I had this same idea a few years ago but I didn't have anywhere NEAR the capital you're talking about. I started anyways and set myself up a little differently.
I own a few properties and a business in Canada that I draw a bit of income off of while I live and own another business in China. The income from the properties is used for operating expenses and general savings. Profit from my Canadian company is reinvested into itself or a set of stocks I own (I'm waiting to sell a few then I will move it over to something that pays dividends). I don't use everything I make over here either and I live very well. The excess is going to be saved for diversifying my property portfolio (and pay for a wedding next year...). I hope that as the real estate portfolio expands, the amount of active income I will have to rely on will start to go down.
I started with just about nothing but I definitely see why someone would want $1-1.5 mil to draw on. It would definitely be a nice safety net. I certainly have a LONG way to go to get anywhere near that.
I'd love to hear your ideas on foreign business ownership. Feel free to PM me. That offer for Chinese coffee still stands too of course.
Last edited by Mattloaf; 11-09-2012 at 08:51 AM.
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