Peter and Mary Scott have been overseas for the last three years. Their two children, aged 7 and 9, are at international schools in Tokyo. Although Peter has a year left to run on his current contract, he has recently been giving thought to his next overseas assignment which will almost certainly take him to another location for an additional three years.
The family house has been let with a view to covering mortgage expenses while the family is away. Peter and Mary have discussed both the idea of a larger house purchase upon their return and repaying the mortgage at the earliest possible opportunity.
While fortunate enough to have school fees paid by Peter’s company at present, they realize that this is unlikely to continue when they return home. There are no plans in place to help them through this period and they are concerned that this might become a financial burden.
One of Peter’s main aims has been to bring forward his retirement and, indeed, this was part of the motivation for working overseas. It has come to Peter’s attention that his company pension doesn’t provide for early retirement and he is unsure of his options and the impact that early retirement would have.
Peter has not had the time to consider his own financial plans because of an ever-increasing workload. However, with a bonus payment imminent, Peter realizes he should be giving thought to ways of increasing the returns on the family’s accumulated bank deposits and how best to use his surplus income.
Having reviewed their existing arrangements, they came to the conclusion that they needed some independent advice as to how to proceed.
Peter and Mary are not alone. Many of our clients have expressed similar financial concerns requiring objective straightforward advice.
Collingwood Investment Ltd. was established to offer specialist financial planning advice to the international investor, with particular emphasis on expatriates. Operating from 12 offices in Asia, including Tokyo, we are ideally placed to provide a comprehensive personal service to both corporate and private investors, covering a wide range of financial requirements from the simple saving plans to complex portfolio management. All investments, irrespective of size, receive the same care and planning in their execution.
Collingwood Investment Ltd., is a completely independent organization and is thus able to offer impartial advice based on what is best for its clients. Within the overall objective of arranging your disposable capital and income into tax-efficient investment structures, our recommendations will take into account your existing arrangements and personal objectives. In short, a tailor-made programme to suit your particular requirements.
Financial Planning for Expatriates
We respond to the particular financial requirements of the expatriate. Investments are made with leading and well-known financial institutions operating from long-established offshore financial centers. This ensures complete confidentiality, investor protection and tax sheltering which provides peace of mind and flexibility.
Typically, expatriates tend to have little information provided to them on the investment opportunities available while they are working offshore. We will be addressing this with regular features in Tokyo.
Weekender, providing information on key financial planning issues.
These will include: • pension and retirement planning, • advice on building an investment portfolio through lump-sum investment and regular monthly savings, • tax sheltering, • education and school fees planning.
Protection issues such as life and health insurance, wills and inheritance tax planning will also be covered, as these are the foundations of any sound financial planning.
The first step is to establish well-defined goals and objectives. This is to identify clearly what you wish to achieve in the future while recognizing the need to adapt to changes which will inevitably occur. These can be short-term goals, for example, building up capital for a house purchase upon your return home. Alternatively, these can be longer-term objectives which eventually lead to your financial independence. This is the point at which your assets are working for you and work itself becomes optional.
Lack of any planning can result in ending up with an array of financial products and no clear direction. Practically speaking, if you aim at nothing, you will achieve nothing.
We recognize that expatriates have a golden opportunity to take control of their financial future by ensuring their assets and resources are being employed in the most effective manner possible during their overseas term. Collingwood is well placed to help.
We hope you will benefit from the information we will be providing in future Weekender articles and we look forward to working with you toward your own financial goals.
Graham Boswell
David Spratley
Alison Pockett
Collingwood Investment Ltd.
Tel: 5821-8820, Fax: 5821-8838
