1. Higher income
I started my professional career in Malaysia. After working in Malaysia for 4 years, I transferred to the US with my company and instantly increased my income by 4x doing the exact same job, all thanks to the higher level of income in the US and the strong USD. Compared to my starting salary in Malaysia in 2011 (converted to USD), my income have grown by 10x within 10 years.
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2. Lower cost of living
We consider ourselves lucky to live in a state/city with a low cost of living as compared to the rest of the US. According to this cost of living calculator, you would need around $8,086 in New York City to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with $3,800 in Huntsville, Alabama. I know for a fact that my peers in the New York office definitely does not make anywhere close to 2x more than me. The biggest factor driving the huge cost of living difference is housing cost. The median home cost in Huntsville is $153,200, as compared to $680,500 in New York City. 

While it is true that the cost of living in Southeast Asia is lower as compared to the US, it is irrelevant to us at this point of our life because we are currently living in the US and spending USD for all our expenses. 


3. Higher purchasing power
People typically only look at the dollar amount of income to determine the ability to save. However, just looking at the dollar amount of income does not paint the full picture. In order to compare apples to apples, we should be looking at purchasing power, i.e. the amount of goods and services that can be purchased with a unit of currency.

Using the example above, even though my peers in the New York City office may have a slightly higher income than me, their purchasing power is actually 30% lower because of the high cost of living there. Conversely, even though the cost of living in Malaysia (converted to USD) is lower, the purchasing power of my peers in Malaysia is actually 56% lower because of the lower income in Malaysia. 


4. Take advantage of strong exchange rates 
I bought a studio apartment in Malaysia few years back and managed to pay off the mortgage within 3 years. I was able to lower the cost by taking advantage of the stronger USD and transferred USD to MYR to pay off the mortgage when the rates were favorable, which resulted in additional gains in forex translation.


5. Health/medical expenses 
As a Malaysian citizen, I have access to the government-run universal healthcare system in Malaysia. That means I can visit the dentist/doctor and get prescriptions at a very low cost. Malaysia is also known for medical tourism as the private healthcare system is affordable and offers high quality healthcare. It is also significantly cheaper to get prescription glasses in Malaysia as compared to the US. In 2017, an eye exam and one prescription glasses cost $168 with insurance in the US. During our 2019 home trip, hubby got the exact same thing in Malaysia and the total cost was only $30 without any insurance.


6. Strategic shopping
We know that some things are cheaper in the US, and some things are cheaper in Malaysia. For instance, branded goods costs a lot less in the US (after conversion), and Asian food products are much cheaper in Malaysia. Therefore, every time I travel back home, my luggage would be filled with US 'goodies' for the family, and I'll fill it up with food from Malaysia when I return to the US. 
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