To enjoy your ideal expat life, you need to embrace proper planning and have an awareness of the challenges of building a life overseas. Whether you’re a retiree or a professional on an extended stint as an expatriate, here are some financial issues you need to consider as an expat in an emerging economy. Cost of Living Yes No Have you researched cost-of-living expenses in your country of residence? Have you researched historical inflation rates...
Consumer financial fraud has hit all-time highs around the world, and much of it occurs online. Stories about scams abound, including identify theft, phishing and push-payment scams, unauthorized credit card purchases, hacked financial-institution websites, and ATM fraud. In the worst cases, hundreds of millions are stolen, even from large corporations like Facebook and Google . If sophisticated tech companies can fall prey to these scams, how can you protect your own finances? We've put together...
If you're lucky―and we certainly hope that you are―nothing will ever go seriously wrong for you and your family while you’re living overseas. But unfortunately, the reality for most of us is that at some point, something adverse will happen. Your spouse may lose their job, or your family business may fail. Someone could fall seriously ill, become disabled, or even die. While none of us wants or expects anything bad to happen, it's important...
Once you've gotten your financial affairs in order after moving overseas—by limiting your number of financial accounts, getting a local credit card and opening an online brokerage account, among others—it's a good idea to set up ways to keep track of your finances online. They'll save you time and simplify the management of your finances, giving you more time to enjoy life as an expat. Here are six we recommend: 1. Have all account statements...
While Americans are taxed on worldwide income and assets and are actively discouraged from holding investments outside the United States , non-U.S. expats can often realize substantial tax benefits from investing in offshore markets. Non-U.S. expats are typically not taxed by their country of citizenship on income and assets held outside their home country. Additionally, many Asian countries do not tax expats on their investments and income earned beyond their borders. This creates a substantial...
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as specific legal or tax advice. Please consult your legal or tax advisor for advice relevant to your situation. At this time of year, many Americans living overseas are collecting the various documents needed to file their 2018 U.S. taxes. This year, in addition to the sometimes obscure U.S. tax forms that U.S. citizens living overseas are required to file, expats need to...
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as specific legal or tax advice. Please consult your legal or tax advisor for advice relevant to your situation. If you or someone you know has had a loved one pass away without a valid basic estate planning document such as a properly executed will, beyond the heartache of losing a loved one, you also know how difficult it was to put their...
As you look for a holiday gift for your favorite expat or perhaps just for some interesting reading over the holidays, have a look through our annual list of highly rated books from the past year, especially selected with the expat reader in mind. All can be easily purchased on the internet, and while some are more serious, others are just for fun. For those expats who may live far away, all of these titles...
U.S. tech stocks are up one day and down sharply the next. European stocks fall on reduced profit expectations. Global stock markets warm to a thaw in the trade war. China’s muted stimulus lowers hopes of a new stock market rescue. Bond funds are hit by the biggest withdrawals in several years. Talking heads on cable financial networks argue about asset price bubbles and the likelihood of a market correction. For expatriates trying to manage...
This article is for general information purposes only and is not intended as specific tax advice. Please consult your tax advisor for advice relevant to your situation. For an expatriate, buying a home overseas can be much more than strictly a financial decision. Often, those of us living away from our country of origin are looking to recapture a sense of stability and permanence or to forge a connection with the community. Sometimes, we're also...
This article is an updated version of an installment in “The Expat Spouse as Household CFO” series. You can download an ebook of the entire series here . As an accompanying expat spouse, you’ve read the first installment in this series and you and your working partner have agreed that for the two of you to most effectively manage your family finances, you’ll take on the role of Household Chief Financial Officer (CFO). With perhaps...
As many expat investors know, sticking to a long-term strategy can be hard to do. In general, investors tend to be seduced by the recent performance of hot stocks and asset classes, meanwhile shunning those that are out of favor. The talking heads on cable financial channels, with competing and contradictory forecasts, only add to the noise. But being drawn into following recent winners or any single idea raises the chances that you'll focus on...