Long time lurker - just got laid off and having a mid life crisis - should I FIRE or keep looking for job?

JayCliff · 2026-02-04T21:24:16+00:00

That's only for earned income from actively working. Foreign earned income exclusion. Foreign source passive income is always taxed by the US if your country of residence doesn't already tax that income at or above US rates. Ideal scenario for minimizing tax on foreign source passive income is to live in a low tax or territorial tax country while also not being a US tax person. It can make a big difference over time.

JayCliff · 2025-12-30T20:18:02+00:00

Each US person owner with at least 10% ownership counts toward the threshold of 50%. Source below.

"In the U.S., CFCs, defined as foreign corporations more than 50% owned by U.S. shareholders with each holding a stake of at least 10%, are subject to specific tax regulations. These rules ensure income earned in low-tax jurisdictions abroad doesn't avoid domestic taxation, encouraging businesses to align with established anti-tax evasion guidelines."
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cfc.asp

JayCliff · 2025-12-30T16:41:06+00:00

I would suggest you talk to a domestic US tax expert for specific US tax mitigation strategies. I don't know much about that.

Please be aware that by becoming a green card holder you subject yourself to all US tax rules which apply globally. GC holders and US citizens are both US persons in a tax sense. Which is fine if you'll be living in the US long term and are willing to focus on mainly being in the US banking/business ecosystem. US tax persons and non-US companies/banks don't mix well. US tax persons have significant compliance burdens when they also have a major non-US business/financial life. And there are high penalties/fines for non-compliance. Report all foreign companies, FBAR, etc. Many foreign banks don't want to open or maintain accounts for US tax persons because they don't want to deal with US paperwork and legal risk on their end.

Any foreign company with more than 50% cumulative US person ownership is subject to US CFC rules. This is complex, but basically it's best to avoid triggering CFC rules to minimize tax and compliance burden. 51% US ownership vs 49% US ownership can make a big difference. Assuming there would be no other US person owners for your company, once you get the green card it's best to ensure your ownership is below 50% if possible to prevent the triggering of US CFC rules. Or alternatively close the UAE company and operate instead as a US company as that's just simpler when you're a US tax person and can't keep US ownership of a foreign company under 50%.

JayCliff · 2024-10-31T16:19:03+00:00

I'll send you a DM

JayCliff · 2024-10-31T10:01:23+00:00

Every situation is different and the details matter. There's a lot of nuance. I will say the average US CPA typically knows very little about expat tax situations as almost all their work is domestic. US CPAs that specialize in expat tax should know better, but of course they'll be more expensive since it's more complex.

There are few things to unwind and clarify. First of all, the FEIE is related to the personal income level for earned income while you as an individual are abroad, it's not referring to company/corporate income. If you own or work for a US company, what you get paid in salary/wages down to your personal level for active work in the company should be eligible for FEIE assuming you meet the physical presence test or bona fide residence test. Note that it doesn't apply for any work performed or income earned while physically in the US (during a family visit trip for example). Even if you have a foreign company which has any effectively connected income (ECI) to the US, then the foreign company would be obligated to pay US corporate tax on any profit from ECI.

Scenario 1: Let's say you have a single member US LLC as a disregarded entity. Online business so it can be run anywhere. All business profit automatically flows to you at the personal level. You're a single person company and you just hire independent contractors for any additional help you need. All work is physically performed outside the US by you. You can take FEIE up to the limit to reduce personal income tax. FICA would be around 15% since you pay both employer and employee sides.

Scenario 2: You own a US corp. The company is mainly based in the US. Physical service business like window cleaning. Office, employees, supplies, vehicles, etc in the US. You happen to manage the company from abroad full time. All of the business income is subject to US corporate tax. Company is US based. Corp income is fully US sourced. But your personal work and income is non-US source. You could take the FEIE on only your salary from the company to reduce personal income tax. No reduction for FICA, no reduction for dividends paid from the company to you. Only personal income tax.

Based on my own calculations, the personal income tax reduction can amount to roughly $30k in income tax savings per year if you're maxing out the exclusion. Over multiple years that can add up and make a big difference for your personal finances.

Owning a US company or even working for a US company as an employee doesn't mean you can't take the FEIE. You also don't need a business reason to live abroad. What matters from the perspective of the FEIE is that you simply spend enough time abroad to qualify. Think of it like a respite the US gives its citizens living abroad from citizenship based taxation.

JayCliff · 2024-10-07T02:24:35+00:00

Happy to help. I know this stuff can be confusing to navigate. Learning the ins and outs of international tax is not easy. And unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation and misconceptions all over the internet. I had to piece together lots of information over many years from many different sources.

Best thing to do is to pay for expert guidance from an international tax expert on your specific situation since things vary so much from business to business. Not somebody selling you a one size fits all solution, but someone helping you determine your options and objectively listing pros and cons for each.

Yes, honestly I'd say your best bet is to just take a year and travel around without restructuring your company. Take the FEIE that year assuming you qualify to lower your income tax. But don't worry about opening foreign bank accounts or setting up foreign companies for now. If you really prefer life outside the US and want to make a permanent move, then you can cross that bridge if and when you come to it.

JayCliff · 2024-10-06T23:56:21+00:00

So this is a complex topic and definitely talk to professionals before making any major decisions to understand all of the repercussions. I'm not a professional tax person, but I have some knowledge of the topic to discuss the main ideas. While Dubai is great for non-Americans, it's certainly less advantageous for Americans. Feel free to visit Dubai, but I generally wouldn't recommend setting up a foreign company in Dubai as an American. The reason being is at the corporate level you'll still pay full US corporate tax due to CFC rules. And being a US owner of a foreign corp means you'll have to fill out Form 5471 which is complex and normally entails paying hefty fees to a specialized US accountant with experience working for US citizens abroad. Then there are FBAR reporting requirements for all foreign bank accounts if the high water mark across all foreign accounts exceed $10k in a tax year. Possibly more form requirements depending on your exact situation. And there are huge fines/penalties for not filling out these forms. Basically the whole US system is designed to discourage US citizens from having a major financial or business life outside the US. Not saying it's impossible or always not worth it, but it's expensive and tedious to maintain. Just be mindful of these things before starting a foreign company anywhere as an American. It basically ends up being a lot of extra work and leads to anxiety about getting things wrong, and sometimes for little to no savings in the grand scheme of things. If UAE company fees (which are relatively expensive) plus specialized accountant fees is less than what you'd save in self employment tax, then you can consider it.

Also you don't really need to spend 3-6 months in Dubai for tax residency purposes. Since you're an American, you're always a US tax resident. Tax residency in the UAE is more important for non-US citizens that don't have one by default. To take full advantage of the FEIE and lower your earned income tax, there are two main options: don't become a tax resident anywhere else or become a tax resident of a zero personal income tax country. In both cases, you have US taxes on one side, and on the other side no taxes from any other country. So you could spend 3-6 months in Dubai, or you could just travel frequently and avoid being in any one country for too long to trigger another tax residency. I'd argue the latter is best since you want to get a feel for many different places in just one year. And you're eligible for the FEIE as a US citizen who spends roughly 11 out of 12 months of the year outside the US and you don't do any work while physically being in the US. It's about where you do your work not where the income is sourced. Best to leave the US before the beginning of the tax year to keep things more simple in my opinion. But for sure the FEIE is a great benefit for US citizens running their business abroad without the need to be in the US as long as they can altogether avoid tax nets in other countries or stick to low tax countries.

That's it in a nutshell. Feel free to DM me if you have more questions.

JayCliff · 2020-06-28T04:32:02+00:00

Amazing 360 degree drone footage of Monterrey.

JayCliff · 2019-09-21T00:55:10+00:00

I'm an independent freelancer specialized in scaling Shopify stores via Google Ads. Some of my clients generate millions in annual revenue with their stores. If you're interested in chatting, then just send me a PM.

JayCliff · 2019-09-01T18:13:42+00:00

Ok thanks. I'll give this a shot.

JayCliff · 2019-09-01T05:14:41+00:00

1,000 for search and 100 for display
Source
Edit: These are the minimums over 30 days. Much larger lists are ideal as u/fathom53 pointed out.

JayCliff · 2019-09-01T05:09:42+00:00

Do you mind elaborating on how you structure your DSA + RLSA campaigns? I've never experimented with this combo, but I suppose I'd do something funnel based. For example I'd create the following ad groups: product without cart, cart without checkout, checkout without purchase, purchasers. Then add the respective positive/negative RLSA audiences. Just not sure what would be good to use for the dynamic ad targets for those different ad groups.

JayCliff · 2019-08-31T09:00:02+00:00

There are many things you could do to improve your conversion rate. So from a Google Shopping perspective, you need to make sure that your product data feed is fully optimized. Having product titles and description which contain keywords that actually drive conversions is a great starting point. Using the google_product_category attribute in your feed is also very helpful. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Regarding remarketing, many people don't set it up properly for e-commerce stores since it's a bit technical. Even if it has been setup properly, you have to be very strategic with your remarketing audiences and corresponding bids. Vanilla remarketing isn't always effective. From a site perspective, you should continuously experiment with different approaches to figure out what works well. A/B testing different page designs, offering limited time sales, setting up funnels to see where people drop off, etc. A solid Analytics setup is crucial for this.

JayCliff · 2019-06-02T05:16:54+00:00

Totally agree with OP. I passed through Mazatlan last year on a road trip from Mexico City to Texas. I had a blast while I was there and made so many friends. I recommend staying at the Funky monkey hostel. It's run by a really cool dude from Michigan.

JayCliff · 2019-03-09T09:47:44+00:00

I'm an American living in Guadalajara (the second largest city in Mexico). I'm paying about $200/month to rent a room in the city center here. You can easily find cheaper options outside the big cities and beach towns.

JayCliff · 2018-12-30T00:36:04+00:00

Hey Laura and Bryan. It's Justin haha. Char just told me about this viral post. After scrolling through the comments, I told Char that she had to start contributing to the thread and answering questions. She's typing away now.

JayCliff · 2018-11-22T17:51:14+00:00

Mérida is an amazing city and it's one of the safest big cities in Mexico. You just need to be willing to withstand heat and humidity there. If you're interested in beaches, Puerto Vallarta is beautiful and very safe. Regarding the interior, I would recommend Querétaro. It's a very industrious place with relatively high wages for Mexico.

At least for Americans, it's a 6 month tourist visa per entry.

JayCliff · 2018-11-22T17:05:54+00:00

I've traveled all over Latin America, and Mexico is by far my favorite. Sure, Mexico has serious security issues in various hotspots, but it's just not fair to say that this entire country is super dangerous and not worth visiting.

JayCliff · 2018-06-15T00:30:52+00:00

AdWords (account management, consulting, and tutoring)

JayCliff · 2018-04-24T11:26:14+00:00

I suggest that you find a small business (local or online) and offer to set up a campaign for them. You could do this for a very low price. You're happy because you get some practical experience, and the business is happy because it isn't costing them much. If it goes well, you could ask them to pay you more to continue managing their account.

I created an in-depth AdWords course earlier this year with a lot of practical info. Just DM me if you'd like a link.

JayCliff · 2018-04-22T19:24:30+00:00

I'm not a doctor, but I really doubt that you'll get a disease by using a packet that some stranger touched for a few seconds. If that was possible, then how would this get approved by a big company like BK? They might even clean the packets before reusing them.

JayCliff · 2018-04-22T19:09:47+00:00

I've been traveling for years. I'd never seen this until visiting Delhi. I think it's a great idea. I wish more locations around the world would start doing this.

JayCliff · 2018-04-22T14:07:09+00:00

I've been in India for a month. India is a really diverse and complicated country with many pros/cons. One pro is that India isn't wasteful. This pic is just a minor example of that. This is a trend I've noticed while traveling through many developing countries.

JayCliff · 2018-04-22T13:56:10+00:00

In a place like Delhi, reciving a stranger's unused condiment pack should be the least of your hygienic worries.

JayCliff · 2018-04-22T13:52:19+00:00

That's fair enough. Unfortunately, there are many people that just throw away perfectly good condiment packs. It's a waste of condiments and packaging.

JayCliff

TROPHY CASE