I noticed a lot of digital nomads have to take a pay cut or have money saved up. Is it even possible to be a US citizen and have a remote job with good pay? I say this because if I want to live in a foreign country for say 3-6 months and then return back the US I don’t want to be making only 30k a year.
It has to start mostly in office. I am just shy of 6 figures right now but I started in office for 1 year. After that I started to push for remote and after few months of approvals here I am. Now prior to that I have always been around 50-60k a year working remote. You can get decent wages and crazy livable outside states with it. Just need that “skills”.
Edit
I saw a few say just lie with a remote job. This honestly 100%. VPN routers do work and are almost 99% fine. A lot of people are using them now and even myself if I have to do it I will.US citizenship gives you access to the largest pool of high-paying remote jobs in the world, so, yeah, it is possible to be a US citizen and have a remote job with good pay.
People dealt much worse cards do make it work. The average salary in the country I’m from is 24k a year, for instance, and fully remote jobs are very rare.Yes lying to them
Probably need a secure VPN too
based, will do
Possible yes.
But also helps to define “high paying”.
And factor in the reduced tax liability…
Not the same as US domestic jobs, because realistically why would they hire you if they’re international, and not someone who is fine with $30K a year?
That being said, I have seen jobs that are okay paying (maybe 30-40% pay cut vs US as opposed to 80%) but they are few and far between and very competitive.
it depends on your skill set. i don’t take a discount on my rate because i’m outside the country. someone who is fine making $30k a year for the same job is probably going to suck at it. been there, had to fix that.
the number of things i’ve had to fix/fires i’ve had to put out from companies skimping on their staff because they want to be cheap is crazy and almost always cost them more in then end than just paying fairly would have cost.
Sure. But based on your comment about rate, I’m guessing you’re a contractor and not a full time employee? Contractors get more leeway here than FTEs
Just do freelancing
Actual W2 jobs, extremely rare and difficult to find. Contract work is a lot easier to get while nomading, it’s still harder than finding non-remote stuff though.
I think it’s not possible. My husband and I have looked for two years. We have found nothing. The next step is for us to quit our jobs and move to N Amer with nothing, hoping to find something quickly. If there were remote jobs we could find and still live abroad, they are not advertised.
It is possible, in very specific circumstances. It helps to be an expert in your field, especially more so if it’s in a highly technical international field.
I have a friend (dual US/French citizen) who earns around $200k USD in Paris working for a private American company in aerospace. He has a very specific skill set and was able to negotiate a “low” American salary in exchange for living in France. The company wants more connections with ESA, he gets to live in France with an insanely high salary (by French standards), they get to pay him less than they would an American (their base pay is around $300k)…everybody wins.
You can also consult - but have to be driven.
You can also work for a company that is remote and just not tell them you’re abroad, or work for an international company. My company (international conservation) allows for remote work as we have offices all over the world, so if you want to go anywhere for 3 months of the year and travel we are able to. More than three months though you need to be a “resident” in that country and claim it. I have a colleague I suspect is working illegally in France, but should be in Germany. Who knows how many others are doing it in my company…
I’m a digital nomad making $240k for a US company.
They key is I just don’t tell them and I have to be willing to get caught and get fired. (I have a dedicated VPN at my moms house in the US and a travel router, plus a burner phone spoofing my location with an Authenticator app just in case- but I’ve only ever needed texts for 2FA)
How do you use a burner to spoof your location? I am missing this piece
What career do you have?
Using the GL inet routers? Any recommendations on what to use for the home server and the one you travel with?
Yes. Two GLs
I do the same thing. I just started a few months ago, do you mind if I DM you to ask a few questions?
Whats your job title? Can you give some background?
I went to dinner. Software engineer. 17 years experience
literally same bro🤣🤣🤣🤣
What about timezones? You just keep staying in LATAM?
I bet he/she‘s ballin in South/Central America
Yep. My max is +3 or -3 time zones from my US company’s. I don’t enjoy working late or early. I can’t work asynchronous
Curious do you tell your friends about your work remote? I understand keeping it mum with coworkers but other people
Of course.
I don’t have a LinkedIn and they don’t know who I work for.
I wonder how many jobs this guy has gone through as even in the most relaxed companies, those not having any problem with remote work after COVID, eventually making it back to the office becomes just too onerous. Granted my flight back from Asia might be longer than the next guy but even every few months I found I just didn’t want to go. Skip a few, and then and soon you find youre not in the loop as much as you once were.
Idk I might have tried to make it work harder if I was a bit younger. And going conract leaves so much more flex in your personal schedule. In fact I conciser myself retired picking up work when I get bored.
I’m in Central America. 5 hour flight, multiple direct flights per day to choose from.
How do you deal with the tax fraud though. Willing to get fired is one thing, the tax fraud is the real kicker
How is it tax fraud? If you’re paying US federal/state taxes as if you’re in the US, I don’t think the IRS is going to come after you. In the country for which you’re staying in, sure they may not really like that you’re working on a tourist visa but for them to find out and pursue you for it I think is unlikely.
One part is definitely the host country. Some countries are stricter about it than others.
The other part is state laws usually. E.g your employer is in California where you used to live but you put your family address in Washington because you don’t have a physical address in CA anymore. CA can come after you for lying about your address to try to avoid taxation. Your visitor visas aren’t proof that you don’t live in California. You’ve just committed tax fraud.
The state thing is not a big deal if you move to another state and wrap up your relationship with the high tax state first. If you go abroad directly, then like you said it might be more difficult for you to prove that you moved to the low tax state.
I’m doing something similar and I have family in a zero income tax state which I lived in briefly before going abroad.
I pay my US and after taxes after claiming the foreign earned income exclusion. I have a digital nomad visa that specifically excludes income. No tax fraud
It sounds like your tax home is in the U.S., which would mean you don’t qualify to claim FEIE.
I’m outside of the USA for 365 days. I qualify. Physical presence test.
I still pay taxes because I make over the limit.
This is what I was considering on doing but still trying to figure out if those emergency plane rides back might ruin the value of this whole experience
What’s a travel router?
How did you set up a dedicated VPN? I have a computer at home that I’d like to set up as a personal VPN.
There have been many guides on this. Check out the links in the side bar
Thank you for this!
Check out option 3 in the sub’s wiki
Thank you for this!
It’s possible but those jobs aren’t exactly advertised. I’ve got one and I can work from anywhere and it pays very well. I got the job because the CTO and I go back 10+ years and I’ve done some consulting to him over the years and I was the first person they called when they needed someone in house.
Depends what your skills, education, experience is in. I work as a lawyer and work remote. Pays well.
Wow, never heard of a lawyer that works completely remote, that’s pretty cool.
It is a common misconception that lawyers/attorneys only work in the courthouse (I guess it is all of those legal TV shows). But in reality, a lot of (maybe even most) attorneys are just glorified copywriters. Not meaning to denigrate the profession in the slightest, but I know a few guys who’s jobs consist of them typing up and editing legal documents. Employment agreements, Contracts, NDA’s, etc. I even knew one guy who specializes in environmental law. He works as a consultant fully-remote. Basically, companies pay him so that he can make sure they don’t get screwed by the EPA.
They are possible. I make about 300k USD and work fully remote. The trick is to be very good at your job or have a niche skill set. Use your network and get referrals, it’s much easier this way.
Many people here shy away from it but most dev jobs in crypto fully remote and distributed
The trick is to get a fully remote job in the US- one that is asynchronous and doesn’t have a significant time-zone dependency, and then travel.