More than a year has passed, thus comes time for another post.  I usually do when I've reached a landmark of sorts, or have made a decision.  This is the latter.  I have decided as a long term goal to leave the USA.  Orange Anus and his cracker doodle acolytes are carrying out a slow motion coup, and the rest of the American political establishment is unwilling or unable to stop him.  The looming SCOTUS decision that will more than likely give the o.k. to Texas' Taliban-esque anti-abortion vigilante 'law,' along with the ReThugs planting their minions in election boards all across swing states -- an idiot would be blind not to see the handwriting on the wall.  The sole saving grace about this slow-motion coup is that there is time to plan and execute an escape well before the flood arrives.

There are three landmark dates coming up: Election Day 2022, my final trust disbursement in 2023, and Election Day 2024.  If Election Day 2022 goes as badly as I believe it will (the ReThugs retake the House & / or Senate), the die is cast.  By November 2024, I want to be well ensconced outside of the USA, my legal situation to live and work fully sorted out.  Between that eventuality and now, a lot will have to occur.  I will need to liquidate as many of my physical assets as possible including my house.   The idea is to raise as much cash as possible, and invest most of it in something like an index fund (preferably one with a green focus).  I asked the girlfriend about this and she agreed with my assessment that the longterm outlook for the USA is not good -- surprising me just a bit, but ok.  Our sole disagreement is where to go: I want to go to an EU country, while she wants Australia.  Going to the EU will probably be easier, and cheaper based upon my current research into the topic.  Australia wants young, skilled, (preferably in a profession they have a need for...and nursing is one worldwide), educated, English speaking immigrants, and her point total passes the mark.  I do not.  To go the investment route would require investing the bulk of my net worth factoring I net the minimum I want from selling my house for 4 years in three investment funds of the Australian government's choosing.  Not great.  Our optimal Australia option is that she gets a skilled worker visa, and I go as her partner.  Of course, this is the sort of thing one gets professional advice that is not cheap to hire, but the due diligence should be pursued.  Lastly, the application process can take from 20 to 30 months, so the sooner what route can be pursued is determined, the better.

Thus my plan so far is to spend 2022 preparing: selling off or donating as my of stuff as possible, getting experience hours in Teaching English as a Second Language via the LA Public Library (I'm just a bit too young not to have a profession of some sort even if it is not as mobile as that of a nurse), plus waiting and watching.  If November 2022 turns into the debacle I dread...then the next step happens.  The plan to put my house on the market goes into effect.  Thankfully, the lease on my eGolf expires in February 2023.  Around that time would be a good time to prep my house for sale via some touch up work towards putting it on the market in Spring 2023.

Part of my preparation to leave the USA comes from my prior experience as a Gast Arbeiter in Switzerland: California taxes their former residents abroad.  Before leaving the USA, I plan on changing my state of residence to Nevada.  It has the double benefit of no state income tax plus my overseas vote in federal elections counting for a lot more than they would in California (NV has far fewer voters & is a swing state).   I will live there long enough to establish residency, then once a final determination of which overseas option to pursue, be out of the USA by Summer 2024 at the latest.  I will still have to deal with the onerous FACTA requirements (something that was not a factor when I was in Switzerland), but oh well.   If I had my choice, I would not mind getting used to the EU in Belgium where I have family, with Antwerp my favored choice (it has a vibe similar to Amsterdam with real estate costing 25% less), though the overseas family member I have the best relationship with lives in Brussels.  After then, it depends upon whether or not I want to live in a sunny climate or not. 

It is truly sad that it has come to this, but the USA seems hopelessly damaged from within by those whom want it to revert to another Gilded Age replete with Robber Barons luxuriating in a 21st Century version of corporate feudalism.  My ancestors did not survive various pogroms, holocausts, etc., for me to get jacked up by some conspiracy theory nut bar trying to impress the latest Conservative Infotainment Complex media personality du jour.  In the meantime: www.theliberalgunclub.com