An expat salary that looks generous abroad can shrink fast once local living costs and remittance fees are subtracted. This calculator shows what your salary is really worth after both — and how much of what you send home actually arrives.
Enter your salary, work-country living costs, and how much you plan to remit home, along with your remittance provider.
The tool applies purchasing power context to your salary and calculates the live transfer cost for the amount you send home.
It shows the annual cost of your current remittance choice versus the cheapest available provider on your corridor.
Purchasing power parity context: your salary may look high in absolute terms, but local costs abroad can consume it quickly, while the same money sent home often stretches further — $500 sent to India or the Philippines can cover a month of family expenses that would cost $1,500+ in the US.
Remittance cost math mirrors the annual-tracker approach: per-transfer cost × frequency multiplier (weekly=52, monthly=12, etc.), using live provider quotes for the amount you specify.
The FX-markup component is highlighted specifically because it is usually the larger hidden cost: a provider advertising a "$5 fee" but marking up the exchange rate by 3% actually costs $35 on a $1,000 transfer — 7x the visible fee.
An expat sending $500/month via bank wire at roughly 5% total cost loses $300/year in fees; over a 3-year assignment that is $900, versus under $60/year on the cheapest available provider.
Worked example: Sending $1,000 from USD to PHP, the cheapest measured route today is WorldRemit at 1.53% better than the mid-market rate (a measured premium, not a cost) — about $15.30 more than a mid-market transfer on $1,000, as of August 10, 2026. Rates are refreshed every 6 hours from live provider data.
Purchasing power parity (PPP) measures how far your money goes in different countries. As an expat, your salary may seem high in absolute terms, but local costs in your work country can eat through it quickly. Meanwhile, the money you send home often stretches much further — $500 sent to India or the Philippines can cover a month of family expenses that would cost $1,500+ in the US.
Most expat workers send between 10-30% of their salary home. The right amount depends on your living costs abroad, family obligations, and savings goals. The key is minimizing what you lose to transfer fees — switching from a bank wire (5% cost) to crypto rails (under 1%) on a $500 monthly transfer saves over $240/year.
Crypto rails like Stellar and Tron are used by regulated exchanges on both ends. You buy stablecoins (USDC/USDT) on a licensed exchange in your work country, send them over the blockchain for fractions of a cent, and your family sells them on a licensed exchange in their country. The blockchain settlement is typically under 5 minutes and costs under $0.01 in network fees.
An expat sending $500/month via bank wire at 5% total cost loses $300/year in fees alone. Over a 3-year overseas assignment, that is $900 that could have reached your family. Switching to the cheapest available provider — often crypto rails or Wise — can cut that to under $60/year.
Yes. The exchange rate markup is often the larger hidden cost. A provider advertising "$5 fee" but marking up the exchange rate by 3% costs you $35 on a $1,000 transfer — 7x more than the visible fee. Always compare the total amount your recipient receives, not just the upfront fee.
Compare live rates across 370+ corridors on RemitRoutes · methodology.