If you are a new expat in Bali, you may be wondering if there is something you’re missing out on. The truth about being an expat is that if you’re not prepared, there are misfortunes that occur that could have been prevented. With a little bit of research, you can avoid unnecessary hassles, bills, and headaches.
If you are a new expat in Bali, you may be wondering if there is something you’re missing out on. The truth about being an expat is that if you’re not prepared, there are misfortunes that occur that could have been prevented. With a little bit of research, you can avoid unnecessary hassles, bills, and headaches.
1. Ignoring Bali Business Customs and Culture
Whether it’s for work or personal life, you can get into a lot of trouble by ignoring the differences in culture. While you can try to pick it up as you go, this leaves room for unwanted situations to happen.
You don’t need to learn through harsh experiences, you can study up ahead of time. If you don’t like reading, consider setting up some time with a native or friend who is familiar with the like reading, consider setting up some time with a native or friend who is familiar with the culture to understand the key differences.
Pay particular attention to the cultural behaviors that could be seen as offensive to others that are normal back home.
Also, keep in mind the differences in standard daily lifestyle. Balinese have a strong community culture and adhere to a cultural version of Hinduism, a religion with many gods.
2. Getting Complacent About Your Career
As you work abroad, it’s important to improve your job, language, and networking skills. It is easy to get too relaxed because of the tropical environment.
You have to remember that in the modern world, we are competing on a global stage. Competitors from all over the world can work remotely and replace you. It’s important to keep investing in yourself and improving yourself so you become irreplaceable.
3. Not Using Your Cultural Exposure To Your Advantage
While you are there, you might as well master the local culture because it helps your communication skills and understanding of business customs. Subtle differences in interaction, like pointing, bowing, eye contact, and shaking hands can make the difference between coming off rude or polite.
By taking the extra effort to really understand how customs differ and leveraging the interactions you’re already having, you can pull ahead of others in your career and personal life.
4. Not Setting Aside Any Cash
It’s all too easy to live paycheck to paycheck when everyone else around you is doing it. But if you set aside a stockpile of cash for tough times, it can save you a ton of trouble.
You never know when disaster could strike. Unexpected situations can make you unable to work or with a hefty hospital or repair bill you can’t afford.
By saving a moderate amount of money on a weekly or monthly basis, you can build a large nest egg over time that can weather the storms.
5. Not Using (or Even Researching) Insurance
Thanks to the differences in government, culture, and laws, you could be exposed to a lot more physical and financial danger abroad than you’re used to. This is often magnified by expat and tourist naiveté to the situation.
Here are some potential differences:
- Petty theft can be a lot more common
- Traffic can be more aggressive and dangerous
- Tropical diseases can be more common, dangerous, and tougher to cure
- Political turmoil can be more common, which leads to loss of property, health, and life
If you’re not familiar, insurance is a service where you can pay a small amount on a recurring basis to protect against unexpected bills in the future.
According to the blogger behind Pommie Travels, while she was in Bali, she chose to travel without insurance and it cost her. She had a scooter accident, which lead to expensive medical treatment, poor care, endless appointments, and unnecessary scarring.
She could have been treated in a fraction of the time with a better hospital and avoided scarring if she had medical insurance.
By mastering your insurance ahead of time, you can turn a potential disaster into a feeling of comfort since you know that you’re prepared.
Take some time to find out what’s the highest threat for you. You may want to consider:
- Car insurance
- Life insurance
- Medical insurance
- Property insurance
- Kidnap and Ransom insurance
- Warfare and Terrorism insurance
6. Forgetting to File Taxes
It could be easy to forget to file taxes because of all the other tasks you have to do when you move to Bali. It could come back to haunt you in years to come when the government finds out.
Many expats make the mistake of thinking they don’t have to file any taxes if they don’t make money or pay anything. Even if you don’t pay anything at all, you often still have to file the paperwork.
7. Not Filing Taxes Effectively
Even if you file taxes, you could be paying out more than you need to. Expats who have lived abroad for over 6 months could be taxed twice, once by their home country and another by the country they are in.
Speak to your accountant to see if you can get foreign tax credit, which will allow you to subtract the lower of the tax rates.
8. Not Paying Yourself First
A fundamental pillar of personal finance is to put aside money for yourself (usually as savings) first before you pay any bills. Unfortunately, most expats are not familiar with this so they don’t do it.
By paying bills and others first, you are often left with nothing for yourself or you even go into debt. By prioritizing your own savings first, you are guaranteed to add to your nest egg. This process also highlights any unnecessary expenses you can cut out because you prioritize what’s important first.
9. Staying Stuck in Vacation Mode For Way Too Long
It’s easy and natural to feel like you are on vacation when you first arrive in Bali. But this often leads to vacation-like behaviors. You could waste your time and not spend it effectively if you stay in vacation mode for months on end.
Take a couple weeks to relax. But afterwards, make sure you snap back into “work mode” so that your career (and personal) life isn’t negatively affected.
10. Assuming Your Passport is Valid
Did you know that certain countries require your passport to be valid for six months after your flight home? Check to see if your country falls into this category — a lot of big countries do. Make sure you give yourself enough wiggle room with your passport so you don’t end up stranded.
Conclusion
There are a lot of common mistakes for first time expats. But taking care of them ahead of time is well worth the investment. The amount of time you prepare for is a small fraction of the time you can waste if you don’t prepare.
Most importantly, signing up for insurance is a quick decision you can make that can prevent ten times the headaches, hassles, bills, and damage.
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