ExpatExchange Blog

How will the current U.S. health care debate and subsequent legislation impact expatriates? Well, one reality might be that Americans might go abroad to secure health care procedures when that appears to be the most logical option. And that situation might be more common in the future than anyone would like. Over the years we’ve read a lot of posts on ExpatExchange.com that show people tend to believe that the health care system in their home country is the best. Surveys obviously exists that rank health care systems by country, and a lot of Americans and Brits might be surprised to see where they rank. Naturally, many of these are subjective, but the point is that many Americans or Brits will find no other choice than to look elsewhere. Maybe they’ll find that life abroad is not so bad after all! It’s already being called a “growth industry.”

Also, if you have an iphone and might be moving to France (or already live there), checkout HTH Worldwide’s new mPassport app. Never leave anything to chance about your health abroad, and this seems to be a real nice way to give yourself some peace of mind.

Lately it seems as if China continues to find its way into our blog. It’s little wonder given its emergence as an economic powerhouse. In this article on KansasCity.com, the experiences and insights of a few American expats in China there offer some ideas about how we should approach our relationship with China. How should we react to them? What should our strategy be to benefit from their large market without selling out our own future? Obama’s trip there is a good time for us to ask these tough questions, and be honest with ourselves about past and current mistakes. What should we be doing differently?

With large numbers of the expatriates that have spent time in China, it is little wonder that there would be all kinds of cultural changes, even if small and at a slow pace, that make their way into the Asian nation.

Expats surfing in China

Given the enormous size of the Chinese coastline, it would also appear to make sense that one of the new activities introduced there would be surfing.

There are a few challenges to this introduction, such as pollution and no history of beach sports:

“Another hurdle is the environment. China is among the world’s most polluted countries and its coastlines are no exception, discouraging water sports.

“But Angela Wang, a business consultant from Beijing who declared herself ‘addicted’ after her first lesson under Sheridan, expressed hope that the environmentalism that follows surfing could be a catalyst for cleaner beaches.

“‘If you want to have fun with nature, you need to be friends with it,’ she said.”

Expats in London looking for a little bit of culture can experience a taste of Nigeria in a restaurant in North London. Lessons on traditional culture are also provided on Saturday mornings. A dearth of pride in African roots is said to be the impetus for the creation of this effort:

“She grew up in north London and says she set up the school to resolve a lack of pride in African culture.

‘I think a lot of us who have migrated from Africa to the UK or the United States tend to neglect our culture and adopt that of where we are, which is wrong.’”

Over half of expats in China leave before the end of their assignment, according to this article on asiaone.com.

“China Transition Institute (CTI) president David Israel-Rosen said most foreigners are unprepared for what life will be like when they arrive in China. ‘It is moving from the West to the East,’ he said. ‘It is not like moving from Chicago to Denver.’

‘If you look at the literature, between 30 percent and 50 percent of expats go home early. The failure rates are astonishing.’”

This is not surprising given the cultural distance between China and the West, and it’s more proof that expats should not take preparation lightly.

An important aspect of moving overseas is the impact that exchange rates will have on your bottom line. While this is important for all expats, the article highlighted below illustrates how this can significantly alter the lifestyle you enjoy abroad.

The volatility in the valuation of the sterling is having a dramatic impact on the wallets of British pensioners living in Europe, according to the article on Telegraph.co.uk.

“Mark Bodega, director at HiFX said: ‘In the economic slowdown, everyone is feeling the pinch. However, Brits living in Europe and receiving a fixed income in sterling are being hit particularly hard. In the past two years, we have seen unprecedented volatility in the currency markets with the value of sterling fluctuating by over 30 per cent against the euro.’”

As always, do you homework and do your best to explore various service providers to examine all of your options! Every situation is different so figure out what will work best for YOU!

French expats in the U.K. are going to help elect the first British representative to the French parliament in 2012. This is the result of legislation that provides that French expatriates will 11 elected members of parliament to represent their interests. As reported in this article from the London Evening Standard, the third constituency of represents French expats in the U.K., Ireland, Scandinavia and the Baltic states.

As this seems to be the first such form of representation for expats, one wonders if something along these lines might be something considered for U.K. and American expats. How feasible would that be? One things for certain, the governments will consider it if they feel it will make tax collection more easy!

The property market across the globe continues to evolve in wake of the recent global financial crisis. Some markets are less expensive, but others more. One of the most expensive seems to be Australia. You gotta know its high when an expat coming home to Australia from London is complaining…

(Quote from an article on Examiner.com.au):

“One former expat, Daniel returned to Sydney from a five-year stint in London. Now he and his wife ‘don’t intend to go anywhere near the Australian property market’ despite having saved more than $200,000 for a deposit on a home.

‘The price of property (and living) is more expensive here than most places we have travelled,’ he said, declining to give his full name.

Only those who bought into the boom ten to 15 years ago can really benefit from the price rises, Daniel said.”

There have been a lot of articles about Aussie expats returning home in this market, so there must be a lot of people out there feeling the pain.

There has been a lot of interest in moving abroad since the economy took a turn for the worse. Is it more than usual? On ExpatExchange, we’ve simply noticed that some of the reasons have changed a bit. More and more people are at ease with the idea that the world is highly interconnected, and don’t care if they need to move to another country to work and live well. Others want to stretch their savings as they retire.

Whatever the reason, homework is critical when you evaluate this life changing decision about whether or not to work abroad. This recent article on FastCompany.com contains the following quote:

“A recent survey by Manpower Inc. found that employment prospects are most favorable in India, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, China, Australia, Singapore, Costa Rica, Canada, Taiwan, and Poland. Jeff Joerres, Manpower Inc.’s chairman and CEO says a reason for this is because the populations of developing countries are increasing nearly six times as fast as those of developed countries. ‘This essentially creates a magnet pulling American workers to developing nations, and moving them along as each destination stabilizes. So you can see how Prague was hot for a while for American workers, then Vietnam and Dubai.’”

As many posts on our forums have recently focused on where to go, we thought this would be a good launching point for some discussion. Enjoy!

Here are a few expat related stories to kick of the week:

Forbes has created yet another “Top 10″ list in its unending effort to drive as much traffic as possible to its website. (Not knocking it, what company isn’t trying to do that!) This last one is about the Top 10 places to retire abroad.

Also, expats in the UAE may be required to take new drivers tests if proposals aimed at improving traffic safety are implemented.

And, finally, with the U.S. dollar once again plummeting, a great financial opportunity for expats has been created, and many are taking full advantage of it.