Sovereign Expat Services
Plan your life abroad with someone who’s already living it
Two ways to work together. Both end with decisions made and a written plan in your hands — not another folder of open tabs.
Written and delivered personally by Carlos Grider — author of Digital Nomad Nation and the 2022 Global Digital Nomad Study, CFP® exam candidate, former Marine, former management consultant, six years living in Bali, currently based in Chiang Mai on a five-year visa.
ARE SOVEREIGN EXPAT SERVICES for you?
This is for you if:
- You’ve read the guides, run the calculators, and you’re still stuck between two or three real options
- You want an outside, informed perspective before you commit to a visa, a country, or a timeline
- You’d rather pay once for clarity than spend another six months in research paralysis
- You’re a nomad, remote worker, retiree, or FIRE-minded American planning a move abroad
This isn’t for you if:
- You’re looking for investment management or specific securities recommendations
- You need your tax return prepared or filed
- You haven’t done any research yet and want someone to do the entire decision for you
- You need immigration or legal representation rather than strategy and planning
How Our Process Works
01
Pick a session
Choose the Strategy Session for a focused decision, or the Blueprint if you want the full plan. Book a time and complete a short intake questionnaire first — this is what makes the session useful instead of a first-meeting information dump.
02
We work through it live
A real working session, not a sales call. We go through your specific numbers, your specific options, and narrow them down. If the first 15 minutes aren’t useful to you, we stop and you get a full refund.
03
You leave with a written plan
Every engagement ends in writing — an action summary or a full Blueprint — so the value doesn’t evaporate when the call ends. You’ll also have one week of follow-up email access to ask anything that comes up after.
The Relocation Strategy Session
$249 · 75 minutes · written action summary included
Founding-client rate: $199 — first ten clients only
One focused working session for the one or two decisions blocking your move. Most sessions center on some combination of: which country and city genuinely fit your budget, values, and lifestyle; which visa or residency pathway matches how you earn and how long you want to stay; and what your first year will actually cost — including the 15–25% buffer that headline cost-of-living numbers hide.
You’ll get a written action summary within 48 hours and one week of follow-up email access to ask anything that comes up after the call.
Requires a short pre-session intake questionnaire so we’re not spending your 75 minutes on background.
Most comprehensive
The Move Abroad Blueprint
$897 · two sessions · full written Blueprint
Founding-client rate: $697 — first ten clients only
The full plan, not just a conversation. Two sessions — an initial strategy session, then a plan review two to three weeks later — plus a complete written Blueprint delivered between them. This is for people ready to move from “narrowing options” to an actual sequenced plan.
Your Blueprint includes:
- Country and city shortlist, with the reasoning behind each option
- Your specific visa or residency pathway, with a realistic timeline
- A Year 1 budget — with the buffer most cost-of-living numbers leave out
- A banking and money-access checklist for your situation
- A tax-residency flag list — what to bring to a licensed tax professional, not tax advice itself
- A sequenced 90-day action plan from decision to departure
Already booked a Strategy Session? Your session fee credits fully toward the Blueprint if you upgrade within 30 days.
What This Is — and Isn’t
Sovereign Expat Services provides educational relocation and financial coaching. I help you understand your options, structure decisions, and build a plan. I do not provide investment advice or recommend specific securities, I do not manage money, and I do not prepare tax returns or represent clients before tax authorities. Where your plan touches securities, legal, or tax-filing decisions, I’ll flag exactly what to bring to a licensed professional — and you’ll walk in prepared instead of billable-hour-confused.
Questions about my services? Contact me at [email protected], or read below for the most commonly asked questions about Sovereign Expat Services
Frequently Asked Questions
Which one should I book — the Session or the Blueprint?
If you’ve got one or two specific decisions blocking you — a country choice, a visa question — the Strategy Session is usually enough. If you want the full plan from country selection through a sequenced 90-day departure timeline, book the Blueprint directly. You can always start with the Session and upgrade within 30 days if you decide you want the full plan.
Do you manage my investments or tell me what to buy?
No. I don’t provide investment advice, recommend specific securities, or manage money. What I do is help you understand the frameworks — asset classes, account types, tax positioning — and flag exactly where you need a licensed advisor for anything that crosses into specific investment recommendations.
Do you prepare or file my taxes?
No. I’m not an Enrolled Agent or CPA and I don’t file returns or represent anyone before the IRS. What I provide is a tax-residency flag list — the specific issues your situation raises (FEIE vs. FTC, 183-day exposure, FBAR thresholds) — so you walk into a paid tax preparer’s office already knowing the right questions instead of paying them to educate you from zero.
I’m not American — does this still apply to me?
Most of the destination, visa, and lifestyle strategy work applies regardless of nationality. The tax-specific portions of the Blueprint are built around US citizen obligations specifically (FEIE, FTC, FBAR, worldwide taxation) since that’s the area of deepest expertise here — if you’re not American, mention it during intake so the session can be adjusted accordingly.
What if the session isn’t useful?
If the first 15 minutes aren’t useful to you, say so — we end the call there and you get a full refund. No questions asked.
Do you offer ongoing coaching or retainers?
Not yet. Right now it’s these two engagements only. If that changes, it’ll be announced in The Live Letter first.
Ready to trade 30 open tabs for one clear plan?
Not ready yet? Start with the free guides at Expat: Start Here or Nomad: Start Here, or join The Letter — the twice-monthly newsletter where I share what building this life actually looks like.
Who You’d Be Working With
I’m Carlos Grider — author of Digital Nomad Nation and the 2022 Global Digital Nomad Study, a former Marine, a former management consultant, and someone who’s actually lived every stage this site talks about. Six years in Bali, including navigating a contractor lawsuit and building a villa from the ground up. A residency application in Argentina through the Milei-era transition. Currently based in Chiang Mai on a five-year DTV. I’m also a CFP® exam candidate, working toward the credential that will eventually let this practice go further than coaching alone.
This isn’t theoretical advice from someone who’s only ever written about it. Every framework here has been tested against my own decisions, my own mistakes, and my own money.
Read the Sovereign Expat essay → · More about Carlos → · Digital Nomad Nation (book) →