You see, good old Uncle Sam taxes its citizens and green-card holders on worldwide income.

Yes, if you structure your financial life properly you can get an exemption for earnings abroad, up to $102,100 for an individual in 2017. But you still have to file with the IRS every year, and you have to submit special forms to get your foreign income exclusion.

In other words, it can become a big PITA.

Last December, I received an email from a company called Taxes for Expats. They offered me a deal — they would give me a credit of $350 toward tax preparation if I would write about my experience with them on the website.

How could I refuse?

Now, you might be wondering why I’m publishing this article now, after tax filing deadline is long past. . . .

Well, it’s not past if you’re an expat — expats get an automatic filing extension (did you know that)? So if you’re living abroad and you haven’t filed your US taxes yet, there’s still time.

Organizing My Tax Information

They set me up with a username and password to log into their online portal, where I could enter my information.

While it was straightforward, there were areas that weren’t entirely intuitive. I felt like it took more of my time than it should have.

Since I’m dealing with income and expenses from self-employment, I typically use my accounting software (I use QuickBooks Self Employed) to generate spreadsheets that show total business income and categorize my business expenses.

My previous tax preparer was fine with that. My assigned preparer at Taxes for Expats still wanted me to fill in everything on their online forms.

Responsiveness

They offered an initial phone consultation, which I did not take advantage of.

After I signed up, I received several emails reminding me to start inputting my information. While the information they sent me about getting started was helpful, it got to feel a little bit naggy since I was also waiting to receive some necessary information (end-of-year statements and the like).

When I had a question, my preparer responded quickly. At the bottom of each email was a notice inviting me to contact her supervisor if I didn’t receive a timely (within 24 hours) response on weekdays. I never needed to do that, but it was nice to have the option available.

Fees

Their fee structure is simple, and is based on your income. If you earn less than $100,000 for the year, the fee is $350. Over that, it’s $450.

A state return is another $100.

Filing the FATCA is $100, and the FBAR is $75 (for up to 5 accounts).

If you file a Schedule C, as I do, that’s another $100. Corporate returns are more.

They also have a few add-ons. For example, if you make a change after you’ve given your initial approval — even if it’s to fix their error — they charge $25.

Would I Use Them Again?

If I didn’t already have a preparer I really like, I probably would. I don’t have any problem recommending them.

And they’ve given me this special link, which gives you a $25 discount when you use their services. If you decide to try them out, let me know how you like them.

Save $25

Photo by donkeyhotey on flickr

The post Taxes for Expats appeared first on Future Expats.

Here are 10 things you should leave behind on a backpacking adventure or non-working trip.

Guest post by Yogi and Suchna

When you pack items you don’t need, you slow yourself down, tire yourself out, and can even add to the cost of your trip.

The art of packing light is a process, and there is always room for improvement. To lighten your load, here are 10 things we suggest you leave at home when you head out for your next backpacking adventure.

#1: Forget your big suitcase

The first tip for packing lighter is to select the right suitcase or bag according to your travel plans. You should always go for a lightweight trolley suitcase or duffel bag, instead of a heavy bag. This will cause no extra strain on your muscles, and you can move around freely.

#2. Ditch the extra outfits

Well, clothes are not the things to leave behind, but, yes, carrying excess outfits can cost you extra charges as well as heavy loads.  Just keep in mind your goal is to enjoy the place, not to show yourself off.

#3. Do you really need to bring your own food and water?

Food and water are vital for living, but not worth carrying in a significant amount. You can get hygienically cooked food and packed water at every tourist place. So a wise traveller will never carry the extra burden of food and water.

#4. Forget the books and magazines

You enjoy reading during your vacation, but carrying books and magazine can cause space and weight problems. So update yourself with a lightweight, slim tab that will serve you the purpose.

Editor’s note – I never go anywhere without my Kindle. Why a dedicated reading device instead of a tablet? Better sleep. . . Kindles use e-ink, not the blue light that you should avoid before bedtime for better quality, deeper sleep.

#5. Downsize your toiletries

Toiletries are essential, but we don’t need a lot at one time. Almost all hotels provide basic toiletries, so choose only a few items that take care of your daily needs. Leave the big bottles and take a ready-to-use pouch or small container, and use all-in-one makeup kits.

#6 Leave the heavy gadgets at home

An unnecessary glut of electronic gadgets can be cumbersome while traveling, so forget carrying the laptop, DVD players, coffeemaker, etc. Instead, take a smartphone with enough storage to store your favorite movies, songs etc. Remember — this is advice for a non-working trip!

#7. You’re not Imelda Marcos, so forget all the shoes

Make sure you are carrying only one or two pairs of all-purpose shoes that work with all weather conditions and outfits. It will make your luggage lighter and less bulky.

#8. Don’t roll out the sleeping bag

Never carry a sleeping bag unless you’re going camping in the woods. Even then you may not need it — nowadays there are facilities to hire bedding and camping gear at many destinations.

#9. Your hotel has you covered

See sleeping bag above — unless you’re going camping in the woods, you don’t need to bring your own sheets and towels. If you are planning to camp, make sure the linens you bring are light weight.

#10. Leave it on the vanity at home

Many hotels provide what you need for hair styling, so leave your hair straightener, hair dryer, curler at home as they eat up your luggage capacity. And leave the large, clunky jewelry at home, too. It just takes up space in your bag.

Remember, you’re traveling for fun! And you’ll enjoy your trip a lot more if you can shorten your airport check-in times, reduce the weight you’re lugging around, and make that tight connection.

Author Bio

Yogi and Suchna believe in taking the road less travelled and stumbling upon some hidden gems along the way! For over a decade, they’ve mapped their way across various continents, sniffed out unusual routes, discovered new flavors and stayed at quirky hostels. TheBackpackerCo is their expression of soul travel. You can catch up with them at TheBackpackerCo – The Backpack Paris Trip Experts.

The post Pack Lighter: 10 Items to Leave Behind on Your Next Backpacking Adventure appeared first on Future Expats.

Solo travel is on the rise, especially among millennials and women. A recent estimate claims there’ve been 21 million solo travelers from the UK and the US.

That’s a lot of solo travel!

When you’re travelling with someone else, you share each discovery, but when you are alone, you have to carry each experience with you like a secret, something you have to write on your heart, because there’s no other way to preserve it.”

– Shauna Niequist the author of Present over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living.

To define solo travel as an “emerging phenomenon” would be unfair to the memory of wanderers like Ernest Hemingway and Freya Stark who travelled far and alone. The number of people travelling solo is increasing year after year. Google searches for “solo travel” and “travel alone” hit the highest mark ever in January, 2018.

It’s obvious that solo travel has become the new “it” way to go.

Women are Leading the Way

Virginia Woolf famously said,  “As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the whole world,” so the woman of today doesn’t sit back and rely on others to fulfill her wishes to see the world.

A recent survey by Independent.co.uk showed that 58.3 percent of single travellers are women. Booking.com, in their survey of 2014, stated that American women are most likely to travel solo and take more than one trip a year while Solo Traveler World announced that 72 percent of American women are traveling solo.

Advantages of Solo Travel

The essence of solo travel lies in its expediency.

1. Self-discovery is the most known and celebrated advantage of lone travel.
2. Improvement of social skills and opportunity to make new friends is a driving force in itself.
3. A schedule free of interference and accommodation with others is a perk on its own.
4. It will give you a sense of independence and push you out of your comfort zone.
5. It will be more cost-efficient in terms of accommodation (can stay in hostels) and food wise (grabbing street food.)

Disadvantages

All pros come with cons. The disadvantages are:

1. Safety issue – as Ned Stark (Game of Thrones) once said, “the lone wolf dies, the pack survives.” Otherwise known as safety in numbers.
2. Luggage – you would have to carry all your luggage by yourself.
3. Cost – nobody to split your meal and room cost with.

Travel and Lifestyle Bloggers

Growing numbers of people are finding ways to make their travel pay for itself, through travel or lifestyle blogs.

Three of the big travel bloggers to follow are Nomadic Matt, Dan Flying Solo, and Lili’s Travel Plans.

Although their travel is often work — they’re busy writing, taking photos, and making copious notes to turn into articles or guides later, and they have to stay active on social media to keep their ratings up — they all say “we wouldn’t change a thing!” They love their life — and the money doesn’t hurt either.

Because they’ve developed large followings on their blogs and on social media, they can sell advertising, work for companies as brand ambassadors, create and sell their own guidebooks, and write reviews of places they visit in exchange for free trips.

If you’re interested in becoming a travel blogger, here’s something that will help you get started. 

Impact on the Travel Business

The growth of solo tourists has helped the travel industry to flourish, and encouraged the travel and tourism industry to make suitable provisions for them.

1. Various travel websites like Tripadvisor and Goaway have launched solo travelling and single-friendly packages.
2. There are some websites like Solotrekker4u that are fully committed to providing the best solo travel experience.
3. A few websites dedicate themselves to the cause of motivating and preparing one for solo travel and provide deals related to it.
4. Even cruise companies are restructuring their cabins and equipping themselves with services fit for lone travellers.
5. Cab companies have introduced conveniences like Express POOL and UberPOOL which are fairly cheap and help lone tourists save money.

Be Daring

Helen Keller taught us that “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

Waiting around for others to make plans for you that you didn’t even want in the first place will lead your life to a compromise, and to what end? If your heart would rather take you to Havana when your friends only think about crashing in Vegas, just pack a bag and lead your own way.

YOLO, right?

Author Bio

Lysha works at Lalco Residency – Executive Apartments in Mumbai and she loves her job. Helping clients and monitoring the progress of business strategies along with her leadership skills makes her perfect suited for Hospitality services. You can catch up with Lysha at Lalco Residency in Mumbai, where of course they welcome solo travelers.

This post was originally published at Anywhereist.com. Used by permission.

The post Solo Travel – a Growing Phenomenon. Is it Right for You? appeared first on Future Expats.

I don’t know what they based the selection on (other than obvious good taste!), but I’m happy we were included.

The post Future Expats Named a Top Expat Blog appeared first on Future Expats.

Already got yours? then you’re probably good to go and you can skip this article. But if you don’t yet have a US passport, apply for one right away.

If you’re looking to get a passport for the first time, you must apply in person, using Form DS-11.

How long does it take to get a new US passport?

Be prepared to pay the required fees, based on the speed you want your application processed (an expedited application costs more), and where you are applying.

After your appointment (see below), it generally takes 4-6 weeks. And that’s after you spend 2-3 weeks collecting the required documentation.

If you pay extra for an expedited passport, expect it to take 2-3 weeks.

What are the fees for a passport?

The fee to the Department of State for a new, adult passport is $110. There’s an additional $60 fee to expedite. If I were to apply at my local county clerk’s office, they charge a separate, additional fee of $25.

Generally, a check, cashier’s check, or money order is acceptable. Official Passport Agencies may also take credit cards.

How to set up a passport application appointment

To set up an appointment in advance for your in-person application call 1-877-487-2778.

Here’s a listing of passport offices where you can apply in person, however, at these offices you’ll be required to pay an expedited fee. Many post offices and government offices will take in-person passport applications, so do an online search for “passport office” in your area.

Documents you’ll need for your passport application

1. Download the PDF form, print it, and complete it.
2. Get a proper passport photograph taken. Here’s a list of places, including pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS. FedEx and UPS stores will also take passport photos.
3. Gather documentation. This must include:
   • Proof of citizenship. If you were born in the US, a birth certificate, certified, is usually sufficient, but read the rules on Form DS-11 carefully. You may also have to provide a marriage certificate, for example.
   • Identification which contains both a photograph of you and your signature. Acceptable ID includes drivers license, military ID, or government employee ID.
4. Go to your appointment with all the required forms, photographs and documentation, as well as fees.

If you have children, pay special attention to the rules for obtaining a passport for a child under the age of 16!

Note: This information was accurate when it was written, but can change any time.

This information is taken from my book, Getting Out of the USA: What You Need to Know Before Moving Abroad. You can purchase the book from Amazon.

Other articles you’ll like:

• Getting Out of the USA: Easy First Steps for Moving Abroad
• Leaving the USA? Here’s What You Need to Know First
• How I Survived the Polar Vortex

The post How to Apply for a US Passport appeared first on Future Expats.

Today, that adventurous life also includes a booming business as a travel blogger, podcaster, and photographer.

You’ll find him online at https://everything-everywhere.com/, and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/.

I interviewed Gary previously (you can see the article HERE), but recently I caught up with him again to ask him some questions about his portable career as a photographer and travel blogger.

In the Beginning. . .

Surprisingly, Gary doesn’t have any photography background.

In 1994, he started an internet company. Then in 2007, he decided to travel the world so he bought a camera and taught himself how to use it. He made a lot of mistakes along the way.

But he learned from those mistakes. . . oh, boy, did he learn. Since 2010 he’s won one photography award after another, including the prestigious Best Travel Photographer of the Year, repeatedly, from both the Society of American Travel Writers and the North American Travel Journalists Association.

Gary started his Everything Everywhere blog in 2007. At the time he just wanted to share what he was doing with friends and family.

It didn’t start out as a business. In fact, there wasn’t anyone to really look at who was blogging as a business at the time. “It wasn’t really a thing back then,” he stated.

Around 2011, he got some sponsorships and endorsements, so that was when “it started to become the beginnings of a business.” He still didn’t do a lot of the things that a lot of professional bloggers did.

Today he has one employee who manages things, but Gary still handles all the content creation.

There’s No Place Like Home. . .

Gary’s originally from Wisconsin, but today he calls Minneapolis home.

Where to Go. . .

Gary admitted this has been a slow travel year — he’s only been to six countries so far. (Only!) He has plans to visit Newfoundland in Canada, then Norway, Indonesia, Ireland, Argentina, and Brazil.

“It’s hard to say where I’ll go,” he admitted, because “things pop up.”

Gary chooses where to go based on opportunities that present themselves. “I might have a tourism board or a tour company that wants to do something with me,” he acknowledged. “If I find it interesting. I might do it.”

Gary’s whole life as a travel blogger today is driven by what’s interesting to him. He chooses where to go based on whether he’s excited about it.

The Business Side. . .

All of Gary’s business comes down to the fact that he’s developed an audience. Whether he’s selling rights to images, getting a sponsorship, or being hired for a project, it’s all because he has an audience that likes his work. (He has over 200,000 followers on Instagram alone!)

Gary’s income sources break down into four main categories. Here they are, in the the order in which they contribute to his overall income, from most to least.

• Photo sales
• Blog (advertising, sponsorships)
• Travel Photography Academy course
• Other

One of Gary’s projects is a course he’s developed, called the Travel Photography Academy.
He started it because he saw a need.

“I would see people on very expensive trips with expensive cameras who didn’t know how to use them. I realized if people were willing to invest a little money they could learn to take better photos and get more out of their investment.”

There’s a lot of interest from his current audience — he hasn’t done any advertising, or used any affiliates yet to sell the course.

And a Podcast. . .

In 2009, Gary started a weekly video interview podcast called This Week in Travel. He doesn’t do a weekly show any more, calling it a “semi-weekly” show.

He’s hoping to launch another podcast soon. This one won’t be specifically about travel, and will be “more of a monolog focusing on culture and history rather than traditional travel.”
He’s hoping it will appeal to a wider audience. Gary pointed out that:

“If you look at lifestyle niches like food and fashion, those are issues people deal with every single day. Travel is much more expensive and requires more of a time commitment. Most people might follow food or fashion all the time, but they’re only interested in travel right before they take a trip.
That’s offset by fact they spend a lot when traveling, but there’s not the steady interest in travel you see with other areas.”

What About the Tech?

When Gary first thought about doing a video podcast back in 2007, the technology was daunting. “Now you can shoot HD video on a smartphone,” he pointed out. “It’s so easy it’s almost like cheating.”

Gary believes the advances in technology are the reason there’s been such an explosion in digital nomads and people traveling full time or long term.

Coming Up. . .

Gary believes everyone who’s been truly successful has been doing what they want, not basing their efforts on keyword research and market studies.

He pointed out that one of the biggest podcasts on iTunes is Hardcore History. “It breaks all the rules of podcasting,” he explained. “Each show is about five hours long, and it’s a complete monolog show.”

Going forward, Gary plans to focus more on his training course, and on posting more. He may hire someone to help with that. Gary explained:

When you’re doing stuff online, no one size fits all. Everyone has drifted in different directions. I really think that it has to stem from a passion. If you don’t know what to talk about, you shouldn’t even be doing this. If you have something you’re passionate about, then it’s easy.”

Are you looking for a way to earn an income, or supplement one, from anywhere? I’m developing a roadmap to help you get started. Click here to get the earliest notice!

Other Articles You’ll Like:

• It All Started with Dancing in the Fountain
• How to Travel the World (and Not Pay Rent!)
• The Delectable Skill Sandwich of Portable Careers

The post How Gary Arndt Built an Adventure-Based Portable Career appeared first on Future Expats.

Most everyone starts with shared hosting, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Shared hosting is inexpensive, and if you choose wisely, it can do the job for you. At least for a while. But managed WordPress hosting is a big improvement, and will save you time, in three important areas.

Security

WordPress is the most popular site-building platform, used by over 25% of all websites. The downside to that popularity is that it’s a tempting target for hackers and purveyors of malware.

You don’t want to do that.

Managed hosting is more secure than shared hosting. Period. And when your site is more secure, it frees up your valuable time to focus on creating great content and attracting readers to your site.

Remember the Panama Papers scandal last year? The law firm was vulnerable because they didn’t keep their WordPress site updated. They were running an old version of WordPress, and their plugins. . . well, I’d rather not even think about it.

It’s important to keep everything up-to-date, because as security vulnerabilities are found, updates include patches to fix them. So if you’re running older versions, the internet bad guys already know how they can sneak in and wreak havoc on your site.

One of my recommending managed hosting companies, WP Engine, says this about its process for updating WordPress.

“We don’t update during the beta or immediately when the update is released. Instead, our engineering team tests the new release and its features against our system to see how they act and react to our platform. We will also take note of any known issues you can expect after an update and have actionable solutions, should you be affected.

“Once we have analyzed the update and made the needed adjustments to our platform, we will announce the date that the first wave of updates will begin. If you would like to have the install updated immediately, please open a 24/7 Live Chat through your User Portal with your request and we will perform the update early. Otherwise, site administrators will be emailed 7 days and then once more, the day the update occurs.”

In other words, they make sure the update works with their server configuration, and then they’ll automatically update for you — after notifying you and giving you time to make any needed adjustments to your site. It’s the responsible thing to do.

On top of that, they’ve developed a process that allows them to actually test your site after the update and make sure everything’s working correctly. If it’s not — they revert to the previous version of WordPress and help you fix the issue.

WP Engine expects you to keep your plugins and theme up to date, but when they learn about a security vulnerability, they’ll let you know so you can take immediate action.

That’s time you don’t have to spend updating is time you can work on your business.

Speed

Your site needs to load fast. Not only do your readers demand it, but Google now uses page load speed as one of the things that determines your search ranking. If your site is too slow, fewer people will find you via search, and when people do find your site, they’ll bounce off as soon as they realize it’s not loading fast enough. (Hint – it’s less than 3 seconds.)

Managed hosting companies optimize their servers for WordPress, so your page load speed is better. (A regular hosting companies has sites on WordPress, Joomla, and other content management systems, and using a variety of programming languages.)

Working to improve site speed on the wrong host is a time-sucking battle that you can’t win.

Ready for Managed WordPress Hosting?

Ready for Managed WordPress Hosting?

Here are the two companies I recommend:

WPEngine

In addition to all that you’d expect from a reputable managed WordPress host, one of WPEngine’s features that I particularly like is their staging. They make it very easy to create or modify a site out of the public eye. Then, when you’re ready to show the world your changes, it’s pretty much click-of-a-button simple.

Learn more WPEngine’s staging sites here.

StudioPress Sites

I’ve written pretty extensively about StudioPress Sites here and here. Or click here to go directly to their site.

Note: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. This means, if you click and purchase, I receive a small commission. You pay exactly the same amount, but the commissions help me keep this site going.

This post originally published at WordPress Building Blocks. Used by permission.

Other Articles You’ll Enjoy:

• 52 Links to Help You Build Your WordPress Website
• How to Be a Happiness Hero Overseas
• This is the Delectable Skill Sandwich of Portable Careers

The post 3 Ways to Save Time with the Right Kind of WordPress Hosting appeared first on Future Expats.

Yes, the entire state. It was a B-I-G storm.

Living near Orlando, we watched its path anxiously, and prepared as best we could.

We’ve gone through hurricanes before, lots of them. We still vividly remember Hurricane Charley in 2004, which turned all of metro Orlando into a sea of blue tarps.

Back to the present day. . . Irma arrived in the late afternoon, bringing wind and rain. A few minutes after 7 PM, our power went out. We dragged out the flashlights, and watched, and waited. Around 10 PM we retreated to an interior area, away from all outside doors and windows.

At about 5 AM, the wind had died down enough that I finally went to bed.

In the morning, we found a huge amount of debris from downed trees, huge branches, and smaller vegetation, although fortunately not a lot of property damage.

And we were still out of power, along with about 70% of all Floridians.

Over the next few days, power was restored to a lot of homes and businesses, but not ours. All told, our power was out for over a week.

Thank Goodness I Developed a Portable Career!

Once I knew the hurricane would affect us, I scrambled to turn in a project before the deadline, knowing I needed to make sure it was in the client’s hands before the storm hit.

A couple of days before the storm arrived, I emailed my other active clients to let them know that we were in Irma’s path and that I would likely not be able to work for a few days. I also told them I would reach out when power and internet were back to normal.

They were all very understanding.

After a couple of days without power at home, I started taking my laptop to neighborhood cafes and friends’ houses (those whose power had been restored) to get some work done. It was a great excuse to visit with one friend I hadn’t seen in a couple of years, even though she only lives about 10 minutes away.

After a couple more days without power, I packed a suitcase and my laptop and went to stay with my sister in Virginia. While it wasn’t exactly business as usual, I was able to get back on track.

She set me up with my own little office in their travel trailer. Here’s what my temporary workspace looked like.

I’ll admit, I didn’t just arbitrarily say, “I think I’ll go to Virginia.”

My niece was getting married the following weekend, so I’d planned the trip anyway — I just went a few days early. So I got to:

• Work
• In air conditioning
• Visit with family

But that’s the kind of thing you can do when you’ve created a location-independent career. (Of course, it’s a lot more fun when you’re using your location independence to travel to new and exciting places.)

Once you’ve established your freelance business, or whatever it is that you’re doing, you can work pretty much anywhere, even without a hurricane.

And that’s the whole point.

Here are some tools to help you develop your own portable career.

Other articles you’ll like:

• Rainmaker Platform: Manage Your Portable Career Easier and Faster
• This is the Delectable Skill Sandwich of Portable Careers
• Portable Careers: Can You Really Make a Location-Independent Living?

The post How Not to Let a Little Thing Like a Hurricane Stop You! appeared first on Future Expats.

This year, Live & Invest Overseas has done a phenomenal job. The index is robust, at more than 300 pages, and it zeros in, not on countries, but on specific cities and towns.

Best of all, this resource is free for you if you subscribe to their magazine. (By itself, the Overseas Retirement Index costs $47 — and if you’re seriously planning an overseas move, totally worth it!)

Note that “overseas retirement index” may be a little misleading. . . These recommendations are very helpful for retirees. They’re equally helpful for anyone with a portable career who wants to live abroad, so if you’re not yet retired, mentally substitute the word “living” for “retirement.”

Let’s take a look at why I think this year’s index is so terrific.

#1. It Breaks Out Results According to What’s Important to You

There are sections devoted to the best types of places to live:

• Beach / Island destinations
• City
• Small town
• Highland
• Historical
• “The best of the rest,” including best LGBTQ, best for single women, best for kids, best for millennials, and best to find romance

This structure makes it super easy for you to find what you’re looking for.

#2. Recommendations are Graded

Grades are based on important factors, with clear explanations for how each grade was arrived at. They include:

• Cost of living
• Climate
• Health care
• Entertainment
• Recreation
• English spoken
• Expat community
• Infrastructure, including important things like:
  • internet
  • electricity
  • domestic access (roads, public transportation)
  • international access (airports, direct flights to US and Canada)
• Environment, including pollution, drinking water, litter, etc.
• Crime
• Affordability of real estate
• Real estate restrictions
• Residency
• Taxes

#3. “Best of” Specified for Each Region

You’ll find the best beach and island communities in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Ditto for the best small towns, cities, etc. So if you already know you want to enjoy the Old World, for example, you can skip directly to the European choices.

#4. Best of the Best

Finally, you’ll find the best overall picks for each region.

These include a monthly budget breakdown in the local currency, with the total translated into US dollars. It also includes a summary of the grades awarded.

This page is suitable for printing so you can take it with you and study it!

This series of tables makes it very easy to directly compare several locations of interest.

#5. Even More Information

As if that all weren’t enough, you’ll also find helpful information about some of the most vexing questions, like

• How to move your pets overseas (I’ve done it, and it’s a very detailed and time-sensitive process)
• How to get mail abroad
• Smartphone apps to install before you go
• Best golf courses where you’re going
• Best fishing spots

There’s even a corruption index, so you know in advance where you’re mostly likely to be asked for a bribe if you’re the subject of a traffic stop.

There are lots more extras, too, including graphics that show clearly the differences in internet speeds, or climates, in the various recommended locations.

I’ve been reading these “best of” indexes for years, and this one is the most thorough and interesting of any I’ve seen. Hats off to the staff of Live & Invest Overseas for producing such a great resource.

Subscribe to the Magazine

Some of these links may be affiliate links. That means, if you click and place an order, I receive a small commission. It helps me keep this site running. Thanks.

Other articles you might enjoy:

• What Are the Best Countries to Retire in 2017?
• Mid-2017 Cost of Living Update
• How to Travel the World (and Not Pay Rent!)

The post Why This is the Best Overseas Retirement Index I’ve Seen. . . appeared first on Future Expats.

An Anywhereist is someone who can live, work, and thrive anywhere. To do that, you need a portable income.

I plan to focus more on portable careers than I’ve done in the past. I’ll still be talking about the wonderful life you can create when you live overseas, but I’ll focus more on how you can work to pay for it.

I’m working on a complete site redesign to reflect these changes (it would be easier if Hurricane Irma hadn’t deprived me of power and internet!!).

If you’re on my email list (and if not, why aren’t you?) I’ll keep you posted via email as I prepare to roll out new stuff.

If you want to join the list, sign up here. (You’ll be able to download the free e-book, Untether Yourself: 5 Portable Careers to Support You Overseas.)

In the meantime, here’s more information about portable careers.

Stay tuned. . .

The post Do You Want to Become an Anywhereist? appeared first on Future Expats.