A guide to Monaco, the small principality stuffed with the uber-wealthy and their superyachts. Amidst the escalating cost-of-living crisis, it's tempting to fantasise about outlandish ideas like affordable groceries and housing β¦ or winning the lottery and moving to Monaco.
The micro state on the French Riviera was once described by English writer W. Somerset Maugham as "a sunny place for shady people" and is synonymous with Formula 1, superyachts and James Bond. There's a lot going on in a place that's smaller than New York's Central Park, packed with a population of over 38, and studded with high-end casinos and five-star hotels all run by a company called SBM, which very amusingly stands for "the Society of Sea Baths and Circle of Foreigners in Monaco".
Yes, but it's the second smallest country in the world by area. In Monaco, there is no such thing as taxes for income, wealth, property or capital gains.
In order to qualify for this truly bonkers tax set-up, you have to spend nights each year in Monaco. But it's not all fun and casino games, as Neate points out: "[While Monaco is the] top place for [the uber-wealthy] to officially live, maybe they're not there all the time, because it is very small and a bit soulless and a bit boring.
We asked Captain Scott Dodgson, who runs a private yacht charter business that operates in Monaco and is the host of the podcast Offshore Explorer. And Monaco has been that way for hundreds of years. Many F1 drivers including Lewis Hamilton are Monaco residents and β presumably β there's a chance you'll run into local celebrities like Bono, Novak Djokovic, Ringo Starr and Shirley Bassey at the Monte Carlo Casino and what a poker game that would be!
