AWOL 2014 Issue 282 16th May | Page 9

Advertise here from only 40 baht per week cashING in The Financial Benefits of Being an Expat...benjamin franklin style Every week in this article Helen Couldrey, a financial consultant with the deVere Group, and also a qualified English lawyer, will give you tips and ideas of how to take advantage financially of being an expat. Helen has clients in Bangkok, Hua Hin and Cha-Am who she helps to maximise the financial benefits of living overseas. Living the Golden Years 79 per cent of people get their car serviced each year, yet only 26 per cent of people annually review their retirement planning position. This is an alarming statistic considering that a car is often a 5 year investment, whereas a robust retirement plan will allow you to live out your golden years in the way you choose. As people live longer (and inflation steadily rises), more and more people are beginning to realise the vital importance of a sound financial strategy for their retirement. This is just as well as the days when you were supported just by the state or your employer during retirement are fading fast, particularly if you’re an expat. This means that the funding of your retirement is now, more than it has ever been for previous generations, a personal responsibility. YOU are the person in control of your future. Any contributions that you may get from the state or company schemes should be considered the icing on the cake, not the cake itself. Personal International Retirement Plan So what are the options as an expat? Well, paying into a pension scheme in your home jurisdiction is often prohibited whist earning abroad. Further, you may not be eligible for state contributions if you fall short of certain thresholds. With these in mind, a popular solution is a personal international retirement plan. Ultimately, this means a private international offshore plan that exists outside of the regular, domestic solutions. These offshore plans are very simple and you can easily set one up with the help of a financial CHA-AM AND HUA HIN Retirement Planning - Education Fee Planning Regular Savings - Tax Saving Lump Sum Investments Helen Couldrey, BA (Hons), L.L.B, CISI Contact Helen for a finance review 086 088 2127 [email protected] advisor, and just make monthly contributions into it from your income, leaving the markets to do the hard work. As the plan is held offshore there is no tax on the growth which is a superb benefit to expats looking to make their money work hard! After the first two years, you can access your fund at any time, which provides a lot more flexibility than a regular pension plan. As the life of an expat is changeable, these plans move with you wherever you go in the world, growing tax free whilst you begin another chapter in your life. Your deVere Group financial adviser can help you ascertain what kind of final ‘retirement pot’ you will need and can guide you through what contributions you should be making (and more importantly, what you can afford). As a wealth management professional, they will tailor the plan to you, your family and the requirements of your lifestyle, while taking account of inflation, to ensure no nasty shocks in 20, 30 or 40 years’ time. Regardless of age or whether you think you have everything sorted, make sure you review your retirement position with an independent professional. And remember, if you take the time to get your car serviced, then don’t join the 74 per cent who fall short of reviewing their retirement strategy. In retirement planning, mistakes are too costly – on every level. Let’s make sure those ‘Golden Years’ are golden. COMING SOON! Follow AWOL on Contact us NOW to get your business advertised on it Call 081 649 8361 E-mail [email protected] AWOLexpat The AWOL 2014 FIFA World Cup Wallchart Join the AWOL forum awolhuahin 9