🌍 Building Wealth Beyond Borders: A guide for the global citizen navigating taxes, visas, and investing from anywhere
Hello everyone — I’m Gourish 👋
Your favorite product person who builds tech for a living and obsesses over elegant systems. My professional work is here on LinkedIn, but today, I want to talk about something a little different.
No, I’m not a finance guru.
No, I’m not a certified wealth advisor.
But after spending years working and living across borders, navigating everything from zero-tax zones to hyper-taxed welfare states, managing investments in 3+ jurisdictions, and building global income streams, I’ve gained a very unique perspective on wealth.
And I want to share it with you.
🧭 Why This Blog Exists
I’ve realized something:
Most tax or finance advisors are brilliant… but also very country-specific
They don’t help you when you’re:
- Moving from UAE to Germany
- Dealing with pensions in multiple countries
- Running a company in Estonia via e-residency
- Wondering how to manage crypto or private equity across tax boundaries
In 2025, the world is more global than ever — and yet, somehow, most financial advice is still stuck in national silos.
So let’s change that.
✈️ My Journey: From Goa to the World
I’ve moved multiple times in the last few years:
- Changed tax residencies
- Relocated physical and virtual domiciles
- Navigated high-tax and zero-tax regimes
- Stayed compliant and still grew wealth
Every transition taught me something new — not just about money, but about how countries see people like us:
Mobile, ambitious, often digitally native, and always looking for smarter options.
🛤️ My Lived Experience: Digital Nomad, Remote Leader, Global Earner
Along this journey, I’ve worn many hats — not just as a product builder but as a global remote employee, a digital nomad, and someone who has legally shifted tax residencies multiple times.
I’ve:
- Navigated residency changes across continents
- Held global remote roles while residing in tax-free jurisdictions
- Lived under digital nomad visas and compared the real-life cost/benefit tradeoffs
- Explored investment options across countries — speculative and conservative — while staying compliant
This lifestyle has shaped how I think about wealth: not just what you earn, but where you keep it, how you invest it, and under which rules you play.
And if you’re navigating any of these transitions — or thinking about it — this series is for you.
🇦🇪 Life in the UAE: The 0% Tax Dream (With a Few Asterisks)
These days, I live in the UAE — a country famous for its 0% personal income tax.
And yes, it’s as financially liberating as it sounds.
But here’s the kicker: that benefit only truly works if your home country doesn’t tax you by citizenship (hello, USA 🇺🇸 , Eritrea 🇪🇷).
Many people ask me:
> “Gourish, how does taxation work there?”
> “Do you really pay nothing?”
> “Is it too good to be true?”
Well, I’ll answer all of that — and more — in future posts.
💡 What You Can Expect From This Series
I’ll be answering questions that most advisors don’t cover — because most of them haven’t lived this life. I have.
📉 Moving From High-Tax to Low-Tax Countries (and Back Again)
> Imagine moving from the UAE to Canada or Germany.
> Should you sell your investments before moving or hold them?
> What happens to capital gains and tax basis?
We’ll talk about exit tax, deemed disposition, step-ups, and other fun surprises.
🌐 How to Live a Truly Global Life
We’ll explore:
- Digital Nomad Visas, Golden Visas, Green Cards
- The Beckham Rule (Spain), 30% Ruling (Netherlands)
- Immigrant tax breaks across Europe
- Structuring life across 3 continents while still staying compliant
🧳 Business Setup + Location Arbitrage
- How to use Estonia’s e-residency to sell to US & EU clients
- Why some founders outsource to India while living tax-free in the Gulf
- How to legally operate across multiple borders without setting off red flags
🌴 The Wanderlust Fantasy (and the Taxman’s Reality)
- Summers in Scandinavia, Spring in Bali, Autumn in Switzerland, Winters in Portugal…
- Can you live like that and still avoid taxes?
The answer: It’s complicated. But I’ll help you understand how the taxman thinks about it.
💼 Investing Across Borders (Legally)
- How to spread sovereign risk in your portfolio
- Investing in risky assets not allowed in your home country — by using residency in a third
- Tools for managing freelance income, crypto, and offshore investing
🌴 The Dream Life? It’s Possible (and Legal)
Imagine this:
- You work for a UK or US-based company, remotely.
- You set up tax residency in the UAE (0% income tax).
- You spend time with family and friends in India, without triggering tax residency.
- You have a blast in Bali or Portugal, working from beachfront cafes.
All of this — done compliantly, with proper visa structuring, tax planning, and a bit of creativity.
Yes, you need to be mindful of:
- Tie-breaker rules in tax treaties
- 183-day limits
- Center of vital interests tests
But this is not a fantasy. I’ve lived versions of this life, and so have many of my friends ( some still enjoying ) — and I’ll show you how to do it too.
💼Equity, IPOs & Tax: What to Know About RSUs and ESOPs
Let’s talk equity — RSUs, ESOPs, and stock options.
For many tech professionals, this is where the real money is made (or lost), especially when a company IPOs or gets acquired.
But the tax implications? They’re often misunderstood — and expensive.
🛠️ Product Thinking Meets Financial Strategy
My day job? I’m a product leader— and over the last decade, I’ve worked in some of the most complex, highly regulated industries out there:
- 💳 Payments [ Shackle, Omnipresent]
- 🚖 Ride-hailing [ Bolt , Careem , Ola]
- 🌍 HR tech & global employment [Omnipresent]
These aren’t just cool tech domains — they’re also places where compliance is everything.
I’ve helped companies:
- Onboard workers across jurisdictions
- Navigate KYC, AML, payroll taxes, and employment law
- Scale remote teams legally and responsibly
So when it comes to building a compliant, borderless life — I’ve seen both sides: as the builder of global platforms, and as a user of those freedoms.
Compliance isn’t just a buzzword. It’s been my bread and butter.
🧑🔬 My First Steps Into Finance
My journey into the world of traditional finance actually started back in university.
For my final-year thesis, I worked on financial market prediction models. That curiosity landed me a part-time research gig at WorldQuant on their in-house simulator ( they are looking for people ), a hedge fund that operates at the intersection of quantitative finance and algo trading.
That’s when I fell down the rabbit hole.
Since then, life has thrown many curveballs — opportunities to:
- Earn globally
- Blow money up on crypto 😅
- Travel freely
- Invest in different countries
- And learn from my mistakes
I’m still learning every day.
And this blog is where I share the journey — raw, real, and evolving.
⚖️ The Golden Rule: Stay Compliant
I’m not here to teach you loopholes.
I’m here to help you follow the rules smartly, ethically, and strategically.
Because if you know the system well enough, it can actually work for you.
🧑💻 Who This Is For
I’m speaking to you if you’re in the 25–40 age range — a phase of:
- Growing income
- Increasing independence
- Global flexibility
- And the curiosity to figure out “How do I make this work from anywhere?”
You have the energy to hop cities, negotiate with tax lawyers, and file across three jurisdictions while still taking product calls at midnight.
This blog is for you.
🪙 A Final Word on Money
Yes, this is about wealth creation and ₹₹— but let me be real:
I’ve left out the harder parts —
The friendships left behind.
The loneliness of starting over.
The “vibe mismatch” in a new country.
The time zones, the health trade-offs, the quiet existential spirals.
All of that is real.
But this space is about money — because if you can figure out this part, everything else becomes just a little easier.
## 🔜 Up Next
I’ll be writing on:
- 🌍 How to qualify for tax residency across countries
- 💼 Tax comparison for India : The place where my journey started
- 🛫 What to do before exiting a zero-tax country
💌 Have a question about your move or money? DM me on LinkedIn or drop a comment.
Let’s navigate this global journey together 🌎