Yes, as it stands, we will continue to pay the premiums until we move to a school that offers worldwide coverage, quite rare I believe (I would guess mainly in T1 schools).
Good points - we may not be renewed but it gives us peace of mind. Our specific circumstances mean that at some point the premiums will drop making it even more affordable. We will review it each year and may opt for travel health insurance instead which is cheaper.

Me and my wife, for example, have global coverage because our school’s insurance is pay first and reimburse later. I would not want either myself or my wife having to fork out loads of money in case of a traffic accident.

True. We agree. It’s best to get on a good international health insurance whilst healthy.

The chances of cover are very low but it’s not impossible.

I don’t agree - you can find international health insurance which can cover pre-existing conditions.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @tm2154
>
> Thats more true in absolutes. If you exclude the US from that global
> coverage, and a lot more ISs do provide some form of global coverage when
> traveling outside the region.
> Your use of the term "locally" I also find erroneous, even more
> ISs provide coverage regionally to generally include the country they
> reside in, as opposed to solely the
> region/state/province/prefecture/municipality of the IS, though admittedly
> some ISs do provide surprisingly narrow and limited health care benefits.
>
> What I find disingenuous is your collusion of emergency (including life
> threatening) injury or illness such as one might reasonably consider a
> possibility when traveling and the chronic, lifetime condition such as
> cancer, that while also life threatening are not the same conditions within
> their specific contexts. There is travel insurance (such as World Nomad,
> etc.) that would cover the former but not the latter.
>
> Even more egregiously disingenuous is your suggestion that obtaining a
> private and separate cover for this specific type of illness as a traveler
> is something that could actually be obtained. On a domestic level social
> insurance programs will cover this kind of care because they have to.
> Finding an IS that might have a contractual obligation to cover this kind
> of care is possible though is equally likely going to either require
> payment of a supplementary policy for the IS (which may be considerably
> expensive) or could just as likely be excluded.
> Finding one independently for what is essentially a travel policy is not
> realistic. Youre not going to find an insurer (unless the rep errors, and
> then its a correctable error by the insurer), who is going to collect a few
> hundred or thousand in coin to turn around and pay out 50K in coin for just
> this treatment, thats charity. Either the treatment will be exuded, or
> worse it will be denied.

Very few IS have worldwide cover; they simply only cover locally. Or, in my case, PAY first, CLAIM later. This is horrendous. Imagine being in a life-threatening situation and having to fork out 50k. I'd prefer to take out my own cover.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @anon2
>
> Thats a lot of work for HR to do for a nobody that isnt part of their
> organization. I cant imagine any IS would do blind research on what would
> be a complicated health insurance issue, that would be subject to change
> and have a high probability of error for what would amount to some
> insurance rep effectively guessing on a prediction for what amounts to a
> speculative candidate.
>
> Thats essentially cancer, and that cost your effectively doubling the ITs
> comp just for that treatment alone. Typically ISs insurance dont or wont
> cover that type of high cost, pre-existing, chronic care. Even if an IS can
> get an exception or a rider its a significant added expense and increase in
> organizational management that an IS may very likely pass on.
>
> The issue with @tm2154 is thst youre not going to get some generic traveler
> or international health policy thats going to cost a few just to turn
> around and expect them to pay out 50K. Thats not how insurance works (or
> how they stay in business).

Very few IS have worldwide coverage; they simply only cover locally. Or, in my case, PAY first, CLAIM later. This is horrendous. Imagine being in a life-threatening situation and having to fork out 50k. I'd prefer to take out my own cover.

I agree with everything else. That's why OP should take out their own cover, to ensure their conditions could be covered and for all future conditions.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @anon2
>
> Thats a lot of work for HR to do for a nobody that isnt part of their
> organization. I cant imagine any IS would do blind research on what would
> be a complicated health insurance issue, that would be subject to change
> and have a high probability of error for what would amount to some
> insurance rep effectively guessing on a prediction for what amounts to a
> speculative candidate.
>
> Thats essentially cancer, and that cost your effectively doubling the ITs
> comp just for that treatment alone. Typically ISs insurance dont or wont
> cover that type of high cost, pre-existing, chronic care. Even if an IS can
> get an exception or a rider its a significant added expense and increase in
> organizational management that an IS may very likely pass on.
>
> The issue with @tm2154 is thst youre not going to get some generic traveler
> or international health policy thats going to cost a few just to turn
> around and expect them to pay out 50K. Thats not how insurance works (or
> how they stay in business).

Did you manage to get more info?

If I were you, I would get yourself covered on a worldwide policy taken out by you. This way you’ll find out if covered through the medical underwriting. Popular insurance companies are Cigna, AXA, IMG and Allianz to name a few. I’d be interested to hear back if you do happen to go down this road. Keep us posted.

No problem.

Well, that’s what you need to ask at interview or to request after receiving an offer. I think it’s critical that insurance covers a trailing or working spouse and children. You’d need to check the coverage, any deductibles, co-payments and the annual limits. Others may comment and add on this. If there’s no coverage for dependents then I’d be looking to cover this out of pocket.

I’d be happy to share the insurance I have in Saudi to give you an idea. Are you pretty knowledgeable on what to look for? I’d say it’s okay at best. I might be wrong. Send me a PM.

I second this. I also use IBKR. I do not have a teacher pension, so I aim to save enough to bridge to my retirement.

zenteach wrote:
> As my financial literacy grows, I am curious about how others are planning
> for the retirement. If you'd like to join in the conversation, please
> share:
>
> 1) How do you save for retirement when working outside of your home
> country?
>
> 2) What percentage of your salary are you able to save towards retirement?
> What would you ideally like to save?
>
> 3) Do you have a teacher pension in your home country (if you have worked
> there) and if so, what will it look like?
>
> 4) Do you have any passive income streams, and what are they?
>
> 5) What are your best tips about finances and retirement?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To answer the above questions, I am using Interactive Brokers and index
> funds to save for retirement while living abroad, and save 30% of net
> monthly income. I'd like to increase this to 40%, and that will take a lot
> of focus to do. I do have a teacher pension in my home country with about a
> decade of service, and I am still investigating what this means. I do rent
> out a house in home country, and one day hope to maybe purchase a second
> property if I plan well. My tip is to remember that it is never too late to
> get into finances, even if you feel you have lost some time!