Relocation Reality: Moving Abroad with Gail Warrior & Christophe Suchy

Morag Barrett (00:01.077)
Welcome to this week's episode of People First, where it is a two-fa week. I have two fabulous guests to share with you, Gail Warrior and Christoph Sushi. And they're going to be talking with us about the Global Freedom Project. listen up, this is a corker of a conversation. But before we get started,

My usual opening question, I'm curious when you were we kids, imagining all of the adulting you could be doing, what did you want to be as a child? And in what way does that show up in how you lead or what you do today? So Gail or Christophe, you can arm wrestle over this one. Who wants to go first?

Gail Warrior (00:51.214)
Christophe, I'll say for beauty.

Christophe Suchy (00:51.393)
I'm resting with Gail? No. What did you say?

Morag Barrett (00:54.753)
No.

So I'm going to pick Gail then. So Gail, tell me, what did you want to be when you grew up and in what way does that show up in either the work you do or how you lead today?

Christophe Suchy (01:00.587)
Okay.

Gail Warrior (01:00.686)
Okay, I'll go first.

Gail Warrior (01:08.686)
That's a very good question because what I wanted to do when I was very little was to be a ballerina and a dancer, but I have a brother that's nine months younger and he was always in soccer so there's no time for dance. So I ended up, as I got older, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur because my dad was an entrepreneur and I thought I was going to...

went to school for business as an accountant, and thought I was gonna be a CPA, work around the world. And so I think what I'm doing now leads directly into that little younger version of me of what I wanted to be, charting my own path.

Morag Barrett (01:52.161)
treading your own path, love it. Well, we're gonna learn more about those paths that you've tread with the Global Freedom Project, but Christophe, what about you?

Christophe Suchy (02:03.53)
Well, that might be interesting. I really wanted to be a brain surgeon when I was little. I know, I know. I like puzzle and everything and I like science. I did two years of med school until somebody, one of my professors told me, stop inventing, stop creating, you're not here to do that. That day I knew that was not for me, so I moved on, went to do chemistry. Never worked in the chemistry business, about two weeks.

But I think I always wanted to create new things out of what was existing, right? And I think what we're doing right now is exactly that. We take pieces, bits of everything, put them together and try and build up a plan for our customers. And sometimes surprisingly, they my God, that's it. I never thought of that, but that's your...

spot on. It's exactly what I wanted. That's what we call success, right? So that's really... I couldn't just be in the mold.

Morag Barrett (03:12.073)
OK, well, as I said in the introduction, I misdescribed your work in terms of the Global Freedom Project, but it's actually a global freedom blueprint that you've created. Maybe it can be part of a life project. So, Gail, tell us a little bit about what it is and what inspired you to focus on this work.

Gail Warrior (03:37.199)
Well, I think what really inspired us to focus on the work is because we are living it every day. And when we decided to create a global life and move out of the US and move internationally and create a more mobile life, more global life, we realized that there were a lot of mistakes that we made along the way, things that we would do differently. And we get a lot of people asking us, or,

Back then, we've been living out of the US almost six years now. We had a lot of people asking us, how did you do it? What should I do? What are the steps? What are all the things that I need to consider? What are some of the countries that you looked at? And so instead of answering all of those questions individually, we decided to create a book.

that had all of that information in it and in the steps and all the you know around tax optimization, real estate, citizenship, residency because there is a difference between residency and citizenship and just all the things that may come up when you want to create a global life.

Morag Barrett (04:46.996)
Yeah, I love that work as somebody who has relocated their family from the UK to now the USA and Colorado. I had the guiding hand of the company that I was working for at the time to help translate, even though similar language, translate needs and expectations. Even getting a bank account is difficult. And I know for even for me to move back to the UK.

opening a UK bank account as a British citizen is going to be challenging because of various laws and requirements. So the work that you do in the Global Freedom Blueprint is firstly, help me choose where in the world I might want to work. But then do you help us in the detailed work of actually making that happen?

Gail Warrior (05:36.463)
We help in the details in regards to giving them the plan of the banks that we recommend, for example, where they should open accounts of the one or two countries that they should look at for citizenship and or residency.

real estate if they want to own a home in another country, where should that be? Even everything from insurance, healthcare, just mobility. And if they're an entrepreneur particularly, how do they optimize their taxes? We always tell our clients and our customers, we do not believe that...

Morag Barrett (06:15.424)
Mmm.

Gail Warrior (06:22.818)
taxes, we believe that everyone has to pay taxes, right? But if you can minimize your tax exposure in a legal way, that's what we do with our customers. We help them find legal ways to optimize the tax exposure that they may have and then still pay their fair share to Uncle Sam or whomever.

Morag Barrett (06:31.38)
Mm-hmm.

Morag Barrett (06:46.496)
So Christoph, what is one of the common misunderstandings that people have when they first come to you and say, I want to move abroad.

Christophe Suchy (06:57.438)
I think there are two things that come to mind. The first one is they think we're a relocation firm, which we're not. We're definitely not. can recommend a few, we can help you with that, but that's not what we do, right? We look at the bigger picture. But the second one, and that goes with the bigger picture, is customers come to us and they know everything because they Googled it.

And my lord, it's fine. What Google is going to send back to you if you ask the question is the result that is most common, right? What everybody else is doing. So that's what you're going to get. What everybody else is doing is unfortunately not the best solution, just because it's way more complex than that. And that's where we help. We made the mistakes.

But more important, we have a great network of experts, different jurisdictions, different countries, international, local, immigration, tax, corporate laws, you name it. And we really try to look at, once again, at the holistic approach where, okay, you want to move from the UK to the US. How is that going to impact

not only your corporate taxes structure and everything, but your family in terms of budget. What about schooling? What about your assets? Where are your assets? What if something happens to you? What would be the inheritance tax if now you are a tax resident in your country? So on and so forth. How can we avoid that? How we can set up offshore structures, legal offshore structures that can help you prevent that?

So that's what makes it absolutely interesting because it's unique to absolutely every single family. We haven't found one that we've said, okay, copy paste. That'd be easier, right? It just doesn't exist. And that's awesome. That's awesome for us.

Morag Barrett (09:04.007)
Mm-hmm.

Morag Barrett (09:10.282)
So Gail, in a moment, I want to ask you about that whole, where should I even move? Even if I've come to you with a, think I want to move to Portugal, the steps you go through to make sure that Portugal is the right destination for me. But Christophe, before I do that, you made a comment in that piece there where you said, well, we're not a relocation company. So can you clarify the difference between what you do and what a relocation company does?

Christophe Suchy (09:37.984)
Sure, I can take that. Yes, relocation company will usually take you on a tour of that new destination you've chosen. You chose a place. They're not going to discuss it. They're not going to challenge it. OK, we'll take you to that place. They have usually a team of experts very well connected in that new destination with some immigration attorneys. So they're going to take you to the immigration department, get your residencies on and so forth. They're going to help you tour some real estate if you'd like.

so on and so forth. So it's really the base, the foundation of what you asked for. Unfortunately, because your research is biased either via Google or via maybe some friends or referrals, it might not be the right spot for what you're seeking.

Morag Barrett (10:30.644)
OK, so Gail, then coming back to you, I'm curious, what is the country that seems to be top of everybody's list right now? And then what are those steps that you go through to help them think through whether in fact that is the right place?

Gail Warrior (10:47.374)
So as far as a company that is top of mind, I will tell you that it depends. And people don't like it when I say it depends, but it really does depend. Because for each person, it really depends on their life experiences up to that point, right? So when you look at some of the top, the trending countries right now that people are looking at moving to.

Portugal is still, I believe, in the top 10. Panama is as well. Thailand is getting more more popular. Some places in Mexico, although Mexico has taken a little bit of a hit. So there's a lot of different countries that people are interested in. Sometimes people want to move because they want the beach and sun year-round. Sometimes people still want seasons year-round.

Morag Barrett (11:43.136)
Mm-hmm.

Gail Warrior (11:44.271)
It's also very important that we, particularly if someone has a significant other spouse that they're moving with, that we have both people on the call. Because we've had situations where the wife, her dream place has always been in the mountains with cooler temperatures and she can go hiking with the waterfalls. And the husband wants to wake up right next to the ocean and see the dolphins, you know, swimming in the ocean every day and have sand on his feet when he walks outside.

completely to different avenues, right? So what we do is help people and individuals and couple bridge the gap, really take a deep dive into their lives, into their wishes, their goals, their desires, and create based upon the information that they give to us and create a global plan. We also, I need to mention this, we also give them what we believe.

is the best one or two countries for them and we give them all the reasons why. We've had situations where we had a client who wasn't in the best of health, wanted to live by the beach in a small town, wanted to buy a home right off the bat in this new country. But it really wasn't the best situation for him, particularly because he was older or something had happened, there was not a hospital.

Morag Barrett (13:01.568)
You

Gail Warrior (13:11.832)
that was nearby, but he had had this dream his entire life. And so one of the challenges that we had is holding a mirror up to our clients to say, yes, we know that this is your dream, but compare your dream to your reality and where you are today. And sometimes that's not an easy conversation to have.

Morag Barrett (13:34.917)
I think what I heard from you in just this short conversation already, it's not just the initial rush of excitement. If I've Googled it, I can move to Portugal and look, house prices there are different. What you're doing is going deeper and saying, well, yes, is the healthcare system, is public transport going to be set up? Are there going to be language barriers as somebody who does not speak Portuguese? The answer is going to be yes. But also to your point, Christophe, thinking through and is this

a forever destination, what happens with inheritance, or is this just a temporary, I've always had this dream to live on the beach. Those are very different scenarios to solve for. I'm curious, I am sure that many people listening to this have had that dream of, I'm just gonna run away from it all, or I'm just going to deliberately change my life and I want to relocate.

Is this only for people with deep pockets and a large bank account?

Christophe Suchy (14:39.806)
Hmm, well, sure. Yeah, absolutely. Well, no, absolutely not. That's the first one. I personally lived in so many countries, they don't fit on one hand, right? And moving is not the issue. The cost of moving is not the issue, right? It's what you bring with you. But if you look at

Gail Warrior (14:40.11)
I'm gonna take that first.

Morag Barrett (14:46.31)
Okay, no.

Gail Warrior (14:48.024)
Your dance.

Christophe Suchy (15:10.13)
the cost of staying versus the cost of moving. That's where you have to put the balance. Let me take an example. You live in Colorado and your daughter absolutely wants, and this is brilliant, it's cool, she absolutely wants to go to university and study architecture in Milan, in Italy. And your son wants to study history in Paris. And you're thinking,

my, my retirement is gone. We got to sell the house because I mean, I can't say yes to those kids. There's no way it's going to cost me too much. Well, what if you were a resident of a European country? My university years, I've paid about a hundred dollars a year. That's what it cost me for a top university in Paris, right? So we look at that because once again, the cost of staying can be way higher than the cost of living, of moving.

And I think a lot of people don't take that into account.

Morag Barrett (16:18.046)
Yeah, it's that again, you're getting the cogs turning for me because it's that we first approach of, okay, the next generation are looking to study abroad for me to do that as international students is going to cost me more than potentially choosing to relocate all some or permanently in order to make that happen. So it's the diagnostic and the conversation you have when your customers and clients first appear to understand not just the heart led, why are you looking to move?

but the bigger picture of what are the knock-on consequences that you may or may not have thought about at this point.

Christophe Suchy (16:56.254)
That's correct. if I may add, there's also another side of the story that I actually have a client who contacted me last night from Thailand. A Thai citizen who happened to buy a property, a nice house in Uruguay, South America. Well, he bought it remotely and he forgot to inquire about the need or...

the process to get residency there. Well, it so happens that he cannot go and stay at his house. The difficulty for a Thai citizen to get a visa to visit Uruguay is incredibly high. It is so difficult that it's gonna take me a month. can't do that. There are ways, there are very creative ways to get there. But of course, you won't find them on Google, right? But there's so many things, just because you hear that

my neighbor did it. Well, he might not have done it exactly this way, not directly. So just inquire and just don't read that little paragraph that says, hey, this person did it. It's usually not the whole story.

Gail Warrior (18:11.118)
Well, and I think Christophe makes a very good point because

Anyone that works with us, they don't just get us. They get our knowledge and experience, but they also get the experience of our team and people that we have strategically placed around the world and different countries. Things change constantly. Rules change. Laws change. And so what we bring to the table is making sure that we have the most current, the most up-to-date information that we provide to our clients. And that's very important, particularly when, you know,

making a decision to move into another country, whether it's temporarily or permanently or part-time or full-time, that's a very big deal, right? And so you want to make sure that you're making that decision with all the most current and relevant information that's out there.

Morag Barrett (19:04.692)
So what advice would you have for people who have been thinking about doing it? What are the first steps to avoid them rushing in like your example there where somebody bought a property that they now can't visit before they get themselves locked into a course of action that maybe is not ideal? What first steps should they be doing?

Gail Warrior (19:28.674)
Well, the first step that they should do is to book a 30 minute call with Global Citizens Consulting.

Morag Barrett (19:34.93)
Okay, so how do they do that? We're Global Citizen Consulting. I'll make sure the links are below. So 30 minutes just to sound you out and to hear from you first steps advice. Love

Christophe Suchy (19:37.49)
you

.

Gail Warrior (19:43.554)
Thank

Gail Warrior (19:49.539)
So first up, and really in that 30 minute call, we want to hear from our clients. We want to hear what their goals are.

Right? So is it something, is it temporary? Is it permanent? Is it part-time? Is it full-time? And sometimes depending on what their goals are, they may not be a right fit for us and we may not be a right fit for them. So I would say the first step is to book that call. The second step would be to think about where in the world that you would want to live.

And I always caution people, yes, think about the places that you love to vacation, but also think about other places that you haven't been. Because to go someplace to live is completely different than what it looks like when you're on your vacation.

You may go on a vacation for a week or two and you absolutely love it, right? Because you're doing all the touristy things and it's wonderful. But when you look at that country as a place to live on a day-to-day basis, it looks completely different. Where's the grocery store? Can I find the food that I'm really used to? Where's the dry cleaners? Do I have a sense of community? And so those things look quite different. So I would say those are the first two steps. And Christophe, do you have a third that you want to add as far as the top three?

Christophe Suchy (21:11.441)
I would probably add one. Yes, definitely had the conversation with another customer last week. And when I asked the question, you know, what is your goal? And I explained, you know, we're going to do a 30 minute call and then a strategy call with your wife and talk about your wishes and your goals. And he said, you know, I actually don't know.

I got I take some time on that because we never discussed the future, you know more than a few years ahead and and because it's such a Huge move. We always recommend listen just think about that first, but more important and we did that Make a list of non-negotiable Because sometimes you are caught up in a dream

or know party town, whatever you like, or the beach, or the beautiful scenery, and you forget about those non-negotiables. Those can be a deal breaker that will make you miserable down the road. It could be six months, it can be six years, but it will happen. So work on that list and I will save you a lot of headaches, definitely.

Morag Barrett (22:33.323)
I mean, it sounds like the two of you are pouring cold water on people's dreams and aspirations. However, you're not because we've all done it. We've all gone on vacation and you've had the local drink of choice and you've brought that bottle back of the green liquid that was just fabulous on those two weeks and it sits at the back of the cupboard and you never touch it again. And this is what you're helping people to avoid is not just buyer's remorse.

Christophe Suchy (22:52.901)
you had that green one too.

Morag Barrett (23:02.229)
but making a decision that doesn't just cause discomfort in the moment because I can't get my favourite pasta or cookies anymore, but can truly derail your life plans if you aren't thoughtful and deliberate in the how you make that move.

So you talk there about 30 minutes. How long does it take? So I come and talk to you and I say, yeah, I want to move. Is it a month? Is it six months? Is this years in the making? How quickly can I pack my bags?

Gail Warrior (23:36.184)
So I will say again, it depends.

Morag Barrett (23:39.721)
It depends.

Morag Barrett (23:44.223)
Uh-huh.

Gail Warrior (23:44.335)
And so after that 30 minute call, if a client wants to work with us, then we do a deeper dive strategy call. And that is at least a two hour call where we go through a whole list of questions. We get into their professional life. We get into their personal life. If they have kids, we talk about the ages of their kids. We talk about their goals in regards to the legacy they want to leave. I mean, it's pretty intense.

Once we have all of that information, then we take that to our team of experts that will put a plan together. That plan typically takes anywhere between four to six weeks. The plan is very, very detailed. It's anywhere between 50 to 60 pages. And once we have the follow-up call, we present that plan to them. That plan has all of the steps that they need to take.

to create their global life. It's got the countries they should consider. has, if there's any offshore recommendations, it has how they should, steps on what that would look like. It has banks that we would recommend, it has insurance companies, it has everything. If they want us to then do all of that for them, then there's an additional fee for that. So.

Our 30 minute call is a free 30 minute consultation call. The two hour strategy call is about $4,800. And then depending on which pieces of the program that they want us to do, then there's additional fees for that. Or they have all the steps in the plan where they could do it themselves. Does it take longer? Yes. And so depending on which country that they're moving to and if it's a citizenship or residency,

After they have the plan, can take anywhere from six weeks to eight weeks. And it really depends on their timing. I mean, you'd be surprised at how sometimes we've delivered the plan to the customer. We've gone through it with them in detail. They're super excited. And then when they get off the call, they get overwhelmed. Like, are we really going to do this? And then they sit back and life takes over.

Morag Barrett (26:04.865)
Mm-hmm.

Christophe Suchy (26:06.491)
And life takes over.

Gail Warrior (26:09.477)
Hahaha!

Morag Barrett (26:10.037)
Yeah, I mean there's never an ideal time I know when I moved to the States it actually took five years from start to finish and three decision points. The first invite we couldn't sell the house in England and we didn't want to have a foot in both. In our case we wanted to go all in. The second time and again this was a corporate assist and internal transfer the budget went away. And then the third time after we decided we were going to be staying in the UK

and we'd invested in new cars, decorated the house. We got another, would you like to move to Colorado? And we were house sold, cars sold two weeks and away within three months. I mean, it was interesting looking back on it, but it was a roller coaster. And I certainly can't imagine trying to do all of that on my own without some professional guidance and advice and empathy for

The inevitable head banging your head against a wall bureaucracy that everybody has to go through in order to make this move effortless. There's an oxymoron. The bureaucracy and the frustration to make it effortless because it isn't a seamless process and that's where you can provide real world guidance both before and anticipating where those bottlenecks will occur.

but also with your team how to navigate them when they invariably do crop up.

Gail Warrior (27:44.761)
Well, and you make a very good point. One of the things that I want to also mention is that once our customers have the plan and once they start working that plan, they have access to us and our team for one year. And because what we know from our experience and experience of our customers and clients, we don't just say this is where you need to go. We help you get everything done and then just drop you off and leave you alone.

We know that things will continue to come up. And so that first year, they know that they have us there, kind of holding their hand as bumps do come up into the road. they're going up that roller coaster and they're coasting. And then all of a sudden, that hill comes and they're like, hold on. We're there to help them hold.

Morag Barrett (28:35.489)
Wonderful. So as we come to the end of our time together, I want to give you both the opportunity. What's one message you hope folks leave this conversation with? And then, of course, Gail, perhaps you could go second. So, Christophe, what's one message you hope folks listening to this conversation leave with? Same question to you, Gail, but then, of course, how can people learn more, schedule that 30 minutes, etc.?

Christophe Suchy (29:01.082)
Well, I probably have one. We don't work only with people who want to move and relocate, right? We do have customers that just need maybe tax optimization through offshore structures and everything because they run companies and whatnot. I think before it was true today, it's even more true. I don't think anybody can

afford not to have a Plan B. Just because the world is changing and you never know where you want to go, you never know where you need to go. We have another company that manufactures products, that by-parts to manufacture products outside, but by-parts in China. Well, before to go to China I had to spend two days near the consulate to get my interview, to get my visa and everything.

Now I do have another passport that allows me visa free entry to China anytime. But aside from that geopolitical issues are completely evolving and changing. So I think we like to say that when you know you need that Plan B, it's usually too late. So it's always good to have it in advance. Travel is so much easier and it's peace of mind.

Morag Barrett (30:17.633)
Mmm.

Morag Barrett (30:27.777)
So what I'm hearing the global freedom blueprint isn't just about I want to relocate and live abroad. You're helping people to optimize their corporate tax structure by thinking about where they're incorporating, but also their supply chain. In that example that you've given ease of travel by having a second passport that you could potentially use that removes some of the hurdles for visiting suppliers or customers.

Christophe Suchy (30:51.608)
And correct and personal asset protections and know reduce or stopping inheritance tax, stuff like that. So you know we do professional, we do personal, once again the whole thing.

Morag Barrett (30:56.256)
Mm-hmm.

Morag Barrett (31:04.967)
OK, thank you for that, Christophe. So, Gail, what are you hoping that people leave with and how can they learn more about the depth of resources and expertise that you both and your team can bring?

Gail Warrior (31:18.52)
So I would piggyback a little bit off of what Christophe said. we attended an event, we were speaking to a group of people a couple of weeks ago. And at the end, one of the things I said to that group was, if you had 48 hours to, because the world everywhere is evolving, it's changing, it's a very complex world anywhere that we're living in.

And if you felt that the place where you were living was no longer comfortable or safe for you or your family or whatever, could you within 48 hours pack up and go someplace else and be settled legally? And I think when Christophe is thinking about the plan B, that's what having true global mobility is really about. Knowing that, you know,

you may hopefully you will never need it. But if you do, you know that it's there in your back pocket. And that's the life that that we live. That's the life that we help our clients to live is to have optionality, whether it's for their lives, for their for their businesses, their families, and all the things in between. And so if they do want to have more conversation about that and how we work.

The best way to reach us is through our website, which is globalcitizenconsult.com. And they can book a 30 minute call with us and we would be happy to explore and just have them think about things that at the end of the day, it makes them go, hmm, I hadn't thought about that. And maybe I need to dive into this more.

Morag Barrett (33:13.247)
Gail and Christophe, thank you for sharing just a little bit of your expertise and lived experience. I encourage everybody to order their book, The Global Freedom Blueprint, and I'll make sure that those websites are in the show notes so that you can make your appointment to explore your options and plan Bs with Gail and Christophe. In the meantime, thank you.

Gail Warrior (33:39.022)
Thank you.

Christophe Suchy (33:39.068)
Thank you.