Who? Why? How?

We’re here to look at who decides to live overseas, why they do, and how they accomplish it. There are probably as many reasons to live outside of your native country as there are people who do so. In my case, my husband and I realized several years ago that, if we stay here, we will never be able to afford to retire. Add to this my lifelong desire to spend significant time in another country, and we began looking at the possibilities of retiring overseas. But that’s not the only reason, not by a long shot! More

Top Quality of Living Cities for 2010

Gloriette, Vienna Austria

Every year, Mercer conducts a Quality of Living survey. Results for 2010 were announced a couple of days ago.

Vienna, Austria, keeps its #1 spot for another year. Top 10 cities worldwide for quality of living are:

Vienna, Austria
Zurich, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland
Vancouver, Canada
Auckland, New Zealand
Dusseldorf, Germany
Frankfurt, Germany
Munich, Germany
Bern, Switzerland
Sydney, Australia

The first US city on the list

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Expat Survey

HSBC has just released the first segment of its 2009 Expat Explorer Survey, Expat Economics. Over 3100 expats working in 26 countries were questioned about their financial circumstances. The survey respondents were all expats who were employed full time in their expat country. Some of the findings were no surprise, but others are worth

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Quality of Life: What Does It Mean to You?

n my last post, I asked the question, Why Would Anyone Want to Leave the US? One recurring expat theme revolves around “quality of life.” This is mostly subjective, and something you might perceive as positive which adds to your quality of life, might be a negative to me.

One example might be the proximity of bars and clubs. If you regularly enjoy the city’s nightlife, like to meet your friends or make new friends at clubs and dance until dawn, being close to such a great source of entertainment can contribute a lot to your quality of life. But it’s not a scene I enjoy, and I’d just as soon be far away from it.

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