I'm French and just got a job in the San Diego area, so I could live with my girlfriend who is American and still have to study for her doctorate.
My job will earn me 75k / year, and I have a pretty cheap lifestyle so it should be alright. However, I'm the owner of a big domain in France with a few houses (I inherited), and it's not really bringing me any money, but mostly costing a lot (they're old houses, and need maintenance.) Of course, I don't want to sell the domain since I'm really attached to it and willing to make it a place where poor families can come and have their kids spending time outside big cities and discovering the nature. Thus, I need to save as much as possible.
But for now, I'm in America, and I got a few questions about what to do with my money here:
- The first budget I wrote allows me to save, after taxes, at least $2000 a month (I'm probably going to spend much less but I prefer to take the worst case, plus I think San Diego can be expensive). What is the best thing to do with that money? Savings accounts and then low-risk investments? I already don't know shit about finance in France, so, in America...
- My company doesn't provide a 401k, is there anything similar where I can contribute and is it worth it? I'm about to spend a few years in America, so I guess I may have a small retirement in France and in the US. Else, I don't know if I can still contribute for my retirement in France, if anyone heard about a similar case?
- As a good frenchman, I'd like to live without having any credit. I'm going to America with just enough money to buy a motorcycle and pay everything during a couple months, and then it should be good with the paychecks. How is life in the US without a credit score? My girlfriend told me it may be hard at some point. She has a good credit score but still quite recent, since she's 22 like me. Could it be a problem for us? For instance, we're looking for a place to live right now, do you think a lot of owners are going to refuse us for that reason?
- I saw a few resources about doing your taxes yourself. Is it a good idea, or is there a really high risk of mistake and, thus, penalties?
- Any recommendation for a good bank? Could be some national bank like bofa or chase or something more regional.
- Is it easily possible to often transfer money from the US to France? And will it not bring me any problem? If not, do you know the best way to do that?
That's already a lot of questions, I'm a little lost and quite scared, it's a big jump for me!
If you have any other advice, I'll definitely take it!
Submitted March 04, 2018 at 11:29AM by ramjitan http://ift.tt/2I192rK
