The Cross Border Living Blog

Families in Transition Are Never Alone

A new article has been posted in the online edition of The Weekly Telegraph covering highlights of the 8th annual Families in Global Transition. The following is an excerpt from the article:

"...for most the conference was a cause for celebration. Those who have helped to "educate, empower and equip" others have not kept the knowledge to themselves. Many have written about it, too, and the FIGT bookshop did a roaring trade. Marian Weston was not the only one with a new book. US-based Briton Toni Summers Hargis has seen her book, Rules, Britannia: An Insider's Guide to Life in the United Kingdom, launched in the UK, while Jennifer Patterson launched her book on financial planning for multi-movers, When Families Cross Borders, at the conference. Another Expat world contributor, Robin Pascoe, generously gave a copy of her latest book, Raising Global Nomads, to every delegate."

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Get a Complimentary Copy of My Book!

That's right! You could be one of five lucky winners of a complimentary copy of my book, When Families Cross Borders: A Guide for Internationally Mobile People during the month of May.

I'm excited to support ExpatWomen.com, a fantastic new website designed to help all expatriate women living outside of their home country. By signing up for their online newsletter, you will be entered in the book draw. The newsletter is your monthly reminder of all the great new content being listed on the site. Whether this is your first experience living overseas, you're a seasoned expat or permanently residing overseas (like me), you will be sure to find something of interest - from books and blogs to country mentors and useful articles to success stories and expat confessions.

Good luck!

Global Transition and Personal Finance

In March, I attended the 8th Families in Global Transition international conference. I enjoyed talking with attendees from the corporate, military and diplomatic sectors as well as the many relocation specialists and fellow authors in attendance.

Joyce Blake, Executive Director of Families in Global Transition, Inc., the non-profit educational organization which hosts the event, welcomed attendees, remarking that first-time attendees should expect to feel as though they are amongst family even though they may have never met one another before. I quickly began to understand what Joyce was referring to. I found that I could talk for hours with people I had just met about things that each of us understood so well: challenges with children, family members, spouses, new locations, identity, work-life balance, schooling and on and on.

And yet, as I talked with these people, who I now consider good friends, I couldn't help making mental notes about how often we talked or complained about the financial planning aspects of global mobility and its relationship to work-life balance. Nearly all of the people with whom I spoke seemed to echo the same comments on reflection: (1) that cross-border assignees are lax and/or unknowing about personal financial affairs and (2) there are many complicating factors associated with border crossing that they had never considered/contemplated (which seems to tie back to the unknowing comments).

Perhaps it is time that we recognize the importance of reviewing strategies as regard our personal financial matters in the sphere of global transitions.

The Four Dynamics of Cross-Border Living

Since launching Crossborderliving.com and posting to this blog, I had received email correspondence from many expatriates and otherwise internationally mobile people who "get" what cross-border living is, but I also get a number of queries from others asking me to describe it for them.

I'm curious, what does crossborderliving mean to you? Please post your comments or email me directly and perhaps I'll post some of them in the upcoming days to start a conversation about what I think is a very important topic.

In the meantime, I have listed below what I call the "Four Dynamics of Cross-Border Living", which are expanded upon in my book When Families Cross Borders: A Guide For Internationally Mobile People. I believe that these dynamics are part of the core of cross-border living from a life and financial planning perspective:

1. Globalization continues to break down barriers. In the current era of globalization, individuals can now ask themselves "where do I fit in" and "how can I collaborate with others?" People and assets are in motion across international borders regularly.
2. Despite some international conventions, laws are jurisdictional. Although the world is increasingly "flat", tax, matrimonial and succession laws are still defined by national and municipal boundaries and are often in conflict with one another.
3. While the world may be flattening, people are multidimensional. Individuals have a need to live, to love, to learn and to leave a legacy. Increasingly, internationally mobile people and those living a cross-border lifestyle are seeking ways to find balance among these needs and the four dynamics of cross-border living.
4. Cultural and familial imprints regarding money. Faced with the complexities of certain aspects of cross-border living, many of us know that we could be making greater strides in taking control of the life we most want to live, but often belief systems that tie back to cultural and familial imprints, hold us back.

Ten Factors to Consider When Choosing a Destination For Your Overseas Retirement

More and more people are looking to the second half of their statistical lifetime as an opportunity to combine their talents and interests with their lifestyle and leisure goals. For many of this group, this opportunity may involve a permanent move into another country.

The most frequently asked question is also often the most difficult and time consuming question for people in this situation: "where should I/we retire"? This question is often closely followed by "how do I/we choose?"

The answer? You begin by identifying and organizing your priorities. Each jurisdiction offers its share of benefits and challenges. You need to weigh them against your list of priorities. The following list sets out 10 key issues to keep in mind as you create your list of priorities.

1. Immigration/Residency Requirements. Not all countries have open immigration policies. In many cases, you will need sponsorship from a close relative to be allowed permanent residency and/or citizenship.
2. Infrastructure. Not all countries have paved roads or high-speed internet.
3. Climate. No climate is absolutely perfect, but be sure you know what you are prepared to live with (or without).
4. Health Care. Consider availability, quality and cost.
5. Safety and Stability. I think this speaks for itself.
6. Culture. This is where the saying "When in Rome, Do As the Romans Do", comes to mind. Again, what is important here? Are you seeking the culture of your family heritage? How open are you to cultures radically different than your current location or upbringing?
7. Cost of Living. In some cases, cost of living ties into infrastructure, taxation and health care. In most cases, there will be tradeoffs. While paradise might come at a low cost of living, be sure you know what tradeoffs you need to be prepared to accept.
8. Cost of Real Estate. Although this also links into cost of living, be sure your research includes what is driving the cost of real estate in the jurisdiction and any impact that might have on your financial planning.
9. Family Matters. Consider proximity to family, heritage, health (current and future) of your parents, your spouse/partner and yourself, etc. If you have children or grandchildren whom you wish to see regularly, this factor may have a high priority for you and influence your decisions accordingly.
10. Taxation. Although taxation of income and assets (by countries where you have assets/income, the country of interest and in some cases your birth country) and other financial issues that may arise are very important, I suggest that they are best examined after you have made your quality of life decisions. For now, consider where this factor resides in your priority list.

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Proverbs and Common Beliefs

All cultures have their share of proverbs, truisms and sayings that have become ingrained into our lives. They are so fundamental that they are part of our wiring or mapping as people. In my experience there are five situations that seem to present themselves regularly.  You will find them below. It is also my experience that the people who find themselves in these situations and the often negative effects that accompany these situations in a cross-border financial planning context, never really doubted the wisdom or assumption they made.

I have listed my musings below. Please add your comments and/or experiences. Are there situations that are more common or is there a common belief/saying/proverb that better explains the genesis of the situation?

1. Dual citizens of countries that include the USA who believe that transactions and plans that are put into effect in one country does not affect their plan in the other country; that their matters in each country are mutual exclusive of one another; What happens in x, stays in x

2. The rule of keeping one foot in the door. “I don’t know what to do, so I will keep some assets here, after all I used to live here and I visit frequently. I don’t want “all of my eggs in the same basket” anyway. So, I have some assets in a few jurisdictions and I file a tax return from time to time… I’m hopeful that it will all wash in the end” ---

1. This is closely related to 2, above, so it doesn’t get its own number. I also don’t have a proverb or common wisdom other than “have a backup plan”. Result is that the person maintains residency either through the failure to file final tax return in home country or doesn’t completely deal with the US Green card. Questions that needle the person in this situation: What if this new position doesn’t work out? Maybe we’ll split up some day? I might just want to come back some day…

3. What’s good for the gander is good for the goose or my friends told me about a strategy that worked well for them…

4. Take action first, think about it later – the opposite of “measure twice, cut once”—action speaks louder than words

5. Assumption that the laws governing investment, taxation and immigration are similar between countries. The change in the look of the commercial landscape of many countries to include familiar multinational companies and franchises as well as similarities to common language a cultures amongst regions of the world may contribute and the increase of information from the world wide web could be three reasons for an increasing comfort felt by many people to extend their lives or see their family extend. However, this increased comfort also seems to bring an unfortunate by-product: the assumption that this increased visual similarity or recognition of symbols of similarity somehow translates to an actual similarity between jurisdictions in the areas of asset transfer, investment, residency and social systems.