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 Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:38 am Post subject: Financial Services, Planners, Offshore Banking - Know More |
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Financial Services, Planners, Offshore Banking - Know More
Dear members & guests
Due to the continuous marketing approach of our expatriate community by mutiple financial planners services company, Allo' Expat has decided to provided you with some usefull imformation on the Expat Offshore Banking issue. Hope you'll invest wisely..... in the future
Financial Advisors - who are they?
Q1 - How do I get the best offshore financial advice?
The best offshore financial advice is probably given by Independent Financial Advisors. Independent financial advisors (or IFA's, as they are sometimes called) advise their clients on savings, investments and pensions. They may also provide Savings Plans for offshore investing to their clients.
When counselling a client, the best offshore financial advisors should complete the following steps:
* Step 1 - collect detailed information about a client's financial circumstances and requirements ? be they for retirement planning, retirement income, expat investment, or another purpose.
* Step 2 - check all the offshore tax havens for the best offshore plans.
* Step 3 - provide impartial advice as to which plan(s) best meet their client's needs (in the form of a written report).
* Step 4 - arrange for a client to buy the chosen offshore plan(s) on the best terms available.
You may want to complete your own research to ensure you know the right questions to ask your advisor.
When all these stages are completed, you can be confident you have received the best offshore financial advice.
Q2 - What is a Certified Financial Advisor?
Financial advisors may need a license to practice, issued by the Financial Services Regulator in their Country. Only these advisors may be called 'Certified Financial Advisors'.
It may be a condition that prospective certified financial advisors show their Regulator that they are:
* competent to advise
* impartial in their advice
* independent of Providers
* covered by professional indemnity insurance.
So it is important to check that your financial advisor is listed under:
* Certified Financial Advisors, licensed to advise in the Country where you live and
* Independent Financial Advisors - advising on a wide range of offshore plans from a full list of providers.
Now you should feel confident you are receiving the best offshore financial advice.
Q3 - How are offshore financial advisors paid?
Independent financial advisors (IFA's) earn their living from commissions they receive from plan providers. This is their income for the offshore financial advice they give.
The commission that advisors (IFAs) receive from offshore financial advice cases may range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Good offshore financial advisors should not be influenced by the amount of commission they receive.
Some clients prefer to pay fees to their financial advisors for advice to ensure impartiality. When this occurs offshore financial advisors refund commission received from a plan provider either in cash or as an increased allocation of contributions invested.
Q4 -How do I find a list of Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs)?
Search the web! Try searching using the search words independent financial advisors or certified financial advisors PLUS the name of the Country in which you live.
Personal recommendations are always helpful - ask your friends if they would recommend their offshore financial advisors. Always check that a recommended advisor is both certified and independent.
Offshore Investing - What do that mean
Q1 - What is Offshore Investing or Offshore Investment?
When we talk about Offshore investing plan opportunities it is like the savings plans available in many countries, except these plans:
* Are registered in tax havens and are regulated by their Financial Services Authorities.
* Can be used for investing by non-residents of the tax havens.
* Are sometimes more tax efficient than or have other advantages over domestic savings plans.
Q2 - Why would expatriates choose offshore investing?
Expatriate investment in the savings plans catalogued here and offering offshore investing opprotunities might be appropriate when:
* No local or Home Country tax free regular savings plans are available.
* No local or Home Country tax free lump sum investment plans are available.
* An expatriate is planning to retire to a third country.
If you fit any of these categories of expatriates you should investigate the offshore plans researched by Offshore Boffin and consult your Financial Advisor.
Q3 - Are there other people who might benefit from Offshore Invesment?
Yes. People who are not living abroad might find offshore investment attractive in the following circumstances:
* They have more cash available for savings than can be invested tax free in their resident countries' investment plans (perhaps because the amount they can invest each year is capped).
* They may live in countries which do not have domestic tax free savings plans.
* They live in countries which are not suitable long-term investment environments for political or economic reasons.
* They wish to limit the effects of inheritance tac on their estates.
Q4 - Is there safe offshore investing?
The answer is that All investors should remember that the value of ALL their investments can go down as well as up!
Safe offshore investing is more likely by choosing plans:
* From politically stable tax havens - the quality of tax havens varies.
* From well-regulated tax havens - the tax havens whose savings plans are catalogued here all regulate their financial services companies to avoid 'fly-by-night' companies.
* From reputable investment management and life assurance companies - whilst past performance is not always a guide to the future, the companies whose savings plans are listed here are all well-known names.
* Investing in 'mutual' or 'collective' funds. these funds are based on a simple idea. If a large number of investors pool their savings in - for example - an equity fund, the larger fund can be invested in shares in many companies, spreading each individual's risk.
For expat investment - and others - to be successful the best offshore investment opportunities must be found. For that you'll need a good Financial Advisors. |
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