Is Living, Working, or Retiring Overseas appropriate for me?

It might be.
Only you can decide if a life overseas is the right path for your life at this time. 

While this section serves primarily to raise and examine the questions you should consider, more in-depth help with answers for those questions are in the other sections of this guide. 

What are the things to consider?

Do you have a family that you are responsible for?  How would they feel about moving overseas and living in a foreign land?

Do you have a spouse, partner or significant other?  How would s/he feel about giving up their job?  Will she be able to find work overseas? 

Do you have children?  How will you educate them while overseas?  How might they feel about giving up their friends?

Do you have debts that must be paid while you are overseas?

Are there special medical issues for you or your family that must be considered?

Do you have the financial reserves to return to your home country and re-establish yourself if things don't work out?

Have you ever traveled or lived overseas before?  Did you enjoy it?

Would you find the daily problems of living and working overseas frustrating
- or a refreshing challenge? 

This list is only a beginning - as individual as each person is -
so are the questions that need to be answered in making this decision.

What Qualities are Needed to Succeed Overseas?

My observation has been that people who succeed overseas have the following characteristics and knowledge:

·         They have reasonable expectations about their new job or occupation
and what it can and cannot provide for them

·         They understand that their new country is not like their home country
- solutions to problems that work at home often don't work overseas

·         They realize that problems they had at home will probably also exist overseas

·         They know they will have good days and bad days - just like back home

·         They know they may experience good bosses, bad bosses, good jobs and bad jobs
- just like back home

·         They are flexible people who can roll with surprises and "punches"

·         They are willing to work under and learn about different cultural expectations,
willing to follow and adapt to different cultural work rules

·         They are resilient and can bounce back from a bad situation

·         They are not generally moody or depressed

·         They view their success as a personal challenge

·         They spent a considerable amount of time researching their move
- before they moved.

Not really a daunting list - but what it does say is that you need to be flexible, expect that things may not be 100% what you thought or hoped they might be and willing to learn new rules and strategies to succeed.

One great thing - the new rules and strategies can seem more like a game overseas, people don't tend to take things quite so personally.