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The Return to Canada: let’s talk Money

return to Canada

The Return to Canada


As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I’m going to return to Canada next year after living in South Korea for almost 10 years and that in order to do so, I feel like I need to have a giant pool of money so I can sustain myself for at least a couple years while I go back to school and look for full-time work. Those expats who go home without this money pool often find themselves just where they don’t want to be when their meager savings runs out and they are unable to find sustainable work: back teaching ESL abroad. I want to avoid this at all costs.

So, I’ve been figuring out the money thing in the past few days and seeing just how much I’ll have and the news is looking very positive. Here are the figures, but I’m not going to include any of the money that I have invested in the stock market (check out my dividend stock portfolio here) since that money is purely for retirement and I hope to not touch it, no matter what desperate times await me. I’ve calculated the figures in US Dollars.

What I have now:

Emergency Fund in Korea: $10,000
Money in my Korean bank account: $2,000
Money in my Canadian bank account: $5,000

Total: $17,000

What I will have in one year from now:

Pension Payout from my Korean University Job: $35,000
Housing Deposit: $10,000
Savings from my day job ($2,000/month x 12 months): $24,000
Passive income earnings ($300-$500/month x 12 months): $5,000
Money from car and household furnishing sales: $2,000

Total: $76,000

Total in one year from now when I go back to Canada: $93,000

$93,000. That seems like an almost astounding amount of liquid cash that I will have at my disposal, especially considering that Canada does not require the ridiculously large housing deposits that Korea does. I feel far less stressed about moving than before I put it all down on paper.

I do have to buy a car and a few things like a stand-up paddleboard, and bicycle once I get to Canada. I also have nothing in storage in Canada so am basically starting at nothing in terms of household furnishings. And of course I need to pay for a plane ticket back to Canada for myself and my 2 cats. But, those expenses will probably be less than $15,000 so that leaves me with about $80,000 to go back to school for 2 years and then spend a few months to a year looking for a full-time job in the financial field. I also plan to find a part-time job of some sort as well as continuing to work on my online ventures, so I will have money coming in each month and can avoid just burning through my savings.

Readers: are you planning to make a big move within the next year? Put it all down on paper and see how ready you are. It can help reduce your stress about the whole thing if things are looking good. If things are not, you still have time to turn it around!

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