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Alessandro Palombo Profile picture
@thealepalombo
Oct 29, 2024 • 17 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
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This is Singapore vs Dubai:

- Singapore: The billionaire's hub (in flip-flops)
- Dubai: The tax-free oasis (in Lamborghinis)
- Two paths to freedom

I spent 4 years in Dubai, incorporated 2 businesses in Singapore.

Here's my breakdown of who should choose which city (and why): Image
First, a quick background comparison:

🇸🇬 Singapore: Fishing village to global financial hub in one generation. Now manages $2T+ in assets.

🇦🇪 Dubai: Desert to metropolis in 30 years. Sheikh's vision of a tax-free haven brought to life.

Both have seen incredible rapid growth.
Quick key stats:

🇸🇬 Singapore:

- #1 safest city
- 22% max tax (0% on major gains)
- world's 4th largest financial hub

🇦🇪 Dubai:

- #4 safest city
- 0% personal tax
- new 9% corporate tax (with exemptions)

Both have specific perks.

Let’s dive into the details! Image
1. Daily Life

🇸🇬 Singapore:

- Relaxed wealth scene
- Great mix of city and nature
- Elite healthcare and education

🇦🇪 Dubai:

- Wealth on display
- Fast opportunities
- Strategic timezone

@WealthyExpat shares his views on the nature in these cities:
2. Climate

🇸🇬 Singapore:

- Tropical
- HUMID year-round
-25-32°C (77-90°F)

🇦🇪 Dubai:

- Hot desert
- Mild winters
- Summer can hit 45°C (113°F)

Climate can be deal-breaker. In different ways for both.
3. Business Environment

🇸🇬 Singapore:

- #2 for ease of doing business
- Gateway to Asian markets
- Company setup process in 1-3 days
- Capital gains 0%
- 17% corporate tax, but extensive exemptions and incentives available
- 100% foreign ownership allowed Image
🇦🇪 Dubai:

- Top 20 globally for ease of doing business
- Bridge between East and West markets
- Free Zone company setup in 3-5 days
- 9% corporate tax, 0% in Free Zones under certain conditions
- 100% foreign ownership allowed

Both offer world-class infrastructure and support.
4. Banking

🇸🇬 Singapore: Ultimate wealth preservation

- Private banking rivals Switzerland
- Top-tier asset protection
- 700+ family offices

🇦🇪 Dubai: Fast & flexible

- Quick account opening
- Rapid company setup
- Digital banking not as efficient as SG
5. Residency Reality

🇸🇬 Singapore:

- Tough entry
- Citizenship possible in 2-6 years (but VERY expensive)
- Top-tier passport

🇦🇪 Dubai:

- Multiple visa options
- Relatively easy golden visa
- But no citizenship path
Choose based on your long-term goals:

🇸🇬 Singapore = Stability, integration, global access

🇦🇪 Dubai = Tax benefits, business ease, flashier lifestyle Image
The Challenges:

There’s some hidden ones…

🇸🇬 Singapore:

- Cost of living VERY high, especially housing
- Did I mention it’s HUMID
- Cars are SUPER expensive

🇦🇪 Dubai:

- Little to no permanency
- BRUTAL summers
- Controversial inequality

So…
Which should you choose?

🇸🇬 Singapore is hard to beat if you value:

- Asian market access
- Stability & long-term planning
- Top-tier banking, education & healthcare

And in the other corner… Image
🇦🇪 Dubai if you prioritize:

- 0% personal tax
- A free and luxurious lifestyle but less permanent
- Being around young entrepreneurs

But here’s my honest take after years in both: Image
For Europeans and also Americans, Singapore means being very far from home and timezone.

If that’s problematic, Dubai wins IMHO.

If not, Singapore and asian exposure it’s a big plus.

Especially considering how and where the world is evolving towards on a macro scale.
The secret is to find ways to utilize them both at different times.

That is when you have true sovereignty and freedom.

I’d relocate back in Dubai happily, although Abu Dhabi is also attractive.

These days I am frequently in Singapore and I love it! Image
Which wins for you?

Let me know in the comments!

P.S. I’m on a mission to design the future of citizenship.

For weekly actionable guides and ideas on how to lower taxes and unlock financial freedom for you and your family, join my newsletter here:
alenewsletter.com
Thank you for reading!

For more posts and insights on the future of global citizenship, follow @0x_ale

And repost this to share with your audience:

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More from @thealepalombo

Alessandro Palombo Profile picture
Feb 8
I've analyzed every affordable, strategically located coastal town in Italy for a €200-300K budget.

Taxes, airports, cost of living, remote work infrastructure. I've called a couple of friends to confirm the data.

10 towns. The definitive guide for FIRE and Digital Nomads in Italy.

Thread 🧵Image
Image
First, why Italy in 2026?

Three reasons:

• 7% flat tax for 10 years on ALL foreign income for retirees in small towns (pensions, dividends, capital gains), 50% tax exemption for remote workers

• Property at half the price of Portugal and Croatia

• Ryanair is opening bases and routes across the South at record pace

Italy is becoming THE game.
The real tax advantage for FIRE, explained simply:

Italy: 7% flat tax for 10 yrs (town under 20K people, southern region)

Greece: 7% for 15 yrs, but pricier property

Spain: no special retiree regime (standard progressive tax rates apply)

Portugal: NHR closed. Now progressive taxation up to 48% for pensioners.

Croatia: no special retiree regime

On €100K/yr of foreign income, Italy = €7,000 total tax. That's it.
Read 22 tweets
Alessandro Palombo Profile picture
Feb 6
This is Puglia, Italy.

7% flat tax for retirees (small towns only). 50% income exemption for workers. Flat-tax for HNW.

Magical region. Mediterranean coast. Authentic culture.

But most foreigners choose the wrong town and overpay by 30-40%.

I've lived across 5 continents and visited every corner of Puglia.

Here are the 7 best places - and the traps to avoid 🧵Image
Image
First, LECCE - "The Florence of the South"

The obvious choice (that's actually right).

Lecce is where serious expats land when they've done their homework.

It's a proper city (95k people) with everything functional - hospitals,
universities, year-round economy not dependent on tourists.

The baroque center is legitimately stunning, not Disney-fied.

Here's what nobody tells you about Lecce...Image
Image
It's become the digital nomad/remote worker hub of southern Italy.

Fast internet, coworking spaces, actually decent coffee culture.

The university (35k students) keeps it young and dynamic.

Real Italian life happens here because locals actually live and work downtown, not just serve Aperol Spritz to foreigners.

I've a personal story to share.Image
Read 21 tweets
Alessandro Palombo Profile picture
Dec 16, 2025
This is Lugano:

- 0% capital gains tax
- 1 hour from Milan
- Swiss lifestyle with palm trees

This combination shouldn't exist. But it does.

Here’s why Switzerland's best-kept secret should be on your radar: Image
Lugano is a paradox. And most miss it completely.

It sits in Ticino, Switzerland's Italian-speaking canton.

Officially it’s Switzerland – but it doesn't feel like Switzerland. Mediterranean climate, palm trees by the lake, Italian spoken everywhere. Swiss quality underneath, but none of the coldness.

And here's what's interesting…
Swiss cantons are basically independent states with their own constitutions.

Ticino happens to be the one that speaks Italian and feels Mediterranean.

Milan is just an hour away by train. Lake Como is right next door.

You get access to Italian energy when you want it, and Swiss calm when you don't.

That setup creates something very unique.Image
Image
Read 18 tweets
Alessandro Palombo Profile picture
Dec 5, 2025
Retiring in Italy with the 7% flat tax.

Here’s the full map: I had to build it manually because it simply didn’t exist anywhere online.

Green regions: automatically eligible. Any village under 20k residents qualifies (Abruzzo included). Plenty of great options.

Yellow regions (Lazio, Umbria, Marche): only specific villages in the official earthquake-area lists qualify. Very niche, almost unknown, harder to navigate, but absolutely possible.

For context: my grandfather’s village in Lazio hosted a Canadian family 50 years ago. They came every summer, built a villa, loved it, and everyone knew them. It was the only modern house in the whole valley. Nobody understood why they chose that place, but when you’re 15 minutes from a real town, have your own home, and want a quiet, culturally rich, food-driven lifestyle… it makes perfect sense. In retrospect, they were basically early adopters.

With that in mind, here’s a shortlist of the 5 most beautiful, American-friendly, high-amenity 7% towns in the yellow regions, close to real cities, fully on the eligible lists, and offering a charming, scenic, safe, year-round lifestyle.

*Important: this list ISN'T for everyone. In most cases, the lifestyle means owning a house there and spending plenty of time in the nearby larger city. Many of these villages are so small and niche that even most Italians haven’t heard of them.

The green regions include well-known, warmer, tourist destinations like Taormina.Image
1. Sarnano (Marche)
•Spa town + ski slopes nearby
•45 min to Macerata
•Excellent digital infrastructure
•Extremely charming and well kept Image
Image
2. Norcia (Umbria)

•45–50 min to Spoleto; 1h15 to Perugia
•Gourmet capital (truffles, salumi, Michelin culture)
•Completely rebuilt after 2016 → spotless, safe
•Outdoors heaven (Sibillini mountains)

Feels like: Jackson Hole meets Tuscany. Personally top-tier for culture + food.Image
Image
Read 7 tweets
Alessandro Palombo Profile picture
Dec 1, 2025
I'm Italian.

Everyone asks me about moving to Italy. But Italy isn't for everyone.

I've isolated 4 specific profiles. For these, it might be the best decision you ever make.

Here's who should actually consider it (and who shouldn't): Image
First, let me be clear.

I left Italy a decade ago when it was considered a sinking ship. Brain drain, bureaucracy, stagnation.

But over the years, something has quietly shifted.

Italy is back. And it has built one of Europe's top arbitrage + lifestyle opportunities.

But not everyone…Image
The mistake most people make is thinking Italy is just "lifestyle."

It can be. But it's also strategic and requires diligence.

Italy has four distinct pathways – each designed for a different profile.

Most people might not realize they might/might not be an ideal fit.

Let me break down who actually benefits:Image
Read 18 tweets
Alessandro Palombo Profile picture
Oct 16, 2025
Italy is back.

For years, I dismissed my own country as a sinking ship.

But I’ve discovered recently that Southern Italy is one of the best arbitrage opportunities in Europe.

And arguably in the world.

Here's everything you need to know to take advantage of this opportunity: Image
First, let me be open.

As an Italian, you have no idea how happy it makes me to write...

Italy is back.

Rome is finally cleaning up. Milan is the new London. Over 100,000+ repatriates moved back with tax incentives (mainly Milan). 4,000+ applied for the €200K/year flat tax in the first half of 2024 alone.

But the real story is what's happening in the South that nobody's paying attention to…Image
Before we get there, let me break down what I mean by "Italy is back."

Italy has three tax regimes that are highly competitive:

(and most including myself till recently don’t know about these)
Read 17 tweets

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