in Southeast Asia, and they are looking forward to life over there if they're not already living it.
17:42 But what I don't like is this idea that I almost like big fish in a small pond. It's like, no, like there's a reason a number of wealthy people from Southeast Asia have moved to the United States or are planning to move to the United States or have lived large portions of their lives in the United States. They may have second homes in this country, they may be dual citizens.
18:11 Uh, you know, it's it's just not really accurate to say that like people in the US are unsuccessful. Actually, the United States really rewards hardworking and intelligent people and incentivizes them to stay within the system. Like, hey, you can get Medicare. Hey, you get certain kinds of tax breaks. You can relocate within the states without having to get a visa.
18:39 Right? I'm here in California. If I wanted to go back to Tennessee tomorrow, not that I do, but if I wanted to, I wouldn't have to file any special paperwork. I wouldn't have to go to any great lengths. I'd just get in my car and drive. Where this is not the case in Southeast Asia. If I want to go to another country, I've got to make sure I can get a visa on arrival. I've got to keep my eye on my exit date. I don't want to overstay.
19:04 If I'm staying in one country long-term, that typically is going to require me to follow certain visa protocols. There's a lot of legwork and concerns that a very, very wealthy person would have that if you're, like I said, if you're in that sweet spot, Southeast Asia is perfect for you. But if you're toward the upper band of that, that's when I've had guys start to reach out and say, you know what, I'm looking at Portugal. I'm looking at Spain. I'm looking at Greece.
19:30 I'm looking at countries like this where, okay, yeah, it's not the US as far as efficiency, but it's more relaxed. I know that I can get on a plane within an hour or two, be it a country with an even higher level of development, the UK, Finland, Sweden, and it's more familiar to me. It's got that European culture, which to me is closer to an American culture than say parts of Asia.
19:56 Um, so anyway, let me know what you think down in the comments.
20:00 Know what you think down in the comments below. Maybe you totally disagree. Maybe you think I'm being ridiculous. That's fine. Give me a thumbs up; it helps with distributing this video on YouTube.
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