Hey,
If you moved abroad to build something or you're planning to this issue is the one I wish someone had sent me before I left.
Most expats solve the cost side of the equation.
They move somewhere cheap. Rent drops. Food drops. The dollar stretches. The math improves dramatically.
Then they realize the income side is still running on a structure built for American prices. One bad client month. One slow quarter. One unexpected expense. Suddenly the buffer is gone and the flight home becomes a real conversation.
The location is right. The income structure is wrong.
Here's the framework that fixes it.
◆ // THE PLAY
The Three-Layer Income Stack
Every expat founder who stays long term, not the ones who come for six months and go back, the ones who genuinely build a life abroad, runs some version of this structure whether they named it or not.
LAYER 1 — THE FLOOR
Active income. Reliable. Shows up every month regardless of what the market does.
This is the non-negotiable layer. A remote job, a service business, a skill you sell directly. For a pre-expat still in the US this is what you build before you book the flight. For an active expat this is what you protect before you optimize anything else.
The floor has one job: cover your number. Not the survival number the operating number. The amount you need to live comfortably, work effectively, and not think about money every day.
In the Philippines that number is $1,200 - $1,600/month for a founder operating at a sustainable pace. Single with no family or girlfriend I was able to go as low as $600 and sustain until things picked back up. In Portugal it is closer to $2,200. In Colombia around $1,400. Know yours before you build anything on top of it.
→ Full cost breakdown for the Philippines: expatbuildr.com/blog/geo-arbitrage/complete-guide-living-working-cebu-city
LAYER 2 — THE UPSIDE
Asymmetric bets. Variable income that can add significantly in a good period and costs you nothing in a bad one, as long as it never threatens Layer 1.
This looks different for every founder. Crypto plays. Consulting retainers. Stock Options that appreciate out of nowhere, Affiliate income. Freelance overflow. The rule is simple: this money never pays rent. It funds growth, tools, ad spend, and savings. The moment upside money starts covering floor expenses you have a structural problem.
LAYER 3 — THE MACHINE
Income that does not require your direct time. Digital products, a newsletter, a SaaS app, a monetized YouTube channel, content that generates affiliate revenue, Airbnb arbitrage, a laundromat or rental property back in the states, equity in something you built.
This layer starts as a side project and becomes the main thing over time. It compounds slowly. Most expat founders who are 3 years in have a Layer 3 that now exceeds their Layer 1.
The mistake is trying to skip to Layer 3 before Layer 1 is solid. Every month you spend chasing passive income without a reliable floor is a month the clock is running on your runway.
Build the floor first. Place smart asymmetric bets. Let the machine grow.`
◆ // THE NUMBER
$720
That is how much the average expat loses every year to hidden currency conversion fees sending money through a US bank at a 3-4% spread instead of using real exchange rate tools.
$720 is three months of groceries in Cebu. A round trip flight to Japan. Four months of international health insurance.
It disappears invisibly because the fee is baked into the exchange rate, not shown as a line item.
Fix this before you optimize anything else.
◆ // THE TOOL
Wise — the one tool every expat founder needs before anything else.
Most US banks charge a 2-4% spread on every international transfer. On $2,000/month that is $40-80 disappearing every single month. $480-960 a year. Not in fees you can see. In the gap between the rate they show you and the real exchange rate.
Wise gives you the mid-market rate, the real rate, with a small transparent fee instead of a hidden markup.
Real numbers:
Sending $2,000 through a US bank at 3% spread: you lose $60
Sending $2,000 through Wise: you pay roughly $9-12
Same transfer. $48-51 saved. Every single month.
For a pre-expat: set this up before you land. Send your first month of living expenses through it before you leave the US so you arrive with local currency already in hand.
For an active expat: check your last 3 months of bank statements. Find every international transfer. Calculate the spread you paid versus the rate on xe.com that day. That gap multiplied by 12 is your annual currency leak.
→ Open a Wise account → go.expatbuildr.com/wise
◆ // THE MOVE
This week — define your floor number.
Not your ideal income. Not your goal. The minimum amount you need every month to stay where you are or where you are going.
Go to Numbeo.com → search your target city → add up the real costs for your lifestyle.
Pre-expat: that number tells you what Layer 1 needs to cover before you book the flight.
Active expat: that number tells you what you protect before you invest in anything else.
Once you have your number tag me on X with it.
Just your number and your city. That is it.
The most interesting ones get featured in the next issue.
→ Research your city's real costs → numbeo.com
→ Tag me on X → @ExpatBuildr
◆ // FROM THE COMMUNITY
Last issue I asked what the math doesn't tell you about moving here.
The replies came back with one theme I didn't expect:
The hardest part wasn't the money. It was the identity shift.
In America you are what you do. Here nobody cares what you do. They care whether you show up. Whether you are present. Whether you are actually here.
That adjustment takes longer than the banking setup.
Issue 5 is going to cover something I have not addressed yet in this newsletter.
Most expats assume they can get a local job and earn their way to freedom in an arbitrage country. The reality is more complicated — visa requirements, income floors, employer restrictions, and a hiring market that does not work the way you think it does.
The actual path to staying, the one that works is becoming a founder. Not because entrepreneurship is romantic. Because it is the only visa compatible, income-scalable structure that gives you full control over your floor, your upside, and your machine simultaneously.
Issue 5 is the Expat Founder Stack. The exact tools, systems, and infrastructure that make the founder life sustainable abroad.
Pre-expats use it to plan. Active expats use it to audit what they already have.
Don't miss it.
— Galaxy (Tony Long II) 🌏
Building from Cebu. Earning in USD. Sharing the math.
P.S. — Galaxy Arbitrage Weekly is free. Always will be. If someone forwarded this → newsletter.galaxyarbitrage.com/subscribe
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