Why I’m Leaving New Zealand For Dubai

Summary

The speaker discusses their decision to leave New Zealand for Dubai, citing a need for adventure and better networking opportunities in their industry. They highlight the distance from family, harsh lockdowns, and lack of regulatory clarity on cryptocurrencies as reasons for leaving. Dubai's appeal includes no income or capital gains tax on crypto, a family-friendly environment, better healthcare, and schools, and the potential for their children to learn Russian. Despite acknowledging Dubai's flaws like extreme heat and air quality, they view the move as a family adventure.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The family is leaving New Zealand for Dubai, United Arab Emirates due to a desire for adventure and a change of scenery.
• 🏙️ Distance from family is a significant factor, with relatives in America and Russia, making visits challenging from New Zealand.
• 🧳 The individual has a history of traveling and living in various countries, seeking new experiences and opportunities.
• 💼 The lack of industry opportunities and regulatory clarity around cryptocurrency in New Zealand is a concern for the individual's career.
• 🏖️ New Zealand's strict lockdowns and travel restrictions during the pandemic made the individual feel 'trapped', influencing the decision to move.
• 💰 Dubai offers a tax-free environment for cryptocurrency, which is attractive for financial growth.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Dubai is considered family-friendly, with many parks and facilities that cater to families, which is a plus for the family.
• ✈️ The move to Dubai significantly reduces travel time to visit family in America and Russia.
• 🏥 Dubai is perceived to have better healthcare and schooling options compared to current options in New Zealand.
• 🌡️ Dubai's hot climate and potential air quality issues are acknowledged as downsides to living there.
• 🌐 The individual is open to the idea of returning to New Zealand in the future after gaining international living experience.

Q & A

Why are the speakers leaving New Zealand?

The speakers are leaving New Zealand for a combination of reasons including a need for adventure, being far from family, and a lack of opportunities for their industry.

What is the main reason for choosing Dubai as their new home?

Dubai was chosen for its status as a global networking hub, regulatory clarity for cryptocurrency assets, and the absence of capital gains and income taxes.

How does the speaker feel about the distance from family in New Zealand?

The speaker feels it's very far away, making it difficult and time-consuming to visit family, which has been a significant challenge.

What impact does the speaker's industry have on their decision to move?

The speaker's industry, which is global and online, benefits from face-to-face meetings and conferences, which are difficult to manage from New Zealand due to its remote location.

What is the speaker's view on New Zealand's regulatory clarity regarding cryptocurrency?

The speaker is not satisfied with the lack of regulatory clarity around cryptocurrency assets in New Zealand, which adds to their decision to move.

How did the lockdowns in New Zealand affect the speaker's decision to move?

The harsh lockdowns and the inability to travel freely without the risk of not being able to return or having to quarantine significantly influenced the speaker's decision.

What are the speaker's thoughts on the cost of living and taxes in New Zealand?

The speaker is not a fan of the high taxes in New Zealand, especially considering the public services they perceive they are receiving in return.

How does the speaker view the quality of healthcare in New Zealand?

The speaker is concerned about the healthcare crisis in New Zealand, citing long wait times in emergency rooms and a lack of medical staff.

What are the speaker's expectations for their children's education in Dubai?

The speaker expects a significant upgrade in their children's education, with Dubai offering schools that are considered to be of a higher standard.

How does the prospect of living in Dubai align with the speaker's love for travel and adventure?

Dubai's central location makes it an ideal place for the speaker's love of travel and adventure, offering easier access to various global destinations.

What are some of the potential drawbacks the speaker acknowledges about living in Dubai?

The speaker acknowledges that Dubai has its drawbacks, such as extremely hot summers, potential air quality issues, and traffic problems.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Leaving New Zealand for Dubai

The speaker discusses their decision to leave New Zealand and move to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. They express a need for adventure and a desire to escape the quiet life in Wellington. The distance from family, both in America and Russia/Ukraine, is highlighted as a significant drawback of living in New Zealand. The speaker also mentions the challenges of their industry in New Zealand, including the difficulty of face-to-face meetings and regulatory uncertainty around cryptocurrencies. They reflect on New Zealand's lockdowns and the feeling of being in a 'green prison,' which has influenced their decision to move.

05:02

🏝️ Reasons for Choosing Dubai

The speaker elaborates on why they chose Dubai over other potential destinations. They mention the lack of capital gains tax on crypto and no income tax in Dubai, which is a financial incentive. They also discuss the family-friendly nature of Dubai, which was a pleasant surprise, and the significant reduction in travel time to visit family in America and Russia/Ukraine. The speaker appreciates Dubai's safety, cleanliness, and modernity. They also touch on the quality of schools and healthcare in Dubai compared to New Zealand's current challenges in these areas.

10:03

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family Life and Future Plans

The speaker talks about the impact of the move on their family, including the benefits for their children's education and the potential for them to learn Russian in Dubai. They acknowledge that while Dubai has its drawbacks, such as extreme heat and air quality issues, the overall adventure and experience are exciting. The speaker is open to the idea of returning to New Zealand in the future but is eager to explore and live in different cultures for a while.

Keywords

💡Adventure

Adventure in this context refers to the excitement and thrill of undertaking new experiences or traveling to new places. In the video, the speaker expresses a desire for adventure as a reason for leaving New Zealand, indicating a need to break away from the monotony of their life in Wellington.

💡Dubai

Dubai is the destination the speaker is moving to, and it represents a significant change from their current lifestyle in New Zealand. Dubai is highlighted as a place of opportunity and a new cultural experience, contrasting with the quiet life in Wellington.

💡Financial Freedom

Financial freedom is the state of having enough financial resources to live without having to work actively for basic necessities. The video implies that the move to Dubai could potentially enhance the speaker's financial freedom due to the city's favorable tax laws and business environment.

💡Regulatory Clarity

Regulatory clarity refers to the transparency and predictability of government regulations, particularly concerning cryptocurrency in the video. The speaker mentions a lack of regulatory clarity in New Zealand as a drawback, contrasting it with places like Dubai and Singapore, where the rules are more clearly defined.

💡Family

Family is a central theme in the video, as the speaker considers the proximity to their family in America and Russia as a significant factor in their decision to move. The move to Dubai is partly driven by the desire to be closer to family and to provide a family-friendly environment for their children.

💡Taxation

Taxation is discussed in terms of its impact on personal finances and the attractiveness of Dubai as a location. The speaker contrasts the high tax rates in New Zealand with the lack of income tax and capital gains tax on crypto in Dubai, which could significantly affect their net worth.

💡Lifestyle

Lifestyle encompasses the way people live, including their daily routines, interests, and social interactions. The video suggests that the speaker is seeking a change in lifestyle, moving from the quiet life in Wellington to the bustling, modern city of Dubai.

💡Travel

Travel is a recurring theme in the video, reflecting the speaker's love for adventure and exploring new places. The move to Dubai is partly motivated by the ease of travel it offers, both for the speaker's work and for visiting family.

💡Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is mentioned in the context of the speaker's industry and the financial benefits of moving to a place with clearer regulations around it, like Dubai. The lack of clarity in New Zealand's regulations is cited as a reason for considering the move.

💡Quality of Life

Quality of life refers to the overall level of satisfaction and well-being an individual experiences in their daily life. The speaker evaluates the quality of life in Dubai, considering factors like safety, cleanliness, modernity, and the benefits for their family, in comparison to New Zealand.

💡Healthcare System

The healthcare system is discussed in terms of its effectiveness and accessibility. The speaker contrasts the challenges faced by New Zealand's healthcare system with the perceived benefits of Dubai's system, particularly in terms of availability and waiting times.

Highlights

Leaving New Zealand for Dubai for adventure and a change of pace.

Distance from family in America and Russia is a significant factor.

The desire for more networking and industry opportunities.

Lack of regulatory clarity around cryptocurrency in New Zealand.

The impact of strict lockdowns and travel restrictions in New Zealand.

Potential to return to New Zealand after a few years.

Dubai offers no capital gains tax on crypto and no income tax.

Dubai's central location makes it easier to visit family.

Dubai is surprisingly family-friendly.

Dubai is very safe, clean, and modern.

The quality of schools and healthcare in Dubai.

The potential for children to learn Russian in Dubai.

Challenges of living in Dubai, such as extreme heat and air quality.

The decision-making process for choosing Dubai over other locations.

The importance of lifestyle on financial freedom.

The anticipation of keeping the audience updated on the move to Dubai.

Transcripts

so the time has come we're leaving New

Zealand and we're moving to the United

Arab Emirates to Dubai specifically so

cliche I know well I want to talk with

you about the reasons behind this

decision why we're leaving New Zealand

and why we chose Dubai of many places in

the world where we could be going I know

this is not the normal like hey

bitcoin's going to the Moon kind of

video but I think it's important because

the lifestyle and all that stuff also I

think has a big impact on the total

picture when we start talking about

financial freedom and all this kind of

stuff so the first reason for leaving

New Zealand is to be honest just a bit

of Need for adventure I'm feeling a bit

maybe a bit stagnant I don't know it's

time to go out and do something a little

more exciting than hanging out in

Wellington no shade Wellington we've had

some good times right but it's time to

go for an adventure it's a bit too quiet

here for me and there's also the big

problem for me as an immigrant into New

Zealand you know back when I was 16 with

my mom I'm very very far away from my

family my mom has since left and moved

back to America most of my family lives

in America my wife's family lives in

Russia and in Ukraine so we're very very

far away from anybody anytime that we

want to go and see family it's a 30-hour

plane ride with two airport connections

every single time it's brutal especially

with little kids absolutely Savage it's

been tough it's been tough from that

perspective as well not a lot of people

want to come visit us even hey I'll pay

for your plane tickets ah you know it's

just so far away yeah I know it's far

away I just flown here anyway it it's

challenging it's been challenging right

so there's the need for adventure like

look I'm almost 40 okay we're getting up

there right but I throughout my lifetime

have been a person who's traveled a lot

I've been to probably 40 countries or

something like that already I love

traveling I love adventure and I've

lived in multiple other countries I've

lived in Hawaii I've lived in Ukraine

I've lived in Russia I've traveled

extensively I mean spend a Thailand a

dozen damn times I love traveling I love

Adventure I love doing exciting things

and again my life here in Wellington's

been pretty quiet recently so it's time

to shake things up a little bit I think

from that perspective as well plus I

have to face the reality that the

industry that I work

in well Global and very much online also

there's an important reality of having

face-to-face meetings with people and

going to conferences having dinners with

people and meeting and having handshakes

and stuff like that and that's not to

say impossible from New Zealand but

becomes very very difficult because

again anytime you want to get somewhere

it's a a Monumental effort to fly

somewhere so going to Dubai is Good from

that perspective because we'll be in a

epicenter for networking and stuff like

that so lack of opportunities for my

industry specifically here has

definitely been something that's weighed

on my mind plus the sort of lack of

regulatory Clarity from the uh New

Zealand government around cryptocurrency

assets and stuff like that always just

leaves me feeling a bit like well what

next right so I don't like that either I

I like that Singapore and Dubai for

example have lots of regulatory Clarity

so you know exactly where you're going

to be in terms of that another thing

is back when we had the Mexican beer

crisis uh New Zealand had some pretty

harsh lockdowns I mean I know a lot of

places but see the thing is we're a

small isolated island country very very

far away from well everything else right

it's a blessing and a curse sometimes

because we were domestically for a lot

of the time that the rest of the world

was going crazy life was pretty much

normal here but the problem is is that

we were kind of stuck in a green prison

if you will because you could leave the

country anytime you wanted the problem

was you couldn't necessarily get back in

when you wanted to and if you could get

back in you had to wait for two weeks in

a quarantine hotel but it was like a

lottery system and there were stories of

people who were you know okay your

family members on their deathbeds you

have to fly to the UK or fly to the

United States to go see your family and

then you're over there and well now you

might not be able to get back in New

Zealand for three to six months or

something like that so that's

problematic I didn't like that very much

so you know it's just one of these it's

not a deal breaker that kind of stuff we

weren't as bad as Australia my goodness

they weren't even letting citizens leave

Australia for a while that's crazy man

but still left a bad taste in my mouth

right so it's definitely something

that's adds on to the pile of different

ideas and look I'm not a person who's

become not a fan of New Zealand right I

love New Zealand it's um it's my home

it's my home country you know I grew up

in the United States but New Zealand's

home man it has been for a very very

long time and it will always be home to

me and my guess is that

after a few years we'll probably come

back the initial idea we're going to go

to Dubai for two years if we like it

cool we'll stay if we don't like it it

we'll leave maybe we'll go to Singapore

or something after that maybe we'll just

come back to New Zealand okay New

Zealand's great for a variety of reasons

it's super chill it's just a very nice

country to be good standard of living

you know the government and stuff it's

like not crazy with censorship and you

know it's we're okay we do okay here in

New Zealand right it's not perfect like

anywhere but New Zealand's also pretty

good and it's my home so it's got that

going for it just not right now right

time to go

and do something else for a little bit

so lots of love New Zealand we'll see

you next time mate but uh for right now

we're going to go have an adventure now

that's why we're leaving New Zealand

right why we're not deciding not just to

stay here and just do all that stuff but

then the question becomes okay lur

you're leaving New Zealand but why the

heck are you going to Dubai man why not

go to Thailand or some such place like

that well Portugal or something look we

went back and forth a lot on a lot of

different options right right do we want

to go to Ireland guys if you live in

Ireland holy cow what is up with your

weather there I don't even get it like I

thought I lived in a bad weather Town

that's like next level anyway we looked

at a lot of places you know it could be

Portugal they've got beneficial tax

arrangements and stuff like that um

could have been Italy Italy's got some

nice deals Switzerland's got some nice

deals in terms of good quality of life

and good tax deals and crypto

friendliness Etc stuff like this so

there's definitely some attractive

places in Europe that we thought about

Singapore is still pretty high on the

list we may even go there again if we

don't like Dubai we might go move

relatively quickly even might just only

stay in Dubai for a year and then go to

Singapore for example could happen we'll

see but of course one of the big things

that come to your mind when you think

about Dubai is taxes taxes taxes the

fact that there are no capital gains tax

on crypto and no income tax in Dubai

means that my ability to

generate a higher net worth becomes much

bigger much quicker right the 39% tax

that I pay here in New Zealand has been

a bit lame to be honest so haven't been

the biggest fan of that it's like you

know 39% just like it just gets a big

number man if it was like 25% 20% which

is about the rates in Singapore by the

way it's like okay fair enough I'll

contribute to society 40% it's like

you're taking almost half my money and

then you look outside and it's like oh

but you're canceling all the public

infrastructure projects and the roads

aren't even that nice like where's all

the money going man anyway it'll be

interesting to not have to pay taxes for

a while uh we'll still have taxes on the

newsletter business it's a 9% business

tax but the crypto and a lot of the

other stuff currently getting taxed at

39% will go down to 0% so that's going

to make a pretty big difference to the

bottom line Dubai I think is very well

situated for us in the world for the

family we don't want to go live in

Russia we don't want to go back and live

in the United States so we need

somewhere kind of a bit in the middle of

those two and I know Europe might have

been a bit more sensible from that

perspective but for a lot of reasons uh

Dubai is just very very attractive it's

super family friendly which is really

surprising when we went there just how

familyfriendly Dubai actually is like

just kids and families everywhere you go

parks and stuff everywhere you go and I

was really surprised with that because I

feel like the impression that you get uh

for Dubai before you go there is that's

all just like you know Crypt Bros and

Instagram model chicks and stuff like

this and it's just not the case it's

just mostly a bunch of families living

their lives and doing normal stuff so

there's that perspective makes a lot

easier for us to see family one flight

to see either my dad or my wife's mom so

that makes it really big for us and the

travel time is cut um by 80% to go see

the mother-in-law and by over 50% to go

see my dad so big big savings here in

terms of that so that's really good so

there's a lot of uh nice things it's

very safe it's very clean it's very

modern I like all that I like um you

know the fact that Dubai is just so

wildly safe not that I've had any

particular safety concerns here in New

Zealand but just you know why not an

even safer City it's very clean you

can't always say of you know the capital

of New Zealand very modern I like the mo

modernity aspect of it I like the sort

of General Vibes there as well that's

something i' really I quite enjoyed the

people that are there a lot of like

growth mentality abundance mentality

sort of people like the vibe the scene's

really cool so that's something that I

hope is going to be as I perceive it to

be schools definitely something

interesting look my son's going to a

great School here in

Wellington that being said the school

we've got him into in uh Dubai is like

big time the next level without a doubt

Dubai Better Health Care System New

Zealand's going through something like a

healthcare crisis right now where they

can't keep nurses they can't keep

doctors emergency room weights are like

we had a friend went in for an emergency

they're waiting for 12 hours at the

emergency room can you imagine that it's

insane it's craziness ma'am and again

paying 39% taxes and I look at taxes is

like it's the service fee that you pay

for living in a country and what do you

get for your 39% currently not that much

I mean it's not bad I'm not saying it's

bad but just you know things like this

like when you need it you need it right

we you need a good health care System to

work and function for you and not like

we just won't even go if something you

know generally the hospital are going to

the emergency room is like no why would

we do that would we hate ourselves like

we'll figure this out like our kids are

going to be okay or whatever and only

it's like a real real emergency but even

then you got to go wait and okay for an

insane amount of time so it's a bit

crazy from that perspective um yeah we

quite like the schools in Dubai as well

they're very impressive as we said so

that's going to be pretty neat to check

out and again it's not to say that we

won't come back to New Zealand in the

future in fact we plan on that it's just

that you know let's go check out and see

what other things are like for a while

live in another place and it's going to

be a very different experience living in

a different country with our kids

because we've only lived with the kids

here in New Zealand so very different

from when it was just me and my wife

we'd go places and okay and now it's us

but now with kids it's a very different

you see things differently you look okay

where's got the best schools where's got

great Health Care system for when your

kid gets sick can you actually get help

in a a reasonable amount of time stuff

like that also weird Fringe benefit but

if you haven't been to Dubai it's almost

become a Russian speaking city there are

so many um Eastern Europeans whether

Russian or Ukrainian or Bellar Russian

or kazak or whatever there it's actually

got pretty crazy pretty quick certain

districts of town you will hear Russian

spoken in the street almost more than

any other language which my wife's

Russian our children speak Russian I

speak Russian and so the schools the

schools that were going to take the my

son to and my daughter eventually um

they even offer like Russian classes and

stuff like that because there's so many

Russian kids there right now so it's

actually a great place for my children

to learn learn Russian whereas here in

New Zealand they don't really have that

Russian exposure that Russian friend

group stuff like that so that's gonna be

pretty interesting too from that

perspective and look I'm not going into

this road tinted glasses I know that

Dubai is far from a perfect place it's

hot the summers are ridiculous we're

probably gonna have to leave for three

months a year just because it's too dumb

in the summer like out of 40 degree heat

45 degree heat with humidity feels like

it's in the 50s come on air quality not

to the best especially it's going to be

were're spoiled here in New Zealand with

air quality really really good all the

time Dubai not so much so look I

understand these things they more

traffic problems and right okay I get it

there's not nothing's perfect but for a

family adventure I'm pretty excited

about it I think it's gonna be a lot of

fun and I will keep you updated about

how it's going how about that okay

thanks for watching I'll see you next

time