$500,000.00

Gringo

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Jan 1, 2002
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US $500.000. Is not what it used to be....

However it depends on how you are going to live down here, You could spend that amount on the purchase of a Condo. in the Capital and a Jeepeta!

Or you could keep the money safe by leaving it in the States and live off the interest again depending on your lifestyle....

Good luck

Gringo
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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How long? Where? What standard of living? How many people? Kids?
House? Car?

Give us details and you'll get detailed answers.

I have seen plenty of people come and go here and burn through US$500,000. They all thought they knew the DR and how things work.

Sat down yesterday with 3 guys that just lost over US$1 million to an investment house on Calle Boy Scouts here in Santo Domingo.
 

gringo in dr

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May 29, 2003
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You could spend $500,000 just trying to build a house and not even finish it. It's not how much you have, it who you know here.

Connections, connections, connections.

The locals will sniff out a gringo with a bank roll like flys on shit.
 

Rocky

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Apr 4, 2002
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Half Million

Assuming you are talking about US dollars and not those Canadian Monopoly dollars, and you placed it safely at 10%/year, you would have over $4,000/month to live off, you could rent a wonderful house anywhere for 1 grand and live like a king with the balance.
Marco.
 

JOHNQ

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Dec 11, 2003
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I thought I could go down there and buy a home for $150,000, open a small business for about $50,000 to $100,000 and open some kind of savings with the rest.
I am married have two kids but I'm tired of the life in the U.S. I have to work so hard to have something to show that I forget about my family. I forgot the last time I had any type of enjoyment with them. It's work, pay bills, and work some more.
And in this country you always want what you can't afford. I drive a BMW X5 10 miles every day to get to work (which is all I do) but have to pay $800 a month just so I look important.

Can I do better somewhere else?
 

Rocky

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Live it up

Buying a house is OK, but it might be good to rent for the first while, until you get a feel for the place. It won't be costing you anything anyhow. The interest alone on $150,000 pays the rent, so it's a freebie.
Opening a business is where you might lose your shirt and cause yourself more stress thatn you already have where you're living now.
Live it up, buddy.
If you have a half million, and you move here, you don't have to work anymore.
Marco.
 

Vestor

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Sep 18, 2003
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Tell me PLEASE where can I get a 10 percent safe return on my money.

Thanks,
Rod
 

Escott

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Jan 14, 2002
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Re: US $500.000. Is not what it used to be....

Gringo said:
However it depends on how you are going to live down here, You could spend that amount on the purchase of a Condo. in the Capital and a Jeepeta!

Or you could keep the money safe by leaving it in the States and live off the interest again depending on your lifestyle....

Good luck

Gringo
Yeah thats the ticket. Keep it in the States and make 1.5 %. 7.5k a year will make you live the high life... YEAH RIGHT!

Where do you get your great advice from? I hope you haven't paid for it yourself.
 

Escott

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Vestor said:
Tell me PLEASE where can I get a 10 percent safe return on my money.

Thanks,
Rod
If you want to invest over 100k I can tell you how to get more than 10% safe return backed by a mortgage on R.E. valued for a higher amount. If you invest less than 100k I can show you how to get the same % or close to it but not backed by real estate like you would if it is over 100k.

Email me if you want more info. I have been doing this for years and have been happy as a preverbial pig in doo.

Escott
 

MikeKO

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Apr 12, 2002
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If you want perfect safety, you can't get that much. If you have a 3-6 year horizon, 10% is very attainable. 600K would be better than the 500K in this thread though. Take 400,000 invested in 30% bond funds, 70% value & growth funds spread across market cap. Take the remainder (200K), and split it about 60 / 40 Bond/cash and very conservative mutuals. Live off of the 200K. By the time it is depleted, your 400K will have grown a bunch. Repeat forever - you'll die very rich. There are some high yield possibilities in DR (or other foreign countries). Escott has posted a lot on this. I wouldn't invest squat in DR until I've lived there awhile. Something else to keep in mind. The IRS gets antsy about taxpayers moving captial into areas of the world where it can't extort information on your income. So, if you are going to maintain your US connections, you need to be careful. Can't speak for Canada.

Mike
 

Rocky

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Lifestyles

It all depends on the lifestyle you need to keep you happy.
Some of the earlier posts talked about just that.
Buying cars, houses, boats and planes will drastically change your budget.
If you subscribe to the theory that he who has the most toys when he dies, wins, then there's no limit to how much money you can spend. If you're happy to have a 3 year old Camry along with a nearly new SUV in the driveway, living in an adequate house with a pool and AC for the summer months, something with a pretty view and not to far from town and friends, then you can easily live well with the moneys you have.
I wouldn't even start to consider any of this without talking to Scott first, with regards to how and where I was going to place my capital.
I wouldn't buy a home for the first year either. You need an opportunity to taste the flavour of the country, learn the "do' & dont's" of daily life, get a feel for what a good real estate deal is, have a sense of where you would like to live and that it be secure with no bad neighbours.
And last but not least, the rest of your family has to be happy here or it will make you miserable.
The DR1ers are a great group of people with tons of advice to share, so you can greatly benefit from meeting them. Take advantage of it.
Marco.
 
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arturo

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Mar 14, 2002
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10% secured with real estate

be careful, be very very careful - take a long close look at any promises of 10% returns with little or no risk - - the 10% is far more likely than little or no risk - - be aware
 

Escott

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Yeah thanks man. I should have listened to you instead of paying my damn attorney to advise me and do these mortgages for me. $400 US could have been invested had I taken your advice instead of giving it to the creep attorney! LOL I love these people!

Do you know that the interest rate charged in the DR is 3%? YES, that is 3% a freakin MONTH. They still make 26% a year over and above what they pay on money invested.

Thanks for your advice. It was truly a big help. What for, I am truly not sure of.
 
S

SteveDR

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You can make 12-18% in dividends plus 20-40% in capital appreciation per year by investing in oil/gas royalty trusts, MREITS, in the US!! Of course there is risk involved.
 

Escott

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MikeKO said:
If you want perfect safety, you can't get that much. If you have a 3-6 year horizon, 10% is very attainable. 600K would be better than the 500K in this thread though. Take 400,000 invested in 30% bond funds, 70% value & growth funds spread across market cap. Take the remainder (200K), and split it about 60 / 40 Bond/cash and very conservative mutuals. Live off of the 200K. By the time it is depleted, your 400K will have grown a bunch. Repeat forever - you'll die very rich. There are some high yield possibilities in DR (or other foreign countries). Escott has posted a lot on this. I wouldn't invest squat in DR until I've lived there awhile. Something else to keep in mind. The IRS gets antsy about taxpayers moving captial into areas of the world where it can't extort information on your income. So, if you are going to maintain your US connections, you need to be careful. Can't speak for Canada.

Mike
No such thing as PERFECT safety. There is risk in everything but you try to qualify the degree of risk.

30% in bond funds presently will return about 4% if you are lucky. As the interest rates rise from this 1/2 century bottom the price of the funds will drop so you will realize capital depreciation to get this return. Same with Bonds. A little too late to advise bonds and bond funds for appreciation and not depreciation.

I bet you recommended Cisco and Intel along with Sun Micro 5 years ago. I will forgive you the Lucents and Worldcomms of this world along with all those companies that have failed over the last 5 years.

I wouldnt invest squat in ANYTHING unless I had a bit of confidence in the investment. For years I preached right here against investing in Real Estate. Just do a search under Jazzcom and real estate. I even did speadsheets and related it to how many Presidente beers you would make by NOT buying and taking my advice. Evidence doesn't lie, bullshit doesn't fly. Look it up.

I started buying in the DR 9 months ago when I felt that there was some capital gains to be had instead of capital losses that have been going on for years. It may even turn out that I was right on the bottom of the market when I made the change in heart. I think I have been spot on so far.

I have been investing in one particular Finance house in POP for 3-4 years now and have been very happy with my investment. I know many others right on this board that have invested also and have the same thoughts and happiness as I do.

As far as the US IRS goes, as an American with a Dominican Residency I am able to make 78-80k off shore tax free as long as I declare it on my income taxes but still have to pay all taxes on income made in the US. I just sent in a 25k check towards NEXT years taxes so I don't suffer any penalties. So far I have paid in 38k in taxes to the US government without even knowing what my obligation will be. I have corps in the DR that manage investments in everything including Real Estate. I draw a salary from these corps. The IRS frowns on NOTHING I do. If I ever made 80k in the DR I would move that offshore because that would be prudent. I don't need that much income in the DR to live like the pig that I am.

Keep the good opinions coming. Opinions are just like assholes, everybody has one.
 

JOHNQ

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Dec 11, 2003
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I thank everyone for there input. I hope to live a simple live in the dominican republic. I'm aware that live there is different. But I just want to live off what little I've been able to save. One thing that might be helpfull for me is that there is no language barrier,
I speak fluent spanish. Three to four thousand dollars that I generate on a monthly bassis should be enough for my family and I to live comfortably.

Does anyone have information on schools. My daughter is in 5th grade and my son will be starting in about a year. I would like for them to attend a english speaking school.

thanks to every one