Living Overseas Passively 101: Introduction to Passive Overseas Life

I have been writing about my love of passive income for over one year now. Today, we will start combining everything to create an amazing life—overseas. That’s right, overseas. 

Why overseas? There are many reasons to move overseas for retirement or long-term vacation. Let’s review some of them.

1. Cost-of-living. This reason may be the number one reason amongst ex-pats (ex-patriots, people who formerly lived in the USA, UK, Australia, etc.). 
2. Slower life. Life in America moves at the speed of light; the overseas location may be good for your soul. 
3. Politics. Escaping overseas may help you get away from the political noise.
4. Build true friendships. Moving overseas will allow you to meet very humble, very simple people who just want to be friends. 
5. Send kids to college. Going to college overseas can save you a hefty amount on college expenses. Why not move out with your kids?

There are many more reasons, but they are all dependent on what you value in your life. Before I go any further, I will talk about my and my wife’s experiences overseas.

Happy Cash Flow Retirement 2

I have spent close to 11 years of my 22-year military career overseas—living in four countries for over a year each. They are Niger, Turkmenistan, Finland, and Japan (7 years). I have also deployed to multiple countries, including Afghanistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Australia. 

My wife was born and raised in Turkmenistan. We met when I served at the US Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in 2004. Most of her family now lives in Turkey, where we go and visit as much as possible.

In fact, I built my entire quest towards passive income while visiting Turkey in 2019. I asked Kris’s (my wife Kristina) sister how many US dollars it would cost to live a comfortable life on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. She replied that it would cost $2,000/month to have a good life there. 

That got me thinking about my military retirement. I knew that my military retirement after 30 years of service would easily cover the expenses in Turkey. But then I realized that I would have to travel to the US a lot to see the boys. I would need more than my military retirement to live comfortably in America and Turkey simultaneously.

Can You Live the Laptop Life?

My hunt to build passive income started in that apartment in Turkey in June 2019. It has become an obsession—one that I am proud of today. I thought something was wrong with me until I read “Be  Obsessed or Be Average.” I then understand that the media tells us to find balance while living a consumerist lifestyle. Hogwash.

Anyways, I digress. But, all this passive income grinding is paying off. I am beginning to see the fruits of our labor. Our dividends are growing, rents are increasing, royalties are building, and cryptos are rebounding. I have 4-8 years in the military to make our empire even more prominent. 

Now, what will we cover in this series? I am going to cover each of my main passive income topics, but with an overseas twist. The plan looks something like this:

1. Overseas 102: Financial Mindset
2. Overseas 103: Retirement Income
3. Overseas 104: Dividends
4. Overseas 105: Rents
5. Overseas 106: Royalties
6. Overseas 107: Automated Business
7. Overseas 108: Cryptocurrencies

It may look like my standard affair, but there will be some twist to prepare our portfolios and businesses overseas. For example, if we know that we need $800/month in dividend income for our overseas life, then we want that income to be via a Closed-End Fund. Some CEFs pay consistently on the first day of the month, like a paycheck. Other dividend-paying stocks pay at random times and are less reliable in terms of the pay date. 

What is Your Rich Life 2?

We also will want to keep about a year’s worth of living expenses in cash or bonds. Then, who will take care of our rental properties? These are all questions we will review together throughout the series. 

My wife and I plan to split our retirement time between Florida, Arizona, and Turkey. Turkey is a fantastic place to live, and we look forward to living there six months to a year at a time. After I complete the above eight articles, I will start putting together country guides.

Of course, I am not the subject matter expert on these countries, but I can pull together research from around the internet. Then we can bounce that off our passive income knowledge and build a passive living plan.

This is all exciting stuff, at least to me. Why settle for one country when you can have as many as you want, as long as you have the funds. People always ask me why I want to make so much passive income. 

The answer is I have no idea what my future life and future self will want to achieve. I do know that I don’t want money to control my destiny. I want to make as much passive income as possible to do whatever I want to do with the family. 

How about you? Have you considered moving overseas for retirement? I look forward to taking this journey with you. Until next time, Enjoy and Happy Investing. 

1. Build Passive Income: 21 Passive Income Ideas (book)
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3. Financial Mindset: Become CEO of Yourself (book)
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5. Investing: How We Plan to Retire on Dividends (book)
6. Cryptocurrencies: My First Book on Cryptocurrencies (book)
7. Real Estate: Financial Independence through Real Estate (book)
8. Business: Retire Rich, Retire Comfortable with a Business (book)
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it.  I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.