How working with a financial planner can help you as a British expat
Many UK adults are considering an overseas move either for career progression, for life experience, or in a bid to find a potentially better quality of life.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), around 90,000 British nationals emigrated abroad between June 2021 and June 2022.
That said, data released by HSBC revealed that only 9% of British expats have had help from a financial adviser, despite the numerous benefits of taking such advice. So, read on to find out how working with a financial planner can help you when living in the EU.
Prepare for the future in the right way
Working closely with a financial planner means having a clear financial plan for when you are living outside your home country.
Understanding your objectives, your changing goals, and the impact of all the changes in your new home is essential to making your sure stay on track. Knowing what’s going to happen to your pension, your estate, and any investments you have, as well as understanding how tax charges in the country you’re currently residing in will impact your wealth is essential.
That’s where working with a financial planner makes a huge difference.
A financial planner will work with you to understand how a change in circumstances will affect your progress towards your short-, medium- and long-term goals and help ensure your finances support those plans.
Keep all your assets working in harmony
At any stage of your life, it’s important to make sure that all aspects of your financial assets are working in tandem; never more so than when you’re living abroad.
For example, you might have savings and investments, property, State Pension eligibility, and other pensions in multiple countries. A financial planner will work with you to ensure your assets work in harmony to help you achieve your goals.
Know how to successfully navigate all the different financial environments abroad
When you’re living abroad, it can often be challenging to keep track of all your financial assets, especially if they’re in different countries. It can also complicate your tax affairs.
Working closely with a financial planner can help you to fully understand how your pensions, savings and investments, taxes, and other assets are going to be affected by living abroad.
Keep track of your pensions
Similarly, if you have investments or pensions in various countries, a financial planner will work with you to devise a balanced investment portfolio that takes advantages of the tax-efficiencies on offer in the relevant jurisdictions.
A financial planner can also help you effectively manage your pensions and guide you through the process of consolidating your pensions too, especially if you have them in different countries or continents. Different countries may have different rules around age of access, and how you can access your pensions at retirement.
PensionBee has revealed that 44% of savers have looked at consolidating their pensions, so it’s a popular option. It is important to get advice to see if this is in fact in your favour, or even possible, depending on where you are living, and where you have accrued pensions.
It’s important to maintain flexibility
When we work with international professionals living in the EU, it’s vital to build an element of flexibility into your plan. When you live outside your home country, there are many more variables, from exchange rates to movements in global financial markets.
For example, fluctuating exchange rates can have an impact on the income you receive as part of a pension or from savings and investments.
Working alongside a financial planner will prepare you for this. They’ll make sure you have a flexible and adaptable plan in place that can quickly adapt to changing circumstances – for example, if you decide to relocate to another country.
Make retiring abroad a realistic option for you
It’s important to know the ins and outs of spending this phase of your life outside the UK and how a financial planner can help you plan effectively.
Research by Standard Life shows that those who work with a financial planner retire three years earlier on average, and fund their retirement lifestyle for six more years.
Working with an experienced planner can help you feel better financially equipped for later life, especially when living abroad. The report highlights this by stating that those who receive financial advice expect they will be able to fund their lifestyle in retirement for 23 years before having to make any cutbacks.
Get in touch
If you’re an expat in Europe and you’d benefit from holistic advice about your wealth, speak to us.
We will work with you to develop a structured and flexible financial plan to help you navigate the different financial environments while living abroad. Please contact us on info@extinvestments.comand we’d be happy to help.
Please note
This blog is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
