World's Best Places to be an Expat

A recent article in Forbes.com reported on the results of a recent HSBC Bank International study that surveyed 2155 expats about their quality of life.  A list of the top ten places to be an expat was created from the results of that survey, using several criteria including duration of stay, opportunities to earn and save, level of luxury in the lifestyle and the price of accommodations.

Singapore was number one on the list, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the US tied for second place. Belgium and Hong Kong were the next top rated living destinations for expats.

The study showed that Hong Kong, India and UAE (UAE has no income tax) are good picks for those who want to earn and save, but tend to have shorter term stays. Opportunities for more luxurious lifestyles in Europe and the US keep expats there for more extended periods of time.

With over 190 million expats in the world and that number growing every year, such studies are extremely useful in helping the aspiring expat make choices about where to go abroad.  It's been my experience that sometimes expats choose where to live based on one or two criteria but don't take others into account that can significantly impact their life abroad in unforeseen ways.

When working with my clients we always assess country choice based on a list of factors and insure that their choice not only supports their professional goals but their lifestyle preferences as well.

Let's take for example London - great town with incredible food, art, theater, music, architecture...the list goes on. For those reasons and others my husband and I chose to move there almost 7 years ago. However, what we discovered is that the cost of living and accommodations in London (rents in central London are truly obscene) did not afford us the opportunity to enjoy a lot of the things we were attracted to the city for in the first place. We knew it would be expensive, but we really hadn't "run the numbers" in the kind of detail (ie more than household & basic expenses) that we should have based on our desired lifestyle. Because of this, and a few other things, we decided after 4 years that we needed to find a new place to live.

Because my husband and I can work from wherever we are, there were few limits as to where we could go next.  We traveled to many places and seriously considered six cities.  We had fallen in love with Rome on first sight, but were concerned with the fact that the average earning level in Italy is lower than many other European countries.  But after doing our homework and running the numbers in sufficient detail, we were able to say with confidence that moving to Rome would allow us to enjoy all of the things that we love about Italy -  the culture, the food, the language, the people, the weather and the lifestyle - and still honor our professional goals and lifestyle preferences. Nine months after we started our search, we had found a place in central Rome and have been in love with our life here ever since.

YOUR EXPAT SUCCESS TIP: If you are considering becoming an expat, determine the most important things you are looking to receive from your time abroad. Ask yourself which aspects of your lifestyle are "non-negotiable". Do the research, run the numbers and use studies like the one mentioned here to help you make an informed choice about which country is best for you.

YOUR THOUGHTS?: Are you an expat who is extremely happy or unhappy with your quality of life?  Is your current living and working experience much better or worse than you expected? What advice would you give to someone currently trying to decide which city will be their new expat hometown?  Please share your thoughts and experiences with us.