Masayako, May I call you Mas? Today I have reached 20% of your current level, oh wait, it is now Monday, so I am now at 22% of your current level.
By the end of the year, surely will be closer to 30-40% as things go.
These dilemmas of where to live have haunted me for 20 years. So I left San Diego in 2003, went to Moscow/Siberia/Azerbaijan (five other counties before that). Many of my neighbors in Moscow would ask the same question “so if money is no object, where would you live?” Even during my time in Kuwait, my business partner whose father advised the Emir on energy told me “Everyone has an escape plan.” Other stories of the Emir are also interesting, as I knew one of his pilots. The pilot would complain that he only got to fly the entourage to Ethiopia for the vacation but not to France or the US as the jet he flew was a mid-range. Still each vacation would cost millions, so at a certain level I understand your dilemma.
Back in Russia, I always told them France or Germany, maybe Spain. I lied because I didn’t want San Diego flooded with Russian billionaires. One of Putin’s deputies had a mistress who lived across the street, nice lady but faced the same dilemma just like you and the Emir. I’m sure she overheard her lover and Vladimir P discussing where they wanted to live. These pesky sanctions in so many countries. San Diego isn’t even an option until shell companies and 45.
I wanted San Diego to stay cheap so I could buy up more with my relatively modest means to ensure my true chance of becoming the Amateur North County Property Oligarch. I had seen what had happened to the Bentley dealership in Baku selling out for 5 years in one week. I didn’t want the same here.
Rarely did any of my associates really enjoy spending money once they got above $50M (it was always keeping up the Romanovs) so I would encourage you to relax or get a second or third mistress so you can have real adventure in your life and appreciate your family at the same time.
Otherwise you will die with too much money. The other day, my wife was listening to the story of Rasputin and I walked in where he discovered he was impotent and cried. You do not want to be a tragic figure with wealth who did not live his life.
So true to form, many will misrepresent the truth about living here or plant false narratives so you will be convinced of the happiness of lower taxes and larger houses with higher humidity and mosquitoes. But these are truly trivial matters for a man of the world such as yourself. I am glad you have chosen the correct forum to get life changing advice as there are few places such as this with a true high level of insight.
