Foreigner's Finances

2010 is here along with new resolutions and hope that better times are ahead. Unfortunately, history shows we’re not too good at sticking with our new year’s resolutions.

According to the Fox affiliate, Fox50.com: “By the end of the year, [ ] nearly 97 percent of New Year’s resolutions won’t be kept.”

It’s also shown that what Americans really want is to do better with their money in 2010. According to US News & World Report only reducing stress (65%) was a more preferred resolution to saving money (63%) this year.

So 63% of us want to improve our money situation, but only 3% of our resolutions will succeed. Pretty grim numbers.

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Another ALT (assistant language teacher) and I were recently talking about post-college life. He’s been out of college for a little over a year, while I have just been out for five months.

I told him how I was really enjoying the freedom and doing what I wanted for the first time in my life. For 22 years I felt like I was doing what was expected of me, and was never doing what I truly wanted. That finally changed when I got on the plane to Japan in July.

I told my friend I was enjoying not having to go to the library to study for a test, or having to keep myself awake through morning classes, but I mostly enjoyed coming home at four or five in the afternoon and being completely done with work and obligations.

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My financial system in America was a bit hectic. With multiple bank, savings, and investment accounts I felt like I was failing to automate my financial life. I’d learned a lot about personal finance over the past year, but I always struggled to simplify my accounts. As soon as I found out I would be moving to Japan, I didn’t try too hard to correct my confusing financial situation.

Creating a financial system can be a difficult and time-consuming practice for people when they first move abroad. Moving to a new country is similar to starting a new life from scratch. Housing, food, medical, and visa are just some of the concerns you must wrap your head around when you make the move. Adding the concerns of money and savings to that list can be an overwhelming experience.

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