Expat Pension Concerns Cause Dwindling Number of Brits in EU

Living as an expat in Spain, or indeed in any other country, brings particular and sometimes very complex wealth management requirements because managing personal finances across multiple jurisdictions is inherently complex and invariably requires specialist advice.

This goes some way to explain why thousands of British expats have recently been caught and penalised for either failing to pay taxes or unlawfully claiming British pension and other social security benefits while living and, in some cases, working abroad.

Cross-border taxation for expats is a notoriously confusing area of wealth management and can seem especially onerous with new data sharing and enforcement rules in place. Unfortunately, not all asset managers are as familiar with tax reporting requirements as they should be. This may seem inconceivable, but wealth management professionals in Spain, across Europe and indeed the globe have an obligation to clients to ensure that they understand and follow all the rules.

A Man on a Mission

It all began when some friends and I decided to set up an independent IFA firm back in the mid 80s and consequently Blacktower was born. I honestly didn’t think that 30 years later I would still be here managing the Pan European and International Wealth Management company that Blacktower has evolved into today.

Starting our careers in London with Schroder Financial Management gave all four of the founding directors of Blacktower a great background and insight into the industry as it was back in the early 80s, and we had all enjoyed the success of representing such a great brand as Schroders.