Financial Tips when Moving Abroad

Do Your Homework. You need to plan ahead when deciding on moving abroad. First, you must have employment that can sustain you financially at par with the standard of living in the country of choice. Secondly, you need to calculate your living expenses, especially the basic necessities. These basic necessities include renting a home or apartment, food costs, communication costs as well as transportation. Thirdly, you need to find out opportunities in the country for yourself and your family. These may include an expat community, schools and other amenities where you can enjoy the country in peace and prosperity.

• Fulfill Obligations in the Home Country. These obligations in the home country would be all debts and other payables you would be leaving as you start your life in another country. Should you fail to pay in any of these, being a continuously connected world, your debt as well as your financial standing would be affected wherever you go.

• Understand Taxability. Unless you have renounced your citizenship, the tax requirement to be paid still attaches to an individual. Thus, wherever one is in the world, the tax responsibility still has to be paid. One needs to find out the tax payable and determine the manner of payment that can be made wherever they may be in the world. One of the ways to save money overseas is finding out if there are tax exemptions available to expats of a given country because of tax agreements and exemptions.

• Finding your Place. When making a decision on living overseas, you need to find your place in the sun. This means you would find a roof over your head and a place where all your choice amenities are available and within easy reach. What is more important though is finding a place where the cost of living is within your means and income. You need to compute for the costs required to have a comfortable life in the place that you have chosen.

• Coordinating Movements. Since you are a foreigner in another country, you need to coordinate all activities and movements with your embassy. This not only ensures security but also financial stability as you can readily find means of assistance with your consular officials. This would save a lot of money and stress knowing that you have a means to leave the country safely should the need arise.
  
  As can be seen, being abroad is a big decision that affects not only the personal life but also your financial life. Before you do move abroad, you need to do your homework, pay all your obligations at home, use taxability rules to your advantage, find the right place for you and coordinate your movements while in the host country. Once you have all of these down pat, you would be able to move abroad as an expat and live your life comfortably.
  
  For a more comprehensive discussion on moving abroad, do visit us at Indian Expats Choose Home over EU and US for Investment please visit the author’s site The NRI Community