Life as an expat shouldn't be this hard

Life as an expat shouldn't be this hard


Ever since the beginning of the financial crisis, the press has been full of stories of expats being made homeless, forced to sleep on the streets, of pensioners "trapped" in a country they would leave if only they could, of expat businesses going bust on a daily basis.

Even those who have been sent abroad by their companies are fearful for their futures; distanced from their head office and the ability to play the necessary corporate politics, they feel removed from the real decision-making and are simply waiting for the redundancy notice to come through the letterbox.

Without a doubt the worldwide economic slowdown has contributed significantly to expats' woes, in many cases through little fault of their own. I know a couple who were doing very well in the expat lifestyle, both wife and husband having nice new expat careers and enjoying the work-to-life balance that so many find impossible to achieve in the UK.

Then all of a sudden their security net was whipped away, when they lost the tenant in their UK property (essentially their nest egg) and the much-needed rent to cover the mortgage. Without this, they were forced back to the UK to secure an income to pay the mortgage. I say "they", but unfortunately the husband has stayed working away, sleeping on friends' sofas as his work is more in demand in Spain than in the UK: not how they envisaged spending their semi-retirement years!

But is it the recession? Another friend opted for the expat lifestyle several years ago with their wife, to enjoy their retirement. They invested in a business for their daughter so she could live close to them and share their adopted country. Of course, she fell in love and moved back to the UK. My friend is left running the business, and because of the current climate, is working twice as hard as he ever did in his prime for about 20 per cent of his former income. As if that wasn't enough, the daughter has now produced grandchildren, so his wife is spending month on end back in the UK with the family, leaving him stranded abroad running a business he doesn't want but can't get rid of.

When I think about this kind of story, I struggle to blame the current financial situation. Yes, it has contributed, but to allocate it sole responsibility I feel misses the point. Even before the crisis hit many an expat figured out the hard way that living abroad wasn't for them. I have seen many return home having blown the cash from a property sale on a 12-month long party; I have seen many expat golfers reluctantly pack up their clubs and head home under orders from a wife that just couldn't handle being a golf widow in a foreign country; and an unbelievable amount return back home because grandchildren have appeared on the scene.

You see, the events affecting expats are often no different than those affecting the rest of the world. The challenges of making a living, sustaining relationships and dealing with the odd crisis are all the same. So if you haven't planned your move carefully, and made provision for trouble, it's no wonder you'll find yourself in a sticky siutation.

One of the main problems, I think, is that too many expats feel that their move abroad is permanent. The probability is that you will return home: the career move that brought you over will take you away as you progress up the slippery pole, illness in old age or an ageing parent will force you home. If you simply accept that living abroad is a temporary thing, life as an expat shouldn't be too hard.

So why do expats insist on establishing so many roots, of replicating what they had at home? Why buy a property and tie up you cash when you can rent and remain flexible? Why buy a business when you might not always want to be running it? Why put all your eggs in one basket, have no Plan B, assume that life won't change for the worse?

I have sympathy of course for those that are struggling, but I'm afraid it is limited. I have simply seen too many expats make life as an expat far harder than it needs to be.