You finally made your decision to move abroad. An entire adventure is ahead of you! Besides being excited, you are rightfully concerned about many issues. Moving to a new house, meeting new people, learning the language and so on. Will you be happier? Will you be successful in your new job?… Naturally, thousands of questions are circulating through your head. One of the most significant of them is “How to manage your money as an expat“.
Money Management Solutions for Expats
Thanks to the great variation of today’s money management options, it is not such a big deal to find payment methods for expats like ten years ago. In order to select the most convenient money management option, you need to ask three questions for the beginning:
- Where are you now?
- Where are you moving to?
- Where is the last stop you are planning to be?
To move from a developed country to developing countries or vice versa can differ in various aspects. For example if you move from Germany to Kongo, you can have more difficulties to get used to new banking systems and regulations. Plus, SEPA banks mostly originated from Europe. Thus, it can be pretty challenging to send money internationally. In some cases, money transfers can take longer times compared to the ones inside SEPA. Because many governments inspect these transfers for the purpose of identification of fraudulent and money laundering related transactions. But no worries. In this article, you will learn the best financial advice for expats.
Payment Option Tips for Expats
- Never dispose of your account back home!
If you totally close your home account and transfer all your funds, how can you collect rents or pay your expenses such as insurance or taxes? Another reason for this is emergencies. You may have an unpleasant incident (robbed, scammed) in your destination and your home account can be the only one you have funds in. In order to keep these accounts open, you need to pay their annual fees and costs. Therefore, do not forget to count these extra expenses.
- Open an account in a local bank!
We know it is pretty challenging to create an account in another country – especially in a developing country – but you can not avoid it. You will always be charged for transaction fees if you keep on using your home bank. For every withdrawal from an ATM, you may need to pay at least $10 no matter how much the cashing amount is.
- Online banking is your best friend!
During search for the best bank for expats in your country, you may talk to your new colleagues and google for the reviews. Besides reliability, it is also extremely important to find a functional online banking in your language. Since, it can be exhausting to express yourself in the new language, an important subject like money management must be provided mainly in English.
- Affordable money transfers are crucial!
To pick the best bank option for you, another specification to be cautious for is the international money transfer fees and costs. Considering your home account and your new local bank account, you need to find the most reasonable and inclusive one. Because, you may need to send or receive money internationally to your family or your accountant any time.
- Consider exchange rates!
Choose a bank with the most advantageous foreign exchange rates including your home currency and your destination currency. Furthermore, you may not like to keep your funds in an unstable fiat currency with great fluctuation history. You better have an account in Euros or Dollars to avoid losing a great amount of money in one night. To find multi currency accounts for expats can protect you from a catastrophic situation in the future.
- Organise your taxes!
Always remember that although you live abroad, you are still a citizen of your country and you are under the obligation of taxes. Before leaving your home, talk to an experienced account specialized in international taxation regulations. In some cases, due to mutual agreements between specific countries, it is possible to be exempted from paying taxes in both countries, but just in one. This is a great advantage!
What is the best money management option for expats?
Before changing your country, you must plan all potential payment options. During movement and until you start to earn income again, you will need a backup plan. One of the best banking options for expats is e-wallets. A trustworthy e-wallet such as Jeton will provide you all necessary services including affordable international money transfers, an exclusive application for budgeting and a plastic prepaid card, JetonCash that will be sent to your current address in a blink of an eye. Once you load your Jeton account, you can use it anywhere from cashing out from ATM to local markets. Join us today and we will assist you with our best in your adventure.
