šŸ§ The Next Chapter

INSIDE: Future of Money Abroad, The End and Beginning

Hey readers,

Weā€™re dropping a BIG update today. šŸšØ 

After months of behind-the-scenes work, the moment has finally arrived. Iā€™m psyched to share what weā€™ve been building towards.

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Are you a high-achiever, but feeling stuck?

Unsure about what alternative paths are a good fit for you?

In our February Community Call, we broke down 4 types of portfolio careers and shared real-world examples.

Attendees naturally sought to know which type suited them best.

Thatā€™s why we shipped a shiny new thing!

An interactive Portfolio Career Type Quiz.

Take the 3-minute quiz to receive a FREE PDF guide about your type:

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šŸ”‘ The Next Chapter

In 2019, I met a 38-year-old Cambodian-French traveler in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Back in France, she had been living the deferred life plan.

After a terrible car accident caused her to question the path she was on, she made a drastic change.

She sold her house, packed up all her things, and finally chased her life-long dream of exploring her roots in Southeast Asia.

But it doesnā€™t take a near-death experience to make a change.

It takes clarity.

I know this because every major transition in my life has been preceded by an illuminating moment of clarityā€”across my money, tech career, entrepreneurial ventures, and other life dimensions.

And right now, you might be standing at your own crossroads.

Whether youā€™re:

  • A 28-year-old product manager dreaming about taking a travel sabbatical

  • A mid-30ā€™s senior manager craving flexible work options to spend time with family

  • A BD Director nervously prepping the launch of a side business

  • A VC-backed founder feeling burned out and considering a pivot

ā€¦ if youā€™re reading this, you care about aligning work with your values.

But perhaps the strategies that helped you succeed thus far are breaking down. Your priorities have shifted.

In other words:

What got you here won't get you there.

These pivotal moments are where the magic happens.

But itā€™s not about praying and hoping for the best. Itā€™s about leveraging practical guidance, thoughtful planning, and consistent execution to turn vision into reality.

Today, Money Abroad is making a BIG move of its own. Iā€™m announcing a change that impacts everything we do. Keep reading until the end to find out more.

But first, hereā€™s how it all began:

Act I: The Spark āš”ļø 

January 2023, River Valley, Singapore.

I had just returned home from Jiufen, Taiwan, where I proposed to my now-wife.

We were like many expats, juggling multiple currencies, wrestling with taxes, and trying to build wealth while living abroad.

What started as a casual dinner party conversation with foreigner friendsā€”eventually spun out into Money Abroad.

My first newsletter, How Singapore Expats Invest & Manage Their Money, struck a chord. I discovered a community of money nerds in Singapore hungry for this content.

Those early days were intense but enjoyable:

  • Writing deep dives on hyper-niche expat money topics

  • Featuring personal finance tools across Singapore and the US

  • Documenting side hustle & entrepreneurship stories from our community

Looking back on this period:

The good news was we knew our readers wanted to get smarter about earning, investing, and managing money.

The bad news was we didnā€™t yet understand their ā€œwhy.ā€

Or how money fit into the bigger picture of their lives.

Still, in 2023 we grew from 0 to over 5k subscribers, launched our first cohort-based course, partnered with global brands, and hosted our first community meet-ups.

As I celebrated New Years Eve in Tahoe with close friends, I thought I had 2024 figured out.

But I was about to be proven wrong.

First Singapore Meetup (Summer 2023)

Act II: The Discovery šŸ’« 

In late 2023, my wife and I relocated from Singapore to Mexico City (via a 6-month adventure in Saigon, Vietnam.)

This marked a turning point.

I had been building a portfolio career, crossing milestones like achieving my Coast FIRE goal and growing my consulting portfolio.

Meanwhile, I noticed that our readers and students arenā€™t just seeking money 101 tips. Or building wealth for wealth's sake.

They are high-performers looking to achieve specific life goals:

  • Growing a new income stream to help support aging parents living overseas

  • Feeling enough financial security to downshift from a stressful career

  • Gaining time flexibility to spend time with their newborn daughter

  • Leveraging AI and automation to scale their scarce time

Not only this.

They are also asking gnarly questions:

  • "How do I balance financial security with pursuing an unconventional career?"

  • "How can I build multiple income streams without burning out?"

  • "What are real examples of people like me who've built self-employed careers?"

If this sounds like you, you're not alone.

Unfortunately, I also found the current solutions just arenā€™t cutting it:

  • Financial advisors focus on financial planning and investment strategiesā€”but not on building wealth through career growth

  • Career coaches focus on getting a new job or climbing the corporate ladderā€”but lack guidance on building income streams outside of your full-time work

  • Business programs are either high-risk, high-reward (YCombinator) or basic entrepreneurship 101ā€”but lacked options for high-performers with a moderate risk appetite.

After spending hundreds of hours researching, networking, and building in this space, here is what I realized:

High-performing professionals seeking flexibility with moderate risk are being underserved by existing services.

And as a resultā€¦

Act III: The Vision šŸ—ŗļø 

Money Abroad is becoming The Portfolio Path.

Our mission has evolved from helping expats with their finances to empowering high-performers to live on their own terms.

What this means for you:

  • An education platform to help high-performers level up their portfolio career and money

  • A content ecosystem with three core pillars: practical deep dives, proven case studies & breakdowns, and money insights

  • A community of like-minded portfolio careerists, professionals, and founders/business owners

While the education and content lego blocks already exist, the community will come online gradually.

To recap, this is what you can expect to change:

Money Abroad

The Portfolio Path

Content

Personal finance for expats

Enabling freedom through portfolio career and money

Mission

Helping expats build wealth

Helping high-performers live on their own terms

Who Weā€™re Serving

Expats, immigrants

High-achieving professionals seeking flexibility with a moderate risk appetite

Content Pillars

- Investing money
- Spending money
- Managing finances
- Earning money

- Practical deep dives
- Proven case studies / breakdowns
- Money insights

Finally, we need your help (takes 1 min):

  1. Add [email protected] to your contacts

  2. In the next 24 hours, look out for an email with the subject line ā€œšŸ”‘ Welcome to The Portfolio Pathā€ in your inbox from [email protected]

  3. Reply to the above email to signal your email provider this new address is not spam!

This is super important to help us reach readersā€™ inboxes.

I greatly appreciate all your support over the past two years ā€” and canā€™t wait to step into this next chapter together with you.

This is only Day 1.

šŸ“š From Our Archives

Why portfolio careers? For a bit of backstory, the Rise of 10X (Non-Technical) Workers describes the labor and economic trends Iā€™m observing:

  • Trend 1: Alternative work goes mainstream

  • Trend 2: The 10x non-technical worker emerges

  • Trend 3: Managers will manage AI agents, not just people

  • Trend 4: Economic rewards follow a power law

In short, I see the gap between 10X workers and average workers growing wider.

I see 10X workers reaping the rewards of optionality.

Check out the deep dive for how Iā€™m adapting (and how I see other high-performers adapting):

āœØFrom Our Community

During our Feb 2025 Community Call, we deep dived into 4 Portfolio Career Types, including the Polymath.

I have a confession: While our team has built a plethora of real-world case studies for other types, I admit that weā€™re missing Polymathsā€¦

šŸ‘‰ļø Are you a thriving Polymath? Our team would love to feature your story. Reply to this email if thatā€™s you!

Dexter Zhuang
Say hi šŸ‘‹ on LinkedIn or Threads

Whenever youā€™re ready, hereā€™s 4 ways I can help you:

1. Monetize Your Expertise Mini-Course (free) - Get instant access to my 5-day blueprint on validating your expertise-based side hustle.

2. Part-Time Consulting Launchpad - Join my 8-week cohort program to launch a consulting side hustle and win your first client.

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