Reminder from a long-term traveler: you can live abroad indefinitely for about $500 US a month plus your first plane ticket
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Hi, I've been traveling for about 15 years and a lot of US Americans are justifiably upset to be living in their country right now.
If you have a remote job that pays over $500 USD a month, there are dozens of other countries you can be living in. If you make closer to $1000 USD a month remotely, the world is wide open.
If you don't have a remote job yet, teaching English on or offline pays at least $1600 a month for 25 hours of work a week.
You can use the extra time and money to figure out how to get closer to your dream job, dream country or chill out and watch movies or play video games.
You can also access health care, education or other basic civil amenities that may be unaffordable or inaccessible in the US, if those are a concern.
Plane tickets Sep. 2025 from the US:
Canada: $16
Colombia: $46
Panama $96
Ireland, Germany, Norway, Italy: $147-149
Japan: $209
Thailand: $221
Vietnam: $267
Taiwan; $272Stay out of the US 11 out of 12 months(calendar year, not tax year) and you don't pay federal income tax that year.
Let me know if you have any questions.
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Hi, I've been traveling for about 15 years and a lot of US Americans are justifiably upset to be living in their country right now.
If you have a remote job that pays over $500 USD a month, there are dozens of other countries you can be living in. If you make closer to $1000 USD a month remotely, the world is wide open.
If you don't have a remote job yet, teaching English on or offline pays at least $1600 a month for 25 hours of work a week.
You can use the extra time and money to figure out how to get closer to your dream job, dream country or chill out and watch movies or play video games.
You can also access health care, education or other basic civil amenities that may be unaffordable or inaccessible in the US, if those are a concern.
Plane tickets Sep. 2025 from the US:
Canada: $16
Colombia: $46
Panama $96
Ireland, Germany, Norway, Italy: $147-149
Japan: $209
Thailand: $221
Vietnam: $267
Taiwan; $272Stay out of the US 11 out of 12 months(calendar year, not tax year) and you don't pay federal income tax that year.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Stay out of the US 11 out of 12 months(calendar year, not tax year) and you don't pay federal income tax that year.
Sorry? Can you provide a source please. This is contrary to the tax advice I've been given.
You get a foreign tax credit for local taxes you pay and can deduct that from your federal tax burden, but that isn't the same as your statement
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Stay out of the US 11 out of 12 months(calendar year, not tax year) and you don't pay federal income tax that year.
Sorry? Can you provide a source please. This is contrary to the tax advice I've been given.
You get a foreign tax credit for local taxes you pay and can deduct that from your federal tax burden, but that isn't the same as your statement
Sure, this is the official IRS explanation of the FEIE:
Foreign earned income exclusion | Internal Revenue Service
You may qualify for the foreign earned income, foreign housing exclusions and the foreign housing deduction if you meet certain requirements. Learn more.
(www.irs.gov)
This is the official language of the physical presence test I'm referring to in your quote.
"You meet the physical presence test if you are physically present in a foreign country or countries 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months including some part of the year at issue. The 330 qualifying days do not have to be consecutive."
Plainly, it doesn't matter if you were absent from the United States between January 1st and December 31st to qualify, it only matters that you were not present in the United States for 330 of 365 consecutive days that include the current tax year.
You could have been in the US until april, and then outside the US from May until the following april, and that's fine to claim the FEIE and exclude a variable amount of your earned income tax as determined each year by the IRS (currently at $126,500 annually).
By tax year you were only out of the country for 270 days, but out of 365 calendar days, you were out of the country for 335 days from May to April, and that's what counts for the physical presence test.
You're right that this is very different than a foreign tax credit or double tax exclusion based on foreign taxes paid; form 2555, the FEIE, is a completely separate IRS process excluding foreign earned income tax based solely on your physical presence outside of the US.
And it's cool! Ha, I've been using it ever since I left the states.
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Sure, this is the official IRS explanation of the FEIE:
Foreign earned income exclusion | Internal Revenue Service
You may qualify for the foreign earned income, foreign housing exclusions and the foreign housing deduction if you meet certain requirements. Learn more.
(www.irs.gov)
This is the official language of the physical presence test I'm referring to in your quote.
"You meet the physical presence test if you are physically present in a foreign country or countries 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months including some part of the year at issue. The 330 qualifying days do not have to be consecutive."
Plainly, it doesn't matter if you were absent from the United States between January 1st and December 31st to qualify, it only matters that you were not present in the United States for 330 of 365 consecutive days that include the current tax year.
You could have been in the US until april, and then outside the US from May until the following april, and that's fine to claim the FEIE and exclude a variable amount of your earned income tax as determined each year by the IRS (currently at $126,500 annually).
By tax year you were only out of the country for 270 days, but out of 365 calendar days, you were out of the country for 335 days from May to April, and that's what counts for the physical presence test.
You're right that this is very different than a foreign tax credit or double tax exclusion based on foreign taxes paid; form 2555, the FEIE, is a completely separate IRS process excluding foreign earned income tax based solely on your physical presence outside of the US.
And it's cool! Ha, I've been using it ever since I left the states.
So long terms capital gains isn't excluded right?
And there is a 130k/yr cap on feie
So if someone builds up their nest egg they will still owe federal income tax on it if it's capital gains or over 130k/yr
Thank you for citing the source! I really appreciate that
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So long terms capital gains isn't excluded right?
And there is a 130k/yr cap on feie
So if someone builds up their nest egg they will still owe federal income tax on it if it's capital gains or over 130k/yr
Thank you for citing the source! I really appreciate that
You're welcome!
Right, the FEIE specifically excludes earned income, not unearned income, where capital or investment gains would be grouped under.
The exemption was 126,500 last year, but it's a variable rate as determined by the IRS each year, going up a thousand or so annually.
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Hi, I've been traveling for about 15 years and a lot of US Americans are justifiably upset to be living in their country right now.
If you have a remote job that pays over $500 USD a month, there are dozens of other countries you can be living in. If you make closer to $1000 USD a month remotely, the world is wide open.
If you don't have a remote job yet, teaching English on or offline pays at least $1600 a month for 25 hours of work a week.
You can use the extra time and money to figure out how to get closer to your dream job, dream country or chill out and watch movies or play video games.
You can also access health care, education or other basic civil amenities that may be unaffordable or inaccessible in the US, if those are a concern.
Plane tickets Sep. 2025 from the US:
Canada: $16
Colombia: $46
Panama $96
Ireland, Germany, Norway, Italy: $147-149
Japan: $209
Thailand: $221
Vietnam: $267
Taiwan; $272Stay out of the US 11 out of 12 months(calendar year, not tax year) and you don't pay federal income tax that year.
Let me know if you have any questions.
As someone who lives in Malaysia full time - make the jump, you will always wonder what took you so long.
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You're welcome!
Right, the FEIE specifically excludes earned income, not unearned income, where capital or investment gains would be grouped under.
The exemption was 126,500 last year, but it's a variable rate as determined by the IRS each year, going up a thousand or so annually.
There are more strategies that are worth remarking on
- Setup a loan-out corporation for your work in your market of choice (such as the us)
- Setup a friendly-holding corporation to own or license ip to the loan-out where you live, or in a friendly tax location (i.e. vietnam)
This lets you convert pay per hour work into long term capital gains, or dividends, maximize 401k, do the mega-back-door, and get payouts in a Non-Convertible-Currency (such as VND)... your imagination is the limit.