Geólogo Trader 🇦🇺 - A Year in Review.
It’s been a year of ups and downs – everything else is up, but the portfolio’s down. That said, I’m set up with a solid runway for 2025. Here’s my end-of-year summary of it all.
It’s been two and a half years since I left Australia – and I have no plans to move back.
I recently caught up with an Aussie mate – a low-key but highly successful resources investor who’s been living in Buenos Aires for the past 20 years. His first words to me?
“Let’s get this prick of a year out of the way.”
It’s a somewhat similar vibe when I chat with Ferg during our monthly mentor chats. It’s been a tough year if you’re heavy in resources and energy. Honestly, those chats have been more like therapy sessions at times.
Exactly a year ago, I was in Tasmania visiting family for Christmas. It was a great time – paper wealth was up, and I was splashing out on Cape Grim steaks for the family (arguably the best beef in Australia, with a price to match). I also loaded up on electronics before heading back to Argentina – aka the black hole of global imports.
Fast forward to today – for once, I’m not heading home this holiday season, only if my brother gets the nod to play Test cricket for Australia (he’s in the squad and right on the cusp). But for now, I’m parked up in one of my favourite Buenos Aires cafés, typing this out with a quiet holiday period ahead, which I’m very content about.
Personal Thoughts About the Year:
Personally, it’s been a great year for internationalisation – progress with officially stepping away from Australia (legally), landing a hands-on role in Argentina with Ronin Resources, and taking a sizeable position in a Singapore stock that helped soften the blow from my uranium-heavy portfolio’s pullback.
I reckon I’ve got a decent runway lined up for 2025.
Here’s a quick rundown of what I’m covering in this article:
Internationalisation – Big year on this front for me. 🌎
Uranium – Still my largest bet heading into 2025. Thoughts on the Paladin/Fission deal. ☢️
Singapore Offshore Stock (Nam Cheong) – Now a significant part of the portfolio. Outlook and positioning. 🛢️🚢
Junior Miners & Explorers in Argentina – A small update on our progress at Ronin Resources (nothing market-sensitive, of course). ⛏
Portfolio Breakdown – Screenshot with updated weightings. 📈
You know how much I like to run ideas by you – Substack feels like a great asset for this, with far more like-minded people here than on Twitter.
I’m toying with the idea of starting a separate community for people who don’t want to spend their lives working for someone else – whether you’re in Australia, the US, Europe, or Canada.
The days of grinding through a job you hate or buying into overstretched housing markets and paying off gut-churning mortgages every month don’t have to be the only path. There are plenty of ways to earn location independent money online, no matter what skills you have or enjoy.
I’m thinking of structuring it as a community – a space with monthly Zoom calls where we can share ideas, hear from like-minded people, and figure out pathways away from the traditional grind and housing debt.
The difference?
This won’t be one of those doomsday, the-world-is-ending, fear-mongering groups (even though that stuff works). Just normal people with rational takes and a desire to carve out a different path.
All paying Substack subscribers would get immediate access, and I’d set a separate system for those outside of Substack.
Let’s dive into the first topic of this (admittedly) lengthy article.
Internationalisation (Legally Moving Away from Australia):
I’m now officially a Paraguayan resident with a tax file number. I’ve also set up a US LLC in Wyoming for my business with a US banks account and debit card attached to spend – paying tax to Australia just doesn’t make sense anymore.
For anyone interested in this process, I’ve set up an affiliate link with Jerz from The Jerz Way. His service was great, and I highly recommend it and anyone who uses him through my recommendation it would be greatly appreciated on my end.
He offers this complete zero tax package which I paid for:
✅ 🇵🇾 Paraguay residency including tax ID
✅ 🇺🇸 US LLC
✅ 🇺🇸 US business bank account
✅ 🇵🇦 Panama personal bank account
✅ 🇵🇾 Paraguay physical address
✅ 🇺🇸 US physical address
The total package is $6,000 USD (link here) – I paid, and honestly, I see it as an investment. Just think about how much you’re saving down the line – that was my train of thought.
Or, to start simple – just go for the Paraguay residency + tax ID as a starting block.
✅ 🇵🇾 Paraguay residency including tax ID
That one is $2,900 USD (link here).
To put this all in perspective – I lived in Bali for 4 years, and to get a KITAS (a two-year residency with none of the tax benefits), I had to pay $3,500 USD.
Not only that – I had to renew it at the same price every two years, with no path to owning land or assets in my personal name.
In contrast, once you’re in the Paraguay system, you’re in for life, but don’t pannick it’s a territorial tax system meaning you’re only taxed on income generated within Paraguay – foreign income isn’t taxed.
I will be spending time between both Argentina and Paraguay - I genuinely like Asunción the Paraguayan capital - I wrote about here.