Expat Financial Advice

Expat financial advice isn’t always easy to get hold of and unfortunately we don’t offer it at British Expat Money. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have options.

This week we go in-depth on this topic. We tell you whether or not you need it. Where you can find it and steps you can take to make sure any advice you get is right for you.

Let’s get into it.

Why you don’t need finical advice

Any regular readers will know British Expat Money are champions of the DIY approach to investment. Quite simply, it’s our belief that a lot of people don’t need any advice.

Expat friendly investment platforms and ETFs have changed the game for anybody who has the time and inclination to put a little work in (in the beginning).

Not only that but you can find a lot of the basics online for free without the need for professional input.

Where can I find free advice?

For starters, whilst we aren’t financial advisors, we hope British Expat Money has a lot of useful advice for general investment. But of course we are the first to admit we can’t cover everything.

If you want general free advice we always recommend starting with the Money Advice Service. In fact, we often refer back to them on this site.

It’s a free UK government backed website full of information on everything finance related. The information isn’t specifically aimed at expatriates but there is a lot on there that is relevant.

And if you can’t find what you are looking there, Money Helper is a reasonable alternative which again is backed by the UK government

Do you need a professional advisor?

That said we are fully aware that the DIY approach isn’t for everyone.

There are five main groups of people that may benefit from a professional financial advisor that is experienced in dealing with expats. These are (in no particular order):

Short on time
Short on motivation
Have a complicated financial situation
Are at risk of panic selling their investments
Simply not interested in doing themselves

If you fit into one of those groups then it may be in your interests to find some help.

A good professional will be able to help you with pretty much anything and everything related to money, but perhaps the main services they offer are these:

Retirement planning
Budgeting
Estate planning
Investment management
Long term care planning
Tax planning

If you need help in one of those areas and don’t want to deal with things yourself then you may need some professional assistance.

Not to mention the fact that, if you don’t have time to do your own research a good financial advisor has the potential increase your investment returns by 3 percent per year (Vanguard).

To put some numbers on that, over 20 years you’d have 1.8 times as much money as you would have done otherwise.

Where can I find a professional?

The trick with financial advisors, particularly for expats is finding a good one. Why?

Well, it’s simple really. Whilst good ones should be able to make you an extra 3% per year (according to Vanguard), a bad one may cost you far more than that.

Expats (particularly British) tend to make good prey for unscrupulous people and companies. Many have written about this better than I can. Here’s a few of my favourites articles on the topic.

But even if you don’t read them, you probably need to be aware of two key takeaways.

First, good advisors don’t call you out of the blue and they certainly don’t hang around in expat bars. You find and call them!

Second, you are more likely to come across a bad financial advisor when you move overseas. One that falls 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

But rest assured there are good guys out there.

You just need to put a little bit of work in and find one.

And luckily for us there are two great tools to help you.

Search tools

Money Helper (as mentioned above) has a great Financial Advisor Search Tool. You can find it here.

And the Personal Finance Society has another one, which you can find here.

(The Personal Finance Society is the leading professional body for the financial planning sector. You key in your location and they’ll provide a list of qualified financial professionals that may be able to help you with your money matters).

How do you know when you’ve found a good one?

A good one:

Asks you plenty of questions specifically related to your current financial situation and future financial goals
Explains things simply
Goes to great lengths to make sure you understand the risks involved
Makes clear what you will be investing in
Outlines what you exactly what you’ll be paying in fees

How do you know when a bad one has found you!

A bad one:

Gives generic advice that could be for anybody
Makes things sound complicated and opaque
Doesn’t discuss risk
Leaves you unsure about what you will be investing in
Fails to express clearly what you’ll be paying