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The following are quick tips for new expats those arranging first-year tax returns in their new country.

The details will change depending on what country you live in so please keep in mind when you read the following.

• Go with a taxation account or a service provider like H & R Block.  The time that you spend with these service professionals is a lot of time saved navigating any do-it-yourself taxation software or forms.
• Even if the software and forms are free or cheap, the time that you will save is time that you cannot gain back.  They may even have some sort of deal or promotion for those in the first year in the country.
• When you do approach a service professional, make sure to do your research prior to your appointment.  Usually they will publish some sort of check list of potential forms and documentation that you need in your own circumstance.
• There may be some concessions made for those that have relocated in order to take up a job.  This is usually within the country and not from outside.  For example, if you landed in Country A and in City A and obtained an offer in City B you may be able to obtain concessions for the relocation expenses as long as it occurred within that country.
• Find out what other credits you can obtain in your own province since this will differ in other provinces.

The first time I was filling in my tax return, I had the worst advice that one could get as a first year – and that is to do the tax return yourself.  Do not do this.  Make sure to get a professional!

It has been more than a year since I last wrote here.  I am writing this at 11pm, fairly exhausted and still hustling.  It is like having a number of tasks and to-do’s all concentrated in this one week.

Since my last entry, I have:

• Started working for a Swiss-based research firm specialising in private banking and wealth management.
• Been awarded, sat (then failed) a couple of finance-related examinations.
• Gained two national scholarships to attend two global conferences in Singapore and Seattle.
• Went to another international conference in a city that I have never been to.
• Finished my Masters.
• Moved continents (now my fourth), then moved to another city for better opportunities.
• Continue working on professional development in my tech focus/area of interest including recently signing up to extra training.
• Went house-hunting, found a house, managed to move my belongings across three cities now.
• Seeking more opportunities, this time with a tech and global focus, most importantly focus on North America.
• Made new friends and colleagues.
• Learning the work cultures of at least five new countries/regions.
• Decided that I should further work on my European languages portfolio, initially was focusing on Svenska (for reasons past) now looking at Norsk (for reasons present) although I should also further work on my Deutsch (have been attempting for several years now) and Español (listening is OK, reading/writing/speaking not so much).
• Repaid some accumulated debt built up since I left Australia for the UK.
• Saved up a lot in order to make the move and have that savings ‘buffer’ for all my travels and moving-to-a-new-country necessities (ranging from long-term insurance, to covering costs of living, and not so necessary like flights and other trips).

Some of the things that I have decided to scale back:

• Personal social media updates.  I rid myself of personal Facebook and Instagram but rethinking this now.  However, I find that even blogging and working on my own projects to be enough.  Another somewhat related item is photos which I seemed to have scaled back.  I need to remind myself to make a better effort at taking photos.
• Blogging.  A number of blog entries date back to 2014.  I am looking to scale forwards, or at least aim for 10-12 new posts per year (which is better than 0 per year).
• Digital art.  Again, scaled back since early 2014.  Probably won’t scale this forwards until 2016 largely since digital art requires a lot (ie weeks) dedicated to it in another type of attention-focus.
• Hackathons and online challenges.  Decided to scale back since a lot since mid last year of the newer hackathons out there seems to just not ‘get it’.  From seeing a $70 entry fee for a hackathon, to being treated like free scope work.
• Art fairs, various creative conventions.  Largely due to new geolocation, fair fatigue and other commitments,  I significantly scaled back in 2014. The next one that interest me is Frieze Art Fair New York.
• Personal projects.  I scaled back a lot since mid 2014. I don’t imagine working on new personal projects (ie hardware, apps, etc) until 2016 though since the focus (this year especially) has been the acquisition of new knowledge shifting the focus away from projects.

There are some things that I want to continue working on but it seems to be more life-related goals rather than updates-related.

Otherwise, since this blog is one of the items I am scaling forwards, expect to read more!

Last but not least, I promise a far more better domain name.

I was in Seattle for a week thanks to a few tech conferences.  The last time I visited, it was dark and grey so it was a nice surprise being able to visit again while sunny.

I found the building really fascinating to see, especially the residential buildings near the water.  I was mainly around Belltown and the Sheraton hotel on 6th avenue except for a night spent in what was possibly the worst ever hotel I have ever been to which was on Aurora Avenue North.  The ‘continental breakfast’ was barely anything (luckily, the conference offered breakfasts), the bed felt like wooden planks, and it felt like nothing has changed since the 70s and in a bad way.  There were also constructions and road disruptions meaning that quiet a few times the taxis were lost and just didn’t bother parking at the hotel.

I have a tendency to book for one or two  nights at a new destination and then have the flexibility and ability to decide, simply because it’s hard to tell what the location is like.  There are reviews online but not everyone reviews plus you may have personal preferences.  I ended up staying in Belltown which had some interesting dining options and was in an interesting area in itself.

Another thing that I enjoyed about Seattle was that, I would start heading to the conference in the morning where there were very little traffic and people about and I would catch the sun’s rays on the water.  It was lovely.  But it was temporary, as I soon realised that by afternoon it’s smoky, sweaty and crowded.

Unfortunately, I don’t have anything else to comment about the city since I was mainly at the conference.  Until next time Seattle (except for the Aurora Avenue North hotel)!.

Want to move to a new country, or about to move to a new country? Want to start your professional networks?  Professional volunteering work may be the way to go.

Now, in certain cases, one already has a group of networks already.  But, what happens if it’s in a country where you really only know one person? Or if the working/personal language is foreign? You have just graduated? You are entering a new field? I can perhaps put forward the case for doing professional volunteer work.

What is professional volunteer work? This is using the specialist skills gained in your profession on a volunteer capacity for a brand, organisation or group.  It could be a registered non-profit or charity, or a loose collection of individuals forming a group, or even a start-up.

I’ve written in the past about volunteer work, usually in relation to the creative industries.  This is quiet a different area, as it covers a wide range of industries, regions, skill sets and what professional stage that individual is in.  When I was an undergraduate student, I took part in a fair bit of pro-bono work and I had a rule where I become more selective in doing volunteer work.  I ‘volunteered’ in my own start-up (aka bootstrapped), I volunteered for a well-known industry group, and I would even consider some of the unpaid speaking gigs as a form of volunteering (community engagement?).

All in all however, volunteering can really pay off.  At the same time, a degree of caution needs to be made.

Registered volunteering associations / organisations

Now you may see these under your membership association or affiliation.  If you are a member then you really should check if your membership body has some sort of volunteer opportunities.  It could be in the form of holding professional development events, being a chapter leader, working on resources and more.  Usually have a lot of ways to volunteer for these professional groups are also available outside of those who are members.  These are the best ways to volunteer, as at least it’s a recognised group and because chances are the activities have been running for a while, then there is some sort of template already available.

In terms of degree of caution, I think that because these groups are definitely associated with your profession, there is also the need to juggle and manage your time and commitments for the group in relation to non-work related commitments.

Start-ups

Now, this is completely on a case-by-case basis.  If you want to spend four hours per day on ‘sweat equity’, go for it.  I think that start-ups are good opportunities to learn…start-ups in general.  There are already a lot of writings out there on vetting out whether or not you should get involved in that start-up.

My personal thoughts?  Thanks to the low barrier of entry for start-ups, one can have a group of three people together (or one) to package together some slides and a Word document and call it the “Uber of…”.  However, they lack engineering.  Maybe you should volunteer?  For me, this raises a flag.  Personally, you need more than a pitch deck and a Word document to get on board.  What about marketing intern? Again, another flag, especially if others are being compensated for, say, $60k.  Wow, $60k for an engineer, none for a marketing intern? It shows how little they value marketing’s skillsets.

Again, it’s a case by case basis.

This wasn’t volunteer work, but someone was looking for advice on his start-up software company which is a medical software applications company.  I started asking and talking about surrounding issues about data, security, the cloud.  No answer.  Another thing, and to quote, “I just want something that I like”.  Now this means that it’s someone’s pet project.

Working on your own projects

This is fairly straight-forward, and really, it’s fool-proof because you’re the boss of your own projects.  I have a number of my own as well, including this.

You can suit projects directly to what you want to work on and focus on.  For example:

• I’ve recently got on to Digital Ocean and scored a fair bit of credits.  I’m using that to spin a couple of projects that are just technology and platform driven.  I decided to do this, I couldn’t find projects that I could work on that involved the technologies that I wanted to learn about.  In a related note, this is a way of dealing with not meeting 100% of the job requirements…
• I’ve been blogging a fair bit about travel and even had online advertising opportunities on this blog (back in 2012/2013, before the rehaul/relaunch).  This is great – I get to publish content that interests me, interests you and have the opportunity to potentially earn passive income.
• Related to above, I want to learn a particular foreign language.  Now, how to go about it?  A good way is to blog and write about it and offer advice too.
• Several years ago, I created an online hub on social media.  I got a lot out of that, and so did other people – from the readers, to the community, to the freelancers that I paid and also supported.  I even won an award for it, yay, but you don’t do things to win awards.  You do things because you are passionate with it.

And thus, I leave that last line as my final note.

Volunteer because you are passionate about it.  Volunteer opportunities are everywhere, you just need to find the good ones that also fit you since at least you are in it for the long haul.  If you can’t find the good ones, then start your own!

I was in Singapore for a week in March, staying around the Chinatown area before making my way to the downtown Swissotel.

Singapore has somewhat fascinated me because of its growth and place within the global economy for finance, technology and how they appeal themselves to expats.  Therefore it was also good to have a look at what the city-state is like in the flesh.

Large conglomerates are based here

Large conglomerates use Singapore as the base to the Australia and Asia-Pacific region (or at least, Asia-Pacific).   They are also here due to fairly unique business rules.  Did you know that even Interpol has a base in Singapore?

Brands

I think this stems from new money mentality, but in Singapore, the Louis Vuitton store has its own.. floating .. building right outside the main tourist spots and convention centre.  The shopping centre itself features what designer brands are inside.  Totally geared towards foreigners, expats, wealthy Singaporeans.

Really humid weather

I underestimated the humidity, so I bought a new pair of shoes that’s more suited to the weather.  It was so hot that even my glasses fogged up in the train whenever the doors open to let the hot air in!

Really proud of their country

I was in Singapore when Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, died and shortly after there was the funeral procession through the streets.  My hotel and the surrounding areas had notices of some areas being cordoned off.  His portrait was in an art gallery shop in the downtown.  TV shows were broadcasted dedicated to him.  There were lines snaking all through downtown of people paying their respects with flowers.  I have a lot of respect for Singapore and Singaporeans with this act.

Great food

Another positive take of Singapore is the good food and going to the hawker markets for it is well worth a try.  Pretty much most things that I ate were all new to me.  On another end of the scale, I went to an upscale Japanese restaurant for sushi which offer jewellery and six-figure watch magazines for light reading and a bill to match.

Nightlife

I didn’t actually head out during the night (combination of being exhausted at the conference and having other tasks to catch up on), but you can scour through and see what’s available.  During my stay, I saw listings for a free concert and also a fair bit of deals at the clubs.

What are some great books and resources out there on expat finance?

I am currently reading the Global Expatriate’s Guide to Investing written by Andrew Hallam who is a personal finance columnist and an expat since 2003.  The tone of the book is very much conversational aimed at a wider audience from the expat community (hence the subtitle “From Millionaire Teacher to Millionaire Expat”).  This is recommended when you are in the research stage of offshore investment and considering retirement plans.

Has anyone explored expat-lit? I remember reading Expat Women Confessions on a plane trip once.  I also have some books on third culture kids/adults but at this stage they are way back in the to-read list.  Expat-lit seems to be big, as indicated on Amazon, there are plenty of social media accounts and blogs dedicated to this topic and sub-topics.

I have a particular interest on expat finance though and I find the field overall very interesting.  If you have read any great books on this topic, feel free to comment below.

I have always felt a bit irked by the Generation Y name and I wanted to start pushing this blog into a new direction hence the name change to 21st Century Expat.

My old entries will remain the same but please keep this in mind when you read the older content.

I have been spending a bit of time in introspection over the past 2.5 years, primarily because certain reminders are there.  For example, running into a hard drive which contained an overview of what I wrote when I was 16 as well as old emails from a few years ago.  I recently had a Twitter exchange with another Aussie which has prompted me to make the blog public again for future expats.

A comment from a reader from 2012.. “I stumbled across it googling “solidify job before moving to london”.

You might be wondering why the random e-mail but I felt like all my insecurities have been summed up in your post. Moving to a new place without a job, stress of finding accommodation, needing to apply for a working holiday visa (timing has to be done right), etc.

 I’m a Perth girl, working in corporate finance. I have a good job and a strong network of friends and family here.

I have always been my ambition to work out of Europe – London, Amsterdam, Berlin in particular. Unfortunately being in finance, my ambitions were dampened by rising unemployment and the GFC.

I commend you for making the move and ignoring the news in order to pursue your goals. And I’m trying to muster up that amount of courage to make my eventual move.

 I guess the reason for my email was just to let you know that you’ve inspired someone out there. I’m also interested to know any further advice you may have for me ahead of my move.”

 A comment from another reader from 2013..

This is a great post! I’m 23, a QUT grad and making the move to London in 2 weeks. I’ve never been there before and neither do I have ‘rich’ parents who can help me out when things get rough. I’m completely throwing myself in the deep end here and not sure what to expect but this is great advice!

Eighty percent of success is showing up.

And that includes showing up to my own travels. You see, I find it easy to get excited and worked up over traveling but when it comes to facing the fact a part of me always wants to cave in and revert to being a homebody. What about if I just stay in bed? Not show up to the airport? Cancel my flights? Rebook? Throw a sickie? The effects of it is magnified at being a solo female traveller.

Getting lost
Part of traveling is to get lost. But then, you start developing a sense of your direction in your new surrounds. You start extrapolating certain points into a desired destination, and then recognise your tomfoolery at the thought that this particular storefront could possibly be the only marker for the right direction! But that’s OK. You use more and more of your senses and you are forced to take more consideration in where you are headed. A welcome change to mindlessly walking to the market with headphones on.

Being by yourself, being your self
When you travel you can be stripped bare of certain ‘comforts’ whether that is in tangible materials or intangibles such as the feeling of familiarity. You are just one person in a sea of money. When things hit the fan, you are really only armed with your wits and helped a bit by cash, a passport, a flight ticket home. One of the things that I am terrified of is the possibility of losing everything and having my anchor taken away from me. That’s the world for you, I guess, before you are tied to the safety of wi-fi, cash, maps, documents. It’s something that is in my mind, “what would we be like without certain things anchored to us?”. Another thing that I do is to put myself in the shoes of a local and think “What would they do?”.

The unwanted and the uncertain
One of the things that irritate me in certain countries is the unwanted attention given to female travelers. It can be verbal or even edge on to the physical. I deal with it by being deliberately rude and ignorant of these advances. The uncertain is also quiet certain as well. But, that’s life for you. That’s the world. And you can only be prepared to take whatever it is that you can anticipate.

Tell us about yourself…

I’m an Australian who has been living in Amsterdam with my partner (Ben) for a little over a year.

I’m a Digital Project Manager and have worked in a variety of different digital roles.

Continue reading Q&Amsterdam with Digital Project Manager Miranda Forwood