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LibreLeo: Financial Freedom for Globally Mobile Investors

About LibreLeo

I spent a fair amount of time in the corporate world. The decision was taken to let me go. I'd been trading my own money the whole time. Now I do it full-time, build software for traders, and write about money the way I actually think about it.

Who's writing this
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I'm Chris. I live in Dubai, I'll likely retire to the Philippines, and I run two lanes at the same time: a long-term passive portfolio (index funds, ETFs, dividend stocks held with intent) and an active income overlay (options premium selling: cash-secured puts, covered calls, the wheel, credit spreads).

I've been an expat for over 28 years. Europe, South Africa, and now Dubai, with the Philippines next. Earning in one currency, holding in another, and planning to spend in a third is not a thought experiment I read about. It's the life I've actually lived for nearly three decades. That's the whole reason LibreLeo exists for globally mobile investors instead of US-based ones: I'm writing the guide I needed and never found.

Those years taught me two things that matter more than anything else on this site:

  1. Corporate environments reduce people to numbers, and that ends without warning. Building wealth that doesn't depend on anyone else's decision is the only real security.
  2. Markets reward discipline, not cleverness. The people who win over a 30-year window are the ones who stop trying to be smart and start trying to be consistent.

Everything I write here flows from those two beliefs.

Why this site exists
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The financial independence press is overwhelmingly American. 401(k)s, Roth IRAs, Social Security, FEIE rules, US tax-loss harvesting. Even the best FI writers (Mr. Money Mustache, ChooseFI, Early Retirement Now) assume a US passport.

That doesn't help me, and it almost certainly doesn't help you if you're reading this from Dubai, Riyadh, Singapore, Manila, London, Nairobi, or anywhere else outside the US. You earn in one currency, you might retire in another, you can't open a Vanguard account, withholding tax eats your dividends differently, and "geo-arbitrage" isn't a thought experiment. It's your actual situation.

I write LibreLeo for that audience: globally mobile investors who want a serious financial-independence framework without the US-only assumptions baked in.

I also write it for the second half of my own world: traders who run an income overlay on top of a long-term portfolio. The FI tribe refuses to touch options ("speculation!"). The options tribe doesn't think in decades. I think they're both half-right, and combining the two is the most defensible thing I can teach.

What you'll find here
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  • Foundations: budgeting, saving, emergency funds, debt strategy.
  • Passive investing: index funds and ETFs that work for non-US persons (Ireland-domiciled UCITS, withholding-tax mechanics), how I think about dividends, portfolio construction, rebalancing.
  • Active income: options premium selling as a wealth-building tool, the wheel strategy, position sizing, what changes when you treat it as income rather than gambling.
  • Financial independence numbers: safe withdrawal rates, Monte Carlo done correctly, sequence-of-returns risk, the four flavors of FI (Lean, Coast, Barista, Fat).
  • The expat lens: UAE wealth building, end-of-service gratuity, GCC / SE Asia / Philippines retirement, international brokerage selection, multi-currency portfolios, geo-arbitrage in practice.
  • Calculators: every concept above, runnable in your own browser.

What I'll never do
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I learned the corporate playbook over a long career. I'm not going to run it back at you here.

  • No paid posts dressed up as analysis. If something is sponsored, I'll say "this is sponsored" at the top.
  • No affiliate links to brokers I wouldn't use myself. Most affiliate links on FI sites are there because they convert, not because the broker is right for you. I'll always say which I actually use.
  • No paywalled core education. Foundations, FI fundamentals, and calculators stay free. If I ever build a paid tier, it's for tooling and community, not for the basics.
  • No US-only framing without flagging it. When I cite a study or strategy that assumes a US passport, I'll say so and point at the international equivalent where one exists.
  • No advice you didn't ask for. I write what I do. You decide what fits your situation.

What I'm not
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I'm not a CFP, CFA, RIA, or any other set of letters. I'm not a financial advisor. Nothing on this site is investment advice. I write because I find this work clarifying. For me first, and hopefully for you second. If you need advice for your specific situation, hire someone who knows your taxes, your jurisdiction, and your life.

How to read the site
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  • Start here: the Investing 101 in 2026 piece is the closest thing to my full worldview in one post.
  • If you're in the GCC or moving here: the Expat FI Playbook (coming soon) is being written for you specifically.
  • If options-premium-selling sounds like gambling: read Why I Don't Chase Dividends for how I think about income strategies generally, then the Options Premium Selling for FI piece (coming soon).
  • If you want to run the numbers: the Calculators section is where to start.

How to reach me
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The honest answer is that the best way to talk to me is through what I publish here. I read every comment on the posts (via Giscus, GitHub-backed). For everything else, I'm on X as @leviceroy and on GitHub as @leviceroy. If you want updates, the newsletter (linked from the homepage) is the best place. Twice a month, no spam, easy to leave.

Get the newsletter
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If something here resonates, the newsletter is the lowest-cost way to keep the thread going. Twice a month: one idea on building wealth across borders, one calculator or trade walkthrough, one link worth your time. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Join from the homepage →

What's next
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If this site is useful to you, the most valuable thing you can do is share a post with one other person who'd benefit. Compound interest works on attention too.

Thanks for reading.

Chris