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Started By
Message
A friend of mine has an opportunity, what would you do?
Posted on 8/8/09 at 8:28 am
Posted on 8/8/09 at 8:28 am
He's an engineer, 38 yo. Married w/ 2 kids (5 and 8). He has a chance to go to Saudi and the assignment would last 7 yrs. He gets pd a 50% prem. to go and he would pay the same taxes he paid last yr. The company pays and extra. He gets free housing, a personal driver for him and a personal driver for his wife. The family will live in Bharain which is about 60 miles from Saudi. He said he would probably have to stay in Saudi at least 2, maybe 3 days a week, so he wouldn't really get to be home w/ the family every night. They get 1 trip back to the US per yr. So basically everything is covered w/ the exception of food. He figures he can do the assignment and save enough to retire when the assignment is over. That's the adv. of going. Here's the disadv. His dad is 69 and in bad health, his mother in law is the same, so he figures if he goes, chances are good that some of his family will pass away before the assignment is up. None of the grandparents will really get to be involved w/ the kids lives. He asked me what I would do. Live overseas and possibly retire in 7 years however, you are basically turning your back on your family in the hopes that in 7 yrs you'll get to spend alot more time with them. What say you?
12
Posted on 8/8/09 at 8:33 am to guttata
Not worth it to me but everybody is differnt, I could not see making my kids grow up in a forigen country. If it were just for a year then maybe
Posted on 8/8/09 at 8:49 am to guttata
Not worth it. Chances are when he is age 45 he will feel like he is too young to retire anyway and wouldn't know what to do with his time.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 9:09 am to Cash
We have a friend who was in this same situation ... except he was going to be in Singapore. They ended up taking it ... no one was sick, company pays for either them to fly home OR family to fly there a certain number of times per year. The 2 kids go to the (at the time anyway) #1 rated school in the WORLD (so I was told????), get a house, a maid, a driver .. and it's paid for. They live in an "American compound" sort of ... safety isn't a problem, so they tell me. Assignment was to last 2 years ... they were in the mid 30s.
Well after 2 years, the company said either reup OR could come home BUT there was NO job at home for him in the company. They were kinda stuck.
That said, they REALLY like it there and the and their kids have gotten to see SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOO many things and places that I will NEVER see much less my kids.
Well after 2 years, the company said either reup OR could come home BUT there was NO job at home for him in the company. They were kinda stuck.
That said, they REALLY like it there and the and their kids have gotten to see SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOO many things and places that I will NEVER see much less my kids.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 9:17 am to guttata
There are lots of advantages to the American expat life. Generally you make a ton of money and learn a lot about how another corner of the world does things. Even some of the lesser-known cities are sometimes very modern, especially in the Middle East. Raising kids in that environment isn't a bad thing at all, beats the hell out of raising them in Brusly at any rate.
Lots of pluses but the major drawback, as you mentioned, is the ties back in the States. Personal choice.
Lots of pluses but the major drawback, as you mentioned, is the ties back in the States. Personal choice.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 9:30 am to guttata
I have a friend in Bahrain with 2 kids. He loves it there but he did negotiate into his contract travel for his wife and kids to come back for the summer due to the heat.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 9:38 am to ForeLSU
He should negotiate some kind of deal for the in-laws also. Personal choice, interesting dilemma. Good luck to him.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 9:59 am to Tiger JJ
i had a friend do it 10 years ago, but he was single. He made a shite ton of cash, and loved doing it strictly for the cash. He did say living in saudia arabia sucked donkey balls. He said it was hot, no booze, people were difficult to deal with.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 10:16 am to MileHigh
He said he would be the only American in his group. Everyone else is Saudi. He said the Saudi workers don't really respect Americans at all.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 10:24 am to guttata
My friends are EXTREMELY happy in Singapore ... and the wife and kids DO come home for the entire summer (husband comes home for 2 weeks) and they all come home for 2 weeks at Christmas.
Works for them ... I'm kinda jealous of the opportunity!
Works for them ... I'm kinda jealous of the opportunity!
Posted on 8/8/09 at 12:07 pm to tiger91
Years ago I had a similar decision. Someone much wiser said to list 10 Pros and 10 Cons on a piece of paper. Evaluate the list until you get it finalized. Then, make the decision.
Worked for me because I was going back and forth and back and forth in my head. This way, it's in black and white and organized.
Worked for me because I was going back and forth and back and forth in my head. This way, it's in black and white and organized.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 12:51 pm to guttata
Without further info, I'd take the job. My first wife was from Saudi Arabia and it's like living on a military base.
One question:
Saudi is not a town, it's a country. If your family is 200 miles from the city where you work that's not such a good deal.
One question:
quote:
The family will live in Bharain which is about 60 miles from Saudi.
Saudi is not a town, it's a country. If your family is 200 miles from the city where you work that's not such a good deal.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 1:16 pm to Zach
The place he'd work is 60 mi away.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 2:07 pm to guttata
Then I would take the job.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 2:26 pm to guttata
The money is somewhat attractive (not a fortune) but the personal sacrifices and the quality of life would be a problem. The car, driver and house get old quickly - most execs in the middle east have them. The kids will hate it there and his wife will get bored sooner than you think. Then there's the weather.
I wouldn't do it.
I wouldn't do it.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 2:54 pm to guttata
My family (father, mother, sis and me) were sent to Japan in 1955. I was age 11, sis was age 14. We lived in a Japanese village (not on a military post) and I loved it. My sis hated it. The 'military installation' was a small radar outpost in rural Japan with no large cities nearby.
My dad and I mingled well with the Japanese, we lived on a beautiful beach, and I learned to speak Japanese because all my buddies were Japanese kids. Every day was a beach day or exploring for 100's of miles on a bicycle or motorbike. My sis and mom didn't take well to the situation. They didn't even try.
School was by correspondence and I was ahead of my classmates by about 2 years when I returned to the states.
Looking back on the time in Japan...I would not take anything for my experiences there. I feel I missed nothing by leaving the US for 4 years. Besides, the military gives no choice and my dad had to go when they said go.
My dad and I mingled well with the Japanese, we lived on a beautiful beach, and I learned to speak Japanese because all my buddies were Japanese kids. Every day was a beach day or exploring for 100's of miles on a bicycle or motorbike. My sis and mom didn't take well to the situation. They didn't even try.
School was by correspondence and I was ahead of my classmates by about 2 years when I returned to the states.
Looking back on the time in Japan...I would not take anything for my experiences there. I feel I missed nothing by leaving the US for 4 years. Besides, the military gives no choice and my dad had to go when they said go.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 5:55 pm to MileHigh
quote:
He said it was hot, no booze, people were difficult to deal with.
So basically it was like Louisiana without booze
Posted on 8/8/09 at 6:09 pm to siliconvalleytiger
quote:
The money is somewhat attractive (not a fortune) but the personal sacrifices and the quality of life would be a problem. The car, driver and house get old quickly - most execs in the middle east have them. The kids will hate it there and his wife will get bored sooner than you think. Then there's the weather.
That was not my wife's experience at all. They had tennis, baseball leagues, horses and gyms. And that was 35 years ago.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 6:19 pm to guttata
Would it not be an option to fly the extended family over more frequently to visit? What about some medical tourism for his dad -- might allow them to visit and tx his medical issues at lower costs.
Posted on 8/8/09 at 8:20 pm to guttata
I know a good number of engineers who have had this type of opportunity...while the money is good, they are not close to being "rich" when they return....they typically buy a step or two nicer house and cars than they would have had, but they still have to work....
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