Before we get to Steph’s conversation with HR about our nomading plan, we have to celebrate! We are halfway to our goal of selling everything we own and becoming Caribbean and Central American digital nomads!
Reflections of the first half of this nomading journey
It is amazing to think that 60 of the 120 weeks we had when we started this blog have already elapsed. In that time, we have cleaned out closets, filled a dumpster with garage riffraff, painted so much woodwork, traveled to Spain, and Costa Rica, sold a whole lot of our possessions, and done a lot of research surrounding how this nomading plan will work in the future.
We have 60 weeks left, and, to quote one of Steph’s favorite movies, “The world is getting a little big in the window.” (No need to Google it. It’s Apollo 13)
In the next 50ish weeks, we will continue to renovate the house for sale and find new homes for many of our things. We’re saving that last 4 weeks for two things: the Kid’s high school graduation (which deserves its own moment, free from the chaos), and the final purge, that we’re calling “crunch time.”
Between now and then, though, we have plans. Renovations, rehoming, and research will be the mantra for the second half of our quest to be digital nomads.
The Human Resources check-in
We’ve talked before about Steph’s job and why this company appealed to us as a way to make this nomadic dream a reality. Steph has been open about her plans with her co-workers and bosses (the person in that role has changed three times in the last year). Many of them read our blog! Early into our planning, Steph had been assured by her boss that there were no HR rules that would prohibit us from taking this show on the road.
That boss is no longer at the company, so Steph decided to reach out to Human Resources herself to re-certify that this plan will not get her fired. Fired is bad. She really likes her job! And we need to eat, so…yeah.
Last week, Steph had a conversation with an HR rep at the company and it was very useful. There is no digital nomad policy at the company, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be one in the future. Right now the concerns center around any tax implications that would arise from us working for an extended period of time in another country.
Tax Rules for Digital Nomads
Some countries have residency rules that trigger tax liabilities for anyone working from within their borders. At this point, most of those tax implications would impact both the company and our own personal taxes, so our interests in avoiding triggering these liabilities are aligned. They agreed that Steph would check in with HR again in about a year, and that we would always inform them of where we are thinking of traveling so they can review any potential liabilities for them in that country. Above all, it opened lines of communication that are going to be vital to the success of our nomading plan, so that was very helpful.
Belize, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica: Digital nomad rules and requirements
We have only put destinations we have traveled to on our future nomading list, so that list is currently pretty small. The chart below shows the digital nomad requirements for each of these countries:
As we add countries to our list, we will add them to this chart. If there are any areas that may have tax liabilities for us, we will either remove them from our list, or craft our stay to leave before those liabilities kick in. But regardless of our plans, we will be keeping our bosses in the loop to make sure they know where we are so they can investigate any issues in advance. Communication is key for this plan to work for everyone!
For those of you who are already living this life, how did you tell your boss/work about your plans? What were their reactions? For those who don’t have nomading plans, what do you think your boss would say if you had this conversation with them? Let us know in the comments!
Leave a Reply