EP 19: A Safety Net for Difficult Times: How To’s!
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Employees on work visas tend to be very hardworking (mainly in the STEM Space), very determined to pursue their version of the American dream, and with high incomes, anxious to start investing.
When we start working with them on a financial plan, we complete a full SWOT analysis, and without a doubt, one threat stands out like a sore thumb.
In this episode, we address the specific threat—all related to their visa—and suggest different ways of mitigating it. The ideas range from career enhancements to other legal ways of staying in the U.S.
We draw on our backgrounds as people who were once on work visas and some of the fears and concerns we felt, which apply to many foreign nationals on work visas.
By the end of this episode, you'll walk away with 4 to 5 ideas you can implement or start planning on that will help you shore up your financial plan.
The speakers' views and opinions discussed in this episode should not be considered financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult your advisor for any legal, cross-border tax, and financial advice.
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Jane Mepham, CFP (00:04.938)
What are the top five blind spots we see when it comes to cross border finances?
Working with foreign nationals on work visas and foreign-born individuals and US expats, we see quite a few blind spots. And so in today's episode, we're going to talk about these blind spots, tell you what we think about them, and possibly give you some recommendations on how you can get around it.
Manasa Nadig, EA (00:35.835)
Hey, so before we can go on, let me just take a small pause here, dear listener. Please give us a five-star review on Spotify or Apple. If you do, more people who are interested in this topic will be able to find us. And also, if you're on YouTube and if you can see us,
you will see that Jane is wearing the International Money Cafe t-shirt. So I just wanted to call that out. All right, so head over to YouTube then.
Jane Mepham, CFP (01:14.358)
Thank you. I love that you noticed that, Manasa. Yeah, we need to get more of these t-shirts. But anyway, yeah, let's jump into the top five that we see. And by the way, we really, really sympathize with your situation. Manasa and I have seen a lot of this with
Manasa Nadig, EA (01:21.197)
Of course, it's a beautiful t-shirt. Yeah.
Absolutely. I'm all mulch.
Manasa Nadig, EA (01:41.573)
Mm-hmm.
Jane Mepham, CFP (01:42.178)
had to deal with some of it in all situations, which is the reason why we actually do the work that we do. So the number one that I see is where you, let's say foreign national on work visa, foreign born national assume that your situation is exactly the same as somebody else working in a similar position who's born in the US.
The problem with this is it completely ignores your immigration status, which that individual may not have to think about. It ignores your cultural background, which we know is really key and it's how you end up making all your life and financial decisions. And then on top of that, it ignores the fact that you may have none of the US future plans. Maybe you're planning on going back home, you're planning
on retiring to a country overseas. And so when you combine all of that, what ends up happening is we see people reading, for example, about growth accounts as an example, and they'll come in and say, I want to do this, or they start saving into another account that they've had about. And Manasa and I have to sort of very gently tell you, no, that may not work in your situation. So the bottom line is,
Yours is not traditional financial planning. It's not traditional tax filing. It needs to have a little something extra. Manasa, what do you think about that or do you want to go to the next one?
Manasa Nadig, EA (03:22.979)
Yeah, but all is not lost. I know many of you are getting some things right and
You have to understand though, for the ones that you're missing out on or these blind spots can have a significant impact on your finances. And that kind of leads me to the second blind spot that we feel strongly about. And that is false economy. And let me explain what I mean by that. So really it is...
not paying for professional services because you think that you're saving a lot of money by doing that. And that is the most egregious way of looking at this. I'm sorry, egregious way of looking. Jane, think we have to stop.
Jane Mepham, CFP (04:17.129)
creatures
Jane Mepham, CFP (04:21.805)
I know.
Manasa Nadig, EA (04:25.499)
You
Manasa Nadig, EA (04:29.147)
was just looking at that word and I was going like...
