Global Structuring 101: How to Use 3 Jurisdictions to Build a Free Life in 2025
One for residency. One for business. One for banking. This is how global operators do it.
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After building businesses across multiple countries, one thing became clear:
Success isn’t tied to one system, one location, or one way of thinking.
In today’s world, you can design life on your terms - globally, intelligently, and with intention.
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Forget Borders
Most people still try to fit their entire life into one country. They live there, work there, pay taxes there. That’s the default model, and for many, it no longer makes sense.
In 2025, there’s a better way. One that separates where you live, where you earn, and where you move or store your money. It’s cleaner, more flexible, and often far more tax-efficient.
The idea is simple:
One country becomes your residency base
One becomes your business hub
One becomes your money flow & asset layer
With remote work now mainstream and more governments offering territorial tax regimes or easy residency paths, this model has become surprisingly accessible.
You need to think in systems, not borders.
In this post, I’ll break down how the 3-jurisdiction model works, and walk you through 3 real-life setups that anyone can replicate.
Note: If you’re a U.S. citizen, the rules are different. America taxes based on citizenship, not residency, which means global structuring is still possible, but its a different game. I’ll touch on those nuances briefly later, and cover them in full in a future post.
What Is a 3-Jurisdiction Setup?
Think of it as unbundling your life.
Instead of relying on one country for everything (residence, work, banking, taxes, investments) you separate those functions across borders.
It’s about picking the right team for each job.
In a typical 3-jurisdiction setup, you have:
Residency Base: where you're legally based for tax or immigration purposes
Business Hub: where your company is registered and earns income
Money Flow & Asset Layer: where you store, move, and manage your money
This kind of setup gives you:
Lower (or zero) income taxes
Fewer reporting obligations
A more flexible, mobile lifestyle
Greater control over how and where your money flows
These systems are already built to allow for global living, if you know how to connect them in the right way.
Why now?
Global structuring is nothing new, but many people still assume it’s only for the ultra-wealthy. Trust fund kids, crypto millionaires, corporate tax lawyers.
And to be fair, that perception makes sense.
If this information were widely known and easy to act on, more people would do it. But that’s exactly the point. The system only works as long as the majority stays put, earns locally, and pays full taxes. That’s what keeps the wheels turning.
The less you question, the more predictable your role becomes.
But the moment you realize you can legally step outside the default path (even partially) everything changes.
But yes, it’s getting harder.
First, governments are tightening control. Many countries are expanding their tax nets, introducing stricter reporting rules, and cracking down on citizens with offshore income. If you’re still living and earning in one place, you’re often paying the full price.
At the same time, the tools for going global are better than ever. You can open companies remotely. Get residency in countries with territorial tax. Move money across borders with platforms like Wise. And build a clean, legal setup with minimal overhead.
Three trends are driving this shift:
Remote work is permanent: More people are earning online, from anywhere.
Residency is easier to get: From Thailand’s Elite Visa to Georgia’s tax-friendly residency, options are everywhere.
Governments are picking sides: Some are clamping down, others are opening up. Your freedom depends on which side you’re on.
The old model, one passport, one job, one bank, is outdated. This is the decade of geographic diversification. And the earlier you structure it, the more options you’ll keep.
The Three Roles: Live, Earn, Move
To build a clean, flexible global structure, you need to assign the right role to the right country.
Each of these three roles serves a distinct purpose. Choose them intentionally, and they will work together like a well-oiled machine.
1. Residency Base: Where You “Live” on Paper
This is the country where you’re officially based for tax and legal purposes. The best residency bases usually offer:
Low or zero tax on foreign income (territorial tax)
Straightforward residency requirements
Minimal global reporting obligations
Examples:
Georgia, Panama, Thailand (Elite Visa), Uruguay
More about the best residencies here.
2. Business Hub: Where You Earn and Pay Taxes
This is where your business is incorporated and generates income. An ideal business hub should have:
Low corporate tax rates (or deferred tax)
Remote admin capabilities (no need to be there physically)
International credibility and ease of invoicing clients
Examples:
Estonia, UAE, Cyprus
3. Money Flow & Asset Layer: How You Manage Your Funds
This is about where you hold, receive, and move your money, not necessarily where you bank in the “traditional sense”.
In 2025, this layer can be lightweight and flexible:
Use Wise or Revolut for multi-currency transfers
Maintain a bank account in your home country (if it doesn’t trigger tax residency)
Open a local account in your residency country for daily spending (note that remitted money often is considered income, and might be taxed)
Optional: store savings in a brokerage or crypto wallet outside your country of residence
One important note here: do not buy a crypto ledger from an intermediary like Amazon or something, always but the ledger from the source!)
This layer is more about strategy than it is about geography.
The Lifestyle Layer: Beyond Just Finance
It’s easy to look at global structuring as a purely financial move, something you do to pay less tax, open the right bank accounts, or set up a lean international company.
But in practice, it changes everything about how you live. And I mean everything.
When you decouple your income from where you live, a new layer opens up, one that most people never even realize is available. You are optimising for quality of life across time and space.
That might mean:
Spending winters in Southeast Asia for better weather and cost of living
Raising your kids in a safer, slower-paced country while still running a global business
Accessing private healthcare in a country that charges a fraction of what you’d pay at home
Moving freely without being tied to a job, a landlord, or a government policy shift
Taking longer breaks without financial stress, instead of counting your remaining vacation days
Finally getting serious about that hobby, language, or creative project you never had time for
Escaping the paycheck-to-paycheck loop because your cost of living is decoupled from your income stream
It also gives you leverage. You can leave a place that doesn’t serve you, whether due to rising taxes, political instability, or simply a change in values. You’re mobile, intentional, and in control.
The 3-jurisdiction model is often seen through a technical lens. But at its core, it’s a lifestyle play, one that makes your life richer, calmer, and more resilient.
Now let’s talk about some setups, that work.
Three Setups That Work In 2025
Here’s what global structuring looks like in practice.
They are lean, legal, and repeatable.
The goal is to combine countries that complement each other: one for residency, one for business, one for financial flow. The trick is to keep it simple, keep it clean, and understand the logic behind each layer.
1. The Smart Solo Consultant
Georgia (residency) + UAE (company) + Home Country Bank (money flow) + Wise (money flow)
For EU/UK citizens earning online, this is one of the cleanest setups in 2025.
Georgia offers tax residency with minimal presence and 0% tax on foreign income. You can live there or just use it as your legal base.
UAE is ideal for running your consulting business through a Free Zone entity. No personal tax, and corporate tax is 0–9%, depending on revenue and classification. How to open a company there? Read more here.
You can keep a bank account in your home country (as long as it doesn’t trigger tax residency) and use Wise to pay yourself locally or manage transfers between currencies.
It's simple, lightweight, and built for independent earners who want to stay mobile.
2. The Asia-Based Lifestyle Builder
Thailand (residency) + Cyprus (company) + Thai Bank (local spending money) + Wise (money flow)
If you're based in Southeast Asia and want a flexible structure with EU-level business credibility, this combo is great.
Thailand’s Elite Visa gives you a renewable long-term stay without visa runs. Cost of living is low, lifestyle is high. Alternative: The DTV visa.
Cyprus Ltd gives you a 12.5% corporate tax rate in an EU jurisdiction. It’s respected, relatively easy to run, and can be combined with salary/dividend strategies. How to open a company in Cyprus? Read more here.
Open a local bank account in Thailand for everyday spending (Bangkok Bank or K-Bank works well with the Elite Visa), and manage international transfers through Wise or something like HSBC Expat to keep things tidy.
A solid balance between lifestyle, structure, and legitimacy.
3. The Asset Protector
Panama (residency) + Estonia (company) + U.S. Brokerage (investments) + Wise (money flow)
For those focused on wealth preservation and long-term flexibility.
Panama offers a pathway to permanent residency with no tax on foreign income, great for Americans and Latin Americans.
Estonia’s e-Residency makes it easy to run a remote company with deferred 20% corporate tax (only paid when profits are distributed).
Manage money through a U.S. brokerage account (like Interactive Brokers) and use Wise to bridge currencies or pay yourself into your local account.
This setup is especially relevant for those with investments, digital income, or a long view on geographic diversification.
Risks, Complexities, and What to Watch Out For
A three-jurisdiction setup sounds clean on paper. But there are a few traps and complexities worth understanding.
Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) Rules
If your home country taxes you on foreign companies (like many EU countries do), simply moving your company abroad won’t shield you from tax unless you’ve fully changed your residency. Always check whether CFC rules apply to your specific setup.
Dual Tax Residency
Some countries consider you a tax resident based on physical presence, even if you think you’ve left. If you're not careful, you can end up with two tax residencies, and two sets of filing obligations.
Read more about tax residency here:
Residence Permit vs. Tax Residency (Why Getting This Wrong Could Cost You)
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Substance Requirements
Some jurisdictions (like Cyprus or the UAE post-2023) now ask for more than just a registered company. They want proof of activity: local directors, office space, transactions. Light structure (like flexible office) is sometimes still possible, zero structure can be harder or impossible.
Banking Headaches
Opening bank accounts abroad can be slow or even blocked without local ties. That’s why pairing tools like Wise or Revolut with either home country banks or local accounts in your residency base is often more practical than chasing elusive offshore accounts.
U.S. Citizens: Entirely Different Game
As noted earlier, if you’re American, you’re taxed on worldwide income no matter where you live. There are workarounds like the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) or Puerto Rico’s Act 60, but they require a different structuring playbook (hence deserve their own post).
What to Do Next
If this resonates with you, thats great. My hope is to shed some light on other options, than just accepting the given options my any given country, and open your eyes to more possibilities for a freer life.
So start simple:
Define your goal: is it tax reduction, freedom, mobility, asset protection?
Pick one layer to optimize first: residency, company, or money flow
Don’t overthink it: you can always evolve the setup as you go
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