3 to 4 Months Out

-Book your air tickets

-Apply for visa

-Talk to a company to rent out the house

-Get passports for us and the boys renewed

-Renew driver’s license if you need to

-Start selling minor stuff online

-Organize the cancellation of all magazine and subscriptions or regular deliveries you receive

1 to 2 Months Out

-Get a house in your destination

-Change your address on anything which requires it like the internet hosting services, websites, etc.

-Check the documentation requirements for your destination.

-Inform your children’s school that you will be moving abroad and ask for transfer certificates and any information which will be relevant when you move.

-Look for charities that will get our furniture/clothes etc.

-Rent a box / storage for important documents

-Get mail forwarding company.

1 Month Out

-Scan all IDs, passports, credit cards, etc. and have copies with you and on Dropbox and on USB drive

-Create a folder with all hard copies and paperwork of the important documents and create a file on your computer for all of your saved files.

-Create a tax and finance folder with any information which can be claimed back on tax.

-Downgrade your cell phone to the cheapest plan or cancel it all together.

-Prepare a list of important phone numbers and addresses.

-Inform homeowner’s insurance agency, if you plan to rent the house.

-Find out what the local names and equivalents are for any prescription medication you are on currently, Ask your doctor for extra supply.

-Pre-book all well-visits for our kids. Visit the dentist get cleaning. Get general checkup with family doctor -Make sure we don’t have outstanding medical bills.

-Get all necessary vaccinations/medications for yourself and the kids, if any.

-Print out change of address cards and let the post office we are moving.

-Start packing items which you will need in your destination country.

-Ask your doctors and dentist for copies of our medical records.

-Let the financial institutions (your bank, etc.) know you are moving abroad.

-Setup Google phone numbers with your local area.

-Make sure all financial stuff, taxes, etc. are setup with your accountant.

-Make sure home insurance, tax property is setup to be paid. Contact your bank and explain that we are moving abroad. If we already have a new address, we should give this to them.

-Make sure you have paid all outstanding bills (oil, electricity, water, security, cable TV, Internet, and telephone)

-Get all paperwork and information required for the shipping company for your stuff.

-Start to pack up the house, leaving the essentials that you need for the next month.

-Make sure everyone who needs it has your forwarding address has it specifically neighbors and get their name, address, emails, etc.  THEY WILL BE YOUR EYES AND EARS.

-Make sure we have left nothing behind in our house – check all rooms.

-Give your new address to friends and family in the U.S.

-Establish a working schedule for your business

-Enroll in language classes

-Get local Health Insurance for the kids you

-ENJOY the NEW COUNTRY

Some of the sites/forums advocate for stash as much cash as you can, live very frugal to a point that you deny yourself and your family for basic joys, have a very large retirement portfolio yet still constantly worry about it, account for zero return on your portfolio, and completely disregard receiving any money from social security…. Enough already!

Is everything doom & gloom? What is it with people are trying control every aspects of their life? You CANNOT control everything, period! You cannot predict the future! Stop trying so give yourself a break already!

As far as I am concerned, a happy and healthy life is possible if you follow a few basic personal finance principals; such as

-Live below your means and save as much as you can

-Marry wisely

-Be happy with what you have, NOT what you could have thus do not compete with Joneses

Whenever you feel that your seven+ figure portfolio is not good enough, think about those you live a fraction of your portfolio!

Life is not just accumulating money, worry about it all the time and then dying with stash of money.

Do you agree?

I assume that the name of “Warren Buffett” is a very familiar one for you.  If not, he is one of the most successful investors with estimated fortune of $62 billion (yes, it is with a B) based in Omaha, NE.

Here are the top 10 ways:

1. Reinvest your profits
2. Be Willing To Be Different
3. Never Suck Your Thumb
4. Spell Out The Deal Before You Start
5. Watch Small Expenses
6. Limit What You Borrow
7. Be Persistent
8. Know When To Quit
9. Assess The Risk
10. Know What Success Really Means

I think I am somewhat following his advices. Item #6 is especially important for me. In our business, we never borrow to just operate our business.