Banks competing for ex-pat money

Expat pension needs are one of the major reasons behind the £15.3 billion the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) say was was taken from pensions during 2016/17.

The high level of withdrawals is no doubt attributable to the increased flexibility afforded UK pension savers by the introduction of landmark reforms over the past few years.

The £15.3 billion figure was disclosed following a Freedom Of Information request to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is a massive 173% increase on the £5.6bn that was withdrawn in 2012/13.

In fact, the second quarter of 2017 saw the highest quarterly level of pension withdrawals in five years – no doubt including many expat pensions withdrawals – with more than 40,000 people withdrawing £4.3bn from their pensions.

January 2018 will see the French government introduce several legislative, tax and other financial changes, some of which will be of interest to British expats living in France.

First and foremost is the change to the wealth tax – also known as the Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune (ISF – or the “solidarity tax on wealth”). We touched on the topic last year when discussing the number of French job opportunities rapidly increasing.

The country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, who was elected in May 2017, has introduced the change as part of a push to attract more wealthy investors to France. The change is just one of many in what he called a “profound transformation of France” in his new year’s address.