How moving to a developing nation improved our financial situation
On 16 May 2006, I boarded a Folker 100 aircraft with my wife and ten-month-old daughter. We made the short flight from Port Moresby to our new home — Alotau, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea.
To be honest, the move had nothing to do with money. We moved there to do missionary work in Alotau. However, more than four years later, I’ve found that our decision to move to this third-world country located in the South Pacific actually had a very positive impact on our finances. (For some context, I have an interview with some PNG citizens so you can learn a little about their standard of living.)
Over the last few years I’ve read several posts at Free Money Finance where the author has introduced the cost-saving benefits of moving or retiring overseas. In this post, I want to highlight several ways how living overseas has improved our financial situation.
Challenging our Consumerist Mindset
People spend a lot more money when their neighbors spend a lot more money. If the neighbor’s kid has an iPod, laptop, backpack, new running shoes, and a shiny bike, then we want our children to have enough stuff to “fit in”. Maybe you don’t feel a temptation to keep up with the Joneses, but you probably don’t want to be so far behind that everyone notices.
Living in a third world country has dramatically diminished my desire to own Stuff. It’s diminished because our neighbors don’t have Stuff. There isn’t a pressure to keep up with the Joneses, but instead the pressure is towards lifestyle de-flation. To live with less. To live more simply. To be more generous.
It’s not unusual to see kids with worn-down sandals, wearing only one sandal, or no footwear at all. The first thing we feel tempted to do when we get a new pair of shoes is get them dirty so they don’t look so new.
In our hometown, Alotau, you couldn’t even find much worth buying if you tried. T-shirts at the stores are about as thick as a piece of Kleenex, and second-hand clothing stores tend to buy bulk used clothing at the cheapest price possible. This often means all the clothes are between XL and XXXL. Which, by the way, is very unfortunate because most of the local residents are very short and thin.
Cost of Living Reduction
In general, the cost of living in a third world country is much less than the cost of living on U.S. soil. It might be the cost of goods, or it might just be because of the mental changes listed above.
Essentially, anything related to labor is very cheap. The current minimum wage here is about $1 USD per hour. (I’ll put all references to price in U.S. Dollars). Over the last couple of years, that has tripled — it used to be 33¢!
As such, you can be obscenely generous in the eyes of the local citizens and still pay very cheap labor costs. I recently had some work done on my truck. The guy who did the work typically gets paid $1.80/hour at this day job. I had him do some work on my truck and paid him just over $7 per hour. While some people might rant and rave that that salary is a sign of the injustice in the world (which it is), he was able to make in one day more than he makes in a week. Let’s just say that he didn’t do any complaining.
In Alotau, anything associated with electronics and technology is very expensive. You’ll pay $200-$300 for a basic digital camera. In a recent study that Adam Baker did on the cost of living overseas, I learned that we have the most expensive internet worldwide (at least amongst those who participated by sharing data). It’s not unusual for us to pay over $150 per month just for a basic high-speed internet package.
Still, overall the cost to live here is actually much less than the cost of living in the US.
Sometimes You Simply Can’t Buy Anything
Here’s the absolute best way living overseas can improve your financial situation: Sometimes there’s nothing to buy! I’ve spent several weeks in the area villages, and there’s no store. Cash is useless. How much money could you save if you had no way to spend money in a week?
Then there are the several hours a day when water is unavailable. The days when there is no meat in the stores. The days when no one shows up for work so the store doesn’t open.
When you can’t spend money, it’s easy to save money.
Credit Cards Aren’t Accepted
Before moving here, I bought everything using a credit card. I’ve never paid a dime in late fees or interest, but I’ve always cycled all our purchases through a credit card. However, plastic is almost useless here. There are two hotel/restaurants and one airline that accept credit cards. Otherwise, it’s just plastic junk.
I’ve often wondered how much faster people trying to get out of credit card debt would be debt-free if they lived in a place like this — a place where the temptation to use plastic is removed. And a place where there’s nothing tempting to buy anyway.
I think it would make a huge difference.
Cheap Medical Coverage
While our family still pays an exorbitant amount for international health insurance, you can’t beat the prices when you need to make a trip to the local hospital. A visit to the hospital costs about seventy cents. Interestingly, it cost me $2 to buy a stamp to mail my claim to our insurance company. Isn’t that crazy? A doctor’s visit costs less than a stamp! There are no local private doctors, but if you want to get to see a doctor immediately, you can pay around $7 USD and get to see a doctor right away instead of waiting in line for a couple of hours.
Several years ago, some co-workers had a baby here in town. The total hospital bill came to $7 USD. If you’ve had a baby in the U.S., you know you’re talking a four-digit bill — not a single-digit bill.
When we had our second and third children, we were able to travel to Canada to have our children. Our international health insurance had a $250 deductible if we had medical services outside of the United States. Inside the U.S., we would also have to pay 20% of the total bill. Since the average cost of delivering a baby is several thousand dollars, we felt blessed that we only paid that $250 deductible.
Transforming Our Stance on Social Justice
This is one of the biggest ways our financial situation has improved. Not in terms of having more money, but in terms of making wiser financial decisions. I’d like to think that we are more compassionate now than when we moved here.
Seth Godin claims poverty is an issue of “proximity and attention”. When you live in a third world country, you’re in constant close contact with poverty, and it certainly has your attention.
Over the last four years, my view of money has changed. My desire to find a viable way to reach out to the poor has strengthened. My simple solutions regarding third-world poverty have been transformed into a much less concrete and more complex list of possible solutions. Poverty is complex, but we’re willing to make an effort to help make real changes.
Now, more than four years after our Air Niugini flight landed here in Alotau, I can honestly say our financial situation has dramatically improved. That wasn’t our goal, and it wasn’t our intent. But, at the end of the day, we’ve changed in how we handle money and how we think about money — and we’re better off for it.
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There are 81 comments to "How moving to a developing nation improved our financial situation".
I agree that living in a third world country helps you experience much in life without the exorbitant expenses they are usually associated with.
>>I’ve spent several weeks in the area villages, and there’s no store.
That’s a really bad situation isn’t it?
Interesting perspective, thanks for sharing Craig. America is definitely a land of exorbitant abundance, where Customer Service Reps in California purchase homes for $500K, where the middle class is expected to amass a mini fortune to retire, where parents are expected to send their kids to private and elite universities for $50K a year, and where basic services like daycare, long-term care and healthcare can run hundreds of dollars a month and at best cripple a familiy’s net worth and at worst bankrupt them. It’s a tremendous amount of pressure. All of these expectations are fueled by advertising and even when you unplug the television, there’s the social stigma and pressure to assimilate and be a perpetual and mindless consumer. It’s imperative to internally gauge what your priorities are and how to accomplish them.
Great story! Thanks for sharing your experiences living in a developing country.
One thing that’s very important to me is family, and I don’t think I could ever move to another country because I’d hate to be so far away from them. I’m impressed with anyone who is willing to make that sacrifice to do charity work!
Craig,
I really enjoyed the article! I moved my family to Nepal earlier this month and in the short time we have been here, I have seen what you describe.
I have also noticed that sometimes even when items you want are available, you may not be able to find them in the chaos.
When you said your financial situation improved, I thought you meant you put $X in savings or paid off $X in debt. So it’s just your views about money/stuff that have changed? Your interview with the residents was interesting. I would like to have known if they were happy, and if so, what is about their lives that makes them happy? Do they think they’d be just as happy with more money?
I also thought “third world” was an outdated term?
Interesting. I never knew the origins of the term “Third World”, and I’ve always wondered about them. Digging around the web, though, I see that the term’s meaning does go back to the Cold War, even though modern usage has changed to mean “undeveloped”.
It also appears that some consider the term ethnocentric, and sometimes even offensive. I didn’t know this either. I’ll remember that going forward.
Finally, I’ve already trashed one nasty comment. I’ll trash others, too, if needed. If you have criticisms, feel free to offer them, but don’t be a jerk when doing so.
I’m curious, does missionary work pay? It sounds like you are making money while you are there, but I thought that missionary work was usually a non-paid / volunteer position.
One thing I am really uncomfortable with is your decision to have your children in Canada, which you stated was for financial reasons (so that you would only have to pay the $250 deductible as opposed to possibly a couple thousand if you were in the States).
I’m assuming that you are American, and so you decision to have your kids in Canada automatically makes them Canadian citizens. But yet you don’t have ties to Canada, besides traveling there on occasion.
Citizenship in a democracy is about more than holding a passport, it’s also about contributing to a society, staying informed in issues, and participating in politics (voting, etc.). But for you it seems like more of a matter of convenience.
JD– I would go so far as to change the title to this (switch “third world” with “developing”), even if the term remains in the rest of the story. I don’t work on development, but many of my colleagues do and the term “third world” is very off-putting in our professional context… the technical term they usually use is “LDC” for “less developed country.”
I’m not sure it’s important how the term came about. It means something different now than it did then. The term definitely detracts from the point of the story, that of perspective, which is something I’ve also heard from my colleagues who work in the field.
J.D.’s note: That sounds like a good solution, Nicole. I just asked Kris if she’d even known Third World to mean anything other than undeveloped, and she hadn’t, either. Is this a recent move to reclaim the term? (Meaning, since we were in college 20 years ago?)
When I was in college 10 years ago, developing was the term of choice, though I still had some professors who said third-world and second-world… LDC I think is newer than that even. Oops, editing to answer made the red box disappear. Sorry!
I find it interesting how you can avoid spending money simply because of a different cultural milieu. We tend to think we have a lot of control over our decisions and yet much of our life is really dictated by societal pressures.
I wholeheartedly agree with the author. We had the good fortune to live in Egypt for most of one year. Even though I hear that the situation has changed and Cairo is one of the most populated cities in the world, shopping was surprising limited. Stores were usually open, but had very limited stock. You bought your vegetables from one vendor and your bread from another. Meat stores were only open a few days a week, right after slaughter. The country is known for it’s cotton, so you’d think they’d have great linens and clothing, but most of their high-quality cotton is exported. The spice market was amazing. These are but a few examples. I love the U.S. and our family, but so thankful for the experience of living in a developing country. Besides being a real education (both my spouse and I have masters)on so many levels, it was also a boost to our financial situation as newly-weds. We learned that stopping what you are doing and really spending time with people is way more important than having stuff. We learned that having great experiences is more important than having stuff. We stopped shopping for recreation. There’s more, but I will end in saying, if you have the chance to live overseas, go for it. If we had listened to the fear-mongers, we wouldn’t have such great memories. I would do it again in a heartbeat, especially with children.
JD, 20 years ago the Wall had just come down, so the answer is probably yes 🙂
One of my best friends moved to Papua New Guinea to do missionary work there. To comment on one of the questions above, usually missionaries raise their own financial support from churches or friends in their home country, and often work under the umbrella of a supporting organization (such as Wycliffe).
One might give to a missionary by giving at a church that supports the missionary, or maybe agreeing to give a certain amount on a monthly basis and sending it to the supporting organization. Then the missionary receives a consistent “salary” based on the support he or she raised.
I consider it worth my money to support friends who do mission work because I see it as valuable, yet maybe I don’t have the skills or passion or calling to do it myself.
I think this story would be very different for a “rapidly developing economy” vs. “slowly developing economy”. In the former your savings could be quite substantial but you would end up spending a lot of money on housing etc (think Dubai). PNG together with most of Africa falls into the latter group.
Having spent time as an expatriate myself, here some thoughts on the financial aspects of living abroad:
a.) Taxes
Tax rates vary widely depending on where you go – compare Sweden to Dubai. This will have a huge impact on your ability to save. As a US citizen you will always have to pay US tax at a minimum – non-US expatriates make a ton more money in low tax countries.
b.) Salaries
Salaries also vary dramatically and are not always adjusted for cost of living. For example, if you compare across European countries cost of living varies and salaries vary also, but there are combinations of high cost, lower salary like Netherlands.
c.) Schooling
Finding adequate schooling for kids can be a real issue and require substantial effort by parents. Elementary school is often available, but secondary schools that are good enough are sometimes hard to come by. Many British and other European expat families send their older kids to boarding schools in the UK. Not good for family life or finances.
d.) Ability to invest / money transfer
Unless you maintain your home investment accounts, investing locally is difficult – you won’t find Vanguard or Scottrade or anything remotely satisfactory. If you earn locally, but want to invest back home, getting the money home will be costly. Wire transfers run around $50 per pop, plus you often get screwed with crummy exchange rates. Plus its a pain to do with most banks and it takes a lot of time and effort. Want to do that for every paycheck you earn?
e.) Currency you get paid in
Ooh, this one is fun. Depending on your contract, you will either be paid in local currency or in $ or Euro. Your problem is that for living expenses you would prefer to be paid in local currency (rent doesn’t rise when the dollar does somersaults) and for savings you would prefer to be paid in your home currency (ability to pay for future retirement living costs doesn’t collapse when the local government is overthrown). Either way you need to develop a good hedging approach, which is difficult and hard to do for many currencies (only became easy for EURO/US within last 4 years with launch of FXE).
f.) Legal rights
Yeah, you don’t have them. In many countries you can’t buy real estate and can only rent at inflated rates.
g.) Retirement benefits
If you get lucky and earn pension benefits in the local country, your ability to cash in on them in the future will depend on whether you spent enough time in the country, whether they will allow transfer to other countries and whether that currency is worth anything in the future.
That said, being an expatriate is life changing experience for everyone in your family, including your kids. When in doubt, do it.
I didn’t get the impression he is an US citizen- but maybe he is?
Thank you VERY much for reminding me of my needs vs wants. We have lived in three developing countries and two developed countries- not in mission work. The only country who delivered whatever I wanted when I wanted it is the US. When we retired we chose to live in the countyside. It takes us 20 minutes to get to a store. This has broken our terrible habits of expecting everything at the minute we want it- had caused our pocketbooks to decrease and our impatience with others to increase.
For the person who asked about happiness- most everyone we ran into, who was not handicapped, was happy with where they lived. We have traveled to 25 countries- mostly developing. People seemed to have extensive families around them. They had little to eat- but enough.The butchers cut meat on the day an animal was brought to them and everyone bought the meat then. Many lived to be in the 60s to 70s (but they looked much older). They cared for each other and the community around them.
We collected art and overpaid for it since art is often not paid for in those countries.
You article reminds me that we will be fine living on 30,000 a year through retirement. Our plans are good. There is no need to include lots of expensive memberships or sports just so we can do them. We have plenty and life is good. We only wish there was a way for our children to live near us (or us near them). I fell this economy, this way of life, tears families apart. To me the family is everything.
Thank you for the excellent jolt to the reality of the world.
This is a reply to Meghan,
Being born in Canada doesn’t automatically confer Canadian citizenship:
“In general, you are a Canadian citizen if you were born in Canada. You are not a Canadian citizen if you were born in Canada and at the time of your birth, your parents were neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents, and at least one parent had diplomatic status in Canada.”
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/citizenship.asp
As I understand it, The United States is one of the only countries that automatically grants citizenship to anyone that is born within its borders. Most countries require at least residency and often citizenship of the parents to confer citizenship.
Thanks for the post, it was very interesting. I think when you get away from your own culture certain things become apparent. Speaking for myself, I know that I tend to notice the similarities of people rather than the differences and finding the things that are important in life is far more valuable than the newest gadget or overpriced clothes (For example).
It’s amazing how normal it has become to spend money on credit cards and even spend money at all. It really surprised me that sometimes there was no way that Craig could spend money. It’s almost liberating because money can bring so much pressure with it if not utilised properly.
We lived 20 years in third world countries and raised our children abroad, sending them to local (private) schools. All of our lives were enriched by the experience and I too feel strongly about social justice and have a different stance towards the poor and disadvantaged. Like you, I also want less than I did 20 years ago.
I always loved NOT having anything to spend my money on. Its very freeing.
But the healthcare issue is a bit different. Cheap healthcare comes at a price, and that price might be a permanent disability. We returned to the US because of a chronic health condition that we could not get appropriate treatment for in Paraguay. Now we are undoing years of damage to our teeth and health because of “cheap” health care. I’m OK with that because I knew the risk. I’m just sayin’
I think a year in a third world country could enrich all of our lives, we just need to approach it in the right way, as it seems you did.
Hello,
I am looking for resources and job information about working overseas. I am not a missionary, but would love to support ones efforts if possible. My situation is unique. I am a single mom of a 15 year old who will be traveling with me. I am looking for a 9-12 month opportunity. Can anyone you let me know if there are resources for person like me? I find a lot for younger single college students…not much for a family.
Thank you!
I’ve never been real convinced by this “cheap overseas healthcare” thing that occasionally comes up. Just thinking of a couple things that have actually happened to people I know, both of whom were treated in the US and are still alive:
If you crashed a motorcycle and had multiple compound fractures, would you rather be airlifted to a US hospital with its associated price tag, or one in Papua New Guinea? (could you even be airlifted to the one in Papua New Guinea? Do they have a helicopter?)
If you had a pulmonary embolism, which hospital would you rather be treated in for that? They can’t really even be sure if you have a pulmonary embolism without putting you in an MRI machine. How are the MRI facilities in Papua New Guinea?
If the tradeoff is “routine treatment for non-life threatening issues is cheaper, but treatment for serious conditions is unavailable or significantly worse” then I don’t really think that’s a good bargain. Also, maybe I’m being unfair and Papua New Guinea has fantastic medical facilities, but somehow I doubt a hospital that charges $0.70 to see a doctor can afford a $2,000,000 MRI machine or a $10,000,000 helicopter.
Also, I don’t think that not being able to buy anything is this secret blessing. I’ve spent a few days on a remote Caribbean Island with a population of only a few hundred, and only one store, with almost no stock. There were two planes passing through the island per week, one cargo boat per week, and that was about it. There was nothing for sale unless you went to Nassau or Florida. So, sure, there was nothing to buy, but if you eventually *did* want to buy something, it was prohibitively expensive, as you needed to buy a plane ticket into a population center to be able to actually get it, and plane tickets aren’t cheap.
Even beyond that — all you could buy was candy, canned foods, dried milk, and pasta. There was almost no other stock in the store on the island besides that. What good is saving a whole bunch of money if there’s nothing to buy? Say you end up with $1,000,000 in the bank? Then what? You can’t even buy fresh fruit. Or clothes. What good is that money in a place where there’s nothing to spend it on? Why even bother saving it? When money becomes almost useless, it’s hard to be motivated to stockpile it.
This isn’t to say the experience isn’t valuable, I think it’s amazingly valuable to spend time in places with different standards of living, but I think it’s mostly because it makes you more knowledgeable and gives you a broader perspective on how life can be lived. I don’t think that the actual lifestyle and standard of living you see in developing countries is really something to aspire towards.
Thank you for this insightful post. In 2007, my parents were able to sell their modest home after only 3 weeks on the market in southern California, and the net gain brought them enough to pay off unsecured debts and have some real retirement savings. Before the sale, my father was already retired (but was forced to because of health problems) and my 54-year-old stepmother dutifully worked at a pharmacy since they had at least 10 years left on their mortgage. There was no way she was going to retire with a mortgage, credit debt, and my father’s need for meds and healthcare access to support.
The decision was tough because they had been contemplating moving back to the Philippines. It is true. The cost of living in retirement is exorbitant in the US compared to developing countries. My parents would have to leave behind major conveniences, decent access to healthcare, and their extended circle of family and friends besides moving away from their children.
In 2009 my father passed away while in the Philippines, leaving my stepmom behind. Outside of the emotional toll, my parents were able to enjoy together a newly built home ($75k US), no mortgage or debt, and lived in a rural province my Dad grew up in, so life was slower but their connections to local people and activity more frequent. My stepmom misses my dad terribly, but financially she is not suffering at all, living comfortably on her simple Social Security checks and barely tapping her savings. She has more free time and surprisingly alot of freedom to travel now and then or throw an occasional party or simply do nothing but internet surf or make jewelry to give as gifts. I know moving outside the US was a challenge but for my one surviving parent, it was a blessing to a less consumer-driven, more peaceful
way of life in retirement.
@ Brandon #16, I believe his children would be Canadian citizens based on the “and at least one parent had diplomatic status” the “and” is bolded in the CIC link.
I know of several families who had children in Canada while they were temporary residents and their children have automatic citizenship.
Not that that is really the point of the article although I share a similar opinion with Meghan @ #8.
My one question is this: With wages at $1 an hour, do expenses match wages? I guess what I’m saying is, if someone in the United States earned $1 an hour, obviously that would be an injustice but if someone overseas earned the equivalent of $1 USD an hour but the cost of living MATCHED that wage, is it an injustice? Of course, if corporations exploited this cheap labor, then that’d be an entirely different discussion.
I think that the comparison between the USD and US hourly wages may not tell the whole story. The standard of living in these places may not be the same as the United States, the people might not be driving Hummers or be using iPhones but is that such a terrible thing? This is beside the fact that if everyone in developing countries were to live like an American, the world would be in serious trouble.
If anything, developed nations need to dial back their consumption and we have a lot to learn from people in these places. It’s really easy for us to think that our way of life is the best and that people in these places need to raise themselves to our standard when the reality is that we need to meet somewhere in the middle.
Wealth shouldn’t be measured in wages or dollars and cents but satisfaction with our lives, our happiness, our health, our safety and our access to basic necessities.
“Basic high-speed Internet” sounds like an oxymoron
I’m originally from South Africa. I live in Canada now. We always used to refer to South Africa as a third world country and so did everyone I knew (about 2 years ago). It irks me immensely that people always have to be so politically correct.
“Less developed” or “underdeveloped” in terms of third world countries is vague to the point of absurdity. South Africa on a good day, in one of our capitals could pass for first world – most of our northern neighbours would not.
The same people who insist that we use only politically correct terms are the ones that empower the negative connotations associated with those words. Using a different word will not change the connotation that makes a term disagreeable in the first place. The only people who can defuse negative terms are the people who feel prejudiced by those terms.
http://www.jw.org/index.html?option=QrYQZRQVNlBBX Thought Craig might be interested in this link to stories about missionaries in PNG. It’s a link to audio files.
I think if all of us were more aware of need v. want we can live a simple, happy, productive live in whatever country we come from.
Geography does make a huge difference. Ten years ago I lived in SoCal and often had nothing better to do on the weekends than go to the malls with my friends. Now I’m in a small town with few shops, and I’ve found better things to do with my time and money.
I also want to respond to Meghan, #8’s, charge of the author being irresponsible about citizenship. As Brandon, #16 clarifies, being born in Canada doesn’t automatically qualify you for Canadian citizenship.
ALSO, U.S. citizenship is established primarily through two ways: blood, or location. If both parents are American, it does not matter if the child is born in Canada, Germany, South Africa, wherever….that child is an American citizen by BLOOD. However, they may ALSO have the right to pursue secondary citizenship through LOCATION based on where they were born.
I was born in Germany to two American parents. I’m sure they didn’t think they were being “irresponsible” by having me in Germany. If anything, they were cognizant of the fact that the benefits of being born to American parents, who were residents in Germany, gave me the benefit of applying for German citizenship AS WELL AS retaining U.S. citizenship.
I thought the article was excellent and very interesting, though I also wonder how the family does retirement planning/saving? Do they plan on staying there indefinitely?? Very interesting.
@Brandon:
They key part in that quote is “at least one parent had diplomatic status”.
It’s put in to ensure that the children of diplomats posted to Canada can’t claim Canadian citizenship. That’s common practice in most countries.
We do give citizenship to those born within our borders.
Addendum: There’s actually an interesting case here in Canada right now. The child was born in Canada to Indian parents, one of whom worked as the Ambassador’s gardener. The family stayed in Canada when the Ambassador left, and now Canada wants to deport the child (now an adult) to India. Does his father working as the gardener count as diplomatic status? We’ll see when the court rules in this case…
My take away from this story is that living/visiting third world countries helps put things in perspective in our own lives.
Annually, I visit a different undeveloped country. I always learn so much on these journeys. I am able to put needs vs. wants in perspective and understand materials things do not equal a fulfilled life.
Family and community appear to be of very high value and priority. Clearly life can be difficult, however it appears there is alot appreciation for what little they have.
Regarding healthcare, I think it depends on the country. There are many minor ailments I would happily receive care for in undeveloped countries. Then there are some countries that are less developed than the US that have excellent care. I would have no qualms about getting care in Bangkok or having dental work in Costa Rica.
However, this year I got bit by a street dog in Nicaragua. The hospital just didn’t have the vaccinations needed, and rabies is 100% fatal. So I decided to take the first flight to the US for treatment.
So for healthcare, it is cheap, but on the flipside often the hospitals don’t have money to acquire the proper tools and pharmaceuticals available in developed countries.
I wonder what kind of medical care you can get for such a low price? Is it like the stores – only sporadically available? Also, does this cover all the cost or are there government agencies or charities in place paying the difference?
I do agree that we think we need more than we really do in more developed countries though. Even in the US, spending time helping the poor changes your perspective on how you spend your own money. Many times I work at my local food bank then go buy my family groceries after I leave. I shop differently because I’ve just left people who can’t feed their families.
Living in a third world country forces you to face choices like this where in the US we have to decide on your own that you’ll spend less than you earn.
A speaker I was listening to the other day mentioned that his wife and he spent (in the sixties) $7.00 for the birth of his daughter, at a navy hospital when he was in the navy. I thought reading this article that the speaker’s story was a good counterpoint to this post.
I can’t imagine living in a “third world” country, but I do too many people (myself included, more than I would like) waste money on “stuff.” Depreciating, unnecessary “stuff.” It takes up space and keeps up from financial freedom.
Thanks for the reminder.
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Thank you for publishing this story, J.D. I think it brings attention to the importance of being a world citizen, not just a citizen of any specific country. It seems like the goal of a missionary would embrace that definition, too, so I think it makes sense that this author would have his child in Canada, for whatever reason. Why not?
Working in the underdeveloped areas of the world is an interesting experience. Not just missionaries, but aid workers in general live that experience. Those who come from the richer countries of this world find themselves caught between the material riches of their home culture and the poverty of their host country. It is for many a life changing event that changes the way that they look at material possessions.
There are significant differences as more than likely the majority of the people that he knows Papua New Guinea have never been more than 20 miles from their place of birth. Craig writes a travel blog and has made it to several continents. He was even able to go home for the birth of two of his children. His neighbors live (and die early) with the medical system in place. They can’t afford to travel to another country. They likely spend most of their day trying to get together enough food to eat. The average American spends less than an hour a day working for food.
I trust that Craig can make a difference and help people find solutions to help people out of poverty and not just give handouts. I am glad that he is making wiser solutions. If he is able to save money most months it is because he is making conscious decisions to spend less than he earns. I am sure than many of his missionary colleagues live from month to month and have very little in the way of an emergency fund.
I also live as at expat in a developing country (people here commonly call it a third or fourth world country). It is not an easy balance to maintain.
Hey all thanks for the comments.
Since I live in PNG everyone has been commenting while I’ve been sleeping. I’ll try to keep up from now on.
Let me address a couple of common themes first:
Re: The term Third World
I recently wrote an article for a professional journal and I was required to use the term “majority world”. However, no one I knew had ever heard of the term before (nor had I). I was aware that the ‘professional’ trend has moved away from the term, but since I thought most people would have no idea what I was talking about I thought I would use a more commonly understood phrase. Sorry if anyone took offense. I obviously did not intend to offend anyone. In retrospect I should have put an notation beside the phrase.
@Nicole, Vanessa, Anton
I guess another thing that happens when you live in a majority world culture for a long time is that you can’t keep up with all the professional discussions about what to call the place where you live. That’s what happens when you get your hands dirty. You tend to be too busy to focus too much attention on more technical discussions. I can only hope that those that read the article know I didn’t use that term in a negative way.
Re: Canadian Citizenship
If I weren’t sleeping, I could have saved a lot time for everyone involved.
I am a Canadian citizen so I guess that simplifies everything.
@Vanessa — I have been able to pay off all our student loan debt and over 75% of our house mortgage. It is because of the ways I was able to save (mentioned in the article). I just didn’t want to focus my attention there.
@Meghan
It can be a volunteer position. 10 years ago I spent 6 months doing missionary work and I was just given a housing and food stipend. Now, with a family I do receive a salary. My salary comes 100% by the contributions of likeminded individuals and churches. I earn a salary in line with the average US salary.
@Jake
Yes. There are a lot of other financial implications. Thanks for pointing that out.
@Brenda
You make a good point about healthcare. We’ve been in and out of the hospital over the last month dealing with a medical issue with our baby. We keep asking ourselves, “Should we fly to North America to get this treated?” Healthcare can be a downside. On the positive side, our 7 doctors visits and surgery hasn’t cost us anything since healthcare for children under age 7 is free.
FYI — we are not making this decision based on money. We would not put the lives of our kids at risk to save money. She has several painful boils. The issue is pain, not a life threatening emergency.
@Tyler
There is no doubt that PNG has cheap healthcare. There is no doubt that US has better heath care. Where would I rather be if I had a heart attack? North America.
Last year my wife had a potentially serious medical condition and we flew our family back to Canada to have it treated. Turns out it was a false alarm.
In the end, the financial aspect has little do with why we moved and why we stay. I’ve found it an interesting side benefit. Since we are here because of a call, we plan to continue despite those potential drawbacks.
If people really want to shop, they fly to Cairns, Australia. I’ve never been so anxious to shop that I’ve been willing to jump on a plane J.
@Steven
For the average worker, wages do not match expenses (you can see my link in the article for my interview with some people in PNG). The few ‘middleclass’ do often get jobs that provide housing costs.
@Karl
It is more than an oxymoron; it is a constant source of frustration. We were told we were getting high speed internet, and when it came, it was only a notch faster than dial up. But, since we lived without internet for over a year I’m glad to have what I can get.
@Karina
We continue to save for retirement in the US. We plan to move to the US in the next couple of years and then we’ll ultimately settle in either the States or Canada. My wife is American. I’m Canadian. All the kids are dual citizens.
You say you went to Canada to have your babies, and paid the $250 deductible. But you could have stayed there and only paid $7 and saved so much money! You say that the medical care is so cheap, 70 cents, $7 dollars, and yes, you would pay 100 times that in the US – but, what is the quality of care? Nevermind the four digit bill, without insurance, delivering a baby can be a five or six digit bill – because there could be NICU or other complications. I wish the author had mentioned more about the quality of the care there, or what sort of training the doctors have, or what the hospitals are like. Because for $7 – I am imaginging the worst (and you going to Canada to deliver the babies makes me think you also agree that the medical care there is lacking).
I also wish the author had talked about where he was getting a salary from, and how his financial situation really changed. Because I could see some people do this, and come home in the exact same financial place that they left.
Excellent story. I’m an American who lives (by choice) in the Philippines. been there for some years now and have even written articles on this same subject. We live in Metro Manila, so life is much more cosmopolitan than Craig’s life in PNG, but the principles still apply.
A few of us retired expats here use the term “economy-birding” to describe our lifestyle. We could spend as much or more as when living in the US, but we normally never even come close to what we spent while living very modestly ‘back home’.
In short I feel we have a much greater degree of flexibility and the fact that credit cards are not widely used, cable TV costs $11 a month, cell phones about $10 a month and a doctor’s visit runs about $7 makes this a very good place to build up savings while paying down debt.
Not to mention that snow shovels don’t exist here 😉
Hello Craig,
What you have discovered in recent years, most Third World folks have already known since the day the first missionaries came to them. We see your lifestyle, your spending habits, and your economic baggage. If you missionaries get converted from First World abundance to Third World simplicity, then your missioary message will be believable. But if you Americans keep living like rich people (because with the dollars you receive from home, you already live like rich people in Third World countries), then Third World people will see a disjunction and discontinuity with the simple Jesus you preach and the not so simple lifestyle you live in front of them.
That’s what I see here in the Philippines. The missionaries need to be converted and live simply like the natives. Unless of course, they try to reach out to the rich. But then again, Jesus is supposed to be your standard. And how did he live with the rich and the poor?
Henry
Yes, excellent comment.
Some of the lessons from this reader story can be also be seen in rural areas in America. I often see people talk about moving to cities to save money by reducing or eliminating car use but a close friend of mine moved to a rural area to cut expenses.
Now, even if they wanted to do so, they couldn’t spend the money I can easily in one weekend without traveling several hours. Extensive leisure shopping is not possible (unless you buy from television or the internet) and there are limited restaurant options where they live. Teenagers where my friend lives are much less demanding about designer clothes, electronics, etc. than those in my city environment are so even in a media saturated US environment it is possible to use the power of community standards to your advantage.
I also think the substantial savings ability the author discusses here is only possible because he is being paid in US dollars and (as he says in his reply post) a normal US wage but his expenses are (primarily) PNG level. If he were paid a normal PNG wage the financial progress wouldn’t be possible. The same thing is true of folks who retire to third world-less developed-whatever the right phrase is countries. What they are doing is collecting 1st world income with third world expenses. It’s the other side of the equation from one of the much-disliked previous reader stories (where the business owner was paying people in less developed countries to work for less.) Many readers here were appalled by that, remember? A former professor of mine calls the strategy geographic arbitrage and it is major benefit/consequence of globalization.
I like reading stories like this, but I guess I disagree with the idea as a “solution”- not that I necessarily think the author is presenting this as a solution to debt. It’s more like a “side effect” and just fact of life/reality.
Yeah, it’s hard to spend money when there is nothing to buy, but it’s good to have choices in life. Running away from that is just avoidant behavior. I feel a lot better about myself when I choose to do or not do something in the face of so many options.
I wouldn’t move to a developing nation to improve a financial situation, but if you have have other interests ( social justice, missions)that bring you there, I guess you can take that away as a positive.
I think your comment that childbirth in the U.S. would cost “4 figures” is quite outdated. Try 5 figures. When a friend of mine had her first baby (in the U.S.), the cost was $10K. True, this was for a Caesarian, but it was also 19 years ago.
The medical facilities here (we live in a small rural town) provide less care than one would find in an average hospital in North America. The facilities here do cater for the delivery of children (of course), but if there were any complications we wanted to be in a more modern facility. Many other missionary organizations require expatriates to leave the country for delivering children. We didn’t want to be plagued by the ‘what-if’ question if something went wrong.
If you look at the comments above I address both your final questions.
@Dave
I hear you on the snow shovels. As a Canadian who ended up in the tropics, I don’t much miss show shoveling.
@Greg
I think you’re right. Moving overseas to pay off debt might not be the best game plan. But, I bet if someone ended up here their finances would improve.
@Henry
Thanks for your comment. My guess is that if I sold everything I had and gave it away, the same people would reject the gospel message. Just a guess (since I haven’t actually done it). To be honest, I don’t feel called to give everything away. I think my strong economic position (if you want to call it that) is a greater blessing to people. I do my best to be generous (but often fail) and meet the needs of people around me.
Since you asked, Jesus lived with both. He spent a great deal of time at feasts and parties.
@Jessica
I’m thankful to be living here and spending my overseas income. While I might be criticized for that, I strongly believe that my economic presence is helpful in the long run. Compared to the average person, I do spend more on groceries, housing, utilities, and just about everything. In the end, it is my hope that my spending does create jobs and opportunities.
In addition, I’m learning to be active in various charities. Those charitable dollars help too.
Craig-
I am actually a fan of (to use the term I like) geographic arbitrage and was not criticizing you at all. I moved to the south from NYC to save money when I was able to negotiate it with my employer and now earn a Manhattan wage in a big southern city so I am able to save more.
I also don’t believe that people who choose to live a life of service have an obligation to be poor or to give up future financial security for their families. Just wanted to clarify for you that my earlier comment wasn’t meant as criticism – it was just an observation.
Just as with the term ‘third-world country,’ the terms ‘developing country’ and ‘developed country’ can also be perceived as pejorative — I suppose because ‘development’ is such a loose term, even if it’s meant to have a precise definition when used to categorize countries.
The World Bank categorizes countries by economy and has a list of what they call LAMI countries (low- and middle-income). More here: http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications
‘LAMI’ has the advantage of being an internationally recognized term (versus developing/developed, which is not) and is thought to be less likely to be interpreted pejoratively.
I’m not suggesting that any changes be made to the above stories, just adding to the semantic discussion.
Dear Craig,
Thanks so much for your thoughts. I understand that the expat-centric view of this article is to keep it more in line with what a) is most immediately useful to GRS readers and b) is more in line with the type of advice typically presented on this blog (which has little to do with international development in general).
However, I gotta say that I really loved the insights provided in the article you linked about your conversation with your PNG friends from church and personally enjoyed reading that article 100% more than this one. I was wondering if you or J.D. could highlight that article a bit more so that other readers who were also distracted (like I was) by the issue of wage-expense disparity could realize that you are very aware of that issue and have thought about and discussed it with the people of PNG who more directly face that issue.
Again, thank you for sharing your story!
I really struggle with this story.
I agree so much with Craig’s point – reminds me of my reader story about the Peace Corps
That same experience gave me a healthy suspicion of missionary work after seeing its practices and effects first hand. Many missionaries were quite good – but henrytrocino is right, they were not those who even contemplated the idea of a mortgage back home.
That said, I don’t know Craig, his message or practices – I do know at least that he’s a kindred spirit in being a PF nerd.
live in the UK I thank god for the National health service free at the point of delivery ok its basically 10% of everyones salary but still cheaper than private insurance and not being made bankrupt if coverage slips.
“I earn a salary in line with the average US salary.” $46,000? Wow – I didn’t know missionary work paid so well.
I’m just wondering when you talk about nobody accepting credit cards – do you think you spend less now because you’re less apt to spend cash? For many years, we’ve been paying our balances in full each month and of course have heard many times over that we would use less if we used cash but with the allure of points, we’ve never let ourselves be convinced. I’d love to hear a little more of your experience in this area.
It is really true that travel broadens the mind. I haven’t traveled much, but the few times I was in a different country, different culture, it really makes crystal clear the wants versus needs question. Some places tp is a want!
In the same way when I travel to West Virginia with my husband, it is the same experience to a lesser extent, of a lack or limitation of places to spend money, because very few people have money to spend, so the focus is elsewhere. I find that lack of pressure refreshing.
You don’t need to move to a developing country to save money, living as digital nomad or location independent virtually anywhere is likely to improve your financial situation.
Moving to a foreign country immediately cuts the social pressure to consume. Plus, if you travel regularly, you can’t buy many things because you can’t take them with you anyway.
My first experience moving abroad was to Japan. It completely reset my expectations on what I ‘needed’ to live. Suddenly I started consuming much less and didn’t miss it at all.
Thanks for this! I moved to Mexico (a “second world country”, I guess) 5 years ago, and my finances seem much better than most people my age living in the US.
I graduated from college 1 and a half years ago, and I make about $22,000 USD a year (poor salary for USA, but a very VERY generous salary here in Cancun)
Even with my low salary, the low cost of living will allow me to save about 30% of my income starting this month (I support both my husband, who’s in school, and myself). We rent a 3-bed, 2-bath home, and go out with friends several times a week. Life is pretty good.
Unlike your experience in New Guinea, many places do accept credit cards here… but people just don’t use them as much.
I never realized how ridiculous spending was in the US until I moved to Mexico! I know many, many 20-something couples in the US who spend upwards of $50,000 a year and can’t save, not to mention thousands of dollars in credit card debt. I just can’t fathom spending that much!
Expat living is the best 🙂
You have found a way to feel rich – and that is by being rich. In the US, you’d be making a million dollars a year. (20 times what the locals make, or 20 bucks/hr->40k/yr vs. $1/hr)
I think it would be easy, spend no more than 1/10 of one’s salary in this situation, wherever you are.
Additionally, this is for missionary work, which I find highly questionable. If you were doing purely charitable work with no religion spread, perhaps I’d be a bit less doubtful.
JD I love that you try to post perspectives outside your own experience, and this is a great example of this and a great article. I’ve been a long time fan but haven’t felt compelled to buy your book yet, but this sealed the deal! Thanks for the great, thought-provoking content.
I often wish there were more avenues to do “missionary” work in developing/third world/less-developed/impoverished/post-colonized/majority world countries without the mission around religion. yes there’s the peace corps, but what else?
RE: Missionary Salary
I don’t see how his salary is anyone’s business but his and whoever pays him. Someone thinks he is worth $46K a year (or whatever) to do his job, why do you care? You are free to spend your money however you like, and so are his sponsors.
How is it any more questionable to make an average salary helping people vs. making an average salary in the corporate world?
To one rapidly approaching retirement, this was very interesting. I’d be interested in stories of ex-pats living in slightly less remote or ‘under-developed’ countries, like Mexico or South America. I know there are whole industries devoted to ex-pat retirement, but I don’t trust their glowing reports. I’d like to hear from real people.
This was an interesting post. Although, I wish there was more analysis in this article about unearned privilege and disparity and the connection between the two. The unearned privilege that so many of us experience is directly related to the poverty that so many others in other countries experience. Reminds me of the saying, “Live simply, so that others may simply live.” I’m not surprised that financial situations would improve, people are often benefitting from the disparity they seek to minimize. This is true in the US and even more so when people from the US travel to underdeveloped countries.
I also don’t think religious mission work should be automatically praised as helpful or beneficial to the people living in developing countries. It can often be offensive to many communities.
Interesting thought provoking post. I appreciate the emphasis on living simply that the author is trying to put accross. I do love living in America, a place where one has to force oneself to be concious of needs versus wants, instead of living somewhere that needs are barely met and wants are even less likely. I personally think I would have trouble with the inherent conflict involded in his position, he wants to improve the lives of the people in the ‘third world’, yet he directly benefits from the dichotomy. This is more interesting to me than a discussion of whether or not missionary work is truly rightous if one gets paid for it.
No thanks. I’ll take my $200 doctor visits , paved roads, running water, working phones and lack of malaria here in the USA.
Like another poster mentioned, you can get this same benefit just by moving to a remote rural area. I spent a year living on a farm in the southwest of France and spent almost nothing during that year. With almost no exposure to fashion, fancy cars, cosmetics, etc. I felt no need to buy any of these things, which BTW were regarded as wasteful and uninteresting. It is much harder to be constantly mindful of your consumption when everyone around you is spending like crazy.
@Bella
I’m interested in hearing more detail when you say here is an “inherent conflict involded in his position.” What is the nature of the conflict?
The USA is a third-world country in many ways (or in many places). We have 14% of people in poverty (with at least 50% of people living in poverty at some point in their lives), 17% without health insurance, higher infant mortality than Cuba, dismal health care for the mentally ill, the highest incarceration rate in the world, a million and a half personal bankruptcies per year (44% of those are couples so we’re talking about a lot more people)… our Brazilification continues unabated as it has for the past three decades.
I agree with some of the other posters; i couldn’t get past his Missionary status and all that implies. His revelations about saving and thrift sound really hollow next to the crushing poverty of the people he’s supposed to be helping.
To be in a position of financial strength is not a bad thing. If a person’s finances improve that is actually a blessing to the entire community that surrounds her.
Who will do more to financially address the issue of poverty? Those with a mountain of debt or those who work proactively at getting debt free so they can help others? The insinuation in some of the comments is that one’s healthy financial situation must come at the expense of others. That is not true. A person with means can be a blessing to others.
Thus, I do not think that there is an “inherent conflict involved in his position, he wants to improve the lives of the people in the ‘third world’, yet he directly benefits from the dichotomy.”
In fact, the opposite is true. I believe I give as much to this culture (financially and otherwise) as I take. There is a synergistic benefit.
I have and spend money in an economy that needs to increase employment. We know that stores only employ more people when there is more work (more customers). On and on the list could go.
Would my mechanic rather stay at his $1.80 job or work for me for $7? Would my house worker rather remain unemployed or get paid 4x more than her peers? Would my yard helper keep calling me to ask if I can give him more work if I were harming him?
I only wish those who criticize our spending had any idea of how we use our money.
One thing that is overlooked is the charitable presence of caring individuals. Last year I worked as part of a campaign that awarded over $10,000 in school scholarships. This year I helped establish a small business lending program that gave over $4,000 in small business loans.
Sure I could move away from here, but would that benefit people? Would it be more just? Would it be better for my spending dollars to be inserted into this economy instead of a North American economy? I do need to live somewhere and I think my presence here is a blessing to people.
I am not benefiting by hurting anyone. Quite, the opposite is true I’m helping people.
Poverty is not my issue to solve. It is a global issue that requires global response. To be honest, I’m quite comfortable in my role with the poor and I can confidently say I’m playing my role with my limited resources.
Wow. I haven’t read this yet — it does look interesting — but what an incredibly offensive title.
I read the article — it’s good, and respectful. But Craig, I think you are ignoring a basic moral quandary in your position, which is surprising for a Christian missionary.
Some people think that inequity itself is inherently wrong. That for anyone to live on earnings 40x (or whatever) greater than the people around him is unjust. Good on you for being so generous with compensating the people you hire — that’s wonderful, and important. But it also reinforces the inequality of your positions. Furthermore, you are benefiting from their impoverishment. That would make some people very uncomfortable.
Just food for thought.
It’s Fokker 100, not Folker
Wow, in reading some of these comments, you would think that Craig is living the life of a robber barron, stealing from the poor in PNG only to improve his own situation. I know from reading his site regularly and chatting with him on occasion that he is the real deal, a kind, caring and intelligent person who truly wants to help those around him.
I think it comes down to a simple difference in worldview. Some people think of the world from the viewpoint that there are limited resources in the world, and in order for one person to prosper, he has to take it from another person. Others like myself happen to believe that it doesn’t work that way, and that resources can be created by a person via their creativity and hard work. Them having more resources than someone else doesn’t necessarily mean that they had to harm someone or take from someone else (although that can happen).
I think to say that inequity itself is inherently wrong is just plain silly. Why is inequity wrong, and how does that propose a basic moral quandry for Craig? Even Jesus himself in the parable of the talents talks about how God gives all of us different abilities and talents and it’s up to us to serve Him with the talents we’ve been given.
I say keep up the good work Craig, and keep helping those around you and spreading the good news.
Are people really calling out a missionary for being selfish? Is it sinful for a missionary to be financially responsible regarding himself, his family, and his community?
Well Craig, I thought it was a great article that we can all learn from. Thanks for everything that you’re doing for your community.
I don’t think it is as rosy as portrayed in the article.I lived in Africa for a while,it is great if you get your wages from the USA,but,you work locally,then you will feel what it is really like to earn $2-3 a day.let’s not get caught up in how bad the USA is in spending,the only reason this was all possible from what i can gather from this article is that someone spent money 46K to send a missionary over there.we are not all missionaries.
Thanks to Craig for an insightful look at personal finance through the eyes of an overseas missionary. Missionary finances can be really tricky, due to asking for support, international health insurance, and sometimes an uncertainty from one month to the next of what one’s income will be. Many missionaries have felt guilty for saving anything for retirement or for their families, and have donated any extra they have received to people in more desperate situations. I think it’s important to realize that Craig and his family may very well end up back in North America, either in a few years or in retirement, and that they may very well need the resources that they are carefully managing now.
Craig, I have to say though, you didn’t mention the effect that frequent international flights has had on your family budget!
Some of the commenters here are working from a stereotype of faith-based mission work. The days of conquistadors converting the natives at the tip of a sword are long gone. The modern missionary model is being an example through social-based service and interaction…clinics, counseling, building houses and schools, personal friendships, all with a healthy sensitivity to the culture. The organizations that sponsor know it’s tough work, but important, and therefore pay the missionaries because they value them.
Erik,
I am working from being a first-hand witness of some of the most myopic, damaging, and in my eyes sickening behavior of missionaries – in 2005.
The most egregious examples I saw came from short-term missions, college kids actually, the type of mission which Craig promotes on his website through an ebook. Why? Because, like people who have always lived on western salaries – short term missionaries have no context and no understanding of the communities they are “serving”. In my eyes the “inherent conflict” has little to do with Craig becoming more financially stable, but comes from the fact that with his living conditions, Craig will both not be respected by, and will not have the appropriate respect for his congregation. “Helping” those in developing communities without damaging their own economies, environments, and social structure is delicate work that requires years and years of REAL understanding.
What a refreshing post. Thank you for your commitment, work and huge sacrifice. Thank you for not going “overly Christian” because people would tune you out (not me…I enjoyed it). If I could talk my husband into becoming a missionary and moving overseas, we’d be on our way. I love their simplistic way of life and it would be interesting to see how I would react if I had no where to shop or spend money. I would be forced to hang on to my money.
Some people do “mission” work because it’s a hoop they are required to jump through if they want to prosper in their community of co-religionists. Some people do “mission” work because they feel a call.
I don’t think anyone who hasn’t done either kind is really qualified to judge Craig – or anyone else who does this sort of work. I don’t really care what anyone thinks they “witnessed.” If they weren’t on the ground participating … .
Mind you, I am not a fan of organized religion and I think historically the concept of religious “mission” has done more harm than good. However, tarring the entire vast and varied community with one brush is just ignorant.
And I don’t really think it’s relevant how much Craig gets paid (and I do wish people would quit repeating the $46K number which somebody *invented*), or that his salary comes from contributions from his co-religionists. The points he makes about PF are valid whether you are a missionary or a flight attendant.
There are lots of different overseas jobs, and most Americans simply don’t appear to contemplate making such a huge lifestyle change – which is why this is an interesting perspective.
Many Americans, as others have pointed out, don’t even consider the potential financial benefits of moving out of our congested cities and back to rural communities. Taking a look at these options with an open mind is not a bad thing.
Thanks for the article, Craig.
I grew up as an “MK”, Missionary Kid, in Colombia. I think a previous generation of missionaries went overseas thinking little of their own retirement and such. They lived on the field on little… and returned to America at the end of their careers with little.
It’s right that a missionary at the beginning of his career give the forethought to provide for the future of his family and not set himself up to be a burden on his church in his retirement.
I second @ Matthew Carroll about Craig’s forethought in providing for the future of his family. A good article and I do enjoy JD’s variety of view points.
Hello All, I have lived, traveled to and worked in many countries in the first, second and third worlds. Firstly, let us note that there are actually rich, middle class, popular class, poor, very poor and destitute people in EVERY COUNTRY… Actually some of the richest people live in the third world. There are good, clean, kind, moral people also in every country. There are bad, dirty, mean and immoral people in every country also. Rich people from Jamaica will have more in common with rich people from England than they will have with their compatriots of a lower class.
I prefer to live in the South because of many reasons. Generally speaking one will find in the poorer countries the following..(please make exceptions for the richest classes as they people like to mirror first world everything.)
Less judgement on appearance
Less worry in general
Less stress
More time
More eye contact
More respect
More community mindednss
More family values and commitment
More spiritual interest
Egos generally are more in balance
Cheap natural food
Affordable (even if you pay really high) help
Grateful people
No peanut allergies in schools
More walking
Less sicko crimes (crimes of no logic)
Respect for the elderly
Well mannered children
Sundays or Holy days are quiet
Money is not everything
Friends always lend each other money
No shame in not having material wealth
and more
how is this not leveraging on social injustice?
So it’s like, Ok let go to a third world country with our american money and resources and live in this country where everything is so cheap cause that’s what the inequality there can afford for the oppressed locals.
I think if you move o a third world country, renouncing your citizenship and with no money so you would have to blend in with the locals it’s the real deal, you could probably exchange your passport with someone that wants to help their children have an opportunity out of oppression, otherwise seems opportunist at the expense of the poor and disenfranchised. The opposite would be to stay in america or any developed nation and make the most of the opportunities the country can offer you and you could also advocate and fund raise for the people of Papua or what not. I could not imagine Jesus telling Judas, hey I noticed we have saved a bunch here, have we not?? Let’s write about it so other apostle now what a great deal this is. Maybe it would have been included in the new testament on the book of Savins.
Hi,my name is Scott,im 28 from Scotland and i work as a marine engineer,i dont mean to boast when i say this and it will make sense after i finish writing this, I earn good money,I have had my ups and downs through my life and one thing i have realised is that money does not make happiness,I have recently been saving to buy a house and currently suffering anxiety and slight depression,my life feels like a constant routine everyday every week and seems pointless,I now plan on moving to a poor country to live so that i can help people and give away every last penny of my life savings,the reason being is i only acheive happiness when i make other people happy,does anyone have advice on how to go about moving somewhere?would i need my own cash supply to live? or can i live like the people there?