For the past year I worked on a remote contract with a US tech company. Paid in USD, ultimately needing Korean won. Simple, right?
Then a year in, I actually reconciled what landed in my account. The exchange rate had gone up — and yet my real received amount was lower than I'd expected. I traced it, and money was leaking at every step of the transfer path I hadn't been watching.
This is what I learned switching routes over that year: from a direct bank wire to Wise, the real cost difference, and one right buried in my contract. If you're a freelancer or contractor in any country earning USD from abroad, this should save you something.
Money leaks in more than one place
Getting USD from overseas into local currency looks like one step. It's actually at least four:
