The International Money Café Podcast

"The International Money Café Podcast", is a show where we filter out the noise on cross-border finances, taxes, and life in the US as an immigrant or life abroad if you are a US citizen. 

We address these issues from a very personal and relatable point of view every other week, as we walk the same journey and pursue our version of the American dream. 

https://www.theimcafe.com/

Podcast Host : The International Money Café Podcast

A community where we filter out the noise on cross-border finance, taxes, and life in the US as an immigrant/foreign national or life abroad if you are an expat.

Founder: The International Money Café Community

Elgon Financial Advisors

Elgon Financial Advisors is a Fee-Only financial planning and investment management firm providing personalized wealth management to immigrants & foreign-born individuals / families. As a virtual firm we serve clients from all over the country.

Learn more at https://elgonfa.com/

Founder & Principal Advisor

Northwestern Mutual

Associate Wealth Management Advisor to Andrew Spaanem | CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, RICP®, AEP | Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual

Associate Wealth Management Advisor to Andrew Spaanem | CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, RICP®, AEP

Staples

SAS Solutions domain expert, providing clean marketing campaign data to business partners.

Consulting Application Architect / Dev – Customer Data &  SAS

Operational and strategic responsibility for the Customer Analytics Platform (Oracle, Teradata). Partnered with the marketing teams for full access to accurate/timely sales and customer data for marketing. 

        * Headed a $2.1M Marketing Data Mart migration project resulting in $700,000 yearly savings in hosting costs. 
       * Designed and spearheaded a SAS software consolidation project that yielded $200,000 in yearly licensing costs.

Global Technology Manager, Customer Analytics Platform & SAS                             

Supervised the CRM application team (Salesforce and Siebel) supporting the inside sales call center and 1600+ retail stores (5 Different business Groups). Successfully managed the project to migrate the Siebel CRM into the Retail Salesforce Org.

IT Manager, CRM and Sales Tools (Siebel and Salesforce)

Maintained complex databases like the CRM (Siebel) backend database. Developed and delivered training to mentor junior DBAs. Created all the documentation templates for offshore support teams.

Consulting Oracle DBA

Greendale YMCA

Worked with players of all levels, with a special focus on the under 10 group.

 *  Designed and Implemented the club's first Parent/Child formal tennis program.

PTR Certified Tennis Teaching Pro

Independent Financial Planning + Wealth Management for Foreign-Born Individuals & Tech Professionals

At my first job, on the OPT and H-1B visas (in tech), I had a chance to invest in a 401k plan - I was told it was the first step to achieving the American dream. 

However, I had no clue how to go about it or whom to ask for advice on investing while on a work visa.  I wasn’t even sure I could do it without jeopardizing my immigration status.

The idea that I’d been given access to start building my American dream and couldn’t take advantage of it was devastating. Nobody should have to go through that!

Fast forward to today. As the CFP® founder of Elgon Financial Advisors, I’m the financial guide I wish I had for my international family many years ago. 

👉🏽 TODAY
I help you - foreign-born families and foreign nationals on work visas take full advantage of the financial opportunities (retirement planning, tax planning, saving for college, investing, estate planning, college planning, stock options planning, etc.) available in the US and avoid critical financial mistakes that could derail your version of the American dream while giving you back time to enjoy life.

👉🏽 THE PROCESS 
I get to know you, your background, dreams, desired future state, and current financial situation. I weave in your cultural background and values and any cultural ties you have to your home country to develop a unique financial roadmap that will adapt to any changes in your life. 

And yes, I help you implement the roadmap one item at a time, taking into account any changes in your situation.

👉🏽 WHY ME? 
 I'm you at some point or another. When you say "back home," I get it. I've traveled the same journey with my international family.  I moved to this country in my early adulthood, backed by excellent academic qualifications, and I was very successful in tech. I could integrate into the system, but there was a vast void regarding US finances. 

I wanted to work with somebody who would consider my cultural background and be willing to educate me on a new system. My research shows that many of us seek this kind of experience.

👉🏽 PODCAST
I address a lot of the issues foreign-born families face on my podcast "The International Money Cafe"(www.theimcafe.com)

👉🏽 READY TO TALK?
Reach out here on LinkedIn,

Or schedule some time on my website. 

 https://elgonfa.com/get-started/

Your kids are on dependent visas - they were born in your home country before you moved to the US on a work visa. (H-1B, L1, E-3, TN, O-1 etc).

They don't have Social Security numbers, and they can't legally get them.

Your priority date is so far back that you are not going to get that green card before they turn 21. At which point, they are going to age out of the immigration system and will become undocumented.

How do you save for their college education in this situation?

Jane Mepham, CFP®

👉🏽 WHAT I DO: 
I help Immigrants & Foreign-Born Individuals/Families (even on work visas) map out a personal finance strategy that addresses all areas of your financial lives (budgets, college planning, insurance, retirement, tax-planning, investing, etc.) allowing you to take full advantage of the opportunities available and avoid key financial mistakes that could derail your version of the American dream while giving you back time to enjoy life.

👉🏽 HOW I DO IT: 
 I take a very collaborative approach which includes educating you on all things personal finance. I spend time getting to know you, your background, your dreams, your desired future state, and your current financial situation. I weave into this your cultural background and values and any cultural ties you have to your home country to come up with a unique financial roadmap that will adapt to any changes in your life. Finally, I help you implement the roadmap one item at a time, keeping in mind any changes in your situation.

👉🏽 WHY IT WORKS:
 I take into consideration your cultural background and hone in on what's crucial to your life. Working together we implement the roadmap one item at a time, taking away the stress of having to think about doing 100 things at once. By walking beside you, I help you stay laser-focused on each of the goals we've defined (one goal at a time), in addition to being able to pivot in an instant if required.

👉🏽 WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT: 
 I'm you at some point or another. When you say "back home" I get it. I've traveled the same journey. I moved to this country in my early adulthood, backed by excellent academic qualifications and I was very successful in tech. I was able to integrate into the system, but when it came to finances, there was a huge void. I wanted to work with somebody that would take my cultural background into consideration and be willing to educate me on a new system. My research shows there are a lot of us looking for this kind of experience.

👉🏽 READY TO TALK:
Reach out here on LinkedIn,

Or schedule some time on my website 

      https://calendly.com/elgon_advisors/30min_discovery_call?month=2022-07

Or if you just want to see the type of work we are doing, please visit our site https://elgonfa.com/. 

I can't wait to meet you and learn about your life and where you are coming from!

I Help Foreign Nationals on Work Visas & Immigrants (Green Card Holders, Naturalized Citizens) Pursue The American Dream by Investing Prudently & Avoiding Tax Minefields. I Host The IMCafe Cross-border Podcast 🎙️.

I love it when my clients have an "aha" moment - on some quirky US finance aspect, and they can actually explain the issue/process back to me. 😀 

Just helped a client with a "recharacterization" -  of  a Roth IRA.

Makes my day!  - On to the next adventure!

Amazon Employees On Work Visas Impacted By The 30k Job Cuts - An Immediate Game Plan.

"Language carries culture, values and wisdom".

And as we know our cultural background ( doesn't matter the origin) plays a very big role in how we make money and life decisions.

A lot of foreign born individuals have another language ( mother tongue), besides English, which you need to succeed in the US.

How cool would it be to be able to use AI in your mother tongue, your first language?

Cool to see what this scientists are working on.

What are your thoughts on this idea of teaching AI to "speak" other languages besides English?.

How would you apply this in your life?

Starting or just started a new job on the H-1B, TN, L-1, E-3, O-1, etc work visa?

You will need help decoding the medical health benefits.

The intersection of financial planning and immigration - The Monday Edition.

The US system is quirky, complex, and if you choose wrong, it's going to hurt financially.

We define the following for you.
 
 - The three types of medical insurance (PPO, HMO, and EPO)

- FSA, HSA, Limited FSA

We also discuss how to approach these items and accounts if you plan to move back to your home country.

Finally we touch on medicare.

So "What's English for "Health Insurance Options?"

https://bit.ly/4f0uETX 


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"Eeny Meeny Miney Moe" is not going to do it.

You have to know what the medical insurance terms actually mean.

We tell you exactly what they are, what they mean, and what makes sense when.

Hopefully, making medical benefits selection a breeze.

What questions come to mind on this?

PPO, HMO, EPO, HDHP, HSA, FSA  - confused yet? 

It's open enrollment - what insurance plan are you going to pick?

In this oldie, we tell exactly what each of those terms means, and when you should pick each plan.

And yes, we do this in 10 minutes.

You'll thank us later 😀 

https://bit.ly/4f0uETX

But they said my Roth IRA was tax-free; you are now saying I may have to pay taxes on it?

Yes, because you are dealing with two completely different tax systems.

Retirement accounts in the US are designed to work within the US tax code.

If you leave the US with a US retirement account, the guiding principle is still the US tax code, because it's a US retirement account.

Once you return home, your home country will likely want to tax you as a citizen with overseas income (when realized), and they will have their own guidance on your overseas accounts.

However, let's return to the original principle - the accounts were designed to operate under a different tax system (US).

There are bilateral agreements (tax treaties) that may modify how the accounts are taxed, but there are no guarantees. 

Returning to the original idea, it's a US account designed to operate within the US system.

The above is the easiest way to think about US accounts when you may need to access the money while living somewhere else.

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