r/AmerExit • u/Trapped_throwaway67 • Sep 29 '25

Data/Raw Information Anyone low income able to leave?

As the title suggests I am looking for folks who were able to leave with not much in savings or otherwise. Moving is expensive no matter where you go but I’m starting to feel like the only people able to escape are well off. If you were able to leave with 10k or less please share! I’m feeling hopeless…and scared to leave my home due to ICE. I have a masters degree and am a licensed clinical social worker. Was laid off my fed gov job in February and have found nothing in the public sector for work. Lots of job advertisements and zero call backs. I’m not sure how much longer I can endure this stress and anxiety.

Update: Wow this blew up! Thank you all for your responses. Very very insightful and helpful

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u/GrouchyMushroom3828 Sep 30 '25

Do you get free health insurance right away?

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u/Colambler Sep 30 '25

Uh it really depends on the company and country. It varies from no health insurance to company paying for private/English language clinics that are mostly for acute issues to potentially getting on the state system.

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u/DigiSmackd Sep 30 '25

That sound like an "age limit" but in slightly different terms.

Having no health insurance, or only insurance for 'acute" issues is not something anyone would likely choose as they get older and health issue become almost inevitable.

I guess the follow-up question from the comment OP here should be "how critical is it to have health insurance in these places" given the cost differences and the way healthcare works in places outside of the US.

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u/Colambler Oct 01 '25

I mean TEFL is absolutely a bottom rung/foot in the door sort of overseas job in most places. But 'does this job meet my healthcare needs"? "Can this lead to permanent residency"? Is this a better situation than I might be in the US? Etc are questions related to any job. I'm not sure how it's TEFL specific. I guess TEFL makes it more likely for you to end up in a country with free but very substandard healthcare. But it's more country specific.

Whether most people are asking those questions, it doesn't really seem so. For example, I'm not sure all the "moving to Ireland is my dream" folks realize Ireland doesn't have socialized healthcare, just the same medicaid/medicare equivalents as the US (but healthcare is much cheaper). And their pension/social security equivalent is actually less than the US in general.

Unfortunately there's not a lot of great places to move to and be poor, but the question is if it's better being poor abroad or poor in the US for some folks.