What are the most common financial planning issues facing expats?
By Robbie Lawther, 9 Jun 23
Clients need to get advice before they have moved
Question 2: What is the biggest issue clients face when becoming an expat?
Paul said: “This is a pretty big question. What you tend to find is that you’ll either being exited from your incumbent bank, they have significantly limited offerings or, maybe they can still deal with you, but they have no presence in the country you move to or if they do have a presence it’ll be a different entity.
“So bank A in London and bank A in New York or Milan or Lisbon, may have the same name on the door, but they’re not the same entity. They’re different. They’re a different profit centre, they’re a different outfit. So, do not assume that just because they have the same title on the top, they know what they’re doing.
“Another big challenge people face when becoming an Expat is trying to understand the reporting obligations in the new country, or what they still need to report in their home country even once they have moved. This is obviously very relevant to international Americans because they are required to file a US tax return as well as a local one.
“So, the wealth manager or bank in the UK (or anyone managing money or looking after finances for Americans) has to think about this not just in Pound terms and adhere to the UK tax year end, but they also have to think about Dollars and the US tax year end.
“So, one of the biggest issues that clients face when becoming an expat from a wealth management/financial services perspective is just being able to coordinate their different assets in different countries with different rules, time periods and currencies.
“They need to make sure they don’t inadvertently create tax gains or issues because of a mismatch. Going back to the answer to question one, even the same institutions under the same brands in different countries struggle with merging the two together.”
Tags: London & Capital
