A local company like Opus Fidelio provides financial planning, investment planning as well as portfolio construction that many Nomads can use when deciding their life. These are all useful for both citizens and foreigners.
However, if you do tend to move around a lot, from country to country, you should invest in something more.
While travelling, it can be very difficult to stay healthy. One big detriment to health can be stress, especially if you are a frequent flyer.
One thing that can reduce stress is travel insurance.
Travel insurance is essentially emergency coverage. In the case of an emergency, the insurance company makes sure that you don’t lose a lot of money.
If you are a digital nomad and travel a lot, there are some risks you don’t want to take and living in the middle of a global pandemic has opened the eyes of many people to the necessity of travel insurance.
A NerdWallet Survey done in 2020 showed that one in five of the 2000 surveyed Americans had not bought travel insurance in their life before COVID19. However, those opinions changed when talking about future trips.
Some things you should keep in mind
When looking for a travel insurance policy that fits you, you need to be aware of what exactly it covers:
- covers most of the countries in the world
- covers electronics (loss, damage or theft)
- covers any medical emergency (such as an injury or an illness)
- has 24-hour emergency assistance (anything can happen even in the middle of the night)
- covers belongings (loss, damage and theft)
- covers any emergency cancellations or delays (such as hotel bookings, delayed flights, etc.)
- covers emergency repatriation (in case of strife or anything happening in the country that will cause you to go back home before the end of the trip)
- you should still be covered even if the insurance company goes bankrupt
Another thing to think about is what’s not covered by the insurance:
- most accidents caused by extreme sports and activities (such as bungee jumping, paragliding, etc.), however, you could pay extra to cover these in some cases
- incidents under the influence
- incidents that happen when you are reckless (recklessness is defined by the insurance company)
- pre-existing conditions or regular medical check-ups (those are best covered by additional health insurance)
- loss of cash or if you left something unattended
- if there is civil unrest but your country hasn’t issued an evacuation order
Some things you should do
Other than what your insurance includes, you should be aware of what you can do to prepare.
You should insure really expensive equipment, such as a professional camera or laptop, and there are special insurance policies just for that.
If you are visiting or living in South Asia, you should be insured for scooter and motorcycle accidents, both as a driver and as a passenger.
Check if working part-time or any other jobs in the country (not as a freelancer) will void your insurance policy.
Check which insurance is offered on your credit card. However, this kind of insurance policy is more limited than travel insurance.
Check if you are insured both at home as well as abroad.
Look out for the “direct pay clause” because you don’t want to be stuck paying the bill and then having to wait for the company to reimburse you at a later date.
If your home country is part of the European Union, you are eligible for a free European Health Insurance Card.
You need to make sure you have all of your insurance information readily available at any point in time, either by printing it out, taking screenshots, or backing it up online.
If there is any emergency, make sure to contact your insurance company ASAP, so as to avoid suspicion or in the worst case, the company refusing to reimburse you.
The most recommended insurance companies
There are a large number of insurance companies so it might seem difficult to choose one. However, other digital nomads have compiled lists of those companies which they themselves use.
World Nomads has been around for a while, built by an ex-nomad who has insight into all the problems other nomads may encounter.
They provide good coverage at adequate prices and they allow you to renew the insurance policy online. They are also endorsed by Lonely Planet and National Geographic.
However, their prices and policies depend on where you are from and where you are staying at, so you should definitely look into that before deciding.
Another relatively new company that can hold its own is Safety Wing, also made by nomads for nomads. Their policies can go for as low as 37$ for a four week period.
Relatively inexpensive, they also support direct billing for most hospitals and clinics.
IMG Global Medical Insurance has about the same coverage as the previous one but with the added bonus of being a well established, long-standing company. Their policies, however, are more costly.
Other companies that are worth mentioning include True Traveller, Seven Corners, Allianz Travel Insurance, Insuremytrip, etc.
Take your time
You shouldn’t rush your choice on where to insure yourself but don’t take too long researching that you already go away on a trip before you decide.
Most companies will pay close attention to when the accident happened and when you filed a claim, so do not wait for too long.
As soon as you know when you are travelling, get a travel insurance policy.
Additionally, try not to think too much about saving money on policies. Most of the time you get your money’s worth, so if you get a cheaper option, it might mean that you will encounter some issues in the future.
Sometimes it’s safer to pay more than to worry later.
