Maintaining your standard of living in retirement should be a key part of financial planning.
Deciding when you aim to retire, where you will retire to and the lifestyle in retirement you want to maintain are all very important.
Modern medicine has increased average life expectancy and most of us will be retired longer than our parents. Decisions about when to start saving for retirement and when to retire are increasingly more important.
Delaying the process of saving for retirement can have a dramatic negative effect. The longer you delay saving will increase considerably the amount you will need to save to achieve your desired pension fund and retirement income.
Delaying the process of saving for retirement can have a dramatic negative effect.
While most international education employers do not provide any retirement benefits to their staff an increasing number recognise that to attract quality staff they need to pay some contribution towards teachers' retirement schemes. This is something to consider when apply for positions.
Many international educators find that they will have been excluded from their home country's superannuation or occupational retirement scheme or have a number of frozen schemes scattered across the countries they have worked in.
You need to be aware of your goals and take action to avoid a lack of sufficient income in retirement. The sad alternative to financial independence in retirement is financial dependence. In most western countries governments have clear policies that place the responsibility for funding of the retirement years on the individual. The level of aged pension in many countries are being reduced to near poverty levels.
Trinity Holdings can create a pension scheme specifically designed meet your needs. Some of the key features of retirement that will determine the pension scheme we design for you include:
- Full international portability of the scheme between employers
- Flexible contributions and the facility to accept additional ad hoc lump sums
- Choice of both a lump sum and regular income at the selected date in the future
- Control of your fund - choice of investment funds and phased retirement
- Tax advantages - fund based in tax free offshore centres
- Professional investment management and a wide range of investment choices
Trinity Holdings has built its reputation on providing the best advice for our clients. We offer independent financial advice and we are not associated with nor the agent for any particular investment organisation or life insurance office.
Some Tips for Retirement
- Before you retire carry out an audit of you expected future income and expenditure. This will help you identify any shortfall in the income from your invested capital
- Find out about the tax laws of the country where you will retire (including your home country - laws change!). This is particularly important with regard to property ownership
- Make sure and your spouse/partner you have an up-to-date will that is recognised in the country where you will retire, the countries in which you hold assets and in the UK if you retain UK Domicile of Origin. Not sure if that applies to you? Please see our Rules of Investing page for more information
- Consider the impact of death duties and inheritance tax. Estate planning is particularly important in Europe where these taxes can be very high
- Review any corporate, government and personal pension plans you have. It is often better to defer taking these pension benefits as long as possible to provide a higher income at a later date
- Check your health insurance is sufficient to cover your increasing health needs as you age
- Consider setting up a 'tax shelter' which will protect your capital from direct taxation
- Review your existing investments before deciding on the geographical spread, balance of risk and reward and the yield needed to meet your income requirements
- Consider taking profits from investments before returning to the UK - this may save Capital Gains Tax in the future
- If you have funds to invest seek advice from an independent adviser who is able to stay in personal contact with you, regardless of your country of residence
The best place to start with any decision is with information. We suggest you complete our Free Financial Health Check so we can provide individual advice based on your circumstances and goals. If you prefer, contact us directly at info@trinityhi.com or at Tel: +44 7887 744871
Click the link below to download the PDF file. Once completed please save with your name and then email the form to info@trinityhi.com
Disclaimer: This advice is general and based on our current understanding of UK law and Inland Revenue practice in relation to individual residents outside the UK. They are not specific to residents of any particular country. Individual advice is essential in all cases. Levels and bases of, and reliefs from, taxation are subject to change, tax rates and reliefs referred to are those currently applying the UK and their value depends on the individual circumstances of the investor.