Hello, PF.
I've been living and working in Japan for 2 years and plan to stay for about another year, which will mark the end of my work contract. As much as I like it here, I don't think I'll be staying for the long haul for a number of reasons.
Therefore, my wife and I just began the application process for her U.S. green card (she's a Japanese national with a Master's degree* in a non-STEM field from a prestigious Japanese university).
Just some quick numbers:
Age: 29
Annual income: $40k
Student loan debt: $25k
CC debt: $0
Savings: $20k
There's also the Japanese pension I've been paying into that will be coming back to me in a lump-sum payment of about $8k. I'm also sure our parents will help us out in some way or another, but I would rather treat that as a bonus and not take it for granted.
The student loans are one thing--I plan to pay off about $12k worth of that total, getting rid of all of the loans over 5% interest--but the main reason I'm worried about moving back is health care.
Being in Japan, I don't have to worry about things like going to the doctor or dentist -- routine physical exams cost $10 or less, a recent cleaning and x-ray cost about $30, and I have two wisdom teeth that need to come out soon, which will cost less than $80 total. As someone who grew up accustomed to U.S. health care, those numbers are crazy to me.
My wife and I also both want kids. I know children are expensive no matter where you raise them, but my wife is a bit terrified of having children in the U.S. if it means racking up thousands in hospital bills.
I feel like the job market is in pretty good shape right now, at least from what I've noticed browsing from abroad. But I suppose this depends on whether or not you can be flexible with location. I've accepted that we can't get too picky when it comes to finding a city to live in, so I feel confident that I would be able to get a job lined up without too much trouble. I'm just worried about the costs of relocating, buying a car, getting set up, and God knows what else I'm not accounting for at the moment. I also don't want to have to be afraid of visiting the doctor to make sure my family is healthy.
If anyone can assuage these fears and/or misconceptions, offer some financial advice for the big transition back to the States, etc., it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Edit: Whoa, I jumped the gun, not sure what happened there. I meant to say that my wife *will have her master's degree by March of 2018; she doesn't have it yet. The field is education. She has about 5 years of teaching experience and is probably going to be looking for a lecturer position. I think she has somewhere around $10-20k in savings but I don't have an exact number on hand. We haven't formally combined our assets yet because it's kind of a hassle to set up a joint bank account in Japan.
To address the question of whether I've been paying U.S. taxes, I've been filing my taxes annually since I arrived and haven't owed anything since I don't make over 100k and don't really have any assets to speak of in the U.S. aside from some savings.
Update: We're considering another option, in which she would be dispatched somewhere in the world (anywhere from Australia to Thailand to Germany) as a "specialist" to help foster the growth of Japanese language and culture programs. This is one of the perks of the degree program she's graduating from. The pay is not stellar, somewhere just south of $40k USD, but it comes with full health benefits and subsidized housing. Part of me thinks we'd be silly not to take this option, but it would also leave me without a stable job and I'd have to take up freelance translation or web design (the only two things I'm remotely good at). It'd be a nice resume builder for her, but I'm worried the gap in employment might work against me. I guess it could be a good opportunity to be a stay-at-home dad!
Thanks for the replies, everyone. Will keep an eye on this thread and read others' stories online as well.
Submitted July 25, 2017 at 10:48PM by kuma-sensei http://ift.tt/2uXzIFM
