Well, Christmas is almost upon us and following hot on the festive season’s heels is the new year – and the new year is a great time to make a new start! If you’re thinking of making the ultimate new start and perhaps making some life changing decisions in 2010, hopefully this report will give you a helping hand when it comes to that decision making process.
We’re going to detail the 10 top reasons to go and live abroad as an expatriate. The list has been compiled by the Shelter Offshore team who between them have been around the world and back again! Okay, so we are all definitely biased towards the expatriate way of life…
…but if you’ve been looking for fuel to add to a fire already burning in your belly and driving you forward to looking abroad for a new life in 2010, you’ve found it in this report! For anyone else reading this who’s looking for inspiration, here are 10 solid reasons why you could potentially have more fun living abroad as an expat.
1. Expats Earn More
Depending on where in the world you relocate to, there is evidence out there to suggest that professional expatriates can earn significantly more than their peers back home. For example, the latest Expat Economics report from HSBC’s Expat Explorer range of surveys reveals that those living and working in the likes of Russia, Hong Kong, Japan and Switzerland earn more than $250,000 on average. A survey from NatWest International also revealed that on average, an expatriate professional’s salary was up to £20,000 higher than their onshore counterparts. So, if you’re money motivated or you just want to get ahead in the great savings race, going to live and work abroad can make a lot of potential sense!
2. Expats Pay Less Tax
By becoming non-resident in the UK for tax purposes you can take advantage of better tax regimes around the world. Those expats who live and work in the likes of the UAE where there is no or limited personal taxation find that they can really advance their wealth status as a result of the perfect combo of a higher salary and less tax. There are also ways for those who are paying income tax in their new nation to perhaps defer the payment of it on savings and investments which can then advance the rate at which said savings and investments grow. This is something that has to be researched on an individual basis because when it comes to your liability for tax, ignorance is not an excuse. So, explore your personal options with a financial adviser.
3. Expats Have a Better Work/Life Balance
Again according to HSBC’s findings, expats reveal that thanks to shorter commute times abroad on average and the fact that working hours can be far less intensive, they manage to achieve a better work/life balance by having more time at home to do the things they love doing. When a better work/life balance is achieved, productivity in the workplace often improves vastly as well – so, a win-win situation!
4. Expats Travel More
Because expats are already living away from home in a new nation surrounded by other ‘new nations,’ travel becomes completely second nature. Generally speaking, all expats have spent time travelling and exploring their new country, and going hand in hand with that experience for many is taking advantage of the options available in the new nation to ‘jump off’ and go elsewhere and explore. Expats are, on the whole, well travelled and have had many exciting adventures all over the world.
5. Expats Have a Better Quality of Life
The majority of expatriates surveyed by HSBC revealed that they now enjoy a better quality of life since relocating overseas than they enjoy previously. This can be put down to many of the other factors that come with relocation – such as being able to spend more time at home, outdoors and just away from the workplace, having more opportunity to travel, explore and have adventures and living in a better environment.
6. Expats Enjoy Broader Cultural Opportunities
When you’re restricted by your own home nation you may find yourself becoming more narrow minded as your life goes on! Those who explore more of the world and are exposed to different cultures through food, communication, religion, working practices and every day life will usually say their life is enhanced as a result.
7. Expats Can Advance Their Careers
There are fewer barriers to career advancement if you’re willing to travel. You’re not restricted to a single marketplace in a single nation, you’re not restricted by a limit on employers. What’s more, your international experience makes you of more value to a potential employer.
8. Expats Enjoy Better Job Prospects
Going hand in hand with the above, the more experience you can gain abroad and internationally, the better the job prospects you will be exposed to. For a start, as an individual you will grow and enhance your own skill set and therefore become eligible for consideration for more jobs, what’s more, this could lead to better placements and a better salary and overall remuneration package as well.
9. Expats Can Follow the Sun
If you’re motivated to find better weather by moving abroad because you’re depressed by the length of the British winter and the level of precipitation involved (!), you can simply choose to move abroad to a warmer, sunnier, better climate. As an expat, you can go and live wherever suits you…you are unrestricted and can live a far freer life.
10. Expats Have Fun
Last but not least, expats meet so many different people from such a vast array of backgrounds when they move abroad – this leads to expatriates generally having a lot of fun! Because everyone shares the fact that they are away from home as a base-common-denominator, parties and social gatherings seem to be the easiest way for expats to get to know each other and find other common ground. This is usually where your life abroad begins. This then develops as you get to know more people, and you slowly but surely have more international experiences as you get to know people from other nations and walks of life and share in their lives. Added to this, as you’re in a new country trying new food, visiting new locations, experiencing different festivals and festivities and just generally being absorbed into everything going on around you, you will find the enthusiasm of those you meet is infectious and you have a fantastic time when living abroad!
