Investments News & Insights

What are your options as an expat in Europe with a UK pension? Do you leave it in place and hope for the best or do you investigate your options and see if there is a product that is perhaps a better fit for your goals and circumstances?

Before you make any decision you need to consider that your pension is likely to be the key to your long-term financial security and only by taking considered action informed by advice from an experienced wealth manager are you going to give yourself the opportunity to make a confident decision.

If you are an expat in Sweden, wealth management that takes account of your cross-border financial interests is a must.

However, with Brexit looming there is currently an added layer of concern, with the UK's imminent separation from the EU undoubtedly relevant to certain components of any British expat's wealth management strategy.

Fortunately, and despite a constant deluge of disturbing headlines that could easily have you believing otherwise, there is little chance that British citizens living in Sweden will need to make any fundamental changes to their outlook.

If you are serious about receiving the best financial advice in Spain, chances are any adviser you choose will recommend that, in the absence of a committed property investment strategy, you do not invest too heavily in Spanish real estate.

However, for the enthusiastic expat who has recently fallen in love with the country and the idea of owning a small piece, or perhaps a larger chunk, of its picturesque and romantic charms, it can be hard to resist.

But the truth is that there is often a reason why a property might be going at a bargain basement rate. For example, investment in whole abandoned villages in isolated locations such as Aragón and Galicia has recently become something of a phenomenon, when the reality is that the outlay, which can be under €100,000, will buy you little more than a dilapidated shell without water, gas, electricity, telephone or internet services. So, making your bargain purchase habitable in these circumstances is likely to cost at least ten times as much the initial purchase price.

Back in 2018, for the first time in a decade, rents across the UK fell, which was good news for many. However, it prompted landlords to consider whether the notion of 'easy money' was coming to an end. So, what is a good investment property?

Tax planning should be a New Year priority for any British citizen who has recently become an expat.

Just last year HM Revenue & Customs increased its efforts to ensure expats met their full tax obligations and has begun to successfully use EU laws that encourage co-operation between member states. "We will not hesitate to use all legal means to collect taxes that are owed," commented an HMRC spokesperson. Despite this tough talking, the EU this year criticised the UK for its poor record of cross-border tax collection.

It is important to remember that although the HMRC's new stricter approach remains at an early stage, it is already paying dividends for the government, which estimates that it lost £1.7bn in tax revenue in 2016-17, compared to £4bn in 2011-12. Furthermore, 1,006 requests for tax information were made to EU authorities in 2017. This resulted in the recovery of £5 million. In comparison, similar requests in 2013 yielded just £800,000.

Spanish property ownership is a fairly common part of many expat wealth management strategies. However, Spanish taxes have been known to present obstacles to some expats in this regard and the uptake of both home ownership and property investment in Spain has suffered as a result.

Previously, the law held that expat buyers must pay mortgage tax out of their own pockets, which, as well as being an administrative annoyance also left many expats feeling a little like second-class citizens; however, with changes recently introduced by parliament, the tax will instead be paid by the bank financing the mortgage, with the new rules taking effect immediately.

The Modelo 720 is a controversial topic for UK expats in Spain. Translated to ‘Form 720’, it is the form that has to be submitted every year, declaring any assets that you own outside Spain worth over €50,000.

On many occasions, lay investors have a tendency to confuse banking and property revenues as useful gauges of the overall strength of the investment economy. But, however healthy (or unhealthy) these two sectors appear, this should not be allowed to cloud the investment opportunity available to you via your expat financial services manager.

This is why we should not be overly concerned that returns in banking investments currently sit below historical averages – what this potentially marks is simply the residual impact of the 2008 financial crisis and the fact that banking and the wider investment economy have evolved with the advent of new and disruptive players in the finance sector.

For example, a new piece of research by Accenture showed that in 2005 there were 24,000 firms operating in the worldwide banking industry; today this stands at around 15,000. But this alone cannot be seen as a true reflection of the current climate because during the same period we have witnessed the dawn of 600 FinTech firms, 1,900 payment institutions, 700 new banks, and 400 subsidiaries of existing banks – there has also been some consolidation in the area.