Comments by "Marvin Fine" (@torontovoice1) on "Mexico Beats USA in Best Countries for Expats" video.

I left Canada more than 10 years ago, but I visited every year. I certainly don't miss the snow and the biting cold weather in Toronto. And I also don't miss the long waiting cues to see a doctor or getting an MRI. So why is Canada the number one place in the world on some indexes? It's not on my index.
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The Taco Kawaii well you can have the snow if you want it. I personally hate it, and the cold weather. It also makes you very depressed. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining and you look at the Mediterranean Sea it's a very uplifting feeling
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@tandanielle3875 I think the nomad capitalists himself said there's no perfect country. So everything is a give and take. I think it all depends on your particular situation. If you're living on $2,000 a month, Mexico looks like a great place to live because your dollar goes a lot further. If you're earning 2 million dollars a year, then you might see things differently. As well, if you have a young family, that could be a factor as well. The other thing of course is what you do for a living. If you're a lawyer for example, you can't be a non-resident. So if you want to be a lawyer you have to be a resident and a member of the bar. If you're a trader or have a business that is portable, then you have the ability to move wherever you like, assuming that they'll have you. But generally speaking, there are a lot of chi programs still existing so you can likely get a residence permit easily, on a passport with a little more difficulty and or cost. But I think there's something to say about cold countries. You need to be a little smarter to live in a colder country. You have to prepare for winter. It's no secret that The closer you get to the equator, the poor the country's become. There are a few exceptions like the UAE for example but the overall look at Africa and other countries close to the equator. But it's all about the quality of life that you're going to have and if you like where you are. And of course some people are interested in going to English speaking countries. So there's not that many on the list. We have Canada USA UK Australia New Zealand, and then you have other countries that are sort of English like Malta, Cyprus oh and I forgot that Gibraltar and all the islands off the coast of the UK and Ireland. So you got a wide choice. You know when you go to a country where there's a foreign language and not many people speak English, do you feel like a foreigner there? I think I would. But I know Mr h talks about that and he says most people speak English. Well they probably do but probably not most people but the people you need to talk to. So the manager of a big store would speak English, but the schlepper stocking the shelves might not so you know it's a give and take. You got to put all of the criteria that's important to you and put them in a list and then use that list to find the right country
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That's very interesting survey. I just read the article. A lot of what they're talking about is getting a bigger bang for your buck. And there's no doubt about it that the cost of living in Mexico for example in Malaysia is a lot less than that of the US. But the US must have some attraction, not that I'm an American. Why are 200,000 people a month paying coyotes to smuggle them across the border. But I think if you have a portable occupation which is not location dependent, there is a much bigger bang for your buck in all of these countries. Cost of living is lower, and most services can be had for a fee which is much lower than that in the US especially healthcare. Food also would be cheaper and everything else probably for that matter including rent or buying a property. I think you would need to learn Spanish to function properly, but it's very easy language to look to learn especially if you speak French Portuguese, Italian, Romanian or a study Latin in school. And you don't have to be that literate, if you learn the 500 words for example and you could put together crude rudimentary sentences that would work. There's another thing you can do which is using Google translate. I do it all the time. You just speak into the phone and press the button and it translates it to that language. So if you want simple directions or something like that it would work excellently providing you had the Wi-Fi or mobile data active
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@Hozagen I left count of a 10 years ago and I don't miss the cold Winters and waiting 6 months to see a doctor.
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@gabrielanak6000 well not long ago, cuz there was a conservative government led by Harper. But when the liberals they are destroying everything and they're going to be able to do what Europe is doing. Unfortunately, the people that are paying all the taxes are the ones that are the first to leave. they know that which is why the G7 is trying to impose a 15% flat tax across the board, and I'll try to do with the oecd as well. If they're successful in doing that, there won't be anywhere else to run. However, the competition for people and talent will not end.
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@tandanielle3875 I agree you can't compete with the Mexicans for work you got to do something online or do investments or take a vow of poverty
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@brucelumley no I left Canada more than 10 years ago, and I've never had a government job, in fact I've never had a job in Canada. I realize the word job is an acronym for just over broke, so I never opted for one of those recipes. I was in business in Canada and I do investments right now
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@TheCravenIsReal that's exactly true. When you look at the corruption levels, poverty levels, lack of access to proper medical and other social programs, you start to realize how good you had it in your triple a country. But you have to be willing to spend the money and fund the programs. So like I always said, there are no free lunches. You going to a country that is cheap and corrupt you have to expect all of the associated problems. Every country has corruption, the only difference is how corrupt they are, and if market forces in that country are prepared to interdict the corruption and not only stop it, but create a deterrence for others to follow suit
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As far as someone looking for a fresh start and high income, yes you're correct unless of course you have a portable occupation as I mentioned in my comment. If you're going to try to work in any of these countries in the local market, you make a lot less than you would in Switzerland or Germany for example. But if you have a pension of 1500 or 2,000 a month and you're just scraping by in the US or Canada or other AAA country, then moving to Mexico or Panama or other countries that are on the list have some logic. And I think that's the basis of the article. I don't think there are targeting young people who are your fresh out of University looking for a six-figure income job. You won't find that in these countries. But on the other hand if you have seven or eight figures of income, there are very good investment opportunities in these countries because there's less with access to Capital and the competition is much less.
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@carlosw1687 well that's very true, and the world is awash with migrants. And when one gets in he tells all his friends how good it is which incentivizes them to try to make the treck the United States probably has 10 million undocumented people if not more. And Europe is even worse!
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@mjohnson1741 yes that's true. And remember that these are for elective surgeries, they're not emergencies. If you have a heart condition and it's an emergency, they will perform an operation immediately. The same thing with bone fractures etc. But you'll have to wait a long time if you have a sore back, knee problems etc.
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@tandanielle3875 I don't know if they're biased or not, I think they're based on surveys. And in order to do a survey if you ever studied statistics, the survey has to be random. So they ask people a bunch of questions and they tabulate the data and based on scientific analysis, if the study is done correctly it's usually 95% accurate. Some of the indexes like the USA news for example where they rate Canada as the number one country in the world to live in I can't agree at all. I am Canadian, I have a Canadian passport and I left Canada 10 years ago. I visited every year, but I have no intention of becoming a resident again for two main reasons, the healthcare has long waits and there's no private, and the weather, I hate the cold. But these people are obviously Western centric and I guess if you need an operation and you have to wait but you don't have to pay for it, it's better than not being able to afford it and not getting it at all if you don't have insurance for example. So it depends where you are on a financial basis but a lot of people are upset about that. Imagine if you were paying a million dollars a year in taxes, and you get the same service as someone who collects welfare. You think that's fair? Normally if you have money you get to buy things, but health Care cannot be purchased in Canada. Now you will hear stories mostly from Quebec I think where people are able to jump like you with envelope under the table, but it's not the norm. The only way to jump the queue is to get on a plane and go somewhere else to another country. So you have to ask yourself, is this Fair, and do I want to live here. Now if you have a business where you're earning a substantial amount of income and you need to be in the country, then you just do whatever you have to do within the parameters of the law to get the best deal. But if you have options, then they're often worth exploring.
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@Hozagen well you probably don't know this, but generally poor people are much happier than rich people. People only dream of being rich but when they get rich they start to have a lot of problems. They were ready to put their reputation, they're afraid to go anywhere, see people, being crowds, and the list goes on. What they want is total privacy. They want to private elevator in a building that they live in etc. So in Mexico, because there's so much poverty, most people don't even know what's going on in the rest of the world. They live in their own little village and they do the same thing over and over again just like their parents did. Most are an educated and so they're happy because they don't know anything else. But then when they're exposed to wealth, it changes their perception and it can make them both jealous and unhappy. People all over the world watch shows like the Kardashians, and many of them think that all Americans live like that. But of course we all know that's the furthest thing from the truth.
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@mjohnson1741 you know whatever election in the US, Americans say if this incumbent gets in I'm moving to Canada. And the Canadian government immigration website crashed a few times by the number of people looking for information on immigrating to Canada. But if you do!
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Two weeks is a pretty short period of time especially trying to deal with a lot of bureaucracy. I don't know if you're a resident there or you're just there on a tourist visa. Have you ever filed taxes in Mexico? What about renting an apartment, ordering of services? Are you fluent in Spanish? I know just for example going to Quebec which is part of Canada once you get on the other side of St Lawrence boulevard in Montreal, English is not a language they enjoy speaking.
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@tandanielle3875 there's plenty of places to go. Cuz I said I left about 10 years ago but you need to have portable job or income and usually learn another few languages, I'm on my 5th already. But there's definitely advantages!
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@findme7862 I wouldn't say it's a terrible country, I think you're exaggerating profusely. The weather isn't great that's true and you'll have to wait a long time for health care, but it is one of the best countries in the world according to most of the indexes. There's rule of law there's a constitution there's a proper democracy it's safe but there are other countries that have other attributes that people may choose to move to. But to say Canada is a terrible country is I think a departure from the truth.
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@mjohnson1741 yes it is, but there's plenty of places you can go and see a doctor right away if you can pay for it. The problem with Canada is that Private health care is illegal, and everyone gets the same thing whether you pay a million dollars in tax, or you're on welfare. Poor people might say it's fair, but generally speaking when you pay for things you get to buy them. So if you have more money call me you get to drive a nicer car, live in a bigger house and buy more expensive toys. That's the way the world revolves. I don't think people should die if they don't have money for health care, but I think that if you're willing to pay extra or privately you should be able to get service right away. I guess I'm not the majority in Canada, because they left this socialized healthcare the way it is. You remember in the US the Republicans would always stand up and say you think public health Care is so good? Just ask a Canadian, pick anyone you like there's almost 40 million to choose from. They'll all tell you the same thing. Now if you never have a serious problem and you just want to see a family doctor, there's lots of walk-in clinics and you can see the 20 doctors a day without paying. That's also an abuse of the system, there's no copay whatsoever. If the institute at a $20 copay for visit, half the people wouldn't even go to doctors. I remember this one woman she went to a doctor every single day for 3 weeks, then all of a sudden she missed a week, and then when she went back to the doctor a week later, the doctor said, where were you? And the woman replied oh, I was sick!
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@tandanielle3875 yes I do the same passive income
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Don't say never. There are situations where you want to go back to Canada. It all depends on your age, your wealth and other factors
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@anpleidhceeireannach9498 unfortunately that's true, Canada has gone to the left. But the healthcare is terrible I'm not the quality but the access
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Canada is a cold country and having grown up there and lived almost my entire life there, I can tell you that there are two things that I hated about Canada. The weather, and the access to healthcare. And I guess if you want to go down the list, it's the excessive taxation as well. But Canada this year has been rated the number one country in the world according to USA news so do they know something that I don't?
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@anpleidhceeireannach9498 I certainly don't, and last week I just applied for my out of country ballot which I just received. I'm going to be completing it today and dropping it off at the post office. I'm not going to tell you who I'm going to vote for, but I can tell you one thing for sure, it won't be the liberal or the NDP.
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@SPKLifeStyle2.0 we don't want them! We have enough of these bleeding heart liberals doling out cash to people, and wasting billions in taxpayer money.
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@difference018 thank you for the reply. If you put it that way, then I complete the agree with you but if you read the article I think they're talking about people that are either having portable occupations where they have a particularly fixed income and in the case that they're not the US persons, they can become a non-resident and if they're in a territorial tax country, then they can pay zero taxation on all that income. And when I say that income. I'm talking about small amounts of money generally, how much can you make as a freelancer. You have a hard time making 40 or 50,000 a year. But that is a reasonably good income to live in one of these countries. But as you clearly pointed out that trying to get a job in any of these countries would be a very poor choice. And the other thing is as you get older, and you need more medical Care, and if you have a complex operation that needs to get done, you might not be able to get it done successfully in one of some of these countries. In other words you might die on the operating table. But people that have fixed incomes and live in colder countries look at these as options without thinking them through. Of course there's also others that only spend 6 months of the year in these countries in which case if they did get sick they could just medivac back to their home country.
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@omarj5534 so what are the problems that you see living in Mexico right now. And if you have to change it then go somewhere else, where would you go?
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@Timithos well I guess if they weren't happy with their job, they would probably leave and go somewhere else. There may be people that leave their home country for one reason or another like weather etc and want to live in a warmer country. I saw a post about Panama for example and they said that 50,000 Canadians a year is in Panama this was from the tourism board I believe in Canada who pull data on this. Out of the 50,000 and visit, 50% to move down there. So maybe people that go there for all types of different reasons and they might like it. Maybe they go fishing for example. I don't know, I don't know what the survey said and I don't know if it was random sample or people elected to fill out a survey which is not really valid. So it's hard to say. I've been to Mexico several times on vacation. I don't think I would want to live there but the people there were very nice
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@omarj5534 I have no doubt that everything you said is true. You might want to watch a video on YouTube called how the economy works by Ray dalio. That will explain to you the concept of corruption. A tax man collecting taxes with a big bucket of what appears to be water. But the bucket has a bunch of holes in it. That is the easiest definition of corruption. It starts from the top and goes to the bottom.
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I'm not so sure about that. There are millions of people living in the US that are over 50 and are not looking to move anywhere. Sometimes it's not just a matter of cost, but rather they want to be close to their family so there are social issues. But those people that are empty nesters I guess have the mobility position to be able to move. But as you get older, healthcare becomes a concern and you know when you look at the best hospitals in the world, I think the Cleveland clinic comes up with number one. There are other hospitals on the list in the top 20 that are in Canada, Israel, etc. But I never saw Mexico on the list last time I checked. So if you have routine medical problems, you're likely going to be able to take care of them even at a nurse's clinic. For example cruise ships employ all kinds of telemedicine where if he gets sick, the doctor on board can communicate with the specialist and prescribe treatment at least until you get to the next court and then if there's a problem they can offload you and medivac you back to your home country. But as you get older, the cold weather becomes very annoying. I grew up in Toronto and I can tell you I hate the cold weather. A hot weather can also be stifling. So there's a lot of different things that go into the mix as to where you want to live. The other thing of course is security, and you can't look at statistics alone to determine how safe a country is. For example in Mexico, the conviction rate of crimes is very low. So while the statistics might be low it doesn't mean that the crime is low. It's the same thing that you saw with the covid statistics. The US did a lot of testing and had very high numbers and consequently very high deaths. But those numbers were kind of skewed. First of all, if someone had a whole bunch of debilitating diseases, and they were on the way to getting checked out, and they happened to catch covid as well they were listed as a covid death. Whereas other third world countries did a lot less testing, and many people just die at home and have no access to medical treatment. What did they die from? Who knows! So you have to look at these things with some skepticism. Now of course if you live in a major city in Mexico, just like living in a major city in the United States, you can expect to have higher crime. But if you move away from the in small communities, the safety becomes significantly enhanced whatever the country is.
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@PAIP_Studio prosperity and happiness do have a link. But I've been to many small villages in Mexico and spoken to people and they had absolutely no idea what's going on in the rest of the world. They live in their own little bubble in a very sort of backward way. But you know what, they're happy! And why do I say that? Because they don't know anything else so as long as they have enough to eat and the basics of life, they appear quite happy. So when you do surveys on happiness, it's quite subjective. As well, when you look at people that are very wealthy, especially if they're famous, they have a lot of anxieties. Imagine if you were a comedian and you went on stage and you bombed. Because no one knows you it's almost a nullity. But if you're well known and famous I like that guy from Seinfeld the bombed on a comedy skit, he probably never recovered from that! Also come if you have a lot of things like houses all over the world, business running and maybe a handful of toys like a few Jets and large yachts, these things all need service maintenance upkeep and the someone has to be involved. So some people just like the simple life. So if you don't have a car, you don't need a mechanic you don't need the driver's license etc. So you just go rent a car whenever you need one or even better, use Uber or take taxis and sit on the phone and answer your emails and be productive while you're being chauffeured around and what about parking? That's a disaster and most cities but not with Uber or taxi they just let you off and the you go to your appointment to do what you have to do. So there's lots of consumer conveniences literally everywhere that enable you without being directly involved including online ordering. And of course I would be remiss and not mentioning Google translate, because I read newspapers almost daily in multiple languages, the bulk of which I don't speak. And as technology further advances, you'll be able to take advantage of these conveniences and you ask yourself why am I living here in paying all these taxes? And then of course the other thing that comes to mind is when you see your government spend money on things that you don't agree with, or, as is the case with all governments, they waste money through various inefficiencies etc. So you say to yourself, look how they spending my money! And it bothers you. But it's everywhere. It's only the degree of waste that varies my country.
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@ralphfurley4217 well if you move to Thailand, don't expect to be single very long, I mean like even 20 minutes after getting off the plane. Because you'll have plenty of shall I say offers. But are these people the ones you want to spend your life with. Are they there because of you, or they there based on convenience and the benefits. I think that's where the term Friends with benefits came from. But even so, let's say that is the case, you might say so what, it's good for me, it's good for her. And there's a certain amount of convenience in every relationship, and that's on both sides, but there is a social Bond that exists between two people which made me lacking in Southeast Asia. I don't know, you told me?
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@kerrynight3271 it sounds like a good read. Even though I don't agree with what he did, and even though by buying the book you are an essence of supporting his corrupt and skewed way of thinking, you can learn a lot by looking at how other people view things. But I won't buy the book, I'll read it at the library.
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@SenorJuan2023 well I hope everything goes well for you John. Thailand is a third world country and can be dangerous at times. Remember that it's not a democracy and the King is in charge. Make sure you do not say anything disrespectfully about the king because it's a very serious criminal offense. Aside from that, a lot of people do go and enjoy themselves there but you just have to go to the right places and don't look for things that you shouldn't be looking for if you get my drift. The cost of living there is very low and it's a big attraction. There's an awful lot of lonely people that do go to Thailand to meet women and I'm not talking about hookers or anything like that, but there are many women that are desperate to meet Western men. Aside from that I don't know what else to tell you other than to wish you all the best. Make sure your health coverage is up to date and if you need any serious operations consider repatriation.
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@SenorJuan2023 I've never been to Malaysia nor to Thailand so I can only go by things that I've heard from other people. It's very nice to hear that you're healthy. There's nothing more important than this world than health so you know keep exercising eating right and try to have a good time because that's also a health benefit
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