You should start improving your language skills now before doing anything else. Especially if you're considering a non-English speaking country, you will open yourselves to more job postings and find better quality information on immigration. For example, when I was moving to Canada, I found the English language forums to be garbage. They were flooded with people coming from places other than the US that were having a much harder time moving to Canada than you would. There were not a lot of Americans on the site-- especially in the Québec section. The French language forums had more reliable information.
The majority of Americans I met when I lived in Europe were either teaching English (like me), retired there a long time ago (like my grandmother), or worked for a company in the US that transferred them there (like my college roommate who now lives in the UK). Also keep in mind that Canada will be a much easier adjustment for you coming from America than Europe. The job market in Europe is hard to break into if you don't have an IB (International Baccalaureate) and didn't go to school in Europe. Even if you get a work permit from a European country, you're likely to end up in the scenario of my American friends who moved there- having to renew your permit every year never knowing if it will be approved for at least 5 years before you can get a passport. If this kind of permit is not renewed or you both lose your jobs, you will be ordered to leave the country with very little notice.
Québec (through the Canada-Québec Accord) has a separate immigration department with more authority than the other provinces to select candidates. Their screening exam requires fewer points to pass, so theoretically even if you don't speak French you can get more points on the Québec test than on the Federal Skilled Worker test. After Québec approves you, the federal government can only deny you for criminal or medical reasons. The Federal Skilled Worker program just got much more difficult last year, so the provincial systems are the way to go. Québec and Alberta have the most open immigration systems in Canada right now, with Québec's being more established and much bigger. Québec's is the system the other provinces are interested in copying. Unlike the Federal Skilled Worker program and some of the other provincial programs, you do not need prearranged employment to move to Québec. Here is the link to a preliminary points test for the Québec-selected skilled worker program.
I work for a Canadian company in an English environment in Montréal. Don't count on finding a company to sponsor you (mine didn't), but I finally bit the bullet and applied and got accepted. It was really much easier than I expected it to be and, as an added bonus, I don't have to worry about being forced to leave the country if I lose my job (I've had that happen once when I tried to extend a temporary work permit- believe me, you don't want to go through that experience!). I have a bachelor's degree not in my field, an AS degree related to my field, and an AA degree. If you do find a company that will sponsor you, the process is much faster, but as American citizens with work experience and higher education it should take 9-10 months start to finish to get permanent residence through Québec without arranged employment if you do it right. NAFTA permits are available at the border if you're lucky enough that your education or job experience matches exactly one of the few job titles on the very short list. The process cost me roughly $1500 and took 364 days because I delayed the move for a relationship I was in at the time. It will cost a little more for you as two people.
After 3 years of residence in Canada, you can apply to become a citizen for like $150, keeping your American passport (Germany and other countries, for example, would make you relinquish it as part of the naturalization process). Regardless of what your intentions are, keep in mind that if you do plan on relinquishing your US passport, you have to pay taxes for the next 10 years on all of your assets due to some fairly recent legislation. Also, I can tell you that working for a Canadian company that has tons of US clients, being a US citizen gives me job security. When a client demands a US citizen for a project, I'm one of only two people in the company that they can work on it. My company wins contracts because they have me.
Another important thing to keep in mind: If you renounce your passport, they'll see that every time you come to the US when they swipe your new passport. You'll probably get put through additional screening and they could decide not to let you back into the country. You would be surprised what comes up on the screen when they swipe your passport in their computer. Keep all of this in mind if you have friends or family in the US and you ever plan to visit them again.
This last part doesn't apply to you, but I'm including it as maybe somebody will find it useful- it's actually easier to get work permits in Europe if you have a Canadian passport first. Agreements exist between Canada and a few Western European countries, like France and The Netherlands. Canadians 18-35 can get work visas of 1 year without arranged employment, so if you were to find a job, a company could sponsor you for a French carte de séjour (residence permit). See here for an example of this type of visa from the French embassy in Canada.
posted by globotomy at 12:21 AM on May 22
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Before you can begin mastering your personal finances, you need to understand what personal finance is all about. First, it's personal - meaning it's about you and it's unique to your situation. Second, it's about finances - meaning it involves money. Personal finance is more than just paying off debt, picking your investments, and buying your first home. Those things alone will not achieve your goals. Personal finance requires you to define your goals and dreams and then to apply the ideas and behaviors required to reach those goals. It's all about managing your money with an end in mind - achieving your goals.
Identify Your Issues
You probably aren't reading this article just for the fun of it. There is a reason you are seeking personal financial advice. Maybe you never seem to have enough money to make it through the month - or week. Perhaps you just need to figure out how to prepare yourself for those unexpected emergencies. Or you could be just fine, but you'd like to polish your financial plan and accomplish goals you never thought possible. Whatever your reason, it's important to begin by identifying the obstacles that lie ahead. Here are some common financial problems:
Repeated Overspending - We have all experienced the temptation to buy more than we can afford at some time or another, but making a habit of overspending will quickly destroy any financial plan. Debts can easily become too much to handle and prevent you from ever reaching your true financial goals.
Emergencies - Your car breaks down, your paycheck comes late, or you forgot about that insurance bill that only comes twice a year. Financial emergencies can wreak havoc on the best laid plans. By not preparing for these emergencies, you are setting yourself up for future failure.
Procrastination - Who hasn't put something off until the last minute? We're all likely to do this sometime or another, especially with long-term goals that don't seem very urgent. But saving for retirement is a lot easier if you start early - even if you're only saving a little bit.
Emotional Decision-making - Financial decisions require prudent forethought and careful execution. By allowing our emotions to take over, we often make terrible financial mistakes. Those get-rich-quick schemes you see in infomercials late at night may seem like a good idea, but they're just another quick way to kiss your hard-earned money goodbye.
Personality Mismatches - Money & finances are one of the top reasons people get divorced. But how do you manage to create a financial plan when you are a saver but your spouse is a spender? By working together to create a solid basis for your personal finances, you and your spouse can utilize all your strengths to ensure financial success.
The Basics
Personal financial planning draws from aspects of finance, investments, insurance, law, employee benefits, and taxes. But you don't have to be an expert in all of these areas to reach your goals. Three basic rules will help you stay on track in your personal finances:
1. Money, income, and wealth are all different. Your financial situation doesn't depend solely on how much money you make - it really depends on how much money you keep. Personal finance focuses on the accumulation, preservation, and distribution of the money you keep - your wealth.
2. Be on your best behavior. All the nifty financial tricks in the world can't save you if you don't learn to control your spending, begin saving, and change your habits to achieve your goals.
3. It's an ongoing process. Managing your money requires more than creating a financial plan and following it for the next 10 years. It requires a lot more than just making sure you paid all your bills for the month. Personal finance demands that you are fully aware at all times of your responsibilities and actions - otherwise all your effort will be for naught.
Income Is Not as Important as You Might Think
If I told you I make $100,000 a year, you'd think that sounds pretty good, right? But what if I'm spending $150,000 every year? Doesn't sound so great now, huh? Income is important - but only to a certain extent. What's more important is what you do with that income and how much you keep at the end of the month. Your financial success depends much more on how you manage your expenses than the money you make on each paycheck.
Another important factor is your net worth. Your net worth is basically your assets (what you own) minus your liabilities (what you owe). Net worth is the real measure of financial wealth. You might live in a $300,000 home, but it doesn't mean much if you owe $270,000 to the bank for your mortgage. Take a minute and think about your net worth. Do you know what it is? Do you have any idea? Keeping track of this number helps you see where you are, where you came from, and where you are going.
What's Your Financial Type?
You may have heard of the Myers-Briggs Typology. To borrow from that system, think about how you would categorize your financial type. Are you aware or oblivious? Can you easily control your spending, or do you have problems? Are you committed to your financial goals, or do you lack follow-through because you haven't established firm goals yet? Are you an aggressive investor, or do you prefer to safely manage your risk by taking a more prudent route?
The answers to these questions can help you determine the make-up of your financial type. These questions can also help you realize the areas where you and your significant other may differ. Take the time to answer these questions honestly, and you'll soon find yourself on the path to a better understanding of your current financial behavior and what you may need to work on.
Your Habits Will Make You or Break You
The financial habits you adhere to will ultimately determine your success or failure. You can make all the plans in the world, but if you don't stick to them you'll never achieve your goals. Begin thinking about your current financial habits and ask yourself how you started those habits. Ask yourself if those are good habits - in that they will lead you to your goals. If you need to change your habits, what should you do instead and how will you make the change? Start today by thinking of a simple change you can make. Stick to that one little change for two weeks or four weeks and you'll soon find you can begin to make bigger changes. Eventually you will have all of your habits aligned with your goals, and you will be on the path to achieving your dreams.
Stay tuned for the rest of this Personal Finance series. We will cover net worth, financial math, budgeting, reducing debt, understanding credit, investing, insurance, taxes, education planning, retirement planning, estate planning, and other important topics along the way. In the meantime, you may visit Free Financial Plannerto get answers to your specific and unique financial questions.
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