Might U.S. expats get what they have always wanted from the tax man? How great would it be if expats were finally able to pay taxes based upon their residence, as opposed to their worldwide income? An article on Forbes.com has

Here are some excerpts from the article:

As a result of all this, disquiet is inevitable. American Citizens Abroad (ACA), which represents U.S. citizens living abroad, has announced a tax reform proposal. It advocates a residence-based tax instead of one based on citizenship. It also proposes various other reforms…

Is this proposal likely to go anywhere? It seems a long shot. ACA representatives met with House and Senate tax staffs and, perhaps more important with staff from the Joint Committee on Taxation. It’s true that some in Congress think residence-based taxation would be better than our current system. The “leveling the playing field” metaphor is frequently invoked…

Although some banks overseas are closing the bank accounts of American living abroad to avoid potential FATCA penalties, FATCA may be here to stay. Depending on your perspective, that may be a bad thing. Indeed, it’s hard not to listen carefully to the pleas of Americans living and working overseas who are facing hostile banking relationships…

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that this starts to gain traction. Sometimes it takes years for this sort of tax policy change to materialize. Whether you love President Obama or hope to see him go down in history as a one-term president, he clearly is not someone who is trying to hand out tax breaks left and right.

What is the impact of moving overseas with children? Kathleen Peddicord has written a great article about her own experiences Raising Kids Overseas, and the insights she’s gleaned from them:

“What age was your daughter when you moved out of the States?” asked one reader-guest at our Christmas Open House here in Panama City Friday night. “Kaitlin was 8,” I replied. “It was, we realize now, looking back, the worst possible age for making the move…”

Younger than 7 or 8, and a child doesn’t really recognize what he’s leaving behind. Older than 15 or 16, and that child, we’ve observed, can be old enough to recognize what lies in front of him.

From age 8 to 15, though? Most kids at this stage are old enough to regret what they’re losing but not yet thinking big-picture enough to register all the potential that lies before them. At this stage, it’s all about the loss with nothing to balance it.

Kathleen has highlighted some great rules of thumb. That said, it’s important to remember to be cautious when we put too much stock in what tends to happen in a certain age group. Children are individuals, and their reaction to moving abroad will be, well, individual. A seventeen-year-old boy with a lack of self-confidence might react worse than a 14-year-old girl with a precocious sense of adventure.

A financial expert recently advised that British expats carefully consider their financial management options while living abroad. While this is nothing new to seasoned expats, it’s worth repeating for those that don’t know, and those that tend to avoid managing important aspects of their expatriate assignment:

“Choosing to leave your money at home in the UK is an expensive option as bank charges on currency transactions are high and you may well be charged by both your UK bank and the foreign bank too,” Mr Howell said. “Whatever the currency risk, setting up a current account in your new country is key for making domestic payments.”

When choosing a savings account, consider the denomination; many offshore banks offer you the choice of holding your account in US dollars, euros or sterling.

This ultimately goes back to the sage advice offered to expats over and over again: Do your homework! And that doesn’t mean just at the beginning of your assignment. Terms of your accounts and financial regulations change. New options emerge. Closely monitor your options and market conditions and you’ll likely avoid unnecessary losses and find new ways to save.

Over the last few months, we have asked expats to share some insight into how their expatriate experience has differed from their expectations before moving overseas. We call it our Expat Dream vs. Reality Report. There are great insights being offered, and here is a recent submission from an expatriate in Baar, Switzerland:

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Baar

Describe how you “dreamed” expat life would be before you moved overseas. Please provide as much detail as possible.

I envisioned expat life to be an experience that would change me and my family. I hoped it would be a change for the better! I thought it would broaden our horizons, and give our children a more global perspective of life. I focused on the idea of it as a big adventure, a way to step out of my comfort zone, to learn more about myself and the world outside the US.

How has your expat experience met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

In many ways, my expat experience has met my expectations. I did not fully take into account how difficult living in a foreign country can be, in terms of the mundane aspects of life. (First, we lived in London, which was not terribly different from the US. At least we knew the language fairly well!) Moving to Switzerland has been difficult for two reasons. First is not knowing the language, and the inscrutability of the Swiss German spoken language. Second is the challenge of navigating the community, learning the rules and societal expectations (of which there are many).

How has your expat experience NOT met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

The extremely high costs of goods and services are not enjoyable to live with. Also, although in the US we may take this to an extreme, I do miss the variety of goods available, as well as the convenience, say, of a Target or Walmart. Thus, I have adjusted my expectations, recognizing that there are plenty of ‘things’ I can live without. I thought I would travel within Europe more. The reality is that we as a family get caught up in our daily lives, and tend not to take as many trips as we’d dreamed about.

Share your own Expat Dream vs. Reality Report!

It appears that people who want or have to live abroad are still looking to India as an adoptive country, as is described in this NYTimes.com article Expats Flock to India Seeking Jobs, Excitement:

Mr. Mehwald is part of a growing number of expats flocking to India in the last few years eager to tap into the opportunities the country has to offer, witness its rich transformation and sample a way of life often very different from their native countries. Foreigners, of course, have flocked to India for centuries, as colonizers, missionaries, volunteers and escapees from persecution in other countries. This new wave is made up mostly of well-educated migrants from wealthier, more developed countries, leaving behind slow economies in search of job prospects and opportunities they can’t find at home.

As described in the article, the large number of people that want to move there has resulted in tighter regulations for those seeking an employment visa.

It has taken decades for the country to reach the point where it is today. While foreign employment used to be frowned upon, the liberalization of such policies have enabled the kind of economic environment that sounds quite similar to what Western democracies have enjoyed for a long time. What is reported even sounds like “the boom” of late 90′s:

“There’s really been a sense of limitless horizons. There’s very little to restrain you. People’s ambitions are set very high and rightly so,” said Rodrigo Davies, 29, who moved to Mumbai two years ago to work as GQ’s online editor after seven years as a journalist in London.

“In terms of opportunities, London is always innovating. But the number of businesses, publications opening there is a fraction of what’s opening here. A lot of companies here are going digital straight away.”

It will be interesting to see how India can capitalize of the wealth of IT talent they have created over the course of the last decade.

Most people will remember the “Tiger Mom” controversy that was stirred up last year when a Chinese-American mom wrote an essay called Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior for WSJ.com. Here is a quote:

What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you’re good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in America.

At one point in the essay, she recalls an occasion when she called her daughter “lazy, cowardly, self-indulgent and pathetic” when she had become frustrated with a piece of music and wanted to give up.

Oh-kee-doh-kee.

Now a new essay comes from an American expat in France, again on WSJ.com, Why French Parents Are Superior,

And once I started thinking about French parenting, I realized it wasn’t just mealtime that was different. I suddenly had lots of questions. Why was it, for example, that in the hundreds of hours I’d clocked at French playgrounds, I’d never seen a child (except my own) throw a temper tantrum? Why didn’t my French friends ever need to rush off the phone because their kids were demanding something? Why hadn’t their living rooms been taken over by teepees and toy kitchens, the way ours had?

Soon it became clear to me that quietly and en masse, French parents were achieving outcomes that created a whole different atmosphere for family life. When American families visited our home, the parents usually spent much of the visit refereeing their kids’ spats, helping their toddlers do laps around the kitchen island, or getting down on the floor to build Lego villages. When French friends visited, by contrast, the grownups had coffee and the children played happily by themselves.

This essay seems less provocative than the “Tiger Mom” essay, although as I type this it is the most popular “Read” on WSJ.com.

As a psychotherapist, I do a lot of family therapy and provide a lot of guidance about parenting. The “Tiger Mom” essay generated a lot of questions in sessions, and I’m looking forward to seeing what pops up with my clients over the course of the next few months.

More to come.

A new study by Lloyds TSB International included a question about what British expats miss most about their homeland while living abroad. Here is an excerpt about the findings:

The British countryside is the thing that expats miss most about their homeland, a survey has shown.

The study found that nearly half of those questioned (46%) said they longed for the rolling hills and ancient woodlands of the UK, with those who have made the desert landscape of the United Arab Emirates their new home missing it the most.

Coming in a close second was the British sense of humour, with 42% of the 1,034 expats questioned listing it among the things they missed most about the British way of life.

It’s a great question… regardless of how happy one is abroad, there is always going to SOMETHING to miss from home. It could be a favorite food, family member or a close friend. In this case, clearly Brits abroad miss the charm of the English countryside and the wit of their countrymen!