Maybe this isn't a thing in South America? I've never met an expat here who pays taxes here for interest made in accounts abroad. Usually the government here is just happy with what you're moving into the country and spending on the local economy every month.

I'm still a US citizen. Even if I live abroad, I have to pay capital gains taxes to the US. That's why I use the Roth IRA.

Why would it be a liability?

Expenses are kept low by living in a low-cost-of-living country and volunteering several months per year at intentional communities with work-trade programs. Usually you do 20 hours of volunteering (per week) in exchange for free food and accommodation. Great way to travel, meet cool people, and lower your annual expenses.

My plan is to rent out the condo half the year, which should cover condo and tax expenses. I'm still looking, but I think the combined taxes & fees would be <$4,000 per year, and I can charge $1,000 per month if I get a condo in a good location (in South America, taxes are very low). I don't expect passive income, but I do think it'll pay for itself and give me (and my friends) a place to sleep for free whenever I visit the city.

Also you probably don’t want most of the money in the condo, so you may have a mortgage as well.

I don't like debt. I'm currently thinking of putting $500k into the land and $300k into the condo. What would be the benefit to getting a mortgage?

Sorry, I do appreciate advice in general -- but I do not take kindly to people who tell me to invest in mass murder and genocide.

Too often in these spaces do people take that in stride; we need a culture that condemns such advice. It's not okay to invest in companies like Lockheed or UnitedHealtcare.

Sure, but that's not what's happening.

I've submitted my passport and all the KYC info required by law. I was denied before they ever asked me for the source of the income. This isn't related to KYC/AML. If it is, then they're not doing their job of even trying to collect the data. I've asked if they need any further documents, but I'm just told to apply again. I apply again, it doesn't ask for additional documents, and I get denied. Every time.

Correct about credit unions, but not about the bitcoin earnings. I was denied before I was asked the source of my income or even how much I'd be transferring-in. This was an application just for a standard savings/checking account.

Unless the AI that is denying me learned that I used to work for a company that does cryptocurrencies. Or read my blog and saw the word "bitcoin" and put me in a "high risk; deny" bucket. It scares me to realize that's possible in 2024 :(

https://2fa.directory/

I have 3 banks that use TOTP. It's common in credit unions.

I started a business a few years ago :) I don't like living idle. Retirement for me means contributing to open-source.

Thanks. Is a tax accountant different than a CPA? That's definitely my priority now.

I'm still waiting for them to pencil me into a meeting, but so far it looks like three's not much I can do to reduce my capital gains tax burden.

If all global monetary transactions moved to Bitcoin, the amount of energy used by bitcoin would not increase, and global emissions caused by financial transactions would decrease by nearly 100%.

This analogy is only valid if you don't have a bank account.

It is valid criticism for me to say that I'm moving the bitcoin into the bank account, because that is the equivalent of dumping a truck load of motor oil in the lake, whereas bitcoin is the equivalent of dropping one drop of motor oil in the lake.

I also fly once per year. Honestly that's worse. I'm aware of the harm that I'm causing. I try to minimize it. But bitcoin is far better for the environment than tradfi companies.

The key to your misunderstanding is the "per transaction" part. It's a common misconception.

Now look at how much energy the whole financial industry uses. Put it on a line graph next to bitcoin's energy usage. You can almost not even see the blip of bitcoin's energy usage compared to the harm that the financial industry is causing.

Then learn how the energy does not increase as the transactions increases. This is a fact. The difficulty increases. It's mathematical. Read the white paper.

Then maybe you can finally see the lie perpetuated by the financial industry, which is a disaster to our environment compared to the greener alternative of bitcoin.