I personally think its idiotic to renounce your US citizenship. The people doing it are rich people who don't want to pay taxes or are tired of dealing with US B.S. to the point that they now identify more with another country, plain and simple. Or they never identified with their country to begin with. 2.5 years after this thread was started, I'd be interested to see if Big Nilla's plan every came to fruition, and if so, how its working out.
That said, US citizenship comes down to security. I was actually talking to a female Carioca about this down in Rio in November. I was telling her about how the culture in the USA sucks and Rio is a lot better. But then I said, if I'm in a foreign country and the shit hits the fan, I can count on the US government to get me out. If I'm on a boat that gets hijacked, the Navy SEALs will show up. If I'm unjustifiably accused of a crime overseas, I have the Consulate. Those are only 3 examples. I pretty much told her that even though Brazil was great, I wouldn't trust them to protect me in those circumstances. Same goes with the DR, Paraguay, Panama, or any of the other countries listed here.
Lets look at a few other factors:
Healthcare, we might not have the best system but if you are insured you have one of the best chances of survival here.
Banking, your money isn't going anywhere and the US dollar isn't going to just suddenly devalue.
Taxes, if you do it right, they are next to nothing compared to other first world countries
That said, US citizenship comes down to security. I was actually talking to a female Carioca about this down in Rio in November. I was telling her about how the culture in the USA sucks and Rio is a lot better. But then I said, if I'm in a foreign country and the shit hits the fan, I can count on the US government to get me out. If I'm on a boat that gets hijacked, the Navy SEALs will show up. If I'm unjustifiably accused of a crime overseas, I have the Consulate. Those are only 3 examples. I pretty much told her that even though Brazil was great, I wouldn't trust them to protect me in those circumstances. Same goes with the DR, Paraguay, Panama, or any of the other countries listed here.
Lets look at a few other factors:
Healthcare, we might not have the best system but if you are insured you have one of the best chances of survival here.
Banking, your money isn't going anywhere and the US dollar isn't going to just suddenly devalue.
Taxes, if you do it right, they are next to nothing compared to other first world countries