Obama Plans to Cut Social Security Next

[cavanami]

Good plan! My wife is Japanese and it is not a good option for her to get US citizenship, as her Japanese citizenship has been a Plan B for us. She will get the "Japanese Social Security" and we can always live in Japan and get very reasonable health care, unlike here in the USA!

I expect that within the next five years, I will have sold all I own in the USA (cars, house, etc) and leave the USA as I see no future living in the USA except for higher tax, higher health care, lose of freedoms, high unemployment, US dollar in the toilet, etc.

I will leave the young folk to fight the battles.

[rchapstick]

Cav that one pisses me off, A bloke can find a girl, next week take her to Aus, or my wife can live with me as I am a expat, for 10 years, 2 kids, and BOTH of them are starting from equal.

 

Both then need to wait 3 years for a passport

 

Not fair, someone married for 9 year with 2 Aussie kids (or the USA equivalent) should get some kind of "Time Earned" for putting up with crazy expats,

 

Not saying no wait for passport, but maybe 50% time off!

 

In your case, they should give her a medal along with the passport.

[dean]

Cav, my wife has no intention of giving up her Thai citizenship (nor do her 3 kids, although I doubt if any of the 3 will work in LOS). Unless the economy get substantially better in the U.S., we will move back to LOS in 7-8 years. I really want my soon to be 3 year old son to spend a considerable portion of his childhood in LOS, learn to speak, read and write Thai (I'm a hopeless cause for that) and to have rights not afforded to me in LOS. I may decide that living in the U.S. is better for him but I think a person with Thai-U.S. citizenship, living in Thailand and having a good education can write his own ticket.

[Flashermac]

They can all have dual citizenship. The Thai gummit says you're not supposed to, but in reality they just ignore it. I know several university profs whose kids had been born when they were studying in the US. They wisely registered the kid as a US citizen. When the kids were old enough to go to university, they sent them to study in the States - and used their US passports. Saved them paying the hefty foreign student fees and also allowed them to have sumer jobs.

 

The US has recognised dual citienship for several decades now. No problem on that end.

 

[Nervous God]

Flash, Thai government has allowed it seince before Thaksin was elected, it;s how my Thai engineer returned to Thailand to work. He had taken Australian citizenship, renounced Thai as per both countries.

 

97/98 crash and the Government said, ok, can have dual, so as to encourage former well educated etc Thai's back home.

 

Australia changed it's rule not long after but no one ever took notice of the Australian rule

[Steve]

If I had kids I'd like them to have U.S. citizenship as a hedge.

As for me, I'd work and live anywhere EXCEPT the U.S. The country is in such a mess. I'd work in the U.S. only if I could save a considerable amount. If not, just about anywhere in the free world: Canada, UK, Oz, Europe. Benefits are better usually, cost of living, depending on your life style and where you live (urban v. rural or suburban) is better. The medical advantages of state healthcare are considerable better. I know Brits complain about the NHS but is it really worse than what we have in the states? Plus, if you earn enough and save enough, there is always the medical tourism route by going to India or LOS.

We are looking more and more like the last stages of the Roman Empire. Roman citizenship was still valued but the money to be made was outside Rome in the empire (Spain, Asia Minor, other parts of Italy, etc).

 

America, sadly, has become a country where you get educated, make money if you can and then leave later on.

 

Were I to be asked by some young person my advice, I'd say, get educated, learn a trade that is transferable and needed just about anywhere, buy a home, any affordable home, a condo perhaps (easier to rent out later), start any side business (sell on ebay, whatever), don't touch that money. If possible, work or a multinational that has offices in other countries. Save, save, save. Max out the contribution to your 401(k) at your job, invest some of the discretionary income in a growth fund and leave when you can. Rent the home out if it can comfortable cover the mortgage, RE taxes and/or association fee for a condo, sell it if you're lucky enough to be in a RE boom.

 

Not sure if that will work but I'd think about doing that myself if I could start over.

 

Not a good idea? I don't know. What would you all recommend?

 

 

[ghostdog]

If I had kids I'd like them to have U.S. citizenship as a hedge.

As for me, I'd work and live anywhere EXCEPT the U.S. The country is in such a mess. I'd work in the U.S. only if I could save a considerable amount. If not, just about anywhere in the free world: Canada, UK, Oz, Europe. Benefits are better usually, cost of living, depending on your life style and where you live (urban v. rural or suburban) is better. The medical advantages of state healthcare are considerable better. I know Brits complain about the NHS but is it really worse than what we have in the states? Plus, if you earn enough and save enough, there is always the medical tourism route by going to India or LOS.

 

 

Sounds like you want Ron Paul's America!

[HSTEACH]

Dean..the USCIS has a set of flashcards that covers the one hundred civics questions that can asked at her naturalization interview. Some of the questions are not easy. Most Americans would have to study to pass the test. Luckily they are only asked ten questions and have to answer six correctly. My wife just filed the N-400 and along with the $680.00 fee. Hopefully, she'll be through with this by January.

[Flashermac]

Wonder if Obama could pass the civics test.

 

 

 

 

[dean]

From reading about the path to citizenship, I thought there was both a test and an interview (to see how competant the applicant is in english). So, there is only an interview that includes the civics test? Given that my wife is still over 1 year away from the October 18, 2011 date, I'm not overly concerned about the civics test but am concerned about ability to speak and understand english enough to pass. She has been taking classes at night for the last 2 years but is going back to Chiang Mai for almost 6 months with our son and won't be practicing english during that time. I believe that anyone that gains citizenship for themselves automatically gain citizenship for their children, if they came to the U.S. at the same time and haven't turned 18 at the time that the mother (or father) gain citizenship. I would like to see my wife pass the citizenship test by July, 2012, so that her son that turns 18 on the 22nd of that month, and her 15 year old daughter gain citizenship by "piggybacking" on their mother's citizenship. That would only leave the 20 year old getting citizenship on her own.