Advanced Geo-Arbitrage Simulator - Compare Countries & Tax Savings
Model your exact savings moving abroad. Includes FEIE optimization, state tax elimination, investment accounts, and side-by-side country comparison.
Model your exact savings moving abroad. Includes FEIE optimization, state tax elimination, investment accounts, and side-by-side country comparison.
20-35 years old
Primarily US-based, early career
30-60 years old
Established US-based career, family
40+ years old
Peak earning, considering expat life
Location independent
Foreign-sourced income, FEIE focus
Choose up to 3 countries to compare against your selected country of residence.
Click any question to expand the answer.
Geographic Arbitrage is the FIRE movement's most powerful cheat code. It's the practice of earning income in a strong currency (like the US Dollar) while living in a country with a lower cost of living and/or lower taxes. This creates a massive gap between what you earn and what you spend. Instead of just saving what's left over, you're strategically manufacturing a higher savings rate, which dramatically accelerates your path to financial independence.
This tool is your personal simulation engine. It takes your unique financial profile (income, investments, etc.) and runs it through different countries' tax and cost-of-living models. Instead of just guessing, you can see a data-driven estimate of your after-tax disposable income, your potential annual savings, and even how many years a move could shave off your FIRE timeline.
It is complicated, and this is one of the most important features of the tool! The U.S. is one of the only countries that uses "citizen-based taxation," meaning you have to file a U.S. tax return on your worldwide income no matter where you live.
This calculator simulates the primary tool U.S. expats use to avoid double taxation: the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE). Based on your inputs (like "Days Physically Outside the U.S."), it calculates the allowable exclusion and applies it to your U.S. tax calculation, just as you would on your tax return. This correctly models how a U.S. citizen can often reduce their U.S. tax liability to $0 on earned income while living and working abroad.
We pull data from a wide range of authoritative sources to provide the most accurate estimates possible. This includes:
We strive to keep this data as current as possible, but you should always verify crucial numbers with official government sources.
This is our proprietary score designed to give you an at-a-glance feel for a country beyond just the numbers. It's a weighted average that combines many factors, including financial viability (cost of living, purchasing power), quality of life (healthcare, safety, pollution), and the practical ease of relocating (visa availability). A higher score is generally better, but it's a guide—your personal preferences are what truly matter!
The form is designed around your current income profile, so you should enter your income as you earn it now (e.g., your annual W2 salary, your self-employment income, etc.). The calculator will then apply the tax rules of each selected country to that same income, showing you the difference.
They are two parts of a powerful planning process:
Start with the Timeline Calculator to get your baseline, then use this tool to find your shortcut.
No. This is a FREE & powerful modeling tool for informational and educational purposes only. Tax and immigration laws are incredibly complex and change frequently. The figures provided are estimates based on our data models. You must consult with qualified financial, tax, and legal professionals before making any life-changing decisions.
This tool is fundamentally different and vastly more powerful than standard cost-of-living comparison sites like Numbeo or Expatistan. While those sites provide raw data points, the Rewire Abroad calculator provides a complete financial answer.
Here’s what makes our tool unique—there is nothing else like it available:
The "Equivalent Salary" is the magic of this tool, and it's calculated through a sophisticated, multi-step process that no other public calculator performs:
The Geo-Arbitrage Score is a proprietary metric we developed to give you an at-a-glance summary of a location's financial attractiveness based on your personal inputs. It's a percentage score that represents the increase in your savings rate if you were to move.
For example, if your savings rate in your home country is 20%, and this move would allow you to increase it to 30%, that's a 50% increase in your savings power. The score distills this powerful outcome into one easy-to-understand number. A higher score means a more impactful move for accelerating your financial goals.
This calculator is designed to be the first step in your journey. Once you've identified a location with high potential, here’s how to proceed:
Once your simulation runs for a target country, the What If Sandbox lets you stress-test the results in real time without re-running the full simulation. You can adjust three variables using sliders: your Safe Withdrawal Rate (how aggressively you draw down in retirement), your monthly savings amount (to model earning more or spending less), and a Cost of Living adjustment (to account for lifestyle inflation or deflation). The revised FIRE timeline and years saved update instantly, so you can quickly explore best- and worst-case scenarios for your move.
Yes — at the bottom of your Geo-Arbitrage results, tap "Email My Results" to have a summary sent directly to your inbox. The email includes your key numbers for the target country and a link that restores your simulation with all your sandbox settings intact, so you can pick up exactly where you left off or share it with a partner or financial advisor.
Yes. You can select up to 3 countries simultaneously to compare against your home country. If you select a 4th, the oldest selection is automatically dropped. This lets you quickly benchmark a shortlist of destinations side by side across tax burden, annual savings potential, effective tax rate, and FIRE timeline acceleration.