Episode 105
Cross Border, Cross Country: 1,000 Miles of RV Life as a British Expat in America
Moving to America is a big leap for any British expat. Moving to America and then towing your home across it in an RV is another thing entirely. One month and more than 1,000 miles into his cross-country adventure, Plan First Wealth’s JB is back with his first report from the road.
In this Cross Border, Cross Country episode of Expat Wealth, Richard Taylor, Chartered Financial Planner and founder of Plan First Wealth, catches up with JB as he travels from New Hampshire through Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina to Greenville, South Carolina. JB hands out his state report card: New Hampshire’s surprisingly British charm, the history packed into Washington DC (including the newly opened Lincoln undercroft), and Baltimore’s easy-going NFL Sundays. Richard explains how Sir Christopher Wren’s rejected plan to rebuild London after the Great Fire may have gone on to shape the layout of DC.
Then come the realities of RV life. There’s interstate undertaking, a near-miss on wet grass at a Harvest Hosts stop outside Philadelphia, American driving tests that are over in about three minutes, and a tight-knit RV community gathered around outdoor projectors for the football. For anyone weighing up the cost of moving to the US, JB shares the real numbers: $50 to $80 a night for campgrounds and around $870 a month on diesel.
The conversation then turns to money and meaning. Richard and JB explore why expats are so hungry for experiences, why travel shows up in nearly every expat retirement plan, and how one client’s family trip to the Maldives became a memory his family will treasure forever. JB also shares what has surprised him most in his first month of cross-border financial planning: how smoothly US custodians handle moving and consolidating assets, and how simple IRAs and 401(k)s are compared with the UK pension system.
Whether you’re moving to America, already living the British expat life in the US, or looking for financial advice on retiring into a life of experiences, this episode is a candid, funny look at building a life and building wealth across borders.
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Expat Wealth is supported by Plan First Wealth. Plan First Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor serving fellow expatriates and immigrants living across the US on matters such as retirement planning, investment management, tax planning and non-US asset management.
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Expat Wealth is affiliated with Plan First Wealth LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Plan First Wealth.
Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Plan First Wealth does not provide any tax and/or legal advice and strongly recommends that listeners seek their own advice in these areas.
ABOUT RICHARD:
Richard Taylor is a British expat, dual citizen (UK & US). Originally from Bolton, he now lives in Greenwich, CT, where Plan First Wealth has its head office.
As the firm’s leader, Richard launched Taylor & Taylor, now Plan First Wealth, and continues to fuel the firm’s growth. Richard is a Chartered Financial Planner (UK – CII) in addition to holding the IMC (CFA UK) and Series 65 (US – FINRA).
Connect with Richard on LinkedIn
TRANSCRIPT:
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:00:00 – 00:00:02]
You must be knackered by the time you finish some of your big drives.
James Beck:
[00:00:02 – 00:00:08]
We’ve only just got into putting music on at the same time as driving. That, I suppose shows you how it’s been.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:00:09 – 00:00:11]
Where are you and where have you been since we last spoke?
James Beck:
[00:00:11 – 00:00:14]
Well, we’ve covered just over a thousand miles now.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:00:14 – 00:00:27]
I’ve been to one American football match. I put it up there with one of the biggest mistakes of my life. It was so long and boring. I’ve been here 11 years and this is one of those things that is still a complete mystery to me. I just don’t get it.
James Beck:
[00:00:27 – 00:00:45]
The biggest thing for me is how badly the UK custodians are in comparison to the Americans. You know, setting up accounts. It’s a dream moving money from one account to the other to pull clients assets together and the UK is just so far behind on that front.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:00:48 – 00:02:30]
Welcome to Expat Wealth, a planned first wealth podcast dedicated to helping ambitious British expatriates living in America to thrive here. I’m your host Richard Taylor and Plan first wealth is the business I founded and run today and we work with successful British expatriates living across America to make the most of their opportunity while avoiding the expat landmines. And boy are there a lot of landmines in America. But first, a quick disclaimer. While Plan First Wealth LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of Plan First Wealth. Information presented is for educational purposes only. Now if you aren’t already receiving our emails, please go to our website www.planfirstwealth.com and sign up there. It’s free and you’ll be notified every time we drop a new episode and so much more. Okay, today I have a cross border cross country show for you where we check in and catch up with my new to the US colleague James JB Beck as he travels across America in his massive RV with his wife Laura and doggo Ruby. Every month jb, Laura and Ruby will have hauled themselves to at least two new places and we’re going to be getting his thoughts, observations and ruminations as he discovers Americ America. All of it in all her glory. At the same time. Over the same period, JB will be morphing from a UK financial planner into a cross border US UK advisor. And as you know, I have a lot to say about this and we’ll be checking in with JB to see what he makes of it all. Is he going to fall in love with America or will this leave him disturbed and traumatized? Tune in to find out. If you have any questions for JB or me, we will try and answer them on the show. So email us your questions at Expat Wealth Plan First Wealth.com. So without further ado, let’s get into it. Hey, James, how are you doing?
James Beck:
[00:02:31 – 00:02:33]
I’m very well, thank you. Richard, how are you?
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:02:33 – 00:02:39]
I’m, I’m very, very good. I’m very, very well, mate. But more to the point, where are you and where have you been since we last spoke?
James Beck:
[00:02:39 – 00:03:12]
Yeah, well, we’ve covered just over a thousand miles now, so if the listeners will remember, we started off in New Hampshire, which is where my wife’s family are from. And the first big weekend drive, we stepped over in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and we landed just outside Washington, Maryland, where we spent 12 nights. After that, we did a big drive down through Virginia, North Carolina, stayed overnight there. And we’re currently in Greenville, South Carolina, and it’s very sunny.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:03:12 – 00:03:13]
You are putting the miles in.
James Beck:
[00:03:13 – 00:03:28]
We are indeed. I mean, we are on this first leg of the trip a bit time bound because we’re trying to get to Austin for the Grand Prix, which is on my, my wife and mine’s fifth wedding anniversary. So. Yeah, we’re looking forward to that.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:03:28 – 00:03:29]
And you’re on target.
James Beck:
[00:03:30 – 00:03:39]
We are, we are, absolutely. But as I said, put a lot of miles in, learn a lot along the way and we’ll go through some of that today.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:03:39 – 00:03:43]
How are you finding the driving and the, and the lugging that thing around?
James Beck:
[00:03:45 – 00:04:22]
Challenging, I think is probably a fair summation. But no, actually, when you’re towing it and you’re on the highways, it’s absolutely fine. You do just have to look out for. We’ve noticed the undercut and overcut habit in the U.S. so if you see a big, a big RV, your natural inclination is to just, I need to get around that as soon as possible, otherwise I’m going to get stuck behind it. So whoever’s the passenger is actually a spotter, really. So whether you’re driving or not, you know, you’re, you’re working hard the whole way. We’ve only just got into putting music on at the same time as driving. That’s, I suppose, shows you how it’s been.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:04:23 – 00:04:28]
Oh my gosh, you are concentrating. You must be knackered by the time you finish some of your big drives.
James Beck:
[00:04:29 – 00:04:40]
Yeah, well, we try and do no more than 300 miles in a day, which is about six hours hours. But I suppose you’ve got to factor into that we, we have to set it up and put it down as well. So it’s probably is a good eight. An eight hour day.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:04:41 – 00:05:01]
I’d be tired. You know, even if you’re sharing the driving. Three hours driving three hours. Spotting that driving takes it out of me. Yeah, I, I’m not one of the. I know Americans can do these massive long road trips, but anything over two hours, definitely anything over three hours. I’m getting antsy and tired. I, I don’t find it relaxing. Have you experienced undertaking on a slip road yet?
James Beck:
[00:05:03 – 00:05:11]
Yeah, we’ve had a lot of undertaking on slip roads. It’s kind of like how small can the gap be that we can just whiz along and fit through? It’s unbelievable.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:05:11 – 00:05:31]
Unbelievable. I just, I just can’t believe that that still takes my breath away. There’ll be a slip road for people coming onto the mode, onto the interstate and people will regularly use that as a, as a, as a, as a reasonable route to undertake. It just blows my mind. The stupidity, selfishness involved in that is wild.
James Beck:
[00:05:31 – 00:05:48]
Yeah. So no, it’s. No, we definitely notice. It’s everyone else we’ve got to look out for, really. So. Yeah, yeah. But no, in the, in the smaller roads, it’s, it’s challenging getting the big turn ins where we’re lane hogging. We’re using two lanes instead of one. I’ve only bumped the back of it, the wheel over one kerb.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:05:49 – 00:05:50]
Making yourself popular to your fellow American?
James Beck:
[00:05:51 – 00:06:16]
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean we, you could definitely tell we’re newbies to driving it because we’re going at 20, 25 miles an hour on a 30 mile, 35 mile an hour road. So, yeah, very popular. So, yeah, so I thought I’d just give you a little bit of a flavor of the what I’m going to call the state report card and just touch on what we’ve discovered about the places along the way, what our thoughts were and go through that with you, Richard, if that’s all right.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:06:16 – 00:06:18]
Love it. No, no, please take it away.
James Beck:
[00:06:18 – 00:06:53]
So New Hampshire, where we started off, I don’t know, it’s. It’s probably a bit of a hidden gem, I would say. So. I’m born and bred in Lincolnshire and it actually reminded me a lot of just being in the country the summer. Everyone goes up for the summer. We were on a place called Lake Sunapee, which is a fantastic place actually, where the lead singer of Aerosmith lives, actually. It’s a place Where a lot of people from Massachusetts come up to the summer. There’s a lot of people that, that go north and then come back down south, actually. Beautiful, picturesque. So, yeah, anyone that’s not been there is a fantastic place to go in the summer.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:06:53 – 00:07:29]
So I haven’t been up to New Hampshire, but it doesn’t surprise me to hear you say it reminds you of where you’re from in the uk. One of the reasons I love this area and I’ve lived on the west coast and I’ve traveled around the us not as much as you are going to, but I have traveled quite a lot, especially down the South. One of the reasons I love the Northeast where we are, is it reminds me of home without it being home. You know, it’s older, it’s more rural in parts. It just reminds me of the uk. I like the people as well. I like the approach. So it doesn’t, it doesn’t surprise me at all to hear New Hampshire is, is like, you know, parts of the uk. And I personally like that.
James Beck:
[00:07:33 – 00:08:31]
Yeah, no, I do as well. It’s funny, we were in this little village on the outskirts of Nottingham when we were in the UK before here, and every Friday we go to our local cafe and in New London, where we’re staying in New Hampshire, we found this place. And it was no word of a joke. It was like they were twinned with each other. The people were lovely, the coffee was fantastic and we were just like, we actually could just be in the UK again. So. Yeah, it’s a good observation. I’ve definitely found that about the Northeast. It does remind me of home a lot. We settled in quite nicely there, but then there’s further south. So Maryland is where we spent a lot of time. So we’re about 20 minutes from DC, 30 minutes from Baltimore. And we, I mean, to get a flavor of the country and to learn about the history, you can’t beat dc. I mean, it is just so well put together and there’s just so much to do to learn. I mean, we probably had three days and I still think we probably could have had more. I think you could probably do a good five day trip there, to be honest.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:08:31 – 00:08:50]
Definitely. Yeah. And you’d fill it. You’d be exhausted by the end of it because you would have filled it with all these different museums and exhibits and tours. But it’s. I also love dc. I love visiting dc I love, I love doing all the cliche stuff. I love going to the Smithsonian, I love going to the capital. I love, I love learning and going visiting Lincoln Memorial and just drinking it all in.
James Beck:
[00:08:50 – 00:09:01]
Yeah, absolutely. And we did, you know, we did the state capital and that is unbelievable. So I’d always, I’d recommend anyone that’s in D.C. to go and do that tour because it is just a phenomenal building. Really?
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:09:03 – 00:09:05]
They show you a movie. Is that still.
James Beck:
[00:09:05 – 00:09:07]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:09:07 – 00:09:10]
One of the best tours I’ve ever done. Yeah, absolutely. Loved it.
James Beck:
[00:09:11 – 00:09:20]
Yeah, yeah, really well done. And a little fact for you, you can fit the Statue of Liberty inside the State Capitol building in the dome as well, which is something I learned. So it’s a fun fact today.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:09:20 – 00:10:35]
Oh, it’s big, it’s big. Listen, I’ve got a fact for you. Did you know. So after the great fire of London, when London burned down and lots of several people created and submitted proposals to rebuild London, they thought this is an opportunity. London had grown up over the centuries all higgledy pickledy. This is an opportunity to build, rebuild it deliberately. And one of those, one of those who submitted a proposal was Sir Christopher Wren, the guy who later built St. Paul. So he submitted a proposal and ultimately it wasn’t taken up because they just wanted to get London back on its feet. They didn’t want to go, they just as quickly as possible. They didn’t want to go through the whole rigmarole of having to relocate people and all that stuff. So they just rebuilt London as quickly as possible, which is why it’s higgledy piggledy. But if you want to see what London would have looked like if Sir Christopher Ren had got his way, just go to DC because when they were building dc, Jefferson and the rest of them apparently took those plans from Christopher Wren and used them as the basis for building dc. So the whole the why promenades and the promenades and the general. The grid layout, that could have been London in a different universe.
James Beck:
[00:10:35 – 00:11:29]
Wow, that’s fascinating actually, isn’t it? And actually from going around you can really see that it is so purpose. It was really easy to get around and go from one thing, don’t get me wrong, it’s a long. You do a lot of steps in that day that you’re doing it. But it was, yeah, it’s really, really great to walk around and do. And the monument as well is phenomenal. We didn’t get to go up that. They do kind of torture it, but you’ve got to be on them. So if anyone is making a trip, it’s well worth looking at that as well. I’d say the Hidden gem, I would say is they’ve just opened as of this year on the 250th anniversary. It’s called the Lincoln Undercroft. And you actually go down underneath the Lincoln Memorial and it shows you. It’s really interesting. They’re not completely finished, but all the original plans. So it. At one point it was potentially going to be a pyramid and all the submissions for it and how the struct. Because it’s fascinating. It’s only a little tour and you take 15 minutes, but really, really interesting. And all about Lincoln’s life as well.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:11:29 – 00:11:30]
Lincoln was incredible.
James Beck:
[00:11:31 – 00:11:31]
Yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:11:31 – 00:12:04]
He’s one of my favorite historical figures. He just a man. Talk about a man relatively like normal regular man. Right. And then just being the right person for the moment and the weight he carried. He. What a. What a figure. One of history’s like true, you know, historic historical figures. Even Julius Caesar I’m kind of obsessed with. There’s like, there’s always a. But. Yeah, yeah. There’s always a downside. There’s always negatives. And this isn’t with Lincoln. He was just a great man in every sense of the word, I think.
James Beck:
[00:12:04 – 00:12:22]
Yeah. And, you know, learning through. We went through the Smithsonian and he really seemed to pull the country together when they needed to and keep it, you know, because it. And I’m starting to see this already. It is 50 tiny countries. So to keep everyone together is an incredibly hard task to do, isn’t it? So, yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:12:22 – 00:13:00]
You know, the other thing with DC is when you do this whole thing, it really does inspire you. I know that sounds a bit cheesy maybe, but it does inspire you and it does make you realize just how impressive this whole experiment is. This, this purpose built city and this purpose built country, this isn’t just something that sprang up over a couple of millennia and has been put together through trial and error. No, this was something. I know it’s not perfect. I know there’s lots of controversy on how the country was began and all that stuff, but it’s. It’s a country built on ideas and values and principles, and it’s far from perfect. Yeah, but it’s. But, but there’s something very inspiring about that.
James Beck:
[00:13:00 – 00:13:38]
Completely agree with that. And just being around all those, you know, I think as a Brit who’s only just come over here, you see them in movies, you see it in films all the time. But actually to walk it, to go and see the Pentagon, you know, we went Arlington Cemetery was incredibly kind of humbling and, you know, well worth the visit. That kind of struck home just because one of the biggest difference I’ve noticed is how much respect they pay the military over here. And I think that’s just testament. I think they’re doing an extension to it that will last till 2060. So they’re building a lot more space there as well. So the, the ground they’ve got to do that is. Is fantastic. Yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:13:38 – 00:13:40]
Yeah. What a place. What a city.
James Beck:
[00:13:40 – 00:14:35]
Yeah. So, no, so we, you know, we love D.C. is it on our. Is it on our list? It’s probably not going to be. And I just think it’s, you know, it’s actually surprisingly sleepy at the weekends, but actually in the week it’s incredibly busy. And yeah, we just didn’t. It was great to go there, great to get a sense, but it wasn’t for us. We did make the trip over to Baltimore. Loved Baltimore. A lot more, kind of on the sea, a lot more easygoing. It was actually the start of the NFL that weekend. So actually the, on the, on the Sunday, the. The street was just from 1 o’, clock, everyone emptied into the pubs and everything to go and watch the football. So, yeah. Which was great. So that, that would probably be slightly higher up on my list at the moment, but if New Hampshire wasn’t so cold, I think that would probably be number one. But we did experience it in January and, yeah, I think we’re looking for warmer climates than that.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:14:35 – 00:14:36]
Do you have any interest in the NFL?
James Beck:
[00:14:36 – 00:14:55]
Say we’re. We’re learning. Laura’s, My wife’s family are all Patriots fans, and we’ve actually, we’ve actually booked to go see the Cowboys when we’re in Texas, so. For the experience. So we’re, we’re really looking forward to that. So, yeah, we’re trying to watch it every weekend and just get a bit of a flavor. It’s just, it’s just slow, isn’t it?
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:14:55 – 00:15:25]
Oh, God, it’s so long. I’ve been to one. I’ve been to one American football match. I put it up there with one of the biggest mistakes of my life. It was so long and boring. I’ve been here 11 years, and this is one of those things that is still a complete mystery to me. I just don’t get it. I don’t get the appeal. I don’t get the game. And yeah, granted, I haven’t tried that hard, but. And I do feel that, like I’m kind of excluded from, From a great portion of American life. It’s. It’s. It’s like religion over Here it’s like soccer in. In UK and Europe.
James Beck:
[00:15:25 – 00:15:43]
Yeah. As I said that Baltimore just shut down for those few hours when it was started, everyone was in glued and. Yeah. So, no, it was really interesting. So I thought, obviously it’s not all been nice. So I thought I’d tell you a little bit about an RV fail of the month, if you want to hear that. Of course.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:15:43 – 00:15:45]
More fails about it.
James Beck:
[00:15:45 – 00:16:32]
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So obviously it’s one ton in. In total that we’re pulling. And one of the. There’s this thing called harvest hosts where you can go and stay if you’re just doing overnight, someone. So it could be a brewery, it could be a vineyard, will let you stay overnight on their premise on the basis that you go and, you know, you spend some money there, you go and drink, you go and grab some food there. And we did that on the outskirts of Philadelphia. And as we were driving in, beautiful sunny day, really hot on those days, we don’t have aircon because we’re not plugged into electric. So we thought, oh, we’ll go. We’ll go in the shade. So we drove over to the shade, and as we drove over, the wheel started to sink, the wheel started to turn, and I just looked at my wife and we were like, oh, my God, we’re going to get this. We’re going to get this.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:16:32 – 00:16:35]
Why was it. Was it. Was it wet ground or something? It was.
James Beck:
[00:16:35 – 00:16:59]
Honestly, it was such a hot day, but it must have still been from the dew in the morning because it had been in the shade. The ground had just got wet. So we literally got out. This nice gentleman came over, knew exactly what to do. Luckily, we had some pads that we put underneath the stabilizers of the rv and we managed to get them in behind to get the traction to reverse. But we learned a very valuable lesson then. We’re not going to stay on grass anymore.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:17:00 – 00:17:03]
Well, so is that lesson just do. Just stay away from grass?
James Beck:
[00:17:03 – 00:17:25]
Yeah, I think that’s our kind of. Like, if you can’t guarantee what the weather’s going to be like. Like, usually most of the places we stay, you’ve got concrete pads that you. That you set the RV up and you put it on. But these harvest hosts, it’s a bit more kind of. You might be in a car park, you might be in a. Just in a field, essentially. But, yeah, I think we’re gonna look for concrete in the future.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:17:26 – 00:17:27]
A little panic.
James Beck:
[00:17:27 – 00:17:51]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think testing the marriage. We’re still. We’re still going strong, but yeah, there’s been a, it’s been a few moments and to be fair, my parking, it is not easy and my wife’s the finesse of driving. I, I had to do my test when I came over here and parallel parking, never been my strong suit. So yeah, I’m the guide, she’s the parker.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:17:51 – 00:18:00]
I mean, so I did mine in New York, you did yours presumably in New Hampshire. Assuming they’re similar. It’s a very different experience taking in the uk, isn’t it?
James Beck:
[00:18:00 – 00:18:12]
Oh, massively different. Very relaxed. It’s very like straight away he was kind of like relaxed. He said to me, he was like, yeah, you’ve been driving a while, haven’t you? I was like, yeah, from that moment I was like, yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:18:12 – 00:19:11]
So for mine, I got in the car, we went up a road, he told me to power to three point turn and reverse. I was about to go forward and he says to me, you’re still in reverse. I was like, oh. Which would be an automatic failure in the uk. Right. And bear in mind, I’ve gone up one road, I’ve turned right, gone up one road, done a three point turn and I’ve left it in reverse. He said to me, in reverse, I’ve gone, oh, yeah, right, put it into first. Off we go, get down to the bottom of this hill. He says, turn right, turn right. Is back to the, is back to the driving, you know, back to wherever the people waiting for. I’ve been in the car maybe three minutes and I’ve left it in reverse when I meant to be doing a three point turn, automatic failure. And as we pull up, I’m thinking, he’s like, yeah, sorry dude, I’m thinking, he says to me, oh, you’ve been driving for years, haven’t you? I was like, yeah. He’s like, you’re fine. And he was right. He was right, yeah. Every time I see someone undertaking me on a slip road at 70 miles an hour, I think to myself, I know how you pass your test.
James Beck:
[00:19:11 – 00:19:15]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it’s so much younger. Is it 16 here, isn’t it?
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:19:15 – 00:19:19]
I think it’s 16, yeah, yeah. I think you get a permit of 15.
James Beck:
[00:19:19 – 00:19:19]
Wow.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:19:19 – 00:19:20]
Crazy.
James Beck:
[00:19:20 – 00:19:29]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was our, that was our fail of the month. So I’m hoping they don’t get worse than that, to be fair. But we’ll see, we’ll see what we’ve got in store for next month.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:19:29 – 00:19:43]
That’s your. Well, listen, I, I, I’m, I’ve got conflict of interest because I want good Stories if that’s your worst fail in the next year, year and a half deal have done very, very well. I think you’re gonna have, I think you got.
James Beck:
[00:19:44 – 00:20:30]
Yeah, yeah, we’ll see, we’ll see. But obviously as we’re, you know, expat wealth, I wanted to touch on the money side of the things and also kind of give people a bit of an indication on that. So you know, we August we were in New Hampshire, we’re somewhere a bit longer, average campground. So this is kind of all in. So you get your gas, your electricity, everything ended up being about fifty dollars a night. So we spent just over fifteen hundred dollars. But September, because we were near D.C. we wanted the park that to doing everything, it was more like $80 a night. So 2,400 but still, you know, not too, not too bad for total monthly outlay really. I suppose when you’re comparing to perhaps renting, not too bad at all.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:20:30 – 00:20:38]
Are you meeting people who are, who do this full time like this that they don’t have a home, they live in an RV and travel around?
James Beck:
[00:20:38 – 00:21:18]
Yeah. So we’ve, it’s interesting at D.C. because it was obviously close to the city. It was a lot of people coming in to see the city. There was the odd person that was there for work. They might have like a six month contract and they’re there. But where we are now in Greenville as an example, most people live, a lot of people live here permanently and in New Hampshire there were some that would come up, they have a summer spot, they come up for the summer again and come down. So yeah, you meet all types, all types of people and all types of rigs from the, you know, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the film Meet the the RV and that from all the way the top, all the way down to your little trailers as well. So yeah, you’ve a wide variety of people.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:21:18 – 00:22:22]
I’m excited to announce that Expat wealth has its first sponsor, the Global Financial Planning Institute. The GFPI exists to provide education, community tools, resources and ongoing research for financial planners and other advanced financial professionals working with international and cross border clients in the US and Americans abroad. I’m a GFP Institute fellow and I’ve put all our employees through their GFPI programs when they join us. I’ve met some great people. I’ve learned a ton. It’s a genuine community of internationally minded folk doing their best to serve their clients properly and critically sharing what they know in the oftentimes challenging and ambiguous US cross Border, environment. And as anyone in this sector will tell you, you’re always learning. So if you work with international clients and, or Americans abroad, or if this is an area you’re looking to get into, check out the GFPI at www.gfp.instute you will be glad you did, and I hope to see you there soon. What are they like? What are RV people like?
James Beck:
[00:22:23 – 00:22:48]
Honestly, it’s really, it’s incredibly friendly. You know, everyone says hello. There’s kind of some people that are there on kind of. They’re all friends in the community and they’ve all meet up. Like it’s quite interesting when the NFL was on, they get big projectors outside. Everyone’s watching the games outside. So it’s kind of like a tailgate, I suppose, in a way. Oh, nice atmosphere. So, no, it’s been. So far, it’s been really friendly so long. May that continue.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:22:48 – 00:22:55]
And do you think they’re like people who, like, they’re not traveling around together, but they’ll, they’ll be in different spots and they might occasionally meet up and hang out and they’re.
James Beck:
[00:22:55 – 00:22:56]
Yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:22:56 – 00:22:57]
On the road, like.
James Beck:
[00:22:57 – 00:23:22]
Yeah, we have noticed, like the more you kind of look into it, and my wife did a lot of the research, you, you do find these little communities of people that work full time, that travel. I think that’s going to be further south. Obviously, we’re, we’re moving south for the winter. I think that’s quite a common thing for people to do. But more people than I expected have a whole summer camp. They might live an hour away and then they just go up for weekends and things like that as well. So. Yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:23:22 – 00:23:26]
Are you seeing anyone with kids? Are the people on the road with.
James Beck:
[00:23:26 – 00:23:35]
Kids not like there was at the weekends and stuff? You might get. Some people come in and go out, but in the main, I would say it’s 50 plus.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:23:36 – 00:23:52]
50 Plus kids are done. Okay, that’s interesting because in the sailing community, which I keep an eye on, you do occasionally see families who have got, who have taken. Taken to the water full time and a homeschooling kids on a boat. I wouldn’t want to do that as much. I’d love to live on a sailboat. There are people who do that and I thought that might be the same in the RV community.
James Beck:
[00:23:52 – 00:24:35]
I think there definitely is. My wife’s come across some people. We’ve just not crossed paths with them yet. But I’m, I, I know she’s come across some people that. Yeah, they do. I mean, we did Actually, in Washington there was one family that. They had about five, five kids for the weekend. So, you know, our, our rig technically could sleep eight people apparently. I don’t think you’d want to have eight people in it, but. Which is interesting. Yeah. So that’s the, that’s the campground costs and then obviously probably the, the more American topical at the moment is probably gas, but. So our diesel costs for the month were about 8, 7, 870, which given how far we’ve traveled, I don’t think. Crazy, but I’m still.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:24:35 – 00:24:36]
You’re coming from the.
James Beck:
[00:24:36 – 00:24:38]
You’re in the exact UK prices.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:24:39 – 00:24:41]
Anything’s cheap compared to that.
James Beck:
[00:24:41 – 00:24:41]
Yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:24:42 – 00:24:44]
Your truck runs on diesel, does it?
James Beck:
[00:24:44 – 00:25:00]
It does. You have to. To have the power to pull it. So. Yeah, I’m not. Yeah, you have to have the. I have to have diesel. So I’m at. I think it’s $6 a gallon at the moment, but which is up. I did see it’s up about 23% from the start of the year, which is, you know, pretty high.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:25:00 – 00:25:02]
America’s losing its mind over this right now.
James Beck:
[00:25:02 – 00:25:36]
I know, I know. It’s everywhere, isn’t it? It’s, I suppose, another Americanism. When I was in the gym, actually, that’s how I’m getting my News. There’s about 20 leads with 20 different news channels on. Yeah, used to that. Just to get your thoughts, Richard, on, you know, when you’re speaking with clients, what the biggest challenges are on spending things, on experiences over things. I sometimes find in my experience, you know, when clients want to buy cars or things, it’s almost a bit easier. But when it comes to spending money on themselves, on experiences, there’s sometimes a little bit more of a barrier because.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:25:36 – 00:26:59]
They’ve been squirreling, you know, jb, I wonder if we. It’ll be very interesting to resurrect this conversation in about six months when you’ve got to know our clients and also you’ve met new clients because you’ve come from the UK background. So you’ve worked with people who have been in the UK their whole lives and, and have done well. And now you’re going to be working with expats and listeners. This podcast will hear me talk. I love working with expats. I think expats are awesome. They are bold, they are adventurous, they are open minded, they are fun. And I’m not saying, I’m not saying other people aren’t, but I think that those are common traits that run through expats. And when it comes to retirement, Planning and going into retirement for these clients, you will find that every single one of them on their financial plan, we have a line item for travel. And, and I know everyone has holidays as a line item, but this is, that, that is a catch all for this kind of thing. I don’t have any trouble with our clients talking them down from buying cars. They’re all doing very well, but they’re all wanting, they all want to get out there and travel. Now sometimes we do have some exceptions because some of our clients have been in jobs that have taken them around the world and they’re kind of like, I don’t want to see an airplane for, for, for a good while. I’ve done 30, 40 years of traveling. I want to just stay put for a little while. But our, the expats are hungry for experiences.
James Beck:
[00:26:59 – 00:26:59]
Yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:26:59 – 00:27:08]
So that, that I don’t have to talk people down from, from, from buying cars. And we encourage them to get, to get out there and spend it on experiences.
James Beck:
[00:27:08 – 00:28:24]
Yeah. And I think it’s a really important thing. If I can just share, you know, I share a personal story from one of the clients I worked with because you’re right, I very much had a lot of clients that I’ve had to encourage to spend, to do things because they’re, you know, former generation where you know, they didn’t have much growing up. So therefore they did save, save. And it’s hard to change that habit. But I had one cl.50th wedding anniversary, decided to take their family to the Maldives. He was ominous about it because of the costs, but he took their whole family grandkids. And I remember vividly him telling me about his grandson did the soccer school and Michael Owen was running it. Right. So unbelievable. And you know, not to put a down on the story, but he passed away a year later. That climb really. And I will never forget his wife coming in and saying, you know, I’m so glad that we did that because we’ve got such fond memories as a family of that. And I think it’s just a powerful illustration of, you know, he could have so easily gone, you know, what the costs are too much. I’m not gonna do it. You know, he wasn’t ill. There was no signs of it. But it, you know, it just one of those stories that sticks with me that I think actually, you know, you regret the things you don’t do.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:28:24 – 00:28:36]
That’s a great story. It’s a great. Yeah, I’m gonna, you’re gonna be whipping that out all the time when we Talk to our clients and people because that is, isn’t that just such an important lesson? You get one shot at this.
James Beck:
[00:28:36 – 00:28:37]
Yeah.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:28:37 – 00:28:37]
Live it.
James Beck:
[00:28:38 – 00:28:39]
Yeah, absolutely.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:28:39 – 00:28:41]
Don’t be wrinkles, don’t be stupid. But, but live your life.
James Beck:
[00:28:41 – 00:29:02]
Absolutely. I think that’s big. And, you know, it’s been an important factor in for me because my wife, you know, she might. Listeners may not know, but she, she had breast cancer, she had a scare. And it, it does take those trigger points to make you do things, but actually you shouldn’t always wait for them. You know, you should have a think about it and having a plan is really important. And I think that’s why we love what we do with clients, isn’t it?
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:29:02 – 00:29:05]
Is that partly why you’re doing this trip?
James Beck:
[00:29:05 – 00:29:41]
I don’t think without that we would have maybe had the courage to do it potentially. Yeah, I think it’s, it definitely plays in the back of your mind and I think it gives you a bit of, in a strange way, confidence, because why not, you know? Yeah, so, yeah, definitely. It definitely played a big part on making that leap because it’s hard to, as all you, you know, people that listen to your podcast know to uproot your lives, move over the other side of the world. There’s, there’s a lot involved and I thought, I think if you would have told me how much we would have had to do before the hand, we might have thought about it twice. But actually, once you’re in it, you’ve just got to crack on, haven’t you?
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:29:42 – 00:29:44]
- Yeah, 100.
James Beck:
[00:29:44 – 00:30:35]
Which has been great. So, yeah, and that’s, you know, there’s not. What I also thought I’d just touch on is, you know, obviously I’m a planner. I’m learning with, with, you know, your great. Our great team at Plan First Wealth. Now is what some of the differences I’ve noticed in the first month. So it’s been an interesting first month for sure. It’s been great to see kind of start to learn the clients that I’m working with. But the biggest thing for me is how badly the UK custodians are in comparison to the American. The Americans, you know, setting up accounts, it’s a dream moving money but from one account to the other, you know, to pull clients assets together. And the UK is just so far behind on that front and it’s so laborious still. And I’m actually quite pleased because obviously that’s been my world for 10 years and that I’ve just treated that as normal and it really doesn’t have to.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:30:35 – 00:31:32]
Be, but it still is kind of your world and, and it’s, there’s another level now of difficulty because you’re in America and your clients are in America. Yeah. So they’re already difficult. You know, some of the usual suspects are the worst. You know, the same usual suspects make it even harder because it’s got another roadblock they can throw in front of. And you know what you realize? And I’m going to add to that, the, the whole pension system. We won’t get into it now because we’ll get into another time. The retirement account system, you know, UK pensions versus our IRAs and 401ks. It’s night and day how much better the American system is. And what you realize is it doesn’t have to be that way. In, in the uk, you did this, I did this in the uk and it’s kind of just like it is what it is. We are, we all have to deal with it. It’s terrible, it’s frustrating, but it is what it is. And when you’re here and you see. No, no, it doesn’t have to be that way. Someone, something, whether it’s legislation or these companies or what they’re causing this and it doesn’t have to be this hard.
James Beck:
[00:31:32 – 00:31:58]
Well, I look at that in the uk, the bank, the switch service that they do and they have to switch banks within. I can’t remember what the time frame is, but that works really well. And it’s kind of like why haven’t we done that, you know, with retirement accounts? Because, you know, I can’t remember what the stat is but I think it’s something like the average person in their career now will have six or seven jobs, right. With six or seven different companies. So naturally with that you’re going to get six or seven different pensions in the uk. So it’s just madness, isn’t it?
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:31:58 – 00:32:29]
It’s madness. But it’s not just that. It’s not just the providers, it’s the, the whole government, you know, legislation that. It’s the difficult, the messing with pensions. We had a day which is, you know, 20 odd years ago, which is cement simplify it and it did to a point, but not that much. But just all the lifetime allowances and adherence tax and contribution limits and just you just, it’s so much simpler with IRAs and 401ks and that’s how it should be. Doesn’t need to be that difficult for me.
James Beck:
[00:32:29 – 00:33:04]
That’s the, been the eye opening thing and actually something I’M I’m really looking forward to. Now, don’t get me wrong, we’ve still got to deal with UK pensions for our clients and we’re going to. Do we have to do that. But, you know, we’ve got it down to as slick as we can get it. But, you know, I’m sure you’re the same. You’d love to see it improved even further. Good. So, yeah, that’s my little. What I’ve learned and I’m sure I’ll learn even more over the next month, so I’ll touch on that even further. Really. So I thought I’d wrap up with Only In America, which I thought would do a little segment of.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:33:05 – 00:33:10]
Oh, my God, this is going to be. Yeah. Have we got enough time? Only in America.
James Beck:
[00:33:10 – 00:33:24]
It’s only one short story. It was actually at the weekend with our friends. So we’ve got friends here in South Carolina that we went out for. Went out for dinner with, obviously Uber here. It’s just normal pit general. Normal people, isn’t it? Compared to the uk?
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:33:25 – 00:33:25]
As opposed to what?
James Beck:
[00:33:25 – 00:33:30]
What is it in the uk you have to have a cab license. You have to.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:33:30 – 00:33:30]
Oh, really?
James Beck:
[00:33:30 – 00:33:32]
So it’s. Yeah, yeah. So you have to be.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:33:32 – 00:33:33]
Yeah.
James Beck:
[00:33:33 – 00:33:37]
So it’s not just, you know, average joke and don’t go and do two or three hours in the evening.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:33:37 – 00:33:38]
No, I didn’t.
James Beck:
[00:33:38 – 00:33:58]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it’s different. Different country, but here, when it started, it’s very much like you can just sign up and. And do it. And we had this. We had this woman pick us up and honestly, she was on her phone for 75 to 80 of the journey. She was fantastic. She was lovely. But I thought we were gonna die. I’ve never had such an.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:33:58 – 00:34:01]
What do you mean? On the phone? You don’t mean like. Like she was.
James Beck:
[00:34:01 – 00:34:17]
No, she was texting looking different things. You’re telling us about a friend that had won the lottery. So she went on Zillow and then. Then showed us the house and we were just like, there’s a motorbike up your. Inside. It was just. Yeah, so I was co pilot again for a second. I just went straight back into towing mode.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:34:17 – 00:34:22]
She’s texting while. While have. While she has passengers.
James Beck:
[00:34:22 – 00:34:33]
We were. We were all over the road. So, yeah, as you can imagine, that that’s not cool. That wasn’t a five. No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t at all. And we. We even said in. Yeah, yeah. It was unbelievable. So.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:34:33 – 00:35:11]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So one thing, and I’m sure, this is universal but that I’ve got young kids and the amount of people I see driving on the road in front of me, my house, which is not a busy road but, but the, you know, there’s enough traffic on it that concerns you. I’ll see people literally driving with their phones up in front of their face and I’m just, I see people on the motorway like on the interstate like that as well. And it’s just, oh, this is level of stupidity. I, I can’t wait for self driving cars because for, for the safety aspect of it. Just. Yeah, yeah, anything’s better than you see people literally on the road and I think my kids are gonna play on this road soon.
James Beck:
[00:35:11 – 00:35:25]
Yeah, absolutely. Like. Yeah, yeah. No, so that was, yeah, that was a, an experience. Hopefully I won’t have to have to come across again. But yeah, I’ll come up with a few more as we take on the next stint of our journey.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:35:25 – 00:35:42]
As you get into the south and Florida and all these places, I think there’s gonna. That list. This is, I think this is the one I’m looking forward to most. So the, the only in America side segment, what have you since I last saw you? What has happened? What have you learned? What culture shock is there? So that’s, that’s a. I’m looking forward to that one.
James Beck:
[00:35:43 – 00:36:03]
Yeah. And I suppose I’d finish with a leaderboard then at the moment I, I think Baltimore slightly does New Hampshire at the moment. So if I, if I had a running league table that’s probably at the top at the moment. However, I’ve not touched on Greenville where, where I am at the moment, which I will next time in South Carolina. But yeah, that may be a contender.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:36:03 – 00:36:06]
Or Maryland over, over New Hampshire. Really?
James Beck:
[00:36:06 – 00:36:27]
Yeah, I think so at the moment. I think so. But we didn’t spend that much time there. But it’s. Yeah, it’s a front runner at the moment and a bit of a teaser then for next month. We’re gonna be obviously South Carolina at the moment. We’re going to spend a week in Alabama, a week in Mississippi and then we’re heading into Texas after that. So yeah, I’ll have lots to share.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:36:28 – 00:36:33]
So when I speak to you, when I see you next, you’re South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.
James Beck:
[00:36:34 – 00:36:35]
I’ll be in Texas when we next speak.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:36:36 – 00:36:49]
So we’ll be talking about Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. Okay. Yeah, that’s gonna be interesting. I’ve done all those places. They’re very different to where I am right now. Yeah. And where you are. Okay, cool. All right, well, I look forward to that then, James. Thank you.
James Beck:
[00:36:49 – 00:36:51]
Yeah, been great to catch up, Richard.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:36:51 – 00:36:53]
Okay, Good to see you and we will see you next time. Safe travels.
James Beck:
[00:36:54 – 00:36:54]
Thank you.
Richard Taylor, Founder of Plan First Wealth:
[00:36:54 – 00:38:03]
Okay, bye. Bye. All right, folks, that’s another episode of Expat wealth under our belts. Thank you for listening. I appreciate it. And I appreciate you. If you’re enjoying the show and would like to support the mission, which is to help ambitious expats thrive in America, I’d ask you to subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen and also consider leaving a rating and review. This stuff really does matter. Please help us get this information to the people who need it. It that is your fellow expats. Also, if you have any questions you would like answered on the show, you can get in touch with us at expat wealth plan first wealth.com just a quick reminder that this show is brought to you by Plan First Wealth. We are a U S. Based financial planner and wealth manager and we help ambitious, successful international families living across the US to make the most of their opportunity and ultimately to retire. Happy you. If you’d like to know more about how we might be able to help you retire, you can find us at our website, www.planfirst wealth.com or you can look me up on LinkedIn. Do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you. As always, thank you to the podcast guys for their help producing this episode and the entire show. See you next week.
Production