PhD on the Side - YOLO vs Retire Early

17 January 2024

Fidelity: ATM Withdrawal in Japan & Taiwan

We know that Fidelity offers cash management accounts with a debit card that allows you to withdraw money in local currency from any ATM overseas and reimburse you with the ATM fee. However, there might...

Photography

05 November 2023

November Fall

The world lost a “Friend”, Matthew Perry. Attack on Titan Finale came to an end. The wars at some places keep going on. Little happiness in daily life becomes more precious than ever. Please...

Money

06 June 2023

1 Slider - ESPP vs RSU Taxes

Yay! I got my first job after graduation! But what are ESPP and RSU? Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) ESPP allows an employee to buy the company stock at a discounted price with part of the...

Japan 日本

07 May 2023

Conrad Tokyo: Worth It?

Japan and Taiwan finally opened their borders without COVID-19 quarantine in October 2022! It’s been 4 years since the last time I visited my family in 2018, mostly because of COVID and partly because...

Japan 日本

02 March 2023

What is Visit Japan Web?

Excited to start your trip in Japan? Don’t forget Visit Japan Web! That makes your entry way smoother! What is Visit Japan Web? Because of COVID-19, Japan now digitalizes almost everything for the...

Money

04 February 2023

Graduate Soon? Why Keep Your School Email

If your university or college allows alumni to keep the email accounts, I’d strongly suggest you keep it. Why? Here are the 6 reasons why you should keep your university or college email account. Lifetime...

Money

04 February 2023

From Negative to FIRE: Asset Allocation Formula

Dream of retiring early? Know nothing about investment? No worries. A PhD may not be financially smarter than you! Negative I grew up in an ordinary Taiwanese family. My parents have been very frugal....

USA Survival

24 July 2022

Secrets of USA Permanent Residency?

How to get a Green Card? Normally, you can get a green card by the following 3 ways: Marrying an American citizen or other family-based routes Diversity Visa Program (Green Card lottery!) Employment-based...

Taiwan 台灣

03 July 2022

Taiwan’s ASUS Marketing Miracle In South Korea

Do you know how difficult it is to beat the local brands in South Korea? Not even Apple MacBook can. Taiwan and South Korea are famous for their semiconductor industry and electronic devices....

About

I’m Chloe.

“PhD on the Side” is a pun intended. I graduated with a ChemE PhD from a US top 10 university, speaking 4 languages (Taiwanese, Mandarin, English and Japanese) and now work in a US tech company. Now what?

Side Note is where I’d like to share my learnings, experience and viewpoints based on my cultural background in the hope that my two cents may help or intrigue people. Side View is where I share things intuitively by feelings.