This is not necessarily a problem if you are relocated to France, Belgium or Canada who all have great public education system and relatively cheap private school options. But if your family is moving to Malaysia, Vietnam or China, you should ensure your company is covering the cost of your kids’ education or at least that your package gives you enough to cover the cost yourself. In those countries’ local system, not only would your kid need to learn a new language, but they also would receive sub-standard education. Unfortunately, those countries are also the ones where international schools are super expensive.

Take Malaysia for example, the cost of sending your ‘lil one to the Lycee Francais Kuala Lumpur is at best RM20,000 a year. Sound steep ? Not quite. The LFKL is one of the cheapest international school in KL. Gardens, ISKL or Alice Smith fees quickly reach RM50,000 per year and above with their “application”, “registration” and “tuition” fees.

While all the institutions cited above may be expensive, they are reputed and provide quality programs. Unfortunately, the cost-quality correlation does not always stand true.  With the recent liberalization of the sector in Malaysia, a lof ot new “international schools” opened their doors in recent years. Some of the newer ones should not have been allowed to be registered. To the point that the Malaysian government is trying to Rein In Private Education Institutions.

Moving overseas with children is a rare opportunity. You just need to do your get as much info as possible on the country you are about to move to, negotiate hard so that your contract include international school tuition fees – or ensure that your salary can cover the cost – and do your homework on the schools your kids are to attend. Quite a lot of work, but you’ll feel so much better once you know your ‘lil ones are going to a great school.

To finish on a happy note, 84% of respondent to the Expat Explorer Survey said that their kids had adapted well to their new life abroad, and enjoyed life in their new country

Unsurprisingly, many organizations are focusing on reducing the cost of their international assignment programs. What is more surprising, to me at least, is that more than 60% of organizations still pay their global talents in accordance with compensation levels in their home countries. I thought this percentage would be much lower, believing that While big organizations like Oil & Gas or IT do usually keep compensating expats generously, many smaller ones switched to local based contracts in recent years.

Maybe it is a trend that is South East Asia specific. Or it could be that this 60% figure is influenced by the fact that survey respondents usually are from these big organizations. It could also be because when one of those expatriates enjoying a juicy packages wishes to stay in the country he is posted in, he usually has to switch to a local contract – switching from the international HR department (the one answering these questionnaires) to the local one (not answering) in the process.

Anyhow, this report is a very interesting read for all, especially if you are a HR specialists, or an expats who is looking to better negotiate your next package

Internationalisation has attacked even this bastion of privileges, and it now is difficult outline what defines being an expatriates clearly; Most consider a foreign national working in an exotic country to be an expatriate; the reality is more complex. Expatriates now are splintered across different group or coterie, each quite different from the previous one. After sitting down with many expats, I classed them in the following groups:

• Old school expatriates, who are posted in a country for three to five years with their family. They have two contracts, the main one with the headquarters, a second one locally for work permit purposes; their main contract usually comprise a return clause, even though most will be posted to a new country instead of coming back “home”;
• High potentials sent abroad to develop their talent and leadership. They usually have a return clause in their contract, and do come home after a few years;
• Young graduates who move to the country they wish to start their career in – their contracts are local, but they usually are quite generous by local standard to represent their skills and international background;
• Technical experts without manager responsibilities who are sent on emergency mission; they usually work on critical projects and/or locations, and are very well compensated for their skills and flexibility;
• Permanent Residents, who decided to stay put in their new country. They usually switch to a local contract after a few years, and end up setting up their own company or consultancy so as to stay where their heart belong;
• Project consultant who are single or seniors with grown up kids and are sent abroad on mission of a few months;
• Commuters who are based in a country, and travel regionally on a regular basis;
• Miles virtuoso who travel the world all year round and rarely stay put more than two weeks;

This segmentation is of course non-exhaustive and is a work in progress.

I’d love to hear your feed-backs and personal coterie-related-thoughts !

If you wish to read more – and you should if you are Australian, or are just curious about the Medicare Australia ! – you can check it here: Insurance for Australian expats

Some of these policies are very comprehensive, others are simply bare medical cover for the basic 36 illnesses. Depending on your industry and your company, you will enjoy different standards here. A rule of thumb is that if you were sent here by your company, you have high chances of enjoying a comprehensive coverage, while if you work on a local contract you are certainly on a simple basic cover.

If you are on a local contract, I don’t really need to sell you on the benefits of having your own insurance. Your reading this blog is proof enough of your having your eyes open to your needs.

If you are on an expatriate contract, depending on your company’s policy, you may want to consider the following. Most of these policies are group negotiated and some providers do not offer individuals or family options. Hence, once you move on from your job – to take up a better offer, take a one year sabbatical break, or early retirement – you may not have the option to continue with your current provider, and need to switch to another one.

This should not be a problem, as long as you and your family are healthy. But let’s imagine one second that you or your wife had a blood-related problem in the past few years, or your child develop diabetes due to a lack of exercise – get him a Wii ! – then the new policy will certainly consider them as pre-existing conditions and may exclude them from their policy.

The surest way to know you are protected according to your expectations, and ensure this protetions can follow you wherever you are is to get an international insurance for yourself and your loved ones. This means your personal insurer will overlap with your corporate one.

Having more than one insurance is 100% legal and is actually quite common, especially when both spouse work. Your personal insurance ensures continuity of cover should you move to another country / company down the road. Which you do on a regular basis when you are living the expatriate life, isn’t it?

If you don’t already have your personal international insurance, I invite you to give me a buzz, or check here to get some ideas of the type of cover and prices you may expect from an international provider.