Go to Portugal, My Friend: The New American Dream - Living for Less Overseas

“Amid rising costs and increased workplace flexibility, more middle-income Americans are exploring living options that were once seen as the exclusive domain of the ultrawealthy: residency abroad.

 

These aren't the high-cost "golden passports" of Malta or Caribbean nations such as St. Kitts and Nevis or Antigua and Barbuda, financial advisers say. They are long-term residency permits designed for ordinary professionals and others who want to stretch their dollars, lower their taxes or simply live better overseas.

 

It's "a Plan B," says Andrew Henderson, founder of global advisory firm Nomad Capitalist. "They're buying peace of mind -- the ability to choose where they live, how they're taxed, and what kind of life they build."

 

Who is going?

 

While estimates on the number of Americans living abroad vary, the Defense Department's Federal Voting Assistance Program pegged the figure at 4.4 million as of 2022, up 42% since 2010.

 

David Kuenzi, a director at Wisconsin-based investment adviser Creative Planning International, has seen increased interest firsthand. Before 2015, it was rare for clients to come to him with plans to retire or move abroad. "Now, many do," he says. "The surge in interest. . .has made cross-border wealth management a priority rather than an afterthought."

 

Kuenzi's firm is fielding calls from teachers, engineers, small-business owners and others who believe their dollars stretch further abroad.

 

"What began as a trickle of retirees has turned into a full-blown movement -- and it's not just the wealthy," he says. "People call saying, 'I've never thought about leaving America before. I just want to get out -- where should I go?' "

 

Nor is the trend being fed only by retirees. For many younger Americans, remote work has made living overseas possible long before retirement, Nomad Capitalist's Henderson says.

 

"During Covid, people realized the U.S. wasn't as free or affordable as they thought," he says. "For others, it's about taxes -- if you're earning an average salary in New York, you're still paying a lot. And then there are those chasing a better lifestyle -- warmer climate, more space, lower costs."

 

He advises clients to diversify residencies just as they would investments. "If you're wealthy, you buy a few golden visas. If you're middle-income, you collect a couple. . .one in Latin America, one in Europe. It's about options," he says.

 

What does it cost?

 

The good news for middle-income Americans: Relocating abroad isn't as expensive as it sounds and you don't have to cut ties with the U.S.

 

"People ask, 'Do I have to give up my U.S. citizenship?' The truth is, most don't need a passport -- just a residence permit," says Kuenzi. "They don't realize you don't need a $500,000 golden visa. For most Americans, a simple retirement or income-based visa is enough."

 

In Portugal, for example, the country's "D7 visa doesn't require a huge investment -- just proof of stable income, around $9,000 to $12,000 a year," says Henderson. "It's very Westernized, safe, and still popular among U.S. retirees and remote workers."

 

In Panama, the Pensionado Visa welcomes retirees with at least $1,000 a month in income. Mexico's Temporary Residency Visa can be obtained with about $4,000 a month in income or around $80,000 in savings.

 

"These programs let you live comfortably abroad on a modest U.S. salary," Henderson says. "In places like Malaysia or Georgia, real estate is affordable, healthcare reliable, and you can maintain a lifestyle that would cost double or triple back home."

 

To be sure, there are some costs and hassles. Despite living overseas, for instance, Americans remain subject to U.S. tax reporting, and compliance costs can add up. "If an American moves to Portugal under the D7, they'll file in both countries," says David Lesperance, a U.S. immigration lawyer at Lesperance Associates. "Portugal may take the check, but the U.S. gives the credit" -- meaning that Americans who pay their taxes in Portugal would report that income to the Internal Revenue Service in the U.S. and receive credit for the amount already paid to prevent double taxation.

 

Still, the cost-of-living advantages can be worthwhile, advisers say. Private healthcare in Portugal costs a fraction of U.S. premiums. Beachfront apartments in Panama rent for under $1,000 a month. Groceries, child care and transport are substantially cheaper in much of Latin America and Eastern Europe.

 

Kuenzi calls it "geo-arbitrage for the middle class." For many, that means quality of life without financial strain -- a rare equation at home.

 

---

 

Tanzeel Akhtar is a writer in London. She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.” [1]

 

1. Investing Monthly (A Special Report) --- The New American Dream: Living for Less Overseas. Akhtar, Tanzeel.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Nov 2025: B5.

Grade Inflation Produced Mamdani's Proletariat

“Palantir CEO Alex Karp attributed Zohran Mamdani's election as New York mayor to a reverse class warfare: "I think the average Ivy League grad voting for this mayor is highly annoyed that their education is not that valuable, and the person down the street who knows how to drill for oil and gas, who's moved to Texas, has a more valuable profession."

 

He has a point. Colleges are graduating a surfeit of young people who lack hard or even soft skills. Even as employers complain about a dearth of qualified workers, a growing college-educated proletariat can't find jobs they want to work. They believe their degrees aren't being adequately rewarded by the free market and blame capitalism.

 

The real culprit is enormous government subsidization of higher education, which has distorted the labor supply. More than seven million bachelor's degree recipients have entered the labor force since January 2020. Meanwhile, the number of workers without college degrees has declined by about 200,000 and those with associate degrees has shrunk by 1.1 million.

 

As baby boomers in blue-collar professions retire, labor shortages are growing in industries like construction, trucking and manufacturing. President Trump's deportations compound the problem. Nearly 50% of small-business owners reported few or no qualified job applicants last month in a National Federation of Independent Business survey. "Finding qualified workers is proving to be impossible," a Missouri manufacturer told the NFIB. The sentiment was echoed by a California auto shop: "We need to teach the trades in high school again. Trade jobs can pay well, but there is a real shortage of people willing/able to do the job."

 

Too many young college grads are unemployed because they aren't willing or able to do the jobs that are available. As of October 2024, 30.4% of 20- to 29-year-olds who had earned bachelor's degrees that year weren't working, compared with 21.9% for those who had earned associate degrees during the same period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

Fortunately for many college grads, they have parents with the means to support them financially while they search for the perfect job. Young adults with lesser pedigrees may not be as picky about jobs because they can't afford to be. They will deliver packages for Amazon or man a supermarket cash register to pay their bills.

 

Recent college grads view such drudgery as beneath them and think employers are too demanding. "For Gen Z-ers, Work Is Now More Depressing Than Unemployment," read a New York Times op-ed headline last week. "The entire process of getting and keeping an entry-level job has become a grueling and dehumanizing ordeal over the past decade," the author writes. Young people grouse that employers are monitoring their productivity with "surveillance state technologies" and expect them to "do six jobs in a 40-hour workweek."

 

Heaven forefend that they be asked to complete multiple assignments in a week -- like kids in grade school once were expected to do before schools started banning homework. And how dare employers refuse to pay them for scrolling TikTok?

 

It's understandable that grads might feel indignant about employer demands after having earned stellar GPAs for little effort and mediocre work. A recent Harvard report found that A's account for about 60% of grades, compared with 25% two decades ago. Some 80% of grades awarded at Yale in 2023 were A's or A-minuses.

 

It almost requires an effort to get a C. In a Substack essay, Johns Hopkins political scientist Yascha Mounk observes: "In one of the oldest jokes about the Soviet Union, a worker says, 'We pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us.' To an uncomfortable degree, American universities now work in a similar fashion: Students pretend to do their work, and academics pretend to grade them." Parents and students who pay $80,000 a year expect high marks in return.

 

Eased academic standards and resulting grade inflation recall how credit raters, which were being paid by banks, slapped AAA ratings on subprime mortgage-backed securities in the lead-up to the 2008-09 financial crisis. Markets seized up as foreclosures rose and buyers of the mortgage bonds realized they couldn't trust the ratings.

 

Similarly, employers are figuring out high GPAs aren't a reliable indicator of merit. Even Ivy League schools are starting to worry that their top students are becoming a dime a dozen in the labor market.

 

Inflated grades have degraded the value of college degrees, just as excessive government spending and easy monetary policy fueled inflation and eroded paychecks. Students benefited from eased standards for a time -- just as home buyers did from historically low interest rates early in the pandemic -- but grads overall are now worse off.

 

Mr. Mamdani's supporters are rightly angry that the value of their degrees and earnings have declined. Instead of blaming their woes on capitalism or Israel, they ought to be protesting big government and greedy colleges.” [1]

 

Capitalism and Israel are great. Just look at them. They are smiling.

 

1. Life Science: Grade Inflation Produced Mamdani's Proletariat. Finley, Allysia.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Nov 2025: A17.  

Socialisto Mamdani proletariato atsiradimą Niujorke paskatino pažymių infliacija

“„Palantir“ generalinis direktorius Alexas Karpas Zohrano Mamdani išrinkimą Niujorko meru priskyrė atvirkštinei klasių kovai: „Manau, kad vidutinis už šį merą balsuojantis Ivy lygos absolventas yra labai susierzinęs, kad jo išsilavinimas nėra toks vertingas, o žmogus gatvėje, kuris moka gręžti naftą ir dujas, persikėlęs į Teksasą, turi vertingesnę profesiją.“

 

Jis teisus. Kolegijose išleidžiama per daug jaunų žmonių, kuriems trūksta praktinių ar net praktinių įgūdžių. Net ir darbdaviams skundžiant kvalifikuotų darbuotojų trūkumu, augantis aukštąjį išsilavinimą turintis proletariatas negali rasti norimo darbo. Jie mano, kad laisvoji rinka nepakankamai atlygina už jų laipsnius ir kaltina kapitalizmą.

 

Tikrasis kaltininkas yra didžiulės vyriausybės subsidijos aukštajam mokslui, kurios iškreipė darbo jėgos pasiūlą. Nuo 2020 m. sausio mėn. į darbo rinką įstojo daugiau nei septyni milijonai bakalauro laipsnio gavėjų. Tuo tarpu darbuotojų, neturinčių aukštojo mokslo diplomo, skaičius sumažėjo maždaug 200 000, o turinčių asocijuotųjų laipsnių skaičius sumažėjo 1,1 mln.

 

 

Kadangi darbininkų profesijų atstovams, dirbantiems kūdikių bumo kartos atstovams, išeinant į pensiją, darbo jėgos trūkumas auga tokiose pramonės šakose kaip statyba, sunkvežimių gabenimas ir gamyba. Prezidento Trumpo deportacijos dar labiau paaštrina problemą. Praėjusį mėnesį Nacionalinės nepriklausomų įmonių federacijos atliktoje apklausoje beveik 50 % smulkaus verslo savininkų teigė, kad jie turi mažai arba visai neturi kvalifikuotų darbo ieškančiųjų. „Rasti kvalifikuotų darbuotojų pasirodo neįmanoma“, – NFIB sakė vienas Misūrio gamintojas. Šią nuomonę pakartojo ir vienas Kalifornijos autoservisas: „Turime vėl mokyti amatų vidurinėje mokykloje.“ „Darbo vietos specialistų darbas gali būti gerai apmokamas, tačiau labai trūksta norinčių / galinčių dirbti šį darbą.“

 

Per daug jaunų absolventų neturi darbo, nes nenori arba negali dirbti laisvų darbų. Darbo statistikos biuro duomenimis, 2024 m. spalio mėn. 30,4 % 20–29 metų amžiaus asmenų, tais metais įgijusių bakalauro laipsnį, nedirbo, palyginti su 21,9 % tų, kurie tuo pačiu laikotarpiu įgijo asocijuotojo laipsnį.

 

Laimei, daugelis absolventų turi tėvus, kurie gali juos finansiškai paremti, kol jie ieško tobulo darbo. Jauni suaugusieji, turintys mažiau išsilavinusių žmonių, gali būti ne tokie išrankūs dėl darbo, nes negali sau to leisti. Jie pristato siuntas „Amazon“ arba dirba prekybos centro kasoje, kad apmokėtų sąskaitas.

 

Neseniai absolventai tokį vargą laiko žemesniu už save ir mano, kad darbdaviai yra pernelyg reiklūs. „Z kartos atstovams darbas dabar labiau slegia nei nedarbas“, – praėjusią savaitę rašė „New York Times“ nuomonės straipsnio antraštė: „Visas procesas, kaip gauti ir išlaikyti pradinio lygio darbą, per pastarąjį dešimtmetį tapo varginančiu ir dehumanizuojančiu išbandymu“, – rašo autorius. Jauni žmonės skundžiasi, kad darbdaviai stebi jų produktyvumą naudodami „stebėjimo valstybės technologijas“ ir tikisi, kad jie „atliks šešis darbus per 40 valandų darbo savaitę“.

 

Dieve apsaugok, kad jų nebūtų prašoma atlikti kelias užduotis per savaitę – kaip kadaise buvo tikimasi iš pradinės mokyklos vaikų, kol mokyklos nepradėjo drausti namų darbų. Ir kaip darbdaviai drįsta atsisakyti jiems mokėti už naršymą „TikTok“?

 

Suprantama, kad absolventai gali pasipiktinti darbdavių reikalavimais, kai už nedideles pastangas ir vidutinišką darbą gauna puikius GPA. Neseniai paskelbtoje Harvardo ataskaitoje nustatyta, kad A sudaro apie 60 % pažymių, palyginti su 25 % prieš du dešimtmečius. Apie 80 % Jeilio universitete 2023 m. skirtų pažymių buvo A arba A su minusu.

 

Norint gauti C, beveik reikia pastangų. „Substack“ esė Johnso Hopkinso politologas Yascha Mounk pastebi: „Viename seniausių anekdotų Sovietų Sąjungoje darbininkas sako: „Mes apsimetame dirbantys, o jie apsimeta, kad mums moka.“ Nors ir nemalonu, Amerikos universitetai dabar veikia panašiai: studentai apsimeta atliekantys savo darbą, o akademikai apsimeta juos vertinantys. Tėvai ir studentai, kurie moka 80 000 USD per metus, tikisi aukštų pažymių.

 

Sušvelninti akademiniai standartai ir dėl to išaugę pažymiai primena, kaip kredito reitinguotojai, kuriems mokėjo bankai, prieš 2008–2009 m. finansų krizę suteikė AAA reitingus subprime hipoteka užtikrintoms vertybiniams popieriams. Rinkos sustojo, kai išaugo turto areštai, o hipotekos obligacijų pirkėjai suprato, kad negali pasitikėti reitingais.

 

Panašiai ir darbdaviai supranta, kad aukšti GPA nėra patikimas nuopelnų rodiklis. Net Ivy lygos mokyklos pradeda nerimauti, kad jų geriausi studentai darbo rinkoje tampa tik tuzinu centų.

 

Išpūsti pažymiai sumažino kolegijų diplomų vertę, lygiai taip pat, kaip pernelyg didelės vyriausybės išlaidos ir švelni pinigų politika kurstė infliaciją ir mažino atlyginimus. Studentai kurį laiką pasinaudojo sušvelnintais standartais – lygiai taip pat, kaip būsto pirkėjai pasinaudojo istoriškai mažomis palūkanų normomis pandemijos pradžioje – tačiau absolventų bendra padėtis dabar prastesnė. išjungtas.

 

Pono Mamdani šalininkai pagrįstai pyksta, kad sumažėjo jų diplomų vertė ir uždarbis. Užuot kaltinę dėl savo bėdų „kapitalizmas ar Izraelis, jie turėtų protestuoti prieš didelę vyriausybę ir godžius koledžus.“ [1]

 

Kapitalizmas ir Izraelis yra puikūs. Tik pažiūrėkite į juos. Jie šypsosi.

 

 

1. Life Science: Grade Inflation Produced Mamdani's Proletariat. Finley, Allysia.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Nov 2025: A17.  

What Palantir's High-School Grads Don't Get

 

“When did training good workers become the sole purpose of education? Palantir's fellowship addresses a real problem: College is broken. But its solution -- four weeks of seminars, then straight to corporate roles -- replaces one flawed system with another ("Data Firm Turns to High School in Hunt for New Talent," Business & Finance, Nov. 4).

 

I understand the appeal. Palantir is giving kids real responsibility, projects and agency -- each of which college often fails to provide. What's missing, though, is the space to become fully formed humans before locking into someone else's agenda.

 

The social-efficiency movement of the early 1900s gave us schools as factories, students as products and learning as job prep. A century later, we're still trapped in this paradigm. Has it made us happier, freer or wiser?

 

We're living through history's greatest acceleration while running on outdated systems. The next generation needs more than accelerated job training; it needs to develop the uniquely human skills artificial intelligence will never replicate: discernment, conscience, a purpose beyond profit and productivity.

 

The question Palantir raises -- "What's college for?" -- deserves a more ambitious answer than producing workers faster. We don't need to abandon higher education -- we need to reimagine it as something higher than job training, richer than resume building and worthy of our whole humanity. We need education that asks: How do we develop whole humans who can think critically, lead courageously and build a world that works for everyone?

 

Abby Falik

 

Berkeley, Calif.” [1]

 

1. What Palantir's High-School Grads Don't Get. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Nov 2025: A16.

Ko nesupranta Palantirui dirbantys, baigusieji tik vidurinę mokyklą

„Kada gerų darbuotojų rengimas tapo vieninteliu švietimo tikslu? Palantiro stipendija sprendžia realią problemą: universitetas neveikia. Tačiau jos sprendimas – keturios savaitės seminarų, o tada tiesiai į korporacinius vaidmenis – vieną ydingą sistemą pakeičia kita („Duomenų įmonė kreipiasi į vidurinę mokyklą ieškodama naujų talentų“, „Verslas ir finansai“, lapkričio 4 d.).

 

Suprantu patrauklumą. Palantiras suteikia vaikams tikrą atsakomybę, projektus ir veiksmų laisvę – nė vieno iš jų universitetas dažnai nesuteikia.

 

Tačiau trūksta erdvės tapti visaverčiais žmonėmis, prieš įklimpstant į kažkieno kito darbotvarkę.

 

XX a. pradžios socialinio efektyvumo judėjimas mums suteikė mokyklas, kaip gamyklas, studentus, kaip produktus ir mokymąsi, kaip pasirengimą darbui.

 

Po šimtmečio mes vis dar esame įstrigę šioje paradigmoje. Ar tai padarė mus laimingesnius, laisvesnius ar išmintingesnius?

 

Mes išgyvename didžiausią istorijos pagreitį, nors veikiame pasenusiomis sistemomis. Kitai kartai reikia daugiau, nei pagreitinto darbo mokymo; ji turi išsiugdyti unikalius žmogiškus įgūdžius, kurių dirbtinis intelektas niekada neatkartos: įžvalgumą, sąžinę, tikslą, pranokstantį pelną ir produktyvumą.

 

Palantiro keliamas klausimas – „Kam skirtas universitetas?“ – nusipelno ambicingesnio atsakymo, nei greičiau parengti darbuotojus. Mums nereikia atsisakyti aukštojo mokslo – turime jį iš naujo įsivaizduoti, kaip kažką aukštesnio, nei profesinis mokymas, turtingesnio, nei gyvenimo aprašymo kūrimas ir verto viso mūsų žmogiškumo. Mums reikia išsilavinimo, kuris klaustų: kaip ugdyti visaverčius žmones, kurie gali kritiškai mąstyti, drąsiai vadovauti ir kurti pasaulį, kuris tinka visiems?

 

Abby Falik

 

Berkeley, Kalifornija.“ [1]

 

1. What Palantir's High-School Grads Don't Get. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Nov 2025: A16.

Visas Lietuvos elitas pakibo ore.

 

 Nutarėme persikvalifikuoti į minų ir kitokių ginklų gamybą, kuri yra labai rizikinga. Įtemptu laikotarpiu tai apsimoka, taikos metu tam nelieka pinigų. 

Dabar kinai neduoda šiuolaikinių magnetų ir kitų dalykų karo pramonei Vakaruose, todėl nieko rimto padaryti negalime, net motorų dronams. Lietuvoje nėra žmonių, kurie tai supranta ir gali paaiškinti.

 Landsbergiai tylomis vis dar stumia mus į bedugnę, remdamiesi jų supratimu, kuris paseno, nes atėjo tik iš XX amžiaus. Mūsų elitui lieka užsiimti intrigomis iraiškintis, kas čia kietesnis. Visi tyliai vagiame, kai kuriuos pasodina.

 

The Entire Lithuanian Elite Is Hanging in the Air

  We decided to retrain to produce mines and other weapons, which is very risky. In a tense period, it pays off, in peacetime there is no money left for that. 

Now the Chinese are not giving modern magnets and other things to the military industry in the West, so we cannot do anything serious, not even motors for drones. There are no people in Lithuania who understand this and can explain it.  

The Landsbergians are still silently pushing us into the abyss, based on their understanding, which is outdated, because it came only from the 20th century.  

All that remains for our elite is to engage in intrigues and figure out who is tougher. We are all quietly stealing, some are being imprisoned for this.