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.
This communication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice, investment recommendations or investment research. You should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information contained in this communication is correct, we are not responsible for any errors or omissions.
The structure of your wealth and your tax affairs should always depend on the particular laws and regulations of where you reside in the world as well as the nature of your long-term goals. The expat financial services market has evolved in order to help cater to these considerations and in some cases this includes helping ensure clients meet the demands of wealth tax.
It appears there is good news on the horizon for up to 2 million pension savers. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking at evidence that some major providers applied exit charges to people’s pensions without informing them. In some cases, this amounted to nearly 40% of the value of the fund.