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 to do a video talking about why very wealthy people are not moving to Southeast Asia.
So the idea being that some of these people to me there's the 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.
And 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.
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 netw worth individuals, people with 30 million in assets or more moving to the United States.
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.
And I'm not as familiar with those cuz one, I'm a citizen.
Two, those don't apply to me.
Uh 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.
We also have roads that are paid for by taxes.
You don't have to uh 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.
Another thing that we enjoy, if you're very wealthy and you're concerned about air quality, 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 wellto-do, uh, you can have a lot of different dating options here in the US.
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 wellto-d 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.
Uh, 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.
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.
But, uh, 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.
Uh you could have a summer home or summer multiple summer homes in other parts of the United States based on your preference for weather.
You don't need to get on a plane and go halfway around the world for different weather.
If you are truly very wellto-do, you probably 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, worldclass health care, heat and humidity, and hit or miss health care, 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 is actually totally untrue.
who 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, uh, 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.
Uh, if they want a relationship, they can find a relationship with other people in their industries.
It's not something where they're it's it's, you know, 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.
If you're very wellto-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, uh, in many ways offers enough variety.
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 wellto-do person and you look at the risk that you might incur by moving to Southeast Asia, uh, it's off the table.
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, uh, to communicate with employees.
I enjoy being able to just get in my car and drive on roads that aren't too crowded.
I it's not complex.
I don't have to worry about corruption, for example.
Uh there's of course corruption in every country, including the United States, but it's uh definitely not the most corrupt by global standards.
Nowhere near the most corrupt.
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 uh they're able to limit their tax burden.
and they're able to um offset some of the costs of the services that they enjoy.
They're it's it's not working against them basically.
And they're also concerned about things like um 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.
Uh, in Southeast Asia, in my couple of years, I probably saw at least six or eight incidents where uh people did not make it through the the incident, basically.
And if I'm a high netw worth individual, why do I want to try to uh go halfway around the world only to risk being in a serious incident like that?
It's just not really something that's that's on my mind.
And uh if another thing, 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 the 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.
It's not out there.
I I knew a very wellto-do guy.
And he uh he traveled to another state.
He felt like, well, that other state has a better system for my 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 uh system for what his needs were.
Um, 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.
Uh, and then if they're still risk averse and you're concerned about that financial, we'll go into the next point here.
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.
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 who are 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.
Uh I 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 or I'm closer to the United States.
If I want to fly back to the US, if I've I've got uh say somebody has a government subsidized health care plan, okay, well, I 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 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 u if I want different weather, right?
If uh 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.
you're just not going to get cold weather and you're not going to get Mediterranean weather.
So, uh, if I'm very picky about my weather and I'm very wellto-do, I don't like heat and humidity, which some wealthy people don't like heat and humidity, uh, then they can go to Europe or why not go to Miami.
Um, 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 broky.
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 closer probably closer to those poor expats on social security uh than you are the high roller like you're not going to see Jeff Bezos or or Bill Gates.
Oh yeah, I'm moving to Southeast Asia because it's just too expensive here in the US.
No, you're 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.
Um but they're still making some sacrifices in terms of quality of life uh in other areas.
It's um if I one of the things a friend of mine who's an expat no brainer everybody who has the economic u I don't know fortitude or decision-m choices they'd be on a plane here without any second thought.
Uh 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 they calculate out and realize, hey, this actually makes sense for me.
It's not for everybody.
If it were for everybody, all retirees would be moving uh to Southeast Asia.
It's really a narrow band of people that they don't have a ton of family ties.
Uh what they have would be modest in the US, but is actually quite strong over there.
Uh 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.
You want tropical weather, you move to South Florida.
If you want Mediterranean, you go to uh 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 you 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.
Um, so the next point I would talk about would be tax concerns.
So in Southeast Asia, a lot of people will say, "Well, I 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?
It just to uh just to live over there if I can afford to vacation there three months a year and not trigger a tax uh situation.
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, uh you're not worried about the cost of a first class plane ticket, then you uh you don't have you're not you are 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.
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 uh many of them are in compliance.
Many of them do follow the rules.
Uh 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 a constant power outages.
They know the roads aren't going to be totally torn up.
They know uh there's going to be enforcement uh of like law enforcement personnel present.
It's um for for what you're paying, it's actually pretty good all things considered.
They're they're not trying to uh 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." Uh, but as far as like looking around and comparing the percentage of younger people to older people, it's not like the US where the median Americans 40 years old.
There's plenty of people walking around in the US in their 70s um 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.
Uh, but all things considered, people can expect to have pretty long lifespans here in the US, assuming um that they exercise, they eat a decent diet, they're able to catch things early.
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 and the people I know who are wellto-d 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 uh having a situation where whatever issue they have is not caught and addressed or they're misdiagnosed.
I've heard that can be a common issue in other countries.
Uh 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 fail safes 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.
Uh, this is not an issue in the United States.
uh 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 health care in all shapes and forms where if you're somebody that you want to live in Southeast Asia, uh, 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 u range for their budget.
They're willing to spend whatever it takes to maintain health and well-being.
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 uh certainly everybody in the US, everybody in the world would like to have more money.
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.
uh and they are looking forward to life over there if they're not already living it.
Uh but what I don't like is this idea that u I um almost like big fish in a small pond.
It's like no like there's 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.
uh they may have second homes in this country, they may be dual citizens.
Uh you know, it's it's just not really accurate to say that like people in the US are unsuccessful.
actually United States really rewards hardworking and intelligent people and incentivizes them to stay within the system like hey uh you can get Medicare, hey you get u certain kinds of uh tax breaks, you can relocate within the states without having to get a visa.
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 uh 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.
Uh 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 leg work and concerns that a very very wealthy person would have that if you're in, 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.
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 with 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 uh to an American culture than say parts of Asia.
Um, so anyway, let me know what you think down in the comments below.
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