Why Expats Should Take a Long-Term View

Expats should take a long-term view of profiting and gaining from their time abroad in both fiscal and lifestyle terms

The outlook for the UK, for the nation’s economy, its housing market, levels of inflation, stock market recovery and jobless numbers is generally bleak.  Of course there are those in the media who will always jump on any glimmer of hope and twist it to promote whatever message they’re touting, but the overall view by the likes of the OECD and economists is that the worst has actually yet to come.

Take house prices for example, Nationwide recently reported that there had been a tiny rise in prices in March – many articles were written off the back of this claiming that the recovery of the British economy had begun.  But they failed to heed the warning that this was just a blip.  And economists are all in agreement that house prices have a lot further to fall if they are to get back in line with the house price to earnings ratio – which they must for long-term stability to return to the market.

The same pattern applies to everything from the health of the stock market to the numbers of people losing their jobs…and in our opinion this is having a direct impact on the numbers of people seriously looking at their options of moving abroad and expatriating.  But in this article we’re going to show you why expats should take a long-term view – not just of the rate of recovery in the UK, but in terms of their own commitment to living and working abroad.  Because by taking a long-term view, expats can really make the very most out of their time overseas, both in a financial sense and in terms of what they get out of their relocation!

If you’re currently based in the UK and you’re looking abroad for employment and lifestyle options, we don’t blame you.  Likewise, if you’ve recently expatriated in search of a better life abroad, well done.  Now you need to bear in mind the fact that you may well have escaped the doom and gloom of the British recession, but now you need to commit to your new life overseas for the long-term if you want to get maximum benefit from it.  When you move abroad initially you will have large outlays for accommodation and transportation for example, and so you can see this as an initial investment in your new life, an investment that makes more sense if you spread it out in cost terms over a long period of time living abroad. 

For example, if you pay out £3,000 to relocate your family and your personal effects abroad, if you return within 6 months that will be a huge dent in your finances.  If you ride out the British recession by living overseas and don’t plan on repatriating for at least 5 – 10 years, that initial outlay doesn’t seem so significant!  You can now apply this to every aspect of your life abroad….

Take your job for example, you will learn more, gain more, become more a part of the team you work with, perhaps develop better language skills and maybe even learn a whole new set of skills the longer you remain in your new job abroad.  All of the skills and all of the experience you gain will then stand you in excellent stead if you do decide to repatriate and find a job in the UK again one day. 

And finally, from a purely financial point of view, according to a survey by Natwest International Personal Banking division, professional expatriates earn more than their peers back home on average, and not only that, they often have a lower cost of living abroad.  What this means is that you could well be in a far superior position as an expat, and you can take maximum advantage of the fact by saving and investing your excess cash wisely when abroad.  If you couple this with the fact that many are saying the stock market will likely rally significantly over the medium-term, and you start investing regular amounts now to take advantage of current low prices, you could cash in to the max if you remain living abroad as an expat for the long-term.