Young people are leaving the West.
To be clear, I’m referring specifically to Western Europe and Canada; Australia and the US have it better.
I encounter such young people everywhere I go. I see them in Latin America, in the Middle East, in Africa and here in South East Asia where I’m spending a few months with my family.
Why does this sadden me?
Most of them left for lack of opportunities. They weren’t driven by wanderlust, but by the lack of opportunities back home. They may not always express it this way, or even realize it, but that’s typically the fundamental reason.
Nobody ends up in Paraguay because they loved the idea of settling in Paraguay. They were pushed away from somewhere, and pulled towards a land with better prospects.
The reality is that the vast majority of us would be better off staying at home, close to our family and friends as we did historically, while perhaps a few adventurous cousins wander off to do their thing abroad.
But right now most young people leaving the West are seeking greener pastures. Framing it as travel and “exploring the world” are often excuses and a way to cope.
I had a discussion about this with Matt.
Paraguay is a great Plan B in your back pocket
Let me be very clear about this:
Paraguay residency will not be this easy to obtain forever.
Many people on this mailing list will hate themselves for not having pulled the trigger once the rules do change.
Right now it’s too easy. Pretty much anyone from a developed country can get temporary residency with a clear path to permanent residency. Get in touch with Matt to learn how to obtain residency in Paraguay.
If you want to skip temporary residency and go straight to permanent residency, you can make an investment in a Paraguayan film and get PR immediately. To be clear the investment is not a particularly good one, but it gets the job done.
And here is an analysis of the real estate market in Asuncion, a capital city experiencing a legitimate boom and where entry prices are low.
Just this week I received an email from clients:
“Since the end of January, we’ve been living full-time in this beautiful city and this beautiful country that never ceases to amaze us. Our ties with Canada are severed, and phew, we’re so glad we left in time.”
To a World of Opportunities,
The Wandering Investor.
Services in Paraguay:
- My Real Estate Buyer’s Agent in Asuncion, Paraguay
- How to obtain Residency in Paraguay
- How to obtain Permanent Residency in Paraguay through investment in film production
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Transcript of “Why Are Young Westerners Leaving for Places Like Paraguay?”
LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello everyone, Ladislas Maurice of The Wandering Investor. So today we’ll be discussing a bit of a sad topic, which is why are young Europeans and Canadians leaving their country? I’m here together with Matt. Matt is an immigration specialist and has a real estate agency here in Asuncion in Paraguay. And you have a lot of this specific profile coming to Paraguay, getting residency and essentially moving here because they’re fleeing from somewhere.
Why do people want to leave The West?
MATT: Yes, exactly. As you said, it’s a sad topic but we need to face it right now. A lot of people are fleeing from Europe and Canada, mostly because of the government. Right now there is not so much freedom as it was before, and it starts to be more and more difficult. People have jobs, but the inflation is growing and they can’t really afford the way of life they had before. It’s one of the major problems. You work all year long, you don’t even have too much vacation, and you just work to pay the tax and that’s the only thing. And when you want to build your house, you have so many laws that are restrictive, you can’t even do what you want with your own money. You don’t even own your own money. That’s a really sad thing. People, they want to be free, they want to do what they want with their work, with their labor. And that’s one of the main reason why people are leaving Europe but also Canada and other countries.
Why are young Europeans going to Paraguay?
LADISLAS MAURICE: So obviously the the tax system is is really an issue in in Western Europe and in and in Canada. So we were having a bit of a discussion before and Matt has a few different types of clients, right? You’ve got the the wealthy people that want Paraguay as a essentially as a tax base. You’ve got families moving here for specific reasons. But the the young people, give me, who is your typical young person moving here, how much do they earn, what do they do and why specifically did they come here? So let’s let’s go into your typical profile.
MATT: So yes, when we talk about young people, there is one archetype that we can see. Mainly, there are people working online, who have their own business, doing digital marketing, and having a YouTube channel or something like this. And they they can make maybe from 2,000 from 10,000 a month. And they want to be free, they don’t want to pay tax in the their own country. They want to come in a tax haven, which is Paraguay. If you have income from outside, you don’t have to pay anything. So that’s a great thing. And they they come here, they use Paraguay as a base, they just spend like a few month a year. And they they travel the rest of the year. Basically, we have a lot of entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs, which are in this specific archetype. And we can see it growing, more and more people are coming for these reasons.
Why digital nomads move to Paraguay
LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, I mean, there’s objectively no reason if you make your money online to be sitting in Toronto or to be sitting in Brussels or Munich or Paris and be paying outrageous taxes for money that you as a young person will never really see. Because the the stage of the government Ponzi scheme, um, if you’re 25 to 35, the pension money you’re giving in now is going to the current boomers. You will not be seeing that money. So a lot of people are taking, are cognizant of this and are making decisions such as moving to Paraguay. I mean, I help people move to a lot of other countries that have similar setups, but Paraguay is one of the most popular destinations.
MATT: Yes. And moreover, I would say people, some of them are would be happy to pay taxes, but for ideas that they would defend. And right now with all the craziness in Europe and also in the states, all the money the government gets for the taxes is wasted, basically. And it goes for all the woke culture. It goes to help refugees. It doesn’t, it’s not a priority to grow the country, to help the people from the country. It’s just spending without caring. People, they always tell tell me about this, and they are a bit angry actually because some of them, they want to pay tax, but they don’t want to to to waste everything.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, so I’d say there’s a clear difference between Canadians and Europeans who move here, who often are more ideological driven. So sure they want the low taxes here, but they they’re also fleeing from somewhere.
Americans moving to Paraguay
LADISLAS MAURICE: With American clients, it’s a bit of a different story, because of how taxes are structured with US people. Moving here can have some benefits, but typically less. So when they move here, it’s more of a lifestyle move than it is a move purely around ideology, because in the US you have different states that are quite strong and if you like, you know, a certain ideology, you could move to that state. In when you’re in Canada or in a European country, you don’t really have this opportunity. So Americans are have different motivations for moving here.
MATT: Exactly. And as you said, Paraguay is also really nice for the lifestyle it offers. When you don’t know about it, you don’t know the opportunity, it seems maybe a bit boring because nobody knows about this country. But when you come really for the first time, you discover a unique country. People are really nice. You can do pretty much whatever you want to do. You can own your land, you can own your house, which is not true for the Asian country. Right now, the Asian countries are really popular, but, I mean, you can’t really own your property. So it’s it’s a big problem.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, it depends on the country, but you will never have the same level of integration as a non-local in Asia as you can here in in Latin America, where you can really own property fully in your own name. You can in Asia in some cases, and you can also get citizenship here eventually, which in Asia is practically impossible.
MATT: Yes, exactly. So, for this reason, the people, they want to come here and settle because it’s a land of freedom. It’s a land of everything is possible. The government is really oriented toward business. And if you want to start something, to create a company, everything is possible. And the barrier of entry is not that high because there is not so much competition right now. It’s only beginning. So, it’s a great opportunity to come here.
Homeschooling in Paraguay and other countries
LADISLAS MAURICE: Tell us about young families leaving Europe and Canada. I’m seeing a lot of them here in in Paraguay. Why are they leaving?
MATT: About the families, the main reason is about the children, because the parents, they see what’s going on in the school. They don’t really like the school system, and they want the children to grow in a better environment. They want to give them more opportunities, the opportunity to to know various languages, the opportunity to grow with a future, because if you are in Europe and Canada right now, basically, you will just study, and you will have a job, and you will pay your whole life for nothing, pretty much for a lifestyle that is not really interesting anymore. Well, I talk to parents, they really care about what’s going to happen for their children, and that’s the main motivation. And here, you can find international school, you can also do it at home if you want. It’s easier, you can shape your own destiny, I will say.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, no, that’s a good point. It’s an ongoing issue, especially with homeschooling. People who want to home school in Western countries, the anti-homeschooling laws are really strictly enforced. When you move to other parts of the world, they’re not really enforced. So, for example, some countries, I think Paraguay, there’s no homeschooling in Paraguay technically speaking.
MATT: Technically, no.
LADISLAS MAURICE: But in practice, you can do it and no one’s gonna bat an eye. And there’s a lot of other countries like this. I mean, in the Balkans, also, homeschooling is not allowed, but if you’re a foreigner on temporary residency, they don’t care about you and you can home school, you get away with it. And Asia, also, similar story, a lot of Asian countries, there’s no homeschooling, but if you’re a foreigner, again, they don’t care about foreigners because they feel you’ll never really be there all the all the time, they they ensure that you won’t be there all the time. So they don’t care what you do with your kids, so you can homeschool. This is a big drive that I’m seeing specifically with families of for leaving Canada, leaving Western Europe is having more freedom in terms of being able to choose their schools or having the ability to choose to not put their kids in school.
Thank you, Matt. So, this was just a really short conversation on why many Canadians and Europeans are leaving their countries. It’s unfortunate, but it’s something that I’m seeing in my business, increasingly. It’s something that you’re seeing Matt in your business here with immigration in Paraguay. And it’s a trend that I don’t see stopping anytime soon. And unfortunately, for Europe, unfortunately, for Canada, it’s always the the bright ones that are leaving. It’s not the lazy ones, it’s not the ones who just want to have a very passive life. It’s the ones that the go-getters, the ones who want to start businesses, the ones that are ambitious, the ones that have a lot of contrarian thinking. Essentially the ones in society that typically add a lot of value.
Are foreigners welcome in Paraguay?
LADISLAS MAURICE: Those are the ones that are leaving and countries such as Paraguay are benefiting massively from this. I mean, just today this morning, your team was helping me convert my Paraguayan temporary residency into permanent residency, and we had to get my passport translated from the original language of my passport, which is not English. And the translator was there, she was an old lady, she’s like 65, 70, and she said, “Oh, why are people from your country all leaving Europe? I don’t understand. I was there at university, it was really nice.” It’s like, yeah, honey, it was like, it was like four decades ago. Uh, things have changed. And she’s like, “Yeah, no, that’s sad, but for us, Paraguay, it’s really good. Uh, we love immigration like this, you know, you’re all welcome to come. You’re great for the country.”
MATT: Yes. And most of the people coming, they will feel welcome by the local people, because it’s like this. I mean, it’s only starting. There aren’t too many of us right now. And all the people coming, like you said, it’s people who want to work, they want to build something, and they they will help Paraguay to grow even stronger than it’s growing right now, which is already pretty good.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, it’s, uh, I was having a similar conversation with my agent in Malaysia, so he helps me process the my Malaysia Second Home visas. So for people who want to live in Malaysia, he has a flood of Europeans and Australians and Kiwis constantly contacting him. He says he barely needs to do marketing. His best marketing is the policies of the West that are driving away their best people. And it’s sad. So, you know, you can choose to stay in your own country, you get spat at, you get called whatever, you’re forced to pay all these taxes. If you don’t, you get punished, you get audited, you get this, you get that, or you come to Paraguay, you barely have to pay any taxes, and you’re made to feel very welcome when you move here. You know, countries like this, even though they’re still poor, long term are going to win the the battle for talent. It’s inevitable.
How to contact Matt to obtain residency in Paraguay
LADISLAS MAURICE: So Matt, you have a free course on how to obtain residency in Paraguay, right?
MATT: Yes, you can follow the link in the description, and you can obtain the course and learn how to do, how to get prepared. And then you can come here hopefully and we can assist you for everything.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, so Paraguay is a good option for many people, not for all, but for many people. It’s an affordable option as well, which is part of the appeal of of Paraguay. And then there’s also a link with a whole bunch of countries in which we provide residency services.
All right, Matt.
MATT: Was a pleasure talking. Thanks.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Make sure to download my free e-book, 12 Mistakes to Avoid When Investing in International Real Estate, which you can find on my website, link below. And feel free to follow me on Instagram @thewanderinginvestor. I look forward to hearing from you.
