What staying costs
The Property Tax Bill: Same House Price, Two Countries
Gina and Tom add up every local charge on a $600,000 house and find that the same price can mean a very different yearly bill. Here is how to add up your own.
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What staying costs
The Insurance Bill You Never See
Priya pays $6,000 a year for health cover, and her employer pays $18,000 more in her name. Add it all up and her household spends about $33,000 a year on insurance.
What staying costs
The Same Premiums, Invested Instead
What would $33,000 a year become over thirty years if it went into an index fund instead of premiums? The numbers, and what insurers pay back.
What staying costs
The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion in Plain Words
Two remote workers hear about a rule that lets them earn without American tax on it. One qualifies and one does not, and the 330-day count is why.
What staying costs
Five Tax Bills in One Household
The Okafor family adds up five separate tax bills and finds they come to almost a third of their income. Most of us argue about only one of them.
What staying costs
The Fees You Never See on a Statement
Nadia and Joe find three places where money leaves their account without a bill: a card fee, cash machine fees and a question at the card reader. Together they cost $1,634 a year.
What staying costs
Do You Need a Bank Account Where You Live?
Ingrid and Carl pay $65 each month to send their rent from home. A local account takes a morning to open and changes that.
What staying costs
Two Cards, a Little Cash and a Phone Number
Odette’s card is declined at a pharmacy counter, and a second card from another bank saves the afternoon. A short list of what to carry for the day something goes wrong.
What staying costs
The Same Glasses, a Different Price
Yasmin prices five yearly health costs at home and abroad and finds $965 against $232. How to ask for a quote, and why some prices do not fall.
What staying costs
Finding a Doctor You Trust Abroad
Samir meets his first doctor abroad while he is healthy, with a one-page health summary and three questions that matter later. How to find a doctor by asking the baker.
What staying costs
The First Month’s Paperwork
Greta and Will find that their paperwork forms a circle: the landlord wants a bank account, the bank wants an address, and the address needs a lease. A local helper tells them the order.
What staying costs
Who Pays Your Lawyer?
Dina and Reuben are offered a lawyer by the agent selling them an apartment, and ask one question: who pays you? A second lawyer finds a $4,200 lien before closing.
What staying costs
Gracias, and Other Ways to Say No
Wherever I go, people come to me for money or to sell me something. I explain the cara, the polite gracias, and what happens when you bargain in the wrong place.
What staying costs
How Much Cash Should You Carry?
Isaac withdraws $2,000 to save a $9 fee and loses it in a market. A simple rule for how much cash to carry and where to keep the rest.
What staying costs
What a Lease Can Hide in Translation
Selma and Jon are handed a friendly English translation of a lease. A bilingual friend and a one-hour lawyer find five clauses the translation had softened.