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Expat financial advice: Why should I have a 6 month emergency fund?

Whenever I speak to clients about investing, I always talk about having an emergency fund equivalent to 6 months of expenses first. Sometimes life can present you with a situation where you need quick access to money and without a financial safety net it can threaten your financial well-being and cause a great deal of stress.

Retiring to Canada from the UK – 5 things you need to know

Are you looking to retire to Canada from the UK? I recently started working with a client who did so. Here are 5 things he told me that he wished he knew before doing so.

How to use Inheritance Tax Loss Relief to reclaim IHT after a stock market fall

In recent years, as asset prices have marched higher, Inheritance Tax Loss Relief has generally been overlooked. However, at times of volatility in global stock and bond markets, such as we have seen this year, it is definitely a subject that is worth revisiting.

How to find a lost pension

It has been estimated that there could be about 2.8 million lost or forgotten pension pots in the UK, worth an average of £9,500 each. I.e. over £26.6 billion in total. This is hardly surprising. The days of working for one employer for 40 years and then retiring with a gold carriage clock are over. Research suggests that average workers will now have 11 different jobs during their life. As people move from job to job more and more frequently,…

8 cyber security tips to safeguard your retirement plans from scammers

This month (October) is cyber security awareness month. What has cyber security got to do with your retirement you may ask? Everything, is the answer. Online scams are everywhere. I read about them all the time. You don’t want your well-thought-out retirement plan being torpedoed due to a lack of online hygiene. With that in mind, here are 8 tips for ensuring that you stay safe from scammers.

Expat Finance 101: 10 Reasons You Should Have a Will

You have probably been told on numerous occasions that you should have a Will. Indeed, doing so may have been on your mental to-do list for months or years. However, you haven’t yet gotten around to it. This may just be due to the hustle and bustle of day-to-day expat life. It may be that you aren’t really sure how to get started. Nonetheless, making a Will is one of the most important things we can do.

Expat Financial Advice: How do I manage currency risk?

When we live back in our home country, managing currencies is all pretty straightforward. We are paid in our home currency, we pay your bills in our home currency, and most of our investments are likely in our home currency. In this case, we generally have very little currency risk. The problem we have as expats, however, is that we have too many choices.

Expat Financial Advice: What is a Property Trust Will?

A property trust will (also known as a property protection trust, an asset protection trust, a family protection trust or a property preservation trust) keeps your home safe for your loved ones after you die. It does this by placing your share of the property in a trust, so that the people you want to benefit from it can – but without owning it. With a property trust will, your spouse can still live in the home you share after…

Have you lost your job before you are ready to retire? Here is what to do

One of the biggest threats to a well thought out expat retirement plan is losing your job before you are ready to retire. You have it all planned out. You are hitting your peak earning years. The costs associated with raising children have started to decline. Now is the time to start socking away some serious funds to boost your retirement… and bosh!!!! Out of the blue, you are staring at a P45. Your employer may have imagined that they…

The importance of properly nominating beneficiaries

A beneficiary nomination is a crucial step in ensuring your wishes are respected when it comes to the distribution of your pension or life insurance benefits. By nominating beneficiaries, you can ensure your assets are passed on to the right individuals. Completing a beneficiary nomination form provides clarity and helps prevent any misunderstandings or delays after your passing.

Can I transfer my UK pension to Poland?

👉 Managing your UK pension from Poland isn’t straightforward, but with the right planning it doesn’t need to be overwhelming. This guide explains your options – from leaving a defined benefit scheme in place to using an International SIPP – and covers tax treatment, QROPS, the UK State Pension, and post-Brexit changes that affect expats. Find out how to protect your retirement income and avoid costly mistakes.

Getting remarried? Add these 6 financial tasks to your to-do list

The number of remarriages in England and Wales increased by 418% in the half-century between 1969 and 2019. The data also shows that second marriages are usually more likely to be successful than first marriages. Maybe remarriages aren’t simply the triumph of hope over experience after all. However, there is still plenty of potential for conflict over financial matters, especially where multiple sets of children are involved.

What is a spousal bypass trust and who should use one?

Legislation introduced by the Taxation of Pensions Act 2014 meant that, in the majority of cases, pension benefits are able to pass down through the generations free of inheritance tax, as long as they remain within the pension wrapper. Therefore, if you have a straightforward family situation and are leaving funds to beneficiaries that you perceive as responsible, then passing these funds on within your pension is likely to be the best option.

QROPS guide for expats – Read to understand your options

The purpose of this QROPS guide for expats is to use 20+ years of experience in dealing with international pensions to help you understand how QROPS work and outline the circumstances in which they should and should not be used. Tens of thousands of British expats have transferred their UK pensions to QROPS structures since they were launched in April 2006. The structure has proved to be incredibly popular as they help Britons who have permanently moved abroad to simplify…

What are my life insurance options when living abroad?

As an expat, there are a number of reasons why you may be looking for life insurance. It could be that your previous policy has come to the end of it’s term. Or it may be that you have found out that your old policy does not cover you now that you are living overseas. You may have had a “life event”, e.g. marriage or birth of a child. Or you may be looking to use it as a way…

How are defined benefit pension transfer values calculated?

In the past decade, huge numbers of people have transferred their final salary/defined benefit pensions to a SIPP or QROPS as Cash Equivalent Transfer Values have soared. However, since the start of 2022, these valuations have started to fall back and I have had numerous enquiries from people wanting to know why their pension transfer value has dropped. In this post, we will look at the nuts and bolts of how a defined benefit pension cash transfer value is calculated.

EU Succession Regulation: What is it and how does it affect UK expats?

The EU Succession Regulation (EU 650/2012), also known as Brussels IV, came into effect on 17th August 2015. The aim was to resolve the complex cross border probate disputes that had arisen as an unintended consequence of the freedom of movement of workers and retirees within the EU.

Guide to CGT rules for UK expat property owners

The rule used to be that as long as an expat had been non-UK resident for five consecutive tax years, then they would not be taxed on any gains made when they sold UK property. However, as of 6th April 2015, that ceased to be the case. Now, if you are an expat who owns UK property, you will potentially need to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT). It doesn’t matter how long you have lived outside the UK or even…

Using gift allowances to reduce IHT: Six tips on using gifts to reduce inheritance tax

As the old saying goes, it is better to give than to receive. But did you know that when you give your loved ones a gift you can also benefit as well as the person you’re giving to? It may come as a surprise, but when you make gifts as part of your overall inheritance tax planning, you can have the pleasure of giving, bring joy to your loved ones through your generosity, and even reduce your inheritance tax liability…

Expat ISA Rules: What Can Be Done With an ISA When You Move Abroad?

We all know that Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are incredibly tax-efficient savings and investment vehicles for UK residents. However, for those of us who leave the UK, things become more complex. Here are answers to some of the most common expat ISA questions that I have come across.

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