Author of Nomadic FIRE
"His philosophy is based on the concept of geoarbitrage, a strategy that involves taking advantage of the cost-of-living differences between different geographic locations...the most powerful, but underutilized strategy to retire early.”
YAHOO FINANCE- These People Retired in Their 40s — Here’s How They Did It
Press And Media Features Include
Discover Abroad
American Expats that Thrive Personally and Professionally Living in Foreign Countries
Becoming an expat is a journey that often resembles a rollercoaster. You experience so many different emotions, doubt yourself at times, and take huge personal and professional risks by moving overseas.
This anthology is dedicated to telling the stories of expats and digital nomads who love living abroad, who have created fulfilling personal and professional lives outside of their home country, and most of all, who can’t imagine ever going back!
Hi there, I'm Marco Sison. It's great to see you!
You might know me from my features as a Personal Finance and Living Abroad expert in USA Today, U.S. News and World Reports, MSN Money, Yahoo Finance, HuffPost, and even an iTunes documentary on Financial Independence.
But let me tell you, it wasn’t always this way.
I started as a poor immigrant from a developing country, faced homelessness, job loss, two stock market crashes, and even a failed small business. I wiped out my life savings—twice. And I even started off my adult life with $40,000 in student loan debt.
But here’s the thing, I didn’t let these setbacks define me. Instead, I built a unique system and lifestyle combining the benefits of living abroad with modern investment strategies to rebuild my life and finances, leading to early retirement in at 41 years old.
Marcora, Peru
Giza, Egypt
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Guanajuato, Mexico
Chapter 01
Sneak - Peek
Scroll through this sneak peek preview to see if Abroad- American Expats That Thrive hooks you like it has so many other readers.
Chapter: How to Move Abroad, Retire Early, and Live Your Dream Life
While sitting down to write, it is only two days away from Halloween in the United States. While the U.S. is getting ready for a supernatural and spooky holiday, I found some financial retirement data that is freaking scary.
The median retirement savings Americans between forty-five to fifty-four have built up is LESS than $50,000.
Keep in mind that many financial planners recommend you have four times your annual salary saved by forty-five and seven times by fifty-five. With the U.S. median income at roughly $55,000 per year, most Americans in my generation are already waaaaayyy short of their retirement savings.
Even more frightening is the final amount the average American believes they need to retire comfortably, which rose to $1.8 million last year.
If you are an average fifty-five-year-old Gen X’er, you need to go from $50,000 to $1.8 million in 12 years to comfortably retire in the United States.
Holy Crap!
What’s the answer? Make more money?
The average income in the U.S. is already one of the highest in the world.
How about working more?
The USA already ranks 3rd in the country with the LEAST vacation days. Some 40% of Americans never take a vacation day a year. No days off to travel, go to the beach with your kids, or hang out with family.
Is the answer to work longer?
Here is another terrifying fact. You probably can’t work longer, even if you want to. Most workers over 55 are involuntarily forced into retirement due to job loss or health conditions.
Even if you wanted to delay retirement and work into your seventies, you may not have that choice. More than half of us will be forced out of our jobs by circumstances out of our control because of layoffs or health problems.
The situation may seem hopeless, but it’s not.
What if I told you I retired fifteen years after I graduated from university?
What if I told you my net worth increased by over 60% even after I stopped working?
Did I inherit that money? Nope. My family immigrated from a developing country. My mom was a single teenage mother before that was a thing. She literally farmed rice growing up.
“Sure,” you think, “you are probably a ridiculously high-paid software engineer, doctor, lawyer, or Hollywood superstar.” Nope. My average income in fifteen years of working is roughly $70,000 per year. Decent pay, but not George Clooney good.
Maybe you think I got lucky and was a Silicon Valley start-up genius or lottery winner? Negative. I wish I could be so fortunate.
My story is far from a fairy tale.
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