Obtain A Second Citizenship, Worry Less!

A smart plan to obtain a second citizenship can be a good way to back up and build up your strengths – financial, moral and even physical. 

How should we treat prophecies and warnings if we are not sure whether they deserve our attention? 

The future is uncertain. We are faced with what one commentator called “chest-thumping and facile optimism.” Reactive measures can hardly be a wise strategy. Sitting around worrying won’t get you anywhere. It’s time to make serious preparations!

Half a century ago, no one expected this pandemic. Everyone trusted in the rapid development of medicine. One year ago, many countries believed that the deadly COVID-19 virus would not cross their borders. We all know what has happened and why we have to share the global cost of inaction, cross-your-finger mentality, and neglect. 

Nonetheless, predictions are rarely reliable. Believe it or not, in the early 1970s ordinary people and scientists seriously feared global cooling. Experts in climate, ecology, and geology from the world’s leading universities, including Stanford and Brown Universities, forecast a new ice age on the planet by 2020. The prediction did not come true. Today’s luminaries are concerned about global warming. Perhaps because of such mistaken assumptions made by visionaries and great minds, many people question reports and outlooks of academicians, disregarding recommendations of science. 

At the other extreme, forecasts can be very unnerving too and result in frustration and even depression.  

One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things. Fortunately, there is a way of coping with the ambiguity of the unknown, breaking this vicious circle of distrust, fear, ignorance, and arrogance. It is sufficient to obtain a second (or third) citizenship or residence to be prepared for almost any adverse scenario.

Multiple citizenship is a solution that can help you head into the future with real confidence!

When a ’leap of faith’ fails

By the early 1990s, doomsayers who had been forecasting the Ice Age had to adjust their outlooks or change the area of scientific interest, as the global warming agenda became the main source of global concern in 1988.

But as it turned out, the new predictions were not accurate either. The forecasts made in 1989 by experts from the United Nations (UN) and some other high-profile agencies regarding the critical sea level rise, mass flooding that would ‘obliterate nations’ in many parts of the world, and other drastic consequences of the ice caps melting by the year 2000 have not come true, fortunately.

Back in the 1960-es, a Stanford University biologist warned of the threat of the ‘most disastrous’ famines by 1975. In 2002, other scientists predicted a catastrophic famine in a decade unless humanity stopped eating meat in large quantities.

In 2008, climatologists and NASA scientists promised the Arctic to become ice-free by 2018, while the U.S. politician and environmental activist Albert Gore, the 45th vice president of the United States, in his famous documentary film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ claimed that the North polar ice cap would disappear by 2013!

Acknowledgment of facts 

Please don’t misunderstand us. We do not deny the obvious fact of global climate change. Moreover, the InternationalWealth experts recommend readers to participate in eco-friendly projects and invest in renewable energy and a host of other sustainability initiatives. For example, there is the Portuguese Green Visa program (a new investment category for Portugal Golden Visa linked to environmental projects).

Moreover, we have published here articles covering different socially responsible investment projects. On the one hand, they are designed in support of sustainable agriculture, food production, and the fight against world food insecurity and shortage, famine, malnutrition – the biggest health risks worldwide. On the one hand, the very same projects are quite attractive and promising opportunities to grow capital by investment – for example in Uruguay.

Since agriculture is among the main topics of our portal, we have analyzed meteorological data and shared the disturbing findings confirming that the climate is changing. But our acknowledgment of such facts is not the same as the end-of-the-world prediction in the short term.

Ill effects of Information asymmetry and a leap of faith 

Information Asymmetry refers to the study of situations of decision-making when one party has more or better quality information than the other. The shortage of information can be compensated by level of trust in the information source, or by screening and additional search of information. This asymmetry creates an imbalance of power in transactions and may therefore lead to bigger risks, opportunism, and failure. The theory is developed in microeconomics, management, and even non-economic behavior studies. Bottom line: Asymmetric information exists everywhere and influences people’s decisions, plans, relations.

Let us consider some examples illustrating how hazardous information asymmetry and a leap of faith can be.

In November 2020, Yale-NUS College (founded by Yale University and the National University of Singapore) published the findings of research showing how the  “Climate ‘apocalypse’ fears stopping people having children”.  

One of the respondents in the survey was a 31-year-old woman who said: “Climate change is the sole factor for me in deciding not to have biological children. I don’t want to birth children into a dying world [though] I dearly want to be a mother.” 

Noteworthy: 14% of those surveyed between the ages of 18 and 44 said they preferred NOT to have children, citing the effects of climate change as the main reason for such a decision. 6% of parents said they have some remorse about having children because they “fear the end of the world due to climate change”.

The official demographic statistics can be also taken as evidence of the change in the mindset of prospective parents regarding the advisability of having offspring. It is a well-known fact that women in economically more developed countries tend to have fewer children than ever before.

An important indicator is the fertility rate, which reflects the average number of children a woman gives birth to during her lifetime. Researchers claim that the fertility rate must be kept above two children per woman for the state to maintain a stable population.

The fertility rate has fallen to 1.7 in the United States, 1.55 in Europe, and 1.4 in Japan. It has even fallen below 1 in some of the world’s most developed nations, including places like Singapore and South Korea.

As we see, the perceptions of the future based on the leap of faith can change the way people plan their lives, even though the forecasts are not always justified and more often do not come true, as we’ve written above.

Real concerns beyond the prophecies of doom

Climate change is definitely a serious enough cause for taking environmental measures. But the fear-mongering affecting fertility rates has brought about another major concern. What provisions and by whom should be made regarding the problem of an aging population?

Old-age pensions and retirement support to social security retirees for the most part depend on the payroll taxes paid by the workforce (three workers to one beneficiary).

Even the U.S. Social Security Administration admits that trust funds will run out by 2029 due to, among other things, the current pandemic and insufficient collection of payroll taxes.  

Elsewhere in the world, a similar situation is rolling out. Most pension systems need an ever-increasing number of workers to help pay current retirees’ pensions and social security benefits.

But as more and more people choose NOT to have children (often because of concerns about the effects of climate change), it may become impossible to financially support retirees in the future. When it rains it pours! Simply put, in two or three decades the contributions made by the workforce will not be sufficient to pay pensions. 

Doomsday rhetoric  distracting from meaningful solutions 

Politicians are constantly voicing bold plans to save the world. But rarely do they mention or discuss the real social security concerns and the future of the pension system. And when they do, many populists promise to increase the tax burden on the wealthy to generate more financial resources. Wealthy individuals understand that other solutions may never be found.

Moreover, in several countries, no amount of taxation would be enough to cover the growing gap in the social security funds and resolve the looming problem. In the United States, for example, the current federal deficit is above USD 3 trillion. The US Fed can print more unsecured bills, but this issuance will increase the risk of the dollar falling and the collapse of the global financial system, which relies on the US dollars. 

Dual citizenship (by investment)  as a boon for HNWIs

Fortunately, there is also a silver lining. There is no need to rely on the politicians’ ability to find a sound solution satisfying all needs.  Any sensible wealthy individual can make practical arrangements today for one’s own retirement in the future – in comfort, peace of mind, and infused with positive vibes from the dear ones.

The preliminary arrangements to be made now are as follows: 

• find one of the best places for retirement, where the cost of living is lower and quality of life is higher; 
• study the availability of citizenship through investment program in the destination of your choice;
• investigate the opportunities of investing in some lucrative asset, which would back up and build up your retirement savings;
• apply for a second passport. 

Such a solution will help you kill two birds with one stone. For example, you can invest in some business or some real estate for renting it out. 

The good news is immigrant investors are free to invest in a much wider range of assets, including cryptocurrencies and government securities.

Prudent individuals take many steps, large and small, to secure a brighter future for themselves and their loved ones, including a post-retirement future. 

The most important step is to recognize that real problems will not magically disappear through wishful thinking. Arrangements take time and need a thorough strategy. Start acting.   

Advantages of dual citizenship 

There is a popular proverb that says: the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. In other words, it’s high time you designed your plan B including economic citizenship in a jurisdiction of your choice. 

Citizenship by investment programs are available in about 30 countries. Their terms are different, but the main principle is the same: they are a legal way of granting you and your kin a second citizenship and passports in exchange for your investment or donation in the host country’s priority projects. 

Citizenship-by-investment, also called economic citizenship, is gaining popularity with wealthy individuals because of many advantages.

InternationalWealth can help you obtain a second citizenship

Have you decided to apply for a second citizenship? The benefits that dual citizenship offers as Plan B are invaluable. A second passport provides significantly more personal and financial freedom, security, and confidence. 

Whatever your reasons and plans are, you can choose from many options and obtain a second passport corresponding to your specific requirements and resources. The easiest and fastest way is dual citizenship through investment.

For our professional services to help you obtain a second citizenship, please write to our e-address given at the top of this page.