Lifestyle Change Needed? What about Saipan? (pst..it’s a part of the USA)
Pau Pau Beach, Saipan
My goal in writing articles and coaching people on personal finance is not to get people to leave their jobs or move to a tropical island. Rather to allow the opportunity to realize that there are options in life if one is financially fit. What does “financially fit” mean? It does not mean that you have millions in the bank or have a super high paying job.
What it means is that you have a clear idea of your needs and wants in life and this clarity is in perfect balance with the money you earn each year, regardless of if that money comes from a paycheck or a dividend. In short, your spending does not exceed your earnings and there is plenty left over for savings.
In this article series (“Lifestyle Change”) I will take you around the world and challenge you to picture yourself living in a different place and leading a more simple life. Dare to dream. Now here is the disclaimer for all those eager to sue over stupid things. The places I share may not work for you as an individual. You may not have enough savings to quit your job or you may not be able to work remotely. You need to research each place in the lens of your personal situation. But I do hope these articles open your eyes that these paths do exist and with a little personal money fitness (which The Free Sparrow can provide), you can create a new, more fulfilling path.
Have you ever gone on vacation to a beach and thought to yourself that you would like to move there? I am sure we all have. If you are a US citizen then this article is for you. I want to share with you one way to make that happen without leaving the good ‘ole USA. Recently my family and I traveled to Saipan for vacation. Saipan is one of the Mariana Islands and is part of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth of the United States, in the western Pacific Ocean.
Since we live in Seoul, Korea, the flight to these US flagged islands is around 4 hours. While on Saipan, we met two Americans, Robbie and Tracie who have moved to Saipan and love their simple life. Let’s run through the basis of their life needs that they shared with me.
Health Insurance: Since Saipan is a part of the USA, you can receive all benefits as you would in the US. (Obama Care, Medicare…) Robbie was telling me that he needs to have a surgery done and that this particular surgery is not available on the island. His insurance will fly him to San Diego, give him a hotel and per diem while he is there for the surgery. WOW! He was self-declared not rich so I am guessing this is perhaps Medicare. But I am not sure about that one. The point is, US medical care is available on Island and off. In addition a rather big hospital is located that seems fit to cover much of your medical needs. Check it out here.
Schools: Neither Robbie nor Tracy had school-aged kids so this information is just what I found out through research. The Public School system is linked to the US Dept. of Education and managed by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System. There are 20 public schools there from K-12, along with private schools and of course home school options. So yeap, they have US curriculum based, English schools for your kids.
Housing: I have joined a FB group where houses and apartments are listed for rent in Saipan. I find that you can get a 2-bedroom stand alone home for $500 per month and I have seen some of them furnished. 3-bedrooms are from $950 to $1300 depending on location. One footnote, If you are not full-blooded Northern Marianas Chamorro or Northern Marianas Carolinian you cannot buy property. But for the rest of us non-natives we can rent for 55 years. Basic utilities (electric, cooling, water garbage) for a 915 sq ft apt is roughly $200 per month. Internet and mobile phone service together run around $100 per month through Docomo Pacific. To sum this up, for a 2 bedroom with utilities + mobile phone + internet you can expect to pay around $800 per month. Not bad!
Groceries: / Restaurants This is where things get tough, at least for me! If you have ever lived on an Island, and I have, it is tough to get everything you are used to on the mainland. I pretty much call Saipan a food desert! But if you can adapt, buy local fish and produce, even grow much of your own food (fruit especially), then you will be just fine. As far as eating out the prices are a bit lower than the US, at around $10. However since many of the restaurants went out of business during COVID, there are not many great options. We only found three good places apart from the hotels.
Entertainment: if you enjoy diving, boating, swimming, hiking, BBQs on the beach, watching the sunset, then Saipan is the place to be. We did not explore the nightlife as we have two young boys, but it didn’t seem like that was happening. The downtown is almost dead after COVID, but I am sure that will rebound. If you want to travel off the island, flights to Korea were around $300 round trip. If you want to go back to the US then you will have to first fly to Korea, Japan, or other connection point then catch a flight to the US. These flights can be very pricey. Once on Saipan don’t plan to fly back to the US very often.
In summary, I suspect you could move to Saipan for around $1800 per month (one person) or roughly 22K annually. This includes insurance, housing, groceries, and entertainment. If you had a job that you could work remotely that would get rid of your insurance expense. However keep in mind that Saipan is GTM +10 so about a day ahead of the rest of the US. Working a normal US mainland schedule could be rough. If you want to quit your job forever you could put the 4% rule into effect. In this case you would need $540,000 (+/-) in the bank (investments, retirement funds) to quit your job and sail away to Saipan.
This path may not be for you but I hope by reading this article you have opened up the thought that a different path in life is possible. Being financially fit can expand your options.
Here is some more information on cost of living
