I Moved Abroad With Over 200K In Debt & Returned Home Debt Free

[Primetime]

The US definitely taxes it’s expats. The only cases in which they don’t tax is if the country you work in doesn’t have income tax such as Qatar. Even with that if your salary is above $110K Uncle Sam gonna run yo pockets

Before the pandemic I was working my tail off to get a job in Qatar.

Pandemic got things rough abroad but keep searchin homie.

However, to clarify some of what you said:
Foreign Earned Income Exclusion | Internal Revenue Service

Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

If you meet certain requirements, you may qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion, the foreign housing exclusion, and/or the foreign housing deduction. To claim these benefits, you must have foreign earned income, your tax home must be in a foreign country, and you must be one of the following:

• A U.S. citizen who is a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year,
• A U.S. resident alien who is a citizen or national of a country with which the United States has an income tax treaty in effect and who is a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year, or
• A U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident alien who is physically present in a foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months.

I've worked overseas the last 2 years (i'm currently overseas as i type this) and the first 107k of an expat's income is tax-free because of the FEIE. .. and that FEIE number increases every year. A year or so ago it was 105k.

Yes, you do get taxed on everything you earn after that... i.e. you make 180k = 107k you pocket, 73k is taxed. But that's definitely a good lick, and the number increases by a stack or so every year.

 

[Primetime]

I talk more about my experiences here:
https://www.thecoli.com/threads/expat-in-the-middle-east-ama.724782/

but to cut to the point, the FEIE is the best kept secret. I already had a good job in the states but i said F it and took the abroad job in 2019 to stack. I had maybe 50k in student loans but paid that off after 5 months. To date, i'm over 120k liquid, debt free, minimal expenses (company-provided housing) + great 401k plan. And that was with me flying to Dubai every other weekend and taking business class flights back to the states. Granted, COVID travel restrictions done deaded all that fun shyt.

My only issue is i'm a scary ass nygga when it comes to big time investing. So while it's cool to see your checkin account booming, it also becomes it's own challenge of how best to maximize it.

 

[CopiousX]

I talk more about my experiences here:
https://www.thecoli.com/threads/expat-in-the-middle-east-ama.724782/

but to cut to the point, the FEIE is the best kept secret. I already had a good job in the states but i said F it and took the abroad job in 2019 to stack. I had maybe 50k in student loans but paid that off after 5 months. To date, i'm over 120k liquid, debt free, minimal expenses (company-provided housing) + great 401k plan. And that was with me flying to Dubai every other weekend and taking business class flights back to the states. Granted, COVID travel restrictions done deaded all that fun shyt.

My only issue is i'm a scary ass nygga when it comes to big time investing. So while it's cool to see your checkin account booming, it also becomes it's own challenge of how best to maximize it.

You ever thought of sitting the cash in a dividend paying stock? These are relatively stable stocks that can earn you more than even high interest savings accounts. Not much growth, but you can get a stable 5% per year on your investment from the dividends. Better than zero in a savings account


REITs are similar. Not much growth of the underlying asset(also minimal volatility) but in exchange, you get dividends from the rental properties in the REIT. Often times you can get similar returns to actually owning a property (5-8%) , but you dont have to actually own one/do any maintenance with a real estate investment trust.

 

[Primetime]

You ever thought of sitting the cash in a dividend paying stock? These are relatively stable stocks that can earn you more than even high interest savings accounts. Not much growth, but you can get a stable 5% per year on your investment these from dividends. Better than zero in an a savings


REITs are similar. Not much growth of the underlying asset(also minimal volatility) but in exchange, you get dividends from the rental properties in the REIT. Often times you can get similar returns to actually owning a property (5-8%) , but you dont have to actually own one/do any maintenance with a real estate investment trust.

I was just watching a YouTube vid about this earlier today. I think this is the best route, i just gotta do the due diligence in finding the right REITs and ETFs and be willing to put a good amount in it.

Granted I do dabble in individual stocks and built some M1 Finance pies but I get antsy simply putting a stack into something lol. But it's about time I stop being so risk-averse.

Appreciate the advice