Moving to a foreign country may seem like a pipe dream, but it doesn’t have to break the bank.

When deciding whether to move overseas for life or work, one of the biggest factors to consider is personal finances.

For the fourth consecutive year, Vietnam is the most affordable country in the world for expats, ranking first out of 53 destinations when it comes to personal finances, according to a 2024 InterNations study.

To be clear, out of 53 places, it came in 40 for quality of life, 29 for expat essentials such as digital life, housing and language, and ranked 14 for working abroad — with considerations like career prospects, salary and job security factored in.

More than 12,000 expats across 174 territories worldwide participated in the broader Expat Insider 2024 survey which provided insights including the best and worst places to live, quality of life, working abroad and personal finance.

For the Personal Finance Index, InterNations asked survey respondents to rank their personal satisfaction levels in three areas: general cost of living, satisfaction with financial situation, and whether disposable household income was enough to lead a comfortable life.

This data was used to compile the report which remains largely unchanged from last year, with the exception of a new entrant to the list — Brazil (9th) — replacing Malaysia, which dropped from 5th in 2023 to 11th this year.

Here are the top 10 destinations expats say are best for their personal finances:

1. Vietnam
2. Colombia
3. Indonesia
4. Panama
5. Philippines
6. India
7. Mexico
8. Thailand
9. Brazil
10. China

Asian countries dominated this year’s list, nabbing six out of the top 10 positions. Southeast Asia, in particular, stood out with Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand all ranking in the top 10.

“Housing is a big plus in all four countries: Thailand ranks 1st, Vietnam 2nd, Philippines 5th, and Indonesia 8th,” Kathrin Chudoba, chief marketing officer for InterNations, told CNBC Make It. “Most expats agree that it’s easy to find housing, and they are happy with how affordable it is.”

Out of surveyed expats living in Vietnam, 86% rate its cost of living favorably — that’s more than twice the global average of 40%, and 65% of respondents in the country say they are satisfied with their financial situation compared to 54% globally, according to the report.

In addition, 68% of respondents say their disposable household income is more than enough to lead a comfortable life, compared to 41% globally, the survey showed.

Not only are costs of living low, expats tend to be paid more in Vietnam.

“Close to double the global average report a gross yearly income of 150k USD or more (19% vs. 10% globally),” according to InterNations.

In addition, general job satisfaction is also very high among expats in the country. Vietnam jumped from 24^th rank last year to 3^rd in 2024 for this factor, which is part of the “Work Culture & Satisfaction” subcategory, said Chudoba.

Generally, “work-life balance trumps career advancement” in Vietnam, according to the report. Notably, less than half (46%) of the country’s expat population works full time, compared to the global average of 57%. About one in five expats (21%) works part-time, and about 18% of expats are retired.

“Life here is stress-free for me, it’s a wonderful change from my work life, which was very consuming and hectic,” said a British expat in the report.

Along with measuring expats’ satisfaction with their personal finances, the InterNations Expat Insider study also gathered data on what the overall best destinations are for expats globally.

This broader list explores how expats feel across other aspects of life abroad, based on 5 indices: general happiness, quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad and their “expat essentials” index, which is based on administration, housing, digital life and language.

Out of 53 destinations globally, four Asian countries made it into the overall top 10 list this year: Indonesia (3rd overall), Thailand (6th overall), Vietnam (8th overall) and the Philippines (9th overall).

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In April 2021, Paul Lee took a vacation to Thailand. Five months later, he decided to leave the United States behind and make a permanent move to the Asian country.

Lee, originally from Georgia, had been living in New York City and grossing around $1 million a year thanks to his e-commerce business. Despite doing well enough to pay for his parent’s retirement, the 28-year-old tells CNBC Make It he found himself without purpose, feeling depressed, and needing to make a change.

“When I first arrived to Thailand, I just felt rejuvenated. Everything was completely new to me, and I felt like it was a fresh new start,” Lee says. “The more and more I live here, the more and more I fall in love with the city.”

Since moving to Bangkok, Lee has been making around US $150,000 a year as a content creator and real estate agent, according to documents reviewed.

Working in real estate helped Lee find several living arrangements in Bangkok, including luxury condos. The apartment he’s in now is a one-bedroom in the Thonglor neighborhood which Lee says is “the Soho of Bangkok.”

It’s a 650-square-feet unit that costs 20,000 baht — around USD $544 — in monthly rent. Lee also pays $20 for Wi-Fi, $80 for electricity, and $3 for water each month. The apartment came furnished, and Lee has access to amenities, including a pool and a gym.

To move in, Lee had to pay a security deposit of two months’ rent or about $1,088.

Despite lower grocery costs in Bangkok, Lee eats out for every meal and spends $500 a month on food. “I’m not gonna lie, the food in New York City was very good as well, but I think in Thailand, it’s just a lot more homey, a lot more local, and a lot spicier,” Lee says.

His other expenses include a $93 monthly gym membership which is a bit of a splurge considering Lee has free access to a gym in his building. But the cost is worth it for Lee, because he can take advantage of the co-working space, coffee, and numerous networking opportunities in the space.

Also his current gym’s price is nothing compared to luxury gyms in New York, like Equinox, where memberships can start at $240 a month.

Lee has only returned to the U.S. one time since his big move to Thailand — for his sister’s wedding. He tells CNBC Make It he chose to leave New York City because he found himself being too materialistic and living in an “environment that was just very individualistic, very doggish, and very hyper-aggressive.”

“Bangkok stood out to me because it seemed very metropolis. It seemed very fun. It seemed very affordable and it just had a very good culture and didn’t really have any major compromises to me,” Lee says.

Lee has made a new life for himself in Thailand, he says, and returning to the U.S. doesn’t feel likely.

“I had to go through this journey of being poor and becoming quite wealthy to realize all this wealth that I had accumulated didn’t really give me what I wanted and didn’t give me the satisfaction I was looking for,” Lee says.

His parents were initially shocked he’d moved so far but ended up following in his footsteps when they moved to South Korea. They visit him in Bangkok from time to time, and Lee travels to see them, too. He says it’s one of the best perks of his new life in Thailand.

“At the end of the day, even though I don’t make nearly as much money as I made in New York City, I am far… wealthier in terms of my happiness, in terms of my well-being, my peace,” he added. “These are things I never was able to achieve back home in the States.”

Conversions from Thai baht to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 baht to 0.02 USD on July 1, 2024. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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People in their 30s may be a long way off from their retirement savings goals, but they have plenty of time to get on track.

On average, Americans say they’ll need around $1.46 million saved up to retire comfortably, according to Northwestern Mutual’s “2024 Planning and Progress” study. And for millennials, the majority of whom are in their 30s, that number is a little over $1.6 million.

However, many in their 30s have much less than that saved.

The median 401(k) balance for people in their 30s is around $22,100 as of the first quarter of 2024, per the latest data from Fidelity Investments, one of the country’s largest 401(k) providers.

Here’s how much Americans have in their 401(k)s by age, according to Fidelity.

To be fair, many Americans are stretching their funds to cover a number of expenses which may impact their ability to save more for retirement.

Over a third of people cite the rising cost of living as an obstacle to reaching their retirement goals, per Fidelity Investments’ “2024 State of Retirement Planning.” And nearly 30% say that paying off credit card debt and unexpected expenses are barriers.

If you’re in your 30s and worried about your retirement savings, the good news is that you have time to get on track.

First off, rather than solely focusing on your account balance, which can be impacted by factors such as market volatility — and which will ostensibly grow at a compounding rate over time — take a look at your savings rate. That’s the percentage of your pre-tax annual income that you set aside for retirement each year.

Fidelity recommends a savings rate of 15% which includes your employer’s match, if offered. However, you may need to increase that savings rate if you’re just starting in your late 30s, compared to your earlier years, says Anne Lester, a retirement expert and author of “Your Best Financial Life: Save Smart Now for the Future You Want.”

“If you’re starting at 39, you’ll need to save a bit more aggressively than if you were starting at 32 or earlier,” she tells CNBC Make It.

To that point, if you’ve got nothing saved for retirement, Fidelity recommends a savings rate of 18% if you’re starting at age 30 and 23% if you’re beginning at age 35.

One way to reach that suggested savings rate is through auto-escalation, which allows you to set your retirement contributions to automatically increase by a certain percentage each year. For instance, you could automatically increase your savings rate by 2 or 3 percentage points each year until you reach your target rate.

Another way you can give your retirement savings a boost is by mentally preparing yourself to set aside a portion of any financial windfalls you may receive in the future such as raises or tax refunds, Lester says.

“Those raises and refunds are one way you can relatively painlessly start saving for retirement because you’re not giving anything up you already have,” she says.

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Do you think and speak in ways that mark you as being emotionally intelligent? 

After spending more than 25 years researching and writing books about emotional intelligence, I know that you should hope the answer is yes.

As I discuss in my most recent book “Optimal,” being emotionally intelligent means you’re more likely to be a high performer, be engaged in what you do, feel satisfied with your work, and be in a good mood on the job. 

What this looks and sounds like in practice breaks down along four domains of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

Within these domains, there are a dozen specific abilities, or “competencies,” that distinguish star performers at work, both on teams and as leaders. Those include emotional self awareness, emotional self control, adaptability, achievement orientation, positive outlook, empathy, organizational awareness, influence, conflict management, inspirational leadership, coaching and mentoring, and teamwork.

Here are 12 phrases that emotionally intelligent people tend to think or say on a regular basis — each reflects a strength in one of the 12 competencies. 

Emotional intelligence competency: Self management (self control)

No matter how stressful or upsetting your life, excellence in self-management — and in emotional self-control in particular — means you can keep disruptive emotions like anger or anxiety from getting in the way of what you have to do in the moment. And if you do get upset, you recover quickly.

Emotional intelligence competency: Self management (positive outlook)

Rather than assuming you or someone else is only as good at a particular skill or task as they seem at the moment, you realize everyone — you included — can get better with guidance and practice. 

This positive outlook lets you roll with the punches in life and lets you see the opportunities even in setbacks.

DON’T MISS: The ultimate guide to becoming a master communicator and public speaker

Emotional intelligence competency: Self management (adaptability)

You’re able to navigate uncertainty and adapt to changes instead of being rigid in how you respond. You’re eager to learn new ways of doing and being.

Emotional intelligence competency: Self management (achievement orientation)

Keeping your eye on your big-picture goal, despite the distractions of the day, helps you achieve it.

Emotional intelligence competency: Self awareness

Having self-awareness means you understand what triggers your moods and how they make you think, feel, and want to act. You can recognize, for example, when your thoughts stem from feelings of anger, anxiety, or sadness.  

Self-awareness is a prerequisite for better emotional self-control and self-management more broadly. 

Emotional intelligence competency: Social awareness (empathy)

There are three kinds of empathy: 

• Knowing how someone thinks about what’s going on
• Sensing their feelings
• Having concern for that person

Together, these three aspects of empathy build closeness and trust in any relationship.

Emotional intelligence competency: Social awareness (organizational awareness)

Knowing who makes the decisions you care about offers you a key to the crucial dynamics of your organization. If you understand who’s involved and how things work, you’re often able to have influence. 

Emotional intelligence competency: Relationship management (influence)

You know how to convince someone to see things your way. You don’t command, but rather suggest, how a person might do something better. 

Emotional intelligence competency: Relationship management (inspirational leadership)

Outstanding leaders get the best efforts out of others by speaking about a shared purpose from the heart to the heart, in a way that resonates.

Emotional intelligence competency: Relationship management (conflict management)

Talent at handling conflict means you don’t ignore it, can listen to all perspectives, and come up with win-win solutions.

Emotional intelligence competency: Relationship management (teamwork)

Feeling like we belong and having a sense of psychological safety on our team means we can give our best efforts and take risks to be innovative without fear of being ostracized or put down.

No matter what your role on the team, you know how to pitch in and collaborate, sharing both responsibilities and rewards. 

Emotional intelligence competency: Relationship management (coaching and mentoring)

Coaching or mentoring is a key part of helping develop leaders for the future, strengthening your team and organization in the long run. You do it by giving feedback, offering support, and motivating people to learn and grow. 

The more these phrases come up in your mind, the more emotionally intelligent you already are and the better your performance is likely to be. 

Each of us has strengths and limits across these 12 must-have EI competencies. To find out yours I recommend a “360” assessment — where people you know and trust rate you anonymously. It’s the best way to see your own EI profile. You can try the Emotional and Social Competence Inventory.

You might not be a natural in every competency that makes up emotional intelligence. But understanding EI as a broad set of skills and abilities and getting a snapshot of where you stand on each one will help you see what you can build on and where you have room to grow.

Daniel Goleman is a psychologist who shares his insights into the strengths of outstanding performers in the online learning program he designed to strengthen your emotional and social competencies. Daniel received his PhD in psychology and personality development from Harvard University. He is also the author of several books, including “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ” and most recently ”Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day.”

Want to be a successful, confident communicator? Take CNBC’s new online course Become an Effective Communicator: Master Public Speaking. We’ll teach you how to speak clearly and confidently, calm your nerves, what to say and not say, and body language techniques to make a great first impression. Sign up today and use code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off through July 10, 2024.

This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.

When Sora Lee was an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, she got what she considers to be pretty bad career advice.

″‘Pursue a major that you’re passionate about,’” she says an advisor told her and her peers. “Good for her that her career worked out, but I don’t think that was very helpful advice for someone like me who was an international student.”

Lee began studying political science, which she was interested in, until she considered how it could affect her earnings and ability to get a job down the line. As an immigrant from South Korea, Lee was already thinking about her ability to stay and work in the States, which would require an employer-sponsored visa. 

In her mind, that would be difficult to attain without a job in a highly competitive field. She didn’t think a bachelor’s degree in political science alone would lead her there.

“I don’t think it’s mutually exclusive to pursue money or pursue passion, but I do think you can’t not think about money because a lot of us need to support [a family] or don’t have any family to support [us],” Lee tells CNBC Make It. 

She wound up double majoring in political science and economics to broaden her job prospects, and the decision seems to have paid off. 

Now 34, Lee lives in San Mateo, California, and earns a base salary of $320,000 a year as the global head of product marketing at TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance. This year, she’ll receive $80,000 in restricted stock units, which brings her total compensation up to $400,000. 

She started at TikTok in 2023. That year, she received $48,000 in RSUs and a $50,000 sign-on bonus in addition to her base salary.

That wasn’t her only compensation. Money from a severance package, stock sales, renting out a room, selling a house and working her side hustles brought her 2023 income to about $840,000.

Lee didn’t know she would go into tech. Her first job out of school in 2012 only paid around $46,000. But she’s championed for herself in negotiations, learned how to succeed at work and applied those lessons with each career transition she’s made along the way.

“It’s hard to dream of becoming something that you’ve never heard of or been exposed to,” Lee says. “I try in my life to show that there are these career paths, but going into tech was not really a goal I had in mind. I just kind of fell into it.”

Being in Berkeley helped Lee get exposure and jobs at startups in the area that were willing to hire international students. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she started working at a small video analytics startup called TubeMogul. 

While working at TubeMogul in 2012, she became aware of Netflix as it was beginning to take off. TubeMogul was competing for an ad tech partnership with Netflix, so Lee learned about the company’s own technology and culture.

“My coworker said, ‘If you’re frustrated about the working culture [at TubeMogul], you should read this deck,’” Lee says of a Netflix company culture statement. “I thought it was so refreshing, just kind of thinking it’s something that could happen to me far, far away in the future.”

She wouldn’t have to wait long. A Netflix recruiter reached out to her that same week.

Lee started working at Netflix on its digital marketing programmatic buying team in 2014, earning a salary of $110,000. She stayed there until 2016, and took as a position at WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, in January 2017. She stayed at Meta for six years in several different roles for Facebook, eventually earning over $200,000 a year.

By this point, she knew she could command a large salary and enjoyed the benefits of working at highly regarded tech companies. But her satisfaction didn’t primarily come from the free lunches.

“I think the biggest perk is getting to work with some of the world’s smartest, most competent people and learning from them,” she says. “We can talk about the office food, travel and all the glamour that comes with it. But at the end of the day, I think that’s the benefit that all companies should strive to provide.”

By the end of 2022, Lee felt she was outgrowing her role at Meta, and had begun looking for new opportunities. But the final decision to leave wasn’t entirely hers. “It was actually perfect timing that I got laid off,” Lee says of being part of Meta’s November 2022 job cuts.  

“I got laid off on Wednesday, got my offer from TikTok on Friday, and had another offer from another firm on Monday because I had already been interviewing,” she says. “I negotiated between the two, and I got this TikTok role and I was able to get the [Meta] severance and start my new job.”

She began in her current role at TikTok in January 2023. 

By now, Lee’s annual income has grown nearly 10 times from what she earned fresh out of college. And while she’s enjoyed her salary progression, her more recent pay increases haven’t felt as sweet as getting her first big check did.

The jump from earning $46,000 a year to $110,000 when she started at Netflix was huge. ”[I] felt like I made it,” she says. “That’s when I bought my first designer purse.”

Now working alongside senior executives and directors “making millions,” Lee says she doesn’t feel as wealthy as when she first joined the six-figure salary club. 

While she wants to continue increasing her salary, money alone isn’t enough. She wants her work to feel meaningful and challenging, so she wouldn’t necessarily take a better-paying job unless it satisfied those psychological needs.

“You spend so many hours in a week [at work], why spend it on something that you’re not excited by?” she says.

Lee didn’t always have the financial cushion she has now. She opted to graduate from college in three years in order to save money, and while she was a student, she donated her eggs three times for cash to pay her tuition.

“I don’t regret it,” she says of that decision. “I think it was a good way to help fund my education [and] at the same time, give children to families who wanted their own kids.”

In 2019, she had a child of her own, Jackson. She shares custody of him with her ex-husband after their marriage ended in 2021.

“I wasn’t super prepared for the divorce even though I had initiated it,” she says. “I don’t have any regrets. I was at a point where I would be fine, even if my net worth starts at zero.”

She earned more than her husband at the time and was ordered to pay spousal support for a year after the divorce was finalized. Additionally, she had to pay hefty lawyer fees and sell two of the homes they owned together, one at a loss.

“My ex was managing all the finances, so I was pretty oblivious to anything like personal investing,” she says. “I didn’t know how to do anything, which sounds kind of funny because I’m the one with an MBA degree.”

Here’s a look at Lee’s spending in March 2023:

• Housing and utilities: $2,787 for her portion of the rent, split with her current partner, plus Wi-Fi and utilities
• Discretionary: $4,445 on a necklace she bought herself, a camera, household goods, cleaning services, books and gifts for friends
• Child care: $2,339 for Jackson’s pre-K
• Savings and investments: $2,326 toward her 401(k) and flexible spending accounts
• Transportation: $1,203 on her car payment and charging fees
• Subscriptions and memberships: $487 for Pilates classes, Netflix, a water filtration system, ChatGPT, Audible and an indoor playground
• Food: $427 mostly on groceries; her partner buys meals when they dine out
• Student loan payment: $246
• Gifts: $200
• Insurance: $125 for health, vision and dental insurance

Lee’s only outstanding debt is around $36,000 for her Tesla and just over $3,200 in student loans from her master’s degree. She has a mortgage in her name for a home in Lake Tahoe, but her ex-husband makes the payments.

Lee’s company covers her phone bill, and she pays for car insurance bi-annually, so she didn’t make a payment in March.

Though she doesn’t regularly contribute to savings, she has over $21,000 in cash across several personal and business checking accounts and over $8,000 in company-sponsored flexible savings accounts. Additionally, Lee has $755,283 invested in retirement accounts, a 529 savings account for Jackson, and crypto and regular brokerage accounts.

All told, her net worth is around $843,000.

Between her son, her job — which often has her traveling cross-country — and her burgeoning side hustle as a content creator, public speaker and author, Lee has a full plate. As a result, she always looks for ways to optimize her routine and make the most of each day.

“I only have [Jackson] half the time and I want to be really present when I’m with him,” she says. “And then when I don’t have him, I also want to go full-in on my work and my other endeavors.”

As a result, she pays for a house cleaner to come twice a week and is happy to spend money on experiences with her son, like an indoor playground membership. Lee says those special activities and quality time help keep her grounded.

“I almost feel like God or some sort of higher being gave [Jackson] to me so I can take a pause and enjoy life versus constantly thinking about how I can do better and be more, and feeling anxious about how I am not doing enough, and how I’m not making enough money,” she says.

Lee says she struggles with anxiety around whether she’s making enough, or if her home is “nice enough,” which stems from how her dad spoke about money when she was growing up. “My father constantly talked about money and he would place value on people based on where they live or what kind of cars they drove,” she says.

She hopes to teach her son to view money in a healthier way.

“I like having adult discussions with him,” she says. For example, Jackson can identify certain car brands like Porsche and knows they’re expensive, but she’ll tell him things like, “Just because someone has a nice car doesn’t mean that they’re wealthy.”

She knows a 5-year-old may not fully grasp the concept of a depreciating asset, but he can start to understand that having expensive things doesn’t always mean someone is rich.

The future of TikTok in the U.S. remains uncertain, but Lee isn’t worried about her career.

In fact, after appearing on a Netflix reality show, “Love After Divorce,” she saw her social media following begin to grow and realized she had an opportunity to leverage the audience to elevate her career in a different way.

Her growing follower count helped her secure brand partnerships and speaking engagements, “which gave me a lot of joy because I do love sharing how to become a more effective employee and how to navigate corporate careers,” she says.

On her TikTok, YouTube and Instagram accounts, Lee shares career and lifestyle advice based on her experiences. At speaking engagements, she gives similar advice on how women in particular can climb the corporate ladder. Last year she brought in over $8,000 through these avenues, and she expects to bring in over $19,000 this year, thanks to more events and a book deal.

“I love creating engaging or educational content to help others,” she says. “It’s been really fun and really rewarding, so I want to see how far I can take this.”

Lee encourages her followers to get comfortable talking about money because it’s helped her learn about personal finance after her divorce. 

“Don’t be embarrassed about how little you’re making, or don’t be embarrassed that you don’t know how to do this,” she says. “We’re all figuring this out together.”

For income earned in South Korea, conversions from South Korean Won to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 Won to 0.00077 USD on December 31, 2023. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

What’s your budget breakdown? Share your story with us for a chance to be featured in a future installment.

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