Living/Working Overseas

Living overseas has always been a great desire of ours. But it’s also mind-boggling when you begin dealing with the ins and outs of America’s federal system for receiving benefits that you’ve worked for in the U.S.

That said, even though some aspects are daunting, absolutely everyone we know that has moved to live and work in another country values that experience. Some have never returned; we have friends who ultimately moved lock, stock and barrel to France, Spain, various countries in South America, China, Thailand, India, Japan . . . one newspaper reporter left San Francisco for the South Pacific; we’ve never seen him again. He hated shoes and wanted to live where they didn’t matter. Truly!

We feel it’s important to hold onto your ties in America in the event you do want to return. When people do return to the U.S. they are often stunned by the ever-climbing expense of living in the U.S. and, currently, the challenging job market. We’ve also seen people without the funds to get away from whatever country they’ve moved to at a moment’s notice . . . you never know! Always have a Plan B, no matter where you are in the world.

Personal Finance for Overseas Americans

How to Direct Your Own Financial Future While Living Abroad is for Americans living overseas, or planning to. The basics of financial planning and money management are included, but so are many little known and little understood aspects of financial life for Americans living outside of North America.

As an Expat, your finances are complicated by U.S. and foreign laws and practices that affect everything from buying insurance to buying mutual funds. To make the financial choices that are best for you, you need information pertinent to your life style. Personal Finance for Overseas Americans provides that information along with sound financial strategies and methods that work for the long term. This work covers those topics that most affect the financial lives of Americans living overseas. Part 1, Financial Planning, helps you understand the tradeoffs involved in setting and achieving your goals, near term and long term. Part 2, Money Management, gives you detailed information on managing cash, debt, financial risk, investments, and taxes.


Overseas Americans: The Essential Guide To Living And Working Abroad contains vital information and actual documents from all the government agencies that you as an expatriate will have to deal with, including the IRS, State Department, Customs, and Social Security Administration. Find answers to all your questions about living or working abroad before you go: must I pay U.S. taxes? What travel documents, visas or work permits will I need? Is my destination safe for Americans? What should I do if I’m arrested in a foreign country? Can I lose my U.S. citizenship by living overseas? Will my health insurance be good? Can I vote in U.S. elections while living abroad? This guide also provides a list of helpful Web sites for Americans abroad, as well as the password to a site for readers of Overseas Americans.

New American Expat

Thriving and Surviving Overseas in the Post-9/11 World People are taking jobs abroad more than ever, yet overseas employment has seldom been more complicated or risky. New markets and new opportunities draw professionals overseas as our world changes; for the American expat, this change is striking. Americans abroad are often faced with shifting and sometimes hostile attitudes, depending on what the U.S. government is or isn’t doing and who is in office.

Of course, the point of travel is to see things you’ve never seen and to learn about other people and countries, including politics. While we prefer to avoid politics while on the road, people in other countries seem to be more politically aware than many Americans, so we advise staying up on what the U.S. is or isn’t doing.

Holiday Inn Phuket Thailand. While sitting at that pool bar in Phuket (right, taken prior to the Tsunami in 2004), an Aussie cautiously said something about then-President Bush. We noted the not-very-well concealed dislike in his voice and said something like “that crook . . . we didn’t vote for him.” We became fast friends as he brought the next round of drinks as we discussed world politics.

Americans have never been able to relocate expecting a warm welcome and an easy transition. Without preparation, working and living overseas can be an overwhelming proposition. New American Expat: Thriving and Surviving Overseas in the Post-9/11 World is an essential guide that shows Americans how to be safe and secure, as well as successful, in their overseas assignments. The New American Expat provides a clear plan for thriving in the experience, with tips on how to find a job, negotiate a compensation package and set up a new home base. In addition, this is the only book to address how to be a good American while living and working abroad, highlighting the fact that we are all ambassadors for our culture and home countries. Brimming with checklists and practical advice, The New American Expat will be useful to anyone looking to turn an overseas assignment into both a career opportunity and a rich, fulfilling experience. This book will be valuable to any American considering an overseas assignment or just traveling around the world with an American passport. It includes a focus on safety, security and topics such as “how to be an American” while living and working abroad.

Before going anywhere, pick up Language Phrase Guides for any/every country you are visiting. One very simple “rule” is to learn to say “thank you” and “excuse me” in every language. You will be amazed at how much mileage that will buy you. Of course, there’s an app for that also. Languages: Kindle Editions

Other selections to help you find your job overseas:

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Family Travel, Living Overseas, News & Books, Senior Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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