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Pack your bags, America. Portugal just became the number 1 place we all want to escape to

Other top-requested countries include Spain, Canada, and Italy.

Photo credit: Canva

Americans are seeking a new life abroad.

Have you been doom-scrolling through an endless news cycle, filled with rising housing prices, impossible-to-pay healthcare bills, and polarizing political upheaval lately? Is all that doom and gloom making you want to seek greener pastures—perhaps overseas? Well, you're not alone. Over 116,000 Americans have been feeling the exact same way, quietly researching their escape routes, and they're all leading to the same place: Portugal.

According to a survey conducted by Expatsi, a company that helps U.S. citizens move abroad, Portugal is officially the number one destination where Americans want to relocate. And why not? Although it may lack the name recognition and star power of other European countries like Spain, Italy, or France, Portugal has plenty to offer Americans seeking a different way of life.


 woman, portugal, expat, moving, abroad Portugal has an incredible wealth of opportunities for American expats. Photo credit: Canva

“Portugal rose to prominence by offering friendly programs for taxes and visas for foreigners, including allowing them to gain residency through buying homes,” explains Expatsi co-founder Jen Barnett. Even though many of these benefits are no longer offered, the exposure Portugal received was enough to turn heads. “People are now more aware of what else it has to offer,” Barnett continues. “Lower cost of living, better quality of life, more safety, and warm and welcoming people.”

 

What else the survey tells us

 

The numbers revealed by the Expatsi survey unmask a story that's equal parts relatable, fascinating, and slightly bone-chilling. Why do Americans want to leave the country in the first place? The number one reason is predictable: to find adventure, enrichment, and growth overseas. Beyond that, 56% of survey respondents said that the U.S. had become too conservative, and 53% cited political divisions as their primary motivation for wanting to leave. Roughly half of all respondents also claimed that they wanted to move away to avoid the threat of gun violence.


 portugal, expat, moving, abroad, beautiful Some Americans want to move as soon as six months. Photo credit: Canva

Some survey respondents said they were actively looking to move soon, with 12% hoping to relocate within the next six months. Then there were the cost of living statistics: 41% of survey respondents said they hoped to save money by living abroad, while 30% said they hoped to retire. While the average price to rent a one-bedroom apartment in New York City or San Francisco can set you back somewhere between $2,800 to $3,500 per month, a similar-sized place in Lisbon falls in the ballpark of $1,300 to $1,700. Let's compare monthly utilities: in the U.S., that'll be around $186 per month. In Portugal, around $35. Even a nice dinner can put things into perspective—in most major American cities, that can cost around $80, while in Portugal, it'll be a mere $40. Overall, the cost of living in Portugal is a whopping 36%–48% lower than the U.S., encompassing rent, groceries, dining, healthcare, transportation, and more.

 

A different pace of life

 

Elizabeth Burke from Washington, D.C., has been visiting Portugal annually since 2016 and plans to retire there within five years. “No matter where you go in Portugal, there's a sense of calm,” she tells reporters. “You land in Faro, and you feel like you can breathe. There's a feeling in the air of happiness and peace.”

That sense of peace isn't just something you feel—it's measurable. Portugal ranks as the 7th safest country in the world, while the U.S. sits at a sobering 132nd place. The healthcare situation is equally eye-opening. While Americans spend an average of $10,586 per person on healthcare, Portuguese residents spend just $2,785, thanks to universal coverage. Private health insurance is also more affordable, costing $50–$100 monthly in Portugal, compared to $600–$900 in America.



But perhaps the most compelling draw for many Americans is the promise of something they've long given up on: a real work-life balance. Within the last decade, Portugal has passed groundbreaking legislation to protect workers' mental health. Employers are legally banned from contacting employees outside of work hours, and companies must fully compensate remote workers for home office expenses like Wi-Fi, electricity, and technology. Imagine that! It's the kind of worker protection that many Americans can't even fathom, as we're accustomed to constantly checking emails and paying out-of-pocket for work expenses.

 

Next stop… Portugal?

 

It's no surprise that the American expat population in Portugal is exploding: since 2017, it's grown by 200% with nearly 10,000 Americans now calling Portugal their European home. And they're not all retirees or billionaires with summer vacation homes, either. Thanks to the country's Digital Nomad Visa, non-EU citizens can live and work remotely in Portugal as long as they have proof of employment with a non-Portuguese company and a minimum monthly income of about $2,750. Visa holders can apply for temporary or long-term residency under this program, which can lead to permanent residency or even citizenship. Portugal also offers attractive tax incentives for remote workers, like the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) program, which can provide impressive tax benefits for up to 10 years.


via GIPHY


The numbers don't lie: Americans are tired of the way things work here, and they're actively seeking escape routes. Many are questioning why they should wait for conditions to improve at home when Portugal offers greater affordability, safety, and quality of life. Increasingly, these same people are realizing their answer may lie abroad.

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Education

Teachers now get a higher tax deduction for supplies they buy. It's still totally insulting.

The new amount still doesn't come close to covering what teachers pay out of pocket.

Photo by Monica Sedra on Unsplash

The IRS raised the tax deduction limit for teachers from $250 to $300.

When I first saw the headline that the IRS was raising the tax deduction limit for teachers buying classroom supplies with their own money—you know, the necessary items to do their jobs well—I was thrilled. The previous deduction of $250 was laughable, a virtual slap in the face to professionals who regularly spend two, three or four times that amount per year buying supplies for their students out of their own pocket.

But when I saw the amount the deduction was raised to, I rage laughed. $300? Are you kidding me?

It sounds great to say, "We're raising the tax deduction for teachers by 20%" until you realize that the teacher deduction hasn't been raised since 2002 and that 20% increase is a measly $50.

Fifty bucks spread over 20 years is $2.50 a year. Whoop dee frickin' do. That doesn't even come close to keeping up with inflation, for the love. Just to keep up with inflation, that $250 deduction from two decades ago should be over $400 now.

And again, even that amount wouldn't be close to enough. An AdoptaClassroom survey of 5,400 PreK-12 teachers at public, private and charter schools across the U.S. found that teachers spent an average of $750 out of their own pockets for school supplies during the 2020-21 school year. About 30% spent more than $1,000.

In the face of that reality, raising the deduction limit from $250 to $300 is ridiculous, gross, rude, disrespectful and insulting. Teachers are professionals who are already paid less than what they're worth. The fact that they have to buy supplies out of their own pockets at all is a travesty. The least we can do is let them deduct whatever they spend out of their taxes.

I've been a teacher and I've also been a business owner. The number of things a business owner can legally deduct is bonkers. You can deduct so many things from your business income that you pay zero taxes on it, and we're putting this painfully low limit on out-of-pocket teacher supplies? Why? Who wins here?

Honestly, why do we even have a deduction limit for teachers at all? It feels like whoever makes these decisions either doesn't fully trust teachers or thinks they aren't deserving of reasonable compensation. I mean, how much do they really think teachers are going to be able to deduct here even if there were no limit? Newsflash: Teachers aren't rolling in extra dough. They're not looking for ways to game the tax system to avoid tax liability. They're literally spending their own money on their jobs—which is ridiculous—and hoping to get some back from the very same government that employs and pays them.

In recent years, some teachers have shared that they're simply refusing to buy classroom supplies out of their own pocket anymore, pointing out that it doesn't solve the problem, but masks it. It's also simply not doable for many. The teaching profession tends to draw people who are willing to make sacrifices for kids, which is admirable, but financial sacrifice should not be an expectation inherent in the job.

When I say teachers aren't paid what they are worth, I mean it literally. People who haven't worked in a classroom have no idea. The energy it entails, the responsibility it requires, the emotional toll it takes and the time outside of school hours dedicated to the work are beyond any other job I've ever had. Yes, the work can be rewarding, but a lot of times it isn't. In no other profession do we expect people to do so much for so little.

It's not just that teachers deserve to be paid well. (Not merely adequately, but well.) Our kids also deserve teachers who are valued by everyone around them. They deserve teachers who have all the resources they need to educate to the best of their ability. They deserve beautiful learning environments and classrooms full of learning materials that their teachers didn't have to dip into their wallets to pay for. They deserve to live in a society that prioritizes education above everything else, a society that understands quality education is the root of solutions to most problems.

Teachers are quitting in droves and many of those who are staying are barely hanging on. We can't afford to keep losing good teachers. Money isn't the only reason teachers are quitting, but it doesn't help. Let's drop the tax deduction limit altogether. It's quite literally the least we can do.

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Democracy

The IRS requires criminals to report and pay taxes on their illegal income. Yes, seriously.

@litcapital/Twitter

The IRS requires criminals to report their illegal income.

You know how sometimes you see something come through your social media feed and you think, "There's no way that's real," only to then have your mind blown when you find out it actually is real?

This is one of those times.

Twitter user @litcapital shared a post that appeared to be a screenshot from the IRS website with two entries on it:

"Illegal activities. Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z, or on Schedule C (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity.

Stolen property. If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless you return it to its rightful owner in the same year."

Yes, you read that right. Dealing illegal drugs? Gotta pay taxes on that income. Stealing property? Gotta report that as income.

Surely this is made up, right?

Nope. Go here: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17. Do a "Find" search with your browser and enter the word "illegal." Then put in "stolen." You'll find the entries listed under "Other Income," worded just like this.

We can all agree that taxes are overly complicated, and few of us have the time to read through every single IRS publication to figure them out. But requiring criminals to report illegal activity and stolen goods on their taxes? Really?

Someone had to actually come up with this policy. Someone had to say, "Hey, I think we should tell criminals that they have to report their criminal profits on their taxes," and someone else had to say, "Yeah, that's a good idea." Someone had to approve it. Someone had to type it up and publish it, too.

Did they all do this with a straight face? Was it a serious conversation? Did any brave soul say, "Um, that's stupid. No one is going to do that," because it's obviously stupid and clearly no one is going to do that?

That was my first thought upon seeing these tax requirements.

However, as it turns out, there actually is a good reason these policies exist. Illegal income does get reported sometimes, namely when someone has been caught (or thinks they're about to be caught) in some illegal activity and they don't want to get hit with a tax evasion charge in addition to whatever financial or property theft crime they've committed.

According to CNN Money, New England accountant Tom Hughes paid taxes on money he stole from his clients in 1999, 2001 and 2004. "I knew the money was taxable, there was no doubt about that," Hughes told the outlet. "I had already been caught, and I didn't want to face federal tax charges."

He now gives speeches on financial crime and professional responsibility. Go figure.

However, Hughes is the exception, as tax experts told CNN that most criminals don't report their illegal incomes. Duh. According to San Francisco tax attorney Stephen Moskowitz, most of those who do are facing embezzlement charges and are trying to avoid Al Capone-ing themselves. He has helped some of those clients document their illegal gains to avoid doubling their legal trouble due to illegal tax activity.

So basically, we have to have official tax requirements for illegal income in order for criminals to not be able to get away with tax evasion for that income. Still seems like a bizarre policy to actually write out in words, though, even if it makes sense from a legal perspective.

Humans are weird and money is weird and both things just seem to keep getting weirder. Yay us.

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Family

Confused? This is exactly how the federal government's new Child Tax Credit works.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Families are beginning to receive direct monthly payments from the IRS, and some people seem to be confused about the what and the why of it. Heres' a brief explainer:

As part of the American Rescue Plan Act (passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in March), two things changed about the Child Tax Credit that families receive as part of their normal taxes. 1) The amount per child was increased, and 2) The distribution of those funds was changed for the year 2021.

Last year, the tax credit was $2,000 per child up to age 16, and the money was included in the calculation of a parent's tax return at tax time. (A tax credit is different than a tax deduction, just to be clear. It's basically a direct refund. A $2,000 tax credit is $2,000 handed back to you.)

This year, that tax credit amount was increased to $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17, and $3,600 per child under age 6. In addition to that increase, half of the tax credit amount will be paid out in monthly installments for the rest of 2021. The other half will be included in a person's tax return next spring, as usual.

The full increase amount impacts couples who earn up to $150,000 per year, or single parents making up to $112,500.

If you are a parent, you don't have to do anything to start receiving these payments as long as you filed taxes in 2019 or 2020. The money will come as a direct deposit or a check, depending on how you usually receive your tax return. If you didn't make enough income to file taxes those years, you have to sign up for the credit here. 

President Biden explained briefly how it works on Facebook, but judging by the comments, the basic idea still isn't clear to many people. Some seem to have been unaware that parents always get tax credits for having children, and others believe that the extra funds are a free government handout instead of a financial hand-up that it's intended to be.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a particularly intense toll on parents, both logistically and financially—the extra funds for the tax credit increase come from the America Rescue Plan and are designed to strengthen the economy by putting more money back into the hands of working American families.

The Child Tax Credit changes in the American Rescue Plan only apply to the year 2021, but President Biden wants to extend this benefit beyond this year with the American Families Plan. Analysts have already called it a game-changer for child poverty. As The Atlantic reported:

"Despite the program not being targeted only toward low-income kids, our colleagues at Columbia University estimated that a child tax credit comparable to Biden's would cut child poverty by 45 percent. It would cut poverty among Black children by 52 percent and among Native American children by more than 60 percent."

Governments providing financial relief to citizens with children is nothing new. At least 10 wealthy nations provide universal child benefits to assist with the cost of child-rearing, either as a matter of course or as an incentive to counteract dwindling birth rates.

The White House website's information page about the Child Tax Credit for this year has some specific scenarios for families of various sizes and incomes to show how it works. But here's one real-world scenario:

My husband and I have two kids within the age range for the tax credit, and we make under the $150,000/yr income threshold. So here's the comparison between last year's tax credits and this year's for our family.

In 2020:

12 y.o. = $2,000

16 y.o. = $2,000

$4,000 total tax credits.

All $4,000 given at tax time.

In 2021:

12 y.o. = $3,000

16 y.o. = $3,000

$6,000 total tax credits.

Half ($3,000) will be distributed as $500 monthly payments from July through December of this year.

The remaining $3,000 will be given at tax time.

The one thing we have to be aware of is that while our family is receiving more money overall for 2021 ($6,000 vs. $4,000), we will see $1,000 less of a credit on our taxes than we saw last year come tax time, because of the distribution of half of the credits ahead of time. So more money in our pockets now, which is great. But we also need to make sure we're prepared for $1,000 less than we might have been anticipating on our tax return because we will have already received $3,000 in the form of the monthly payments.

For millions of families who have found themselves struggling due to job loss, furloughs, business shutdowns, childcare woes, and more, these increased child tax credits and advance payments will ease some of that economic hardship.

For more info go to www.whitehouse.gov/

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