In this episode of "Tiffany's Take," Tiffany Grant delves into the topic of moving out of the United States and becoming an expat. She shares her personal experiences, insights, and tips for those considering a similar move, using her own move to Jamaica as a reference point.

This episode is packed with practical advice on legal requirements, cost of living, healthcare, cultural differences, employment opportunities, and much more.

See full show notes here: https://moneytalkwitht.com/podcast-show-notes/tips-for-moving-abroad/

Key Points Covered

Visa and Legal Requirements

• Importance of understanding visa regulations and residency/work permit requirements.
• Specifics about Jamaica's visa policies and Tiffany's journey to obtaining citizenship by descent.

Cost of Living

• Compare the cost of living between your current location and the new country.
• Importance of budgeting for housing, food, healthcare, transportation, and unexpected expenses.
• Tiffany's personal experience with school costs in Jamaica.

Healthcare

• Researching the healthcare system and insurance needs in the new country.
• Tiffany's positive experience with healthcare in Jamaica, compared to the US.

Language and Culture

• The necessity of learning the local language and understanding cultural norms.
• The concept of the "American tax" and managing cultural perceptions.

Employment Opportunities

• Researching job prospects and understanding work permits in the new country.
• Considerations regarding tax implications of moving abroad.

Quality of Life

• Evaluating factors like climate, safety, and recreational activities.
• Conducting a trial visit to experience living in the new country before making a final decision.

Social Connections

• Building a social network through visits, local connections, and Facebook groups.
• Benefits of having local friends to assist with negotiations and integration.

Legal and Financial Planning

• Ensuring legal compliance, estate planning, and setting up banking arrangements.
• Tips on managing exchange rates and choosing the right currency for transactions.

Resources Mentioned

• Website: moneytalkwitht.com/asktiffany
• Capital of Casual Facebook group for those interested in Negril, Jamaica.
• My new project for those interested in traveling to or moving to Jamaica: seejamayka.com

What's Next?

• Visit moneytalkwitht.com/asktiffany to submit your questions for future episodes.
• Consider joining local or expat Facebook groups like Capital of Casual for information and networking.
• Conduct thorough research and plan extensively before making an international move.

Connect with Tiffany Grant

• Website: moneytalkwitht.com
• Social Media: @moneytalkwitht

Support this Podcast

Copyright 2024 Tiffany Grant

You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money

nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings

and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff

podcast.

Hey, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Tiffany's Take,

where I answer your questions right here on the podcast. So if you have any

questions, feel free to reach out moneytalkwitht.com

axtiffany or just send me an email and I'll be more than happy

to answer for you. So I have been getting a ton

of questions from people about moving out of the

country because they want to move out of the US as well, and how did

I do it, and what are some things to think about and so on and

so forth. So I said, you know what? Let me just do a podcast episode

to kind of address most of these questions and just some things that

I thought about and decided before I made the move. All right,

so first and foremost, look at the visa and the legal

requirements. So figure out if you need a visa

to go, how long the visa lasts, do you have to keep

renewing it? What is that process? And then also, what's the process

for obtaining residency and work permits? So here in

Jamaica, the visa requirements are, if

you're coming from the US, you can stay up to 90 days. Okay. Before

they start looking at you funny. Now, with that 90 days, you

can always go to Pica, which is their, like, you

know, their immigration, and you can extend

it. Now, you can't stay longer than six

months worth of days before, you

know, you start breaking the law. So if you go back and forth

often, like with me, you know, I go back and forth for speaking

engagements or to visit, things like that.

That 90 days starts all the way over. Now, like I said, you have to

look at the other requirement, which is less than six

months worth of days for the year, is what they require.

So with that being said, what I'm working on now, because

I researched the citizenship, my dad's Jamaican, what I'm working on now

is just getting my citizenship here for me and my kids, and I

can do that by descent. So I say all of that to say,

definitely look up the visa and legal requirements of whatever country you're

looking to move to first, so that way you can start mapping out a plan

on how you're going to implement that. Second, I would say

cost of living. So make sure you compare the cost

of living at the new country versus your current

expenses, because honestly, there's some places around the world that are more

expensive than America. And so you really want to

look at how much everything's going to cost, which you should already have a

good budget if you've been listening to me for a while. So you already know

your budget for where you live now you have to make one for where you

want to go. So that's one thing that I did. So I created a whole

separate budget and was like, okay, this is how much it's going to cost me

to do this, this, this, and this in the new country. How

does that compare to where I came from? And you want to look at housing,

food, healthcare, transportation, all those things? Because one thing

I didn't consider here, which now hindsight 2020,

is school. Well, I did consider school for my son,

but I didn't know how expensive school was here. And I tried to get

all the information, but all my friends and stuff didn't have kids

in grade school. And so this is something that I had to learn by doing.

But that's also why you want to make sure you have you do as much

research on the front end as possible and then

also have some wiggle room. So, you know, don't go to

a new country on a shoestring budget, like, where you don't have any wiggle room

because something is going to come up. So just have a

real good idea of what you're trying to accomplish, how much

that's going to cost, and then also leave some space as

well. Another thing that I would tell you to

do is look at healthcare as well. So investigate the

healthcare system in the new country. Consider, if you'll need health

insurance, what kind of coverage is available here in Jamaica? I just

pay out of pocket if we have to go to the doctor. We've only been

to the doctor, like, two or three times since we've been here so far.

And so I usually just pay out of pocket, and I found a really great

doctor. Matter of fact, the doctor here found an

issue that a doctor in the US that had

just went to, like, a week before didn't find. Matter of fact, they

said, oh, no, it's not that. The doctor here was like, it's absolutely that.

And was able to treat it. So also, don't believe the

hype that, you know, healthcare is better in this place versus that

place, whatever. Good doctors are good doctors and good doctors are

all around the world. So do your research and see,

you know, what healthcare looks like, what you would need to

do to get established and things like that. Now, don't get me wrong, there's

some things that we will be still using the United States for. So

when we go to visit, I make sure I have our appointments and stuff lined

up or whatever. But outside of that, that is something that you

need to consider. Another thing is to consider

the language and culture. So if you're moving to a country,

because I know quite a bit of expats that move to like

spanish speaking countries or something like that, or French

speaking, then realize if you need to learn the

language. I know personally, I know some

Spanish, but I'm not fluent. I know some French, very

minimal, but I'm definitely not fluent. So I knew I had to move somewhere

that was English based. And I understand patois just fine

because like I said, my dad is jamaican. So

understand if you need to learn the language or what that looks like.

And another point I'll make with that as well. In

some countries, if you don't know the language and you open your mouth

and they can tell you're american, then

unfortunately, a lot of people love american money. And

so usually I call it the american tax that

you might have to pay when it comes to doing certain things just because

you're from America. And people look at Americans as having a lot of money, even

though sometimes we don't. But that is just what it looks like to the rest

of the world. So be prepared for that. And then also understand

the cultural differences and how they might affect your daily life.

Like here, I've said on the podcast before, you know,

culturally, greetings are very important. Like, every

time I run into somebody, it's like, good morning, good evening,

you know, good afternoon, good night. You know, we all

greet each other a lot, and that's completely different than in the US.

So definitely know what the culture is because, you know, if I

don't greet people like they greet, then they look at me, they're

like, well, who is this lady? Like, why? She is mean. Like, she is

not interacting with us. And you don't want to have that type

of reputation with anything. So understand the cultural

differences and accept the cultural differences, too.

I think that's an important thing. I've gotten so much feedback from

locals, not just here, but in Africa as well, where they're like, oh,

you're a cool American. And they're like. Because usually Americans, they come and

they're like, we're the best and we know everything, you know, that kind of

attitude. And so even though culturally

it's completely different, so be open to the culture

and make sure that you learn and see what and

just observe people pretty much employment opportunities. That's another

thing. So if you plan to work in the country, research

job opportunities, and also understand how to get a work

permit, because you can't just, like in America, you can't just pull up somewhere

and start working, right? You got to understand how that

works. And so here, luckily, my business is

all online. I still run it with my headquarters

in the US, and so it's not a big deal. When

it comes to employment. However, this goes to another tip.

Think about the taxes. So what's the tax implications of moving abroad?

Like, how does it affect your taxes in the Us? How does it affect your

taxes in the new country? Think about all of that stuff

as well. Of course you want to consider your

quality of life. That was a big one for me. My

quality of life is so important, that should have been number one on my list.

However, think about the lifestyle that you want. So consider

the factors like climate, safety, education, recreational activities,

etcetera. And I will also say, make your own

conclusions on that, because sometimes

information gets misconstrued, especially in the US. And

for instance, a lot of people were reaching out, like, what about the safety in

Jamaica? And, you know, this, that and the other. But after

being here, living here, visiting quite

a bit, I'm like, I feel completely safe. Like, I feel

safer here than I did in America. So I say, draw your

own conclusions. And that goes to one of my other tips,

which is do a trial visit, stay in the country for

an extended period of time before you make a final decision on living there.

Because living is completely different than

visiting. Okay? When you're visiting, you're in vacation mode. You're like, oh, I'm gonna do

this, I'm gonna do that. I know, I'm gonna go back home, back to reality,

whatever. But when you're living somewhere, it's different than visiting.

Like, for instance, the beach is very, very close to

us, but we don't go all the time like I thought we would, you

know, because we have to live like we're living here now. We're not just on,

on vacation. So I tell people to try to do a

trial visit and stay for at least a month,

longer if possible, because things can look completely

different when you're living somewhere versus when you're visiting.

Another thing is social connections. So

make sure you make some friends. How are you going to build that social

network? So I built mine here just by coming to

visit, meeting friends of friends and family of friends and things like

that. And so I built up a whole little network

of people that surround me, you know, and

help me out with different things. So that's super important. Another

thing is to join Facebook groups. So I had joined,

before I moved to Jamaica, I had joined

quite a few Facebook groups. Some were expat related,

some were just general groups for the city or general groups for

the country or what have you. But those Facebook groups are

involved, valuable when it comes to information. I've gotten so

many good contacts here, so many, so much good information

just from Facebook groups. So definitely check those out. If you're

interested in Jamaica or Negril specifically,

there's one called capital of casual, and I'm very active

in there. It's ran by Misty Memphis, and it's a great

group. She just had to get together last week to

celebrate their 7th anniversary, so.

And while I was there, I met more contacts, you know, so

just building that social network is really important.

And always use discernment, though, because like I said,

sometimes some people just hear your accent and they're just all about the

money, but some people are just good people.

So always use your discernment when you are

interacting with new people and in different countries and even back home,

honestly. But build those connections because they're

invaluable, trust me. Also another point

to that here, a lot of my jamaican

friends will do a lot of the talking for me, like when I'm going to

buy things, because like I said, that american tax is real,

and so they'll do, like, the negotiating and stuff, or take me to the best

places to get things or what have you. So

that's why I said connections are super important and invaluable.

And the last thing is legal and financial planning. Just make sure that you're doing

everything legally. You're on the up and up. You're looking

at your estate planning, because you never know what's going to happen. Do you already

have your documents in place? Do you have life insurance in

place? All of those things. What is going to happen to your body if something

happens to you in another country? Think through all of those things. And

then banking also is another thing. Look at what the

banking options are. One tip I have for Jamaica

that I learned from one of my contacts is that

Scotiabank, which is a huge bank in Jamaica, is the same as bank of

America. And so last time I was in the states, I opened up a Bank

of America account because now I can bypass all of the

ATM fees when I need to go take out money. Also

think about, and I know this episode is jam packed, y'all, just

so much to share. Also, think about exchange rates.

And one thing I've learned here, which I had to learn the hard way,

that jamaican money will go way further than american money.

And so I started paying everything in jamaican, so I rarely have

american army. I do keep american because sometimes it's

more advantageous to use it, but most times it's good to

use the local currency, just in my experience. So do your

research wherever you're moving and see what's the best for you. So

hopefully that is helpful for those thinking about moving to a

new country and just some things that I thought about and how I

work around some things and how

I work around some things. But just make sure you thoroughly research

and plan. I mean, I've been thinking about this since

2022 and I started planning for

real like January of this year and I didn't make the move until May. So

I was planning, I mean, I took like three trips down

here between January and May just to get things in

order. So make sure that you're thoroughly doing your

research, thoroughly planning, and that way you can ensure a

smoother, I'm not going to say completely smooth, but a smoother transition to

your new home. So thank you so much for listening to the podcast today.

And we release episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Tuesday is just solo episodes. Thursdays are usually my

interviews and we're just here to teach you and

help you learn more about money, business and career. So like I said, if

you have any questions, feel free to go to moneytalkwitht.com

x Tiffany and I'll be more than happy to answer. But in the

meantime, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful rest of

your week. Bye. Thank you for listening,

joining, and being a part of the Money Talk with TIFF podcast this week. You

can check TiFf out every Thursday for a new Money talk podcast.

But if you just can't wait until next week, you can listen to previous

podcast

episodes@moneytalkwitht.com or

follow TIFF on all social media platforms at

moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise

by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is

always sufficient.