Job Discussion Forums

[spiral78]

[Irish Lad]

[naturegirl321]

[naturegirl321]

I knew I put it somewhere, but here,

Realise that MOST intl schools don't require you to have X nationality (with the exception of some like Brunei and the EU, right off the top of my head).

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=92040&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=brunei&start=15

[Landon]

[naturegirl321]

[Landon]

[HLJHLJ]

Welcome to the world of international finance

NG is absolutely right, you need to think about your income differently now. The figures you need to know are what your net income will be, and how that translates into buying/saving power according to the cost of living in each country.

For example, in Ecuador, the income tax I pay varies according to my visa, and my employer's tax code. So I have different rates deducted on different jobs. It is usuallly 10%. However, I am able to claim it back, so effectively I pay zero income tax here. I don't have to pay UK tax on it (that's a USA thing) so I effectively don't pay any income tax.

If I was being taxed at 20% or 30% it would make a huge difference to the amount I need to earn to survive.

[fladude]

A lot of the Central American and Mexican Int. Schools are waiving the 2 year requirement due to the difficulty in getting teachers. That probably sounds crazy in today's economy, but there are a lot more International Schools than there used to be, and on top of that this area has a strong reputation for violence (which is well deserved, at least in places). Schools also tend to be in the big cities, which are also typically the places where the violence is. I understand that is not true of Mexico per se, but it is certainly true in Central America (except maybe Panama or Costa Rica). Cities like Managua, Guatemala City, and San Salvador are all basically unsafe and tend to lead the list of the most violent cities outside of a war zone.

Still though you are better off getting the two years of experience first in the USA. Once you have it, you have it. Its hard to get a job but there are always places hiring (you might not like working there, but time will pass).

As for taxes, some countries don't have an income tax, or not a significant one, and others offer a different tax based on your visa. I am currently living and working in LA and pay no income tax. Of course I still have to pay sales taxes, import taxes and other random taxes which affect everyone.

[Landon]

[MotherF]

There are two things you've over looked in your reasoning Landon.
1, most of us are not taking money out of Latin America. We're spending most of what we earn in the countries we're living in. For some of us, we have well paying jobs in that our local buying power is much greater than it would be if we were earning 2 to 5 times more in our home country than in Latin America.
2, we have a skill that the country wants/needs.


In my case in Mexico, I do pay income tax, about 20%! but what I get after that nets me only about half of what I would make a public school teacher in my home state, but I can afford a full time live in nanny, private school for my kids, I paid cash for my car, I've nearly paid off my mortgage, and my husband is a full time graduate student. We'd be up to our eyeballs in debt if we lived in the US. Instead, in a few months time we'll be debt free.

[naturegirl321]

[naturegirl321]

[spiral78]

[HLJHLJ]

I don't earn enough to be taking money out of the country, what I earn here gets spent here (mostly my choice, I prefer to work part time because I value my free time more than $$$).

The tax breaks I get are not special to ex-pats, they are available to everyone. Basically food, rent, education and medicine are tax deductible. I believe that there are other ways that I could reclaim tax as I have a non-resident visa, but as my rent and food more than accounts for the tax I pay, it's easier to claim it back that way, like everyone else does.

Not all countries are on a mission to screw every last penny out of their citizens.