As a British expat, it is vital to have a financial plan to help you progress towards your long-term goals. With a strong plan whilst living overseas, you could take advantage of a special chance to grow wealth and maximise financial freedom – especially in retirement.
Yet, financial planning for expats is often different from financial planning for people based in the UK. There are unique challenges and opportunities to consider.
The Autumn Statement is typically one of two key dates in the UK’s financial calendar (the other being the Spring Budget). This year, the Chancellor (Rachel Reeves) is expected to announce the new government’s Autumn Statement on 30 October 2024. There is plenty of speculation about what policy changes it might contain. However, how might the Chancellor’s decisions affect those living abroad?
Did you know there is a specialised tax regime for expats in Spain? Beckham’s Law was introduced in January 2004, with English footballer David Beckham being one of the first to use it, having moved to Spain to play for Real Madrid a year earlier.
As a British expat, how should you invest your money? After all, many of the investment “vehicles” available to UK residents (e.g. ISAs) are not available to non-residents in Spain. One option to consider is Spanish Compliant Investment Bonds. Below, our financial advisers explain how Spanish Compliant Investment Bonds work and how they could feature in an expat’s portfolio.
Are you living abroad and wondering where you are “tax resident”? Your residency status may sound bureaucratic, but it has a tremendous impact on where you pay taxes, how much and in what manner. Indeed, oversights in this area can be very costly – as we will see below from some celebrity case studies!
Wellbeing is defined as a general state of comfort, health and happiness. It is vital for functioning well in life, emanating from your thoughts, actions and experiences. Whilst wellbeing is very much an internal dynamic (in our minds), our financial circumstances play an important role in determining how we feel about ourselves and our surroundings.
Did you know that Western workers now have 3-7 careers over their lifetimes, perhaps with 12 or more? Along the way, employees often build up a workplace pension with each employer. This can lead to quite a complicated picture in later life when you start organising your retirement! Dealing with 12 pension pots (maybe more) can be overwhelming and inefficient.
Humans feel the pain of loss over twice as intensely as the pleasure of reward. Although a useful psychological trait for humans in the wild, it can cause problems in the modern world of investing. In particular, fear of loss can cause investors to miss opportunities that might otherwise have grown their wealth.
How much can you safely withdraw from a pension? The “4% Rule” is a common principle financial planners use to determine a sustainable withdrawal rate. However, the rule is often misunderstood and may not always suit every client’s case.
The Bank of England (BoE) recently took the significant decision to lower UK interest rates on 31 July 2024. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) chose – narrowly, by 5 votes to 4 – to lower the base rate from 5.25% to 5%. Naturally, this has important implications for savers and borrowers. Traditional wisdom states that the former suffer when interest rates decline, whilst the latter (e.g. those with mortgages) benefit.