Location vs Money

[Jason]

I have no idea what you should do but congrats on having the choice. My douchebag brother worked in Hong Kong back in the day and made money because his employer picked up his housing costs. I don't know if there is a certain amount of cache working overseas in your field. I personally wouldn't go near Asia specifically China. Not the people but the government. I don't think I could live in a non-democratic society unless I pulled a Colonel Kurtz and made myself God of the people. Even then I'm not sure of though. I like to be left alone.

On a philosophical note, this seems to be an ongoing question for ERE in general. For those of us who are geographically tethered, there is nothing to do for the moment, but eventually retiring will be predicated on where to do it.

[James_0011]

@pukingRainbows.

Yeah thats what I am trying to figure out. I highly value new experiences and learning from other cultures, Im just not sure if its worth pushing back the FI date. Although the main reason I want to FI is so I can have new experiences...hmmmmmmmm

@Jason

Im not sure that many people in my field go abroad to work. I don't think the company will pay for my housing as its not a company that just has a branch office in thailand, it was founded there by expat westerners.

[The Old Man]

With a US income of $55-60K and student loans of $19K, you should be able to retire the debt within one year. Asia can wait one year. Pay of the debt first.

[Riggerjack]

You should listen to your heart.

Then ignore that tripe, and make a good decision. While I think expat work could be fun, the technical people I know who have done expat work ended up living in expat committed, that did everything they could to minimize the cultural influence of the host country.

Whereas going to Asia to spend time and immerse yourself in the experience would be a completely different trip. Kinda like the difference between backpacking, and "camping" in an RV, with satellite TV.

I don't know you, or your goals, but my recommendation would be to get the money, pay off your debt, get a passport, and wait for your first layoff/quit/stress out/fired situation, and go rent a place in SE Asia, while figuring out what is next. Get the money. Get the good stories. Get the job there after you decide you like it, and have a higher salary history.

Or listen to your heart, it probably doesn't agree with me.

[James_0011]

@Riggerjack

Thanks for the kick in the ass. Also, looking at c40's journal made me realize how much I want to be doing that instead of working...

[wolf]

@Riggerjack

Thanks for the kick in the ass. Also, looking at c40's journal made me realize how much I want to be doing that instead of working...

Hi James_0011. I searched for your journal in order to get some more information how you doing regarding "location vs. money". But unluckily I can't find your journal. Since this topic is over one year old, how did it go? What have you been doing since then? If I read correctly you decided for the the money, didn't you? Well, then I found some responses from you in other threads like "Work, is it that bad?", "How much do you value location independence", ... Would be great if you could share some information regarding "location vs. money".

[slowtraveler]

For the calculation, don't forget to include the FEIE which makes your taxable income effectively 0 except for FICA taxes. So backdoor Roth IRA may still be possible but not direct Roth. And also look at state taxes.

And Asia may also have its own taxes.