How to Minimize Inflation in Your Life

[Kal Di]

A lot of remote jobs (the better ones, at least) will pay for your work equipment: laptop/desktop, (extra) monitor, etc. You cannot just pack up and move abroad with these things - that's theft. You also may not be allowed to install your own personal VPN on such equipment.

Work issues aside, moving to a foreign country is not just as simple as packing up and going. It's a HUGE hassle. It's not for the faint of heart. You should only do it if you absolutely love the other country, not because it's cheaper. If you move with the thought that it will be cheaper and easier to do so than staying in the US, you are going to be full of regrets.

Most of the highest paying remote jobs do send you work equipment. In that case, I agree that you cannot take those items with you or install unapproved software on their devices. So, those employees would need to stay there. Hopefully, it will be a worthwhile sacrifice for them.

In MOST cases, you are right that moving abroad can be a HUGE hassle. However, for example, if a person has a SUV or truck and lives in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, or Southern California, it's not a HUGE hassle if he/she is moving to a city in Mexico that is only 300-500 miles in distance. It's not very different from someone moving from Phoenix to San Antonio.

[rachel83az]

Having moved abroad myself, the physical move is the easiest part. It's everything that comes after that's difficult.

[ss20ts]

In the past, I worked for U.S. companies while living abroad. My resident state in the U.S. does not have a state income tax, but I paid all of the other ones. I do not believe in evading taxes.

As far as working remotely in other countries, visa laws vary by country. For example, Mexico says that you can be a temporary resident and work in Mexico if your employer is based in your native country. Mexico only taxes locally sourced income, which doesn't apply to expats working online. Many young Americans are working like that here (some from the Silicon Valley companies, some from Forbes 500 companies, and others).

Regarding the tracking of ISP addresses, I agree that it's becoming more of a thing. Although, the main reason is that many Silicon Valley companies don't want to pay six figure salaries (to employees who don't live in those high cost of living areas) because they would rather save money by paying them a smaller (but still above average) salary relative to the cost of living of the employee's local area. Most employees can avoid that with an excellent VPN.

Many companies have strict security policies for a variety of reasons including governmental contractions. Many companies put VPN only connections on their computers. You can only access their system through that connection. You cannot add your own VPN on top of that. 

Lying about where you live is extremely unethical. Many companies have corporate policies in their employee handbooks about ethics and how violating their ethics/moral clauses can lead to termination. 

There's far more out there than just the Silicon Valley companies. There's an entire country that has nothing to do with Silicon Valley. 

Relocating from one state to another is a huge hassle. It also usually requires corporate approval. We had to be approved when we relocated years ago. I'm also seeing friends who thought they were smart and relocated during the pandemic being told they have 30-90 days to move back in state or they will be terminated. They were never given permission to leave the state with their job. The company isn't set up to have employees in every state. 

I asked my husband about moving to Mexico just for kicks. He looked at me like I had 8 heads. I asked him about keeping his job and just moving. His response was nope. I asked if he go permission how possible would it be. He said nope. He reminded me of the gentlemen who took a corporate job and moved offices to another state as he was required to do. He now has a corporate job in Ireland. It took over a year for everything to be finalized for him to work at a corporate office in Ireland. This was a planned and approved relocation. 

What happens if you move to Mexico and hate it for whatever reason? Or any country. It's not so easy to just pack up and move back. Moving is expensive. Also if one has settled down with a spouse, kids, dog, house, and all that jazz it's definitely not easy to just pick up and leave. There's far more to life than saving a few bucks on the cost of food.

[rachel83az]

What happens if you move to Mexico and hate it for whatever reason? Or any country. It's not so easy to just pack up and move back. Moving is expensive. Also if one has settled down with a spouse, kids, dog, house, and all that jazz it's definitely not easy to just pick up and leave. There's far more to life than saving a few bucks on the cost of food.

So true. You should never move like this unless you are 8000% sure that you are okay with being "stuck" there permanently. It's always the little things that get you, not the big things. Culture shock is real and it can hit hard. The last thing you want to do is to have a breakdown in the laundry aisle when you aren't sure what products to buy because the brands are all different than what you know.

[ss20ts]

So true. You should never move like this unless you are 8000% sure that you are okay with being "stuck" there permanently. It's always the little things that get you, not the big things. Culture shock is real and it can hit hard. The last thing you want to do is to have a breakdown in the laundry aisle when you aren't sure what products to buy because the brands are all different than what you know.

When we lived in SC we were surrounded by neighbors who also relocated to the community for a variety of reasons. Many did not like living there and really missed home. They never felt like they fit in. Several families desperately wanted to move back home but couldn't because of their job situation or finances. A few were able to move. There were like 8 houses around us where everyone was from somewhere else. In the 3 months before we relocated there were 3 families who also relocated. There were 4 families who were stuck and 1 family that was happy where they were. I think a lot of it was culture shock. And this is just moving from one state to another. Moving to a whole different country would be significantly worse for many people. You also lose whatever support system you have at home with friends and family.

[Kal Di]

In the past, I worked for U.S. companies while living abroad. My resident state in the U.S. does not have a state income tax, but I paid all of the other ones. I do not believe in evading taxes.

As far as working remotely in other countries, visa laws vary by country. For example, Mexico says that you can be a temporary resident and work in Mexico if your employer is based in your native country. Mexico only taxes locally sourced income, which doesn't apply to expats working online. Many young Americans are working like that here (some from the Silicon Valley companies, some from Forbes 500 companies, and others).

Regarding the tracking of ISP addresses, I agree that it's becoming more of a thing. Although, the main reason is that many Silicon Valley companies don't want to pay six figure salaries (to employees who don't live in those high cost of living areas) because they would rather save money by paying them a smaller (but still above average) salary relative to the cost of living of the employee's local area. Most employees can avoid that with an excellent VPN.

Lying about where you live is extremely unethical. Many companies have corporate policies in their employee handbooks about ethics and how violating their ethics/moral clauses can lead to termination. 

What happens if you move to Mexico and hate it for whatever reason? Or any country. It's not so easy to just pack up and move back. Moving is expensive. Also if one has settled down with a spouse, kids, dog, house, and all that jazz it's definitely not easy to just pick up and leave. There's far more to life than saving a few bucks on the cost of food.

Lying about where you live is not unethical unless it breaks a law or contractual agreement. When I go to the USA, I live in one of my properties. So, is it unethical to say I live there if it is not for a full year? Perhaps, you think so or not. If so, we will agree to disagree.

As I stated earlier in this thread, moving abroad can be a hassle in most cases. I have properties in the U.S. and live in Mexico because I want to accelerate to early retirement (which is "far more to life than saving a few bucks on the cost of food"). I know that it is a different lifestyle goal than someone who is married with kids, has pets, mortgage, and whatever else.

[ashkir]

The salary tip doesn't work much anymore. Companies are now decreasing your pay for moving away. oboooo