Field Notes Premium Edition

The Strange, Sordid History of Your Passport

Ted Baumann · June 14, 2025 ·

The 1648 Law That Changed the Course of the World… What is citizenship? Given the number of people looking for a second passport—not to mention …

Jeff D. Opdyke · June 13, 2025 ·

If You Don’t Yet Have a Plan B—Start Now. I think there’s a saying about “fortune favoring the prepared.” If such a saying doesn’t exist, well, …

Jeff D. Opdyke · June 12, 2025 ·

What I’m Doing Different… You open your brokerage account to check in on your menagerie of stocks and under the “Activity” tab you see …

Ted Baumann · June 7, 2025 ·

You Can Do It Too… You’ve seen internet headlines promising that if you move overseas, you won’t have to pay US income tax anymore. It’s true. For …

Jeff D. Opdyke · June 3, 2025 ·

A Full-Frontal Financial Attack… We launch into today’s dispatch with a chart, courtesy of Visual Capitalist and the Hinrich …

Jeff D. Opdyke · June 2, 2025 ·

Yes—Here’s How… The comment was not what I expected. And frankly, I felt sheepishly stupid. I was proud of my purchase: a second phone—a global …

Jeff D. Opdyke · June 1, 2025 ·

I’ve Been Predicting This for 15 Years… The thing about black swans is that they’re not so much black as they are invisible. And therein lies the …

Ted Baumann · May 31, 2025 ·

Turn “Plan B” Into “Plan A.” The rumors are true: Americans really are looking to move abroad in record numbers. US citizens have long been …

Jeff D. Opdyke · May 30, 2025 ·

4 Recommendations to Get You Started… Today, another reader mailbag. This Ask El Jefe question comes from “M” (I’ll leave her name out), and it’s …

Jeff D. Opdyke · May 29, 2025 ·

Plus: The Great Swiss Franc Hunt of ’94. The first time I bought Swiss francs was, well, laughable—at least looking back on that moment three …