Looking for a smoother ride in choppy waters

Statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown that a record number of savers are now members of workplace pension schemes.

The figures show that the proportion of employees who are contributing to a company pension has risen significantly in the five years since Auto-Enrolment (AE) began.

AE was introduced in 2012 and makes it compulsory for employers to automatically enrol all eligible employees into a pension scheme unless the employee actively opts out. An employee is eligible for AE if they are aged between 22 and the state pension age and have a salary of more than £10,000.

In 2012, prior to AE, 47 per cent of UK employees were enrolled on a company pension scheme. This figure has now risen to 73 per cent in 2017. In other words, there are over 9.5 million more people saving for their retirement than there were five years ago, and it’s mainly thanks to AE.

Private school education offers many benefits outside of the obvious statistical performance advantages. As much as anything it is about allowing for personal growth, developing confidence, providing opportunity and building beneficial networks and skills that will last and serve for a lifetime.

But it can be expensive, and this is why intelligent use of expat regular savings together with a holistic wealth management strategy can help both parents and grandparents make the necessary plans to ensure that their descendants are able to enjoy a first-class education with only the minimum of stress.

Of course, the cost of fee-paying schools varies depending on which school is attended, whether the pupil is a boarder and, indeed, whether the pupil is living in the same country as its parents. But regardless of whether the cost is just €5,000 a year for a single pupil or €60,000 a year for two pupils, meeting these costs is going to require you to optimise your expat regular savings towards your education fee planning needs.