How to make money, and thus go abroad

[Contrarian Expatriate]

You really don't want to go abroad to make money, you want to work doggedly in the US to earn the means to retire early abroad.

If you resettle abroad at too early a juncture, you will rarely be able to live "high on the hog" and you won't have the means to relocate as desired.

If you dedicate yourself to your craft, small business, and investments, you can build the means to retire after 10 15 or 20 years. In the meantime, you can be traveling abroad twice a year to learn where you want to settle later.

Moving abroad too soon may crimp your choices and limit your financial wherewithal.

Delayed gratification is the operative term here.

[ClearView]

If you can get into an online business the there is no need to delay gratification. In fact going to a country where your rent and expenses are cheaper can save you a lot more money.

If you are an employee or in a business that needs you to be on the ground in your home country then I agree that delaying gratification until you have a good amount of savings is better.

[xiongmao]

Why wait? Go abroad and hustle. It's not hard for Westerners to make money in Japan, South Korea or China. Westerners with a knowledge of Asian business and culture are very valuable.

[djfourmoney]

There lots of ways to make money. Some people want it handled too them and obviously the easiest thing next to earning your money the old fashion way, inheritance. Before I seriously considered living abroad my father died and I got about $60K total from the sale of his estate and life insurance. I pretty much blew that on the car and on my trips. In hindsight of course, I could have invested it, but I had nobody to talk too and didn't really find what I wanted on the internet.

I look at many ways to make money in the nontraditional sense. I choose donating Plasma, but that isn't really enough, unless your really careful and strict with your spending; That's largely what I have done. I'll soon be keeping track and starting a blog to cover it. As long as I remain healthy enough to donate, I can make from now until late Sept about $1,200. For that amount, it will get me on the plane with a return ticket and at the least give me 2-3 weeks in one/two locations or a month on the super cheap in one country.

So I am looking for additional sources.

I was reading on ToyTown Germany that there is an ex-G.I married to a German Lady who is a hairdresser (owner) and he has a hamburger/sandwich van in the parking lot of a Shell station in Berlin. Food is one of the easiest businesses to get involved in. People need to eat but don't always want to cook for themselves. That creates opportunities in modern society as many of us are too busy to sit down, make our own food at least three times a day.

I found another post from somebody looking for English Speaking Computer Repair. That's another opportunity.... You can make quite of bit of money via the existing expat community IF you move to a country with a large expat community.

You can also go into developing markets and start businesses. There plenty of opportunities in South America and Asia.

[Jester]

There lots of ways to make money. Some people want it handled too them and obviously the easiest thing next to earning your money the old fashion way, inheritance. Before I seriously considered living abroad my father died and I got about $60K total from the sale of his estate and life insurance. I pretty much blew that on the car and on my trips. In hindsight of course, I could have invested it, but I had nobody to talk too and didn't really find what I wanted on the internet.

I look at many ways to make money in the nontraditional sense. I choose donating Plasma, but that isn't really enough, unless your really careful and strict with your spending; That's largely what I have done. I'll soon be keeping track and starting a blog to cover it. As long as I remain healthy enough to donate, I can make from now until late Sept about $1,200. For that amount, it will get me on the plane with a return ticket and at the least give me 2-3 weeks in one/two locations or a month on the super cheap in one country.

So I am looking for additional sources.

I was reading on ToyTown Germany that there is an ex-G.I married to a German Lady who is a hairdresser (owner) and he has a hamburger/sandwich van in the parking lot of a Shell station in Berlin. Food is one of the easiest businesses to get involved in. People need to eat but don't always want to cook for themselves. That creates opportunities in modern society as many of us are too busy to sit down, make our own food at least three times a day.

I found another post from somebody looking for English Speaking Computer Repair. That's another opportunity.... You can make quite of bit of money via the existing expat community IF you move to a country with a large expat community.

You can also go into developing markets and start businesses. There plenty of opportunities in South America and Asia.

DJ. Is. One. Determined. SOB.

[djfourmoney]

There lots of ways to make money. Some people want it handled too them and obviously the easiest thing next to earning your money the old fashion way, inheritance. Before I seriously considered living abroad my father died and I got about $60K total from the sale of his estate and life insurance. I pretty much blew that on the car and on my trips. In hindsight of course, I could have invested it, but I had nobody to talk too and didn't really find what I wanted on the internet.

I look at many ways to make money in the nontraditional sense. I choose donating Plasma, but that isn't really enough, unless your really careful and strict with your spending; That's largely what I have done. I'll soon be keeping track and starting a blog to cover it. As long as I remain healthy enough to donate, I can make from now until late Sept about $1,200. For that amount, it will get me on the plane with a return ticket and at the least give me 2-3 weeks in one/two locations or a month on the super cheap in one country.

So I am looking for additional sources.

I was reading on ToyTown Germany that there is an ex-G.I married to a German Lady who is a hairdresser (owner) and he has a hamburger/sandwich van in the parking lot of a Shell station in Berlin. Food is one of the easiest businesses to get involved in. People need to eat but don't always want to cook for themselves. That creates opportunities in modern society as many of us are too busy to sit down, make our own food at least three times a day.

I found another post from somebody looking for English Speaking Computer Repair. That's another opportunity.... You can make quite of bit of money via the existing expat community IF you move to a country with a large expat community.

You can also go into developing markets and start businesses. There plenty of opportunities in South America and Asia.

DJ. Is. One. Determined. SOB.

I have to be, you give me too much credit though. I stay up too late and don't get a chance to go to WorkSource for example...

At 41 (I'll be 42 in August) I don't think I can afford to wait to find the right woman to marry. For example, because Mark had two previous relationships and I'm positive that is why Anna didn't mind the large age gap, he was in no hurry to have more children and she was unsure if she wanted to have children.

If I expect the more typical 10-12 year age difference, that puts my potential wife at age 29-31. I was encouraged by K1 takes no more than 5-6 months now if your paperwork is in order. The other dilemma is find a Western European, back door the system or going the K1 route. Pricing is about the same, however back-dooring the system means much less wait, in fact she can be here while all the legalese is sorted out. I think its important to get her status straighten out as I believe being a US citizen is still highly valuable, especially if she's a CIS citizen with basically only a free pass to countries the US is hostile too. If she's from the EU, no problem I want an EU passport and we'll find a way to do that.

At the end of the day I want OPTIONS.

[ethan_sg]

Going abroad as an old man may also not reap the same rewards as going abroad as a young, energetic, good looking man. No doubt you would be more financially secure but would you really want to wait till you're an old man before you start seizing the day?

Unless you're looking for mistresses you would certainly have a much harder time getting women in any country if you wait till you're old. You sacrifice the pleasure of dating all those women you could have dated when you were a young, good looking man. And not just with regards to getting women. But also as a young guy it's easier to do lots of fun adventurous things and go out and meet new people.

I'm not saying take the plunge without any financial means either but neither is waiting till you're old and retired the solution I think.

We got to find a way to make a decent income abroad even while youth is still on our side.

You really don't want to go abroad to make money, you want to work doggedly in the US to earn the means to retire early abroad.

If you resettle abroad at too early a juncture, you will rarely be able to live "high on the hog" and you won't have the means to relocate as desired.

If you dedicate yourself to your craft, small business, and investments, you can build the means to retire after 10 15 or 20 years. In the meantime, you can be traveling abroad twice a year to learn where you want to settle later.

Moving abroad too soon may crimp your choices and limit your financial wherewithal.

Delayed gratification is the operative term here.

[xiongmao]

Yeah, go when you can. I plan on quitting my job by the end of the year. I got some good advice the other day, quit when you're at the top. If you're making good money in your day job, you'll find something to do overseas.

If anyone has a white collar skill then you can make some cash on oDesk. I've just hired a couple of translators on there. They've cost me $16 an hour which is pretty decent cash. This is raw capitalism (i.e. that you don't get in the USA anymore) so you have to be good and/or quick at what you do.

Of course English teaching in China is still good, although you'll find it easier with a good English speaking accent, a degree (any subject) and it's easier to find work in the 2nd or 3rd tier cities (Wuhan, Chongqing, Changsha would all get my vote).

My current plan though is to study in China. A University place could cost you less than $3000 a year out there. Many places teach in English, although studying Chinese is the obvious choice.

[djfourmoney]

Whatever you choose the mistake too many people make is being overtly secure financially (which more of a state of mind than anything else). You can live in many places in Europe for about $1,000 a month if its just you and you're smart with your money. In NRW Germany (think Bonn) I found 1 bedroom apartments for less than 400 Euros, some way under that.

Where ever you go I highly suggest reading and joing expat forums. Don't let people deter you either. I had some mostly Women and mostly British try to tell me I couldn't offer services to the expat community such as auto repair or computer repair/network setup, etc. Why not? Whenever English speaking people need services, either health related, technology or anything else, they automatically post on a English speaking forum looking for English speaking services....

Just because these people aren't intelligent enough or too risk adverse to try offer services people needed, they just poo-poo your ideas.

Like I said there plenty of people that set foot in a unfamiliar city and found something to do. You'll find in largely cities the fact that you speak Native English will give you more chances to find a job than people think, especially those who don't know many English speakers (1) and two who only socialize/work in a circle of native say French speakers. Berlin is full of immigrants, some say its bad (mostly Germans) and others say its good (everybody else).

I'm personally more attracted to modern, rich countries. I think there's more chance to find something good that pays well enough for you to stay. Not really in poor countries where the gap between rich and poor is as large as the country itself.

Also age is a factor but it all depends on what you want. If you're not interested in having children, then it largely doesn't matter what age you go, because if your say 50, you'll find plenty of women in their early 40's who still look good that will want to date you.

If you have yellow fever like xiogman or a few other people on this board, then you should be in Asia.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

I don't like the idea of going abroad for menial jobs. I prefer working one's ass off for a couple of decades in the US, investing in real estate, stocks, and foreign CD accounts (some offer 15 percent interest rates), as a basis. This way, you can ensure you have a nest egg for your retirement, and resources for your local family without having to work much (if at all) while abroad.

By going overseas to teach English or something is to waste the time when you could be ensuring yourself a retirement of affluence instead of toil and deprivation.

[xiongmao]

Ha ha ha, I think some people don't realise how much money some other people are making teaching English in China, South Korea or Japan. I know little about English teaching but I know that there are guys earning $2000 a month in Guangzhou, and on top of that they get a free apartment and free food. And since this is Guangzhou, it's pretty easy to set up an import/export business on the side.

I was chatting to my Chinese ex today. She reminded me that life is short.

I've worked my ass off to build a war chest of cash to allow me to live in Asia for years. Really I wish I'd gone out there years earlier though.

But yes, you can go abroad at any age. The 40+ women on dating sites don't get much attention. I once met an old expat in China and his mature Chinese wife was smoking hot. You're not gonna find a wife like that in the USA.

[Jester]

Where ever you go I highly suggest reading and joing expat forums. Don't let people deter you either. I had some mostly Women and mostly British try to tell me I couldn't offer services to the expat community such as auto repair or computer repair/network setup, etc. Why not? Whenever English speaking people need services, either health related, technology or anything else, they automatically post on a English speaking forum looking for English speaking services....

Just because these people aren't intelligent enough or too risk adverse to try offer services people needed, they just poo-poo your ideas.

You make excellent points as always.

[Blue Murder]

I have to be, you give me too much credit though. I stay up too late and don't get a chance to go to WorkSource for example...

At 41 (I'll be 42 in August) I don't think I can afford to wait to find the right woman to marry. For example, because Mark had two previous relationships and I'm positive that is why Anna didn't mind the large age gap, he was in no hurry to have more children and she was unsure if she wanted to have children.

If I expect the more typical 10-12 year age difference, that puts my potential wife at age 29-31. I was encouraged by K1 takes no more than 5-6 months now if your paperwork is in order. The other dilemma is find a Western European, back door the system or going the K1 route. Pricing is about the same, however back-dooring the system means much less wait, in fact she can be here while all the legalese is sorted out. I think its important to get her status straighten out as I believe being a US citizen is still highly valuable, especially if she's a CIS citizen with basically only a free pass to countries the US is hostile too. If she's from the EU, no problem I want an EU passport and we'll find a way to do that.

At the end of the day I want OPTIONS.

And what 'options' would someone with no job or other types of income have to visit a country for say, a week?

[Rebel_man_UK]

I will let you guys know what I do...

I play poker for real $$$. So I can make $$$ anywhere in the world there is an internet connection. I make good money even for here in the UK

If anyone is interested let me know, I am happy to give advice.

[ErikHeaven]

Poker, seems hard.