Writes a friend in Singapore:
3:28 pm on April 28, 2010I read your article Renouncing American Citizenship as soon as I got to LRC.com today.
It has rather personal appeal…I am not rich, by any stretch…But I chose to expatriate myself, my wife, and my 3 youngest children.
I am 50, a mid-level IT manager…And I must say, this is no easy choice. The costs in time, financial set backs, stress, and multitudes of challenges are really difficult for you to imagine—even when you are someone who is thoughtful and attempts to research ahead as well as plan ahead.
However, I made the choice to do this, in large part, due to my love of liberty, hatred of war, and mostly for my 3 young sons’ futures.
Where to? Singapore. Yes, it has some of the same problems as the U.S. HOWEVER…It is a country of 4 million; as such, the government is your neighbors and they can not hide so readily. Singapore does not participate in foreign occupations. Yes—they have a mandatory draft, but I am well versed in what that entails…as well as having discussed it at length with my sons before making this decision.
Why Singapore? First and foremost, my wife is a Singapore citizen. Second, in terms of economic liberty, it is one of the best. Also, it is at the center of the growth in APAC’s economic growth, and it is likely to be the financial hub for Asia for the foreseeable future.
My sons are getting a much better (public) education here, as well as a much broader perspective on the world.
Lew, this was not meant to be a sales pitch for Singapore. 😉
It has many issues which might be deal killers for others who decide the US is too risky a place for their family. However, for me, we had at least the start of a family support structure, better legal standing than anywhere else in the world, as well as it not being a leap into the unknown.
Frankly Lew, if Ron Paul is not elected in 2012, I will renounce my US citizenship as soon as I am legally able to become a Singapore citizen.
I won’t bore you with the details of the personal costs for this whole course of action on my part. But trust me in this: While the total financial costs for such a path are significant, they pale against the personal costs for my entire family. And yet, if I had to do it over, I would simply have done it sooner.
