Hard times are here. Get ready for what comes next.
Prepare, move, or live on less
Across the G7 countries, the outlook has darkened. Many of the governments have overspent and cannot mathematically pay back the debts they have amassed without inflating away their respective currency. As a consequence, costs keep climbing, and middle-class families and people on fixed income are hit the hardest.
But storms pass. Future West is the light breaking through: practical steps to prepare where you are, move somewhere cheaper at home or abroad, or simply live well on less.
Real costs, official sources and first-hand experience, with no fear-selling.
Fight or flight: practical answers for hard times
History moves in cycles
In The Fourth Turning (1997), historians William Strauss and Neil Howe argue that Western history repeats in cycles of about 80 years, through four eras: a High, an Awakening, an Unraveling and a Crisis. Novelist G. Michael Hopf, inspired by their work, put the idea in one line.
1
Good times create weak men
Decades of growth and comfort. Savings, skills and self-reliance quietly fade.
2
We are here
Weak men create hard times
Rising costs, heavy public debt and falling trust in institutions across the G7.
3
Hard times create strong men
Next come the people who prepare, adapt, learn new skills and look after their own.
4
Strong men create good times
Then a new era of growth, built by those who got ready while others waited.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And weak men create hard times.” G. Michael Hopf, Those Who Remain (2016)
Future West is about step 3: coming through the hard times stronger, so you are ready when the good times return.
What Future West covers
Three paths, one goal: a household that is ready for what comes. We start with what it really costs, check the rules against official sources, and show the trade-offs plainly, whether you are building a pantry, comparing countries or cutting a big monthly bill.
Fight
Prepare
Stay where you are and get ready on a budget: a 30-day pantry, water for two weeks, power cuts, and a simple plan for retirees.
Flight
Move
Move somewhere more affordable, at home or abroad: go where you are treated best, and find jurisdictions that still roll out the red carpet with a value system that matches yours.
Counter inflation
Live on Less
Cut the high costs without feeling poor: beat monopoly markups, buy direct, downsize the car, and learn from the thrift of past generations.
Our mission
Calm, practical help for an uncertain future
Future West exists for people who feel squeezed by rising costs and want a plan, not panic. Some will stay and prepare. Some will move. Most will do a bit of both. We help you weigh the options with real numbers and honest trade-offs.
- Official sources
- Real costs
- First-hand where possible
- “Last checked” dates
- Honest about taxes
- No fear-selling
Latest articles
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Fight or Flight: What History Teaches About Leaving in Time
Weimar Germany, Nazi Germany and Zimbabwe show why people who moved early kept more, and how to build a legal plan B…
“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand.”
Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)
Meet the editor
Future West is written and checked by a small team. Articles on living abroad, taxes, business abroad and leaving the corporate treadmill come from the editor’s own experience.
Cal Westermann
Editor
I grew up in Switzerland and spent the first part of my career in corporate roles abroad: three years in Australia, ten in the United States, two in Malaysia and three in Mainland China.
Around 2013 I stepped off the corporate treadmill. Today I live with my family in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and I run my business location-independently. As a family, we made a conscious choice to live more simply and to stop keeping up with the Joneses. I traded the car for a maxi scooter, and we don’t spend money on expensive toys. Instead, we spend it on travel, because those experiences stay with us as a family forever. Along the way, we’ve learned that in a country like Thailand, one can really improve quality of life while reducing expenses.
The difference in our finances has been striking. In the United States, my wife and I both worked, yet once the bills were paid there was little left over each month. In Asia, my income alone gives us a better quality of life with far more to spare, and my wife has been able to focus fully on raising our children and pursuing her own interests.
My company is based in Hong Kong. That follows a principle known as flag theory: instead of tying everything to one country, you choose the best place for each part of your life. That means one country to live in for value for money, others for banking and investing, the best environment to raise a family, and the best jurisdiction to run a business. On Future West I show how this works in practice, always within the rules of each country.
FW
Future West Editorial Team
Research and guides
Researches preparedness and living-on-less guides, checks every rule and price against official sources, and dates each update.
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