Ep 27-"Happy 1st Birthday The IM Café!!"
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Cue the Confetti.
Today, we celebrate a huge milestone - a year since we started this journey.
What started as a coffee chat has become a one-year podcast, and there are plans to do more.
In this special episode, we look back on our beginnings, lessons learned, and things we've learned about each other, appreciate those who've been with us on the journey, and plan for the future.
Please tune in to find out what we have in store for you and our big, hairy, audacious goal and vision for the International Money Cafe Podcast.
Let's celebrate!
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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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the International Money Cafe Podcast, the show where we filter out the noise on cross-border taxes, finances, and life in the us. I'm your host Jen, me from Certified Financial Planner, founder and owner of Elgon Financial Advisors,
Speaker 2 (00:21):
And I'm your host, man, Nadi, enrolled agent, owner and founder of Amman Tax and Business Services. Join us on this journey as we explore the unique challenges faced by inbound outbound families and businesses on taxes, compliance, and financial planning. Let's get to the show
One Year Podcast Anniversary
Speaker 1 (00:43):
And we are back with a very, very special episode. So one of the things I realize or we realize sometimes it's hard to see success, so celebrate success when you're kind of mired in the day-to-day things. And so I'm really big, and manai is also really big on when we walk with our clients to tell them it's okay to stop now and again and look at where you've come from and kind of celebrate those little baby steps. And so in today's episode, we are actually going to look back at where we've come from and celebrate because it's been a year of doing our podcast. So it's a happy first birthday, and we're just going to look back at this year, talk about some of the things we've learned about each other as well as talk about where we are going with the episode. So Manasa, where do you want to start?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Alright, cue the confetti. So, oh my goodness, you're absolutely right. This is just amazing that we are at year one of our podcast journey and it's been a lot of learning and celebration, maybe two steps back for every step forward, but hey, we are learning. We are just having so much fun. So definitely the last time we checked our stats, hundreds of listeners, more than 25 countries. So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, dear listener, and we just love that you are listening to us and encouraging us in supporting us. So yeah, Jane, it's amazing to be here and definitely looking forward to all that we have got coming soon.
Goal of the Podcast
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So when we started the podcast a year ago, actually, our goal was really to let people in on conversations that man and I used to have where we'll talk about cross border issues, taxation, financial planning. And the reason we were doing this, because this is our lives, I guess you can call us experts to the us we lived the immigrant life, we've been students, we've been on all kinds of different visas, and we've seen the struggles and the challenges. And so when we got together, and you can go back to, I think it's episode one or two where we really talk about the genesis of the episode. The whole idea was let's just, what's the word that we use? Filter out the noise on cross border taxes, finances, and life in the us. And so one of the cool things, I don't think we've ever talked about this, maybe mana, you can remind me, do you remember how we came up with the name of the podcast?
Naming the Podcast
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Oh yeah, definitely. This was because we used to meet for coffee chats and that is where things started. We would meet for coffee chats and we would start talking about all things cross border space, whether it was taxes, whether it was financial planning, whether it was just life. And that's how we thought that that's what the name of the podcast should reflect, that how we came together. And we came up with a few names, there were a lot in consideration, but finally we thought the International Money Cafe really sat with us and represented who we were, gave us story of Special touch and Jane and I love our coffees and we love our chai, so hey, why not? So the International Money Cafe is, so that's how it started.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And of course the other thing we did, because part of what we'll do to this, probably not probably mention a few people that have helped us on the journey. So
Trademarking the Podcast Name
Speaker 1 (04:55):
The next thing we did once we said this is what it's going to be called was we actually went out and did some legal stuff. So we made sure we trademarked the name, we got the website domain and all that stuff, but the actual genesis, we got the podcast or we've decided we're going to do the podcast now where do we go next? And at this point, I really, really want to thank the Proud Mouth Team led by Matt because I ended up taking a few of their classes and we learned so much about what podcasting is and how you go about doing it when you've never ever done this before. So the equipment, the episodes that you have, and really what they encouraged us to do, and we still reach out to the team every now and again when we have questions, is be yourselves, go out, have a conversation, which really is what we were doing in our virtual coffee chat. And so I really want to make sure we do give them a lot of credit. They've been awesome and they've really helped us in terms of thinking about our bigger vision, where we want to go, and really just trying to bring everything together. So Proud Mouth and Matt and the team, thank you so much. We really appreciate you. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yes, thank you. Proud Mouth, we definitely appreciate you and we continue to learn from everything that you share.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And the best part of it is we still have access to office hours. So anytime something new comes up, we reach out to them. And then of course there's a whole bunch of other people. This is really where you say it's a village. We have all families, but we'll come to our families in a minute. But we had specifically some advices that we reached out to on Twitter and yourselves and they said, we'll help you just want to do a podcast. Okay, great. We'll help you. Agreed to get on the calls with us and just kind of helped us walk the journey. It really does take a village, but the one thing we always say, it's all about experimenting. All about experimenting. And that's still what we're doing, right?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I know, I know. And the thing is we realize how generous people are with their time and with their knowledge and let us kind of take a peek at where they failed and what helped them succeed. And yeah, we really thank you. And like Jane said, you know who you are and we are not so sure about naming you, but we definitely want you to know that we feel gratitude. So yes, and of course our family and definitely a shout out to our kids, you know what, they have helped us so much, they are our biggest cheerleaders. So leading the village in helping us is our family and our kids and their feedback and everything that they have kind of helped us learn from the next generation of how things should be and what they are looking for in terms of financial and tax advice. So yeah, thank you.
Sharing a Vision
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Absolutely. Thank you so much. The other thing when we look back is it's funny, but we still haven't met in person man, and I still haven't met. We so look forward to the day we'll get together in person. But any other business where you are working with team members, different people, it's really good to figure out the strengths and weaknesses and kind of lean on that. And for us, this journey has been a big lesson in terms of figuring out each other's strengths and weaknesses and leaning in on that strength to kind of produce what we are producing. And I know it's going to get better. So we both had the same vision. We are both very passionate about sharing our expertise, which you can find through our blogs, other podcast appearances. We really want to bring more value to our clients in folks who were in our situation. So we talk a lot about foreign born families, foreign nationals and work visas and US experts, but it's really helped to know what is it that we can lead in on. And man, I got a few stories to tell, but let me hear what you have to say first.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yes, you know what though? Definitely everything about sharing our expertise, we've already been doing that and pretty well, you've been on so many different podcasts. I love to listen to you talking to people about cross border financial planning and of course my blog where we have shared so many articles about cross-border taxes and planning and all of that good stuff. And definitely bringing value even to other professionals. It's amazing that everybody cannot be in every niche. I mean the same goes for us even, right? If there's so much other stuff that people have in going on in their lives financially. But we cannot help everybody. So we do learn from other professionals and we appreciate that other professionals are learning from us about cross borders in particular. And there's so much global movement these days. There are US citizens moving abroad and then we have all of these questions about, oh, what do I do? I want to retire abroad or can I get my social security if I move abroad? Or I just came to the US now, what do I have to do? And definitely that is our niche and we help with the cross-border tax and financial matters and yeah, that's something that definitely is our strength.
Special Strengths
Speaker 1 (10:57):
I agree. So combined strength. But I really wanted to talk about some special strengths that I think Manasa has that I think has really helped us. And one of the things I realized is man is very, very creative. I cannot reach a level of creativity. So every time we come up with an episode, and a lot of times we're just answering questions that we've seen asked in social media, people have directly reached out to us and said, oh, what about this subject? Mine would be to say something like, okay, here's how you deal with not paying tax in the two countries. But man wears her creativity. I think it's her superpower and she'll come up with this amazing, amazing title. So for example, one of my favorite ones we're talking about double taxation should come up with something like stuck between a rock and a hard, and it's like how to avoid double taxation. I'm like, that's amazing. We did an episode on weddings. That's probably still one of my all time favorite episode titles where a US citizen goes abroad, there is a non-US citizen. And man said, do you remember the title You came up with that one? It's one of my favorites.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I know that was a good one. The wedding bells are ringing, humdrum Tax and Financial Implications follow. Oh yeah, that was a fun one. And you know what? I thought that while I was sitting at a wedding reception. What's funny about it? So yeah,
Speaker 1 (12:34):
When we say we are bringing our lives into the podcast, we truly are. And so when you start something with somebody, lean on their strengths and their weaknesses. Man, any strengths you want to talk about? Anything you've noticed about me?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Of course, Jane. Oh my god, like you said, we haven't really met in real life, but who cares? You know what? Since Covid, it's all about getting to know people and it doesn't really matter where you are. And I feel so connected with Jane and I cannot tell you. It's like I've known her all my life and literally Jane and I can talk about anything and we have kind of meandered into topics about life and culture and bringing up children. And that I have to tell you brings me to Jane's superpower is I think this comes from her super discipline about being a runner. I think she knows how to stay absolutely focused and disciplined. She's always bringing us back to the topic and this is what happens. I think that, and maybe this is an excuse, Jane, so sorry, but I think that this comes from knowing too much about things. You kind of tend to sort of meander into the sub tangents of topics about, oh, this could happen and this is how it gets complicated. But Jane knows how to be disciplined and just kind of keep us smiling lane and say, that's the goal, let's keep going there. And that's what I love about you. Otherwise, you know what? Our episodes could be two hours long and I don't know who wants to listen to a two hour episode. So
Speaker 1 (14:19):
That would be scary. And I really appreciate you saying that. The whole idea of keeping us focused on target, the vision, what makes you good in terms of the details is folks, if you have somebody preparing your taxes, you want them to be detailed, really detailed. And I think that's probably where you detailing idea comes from.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
No, the same goes for you. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Yeah. I think it's a superpower, but it's nice because now we feel comfortable enough to say to each other, okay girl, we need to just get back on track. Kind of like we did with this episode this morning.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yeah, it was, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Alright, I think we probably want to take a quick break. We have a special announcement and then we'll be back.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Hey dear I'm C listener. Let me tell you a little story. Coincidentally, when I started my practice, it was the same year in which FATCA was passed into law. FATCA stands for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. The government started to crack down on those who had financial assets overseas and were not compliant in disclosing these funds to the US government. The FinCEN Fbar filing requirement has been around since 1970, since the Bank Secrecy Act was passed. Well, even though it has been more than 10 years since these laws were passed, we still have many, many US taxpayers who may have a filing requirement but are completely unaware of it. I'm talking about that joint account with your dad with over 10 K back home. So this is in fact our most frequently asked question. We've put together a comprehensive free ebook which goes over the most important compliance requirements for overseas financial assets. And we want you IMC listener to have this ebook completely free. All you need to do is go to our website, www the im cafe.com and scroll to the bottom of the homepage and enter your first name and email address and you will be able to download this handy ebook. Now, hurry, go get your free and fabulous download.
Future of IM Cafe
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And we are back with this episode where we are sort of looking at one year of podcasting and also looking at where we are going. So one of the things that again we keep coming back to is, okay, we've been podcasting, it's been a year, where do we want to go with this? We still have a lot of topics to talk about just based on all the questions that we have. I did a podcast with Matt and he was asking me, how do you guys come up with your topics? And my answer to him was, Ashley, the problem is our topic list is so long. The problem is what do we not talk about? So that's never been an issue. And so as we've started thinking about where we want to go with this and how we keep sharing our knowledge, again as we are learning more and more, there are a couple of things we do want to are planning on doing over probably this year first and then obviously onto the future. And so the first thing you probably have noticed, our new website, mana, you want to say anything about our new website?
New Podcast Website
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Oh, you know what? Our new baby, the 1-year-old podcast baby gets a new website and it's so exciting. We just love our new website. The colors, the design, the people who did that website have done a great job and we are going to link to them and let you know who they are. But you should go check out our new website please and let us know what you think about it because we love it. And even if you think that there are some things, there's room for improvement, there's always room for improvement, please let us know. But we love how the website has come out. Definitely
Speaker 1 (18:49):
A big part of the website and the design team that we found, again, going back to some of what we talked about on Proud Mark, I mean Matt, sorry, we keep mentioning your name, hope it's okay, is really bringing ourselves into everything that we doing. So yeah, when you look at it, those warm colors, it's us, the coffee, everything. It's really us and our culture and bringing ourselves into it now really come to appreciate and understand that there's only two of us. And so we want to make sure we keep bringing that out. And then of course, the next thing we want to talk about is we have all this knowledge we want to share in doing the podcast has really forced us to go deep into the knowledge space. So every day for us is a new learning opportunity. I've learned so much about cross border taxes and I continue to learn because man is not going to let me get away with saying something is off or mentioning the wrong form. She'll be like, okay, Jane, hold off. Like, okay, I understand. And like I said, she's a wealth of knowledge and I know she's also said the same thing, that she's learned a lot about financial planning. And so our goal is to start sharing some of this and we plan to build courses paid free. We'll figure out how we go. We always experimenting anything you want to say specific about some of the courses we're talking about. And again, subjects will change. But I'm curious if you want to say anything about that.
Subjects of the Podcast
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yeah, yeah, Jean, and thanks for that. We get asked a lot of questions and a lot of these questions I cannot be answered in a 2025 minute podcast episode. And really we do have ethical and professional obligations. We cannot share a lot of information on a free podcast episode. So really these courses that we are thinking of are our way of being able to get more into the nitty gritties of each subject, be able to bring to you more specifics about certain things. We may still not be able to share specific situations for you, but for that we may have to get into more and an engagement letter and things like that. But the courses that we are thinking of will definitely answer more of your questions and get into the details about a lot of these topics. And each one of these topics that we are thinking of bringing to you in these courses have the potential to help you to navigate this journey.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
And definitely, even though Jane and I, we have a lot of knowledge and we have expertise and we have many years that we have put in and getting these together, but the courses will help you get to where you need to be and maybe also decide on next steps of where you want to be going. So we are very excited about our plan for these courses and we are really looking forward to bringing those to you. And we will announce them on our podcast as in how we come up with new courses. And of course, do you also, Jane, want to talk a little more about our broader vision for the next steps after?
Broad Vision for IM Cafe
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Absolutely. So the next thing after the courses, and this is where we got this huge vision, is to actually create a community which we've been doing, but now sort of formalize that community a little bit more via some membership ideas. Again, we still don't have all the details, but Mana and I are very comfortable going into this saying, this is the vision, this is where we want to go, and we'll find people that can help us kind of bring our vision to life. And so the whole idea is we want to create a safe space
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Where you'd say you've just arrived in the US or in a work visa kind of thing. And you have very specific questions. You can come in and meet with other people on the same journey or meet with professionals who can hopefully help answer some of your questions. We don't know what this is going to look like, but once we do, you will be the first ones to hear about it. We don't have a timing and that's kind how we do things and I think it's helped us in terms of just seeing us making progress. Anything else you want to add on that, mana?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, no, we covered so stuff today it's, and we are celebrating and I can't believe that we are here a year later and this is just great, Jane. I love it. So I think that this kind of brings us to the end of this episode, but our celebration will continue, so please follow us on social media and check out what we are planning, what we are doing. We'll be making more announcements as we come along. And what, in order for you to be the first to know what's going on, it'll be awesome if you go to our website and subscribe to our newsletter so that we can share with you a SAP everything that we have planned. So go to our website, it's called the i am cafe.com. It is T-H-E-I-M-C-A-F e.com. And scroll down the homepage and you'll find a place where you can subscribe to our newsletter, do it. And so we can send you everything that we have going on. And of course, every time a new episode drops, we'll send that over to you as well. So check out all the new things, check out the new website, and stay in touch for a new and exciting super second year of the International Money Cafe. Thank you so much for listening. Dear listener, bye bye.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Thank you for listening to the International Money Cafe podcast. The content is for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for professional advice. Seek the advice of your qualified service provider with any questions you may have regarding your cross border finances and tax needs.