You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff podcast. Hey, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Tiffany's Take, where I answer your questions right here on the podcast. So if you have any questions, feel free to reach out moneytalkwitht.com axtiffany or just send me an email and I'll be more than happy
to answer for you. So I have been getting a ton of questions from people about moving out of the country because they want to move out of the US as well, and how did I do it, and what are some things to think about and so on and so forth. So I said, you know what? Let me just do a podcast episode to kind of address most of these questions and just some things that I thought about and decided before I made the move. All right, so first and foremost, look at the visa and the legal
requirements. So figure out if you need a visa to go, how long the visa lasts, do you have to keep renewing it? What is that process? And then also, what's the process for obtaining residency and work permits? So here in Jamaica, the visa requirements are, if you're coming from the US, you can stay up to 90 days. Okay. Before they start looking at you funny. Now, with that 90 days, you can always go to Pica, which is their, like, you know, their immigration, and you can extend
it. Now, you can't stay longer than six months worth of days before, you know, you start breaking the law. So if you go back and forth often, like with me, you know, I go back and forth for speaking engagements or to visit, things like that. That 90 days starts all the way over. Now, like I said, you have to look at the other requirement, which is less than six months worth of days for the year, is what they require.
So with that being said, what I'm working on now, because I researched the citizenship, my dad's Jamaican, what I'm working on now is just getting my citizenship here for me and my kids, and I can do that by descent. So I say all of that to say, definitely look up the visa and legal requirements of whatever country you're looking to move to first, so that way you can start mapping out a plan on how you're going to implement that. Second, I would say
cost of living. So make sure you compare the cost of living at the new country versus your current expenses, because honestly, there's some places around the world that are more expensive than America. And so you really want to look at how much everything's going to cost, which you should already have a good budget if you've been listening to me for a while. So you already know your budget for where you live now you have to make one for where you
want to go. So that's one thing that I did. So I created a whole separate budget and was like, okay, this is how much it's going to cost me to do this, this, this, and this in the new country. How does that compare to where I came from? And you want to look at housing, food, healthcare, transportation, all those things? Because one thing I didn't consider here, which now hindsight 2020, is school. Well, I did consider school for my son,
but I didn't know how expensive school was here. And I tried to get all the information, but all my friends and stuff didn't have kids in grade school. And so this is something that I had to learn by doing. But that's also why you want to make sure you have you do as much research on the front end as possible and then also have some wiggle room. So, you know, don't go to a new country on a shoestring budget, like, where you don't have any wiggle room
because something is going to come up. So just have a real good idea of what you're trying to accomplish, how much that's going to cost, and then also leave some space as well. Another thing that I would tell you to do is look at healthcare as well. So investigate the healthcare system in the new country. Consider, if you'll need health insurance, what kind of coverage is available here in Jamaica? I just
pay out of pocket if we have to go to the doctor. We've only been to the doctor, like, two or three times since we've been here so far. And so I usually just pay out of pocket, and I found a really great doctor. Matter of fact, the doctor here found an issue that a doctor in the US that had just went to, like, a week before didn't find. Matter of fact, they said, oh, no, it's not that. The doctor here was like, it's absolutely that.
And was able to treat it. So also, don't believe the hype that, you know, healthcare is better in this place versus that place, whatever. Good doctors are good doctors and good doctors are all around the world. So do your research and see, you know, what healthcare looks like, what you would need to do to get established and things like that. Now, don't get me wrong, there's
some things that we will be still using the United States for. So when we go to visit, I make sure I have our appointments and stuff lined up or whatever. But outside of that, that is something that you need to consider. Another thing is to consider the language and culture. So if you're moving to a country, because I know quite a bit of expats that move to like spanish speaking countries or something like that, or French speaking, then realize if you need to learn the
language. I know personally, I know some Spanish, but I'm not fluent. I know some French, very minimal, but I'm definitely not fluent. So I knew I had to move somewhere that was English based. And I understand patois just fine because like I said, my dad is jamaican. So understand if you need to learn the language or what that looks like.
And another point I'll make with that as well. In some countries, if you don't know the language and you open your mouth and they can tell you're american, then unfortunately, a lot of people love american money. And so usually I call it the american tax that you might have to pay when it comes to doing certain things just because you're from America. And people look at Americans as having a lot of money, even though sometimes we don't. But that is just what it looks like to the rest
of the world. So be prepared for that. And then also understand the cultural differences and how they might affect your daily life. Like here, I've said on the podcast before, you know, culturally, greetings are very important. Like, every time I run into somebody, it's like, good morning, good evening, you know, good afternoon, good night. You know, we all greet each other a lot, and that's completely different than in the US.
So definitely know what the culture is because, you know, if I don't greet people like they greet, then they look at me, they're like, well, who is this lady? Like, why? She is mean. Like, she is not interacting with us. And you don't want to have that type of reputation with anything. So understand the cultural differences and accept the cultural differences, too.
I think that's an important thing. I've gotten so much feedback from locals, not just here, but in Africa as well, where they're like, oh, you're a cool American. And they're like. Because usually Americans, they come and they're like, we're the best and we know everything, you know, that kind of attitude. And so even though culturally it's completely different, so be open to the culture and make sure that you learn and see what and
just observe people pretty much employment opportunities. That's another thing. So if you plan to work in the country, research job opportunities, and also understand how to get a work permit, because you can't just, like in America, you can't just pull up somewhere and start working, right? You got to understand how that works. And so here, luckily, my business is all online. I still run it with my headquarters in the US, and so it's not a big deal. When
it comes to employment. However, this goes to another tip. Think about the taxes. So what's the tax implications of moving abroad? Like, how does it affect your taxes in the Us? How does it affect your taxes in the new country? Think about all of that stuff as well. Of course you want to consider your quality of life. That was a big one for me. My quality of life is so important, that should have been number one on my list.
However, think about the lifestyle that you want. So consider the factors like climate, safety, education, recreational activities, etcetera. And I will also say, make your own conclusions on that, because sometimes information gets misconstrued, especially in the US. And for instance, a lot of people were reaching out, like, what about the safety in Jamaica? And, you know, this, that and the other. But after being here, living here, visiting quite
a bit, I'm like, I feel completely safe. Like, I feel safer here than I did in America. So I say, draw your own conclusions. And that goes to one of my other tips, which is do a trial visit, stay in the country for an extended period of time before you make a final decision on living there. Because living is completely different than visiting. Okay? When you're visiting, you're in vacation mode. You're like, oh, I'm gonna do
this, I'm gonna do that. I know, I'm gonna go back home, back to reality, whatever. But when you're living somewhere, it's different than visiting. Like, for instance, the beach is very, very close to us, but we don't go all the time like I thought we would, you know, because we have to live like we're living here now. We're not just on,
on vacation. So I tell people to try to do a trial visit and stay for at least a month, longer if possible, because things can look completely different when you're living somewhere versus when you're visiting. Another thing is social connections. So make sure you make some friends. How are you going to build that social network? So I built mine here just by coming to visit, meeting friends of friends and family of friends and things like
that. And so I built up a whole little network of people that surround me, you know, and help me out with different things. So that's super important. Another thing is to join Facebook groups. So I had joined, before I moved to Jamaica, I had joined quite a few Facebook groups. Some were expat related, some were just general groups for the city or general groups for the country or what have you. But those Facebook groups are
involved, valuable when it comes to information. I've gotten so many good contacts here, so many, so much good information just from Facebook groups. So definitely check those out. If you're interested in Jamaica or Negril specifically, there's one called capital of casual, and I'm very active in there. It's ran by Misty Memphis, and it's a great group. She just had to get together last week to celebrate their 7th anniversary, so.
And while I was there, I met more contacts, you know, so just building that social network is really important. And always use discernment, though, because like I said, sometimes some people just hear your accent and they're just all about the money, but some people are just good people. So always use your discernment when you are interacting with new people and in different countries and even back home, honestly. But build those connections because they're
invaluable, trust me. Also another point to that here, a lot of my jamaican friends will do a lot of the talking for me, like when I'm going to buy things, because like I said, that american tax is real, and so they'll do, like, the negotiating and stuff, or take me to the best places to get things or what have you. So that's why I said connections are super important and invaluable. And the last thing is legal and financial planning. Just make sure that you're doing
everything legally. You're on the up and up. You're looking at your estate planning, because you never know what's going to happen. Do you already have your documents in place? Do you have life insurance in place? All of those things. What is going to happen to your body if something happens to you in another country? Think through all of those things. And then banking also is another thing. Look at what the
banking options are. One tip I have for Jamaica that I learned from one of my contacts is that Scotiabank, which is a huge bank in Jamaica, is the same as bank of America. And so last time I was in the states, I opened up a Bank of America account because now I can bypass all of the ATM fees when I need to go take out money. Also think about, and I know this episode is jam packed, y'all, just so much to share. Also, think about exchange rates.
And one thing I've learned here, which I had to learn the hard way, that jamaican money will go way further than american money. And so I started paying everything in jamaican, so I rarely have american army. I do keep american because sometimes it's more advantageous to use it, but most times it's good to use the local currency, just in my experience. So do your
research wherever you're moving and see what's the best for you. So hopefully that is helpful for those thinking about moving to a new country and just some things that I thought about and how I work around some things and how I work around some things. But just make sure you thoroughly research and plan. I mean, I've been thinking about this since 2022 and I started planning for
real like January of this year and I didn't make the move until May. So I was planning, I mean, I took like three trips down here between January and May just to get things in order. So make sure that you're thoroughly doing your research, thoroughly planning, and that way you can ensure a smoother, I'm not going to say completely smooth, but a smoother transition to your new home. So thank you so much for listening to the podcast today. And we release episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.
Tuesday is just solo episodes. Thursdays are usually my interviews and we're just here to teach you and help you learn more about money, business and career. So like I said, if you have any questions, feel free to go to moneytalkwitht.com x Tiffany and I'll be more than happy to answer. But in the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful rest of your week. Bye. Thank you for listening,
joining, and being a part of the Money Talk with TIFF podcast this week. You can check TiFf out every Thursday for a new Money talk podcast. But if you just can't wait until next week, you can listen to previous podcast [email protected] or follow TIFF on all social media platforms at moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is always sufficient.