Americans Living In Philippines

1. You love the beaches

Except if you live in the big cities like Cebu or Manila, the only thing that you can do for fun while in the Philippines is to read a book by the beach, go swimming, go fishing, or go diving. So, if you love the beach, welcome to paradise.

2. You want to marry a Filipina

It is well-known that, with few exceptions, Filipino women make good traditional wives. If you want to marry a Filipina, what better place to find them than in their own country, right?

And it's not that hard to approach Filipina women either, especially if you know how. When in the Philippines, the best way to make friends with Philippine women is by asking if they'd like to be textmates. Mobile phone text messaging is a big thing among Filipinos, even bigger than Twitter.

3. You want people to greet you like a rock star

Foreigner who first come to the Philippines are first amazed at the fact that most people greet them warmly, and they often feel like rock stars because of it. This is especially true if you go to provincial areas.

If you're not living if your retirement pension, this is something you really should think about. And so here are the ways that Americans in the Philippines are earning their money.

* Working At Outsourcing Companies

Although most Filipinos will tell you jobs are hard to find in the Philippines, however, if you have the right qualifications, you can always start by working at a call center or managing an outsourcing company.

At the start of the 21st century, many US-based companies outsourced majority of their backend office work to India and then to the Philippines. Your being an American can be an advantage in the hiring process. Be prepared, however, to receive a salary that's lower than what you're used to getting in the United States. (But with living costs amounting to only a fraction of that in the US, you're actually getting a fair deal.)

Other than outsourcing companies, there are only very few industries that foreigners can work in.

* Working From Home

If you're already earning steady income from Internet Marketing or through freelance writing or programming, moving to the Philippines won't be such a big problem. I personally know of Internet Marketers who are working from an apartment in the Philippines.

* Starting Their Own Business

Retired Americans who have the money build their own businesses - mostly restaurants and resorts. A word of warning though about starting your own business in the Philippines -foreign nationals are not allowed to have 100% ownership in a company in the Philippines, so you will need to find a Filipino who can become your business partner, at least on paper.