Start a New Life Working Overseas and be on TV

Companies selling professional goods and services to expatriates are slowly coming to understand that expats are not a clearly definable demographic in their own right.  I.e., they are realising something that expats have known about forever!  My reasons for living abroad will likely differ from yours, my country choice may differ too, and whilst I may view my time abroad as temporary, you may be living overseas for life for example.  Therefore whilst we’re both expatriates, we may both be completely different on every other fundamental level!

A British expatriate couple living and working in Germany may be lumped together with other Brits in Germany to form a mini-expatriate demographic group – maybe – but you can’t then begin to lump them together with Britons who have retired to Spain or a British family which has decided to emigrate to Australia for a better quality of life – can you?  Well, some companies desperately try to!

To us, as individuals who have chosen a new life abroad, this attempt to label us or lump us together has always been a bit irrelevant.  But just for a bit of fun, I thought I’d introduce you to the new terminology that some companies are using to try and create mini-socio-economic groupings of expats for their own marketing and selling purposes, now that they realise they can’t lump all of us all together!

Last March we introduced you to the fact that HMRC was considering changing its rules relating to residency for expatriates.  In our article ‘Statutory Definition of Residence Theoretically Good News for Expats’, we explained how HM Revenue and Customs was to consider the introduction of a legally defined set of rules to determine whether a Briton was an expatriate non-resident for tax purposes or not.

As the residency guidelines stand to this day, there is no legally binding set of rules to determine who is and who is not a UK non-resident for tax purposes, i.e., all the guidelines in place are open to interpretation - as the Robert Gains-Cooper case clearly highlighted to expats everywhere.  However, as soon as the consultation phase for the statutory test began last year, it became clearer to everyone that perhaps the restrictions of the new statutory test would be detrimental to many expats’ tax status.

As we touched upon in our article ‘Will You be Badly Affected by Changes to UK Tax Residency Rules?’ HMRC has been considering slashing the number of days a Briton can spend in the UK on holiday or business if they want to be regarded as non-resident for tax purposes.  What’s more, they are planning on being particularly tough when examining the ties that many expats still have with the United Kingdom, in assessing whether someone has a tax liability in the UK or not.

We thought we’d let the dust settle on the latest British Budget before we commented on the key changes affecting expats.  After all, it’s usually very beneficial to read the backlash that inevitably ensues as soon as the Chancellor commits his Budget to the house before forming firm opinions about how changes are going to affect certain groups of individuals.

This time around the fallout for expats has at least been limited in scope, with the main area of focus relating to pensions.  Perhaps the biggest news that needs our attention is that relating to QROPS.  In the past we’ve been vociferously supportive of HMRC’s efforts to crackdown on any exploitation of qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes – because after all, they were only ever created to be of benefit to expats and qualifying individuals…

However, we’ve been left a little lost for words (unusually for us!) by elements of the proposed QROPS changes that have emerged since the delivery of the Budget last week.  Most particularly, HMRC’s declaration that the onus is on individual pension holders to ensure their potential transfer is fully qualifying, and that the scheme they’re transferring to is completely compliant.  It’s not the facts that we have an issue with – it’s their presentation and delivery…

The trend to move abroad in search of a better life has really only become common and popular in the most recent decades…before then some people were globally minded, some were forced to relocate by their employers and the odd adventurous type plotted a retirement overseas.  But the real expectation and understanding that theoretically anyone can live and work overseas has really only taken a hold in relatively recent history.

Nowadays it’s a given that we’re all internationally minded!  The world works on a much more open and level playing field – perhaps because of the Internet’s unfathomable influence.  However, one truth starkly stands out…and that is, if you really do want to work abroad it will pay you to pick a portable career from the outset!

A recent survey of IT and finance workers showed that they are among the most dynamic – at least in their thinking – when it comes to considering employment opportunities globally.  Certain professions lend themselves to an international lifestyle…whilst others really don’t!  Therefore, our advice at Shelter Offshore is that if you do plan to explore the world, move away from your native nation and embrace all that’s good about globalisation, think carefully when planning your job path.

A new survey has revealed that expats are at far higher risk of developing mental health issues once they relocate overseas, and that as a result additional risk factors such as substance abuse become a concern among the greater global expat demographic. 

The study, conducted jointly by Chestnut Global Partners and the Truman Group, has caused a flurry of interest among expats on the Internet who can all relate closely to the findings.  Discussions have been wide ranging, but mainly focus on what perhaps causes expats to be at increased risk of internalising or inappropriately externalising their stresses.

As we will discuss in this article, the findings of the survey shouldn’t really be all that surprising, after all expatriates expose themselves to everything from isolation to risk on many levels, purely as a result of making a choice to leave behind all that they are familiar with.  But what can be done to help expats adjust more successfully, and thus avoid the risk of mental health problems and/or substance abuse issues?

There’s been a lot in the news this month on the subject of retiring abroad – from stories carrying statistics that reveal that almost half of Britons would like to live overseas in retirement, to tales of expatriate Britons retired abroad who are struggling to make ends meet… 

It’s certainly a fact that a lot of the UK’s citizens would like to spend their retirement overseas – in part because they’d like to seek a permanent improvement in the weather (!), and in part because they believe their retirement income would go far further in a lower cost of living nation.  But there are a lot of factors that anyone contemplating a retirement abroad needs to seriously consider before they bite the bullet and actually decide to relocate.

In this report we’re going to look at the most critical areas for consideration.  If you’re one of the 46% of Britons who would like to retire abroad according to the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), you need to make sure you’ve covered all angles before selling up and shipping out to live the perceived dream.

Some British expat friends of mine are currently in the process of moving countries – again!  And whilst they wait for their furniture to be shipped from one nation to another, they are enjoying a week’s holiday with family and friends back in the UK.  They haven’t lived in the UK for 15 years and have hardly spent much time on British soil in recent years…and the current state of the nation has taken them by surprise.

Firstly they were taken aback at the border as everyone was being let through, no questions seemingly asked.  Secondly they were taken aback by the boarded up high streets and the public’s general malaise and consistent ‘we’re skint’ attitude in Britain.  Finally they were taken aback at the depressed feeling that they are encountering like a wall everywhere they turn in UK…

And their recounting of their experiences to me has prompted the writing of this article – because against this backdrop of a broken and bankrupt Britain we received a whole host of positive expat economic data last week at Shelter Offshore that simply reinforces the fact that there are now more reasons than ever to move abroad if you’re British!

A news story doing the rounds in expat circles in Southern Spain has been picked up by the Telegraph, and has been published online under the headline “EU clampdown on unregulated financial advisers in Spain.”  However, this headline is a little misleading in our opinion because the EU is actually only looking into a petition that’s been raised highlighting the fact that some expats have allegedly been ripped off by rogue financial advisers in Spain.  I.e., there’s nothing to this story that says a clampdown by the EU will definitely ensue…more’s the pity.

The fact of the matter is, an action group is leading the fight for those who have been the victims of unregulated financial advice in Spain, but as yet there’s no sign that they will be able to change the current situation locally, which makes it virtually impossible for victims to seek recompense and justice via the Spanish authorities. 

What the story in the Telegraph has done however, is open a debate about who’s really to blame for this situation – i.e., is it the dodgy IFAs or the ‘naïve’ expats who one commenter describes as “inmmigrants [sic] and expats trying to avoid Spanish tax bills using Gibraltar or other tax heaven [sic again] accounts, trusts and any other illegal tools or means.”