MOVING ABROAD AND YOUR FINANCES
If you are planning on moving abroad then it is sure to be an exciting but nerve-racking period in your life. One big risk at this time is that with so many issues to sort out you might end up neglecting your finances.
Keep your home bank account open
One of the big mistakes I made was closing my UK bank account when I left there. I never really gave it too much thought but kind of assumed that I wouldn’t ever need it again.
When I started working on the internet in my new country I realized that I could open a bank account but not a PayPal account. Well, I could open a PayPal account over here but it can’t be linked to local account, so I couldn’t really do anything with the money.
You just never know when your bank account from back home might come in handy later on, even if you can’t see any reason for keeping it right now.
Move your money smartly
Moving your money from one country to another can be a costly business. If you don’t really have a lot to transfer to your new country then it might not seem like a big deal but what if you plan to move over cash to buy a house or set up a business?
In this case, sending straight bank to bank transfers can see a fair bit of the money eaten up in commission charges. Thankfully, there are some specialist foreign transfer services that let you send your money from an account in one country to another account abroad for little cost. A few examples of the type of company you could use are XE, Xoom and Moneycorp.
Get a bank account when you arrive
It might be easy enough to use cash or your card from home when you first arrive but it is a good idea to get your new bank account set up as quickly as possible.
Depending upon where you are going this might be fairly difficult and time-consuming to do. However, it could be that you need a bank account urgently for one reason or another later on. This also applies to other important financial products such as insurance policies.
Related: Get your free credit report in Canada
It’s also worth remembering that your credit score and history might not transfer over to your new country so you may be starting from scratch in that area too, so the quicker you can find out where you stand in this respect the better.
Related: Building credit in Canada as a new permanent resident
Get used to the local currency
When you first move to a new country it can be good fun to convert the cost of everything into the currency you are used to spending, especially if you have moved somewhere cheaper. However, if you do this for too long then it could mean that you pay too much for some things.
It is far better to try and settle in to using the local currency as soon as you can. If you are going to be living here for the rest of your life then you will want to get used to the real cost of living as soon as possible.
Learn the language and embrace the culture
One of the most fascinating aspects of moving abroad is that you will be learning about a new culture. Even if you don’t need to learn a new language you will still find plenty to keep you occupied in your early days there.
One mistake that a lot of people make is that of carrying on like they did back home. If you do this then as well as missing out on some of the best things the country has to offer you could also lose out financially.
Not being able to communicate well in the local language could mean that you get the wrong sort of bank account, pay too much at the market or otherwise lose out financially. Getting to grips with the culture will probably let you find cheap and fun things to do, and there are sure to be some local traditions you can enjoy without spending much money.
Would you like to move abroad?
Post contribution: Today’s post was written by Adam who runs the UK based personal finance blog Money Bulldog.
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If you are bringing currency from one country to another, keep an eye on the exchange rate. For example, when I first visited the UK in 2008, the pound was worth 1.54 Canadian and now it is worth 1.86. Massive difference!
When I first visited Canada the pound was $2.35 I believe.. now it’s what you say. I was sad because I kept waiting in hopes it would go up. I guess it’s one of those cases where you make a decision and it’s all risk.
Awesome article!!! There are some very good points made here.
This is a country of immigrants! Most of us can trace our lineage back to another country within a couple or three generations, if that. I’m second generation British with a touch of Scot on my Dad’s side and German on my Mom’s. Not sure how long her family has been here but a lot of the stones in the cemetery where my grandparents are buried are in German….My grandparents spoke German around the house until the 1930’s.
I can see where it’s a good idea to keep funds back home, as it were, as it is so much easier today to go back and visit if nothing else!!! Thanks for the great article Adam!!!!
Hi Adam,
All great ideas. It’s also a good idea to keep your bank account back home open if you only plan on going overseas for a a year or few, especially if you have payments to make back home. Saves a lot of headache.
I have my bank accounts in the UK still and continue to use them. I send cheques home for the kids birthdays and Christmas etc. plus if we travel back to the UK we won’t have to worry so much about $$$ as we have some in the bank.