Hello Luis,
Great question to ask. I will try to break down your question to facilitate an answer:
-Salary: From my experience, companies tend to adjust salaries depending on the location where the employee lives to match the cost of living. I do have heard of situation where a company maintains the salary when moving to a city with a lower cost of living, but I would say this is more the exception than the rule.
-"Things like 401k": When I lived and worked abroad, my company had a retirement plan as well. It was obviously called different and had different rules, but it was there. In fact, it even had better terms than here in the US! In your situation, I would try to find out about these type of accounts or retirement plans as soon as able to be ready from day 1.
-Double Taxation: This one seems to be more for an accountant as it goes above my knowledge. I believe there is a 'Foreign-Earned Income Exemption' which avoids double taxation as long as you qualify. I would definitely check with an accountant and make sure to have these implications crystal clear before making the move.
For everything else related to personal finances, I would say that the concepts are pretty universal and stay the same: Build your emergency fund, pay down your debt and avoid the bad one, have a budget, invest and diversify.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Salvador
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Salvador Bentolila P.E., ENV SP, M.ASCE
AECOM
New York NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-13-2021 04:21 PM
From: Luis Balmori
Subject: "Ask Me Anything" - Personal Finances for Civil Engineers
Great thread so far, I'm looking forward to learning a lot here. As far as my question, I am interested in what the situation might be for those who seek employment overseas. Take, for example, someone working for an American company based in Europe. What are the financial implications of a situation like this, in terms of salary, things like 401k, double taxation, etc?
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Luis Balmori S.M.ASCE
Engineering Student
Strongsville OH
Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2021 06:56 PM
From: Tirza Austin
Subject: "Ask Me Anything" - Personal Finances for Civil Engineers
Personal finances play a major role in the life of a civil engineer. Do you have questions about how you can improve your personal finances? You're invited to participate in an workshop on personal finances. Please post your questions in this thread until Friday, May 14. You will receive answers from @Salvador Bentolila and @Nicolai Oliden until Monday, May 17. Find out more about them here. You can find tips on personal finance here.
Quick reminder: All questions need to comply with the ASCE Collaborate Code of Conduct.
I look forward to hearing from you!
****This event is for ASCE members only. You can join ASCE here.
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Tirza Austin
Manager, Online Community
American Society of Civil Engineers
1801 Alexander Bell Drive
Reston, VA 20191
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