About

I Did It Broke.
Abroad.
Alone.
With a Kid on the Way.

Which means when you arrive in Panama with your business, your team, and your resources already in place — I already know it works for you.

Where This Started

I was in India when COVID hit. Not visiting. Living there. I watched borders close in real time and understood, at a very practical level, what it means to be in a foreign country with only one passport and no legal right to be anywhere else.

That experience changed how I think about residency. A second passport or a second permanent residency is not a luxury for the ultra-wealthy. It is the only thing that gives you a choice when the world stops cooperating with your plans.

I came back from India asking why professionals who earn more in a year than most people earn in a decade are still handing a majority of it to a single government by default.

"All you really need to live and operate globally is a passport, credit/debit card and a phone."

The Journey

Eight years. Seven countries lived in, not just visited. China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia twice, India, Sri Lanka, Turkey. I held temporary residencies in two of them. I filed Canadian non-resident tax returns from three different countries.

I married an Iranian woman in Turkey and successfully navigated the entire immigration process to bring her to Canada. My son was born in Turkey. At the same time, I was managing his temporary passport, his Turkish residency, and his Canadian citizenship application — across two embassies, while living in a third country.

I built a yoga course from scratch while living abroad — launched at $99, scaled to $1,000 within three months, and to $5,000 eighteen months later. I ran a federally incorporated Canadian company with customers in eight countries from a desk in Antalya, Turkey. I built more than 200 Zapier automations in two years with no budget.

I have watched the Turkish Lira lose half its value in a single year. I was in India during the rupee demonetisation. I hold Bitcoin in cold storage and I have borrowed against it rather than selling it. These are not talking points. They are the experiences that formed how I think about money, mobility, and structure.

Credentials

What I Bring

🌏

7 Countries Lived In

China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia (twice), India, Sri Lanka, Turkey. Temporary residencies in two.

🏢

Federal Canadian Corporation

Incorporated, operated, and managed remotely across three countries. Customers in eight countries.

⚡

200+ Automations Built

Zero budget. Two years. The remote business management framework comes from doing it, not reading about it.

📱

6 Years Apple Retail

Complex products explained simply. The foundation of how I work with clients at every stage.

₿

Bitcoin in Cold Storage

Self-custody, Ledn-backed loans, hard money thesis from lived currency devaluation across three countries.

🛂

Complex Immigration Navigated

Four concurrent applications across two embassies while living in a third country. All resolved successfully.

Before This Was a Business

My first retreat was in Turkey. I recruited one participant — a British professional who had been thinking about leaving the UK but had never made the move. Over the course of a week, we talked about working online, managing a business from abroad, and what the practical steps actually look like.

He later moved permanently from the UK to the Azores, Portugal. That conversation was before I had formalised any of this. It confirmed that what I know is genuinely useful to the right person, and that one week with the right guide changes what feels possible.

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Panama — The Essentials

What You Actually Need to Know First.

0%Tax on foreign income

3–6moFNV processing time

$1USD economy

5yrTo citizenship

🇨🇦 For Canadians

Understanding the move starts with understanding how tax systems work. There are three types:

Residency-based (Canada) — you pay tax based on where you live. Leave, establish residence elsewhere, and CRA's claim on your foreign income ends.

Citizenship-based (USA only) — you pay tax based on your passport regardless of where you live. Americans cannot eliminate US tax obligations by moving to Panama.

Territorial (Panama) — you pay tax only on income sourced within Panama. Foreign-sourced income is untaxed by Panamanian law. This is the system that changes everything for a Canadian professional earning internationally.

Once you formally break Canadian tax residency, file your departure return, and demonstrate primary residence in Panama, CRA's claim on your foreign-sourced income ends. Not a DIY process — a cross-border specialist should be engaged at least six months before departure.

Common Questions

Yes. Panama operates a territorial tax system, codified in the Panamanian Tax Code. A professional earning fees from clients in Canada, the UK, or the USA — with services delivered remotely from Panama — is earning foreign-sourced income. Panama has no legal claim on it. This is the written law, not a loophole.

The FNV is available to citizens of 50 named countries — including Canada, the USA, the UK, and most of Western Europe. To qualify, applicants must demonstrate economic ties to Panama by forming a Panama SA, opening a Panama bank account with a qualifying deposit, or purchasing property. It leads to permanent residency and Panama citizenship eligibility after five years.

At minimum, one structured visit is required to complete biometrics and immigration submissions. Most applicants find that seven to ten days covers banking, attorney meetings, company or property setup, and immigration appointments efficiently. This is exactly what the Scouting Trip is designed around.

Yes. Panama joined the Common Reporting Standard in 2019 and now automatically exchanges financial account information with over 100 participating countries, including Canada. Panama structures require full disclosure in your home country. The value of a properly designed Panama structure comes from its legal architecture — not from opacity. This is not a hiding strategy. It is a residency strategy.

Panama taxes only income sourced within Panama. Bitcoin capital gains from transactions involving foreign parties are foreign-sourced income. The Panamanian tax rate on those gains is zero for a Panama tax resident. This does not eliminate home-country obligations for someone who has not formally broken their prior tax residency.

A furnished apartment in San Francisco or El Cangrejo runs $1,500 to $3,000/month. Costa del Este is $2,500 to $5,000. A specialist medical consultation is $50 to $150. Comprehensive private health insurance for a healthy adult in their 40s or 50s costs $2,000 to $4,000/year. For a $300K+ earner, Panama City represents a meaningful reduction in cost of living relative to Toronto or Vancouver. The city operates in USD, the international school system is well-developed, hospitals hold JCI accreditation, and English is widely spoken in the professional and residential districts where our clients settle. The adjustment is smaller than most anticipate.

Probably. Within Canada, your accountant likely has you optimised — holding company, income splitting where applicable, maximising registered accounts. "The main things" is not bad advice. It is the ceiling of what is available inside the Canadian tax system. Panama is not an extension of that system. It is a different system entirely. The question your accountant cannot answer is: what would your effective rate be if your primary tax residency were Panama rather than Canada? That is a different conversation, and it starts with formally breaking Canadian residency — which is outside most domestic accountants' lane.

No. Panama's territorial tax system is codified law — Article 694 of the Código Fiscal de la República de Panamá. It applies to any tax resident of Panama earning income from foreign sources. A $300K professional consultant, a $400K agency owner, and a $1B fund manager are all subject to the same rule. The structure is not a loophole exploited by the ultra-wealthy. It is the published, operating tax code of a sovereign country. The practical barrier has historically been access to credible guidance — not eligibility.

I Did It Broke.Abroad.Alone.With a Kid on the Way.