About Nomad Finance 101
Digital nomad, location independent entrepreneur – however you want to call this lifestyle, it conjures pictures of a laptop at the beach and a carefree life in flip flops.
But this life is not a long vacation; it requires a portable business (or a really good trust fund) to sustain it.
As every US individual and entrepreneur, digital nomads have to deal with the unsexy side of life as well. We have to run a business, pay taxes, and figure out our nomad finances. Only for us it is much more complicated.
Institutions only slowly acknowledge that not everyone fits into the mold of typical American residents. Quite often they are not prepared to deal with people like us. “What do you mean you don’t have a physical address where you live in the U.S.?”
Many regulations are written for people with a fixed residence. Finding out how rules and regulations apply or are interpreted for location independent people isn’t always easy.
That’s where this guide comes in.
If you rather go to the dentist than dealing with your taxes, if your eyes glaze over when you read about legal stuff because it could as well be written in Chinese, you’ve come to the right place.
I am not a tax professional. I don’t write in legalese but in plain English.
About me
Call me weird, but I actually like numbers. I don’t mind doing my tax return and digging into IRS regulations. In fact, I enjoy financial planning. I understand legalese and can put it into “normal” language.
As a rather analytical and numbers inclined person, I managed personal finances and prepared my tax returns as an expat and an immigrant. I lived in Asia for over 4 years. There I started my first website, which began as a hobby but started to make some money after a while.
When I decided to become completely location independent, I wanted to do it right. Set up a business the right way. Plan my taxes strategically. Get my finances organized to make tax season easy.
This guide compiles what I learned about tax and finance for US nomads. It explains things in layman’s terms – no finance or legal degree required. It also includes lots of useful links.
In my former corporate life, I worked closely with finance and legal departments, and also with product developers. My role often was to facilitate and translate between those groups who seemed to speak different languages, all of them English. I had to explain complex content from one area to people from another area, helping them understand not only the content but also why they should care about it.
I am not a certified financial or tax professional. So please don’t base any decisions based solely on my words here. I want to equip you with a good understanding of the concepts so you can ask your financial planner or tax person the right questions. Note that I cannot be responsible for decisions you make with regards to your taxes, finances or legal business status. I have to give this legal disclaimer so I can share this information with you without getting into any trouble. Please read the Terms of Use.
Fast forward 2 years … I am now working with one of the best expat tax accounting firms, Online Taxman, and its sister company Global Expat Advisors. I’m still not a tax accountant, I just write about tax and business structuring topics in collaboration with accountants. Please always consult your tax advisor before making any decisions.
After neglecting this website for a while while writing for other sites, I’m back now and will update and add content. For more on US expat and nomad taxes, please also check out the Online Taxman blog. And for business structuring and offshoring topics, head over to Global Expat Advisors.
