#676 – The Expat Files: Life in Latin America, Cryptocurrency, and U.S. Travel Regulations

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border, down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wander Hello there all you expat wannabes I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the Expat Files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started All right back in the saddle again and live or kind of live anyway and coming at you right off the heels of my latest expat Insider seminar. Oh and just a fantastic group of people. I mean really fantastic Lots of brain power many big foreheads, you know plenty laughs too way too many laughs

[00:50] What did they say all brain power and no laughs makes Jack a dull boy Well something like that and I have to say as a group landed in Guatemala. That's where we had seminar They came in at various times some of them quite a few days early and I started meeting them I realized hell most of them are smarter than I am in fact That's how I started my intro at the Saturday night meeting grade I said don't you just hate that when you're surrounded by people who are smarter than you are and you know me I always say if you're gonna get in business here in Latin America, you want your competition to be latin's not gringos and gringos and man I'll tell you I wouldn't want to be in business competition with any one of the people that came down and wow Do we have some great discussions and some visits from former attendees to the seminar? You know, a lot of them are living down here now

[01:37] And they do pop into various seminar events had their little bits of advice and such for example Bitcoin Dan came in a couple of times and gave everyone with an earshot a quick and dramatic Explanation of why he thinks Bitcoin has a good ten years yet to run and he says with pretty good confidence He thinks it could go up another ten times and a theory. Of course, everybody's asking about a theory Um, he says he thinks it's only got about three years to run and it like so many of the other Cryptocurrencies is being dragged along by the frenzy and as he explained to many of the attendees it has a fatal flaw Yes, he says aetherium has a fatal flaw, but people won't find out about it for a couple of years Even though for now, he says it still has a huge upside but has a fatal flaw

[02:25] I thought I'd throw that out at chip for all the emails I get on the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency subject Oh, he said Bitcoin has a fatal flaw too But it'll run much longer than the rest of the cryptocurrencies because it's kind of like the mothership in the backbone on which all other Cryptocurrencies are built. He says the problem you'll see with Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies is when they're finally towards the end of their mining capabilities. That would be 22 or 23 million bitcoins That's the limit. Remember he says as you get towards that limit the miners Rewards that is the money they receive versus the amount of energy and computing power They have to use to get a Bitcoin will become less and less and that's when the real problems will start But by then there'll be lots of new cryptocurrencies around that will have solved the major flaws

[03:14] So why do we care at all about what Bitcoin Dan has to say? I mean, there's all kinds of supposed Cryptocurrency guru types on the internet meaning there's absolutely no shortage of opinions or predictions And for those of you who've been keeping up with the progress of cryptocurrencies Like Bitcoin Litecoin aetherium three big ones if you've been listening to the usual Financial analysts on mainstream media you've heard them say Bitcoin and the cryptocurrencies were a flash in the pan They should have died a long time ago. They were doomed and truthfully for the average person. It is a complicated subject So I just listen to experts like Dan, but why Dan what makes him stand out from the rest of the pundits? Well, Dan happens to be the very first person in the world to teach a cryptocurrency Course at a university and that was about three or four years ago now

[04:03] He's still doing it too. Plus he's in the process of building his own Cryptocurrency right now that he says addresses all the problems that Bitcoin in aetherium have let you know how that goes, too By the way, Dan always says when he doesn't know something he defers to his smarter brother Yep, Dan has what he calls a smarter brother. Anyway enough about that except to say man. We had a great time Oh and our special guest Robert He spoke for an hour and a half on the subject of how to make money on the internet from anywhere in the world And of course, there are thousands of supposed internet gurus out there blathering away on the same sort of subject in the blogosphere However, Robert, he's something special really unique He's personally generated over a hundred million dollars in revenue using Google ads and believe me

[04:50] The seminar attendees were absolutely riveted with his presentation and what he had to say and I'll tell you that old cliche You had to be there. Well, you really had to be there too bad. You weren't meanwhile right after the seminar ended I checked my emails and I had 78 inquiries wondering when I'm gonna have my next seminar. Of course, I could never do a seminar with that many people It'd be crazy. I always limit the seminars to 25 people or less And of course, most people who send emails are just tire-kickers. Anyway, oh, they have the best of intentions All right, and that's a good thing At least they're interested in getting on board with their own plan B But addressing this subject of having another seminar, I always say it depends on conditions There are critical tipping points and dominoes that are ready to fall that could make it very difficult even impossible

[05:37] For people to come on down. In fact, I've been hearing some disturbing news coming from attendees at this seminar Concerning what big brothers been up to lately where you come from now this I didn't know and I'm sure most of you didn't either For the longest time as far back as I can remember if you were traveling outside the states The expiration date on your passport had to be no less than six months from the date You were leaving in other words A normal US passport is valid for ten years and you can travel out of the country for the first nine and a half years And during that last six months the passport was useless. You weren't allowed to travel outside the country on it But now I understand just recently it's been changed to one year So you're not allowed to travel outside the country unless your passport has more than a year left on its validity period

[06:25] Now that can be a real problem But you'll find out next time you try to buy an airline ticket because to do that You know, you have to give them your passport info, right? So now in that respect you've got big brother tightening the screws just a little bit more Bigging it slightly more difficult to leave the country which makes you wonder why they say a US passport is good for ten years It's not it's only nine and I understand they've got a couple articles to prove this They're thinking about shortening the US passport renewal period from ten to five years Obviously to squeeze more dough idea and keep better track of the cows that temporarily leave the barn Oh and speaking about big brother tightening the screws even more. Have you heard about Senate bill? 1241 introduced by a corrupt pinhead senator from California Diane Feinstein now

[07:14] This is a tragedy and you can see by the wording It's got two purposes number one It's meant to make you think twice about leaving the country even for a short vacation and it's meant to try to kill Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and aetherium, but it won't because they're not centralized or controlled by any one entity or one government And it's obvious when you see governments trying to pass legislation like this that they're absolutely scared to death of cryptocurrency And I believe the American public should be absolutely scared to death about this legislation Listen to this. They call it a new and improved money laundering bill Senate bill 1241 that requires anyone traveling beyond US borders to declare his assets in writing and in detail

[08:02] Plus provide ongoing access to all accounts owned or operated by the individual in essence It's providing big brother Pustulent governments with a license to track your cash cryptocurrencies and other assets in perpetuity and should at any point your declaration come into question as to its accuracy as Your movements and actions may be beyond what the Pustulent government deems Normal reasonable or customary for your stated financial condition the entirety of those assets could be seized Not just those assets you may have forgotten to list or went unreported But all of your assets in addition, you'll face prison sentences up to five years

[08:49] By the way, I looked up that bill and it's been amended a bit changed to ten years in prison So this bill will put pressure on people not to travel outside the US Yes, it will complicate things immensely for international travelers What they're trying to do is make it difficult if not impossible for us citizens to escape big brother So what we're looking at in the near future is arbitrary Confiscation now, of course confiscation of money and assets without a warrant by state and federal officials is nothing new I'm sure you've heard the stories about state and federal cops pulling over people who've got cash in their cars And well, they just take it in fact I believe the amount of money confiscated by the police just last year is over three and a half billion dollars

[09:35] And it's done without a warrant and without a person committing a crime You knew that already, right? Which is a signal to all you guys and girls out there who have not got your plan be going or not In the process of getting some if not all of your assets out of the country You're about to feel the heavy hammer of uncle sam you're about to get screwed So as with all new laws, it'll take some time for this to play out Now when this law passes and everyone seems to think it will After all there's money laundering right in its name and the word terrorist too double whammy, right? That always signals a shoe in for any congressional bill after all it would be political suicide to vote against an anti narco Terrorism bill that's what it's being advertised as so what's that mean?

[10:22] Well, if you're just thinking about a plan b and haven't actually worked it out yet If you haven't got some cash or assets outside the country If you're an irritant to the u.s government and they want to pick on you could be you're on an alphabet agency list or 10 Or maybe you just didn't think it was any of the government's business to divulge certain assets for whatever reason now The government can tag you if so All your u.s assets can be confiscated and you wouldn't have a dime to pay a lawyer Senate bill 1241 has a long name But the short name that they're using now, they call it the money laundering terrorist financing and counterfeiting act of 2017 Now what politician would vote against that? And as with all laws It'll take a little while for them to phase it in until they get it up to speed and so

[11:11] It'll probably play out like this. They'll have some asset confiscations at a local level They'll go for people at random But they'll target specific individuals that they know of for personal reasons or because they feel the booty will be substantial We'll all read about it in the papers and it'll scare the hell out of us By the way, we're talking here about booty in the traditional sense, you know As in pirate booty not booty in the rap or hip-hop sense Just a clarification there for you millennials and naturally senate bill 1241 will have a national database Which authorities can review possible targets based on their assets and political and social affiliations Which will give them a legal opportunity to go after people who behave in a manner deemed unacceptable

[11:57] To the present authorities and ass wipes in power. So naturally they'll go after people who have appeared on certain lists How many lists are you on you download edgy stuff and you listen to alternative radio, etc So you're on a lot of lists believe me Have you a gun or two? Have you been prepping a bit? You're on some lists what you've been tweeting lately Well, you know the drill. Hey sounds a lot like the old soviet union, doesn't it? Isn't it funny the more russia becomes like the u.s The more the u.s becomes like the old soviet union who could have predicted that well george orwell did To summarize this if you're gonna leave the country for any reason The bill says you're required to provide a detailed report of your wealth no matter how small And if the regulatory body that reviews this stuff

[12:44] Regards your report as in error or incomplete the law allows them to confiscate all of your assets including the portions that were correctly reported Now as one senate observer reports the beauty of this system is that it need not be enforced too often at all Once people understand that at any moment the government could take everything and the citizens learn they have no recourse whatsoever They learn to keep their heads down be compliant and don't want to take the chance of traveling outside u.s borders and possibly Making some incorrect statement when they report their assets that could change their life forever So it's safe to say that this new bill will scare a lot of people away from wanting to move out of the states In fact many predicted it'll be a boon to the local internal usa travel industry and kill foreign travel to the usual vacation destinations

[13:36] Obviously malignant government thieves want to keep the cows in the barn Effectively, it's like keeping all americans under house arrest with a 24 7 ankle bracelet Hmm you okay with that by the way, how's your plan be coming? Hey, this is not old news The last revision of the bill was may 25th 2017 But it's leaking out now. In fact, we weren't discussing this at the seminar just a week ago But I know if we heard about it where the discussion would have led it would have led to extended talks about renouncing us Citizenship i'm sure that why well that's because for some it's definitely one option out of this mess though that comes at a huge cost Financially and socially but you can predict when this information is disseminated There'll be a huge spike in people renouncing by the way

[14:23] There were at least two people at the seminar that took me aside and said hey johnny Now that i've got a second or even third legal passport i'm gonna renounce So yeah, that's one way to avoid what's going on up in the states Just remember you do have to have a second passport to do that Or you'll be a stateless person and an illegal alien sounds bad But I hear up in the states if you're an illegal alien you can qualify for over 80 government programs And I hear it's a pretty good deal to be an illegal alien europe these days, too As soon as you're in you get a big cash settlement payout a couple of thousand euros, but I digress as usual Now as one financial analyst commented after reading this bill he said Unfortunately the coming global economic crisis will only make the bankrupt us government a bigger scarier and more aggressive thief

[15:13] Then he says if you haven't taken steps to protect your money by now It's almost too late and my recommendations. Well, you've heard him before Owning foreign real estate a foreign business or having dough in a foreign bank account As long as that bank account does not have a branch in the us If you have gold or silver out of the country in a foreign jurisdiction or crypto currencies like bitcoin litecoin ethereum Hopefully you've been doing some of that or at least getting your ducks lined up in most cases Those assets are completely out of big brother's reach no matter what happens up in the states By the way, if you're working on your plan b Just getting your ducks lined up right now The next best thing to coming down here and getting boots on the ground yourself is to sign up for my expat essentials course

[15:59] Just go to www.expatplanb.com and you'll see exactly what I mean And of course, there's a money back guarantee Oh and for your listeners who need a little personal help with your plan b You can set up a half an hour or hour phone or skype consult with me Just go to www.thenewexpat.com and download my phone consult questionnaire form Have a look at it. There's probably a few things on that list. You haven't thought about yet All right. Where were we? Oh, yeah So then why is it so difficult for the u.s Government to seize block or embargo any assets you have outside the country? First of all, they'd have to go to court in the states and get a judgment against you That's easy, right? It's the government then they'd have to send lawyers down to your latin country where they know you have assets

[16:45] And how they're going to know that well, you'd have to tell them now, wouldn't you? Because you know the u.s has no access to let's say real estate or municipal archives in latin countries So they'll need to get a judgment in the u.s court easy to get then they'll have to go down to latin america It's all in spanish, you know They'll have to send lawyers down go to a latin court, which is not enough to get a judgment They have to hire local latin lawyers to do the proceedings It doesn't matter how good or slick or how many cases a maggot lawyer in the state says what he can never prosecute a case here in latin america unless he passes the bar exam here in spanish Bottom line for the u.s government to go through all that you'd have to be a really big fish Like for example a high profile narco case. Meanwhile, if your assets are up in the states You're a cow to be milked 24 7 and you know it

[17:32] So the point is you've got to get some assets out of the u.s While you still can now as the man said in the previous segment If you haven't taken steps to get some assets out of the country It might already be too late I think for many it would be very difficult to get all of your assets out of the country and into a foreign jurisdiction But you got to try to get some of them out of the u.s It's easy to see where this is going and it's not good and about renouncing your citizenship. I'm not advising you to do that However, if you try it you'll find it's a lot like a divorce rarely nice and sweet and you almost never remain friends Like one expat told me a guy who renounced his citizenship just recently He said when you renounce your citizenship when you divorce the u.s Government they want alimony too and they want it all no monthly installments right up front

[18:21] By the way talking about u.s Government or any other first world government going to court in latin america to get a judgment against a u.s citizen Well, I can tell you this i've been down here 27 years now and i've never ever known that happened to a gringo Unless he was a big-time narco or into something disgusting like distribution of kiddie porn So then you have to wonder why is that why doesn't the united states go after for example? Us citizens or residents who have evaded taxes to the tune of six even seven figures Well, here's the loophole. That's because in order for a foreign court to hear your case. It has to be a crime in that country, too For example suppose a u.s Citizen made millions in a foreign country and he has not reported that to the u.s Tax authorities and they find out and make a huge assessment against him

[19:09] Still they won't go down to that latin country and try to take him to court or have him extradited from there Because in nearly all latin countries except a very few like columbia and brazil You are not required to report your foreign income. You're not taxed on it So what's illegal in the states is perfectly legal in most of latin america. Therefore not a crime So latin courts won't hear the case. For example gambling Prostitution and insider trading are completely legal throughout latin america However, totally illegal in the states unless you're a high level government pus bag and then you get an unofficial pass I mean, come on How is it that so many senators and representatives go in as salt of the earth? Humble middle class people like bernie sanders and end up with seats on the board of directors of fortune 500 companies

[19:57] For which they have absolutely no talent or expertise Not to mention they always seem to walk out of office with huge bank accounts and three or four houses worth a couple of million dollars each But I digress as usual. Where were we? Oh, yeah So even though you can't be prosecuted or extradited for a crime committed up in the states That is not a crime here in latin america The us can still block your passport and they can do that for pretty much any reason So it goes without saying you really should get a second latin passport Just a couple of final comments about the seminar right after it was over on the final night We call the last supper one of the attendees walked up to me and said, you know, johnny I've never been anywhere in latin america except a couple of times in mexico being south of south of the border

[20:46] That's what I call it south of south of the border is south of mexico. He said Johnny, I got this strange feeling. I think I had it before like 30 or so years ago, and I think that feeling is Happiness these latin people he said are smiling all the time. They're really polite and happy He said i've had a heart attack and a couple of stints I'm on a treadmill and i'm not happy. I want some of that latin happiness to rub off on me And I said, you know that happens a lot Now you longtime listeners have heard me talk about the blue eyed syndrome Latins think that's just kind of a gift from heaven Because blue gray and green eyes just do not occur naturally in latin So unless they've had a heavy dose of anglo gringo or european blood like for example in that point one percent

[21:34] Of the stuck up classist racist latin elite that keep those blood lines pure You may have heard me mention that occasionally i'll be in an elevator and i'm off the gringo tourist trail So latinas and latinos don't think I can speak any spanish. I'll eavesdrop That's fun. And i've heard references to my own blue eyes dozens of times Why because natural light colored eyes and light hair pop up only maybe one in a thousand people In fact, if you look at chiquita, probably the most famous female singer coming out of latin america You'll notice she's got pure brown eyes, but blonde hair She's a bottle blonde because according to the laws of genetics There's no chance you can have a real natural blonde hair and have brown eyes Now you'll notice if you go to a high-end mall anywhere in latin america

[22:20] You'll see a lot of ladies with blonde hair some even light-skinned and tall They sometimes look like gringas that is till they speak and you'll notice spanish is their first language And if they speak english, it's with a heavy spanish accent Now if you're fooled by the light colored or blonde hair have a look at the eyes Notice that they're always nearly brown or black. That means their hairs had a blonde dye or tin chop Yep, i've talked to a few beauticians They say at one time or another every latin lady has her hair tinted a lighter color or blonde or they have it streaked Mecha as they're called that would be blonde streaks in the hair and you know It's a big thing down here for ladies to buy contact lenses that are blue or green tinted. They never look quite natural They're kind of startling sometimes latin people especially the ladies are so obsessed with blue eyes that if you have them they'll complement you

[23:10] A perfect stranger or like I said talk about your eyes amongst themselves in the elevator In fact get this one of my translator ladies for my expat insider seminar She told me that she noticed one of our attendees had very blue eyes and she went up to him and said I really love your blue eyes and then not so convinced she blurted out. Those are colored contacts Aren't they since we're way off the gringo tourist trail most anyone she sees with blue eyes has colored contacts So for a second she thought he was pulling a fast one maybe to impress the ladies who knows And of course no gringo would ever think to do such a thing The fact is that it's sad to say most gringo men don't pay attention to that kind of stuff However, it's a huge deal here in latin america It seems that most latinas have been through the colored contact phase. So they naturally think well does he or doesn't he?

[24:02] Meanwhile, I know up in the states of chicago at least I didn't even know there was such a thing as colored contacts though. Maybe I wasn't paying attention So again latinos and latinas are attracted to features that are rare within their own communities You know tall blonde blue eyes green eyes, by the way, if you've got blue green gray eyes They're all grouped together and called ojos clados, which means clear eyes So if you got a clear eyes, that's green blue or gray You're tall anything over five foot six is considered tall for a man You will get noticed and get a lot of extra attention and that goes double for gringas. Oh and another thing Blonde hair is perceived differently By latins than it is for us if it's white yellow or sandy looking we call that blonde However latins are very very generous in the use of the term blonde

[24:52] There are actually a couple of words for it. One is rubia and one's concha now as for me I have dark brown hair I'm not blonde but when I walk through the market when someone's pitching a product they'll say concha Concha check this out concha means blondie now by no means would I ever qualify as a blonde person up in the states however here in latin america 999 out of a thousand people have either black or nearly black hair So again latins are attracted to what's very rare in their own culture On the other hand the vast majority of gringos and gringas down here in latin america are attracted To what you might call the typical latin look long dark hair Very brown or black eyes morena or moreno skin color that would be like honey colored You know the kind of traits and features that are rare in middle class anglo america now said about that

[25:43] Before I forget I have to mention As far as my seminar group man, the wheels were turning and they were popping out business ideas like crazy Again, all the best ideas come from boots on the ground I doubt you can have any real moments of latin american business brilliance sitting on a pot up in cleveland How about this great idea one lady said, you know, johnny We're going to all these restaurants and I noticed almost all of them have their menus in spanish And of course you provided us with some translations which helped a lot Well, this lady said, you know, I have an idea What if one was to make a job of going around all the restaurants? You pick up a menu they'll always be in spanish Especially when you're off the gringo tourist trail scan the menu into your computer Erase the description of the food items in spanish in photoshop and replace those letters and words in english

[26:35] In other words translate the menus without changing the appearance of the food or the layout and design of the menu at all And I said, you know what? That's a great idea I'm sure every restaurant would want that because gringos do pop in once in a while Even when you're way off the gringo tourist trail plus to have a menu in english in latin america. That's considered class So to do the job for each menu an hour or two on the computer Maybe three or four hours for a very extended menu And i'm sure almost any owner of a decent restaurant anywhere in latin america would pay 50 or 100 bucks for that And it'd be in perfect american english, too In fact, you wouldn't believe how many menus even on the gringo tourist trail are loaded with poor phrasing and typos And you know what? There are so many towns and cities and so many restaurants you'd have an unlimited supply of work

[27:25] So how about that for an idea? You might even shock the boss by walking in with a sample page already done of their own menu This is the expat files living in latin america If you want me to help you out with your own plan B Just schedule a one-on-one consult send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan B from right up there in the states Go to www.expatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See ya nos vemos