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The ‘wheres’ and the whys of UK expats in Europe

Among the most surprisingly popular destinations are Czech Republic, Slovakia and Finland (each of these countries is home to 5,000 or more UK expats).

Why do expats become expats?

You could be forgiven for thinking that migration is only a recent trend – one that reflects the “increasingly globalised world we live in”. However, although you would be right in assuming that the rate of migration has increased in recent years, the fact remains that humans have been migrating ever since our ancestors left the savannahs of Africa around two million years ago.

In reality, it is just much easier to achieve nowadays – the benefits of modern transport, the internet and expert expat financial advice are all pretty obvious.

And yet, it still takes imagination, as well as no small amount of gumption, to move from one’s country of birth to a place which may have only been visited for a few annual holidays. After all, it is so often easier to simply stick with the environment and lifestyle you know. MoveHub, a company specialising in helping expats make the move, analysed more than 180,000 of their customers’ experiences and discovered that the following were the major reasons people cite for deciding to embrace the expat life:

  • Better quality of life
  • Career progression
  • Economic pressure
  • Family ties
  • Lifestyle change
  • Politics
  • Wanderlust

Making the most of your brave new world

Whatever your motives, if you’re in it for the long-term and want to be assured of the best possible chance of future financial security for both you and your loved ones, the best way to achieve this is to receive expert expat financial advice.

So whatever the next few weeks, months and years bring in terms of whether the UK stays in the EU, Blacktower will remain by your side with all the most pertinent international financial advice that is right for you.

Other News

SIPP Providers – Getting it Right

Right or WrongMoney Marketing, a UK newspaper for financial intermediaries, has published details of a Freedom of Information Request it made it in relation to complaints received by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) regarding Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) products.

It revealed that over the most recent 12-month period, 22 SIPP providers made 48 complaint referrals to the Ombudsman regarding investments.*

This latest revelation follows a SIPP dispute involving financial planner Berkeley Burke and the FOS in which it was heard that the firm failed to carry out full due diligence on a £29,000 unregulated collective investment scheme for one of its clients. It also follows a high profile but as yet unresolved case against Carey Pensions.

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NEWS WRAP – 2019 Was the Year of the Bulk Pension Transfer

Pension FundsThe value of defined benefit pension scheme transfers in 2018 was an all time-high of £24 billion.

In 2019 the value of pension scheme transfers, according to Willis Towers Watson (WTW)*, is likely to be around £40 billion, which represents a substantial increase and a further record breaking amount.

The figures describe a market in which final salary pension schemes are increasingly transferred in favour of the opportunities and returns to be found in alternative products and investments.

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