Financial advisors for expats simplified

Good financial advisors for expats are hard to find if you don’t know where to look. And what you don’t want to do is hand your money over to a bad one.

Bad ones tend to fall into one of the following groups:

Those that offer well intentioned but bad advice
Those who put their needs before their clients
Those who push their clients to invest in things that are good for them (high commissions) rather than their clients
Those that charge an arm and a leg
Those that are…….well…… criminals

And here’s the thing, you are more likely to come across each and every single one of those bad advisor groups when you move overseas. Especially, when you first make the move. It really can be a jungle out there if you aren’t careful.

And let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. A lot of people don’t need financial advisors anyway. ETFs and low cost investment platforms open to expats have changed the game forever.

Just about anybody these days can put together a strong investment portfolio with a couple of index funds. Not only that, but much of the work is done for you within the funds so all you have to do is add money whenever you have some available. And even that can be put on autopilot with many a platform these days. We’ve talked more about this here.

A lot of people reading this will be able to take full control of their own money, but not everyone.

Who needs expat financial advice?

Whilst I think more people could take care of their own money than do, I also appreciate why you might not want to do that.

If you handle things yourself, you need to put the work in before you start and do plenty of research. Easy if you are interested in the topic at hand, not so much if you aren’t.

You need to stay relaxed throughout your investing lifecycle. Easy when the markets are powering upwards, not so much when they are plunging downwards.

You need to make big decisions about your own financial life. Easy for some, but for others not so much.

And in fact that’s just the start of it. Perhaps you are OK with all of the above but doing it yourself still makes little sense.

There are groups of people out there that simply don’t have time to look after their own money. Others who don’t want to do it on their own and even those whose financial situation is so complicated that they simply need help.

If that’s you then a specialist advisor may make sense. In fact, the right one could save you a lot of money and a lot of worry.

The key being you need to find the ‘right’ one. And whilst the right expat financial advisor for you might not necessarily be the right one for me, there are some tell tale signs that can give you a general idea of whether or not you’ve found yourself the right one for you.

Warning

There’s no other way around it. We need to begin with a big warning here! Good financial advisors don’t contact you. You contact them.

Cold calls or any kind of contact from advisors out of the blue should be a big fat warning bell to stay well away.

Sure, there is a tiny weeny ever so slight chance he or she maybe legitimate, but there’s a much bigger one that they are anything but.

Don’t take that risk. It’s not worth it.

Find an somebody you trust and have a consultation with them before you commit even a single penny of your own money.

Should expat financial advice be free?

Most professionals offering expat financial advice will offer a free consultation. However, there is a school of thought that says it’s even worth paying for one if you think you have found a promising candidate.

It’s like this. If somebody is charging you for a consultation it usually means they don’t need your business and if they don’t need your business that usually means they have enough business already which in turn means they are probably pretty good at what they do.

No matter whether the consultation was free or not, I’d be searching for a certain kind of individual.

More specifically, I’d be looking for somebody who asked a lot of questions about my personal situation and future plans.

I’d also be looking for an advisor that had the ability to explain how investing works very simply. One that made it very very clear that there are risks involved.

I’d want them to be very clear about their fees. It’s essential to know exactly what you are expected to pay and why.

And finally, I’d be looking for somebody who could explain what they think I should be investing in and why. And whatever it is had better be easy to understand.

At the other end of the spectrum, I’d run a mile from anyone who didn’t explain things clearly, especially if they were trying to get me to purchase products or services I didn’t understand.

Signs you’ve found one a good one

You are:

Asked a lot of questions about your personal financial situation and goals
Given a simple explanation of how investing works
Made aware of the risks involved
Told exactly what you are going to be investing in
Provided with a clear idea of what you are going to be paying

Signs one of the bad ones has found you

You aren’t:

Asked many questions about your personal situation
Sure how investing works
Made aware of the risks involved
Clear about what you are going to be investing in
Provided with a clear idea of what you are going to be paying

How to search for a trusted professional

Whilst UK residents have a number of tools for finding financial advisors, the minute you move abroad it gets a little bit more tricky, but luckily we still have options.

In fact there are a couple of excellent tools we can use to help us with our search.

Moneyhelper

Moneyhelper is backed by the UK Government. It offers impartial financial guidance which we often reference back to on British Expat Money. They also have a tool to help you find professional retirement advisors (including for expats).

You can find it here.

The Personal Finance Society

The Personal Finance Society is the leading professional body for the financial planning sector. They have their own great tool to help you find an Financial Advisor.

You literally key in where you live (area in the UK or other countries) and they’ll show you a list of qualified financial advisors that will deal with people living where you live.

You can find it here.

Financial advisors for expats – the bottom line

So there you go. Most people can probably get away without any expat financial advice, but the odd one will need it.

If that’s you, just make sure you take a little time to find a good one.

If I had to summarise what you are looking for in one sentence it would be this:

You need somebody you trust to help you with your financial decisions.