Minimum Viable Freedom: The Least You Must Do To Claim Your Sovereignty In The AI Age

A realistic starting point for anyone, at any stage.

Freedom today is not a luxury. It's a necessity.

But while everyone talks about freedom — second citizenships, smart investments, tax optimization — the unaddressed reality is this:

Most strategies floating around are built for people who are either already wealthy and/or location-independent.

What works for Jeff Bezos or for a founder with $50M in net worth is unlikely to work for most.

And it’s estimated that only 12–15% of the global workforce in 2025 work fully remote jobs.

So what freedom solutions are available for the majority?

This is my attempt to share a framework for Minimum Viable Freedom – a realistic starting point for anyone, at any stage.

The framework is based on hard-earned lessons from hundreds of conversations, real-world experiences, and close relationships with people ranging from early-stage startup founders to billionaires managing $3B+ fortunes.

Nothing over-engineered. Just the essentials.

Let’s dive in.

The Cracks in the Old Paradigm

In Alexandre Dumas' world, D'Artagnan would have given his life for his nation. Loyalty, patriotism, and sacrifice were virtues not just of character but of meaning itself.

Serving your country was serving your highest self.

But what happens when that nation no longer serves you?

We do not live in an era of stability. We live in an era where volatility is systemic:

• Political narratives collapse and rebuild within months

• Social cohesion fragments along algorithmic fault lines

• National policies change course based on the whims of narrow, momentary interests

Consider the events in South Korea in December 2024. President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, deploying troops to central Seoul and suspending civil liberties. The National Assembly swiftly overturned the decree, but the incident led to Yoon's impeachment and arrest on charges of insurrection. This unprecedented move marked the first time in 45 years that martial law had been enforced in South Korea, highlighting the fragility of democratic institutions even in advanced economies.

For centuries, nation-states were the primary engines of meaning, prosperity, and safety. They educated their citizens, protected their borders, and promised upward mobility in exchange for loyalty.

But the assumptions underpinning that social contract are crumbling:

• Globalization blurred economic borders

• Technological acceleration outpaced national regulation

• Financialization detached wealth from geography

• Demographic shifts overwhelmed old social models

• Artificial intelligence is now poised to automate away large sectors of national economies

In such a world, blind loyalty is not virtue. It is negligence.

The Three Levers of Freedom

After years of reflection and experience, I believe real freedom today comes down to three fundamental levers:

1. Assets

How much wealth you control — in any form.

2. Geographical Mobility

Your ability to move freely, determined by a mix of personal attitude, legal rights (passports, residencies), and family obligations.

3. Time Availability

Your ability to control your daily actions, free from external demands.

No single lever is enough. True freedom happens at the intersection of these three forces, with time acting as a powerful multiplier across both assets and mobility.

The Freedom Quadrant

I represent freedom visually with a simple quadrant:

• Assets on the vertical axis

• Geographical Mobility on the horizontal axis

• Time as a hidden multiplier across both

  

Imagine:

• A high-ranking corporate executive making $500K a year but locked into a 70-hour week in one location is living in a Golden Cage.

• A digital nomad in Bali, earning $2,000/month from freelance coaching, may have low assets but is living as a Liquid Explorer — free to move, free to experiment.

The game is to climb steadily toward the top-right: high assets, high mobility, full autonomy over time.

Real-World Personas

Let's explore some simplified personas to make it concrete:

Persona 1: The Early-Stage Founder

• Assets: <$50K net worth

• Geographical Mobility: High

• Time Availability: High

• Reality: Little wealth, but lots of freedom to move and experiment.

• Focus: Build income streams and savings. Mobility is an advantage.

Persona 2: The Corporate Executive

• Assets: ~$1M net worth

• Geographical Mobility: Low

• Time Availability: Very low

• Reality: Decent financial base, but trapped by job demands and location.

• Focus: Buy back time first. Explore partial mobility options (remote work, sabbaticals).

Persona 3: The Sovereign Builder

• Assets: $2M+

• Geographical Mobility: High

• Time Availability: Medium to High

• Reality: Building multi-country setups, second residencies, diversified assets.

• Focus: Optimize for legacy, lifestyle, and maximum freedom.

Your Citizenship as Strategic Infrastructure

In finance, diversification is the foundation of resilience. No competent investor would place their entire wealth in a single asset or a single market.

The same logic now applies to identity and rights.

Your citizenship is not just an emotional badge—it is infrastructure. It determines:

• Where you can live

• What rights you have

• What risks you are exposed to

• What opportunities you can access

• What taxes you owe

• How much leverage you have over your own future

A single citizenship today is equivalent to holding 100% of your portfolio in a single, highly volatile stock. It is irresponsible.

Building Your Minimum Stack

No matter your starting point, a basic stack for Minimum Viable Freedom should include:

1. ETFs + Bitcoin: The Liquid Democracy Stack

Today, almost anyone can start building wealth with two tools:

• Broad-market ETFs: Simple, low-cost access to the world's economic growth.

• Bitcoin: A censorship-resistant asset you can carry digitally across borders.

If I had understood this simple stack 15 years ago, my life would be very different.

Important principle: Even $50 per week into ETFs or Bitcoin — consistently, through crashes and booms — can change your trajectory.

For context:

The S&P 500's average annual return (adjusted for inflation) has been around 7% over the last century.

Bitcoin, despite high volatility, has outperformed almost every traditional asset class over the past decade.

For freedom seekers, it is number 1. Nothing comes close.

2. The Strategic Citizenship/Residency Stack

A sophisticated life strategy in the 21st century demands a multi-citizenship/residency portfolio.

Depending on your original passport, pursuing a second citizenship or a strategic residency might be critical.

• If you're Indian, Chinese, or from other restricted-mobility countries, it's often priority number one.

• If you're European or American, it might be optional — but still valuable.

An ideal stack might include:

• 🇰🇳🇬🇩🇩🇲🇱🇨🇦🇬Caribbean passport: For tax efficiency, privacy, and global mobility.

• 🇪🇺European passport: For access to a stable, integrated bloc of 450+ million citizens.

• Rights in the 🇦🇪UAE or 🇸🇬Singapore: For exposure to hubs built for a post-Western, multi-polar world.

Such a stack gives you resilience against localized collapse. It gives your children optionality they may desperately need. It grants you negotiating power in an age where individuals must increasingly navigate not one system—but many.

Mindset tip: Don't chase tax optimization alone. Optimize for freedom, opportunity, and family happiness.

Strategic Options for 2025:

For Modest Budgets (<$300K):

• 🇵🇹 Portugal D8 Digital Nomad Visa: €3,480+/month remote income requirement, at least €10,440 in savings, path to EU citizenship in 5 years with 183+ days/year residency. potential tax benefits under IFICI regime

• 🇵🇦 Panama Qualified Investor Visa: $300K real estate investment for immediate permanent residency with just 2 days every 2 years

• 🇵🇾 Paraguay Permanent Residency: ~$5,000 deposit plus minor fees, permanent residency in months, path to citizenship after 3 years with meaningful ties

For Mid-Range Budgets ($300K–$500K):

• 🇬🇷 Greece Golden Visa: €400K real estate investment in non-prime areas (€800K in prime areas); Schengen access, but citizenship requires 7 years full-time residence

• 🇩🇲 Dominica Citizenship by Investment (CBI): $200K donation for immediate second passport (visa-free access to 135 countries)

• 🇲🇹 Malta Permanent Residency Program (MPRP): €375K property purchase or €14K annual rent + €30K government contribution; EU residency rights (not citizenship)

For Higher Budgets ($500K+):

• 🇵🇹 Portugal Golden Visa (Fund Route): €500K investment into approved private equity or venture capital funds; minimal stay (~7 days/year) and EU citizenship eligibility after 5 years

• 🇰🇳 St. Kitts & Nevis Citizenship by Investment (CBI): $250K donation (new 2024 threshold); immediate strongest Caribbean passport

• 🇲🇹 Malta Citizenship by Naturalisation for Exceptional Services: €750K+ total investment; EU citizenship possible in 12–36 months

3. Remote Income: The AI-Enhanced Possibility

With AI acceleration, generating location-independent income has never been more accessible:

• Knowledge packaging: Turn expertise into digital products with AI assistance

• Freelancing: Use AI to enhance output quality and speed in writing, design, code, etc.

• Micro-SaaS: Deploy AI-powered tools solving specific problems

• Remote roles: AI-enhanced productivity makes remote work more valuable

Even $2,000/month in location-independent income dramatically expands your freedom options.

The AI advantage creates an unprecedented opportunity for anyone to start building sovereign income streams with minimal capital.

Real-World Freedom Locations

Freedom isn't an abstract idea — it's about building real options in the real world.

Based on my direct experience and network of sovereign individuals, these locations offer exceptional value in 2025:

For Tax Efficiency:

• 🇦🇪 UAE/Dubai: 0% personal income tax, 9% corporate tax (with many exemptions)

• 🇵🇦 Panama: Territorial tax system, strong banking privacy, minimal presence requirements

• 🇺🇾 Uruguay: 0% tax on foreign income for 11 years, one of South America's most stable jurisdictions

For EU Access:

• 🇵🇹 Portugal: IFICI regime (NHR 2.0) with potential tax advantages

• 🇲🇹 Malta: Fast-track to EU citizenship (for a price)

• 🇬🇷 Greece: Zero physical presence requirements for residency

For Quality/Cost Balance:

• 🇹🇭 Thailand: Leveraging non-remittance rules for tax efficiency (foreign income not brought into Thailand within the same tax year isn't taxed)

• 🇲🇾 Malaysia: First-world amenities at 30% of Western costs

• 🇵🇾 Paraguay: Simple permanent residency and low living costs

Each location offers different advantages depending on your citizenship, income model, and personal goals.

The Moral Dimension

Some may object…

Isn't pursuing multi-citizenship a form of abandonment or disloyalty?

I would argue the opposite.

True loyalty is not blind obedience to crumbling systems. True loyalty is to the enduring values those systems once claimed to represent: liberty, dignity, opportunity.

When a system ceases to serve those values, moving beyond it is not betrayal—it's fidelity to a higher standard.

Importantly: This is not just about personal insurance. It is about recognizing that loyalty is earned—and that systems that fail to earn it should not be able to demand it.

A passport should be a tool of empowerment, not a leash.

The AI Imperative

Why is this all especially crucial now, in the AI age?

Firstly, the rate of change is immense and it will only increase. The amount of investment pouring into AI is huge.

AI is creating both unprecedented threats and opportunities to personal sovereignty:

1. Job displacement: McKinsey estimates AI could automate 30% of work hours across the economy by 2030, including high-paying knowledge work.

2. Wealth acceleration: Those with jurisdictional optionality can position themselves where AI innovation is encouraged rather than stifled.

3. Surveillance capabilities: Advanced AI is creating unprecedented monitoring capabilities, making privacy-friendly jurisdictions more valuable.

4. Sovereign scale: AI tools enable a single person to generate value once requiring entire teams, amplifying the potential of sovereign individuals.

The combination of AI tools and jurisdictional flexibility creates a positive feedback loop: Those with freedom can better leverage AI's benefits while minimizing its risks.

Expand Your Future, or Watch It Shrink

The world is reconfiguring at a speed and scale unseen since the Industrial Revolution. AI will accelerate these changes even further, reshaping education, work, governance, and society itself.

In such a world, the ultimate act of self-preservation—and self-respect—is to expand the field of your possible futures.

Multi-citizenship is not an eccentric luxury for the ultra-wealthy. It is becoming a foundational pillar for anyone serious about maintaining sovereignty over their life.

The choice is stark:

• Live at the mercy of one volatile jurisdiction—or design a life of mobility and leverage.

• Bet everything on one system—or build a personal architecture capable of weathering many.

You don't need to be a billionaire to start. You don't need to become a permanent traveler. You don't need to abandon your home country.

You need the right mindset and steady, intentional actions.

Once you build the ability to generate value beyond a single country or economy — and you detach your life from a single location — freedom is no longer a dream.

It becomes an operating system.

In an AI-driven, fast-changing world, optimizing for freedom is no longer a luxury. It's survival.

The future belongs to those who can move. The future belongs to those who can choose.

Prepare accordingly.

What part of the Minimum Viable Freedom stack are you most interested in building first? I read and respond to every message personally. Reply to this email and let me know where you are in your journey!

If you enjoyed reading this post, feel free to click the ❤️ button and restack so more people can discover it on Substack! 🙏

---

P.S. Are you thinking of relocating to Portugal?

We consistently have many asking for guidance on Portugal’s immigration landscape from those who are serious about moving there.

And so I asked our team at Zerra – the all-in-one platform for global living – to offer a limited number of free consultation calls to my readers who are considering relocating to Portugal in 2025.

This is for you if you’re looking for support on:

• Visa pathways (D2, D8, D7)

• Tax matters and IFICI (NHR 2.0) eligibility

• Step-by-step relocation planning

• Alternative residency routes

Our experts – including experienced relocation advisors and in-house Portuguese lawyers – have spent years helping people navigate Portuguese immigration. They know exactly where people get stuck – and how to get things moving again.

After a brief introductory call to better understand your situation, you will then speak directly with a relocation expert or a lawyer for up to 30 minutes.

👉 Schedule your call here​

We just opened some new spots for my readers but they are limited. Once they’re gone, the link will stop working so make sure to lock in your call if you’re interested!