Friend Asked... What does a degree and English get you in Latin America??

[bcc_1_2]

I know we got some IT guys and Oil & Gas guys... but I just got asked what jobs are there in Latin America. The guy is a business grad... I told him teaching for peanuts off the top of my head. He's heard about my trips and thinks what we all think... wouldn't it be great to go overseas for a couple years. I would have told him to just forget it but he doesn't have any student loans so maybe it could happen for him. Before I direct him towards a CELTA course... does anyone have a brillant idea that I don't?

[Gato4Astrid]

I know we got some IT guys and Oil & Gas guys... but I just got asked what jobs are there in Latin America. The guy is a business grad... I told him teaching for peanuts off the top of my head. He's heard about my trips and thinks what we all think... wouldn't it be great to go overseas for a couple years. I would have told him to just forget it but he doesn't have any student loans so maybe it could happen for him. Before I direct him towards a CELTA course... does anyone have a brillant idea that I don't?

Can't he do it in his own country?  Better money!!

[Calipro]

I know we got some IT guys and Oil & Gas guys... but I just got asked what jobs are there in Latin America. The guy is a business grad... I told him teaching for peanuts off the top of my head. He's heard about my trips and thinks what we all think... wouldn't it be great to go overseas for a couple years. I would have told him to just forget it but he doesn't have any student loans so maybe it could happen for him. Before I direct him towards a CELTA course... does anyone have a brillant idea that I don't?

A degree isn't worth much in Colombia unless you can get a job with a foreign company....I know a guy that just got sick of life in the States and wanted to live the playboy lifestyle in Colombia....had 30 grand to his name and made it happen....works for a British company and gets paid in pounds ....downside is he has to live and work in Bogota....still might not have happened if he didn't speak good spanish.


Most guys that live in Colombia and work do it over the internet...one guy in Cali makes websites with various sought after keywords and when he gets the sites ranked high on google he sells them for an enormous profit.


If he guy has marketable skills he could just do freelance work though elance.com or a similar site and make much more than teaching english.


I'm willing to discuss business opportunities in Colombia with any guy that has at least 50 grand and some serious internet marketing skills. He doesn't even have to know Spanish....I'll do the Colombian side of the business and he can work the American side.

[bcc_1_2]

The guy probably has basic html skills at best.  I have a hard time giving guys advice/encouragement about traveling to latin america in general... because I'm in the midwest and not from a big city like Detroit, Chicago, etc. I would never hear the end of it if something happened to them down there. Plus I just can't see myself suggesting a young guy invest in Latin America... again if it turned into a trainwreck I'd never hear the end of it. I figured the answer was stay home, visit for a few months and don't work, or go down for a year and teach for $1000 or $1200 a month.
I'll give the kid a list of Ingles schools and tell him good luck.

[innerperson]

I'm willing to discuss business opportunities in Colombia with any guy that has at least 50 grand and some serious internet marketing skills. He doesn't even have to know Spanish....I'll do the Colombian side of the business and he can work the American side.

You matching the 50 grand?

[Calipro]

You matching the 50 grand?

Yes, and if you are interested in opening up something with a storefront which I'm not...... I'll introduce you to someone else that will be willing to put up at least 50 grand.  I'd love to meet  someone that was an internet social marketing guru    to  go into business with....but who wouldn't. jajaja


Another thing is you have to be willing to live in Colombia most of the year....and there really isn't a reason to got into business down here if you don't.....you can make as good a return or better in the states with less risk....the real reward is the colombian lifestyle....but you have to be into that or what's the point.

[innerperson]

Another thing is you have to be willing to live in Colombia most of the year....and there really isn't a reason to got into business down here if you don't.....you can make as good a return or better in the states with less risk....the real reward is the colombian lifestyle....but you have to be into that or what's the point.

Yeah, I could probably get a better return doing what I am doing right now.  I don't know of many guys who generate traffic that would be interested in a partnership when they can run traffic as an affiliate if they didn't have their own product. 


I imagine your deal would open up social aspects of the Colombian lifestyle.  Still, 50 grand can get a lot of traffic for a pretty good return and it can be run from Colombia or any other country that has decent internet.

Selling stuff in the US is becoming more of a pain in the ass.  They will get a country wide sales tax law implemented soon and every business will be collecting sales tax for all states no matter where they are located.  I am packing up the company and heading overseas since all my sales are internet driven. 

[Calipro]

Yeah, I could probably get a better return doing what I am doing right now.  I don't know of many guys who generate traffic that would be interested in a partnership when they can run traffic as an affiliate if they didn't have their own product. 


I imagine your deal would open up social aspects of the Colombian lifestyle.  Still, 50 grand can get a lot of traffic for a pretty good return and it can be run from Colombia or any other country that has decent internet.

Selling stuff in the US is becoming more of a pain in the ass.  They will get a country wide sales tax law implemented soon and every business will be collecting sales tax for all states no matter where they are located.  I am packing up the company and heading overseas since all my sales are internet driven.

Hmmmm


Moving overseas so your customers don't have to pay a state sells tax?   


Moving overseas can give you a tax break on the first $90,000 or so of taxable income if you can manage to stay out of the country for 11 months or more out of the year.


Have a friend that got in some deep [snip] for not reporting internet income even though he lived in Colombia most of the year. He has since put some of his accounts under the names of Colombian nationals.


Colombians are great for using cash to make purchases....don't know anyone that reports in country cash sells unless they are sending the money back into the U.S.


The real plus to making a living in Colombia is...it doesn't take a ton of cash to live well and you are swimming in a sea of poosy after you get your social circle up and running.                                           

[innerperson]

Hmmmm


Moving overseas so your customers don't have to pay a state sells tax?   

More like not wanting to deal with charging different sales taxes for different states and sending checks for those withholdings to each state.    It would require a lot of changes to my automated scripts that take payment and send out the products. 


This was just the nail in the coffin for me.  I don't consider the US business friendly anymore.

Moving overseas can give you a tax break on the first $90,000 or so of taxable income if you can manage to stay out of the country for 11 months or more out of the year.


Have a friend that got in some deep [snip] for not reporting internet income even though he lived in Colombia most of the year. He has since put some of his accounts under the names of Colombian nationals.


Colombians are great for using cash to make purchases....don't know anyone that reports in country cash sells unless they are sending the money back into the U.S.

It isn't worth trying to illegally get around the IRS.  Same as not reporting foreign bank accounts which seem to be tougher for Americans to get.


The foreign income exclusion is cool but one family situation that keeps you in country long enough will wipe it out.

I am just moving the company overseas and will keep my personal accounts in the US. 


Cash is great as long as you can show other income sources to reflect your lifestyle.  I had a good friend who had was making about a mill a year along with his partner in construction.  He would have invoice burning parties for most of the cash transactions.

The real plus to making a living in Colombia is...it doesn't take a ton of cash to live well and you are swimming in a sea of poosy after you get your social circle up and running.         

I definitely want to check it out once I reestablish my company.   Women are a great motivator but I worry about getting bored there.

[robert angel]

If I were single it would certainly be a different thing and having a house there already increases the appeal, but as time goes by we find the thought of living overseas less and less appealing.  No matter how much farther our money would go over there, if the political climate's unstable, the medical care so so, if there's a real risk of terrorism, crime and the polution's largely unchecked, it's not worth it.
 
A lot of people have angles and ideas about businesses that show 'promise', but at the end of the year, few are still around. It's an expensive airplane ride, but I think we'll hold on until we're financially able to keep a home here and there and travel between the two places.

[Zon]

Hmmm  It is very difficult (impossible) to conduct small business without getting married to the city, culture, people.  I think of the Cartrights in the old movie Ponderosa.  If you do not have what it takes to negotiate with the tough guys, and handle corruption and constant untruth, and if you are not willing to assume considerable consequences ... I think business in Colombia is a pipe dream.

But, the opposite is possible too - some men thrive in such environments.

What does a degree in English get you in Colombia? not much

[innerperson]

Is there a way to stay long term there?  I mean for guys not close to retirement age. 

[benjio]

Is there a way to stay long term there?  I mean for guys not close to retirement age.

A student visa. If you have $30K or $40K to burn through during a year's time you can enroll in a Spanish Immersion Course at a Colombian University and get a student visa very easily after you're accepted. I've met a couple of younger gringos that were doing that in Bogota and Pereira.
 
I've been down the English Professor/Teacher/Tutor road. If you're comfortable with living a VERY simple life you can make it happen, but in my opinion it isn't worth it. The Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla is probably the best gig you could hope for with a first year salary of $4 Million COP a month, yearly raises, visa assistance and a paid trip home once a year. It's extremely difficult to get the job though. They want a Masters Degree in English and/or a CELTA Certification and significant experience. It helps (is required) to know someone there as well. If you seriously want to be an English Professor in Colombia get the credentials and go to Asia or the Middle East for a year, make decent money and get experience. Then after you've earned $50K - $80K you can go to Latin America and use your very low salary just to supplement your savings. This is what seasoned global English Teachers do when they have Latin America in their crosshairs. Most still don't stick around for more than a year or two though. There's just too much money to be made in other countries once you get the experience. In Colombia it's basically a voluteer job below the university level as you'll probably make just enough to feed yourself. These jobs are always available in Colombia because the credentials you need to land them and the salary you're actually paid after you're working aren't at all comparable.
 
I have a CELTA Cert from Lone Star College in Houston. It's expensive. The class is everyday, all day for a month, and it's very demanding. People casually talk about getting that Cert. like it's something easy but most are very surprised when the course actually begins. There is a 30% failure rate globally. It is one of the hardest college level courses I've ever taken and I have a double bachelor's in Computer Science and Computer Information Systems.

[bcc_1_2]

For 95% of the population I see no great path to living full time in most places in Latin America. Which is okay for me as someone not wanting to do that... but there is definitely no clear path for say MBAs wanting to make a living down there.

[Gato4Astrid]

For 50 grand, I would do property developing business in my country !!!

[innerperson]

A student visa. If you have $30K or $40K to burn through during a year's time you can enroll in a Spanish Immersion Course at a Colombian University and get a student visa very easily after you're accepted. I've met a couple of younger gringos that were doing that in Bogota and Pereira.
 
I've been down the English Professor/Teacher/Tutor road. If you're comfortable with living a VERY simple life you can make it happen, but in my opinion it isn't worth it. The Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla is probably the best gig you could hope for with a first year salary of $4 Million COP a month, yearly raises, visa assistance and a paid trip home once a year. It's extremely difficult to get the job though. They want a Masters Degree in English and/or a CELTA Certification and significant experience. It helps (is required) to know someone there as well. If you seriously want to be an English Professor in Colombia get the credentials and go to Asia or the Middle East for a year, make decent money and get experience. Then after you've earned $50K - $80K you can go to Latin America and use your very low salary just to supplement your savings. This is what seasoned global English Teachers do when they have Latin America in their crosshairs. Most still don't stick around for more than a year or two though. There's just too much money to be made in other countries once you get the experience. In Colombia it's basically a voluteer job below the university level as you'll probably make just enough to feed yourself. These jobs are always available in Colombia because the credentials you need to land them and the salary you're actually paid after you're working aren't at all comparable.
 
I have a CELTA Cert from Lone Star College in Houston. It's expensive. The class is everyday, all day for a month, and it's very demanding. People casually talk about getting that Cert. like it's something easy but most are very surprised when the course actually begins. There is a 30% failure rate globally. It is one of the hardest college level courses I've ever taken and I have a double bachelor's in Computer Science and Computer Information Systems.

Thanks Benjio,  my business is entirely run through the internet so money wouldn't be an issue.  I think the Spanish classes would be ideal. 


Teaching English would be cool but I wouldn't want to do that full time since it wouldn't need the money.


I have a double bachelor in Graphic Design and Computer Information Systems.  I sell my own software products now but back in the day used to consult.

[benjio]

One thing I can say about getting an English Teaching job at a Colombian University is you will have a constant supply of hot, new Colombiana a$$ beating your office door down. It's like a competition between the female students that starts right after the first day of class. Who can [snip] the new gringo professor first? Every American Professor teaching at a Colombian University I've ever met ends up partaking in the fruits; even if they are married to good looking, younger Colombianas. When a female student has you in her crosshairs she'll be relentless until she gets what she wants, which is usually just bragging rights amongst her friends after the fact (and a good grade of course). The more prestigious the university, the worse the pressure will be, because most of these little spoiled, rich, Colombianas are used to getting what they want and won't stop until they do. Universities have policies against such behavior but it's rare that a professor is actually disciplined...especially if the girl doesn't complain. It's something that goes on that everyone knows about but it's not spoken of outside of the university community. There is even a word in Colombian Spanish for University girls that have sex with professors but for the life of me I can't remember what it is right now. It's not unusual for a male professor to be having sex with several female students. Older professors leaving their wives for former students and teaching assistants is also a very common occurence. This is a side of Colombia you'd never know about until you begin to mingle within that circle of society.

[beulah]

How about buying into an established successful business and becoming a patner.

[htown]

How about buying into an established successful business and becoming a patner.

This is what I'd rather do.  Something already established.

[A_Thomas]

 I've been listening to some podcast about living overseas an making money.


 I think its best to find a niche where you want to stay after you have spent time on the ground.


 Even if you don't have much money, the start-up cost in much of Latin America is a 1/3 or less than it would be in the States.


 After listening to about 25-30 podcast (he does two a week) and still going back over the archives, I think its best for me if I wanna relocate down there (I am giving it serious consideration) I will start my own business (again). I have a more than a few directions I would like to go because to be honest more treads that are normal in America have not made their way down south just yet, so you can easily get in on the ground floor with little to no competition.
 
 Something to think about.

[Brazilophile]

I've been down the English Professor/Teacher/Tutor road. If you're comfortable with living a VERY simple life you can make it happen, but in my opinion it isn't worth it.

That explains a lot!  You get what you pay for!  I have always wondered why some many native South Americans speak such poor English after claiming they took years of English classes.  They had piss poor teachers because the schools didn't (wouldn't) pay enough to get good teachers. 

I still think computer science is the best path to take earning secure and decent money anywhere (where there is reliable electricity).  So much of the world is still not very well wired or wi-fi'ed.